Artists under the Rebirth of the Coal Boss

Chapter 297 The Special Effects Empire Built in Secret

The car window was lowered by a crack the width of a finger, and the hissing wind sounded like background noise.

Lin Xingzhuo leaned back in the leather back seat of the GL8, flicked his slender cigarette with his thumb, and said:
"We are determined to acquire the copyrights to these marginalized characters!"

"But we can license it to Disney at a very friendly price, and we also have some leverage to offer Disney in this negotiation."

Xu Zhixia raised her voice a few decibels on the phone and said, "Xingzhuo, you may have misunderstood."

"What I meant was that Marvel only asked us to get involved to help drive up the price; they didn't tell us their bottom line in the negotiations!"

"Even if the lawyer who consulted Marvel knew, with such a multi-billion dollar deal being watched by countless eyes, he couldn't possibly reveal his hand to us."

Lin Xingzhuo said, "I will compose an email and tell you the information from Marvel..."

Xu Zhixia: ? ? ?

…………

In his previous life, Lin Xingzhuo had reviewed the documentary series "Marvel's 75th Anniversary: ​​From Slang to Global!" which was imported by Youku.

This is a documentary produced to commemorate the 75th anniversary of Marvel, looking back on its history from its founding in 1939 to the rise of the cinematic universe.

It covers Stan Lee's creative era, from his bankruptcy crisis to his transformation after being acquired by Disney.

The acquisition of Disney, a major event, also revealed some interesting behind-the-scenes stories of the negotiations and the intrigue between the two sides.

…………

On the other end of the phone, Xu Zhixia recalled that Ai Shangzhen had mentioned in South Korea that the Lin Xingzhuo family had connections in the diplomatic system.

There's also the story of Lin Xingzhuo helping his sister-in-law Shen Mojun plan the peninsula's development and creating a "kingmaker"...

But then I realized that this time the situation was different.

This is a business negotiation. The diplomatic system in the United States already has strained intelligence resources, and it's simply impossible for them to be so wealthy as to focus on Hollywood's commercial intellectual property acquisitions...

Therefore, there is only one truth!

Lin Xingzhuo had read the publicly available filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

Annual Report (10-K), Quarterly Report (10-Q), Proxy Form for Shareholders' Meetings, and the company's annual reports and correspondence from previous years...

Earnings call transcripts, management interviews, in-depth reports in business journals, product channel research, industry trade magazines, professional blogs, academic papers...

Lin Xingzhuo used his strong business analysis skills and keen financial acumen to complete the analysis and evaluation of the company through this raw data.

In other words, this top executive of the Tiger faction not only understands Marvel's underlying business logic, but also sees through Marvel's business strategy in this negotiation!
…………

Xu Zhixia then recalled how Lin Xingzhuo saw through Wanxiang Group's capital smokescreen and precisely targeted Shunfa Hengye, the core of the Wanxiang Group!
Holy crap! This is terrifying to think about!!!
Is this the true strength of the mastermind behind the Tiger Group's coal capital, hidden behind a powerful bloodline limit?!
This lawyer, who bears a striking resemblance to Eika Fukada and has always been a fan of intellectual sex, is feeling a bit uneasy!

My heart is fluttering!!

…………

Lin Xingzhuo, with a pack of Liqun cigarettes between his fingers, exhaled a puff of smoke and said into his phone:

"We offer preferential access to characters and negotiation intelligence."

"In exchange, Tiger Vision Group obtained the qualification to participate in internal bidding for Disney movie special effects projects..."

"That means you can participate in the internal supplier selection and dynamic competition system of Disney's various special effects studios and subsidiaries."

Xu Zhixia, on the other end of the phone, calmed herself down and said:

"I can try to talk to the other party about this."

"Entering Hollywood's special effects supply chain through Disney is indeed a great idea!"

“I’ve heard James Wan mention that there is indeed a strong demand for special effects production in the US market right now.”

"In particular, Avatar, which was released this month, grossed over $1 million in its opening week in the United States! This is the best performance in the North American market since the millennium!"

"Major film companies have begun to try to upgrade 2D films to 3D production and have increased the proportion of their budgets allocated to special effects!"

Lin Xingzhuo took a drag of his cigarette and asked, "Are there any legal issues?"

Xu Zhixia explained, "The WTO has service trade provisions, so there shouldn't be any legal issues."

"However, I estimate that the price for Tiger Vision Group's special effects technology services will be driven down very sharply..."

"Chinese goods don't have a good reputation in the US right now; they're just a synonym for low-end and cheap."

Lin Xingzhuo stubbed out his cigarette and said on the phone, "Let's get into the Hollywood special effects industry chain first. Losing some money is okay."

"Once the special effects studios and subsidiaries under Tiger Vision Group secure orders and get the team up and running, with personnel and technical reserves, we can then strive for better pricing power!"

