Of course, the best time to make Transformers is ten years later. However, if you say so at this time, Eric believes that Alan Hassenfeld will probably leave on the spot.
"Five years," Eric thought for a moment, and said to Alan Hassenfeld, this sentence was not entirely for the purpose of dealing with the other party. The production time was advanced to about 2000, and there were no major problems in terms of technology, except that the cost would be higher: "I have several high-tech companies in my hands, so I still have a full understanding of this aspect. According to the current technological development Speed, the Transformers will be launched five years later, and the cost will be within the risk range we can afford."
Eric's remarks last night, although they failed to completely dampen the enthusiasm of the film companies who wanted to obtain the copyright of Transformers, the impact was very obvious.
Before Alan Hassenfeld came in the morning, he called the executives of several film companies who had been negotiating during this period, and the tone of the other party was obviously no longer as eager as it was a few days ago. Alan Hasenfeld understands that these people are not no longer interested in the Transformers copyright, but because of Eric's words, they have scruples.
Since Eric publicly suppressed the copyright of Transformers at the party, no matter what his intentions were, his intention to dislike others' competition for the copyright of Transformers was almost certain. Since Eric did this when Transformers was still in the stage of copyright competition, it is hard to guarantee that he will not make trouble in the production process of the film.
Therefore, Hasbro's best partner at this time is only Firefly. Of course, they can also hold the copyright of Transformers tightly in their hands, but this is not in the fundamental interests of Hasbro.
After Eric finished speaking, Alan Hasenfeld stopped writing, and said: "Eric, Firefly has always been Hasbro's most anticipated cooperation partner. We have considered it in detail. If you can personally be responsible for this For the director of the film, Firefly only needs to pay 5 million US dollars for copyright licensing fees, but Hasbro hopes to co-invest, and our requirements are not high, only 30% of the investment rights are enough.”
"Alan, I can't guarantee that I can be the director of this film. However, I will definitely be the producer myself. As for Hasbro wanting to participate in the investment, it is not impossible to consider..."
Eric replied without hesitation that he could not guarantee. Rather, he didn't want to be the director of Transformers at all. His positioning of the Transformers series of movies is super popcorn movies, with various special effects, various explosions, and various coolness, these are enough. Because of this positioning, Transformers in the previous life basically did not pass the ratings of the media and filmmakers. Eric still cares more about his reputation as a director. Therefore, the director position of Transformers should continue to be handed over to less It's okay to care about the explosion of all kinds of fancy taunts from filmmakers.
The two bargained back and forth, and finally reached an agreement.
Hasbro has licensed the film adaptation rights of Transformers to Firefly for $3 million for ten years. Firefly promised to develop a movie version in five years. Hasbro can participate in the investment of up to 25% of the film.
What Alan Hassenfeld really cared about was not the licensing fee of several million dollars, so Eric lowered the licensing price to 3 million US dollars, and he didn't insist too much. It was Eric who allowed Hasbro to participate in 25% of the investment, which surprised him. During the contact process with other film companies during this period, the main point of conflict in the negotiations was the proportion of investment that Hasbro participated in.
At the beginning, Hasbro wanted to spend half of the investment with the partner to produce a live-action film, but they soon realized that it was impossible for several major film companies to agree to this condition. Before Alan Hassenfeld came here, the bottom line in his heart was actually 20%. Eric readily gave 25% of the investment ratio, which even made him feel like he knew it earlier, so he didn’t have to waste so much with other companies. The thought of time.
Eric saw Alan Hassenfeld's expression in his eyes. I secretly smiled in my heart. Even if the idea buried in the bottom of my heart doesn't work out by then, Hasbro will have a taste of the Hollywood financial system in the future.
The specific terms of the contract will definitely require detailed discussions between the two parties. But now that the result has been confirmed, Eric is also a little more enthusiastic, and specially opened a bottle of champagne as a simple celebration.
Alan Hassenfeld had champagne in his hand. Looking forward to the future of Transformers movies with Eric, another topic seemed to be inadvertently raised: "Eric, with all due respect, the development of Firefly's peripheral products for movies in recent years is far from reaching The limit of those popular movies. Take the peripheral development of several 3D animation movies released by Disney as an example. Firefly produced some peripheral products by itself. But these products are limited to the fixed sales circle of Disneyland and Disney stores. And for For the types of peripheral products that Firefly cannot produce, your extensive licensing model of cooperating with whoever applies is actually a great waste of the brand.”
Firefly is actually aware of this problem, but both Firefly and Disney have focused on the film business in the past few years. After annexing Disney, Eric started the acquisition of TV networks non-stop. Put more energy into this matter. Katzenberg has begun to seek a solution, and Eric has recently seen several related documents. The brand operation department is discussing a packaged image licensing agreement with the fast food giant KFC, which is about 100 million US dollars per year for KFC , Obtained the authorization to print the cartoon images in Disney films on the tableware of its fast food restaurants. As long as this cooperation plan takes shape, Firefly can continue to use it as a template to develop a more efficient brand operation strategy.
However, of course Eric would not say this to Alan Hassenfeld. He also understood the intention of Alan Hassenfeld's words, but nodded in approval, and at the same time, some other thoughts popped up in his mind.
Sure enough, Alan Hassenfeld said again: "Eric, since this is the case, I think, why don't we have in-depth cooperation in this area. Firefly is a media group, and I guess you will definitely not choose to expand the Disney store under it. , This is not the focus of Firefly’s business. Then, Hasbro can completely fill the vacancy in the market other than Disneyland and Disney Store. We not only have a complete product distribution system in North America, but also have a very deep market expansion in Europe and Asia.”
