America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM...

Chapter 69, Section 70: A Conception of the Initial Form of the Industrial Chain

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

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

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

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

First, there's the issue of Transformers. Spielberg helplessly stated that DreamWorks had also contacted Hasbro, but the price he could afford was clearly not enough to satisfy them.

Now that the Transformers copyright belongs to MGM, Spielberg hopes DreamWorks can get involved.

However, Eric politely declined the request, explaining that the project had already started and MGM would have been very happy if DreamWorks had made the request earlier.

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

Everyone in Hollywood knows that when Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and David Geffen founded DreamWorks, their real goal was to challenge the Big Seven Hollywood studios, although MGM was far too weak among them.

But Spielberg wanted to establish a new Wo Shing syndicate, which was clearly not in the interests of the seven major parties. This pie had existed for over a century and could no longer be divided up.

So while there was still cooperation, conflicts were inevitable. DreamWorks did thrive for a short time, but its shortcomings were exposed over time, namely its distribution capabilities.

Even with the support of Spielberg and two other big names, DreamWorks can only distribute films in North America at most. Distribution worldwide remains limited, and this part of the business must be handed over to the Big Seven studios, unless they are willing to forgo profits, otherwise many films will not recoup their costs.

As a result, over time, DreamWorks ended up working for the Big Seven.

Want to start their own faction?

Let's set up a shovel!

Eric and Spielberg were discussing cooperation. MGM is like a weak martial arts master now, lacking internal strength but still able to use its moves.

DreamWorks, on the other hand, has plenty of internal strength, but it can't unleash it without the right moves.

One is on the verge of being kicked out of the top seven, while the other is desperately trying to become a new giant. If the two complement each other, it would obviously be of great benefit to both sides.

Eric valued DreamWorks most for its animation production capabilities, although they were slightly weaker than Pixar's.

Even though Pixar hasn't been acquired by Disney, it's practically a subsidiary of Disney.

In Hollywood, Disney remains the most powerful, and no one can challenge its position or take Pixar away from Mickey Mouse.

But Eric had always harbored grand plans for animated films, such as "Kung Fu Panda," "Frozen," and "Zootopia," each of which was a super-profitable IP.

The Frozen series, in particular, generated over $20 billion in direct profits from the two films, and subsequent merchandise sales reached tens of billions, resulting in a net profit of over $60 billion – an astonishing figure.

In addition, there's Marvel, which they absolutely have to acquire. After the acquisition, they'll definitely need to produce big movies, and relying on MGM's outdated animation department is clearly not enough.

In the entire Hollywood, only Pixar and DreamWorks could take on this task, so Eric's attention naturally fell on the latter.

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

He also proposed his first collaboration, which was "Frozen".

The two sides are currently in a secret contact phase. Although Spielberg is somewhat interested, he still needs to communicate with his two partners.

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

Once this collaboration is finalized, the Frozen project will be launched immediately.

If all goes well, Eric estimates that production can begin before this summer, but the completion date is uncertain; it could take two or even three years.

As for the legendary seven years like in the original timeline, that's pure nonsense. If you include the time spent polishing the script and negotiating in the early stages, some movies could be said to have taken more than ten years.

When Frozen was released, Eric wasn't sure if it would gross over a billion dollars like it would in later years, but even if it did, the difference shouldn't be too great.

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 newest and strongest.

Perhaps viewers a decade or two from now will find its visuals lacking, but that won't matter anymore, because it has already made enough money.

For "Frozen", box office revenue is not the main focus; the real profit comes from merchandise.

By that time, MGM will most likely have gained a certain degree of influence over Hasbro, allowing it to use Hasbro to sell toys and leverage these intellectual property rights to gain even greater influence.

But like DreamWorks, Hasbro also has a clear weakness: it excels at making toys, but is not good at making clothes, stationery, books, accessories, etc.

It's not that it can't be made, but the quality and sales volume are far inferior to toys and figurines.

However, the core sales points of Frozen merchandise are precisely clothing, stationery, and audio-visual products. For example, the sales of the two princesses' clothes alone have exceeded $20 billion.

The profits in this area are enormous, 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 had been pondering this issue, but when the Olsen sisters appeared, he suddenly realized that Twin Star Entertainment could fill the gap perfectly.

Although DoubleStar Entertainment is not large in scale, with a total value of only six or seven hundred million US dollars, it is the kind of small but complete company.

This is also thanks to the fact that the two sisters were child stars, and they mainly sell children's products, including clothes, accessories, stationery and more.

Over the past decade or so, they have built their own processing plant and a complete sales network, not only in North America but also in Europe.

So when Eric was thinking about the value of the two sisters, he suddenly realized that Twin Star Entertainment was exactly the part he needed.

By integrating these resources, with MGM handling IP creation and distribution, DreamWorks producing the films, and Hasbro and DoubleStar Entertainment handling a significant portion of merchandise sales, a rudimentary industry chain will be formed.

Now that Hasbro has secured the deal, negotiating with DreamWorks shouldn't be too difficult.

The only ones left are the Olsen sisters who suddenly appeared, and Eric needs to hook both of them.

"Company shares!"

The Olsen sisters' expressions changed; this was their lifeline, regardless of whether they had one or not.

"Yes, but it's not free. I'm not the kind of person who likes to get things for free. I'll buy it at the market price."

"Think about it, if MGM takes a stake in DoubleStar Entertainment, it means we're all in the same boat, and the Cooper family will be deeply intertwined with the Olsen family."

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

"Blue Is the Warmest Color is just the first step. There is another big-budget production with an investment of over $2 million, also featuring two female leads, which is expected to start production before this summer."

"In addition, MGM is also planning to invest in a wedding-themed movie, also with two female leads, which is perfect for you. Last year, 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' was a global hit, you must know about it."

The Olsen sisters kept scattering bait, making them incredibly eager to catch fish.

"Eric, what you said makes sense, but it's all too sudden and hard to accept right now. We need to think about it carefully."

You can't rush things; if you want the best tofu, you need patience.

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

boom! boom! boom!

Upon hearing the word "Oscar," the two sisters' hearts pounded again.

(End of this chapter)