Chapter 566 Paramount Project

Steven Spielberg welcomed a heavyweight visitor to DreamWorks headquarters in Glendale, California.

The CEO of Paramount Pictures and the most famous female power figure in Hollywood, Shirley Lansing, came to DreamWorks headquarters in person to visit her old friend Spielberg.

But the atmosphere in the office is definitely not friendly, even a bit tense.

Shirley Lansing kept smiling: "Steven, how are you thinking?"

Spielberg said vaguely: "Haven't thought about it yet."

Shirley Lansing seems to be relaxed, but in fact she is under a lot of pressure. Last year, Paramount Pictures ranked last among the top six in Hollywood performance. Even Sony Columbia, which has always been a laggard, has steadily surpassed Paramount. In the film industry, this made the parent company Viacom very dissatisfied.

This is really embarrassing for her, the head of Paramount Pictures.

Shirley Lansing is not the kind of woman who will be easily knocked down. After quickly analyzing the operating conditions of Paramount Pictures in 2003, the online and offline distribution and peripheral operations are not bad. The biggest problem lies in content production. above.

Without excellent film and television works, there is not much room for operation in distribution and peripherals.

Paramount Pictures invested heavily in the production of "Tomb Raider 2" and "Memory Rift" all failed miserably. The most successful film was "Stealing the Sun", which didn't even make it into the top ten of the North American box office list in 2003.

Looking back, Shirley Lansing was horrified to find that, apart from the "Mission: Impossible" series, Paramount Pictures currently does not have any commercial series that can arouse strong responses from the market.

And the copyright of the "Mission: Impossible" series is shared with Tom Cruise...

The problem is clear at a glance. Paramount Pictures lacks marketable works in film and television production.

Shirley Lansing has been doing corresponding work since last year. There were problems in content production. On the one hand, Paramount Pictures stepped up efforts to find new projects, but lacked excellent producers and collaborators. resolved within.

On the other hand, it is solved from the outside. The solution is very simple, find a suitable production company and let them provide the content.

The six major companies of the same level don't even need to think about it. They can't hand over their films to Paramount for distribution, and the medium-sized production companies controlled by the six major companies naturally don't have to think about it.

Shirley Lansing's eyes naturally bet on two companies -- DreamWorks and Relativity Entertainment.

The latter has a concentrated shareholding and is not easy to talk about. Moreover, Shirley Lansing only knows Ronan at best and doesn't know much about him.

Therefore, killing cooked is the most convenient.

The six major companies also have a tacit understanding that suppressing DreamWorks is in their own interests.

"Steven, we've been friends for twenty years, and I'm helping you." Shirley Lansing said with a slight smile, "How much money and personnel did DreamWorks invest in overseas distribution channels, and the result? Not only It has affected your distribution channels in North America, and even started to drag down the film and television production business."

These are the real situations of DreamWorks, and Spielberg did not refute them.

Shirley Lansing also said: "By handing over the distribution to Paramount, DreamWorks can save a lot of resources and invest in the film and television production you are best at, so as to bring more excellent movies to the audience and the world." work."

Spielberg adjusted his glasses and looked into the depths of Shirley Lansing's eyes, never before cold.

We have been old friends for twenty years, but we chose to come here at this time to add insult to injury.

Spielberg would not have such an idea just to propose that the film distribution of DreamWorks be handed over to Paramount Pictures. However, after the new year, a group of people in the distribution department of DreamWorks resigned to join Universal Pictures, and Shirley Lansing Come to the door again.

It was as if there was an unspoken understanding between them.

But the real problem is here, and it is impossible for Spielberg to turn a blind eye, saying: "Shirley, I have been thinking about it for a while."

It can only be delayed for the time being.

This is Spielberg after all, and Shirley Lansing didn't want to be too forceful, saying: "Steven, Paramount Pictures and I look forward to working with you again."

Spielberg smiled: "I believe that there will be time for me and Paramount to cooperate again."

He emphasized the individual as the director, not the boss of DreamWorks.

Shirley Lansing understood the meaning and said, "Steven, I understand the situation of DreamWorks, and I would like to say a few words as a friend, and while DreamWorks still has enough value, we can strive for more conditions. "

Spielberg's attitude suddenly became tougher: "Shirley, DreamWorks will not go bankrupt."

Shirley Lansing said with a smile: "Of course not. As long as you are here, DreamWorks will always have hope." She suddenly mentioned another thing: "Steven, I will send a team over to talk to you about "" Publishing of The War of the Worlds."

The sci-fi masterpiece "War of the Worlds" starring Tom Cruise, as early as the beginning of the project, Spielberg was under some pressure and promised to hand it over to Paramount Pictures for distribution.

