Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1515 Weinstein’s Public Relations Strategy

"This is a magnitude 10 earthquake, and it will change Hollywood more dramatically than any real earthquake in Los Angeles."

All the Hollywood newspapers have been reporting on this matter in recent days, and many of the initial misconceptions have been corrected.

For example, it was not Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates who intended to invest in DreamWorks, but Paul Allen, the founder of Microsoft, who took personal actions. Another example is Miky Lee, an investor from Korea, whose ambitions were greater than Ronald guessed. She signed with DreamWorks in order to dominate the distribution of Hollywood films in East Asia and even the whole of Asia.

The World Trade Organization (WTO) will be established on January 1 next year. Korea and Hong Kong, as both were members of the original General Agreement on Tariffs, automatically became founding members of the WTO.

However, they also need to negotiate with other members, especially the United States and European countries, to determine the list of certain industries that can be protected by trade protection measures.

In order to join the WTO, Korea also sacrificed a lot of interests in the film and television industry. Because their largest exports to the United States are steel, shipbuilding and automobiles. And Amei's dominant industry, the Hollywood movies that are sold all over the world, is one of the important ones.

In exchange for their advantageous industries and access to the huge markets of America or Europe, Goryeo made concessions in the film market. Except for 73 days a year, when Goryeo cinemas must show at least one locally produced film, Hollywood films can be shown without restriction on other days.

Before that, the screen protection period was 146 days. In addition, there is an overall quota limit for imported Hollywood movies each year. In addition to the upper limit on the number of imported movies, there are also censorship of the subject matter and other factors.

Therefore, when the WTO is formally established next year and the trade agreement comes into effect, the high-profit film distribution market will certainly be hit hard by Hollywood films. CJ Group is not only concerned about the entrepreneurial attempt of a woman who just graduated from school, but also has a lot of visible market potential, which may bring rich profits to this adventure.

Similar to this is the Hong Kong market, which has been a free trade port since the British colonial era, without any restrictions. Since Jurassic Park broke through the cultural and language barriers and satisfied Hong Kong audiences, local film and television production has also fallen into a trough, with an increasing proportion of the box office being taken away by Hollywood films.

As for mainland China and Ang Lee's hometown, although both sides share the same plight and have not resumed their status as contracting parties to the General Decision on Tariffs and Trade, they are both actively negotiating with America to join the WTO.

The manufacturing of various chips and high-tech equipment from the other side of the strait, as well as the export of various textiles, toys and other products from the mainland, all rely on the opening of the huge American market.

It is conceivable that during the negotiations for accession to the WTO, the film and television industry will not be an industry that they will give special consideration to.

If CJ Group can acquire all the distribution rights of the East Asian market outside of Japan and some big-name Hollywood studios in one fell swoop, then the potential for this business will be very huge.

So Wall Street also responded, and the share prices of all other companies in the film and television industry, including DDH Media, fell to a certain extent.

When a new giant takes off, it will always eat into the market. It will also eat into the existing players' market share, further diluting the average profit of the existing industry.

During the process of contact between Ronald's DDH Media and Korea's CJ Group, he also discovered the other party's ambition to monopolize the Asian distribution rights, and the negotiations were very unsuccessful.

However, compared to a fledgling third-generation rich lady, Ronald has a lot of personal experience in the cross-border film distribution trade, and he has a deeper understanding of this market.

CJ Group's story is likely to be more popular on Wall Street, and many analysts will tend to agree with the blueprint she has drawn.

But none of the countries in East Asia are easy to mess with. One thing is certain: they have accumulated enough bureaucratic experience in government operations. In practice, there are many ways to delay the signing of contracts.

Apart from the strange experiences Ronald himself encountered in the mainland market that were incomprehensible to Americans, they actually had very rich experience in the Japanese market.

One or two giants who control the main distribution channels can manipulate many things in the name of market economy. For example, they use the excuse that Hollywood movies are not popular among Japanese people to deny them good schedules and the best release time, which ultimately makes the box office of Hollywood movies in Japan always fall short of expectations.

