Volume 3 Summer Rain Chapter 0358: Bright Future, Tortuous Road
"Gunner Company does not have the ability to make each of you a great screenwriter. You are both in a cooperative and competitive relationship. I have reviewed the Jurassic Park scripts you submitted before, and picked out the ones I think are good.
However, that is just my choice based on my own preferences. My preference alone cannot represent the aesthetic taste of all viewers.
So, after the meeting, each of you will be able to get other people's scripts, and there will also be a confidentiality agreement, which states that you cannot leak any scripts of the Gunner Company before they are announced to the public.
This includes custom scripts you write yourself, which also cannot be leaked to outsiders.
Of course, if it is an original script you wrote, you are free to decide how to deal with it.
However, I suggest that if you have your own original works, you can send them to me for review first. Once I think your script has good potential, then congratulations, you have grasped the opportunity to make a fortune.
Simply put, in the Gunman Company, in addition to completing the custom drama creation assigned by the company, you can also create your own works, which you can sell to the company or keep for yourself.
I just hope that you can pay enough attention to the custom drama tasks assigned by the company, and don’t think that this will stifle your inspiration. "
Nan Yi shrugged and continued, "Maybe it's possible, but I can tell you that since the company wants to customize it, it means that they attach great importance to the current script, and it will definitely appear on the big screen in the future.
For example, with the current "Jurassic Park", once the final script is finalized, Red Sofa will approve the project, and the film will definitely be shot, and the investment will not be small.
I believe everyone felt it when they were writing the script. This is a film that requires a huge investment in special effects, and Red Sofa will have big moves around this film.
For the Jurassic Park project, Red Sofa will raise over 100 million US dollars for operation, of which no less than 40 million US dollars will be used for filming.
As soon as Nan Yi uttered this number, there was a burst of exclamations from those present.
Nan Yi paused to let everyone recover their emotions before continuing: "So, congratulations, as long as this project can break even, everyone here can get at least 50,000 US dollars in return.
Once it becomes profitable, everyone's share will be settled. Not only can you get a share of the box office, but you can also get a share of the surrounding products.
Of course, compared to the box office share, the surrounding figures will not be too big, but as long as the project is still profitable, your share will be endless. Even if you are gone one day, your designated beneficiary can continue to receive your share.
Ladies and gentlemen, this is a lifetime profit sharing. The purpose of the Gun Company is very simple. If you create benefits for the company, the company will reward you with a profit sharing.
If you don't contribute to the company, then I'm sorry, you can go home and continue to pursue your dream of becoming a great screenwriter."
Nan Yi spread his hands, and the people present smiled knowingly.
The basic education here in our country is well done. Everyone understands that there is a reward for hard work. There is no unrealistic distorted "master" spirit that requires me to be supported and fed and well-dressed even if I don't do anything.
"It's very simple. You complete the company's tasks, and the company will give you a basic salary and project compensation. When the project starts, you will have hope for your share. But I have to say something in advance. Not every project will be launched, and I can't guarantee when it will be launched.
As for the previous "Jurassic Park", it was very difficult to shoot. The current special effects technology is not advanced enough. Hong Shafa still needs to promote the development of special effects. This project cannot be completed in a short time.
Therefore, before this project is completed, we need to come up with a script that does not require too many special effects, preferably a G-rated one, suitable for the whole family to watch. We need to complete it quickly so that it can be released before Christmas this year, so that some people can get rich first.
If anyone has a good idea, please come to me. For the next ten days, I will be at 5103 Beverly Hills in the morning. You can come to me directly or call me. My number will be on the cover of the script that I will send to you later.
Okay, the company has booked the restaurant, everyone go to the restaurant now and get to know each other. "
As soon as Nan Yi finished speaking, a screenwriter named John Hughes who was present at the meeting felt a palpitation. He was recently conceiving a script with children as the main perspective. He planned to think about it again in the next two days and come up with a rough script to communicate with Nan Yi.
The atmosphere at the lunch gathering was not very lively. Some people found people with whom they could communicate and sat down to talk, while others just sat there quietly, just listening without saying anything.
Most of those who write are introverted and reserved people. They are passionate inside, but seem to have social barriers and are not very willing to communicate with others face to face.