Spielberg wanted to repent. After thinking about it, he decided to keep his promise, but he was determined to fight for the best release conditions for DreamWorks, saying: "I will personally participate in this release negotiation."

Shirley Lansing nodded and said, "I'll leave you alone. Goodbye, Steven."

Sending Shirley Lansing away gave Spielberg some headaches. When he met Tom Hanks last time to talk about "The Da Vinci Code", he told his old friend about DreamWorks' distribution difficulties. The actual situation It's more serious than what he said, especially after another publisher was poached, which has affected DreamWorks' distribution in North America.

After ten years of hard work, DreamWorks not only failed to develop into a top entertainment group company as expected, but became more and more difficult.

Spielberg stood in front of the office window and looked down. Shirley Lanxi's car was driving towards the gate of the DreamWorks campus.

DreamWorks really want to hand over the production of the film to Paramount distribution? Signing a long-term distribution deal with Paramount Pictures?

Thinking of this, Spielberg shook his head slowly but firmly.

Tom Hanks is right, once DreamWorks loses its publishing capabilities, DreamWorks will soon be reduced to the plaything of the Big Six.

The distribution channel is stuck in the throat of DreamWorks!

Spielberg became more determined and must find a way to solve the distribution problem.

A black business car drove out of the gate of DreamWorks. Shirley Lansing glanced back. DreamWorks was not doing well recently. As long as the distribution problems were not resolved, it would not be long before it would become a production company.

Paramount Pictures needs studios, especially high-performing studios.

Thinking of this, Shirley Lansing asked the assistant on the co-pilot: "I asked you to pay attention to Ronan Anderson and Relativity Entertainment. Is there anything special about them recently?"

The assistant hurriedly said: "Recently, there has been a lot of trouble with Relativity Entertainment. They compete with Lionsgate to acquire Artisan Pictures."

Shirley Lansing raised her eyebrows: "Acquire Artisan Films?"

"Yes, the news has been public for a few days." The assistant quickly introduced: "There was relevant news last year, saying that the shareholders of Artisan Pictures were planning to package and sell the company. But Artisan released the news, Lionsgate joined in, and now the two companies are bidding for Artisan.”

Shirley Lansing seemed to be talking to herself: "What is Relativity Entertainment doing with the acquisition of Artisan Pictures? Sandsea Entertainment's production capabilities are extremely strong, and Embassy Pictures' distribution capabilities are not much worse than Paramount..."

The assistant replied in a low voice: "Relativity Entertainment doesn't have a movie library."

Shirley Lansing gets it: "Ronan Anderson has big ambitions."

The assistant added: "Relativity Entertainment has developed rapidly in recent years, much faster than DreamWorks."

"This is a very good company." Shirley Lansing thought of something: "It's a pity that the background is much worse."

The assistant answered: "With the film library, the gap in background will be smaller."

Shirley Lansing certainly understands this truth, sitting here with a blank expression, as if thinking about something.

The rise of Relativity Entertainment is too fast. In the past and even now, more attention has been focused on DreamWorks. When they paid attention to Relativity Entertainment, they found that it turned out to be a behemoth no less than DreamWorks.

If there is a film library, Relativity Entertainment will have more confidence.

Shirley Lansing thought of Paramount's weakest production link, and recalled the blockbuster movies produced by Relativity Entertainment last year, and suddenly came up with an idea.

If Paramount Pictures can swallow DreamWorks and Relativity Entertainment, will it become the top company in Hollywood?

Shirley Lansing has not considered the problem of being unable to eat, because there are only two outcomes for emerging companies that have appeared in Hollywood in the past, bankruptcy or becoming part of the Big Six.

Relativity Entertainment is expanding too fast, and winning the film library means having a stable source of copyright income, which is definitely not conducive to acquisitions.

Shirley Lansing quickly had the idea that Relativity couldn't swallow Artisan.

This is also in the interests of Viacom, a group company. Netflix, a subsidiary of Relativity Entertainment, and Blockbuster, a subsidiary of Viacom, are in full swing in the rental market.

But then there was a headache. Relativity Entertainment's shareholding was concentrated, and the set of acquisitions and divisions was simply useless.

Then find some troublesome things for Relativity Entertainment as soon as possible, so that they can't concentrate on acquiring Artisan Pictures.

After making a decision, Shirley Lansing thought for a while and said to the driver: "Go to Viacom headquarters." She then said to the assistant: "Call Mr. Redstone's assistant, I want to see Leishi today Mr. Dong."

After the assistant finished calling and agreed on a meeting time, Shirley Lansing said, "Call Relativity Entertainment, I want to see Ronan Anderson tomorrow."

When she came to Viacom headquarters, Shirley Lansing went directly to Summer Redstone and explained her thoughts.

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