Chapter 169 Di Mouse on the gaming table
For a long time, Roland understood a truth.
Whether the information is good or bad is uncontrollable, but the person who releases the information is controllable.
Many guys who watch movies and watch dramas often exclaim, the scale of Hollywood is too big! In order to seize the market, Netflix even made a series like "House of Cards" to catch people's attention. Aren't they afraid of being retaliated?
Of course they are not afraid, because they also have their own stand.
The chief screenwriter of "House of Cards", Paul Willimon, has worked as an assistant to Charles Schumer, Howard Dean and Hillary-Clinton. He knows better than anyone else who can and cannot be black.
The so-called darkness and the so-called large scale are nothing but exposed, insignificant things that can be seen by the public!
And those things that cannot be seen by the public, or things that must be reduced even if they are exposed, the number of people watching the movie and the intensity of publicity will plummet, such as "Black Water".
Compared with Martin Scorsese's "The Irishman" and Sam Mendes' "1917", "Black Water" is the most unlucky one, okay? If you have to talk about reality and irony, isn't it more shocking than "Parasite"?
But it just didn’t catch fire, all the news was suppressed, and even half of the insignificant awards and nominations were not won. What’s more ironic is that the producer of “Black Water” produced “American Factory” in the same year. To the Oscar for Best Documentary Feature.
What is the most ironic thing?
is the "Washington Post" produced by the "Blackwater" production company two years ago!
It at least won the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Actress nominations, and it makes people feel that Steven Spielberg, who worked on "Schindler's List" and "Jurassic Park" in the same year, is the first time in twenty years. For many years, the sword is still young, and it can contribute to both "Washington Post" and "Ready Player One".
And what is the difference between "Blackwater" and "Washington Post"?
Is the lineup of Todd Haynes, Mark Ruffalo and Anne Hathaway simply inferior to Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks?
No!
It's the Washington Post that's bashing the Pentagon, and The Blackwater is bashing the DuPont consortium.
If this example isn't already obvious.
It was also a realistic movie, still starring Mark Ruffalo, but the heroine was changed from Anne Hathaway to Rachel McAdams, and "Spotlight", which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2016, was also the same way.
Who is "Focus" attacking?
Catholic.
Many people think that the big daddy in Hollywood is the biggest, but in the big world, he is not as big as those rich dads on Wall Street.
The Pentagon can be sprayed, the Catholic Church can be sprayed, but the consortium cannot be sprayed.
So, regardless of whether it was after the premiere of "Terminator 2", the truck driver took him to see the bald head of Perelman to discuss "Spider-Man", or Fox called and said that "Home Alone 2" Roland has no objection that the location of the filming has to be moved—cooperating with these guys will bring fame and fortune, why not do it?
In this kind of circle that breaks the bones and connects the tendons, who will you show your arrogance?
Really think movies are a tool for you to express your voice?
If you spray LGBT on Facebook, people can block your account!
This **** breath of freedom is so sweet!
In this way, when the blond woman in her thirties lowered her hands, stared at Roland seriously, and handed back the right to release the video tape, Roland, who only understood one thing, glanced at the other party's work ID and said: : "Evelyn?"
"Yeah?" Evelyn raised an eyebrow.
"What is your position in Sony Publishing Company?" Roland couldn't see the name of the office under the work pass.
"Market Analysis and Planning Manager of the Publicity and Planning Department." Evelyn pulled up the neck rope and showed her work card in front of Roland. "I also did the follow-up market analysis and planning of "Seven Deadly Sins."
"I was also following the market analysis and publicity planning of "Spider-Man", which has not yet been released."
"Okay, you've been promoted." Roland slapped down the table and turned to look at the general manager of Sony Publishing Company. "From now on, Evelyn will be in charge of my projects first. If she has any questions and wants to find me, you can't stop her. understand?"
The general manager who left the Mediterranean was stunned for a moment, thinking that Roland was a bit over the top, but when he thought that this guy had shares in an overseas distribution company, he nodded quickly, "OK."
"Evelyn was promoted to vice president, and I will report to the superior company later."
Evelyn, who was still wondering if she had said something wrong, expressed surprise at the sudden news of her promotion, but before she could react, Roland knocked on the table again and said, "You've also been promoted, so now It’s back to business.”
"According to your idea, how should we talk about propaganda with the TV station now?"
Roland's thoughts jumped quickly, but Evelyn didn't hesitate. While hiding her excitement, she said directly: "My publicity plan is actually very simple, just let people all over the country see our sincerity..."
...
Two days later.
ABC, group office, a group of people are in a meeting.
"Facing the cooperation plan proposed by Sony, what do you think?" Robert Iger, who may become the chairman of Disney in the future, is still a member of ABC. After ABC accepted Disney's acquisition offer, his most important thing now is It is to make ABC's achievements more bright.
No way, if it wasn’t for the poor performance of ABC, the market share of the public TV network has been unable to increase, and the paying audience of the paid network has also stagnated, how could the company’s major shareholder Warren Buffett promote the acquisition of Disney?