Nan Yi held a glass of wine and walked through the crowd with Nan Ruoyin, exchanging simple greetings with each screenwriter, taking care of everyone without leaving anyone out.
After having dinner with the screenwriters, Nan Yi took Nan Ruoyin to the Los Angeles commercial district. After searching for a while, they found a Toys "R" Us store.
"Dad, you don't want to buy me toys, do you?" Nan Ruoyin asked when they arrived at the store door.
"You're still missing toys!"
Nan Yi implemented a policy of raising Nan Ruoyin and Fan Hongdou in wealth. While instilling spiritual wealth in them, he also provided them with material wealth. He had what others did not, and he was better than others. They would not lack anything.
"No, then why are we here?"
“To buy toys.”
“Who are you buying it for?”
"Nan Yi." Nan Yi said, and walked into Toys R Us.
"Nan Yi..." Nan Ruoyin didn't react for a moment. When she realized that Nan Yi was her father, she immediately caught up with Nan Yi and said, "Dad, are you still playing with toys?"
"No?"
"Hey, of course. I'll pay for whatever you want." Nan Ruoyin patted her bulging down jacket and said with a laugh.
"OK."
Nan Yi quickly found what he wanted to buy, a complete set of the Lion. He took it in his hand and examined it for a while. He frowned immediately, "The workmanship is too rough."
I looked at the price tag again. 12.99. "The price is not expensive, but the quality is…"
Nan Yi was a little disappointed, but also a little secretly happy.
I feel disappointed because the beauty of my childhood has been tarnished, and I feel secretly happy because this thing is so bad that I have the opportunity to buy into it.
"Dad, why did you buy this? Hasbro's Diaclone and MSI's Superman are much more exquisite. These ones are not bad either." Nan Ruoyin said as she picked up a few transforming toys beside her.
In the early 1980s, competition in the transformable toy market became fierce, and many toy companies produced transformable toys. The best-selling ones were the Robot Warriors launched by Bandai, a Japanese company, and Diaclone and MSI Little Superman launched by Technica, also a Japanese company.
Last year, Tonka Company introduced the Robot Warriors to the United States and renamed them "Transformers"; Hasbro became the agent of Tekla, selling Diaclone and MSI Little Superman, but Hasbro was not satisfied with this. They also bought Tekla's patent and wanted to develop a set of transforming toys by themselves - Transformers.
"But Dad wants this." Nan Yi stroked the box in his hand and said, "This is the Sarmo, and this is the Coco Monster. Do you know them?"
"Of course, Dad, why do you only know the villains?" Nan Ruoyin pointed at the first and second on the left, "This is Li Dewang, this is Scooter, too ugly, not as good-looking as Optimus Prime. Dad, when the Transformers are on the market, I will buy you a set of Transformers, okay?"
"No, I want this one."
To Nan Yi, among these transforming toys, he only recognizes Cocoa Monster, the rest are all trash, especially the Transformers, whom he looks down upon.
Who made him watch the "Transformers" cartoon first and then "Transformers" in his previous life? This created in his mind the impression that "Transformers" was the authentic one, which is the so-called preconceived impression.
Moreover, Transformers are not on the market yet. If we talk about the ancestor of alien transforming robots, it should indeed be the Transformers. Hasbro conceived the Transformers based on the Transformers and MSI Superman because they saw that the Transformers were selling well.
The two cartoons "Transformers" and "Transformers" will be broadcast on TV in a few months. Perhaps to show off their talents, the broadcast times of the two cartoons are similar, both in September this year.
If he hadn't seen it on TV, Nan Yi wouldn't have remembered to care about this.
The Transformers universe is more vast than that of Lionheart, so the cartoon will definitely be overshadowed by Transformers. Plus, the Transformers toys are more exquisite, so Lionheart has little chance of winning.
Nan Yi gave the toy to Nan Ruoyin and asked her to pay for it. He stood in the corner, stroking his chin, weighing the gains and losses.
On the one hand, it is sentimental. The investment in supporting Transformers is too huge, and there is not much chance of success, so the money may be wasted. On the other hand, it is realistic. If we go to Hasbro now and negotiate with them for the movie rights of Transformers, we will most likely get free authorization.
