My Animation Era

Chapter 1091 Baby Bus

Brothers, settle accounts clearly.

Although Wanbao Animation and Meiying Studio have cooperated for many years and are close good buddies, when it comes to specific issues of profit distribution, both parties still argue with each other and refuse to give in.

“Havoc in Heaven is the masterpiece of American Film Studio, and the remake must also be produced by American Film Studio…”

 “That’s different!”

Ma Kui shook his head and said: "The old version of Havoc in Heaven was independently produced by American Film Studio, so there is no dispute over the ownership."

“But the 3D remake is causing trouble in Heaven, and it’s us Wanbao who contributed. You can only provide a little help.”

 “No, this is not allowed!”

 The representatives from both sides argued for a long time, but never came up with an agreed upon plan.

Gu Miao couldn't stand it any longer, so she approached the leader of Meiying Studio and proposed a more compromise plan.

That is, Wanbao Animation gets the money, and Meiying Studio gets the name!

Obviously, the copyright for this animation belongs to Meiying Studio, but privately the two parties signed an agreement that the income generated by the IP belongs to Wanbao Animation, and Wanbao also has the right to dispose of the IP.

I have to say that this plan broke through the psychological defense of the leaders of the American Film Studio.

They were fighting over each other, and what they wanted was a "name", wasn't it?

American Film Studio is in decline, and no representative works have been produced in recent years. What is needed is this false reputation to let everyone know that the remake of "Havoc in Heaven 3D" is their work.

As for profits, to be honest, as a semi-state-owned enterprise, Meiying Studio really doesn’t care much about profits in this area.

  After all, well-established artists with an iron rice bowl must have different ideas from mediocre people like Gu Miao and Ma Kui who are obsessed with money.

 “Then it’s settled!”

Seeing that Meiying Studio agreed to this plan, Gu Miao made a final decision: "You can use this name to make a fuss later, but we are using "Havoc in Heaven 3D" to make profits, so don't worry about it."

“When people asked, I said that the IP copyright affairs have been fully entrusted to Wanbao as an agent..."

 Win-win!

Wanbao owns so many well-known IPs, including the animated film "Havoc in Heaven 3D". Making money is definitely the top priority.

Similarly, Meiying Studio doesn’t care what peripheral development Wanbao uses this IP for. They just want this false reputation to let everyone know that Meiying Studio has not declined, but has produced a great new work.

At this point, the two sides who had been arguing finally reached an agreement, shook hands and began to work together as good brothers again.

 “Is a false reputation really that important?”

 After leaving Zhonghai and taking the bus back to Jiangchuan, Ma Kui said a little puzzled.

“What’s the use to them if they don’t need any real benefits and only seek a false reputation?”

“How can you understand the ideas within the system outside the system?”

Gu Miao smiled and explained to Ma Kui while driving: "Perhaps for others, the so-called box office peripherals are not worth mentioning at all. What is important is that the report is well-written."

 “Okay, I roughly understand.”

"But Mr. Gu...can you drive slower? I...I get carsick!"

Sitting in the back seat, Ma Kui looked pale, as if he had been frightened.

 He regretted it!

If he had known that Mr. Gu was driving so impatiently, he should not have given up the driving seat.

It was better now. He didn't get car sick in the first place, but less than ten minutes after he got into Mr. Gu's car, he already started to feel dizzy, nauseous and vomiting.

 “Don’t worry, it’ll be okay.”

 Gu Miao winked and said: "I am an experienced driver, you have to trust my driving skills. Besides, when did you get carsick like me?"

His words are not lies.

 As a man of two generations, Gu Miao has been driving for at least twenty years. Apart from all kinds of minor scratches, he has never had any particularly serious accidents, and his driving skills are excellent!

Given Gu Miao's status, it was normal for him to hire a driver to drive for him.

 But Gu Miao has a bad habit.

He has no problem driving, but whenever he sits in a car, no matter how steadily the driver drives and how comfortable the back seat is, he always gets motion sickness.

This also means that unless Gu Miao is drunk or too tired, he will drive by himself. The company's drivers usually pick up and drop off guests for him, and there are few opportunities to serve the boss, Mr. Gu.

“You were born to work hard, and you won’t enjoy any blessings...”

Ma Kui sighed: "If it were me, I would have hired a full-time driver, bought a luxury car and only sat in the back seat."

