Chapter 179 Frank’s approval! A shocking gamble!
"Whether it is in terms of size or the development of Hollywood, Ferris Lingyun is just a company that has just emerged. If we really want to acquire shares, it will be us acquiring Ferris Lingyun, right?" Shi Tiffin said.
"Before you accept my proposal, why not listen to my opinion on Lions Gate?"
Guan Ling is very confident.
“You say, but I don’t think you will convince me.”
Stephen was silent for a moment, although in his opinion, Guan Ling wanted to acquire The shares of Lionsgate Pictures are a fantasy, but for this group of Europeans and Americans, listening to others is indeed a basic education.
Especially in business negotiations, we will never fail to give the other party a chance to make an offer.
“The development of Lionsgate Pictures started with B-level movies. In 2000, “American Psycho” took in about 34 million in the global box office at a cost of about 7 million, making Lionsgate You became famous in the industry immediately.
After that, your company produced and released films such as "Fang Fang 2" and "Fahrenheit 9/11", which made you rise in the luck of B-level movies.
Among them. The latter is not only a leader in contemporary B-level films with themes of war and politics, but also has a global box office of 222 million at a cost of approximately 6 million.
Up to now, you have initially established a foothold in Hollywood with the "Chainsaw" series. "
"Is your investigation of our company very in-depth? "Stephen became a little interested.
"Before I planned to build Ferris Lingyun, I thought about communicating with you, but even if I contacted you at that time, I probably would not sit at the negotiating table with you. . Guan Ling said, "But now that you have extended an olive branch, let's talk on equal terms." "
"If you contacted us and said you wanted to acquire shares, even if you were a big director, we would just think you were a lunatic. "Stephen smiled. "You can continue. ”
“Lionsgate’s development is replicable. Betting on B-movies is a risky operation, but you succeeded. This is the foundation of Lionsgate's nascent success in Hollywood. However, if you want to stabilize and completely transform yourself, "Chainsaw" is not enough. It is undeniable that James Wan is your high-quality director, but every director does not want to stay in B-level horror movies. Soaked down.
I am a director, I know better than you what the development of a director is, everyone wants to be Nolan, not James Wan. So you have to admit my point of view. ”
The other side didn’t say anything. Obviously they knew what James Wan was thinking. In Hollywood, many senior mainstream commercial filmmakers started their movie dreams with B-level movies. This is what every movie Everyone is pursuing it.
"In the future, James Wan will definitely want to make other big movies. You will temporarily lose the basic base of the "Chainsaw" series. You can develop new series, but you can't guarantee that you will. Will definitely hit the mark. In this process, Motian Lingyun will take away your market, and I will definitely take away your market. "
Guan Ling said to the other party, "Because I have a lot of B-level movie scripts, and I also have a lot of series scripts. "Insidious" is just the beginning. "
"At this time, if you cannot completely transform and release a few mainstream commercial movies, we will definitely become competitors who want to kill each other. Guan Ling said, "That may be very tricky and troublesome for me, but in the end, you will definitely lose." ”
On the other end of the phone, Stephen was silent for a while and said in a deep voice: "Guan, you are very confident. We have relied on the B-movie express to develop along the way, so I agree with most of what you said.
< br>But I just want to say one point. No one can guarantee that his or her movie will be a hit or a big success.
I admit that the "Insidious" series is a direct response to "Saw". You succeeded in the challenge. Even though the film "The Empire" you released is a Chinese film, it is indeed amazing to achieve such box office results
But we can't do it. You can’t do anything, you won’t succeed in everything. Even if you have the best luck, I don’t think you can complete the journey that Lionsgate has taken in the past ten years or so in two or three years. < br>
I admire your confidence, but movies need to be determined by the market, not your mouth. Business negotiations are even more unacceptable if I report it to the senior management to negotiate with you for the company's equity. I may have to pay for my unprofessionalism."
Stephen's attitude is quite good. Even if Guan Ling's words sound arrogant to him, he still maintains a rational judgment.
"I agree with your point of view, so I have a proposal." Guan Ling said, "The new movie produced by Motian Lingyun will be released soon. The name of the movie is "Hurricane Rescue", I can tell you , this movie, I now have three scripts, and at the same time, I have multiple series of movies that are not worse than this movie. As for the quality, I don’t know that I can say that the box office of these movies in the future will not be worse than "Taken". , wouldn’t you believe it, but it’s true.”
