Heads Up Hollywood

The phenomenal blockbuster "Spider-Man" has been fully offline, with a North American box office of 510 million US dollars and an overseas box office of 750 million US dollars, with a total box office of 1.26 billion US dollars.

Although the box office performance in North America lags behind "Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace", the global box office is second only to "Titanic", ranking second in film history!

From the box office alone, Tang En Pictures earned 420 million US dollars, which is definitely a huge profit!

Even the original soundtrack of "Spider-Man", which was released early, sold 280,000 copies and earned $5.5 million, which is already negligible.

Of course, more income means higher taxes.

Hollywood has a set of common guidelines. Faced with this kind of big-selling and profitable movies, the company’s daily operating expenses, shareholder dividends, and labor union dividends are all planned as movie expenses, which will greatly increase the movie’s budget on the books. cost.

The higher the cost, the lower the profit and the lower the tax.

Therefore, in addition to some industries specially approved by the state, such as environmental protection, national defense, and waste recycling, investing in movies in Hollywood is definitely an industry with the lowest tax rate.

No matter how ugly the data on the books is, anyway, at the end of the year, Twain Pictures had an extra 400 million US dollars on the books because of the movie "Spider-Man".

In addition, it also includes the box office share of "Soul Shifting Girl", "Memento", and "Chain Saw", as well as the sales and rental income of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding", and the video tapes and CDs before "Wedding Crashers". Tang En Pictures This year's net income reached 490 million US dollars!

In particular, "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and "Wedding Crashers" recorded more than 28 million US dollars in disc rental income, which is a real surprise.

Because the income from the rental business is tax-free, this kind of long-term income is indeed the biggest value of the film company!

For example, MGM, which is very old, has a mediocre film performance in the past year, but with a huge inventory of more than 2,200 films, its annual rental income is as high as 300 million US dollars.

It is not unreasonable that IP, intellectual property rights, will stand out in the era.

Tang En Pictures' income is gratifying, but the expenditure...is also complicated and huge!

Since Tang En Pictures received a capital injection of 1 billion US dollars in May, it has successively acquired Starz TV, Focus Pictures, DCP TV production company, and invested in Sillywood Animation, spending a total of 259 million US dollars;

Movie investment is even bigger. The total investment of films such as "Drug Network", "The Chronicles of Narnia", "Mr. and Mrs. Smith", "Unsinkable", "A Beautiful Mind", "Pirate Alliance", and "The Viceroy of New York" exceeds $700 million!

And two TV shows, Band of Brothers and Six Feet Under, cost another $70 million…

The investment expenditure of Tang En Pictures this year is as high as 1.03 billion US dollars!

So much so that Tang En Pictures, with the box office hits of "Spiderman" and "Saw" this year, did not know how many envious eyes turned red, but the actual operating result was a sharp drop in book funds.

The current Tang En Pictures has a cash flow of only 450 million US dollars...

From the financial situation of Tang En Pictures, it can be seen why investing in movies can make a lot of money, but the operating conditions of the movie company will get worse and worse.

Including MGM, Lions Gate, and Paramount are all facing bankruptcy, and Warner and Fox are also facing the end of acquisitions.

It is true that making movies makes money, but the books of the movie company will never have extra funds.

For example, if you make a movie with a total cost of 30 million US dollars, after two or three years of operation, you will earn 40 million US dollars. On the surface, you will earn 10 million US dollars.

But in fact, this part of the money can't stay on the books at all. If the film company wants to operate, it must invest in more new films.

With the development of the times, the production cost and publicity cost of movies are getting higher and higher. A movie that could be made for 30 million two years ago may cost 40 million U.S. dollars two years later...

Such a result means that the movie didn't make any money!

Once the investment in a new movie fails, it will face the ending of debt.

The return of film funds is slow, and various expenses have been increasing year after year, and various labor unions have disputes from time to time, so that the film company has become more and more difficult to mix. Even Hollywood giants can only operate in a miserable manner, absorbing funds from Wall Street, the Middle East, and Asia everywhere to maintain the shooting of new movies.

If Tang En didn't play the big two in the stock market, and then got enough funds to invest in several high-tech companies, then with Tang En's ability in Hollywood alone, even if he had the foresight, even if he could get all the money in Hollywood. It is impossible for a big IP to create a media group like Disney.

Now Tang En, of course, is not short of money.

Because of Jobs' request, Apple's stock price cannot be lower than 10 US dollars. Dunn has been quietly absorbing Apple's stock, which has already accounted for 6.1% of the total share capital. Ten years later, this will be an astonishing wealth.

So money is not very attractive to Tang En, he cares more about his personal career pursuit.

No matter how rich Apple is, it is Jobs, not Dunn Walker, who is really in charge of Apple. Even if he replaces Jobs, he doesn't have the ability to manage Apple.

