Hollywood Domination Chapter 350: Why are you everywhere?

"Yes, so far, "Avatar" has achieved 91 million US dollars in the imax theaters. It should only be a matter of time before it breaks 100 million. This is unprecedented in Hollywood movies. It needs to be specially mentioned that the Chinese region The imax results are unbelievable...we are very confident about the prospects of imax in this region.”

""Avatar" started on the fourth Monday of its release, and the global box office has already exceeded 1 billion. When will it surpass "Titanic"? It's just a matter of time. 2 billion is not far away, can it get 3 billion at the box office? No one can tell."

"The achievements of "Avatar" in China have created history, revealing the outstanding growth potential of the box office in China"

"Jennifer Jefferson's vision is extremely unique. Three weeks ago, the whole world laughed at her arrogance, but now everything is completely different. Her accurate predictions have proved to be insightful. "Avatar" is exactly the same. As a cross-age work that has matured under all conditions, the three major innovations of this film are as follows..."

Although the time has entered January 2010, Hollywood has also released several new films, but there is no doubt that all new films will be eclipsed by "Avatar", and "Sherlock Holmes" has a very wronged At the beginning, this movie has a very good box office in North America and is also a profitable movie. It should become the second highest-grossing movie in history-it can also win more than 200 million in North America. I was able to win the first place, and since then I have been beaten by "Avatar" all the way. From the perspective of the trend, there should be no chance of the weekly championship before the next shift. Since the last shift, "Avatar" has won three weeks. Crown, the global champion for three weeks, even according to the current situation, if there is no strong new film in the fourth and fifth weeks, its weekly championship should be a matter of course. Now the whole world is waiting for "Avatar" "'s box office surpassed "Titanic" and entered the 2 billion club - it should be said that there would not be much doubt about surpassing "Titanic", but by then, whether the movie itself still has stamina , whether Yu Yong can be summoned to enter the 2 billion threshold, or whether he will fall on the 2 billion mark is still unknown.

In addition, the second suspense that people are guessing now is to what extent the "Avatar" craze in China will ferment - crossing the 100 million US dollar mark in ten days, behind this outstanding result , is only more than 4,000 screens. Calculated based on five halls in one theater, the number of theaters in China is only comparable to that of Japan, but its output speed far exceeds that of Japan. In terms of efficiency, each The venue should be full of seats—many newspapers have used a large space to introduce the grand occasion of people queuing up to buy tickets to watch "Avatar" in Beijing, Shanghai and other cities. This social phenomenon has even aroused the interest of political and current affairs news sections. It became the talk of the West Wing. Not to mention the major Hollywood companies-if a market with a peak box office of 200 million can not arouse their interest, then Hollywood will not be the center of world movies.

“Surprisingly, compared with its rapid development in the past few years, the Chinese market has received relatively little attention, which may be determined by its strict introduction of quota system and review system. In addition, from The lower share of the Chinese market has long been the source of dissatisfaction among major Hollywood companies. Before "Avatar", the crew seldom even went to red Beijing for publicity. They preferred to go to Japan or South Korea across the sea—— Although the latter also implements the quota system, the censorship is loose, and the ideology is closer to the United States, so it is often regarded as the two representatives of the East Asian market.”

"Perhaps from this year onwards, this phenomenon will be changed forever. China, which has maintained its vitality in the global economic recession, will become a new gold mine in the box office market - considering the tertiary industry Due to the characteristics of the secondary industry, perhaps we can boldly predict that in the next 10 years, China's tertiary industry will usher in an explosive growth, and can even replicate the growth bar chart of the secondary industry in the past ten years, while For the film industry, this means that 1.3 billion people will become potential audiences of films under the condition of rising per capita income, and the 800 theaters will also become 1,600 and 3,200 in a few years based on strong market demand. Even 6,400, 10,000..."

