American Entertainment: Starting with playing the role of Little Beaver

Chapter 131 Another autumn has passed in the blink of an eye.
"Ok?"

"Why are you back so soon?"

"I thought you two would talk for a long time."

Midnight.

Isabella and her mother Vivian returned to their dormitory in Leavesden.

As soon as they entered the room, Catherine's voice reached their ears.

At that moment, Catherine was wearing pajamas, leaning against the sofa in the living room, watching TV.

Yes, London is currently in the season of short days and long nights, with light at 5 a.m. and darkness at 9 p.m. Even the most disciplined person will have their sleep schedule disrupted in this environment.

Not to mention, the HP production team also has a 'crazy' schedule.

The computer might be turned on at 9 a.m. today, but it might be turned on at 9 p.m. tomorrow.

Because "Goblet of Fire" features large night scenes, once the production team had already built the physical sets, the need for chroma keying was eliminated.

This disrupted the schedules of most people on the film crew.

As a result, Catherine, who lived with Isabella, naturally couldn't escape the same fate. Her days and nights were reversed, and she would sleep when she was tired and get up when she was awake. Not to mention that she didn't have to go to school now, so she went even crazier.

Yes, Catherine passed her GCSE last year.

Even if she doesn't go to school now, the law can't touch Vivian.

As for continuing to rise?

Vivian hoped that Catherine would attend Oxford or Cambridge, but there was no rush; it could be done after Catherine came of age.

"Because we couldn't continue the conversation."

Vivian, while taking off her shoes, said as her eldest daughter took off her shoes, "Your sister hasn't even officially discussed animation with Bob yet, and she's already brought up her unwillingness to share the copyright with Disney."

"Huh? You just told him about it directly?" Catherine looked at Isabella in surprise.

She also knew that her younger sister wanted to make animation.

Or rather, she was aware of projects like "Hannah Montana," "Home of Music," and "Untitled Beaver Animation."

Because she could write scripts—she learned it while working on "The Voice"—when Isabella had an inspiration, she was captured by Miss Beaver and made a slave. The squeaky, squeaky writer transformed into a wordsmith, helping Isabella finish writing the entire project outline.

“Of course, we need to agree on our bottom line first before discussing the project, otherwise it would be a waste of time, wouldn’t it?” Isabella said as she changed into slippers and entered the house. “Bob said Disney might not be able to take on animation outsourcing, so we can’t talk about it for now.”

"If he could get Disney to take on outsourcing work, then he would already be in control of Disney. Why would he need to come to you?"

Vivian pursed her lips at her youngest daughter's words. "Isha, although I also think the copyright shouldn't be given up, I think your conversation is pretty ineffective, because you know that a company like Disney would never take on outsourcing."

Now that Ms. Beaver has a clear plan for her future—that is, to embrace more IPs in her entertainment career—she began to work on the animation production the moment she acquired the rights to Prada.

Then, in this respect, she cannot accept the collaboration model between Disney and Pixar.

This means that both parties share the animation copyright.

The reason is simple.

That means she created the Little Beaver IP herself.

When Disney offered absolutely no help in shaping the IP—not to mention that the cartoon beaver only became popular after being widely disseminated through The Voice, which was Isabella's own creation! If The Voice could be a hit on ABC, why couldn't it be on NBC? Absolutely not!

Therefore, Isabella would have to be out of her mind to give half of her money to Disney.

To put it more bluntly...

Right now, if J.K. Rowling told her that she wanted to invest, Isabella would consider it.

After all, the cartoon beaver is based on Harry Potter.

Its initial popularity stemmed from Harry Potter.

At this point, if J.K. Rowling were to tell Isabella that she had made a contribution, Isabella would always give her the title of co-founder and share in the IP's profits, because the cartoon Beaver cannot be separated from Harry Potter, which is the absolute truth.

Once the family splits up, it's like the house has collapsed.

But Disney wants a share?

That is impossible.

But Robert Iger couldn't accept this.

Just as his mother Vivian said, Iger embraced the cartoon beaver because he wanted to emulate Jeffrey Katzenberg and use the slogan "Make Disney Great Again" to take control of Disney headquarters.

Therefore, his cooperation plan with Isabella has always had only one aspect.

That would be to reverse the original collaboration plan between Disney and Pixar.

Back when Disney and Pixar collaborated, Disney provided the funding, Pixar provided the production, and both parties jointly owned the copyright to the new animation. Now, Isabella provides the intellectual property, Disney provides the production, and both parties jointly own the copyright to the new animation.

