Chapter Five Hundred and Fortieth Want to Dream

In the small pull-up room of the animation studio, strange language is matched with the little yellow man on the screen, babbling out at a very fast speed, which is mixed with Japanese, English, Chinese, Italian and Spanish, etc. , and even extremely rare Latin, which makes it difficult to understand what they say for a while.

Ronan watched it very seriously. This is an animated short film about the origin of the minions. It is basically finished, and there is only a little finishing work left.

With his direct participation, the minions will form a complete villain world view, instead of eating books to make changes after "Despicable Me" became popular.

In a way, this will also be a cinematic universe.

The short film tells in detail the origin of the minions, and from the era of birth to modern times.

Minions were originally single-celled creatures in the ocean. They were born with the instinct to chase bullies and strong people. They followed stronger creatures to land, followed dinosaurs, primitive people, ancient Egyptians and so on.

In the Dark Ages, the Minions have a new bully master—Count Dracula.

After successfully killing Count Dracula, they got mixed up with Napoleon Bonaparte.

In short, none of the bosses that the Minions follow in the short ended well, and all ended in accidental deaths.

Ichthyostega was trampled to death by Tyrannosaurus rex; Tyrannosaurus rex fell into volcanic magma and burned to death; primitive man was eaten by bear; Egyptian pharaoh was crushed to death by pyramid; Minion fire hits...

Ordinary people can't be the boss of minions.

The short ends with the Minion being chased into the ice field and disappearing into the snow and ice.

"This is the end and the beginning."

"Despicable Me" will start with the new boss of the Minions, said Chris Renaud, director of animation studio Sandsea Entertainment and the director of the animated short, to Ronan.

Ronan nodded lightly: "If the animated short film can attract a group of people's attention, then the new boss of the little yellow people will become a publicity point."

This animated short is very funny and has a certain appeal.

Chris Renaud asks: "Which channel do you distribute the animated shorts from?"

Ronan had thought about it a long time ago: "Didn't you register and verify Netflix's official account? Choose a suitable time next year,

Released on Netflix Video and Netflix Share at the same time, Netflix can also invest resources to promote the short film. "

"Netflix's channel?" Chris Renaud focused on animation production and didn't know much about Netflix.

Ronan simply said: "Netflix currently has more than 12 million users, and it is already a huge new media platform."

Chris Leonard was taken aback: "So many users?"

Ronan nodded: "Not only are there a large number, but most of them are active users."

Chris Leonard no longer has any objections to this, and the release time is selected next year. Although he will miss the Oscar for Best Animated Short Film again, he has no extravagant hopes for it.

Contrary to last year's "Peppa Pig", the animated short film of the little yellow man obviously takes the spoof and comedy route, which is one of the most hated styles of the Oscars, even if it is registered, there is no hope.

Ronan followed Chris Leonard to the work area and watched the progress of "Despicable Me".

This will be the first full-length animation film of Shahai Entertainment Animation Studio. Currently, modeling and other aspects of production have begun, and Gru's character design is about to be completed.

Chris Leonard pointed to a drawing of Gru and introduced: "Gru is a villain who aspires to become the world's number one thief, but he has a kind heart under his sinister and funny expression, but he is helpless because of the lack of The childhood of love and recognition cannot be expressed, and even he himself has almost forgotten his original self. The theme of the film can be regarded as the process of Gru finding himself."

Ronan said slowly: "The setting of finding yourself is very good."

Chris Leonard smiled, and said: "Although the profession is a big villain, Gru's nature is not bad. Gru has an old partner named Dr. Wario, and they will take the minions as assistants."

Ronan considered for a moment and said: "Set the timeline, we need to consider the whole plan. If the film is successful, we can further expand on this basis and shoot a big independent movie of Minions."

Chris Leonard has already seen Ronan's plan and said: "We have a complete plan."

"Despicable Me" is not only the first animated feature film of Shahai Entertainment Animation Studio, but also the first animated feature film of Relativity Entertainment, which is related to the strategy of the entire group company.

Ronan looked at some of the Minion's set drawings, and exchanged some views on the surroundings of the film with Chris Leonard.

Like this kind of cartoon, the peripherals are the big profit. The image of Minions and various toys and dolls can be seen almost everywhere, which can be regarded as one of the most popular animation peripheral products at that time.

Finally, Ronan paid attention to the situation of "Peppa Pig". The production of the second season of this cartoon has already started, and it will be broadcast on TV stations next summer.