"It should be noted that the basic ticket price in China is actually more expensive than that in the United States. For example, the ticket price of "Avatar" costs nearly 30 US dollars in China. When the total number grows to 3,200, the total market volume can theoretically surpass that of the United States—even considering the relatively low attendance rate in the Chinese market, as long as the pace of expansion does not stop, this is only a matter of time. For Hollywood, The biggest problem now is how to get more from China, at least a box office share that conforms to market norms, and more market quotas. This requires Hollywood to fight for the interests of the film industry in the next Sino-US negotiations. The wto agreement is about to come Due in a few years, Hollywood must ensure that the White House makes efforts to demand that China must gradually open up the film market as promised..."

"Well," put down the "New York Times" in his hand, Christopher Dodd, chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America, stood up, and enthusiastically shook hands with Robert Iger who walked into the room first, "Bob, long time no see, You're still used to arriving early, aren't you?"

"Never got here earlier than you, Chris."

"Oh Chris."

"Chris, Bob—"

Following the successive greetings, these media bigwigs who are usually almost invisible walked into the conference room one by one—the presidents of the Big Six, heavyweight directors, think-tank entertainment lawyers, these Hollywood It is difficult for the characters at the top of the pyramid to appear so complete at one time, that is, only a few meetings of the Film Association Board of Directors are held every year as usual, which can make them sit together: However, if you want Chris to say, although the previous annual meetings are all It was he who personally presided over it, but it was the first time in recent years that major companies paid so much attention to the CEO instead of the rest of the executives, and he was well aware of this phenomenon——"Growing China market, perhaps the world's second in the future? ", this article published in the early days of the box office miracle of "Avatar" is very thorough. This time, all the big bosses in charge are here, for the two words of the Chinese market.

Although the internal competition is very fierce, in the competition of the whole industry, there is no doubt that the film industry still has to be twisted together. This is one of the meanings of the existence of the Film Association: In the United States, almost every industry has There are industry associations, which perform industry supervision and self-purification functions. Externally, they employ lobbying companies to exert influence on their own associations in Washington, promote the passage of bills that are beneficial to the industry, and protest against bills that are unfavorable to the industry. This is also the basic mode of American political operation. one. Of course, the film industry is no exception. Of course, as the government has always focused on supporting, and even has an inseparable relationship with the government, it is difficult to say that the voice of the Motion Picture Association of America is harmonious, but in any case, in terms of opening up the market In general, the interests of all Hollywood companies are fairly aligned.

After the routine annual work summary, Christopher did not continue to implement the agenda: In fact, the more high-level joint meetings, the more efficient they are, because everyone's time can't afford to waste, "I think, everyone came to This is all because of one reason, that is, we especially want to know about China’s implementation of the WTO agreement, whether the gradual opening of the film market promised 9 years ago has expired now, and whether Hollywood can still only get 13% of the box office ——This number is indeed inappropriate, and on this matter, does China have a specific timetable..."

With his somewhat playful and complaining tone, everyone laughed, but no one denied what Chris said, because this is indeed what they want to know: In the United States, the relationship between politics and business is actually that simple Directly, I will help you to achieve your political goals, not because we are like-minded, but because your policies are in my interests, and when capital groups need to use political power to clear the way for themselves, they will naturally do nothing Unceremoniously use all the channels of contacts, whether it is lobbying the company or personal relationships, as long as they can be used, and don't pay attention to face at all, it can be said to be very pragmatic. There will also be no phenomenon of pulling each other's legs. At this time, the entire industry is united - because in this way, the most money can be made, and the most people can make money in the market.

In the case of China, when China joined the WTO in 2000, it did promise to gradually open the market, but at that time it was more of a political appeal of the government, in order to facilitate infiltration and propaganda offensives, to open up China's ideological barriers, the Chinese market at that time was like mosquito meat to Hollywood, and it did not attract people's attention. Of course, the soaring China and the habit of capitalists enclosing land have also made major companies eager to enter the Chinese market and set up branches. The development of the market is not enthusiastic, let alone concerned about the process of opening up. What happened 9 years ago seems to have passed away. Except that the number of imported films has increased to 25, nothing seems to have changed.