“How about we talk about some things after the movie is released?”
“You want to use the results. Let me believe you?" Stephen said, "I can wait for the result of this movie. I hope your confidence will make your new movie a hit."
"Please help. Let me paraphrase." Guan Ling said, "Besides the big six, independent film companies are all competitors. I think Lions Gate's development path has been in the right direction, but you can be copied.
As long as there are enough films that are hits one after another, your position among independent film companies will soon be squeezed, losing market and share.
Motian Lingyun can do these things, but for Motian Lingyun, it will also take a certain amount of time to prevent competition, which will cause stagnation in development.
Cooperation, cooperation is the mainstream of the development of the times. I am very sincere in what I say, but please ask your boss, Lionsgate Pictures, whether it wants to move towards the top seven? "
After hanging up the phone, Stephen turned around and knocked on the door and entered the office. He looked up at Frank. He was sitting in his seat with his back to the floor-to-ceiling windows looking outside. This was Lionsgate Film Festival. The boss of the industry.
"How about it, does Guan agree? "Frank turned around and raised his head. He knew that Stephen was talking to Guan Ling just now, so he was looking forward to it.
He slid his chair forward and started to sign the contract that had just been delivered to him on the table. .
Stephen said bitterly, "I didn't even have time to open my mouth. I only asked the other party if they wanted to cooperate, and I interrupted the other party without even saying anything about the follow-up. "
It's over. Guan Ling kept leading him on the phone. He completely forgot that he was calling to ask Guan Ling to produce the script. Lionsgate Pictures can pay a high price for it.
“What’s going on? "Frank frowned.
"He wants to acquire shares of Lionsgate Pictures. "Stephen reported to Frank Report that this is only a private communication, not a formal email suggestion. Stephen can speak whatever he wants.
Frank was in the process of signing his name. Hearing this, he raised his head in surprise, with a clear look of confusion in his eyes.
It seemed that after a while of reaction, his head was a little down, Frank used a very long reflex arc to spit out one word, "Huh?"
As expected. Stephen looked at Frank's expression, which was a little funny and full of confusion. He roughly condensed what Guan Ling said on the phone just now and said it to Frank.
As a director, Stephen is very good at conciseness and conciseness. He explains things very clearly. Frank squinted his eyes and tapped his fingers on the table.
I have seen directors, but I have never seen such a crazy director.
But it is understandable. After all, he is young and frivolous, and he is also the most popular director and film company boss in China. It is normal for the other party to have this idea.
But to be honest, even Lingyun Media may not be as profitable as Lionsgate, let alone Motian Lingyun.
After all, the Chinese market is much worse than the North American market. "So, Guan wants to ask us at Lionsgate if we want to cooperate with them and rush to the top seven positions together?" Frank said, "He also wants to use Ferris Lingyun's new movie to let us see him. ability, and use this as a reason to start cooperation negotiations between us.”
“Yes, I know this is arrogant,” said Stephen, “so I don’t. I didn't give him any promises or answers. In my opinion, even if the movie becomes popular, it doesn't prove that his future development will be smooth. Moreover, if his movies can be popular, why would he want to cooperate with us? If so, is Motian Lingyun afraid of competing with us? ”
"No." Frank looked up at the ceiling, "Guan Ling is really only in his twenties?"
"Yes, very young. Only young people in their early twenties could say these words. At that time During the phone call, I thought he was crazy."
"I don't think so," Frank crossed his arms on his chest, "This cooperation can be considered, if "The Rescue" is really a hit. If so. You need to check the production cost and basic information of this movie first."
"Do you believe him?" Stephen was surprised.
“It’s not about believing, it’s about evaluating.” Frank looked at Stephen calmly, “You know, before Lionsgate was established, I was a banker. The greatest ability of a banker is to identify Is there any money in the customer's pocket? I asked you to contact Guan because I think he has money in his pocket. But after what you just said, I think he has a lot of money in his pocket.
Because a poor person will never stand in front of a luxury store and say to the luxury store clerk, I want to buy your store
And the name Lions Gate originally represents what I mean. It is a bridge to my hometown of Vancouver, and I have always been willing to leave a bridge of communication with others.