In other words, Disney does want to buy ABC, but ABC shareholders also want to sell the cable network.
If both parties have ideas, then this tens of billions of acquisitions, just negotiations, do not know how much time it will take.
After being acquired, how to get the new owner to pay attention to him is a problem that Robert Iger needs to consider.
Everyone knows that the best way is to make outstanding achievements, but TV shows that hit the blockbusters are all things that can be met but not sought after.
Of course, this is not the key to Robert Iger, who is in charge of content, personally reviewing Sony’s cooperation plan and holding a high-level meeting to discuss the content. If it weren’t for the current juncture, the promotional slogan in the cooperation plan is “whites and blacks are one family”, And he took out the "Shawshank Redemption" that everyone in the circle knew, and this document couldn't be delivered to him.
Facing his inquiry, the guys on both sides of the conference table all showed embarrassing expressions.
"Bob, there's nothing wrong with their pitch."
"If we just put a video of "The Shawshank Redemption" on the news program that is about to be released, and emphasize that this is a story about judicial officers abusing their power and causing injustice, but the protagonist still has hope and pursues freedom. There is no problem. We can even state it more bluntly. On the road of pursuing hope and freedom, everyone is a friend and everyone is equal. This kind of propaganda text that confuses the concept of race is fine, but ..."
“They want us to play the whole movie at eight o’clock in the evening, which I don’t think is possible!”
"From 8:00 to 10:00, that's the prime time slot! The advertising costs during this period are calculated by the second!"
"They want us to show their movie for two hours?"
"Do you feel realistic?"
"We're going to lose a lot of money!"
"The point is, they didn't want to play it once!"
"They want us to put it on the 25th, 31st, and 2nd for three days!"
"Three days, seven hours of prime time! Do you think it's possible?"
"Anyway, if it's a separate promotion, I'm fine with it, but if you show them the movie for free, I..."
"I disagree."
"unless…"
“A nod from Disney, our group parent company.”
That's right, the sincerity Evelyn said was to ask everyone in Amerika to watch "The Shawshank Redemption" for nothing!
In this case, it is the safest way to invite people to watch movies for free!
I will show you all the content first!
I put all the content on the table!
Big openness, let more than 200 million people appreciate the content!
After everyone has watched the movie, those media critics can guide public opinion!
Speak with the facts that have been shown, no matter what they say, it is safe!
Publicly recommend this movie to people on the basis of presenting facts and reasoning, and after that, the critics only need to implicitly say in the show that "The Shawshank Redemption" is a good movie, and we are surrounded by Andy and Ray. Moved by Germany's friendship! In the face of those who abused their power, they were strong, they were full of hope, they redeemed each other, and they ushered in freedom!
That’s right, the main idea of the announcement is ‘whites and blacks are family members’.
but!
This sentence must be reserved for those who need to emphasize this sentence!
As a film seller, they just catered to Washington’s ideas and made an unexpected round. After the movie became popular, someone would naturally stand up and endorse the cooperation and friendship between the white Andy and the black Red in the movie!
As long as they open their mouths...it will be easy.
And this is why Evelyn wants the radio to play three times in ten days.
For the first time, show it to film critics and the media, let them know what they know, and let some viewers who are willing to stay in front of the TV become witnesses;
The second time is to call on people to watch after the publicity, and let them prove that those recommendations are true;
The second and third periods are the opportunity for those who need to speak out, and they will recommend movies to people, so that people can appear in front of the TV more punctually when it is broadcast for the third time.
Of course, the plan is good, but many stations are actually unwilling.
Because it took nearly seven hours three times, it was a loss of tens of millions for them.
After all, capitalists and ordinary people have different algorithms for the concept of loss!
Ordinary people lose all their money, which is called a loss, while capitalists do not make what they expected to earn, that is a loss.
In this way, Evelyn will find ABC.
Because among the major TV networks in America, CNN’s Turner has not yet negotiated an acquisition with Time Warner, NBC, which is controlled by GM, has not yet merged with Universal, and Fox’s FOX is not large enough, so Only ABC, which has stagnant audiences, has just been acquired by Disney, and needs to make achievements, is the most suitable.
Robert Iger is precisely aware of this, so he is interested in the project. He believes that if a series of plans are really successful, then when "Shawshank Redemption" is played for the third time, it will definitely attract a large number of onlookers .
And in that case, the advertising cost before and after the broadcast is enough to make up for up to seven hours of broadcast time. If they operate a little bit, they can even insert two advertisements in the middle—
This is not making money! Instead, consider the audience and give them time to go to the bathroom!
Of course, everything is a gamble.
Because no one knows the final situation until the result comes out.
"Then what do you mean?"
After listening to an opposing point of view, Robert Iger also turned his attention to other people.
“The company has just been acquired, I think it’s better to be safe.”
"I think so too."
"Yes, it's better to be cautious."
"I also want to bet. After all, the number of our users has stagnated. However, whether to bet or not, this decision should be left to Disney. After all, the event of the Million Black Men's Parade is too big. We... as a business The company should not touch this thing, if something goes wrong, none of us can bear the responsibility."