——Most of the words of politicians are like this. Even if an agreement with a clear schedule is signed, variables must be guarded against before things come true, let alone just a vague promise at the time? Even the White House has changed several owners now, and it is very likely that the past 9 years ago will be discontinued due to the change of personnel. The result of the communication between the big bosses is also the same. No one asked, it seemed that no one followed up on this incident. In just a few words, most of the directors of the association also recognized the decision of the association to hire a lobbying company to bring up the matter again in Washington, and most members were also very optimistic about the results of the lobbying. Hollywood has always been the darling of Capitol Hill. Especially on the point of cultural export to the outside world, the two sides have always cooperated closely. It is impossible for Washington not to be enthusiastic about this matter. Many people even think that maybe Washington already has a similar idea in the making, and now they only need lobbyists. It's just threading the needle between the two sides. Even if the progress of the lobbyists is blocked, there is no doubt that the six major parties with their own TV stations can easily find Austrian aid in the two parties.

"The problem now is that the weak economic situation makes the Obama administration doomed to spend a lot of time at home. If it is only a one-way pressure, it may take us a few years to get the Chinese government to adjust the sharing policy , open the market—if not more than ten years," Christopher is quite comfortable with the rhythm of the discussion. Before the annual meeting, he had already considered this matter quite systematically, and even planned to make a private visit to China in the near future. “Obviously, we have to help the government with this, and maybe there’s something on Wall Street that can help us with this—tell us which officials are more supportive of opening markets, of supporting dissidents in China, of letting them Make your own voice online, of course, I'm not good at these things—"

"There are many foundations out there that can provide corresponding services. Of course, we can also call Wall Street." Paramount's Brad Gray was the first to respond, and then he smiled half-smile, He looked at Robert Iger with a delicate expression, "But in fact, there is no more direct way in Beverly Hills - we all know that "Avatar" will not be released in China for the time being, don't tell me it's The power of Fox, Bob, should be Jennifer Jefferson's personal relationship to allow them to do this?"

"You really shouldn't ask me that, Brad," Robert said with a good-natured smile, "William is sitting opposite, isn't he?"

Fox's CEO Jim Gianlopoulos did not show up, but coo William Low attended. Hearing Robert's words, he showed a slightly embarrassed expression, shook his head and said with a wry smile, "Don't make fun of me , Bob, we all know who is the one who is close to Beijing officials - she actually got "Twilight" on the big screen in Beijing, I think Jennifer Jefferson and Beijing's The relationship is no longer comparable to anyone, she must be able to point out who we can contact, in this regard, she can save us a lot of time."

There was a murmur of commotion in the venue, and someone asked curiously, "Twilight?"

"This is a violation of Beijing's film policy," said most of the members who will be discussing at the annual meeting. It's not in line with their beliefs, so it's very difficult for any movie about ghosts and gods to be released in China. But "Twilight" did it, and besides, Jennifer Jefferson always makes her movies in China Simultaneous release in China is not in the interests of Beijing officials. Although the studios hope that Hollywood movies can be released simultaneously, in order to protect domestic films and maintain the bottom line of 60% of the annual box office of domestic films, the officials often deliberately limit the marketing scale and push Later release date..."

"Postponed the release date, in China, is this also an official decision?"

"There are only two state-owned enterprises in China that have the right to distribute imported films, so, yes, the schedule is still determined by the government, and the publicity work is strictly in charge of them."

"And our affiliate..."

"At least according to the contract relationship in China, yes, we are doing promotional work for China Film for free..."

After a concise interpretation, most people understood the Beijing government's closed market policy, and many people frowned, "So, even if the White House can put pressure on Beijing to further open up The market, the best progress we can expect, at least in a few years is just an increase in quotas, and it is still difficult to return the distribution rights to the branch—"

"Complicated and lengthy censorship cannot be avoided," Christopher said, "yep, it is a victory to increase the quota in the short term. In addition, increasing the share is also our main appeal. We want the same height as in Europe. Opening up the market is probably a bit too greedy for the status quo.”

"Tricky." The young man from Wall Street said in a low voice, "Looks like this is a very long-lasting battle."

