Chapter 413 Let’s work together
Qin Shaoyan pondered for two seconds, then slowly said: "Sister Luo, I feel that low-cost movies are not consistent with the effect we are pursuing."
Luo Yan Smiling slightly, "Mr. Qin, I understand your mood."
“But the water in Hollywood is very deep, and it is not as simple as you think.”
“It is already a great achievement to adapt this novel into a live-action movie, and low-cost movies have low risks. It’s relatively safe and profit is not a problem if you do it well.”
Hollywood is indeed in a deep water. It is impossible to penetrate with a needle or pour water into it. Even when Wall Street comes, it will have to shed a lot of blood before leaving.
A global blockbuster series with a big IP can make losses in accounting, and the main theme is to eat meat without spitting out bones.
Luo Yan has been in Hollywood for more than ten years and is still only a third-rate producer.
This is even if she is not short of funds. Her husband Xiong Xiaoge’s connections can help her secure a lot of film investments.
Even so, her ceiling is obvious and she cannot enter the top club at all.
The opinions and suggestions given by Luo Yan are very pertinent and reasonable.
But what Qin Shaoyan wants is not to adapt the novel into a live-action movie, what he wants is the IP value.
The low cost is indeed reliable and has a high probability of return on investment, but what we want is not return on investment.
When I brought the novel to Hollywood, I expected it to make big news. Small, low-cost movies probably wouldn’t even make it to theaters, and would have to go to the DVD market.
That would be meaningless. If it doesn’t go to theaters, there will be no hype value.
The novel "I Grow Potatoes on Mars" is bad enough to win a Hugo Award, but the movie won't win any awards, so the value of the IP will be greatly reduced.
Qin Shaoyan thought for a while and asked tentatively: "If this movie does not lack funds to produce, is there any chance of entering theaters?"
Luo Yan sighed, "The biggest obstacle in this matter is It’s not about funds. It can even be said that funds are the least affordable. "
But Luo Yan couldn't help but ask in the end, "How much money can Mr. Qin invest in this movie?"
Qin Shaoyan said casually, "I We can raise US$30 to 40 million.”
"Hiss~" Luo Yan took a breath, feeling that Qin Shaoyan had such a big tone. Thirty to forty million dollars was the same as three to four thousand dollars, "Mr. Qin is really financially strong."
Xiong Xiaoge felt that Strange, I asked directly: "What can you do with so much money, so you have to waste it?"< br>
"No." Qin Shaoyan knew that the couple had misunderstood, and explained, "I will definitely not pay, it is YouTube. Bill Gates is the richest man in the world and he will not be stingy with this money. "
"..." Xiong Xiaoge didn't know how to praise Qin Shaoyan.
This guy seems to always like to use other people's money to do his own things.
If the risk was low, Qin Shaoyan would give it a try. It would be better to use other people's money to throw money into Hollywood.
Luo Yan also laughed, "Having Bill Gates join sounds good, but it's not certain whether Hollywood will give the world's richest man face."
Qin Shaoyan nodded, "I understand."
Then Qin Shaoyan fell into deep thought. Xiong Xiaoge and Luo Yan did not disturb him and drank coffee by themselves.
Qin Shaoyan thought for a moment and suddenly asked: "Sister Luo, what do you think of this novel?"
"It's not bad." Luo Yan said seriously, "I'm not being polite, this novel is really good, otherwise I wouldn't come to you to discuss this project."
"But Mr. Qin, you need to know, Just because the story is good doesn’t mean anything.”
“Hollywood has formed a high-tech, capital-intensive industrial chain and a huge number of related professionals through more than a century of market cultivation. Talented team."
"I have used Hollywood screenwriters, they are very professional, even a small screenwriter knows the overall production process."
"Professional screenwriters. There are hundreds of them in Hollywood, and they write countless scripts and stories every year, and there are countless scripts piled up in the script libraries of major film and television companies.”
"The one who can be selected and adapted into a movie is already one in a million."
Qin Shaoyan listened with a smile, and then asked: "Is there a high chance that Sister Luo will lose money if she is adapted into a movie?"
br>
Luo Yan laughed, "Don't worry about this. I have enough experience in this area. I can't guarantee that I will make money, but even if I lose money, I won't lose much money."
"Oh. ?" Qin Shaoyan was a little curious, "Sister Luo, tell me about this knowledge, so I can learn from it with an open mind."
"That was in 2001, when I was the chief producer, screenwriter and starring in the original and developed movie "Courtyard" "The Woman in the Movie", the film was pre-sold to Universal Pictures at the script stage, and 90% of the cost was recovered in advance," Luo Yan began to explain, "There is now a very complete process mechanism."< br>
"A professional script incubation and financing process can produce a movie that can be used in multiple markets, thus increasing the chance of profit."
