"Fight for your dreams!"
Upon waking, many people found their surroundings had changed, with countless pieces of information assaulting and enveloping them. These messages were all advertisements for Lionheart Network.
After several days of preparation, with MGM's extensive spending, the roar of the golden lion could be heard in every major city across the United States.
Workers were busy posting posters on billboards at bus and subway stations, in display windows of major supermarkets, and on the walls of every public restroom.
The Empire State Building, Times Square, Nasdaq screens, and the Golden Gate Bridge were all lit up.
Except for landmarks like the Statue of Liberty and Capitol Hill, which do not sell advertising space, the roar of the golden lion echoed from all major landmarks across the country.
As the world's strongest search engine and portal website, Google and Yahoo were not exempt.
MGM directly invested 30 million US dollars into the former and 15 million US dollars into the latter, demanding that they provide Lionheart Network with the best advertising treatment for half a month.
As soon as internet users logged into these two websites, they would be bombarded with advertisements on the interface and in the engine.
The religious disputes that had long dominated the mainstream were temporarily pushed aside.
Facebook and YouTube even officially launched promotional campaigns: by sharing Lionheart Network's advertisements and reaching a certain number of likes, users could receive a free one-month membership to Lionheart Network at different tiers.
Furthermore, registered users of Facebook and YouTube had a preferential policy: by logging into both websites for 7 consecutive days, and staying online for half an hour each day, they could purchase a Lionheart Network membership at half price.
It was all about synergy, mutual promotion, where no one loses out.
Unlike Facebook and YouTube, which initially burned through cash, Lionheart Network was designed to charge fees from its launch. Eric set several membership tiers.
He referenced the pricing standards of major cable TV providers and set a tiered pricing structure for Lionheart Network.
First, there was the lowest-tier membership, costing only $6.99 per month, which was $2 less than AMC, the cheapest basic cable channel on the market—an absolute bargain.
Of course, paying less came with a price: it allowed simultaneous viewing on only 1 IP address, with a maximum resolution of 720P, and mandatory ad viewing.
These ads were similar to those in China: there were startup ads, interface ads, pre-roll ads, and data-filtered ads. In short, except during the actual viewing of content, ads were shown at all other times.
However, it wasn't as insane as in China, where a single ad could last two minutes, which was truly frustrating. Lionheart Network's ads generally did not exceed 15 seconds.
Another point where it was better than China was that its 720P quality was genuinely 720P, unlike the censored versions across the ocean.
Everyone knows how disgusting video sites like Youku, Tudou, and iQiyi are. They claim 720P, but it's actually 480P; they claim 1080P, but it's even worse than 720P.
The lowest tier is for the poor, poor students, and those who want to try it out and have plenty of time. Next is the standard membership.
It costs $9.99, an increase of $3, which is $1 more than AMC, but there's a reason why I dare to charge more than you.
Firstly, I am confident that the quality of my films and TV series is superior to yours. Secondly, standard members get an ad-free experience, not a single ad, whereas basic cable channels like AMC do have ads.
Standard members can choose a maximum resolution of 1080P and can watch simultaneously on up to two IP addresses.
Couples only need one subscription, and it can also be shared with friends and family, making it very cost-effective.
Next is the premium membership package, which is comparable to high-end cable channels like HBO, costing $12.99 per month, matching HBO's price.
Eric initially considered whether $11.99 would be more attractive, but when he discussed it with his father, his father advised against it.
Because those willing to buy a premium membership package won't care about a $1 difference; what they truly care about is the service level and the quality of the films and TV series. Price wars are almost ineffective for this group of users.
And if you set the price too low now, what will you do when you want to raise it in a couple of years?
Raising it too much at once is not acceptable; the industry's unwritten rule is that a price increase should not exceed $2 at a time. This is a user psychology discovered through years of experience.
So Eric still decided to price it at $12.99, going head-to-head with HBO, his former partner.
Premium members still enjoy a completely ad-free experience, with maximum picture quality upgraded from 1080P to Blu-ray, and support for up to 4 simultaneous IP streams, which is sufficient for a family.
Blu-ray technology only fully entered the market last year, making it an emerging technology that many people are still unfamiliar with.
In the current market environment, this is already the most cutting-edge picture quality accessible to ordinary people, and it is also a point of attraction for users.
In addition, premium membership offers a feature that is considered truly amazing today: it supports downloads! Any content available on Lionheart Network can be downloaded without any restrictions.
