373 - A Series that Grossed $3 Billion at the Box Office

The Rolls-Royce slowly stopped at the fountain in the small square in the manor. Wayne and his group got out of the car and walked to the living room as they were greeted by the housekeeper Hella.

"Where's Nami?"

After entering the door, Wayne took off his suit jacket and handed it to Hela. He noticed that the living room was unusually quiet and asked in a low voice.

The butler took the coat and sorted it carefully. These handmade clothes were all made by an old tailor in England. Although there was no identification mark on them, in fact each one was worth a lot of money. They were not the so-called luxuries outside. Comparable.

"Ms. Watts and Elena are with Fundy on the third floor. Do you want me to call them?"

"Forget it, bring us some coffee."

After waving to Hela, Wayne led Jimmy and Nina to sit on the sofa, and once again looked at the information in his hands, namely Blue Sky Studio.

This animation studio that is deep in his memory is not well-known even twenty years later, and it was ruthlessly closed by the parent company Walt Disney in 2021.

It can be regarded as the one with the least development, smallest capital, and least production among the three major animation studios in Hollywood. Compared with Pixar Animation Studio and DreamWorks Animation Studio, it is very easy for people to ignore it.

Today, when traditional hand-drawn animation in Hollywood is gradually declining, Jobs' Pixar Animation Studio has already proved the trend of computer animation with "Toy Story". At the same time, Pixar's group of hackers have also found their own direction.

Jeffrey Katzenberg's DreamWorks Animation Studio is also quietly accumulating technology and slowly exploring its own unique style. It will be at least a few years before "Shrek" unexpectedly After achieving great success, they will establish their style of spoofing everything.

Therefore, among the three major animation studios in Hollywood, only Qiao Gangzhu has made it so far. Because of the special nature of animated feature films, too much time and money need to be invested in the early stage. However, considering the profitability of successful animated feature films , all the investment has become particularly worth mentioning.

"This Chris Wedge is the founder of this small studio?"

Putting the information on the coffee table, Wayne picked up the coffee and asked the agent. "What is the exact size of the studio now? Why isn't this clearly written on it?"

"Because they can't talk about the word scale at all." Jimmy shrugged and explained: "The founder of the studio, Chris Wedge, had been an animator at MAGI in the early 1980s. He resigned in 1985 and founded this company. The studio and headquarters have been housed in a small building in New York, and ten years have passed, and they are still housed there without much development."

Seeing Wayne's thoughtful expression, Jimmy looked at the assistant lady hesitantly, and finally gritted his teeth and continued: "Wayne, I don't know where you heard the information about this small workshop. You want me to investigate them, but I have to remind you that with your current wealth, you may not be able to afford something like a computer animation studio!"

To support an animation studio with no results, you need to invest too much money. It is not just as simple as producing an animated movie. The accumulation of early technology research and development is simply like using US dollars as fuel.

And even with some technical accumulation, it is not easy to produce an animated feature film. This is completely different from making a movie. There are no shortcuts. Every frame of the animated scene must be rendered honestly.

Usually the production time of an animated feature film is calculated in years. The investment of top Hollywood commercial films is only hundreds of millions of dollars, but when it comes to this, it can only be regarded as an entry-level to medium investment. Animated feature films and The meaning of special effects is pretty much the same, you get what you pay for.

"I see."

Wayne lit a cigarette, puffing away smoke while rapidly calculating the gains and losses in his mind. He gently groped the stubble on his chin with one hand, while his eyes continued to circulate over the investigation information.

He was thinking that if he didn't take action now, he would lose his last chance to enter the game.

Among the three major animation studios in Hollywood, Pixar would be the best target if the time were advanced three or four years. At that time, Gang Leader Qiao wanted to sell shares and quickly cash in to start his own new computer company.

But even a few years ago, Wayne was powerless. With the little money he had, it was completely impossible for him to afford a studio composed of a group of idiots.

There is no need to think about DreamWorks Animation Studio. Jeffrey Katzenberg cannot let anyone else intervene, not even his good friend Steven Spielberg. Many conflicts that arise between them later are all It's because of these.

The only remaining small transparent company is Blue Sky Studio. I’m afraid no one would have imagined how big a wave this small, workshop-like company could make in the future.

Thinking of this, Wayne decided to make contact first. If he could successfully invest in the shares, he would focus on the "Ice Age" series. At worst, he would sell some shares to support them for a few years!