Their toy market has not been established yet, and the outcome of the competition with Tongka is still unpredictable. If someone helps them with publicity, let alone copyright fees, it is not impossible to ask them to pay some advertising fees.
"Sentiment? Reality? If Hasbro does not participate in the box office share, but only participates in the peripheral share, it can first make an animated film and outsource the production to Shanghai Animation Studio. It can pay 3-4 million RMB, or 800,000 USD. The box office does not need to be high, and tens of millions USD should not be difficult to make."
Nan Yi did a quick calculation and found that by taking into account the peripheral products, there is a high probability that producing an animated film could bring in hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. The balance is already tilting towards reality.
After a final struggle in his heart, Nan Yi sighed, "Forget it, what kind of sentiment is worth more than a billion US dollars? I am still that stingy guy."
With Nan Ruoyin's look that said "you're not taking advantage enough", Nan Yi took another box of Lion, walked to the cashier counter, and stuffed it into Nan Ruoyin's arms.
After leaving Toys R Us with the toys, Nan Yi suddenly said to Nan Ruoyin, "Little girl, if I let you run a toy company in the future, would you be happy?"
"What toy company? Hasbro, Tonka, or MEGO?"
"MEGO? What company is this? Why haven't I heard of it?" Nan Yi asked curiously.
" Dad, you don't know MEGO. It's a company similar to Hasbro, making dolls. Do you know Marvel Comics and DC Comics?"
"Of course I know that."
Marvel Comics is Marvel, and Marvel Comics is translated as Marvel Comics. Marvel is a transliteration. Now it has not paid attention to the Asian market, and naturally it does not have a formal Chinese name. The name Marvel is a later name.
"The superhero dolls of Marvel Comics and DC Comics are made by Hasbro and MEGO. MEGO is a bigger company and they make more superhero dolls than Hasbro."
"Yeah?"
Nan Yi cursed inwardly, "He still wants to take advantage of the people born in the 1980s. He shouldn't have paid attention to a big toy company like MEGO. It's just that he had heard of Hasbro in his previous life, but not MEGO. He did see it in the small commodity city in Yiwu."
"Yes, MEGO is the largest toy company in the country. Every one of my classmates has toys produced by MEGO, and I have a lot of them too."
"Interesting, either the name was changed or it declined later. The probability of changing the name is not high, most likely it declined, it should be paid attention to."
Nan Yi thought for a moment, and said to Nan Ruoyin, "Dad originally wanted to say it was a pass card, but now it's not certain. Let's wait until Dad investigates the three companies. So, are you interested in running a toy company?"
"Can't it be a Mattel toy?"
"Dad has never heard of this company. What does it do?"
"Ah, no way, Dad, you don't know MEGO, and you don't even know Mattel, which is the company that releases Barbie dolls." Nan Ruoyin said in disbelief.
"Is it strange? We didn't make toys before, and Dad has never paid attention to the toy industry." Nan Yi said as a matter of course, but he cursed himself again in his heart. It seemed that he was overwhelmed by the victory and the information he had mastered was not wide enough.
"Forget about Mattel. Barbie dolls are cash cows. If you want to acquire Mattel, you will definitely have to pay a huge price. It is possible that we may not be able to get our money back for decades."
I don’t know about Mattel, but Nan Yi knows that Barbie dolls are very popular. He has no idea how many sets he has bought with the two little girls.
The cheapest ones are one or two hundred dollars a set, and the expensive ones are over a thousand. They are sold as luxury goods. But every time Nan Yi goes to a Barbie doll store, he can see many little girls choosing there. How can this business be bad?
If someone wants to buy Mattel, I don’t know how much premium they would have to pay to be interested.
"Oh, what if I open my own company to sell dolls, Dad, do you think I can sell more than Barbie dolls?"
"It's unlikely. Barbie has already been deeply rooted in people's hearts. It would take too much effort to defeat it. It's not worth it. You can use this energy to start other businesses."
"But do I really have to?"
"Do you really want to be a doll?" Nan Yi asked seriously.
"I don't know, I just think making dolls is a cool thing."
"Then wait until you grow up and think it through. If you really want to do it, Dad will definitely support you."
"Well, thanks, Dad."
After the little episode of buying toys, Nan Yi turned his attention to movies again.
