Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 299 Rose Pictures is challenging the Big Six Hollywood studios.
"He's a really cool guy. He's a year younger than me, and he's already built Facebook, which is used all over the world!"

Jesse Eisenberg praised Zuckerberg highly, completely oblivious to the sarcasm in Gu Bei's eyes.

"Perhaps you'll have the chance to play him!"

Gu Bei smiled faintly, "We are developing a biopic about Zuckerberg."

Your personal style is a perfect fit for his current public image. I'd like to recommend you to the producer; it mainly depends on whether you're interested in this role.

Of course!

Thank you, Bruce.
You're such a good person!

Jesse showed a hint of excitement.

Gu Bei smiled.

You won't say that again!

The future Jesse will deeply regret playing Zuckerberg.

Because he portrayed Zuckerberg as too naive and innocent, fans of the movie "The Social Network" viewed Zuckerberg through a different lens, making Zuckerberg's actions seem less unlikeable.

The Social Network (2019)
It has indeed now become a project for Rose Films.

It was also Karen's first personal project after joining Rose Pictures, where she was the president of the production department.

Because the film *The Social Network* was developed simultaneously as a biographical book and a film script, Gu Bei did not have the opportunity to purchase the commercial rights.

But very coincidentally
Karen and producer Scott Rudin were once colleagues at Paramount.

Both of them were close associates of Shirley Lansing, the former chairman of Paramount Pictures.
It was all created by the power struggles orchestrated by the current chairman, Brad Grey. Twilight is one of the victims of this power struggle.

So Karen secured this project with Rose Pictures as a great start to her tenure.

"Bruce, are you guys really challenging the Big Six?"

Jesse looked at Gu Bei curiously, a hint of gossip in his expression.

"Challenge the Six Greats?"

Gu Bei was slightly puzzled.

Where did this rumor come from?
“It’s an article from The Hollywood Reporter.” Jesse thought for a moment. “Wait a minute, I’ll share the link with you, take a look.”

Gu Bei through a Facebook group,
I received the article link shared by Jesse.

[Peak Entertainment + Rose Pictures: A dream factory for the new century, once again challenging the Big Six!]

What are you two looking at?

Liu Yifei had just finished removing her makeup from the makeup artist when she walked over and saw Gu Bei and Jessie with their arms around each other, huddled together on the computer screen as if they were looking at something exciting.

"An article praising us!"

Gu Bei smiled and squeezed in a little space for Liu Yifei to look at the article on the computer screen.

Liu Yifei glanced at the alarming headline.
Then I quickly looked at the main text of the article.
He read softly, "As 2008 draws to a close, when we look back at the North American film market, we find that the distributor of Twilight, which ranked fourth at the box office, is a completely unfamiliar name: Summit Entertainment."

The reason why everyone feels unfamiliar with it is

It's because it hasn't even been involved in North American distribution for a year.

Twilight, even though it was only its fourth film, grossed over $2 million at the North American box office!

Having read this far,

Liu Yifei couldn't help but question, "Isn't this all about praising Top Peak Entertainment?"

"Don't rush, keep reading!"

Gu Bei gestured to Liu Yifei not to rush.

Liu Yifei then shut her mouth and started reading. After reading several of the reporter's analyses of Peak Entertainment, she finally found traces of Rose Pictures.

"Compared to Summit Entertainment, which looks like a lucky kid, the independent studio behind them, Rose Films, seems to be more worthy of study."

According to our inside sources at The Hollywood Reporter,

The owner of Rose Pictures is someone who deeply respects creators and stories.
Unlike other studio executives who arbitrarily interfere in film production, Rose Films didn't even have a greenlight committee, completely freeing creators to make their own stories!

"puff!"

Liu Yifei couldn't help but laugh out loud when she saw this.

An inside informant...is that all?
If she really is an insider at Rose Pictures, Liu Yifei's disguise will probably be exposed, since she didn't really hide herself much at Rose Pictures.

Or it was just something the reporter made up.

Or they're new employees at Rose Pictures.

The latter is more likely.
The Hollywood Reporter is one of the two major newspapers in Hollywood, and its reporters are entertainment journalists, but they still have some integrity.

"Crystal, I think this report is very true!"

Jesse, somewhat disgruntled, fiercely defended Rose Pictures, saying, "Compared to other film crews, Rose Pictures' crew is the most stable I've ever seen."
The production team has great respect for director Bruce and for the creators themselves!

