Chapter 329: Going to America and Dinner
Chapter 329: Going to America and Dinner
In fact, Wang Hao has been paying attention to the problem of piracy since last year.
Unlike other film and television companies today that rely entirely on box office performance, as Galaxy Group grows stronger, its business has gradually expanded upstream and downstream of the industrial chain. The proportion of revenue from film and television peripheral copyrights in Galaxy Group's total revenue has increased significantly.
At this time, the problem of piracy has become a stumbling block to the development and growth of the Galaxy Group.
In particular, this problem is more serious for Galaxy Group than for other film and television companies.
After all, in the whole of China, Galaxy Group is the only company that is the most successful in IP operation, without a doubt.
After six years of development and promotion, the "Galaxy Cinematic Universe" under its name has become so famous that, if not everyone in China knows about it, at least half of the people have heard of it.
It's not just a few movies, it also includes several novels with the same name, related comics, several TV series, a large number of peripheral toys and clothing, and various joint authorizations.
At this time, a situation arose. For the same first phase of the [Galaxy Cinematic Universe], the revenue in China was much lower than the revenue abroad.
You should know that many movies in the first phase of the movie universe are mainly aimed at the domestic market. Movies like "Source Code" and "Wolf Warrior" did not get much box office abroad.
But no matter how low the box office is, it doesn’t stop the related peripheral revenue from being high.
For the same toys, clothing and accessories, although the domestic ones have a high price-performance ratio, after the same products from Yiwu came out, the sales volume of the genuine products from Galaxy Group has been declining at a visible rate.
In addition, there is disc licensing. The box office of "Wolf Warrior" is indeed not very high in North America, but the related discs are selling very well.
In China, discs have long been thrown into the trash. Now on the Internet, various high-definition resources of "Wolf Warrior" can be said to be blatantly appearing on various pirated websites. Wang Hao can easily find them by searching on the Internet.
Therefore, if the problem of piracy is not solved, it will be extremely difficult for Galaxy Group to take the route of [IP ecology].
Of course, the domestic piracy problem has never been a simple issue. It needs to be discussed from multiple angles, including law, economy, human nature, and social development.
The Chinese people are not aware of genuine products, their wallets are not fat, the cost of piracy is too low, the relevant legislation is not perfect, the law enforcement is not strict, the supervision is weak, and the relevant penalties for violations are not high...
These problems cannot be solved in a short period of time.
It cannot be stopped by Wang Hao and Galaxy Pictures alone.
However, the inability to solve the problem does not mean that they have given up.
This is the case with many things. If you don't work hard and push forward, and just expect the government to take the initiative to help you solve the problem, how is that possible?
Besides, the current situation is much better than in the past.
After all, most of the piracy in the past was in the form of CDs, and those distributors were all over the country and often had considerable influence. Some were even local gangsters involved in organized crime, and it involved the jobs of many people, so it was not easy to crack down on them.
But now it is different. Most of the piracy infringements have moved to the Internet, and many servers are still located overseas. This eliminates many regional influences and provides great convenience for combating piracy.
"Boss Jia, regarding piracy, I am responsible for contacting all parties in the film and television industry, such as Huayi, Huaying, Moying, Eagle King, and even Sony abroad.
You are responsible for connecting with the relevant video platforms, and jointly launching this China Online Video Anti-Piracy Joint Action to stir up public opinion, report to the leaders of the higher-level departments together, and file lawsuits against the infringing online platforms.
In this way, even if it is impossible to completely eliminate this kind of piracy, it can curb the unhealthy trend and increase the cost of breaking the law for those who do so.
By then, it will be difficult for netizens to find relevant resources on the Internet, and perhaps the number of members on your video platform will increase significantly.”
Wang Hao's words made Boss Jia very interested.
The key point is that there are actually several things he didn't say.
One is that this anti-piracy action is aimed at platforms involved such as Qvod, and can hit the other party's rapid growth momentum.
The other is that LeTV is leading this action, which will have a significant effect on improving the reputation and stock price of their group company.
Moreover, with the implementation of this action, the online broadcasting rights of related film and television works will inevitably usher in a round of skyrocketing prices.
