Travel through the Qing Dynasty and become emperor

Previously, he had negotiated with the California government through Edison, his close business partner in China, and the state government had agreed to sell the development rights of a desolate town called "Holly Tree", which is directly transliterated as "Hollywood". ".

Qiao Zhiyong came here to implement the development agreement, and to meet with Edison to discuss further cooperation plans.

At this time, Los Angeles had a population of 35, 5000 registered companies, and 1200 factories.The vast majority of the population are urban residents.There are less than 1 residents in the countryside.

Qiao Zhiyong saw the excellent development potential of Los Angeles and the business development situation. In recent years, immigrants from all continents of the world have flocked to Los Angeles, hoping to get development opportunities here, and most of the immigrants do not understand English at all.In Los Angeles, 10 people speak Chinese, and another 15* speak languages ​​from all over the world.Only about 10 people speak English.This makes it impossible for many people in Los Angeles to appreciate the English stage plays of the Opera House, as well as Chinese operas such as Peking Opera, Yue Opera, and Huangmei.

However, a film "The Great Train Robbery" produced by Edison Company this year has subverted people's thinking, achieved considerable box office results, and set off a wave of movie-watching in Los Angeles.Qiao Zhiyong saw this business opportunity, and decisively asked Edison to buy the development rights of Hollywood Town instead of Qiao's Group.He decided to make it the most famous movie kingdom in the world.

Edison’s vigorous development in the United States is inseparable from the strong support of Chinese funds. For more than a year, all the patented products in Edison’s hands were purchased by China in the name of the George Group. Edison’s The company made a lot of money for it.Of course, Qiao’s Group has also obtained all of Edison’s personal patents. Qiao’s Group is responsible for the packaging and sales of products. All patented products will be distributed to Edison with a 20.00% bonus. For Edison, he can focus on himself It is of course a very happy thing that money will be sent to his pocket for his inventions and creations.

The sensational effect caused by "The Great Train Robbery" in Los Angeles not only attracted Qiao Zhiyong's attention, but also many American financial groups and film companies all set their sights on the small town of Hollywood.

Just before Qiao Zhiyong left, some New York and New Jersey film companies were already planning to move to California.They think the weather here is good and the sunshine hours are long.Although the electric light had been invented, it was not bright enough, and the best light source was sunlight.In addition, California has a wide field of vision and a variety of natural scenery, which is beneficial to film shooting.In addition to natural conditions, in terms of subjective reasons, the most important factor for Hollywood's fame is the strong pressure from the film trust founded by the inventor Edison.

As the saying goes, time waits for no one. Qiao Zhiyong feels that business opportunities are often fleeting. He must hurry up to Los Angeles and start the construction plan of the film kingdom, otherwise he will be taken ahead of others.

Moreover, Edison also urgently needs the support of the Qiao Group, because his situation here is also extremely difficult.

Here's the thing.Edison also has many inventions and design innovations in film equipment, and has corresponding patent rights.Edison is known as the father of film invention because he first invented the film projector and made film invention come out of the laboratory.Moreover, Edison continued to register more patents on movies, making it impossible to avoid Edison's patents when shooting and showing movies in the United States.

Due to the increase of film companies, starting from 1897, Edison provoked a film patent dispute in the United States, and went to court with many film manufacturers.At the same time, he saw the development prospects of the film industry. Using the trump card of film equipment in his hand, he merged the nine major film companies in the eastern United States into his film patent company, thus controlling the film market.Those producers who were not willing to obey their orders looked for new ways to get rid of Edison's monopoly and start anew.At this time, before Edison established the film patent company, a small studio (Elder Films) that had gone to Hollywood to make films provided Hollywood information.This film studio, which was originally located in New Jersey in the eastern United States, rented a factory in Hollywood at a low price, and quickly produced the first Hollywood film "Her Indian Hero".

Resurgence: World War II Chapter 475 Movie Kingdom

The film "Her Indian Hero" expanded the popularity of Hollywood. Those film producers who wanted to find their own way out were attracted by Hollywood's superior natural location and developed transportation conditions, and came to Hollywood to start their own businesses.In addition, California is very far away from New Jersey, and it is difficult for Edison to control his patent rights here.There weren't that many of Edison's men in California, and even if he sent someone, the news would get out long ago, so that the Hollywood filmmakers could hide in nearby Mexico in time.