This feature will have a huge impact on DVD sales, but it doesn't matter anymore, as DVDs have already been on the decline for a while and don't have many years left to thrive.
Some frugal people can simply subscribe to a premium membership for one month, download all the movies and TV shows they want to watch, and then cancel the subscription the following month.
Whenever there's a new series of interest, they can subscribe for another month to download it, as long as they don't mind the hassle.
Finally, Lionheart Network's biggest disruptive innovation is abandoning the weekly broadcast format and releasing entire seasons at once.
This reform was nothing short of a major earthquake for the American TV series industry, a super earthquake of magnitude twelve.
As is well known, American TV series have always been broadcast weekly, and this has remained unchanged for decades.
Weekly broadcasts naturally have their advantages, but these advantages are relative to TV stations and production companies.
Typically, three or four episodes are produced and aired first, then audience satisfaction and approval of the plot and characters are surveyed.
The crew would modify the plot based on the survey results, adding more scenes for popular characters and writing out those who weren't well-received.
If the overall reception of the show is not as expected, it is very likely that the finale will be filmed directly in the first season.
Adopting this format makes investors most comfortable, as it can save a lot of costs, while long-term advertising revenue is also a major source of income for TV stations.
Actors are a bit uncomfortable because they constantly face the prospect of losing their jobs.
Of course, popular actors are very comfortable because they can maintain their popularity for a long time, but they also face the disadvantage of not being able to juggle other work.
The most disgusting thing, of course, is the audience, especially since American dramas are mainly fast-paced, often leaving suspense for the next episode.
I was just getting into it, pants off, and you tell me it's over, and I have to wait a week for more.
A week is enough for the audience's viewing passion to fade, but they can't bear to let go, so they can only cycle through excitement, disgust, fading, anticipation, excitement, disgust again, fading again, and anticipation again, like the Avici Hell mentioned in Buddhism.
What's more, TV stations all broadcast at fixed times, and if you miss it, you have to wait for a rerun. If you miss the rerun too, then it's troublesome.
Everyone is so busy with work; they can't always be in front of the TV.
Releasing all episodes at once means you can watch any episode you want, whenever you want, and rewatch it without buying DVDs or using videotapes.
Why did Netflix rise so quickly? This is one of the important reasons.
Of course, not all programs adopt the one-time release model. Competitive variety shows like The Voice use a half-season release plus weekly broadcasts to maintain the suspense of the champion until the very end.
While promoting the website, MGM's self-produced and imported dramas were also edited into trailers and aggressively streamed across various websites and YouTube.
For the current Lionheart Network, the scale of self-produced dramas has not yet taken off; only after achieving success can it attract a large number of creators to join.
The few productions spearheaded by Eric are clearly not enough for the audience, and updating one or two shows every week or half a month is also insufficient.
So, during this period, besides lobbying smaller companies like New Line Cinema and DreamWorks, he was also busy with acquisitions.
MGM was sending people to contact influential drama genres from Canada, the UK, France, Japan, Korea, China, and other countries.
The focus among these was naturally British dramas and Japanese anime.
The influence of British dramas on American dramas goes without saying; many Hollywood professionals have been influenced by British dramas.
Through Michael Dobbs's connections, MGM imported a large number of high-quality British dramas such as *Poirot*, *Foyle's War*, *Sherlock Holmes*, *Mr. Bean*, and *'Allo 'Allo!*.
While Japanese TV dramas generally have limited influence, Japanese anime's impact is immense, even in the United States.
Since the early 1980s, Japanese anime began to flourish in the United States, with anime clubs appearing in many universities and fan associations emerging in society.
This period was somewhat similar to early China, where many domestic manufacturers would not broadcast certain shows, so fans would translate them themselves, forming what were known as'subtitle groups'.
Later, a phenomenal Japanese anime triggered a viewing frenzy in the United States; it was *Akira*. From then on, the development of Japanese anime in the United States entered its golden age.
Works like *Pokémon*, *Ghost in the Shell*, *Sailor Moon*, and *Doraemon* garnered a large number of fans, not to mention the solid foundation laid by the super popular work *Dragon Ball*.
If it weren't for the support of its high popularity, *Spirited Away* wouldn't have won the Oscar last year so easily.
One statistic reflects the situation: last year, Japanese manga sales already accounted for 42% of total comic sales in the United States.
