Chapter 3131 Local Protection

That night, the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel was even grander than the Golden Globe Awards ceremony.

Hollywood celebrities were all present.

But the theme of this dinner is that Hollywood should unite to seek justice for actresses who are frequently attacked by hackers. This is a charity dinner that will collect donations. The money will be used to provide justice for female stars whose reputation has been violated, and at the same time, they will also be given some mental compensation.

This is what Zhou Buqi called for.

The atmosphere is a bit serious.

Because many producers, screenwriters, directors, and actors have received notices, asking them not to take sides recklessly and to protect everyone's common interests. Zhou Buqi's behavior goes beyond the union and the major film companies, and will seriously damage the unity of Hollywood.

People in the industry have already seen it.

Where is justice here?

It is clearly a battle for the right to speak.

In this industry, who has the final say?

In the past few years, Ziweixing Universal has indeed achieved amazing results in the film market, accounting for half of the country. However, the film and television industry not only includes movies, but also TV programs. In this regard, Ziweixing Global is much weaker.

Now Disney, Warner, Sony Entertainment, Paramount and other giants are standing together, and their power is obviously stronger than Ziweixing Universal.

This caused many people in the industry who wanted to take a stand to fall silent.

I don’t want to get involved too much, lest the city gate catches fire and the pond fish is affected.

It’s okay not to come.

If you don't come, it will be disrespectful to Boss Zhou. Many people have made up their minds and can come and donate, but they will not take a stand or take sides, and just sit back and watch the Hollywood big shots compete for the biggest say in the industry.

Because it is a donation, the more people there are, the more influential it is.

Zhou Buqi also invited many friends outside Hollywood to participate, such as Samsung’s Lee Jae-yong, Tesla’s Musk, Google’s Larry Page, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, retired Ballmer, and Alibaba’s Boss Ma, Sohu’s Boss Zhang, etc.

Zhang Chaoyang liked this kind of occasion very much and went with him. It was difficult to understand this, "What are you fighting over with these people in Hollywood?"

Zhou Buqi said: "You have the right to speak!"

"What right to speak?" Zhang Chaoyang felt that this concept was too abstract. "There are so many companies in Hollywood, can other companies listen to you?"

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "That's definitely not possible. The so-called 'right to speak'... is actually a consensus in the industry."

"consensus?"

"That's who's running Hollywood."

"This is a bit unrealistic." Lao Zhang shook his head, still thinking it was unreliable, "Just like Warner, can people still listen to you? Even if you win this time, can Warner still accept your leadership? Isn't that right? What nonsense!”

Zhou Buqi said: "They don't need to accept it subjectively."

Zhang Chaoyang raised his eyebrows, "What do you mean?"

Zhou Buqi said: "The market will force them to move closer to me."

"Is it just profit distribution?"

Zhang Chaoyang still felt that this lacked logic.

"This really can't be explained clearly in one or two sentences. For example..." Zhou Buqi thought for a moment, "Actually, the most important thing is to break the traditional ideas of many people in Hollywood and win their approval. Nowadays, Hollywood They think that I am an outsider in Silicon Valley who works in Hollywood to make money. They all treat me as an outsider and a guest. If I win this time and lead Hollywood to stand up, many people in the industry will naturally think that I am a member of Hollywood. Will have full trust in me.”

Zhang Chaoyang understood somewhat, "It's just that many people in the industry don't trust you very much now. You have to strive for the recognition of the industry."

Zhou Buqi said: "Yes, I have industry recognition, Ziweixing Global will naturally also have industry recognition."

"What's the significance of this recognition?"

Zhang Chaoyang felt that as boss Zhou, he did not need the approval of others at all.

Zhou Buqi said: "This is of great significance. It is related to whether my streaming media platform Peacock can grow rapidly!"

"How to say?"

"The film and television industry in the United States is basically separated from production and broadcasting. Broadcasters will also produce content, but the amount is too small. Most of them are movies and TV series from external production companies. Just like Ziweixing Global, several of its A distribution company releases a total of 150 films a year, half of which go to theaters and half of which go directly to the DVD market. Of these 150 films, only 50 are produced by Ziweixing Universal's production companies. It’s all for distribution for other film and television companies.”

"Distribution rights!"

Zhang Chaoyang is working on Sohu Video, which is also a streaming media platform and the core business of Sohu at this stage. For this reason, he hired a deputy director of Phoenix TV to serve as the chief operating officer.

He certainly understands the importance of distribution.

For the streaming media industry, it doesn’t matter who produces the film and television content. What matters is who has the distribution rights of the film and television content and who is willing to distribute the film and television content to their own streaming media platforms.

The domestic film industry is immature, and the DVD, video tape and on-demand markets are completely non-existent.