"I think Jesse is right!"

Gu Bei looked at Liu Yifei with a smile.

Liu Yifei rolled her eyes at Gu Bei but did not refute him.

What wicked thoughts does Jesse have?

He was merely defending the boss of Rose Pictures in front of Liu Yifei.

He really wants to improve!

The following article content,

A detailed analysis of Rose Pictures' return on investment for its three films to date was conducted.
Whiplash (19x), Summer's 500 Days (11x), and Twilight (12x) were all dark horses that achieved big wins despite small budgets, which also confirmed his previous philosophy of respecting creators.

Liu Yifei looked at the last part.

"In addition to the artists who have already won the Golden Lion Award,

Rose Pictures is doing a bunch of things that are completely out of character for an independent studio:
It acquired the rights to the wrestler at the Venice International Film Festival, and even though they didn't have distribution channels, the film won the Special Jury Prize, which is second only to the Golden Lion.

It is developing a B-movie musical with Bruce Willis, a genre that is like black and white films, and none of the Big Six are willing to develop such an old-fashioned genre on this scale.

It is developing a B-movie biopic about Zuckerberg with David Fincher, just four years after Zuckerberg founded Facebook;

It also collaborated with China Film Group to prepare to shoot China's first A-level science fiction film.
It invested $100 million to produce two Twilight sequels back-to-back to A-list production standards.
It acquired an animation and special effects studio and is preparing to adapt the fairy tale "The Snow Queen" into an A-list animated film with a budget of $1.5 million.

If the name of the project owner is covered up...

It's hard to believe that any of these projects came from an independent studio.

And now,
Rose Pictures not only did,

And these projects are being carried out simultaneously.

This year's financial crisis has led the Big Six to begin scaling back their operations.
Only Rose Pictures is expanding at an astonishing pace, completely ignoring the risks!

Liu Yifei was deeply impressed when she saw the detailed list of projects.

Previously, each project was considered separately.
When they are integrated together
I don't know when it happened.
Rose Pictures has expanded to this extent!

However, Liu Yifei was still somewhat dissatisfied: "Why isn't there any error in the horoscope above?"

"And then!"

Gu Bei scrolled the mouse wheel down.

This is the concluding section of the article. "Of course, Rose Pictures is also developing some smaller projects."

A multi-million dollar budget film directed by wrestlers Darren Aronofsky and Anthony Hopkins;

A $1500 million film adapted from Bruce Willis's first personal book;
An HBO television series with a budget of tens of millions of dollars, adapted from the bestselling comic book The Walking Dead;

Finally, there's the Spider-Man TV series rights that we just acquired.

These projects seem more in line with Rose Pictures' identity than their previous large-scale projects.

But its ambition has already been fully revealed in those large-scale projects.
With Bruce becoming a shareholder of Summit Entertainment,

Rose Pictures is expected to work more closely with Summit Entertainment.
These large-scale projects will become their most powerful tool in challenging the Big Six, just like DreamWorks did many years ago. The Hollywood Big Six are once again facing challengers in the new century!

"finish watching!"

Liu Yifei said lightly.

"What are your thoughts?" Gu Bei asked curiously.

Before Liu Yifei could speak,
Jesse, standing nearby, quickly answered:

"I think Rose Pictures is so cool!"

It's doing what the Big Six have overlooked: every film is something the Big Six wouldn't have invested in before, but Rose Pictures has done it.

It will definitely succeed!

Liu Yifei glanced at him.
He then looked at Gu Bei.

He seemed somewhat puzzled by Jesse's attitude.

Gu Bei shrugged.

He indicated that he wasn't entirely sure either.

late at night.

Liu Yifei lay lazily in Gu Bei's arms, bringing up the topic from the afternoon again: "Gu Bei, are you really preparing to challenge the Six Greats, just like that article said?"

"What, are you worried about me failing?"

Gu Bei smiled faintly.

"A little."

Liu Yifei readily admitted it.

She rolled over, resting her chin on Gu Bei's chest, and looked up into his eyes: "Communication should be more open and honest. This might make you a little uncomfortable."

But I really want to know what you think, and I also want you to know what I think.

Gu Bei met her gaze and smiled faintly: "Then tell me first, what part are you worried about?"

"DreamWorks has produced many classic films, but they have not been able to challenge the status of the Big Six studios. Instead, they were eventually acquired by Paramount."

