Chapter 229: Overseas distribution channels

Seek starting point subscription, monthly pass, collection, recommendation ticket, book addition list

Sofia Coppola's departure did not affect the filming of the crew.

By the end of August, most of the shots of the crew had almost been shot, and the post-production stage began.

Since the special effects production of the film was contracted to Weta Studios, the main creators of the crew stayed in Wellington and did not return to Los Angeles immediately.

During this period, Peter Jackson would come over every three or two days to discuss with Ryan about adapting the plot of The Lord of the Rings.

In general, it is similar to the previous "Lord of the Rings" trilogy, which are The Fellowship of the Ring, The Two Towers, and The Return of the King.

Even if the three films are shot together, a lot of money can be saved, it still needs about 300 million US dollars.

Ryan had to choose the method of financing for filming. Given the friendly cooperation with the Prince of Brunei, financing should not be a big problem.

As for the Brunei royal family's plan to acquire a major Hollywood film company, it was rejected by MGM.

Some members of Congress even publicly stated that Hollywood has lost Columbia Pictures, and it is impossible to lose a major film company again.

Japan is the **** younger brother of the United States, so Sony was able to acquire Columbia Pictures, while Brunei is the younger brother of the United Kingdom. It is normal that they cannot acquire MGM.

In the previous life, Wanda wanted to acquire Paramount, but was rejected in the end.

Unless the acquiring company comes from a NATO ally or a hard-core younger brother of the United States, it is almost impossible to acquire a major Hollywood film company.

Back to business.

Orion Films initially contacted the New Zealand government. Faced with a project with an investment of 300 million US dollars, the New Zealand government directly offered the most favorable policy, and even agreed to send troops to cooperate with the film crew for free.

The only problem still lies with MGM.

MGM has always refused to sell the distribution rights of "Lord of the Rings", even if Orion Pictures was willing to take the TV adaptation rights of "Lord of the Rings" in exchange, MGM still did not agree.

As for the future distribution of the three films to MGM!

Ryan didn't dare to take this risk. First, he didn't believe in MGM's global distribution capabilities, and second, he was afraid that MGM would play tricks on it, so he deliberately charged a sky-high distribution fee.

In desperation, the shooting plan of "Lord of the Rings" can only be postponed.

At the same time, "A Basket of Little Ghosts" began to be released in early September.

The box office is not that high. It is estimated that the film will be sold in North America, and the box office should be around several million to ten million US dollars. Orion Pictures can make a small profit.

Instead of returning to Los Angeles for the film's premiere, Ryan spent the day at Weta Studios, working on Mr. and Mrs. Smith's post-production.

To be honest, the technical level of special effects production of Weta Studio is far worse than that of the digital field. The only advantage is that the price is cheap.

Ryan can only ask people to modify it over and over again until he is satisfied.

In this regard, the employees of Weta Studio have no complaints. It is a necessary process to break into Hollywood.

During the period, Ryan went to France to discuss the acquisition of Golden Harvest.

The acquisition of Golden Harvest was not very smooth. The major shareholder of the company has always disagreed with the sale of shares and encountered many obstacles.

It was not until late October that there was a change, and international speculators gradually moved to Xiangjiang.

In just a few days, the Hong Kong Hang Seng Index fell 1211.47 points; on the 28th, it fell 1621.80 points, falling below the 9000-point mark.

With the advent of the financial crisis, all shareholders of Golden Harvest agreed to sell their shares one after another. Even the major shareholder of the company chose to sell all of Golden Harvest's shares in the face of the financial crisis.

The only requirement is that all cash must be paid at one time, and the best foreign exchange such as US dollar and British pound.

Ever since, the two parties quickly reached an acquisition agreement, and the obstacles they encountered disappeared in an instant.

Golden Harvest was acquired by a wave of foreign funds, and it didn't cause much fluctuation. It can be said that no one cared at all.

Right now, the Hong Kong media and the public are most concerned about international speculators, the stock market, and the countermeasures introduced by the Hong Kong government.

In contrast, Golden Harvest's acquisition is only a trivial matter.

As soon as the acquisition was completed, Golden Harvest sent people to the UK, intending to buy the distribution department of Polygram Films.

In an apartment in New Zealand, Ryan, Helen, and Sophia were sitting together.

"Many Hollywood film companies have North American distribution channels, but overseas distribution channels have always been controlled by the seven major film companies."