And this...

“Isa, I’m definitely on your side when it comes to copyright. I also think we can’t give in, but Mom is right. Disney can’t outsource. The way you put it… is actually putting Bob in a difficult position.”

Catherine shared her thoughts.

"I can't exactly lie to him first and then give him a surprise, can I?"

Isabella knew that blunt words were hurtful, but she had no other choice.

Furthermore, she felt that her attitude was already quite proper.

She was telling the truth because she considered Robert Iger an ally.

Then, Robert Iger wasn't angry at all.

Because before Isabella said the copyrights couldn't be shared, she had talked to Iger about Fox.

Once Egger grasped Isabella's 'true feelings,' he understood that Isabella was willing to maintain the cooperative relationship.

But regarding the interests...

Isabella simply couldn't accept the idea of ​​such a massive bloodletting.

Yes, all the twists and turns have their reasons for existing.

Isabella didn't just say that on a whim.

“But…” Catherine wanted to say something more.

"Okay, sis, let's not talk about things that can't be explained in words, okay?"

Isabella interrupted, "I'm going to take a shower first, and we'll talk about the project after I'm done, if you're not asleep yet."

The abrupt change of topic left Catherine somewhat exasperated. "What if I fall asleep?"

"You can sleep." The little beaver, who had already crawled into the room, got up again.

He leaned against the doorframe and laughed, saying, "But I can also pull you up to go back to sleep."

“…” Catherine rolled her eyes.

To be honest, Isabella actually wanted to continue working with Disney. Because when Robert Iger needed her, the more he needed her, the more she could leverage his influence over Disney.

but……

You can't put all your eggs in one basket.

If Robert Iger can't give her what she wants, does that mean she should just give up on what she's doing?

impossible!

So, regardless of everything else, moving forward was Isabella's choice.

Then, she actually lied about the production of the series.

She doesn't have a team, but she can find people to make TV series.

Take the BBC and DreamWorks, for example.

The former is her business partner in the UK. The British version of "The Voice" is already in preparation and is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter. They have the most professional drama production team, and recruiting one is just a matter of a word.

The latter, there are many people who work with Spielberg, and digging one up is just a matter of a word.

So, she said that outsourcing everything to Disney was simply to put Robert Iger at ease.

As for animation, it's even simpler.

Disney isn't the only company in the world that makes animation.

For example, there is a globally renowned animation company in the UK called Aardman Animations.

This company's specialty is stop-motion animation; "Chicken Run" is one of their works.

In the future, they will also make "Wallace & Gromit" and "Shaun the Sheep".

Although they have a great reputation in the industry, their finances are not so good. Well, or rather, even if an animation company that can't produce a super IP can operate, it can only be said to be barely surviving.

Therefore, if Isabella wanted to acquire this company, she could simply swipe her card.

Paying cash directly is something that couldn't be easier for her.

If she wants to save herself some trouble, she can also collaborate with Industrial Light & Magic or Pixar.

Yes, Industrial Light & Magic also does animation. The Star Wars animation was done by Lucas himself, and they also take on outsourcing work.

Pixar has made it clear that it does not accept outsourcing, but it depends on who says it.

If you were an ordinary person and you took on a subcontracting job for Pixar, Steve Jobs would definitely fire you. But if Spielberg called Jobs and said, "You think you can't make it back to where you started with a subcontracting job for Disney animation?", he would have Jobs completely under his thumb...

Game over~
Since Isabella finds everything easy right now, she'll definitely work at her own pace.

After taking a shower and drying my hair.

Catherine, not wanting to be bothered by her younger sister, remained leaning against the wall in the living room.

So, the little beaver grinned and pulled her older sister into the room.

First, look through "Hannah Montana" and "The Land of Music".

Although Isabella had watched both shows in her previous life, she could no longer remember the specific details.

Therefore, the story unfolds in only a general direction.

The next step is to find a professional screenwriter to determine the character settings, improve the plot, and write the script based on market conditions.

Catherine will at most act as a supervisor to ensure that the project's creation doesn't deviate from her sister's ideas.

Isabella would never really exploit her older sister.

Compared to the TV series, the "Untitled Beaver Animation" project is much clearer.

The main cast has been confirmed, consisting of three members:

Little Beaver: Her character is portrayed as intelligent, earnest, and adorable.

Groundhog: He's an impatient, talkative, and tough guy.