He needs to delineate a sphere of influence that belongs to him alone!

An area he has the ability to control!

The choice, of course, is Hollywood!

However, relying on the money earned from movies alone is not enough for Tang En Pictures to grow rapidly and become a media giant comparable to Disney.

He needs capital turnover transferred from other fields, and through continuous acquisitions, he can develop diversified development while developing the film industry.

movie...

It's Tang En's hobby, and his profession is a director.

...

Rose Films has been registered, but it is still an empty shell.

However, Tang En knew that with the rise of feminism, feminist films would become a fad, and the status of Rose Films would rise accordingly.

It’s an empty shell right now, but the future is promising!

The helm of this company must be a woman, preferably... In the future, all employees of the company will also be women, which will become a unique feature of Hollywood.

After the recommendations of Bill McNick and Michael Ovitz, Tang En confirmed the candidate for the president of Rose Films——Katherine Kennedy.

Katherine Kennedy has nothing to do with the famous "Kennedy" family. She was born as a commoner. She was a secretary of Lucasfilm in her early years. During the process of cooperating with Steven Spielberg, she was discovered by him. On the road of a producer.

Now, she and her husband founded the Kennedy-Marshall Film Production Company, of which she is president and in charge.

But this is just a small production company that couldn't be smaller. It doesn't even have the ability to invest, and it doesn't even get any copyright for the commercial blockbusters it participates in.

The main function of the company is to help the couple avoid income tax.

Because the federal government’s tax rate for the film industry is very favorable, the corporate income tax is only 25%, which is far less than the 39% personal income tax.

So facing Tang En's kind invitation, Catherine Kennedy had no reason to refuse.

Under the introduction of CAA tycoon Kevin Howian, Tang En met this Hollywood strong woman for the first time, and had an open and honest conversation.

The communication between the two sides was very harmonious.

"Because Rose Films is just a shell right now with very little business, so... you can continue to work with other film companies, of course, preferably with our own company, or you can continue to work with Kennedy-Marshall Film Production Company. Assuming the position of President."

In the face of talents, Tang En always showed enough sincerity and friendliness.

Catherine Kennedy smiled and said, "Tang En, thank you for your generosity, but...as the first film company in Hollywood to focus on feminist themes, I hope that Rose Films can get on the right track as soon as possible."

Tang En frowned, "This... I'm afraid it will be difficult. Catherine, you should be clear that feminism is just a trend, and there is no general trend yet. It will take time for Rose Films to show its talents."

"Actually, there is another way."

"oh?"

"Under Tang En Pictures, Rose Films will participate in the production of all films that involve women's rights, even if they are few, whether it is an independent small production or a large commercial film. This will allow Rose Films to open up the market as quickly as possible."

Tang En very much agreed, "It's feasible."

Catherine Kennedy smiled, "Of course, if you can give me a sum of money so that Rose Films has the opportunity to participate in the investment and production of other film companies' feminist works, the effect will be even better."

Tang En smiled heartily, "There will be funds, but not too much. The new film "Juno" written by me is expected to invest about 8 million US dollars and handed over to Rose Films for production. As for other funds... you and Bill can fight for it ,I can not do anything."

Tang En Pictures now has 450 million US dollars, which looks like a lot, but it is actually very nervous.

In the spring of next year, two blockbuster films "Spider-Man 2" and "Daredevil" will be launched, and "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" will start shooting in summer.

Bill McNick had talked with Twain, if he couldn't inject more funds into Twain Films, then it's best not to mess around.

Both parties have the sincerity of cooperation, and Catherine Kennedy will not make excessive demands. Hearing Tang En say this, she understands, "There is one last request. I hope to work in the production department of Tang En Pictures."

Tang En glanced at her, and said slowly: "The production department of Tang En Pictures is different from the production departments of other film companies. It has little authority and many constraints. It is subject to the market analysis department, art analysis department, and even the screenwriting department. constraints."

Catherine Kennedy waved her hand and laughed dumbly, "Twain, you misunderstood me. What I want is not power. Since Rose Films wants to participate in all works of Tang En Pictures that involve women's rights, I will take a role in the production department. Easier to operate."

"That's it... That's easy to handle. I'll tell Bill later that you should be a deputy director in the production department."

In fact, in Tang En's opinion, with Katherine Kennedy's ability, it is more than enough to serve as a vice president in Tang En Pictures.

There is no rush, we need to establish mutual trust and tacit understanding in a short time.

Catherine Kennedy stood up, looked at Tang En with a smile, and extended her right hand, "So... from now on, you will be my boss?"

Tang En laughed loudly, extended his hands warmly, and shook hands with her, "I wish us a happy cooperation!"