Chapter 6: Media Layout
Looking at John's puzzled expression, Smith smiled and said, "John, so there are things you don't understand too. I thought since you wanted to get into entertainment, you would have already done a comprehensive investigation. A small record company isn't as powerful as you think. It won't cost much; a million dollars is enough to buy a small record company with distribution capabilities, and the same goes for a film company. Excluding the two million for the game console research earlier, you still have a balance of three million that you can use. Have you thought about what you want to do with them?"
"There's still three million left?" His father's words greatly surprised John. Although he possessed information about the future, his understanding of this era was limited, especially since he was in the United States. His knowledge of the place was only based on information from the internet. At this time, the US dollar was still very valuable and had strong purchasing power.
"Yes, you still have three million in funds available!" His father gave a definitive answer!
"If that's the case, I also want to start a comic company, but the registration location cannot be the United States. The US comic market is too bad. Neon is a good choice, but it's a bit far, and communication is troublesome. If possible, after the acquisition is complete, I need to go there and see the situation for myself!"
There was no internet during this period; to communicate between two places, one could only use telephones and faxes! The comic market is a huge gold mine. Originally, this was not part of his plan, at least he wasn't planning to start laying it out now. Who knew that things would take such a turn? It was all him overthinking. Looking at the current situation with a future perspective, the purchasing power of the US dollar at this time far exceeded his imagination; it was truly powerful!
Smith gazed at his son and said, "Comics? Are you sure you want to do comics? The US comic market, as you said, has serious problems. I'm not clear about the Neon market, and I'm afraid you aren't either; at most, you only know a little. Furthermore, Neon people are very exclusive. Rashly making such an investment has a ninety percent chance of failure. You are wasting your time and energy!"
In Smith's opinion, this decision was complete nonsense. If there was no space for comics to survive in the United States, would a mere Neon have space for comics to survive? Moreover, the cultures of the two countries are different, and people's acceptance levels are also different. Making such an investment is irrational. More importantly, comic artists are not that easy to recruit!
If he didn't have information from the future as a basis, he wouldn't make such a decision. But with so much information as backing, everything was different. John believed this investment could succeed. His plan was simply to be a plagiarist; he just needed to copy the comics he had read before the Neon cartoonists!
"I still want to give it a try and see how my scriptwriting ability is and if I can develop in the Neon comic industry. Although Neon is very exclusive, the labor in Neon is cheaper than at home. This is an advantage! If the comics succeed, everything is easy to say. If they fail, it won't affect me much; I can learn from the experience and find my shortcomings!"
Facing his father's persuasion, John still stuck to his decision and did not shrink back because of the difficulties. When faced with an opportunity, one must never have the thought of retreating. If he retreated now, how could he face more difficult situations in the future? This was just a small test for him.
Looking at the determined John, Smith, as his father, couldn't help but sigh. This was the stubbornness of a genius; once he set his mind on a path, he would definitely pursue it, no matter how much you tried to persuade him.
"Alright, I'll help you with it. However, this investment needs to be cautious. For printing, you only need to acquire a small printing factory; you cannot build your own, otherwise, the cost will be too high, and if the investment fails, the losses will be too great! But, have you thought about the toy issue? No matter how good your design is, to sell it, you need a toy factory to produce it. Should you acquire one yourself or outsource the production? You need to make a decision on this soon!"
In Smith's eyes, a toy factory had more prospects than a comic company. After all, children's money is the easiest to earn. As long as the toy design is fine and the promotion is done well, money can definitely be made.
At this moment, John couldn't help but let out a long sigh: "These damned factories! It's not suitable to open factories in the United States at all. Those workers are a bunch of lords. When you're losing money, it's fine; they don't give a damn. But as soon as you start making money, these scoundrels will definitely drag you down. AMC Motors went down that way, and I don't want to open a factory domestically. The best choices are Taiwan and Hong Kong. Chinese people are the most diligent, and acquiring a toy factory shouldn't be difficult. However, with the factory far from the United States, communication is a big problem. Fortunately, this matter isn't urgent. As long as the patent is registered, there will be enough time to handle it. For a toy to become popular, it needs funds for promotion. The best promotion is to make animated films. Don't even think about domestic animation production; the price will definitely be 'pleasingly' high. Recruiting people to open a factory myself is too late. The best option is to outsource it to Neon people!"
"No, if you want to produce animation for promotion, you absolutely cannot outsource it to Neon. Doing comics ultimately has to return to animation. Whether it's taking the movie route like Superman or making TV animations, you cannot have such a scattered layout. You need to integrate them. In the early stage, you will pay some price, but you will gain a beautiful future!" Smith instantly saw the flaw in his son's layout; a dispersed layout was not conducive to future management.
