Heads Up Hollywood

The Cannes Film Festival Awards Ceremony Ceremony will be held on the open-air beach next to the Palais des Films.

No way, the beach is a symbol of Cannes.

Moreover, the Cannes Film Festival also needs hype to increase its reputation. How can a closed reception in the hotel provide more writing materials for media reporters?

The celebration reception will be held at ten o'clock in the evening.

At this time, the awards ceremony of the film festival was not over yet, and many media reporters were already waiting in line on the red carpet at the entrance of the reception.

Tang En and Natalie shared a special car, and it was strange that Alan Ball actually offered to sit with Tang En.

Natalie was very smart and knew that Alan Ball must have something to talk about, so she made an excuse at random and went to Nicole Kidman's special car.

Seeing Alan Ball's rosy face and high-spirited appearance, Tang En also guessed a little bit of his thoughts.

Just now, when "The Girl Who Moved Soul" received the Palme d'Or, Alan Ball and Sam Mendes took the stage together and both gave acceptance speeches.

Alan Ball's thank you speech was obviously hasty and inconsistent, but his gratitude to Tang En was revealed inside and outside the words, which did not seem to be fake at all.

His biggest effort "American Beauty" won the Oscar for Best Picture, and he didn't even touch the microphone. This time he got on the podium in Cannes with "The Girl Who Moved Soul", even if it was a grade worse than Oscar, it was enough The pride of a filmmaker!

When he gets old, it will be a moment of glory that he can share with his children and grandchildren.

All of this came from Tang En!

People's hearts are fleshy, so even if Alan Ball didn't say anything, he still had to accept Tang En's affection.

As soon as he got in the car, Alan Ball picked up the topic, "Twain, you know, uh... I wrote a script, not a movie, but a TV series."

Tang En smiled and said, "Very good, it must be a very good TV series!"

Alan Ball did not hesitate, and directly told the story, "This TV series is about a series of issues about life, death, sin, and life after death. In each episode, one person will die, and there are many different kinds of stories. There are cruel, absurd, and all kinds of ways to die. And the protagonists of the TV series are the Fisher family, who are still struggling to make a living by family-style services under the monopoly of mergers and acquisitions in the American funeral industry."

After listening to the beginning, Tang En already knew that this story is the famous classic American drama "Six Feet Under"!

A total of 46 awards including 9 Emmy Awards and 3 Golden Globe Awards have been won.

Alan Ball gave up his cooperation with HBO, the professional cable TV network with the most subscribers, and chose Tang En Pictures, which had just entered the TV industry. Tang En understood that this was the result of his own hard work.

Any success is inseparable from hard work. Tang En hoped to use his own attitude to win over one outstanding talent after another. From the Nolan brothers, to Nina Jacobson, to Bill McNick, Zach Snyder...

Tang En was aware of his disadvantages as well as his strengths.

"The funeral industry? That's a marginal social issue. There is no doubt that it must be an excellent subject that can attract widespread attention." Tang En showed some appreciation.

Alan Ball hesitated and said: "I'm worried about one problem right now. The theme of the funeral industry is too dark. The tone of the whole TV series may not be so comfortable."

Tang En waved his hands, "Don't worry about this! Starz is a professional cable TV station. We want to provide high-quality drama series for a limited number of customers, which is completely different from the rough production of those public TV stations!"

"Starz TV..."

Alan Ball had some hesitation on his face.

This TV station only has more than 2 million subscribers. If the TV series is shown on this TV station, how many viewers can it have? 200,000 or 300,000?

Tang En's complexion was serious, "HBO didn't have 7 million subscribers from the very beginning! The high-quality series produced by Tang En Pictures must be broadcast on Starz TV, even "Band of Brothers" is the same!"

Speaking of "Band of Brothers", Tang En was very refreshed.

"Band of Brothers" from the previous life was aired on HBO, and the ratings of the first episode exceeded 6 million! The entire HBO TV network has exceeded 10 million!

What is this concept?

HBO has a total of 7 million subscribers, and the HBO TV network has 12 million subscribers, which is equivalent to 85% of households, who are watching "Band of Brothers" in front of the TV!

As for the god-level American drama "Game of Thrones", only 10% of HBO's first-round viewers are watching. In contrast, it can better explain the dominance of "Band of Brothers".

Although the 911 incident that broke out later caused the ratings of war movies to plummet, the subscribers of HBO skyrocketed, and the number of subscribers in North America that year increased to 10 million!

A blockbuster movie is enough to carry a TV station!

Of course, this is not all the credit of "Band of Brothers", because "Band of Brothers" is followed by a drama-"Six Feet Under".

HBO's two consecutive wonderful TV series have caused a huge sensation in the industry and the market, and it is only natural that the number of subscribers has increased suddenly.

