Rebirth of America, this is my time

As of the evening of December 31, 1979, Johnson's home consoles had sold a total of 7.63 million units in North America, bringing an operating income of 1.525 billion to Destiny Games. .

Although after an explosion of 600 million in three days, this data is a bit strange no matter how you look at it, because its subsequent sales momentum has shown a cliff-like decline, which is completely different from normal product sales.

But anyone who is engaged in marketing knows that no matter what kind of product it is, as long as it can drain the purchasing power of the market in an instant, then it is great. This is a true reflection of the market’s popularity and people’s love.

But even if this sales trend is great, it cannot become the most eye-catching focus in the report. What is really exciting is that the number 7.63 million units corresponds to 7.63 million households.

Today, the total number of households in the United States is approximately 80 million!

7.63 million accounts for 9.53% of it!

In other words, after half a year of sales, nearly ten out of every hundred households use their products!

This kind of achievement——

It's terrifying!

Is this number accurate?

Ethan flicked the document in his hand, his face full of pride.

You shouldn't fill in the shipment volume here, right?

Oh! My boss! How could we do such a thing? Ballmer complained repeatedly, These data are all provided by the underwriters, all we do is sum them up!

Really? Ethan said in a teasing tone: Steve, it's not that I don't believe you, but I don't believe in the speed of those merchants. At the end of every year, major merchants in North America will launch Christmas sales, and they will have another one in the New Year. It’s a promotion, how can they settle the bill so quickly when everyone is busy?”

Because our products are selling so well... Ballmer would say on this question, Just after Christmas and New Year, many stores directly urged us to restock!

When they come to check out with the sales money, won't the data come out?

This explanation made Ethan nod repeatedly.

After they re-signed the contract with the underwriter, these data were indeed easy to come out.

And it's not that he doesn't believe the data, but the affirmation from others will make him feel happier.

Scan down and continue browsing.

After deducting production costs, research and development expenses, sales expenses and financial expenses, the operating income of 1.525 billion brought them an operating profit of 10.2 billion, with a profit margin of 6.7%.

To be honest, this data is not as good as that of arcade machines.

But Ethan doesn't care, because the console is for games.

In addition to Johnson's home console, last year's Destiny game also had other income.

For example, arcade machines.

Although Destiny Games did not launch an arcade game last year, before Starry Sky was launched, the arcade machine Ms. Pac-Man sold very well.

To date, its total shipments in North America exceed 150,000 units.

Sales in the first half of last year alone brought a profit of nearly 100 million to Destiny Games.

Another example is the fees for some franchises. The Happy Meal cooperation with McDonald's made Destiny Games very profitable. Later, the toys cooperated with Disney also made Destiny Games a small profit.

For example, the agency fees paid by Nintendo should be allocated to last year, and the game sales report that Hiroshi Yamauchi has not asked his son-in-law Arakawa to submit.

Based on past performance estimates, the profit here can exceed 100 million.

In other words, if nothing unexpected happens, Destiny Games will have a great harvest in 1979, with annual revenue exceeding 1.8 billion and operating profit reaching 300 million. According to revenue rankings, they can at least get into the top ranks of the world. Two hundred, and if ranked according to profit...

Then their profits can be further suppressed.

After looking through the accounts of Destiny Games, the next thing Ethan looked through was the report of Destiny Pictures.

Last year, Destiny Pictures cooperated with Destiny Games to launch the movie Alien. After half a year of screening, it received a box office of 16.3 billion.

Although there are still many movies released last year that have not yet finished their screenings, such as The Kramers, The Fool, and Star Trek: Infinite Space that were released to the audience during the Christmas season, they have only been released for a month. , there is still a lot of room for profit.

But no matter who it is, everyone thinks that Alien was the annual box office champion in 1979.

And this kind of false reputation is not what Ethan pays attention to. What he wants to see now is Destiny Pictures' financial report, after deducting the share of North American theaters, deducting Universal's promotion commission, deducting Steven Spielberg's After the producer dividends of Greg and George Lucas and the profits of the two authors of the original work, the box office dividend attributed to Destiny Pictures is 50.53 million.

Accounting for approximately 31% of the total box office.

Continue to deduct a series of expenses such as production costs.

The final profit of the popular project Alien was approximately 38.07 million...

Thirty-eight million and seventy thousand?

In other words, the return rate of the Alien project is 475%?

The numbers on the report allowed Ethan to quickly calculate the value of Alien.