Eric made a very interested look, but said regretfully: "Alan, listen to what you said, I very much hope that everyone can cooperate. But I have to discuss this kind of thing with the management before I can Decision, though. Whatever the outcome of the discussion, I will get back to you as soon as possible.”
Alan Hassenfeld didn't expect Eric to give any answer on the spot, but Eric's intention also made him very excited.
During the rapid expansion of Hasbro in the 1980s, in order to enrich its toy product categories, it often used very clumsy mergers and acquisitions.
Firefly has made a strong rise in CG special effects blockbusters and 3D animation movies in recent years. Let Hasbro see another development route. If a close cooperation with Firefly Group can be reached, then the CG special effects films and 3D animation films produced by Firefly will bring Hasbro a steady stream of toy images. Hasbro has long been greedy for the development of toys for films such as "Toy Story", "Jurassic Park", and "The Lion King". No chance.
Alan Hasenfeld was already satisfied with this kind of intention. He looked at the time, and it was just after eleven o'clock, and there was still some time before lunch. Eric didn't intend to keep him for lunch, and Alan Hassenfeld took the initiative to say goodbye and leave very tactfully.
After sending Alan Hassenfeld away, Eric did not return to the terrace of the villa to enjoy life, but called Katzenberg.
Alan Hassenfeld's cooperation proposal also made him aware of another opportunity.
Just look at how valuable Firefly’s movie peripherals are, just look at KFC’s willingness to pay 100 million U.S. dollars in licensing fees for Disney cartoon images every year.
Eric suggested Fox to buy Hasbro. In addition to the copyright of Transformers, he also took a fancy to Hasbro’s complete toy production and sales system. Fox was unwilling to take this risk, and Eric had already produced Next Hasbro thought. However, due to the large investment required in the high-tech industry in recent years, Eric could not find enough funds to win Hasbro.
Right now, Alan Hassenfeld's cooperation proposal is almost equivalent to sending Hasbro to the door.
As long as we can reach a close cooperative relationship with Hasbro. This world-class toy giant will definitely gradually become dependent on the brand image of Firefly.
At the same time, all contracts have a time limit. Eric predicts that Firefly Investment will probably be able to withdraw a large amount of money at the peak of the Internet bubble around 2000. At that time, it will also have enough strength to acquire children. Treasure Company. Firefly, then, only needs to sign a five-year deal with Hasbro. These five years. The closer the cooperation between Hasbro and Firefly, the stronger the dependence on Firefly. When the contract expires, Firefly launched a takeover offer. Hasbro, which has been firmly tied to the Firefly Group, naturally knows how to choose , or, they have no choice at all.
I shared my thoughts with Katzenberg over the phone, and Katzenberg also agreed with him, and said with great emotion that he would call the management of Firefly to discuss this matter immediately.
Eric hung up the phone and checked the time, it was half past eleven.
Calling others for a meeting near the meal time... well, anyway, resentment or something will definitely not fall on me.
After secretly complaining about a certain workaholic, Eric called Elizabeth again and briefly told her what happened just now. Elizabeth has already heard about what happened last night. Although her tone was a little regretful, the incident has come to an unexpected end. In fact, this kind of ending is actually the best. After all, if Eric doesn't do it himself, Fox may not be able to grab it Transformers copyright.
After the two phone calls, Eric returned to the terrace of the villa and saw a few women walking towards him with strange eyes. He smiled and said, "Everyone, it's already noon, and we're ready to eat... Wow."
thump-
The sound of water sounded, and before Eric could finish his sentence, he was quickly lifted up by five women and thrown into the swimming pool.
After choking on a few sips of water, Eric stabilized his figure. Hearing a few plops, five women jumped into the water with coquettish smiles, and shouted at him provocatively: "Hey, Mr. Shark, put us It’s a punishment for hanging it out for so long.”
Eric wiped the water stains on his face, glared at Cindy Crawford who was speaking angrily, and quickly swam towards her, saying, "If this is the case, then prepare to accept your punishment."
"Wow… "
"Ha ha."
"Run away, run away."
After tossing and tossing for a while, Eric finally grabbed a body as soft as jade, and with a little force in his hands, he lifted the woman out of the water, pressed her to the side of the swimming pool, and shook her wet hair. Eric opened his eyes. Opening his eyes, what he saw was Linda Evangeline Star.
Linda Evangelista didn't have the slightest sense of being a "captive". Instead, she stretched out her two slender legs and boldly encircled Eric's body.
Eric was no longer polite, and his big hands slid up the soft waist, tearing off the small piece of cloth on the woman's upper body, but as soon as he put his hands on it, Eric remembered something, staring at Linda? Evangelista asked, "Linda, as I remember, you should have been married a long time ago, right?"
Linda Evangelista just divorced her ex-husband the year before last, but at this time she didn't have the slightest intention of explaining. She stuck out her little tongue and licked the corner of her lower lip, looking at Eric provocatively, and said, "What's the matter?" , don’t you dare?”
Since the woman in front of him didn't mind, Eric of course stopped being hypocritical. Amidst the real or fake voices of the women beside him, he roughly turned the woman's soft body over and pressed it under him according to his own preferences.
Once the door of desire is opened, it is often difficult to close it. For the next two days, none of the five women left, all kinds of shameless gossip.
Until the new Monday morning, because of the Oscars ceremony at night, it happened that Cindy Crawford forgot to inform her agent of her whereabouts, and the agent who was so anxious that she was almost jumping took a lot of effort to contact him , It also made the five women realize that they still had more important things to do, and hurriedly left the Angle Manor. (To be continued.)