Chapter 69 70. Conception of the prototype of the industrial chain

Eric had never paid attention to the Olsen sisters or their Double Star Entertainment.

The reason for the sudden proposal to buy shares was due to a meeting with Spielberg a few days ago.

It was the premiere of "Catch Me If You Can" and Peter Jackson was invited. The two were working on the special effects of Transformers at Weta Digital, so Peter Jackson brought Eric along.

After the premiere, the two chatted for a long time.

First of all, there was the issue of Transformers. Spielberg said helplessly that DreamWorks had also contacted Hasbro, but the price he could afford was obviously not enough to satisfy the other party.

Now that the rights to Transformers belong to MGM, Spielberg hopes DreamWorks can get involved.

However, this request was politely rejected by Eric, who said that the project had already started and MGM would welcome it if DreamWorks had made the request earlier.

Of course, the Transformers issue was just a small episode. The two actually talked more about the development issues of MGM and DreamWorks.

Everyone in Hollywood knows that when Spielberg brought Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen to establish DreamWorks, the real purpose was to challenge the position of the Big Seven in Hollywood. Of course, MGM was too weak among the Big Seven.

But Spielberg wanted Li Shantou to develop Xinhe Liansheng, which was obviously not in the interests of the seven major parties. This piece of cake had existed for hundreds of years and was no longer allowed to be divided.

So although everyone still cooperated, conflicts were inevitable. DreamWorks was indeed thriving in the short term, but over time its weakness was exposed, which was its distribution capabilities.

Even with the support of Spielberg and the other two big names, DreamWorks can only distribute its films in North America at best. Distribution worldwide is always restricted, and this business must be handed over to the Big Seven. Unless there is money to be made, many films will not be able to recover their costs.

As a result, in the long run, DreamWorks ended up working for the Big Seven.

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What Eric and Spielberg talked about was the issue of cooperation. MGM is now like a very weak martial arts master, who lacks internal strength but still has the moves.

DreamWorks is just the opposite. It has plenty of internal strength, but it doesn't have the right moves to use.

One is about to be kicked out of the top seven, and the other is desperately trying to become a new giant. If the two complement each other, it will obviously be of great benefit to both sides.

What Eric likes most about DreamWorks is its animation production capability, although it is slightly weaker than Pixar.

But even though Pixar has not yet been acquired by Disney, it is almost equivalent to its exclusive subsidiary.

In Hollywood, Disney is still the most powerful so far. No one can challenge its position, and no one can snatch Pixar from Mickey Mouse.

But Eric has always had big plans for animated films in his mind, including "Kung Fu Panda", "Frozen", "Zootopia", etc., each of which is a super profitable IP.

Especially the "Frozen" series, the direct profits of the two movies exceeded 2 billion US dollars, and the subsequent peripheral products sold over 10 billion, with a net profit of more than 6 billion US dollars, which is extremely terrifying.

In addition, Marvel must be acquired, and after the acquisition it will definitely produce big movies, which obviously cannot be achieved by relying on MGM's old animation department.

In the whole of Hollywood, only Pixar and DreamWorks could undertake this task, so Eric's eyes naturally fell on the latter.

That night, the old and the young talked for a long time, and Eric was willing to give up part of the profits from overseas distribution in exchange for the full support of DreamWorks Animation Department.

At the same time, he also proposed the first cooperation plan, which was "Frozen".

Currently, the two parties are in a secret contact stage. Although Spielberg is somewhat interested, he still needs to communicate with his two partners.

But as long as they are smart people, they will make the right choice.

Once this cooperation is reached, the "Frozen" project will be launched immediately.

If all goes well, Eric estimates that the film can be started before this summer, but the completion time is uncertain, maybe two or even three years.

As for the legendary seven years like in the original time and space, it is pure nonsense. If the time spent on polishing the script and haggling in the early stage is counted, some movies can take more than ten years.

When Frozen was released, Eric wasn't sure if it would make over $1 billion at the box office like later films, but even if it did, the gap wouldn't be huge.

Technology is not a limitation, because each era has its own technological characteristics. When a new technological revolution has not yet arrived, I am the latest and strongest.

Perhaps audiences a dozen years later will feel that its graphics are not exquisite enough, but it doesn’t matter anymore because enough money has been made.

For "Frozen", the box office is not the focus; the real profit point is the peripheral products.

By that time, MGM will most likely have gained a certain degree of voice in Hasbro and can use Hasbro to sell toys while using these IPs to gain greater voice.

But like DreamWorks, Hasbro also has obvious weaknesses, that is, it is best at making toys, but not at clothes, stationery, books, accessories, etc.

It’s not that it can’t be made, but the quality and sales volume are far inferior to those of toy figures.

However, the core sales points of "Frozen" peripherals are precisely clothes, stationery, audio-visual products, etc. For example, the sales of clothes and dresses of the two princesses alone have exceeded 2 billion US dollars.

The profits in this area are huge, and Eric doesn't want to share too much with others. No normal person would want that, so he needs his own factory and sales network.

Eric was still thinking about this problem before, but when the Olsen sisters appeared, he suddenly realized that Double Star Entertainment could make up for it.

Although Double Star Entertainment is not large in scale, with a total value of only US$600 to 700 million, it is a company that is small but has all the necessary facilities.

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This is also due to the fact that the two sisters are child stars, and most of the things they sell are children's peripherals, including clothes, small accessories, stationery and so on.

After more than ten years, they have had their own processing plant and built a complete sales network, not only in North America, but also in Europe.

So when thinking about the value of the two sisters, Eric suddenly realized that isn't Double Star Entertainment exactly what he needs?

As long as these resources are integrated together, MGM will be responsible for IP creation and distribution, DreamWorks will be responsible for film production, and Hasbro and DoubleStar Entertainment can take charge of a considerable portion of peripheral sales, which will form the prototype of an industrial chain.

Now that Hasbro has been signed, it shouldn't be difficult to negotiate with DreamWorks.

All that's left is the Olsen sisters who suddenly appear, and Eric needs to hook these two fish.

"Company shares!"

The Olsen sisters' faces changed. This is their lifeblood, no matter whether they have it or not.

"Yes, but it's not free. I'm not someone who likes to get things for free. I will buy it at the market price."

"Think about it. If MGM holds shares in DoubleStar Entertainment, it means we are in the same boat. The Cooper family will be deeply bound to the Olsen family."

"Only in this way will I spare no effort to build you up and help you, because this is also in my interest, isn't it?"

"'Blue Is the Warmest Color' is just the first link. There is also a big production with an investment of more than 200 million US dollars, also with two female protagonists, which is expected to start before this summer."

"Also, MGM is planning to invest in a wedding-themed movie, also with two female leads, which is very suitable for you. Last year, My Big Fat Greek Wedding was a global hit, you must know that."

The baits were being thrown continuously, and the Olsen sisters were itching to try it out.

"Eric, although what you said makes sense, this is too sudden and difficult to accept. We need to think about it carefully."

You can’t eat hot tofu in a hurry. If you want to eat high-quality tofu, you need to be patient.

"I understand that, and you have plenty of time to consider, but I still hope that a decision can be made as soon as possible, so that we can compete for the Oscars next year!"

Bang! Bang! Bang! When they heard Oscar, the two sisters' hearts started beating wildly again.

(End of this chapter)