Chương 39: Benefits

Later, when Moonves came to Enigma, and Levi and Alexander spoke with him, the production and broadcast of CSI were finalized. CBS bought the premiere rights to Enigma's first show.

After sending Moonves away, the group of friends immediately entered the office and asked them to talk about the details of the contract. Alexander directly spoke about it while Levi was still thinking about it.

For a long time, Levi has not considered much about his future development in the TV circle. He shoots TV series for movies. Filming TV dramas in the United States has the advantage of significant investment, but there is also the problem that TV dramas are filmed one episode at a time. To catch up with current events, keep up with the audience, and cater to the needs of actors to achieve the goal of high ratings, it is difficult for American dramas to pursue artistry.

This has caused the TV circle to be inferior to the film circle regarding artistry, income, and fame. Therefore, Levi has always been sure that his future must be developed in movies. Use the dramas as start-up capital, and pay attention to them in the future to maintain the daily expenses of the film company and test your ideas. Still, the role of TV drama companies is to better relationships, which is more important than making money. In the past, Levi always thought about getting closer to ABC. After all, Disney is behind ABC and is also one of the best in the film company. Now, the appearance of CBS made him frown a little.

Maybe, CBS is also an option?

CBS is not the same as Columbia Pictures. The Japanese Sony acquired the film company Columbia Pictures in 1989, and Viacom did not acquire CBS until 1999. Before that, it only cooperated with other film company's relation. But this cooperation is not related to him. When he wants to make a movie, will he get the support of CBS's power in casting and making the movie?

Levi thought about it for a while but left it alone as that was for the future. CSI is just a tool for throwing stones and asking for directions, and it's not that he doesn't have back tricks. If CBS doesn't support him, can't he ask them to help?

"An order for a whole season." Alexander was talking to his companions about the conditions CBS gave them. "It's not a trial broadcast, not half a season, but an order for a whole season. This is a good condition that no other TV station has given us. The whole season! Twenty-four episodes of TV series, 4 million dollars per episode, we can get as much as 100 million dollars in production fees!"

Orders for the next season in one go are still rare in TV drama production. According to the ratings, most TV dramas are ordered for half a season first and then extended to an entire season. This move by CBS is considered full of sincerity.

CBS is really a good company... Levi was also moved in his heart. He had heard of Leslie Moonves's name before but didn't pay much attention to it. All he knew was that this person was relatively young, a newcomer promoted after CBS changed its president last year. Compared with CBS's sports president and news president, who were both older men, he was more courageous and aggressive, but he didn't expect that he would book the whole season directly in one go.

No wonder these guys will leave NBC behind in the next few years. Maybe compared with ABC, working with them is a better choice. Although CBS's network is a bit poor, fortunately, the people at the top still have a lot of brains. It may be more troublesome to cooperate with them, but it is much better than Eisner's tyrant temper who cares nothing for the sake of face.

"The order for one season is good, but how much can we get? Isn't it a co-production? Then CBS must get a part of the revenue, right?" Michael was the first to ask the question. The model of large companies investing in joint production has always existed in the production of TV dramas, which is different from the way they used to borrow money to shoot TV dramas. It is enough to pay off the loan if it is a loan. If it is a joint production, there is no need to repay the loan, but the final profit will be shared.

TV stations like to do this: They don't necessarily have funds, but they have a lot of things that can be used to offset production costs. CBS has its studio, and Levi can move there immediately. The money is in the account, and CBS did not have much input on its use. CBS has its equipment, which can offset funds for a company like Enigma Company that does not have enough special equipment, and CBS also has some commonly used sets, props, and costumes. These things are idle anyway and can be used to offset the production fee. They can spend less money on these.

Generally speaking, if other people invest in producing Hollywood TV programs, the profit-sharing ratio between the investor and the producer is roughly 40-60. And CBS said that they invest half of the cost and only take 20%, which is also in line with market laws. And the other half of the investment costs, used for daily expenses, still have to find someone to provide.