According to this growth trend, it is predicted to reach approximately 50% by 2007, significantly encroaching upon the market of local manufacturers like Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse.
But what can be done? Audiences, especially young people, love to watch it, and capital is most profit-driven.
During Eric's last trip to Japan to promote *transformers*, he met with several major manufacturers.
After nearly half a year of negotiations, a collaboration was finally reached, securing the 5-year exclusive online streaming rights for these popular blockbusters, as well as some emerging potential blockbusters, including *Bleach*, *Naruto*, and *one piece*.
However, to Eric's regret, MGM only secured the film adaptation rights and online exclusive streaming rights; authorization for manga sales and merchandise production still required further negotiation.
At the same time, under the leadership of Shueisha, MGM acquired the live-action film production rights for *Dragon Ball* from legendary cartoonist Akira Toriyama.
As the first live-action manga adaptation film, both sides had high hopes, and the film's plot would cover up to the defeat of Piccolo at the World Martial Arts Tournament.
Eric gave the screenwriters a strict order: they must be faithful to the original work, not to improvise, and he would review the script after it was written. Any unauthorized changes would not end well for them.
Some screenwriters, with their high self-regard, looked down on games and anime, always feeling that movies should be superior.
They feel uncomfortable not making adaptations, often using the original work as a mere facade while telling their own stories, which usually results in very poor outcomes.
For example, the 2009 live-action *Dragon Ball* was a terrible film that made countless viewers sick, and its box office and critical reception were deservedly disastrous.
How many fans does *Dragon Ball* have? All over the world!
Do you still need to adapt it?
What do you amount to!
That terrible adaptation wasn't even as good as *New Dragon Ball*, filmed in Taiwan in 1991.
In Eric's opinion, although Taiwan's *New Dragon Ball* did not acquire copyright and was therefore illegal, it was the best live-action adaptation of *Dragon Ball* ever made.
This time, MGM is determined to present a sincere gift to Akira Toriyama and *Dragon Ball* fans worldwide, and he has already thought of several characters.
For example, Samuel L. Jackson is perfect for King Piccolo, and Arnold Vosloo, who played Imhotep in *The Mummy*, could play Tien Shinhan.
Norio Wakamoto would play Master Roshi, which would certainly be much more effective than Chow Yun-Fat. Who knows why Chow Yun-Fat was chosen to play Master Roshi? What a terrible casting choice that ruined the original.
Jay Chou could play Yamcha, the Tea God. His appearance fits quite well, and Eric promised him a role.
At this point, the prototype of Lionheart Network has gradually been completed, bringing together excellent films, TV series, and anime from all over the world.
Coupled with the film libraries of companies like MGM, New Line Cinema, DreamWorks, and Lionsgate, along with the works accumulated by Marvel over the years, and their ace original productions.
If you open Lionheart Network and search for the total number of films, you will find an astonishing 20,000+.
The depth may not be enough, but the breadth is certainly ample, enough for film enthusiasts of all tastes to find their favorites.
Eric is ready to go head-to-head with The Big Six and all the TV stations!
As Lionheart Network aggressively advertised, its social influence and popularity quickly soared, and discussions about this new website and new model were endless.
Eric also accepted interviews from his own YouTube and Yahoo.
"Yes, I believe that with the development of the internet, people's attention will increasingly shift away from televisions and onto more portable mobile devices in the future."
"Just like mobile phones, mobile phone development has been very fast, with countless versions iterated in just a few years. I believe that in the near future, with the development of smartphones, watching movies on mobile phones will become a major trend."
"And at that time, it will be when people, especially young people, abandon televisions. I call them cord-cutters, meaning they no longer pay for cable television."
"Their interests will shift more to the internet, where they can watch whatever they want while walking, chatting, or drinking coffee. This is what Lionheart Network aims to do."
Although the questions had been pre-communicated, the host still looked at him with some surprise. His words were no different from the statement made a few days ago, essentially declaring war on the major TV stations.
The host's expression was serious: "Mr. Cooper, what do you think is the difference between weekly broadcast and one-time release for TV series?"
Eric laid out the pros and cons of both formats, then added, "Binge-watching, I call this new term 'binge-watching.' What Lionheart Network wants to do is lead the trend, lead a trend of binge-watching."
"Let viewers watch whatever they want, for as long as they want."
"At the same time, we welcome screenwriters, directors, and actors. If you have any good projects, please come to us."
"Everything for the audience. This is our dream."