Kapibala: This is a slow-paced character that echoes the groundhog. Its characteristic is that it is fine to be alive, and it is also fine to be dead.

The story related to this is as follows—

In a parallel universe where humans and animals coexist harmoniously, in a parallel English countryside, lives a little beaver who loves food and whose lifelong dream is to become a world-class chef.

He won the World Chef Championship, which has been held for hundreds of years since the Middle Ages.

However, even with her dedicated study and hard work, she was unable to advance beyond the preliminary rounds of the World Culinary Competition.

This frustrated her greatly, making her feel that she had no talent.

Just when Little Beaver was thinking of changing careers, her friend Groundhog suddenly said that her failure might not be her failure, because Groundhog had studied the competition of previous Chef of the Year contests and was surprised to find that since the inception of the Chef of the Year contest, very few British chefs had made it into the top 100, and so far, only three British chefs have won the title of Chef of the Year.

Furthermore, the dishes they cooked when they reached the summit were not British cuisine.

The odds of reaching the top were only a fraction of a percent, and the 'choice' not to cook British food led the groundhog to believe that Beaver's failure was not due to her poor cooking skills or lack of culinary talent, but rather because British food lacked distinctiveness and was simply unpalatable.

So, to verify this judgment, the little beaver decided to go with its friends to London, the largest city in the UK, because there, the restaurant run by the latest British chef, called Hell's Kitchen, is located.

Yes, Gordon Ramsay is British.

She visited the restaurant, which was under the chef's personal management, at the perfect time. To her surprise, she discovered that there wasn't a single British dish in Hell's Kitchen. After tasting it, she was even more shocked, realizing that everything she had eaten before was utter garbage!

After regaining his confidence, Little Beaver wanted to become an apprentice of Hell's Kitchen's master chef, Dog Egg. Unfortunately, Dog Egg neither accepted apprentices nor had the time to do so, which greatly disappointed Little Beaver. At the same time, Little Beaver's friend, Groundhog, discovered a photo of Dog Egg and his teacher hanging on the wall of Hell's Kitchen's main hall. The teacher was a German master chef who was still alive, so...

The adventure begins!

The little beaver and his friends left the British Isles to travel to the Land of Hair to learn from a master.

Then, upon arriving in the Kingdom of Hair, they discovered that Dog Egg's master was too old to take on any more apprentices. Although his grandson loved cooking and had inherited his mantle, his talent was limited, and he was unlikely to reach the level of a culinary god.

Furthermore, the son of the chef of the Fa Kingdom did not want his son to become a chef like his grandfather.

Dog Egg's son thought that being a chef was a very lowly profession, and that only financiers like him were superior people. So he wanted to close all the restaurants under his father's name and have his son work in finance with him.

Even though everything he has now was earned by his father as a master chef, and his initial capital in the financial field was also given by his father, his son was unwilling, and his father was reluctant. When this conflict arose, the little beaver who loved cooking naturally stood with the grandson of the master chef from the country and began to stop his father's evil deeds.

During this process, the talented little beaver also learned a bunch of secret skills. In the end, the grandson of the God of Cookery successfully saved the restaurant that his grandfather had built up, and the little beaver also successfully reached the top and won the World Chef Competition.

Yes, this is a story in the same genre as Ratatouille.

Isabella came up with this idea purely because British food is really hard to eat. So, after deciding to make an animation, she suddenly had the idea to diss British food.

Because of the success of "Ratatouille," she felt that her idea had a chance to succeed. Of course, the script would need to be polished, but that was simple; she could just have a master review it.

It's not simple...

Actually, it's about whether the overall design of the animated film is interesting.

That's right, animated films are different from live-action films; for animated films, being 'fun' is more important than having a 'plot'.

This theory was proposed by Chris Columbus and Miss Beaver after they learned that she was going to make animations.

At the time, Columbus said: "The first impression of animation is that it is virtual, so normal people will not look for 'grand meaning' in it. Therefore, as long as the values ​​are okay, the script can be considered a success."

"Whether a movie is successful depends on whether it is interesting. To put it simply, it depends on whether the visuals in the animated film can make people laugh. As long as there are constant laughs, okay, then the animated film will definitely be a success."

"Then, the humor in animated films is presented much faster than the crises in live-action films."

"Because animated films are only 90 minutes long, they cannot follow the 80/80 rule."

Although Columbus never made an animated film, that doesn't matter, because the principles of creation are the same.