"Standard investment includes project script incubation, locking in the main creative deposit and There are three rounds of guaranteed distribution and production funding. "
"We usually use 10-15% of the budget to complete the script in the first round."
"It's like developing a new drug, you don't. Know which project in hand can ultimately meet the needs of the issuing company The product direction of the year. Hollywood receives thousands of scripts every day. For example, for movies where Warner spends its own money to invest in script development, only 1/20 of them will be invested in the final three rounds of funding."
" During the second round of financing, the producer What needs to be done is to lock in the main deposit and the issuance guarantee, which requires about 5-10% of the budget." Luo Yan added, "In our industry, the most powerful thing is pre-sale (issuance guarantee), which is also the main financing. Means.”
"Producers usually try to pre-sell 50% of the budget to distribution companies, professional investment companies or banks."
"Use the distribution rights of each country or region to pre-sell. How much can be pre-sold depends on the script. The level of attraction (market value) of the main creative team is based on the pricing. In my case, it is generally the net profit after the issuing company recovers the capital. Each part is divided in half, which is determined by their comprehensive evaluation of the script and the level of the main creative."
"The third round of financing is relatively simple, attracting funds," Luo Yan continued, " After three rounds of financing, the next step is the completion guarantee that people often mention, which is where investors ensure the use of funds through third-party supervision. As a necessary process for safety, the guarantee company needs to check in detail the producer's incubation expenses, main creative deposit, issuance guarantee contract, gap investment fund goodwill and other agreements. The bank uses the issuance guarantee as a mortgage to issue loans, and the guarantee company will issue it to the producer according to the cash flow statement. The producer funds and supervises the production.”
“Hollywood’s capital is very serious. With the content evaluation professionals and standards, more than half of the banks in Los Angeles can evaluate large-scale entertainment products."
Qin Shaoyan listened carefully and sighed, "Hollywood still has so many skills, it's really a lesson. There is no end, thank you Sister Luo for your introduction. Listening to you is worth ten years of reading.”
"It's nothing, it's just common sense in the industry." Luo Yan smiled nonchalantly.
Qin Shaoyan looked at Xiong Xiaoge, "Mr. Xiong, I think our plan is more feasible."
Xiong Xiaoge was stunned, very puzzled, my wife said so There are a lot of them, but you didn’t hear a word of them.
“Where did you hear that it is more feasible?” Xiong Xiaoge frowned and asked.
“Didn’t you listen to the knowledge that Sister Luo said?” Qin Shaoyan was a little surprised, “She has made it very clear.”
Seeing the conclusive look on Qin Shao's words, Xiong Xiaoge began to wonder whether it was because of his poor hearing or poor understanding.
"Sister Luo said that the most important thing in this project is the script." Qin Shaoyan said seriously, "A professional script that can be used in multiple markets can increase the chance of profit."
“A good script can allow major Hollywood companies to directly Buy it, Hollywood capital has very serious content evaluation professionals and standards."
"What does this mean? Content is king, and a good story is the soul." "I am growing potatoes on Mars. 》Isn’t it a good content? ”
Xiong Xiaoge sneered, "You can't say whether the content is good or not, Hollywood has to say."
"You are wrong." Qin Shaoyan retorted with a serious face, "Hollywood also has to say whether it is good or not." Forget it, the audience has to decide.”
“…” Xiong Xiaoge said impatiently, “You don’t want to. It’s just correct nonsense.”
Qin Shaoyan is not annoyed, “I plan to start with the audience in the US market to create and cultivate a large enough audience group to make Hollywood realize that this is high-quality content. . ”
“If you want to fish, you must first make a nest.”
"Huh?" Xiong Xiaoge immediately realized that he might not have followed Qin Shaoyan's train of thought just now, "What do you want to do?"
"First find a few powerful translators to translate the novel into English." Qin Shaoyan He said seriously, "Change the protagonist to an American and the space agency inside to NASA, so that American readers can feel more involved."
"Then translate Good novels are published directly on the American Internet for everyone to read for free.”
“Free?” "Profit, what does it mean if I sacrifice a little personal interest?" Qin Shaoyan said impassionedly, "As long as I can promote this IP, it's just some royalties."
"Free novels can definitely attract a large number of readers, which can expand the readership."
"Then we only need to carry out some small marketing, plus some small operations, the data of this work It will become very attractive.”
“Facebook and YouTube will vigorously recommend it, and other websites can also make articles.” Qin Shaoyan suddenly sneered, "I don't believe Hollywood won't be interested in such a popular and topical novel."
"Take it in advance, and give it in advance." Xiong Xiaoge said thoughtfully, and finally said decisively, "Since Mr. Qin has such great courage, I think this can be done, and I support Mr. Qin."