“Early Hong Kong and Taiwan action actors could not enter the Hollywood market at all. It was only after Bruce Lee that a group of Chinese action actors emerged.”

"But white people still hold the power in terms of action direction."

"It's that time of year again when Chen Long became a phenomenal kung fu superstar in Hollywood, bringing the Jackie Chan Stunt Team to Hollywood, which led to a significant increase in his status and asking price..."

"Once you're inside the system, with Tiger Vision Group's technological reserves and pool of engineers, you'll definitely have opportunities..."

Xu Zhixia, on the other end of the phone, gasped. Lin Xingzhuo's usual absurd pretense of indulging in eating, drinking, and having fun had finally been exposed!

He compared himself to Li Xiaolong and Chen Long! His ambition to establish his own school of thought is evident!

Xu Zhixia casually reminded him, "Xingzhuo, we also need to pay attention to domestic public opinion."

Lin Xingzhuo was completely bewildered and asked, "Domestic public opinion?"

Xu Zhixia said, "There was an economist named Mao Yushi who made a famous theory."

"Why can't China ever surpass Europe and America? Because it takes exporting 800 million shirts to buy one Boeing or Airbus aircraft."

Lin Xingzhuo said, "I've heard of that."

Xu Zhixia said, "Mao Yushi has another point of view on many economic forums."

"The United States allowed China to join the WTO so that it could play the role of producing low-priced products in the field of goods trade. This is a kind of inclusiveness in a civilized society."

"Given this goodwill, we do not recommend that domestic companies rashly enter the high-value-added service trade sector... They should focus their main efforts on the goods trade..."

"Public opinion in the service trade sector has a significant impact. If things go wrong, it could cause dissatisfaction and anger from foreign countries, lead to international disputes, and damage the mainland's image."

"I've heard that many people, including those within the system, quite agree with his theories."

"Special effects technology services are already considered a high-value-added service trade sector..."

Lin Xingzhuo was speechless after hearing this ancient "international trade ally's astonishment theory" from the millennium era, and retorted:

"Are all service trade agreements high value-added? Even if they are, can't Chinese people do them? If the mainland won't do them, let the Indians do them?"

"Ignore these clown experts."

"I will talk to Brother Ye and arrange for Tiger Eye Vision Group to set up a special working group to cooperate with you on this matter."

Xu Zhixia said, "Okay..."

…………

Lin Xingzhuo hung up the phone.

He recalled the materials he consulted when writing his previous life's essays on the history of film special effects, such as "Light and Magic" and "Industrial Light & Magic: Creating the Impossible."

At the height of global free trade, Hollywood increasingly disliked the high costs of domestic special effects production.

As a result, Hollywood's film giants adopted a global division of labor and cooperation model, initiating a process of deindustrialization...

We originally chose a supplier from mainland China.

However, the mainland lacks technological reserves, and all domestic special effects blockbusters use foreign technical teams.

There are also a bunch of special effects companies that collude with animated films to fraudulently obtain subsidies and launder money from movies, resulting in the bad driving out the good.

It's so chaotic that it would deter any investor, and give them the creeps!

As a result, Hollywood ultimately chose an Indian supplier to handle part of the special effects production, while the rest were distributed to New Zealand, South Korea, Australia, and Canada.

…………

Of course, every cloud has a silver lining.

Hollywood inadvertently triggered a bizarre tale of Indian rules...

In other words, if you find one Indian in a place, then there are actually many Indians in that place.

In just a few years, the percentage of Indians in Industrial Light & Magic has increased from 9% to over 35%.

Weta Digital has seen significant growth in its workforce in India, which now accounts for approximately 55% of its global workforce, and the company plans to increase that proportion to around 70%.

The company has brought all of its top management in the digital sector to India and outsourced more than half of its business to software companies in Bangalore and Hyderabad, India.

Hollywood special effects have begun to stagnate for many years...

…………

Lin Xingzhuo enabled Tiger Eye Vision Group to penetrate the supply chain of Disney and even the entire Hollywood.

Just like in 2009 when a bunch of companies rushed to enter Apple's supply chain.

This occurred against the backdrop of a very underdeveloped domestic market.

Actively embracing the global supply chain is not only about surviving in the market, but more importantly, about learning supply chain management, resource allocation mechanisms, team building, and technology reserves…

Mingxiu plank road, dark Chencang.

Through Hollywood, they secretly honed their special effects empire and absorbed the nourishment needed to cultivate their domestic film industry.

........................

When Lin Xingzhuo woke up late at night, the car had already arrived at the underground parking garage of the Lin'an Kaiyuan Mingdu Hotel.

After Zhang Youqian finished the check-in procedures, Lin Xingzhuo had just pushed his suitcase into the room when he received a text message from Zhu Yilong.

(End of this chapter)