Huayu: Director started with art films

Chapter 319: 330 [One company is better than two companies, Marvel is on the verge of bankruptcy]

"Acquiring Castle Rock?"

Hisao Morishima was surprised and said, "The company's current situation is not very good. They have owed a lot of foreign debts in order to make The Shawshank Redemption."

"The Shawshank Redemption is a good movie, but it was born at the wrong time."

Li Yishu shook her head slightly and said, "This movie itself is not suitable for watching on the big screen. It is only suitable for watching it at home by turning on the TV and playing the videotape."

"The Shawshank Redemption" later topped the major movie rating lists for a long time, and its Douban score was as high as 9.7 points, which was much higher than "The Godfather" and "Farewell My Concubine".

Regardless of whether there is any trick or not, the movie is definitely a good movie, otherwise a bad movie would not be able to get a score of 9.

"That's true. I thought this movie was so good that I wanted to schedule more screenings. Unfortunately..."

Speaking of this matter, Hisao Morishima was filled with anger.

He thought the film was so well made that he used the power of Columbia Pictures' distribution department to schedule a high number of screenings, but unfortunately it was a failure.

Seeing Morishima Hisao's disappointed look, Li Yishu smiled without commenting. Everything is about the times, especially calligraphy and paintings, antiques, movies, and music that can be classified as art.

Today, "The Shawshank Redemption" is just like "A Chinese Odyssey" being directed by Zhou Xingchi, both of which are pearls left in the ocean in the tide of the times.

But gold will always shine and emit heat. No one would have thought that despite its current lukewarm reception, such an unpopular movie would eventually become a classic in just a few years.

"Stop talking about this."

Hisao Morishima waved his hands and said, "Castle Rock is in debt, and their boss does plan to sell the company to pay off the debt. I heard that Turner Broadcasting, run by American media tycoon Ted Turner, is interested in buying it, but they have a disagreement on the price. If you really want to acquire it, I will contact them in the name of Columbia Pictures..."

Hearing this, Li Yishu frowned and shook his head, saying, "It's better to have one company competing than two. I want to acquire Castle Rock because I like The Shawshank Redemption. President Morishima might as well help me make some arrangements on this."

It's not like he has money to spend. He wants to buy Castle Rock Pictures purely for "The Shawshank Redemption". If someone wants to acquire this company, Li Yishu will naturally not be so stupid as to give the owner of Castle Rock the opportunity to raise the price.

So it would be better to let Hisao Morishima contact the media tycoon Ted Turner and try to reach an agreement with him to buy all the copyrights of the film in advance.

"no problem!"

Hisao Morishima agreed immediately, "I like this movie very much. Since Mr. Li only wants to buy all the copyrights of this movie, I will contact him later and I will also try to lower the price. Ted Turner wants to enter the film industry, so he plans to acquire Castle Rock, a film company with more than 20 years of history. If I spread the word that I want to acquire it, he will definitely come to me."

"Then I'll trouble you, President Morishima." Li Yishu raised the coffee cup to express her gratitude.

"You're welcome, Mr. Li. You helped me in the past, so I would like to help you more now that I still have some ability."

Morishima Hisao said this, gritted his teeth, and said hesitantly: "Mr. Li, I want to ask you for help with something."

coming!

Li Yishu knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch, but she didn't refuse. The other person had just agreed to help her, and she might be able to save one or two million dollars.

"President Morishima, please don't hesitate to speak. We are old friends. As long as I can help, I will definitely not hesitate to help."

"This... is actually related to Li Jun's Pioneer Electronics. I want to participate in Sony's DVD project..."

Hisao Morishima hesitated for a few seconds and began to explain the real purpose of his trip.

Sony Group made its fortune in the past by producing electronic products. Although it later started to engage in other industries, electronics are the foundation of Sony. Not only has it not abandoned this business over the years, but it has increased its investment in this area.

Hisao Morishima used to work for Sony Group. Later, through his connections, he was transferred to the United States to serve as the president of Columbia Pictures, becoming a high-ranking official. Logically speaking, if he does a good job, he will at least start as the vice president of the group when he returns to the parent company in the future.

But unfortunately he did a very bad job.

