My Age of Investment

"Abel, you did a good job this time, and you should be remembered for your great contribution!"

Xia Jingxing sat at the head of the long conference table, looking at Abel, who was sitting on his left, with half appreciation and half encouragement in his eyes.

Now, Marvel has finally been taken down by them.

Between the liquidated damages of US$3.4 billion and the acquisition payment of US$3.4 billion, Parmut was a man of the times and chose the latter without causing further trouble.

In fact, even if Pamut causes trouble again, Xia Jingxing will have sufficient countermeasures, it will just take a little more effort and time.

It is naturally best to win the acquisition target simply and quickly, because no one likes endless battles.

In this acquisition, Abel was responsible for visiting various LP investors and lobbying these American dignitaries and upper class to help clear the acquisition resistance from CFIUS, so that the transaction was finally approved, which undoubtedly made great contributions.

Seeing his boss praising him so much, Abel looked a little ashamed, "Darren, the main credit for this matter actually does not lie with me, but with your investment vision.

"Iron Man 1" suddenly became a hit at the box office, and the attitude of some investors immediately changed. Originally, they were a little pushy and hesitant, but they quickly got the matter handled without my urging.

If I really think about it, the reason why the approval of the entire acquisition took so long is because I didn't do my job well. "

Xia Jingxing smiled slightly. He actually felt this way too, but he just deliberately didn't reveal it.

LPs are all guys who can't afford to be early if they don't have any profit. Once they see the profit, they pounce faster and more aggressively than anyone else.

After Abel returned to New York, there was no movement on the CFIUS review progress. As soon as "Iron Man 1" was released, the transaction was approved immediately.

It’s so realistic!

LP is also waiting, waiting for the value of the project to be reflected, and then weigh whether it is worth paying some favors for it.

Xia Jingxing encouraged: "This is only one factor, your early lobbying work is the key."

Abel smiled and said nothing.

"Next, how do you plan to operate and manage Marvel?"

Xia Jingxing does not intend to interfere too much in the management and operation of Marvel. No matter how good the potential is, it is just one of the ordinary projects within Vision Capital.

However, because it was the first battle for a controlling acquisition-type PE fund, he still devoted a lot of energy to the early acquisition work.

The operation period of the next project is calculated in five or ten years. With such a big stall, he will definitely not be able to manage everything in detail, so he plans to give Abel a test to see if he can entrust him with it. heavy responsibility.

Abel knew that his opportunity had finally come, and he replied excitedly: "Dylan, I have been working with Kevin Feige in the past two days and have talked a lot with him.

In fact, his plans for Marvel Studios are very good and complete, as evidenced by the success of "Iron Man 1".

Next, we only need to inject sufficient development funds into Marvel to ensure the production of 2-3 movies per year.

He and I did a rough calculation and concluded that an additional US$600 million would be enough to support the rapid development of Marvel Studios.

At the same time, the films released every year will generate a certain amount of profit. We will not consider withdrawing this part of the profit in the next five years, letting it snowball and get bigger and bigger..."

Xia Jingxing listened carefully. Abel talked a lot about Marvel's plans. In addition to focusing on the film production business, he also planned to try and explore in many aspects such as TV series, animation, music production, and derivatives development and sales. .

"Kevin Feige is a talent and the most indispensable strategic planner for Marvel. You have to win over him well. You can consider launching an equity incentive plan and use the construction of the Marvel Universe plan and box office data as assessment , every time he completes a milestone task, a part of the equity and options will be unlocked for him."

Abel nodded with great approval. Kevin Feige is indeed the person who knows Marvel best. He must be locked in the car and drive for Vision Capital honestly.

"I don't have much guidance for other things, but there is one thing you should pay attention to."

Abel immediately perked up his ears.

Xia Jingxing said in a tone that did not allow for criticism: "Nothing that insults China will be allowed to appear in the content produced by Marvel, whether it is comics, animation, TV series, movies, etc."

Abel was startled for a moment, and suddenly remembered that Marvel really seemed to have a villain named Fu Manchu?

"I don't ask Marvel to praise China, because in the final analysis it is still an American company that relies on the markets of the United States and Western countries for survival, but don't just look for trouble. If you want to make money in the Chinese market, you have to be objective.

Making money from the Chinese while mirroring the Chinese will sooner or later lead to overturning. "

Xia Jingxing's words were more intense because he recalled the deliberate smearing of Chinese people by Marvel and other Hollywood companies in their previous lives. Women had squinty eyes and freckles on their faces, while men were short, thin, wretched and cowardly.

How you can make money in the Chinese market depends entirely on the support of your peers.

Abel knew very well how much his boss paid attention to these famous things, so he nodded hurriedly: "Darren, don't worry, I will communicate with Kevin Feige, and I will never allow the content you said to appear, even in one scene. Will not work.