"No piece of soil becomes fertile by itself," Robert said kindly, "If the Chinese market will grow to a scale of tens of billions of dollars in 10 years, then there is no doubt that who can dominate this market and who will continue to become the overlord of the world's media, and I think that in the face of the thorns set by the Chinese government, the industry really needs to unite and compete for market share, just like domestic films have their own 60% bottom line, Hollywood should also have My own goal - we should at least get a 60% market share, otherwise, 20 to 30 years later, after the chaos in the market development period is completely over, Hollywood may not be the most developed film factory in the world. The glory will also come to an end."

"I'm afraid you are a little too optimistic, Bob, I know a lot about the Chinese market. In fact, the Chinese government may not be happy to see such a vigorous and free development of the cultural industry. For a long time, they Not only will it be our hindrance, but it will also be our helper with a complex censorship system..."

"In any case, what we need now is the first-hand intelligence from Beijing - who is the target we can win over, who is more friendly to Western culture, and Jennifer Jefferson can definitely help on this point Do us a favor."

"Perhaps she achieved her goal through sex, bribery, and bribery. The high-ranking official who we imagined is open-minded and has a good impression of Western culture does not exist."

"She passed the torch for China last year——"

"But before that, the introduction of Dameng's movies to China was very smooth. It is said that she is good friends with the most famous director in China, Zhang. Maybe she took a lower-level route..."

After a series of somewhat messy and even pointless discussions, the venue fell into an embarrassing silence, and Christopher looked at Robert Iger with urging eyes: whether it was from his personal friendship with Jennifer, or Robert should be the one who has the most say in the official exchanges between the two parties. He has been silent for too long.

"Jennifer did tell me very early on that she is very optimistic about the Chinese market." After being called out by the eyes, Robert had no choice but to start the conversation, and his first sentence caused another buzz in the venue There was a lot of discussion, and many people even directly expressed their thoughts. "What the **** is going on with this girl? Is she a genius? Or can she see the future? God, why does everything she says come true?"

"Seriously, why is she everywhere? It's unbelievable—"

"I now know how Jobs's contemporaries felt about cellphone makers—and of course mp3 makers, this girl is frustrating—"

"But, that's all I know." Amidst the excited discussion among the crowd, Robert shrugged, "I don't know how she opened up relations with China, but she did There is favor from the top, and I've heard anecdotes about it, that Beijing is happy to see someone willing to help in their troubled times — and she's doing a pretty good job of philanthropy and exchanges between the two countries."

"Ah, that explains why she is willing to pass the torch."

"Perhaps she has already been instigated by Beijing."

Some people made a joke, but not many people took it seriously: even if Jennifer's fluent Chinese was exposed in front of them, no one would think that there was something wrong with her. After all, her pure white blood is enough to explain everything. Furthermore, most people here will only appreciate Jennifer's early political investment behavior. If it is them, knowing that the Chinese market will explode, the behavior of showing favor will only be more obvious. After all, no matter how big China is They represent the market and profits, and that's enough. Those who can't look at things like this are not qualified businessmen.

The efficiency of any industry joint meeting will not be too high, especially when there are more than 20 participants, it is impossible to act vigorously. This issue has only reached an official conclusion in the end, which is to hire a lobbying company , and contacted some congressmen recommended by the directors. As for Jennifer Jefferson, who has attracted much attention, she is currently on a plane to New Zealand and cannot be contacted at all. Soon, the annual meeting moved on to the next topic, "In 2010, California's tax exemption policy will expire. Considering the poor financial situation of the state government, they are likely to start taxing small film companies..."

Because the dinner party has been arranged, the lunch of the regular meeting is relatively simple. The bosses don’t mind taking typical American lunches such as simple sandwiches, salads and hot dogs in twos and threes at the buffet table. Talking about the latest trends in the industry, of course, Fox, which has been in the limelight recently, has become the center of the topic. William Low was also surrounded by a few old acquaintances, begging for mercy, "3 billion? No, seriously, Even now we don't think that's possible..."

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" Following a heavy punch, Lee Morris, a senior entertainment lawyer and a think tank director of the Film Association, walked up to Michael Linton, the CEO of Sony, "You've been absent-minded all morning—why, Selena finally realized that leaving you would be the wisest decision she's ever made?"

