The location on the second floor is condescending, and through the large windows you can see the studio not far away, where busy prop masters and assistants are moving the scenery.
This morning was the annual board meeting of DreamWorks, and almost all the heavyweight shareholders were present.
As the chairman of the board of directors with 49% of the shares, Wang Yaocheng naturally could not miss the board of directors. Although he was about to return to China across the ocean in the afternoon, he still found time to attend this important meeting.
There are still ten minutes left, the board meeting has not started yet, in a separate VIP room
Jeffrey Katzenberg, President and Executive Director of DreamWorks, sat down and chatted with the famous director Spielberg, super celebrity Schwarzenegger, and Chairman Wang Yaocheng.
"Congratulations! Boss, Marvel Studios did a great job in 1996. "Blade Runner 2" and "Austin Powers 2" performed particularly well at the box office, especially "Blade Runner 2" was eye-catching, and the global
The box office revenue was US$221 million, and its reputation far exceeded that of the first film."
Arnold Schwarzenegger expressed his sincere praise; "The director and producer team from Xiangjiang did a great job. The picture of the film also broke away from the dark gothic style and became brighter, especially the action and fighting. It is really a movie."
A rare and good film.”
“‘Austin Powers’ also did well at the box office, and the production team from Hong Kong is eye-catching. It is indeed very capable.” Director Spielberg’s evaluation was very weighty.
"Thank you for the compliment, they really did a good job."
Wang Yaocheng is quite satisfied with the few talents he has selected. After a few more years of training, they will be put to good use. The glory of Marvel Animation is not far away.
In 1996, Marvel Studios' outstanding performance helped parent company Marvel Animation get out of a loss-making situation, with a full-year profit of US$130 million.
Excellent financial conditions are also reflected in the stock market
Marvel Animation's stock price has skyrocketed, and its market value has reached US$1.082 billion, ranking below the eight major Hollywood film companies and occupying the top position among second-tier film companies.
The original New Line Film Company at this location was acquired by its old employer Time Warner Pictures in 1995 for a purchase price of US$550 million.
Unfortunately, the answer sheet submitted by New Line Cinema in 1996 was not up to standard.
In the original history;
"Blade" and "Austin Powers" were both turnarounds for New Line Cinema. Unfortunately, they are now owned by Marvel Studios and have become stepping stones for the rise of Marvel Studios.
Next step
Marvel Studios is preparing to invite Hong Kong star Cheng Lung to shoot the action film "Rush Hour", which will be produced by a Hong Kong director and an all-China team.
At the same time, we are in contact with Chinese-American director Ang Lee to explore the possibility of further cooperation.
In addition, President Huang Baiming is preparing to produce the popular horror movie series "The Resurrection", and the company's script library holds the rights to adapt the "Lord of the Rings" movie script. These are all New Line Cinema's future popular series of movies.
This move vowed to block all New Line Cinema's upward prospects.
Wang Yaocheng has never been a generous person. Xie Yi, the boss of New Line Cinema, offended him severely. So, don't blame him for being too dark and cruel and not leaving you a way to survive.
Sure enough, history still followed its original trajectory, and New Line Cinema made a big splash in 1996.
At the beginning of 1996, n was acquired by Time Warner. New Line faced the fate of being abandoned by its "parents". At the very least, it was a small role that was ignored by grandma and uncle. Company boss Shea felt the crisis.
In order to ensure a foothold in the Time Warner family and increase its own capital, New Line decided to become bigger and stronger and put all its efforts into large-scale production.
It's a pity that God did not fulfill his wish
The two A-level major productions "Superman" and "Inside and Out" that were launched for this purpose suffered a huge loss, with a total loss of 170 million US dollars. If Time Warner did not cover the bottom line, even my grandma would not know who could make the loss.
Time Warner angrily ordered Robert Shea:
In the future, Shea will not have the final say on productions with budgets above $50 million.
These bad things in Hollywood are really exciting to see.
Wang Yaocheng; "DreamWorks didn't do much in 1996. It only produced one A-level production, "Spin City," and a few small and medium-sized films to test the market. The box office response was mediocre. This is not in line with the standards of big names like you.
Now, do you have any new plans for 1997?"
President Jeffrey Katzenberg smiled; "This is normal, Mr. Chairman, Spielberg has a film directing contract, and the contracts in my and David Geffen's hands also need to be completed, but don't worry, 97
Next year we will show off our skills.
At present, DreamWorks' film production plan has arranged four A-level commercial productions, as well as several small and medium-cost literary films, which should be able to achieve good box office results.
The famous director Gore Forbinsky's script "Ratcatcher" will be the first to be put into filming.
This is a gothic-style comedy with a pretty good script, and we are expected to be satisfied with its box office performance.
The crew is in preparation, and the main actors have basically been decided. Filming will officially begin in a week, and it is planned to start filming in the United States in the summer of 1997.
We still have two main theme scripts, "Peacemaker" and "Broken Tide", ready for filming. Unfortunately, Mr. Spielberg has no schedule, so we can only find other people to replace them."
"Hey, there's nothing I can do." Spielberg laughed dryly.
Everyone here knows that as a top Hollywood director, Mr. Spielberg's film contract has been scheduled for five years, and there are not many schedules left for DreamWorks.