The Chinese film market still has great potential, although "Iron Man 1" has only received a total box office of just over 10 million US dollars since its release, which is only 5% of the US market.

However, I believe that with the rapid development of China's economy, this gap will continue to narrow in the future and become as important as the US market. Marvel will definitely treat it with the respect it deserves. "

Hearing the word "ticket warehouse", Xia Jingxing felt slightly uncomfortable. It was no different from saying "your house is my cash machine".

However, the domestic film industry is not living up to expectations! You can only let others collect money, and then they will make you feel disgusted after the money is collected.

Xia Jingxing suddenly had an idea, could he use the production experience and special effects technology of the Marvel Universe to incubate an Oriental Fairyland universe?

The Classic of Mountains and Seas, The List of Fengshen, The Legend of Shushan Swordsman, Liaozhai...

There are actually many good IPs in China, but there are many bad phenomena in directors, actors, special effects, remuneration, etc., which are typical of eagerness for success and profit, and a bad atmosphere.

It doesn't matter if you burn money and exaggerate. Jupin Pictures has a one-stop production and distribution service. Except for the theater line, the rest of the box office share can be recovered.

Even if it makes a small loss at the box office, it can still be broadcast exclusively on Tudou.com to attract new users to register and pay. This is a marketing tool for many video websites.

However, the game collapsed later, and online videos were constantly being expelled by the film and television industry. Sky-high remuneration, extended drama series, and all sorts of saucy practices such as cutting out pictures and changing heads emerged one after another. As a result, video websites began to play self-produced dramas one after another.

Xia Jingxing has no idea of ​​​​saving the domestic entertainment industry, and he is not that capable. What he wants to do is to see if he can use the resources and ecology of his affiliated companies to make two good-looking movies and TV series, so as not to lower the audience's expectations day by day. aesthetic.

In addition, there is also the consideration of striving for greater development space for the enterprise, because once it falls into the "Three Kingdoms Melee" of online video, it is no joke, and tens of billions are not enough to cause disaster.

If Oriental Xianxia Universe can export its culture overseas like TikTok, it will be an unexpected surprise.

However, due to cultural barriers, overall national strength and other reasons, we dare not expect it for the time being. It would be good if it could radiate into the East Asian cultural circle and neighboring Southeast Asia.

If the movies and TV series do well, and the corresponding copyrights are licensed to domestic games, the "Oriental Xian Xia Metaverse" can be launched in the future.

Users put on VR glasses and immediately enter the world of immortals who fly into the sky and escape from the earth...

The more Xia Jingxing thought about it, the more excited he became. He felt that he had found a long-term development path for the Overseas Holding Group.

It doesn’t matter if you can’t achieve it in the short term. You can keep working towards your goal and maintain a sense of direction.

It's better than selling cabbage when the Internet dividend has bottomed out, and becoming like a street rat, with everyone shouting to beat him!

When Xia Jingxing told Abel some of his ideas, the latter was stunned on the spot and asked in surprise: "Let Chinese colleagues come to Marvel to learn?"

"It's not just about studying, Marvel can also hire those who perform well! Do some chores and outsource labor services."

Xia Jingxing looked at Abel with a smile, and had already made up his mind to let Jupin Pictures recruit some college graduates majoring in behind-the-scenes work in film and television, and send them to the United States for training, study and work. This could also be called learning from others.

When these people master American film shooting techniques, they can use "Hollywood technical techniques + Eastern cultural core" to shoot movies with real Chinese cultural characteristics, not "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" that is disguised as Chinese culture. , a movie that actually caters to Western culture.

In fact, due to the explosion of the Chinese film market in the previous life, American film companies have always wanted to enter the Chinese market using the "China brand", but they have been unable to do so. The cultural gap and prejudice are too deep.

Domestic film and television entertainment companies also guard their golden mountains but do not know how to develop them. They are always thinking about money laundering and tax evasion.

Abel smiled bitterly: "But Marvel Studios has just started? Is there anything to learn?"

Xia Jingxing smiled, "We are just starting out, so there are many things worth learning and learning from. Let the young people sent to work in the United States witness with their own eyes how Marvel has risen. In the future, they can copy and absorb the successful experience and bring it back to China." Create an Oriental Xianxia universe.

Xia Jingxing cannot be sure that his plan will be successful. He will definitely face a series of problems in the process. How to take advantage of the other party's strengths and make up for his own shortcomings is the key.

To be honest, the plan failed in the end. It would also be good to train and reserve some talents for Jupin Pictures and Tudou. After all, the two companies will inevitably make a fuss about content production in the future.

"That's it, you tell Kevin Feige that accepting some Chinese employees who are dispatched can also help Marvel better understand Chinese culture and the Chinese market.

Only when the two sides truly establish an understanding will they not do anything to smear China and offend Chinese audiences. "

Abel nodded, "Okay, I'll go talk to him."