So before that, LeTV can take this opportunity to acquire a wave of regular copyrights and hoard them.
Thinking of this, the two big bosses looked at each other again, and everything was self-evident.
As for the women beside them, they all showed admiration as they watched the two men chatting and laughing, and deciding a major event in the industry with just a few words.
Qin Lan, who was leaning against Wang Hao, had bright eyes. She felt that the man in front of her, who was a few years younger than her, was truly extraordinary. Compared with him, her boyfriend was like a sparrow compared to a swan, the difference was almost like heaven and earth.
After confirming this important matter, everyone stopped talking about business. They just chatted casually, had a meal, and then dispersed.
Of course, when they were saying goodbye to each other, Qin Lan was very proactive and made obvious hints.
It’s just that Wang Hao has always liked young girls and is not very interested in this kind of older sister.
After communicating with Boss Jia and deciding to jointly promote the "China Network Video Anti-Piracy Joint Action", Wang Hao contacted several big names in the film and television industry, including Han Sanye of Huaying and the Wang brothers of Huayi, and then assigned the matter to his subordinates to handle.
As for himself, he flew to New York, USA.
Colombia sent him a message that the early preparations for "Taken 2" and "Limitless" had finally made a big step forward, and the directors of the two films had been basically determined.
Now we just have to wait for Wang Hao to go over and see if he’s suitable, and then start auditioning the actors.
Of course, when it comes to auditions, it’s actually mainly for “Limitless”. After all, “Taken 2” is a sequel, and its main actors are still Liam Neeson and Liu Yifei.
After Wang Hao arrived in New York, he met this fairy sister again.
Unlike last time, she didn't have to audition this time. Her main purpose of coming to Columbia Pictures was to confirm the production schedule of the film and sign a contract.
Perhaps it was because Wang Hao's way of guiding her in acting on the set of "Taken" had an impact on her mind. When they met, Liu Yifei was still a little afraid of him.
But after a brief conversation, she relaxed because the director of "Taken 2" was no longer Wang Hao.
It's just a sequel movie, Wang Hao is not very interested in it.
Of course, Wang Hao has this confidence, but Liu Yifei does not.
You have to know that Fairy Sister's star fortune has not been very smooth in recent years. After signing with William Morris Company for "The Forbidden Kingdom", she thought that the Hollywood agency would be able to provide her with a lot of resources, but in the end she got nothing.
As for her domestic base, she can only move to the Hong Kong circle because of the ban from the Beijing circle in mainland China.
Even though she starred in Wang Hao's "Taken", she only played the leading female role Song Xiaoqing in Wang Lihong's directorial debut "Love Announcement" in 2010. Then at the end of last year, she played the female ghost Nie Xiaoqian in "A Chinese Ghost Story" directed by Wilson Yip.
This movie was released in April not long ago, and the final box office was only 4 million yuan. The word of mouth was also terrible. Not to mention the fake special effects, the plot was even more incomprehensible.
The key point is that Liu Yifei's acting skills have also been criticized. Compared with Wang Zuxian's original Xiaoqian, there is a huge difference.
As a result, the popularity she had previously gained from "Taken" dropped a lot.
So after receiving the news from Galaxy Pictures that "Taken" was going to have a sequel and that they were still inviting her to play the role of the daughter, Liu Yifei directly turned down another project that came to her, "The Banquet", and concentrated on preparing for "Taken 2".
Therefore, after meeting Wang Hao and eliminating her fear of him, Liu Yifei reacted quickly and pulled Wang Hao to treat her to a meal.
Since the beauty invited him and they were acquaintances, Wang Hao did not refuse. After they finished their business at Columbia Pictures, they went to a very famous restaurant in Beverly Hills to eat steak.
Perhaps because her mother was not around, the Fairy Sister indulged herself for once and did not control her appetite. She ordered a steak set that looked delicious.
Wang Hao was not very interested in the bloody steak from the West, so he ordered a grilled sea bass as the main course.
The two of them talked as they ate, enjoying the delicious food, with beautiful music playing around them, and the atmosphere was quite good.
