For most people, the main function of the six major Hollywood brands is naturally to make movies, and the source of income is mainly based on movie box office; but in fact, the box office of movies is divided by three parts: distribution company, production company and cinema chain. It is almost impossible for a production company to make money by relying on box office. Make full use of the copyright in hand and create circular interests, peripheral interests and derivative interests. This is the main source of income for production companies.

Taking "Batman Prequel: The Mystery of the Shadow" as an example, this work is calculated based on box office data, and after deducting high costs and promotional expenses, Warner Bros.'s losses are about 15 million. In this case, even if the reputation of the critics and audiences is unpredictable and the loss is a loss. If you cannot make money, Warner Bros. will definitely not approve the production of the sequel.

But in fact, not to mention the strategic significance of this movie for Warner Bros. to restart the DC comic series, thanks to its excellent reputation, "Mystery of the Shadow" achieved excellent results in the video tape rental market. Later, it released DVDs and also had excellent sales. In addition, the replay rate of the movie on TV stations and video websites is even more eye-catching. Just at this stage, Warner Bros. has turned losses into profits. After that, Warner Bros. can continue to develop sets, dolls, comic images, series animations, etc., and the interest industry chain can continue to extend.

In the book "The Game of Movie" written by British scholar Martin Dell in 1997, the American film industry has undergone earth-shaking changes after the 1990s. The real value of the film industry no longer stays at the box office profit of the film itself, but lies in how many opportunities it provides for film companies to cooperate with other fields. These fields include TV products, theme parks, daily consumer goods, music soundtracks, books, computer games, interactive entertainment, etc. All of these peripheral benefits reduce costs and risks, thereby increasing revenue, and movies provide the key to this magical kingdom.

Disney has inherent advantages in this regard. After Michael Esner came to power in the 1980s, the reason why he was able to lead Disney to counterattack was that he had transformed and rose strongly in this regard, which also made other top film studios jealous. In order to obtain more derivative revenue, large production companies began to concentrate their funds into those fantasy works, especially the "Titanic" in 1997 marked the maturity of computer special effects and provided convenient conditions for fantasy works. Warner Bros.'s "Harry Potter", Paramount's "Transformers", and Sony's "Spider-Man".

Someone once curious that "Fantastic Four" had already failed in the second part of the series. Why 20th Century Fox still tirelessly wanted to revive the dead is very simple. Such a series of works is not just as simple as box office, but also a huge industrial chain derived from the work. The same is true for the "Spider-Man" series. Sony Pictures holds the copyright of adaptation and grits its teeth and is unwilling to let go. First, it is the Toby Maguire version, then the Andrew Garfield version, and then the Tom Holland version was developed.

What realizes this industrial chain is intellectual property rights. A simple and direct explanation is that after Warner Bros. holds the property rights of "Harry Potter", derivatives can continuously generate profits, whether they are books, movies, TV series, toys, games, etc.

This is also the core essence that distinguishes the six major Hollywood film companies from other film companies.

For other film companies, movies are their most profitable means or the only means, both in production companies and distribution companies. Once the box office fails, it is difficult for them to find other ways to make up for loopholes and reduce losses. What's worse is that without sufficient financial support, the investment and development of new projects will naturally be affected, thus forming a vicious cycle.

DreamWorks is a typical representative. The lack of support from the distribution department is just the first link. The failure of intellectual property rights to be exploited is the culprit for cutting off the cycle chain. The box office pulling ability of the "Monster Shrek" series is unparalleled in the world. Even Pixar cannot shake the position of this series of works in the hearts of the audience, but DreamWorks has not been able to fully carry forward and develop the surrounding areas of the series as much as possible.

One detail can be seen. After the split of DreamWorks, the popularity of DreamWorks animation has remained high, even ten years later.

Of course, to put it another way, it is not that DreamWorks does not want to develop, but that the investment required for developing the surrounding industrial chain is too large, and they do not have the ability to develop.