Sure enough, when Tang En said that "Band of Brothers" would also be broadcast on Starz TV, Alan Ball couldn't help being stunned for a moment, and looked at Tang En in astonishment.

"Band of Brothers" invested 120 million U.S. dollars and put it on STA. The influence radiation is very low, can it recover the cost?

Tang En saw his doubts, and shook his head lightly, "Alan, people who do great things, can't always focus on the little gains and losses in front of them. It's like making your choice. If you value interests more, you will definitely choose and HBO is cooperating with TV series, not Dunn Films, right?"

Alan Ball pondered for a long time before slowly opening his mouth, "Do you really want to have a grand strategy in the TV industry?"

The corner of Tang En's mouth curled up slightly, "Alan, I invested 50 million US dollars in "Band of Brothers", and spent 200 million US dollars to acquire Starz TV station. Do you think I'm crazy?"

Alan Bolton paused, then suddenly smiled, "Can I work for Tang En Pictures? Of course, it's the TV department."

Tang En laughed out loud.

In the end is the heartbeat!

Now, the TV department of Tang En Pictures has just been established. Joining at this time is definitely a veteran of the startup. When the company goes public in the future, there will definitely be benefits.

The current director of the TV department is Bill McNick's old subordinate at Fox. His name is Moritz Eckhart. He used to be the director of the production department of the Fox TV network and produced many excellent American dramas.

Because of Bill McNick's resignation, and the "Death Comes" series was originally Fox's TV drama project, which was lost in his hands, giving Tom Rothman a reason to fire him directly.

"Alan, Dunn Films welcomes you to join! The TV production department also needs you to assist Moritz Eckhart and check it out together." Tang En's meaning is very clear. When you come to Dunn Films, you are the TV production department second in command!

In this kind of content department, the administrative and management capabilities of the leaders are second, and the most important thing is the content capability.

Alan Ball has produced such a classic and profound movie as "American Beauty", and his ability in content is beyond doubt.

"The name of this TV series is "Six Feet Under". There are about 12 episodes in the whole season, and the budget... probably is no less than 8 million US dollars." Alan Ball acquiesced to Tang En's statement, and brought up his project.

In this era when American dramas are still shoddy, the first season proposed a budget of 8 million US dollars, which is not too high.

Tang En frowned slightly, a little displeased, "8 million dollars?"

Alan Ball quickly said: "Although it is also an urban theme, this is not a melodrama. The whole drama will involve many aspects. The city where it is filmed may require..."

"No, no, Alan, you misunderstood!" Tang En waved his hand and shook his head, "What I mean is, your budget requirement is too low! 8 million US dollars, what kind of film can you make? You haven't joined Tang En Pictures yet, It may not be clear, but my request to the TV production department is to make TV series in the same way as filming movies!"

Alan Ball's eyes widened in astonishment, a little incredulous.

Tang En said solemnly: "Alan, I have great confidence in your project, and I also like the theme of "Six Feet Under" very much. We must have high standards and strict requirements to produce the most excellent TV series, and What a stark contrast to the shoddy production of those public television stations!"

If Alan Ball realized something, "Using high-quality drama series to attract users to Starz TV?"

"Of course!" Tang En said firmly and calmly, "The times have changed, and the small workshop-like studios in the past have been seriously out of date. The future TV market, just like the film market, must be dominated by high-quality brands. Then A small studio model, make a few cartoons, show it to kindergarten children, make TV series? They are destined to be eliminated!"

Alan Ball finally understood Tang En's ambition, and also understood the root of his saying that he didn't care about immediate interests.

It turned out that Tang En had already seen through the future development of the TV market!

"So... how much budget do you want for "Six Feet Under"?"

Tang En laughed loudly, "Alan, you are the chief producer of "Six Feet Under", this is something you have to consider."

"20 million US dollars! I will definitely be able to produce an image quality comparable to "American Beauty"!" Alan Ball clenched his fists, his eyes seemed to exude inexhaustible vigor.

Tang En's eyes raised slightly.

Want to make "Six Feet Under" the quality of "American Beauty"?

This Allen Ball, the tone is really big enough!

But Tang En likes it!

"Okay, $20 million is $20 million! Allen, you will be fully responsible for the project "Six Feet Under". I hope you won't let me down!"

Allen Ball dared to bet, and Tang En naturally dared to bet even more.

What's more, in the era of high-quality drama series in later generations, 20 million US dollars for a TV series is really not a luxury investment.

Finally, the car stopped.

Tang En opened the car door, facing the fishy sea breeze.

Black night, white sand, blue sea, red carpet, orange lights, all kinds of long-legged beauties...

cannes.