Chapter 243 Efforts Worth Winning

Yang Cheng seems to have opened up a new way. His writings are flowing like a spring, and he talks about his understanding of the animation industry, "At present, most of the world's major special effects orders are concentrated on the top six, that is to say, animation special effects studios If you want to ensure your own vitality, the best way is to take orders from the Sixth University, the construction period is long enough, the profit is rich enough, and one order can feed the entire studio for a year."

As Yang Cheng said, although the six major companies have their own production companies, most of the special effects and animations are open to bids from global animation production studios.

For the Big Six, special effects and animation production are highly replaceable links and do not constitute content barriers, which is why their focus has always been on IP development, marketing and derivative planning.

The six major media groups occupy more than 80% of the global animation industry market, with the right to speak and bargaining chips tightly held in their hands. At the same time, the animation production industry is highly competitive, and the oversupply constitutes a buyer's market. As a result, many studios have to accept orders at a loss. It is a fixed unit price. If Liu Da is not satisfied with the special effects and proposes to rework, then all the cost of rework will be borne by the studio itself, and if the studio delays the delivery deadline, there will be a heavy fine. There is no human rights at all, but Do you dare to revolt?

Absolutely not! This is the same reason as the four major families headed by Chang Kaishen controlled more than 90% of the economic lifeline of country Z during the period of the Republic of China. Are the people suffering? It's too bitter, the average life expectancy is less than 35 years old, either died of illness or starved to death, didn't they ever think about overthrowing the ruling class? thought about it! But they don't even have the strength to hold weapons, so what uprising?

The same is true for the animation market. The pulse door is tightly held down by the six majors. If you want to live, you can only be obedient. There is no second possibility.

Of course, it's not that no one has said that winning an Oscar can save you from worrying all your life. However, the slap in the face is that the "Rhythm Special Effects Studio" that won the Oscar for Special Effects is presenting the awards The company declared bankruptcy a week before the ceremony, and the company had already won an Oscar for special effects for this work in 1992, and held two Oscar statuettes, which did not allow the company to escape the fate of bankruptcy.

This is a fundamental flaw in the business model, coupled with the fierce competition in the industry around the world, which has caused animation production studios to be on the verge of bankruptcy.

"Jason, your analysis and understanding of the animation industry is impressive, but you also know that DreamWorks has always followed the original route, and we are doing well on this road, and DreamWorks Animation has achieved a market value of several billion dollars because of this. The industrial giants in the industry are now only cut off because of several failures. As long as there are funds and good ideas, DreamWorks Animation can be brought back to life, so we think the price of 40 US dollars is worth it. "

Following Yang Cheng's speech, Jeffrey Katzenberg gradually calmed down, grabbed DreamWorks' so-called superior resources and did not let go, insisting to the end.

Yang Cheng shook his head and denied, "On the contrary, I think the current operating model of DreamWorks Animation is outdated. If I succeed in acquiring DreamWorks, I will reorganize the entire company structure, separate original creation and production, and operate independently. It is more conducive to development, because in my opinion, the two are difficult to coexist."

Jeffery was already numb to Yang Cheng's non-surprising and endless words, but instead had a calm mind, abandoned his identity as a businessman, and waited for Yang Cheng's point of view from the standpoint of an animation industry worker.

"Can you tell me in detail?" Not only Jeffrey, but also several managers of DreamWorks also aroused their interest. They also realized that the reason why DreamWorks Animation has come to this day is that it has encountered an unprecedented bottleneck, but They are in the middle of the situation, and it is difficult to find a way to break through the bottleneck from the inside. If Yang Cheng can come up with an effective solution, they don't mind marrying into New Era Media. In fact, they don't even notice it. It faintly looks like Yang Cheng is tilted.

Yang Cheng quickly sorted out his ideas in his mind, and talked eloquently, "Actually, when it comes to the most successful case of transformation,

George Lucas must be mentioned.

Regardless of the non-human universe view of the Star Wars trilogy, his understanding of the film industry is far beyond the predecessors. In 1971, Lucasfilm began to develop its own original content. In 1975, he established Industrial Lighting for the first film. Magic Effects and Skywalker Sound.

Gradually, Lucasfilm has developed into a special effects kingdom that grasps originality and production, which is very similar to the current DreamWorks Animation.

But because of the success of the Star Wars series, George Lucas quickly realized that every link of animation special effects should be operated independently and be responsible for its own profits and losses, because only in this way is the most in line with business logic, so he made a It was a crazy decision for everyone at the time to separate Lucasfilm's animation, game, derivative and other departments into separate operating subsidiaries.

