Hollywood Hunter

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Today is Friday, June 24th.

Just yesterday, after a new round of voting, the Writers Guild of America once again rejected the new contract proposed by the Film and Television Producers Union, which means that the three-and-a-half-month Hollywood writers' strike will continue.

The Film and Television Producers Alliance represents more than 350 film and television entertainment production and distribution companies in the United States with the seven major Hollywood studios and four major broadcast networks at the core, but it cannot represent all of them. Business was unsustainable due to a prolonged strike.

Since last month, many second- and third-tier small production companies have chosen to sign contracts with the Screenwriters Guild in advance, including some defected members of the Producers Union.

The strike has been carried out until now, and a lose-lose situation has been completely formed.

Many people have a hunch that the Producers Union will start a "fall settlement" for those compromised production companies, and Simon remembers the actual progress of the matter. However, standing at the door of an audition room at the headquarters of Daenerys Pictures, Simon couldn't help but smile when he heard the news that Amy suddenly told him, and asked tentatively, "The Producers Union announced in the announcement. No mention of Who Will Be a Millionaire?"

Simon has neither joined the Writers Guild, nor has Daenerys Pictures joined the Producers Union for the time being. During this entire strike process, Simon originally just wanted to sit on the sidelines. However, a popular reality show like "Who Will Be a Millionaire" that does not require the participation of screenwriters is destined to be difficult for Daenerys Pictures to stay out of it.

Feeling Simon's hopeful gaze, Amy shook her head regretfully, also smiled bitterly, and said, "I mentioned it."

The three of Jonathan Friedman listened to a few conversations between Simon and Amy, and roughly understood what was going on, and they all took the initiative to avoid it.

Simon returned to the audition table and sat down, frowning in thought.

Before the strike, several of Simon's scripts last year had been completely ignored by the WGA because of refusing to join the Writers Guild, so it's not really a big deal in awards season.

But now, the 'war' between the Screenwriters Guild and the Producers Alliance has reached a fever pitch. Daenerys Pictures has come up with a hit show like "Who Will Be a Millionaire" that can completely shake off screenwriters. The Producers Union has a 'nuclear weapon' that is enough to decide the outcome of the war.

Moreover, the 'nuclear weapons' in the preparation of Daenerys Pictures is not only this one.

The Screenwriters Guild rejected the Producers Union's contract again yesterday. "Who Will Be a Millionaire" just achieved an excellent result of 17.3 million viewers last night. Will Become a Millionaire" was brought out, and the counterattack was fierce.

It is not hard to imagine that in the ensuing stalemate and negotiation, the Screenwriters Guild, which is already at the end of the game, will definitely not have any advantage.

Daenerys Pictures completely offended the Screenwriters Guild.

The relationship between the Writers Guild and the production company is still basically the relationship between the employee and the boss. The Producers Union can block those production companies that sign contracts with WGA in advance. If the Writers Guild has no definite reason, it is impossible to block Daenerys in turn. Reality shows such as "Who Will Be a Millionaire" obviously don't constitute such a reason.

However, as long as there is a chance in the future, the Writers Guild will definitely find trouble with Daenerys Pictures. Most directly, if the films produced by Daenerys Pictures want to win awards such as the Oscar for Best Screenplay, it will become very difficult.

It can be said that the war between the Producers Union and the Screenwriters Guild, the pond fish of Daenerys Pictures, has both benefited and suffered.

When Amy closed the door and walked over to sit down, Simon had already made up his mind to cover up, and it was impossible for him to fall to the side of the Screenwriters Guild, which would be even less beneficial to Daenerys Pictures.

Thinking of this, Simon raised his head and asked Amy, "How was your talk with Daniel Burke and the others?"

Amy shook his head and said, "abc rejected our offer of 2 million per issue and only gave us $1 million."

According to 20 million viewers, in the 1980s, the price of a 30-second advertisement for such a program in the popular autumn season was about 200,000 US dollars. "Who Will Be A Millionaire" is an hour-long show, and the content of the show is actually only 45 minutes, and the other 15 minutes are commercials.

