Huayu Entertainment: Tianxian really wants to improve

Chapter 419 Good people gain fame, bad people gain everything!
"Eric, you can't just join when you see something profitable. There's no such thing as a sure thing in this world!"

Gu Bei essentially took the toughest stance, directly rejecting Eric and leaving no room for negotiation between the two.

Because despite his initial conflicts with Eric, the two had a pleasant working relationship over the past three years.

After he finished speaking, he carefully observed the changes in Eric's expression.

To see if these words truly came from Eric himself,
Or perhaps it comes from someone else's idea.

really,

Under pressure from Gu Bei

Eric's face showed a hint of embarrassment.

Then, he sighed and said to Gu Bei, somewhat embarrassed, "Bruce, I know this request is unreasonable."

Our company, Summit Entertainment, was originally qualified to participate in Gravity Investment.
However, we didn't see the potential of this project at the time.

If you were to resell the global distribution rights now, it would be intolerable for Rose Pictures and the distributors who have already signed contracts with you.

"Could you entrust the remaining regions of Gravity without a publisher to us? With our many years of global distribution experience at Summit Entertainment, we can help you find suitable publishers for those areas."

You've said all my lines, so what am I supposed to say?
After listening to Eric's seemingly contradictory statement about the conflict between his left and right brains, Gu Bei...

Just as he had initially guessed,
Eric's desire for the global distribution rights to Gravity was not his own, but rather stemmed from pressure within Summit Entertainment.

This was good news for Gu Bei. His cooperation with Eric had always been pleasant, and he did not want this greedy and unreasonable request to come from Eric's own ideas.

It's worth noting that Summit Entertainment's distribution manager was also on the Gravity team in Cannes, so Summit Entertainment must have known that Gravity was very popular with distributors around the world.

Making such an unreasonable demand at this time

This is tantamount to demanding that Rose Pictures break its contracts with those distributors.

Then Rose Pictures can forget about gaining the trust of other distributors in the future!
Judging from Eric's statement speaking on behalf of Rose Pictures, he clearly just wanted to take something back to appease the pressure within Summit Entertainment.

Even if it's just leftovers, at least he can at least get by with it.

Understanding who's behind the scenes and who's a friend is crucial for Gu Bei right now.

"Eric, I just want to know who wanted to do this?"

Seeing that Eric was so resistant to pressure, Gu Bei

He had no intention of letting Eric take some leftovers back as a token of his satisfaction; instead, he continued to pressure him, saying, "This greedy decision definitely didn't come from your own mind."
I hope our friendship, which began at the Altid Ski Resort, won't end here!

Eric hesitated for a moment, then shook his head: "Bruce, I don't want to lose your friendship, but this was just a mistake made by Summit Entertainment, and it won't affect our stable partnership with Rose Pictures."

"I do not think so!"

Gu Bei didn't hesitate and went straight for the kill, "Eric, what you need to know is that the final copy of Twilight 3 is still in Rose Pictures' film library, and we have the full right to postpone the release."

Too bad!
Eric's eyes showed shock.

The Twilight Saga 3 was scheduled for release this summer, and it's almost June now. The North American pre-sale box office for The Twilight Saga 3 has already reached at least ten million US dollars.

If Gu Bei chooses to withdraw the film at this crucial moment, just before its release, it would be a devastating blow to the film's final box office performance!

If he allowed Gu Bei to make such a decision...
Then Rose Pictures and Summit Entertainment will truly be locked in a fight to the death!
He still doesn't quite understand why a mere probing question could make Gu Bei make such a big decision, even resorting to a mutually destructive tactic.

But he knew he absolutely could not keep it a secret any longer.

He wasn't particularly good at handling pressure; otherwise, back at the ski resort, he wouldn't have been fooled by Gu Bei into giving up the copyright and collaborating directly with Gu Bei because of the information gap regarding the fourth Twilight movie.

So he began by saying a name: "Bernard Eisinger, Mr. Eisinger and some others believe that Rose Pictures has gained too much profit from the collaboration between Rose Pictures and Summit Entertainment."

This time, Gravity only has North American distribution rights, which is why I was asked to try to secure some global distribution rights.