On the surface, this rate of return is simply a special code that opens the door for Niubi. However, considering the number of films produced by Hollywood every year and the beautiful scenery that only North America can enjoy, the explosion is like looking for a needle in a haystack. The reality is that film investing becomes a gambling game.

A chance of just a few percent is better than winning the lottery.

Yes, the return on investment of 'Alien' has indeed reached an astonishing 475, but there is only one company that can taste this kind of victory every year. Steve Ballmer nodded with emotion.

Film investment is really a job where risks outweigh returns. Behind every legend are hundreds of failed skeletons, so countless companies in this industry go bankrupt every year.

However, this situation has turned around in recent years. With the popularization of video tapes, even if many movies suffer box office failures and cannot make up their money at the box office, the producers do not have to exit with the same regrets as before, because they can pass The investment is slowly recovered by releasing the video tape...

Speaking of this, Ballmer seemed to remember something.

He paused, then smiled and said: Oh, by the way, boss, Gary Kurtz asked me to report something to you. He said that Universal wants to release the video tape of Alien this year.

The price is tentatively set at 19.99 US dollars, which is the same as Jaws with the same positioning.

What? This news made Ethan raise his head.

Do they think there's no box office space left for Alien?

Yes.

Then what do they want to charge?

Thirty percent.

Thirty percent?

Ethan frowned, We take 70%?

No - Steve Ballmer shook his head and said: This is just a separate commission.

Such as production costs, publicity costs, sales expenses... these have to be borne by ourselves.

Alien has not actually been officially released.

Because the release times of Hollywood movies are not fixed.

As long as the market demands it and North American theaters feel that the film can make money, the distributors and producers will continue to grant screening authorizations in accordance with their requirements and will not take back the film copies.

But at the same time, North American theaters cannot prevent distributors from selling videotapes.

After all, we are all commercial companies, and the goal of operations is to make money.

So when Ballmer said that Universal wanted to release the video tape, his first reaction was that Universal felt that Alien was no longer profitable in the North American box office market, and his second reaction was...

That means Spielberg may be up to something.

If not, how could Universal dare to speak so loudly?

Steven's company has been established? he asked.

Yes, it was established on January 1st a few weeks ago, and it's called Amblin. Ballmer said: In Steven's words, although he has left Universal, he will still remember the first years, so He decided to use the name of his first movie as the name of his company.

However, although Steven said in an interview that his departure would not damage his relationship with Universal, his decision still caused Universal's stock price to plummet.

Yeah. Ethan nodded slightly and said, Does Disney have any influence?

No. Ballmer regretted: Steven's independence only affects Universal.

Several other studios even saw modest gains.

Perhaps in the market's eyes, his independence is good for other companies?

Ethan understood what Ballmer meant.

When Spielberg announced that he was going to start an independent film company, in the eyes of all investors, Spielberg was now the target that the other companies could compete for.

Even if everyone knows that this is just a beautiful dream, Spielberg will only choose Destiny Pictures, but before he officially announces it, this false benefit is a tool for the organization to make profits.

And when everyone around the world knew that Spielberg was abducted by him...

If Universal is not angry, that would be the most outrageous thing.

But even if they are angry, they can't kill people randomly!

Is thirty percent reasonable? Ethan asked.

General charges in the industry are between 22 and 28.

Ballmer replied, At the same time, the distribution company will bear part of the production costs and distribution costs, and the specific values ​​will be adjusted based on the popularity of the movie.

I understand. Ethan nodded: You tell Gary Kurtz and let him negotiate based on reason. We will give you whatever the fair dividing line is in the industry.

We won't give you a penny extra.

I accept all the shares that are put on the table, but if they make random offers in other aspects, then I don't mind hammering them too!

Oh, by the way, there's also overseas distribution.

Since there is no profit margin left in the North American box office market, this movie can go overseas. As the first stop... let's choose Neon.

Okay boss, I understand. Ballmer nodded quickly.

After making this decision, Ethan put aside the film industry report that he had finished browsing.

And just as he was about to open the report file of Destiny Music, he remembered another thing.

By the way, now that Alien is finished, does Gary Kurtz have any ideas?

Not yet. Ballmer knew what his boss was talking about and said: He doesn't seem to have any intention of investing in new movies, even though our company has received many projects.

But it doesn't matter because George and Steven have already taken over the job...

When Ethan turned over the poker table in Hollywood, Destiny Pictures' identity in Hollywood changed from a disruptor of new forces in the beginning to a real giant now. Hollywood practitioners who were still waiting and watching suddenly became They showed great enthusiasm for Destiny Pictures and sent in their proposals one after another, wanting to cooperate.