Doing so would bring in $6 million per episode of Who Will Be a Millionaire.

The cost of running a national television network is very high.

Among the more than 200 affiliated television stations in North America, the number of television stations directly affiliated to the television network is actually not many. A large number of affiliated television stations broadcast the programs of the television network at the prime time every night, just like the theaters distribute the films of the studios. Be sure to share enough profit. Add in the network's operating expenses and program purchase costs, and the network doesn't really have much to gain.

Take "Who Will Be a Millionaire" as an example, it is estimated that the advertising fee of 6 million US dollars per issue, the operating expenses of the TV network itself and the share of the participating TV stations will account for 50%, and the remaining 50% is the TV. The portion of the proceeds that the network and the producer can use to share.

Of the $3 million in revenue, Daenerys Pictures took $2 million, which is actually quite reasonable. After all, in theory, Daenerys Pictures would also be responsible for the production costs of the show. But in fact, it was difficult for abc to accept that Daenerys Pictures took so much.

You know, "Who Will Be a Millionaire" isn't your average 23-episode fall one-hour show. If there are only 23 issues per season, $2 million per issue

Yuan, Daenerys Pictures can only get a total of 46 million US dollars, excluding theoretical production costs, the net income that Daenerys Pictures can get is even lower.

but.

Just according to the original contract, "Who Will Be a Millionaire" has 69 episodes per season, which is three times the number of episodes of a typical one-hour TV series, and at $2 million per episode, the total revenue that Daenerys Pictures can earn It will soar to $138 million.

Let alone cost.

According to initial estimates, "Who Will Be a Millionaire" will cost around $20 million per season to produce. But in fact, Daenerys Pictures also has the power to implant advertisements in the show, which is the kind of host Balabala's large list of brand names and the bottles and jars on the guests' desktops. This part of the income is abc's initiative to let go. In order to allow Daenerys Pictures to offset some of the production costs.

However, with the current popularity of "Who Will Be a Millionaire", there are countless brands that are willing to spend a lot of money on sponsorship, and then only this part of the income can offset the entire production cost of the show and achieve a surplus. Daenerys Pictures sold the show to ABC, and whatever amount it could get per episode was equivalent to a net gain.

ABC obviously finds it difficult to accept that the program makers earn more than twice as much profit as themselves.

Simon looked at Amy's expression and found that his female executives didn't seem to accept that their company earned more than abc, so he asked with a smile, "Amy, how much do you think we can talk about?"

"$1.5 million," Amy noticed the smile on Simon's face, feeling a little guilty for some reason, but still quoted her price, and added: "The company has recently received at-t, Mars, HP Sponsorship invitations from many companies such as IBM and ibm. Among them, only Mars made an offer of 20 million US dollars. They asked to be the main sponsor of "Who Will Be a Millionaire". On the abc side, each issue is 1.5 million, and everyone shares the profits equally. , which should be the best result."

Simon was noncommittal and said, "What about the others?"

Amy said: "abc also asked to change the contract, they want to be able to participate in the production of the show. In addition, they want to order more episodes, which will start officially airing in July. However, I don't think this is a good idea, Putting too many shows in a short period of time will quickly cause the audience to experience aesthetic fatigue and shorten the screen life of the show. Therefore, I think one season per year is enough. The interval of half a year can keep the audience as fresh as possible. "

In Simon's memory, the abc TV network continued to broadcast this show all year round without restraint, and even increased it to 4 episodes per week. As a result, "Who Will Be a Millionaire" was dug up in just a few years. potential and was overtaken by "Survivor".

In contrast, the screen life of "Survivor" with better rhythm control is more than ten years.

Therefore, Simon agrees with Amy's point of view very much: "You are right, Amy, the rush to make more shows may bring us a lot of money in the short term, but it will not be long-term. So, we insist on this, There is no room for bargaining."

Amy nodded and continued: "In addition, abc also hopes to get "Survivor"."

"'Survivor' can't be given to them, and 'Big Brother' can't be given to them," Simon rejected without hesitation, saying: "If they still want, there is only "Beverly Wife." By the way, you guys Have you selected a few candidates for the wives?"