At the same time, Edison's deadly rival, Karl Remu, is also building a big project in Hollywood, and is preparing to create Universal Corporation, full of ambitions to become the new king of the film industry.On the contrary, Edison's film patent company, which was the catalyst for Hollywood, was declared an illegal trust by the American court and went bankrupt after only a few years of prosperity.

Under such circumstances, Edison thought of his backer Joe Group, and hoped to join hands with Qiao Zhiyong to establish a new film company and revive his majesty in the Hollywood film and television industry.

Two days later, Qiao Zhiyong and Edison met in an ordinary studio in Los Angeles.In addition to Edison, there were also the famous movie actress Miss Mary Pickford, and Mr. Edwin, the director of "The Great Train Robbery".

As if seeing a great savior, Edison held Qiao Zhiyong's hand tightly, and said excitedly, "You are finally here. Did you know? In the past two months, more than a dozen people, large and small, have poured into Los Angeles. For the film and television industry in the United States, this is definitely a golden treasure land. I can see very clearly that if we develop the film industry now, we will definitely achieve amazing achievements. But my company and I I have received hostility from the film industry in the United States because I hold the invention patent of film equipment. They joined forces and sued my company. Now I see the gold everywhere but can't do anything, so I have to rely on your Joe's Group." He was worried that the other party was not interested in the film business, so he took "The Great Train Robbery" as an example, chattering about the profit of the film, hoping to impress this powerful Chinese partner with his sincerity people.

Edison's film company began filming The Great Train Robbery last year.It took a year to create this 30-minute movie.This movie is adapted from a real robbery incident that happened in the United States in 1900. It is based on the real natural environment as the narrative background and the story of the robber who robbed the money of the passengers on the train and was finally chased by the police and punished. Highlights a composition with strong and tense external movements and conflicts.The film is divided into 14 sections, and each section is a part of a complete event captured by a single lens.There are several shots among them that show the narrative characteristics of the film very effectively.

This movie is much longer than the previous short films that were only a few minutes, at most 10 minutes.If other movies only describe some simple actions and simple scenes.Then, "The Great Train Robbery" uses the technique of movie montage to completely describe an event, time, place, character, event, cause, process, and result.And this kind of silent era movies will not be unappreciated because the audience does not understand English.

"The Great Train Robbery" was released in several theaters invested by the Los Angeles Edison Film Company, and it was an instant success and set off a movie-watching frenzy.Tickets for screenings are cheapest at 5 cents, or a nickel.This kind of cheap consumption makes it possible to operate a small theater in Los Angeles that can accommodate 200 people to watch movies.From six o'clock in the morning to late at night, the shows are almost full, which allows the theater to earn at least $500 in net profit a month.Moreover, in the wild era of movies, people never get tired of watching the same "The Great Train Robbery" every day. A considerable number of viewers often go to the theater to re-watch it over and over again. Audiences who have watched it dozens of times are very common.

This trend gradually affected the whole of Los Angeles. Some people pretended to be audiences and went to Yundong Edison Film Company to steal discarded film reels, and then copied them into new ones.These films can also be played by purchasing projectors in the market.Soon after, more "nickel theaters" began popping up in Los Angeles, a five-cent piece that allowed entry into small movie theaters to watch The Great Train Robbery.Almost all projection organizations have achieved good economic effects, featuring low investment and high profits. With an investment of 5 US dollars, the cost can be recovered in less than half a year.Then, you can keep making huge profits by showing the same movie over and over again.It can be seen how attractive the new product of film is!

"Mr. Qiao Zhiyong, you can go to any movie theater here to see it. All the movies are shown are "The Great Train Robbery", and there is a long queue in front of every movie theater. The damn thing is, Some guys dared to infringe on our film patents, and obtained our film by stealing means. Without these people, this film would have made more lucrative profits..." Edison was very angry, "These illegal screenings Movie guy, I'm going to take all of these people to court!"

After thinking about it, Edison suddenly thought: "No! Not only are these people not allowed to show movies illegally, but they are also not allowed to shoot movies illegally. I am the only one who successfully registered all movie-related patents in the United States!"