Therefore, following Columbus's advice, Catherine drew many interesting creative drafts.

For example, when Little Beaver wanted to visit Hell's Kitchen in London, her good friend Kapibal refused to move. Then, the groundhog transformed into a sumo wrestler and tried to push Kapibal from behind.

Unfortunately, after a frantic push, the groundhog was exhausted, but Kapibala remained unmoved.

For example, when the little beaver wanted to go to the Land of Hair to learn from a master, the mode of transportation they planned was an airplane.

So excited were the little beaver and the groundhog that they completely forgot about Kapibala when checking in.

They didn't realize there was no one behind them until the plane took off.

Just when they thought that Kapibala might go home because he couldn't possibly cross the English Channel to the land of the gods, Kapibala suddenly flew past them on a pelican.

The baby beaver and the groundhog were stunned by the sight!
After they landed, Kapibala had already arrived in the country and was waiting for them at the airport entrance.

After asking around, I learned that after realizing he had missed his flight, Kapibala was planning to swim back, but he encountered a pelican in the river. The pelican wanted to eat him, so Kapibala used it as a springboard to fly back...

"Oh, Keisha! I think your ideas are fantastic!"

Isabella was delighted with her older sister's idea.

"Especially here, when the son of the chef from the Kingdom of Hair sent people to cause trouble at the chef's restaurant, not wanting his son and the little beaver to run the restaurant together, you actually came up with the idea of ​​having the groundhog roll up his sleeves and say he could handle the situation, and then the next second the groundhog was thrown back into the kitchen by the troublemakers, then the groundhog used Kapibal as a shield to take the hits, and then the groundhog ambushed those people? Oh~~~ this scene is just too interesting~~~"

"Hahahaha~~~ I also think my idea is very interesting~~~" Catherine accepted her younger sister's praise.

Not only that, she slapped the table and said, "I don't know why, but I find it very fun to draw these things."

"I just get the feeling when I draw casually..."

Isabella's contemplation of the future was all done in her spare time between filming "The Goblet of Fire".

Because Harry Potter is her foundation, she wouldn't get the priorities in her career wrong.

Then, when she had acting gigs during the day and projects to discuss at night, her life became very fulfilling.

As soon as you close your eyes and open them, a day passes.

If you keep closing and opening your eyes, a week will pass.

Eyes kept closing and opening, and July 28th arrived. "Mean Girls" was released.

Although there was the release of "The Bourne Legacy" on the 23rd and Denzel Washington's "The Bourne Identity" on the 30th, "Mean Girls" still managed to grab a significant amount of box office revenue in a limited market.

It raked in $1243 million on its opening day, ranking first on the daily charts.

Second is "The Bourne Legacy", and third is "I, Robot".

The following day, it earned 897 million, still ranking first on the daily chart.

Since the 29th is a Thursday, it's normal for box office revenue to drop.

After three days of recovery, the company closed with $1569 million, ranking second on the daily chart.

Uh... this ranking isn't because "SpyCry" jumped up.

Denzel Washington's "The Secret" flopped on its opening day.

Instead, a movie called "The Mysterious Village" suddenly appeared at number one on the list.

It was a thriller, starring River Phoenix's brother Joaquin Phoenix and Ron Howard's daughter Bryce Howard, Clint Eastwood's niece.

Since Isabella had never seen this movie in her previous life, its arrival was somewhat unexpected for her.

But that doesn't matter, because in the next two days, Mean Girls still grossed $2497 million at the box office.

The 6206 million figure in the first five days is already fantastic!

"Oh~ Your third movie with a budget exceeding 100 million yuan is born~"

On August 2, 2004, Isabella smiled at Margot Robbie after seeing the data.

"Oh~ isn't it all because Your Highness has an excellent eye for choosing projects?"

Robbie Jr. replied with a smile.

Because she had promised Paramount that she would attend the premiere of "Mean Girls", Isabella took leave to fly to the United States a little over a week ago. After the premiere, on her way back, Robbie Jr. also hitched a ride with her.

Yes, Robbie Jr. has also come to England.

This doesn't mean there's no follow-up promotion for "Mean Girls," but rather... in Robbie's words, it's that they can skip the promotion, but they must serve the princess well because her next projects haven't been finalized yet.

Isabella burst out laughing upon hearing those words.

And now...

The little beaver raised its head and said, "Oh~ Mag~ Since you know I like to hear nice things, then say more. If I'm in a good mood, I might just get you a big project."