The TV stations are all government-run, so it is difficult to get much rebroadcasting fees from the TV stations.

If movies want to make money, the only way out is to distribute them to streaming media platforms on the Internet.

Hollywood is different.

Over the past hundred years, there has been a complete set of distribution systems. Film and television works will have many distribution channels to earn income... Even if the quality of a movie is not up to standard and cannot be released in cinemas, it can still be released on DVD Distribute it in the market, or sell it to local TV stations or on-demand channels, and you can still make money back.

Hollywood’s current distribution system is so complete, why should films be distributed to streaming media?

After going to the Hilton Hotel, Zhou Buqi was not in a hurry to go upstairs and drank coffee with Lao Zhang downstairs.

Wait for someone first.

Zhou Buqi said: "The dilemma of Netflix must be resolved, otherwise it will affect Peacock and seriously restrict Peacock's development. I have made requirements for the company. Peacock must be global within three years." 100 million member users, with annual revenue exceeding US$10 billion.”

Zhang Chaoyang twitched his lips.

His Sohu video has been in business for seven or eight years, but now he doesn’t even have 1 million paying members.

"Why is Netflix in trouble?" Zhang Chaoyang is not very familiar with the current situation of streaming media in the United States. It can be said to be very different from that in China. "Isn't Netflix doing very well? The stock price keeps rising and it becomes a monster. I heard that the number of paid members exceeds 70 million?”

Zhou Buqi said: "The success of Netflix is ​​mainly due to two points. One is my support. I have exclusively licensed many high-quality content from Ziweixing Global to Netflix. The second is Netflix's self-made drama strategy Very successful. Without these two points, Netflix would not be able to do it. The existing distribution system in Hollywood will greatly suppress Netflix.”

"Why is it suppressed? Isn't the distribution of film and television content based on a bidding model?"

"Wouldn't it be easier if there was a bidding model? In fact, even if Netflix offers more money, many high-quality film and television contents are not willing to be distributed directly on Netflix."

"Ah?" Zhang Chaoyang was shocked, "Why? What kind of factors are interfering with fair competition in the market?"

Zhou Buqi said: "Hollywood's power system is what I want to solve this time."

After all, Zhang Chaoyang is an outsider, so it is still difficult for him to understand, "Please make it clear, this is really unexpected."

Zhou Buqi smiled and said: "Actually, it's simple. It's nothing more than local protection of the power structure under monopoly. Hollywood seems to be market competition, but in fact, the major giants have already had a tacit understanding of monopoly. For example, if you As an independent filmmaker, you have made a movie and you want to distribute it in the United States. Who do you want to give the distribution rights to? "

Zhang Chaoyang said: "Can't I give it to Naifei?"

Zhou Buqi glanced at him and said, "If your movie is so bad that the current powerful people in Hollywood don't like it, then you are very lucky. If they like it and you distribute it to Netflix, then you The future in Hollywood is basically blocked. Distribution rights are profits. When you come to Hollywood, you have to give the profits to Hollywood instead of giving them directly to Netflix. "

"It's blocked..."

After saying this, Zhang Chaoyang understood that there were many similar things in the country. Not to mention many small directors and actors, even big directors and actors will be banned if they say they are banned. For example, in some TV series, if a certain actor is used, the TV series will not be able to be sold to the TV station that banned him in the future, and he will have to contact other TV stations.

Zhou Buqi said: "Being banned is not enough. If you are really talented and can really make a lot of money, many people will come to you in the future. But your future development in Hollywood will be restricted in every way, especially you. It’s even more troublesome if you’re not a member of the Big Six in Hollywood and you belong to the independent film industry. It’s not easy to make money in this industry. If you finally come up with a profitable project, you don’t want to share it with your peers in the independent film industry. After joining Netflix, do you still want to work in Hollywood?”

Zhang Chaoyang said: "If I make a movie in the future, will there be rejection from directors, producers, actors, etc.?"

"That's for sure. Hollywood is a union system. 99% of actors, directors, producers, etc. are in unions, and they have a lot of unity. Unless you use some actors, screenwriters, staff, etc. who are not unionized , otherwise you will be constrained everywhere when filming in Hollywood, and any animal protection association can jump out and stop you from filming. In fact, it is the local protection of Hollywood."

What Zhou Buqi opposes most is various "local protection" policies.

This is seriously damaging to the market economy.

The Internet is a very effective innovative tool that breaks through various existing systems.

Internet + film and television is streaming media!

Zhang Chaoyang understood now, "So this time you are going to challenge the entire Hollywood. As long as you win, you will tell the entire Hollywood industry that you have the ability to challenge the existing system. The streaming media platform you launched can Change the existing distribution system! Let independent film and television producers feel free to cooperate with your streaming platform without fear of retaliation.”