Rachel and Barry Diller had a very successful negotiation. Barry Diller said he didn't care about the salary, but was tempted by Nan Yi's conditions for establishing a TV network. He gave him a three-month handover period, and after three months, he would come over from Paramount.
As for his two assistants, Michael Eisner and Jeffrey Katzenberg, they had also been secured by Rachel, but they arrived a few months later than Barry Diller.
If all three of them jumped in at the same time and didn't give Paramount time to react and adjust, Paramount would be paralyzed, and this would completely offend Paramount's shareholders.
Although poaching people is offensive, people tend to move to higher positions and the flow of talent is a normal phenomenon. You poach me and I poach you, so the eldest brother should not talk about the second brother.
However, we cannot poach all the senior management at once, as that would not be normal. But for Paramount, there is a difference between offending and offending.
The former has a chance to talk it out, but the latter should not even think about reconciliation and just be prepared for Paramount to pounce on it and take a bite at any time.
Although there are competitors among the seven major Hollywood studios, competition does not mean that they are mortal enemies.
Deadly enemies will stop at nothing. Competition is within a defined framework, just like fighting in a boxing ring. Some tricks cannot be used, unless you are sure you can defeat the other six at the same time. Then you can break the rules and just overturn the table.
But if you do so, you will violate antitrust laws and wait for your company to be broken up.
"Rachel, how much time is left until the first loan is due?"
In the glass room, after Nan Yi and Rachel finished discussing personnel issues, they moved on to financial issues.
"The first loan will be due in about 15 months, that is, in April next year, we need to repay $170 million, including principal and interest, $220 million in August, $200 million in November, and then in January 1986 we have to pay the final payment of $100 million for the acquisition of 20th Century Fox.
The total cost of the acquisition of 20th Century Fox was US$555 million, the total loan amount was US$555 million, and the interest was US$45 million, of which US$100 million was injected into 20th Century Fox as operating capital.
"That means that in the next 23 months, we have to repay a total of 690 million U.S. dollars in debt, right?"
"Yes."
Nan Yi tapped on the table, silently calculating and breaking down the debt. This year, Hong Sofa must generate a profit of about 400 million US dollars to safely repay the first two debts. In the first half of next year, it needs to generate a profit of 200 million US dollars, and in the second half of the year it must continue to generate more than 100 million US dollars.
After a quick calculation, Nan Yi estimated that it would be unlikely for Hongshafa to generate revenue on its own. Even if it could produce two films with a box office of over 300 million US dollars this year, Hongshafa could only get back a share of more than 200 million US dollars at most.
Moreover, it is impossible to recover this share in the short term. It would be good if it can be recovered within two years.
After a movie is taken off the screen, theaters in various countries will not transfer the money to you immediately. They will definitely find various reasons to delay for a while. The payment cannot be made in one lump sum and will definitely be paid in several installments.
If you put 100 million US dollars in the bank for a year, you will get at least 5 million US dollars in return. If you negotiate properly, 10 million, 15 million, or even 20 million is not impossible.
Paying one day late means paying one more day's interest. Countless experiences have told Nan Yi that the larger the amount of funds, the slower the recovery rate.
He had never seen such a thing as a payment of over 100 million yuan without being divided into several installments.
To be able to collect 400 million US dollars in time, the profit must be at least 1 billion US dollars. It is simply a dream to let Hongsha make 1 billion a year.
With such a huge debt, Nan Yi’s head began to ache.
"Adam, don't worry. We can borrow some from Pan Am first."
"No, it's too shameful to be greedy, and shareholders will criticize us in the future. We can only find a way to get this money outside of Pan Am."
"Apart from Pan Am, can you mobilize such a large amount of funds in the United States?"
"cannot."
All of Nan's industries in the United States are under the umbrella of Pan American Investment Holdings, except for Akasa Vegetable Company and Tesco. These two companies are lucky enough to be able to support themselves , and there is no chance of them being cash-strapped.
"Did they go to Canada in advance to 'discover' the Diavik diamond mine in order to pay back the money?"
Nan Yi couldn't make up his mind for a moment. The Davidov diamond mine was only discovered in the mid-1990s. He could slowly plan and keep all the profits in the hands of the Nan family in the future.
But if you discover it early, you can only share the benefits with others.
