American Fortune Life
Chapter 1483: Casting a New Glory
“As at 26 December 2008, the total annual box office in North America for 2008 was $9.179 billion.
Only four total box offices exceeded $1 billion in 2008, compared to the 2007 year-end results of six major film companies, which totalled $1 billion.
Peak entertainment and legendary cinema, the other two are Disney and 20th Century Fox... ”
In the conference room, Andy Smith held his first all-management New Year's Eve meeting after joining Universal Film to hear the 2008 wrap-up report.
It has to be said that the Hollywood film industry experienced a modest decline in performance in 2008 compared to 2007, both in terms of total year-end results and over 100 million films, compared to last year and, more importantly, the shrinkage of overseas box offices.
Six major movie companies represent today's mainstream movie trends in Hollywood, with several others falling to varying degrees in '08, with the exception of Sony, where the number of films released remained the same as last year.
In fact, overall, 2008 was excellent. After all, Hollywood experienced a downturn after the summer season and a downturn in the Christmas archives due to the impact of the Hollywood Screenwriters Association's Great Strike at the end of 2007 and the financial crisis. It was not easy to keep the total box office score jumping to the second place in history.
Andy looked at the table in his hand, and in '07 the world was more spectacular, the box office Oscar had a double harvest, and there were five movie local box offices in excess of 100 million, ranking first among the six largest companies.
In '08, it was a small cost film, but in the absence of annual box office duds like Counterfeit Goddess 2 and Golden Compass, although there were no brilliant large films, the market share remained stable at the same level as last year.
In '08, there were no 200 million pieces under Universal Film Industry. "Mommy and Mi" was carefully interpreted by Aunt May. The whole line of local box office was red. The overseas box office was also up to 430 million. There was a push to catch up with "The Night Knight Knight".
But the Miracle Hulk is the most ironic failed movie of the year. He beat and ridiculed the old Hulk many times before it was shown, but eventually the box office was unsatisfactory and the loss was immense.
Well, Andy was almost depressed to throw up blood, originally to share the risk, to let Universal Film help Marvel back up the pot, and now, well, he pitched himself...
By the end of 2008, only four films in the global film industry were over 100 million. Think about the number of films over 07 million that made other companies envious, but now they are nothing more than a crowd.
Andy looked at Robert Fredman, who had taken over as CEO of Universal Film, in a much more relaxed mood. After all, his top entertainment industry was very competitive, stepping on four of the six major players.
The rise of peak entertainment is truly a shock to Hollywood, you know, it's not even counted as a few big productions that have been delayed until '09, "Superman for All", "Twilight City", "Speed and Passion 4", and it's also being filmed in tight drums, either of which can easily be over 100 million local box offices.
You know, when the management of Universal Film saw Robert Fredman's peak entertainment screening schedule for '09, it was silly, 12 films, three times more than Universal Film.
The crowd lamented the rise of peak entertainment. When it was achieved, it was also very happy and happy. After all, peak entertainment has now become a subsidiary of Universal Film Industry. In distribution, Universal Film Industry will also divide into large pieces of cake.
Andy believes this year will definitely go beyond last year, setting a new historical record for the global film industry and helping Hollywood hit $10 billion!
“Only four films are scheduled for screening this year. Definitely not!” Andy looked at the project proposal, with some ugly frowns closing the folder and throwing it on the conference table.
“Two billion dollars! Exclude peak entertainment, which is the minimum that the global film industry will meet this year. ”
Upon hearing the request of Big BOSS, everyone in the conference room had an unconscious black line coming out of their foreheads, and their hearts were bitter.
Adam Ferguson opened his mouth and tried to say something, but saw Robert Fredman across the street wink a few times, shaking his head slightly, and couldn't help but smile.
“It shouldn't be much of a problem.” Robert Fredman laughed slightly when the room was unusually quiet and breathing was clear and audible, attracting all eyes immediately.
“But, boss, can you get some scripts from Mockingjay Copyright? ”
“Oh, you'll save yourself a lot of time, well, I'll have Carl deliver the Hangover script... Let's see, Red Flame Battlefield and Amazing Demon Bandits let him have it too.” Andy smiled and said to Robert Fremann.
Rob and Carl got along very well, knowing from him that his big BOSS had written several screenplays and had seen the outlines, so he knew very well that they were very good stories.
To be honest, this script by Big BOSS solved a lot of trouble for Robert, and since he took over as CEO of Universal Studios, he's spent a lot of time reviewing the script outline, in addition to familiarizing himself with all the department's personnel issues.
The Universal Film Industry has been running a set of stories submitted by creative teams of about seven pages to the decision-making level, and only projects that have been approved by full vote at the decision-making level are likely to continue to be developed until the final draft script is confirmed, and this process may take up to two years for some projects.
Though conservative, the project cycle of a movie is too long and troublesome, completely without his freedom in peak entertainment. Of course, the six major Hollywood players have their own unique set of screening mechanisms. Robert Fredman, who originally worked for Paramount, is naturally not new to each other. He has also changed his mind very well. After all, he is now in charge of the huge global film industry and managing the new company in a different way.
However, once again, the global film industry has become dominant, inevitably causing some turmoil and chaos within the company, senior changes, new team ownership, naturally takes time to grind together, which is not something that can be solved in an instant, people's hearts and minds are the biggest problem at all times.
Project development has always been a top priority for film companies. The film management department is also very important in the global film industry system. In order to get the global film industry on track as soon as possible, Robert Fredman, the CEO, personally served as the head of the department. In just over a month, he has personally reviewed over 200 carefully read projects.
The production department is very important and powerful in the structure of a film company. From the earliest stage of script development, it will be involved in the project. From shooting to late production, most of the voice is controlled by the production management department, which also requires the production department to be extremely professional, set standard production processes, have sharp market control and accurate judgment.
Robert Fredman has already reacted to Andy about these problems, and today's meeting, which Andy gave himself as his subordinate platform, solves the problem, and the easiest way to solve it is to set up a brilliant 'Green Light Committee’ that runs in the Peak Entertainment and Marvel Film Industry.
“In order to ensure an annual production of 15-17 films, only 10 people in the development sector need to be highly efficient and accurate, and the number of projects that need to be stockpiled up to 400 each year is also an important guarantee of strong viability and competitiveness for Global.
In order to shorten the project cycle for quality projects, the company will form a risk assessment control system for film projects consisting of the planning department, the production department, the finance department, the global distribution department, the derivatives development department, the legal department, etc., known as the "Green Light Committee".
A high-quality project, modelled on forecasts and financial calculations at all stages of the project and forming data for submission to the Green Light Commission, ensures that the return on profits target of more than 15 per cent is met, allows for the immediate establishment of projects. ”
Andy looked seriously at the crowd in the conference room, and his voice made some clear decisions. That's the advantage of a single word. There's no need to discuss it. He's a big BOSS.
“The production of films is not a game and cannot be abandoned in the middle of nowhere, or there is doubt that each staff member's commitment and dedication to the film, the reconciliation, compromise, and quarrel experienced in every step of the way can grind together an increasingly perfect team.
The turmoil is over, NBC Universal has become my asset and its future will only be brighter. I hope you will seize this opportunity to witness the new glory of Universal Film with me! ”
“Pfft, pfft, pfft...”
There was a warm applause in the conference room, no matter what the heart thought, the declaration of the Great BOSS was very refreshing, the Green Light Commission was not anything new, the Universal Film Industry had had it before, but then it was gone, because of the continuous turmoil, management was looking for stability and dared not take risks.
Now turn on the green lights again, perhaps we really are about to start a new period of growth!