"Fuck you," Michael punched back at his old friend, not angry at his joke, but shook his head and said with emotion, "I just—I just feel incredible, I Been in this business for decades, but never heard this name as intensively as in these years."

"You mean Jennifer Jefferson?" Morris took a bite of the burger.

"She's everywhere, from the Oscars to the box office charts, from producers to actors, and I wouldn't be surprised if she tries to direct herself next - when 3D comes into view, we see She, oh, she's already there," Michael spread his hands out, "well, now we've got our attention on the Chinese market, and she's—she's got a privileged position there, and it's basically hers. The market, at least for now—"

"And you saw the Oscars at the end of the year, yes, she didn't get nominated this year, but——she is still there, isn't it?" Morris also shook his head and said with emotion, "Man, if the next regular meeting I won’t be surprised that she sits here as a director, just like you said, she is really——she is of the same era as her, and it will be the tragedy of those young geniuses.”

"This is what I'm confused about. There are no young geniuses in the producer industry. I mean, of course we have all seen young genius directors, but young genius producers?" Michael shook Shaking his head, "Investor? Director? For a girl from a white trash background, her behavior is just too bizarre. I won't be surprised if someone tells me that she is actually an alien."

"I think you'll get to work with her one last time before she gets caught in Area 52." Morris said with a smile, not so much about Jennifer's genius - he cared more about hers The changes brought about by geniuses, "But seriously, maybe she will actually sit in the meeting room next time? You know, opening up a new market - the significance of this matter is enough for her to get That's the ticket, and even if she's too young to understand that, Bob over there eating a salad will make it clear to her."

Turning his head and looking at Robert Iger, who was eating and chatting with Christopher, Michael shook his head. He fully understood what Morris meant: the Film Association is of course a joint trade union of the entire industry in name, but in fact, the directors It will still be dominated by a few big companies for a long time. Companies with a short history such as Lions Gate will find it difficult to get a seat on the board of directors. If Jennifer joins on behalf of Dameng, the strength of the Disney department will be enhanced, and it will also open a gap for the remaining thriving independent film companies. It is hard to say what impact this will have on the distribution of power within the Film Association.

However, this is not what Michael cares about now, and he doesn't agree with Morris, "I know what you're talking about, Lee, but I don't think the same way as you do, I think maybe Jennifer doesn't This exchange with the association... She will cooperate with the association to increase the share, of course there is no doubt about it, but when it comes to completely opening up the Chinese market..."

Theoretically speaking, any film company with a certain scale is a member of the association, but whether it has more power depends on whether it can be elected to the council. If the young Jennifer is elected, there is only one The reason is that she has contributed important contacts and made a great contribution to this matter-this will also mean that she has climbed another solid step on the Hollywood power list, and she is more and more like a real movie star. Guys, enjoy more and more privileges. ——Morris raised his eyebrows in surprise, "And you think this seat is not worth the exchange for her exclusive privilege in the Chinese market?"

"With the current share of only 13%, simultaneous release and exemption from censorship...the value of these exclusive privileges is indeed not that high," Michael said in agreement, and he glanced at Robert Iger again: For some reason, He has a feeling—the chairman of Disney may not have as much influence on Jennifer Jefferson as the outside world imagined, and it may be different from what everyone thinks. The relationship between Robert and Jennifer is not controlled by the superior and the subordinate. The relationship may be more like a cooperative relationship of equals... Perhaps, Jennifer has planned the future of herself and Dameng long ago. "Sacrificing this privilege in exchange for greater benefits is an appropriate way to monetize, but... I think Jennifer may not accept this vain monetization plan. Just being a member of the council will attract her The force is not that great—"

"You mean——" Morris pondered for a moment—he is also a well-known think tank in the industry, "she would be more inclined to exchange it for company benefits?"

"She doesn't need to trade it," Michael shook his head, correcting Morris, "In China's very special bureaucratic system, the box office of a movie does not actually depend on global distribution. Fang’s will, if you understand this point, you will find that the later the Chinese market is fully opened and the faster the expansion speed, the more beneficial it will be for the development of Big Dream in North America, and we are only talking about one possibility. "

"Power rent-seeking," said Morris, who seemed to get it all right. "No, that's not a perfect adjective. Of course, there is definitely an element of power rent-seeking—more like a nuclear bundling strategy."