And... I really did lose the Twilight franchise for Summit Entertainment back then!

Bernard Eisinger,

When Gu Bei heard this name,
There was no surprise on his face.

This German producer is one of the three founders of Summit Entertainment. He has a strong personality and has always tried to suppress Rose Films in order to gain more profits from the Twilight series.

Gu Bei had thoroughly investigated him for this reason.

I know he also owns Constantin Film Studios in Germany.
The most famous work is the Resident Evil series.
Furthermore, he spent twenty years persuading the original author to grant him the film adaptation rights to the book "Perfume," resulting in the uniquely styled film "Perfume."

and,

He once held the copyright to the Fantastic Four.
In order to preserve the copyright of Fantastic Four, he spent $100 million to produce a Fantastic Four movie, which was obviously a poorly made version.

To prevent the film from impacting the sales of its comics, Marvel reluctantly handed over the production costs and extended the rights to Fantastic Four in exchange for the film not being released.

This version of Fantastic Four was never released, but it was shown at San Diego Comic-Con as a way to intimidate Marvel, so pirated copies have been circulating on the internet ever since, which is the 94 version of Fantastic Four.

But Bernard Isengard's thuggish behavior also brought him the golden age of superheroes.

Good people gain fame, while bad people gain everything—that's the way it is.
Ultimately, he collaborated with 20th Century Fox to produce the Fox version of Fantastic Four, also known as the 2005 version.

From the examples of perfume and the Fantastic Four
This shows that Bernard Isengard is different from Eric; he has a strong personality and is ruthless in his actions.
If it had been Bernard Eisinger at the ski resort, Gu Bei would never have been able to obtain the Twilight copyright from such a seasoned veteran.

Gu Bei thought about it,
He looked up at Eric.
The only breakthrough at present is still Eric!

Despite Bernard Eisinger's strong personality, Summit Entertainment, like Rose Pictures, is an LLC (Limited Liability Company), not a C-Corporation (C-type enterprise) in the strict sense.

The difference between the two is that,
The former is jointly owned by members and does not have the concept of shares.

The latter is similar to the companies that the general public perceives.

The advantages of LLCs are flexibility and easy profit sharing, making them very suitable for the film and television industry, where everyone shares the profits after a project is completed.

Summit Entertainment was founded in the early 90s. Initially, it was just a distribution and sales job for three partners, including Bernard Eisinger. Their most successful project was the overseas distribution of the American Pie series.

Later, everyone did a good job, and they gradually started making movies, just like Rose Pictures is now.

It wasn't until 2006, the year before Rose Pictures was founded, that Summit Entertainment officially transformed into an independent studio and began building its North American distribution channels.

Therefore,
Bernard Eisinger, as one of the founders,

He can't really be considered the owner of Peak Entertainment; he's more of a senior partner.
If we're really going to count, Gu Bei was also brought in by them last year and became one of the partners of Peak Entertainment. There are more than a dozen such partners within Peak Entertainment.

Apart from Eric, who rose through the ranks, the dozen or so partners all owned their own production companies.

Therefore, the internal power struggles within Summit Entertainment are quite complex.

Bernard Eisinger wanted to suppress Rose Films to gain more profit, but others might just be looking to make money, and less is better than nothing.

What Gu Bei needs to do now is
It's about winning over these people who just want to make money.

To divide radicals like Bernard Eisinger.

Eric, having grown up within Peak Entertainment, is more likely to gain the trust of those people than Gu Bei. Therefore, Gu Bei only needs to persuade Eric.

Thinking of this,

Gu Bei smiled and looked at Eric, saying, "Eric, are they still blaming you for missing out on the Twilight copyright?"
They should have thought, "At least you kept the Twilight franchise at Summit Entertainment, otherwise I would have partnered with someone else for the Twilight franchise."

"Bruce, they may not know, but don't I?"

Eric looked at Gu Bei with a deep gaze and couldn't help but complain, "You were clearly lying to me back then!"
You made me think you were connected to Spielberg, but that's a lie! You've never even met!
You made me think Crystal came from a wealthy family in China, but that's a lie! In reality, your funds all came from Chinese production companies through deceptive practices!
Most importantly, the reason you made me believe you knew about Twilight 4 before me, because Stephanie Meyer told you, was also false!