Because he did not believe that CJ Group could unify the Asian distribution market as a giant distributor, Ronald found another distribution industry giant ranked in the top two in Korea, the film import department of Lotte Group, and signed a package distribution cooperation agreement with them.

Since Ronald himself and DDH's overseas distribution department have extensive experience in dealing with East Asian countries, they know that in the film and television industry, in addition to talking about profits, there are some things that East Asians like more and can be used as bargaining chips.

For example, we help some films produced in Korea to find distribution channels in Korean communities and some art theaters in America.

Because Ronald helped Yimou win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, and a series of Chinese-language films were well received in America, Lotte Group felt that the conditions proposed to DDH Media were very convincing.

In addition, they were also shocked by CJ Group's big move, and the two sides quickly reached a cooperation agreement on distribution. Some old movies in DDH Media's film library and newly shot movies and TV series will be distributed in Korea through Lotte Group.

If a Korean film can be distributed in the Korean community in America, or even be invited to participate in a B-class film festival like the Palm Springs Film Festival, it will be a groundbreaking achievement and will greatly inspire the national pride of the Korean people.

Everyone gets what they want, and DDH Media also gets very favorable terms. Although these agreements do not look fancy at all and have not been praised by Wall Street analysts, they cannot completely offset the general decline in media stocks brought about by the establishment of DreamWorks.

Especially at Disney, where Eisner had a falling out with Katzenberg and kicked him out, the market may have thought that Disney would lack an important soul figure, so the stock price had a significant drop, causing Eisner to lead the board of directors to repurchase a lot of shares.

Another unfortunate victim was Paramount Pictures, which was acquired by Viacom. They were already heavily in debt, and now they had to compete with a company like this for big stars and big production projects. In addition, they did not have enough cash to buy back shares, so their stock price fell even more than Disney.

"Hey, I still have a lot of their stocks, what should I do now?"

Seeing Viacom's stock price falling all the way, Ronald had no good chance to sell it, which almost became a problem for him. At that time, in order to protect his short selling operation, he specially left some chips to close the position, but now they have become a trouble that he can't get rid of.

"Yes, send more champagne to my friends as my congratulations." Ronald put his worries aside and instructed his assistant Yang Yanzi to prepare the best champagne and send it to the opening party of DreamWorks hosted by Spielberg and Katzenberg.

As the chairman of DDH, it was not convenient for me to make any comments about their DreamWorks in public. But privately sending a batch of expensive champagne to them for their opening party was another great way to express goodwill to the Jews - to help them save money.

"By the way, can you help me ask them if they need a lion dance to celebrate? If they do, Huabu in Los Angeles just customized a new lion head from a workshop in Hong Kong this year. These Jews don't know anything, so tell them to prepare red envelopes with cash in them, because it will be most auspicious when the lion steps on it."

As a competitor in the industry, Ronald was not suitable to express many congratulations directly. Just do some superficial work like others. But as an artist and film director, DreamWorks is the first studio in Hollywood founded by artists in decades. This is the biggest good news for artists since Chaplin founded United Artists.

Most actors and directors believed that these businessmen in the studio would only stifle their wonderful creativity and were the enemy of artists. Therefore, the three heroes who founded the second studio led by artists after Chaplin received a lot of praise in Hollywood.

Most of these people are also judges of the Academy, who are eligible to participate in the nomination and final voting of the Oscars. Ronald is very happy to let them know their identity as an artist. This will also help the new award season starting at the end of this year, and win more votes for his own Forrest Gump.

These people often have unrealistic fantasies about DreamWorks being able to produce their scripts, and they regard the actions of Spielberg, Katzenberg, and David Geffen as miracles like the resurrection of Jesus.

So when they saw the expensive champagne sponsored by Ronald Lee himself at the founding party, they would definitely have a favorable impression of themselves.

……

Over the past week, media reviews and film reviews for both The Shawshank Redemption and Pulp Fiction have come out.