"In more extreme cases, competition will lead to high market prices." Michael said meaningfully, "If I were Jennifer, I would do my best to promote the increase in share, so that Hollywood can extract as much profit as possible from the Chinese market. , and then maintain the current semi-closed situation - think about it, at the meeting just now, we already know that China's official distribution companies must try their best to maintain a 60% box office share of domestic films, and this also means that in the first half of the year The distribution of the box office determines the schedule for the second half of the year—"

"Gee..." Morris shook his head, he seemed to have fully understood what Michael meant, "I can only hope that she doesn't think so, if Jennifer can really see that ure, she will I know that although doing so can make Dameng develop rapidly, it will make her a sinner 20 years later—and put her under unparalleled pressure..."

His tone was not very confident, and Michael did not expose it: In fact, the two knew that for an entrepreneur, things should be considered 20 years later, and the temptation of cashing in is close at hand. , that is irresistible no matter what. Furthermore, Jennifer has many ways to avoid directly arousing the anger of the industry - she doesn't need to be a hindrance, she even needs to keep a little secret, without her help, she can't find a second way to get in touch As far as the core people are concerned, opening up the Chinese market is a difficult and long road. During this long period of time, Jennifer and her big dream have actually avoided the possibility of joint exclusion and commercial war: unless Eliminate her on the Internet, otherwise, going bankrupt of Dameng may mean encountering discriminatory treatment in China and losing a large amount of box office revenue in the Chinese market-and it is a long-term loss. Any company that has just entered the spotlight Before entering a high-speed growth market, we will carefully weigh whether it is worthwhile to do so.

For the restart of "Spider-Man", let's cooperate with Dameng...

Michael has finally made up his mind completely—although he still feels incredible about Jennifer's ability, he also has to admit that if he can combine this big investment series with her, Michael will also get a little more Inexplicable confidence, even if he wants to share the profit, he still feels it is worth it: Fox wants to give 20% of the profit, but judging from their attitude, it is obvious that the 20% is quite worthwhile, even though Jennifer seems to have nothing but Did nothing but invest.

——As for the attitude that should be held when cooperating, of course there will be no doubts now, Michael thought with a slight twitch of his lips——If Jennifer Jefferson is really as shrewd as she shows, I believe The entire Hollywood consortium will have no doubts about this point for a long time to come...

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"There really is her everywhere, isn't it?" When Michael Linton was thinking about Jennifer Jefferson, she was also between William Lowe, Robert Iger, and Christopher Todd On the topic, the gray-haired Chris said to Robert jokingly, "Maybe she will bring you back an Oscar this year? - It seems that the best movie this year is already "Slumdog Millionaire." " and "The Hurt Locker". As far as PR tactics go, I don't think Summit can beat Big Dream."

Although it is not a wholly-owned subsidiary, he still adopted a similar tone in front of Robert.

"Oh." Regarding this slightly flattering ridicule, Robert laughed happily and modestly. He pointed at William Lowe and also humorously 'shirked' the 'responsibility', "Don't say that, Ke Reese, there is a representative of a strong competitor sitting here."

"Oh?" Christopher was a little surprised. ""Avatar" also intends to compete for the best film award, but——"

"Yes, a sci-fi film, logically speaking, the nomination is already the highest certainty." Although the nomination has not been announced yet, William Lowe is not being modest. With the current box office of "Avatar", he has won a nomination That's for sure—he also smiled at Robert with some embarrassment: Although there is fierce competition among companies, when executives chat with each other, the atmosphere is generally quite friendly. "But at Jennifer's suggestion, we still plan to try to promote it - this year's best movie should be a promotional war between the three movies..."

"Oh, hehe," he looked at William in shock, confirming that he was not joking, and then at Robert, confirming that he had already known and accepted the news, Christopher imagined the anthropomorphic struggle scene, I couldn't help but shook my head and laughed, "The most influential in society, the most politically correct, and the highest box office... This year's Oscars are indeed a good show..."