Dude, you still remember this so clearly?
Gu Bei felt a little embarrassed after hearing Eric's accusations.

He did indeed deceive Eric back then, making it seem like a simple life.

But what lay before him was the Twilight series, a film franchise capable of raking in billions of dollars. Twilight 2 alone brought him and Liu Yifei six hundred million dollars in revenue, roughly equivalent to the total earnings of all his other films combined.
Who could resist such temptation?

You can't blame me for not being kind-hearted enough; the temptation was just too great. After all, film copyrights belong to those with good character!

"Eric, back then I was just too eager to improve!"

Gu Bei started playing the emotional card, "But in all these years of cooperation, Rose Pictures has always given you the greatest support, allowing you to advance to the position of partner at Peak Entertainment."

The fact that Gu Bei snatched the copyright to Twilight is a significant financial loss for Top Peak Entertainment.

But for Eric, there wasn't actually much of a loss.

After all, the box office results of Summit Entertainment and the producer's salary are still attributed to him, which is almost the same as the copyright falling into the hands of Summit Entertainment.

His friendship with Gu Bei even allowed him to maintain firm control over Peak Entertainment's North American distribution channels.

After a pause,

Gu Bei said to Eric in a low voice, "Besides... Eric, they don't know what happened back then!"

Eric was slightly taken aback upon hearing this.

Gu Bei continued in a seductive tone:

"You can't treat what happened back then as your mistake."

As I said, you saved Summit Entertainment from now on being able to enjoy the profits from the Twilight series!
You are a hero, not a villain!

"Am I a hero?"

Eric muttered something.

It seems... that's not entirely wrong to understand it that way!
After all, besides the two of them, only Katherine, the director of Twilight 1, was somewhat familiar with the situation back then.

But Catherine achieved her success because of them, and she wouldn't easily betray them.

Since nobody knows, then isn't Eric a great contributor to Summit Entertainment?

"That's right!"

Gu Bei further reinforced his understanding, "You not only brought the Twilight series to Summit Entertainment, but also The Fault in My Starry Sky and The Hunger Games series. If you're not a hero, who is?"

Gu Bei first helped Eric get rid of the psychological burden brought about by Bernard Eisinger's PUA.
Subsequently,

He assured Eric:

"Eric, if Summit Entertainment cannot recognize your value, then Rose Pictures will definitely welcome you. You will definitely be able to find a company that values ​​you more!"

"Thank you, Bruce!"

Eric said gratefully.

Wasn't he forced to come to Gu Bei because he was afraid of losing his job?

If Rose Pictures provides him with a guarantee, then at least he won't be as intimidated as before when facing Bernard Eisinger.

Why are you thanking me?

Gu Bei was genuinely a little embarrassed.

He then spent the entire night discussing with Eric how to make the other partners realize that they wouldn't make money following Bernard Eisinger.

At last,
Gu Bei watched Eric's departing figure.

He muttered, "It's time to find a backup plan!"

Although Gu Bei's collaboration with Sony Pictures Classics has been quite successful, with films like Whiplash, Summer, The Artist, and La La Land achieving increasingly higher box office returns, Sony Pictures Classics' lack of overseas distribution capabilities is somewhat of an awkward situation.

It's better to rely on yourself than on others.

If Summit Entertainment really does oust Eric...

Gu Bei does not rule out acquiring a North American distributor and having Eric build a North American distribution channel for Rose Pictures.

However, the Twilight series, along with several other films, have now signed distribution contracts with Summit Entertainment.
The Twilight Saga 3, 4, and 5 films have grossed at least one or two billion dollars at the box office.
Now that the code from Rose Pictures and Summit Entertainment is working...

It's best not to touch it for now.
Let's see how long the mutual interests can sustain peace between the two sides.

Within a few days,

Gu Bei learned from Eric that the crisis had been resolved.

He continued filming Spider-Man, and finally finished filming ten days after returning from Cannes, successfully wrapping up his first Spider-Man movie.

As soon as Spider-Man finished filming, Gu Bei couldn't wait to return to China.

(End of this chapter)