Just when a group of conservatives voted against it, another voice attracted everyone's attention.
"I admit that Sony's idea is very good. With Roland Allen, there is a high probability that Washington will speak out, because after all, this is to find a way for them, but if we only care about the profit on the last day, it will be good for us. It's actually unfair to say that, I agree with the idea of taking a gamble, but I hope that before we gamble, we can get Roland Allen's authorization..."
When Robert Iger heard the idea of empowerment, his calm gaze shifted.
He asked with a little interest: "Tell me what you think."
"Uh... before gambling, or in other words, we can show him three times for free, but we need to get a five-year continuous cable broadcasting right. In the next five years, "The Shawshank Redemption" can only be played on our The ABC public television station broadcasts it once a quarter, and the licensing fee we pay is 20 million."
"They want to gamble, and we can gamble along with them, but it is impossible for them to keep the profits alone."
“We want us to promote it to them, and we want to pass us off with an increase in ratings, that’s impossible!”
"By lowering the price to buy out the broadcast rights of the public network, the profits of the cable public network must be taken exclusively by us who bear the risk. As for the selling price of the paid cable network, we will also sign a five-year authorization, but this time, we only need The right of first refusal at the same price, because if the whole set of operations is successful, the videotape market will definitely sell well. Since people buy videotapes for movies, there will only be a small probability that some people will buy premium channels for movies. The fundamental purpose of Lun and the others is also to make money, and they will definitely suppress the authorization time of the pay TV network, so..."
"Personally, I don't think the film will be able to stimulate subscription numbers for pay-TV networks if it works."
"After all, there's no way Roland Allen wouldn't sell videotapes."
"Using the buyout authorization of the public television network for five years in exchange for the business that we take the risk to gamble once, I personally can accept it. After all, once a million times, twenty times in five years, the total price of 20 million is actually very It’s low, we usually buy out a hit movie, and the licensing fee paid in a year is tens of millions.”
"But why should we give them a cut?"
“Now they are actively pulling us to bet, rather than us desperately wanting to bet with them.”
"Since we are the active party, why don't we ask them to increase the size?"
When Robert Iger heard such remarks, appreciation flashed in his eyes.
The acquisition of Pixar, the acquisition of Marvel, the acquisition of Lucas, the acquisition of Fox, these projects are all led by him.
As a radical, when he sees amazing profits, he will find ways to lower the risk and gamble.
For him, Roland Allen, who has a lot of background support, has a high probability of winning this gamble. The ABC he leads is willing to enter the game together, but while gambling, he must first see enough profits.
Buying out the five-year broadcasting rights of the limited TV network, this is a good profit, but the licensing fee of 20 million...
"Is the authorization fee of 20 million still a bit high?"
"Ten million in five years is the price in my heart."
"And we promise that within six months of the release of his video tape, the film will not be broadcast on the public television network. We will let him make money for half a year first, and find time to start broadcasting after half a year. In this case, he may give us a half discount."
"What do you think?"
"Of course, 20 million is fine, but there is a condition."
"Didn't "Seven Deadly Sins" get a wave of free publicity from those media?"
"The Shawshank Redemption also wants them to participate."
"Let them go to those TV stations to buy advertisements, let NBC, CNN, FOX, CBS and other TV stations promote that ABC TV station will broadcast "The Shawshank Redemption" on XX, XX, what do you think of this ad?"
Hearing this, Ben still thought the plan was good, but they all laughed because it was up to Disney to decide whether to gamble.
Ask your partner to advertise?
Isn't that crazy?
However, getting a five-year exclusive contract to gamble with them, this can actually be considered!
Note: ①Don’t look at the American market with our eyes. If our movie is on the TV channel, it will definitely squeeze the final profit, but it is different in the United States, including "It's a Wonderful Life", "The Wizard of Oz", etc. Movies are all box office smashes, and then they are on TV, and then they become a big hit and make a profit. ②When the 25th anniversary of "The Shawshank Redemption" was re-screened, the leading actors Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman were on the talk show, while Stephen King was interviewed. Throughout the report, they themselves said, The movie became popular all of a sudden. Before it was released in 1994, they felt that the whole movie might fail, but they were not reconciled. So after the Oscars in 1995, they re-screened it, but the box office was only about 10 million more. At the end of 1995, Turner, who acquired Castle Rock, put it on the TV network, and then it suddenly became popular. In a very short period of time, the rental and sales of video tapes surpassed "True Lies" and became the champion in 1995. When the host asked them when they would be on the network, they didn't say, and Freeman just smiled and pretended not to hear. However, when I checked the information, I found that a group of politicians, including Mandela, endorsed it. The slogan was also very straightforward, directly applying Martin Luther King's thought, 'While fighting for freedom, don't tie up hatred '. ③Robert Iger is not a gambler, he is just very courageous. The project "Who Can Become a Millionaire" was what he insisted on importing from the UK, and then it became an ABC brand in an instant. The ratings are 29 million people.
(end of this chapter)