Liu Yifei said earnestly.

"DreamWorks, that's a good example."

Gu Bei nodded. "DreamWorks was founded in 1994, the most glorious year for Hollywood genre films, during which it produced a large number of classic movies, television series, and animations."
It even won three consecutive Oscars for Best Picture, but was eventually acquired by Paramount Pictures after twelve years of operation.

Are you saying you're afraid Rose Pictures will follow in DreamWorks' footsteps?

"Yup!"

Liu Yifei nodded repeatedly.
His chin slammed against Gu Bei's ribs.
She also made a clanging sound, seemingly emphasizing her emotions.

"The first reason for DreamWorks' failure is that it expanded too much!"
DreamWorks is most famous for its film and animation departments.

But besides these two highly profitable divisions, DreamWorks also has a bunch of unprofitable businesses that are constantly draining the money earned by its film and animation divisions!

While discussing the reasons for DreamWorks' failure with Liu Yifei, Gu Bei was also trying to convince himself, "DreamWorks Games was founded in 95, and after five years of struggling, it was sold to EA."

DreamWorks Records was founded in 96 and, after seven years of struggle, was sold to Universal Music.
DreamWorks Television produced a ton of big-budget miniseries, but none of them were long-running and profitable.

Their original plan was to earn more by doing more.
In reality, the more you do, the more mistakes you make.

After a pause,

Gu Bei continued, "The second reason DreamWorks failed was that it was a partnership of three people, but there were too many areas where money was being burned, leading to conflicting interests among them."
So DreamWorks Animation, the most profitable of its divisions, was spun off and went public. Now it has a market capitalization of $25 billion, making it one of the world's strongest animation companies.

Liu Yifei wrinkled her delicate nose and blinked her big eyes at Gu Bei: "Then we won't separate. No matter what happens, I will support you!"

"The last reason is that DreamWorks' prosperity is too illusory!"

Gu Bei patted Liu Yifei's head, his heart filled with pride, and his tone rose slightly, "Before the 21st century, most of its films were collaborations with the six major film studios."
Nominally, there are six major challengers, but in reality, the lion's share of the profits ends up in the pockets of six major companies.

Then it wants to be independent.
The movie "Escape from the Island" bankrupted the entire company!

"It seems we've already avoided all these places!"

Liu Yifei thought about it carefully.

Gu Bei has many projects, but they are mostly concentrated in film projects, plus a very small number of animation and television projects.

She completely trusts Gu Bei, and it's impossible for the two of them to fall out.

At last,
Films co-produced by Rose Pictures and other companies,

They can always take the lion's share and pocket most of the film's profits.

The pitfalls DreamWorks encountered back then
Gu Bei avoided each one perfectly!
"Yup!"

Gu Bei nodded.

A hint of ambition also flickered in his eyes.

Before meeting Liu Yifei, Gu Bei only wanted to make money from movies, save enough funds, and then return to China to become his own small boss.
But after meeting Liu Yifei,
Gu Bei had many ideas.

He wanted to protect and help Liu Yifei.
The two of them joined hands and ventured out together;
And today,

Gu Beicai realized that his ambitions went beyond this.
He wants more!
He doesn't want to be the Dream Factory of the new century, but the Disney of the new century!
"Then I support you!"

Liu Yifei saw the ambition in Gu Bei's eyes.

She instantly understood what Gu Bei was thinking.

So she naturally gave Gu Bei a slight smile, her eyes crinkling.

In fact, she didn't care whether Rose Pictures could surpass the Hollywood Big Six.
Otherwise, she wouldn't have almost completely ignored Rose Pictures.
But since this is what Gu Bei wants to do, she will unconditionally support him in doing it, just as Gu Bei has always unconditionally supported her acting career.

"Row!"

Gu Bei agreed without hesitation.

Liu Yifei's support is his greatest motivation.

After a pause, Gu Bei revealed a hint of excitement: "However, if it's just the two of us, we probably won't be enough to challenge the Hollywood Big Six, so we need to find some allies!"

"Peak Entertainment?"

Liu Yifei immediately thought of Top Entertainment.

Peak Entertainment not only distributed many of their films, but also brought Gu Bei in as a shareholder, making him a natural ally.

"It's not just about Summit Entertainment!"

Gu Bei smiled faintly and shook his head. "And the internet!"

(End of this chapter)