"When I got the order from CBS, I immediately contacted the entertainment company. After hearing about it, the entertainment company also decided to turn the loan into an investment. They couldn't afford to offend CBS and didn't dare to compete with CBS for a share, but they were willing to provide half the funds for 20% of the share. However, I have not agreed to them for the time being. Now that we have the order in hand, we are not afraid that we will be unable to find a loan. I heard that some bankers in Canada are trying to invest in Hollywood. Let's go try it."

Some time ago, when Eisner denied Enigma Company's TV series, the entertainment company did not immediately support them but took a wait-and-see attitude. Although this is normal, Alexander is still a little upset. Since art can play with human nature, then Alexander can naturally, after getting an order, find an investor who offers better conditions. Isn't this human nature?

While talking, the phone rang. Alexander picked up the phone, listened to the person on the other side, and mouthed everyone, indicating that it was the entertainment company.

Several people left the office, still thinking about it.

"Distribute 40% of the profit... Maybe we will lose it in the end." Bob ignored him, just doing his calculations.

If this is done, Enigma Company will get 60% of the revenue, and the other two will get 40%. For example, for a 100 million dollar order from CBS, Enigma Company can get 60 million dollars. Although the other two companies paid 100 million dollars in production costs, they shared only 40 million together.

It may look like they earned less, but the following rebroadcast rights, peripheral products, adapted novels, games, movies, etc., will all be divided into the 40%. If this income is high, then CBS and the entertainment company will make a steady profit.

Of course, if the peripheral income is relatively low, they can stop losing money by not renewing the subscription. Compared with small companies, large companies will always have an advantage. If they make money, then continue to do it. If they lose, the small businesses are out of luck.

"I also know that we may lose money." Levi said, "However, if we make it independently, there will be problems. Let's not talk about the relationship between various aspects, but there is one thing: within a year, it isn't easy to make profits. The salary of the first broadcast right will be gone as expenses, and other income will be recovered slowly after a long time. If it is divided in this way, they are the ones who invest, and as soon as the first broadcast right funds are in hand, we can distribute the money immediately without repaying the loan of 50 million. After the company expenditure for this show, we still have a lot of money. We can improve our lives within a year without waiting five years."

Levi's considerations and concerns are also correct: most of the team is short of money to spend now. If there is no follow-up income, they will get the most money in a year if they only rely on the salary of producing TV series. Even if you earn more than one million dollars, you still live on a bit of money. Compared with the meager income and the status of a TV series producer, it is still much worse.

The method for a big company to lure a small company to cooperate is as simple as that, but it is also so direct: become a multi-millionaire within one year or wait until five years to see if there is any loss.

"I'd rather wait a few years and get more money." Bob dissatisfied.

"I don't think so." Levi shook his head, "If you can only return after five years, the money will be useless. Now get the money in your hands. After five years, it will not be sure how much it will be. "

What Levi thinks is not about improving life. If CBS and the entertainment company are allowed to participate in the joint production, then Levi can quickly get tens of millions of funds. Of course, the estimated loss will not be slight after five years. However, the 10 million in 1996 completely differs from the 10 million in 2001. Now with 10 million in his hand, as long as he knows how to throw this money where it should be thrown, the income in exchange for five years will undoubtedly exceed 20 million. It is very rare to give up a little profit in the future in exchange for having money in hand now.

"There is no need to wait for a year." At this time, Alexander had already walked out of the office, "The entertainment company still wants to cooperate with us, and they said that they are willing to provide us with an additional 30 million loan. If we agree to this transaction, we will have money immediately."

They invested 50 million, and the income was only 20 million, but they were willing to provide a loan of 30 million. CBS's order for a whole season seems to have given the entertainment company a lot of confidence.

After hearing the news, everyone was speechless. The amount of money that can be obtained immediately is very different from the money that will be received in installments in the next ten years.

"In this way, our fate is in the hands of CSI. If the filming is good, this TV series can lead us to become a blockbuster, but if the filming is not good, our efforts this time will fail again."

Bob gently said the situation faced by several people. These words made several people look at each other for a while, and then Levi laughed, "Okay, Bob, stop joking! Failure? We used to fail because we had been playing all the time, but we worked very seriously this time! Since we worked so hard, how can we be easily defeated by others? Don't you guys have enough confidence in yourself? We absolutely will be a Blockbuster."

*****

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