"Luxury cars are just like that. It's not like I haven't ridden in one before. You know how much work Mr. Xiong has to do, right? It's not as comfortable to drive as my car!" Gu Miao was extremely dismissive.

His car is a Mercedes-Benz SUV he bought shortly after he started his business two and a half years ago, which made him feel very distressed at the time.

The company originally had a lot of money to spend, and it spent a lot of money to buy a new villa. If it weren't for taking care of his wife and children, he felt that the shabby car he drove before would have been enough.

"correct…"

Speaking of cars, Gu Miao seemed to have thought of something, and took the initiative to mention: "Have you seen those cartoons for preschoolers that are popular in science?"

 “I’ve seen it!”

Ma Kui said disapprovingly: "It's just an animation with a few simple characters playing house back and forth."

“Yes, it’s that kind of children’s educational cartoon!”

 Gu Miao patted the steering wheel excitedly, looked at the fork in the road in the distance, and turned on the turn signal while saying: "Then what do you think, Wanbao, we can do this type of animation?"

“Okay! This kind of animation doesn’t cost much anyway, so you can do it if you want to!”

Maguire did not object.

 Honestly, how much does this kind of cartoon for preschoolers, that is, audiences in kindergarten and below, cost?

Thinking of the little prince in Mr. Gu’s family who was studying in kindergarten, Ma Kui suddenly understood why Mr. Gu wanted to make such an animation.

"not like this…"

Seeing that Ma Kui had misunderstood his idea, Gu Miao shook his head and explained: "This has nothing to do with my son. I just simply feel that although Wanbao Animation has many animation IPs and covers all people aged 7 and above, they seem to be younger. Audiences we didn’t reach.”

Among Wanbao’s existing animation IPs, those that are relatively young and have a younger audience are probably IPs such as “Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf” and “The Infested Bears”.

  But even these two animations only cover kindergarten children at most.

Further down the line, those preschool children who have just learned to walk, cannot even speak clearly, and cannot go to the toilet and change clothes independently are not covered.

How can Gu Miao, who is determined to build Wanbao Animation into a great animation company, let go of children of this age?

Just when he was chatting with Ma Kui, he mentioned "car", so he thought of a classic educational science animation for preschoolers.　　　　《Thomas and His Friends》

The blue steam locomotive named Thomas has influenced countless children around the world, and this animation has also achieved great achievements that have attracted worldwide attention.

As it happens, this animation is also aimed at preschoolers. The plot is simple and not vulgar, and even babies who have not gone to school can understand it.

 The most important thing is that the characters in it, namely the lively locomotives, are so interesting...

If you want to make such an animation, according to Gu Miao's estimation, it will not cost much money. After all, compared to other animations, "Thomas and His Friends" is too simple and crude.

 But the coverage of this animation, especially the huge children's toy market opened up around Thomas the Tank Engine after the animation became popular, deeply attracted Gu Miao.

Who said this kind of animation has no future?

The consumption potential of preschool children is the first, but no one dares to recognize the second. All Jiao Lao brand players have to step aside.

 After all, these preschool children are usually the darlings of their parents and elders at home. No matter what excessive demands are made, the parents will try their best to satisfy them.

 Can Jiao Lao Pai Lao do this?

 Do you understand the value of human cubs? Who is the word "little ancestor" used to describe in the first place? Don't you have some idea?

As long as you conquer these human cubs and gain their favor and favor, any peripheral toys will be easy to sell.

 …

On the way home, after chatting with Ma Kui about the potential value of the "preschool children" market, Gu Miao immediately decided that Wanbao would also enter this market!

However, animation for preschoolers is different from other animations.

This thing is so special!

 It’s so special that Gu Miao can’t think of any studio in Wanbao Animation that can take on this important task.

 “Let’s set up a new studio!”

Lao Zhang suggested: “This new studio is mainly aimed at the preschool children’s animation market and is specifically responsible for this type of animation for young children.”

"Can!"

Gu Miao thought about it and felt that Lao Zhang's suggestion was reasonable.

Since the existing studios have their own division of labor and are not suitable for the production of animation for children, then we should set up a brand new studio.

 He had already thought of a name, so he called it "Baby Bus"!

How appropriate this name is!

˜Mainly focused on the children’s enlightenment animation market, the first work was the famous “Thomas and His Friends”.

 Looking back, we can also turn children's enlightenment works such as "Teletubbies" and "Garden Babies" into animated versions.