Although it is not entirely a problem of Hisao Morishima's personal ability, one should not interfere in the affairs of the government if he is not in office. If he is in office, he should create value. If Hisao Morishima is unable to create value, he will probably not have his previous status and position even if he returns to the Sony Group of Japan.

On the contrary, they may be marginalized.

In other words, Japan still retains the lifetime employee system, otherwise Hisao Morishima might have to take the blame and leave the Sony Group.

So, after knowing that there would be no good job if he returned to Japan, Hisao Morishima kept looking for connections, but he couldn't find a good solution. Finally, he remembered that Sony Group was stepping up the development of DVD.

Hisao Morishima knew about this project because the parent company also required Columbia Pictures' film library, and all VCDs and DVDs produced in the future must be consistent with the parent company's standards.

At the same time, Sony Group also plans to wait until the end of the year to join forces with Li Yishu's Pioneer Electronics and several major Japanese electronics giants to jointly formulate DVD industry standards, including disc manufacturing specifications, and then use this to negotiate with the six major Hollywood film companies.

Once the Big Six are dealt with, the film companies in other countries around the world will naturally be defeated, and there will not be a second "standard".

After hearing what the other party said, Li Yishu was surprised and asked, "President Morishima wants to take over the Sony DVD project?"

"Yes, Mr. Li." Hisao Morishima nodded. "I have worked at Sony for many years and have some experience with electronic products. In addition, DVD and VCD are essentially related to the film and television industry. I think I can do it."

"I'm afraid I can't do anything about this..."

Before Li Yishu could say no, he heard Hisao Morishima say, "Mr. Li, I know this is difficult for you, but it's actually not as difficult as you think. Now you are the industry standard setter and an international director. This will play a huge role in the future promotion of DVDs around the world..."

The biggest competitor of today's VCD, including the DVD in the future, is not its peers, but the VCR manufacturers.

VCRs have been developed all over the world for more than 20 years, and videotapes have become a product familiar to the public. Suddenly, a VCD of the same type appeared. Even though its resolution and picture quality were better, it was not as good as the future when Apple emerged and changed the technological revolution in the mobile phone industry.

There is a lot of blah blah blah, and what Hisao Morishima wanted to express is that although Li Yishu has no way to decide his specific affiliation, he can let Manager Huo from Pioneer Electric Company mention him inadvertently.

As for job arrangements, Hisao Morishima himself has worked at Sony for 20 to 30 years, so he naturally has the corresponding network of contacts.

Hearing this, Li Yishu narrowed his eyes slightly. If it was just a brief mention, it would not be a problem. Besides, Morishima Hisao was an old acquaintance of him. If it could really succeed, even if he was just a deputy in the Sony Group for this project, they would be able to establish a relationship at some point in the future.

"can!"

After thinking this through, Li Yishu nodded and agreed: "I will tell the company, but I can't guarantee that it will succeed." "It's okay, Li Jun, I feel relieved when you say this."

Hisao Morishima looked overjoyed, and suddenly remembered something, and said with a smile: "Mr. Li, I heard from Thomas that your company has been producing a lot of movies recently? Do you need to sign a distribution contract with Columbia Pictures now?"

"Is this okay?"

Li Yishu's heart was instantly moved. He understood what the other party meant. It was nothing more than taking advantage of the fact that he was still the president of Columbia Pictures to sign a very low distribution fee contract with Li Yishu in advance.

Hisao Morishima smiled and said, "Of course, no problem. Everyone knows that the movies produced by Li Jun's company are all excellent. Final Destination sold over 1 million US dollars worldwide. It is one of the few good movies that our Columbia Pictures has successfully distributed this year."

The tail is too big to fall off!
Big groups have so many problems.

Even the president, Hisao Morishima, began to sell out the interests of Columbia Pictures. It is no wonder that this Hollywood Big Six company has been in a state of long-term losses for ten years after the acquisition by Sony Group.

It was not until later that Sony Group learned from its mistakes and completely merged Columbia into Sony Entertainment. Only then did it begin to grow and develop step by step, and then it completely rose to prominence with "Spider-Man".