But alas, Gary Kurtz is a man of ideals and principles.

His ideal is to win the Academy Award, the highest honor in the film industry, and his principle is not to go against his boss, so when he discovered that Ethan Jones's attitude towards Destiny Pictures was the same as that of all businessmen, he was chasing after others. After making a profit, he did not start the film review work of Destiny Pictures.

Because he knew that there was a high probability that he would not like Ethan, whom he liked.

As for what Ethan likes, he probably can’t make it either.

Before, he didn't know how long this conflict would last, but now, when Ethan Jones invited Steven Spielberg and George Lucas to join Destiny Pictures as co-presidents of the company, this kind of money-making He can then rest assured and let others do his work.

He's quite knowledgeable. Ethan commented with a smile.

Ballmer stood aside and laughed and did not answer.

After a few seconds of silence, Ethan made his decision, I told Gary Kurtz that I am very grateful for his help to Destiny Pictures. I am not the kind of unkind person. If he wants to win the Olympics, I can give him an investment quota of two million per year and let him invest in the movies he wants to invest in.

The contract we signed was for five years, right? There are still three years left?

Only six million.

If he succeeds, I will fund him to establish a film company of his own. If he fails, we can renew his contract, but the investment amount will be gone.

The criteria for success are also very simple. A film he invests in can be considered a success if it can be nominated for Best Picture or Best Director, or it can be considered a success if it wins the two awards of Best Screenplay and Best Editing. , other awards... have little to do with the producer, right?

Uh... maybe? It's hard for Ballmer to answer such a professional question.

But he will convey the boss's will to his subordinates.

After solving the problems of Destiny Pictures, Destiny Music's report was also picked up by Ethan. Unlike the double harvest of games and movies, Destiny Music suffered losses throughout last year.

They spent a total of 20 million, but didn't make a penny.

Of this, fifteen million was spent by Ethan himself.

This is divided into two parts. The first part of 10 million was purchased from Columbia Records. Since this transaction included the copyright of Off the Wall, after the album entered the settlement period, it originally belonged to He was still able to obtain the commission from Epic Records; the remaining five million was obtained as an investment to obtain 50% of the equity of Geffen Records.

The remaining five million was spent by David Geffen, who used the money to sign Donna Summer, John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono, as well as the band Berlin and Debbie Harry. I bought a recording studio base in Los Angeles and purchased a lot of necessary equipment...

At first, when Ethan saw this, his first reaction was that David Geffen was very professional. He signed John Lennon right away. This was really amazing.

But after he read the report carefully, he immediately laughed.

Because David Geffen was playing tricks right under his nose.

Even though Ethan gave Destiny Music five million for operations, David Geffen did not transfer Destiny Music's funds into Geffen Records by incurring debts. Instead, he used the authority of Destiny Music's chairman to It is possible to use destiny music to digest some assets that cannot increase in value but must exist.

For example, he put all the purchases of recording studios and recording equipment into Destiny Music, and the remaining potential resources, like John Lennon's singer appointments, were firmly in his hands. There, that is, Geffen Records, in which he holds 50% of the shares.

When Ethan captured this fact, his face was full of emotion:

David Geffen is really a qualified businessman——

I obviously gave him a chance to be reborn and start over in the music industry, but I didn't expect that all the valuable singers would be signed under his own name?

This is really a qualified businessman!

Ethan somewhat admired David Geffen's boldness.

But at the same time, he had to admit that David Geffen's operation was fine.

After all, there was no agreement when they signed the contract that all artists would be included in Destiny Music. In this case, if David Geffen finds a loophole and does not seek money, then there is something wrong with his thinking.

And Ethan didn't care about such a harmless trick at all. In other words, when David Geffen desperately tried to harass famous artists in his company, his desire for revenge was understandable.

When a capable person starts over with a vengeful mentality, no matter who is blocking his way, the flames of anger will cause him to shatter the tiger's teeth.

After that...

He will definitely twist off the enemy's Tianling Cap with his own hands!

And on David Geffen's list, that guy's name is Steve Ross.

After going through all the accounts of three companies involved in entertainment, there was only one account left that Ethan needed to read. When he opened the report of Michael Blanco Manufacturing Company, the record number of employees made him raise his eyebrows, and he suddenly realized and laughed out loud.

Oh Steve!

You told me about Chrysler after seeing this report, right?

Michael Blanco's company has almost exceeded 8,000 employees?

This scale is indeed not small!