Qiao Zhiyong laughed. Facing this persistent inventor who was almost obstinate, he really couldn't laugh or cry, "Mr. Edison, I think you have misunderstood the US government's policy on films and patents."

"What? I misunderstood?" Edison's eyes widened, looking at Qiao Zhiyong in disbelief.

Qiao Zhiyong said patiently: "Mr. Edison, although rights protection is the right thing to do. However, your company is not alone in film shooting and projection technology. There are also some companies in Britain, France and other countries that have advanced film shooting and projection technology... "

"But in the United States, we are the only company. I asked the company's legal counsel. If I want to sue them, I can even get the court to rule that any company that shoots a movie, any company that broadcasts a movie violates our patent. Because, we The company owns all the film-related patents in the United States! Because my patent registration was relatively general at the beginning, it basically covers the rights and interests of all the processes of the current film from shooting, production to screening! Only we have obtained our authorization , It is legal to shoot and broadcast movies in the United States!" Edison was very persistent about this, "If we win the lawsuit, we can make this point clearer! From now on, unless the movie technology is completely out of my registered Patents and principles, otherwise, we monopolize movies!"

Qiao Zhiyong's face became gloomy, "Mr. Edison, are the laws of the United States made for you alone?"

Edison suddenly shook his head, not quite understanding what the other party meant.

"It was you who established a film patent company in the east, monopolized the film industry in the United States, and charged licensing fees to movie theaters and film manufacturers. As a result, a large number of people in the film industry fled from eastern cities to western Los Angeles as if they were fleeing, and in a small Hollywood In the end, this patent infringement gang formed a climate in Hollywood, but it was more viable than the regular film manufacturers authorized by Edison in the eastern cities." Qiao Zhiyong looked at the frustrated Edison and said: "The United States It claims to be the country with the most sound laws in the world, but don’t be superstitious about this. The US government will think that your company has formed a monopoly or even an obstacle to the development of the film industry, and it will not give up just because it wants to protect your so-called legal rights. With the development of the American film industry, in order to achieve the goal of breaking the monopoly, the government can introduce another law at any time to deny your patent rights.”

Edison completely lost his confidence, lowered his head and murmured: "Mr. Qiao Zhiyong, you are very right, but I am not reconciled. The film business I created with my own hands is divided up by others."

Qiao Zhiyong nodded and said with a smile: "The film industry is in the ascendant now. Compared with steel and oil, the scale is still small. Only by attracting many film companies to compete and everyone working together can it be possible to develop this industry. At the same time, we It can also achieve greater benefits. In the words of the imperial emperor, this is called 'making the cake bigger first'."

Edison thought for a while, and finally agreed.

"I want to buy the development rights of Hollywood Town for the same purpose. I want to use five to ten years to build Hollywood into a movie kingdom. If we are the only company in this kingdom, there is no way to develop. So I want to The most outstanding film companies in the United States and even the world have been absorbed, and only in this way can the cake of the film industry grow bigger, and in this process, we have always held the leadership of Hollywood, so what are you worried about?"

What Qiao Zhiyong said made Edison suddenly enlightened. He swept away the dark clouds just now, and said with flickering eyes: "My film company has been declared bankrupt by the government, so I want to start a new film company with you, which will become a film company in the future. The most powerful ruler in the kingdom."

"I'm here to discuss this matter with you. You don't have to use funds to invest in shares, just use the patent rights of your film equipment to invest in shares. I have estimated that in the new company, your shareholding ratio is still 30.00%, what do you think?"

"Is this okay? I can also buy shares with my patent rights, and I really don't need to pay a penny?" Edison was a little unbelievable.

"Of course, the U.S. government doesn't pay much attention to your patent rights, but Joe's Group does. It's an intangible wealth."

"Okay, okay, of course I agree, shouldn't we give the new company a big name first?"

Qiao Zhiyong said without hesitation: "It's called 'China Film Company'!"

ps: Brothers, these two days are small seals, and there are three shifts every day. There will be big seals in a few days, and it will definitely explode at that time.If you have fresh flowers, please vote more. There are very few flowers this month.

Resurgence: World War II Chapter 476 Zhonghua Film Company

Edison and the people present were full of praise.