 Good guy!

Thinking of this, Gu Miao was immediately stunned.

If it continues to develop according to his blueprint, this newly established "Baby Bus" studio may have the highest profitability in the future.

  After all, animation for children can basically be spread all over the world, and it will not be a problem to pass the censorship of various countries. There are no strong competitors in this field.

As long as one of the works is successful, there will be a lot of money coming back. Just by selling peripheral derivatives, you can create another Wanbao Animation.

 "Wolf's Castle, Puppet, Flying, Lightning, Dimension, Kyoani, Sailor, Moyu... Oh no, Konjac Studio!"

Counting the numbers on his fingers, Gu Miao couldn't help but sigh: "We promised to reduce the staff and reduce the number of studios, but now there are more and more studios."

 “There’s no way, the stall is too big.”

 Lao Zhang doesn’t think there’s anything strange about this. As Wanbao Animation’s stand gets bigger and bigger, the number of internal studios also increases. Isn’t this a very reasonable thing?

Nearly every studio has its own genres and themes that it focuses on and has a clear division of labor.

Unless we go back to the old days of small workshops, with Wanbao’s current scale, it may be unrealistic to reduce the number of workshops.

"makes sense…"

Gu Miao sighed, having completely given up the plan to reduce the number of studios, and signed her name on the document approving the establishment of the "Baby Bus" studio.

 At this point, Wanbao Animation has a brand new studio.

There is no main person in charge or studio members. Lao Zhang will then transfer some employees from Wanbao Animation who are interested in children's animation to fill the gap.

certainly!

  In the newly established Baby Bus Studio, the main source of members is external recruitment.

 This is Wanbao’s first large-scale recruitment of core content production positions such as animators, modelers, animation screenwriters and original painters after many years.

 Many seniors who have been yearning for Wanbao for a long time and are eager to change jobs showed expressions of joy.

 What a great opportunity!

Wanbao recruits people every year, but there are very few positions and there are many people competing, so many people have no chance.

This time Wanbao established a brand new studio and released a large number of positions, allowing many people to see the hope of joining Wanbao.

 The two places with the best salaries and benefits in the domestic animation industry: Penguin Animation and Wanbao Animation!

 Among the two, Wanbao Animation is the most desirable company, even more desirable than Penguin.

the reason is simple.

Although Penguin is backed by giants and has strong financial resources, it also suffers from the common problems of large companies, and the work pressure will be very high.

Furthermore, Penguin has not produced a few "highly famous" animation works so far, and is still inferior to Wanbao in the minds of ordinary people.

 On the other hand, Wanbao is different.

As a leader in the domestic animation industry, Wanbao’s salary and benefits are very good in all aspects. At the same time, the work pressure is not high, and there are no common problems that large companies are accustomed to.

The benefits are good, there are many great people in the industry, the company is famous, and the creative freedom is high. Who wouldn’t yearn for it?

  Unfortunately, Wanbao has not only not hired people on a large scale in the past two years, but has also laid off a lot of employees, which makes everyone feel a little regretful.

This time when Baby Bus Studio was first established, Wanbao once again started large-scale recruitment. It can be said to be a God-given opportunity. Who can join Wanbao and stay in the existing company?

 Wanbao’s recruitment work went smoothly.

There are many positions released this time, but there are more job seekers. It is said that resumes are piled up on the desk of HR.

　　Not only domestic animators are yearning for Wanbao, but also some foreign animators are included among the job seekers who submit their resumes. This is something Gu Miao never expected.

 “What do they think?”

Gu Miao was quite puzzled: "The workplace is in Jiangchuan. Wouldn't foreigners like them find it too far away and not be able to adapt to the language, culture, and food?"

"Because we are Wanbao, because we have Superman, Dragon Ball, Tom and Jerry, The Lion King, and Sailor Moon..."

After listing a large number of Wanbao's world-renowned works, Lao Zhang said with a smile: "Other companies are very good, but they don't have these works."

 “Got it, these are fans!”

 Gu Miao understood in an instant. It seemed that most of the foreign animators applying for jobs were fans of a certain Wanbao animation, so they came to apply for positions at Wanbao Animation just to realize their dream of "working in a holy place".

Hello guys, is Wanbao so influential?

  If in a few years, when the younger generation of fans have graduated and started families, wouldn’t this situation become more common? Are all company employees composed of fans?

 (End of this chapter)