Contrary to what Ronald himself expected, The Shawshank Redemption received polarized reviews from critics.

Morgan Freeman's performance as Red received positive reviews from almost all critics, with Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly saying that Freeman made the character of Red seem real and "lifelike".

Janet Maslin wrote in The New York Times that Freeman's performance was impressive, but that it was a pity that Red's role in the film was limited to observing Andy. She felt that Freeman's powerful performance made him a stronger character than a mere observer, and that Red's dependence on life within the prison walls was particularly touching.

Leonard Clardy of Variety suggested that Freeman took on a "more compelling" role that allowed him to "bring his natural grace and dignity" without ever becoming banal.

Deshon Howe of The Washington Post called Freeman a "master" of comedy and touching pacing.

Even Kenneth Turan's Los Angeles Times review, which gave the film Shawshank Redemption a low score, praised Freeman, saying his "easy screen presence brings Shawshank as close to believability as it can get."

Tim Robbins, who plays the protagonist Andy, received a lot of negative reviews. Some people said that he wanted to be the new Gary Cooper, but he could not make the audience feel involved like Gary Cooper.

Some people even maliciously commented that Tim Robbins only played a cheap and sensational story of "Forrest Gump goes to prison". The whole movie is even more disgusting than the various plots in Forrest Gump that are meant to promote conservatives.

"You are disgusting. Who is this person? Oh..."

Ronald saw that this was Dessen Howe, a film critic and political reporter for the Washington Post. No wonder, in Washington DC, the most supportive of the Donkey Party in the United States (Ronald Sr. won almost all the votes in the states in his second term, except for his opponent's home state and Washington DC), he must be dissatisfied with Forrest Gump, who has some traditional ideas, and Shawshank, who is full of religious colors.

As for why he praised Morgan Freeman when everyone criticized the movie and the protagonist, calling him a master of rhythm and comedy performance, it can be understood from his skin color and the last name he got from his adoptive parents.

"Are these people trying to nominate Morgan Freeman for Best Actor?" Ronald shook his head. Real insiders know that Andy, played by Tim Robbins, is the protagonist of the whole story and the key to why this story seems real.

Freeman's Red is just a storyteller's perspective. If he plays the role well, it will steal the show and weaken the story itself.

On the other hand, the film Pulp Fiction received uniformly positive reviews that were inconsistent with its quality.

Roger Ebert called it "a comedy of blood, guts, violence, bizarre behavior, drug abuse, fixed matches, corpse disposal, leather freaks, and a watch that travels through the darkness between generations...Tarantino and Roger Avery's script is so well-written, in a sloppy fanzine way, that you want to put those zombie writers who took 'screenwriting' classes and learned the 'hit movie' formula to shame."

Time magazine's review wrote: "It towers over the rest of this year's movies, as commanding and threatening as a gangster in a kindergarten. It challenges Hollywood to go so far with such profound wisdom. If good directors take up Tarantino's implicit challenge, cinema might once again become a wonderful place to live."

Newsweek wrote: "The miracle of Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction is that, despite being composed of second-hand, devalued parts, it manages to shine as if it were new."

Entertainment Weekly wrote, "You'll get addicted to rediscovering how delightful movies can be. I'm not sure I've ever encountered a filmmaker who combines discipline and control with sheer wild joy like Tarantino does."

“The special thrill of watching such an exciting work,” Rolling Stone wrote, “is that Pulp Fiction is unquestionably great.”

From the wording of these compliments, we can see that they are either a pile of so-called professional terms that outsiders cannot understand but make insiders laugh, or there are only conceptual adjectives such as great and advanced, without any detailed comments.

This is a typical example of paying for positive reviews, but the film itself has some lackluster performance. Those critics also have their own reputations to maintain, and blindly praising may bring very bad consequences. They can only use high-level vocabulary to praise the film in a vague way.

"Does Miramax want to buy these reviews with money and send Pulp Fiction to the Oscars?" Ronald understood the strategy Harvey Weinstein intended to adopt, and he also had to respond.

(End of this chapter)