If this were not the case, I would not have invested in Lions Gate when James Wan took the script and asked for investment. It will not develop to this point. James Wan will not create so much profit for us. As for your question, if his movie is popular, why would he want to cooperate with us? He answered you.
Because he is Chinese.”
"Chinese? What does it matter?"
"As far as I know about him, after "Hearing Girl" became a hit, he returned to China to make Chinese-language movies instead of working closely with Fox , he did the same thing after "2012". This is not in line with the development history of any major Hollywood director.
Even his development has only been in such a short period of time, and he has to release a movie with a box office of over 100 million in North America. A Chinese-language movie, this movie had a much smaller box office than "Hearing Girl". If it was just to make money, he wouldn't do it."
Frank affirmed, "His motivation as a director is, It must be related to Chinese-language movies, so if he doesn’t seek cooperation with us, competition between us due to conflicts of interest will definitely affect him.”
Stephen didn’t say anything, and Frank continued.
“I’m not afraid of cooperation, I’m just afraid that there will be no benefits from cooperation. And if Guan can show me his abilities, whether he invests in Lions Gate or I invest in Lingyun, we will become a solid partner for each other. Partner.
So, if he can be popular?
A man who can film "Hearing Girl", "2012", and write "Insidious", and also win it? The all-around boss who won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay as a writer and director is a filmmaker who has more professional film skills than me. If I must turn him into my competitor, I must be a madman
Stephen, movie investing is a big gamble, but for a banker, I'm not good at investing in movies, but I'm good at investing in people.
The other side is good at it. The cards have been revealed, why don’t we go to the table?”
Listening to Frank's words, Stephen thought that he must be crazy.
Both bosses actually have the intention to cooperate. It seems that the boss is the boss, and the situation is big enough.
......
After hanging up the phone, Guan Ling didn't have much fluctuation.
Because it is not Guan Ling’s decision whether Lionsgate will agree to it.
In fact, Stephen's call was an opportunity for Guan Ling.
If the development of an independent film company relies solely on Guan Ling, he will be exhausted.
Guan Ling can recruit many professional employees to protect Skyline Lingyun, but Guan Ling knows that Lionsgate Film Company must be a competitor that cannot be underestimated in the future.
Because this film company is very stable, even if Guan Ling writes out all their scripts and registers them, they will create new scripts, and the film company will not be short of scripts.
The current Lionsgate Film Company has not yet developed to the point where it will be unshakable in the future.
In the previous life, after "Fahrenheit 9/11" and "Saw" caused a thunderous response, the company's development quickly embarked on an amazing journey.
In 2012, it even acquired Summit Entertainment, the film company behind the "Twilight" series of movies. In this life, "Twilight" was cut off in advance by Guan Ling, and even Lionsgate's future The awesome movie series "The Hunger Games" was also snapped up by Guan Ling.
But they will always develop.
Guan Ling does not think that the lack of a few scripts can hinder the development of Lionsgate Pictures, and the company's luck has always been good.
After establishing a foothold in the series in the previous life, the company successively released mainstream films such as "Hotel Rwanda", "Requiem for a Dream", "Crash", "Wonder Boy", etc., among which "Crash" was more It was the best film that won the 78th Oscar in one fell swoop, and its box office revenue was also very impressive.
Building strength from B-movies, solidifying its position through series, and occasionally making a splash with a mainstream film, Lionsgate has been taking its time along the way, and has become a major player in Hollywood. Outstanding.
Among the directors who make B-level movies, there is only one Martin Scorsese. How many companies that started by making B-level movies still struggle in the myth and mud of B-level movies. Lionsgate Guan Ling cannot deny the company's ability to escape from this situation and move towards the future.
To be able to make waves among so many companies in Hollywood, Frank is definitely a strong opponent.
Guan Ling is not afraid of playing movies. When it comes to business, Guan Ling believes that cooperation is better than competition, and he himself will definitely focus on cultivating the Chinese market in the future.
In North America, the six major players are unshakable. If Guan Ling, a foreigner, wants to develop, it is reasonable to find a Canadian foreigner to cooperate with him.
Because even Lions Gate can’t shake the Six Greats.
But Guan Ling knew very well that the other party must also want to be one of them.
In previous lives, this is what they did.
(End of this chapter)