Of course, Liu Yifei was the main one talking during this process, and Wang Hao would occasionally respond with a remark, which could make her laugh.
Well, the Fairy Sister is not so beautiful when she smiles.
However, Liu Yifei doesn't care much about her image.
Although she is called the Fairy Sister, the girl is only in her twenties now. Even though she entered the industry early, under the protection of her mother, she still maintains a lively and cheerful personality.
This is very rare among many female celebrities in the entertainment industry. Among the people Wang Hao knows, only Jing Tian is somewhat similar to her.
"By the way, Brother Wang, I read the script of Taken 2 and it seems that there is a new plot behind Liu Qianqian."
Liu Yifei asked curiously while cutting the juicy steak in front of her.
Wang Hao nodded upon hearing this.
"Indeed, if the box office performance of this movie is good, Columbia plans to make a third film, so our screenwriting department deliberately left a tail at the end."
"What if the movie doesn't perform well?" Liu Yifei asked impatiently.
Wang Hao laughed and said jokingly, "Why, do you have no confidence in yourself? Or do you have no confidence in our script?"
"Of course I don't have confidence in myself."
Liu Yifei had a bitter face, but still did not forget to stuff the beef into her mouth, as if she was turning her grief and anger into appetite.
"Brother Wang, you don't know that the performance of my works in the past two years has not been very good, and people's comments on my acting skills online are not good either."
"That's what they said."
Wang Hao did not say anything against his will just because the other party was the Fairy Sister, which made Liu Yifei very angry, but she did not dare to lose her temper because of Wang Hao's identity. She could only roll her eyes secretly, but she was still very cute.
"Don't be unconvinced, there are two kinds of acting.
One is innate, which is called "God chasing you and feeding you" in the jargon. It requires the actor to have strong empathy, expressiveness and appeal.
Such actors are extremely rare, and most of them also need a good script, a good opponent and a good crew to work together to create an excellent movie.
As for the other type, it is the one that undergoes rigorous acting training, and works hard on lines, body shape, facial expressions, etc., to make up for one's shortcomings with hard work, while also actively experiencing all kinds of life, patiently observing in daily life, and putting most of one's energy into it.
Tell me, which of these two do you fit?"
Liu Yifei got even angrier when she heard what Wang Hao said. She had treated him to a meal out of kindness, but why did he comment on her so rudely?
But before Liu Yifei could open her mouth to refute, Wang Hao continued:
"Of course, you don't have any acting talent, and you haven't worked hard enough in your acting training, but the fact that you've still been able to reach this point in the industry is enough to say that your appearance and temperament are already the best in the domestic entertainment industry."
He looked at Liu Yifei and saw that her face was full of smiles again.
"Don't underestimate this. There are very few actresses in this world who are both beautiful, talented, and hardworking.
Those who possess two of these qualities at the same time are already among the top ones.
As for you, you can make a good living in the entertainment industry just by relying on your looks, so you should be content."
"But I also have my own aspirations, and I work very hard. For the script of Taken 2, I even asked a teacher to help me analyze it. I also specially asked someone to train me for the action scenes in the movie."
Liu Yifei still said somewhat unwillingly.
Wang Hao shook his head and said casually:
“Your efforts are in the wrong direction.
For a top-notch female star like Yifei, when audiences go to the cinema, most of them will only pay attention to your appearance.
So when it comes to acting, you have to give 200% of your effort to achieve 100% of the effect.
This is also why many beautiful female stars are willing to dress up as ugly people to shoot art films, because that will make the audience ignore their outstanding looks.
But for a young female artist like you, taking this route would simply be more trouble than it is worth.
As for action scenes, the female-beating route, this is no longer popular now. You can have the ability, but you don’t need to put too much energy into it.”
"Then what should I do?"
Liu Yifei asked curiously, she even forgot to eat the beef.
Wang Hao was silent for a moment, and finally said something.
"With your qualifications and the popularity you've accumulated in the past, stop messing around and choose the scripts carefully, and things will definitely go smoothly in the future."
(End of this chapter)