Putting aside the theme park project, the surrounding industrial chain means cooperation with different fields, TV stations, record companies, doll developers, game developers, publishers, etc. First, this requires a strong professional department to operate. Negotiations in different fields will face different challenges and require the joining of a large number of professional talents; second, before each field reaps expenditure, it requires a large amount of capital to be invested in early development and production, not to mention that it also requires publicity and operation before going public. These all require huge financial support; third, they also need a rich intellectual property library, which simply means that there is enough material to develop and produce, which is also an important reason why comic adapted movies were later paid so much attention.

The reason why Disney can lead the six major film studios in this area is because of their background. They started out with cartoons and formed a surrounding industrial chain before the 1980s. All they need to do is to maintain their advantages, constantly develop, explore, innovate, and continue to lead. Later, Disney's acquisition choice can also show that Robert Iger continued this idea: Pixar's cartoons, Marvel's comic characters, Lucasfilm's Star Wars series...

To be more accurate for most film companies, for other film companies other than the six major studios, they often do not have the ability to explore the industrial chain. Even if Wall Street funds are injected, it is a arduous task to explore surrounding areas from scratch.

The reason why Lionsgate has risen strongly in the future is that the "Twilight" series, "Hunger Games" series, and "Saw" series have formed an industrial chain, which gives them the conditions to become a film empire. But unfortunately, Lionsgate Pictures has been weak and cannot develop more intellectual property rights with commercial value. They even divided "Hunger Games 3" into two parts under the guise of the infamy, just to continue the vitality of the industrial chain, but unfortunately it was not successful. If new intellectual property rights cannot be found, then Lionsgate Pictures will either not advance but retreat and become a very successful medium-sized film company; or it will inject Wall Street funds and inherit the bloodline of the six major studios.

So, before Lance's rebirth, Lionsgate's momentum slowed down significantly and obviously encountered a bottleneck in development.

For Chaos Pictures, Lance's goal has never changed. If you want to have the ability to change Hollywood, if you want to turn Hollywood into the Hollywood of his ideal, Chaos Pictures must have the ability to reverse the situation. So, first, the trailer soundtrack department, then the screenwriter department, followed by the distribution department, step by step, Chaos Pictures is improving itself. Next, the intellectual property department.

For the intellectual property department, there are two most important factors: one is financial support and the other is copyright library support.

The average number of works by the six major Hollywood film companies is stable at about fifteen each year, while their copyright library is supported by tens of thousands of works. They can search for their inventory anytime and anywhere, find projects suitable for the development of the industrial chain, and recycle these property rights.

Taking Disney as an example, in 2014, they announced their filming plans for the next few years, including nearly twenty works such as "Fantasy Forest", "Alice in Wonderland 2", "Peter's Dragon", "Dream Blowing Giant", "Beauty and the Beast", etc., all of which are live-action works of animation, giving full play to the advantages of intellectual property rights.

But now Chaos Pictures is just starting out and their copyright library is pitifully scarce; at the same time, their works are only stable at about two each year. After the success of the "Raging Road", they enter a new stage of development. However, considering the subsequent Marvel acquisition plan, they still cannot speed up all their efforts within at least one year. The premise is that all works have achieved great success as expected, then in a year, their annual output can be increased to five works. Perhaps.

So, as James said, even if the funds are aside, their pitiful copyright library has not brought any support. It is really crazy to set up a property department at the current stall, even for Lance.

"Relax." Lance chuckled when he saw James' blushing. He could feel that James was really worried about the prospects of the company. James had truly regarded himself as a member of Chaos Pictures, willing to participate in decision-making, and willing to express his opinions. Although the road to trust is still very long, this is a good phenomenon, isn't it? "Relax! Even if I want to fly now, but without wings, I will not stand on the cliff and take risks."

The teasing tone made James' chest tuck and his shoulders speechlessly, "Lance, I'm not kidding." Facing Lance, James no longer had any restraint. Under the premise of absolute professionalism, he had more calmness and directness among friends.

Lance spread his hands and said, "Not me. I know, we have no funds and no copyright library. Let alone the property rights department, even our production and distribution departments have not yet fully grown." He paused and his tone changed, "But no one stipulates that we can't start now."
Chapter completed!