Looking at it today 40 years later, Industrial Light & Magic is already the largest and most famous animation company in the world, and it is well deserved to be number one in the field of special effects.

Like other studios, it was born from the project of Star Wars, but it has never stopped the crazy order mode since 1975. So far, it has provided visual effects production services for more than 300 films and won the Oscar Special Effects Award. If you get soft hands, you are almost like a god.

But at the same time, as a subsidiary of Lucasfilm, it has never delayed the development of its own films. Almost half of the well-known blockbuster films in the industry are produced by their family. Out of its left and right.

In my opinion, DreamWorks Animation has unparalleled technical advantages, and an animation creator with great brains and countless whimsical ideas. He has reached the pinnacle of glory from the very beginning, but in more than 10 years Today, you are still huddled in a small studio in Glendale. This is Jeffrey, your dereliction of duty as a leader, and a complete failure in your career! "

Yang Cheng mercilessly blamed Jeffrey Katzenberg for DreamWorks Animation's fall into today's predicament. It crushed his confidence head-on.

But is DreamWorks Animation really as worthless as Yang Cheng said?

actually not!

In 2012, Disney spent $4 billion to acquire Lucasfilm. Compared with the previous studios that went bankrupt and were acquired cheaply, the treatment was very different.

However, after careful analysis, how much of the 4 billion US dollars does Industrial Light and Magic own? Some people in the industry asserted that most of the 4 billion US dollars were spent on the copyright of Lucasfilm, because the box office and peripheral revenue of a Star Wars movie are billions. From this point of view, the world's number one, An animation special effects studio with thousands of employees should not be worth too much money.

The same applies to DreamWorks Animation. As Jeffrey said, DreamWorks Animation has a huge IP library worth 2 billion US dollars, but Yang Cheng, as the acquirer, must of course consider his own interests. How can I buy you at a lower price without reducing you to scum? Saving $10 million is money too.

David Ellison has always been a bystander. When he was surprised by Yang Cheng's eloquence, he did not forget to observe the reaction on the other side. He saw Jeffery's bright eyes in the past, but now his pupils became dilated. Yixi, he knelt against Yang Cheng's thigh with his knee under the table, and when Yang Cheng turned his head to look over, he pouted towards the opposite side.

Yang Cheng knew it, and continued to add weight to the already tilted balance, "If the example of George Lucas can't impress you, what about Apple? Steve Jobs made Apple, but he didn't choose to raise it himself. An important part of the industrial chain - Foxconn.

The further subdivision of animation and production is the general trend. Large studios have too many people. After each big studio closes down, a bunch of old employees set up small studios, and the division of labor becomes more professional.

As computer animation technology becomes the mainstream of Hollywood, the division of labor in a streamlined manner is becoming easier and easier. A more professional and flexible small studio from modeling materials, lighting rendering, special effects synthesis, post-processing, editing and editing may be the future. The development trend of each subdivision will become more and more professional, so that the business difficulties of any small company will not cause the delay of the entire film or the turmoil of the industry, and the short and lean film is more in line with the sharing and division of labor in the Internet age. Spirit, efficiency will be greatly improved.

Of course, as the division of labor in the industry becomes more and more detailed, the requirements for production management become more and more professional, and the production management team needs to coordinate with more departments. This requires the valuable experience of DreamWorks and a treasure trove of complete technical resources. DreamWorks, with the financial support of New Era Media, if they seize this wave of opportunities and complete internal reforms as quickly as possible, they will have an absolute advantage in the future, and returning to the top is just around the corner. "

At this point, Yang Cheng had finished all he wanted to say. David Ellison unabashedly gave a thumbs up and praised Yang Cheng. The Dreamworks team on the opposite side was also moved by the concept Yang Cheng described. Most of this group of people are technicians from DreamWorks. They don't know much about business matters, and they are not very interested in how much money they sell. They only propose to Yang Cheng to subdivide their professional fields, so that they can use the technology in their hands. Carried forward, a strong expectation.

Jeffrey Katzenberg looked at his subordinates left and right, with a bitter smile on his face. He knew that the overall situation was settled, and no matter how much he tried to argue, it would be useless, "Jason, your eloquence should go to run for president. It's not good for the United States. You are the first Chinese-American president in history."

Yang Cheng could hear the compliment in the words, and there was no ironic meaning, but at this time he didn't know how to answer the words, so he could only respond with a smile.

Jeffery took a sip of his coffee and fell into deep thought. After an unknown amount of time, he sighed heavily and said, "Well, Jason, you have put in 120% of your effort and you are worth the victory in this negotiation. Congratulations. Now, make us a reasonable offer, and DreamWorks Animation is yours!"