"Jimmy, take some time and talk to the founder, Chris Wedge, to see if their vision for investment is strong or not."

"Okay, you have the final say."

Jimmy happily agreed. Knowing that his client had made up his mind, he still couldn't help but remind him of the huge risks involved, "It doesn't cost much to invest in them. Maybe it can be done for a million dollars. The main reason is that the subsequent investment will be very huge." .

I heard that Disney is preparing for a major layoff, and wants to get rid of the hand-drawn animation department that has created countless history. An animation department that cannot continue to generate profits cannot even be supported by a media giant. "

"Let's talk about it first, and we'll talk about the rest later." Wayne knew the agent's painstaking efforts and was afraid that he would lose a lot of money because of his impulse.

However, people's hearts are always greedy. Whenever he thinks of the incredible and brilliant achievements of the "Ice Age" series, he always feels that it would be a pity to miss it.

That's a movie series, with just four movies earning $3 billion at the box office alone. This is just the superficial box office figure. As we all know, the box office only accounts for a small part of the profit of animated feature films. The terrifying profit is its long-term offline income.

There are fewer potential investment targets like this with huge room for appreciation in Hollywood, and the higher the threshold required.

As for the shortcomings of this animation studio, such as the production cycle being slower than other animation companies, and the fact that it only has one successful series, they are nothing compared to the terrifying profit figures.

Besides, Wayne doesn't want to keep holding the shares all the time. After the success of "Ice Age", the big companies in Hollywood will be willing to line up to take over. How much value does a successful animation studio contain? No giant can remain unmoved.

Jimmy then communicated with him for a while about the agency's issues, talked a bit about Halle Berry's recent work, and the progress of Peter Jackson's script, and then left the manor with a hint of worry.

"It seems like the money from the studio has a new place to go, right?" Nina said while watching the agent leave, pushing up her glasses.

"Hmm, that's it for now."

After talking about the business, Wayne walked quietly upstairs. The little princess above has become more and more like a white girl during this period. Compared with when she was just born, she is completely different. Now she looks at her every day. His daughter has become his best way to relax.

At ten o'clock in the morning the next day, the iconic extended version of the Rolls-Royce Silver Spur appeared in front of a golf course. It was a coincidence that Steven Spielberg's car arrived almost at the same time.

After getting off the car, the two greeted each other warmly and walked into the stadium together. This scene was clearly recorded by the cameras of reporters squatting nearby.

The weather was approaching the hottest time in Los Angeles. Wayne, dressed in casual clothes and wearing a sun hat, walked on a deserted lawn nearby with Steven Spielberg, who was also dressed.

"call!"

The good old Jewish man swung a club fiercely, looked at the ball and shook his head dissatisfied, and looked at the young man following him. "You should have learned how to play. Work is not everything in our lives."

"This sport isn't for me," Wayne said with a shrug.

The two of them did not rush to the tram not far away, but walked forward leisurely and casually. They all understand that the main purpose of making an appointment to a place like this is never to play ball. Instead, its open environment is suitable for talking about some more private topics.

"I heard that the production of "The Departed" has ended?" Because he didn't let the caddy follow him, Steven Spielberg carried the club himself. "How's it going? Are you confident?"

He knew what the other party was referring to, and almost everyone in the outside world understood that the first goal of "The Departed" was the Oscar. "It's hard to say. If there are no accidents, I'm more than 60% sure."

The good old man smiled and said: "It seems that you are very confident, don't be careless."

You know, having a 60% certainty about who will be the golden person, this success rate is already very high, and many public relations companies dare not say this.

Wayne did not deny his confidence. Feeling the occasional wind blowing in the stadium, he looked towards a small lake not far away. "If you have time, you are welcome to attend the premiere of "The Departed."

"Of course." Steven Spielberg looked relaxed and agreed without hesitation. "This year's summer vacation has completely turned into a world war because of you. Wayne, we are friends, so don't beat around the bush. Just ask me here to talk about whatever you want to talk about. Let's just talk about it."

The old Jewish man didn't believe that the other party just wanted to play ball with him. The summer melee was about to begin. It was destined to be impossible to get the other party to put down the work at hand and come here.

"Okay, Steven, I heard things are not going well at DreamWorks. How's it going? Do you need some help?"