"However, Polygram Films is doing the exact opposite."

Helen stared at the information in her hand, and continued: "Polygram Film Company was first established in 1993, and it is just an ordinary British film company."

"But thanks to PolyGram's position in the global record distribution system, a distribution channel has been established in just a few years, including countries such as Europe, Australia, Southeast Asia, and Latin America."

"Among them, North American distribution channels are very weak, and they are often distributed in cooperation with other film companies, even worse than Orion Films."

"It can be said that the only thing this film company lacks is a North American distribution channel."

Speaking of which, Helen raised her head and glanced at Ryan, "Once Orion Pictures acquires the distribution department of Polygram Films, it is almost equivalent to using a relatively complete global distribution price channel."

"The only problem is that no one knows how perfect the overseas distribution channels of Polygram Films are!"

Except for the high-level executives of Polygram Films, it is difficult for outsiders to find out the specific data.

Ryan nodded, the specific data is indeed very critical.

Of course, the scale of distribution channels of Polygram Film Company in front of him is already much larger than he imagined.

"It can be seen from the release of "Psychological Games" that almost all of PolyGram's North American distribution channels rely on Hollywood film companies."

"As for other areas, we can wait until the future to gradually improve."

"In addition, Golden Harvest also has a complete distribution channel in Southeast Asia. The only thing that lacks Polygram Films is that Orion Films can establish a global distribution channel." Ryan smiled.

At its peak, Golden Harvest's distribution channels should not be underestimated, and they could even sell movies to Europe and North America.

Of course, it can only be sold in the past, not to mention any distribution channels, and with Xiangjiang's glorious past, Golden Harvest is no longer at its peak.

Right now, Golden Harvest's distribution channels, except for Southeast Asia, can only be said to be dispensable in other regions.

"The premise is that you can get it smoothly." Sofia Coppola reminded.

"That's right." Ryan became serious, and said, "In addition to the normal acquisition channels, let the people from Golden Harvest try to get in touch with the directors of the distribution department of Polygram Film Company."

"If it doesn't work, you can recruit the entire publishing team."

This is a last resort, and Orion Pictures needs to pay a sky-high liquidated damages for the entire distribution team.

This is not a small amount.

"It's hard. Golden Harvest is only a Xiangjiang film company, and it's not very attractive." Sofia Coppola shook her head, "Unless you contact it as Orion Films."

A Xiangjiang film company, even if they switch jobs, they probably won't have any future at all.

Orion Films is different. Two films in a row have sold well all over the world. "Terminator 3" has a global box office of more than 700 million US dollars, and "The Sixth Sense" has a global box office of more than 600 million US dollars. It just lacks overseas distribution channels.

Once the job-hopping is over, Orion Films will have overseas distribution channels, and immediately become another film company that can distribute films globally besides the seven major Hollywood film companies.

The development prospects are comparable to Yuanfei Golden Harvest.

The attractiveness of the two is simply worlds apart.

A smile appeared on Sofia Coppola's face, "The news from Golden Harvest just came."

"Philips, Siemens and PolyGram did not directly refuse the acquisition invitation issued by Golden Harvest, and even planned to sell at a high price. They just needed to negotiate with Seagram Group."

"Don't let your guard down." Ryan glanced at her and said, "We're not the only ones in Hollywood who are interested in establishing overseas distribution channels, like DreamWorks and Frank Gusta."

Frank Gusta is a Canadian banker and founder of Lionsgate.

Compared with DreamWorks, Ryan is more wary of Lionsgate, which has not yet changed its name. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com Frank Gusta is a rich owner. He spent a total of 100 million US dollars to buy North American distribution channels in his previous life, which shows that The funds are very sufficient.

In contrast, DreamWorks seems to be very powerful, but in terms of funds, it is far from comparable to Lionsgate.

Of course, Orion Pictures does not lack funds either.

Even if Ryan put all the funds in his account into the stock market some time ago, Orion Pictures still has sufficient funds.

With the global box office success of "The Sixth Sense", the funds in the account of Orion Films have been filled again.

It is precisely because there is no shortage of funds that Ryan dares to plan to establish overseas distribution channels.

A few days ago, Swift bought 5% of Amazon's shares from a small investment institution. Counting the previously acquired shares, Ryan owns 8% of Amazon's shares.

Even if the fate of Orion Films is the same as that of Dreamworks in his previous life, he can still live a luxurious life.