Thinking of this, Li Yishu touched his chin and felt that he might be able to ask Marvel to buy a few heroes that would become famous in the future, such as Spider-Man, X-Men, Iron Man, etc.

As for acquiring Marvel?

Li Yishu was interested in this, but he remembered that Marvel seemed to have gone bankrupt once in the late 1990s.

I'm not sure exactly when it will be, I'll find out when I get back and ask someone.

Hisao Morishima was quick and arranged for someone to go to the Arts Entertainment Group the next day to negotiate with Amy about the overseas distribution contract for the films, including those that had been completed and those that were currently being produced and filmed.

The distribution fees charged by Columbia Pictures are arguably the lowest in the industry, and it also promises that its overseas theaters and screens will be of the highest quality.

As for The Shawshank Redemption, Hisao Morishima immediately contacted media tycoon Ted Turner. It is not known what agreement was reached with the other party, but Li Yishu got a contract. After acquiring Castle Rock Pictures, Ted Turner would sell all the copyrights of The Shawshank Redemption, including overseas regions, for US$1000 million.

The price of 1000 million US dollars is high, but not high either. After all, the production cost of a movie is as high as 2500 million US dollars.

Although it has been released in North America, there is still the overseas box office market, and the video tapes that generate the most profit from movie-related products have not yet been released.

Overall, this price is still acceptable to Li Yishu.

1000 million US dollars is not a lot. At worst, I can arrange for someone to go with Li An to the Berlin Film Festival next year and sell the overseas screening rights of "The Shawshank Redemption" at the same time.

As for the video tape copyright, he will not sell it. It is said that the video tape of this movie sells very well.

Li Yishu doesn't know whether it is true or not, but she is sure that it is not groundless. After all, the quality of the movie is there, and the film is indeed very suitable for watching at home.

Beverly Hills.

"Boss, Marvel said they have sold the rights to X-Men to 20th Century Fox."

Amy on the other end of the phone said, "But they said there are other characters, Spider-Man, Iron Man, Hulk, Fantastic Four, etc. If you are interested, they can sell you the entire Avengers for only $2000 million!"

$2000?
So cheap!

If this happened 20 years later, people would be scrambling to buy it even if it was $20 billion.

Li Yishu shook her head: "I don't need so many, I just want Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four."

Although 2000 million is a very cheap price, Li Yishu is not stupid enough to buy the entire Avengers at once. Buying it now would be a sheer waste of money.

Because according to the conditions given by Marvel, the film and television copyright of a hero must be adapted into a film or TV series within 5 years, otherwise they can take back the film and television copyright of the hero free of charge.

The era of Iron Man has not yet arrived, but Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four can!
Both have successful films as references. What Li Yishu needs to do now is to get the copyright first, and then arrange people to start the film adaptation of Spider-Man and Fantastic Four in two years.

By that time, his distribution network in North America should be almost complete. It may be a little lacking overseas, but he can find more international distribution companies to cooperate with.

"Okay, boss. I'll tell Marvel."

"Oh, by the way, during the negotiations, have someone pay attention to Marvel's situation. I heard that they are under great financial pressure and are on the verge of bankruptcy."

After chatting with Amy for a few more sentences, Li Yishu hung up the phone, got up and walked out of the study, stood at the fence on the second floor, and looked at the living room downstairs, where his mother Zhao Xue and Qingxia and others were playing with the child around the cradle. He also walked down with a smile on his face.

I'm going to Japan to film "Fireworks" soon, and I'd like to spend more time with my eldest son.

The next time we meet will probably be in December.

"Jingle Bell……"

Just then, Li Yishu's cell phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and answered it. It was Amy calling again.

"I'm sorry, boss. I just received a fax from Yongmei saying that someone named Ma Yun had some problems in the United States and wanted to ask for your help..."

"Ma Yun?"

Li Yishu was very surprised, but still asked, "What's going on?"

Amy on the other end of the phone said in a strange voice: "Yongmei said that Ma Yun was under house arrest. She finally got away and is now in Seattle."

House arrest? ! !

Li Yishu was confused, but no matter what, she had to get Ma Yun back first.

He thought for a moment and said, "Arrange someone to go to Seattle, bring more people, see what the situation is, and make sure to bring the people back to Los Angeles safely."

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)