At present, in the first season, including broadcast copyright and various peripheral income, the investment has been recovered. The various peripherals of Peppa Pig are also quickly distributed in the United States. The low-cost and quality-guaranteed products from the East are produced through animation. The dissemination of the series has gradually opened up sales.

Just like before, it may take a relatively long period of fermentation before "Peppa Pig" can reach a high degree of commercial popularity.

Animation products are essentially different from popcorn movies as fast-moving consumer goods, and they are suitable for long-term business operations.

Even, many animated images have survived for decades.

Don't talk about anything else, just look at Disney. If it weren't for the support of those classic animation copyrights, Disney, which is slowly entering the quagmire, would definitely not have the current performance.

"Peppa Pig" is different from Minions, it is too child-oriented and naive, not suitable for the Netflix platform, at least not for now, it is more suitable for broadcasting on public TV stations.

In addition, Embassy Pictures, as the distributor, is also conducting overseas promotion.

Without publicity and promotion, there is no heat.

Leaving the animation studio and returning to Relativity Entertainment, Ronan processed a batch of documents, found Robert Iger, and asked about the progress of Artisan Pictures' plan. Currently, the acquisition team is still conducting detailed investigations on the assets of Artisan Pictures. Side evaluation, so as to facilitate the development of various work in the future.

Since Artisan Films has not expressed any intention to sell for the time being, Robert Iger is also calmly advancing the plan step by step. After all, it may involve an investment of up to 500 million U.S. dollars, so he has to be cautious and calm.

Such an acquisition case cannot be settled with just a few prices. It involves evaluation, financing, law, copyright and many other matters.

And this is not about practicing and accumulating experience when facing Universal Pictures Entertainment Group, but about taking down an old and medium-sized film company like Artisan Pictures with real swords and guns.

Moreover, the film production and distribution business of Artisan Pictures also highly overlaps with Relativity Entertainment, and how to effectively solve it is also a problem and a test.

Most importantly, it is not easy to impress the shareholders of Artisan Pictures.

Robert Iger, as the direct person in charge, must also consider that if Relativity Entertainment must purchase all of Artisan Pictures to complete the acquisition, it must be split later to separate the production and distribution business of Artisan Pictures, and then find Appropriate next home shot.

There is no need to worry about this aspect. The distribution business does not need to worry too much about leaving home in Hollywood.

Ronan leaves work on time, and Scarlett Johansson invites him to dinner.

In a high-end restaurant in Beverly Hills, Ronan met Scarlett Johansson, who was well-dressed. She is at the peak of her appearance and figure, and she is full of charm.

In addition to the height, there are almost no defects.

"I'm treating you tonight." Scarlett Johansson sat across from Ronan, winking at him deliberately: "Ronan, what do you want to eat?"

Ronan looked at Scarlett Johansson with a smile on his face, but he didn't say a word.

Scarlett Johansson picked up the menu, slapped the table in front of Ronan, and said dissatisfiedly, "Speak up."

Ronan said: "Whatever, you can give me some."

"This is the most difficult request." Scarlett Johansson has been fooling around with Ronan for a long time, so she knows more or less his eating habits, called the waiter, ordered a few dishes, and said: "Meat and vegetarian food, Guarantee your fitness."

Ronan smiled: "I have always had a good physical reserve."

Scarlett Johansson took a sip of water and changed the subject: "Ronan, awards season has begun."

Ronan didn't answer directly, but instead asked, "What, are you in a hurry?"

"I'm not you. You are rich, powerful and powerful, and you don't care about awards." Scarlett Johansson was straightforward: "I want an Oscar nomination, I want it even in my dreams."

Ronan said, "I know."

Scarlett Johansson reminds: "Awards season is on."

"I've always paid attention to credit." Ronan is really particular about this aspect: "Scarlett, I have already explained to the person in charge of "Lost in Translation" at Embassy Pictures that your performance award, Sofia Coppel The best director award and best picture award in Lara are the awards we focus on."

Scarlett Johansson asked with anticipation: "Is it possible for me to win?"

Ronan asked again, "What do you think?"

Scarlett Johansson sighed: "I am very satisfied to get a nomination."

"Although we will also apply for the best actor for Bill Murray, the resources of the acting award are still focused on you." Scarlett Johansson has paid a lot this year, since Ronan has enjoyed everything he can enjoy , will also fulfill its promise: "It is very difficult to win awards, and there is still hope for nominations."

Scarlett Johansson nodded, knowing that greed should be in moderation: "I am very satisfied with the nomination."

Ronan said again: "I will prepare two plans for you."

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