Isn't this Qin Shaoyan's previous operating routine?
First make the novel popular, then create Internet popularity, and then use hype to make the topic out of the circle.
If it can be done, it will also be beneficial to Qvod.com, and Xiong Xiaoge will not lose if it is not done.
“With Mr. Xiong’s help, there’s no need to worry about the big thing happening!” Qin Shaoyan said excitedly, “Please Mr. Xiong and Sister Luo take more trouble with this matter.”
“It’s easy to talk about.” Luo Yan nodded, "I think this project has potential, and I'm very happy that I can participate."
Xiong Xiaoge felt something was wrong. From what Qin Shaoyan meant, it seemed that he wanted to help his side too. money.
Before Xiong Xiaoge could object, Qin Shaoyan took out his mobile phone and said, "I called Davis, the head of YouTube. They are the sponsors of this matter, and cooperation cannot be avoided without them."
Listen When Xiong Xiaoge said that he wanted to call Davis over, he held back his words. With this person here, there is a high probability that IDG would not be allowed to pay.
"Davis, I have something very important to discuss with you. Come over as soon as possible. Yes, it is very important!"
After Qin Shaoyan hung up the phone, he looked up at Xiong Xiaoge, " Mr. Xiong, Davis will be here soon, please cooperate.”
Isn’t it just singing the double act, I’m familiar with this.
Xiong Xiaoge nodded reservedly, "It's easy to talk."
The conference room was soon filled with a subtle atmosphere. Luo Yan looked at her husband with some confusion, wondering what kind of riddle the two were playing. It's hard to ask at this time.
Davis arrived very quickly and arrived at the campus network less than half an hour after receiving the call.
Everyone at Campus Network and IDG who were sitting in the reception room chatting were refreshed. Good guy, even Davis from Microsoft is here. It seems that there is big business to discuss today.
Campus Network CTO Wang Jun said with a smile, "It seems that the boss is going to talk for a long time. I don't know what they will eat. Let's fill our stomachs first."
"A good restaurant has opened nearby, let's go try it?"
Zhou Dao from IDG also agreed, "Okay, okay, it's up to you, let's go eat first."
Wang Jun thought for a while and said, "Call the people from Yiku.com as well. I guess Davis won't be able to use them for the time being."
Yiku.com hesitated for a moment after receiving the invitation, "Isn't this good?"
"There's nothing bad." Wang Jun said enthusiastically, "They talked for less than two hours. Come on, it’s time for dinner. Let’s eat first so we can better serve the boss.”
"And the hotel is only a few minutes away from here, so it's convenient to go back and forth."
The people at Yiku.com think what Wang Jun said makes sense. The boss will not necessarily go to a dinner party after the discussion, but they are the ones who The subordinates' companions didn't dare to eat more, so they might as well eat their fill in advance.
So the three groups of people left happily.
......
Davis just walked into the conference room and found that Xiong Xiaoge was also there. He was a little surprised and stepped forward to say hello, "Hugo (Xiong Xiaoge's English name), why are you here too?" Are you here?”
Xiong Xiaoge said with a smile: "Mr. Qin asked me to come over to talk about the movie adaptation of his novel. My wife is a Hollywood producer, and we are here to make reference suggestions for him today."
"Oh, that's okay. It's great," Davis said happily. "John told me the other day that he planned to make the novel work well. Hollywood, I didn’t expect him to move so quickly.”
“I can’t be unhappy.” Qin Shaoyan sighed, “This is a big business involving hundreds of millions of dollars.”
David. Si is also a little excited. If this book can be adapted into a Hollywood movie, then he will have a share of the credit, right?
In this case, he can give Bill Gates a satisfactory answer.
Promotion and salary increase are just around the corner!
"How's it going, John? Is there a high chance of success?" Davis quickly asked, "What are the difficulties and the funding gap?"
"No, no, no, there is funding. It’s a small problem.” Qin Shaoyan waved his hand, “This is not a matter of funds.”< br>
“And even if this movie cannot enter theaters, it will not lose money and can still make a small profit.”
“Whether it makes money or not is not the point.” Davis obviously doesn’t care. In this part, he only cares about whether the movie can be made, preferably in theaters.
Anyway, it's not his money that's being lost. The film production cycle is not short, so he would have been promoted and left by the time the film was released.
“You still have to make a little money to make money.” Qin Shaoyan said with a smile, “I think the most important core point of this IP is its reputation.”
“Fame is data. , Fame is popularity, fame is stock price, fame is profit and money!”
“That’s so right!” Davis nodded in agreement.
Fame and wealth, fame is naturally beneficial.
Qin Shaoyan said slowly, "So the first thing we need to solve now is how to make this IP popular in the United States."
(End of Chapter)