"Oh, Your Highness, what do you mean by saying nice things? I'm just stating the facts!"

Robbie Jr. felt wronged.

"Hahahahaha~~~"

The little beaver grinned.

With the arrival of August, the second season of "The Voice of China" was broadcast as scheduled.

Although Isabella did not participate, the first episode still achieved an average viewership of 3950 million.

This data is surprising!

What made Isabella even happier was that there were three promising talents in the second season.

They are: Colby Kelly, Carly Gibson, and Rihanna.

The former is the California girl who sang "Try".

The one in the middle is the squatting girl, whose representative work is "Good Time".

The latter... needs no introduction.

Furthermore, their appearance was accompanied by a few minor incidents.

Carly Gibson is Canadian, and by the rules, she shouldn't be allowed to participate in "The Voice," since Canada isn't officially a state of the United States yet. However, because of her immense potential, she was allowed to participate...

An exception has been made.

Rihanna is the same; she is not American either, her homeland is a small country in the Caribbean.

But because her agent is incredibly powerful. That person is Evan Rogers, who was the one who promoted Christina Aguilera in The Mickey Mouse Club and Kelly Clarkson, the winner of the first season of American Idol.

Therefore, Rihanna was forced into "The Voice" by them.

Yes.

This guy named Evan Rogers is the one who got Rihanna to participate in The Voice without a contract.

His plan was to use "The Voice" platform to promote Rihanna, gain her some fame, and then have her withdraw from the competition before officially signing a contract, that is, before the national competition. This way, he would not violate the clause set by Disney and Warner that "artists with agency contracts cannot participate in 'The Voice'". Then, he could continue to cultivate Rihanna.

but……

It is a pity.

His idea was beautiful, but reality was harsh.

Evan Rogers originally planned to collaborate with Jay-Z to develop Rihanna, but when Jay-Z learned that Rihanna had participated in The Voice and made it to the national finals, he immediately called Warner Music without hesitation.

He is afraid of death.

After the Anti-Good League suffered a major defeat, Eminem temporarily withdrew from the entertainment industry due to health reasons.

Finally, Warner Bros. spent one million dollars to buy Rihanna from Evan Rogers.

Following the termination of their contracts, Rihanna was signed by Isabella according to her contract with The Voice.

On the surface, Warner has been wronged.

But Barry Mayer didn't care, since they owed Isabella a huge debt anyway.

then……

Warner Bros. didn't actually pay the full one million.

They signed an installment plan with Evan Rogers, a deal worth one million to be paid over one hundred years, at ten thousand per year.

what?
Someone asked Evan Rogers why he was able to accept such outrageous terms?

He doesn't have to accept it.

But Disney and Warner Bros. could also discuss the consequences of their manipulation with him.

This isn't Disney and Warner Bros. forcing people to participate, right?
You're the one who insisted on trying to piggyback on my traffic.

The airing of the second season of "The Voice" signified the arrival of the second half of 2004.

Because Isabella was always filming on set, everything outside...

She only listens to the important parts.

For example, the Emmy Awards ceremony was held in September.

The Voice of China unsurprisingly won two awards: Best Variety Show and Best Competition Program.

"Party in the USA" unsurprisingly won awards such as Best Original Song and Best Music.

For example, in October, Paramount officially embraced DreamWorks.

They valued DreamWorks at $16 billion and then acquired a stake.

At this point, DreamWorks transitioned from an independent company to a semi-independent company.

Then, in November, Pixar's "The Incredibles" was released.

They grossed a total of $7046 million at the box office during their opening weekend in North America.

Although this result is still quite good, they are no longer qualified to challenge "Azkaban".

That's right.

When Shrek 2's box office stopped at 9 million and The Lost Man 2's box office fell to less than 8 million, The Incredibles, which had created an Infinity War myth, was highly anticipated by the public, who hoped that it could challenge the true god that had already reached 13 billion. But unfortunately, it did not.

This fact disappointed those who couldn't stand watching the excitement.

But this is not important.

Because at the same time, two major events also occurred in the United States.

The first thing was that George W. Bush was re-elected.

This event has brought joy to some and anger to others.

The second thing is that the second season of "The Voice" has ended.

Although not as wildly popular as the first season, the finale still averaged over 5000 million viewers.

Major events and controversies make the world more colorful, while the individual on a smaller scale...

Wednesday, December 1, 2004.

Ted Turner, along with Steve Case, met with Carl Icahn.

(End of this chapter)