Compared with the emphasis on "Who Will Be a Millionaire" and "Survivor", Simon only wrote a simple project plan for "Big Brother" and "Beverly Wife" and threw it to the TV production department. Tossing, he didn't have much free time to take care of this matter during this time.

When Amy heard Simon's question, something strange flashed in her expression, and a faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth, and said: "There were not many people who signed up originally, but after the broadcast of "Who Will Be a Millionaire", many people in the past few days Everyone called and wanted to participate, but the final candidate has not been finalized. Or, the company is planning a party, and you choose it yourself?"

Simon leaned closer to Amy and asked in a low voice, "Will their husbands be there?"

Amy clearly rolled her eyes and said, "Boss, if there is nothing else, I'm going to work."

"Okay, just kidding," Simon sat up straight again, his expression turned serious, and said, "Amy, there is no law that says we can't make more money than the TV network. So, $2 million per issue, this we No bargaining either. abc is able to make $1 million per episode, which is more than most of the network's shows can provide it. On top of that, who's gonna be a millionaire also The fact that it can improve the overall ratings of ABC is actually more meaningful to the TV network, and they cannot be unclear. Therefore, the $2 million phase is not negotiated. If ABC does not agree, then the project will be put on hold.”

Amy's lips moved, but she nodded and said, "So, Simon, what about "Survivor" and "Big Brother"?"

Amy obviously didn't have the heart to ask Simon's bad taste again.

Simon didn't mind either, saying: "I talked to Barry Diller last time, and the basic strategy for these two shows is that we get profits and the network gets ratings."

"But we haven't been able to prove that 'Survivor' and 'Big Brother' can be as successful as 'Who Will Be a Millionaire?'"

"So, I can only take a gamble," Simon shrugged and said, "If the TV network doesn't even have the courage, it's fine to talk about it."

After the two of them talked about this, they were about to get up and get busy, when Amy suddenly remembered something and said, "Simon, it will be July soon, we should

Getting ready for next year's movie project. "

"I know this too," Simon spread his hands and said, "But, do you have time recently?"

"No."

Amy shook her head and glanced at Simon, who apparently didn't either.

Studios usually start preparing for the next year's film projects a year in advance. If it is a blockbuster movie, production often begins in the second half of the year.

However, Daenerys Pictures' current production plan, excluding "Batman", may only last until next year's Easter at most, and, basically, Catherine's "Thunderbolt Blue Angels" and "Blue Angels" from Sundance The two low-budget stand-alone films, "Metropolitans" and "Sisters," are obviously not very convincing.

However, although the scale of the company has continued to expand, but now the company has a pair of projects, all hands are too busy to touch the ground, and there is no way to take into account next year.

It takes time to develop a company team, and Simon can't just hire some people, and then throw away those projects that may explode in his hands. Now he can't do everything by himself like the original "Lola Run", too. Too much urgency will only lead to failure.

At the end of the day.

Daenerys Pictures is still too weak.

Simon couldn't help but want to take New World Entertainment down as soon as possible.

After all, in addition to the Marvel that he wants to get anyway, New World Entertainment also has a good film and television production and distribution team. Even if this team can't reach the first-class level, it is definitely much more reliable than the grass team temporarily hired by Simon.

Thinking this way, Simon still said to Amy: "In this way, you can see if there are any good projects in Hollywood recently. If possible, we can participate in the investment."

"When Harry Met Sally" and "Pulp Fiction" both have long payback cycles, and Amy Pascal had been carefully watching the company's cash flow. Now, with the release of Who Will Be a Millionaire, those questions are instantly resolved.

Whether it's an advertiser's sponsorship fee or an upfront deposit from the abc network, it can bring Daenerys Pictures a large amount of cash in a short period of time. If it weren't for that, Amy wouldn't have brought it up with Simon on the fly. With such a big business spread out in a small company, Amy originally just wanted to complete all the projects in her hands. Next year's things can only be discussed next year.

Getting up and walking out of the audition room with Simon, Amy nodded and said, "I will pay attention."

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