Qiao Zhiyong added: "Of course, I don't mean that we can voluntarily give up our rights. However, our rights protection should not be limited to short-term interests, but long-term interests. I think the prospects of the film industry are far beyond ours. What we see in front of us will be an extremely broad market in the future. This market is so big that our company cannot monopolize it. For this long-term benefit, it is better for us to become the rule-makers of this industry rather than become the industry enemies of the

"Oh? Then how do you say we should do it?" Edison asked.

"For those movie theaters. We have to take extra serious legal measures to protect our interests. Because these guys didn't get our authorization, they used to steal the film to show the movie. In this way, the market is serious, so as to make an example! And for those filming Movie people, while we make it clear that movie patents belong to our company, we should not suppress them too much. You must know that these film production teams are obviously not very rich. If we want to levy huge patent fees on them, it is obviously impossible to receive them. , will only make these people quietly hide in places we can't think of and continue to make movies."

"Wait! I think that if the film studios can't afford the licensing fee, it doesn't matter if they are strictly suppressed. We can make films ourselves. A film like "The Great Train Robbery" has never been successful before. No!" The editor-director Edwin is a very fast-talking person, and sometimes even looks a little aggressive.

"No! I said that this market will become bigger and bigger, and the audience will get tired of it after a long time just because of the few movies we have made. Moreover, even if we are the only ones making movies in the United States, what about Britain and France? , they, the film industry started earlier, and it is much more developed than here. If there are only a few of our films in the United States, I think most of the cinemas will be occupied by British and French films. At that time. We will It’s more worth the loss.”

Edwin sighed: "Mr. Qiao Zhiyong is really a great wise man who can stand at the forefront of the times, I am convinced."

Qiao Zhiyong smiled faintly: "I'm nothing, these views were taught to me by others. Hehe..."

At this time, Mary Pickford, the beautiful blond girl who had been sitting silently beside Edwin, suddenly smiled and said to Qiao Zhiyong: "Mr. Ma'am?"

Qiao Zhiyong was startled, not knowing how to answer this question.

Edison said with a smile: "This is the famous actress Mary Pickford. Regardless of her young age, she is already the most famous screen actress in the United States. She is known as America's sweetheart."

Qiao Zhiyong's eyes fell on Mary Pickford, who looked only about 14 years old, but was actually 16 years old. She was wearing a navy blue serge suit, a blue and white striped shirt, and a gold-rimmed Tuscan sailor hat. Decorated with a blue bowknot, her face is so bright, so cute, so gentle... Qiao Zhiyong nodded politely, and then said, "Why did Miss Mary suddenly ask His Majesty the Emperor?"

Mary Pickford's blue eyes twinkled, radiating a charming and flawless brilliance, "Mr. Qiao Zhiyong, I don't mind expressing to you my respect and admiration for His Majesty the Emperor of your country. I also very much hope to have the opportunity to meet with His Majesty the Emperor. Please be sure to convey my greetings to His Majesty the Emperor."

Qiao Zhiyong was really at a loss. Hearing the American girl express her love to the emperor so blatantly, she wanted to laugh but didn't dare to laugh. She turned to look at Edison, who said calmly, "Americans are like this, this is the cultural difference between East and West. "

Looking at Mary Pickford's very sincere expression, she didn't look like she was joking at all, so she nodded and said, "Okay, okay, I will definitely forward it to the emperor when I have a chance."

Not long after, the China Film Company announced its establishment. From the very beginning, the company expanded outwards from Los Angeles, invested heavily in the establishment of more movie theaters, and strived to form a huge theater chain in the United States.In addition, investing a lot of money in filming, in fact, only making good films is the key to becoming a dominant player in the film industry.There are no good movies as patent protection expires.The influence of China Film Company will gradually lose.

At this time, Qiao Zhiyong came up with a new method, establishing a star training academy under the Zhonghua Film Company, relying on the University of California, to professionally train actors and actresses who are interested in film performance careers, and sign a 20-year contract for potential students. The company is responsible for arranging the participation plan and packaging plan.For a while, young people aged 14 to 25 from all over the United States gathered in Los Angeles to sign up.To a certain extent, it is aimed at the advertising slogan of the Star Training Academy. This advertisement declares to people with unparalleled courage: "Create an actor who is more famous than the President of the United States!" American at its best.