Since his debut in 1968, this talented Jewish director has shot too many hit blockbuster films and has repeatedly set Hollywood global box office records, which is a natural guarantee for box office.
"Jaws" filmed in 1975 grossed US$470 million at the global box office. This was US$470 million in 1975. He was considered a phenomenal eccentric, and he was elevated to the status of Hollywood's number one director in one fell swoop.
Since then, great works have continued.
"Close Encounters of the Third Kind", "1941", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "E.T.", "Raiders of the Lost Ark", "Back to the Future", "The Color Purple", "Money Trap", "Empire of the Sun", "Back to the Future Part 2", "Iron"
"Captain Hook"...
It’s so hard to win awards, the box office of the opening film is rolling in, and countless honors are waiting for you...
In 1993, director Spielberg filmed "Jurassic Park", which was a global box office hit and grossed US$940 million...
in 1997
Director Spielberg also has Columbia Pictures' super commercial production "Men in Black", Universal Pictures' "Jurassic Park 2: The Lost World", and the film "British Beauty" as a producer. The schedule is scheduled
full of.
The same situation applies to super star Schwarzenegger, who also has a full film schedule and is unable to contribute to DreamWorks.
"Oh my God! We have a serious problem now. This doesn't seem to be our movie company."
President Jeffrey Katzenberg couldn't help complaining: "I don't think it should be called 'Dream Factory'. It seems to be called 'Nightmare Factory' more appropriately. Everyone is busy, but not for DreamWorks."
Spielberg is busy making movies for others and helping other companies make a lot of money.
David Geffen, a gay guy, is even busier, producing and releasing albums for popular singers like Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston, and Madonna. No one cares about this damn company.
Our Executive Vice President, Mr. Pan Shiyi, flew to London to work with the British HSBC Bank, but he was nowhere to be seen for the whole year.
oh……
I also forgot that Mr. Terminator should still be in the future time and space.
As for our Chairman Boss King, the famous richest man in the world, DreamWorks is just an insignificant speck of dust in his business map. I would like to ask, how many companies did you buy in 1996?
50 or 100?"
Seeing Jeffrey Katzenberg's indignant look, everyone was a little embarrassed.
Wang Yaocheng really doesn't care about DreamWorks. He hasn't visited DreamWorks a few times since its establishment, and he hasn't asked anything about it.
Although it is the largest shareholder, this film company is not included in the business map of the Wang Consortium. Seriously speaking, DreamWorks is just a bridge to connect with Hollywood and a channel to expand its influence, and is of little importance.
In comparison, Marvel Animation and Marvel Studios Entertainment are their biological sons and care deeply about them.
"Friends, all I can say is try my best."
Wang Yaocheng let out a long, melancholy sigh; "Maybe it was a mistake for me to invest in DreamWorks. I really don't have much energy to distract myself. If you are willing to buy back some of the shares, I would be happy to see it happen.
After all, the Royal Family Foundation has hundreds of companies with more than 600,000 employees, and they make money for me every day as soon as I open my eyes.
There are too many things to really take care of.
My only help to DreamWorks is money, and I can write a check for as much as I need."
As soon as this statement came out, everyone present was immediately hit by 10,000 tons.
Sister Ni, you don’t show off like this.
They were helpless. If anyone in the world could say such a thing, it would be the young richest man in the world in front of them, who could increase his wealth by hundreds of millions of dollars just by sleeping.
Everyone has no temper, and everyone present is the top person in their respective fields. But facing such a cheating guy, it is completely unsatisfactory.
It will turn into slag every minute and every blow will be unnecessary.
"Okay, the boss king is our big benefactor and backer. He only needs to be responsible for writing checks. What about you?"
Jeffrey Katzenberg's soul torture sentence is quite powerful, and the implication is;
If you have more money than the boss king, you can bring it up for consideration now. If not, the next thing will be easier to handle.
If you have money, give money, if you don't have money, give effort, and you are not allowed to act blindly.
Director Spielberg can't sit still. He is also a major shareholder of DreamWorks, and it is his duty to change the current situation of DreamWorks.
"After the board meeting, I went back to rearrange my work plan for the year and squeezed out time to film an A-level production for the company. The script "Broken Chain", which shows the resistance of black slaves, is good. I will try to film it by the end of the year.
Now, I have an excellent script "Saving Private Ryan" in hand, which I plan to shoot in 1998. This is a war-themed film with huge investment, grand scenes, and exciting plot. It will be a hit film."
Mr. Spielberg's statement satisfied everyone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger thought about it; "It's definitely not possible in 1997. If we make a film together in 1998, I will ask my agent to keep the schedule as much as possible."
"Okay, very good." Wang Yaocheng snapped his fingers happily; "My Athlon company cooperated with Silicon Valley Lab to provide Pixar Animation with the latest 3D computer equipment and software. It is powerful and is currently used in production.
Animated feature film "A Bug's Life".
I don’t need to introduce Pixar Animation, it is now the leader in 3D animated films.
DreamWorks Animation is currently producing "Ants". I can also provide the latest 3D computer equipment and software, and welcome healthy competition in the industry.
One final statement, it’s free.”
His speech received warm applause and unanimous applause, and everyone could not help but complain;