"Group structure? Is it a bit too early to prepare for that now? It's just this small investment; to go for a group structure seems a bit exaggerated!" John voiced his guess and also found it a bit difficult to understand his father's idea!
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"Yes, it's a group structure. It may seem a bit early to you, but the reality is not so. To grow bigger and stronger in entertainment, you must plan ahead, share all resources, and most importantly, it's easier to manage and easier to go public for financing. Now, your most important task is to reserve management talent for the company. Whether it's records, games, comics, animation, or toys, as long as one investment succeeds, you can go public for financing and recover all your investments! In the early stage, you can outsource animation to Neon, but you cannot be completely unprepared. You can take the opportunity to collaborate with them and use their hands to cultivate your own talent. Only when you master the ability to produce animation yourself can you expand the influence of comics and enhance the company's ability to resist risks, unlike these comic companies in the United States that have no ability to resist a crisis!"
It has to be said that the older ginger is spicier. Smith immediately pointed out the benefits that entertainment group structure could bring and also highlighted the importance of talent. To build a business, to do real industry, talent is the most crucial; without talent, nothing can be done!
In the beginning, as a father, Smith could help John, but with the rapid development of the business, truly professional management talent would be needed to scientifically manage the company. It was because he understood this point that Smith directly pointed out the problem, worried that his son had not seen through this important issue, and at the same time, he also pointed out the big problem with domestic comics: their IPs had not been utilized to their maximum potential!
At that moment, John understood his father's intention, nodded, and said, "To oversee the big picture, I do need such talent. It's just a pity that it's unattainable right now. With the small amount of capital I've invested, no true professional managers will join; they only look at large enterprises, not shell companies like mine. However, once I open up the situation, talent will naturally join. As long as I have enough prestige, everything can be achieved. 'Borrowing a chicken to lay eggs' is indeed a good method; one or two animations can complete the cultivation of my own talent!"
"It's good that you understand. Starting a business is not as simple as it seems. Although the family will give you some assistance, it's only auxiliary. What truly needs to support everything is yourself, not the family's help. Tell me, what other ideas do you have? You've thought so much; you wouldn't have no preparations at all, would you? Whether it's a record company or comics, they all need works. Are you ready?"
Hearing his father's words, John nodded and said, "I've thought it through and made all preparations. As soon as the company is established and we have staff, everything can be quickly rolled out. These are a few novels I've written during this time. Mother, please take a look and see if there are any places that need modification. If there are no issues, I hope they can be published soon!"
As soon as he finished speaking, John went back to his room, took out the printed novels he had written during this period, and handed them to his mother, Anna.
Picking up "pirates of the caribbean" placed on top, Anna read it carefully. After a moment, she spoke, "John, you wrote all these? Why did you think of writing novels with such a theme!"
"Mom, I wrote all these. Is there anything wrong? I even specially wrote a song, 'He's a Pirate,' for the book "pirates of the caribbean" to use for its promotion!"
Anna shook her head and said, "No, there's nothing wrong. It just feels a bit incredible. Why did you write novels with a strange style? This is completely different from your previous fairy tales. However, this theme is indeed attractive, and this pirate captain is also very imaginative. Your ideas are truly amazing!"
"Mom, I have fairy tales too, but I don't want to be limited to the fairy tale genre forever. This is very detrimental to my future development, and people change, and so do ideas. I still have many stories in my mind that need time to write. These few novels are just the beginning! As long as the plan goes smoothly, nothing can stop my progress!"
These words sounded a bit boastful, but it was the truth. For a transmigrator, being a plagiarist was a small matter, easily done. Whether it was fairy tales or other novels, or even animations, they were not worth mentioning; as long as he had time, he could easily accomplish them.
Now he needed the family's strength to help open the initial starting point. If he relied on his own limited strength, no matter how good his ideas were, they couldn't be realized, after all, he was just an eighteen-year-old child.
There were still many things he needed to do. Just the many Hollywood blockbusters were enough for him to work hard on copying. These profitable movies were one of his key work priorities moving forward: "flashdance," "Ghostbusters," "A Nightmare on Elm Street," "Beverly Hills Cop," "Police Academy," "Die Hard"—these were all masterpieces he needed to complete quickly, otherwise, they would soon pass him by. These movies were all his big gold mines that could not be delayed!
Of course, the most important thing was fame. Only with enough renown would he have the opportunity to get involved in Hollywood. Movies were also the best way to raise capital. Entertainment is very profitable, and it can make a lot of money; good movies always have highly efficient returns!