Leaving AK Films, Eric went directly to MGM in his chauffeur-driven car. His status was different now; driving himself was often a waste of time, as it involved finding parking and parking the car. For people in high positions, wasting time was wasting money.
Moreover, hiring a driver created a job, with a decent salary, which meant supporting a family and benefiting society. Why not?
Having just chastised and dismissed the former elders and directly killed most projects, everyone in the company now recognized the new boss. They greeted him cautiously, afraid of angering him and losing their jobs.
Walking into the office, it had already been meticulously tidied. Eric pressed the doorbell, and a few seconds later, there was a knock at the door.
A young man in his twenties walked in. His name was Chen Xing, Eric's chosen secretary, a Chinese American.
Why not hire a female secretary who was beautiful and had a sweet, cutesy voice?
Nonsense! Eric wanted someone who could work, not someone he could *do*!
Could a female secretary be as effective as a male secretary when working overtime? Secretaries often needed to be on call, and the work pressure was immense, which most people couldn't handle.
Chinese Americans were always synonymous with diligence, and coupled with Eric's own reasons, he naturally chose him. If he had potential and was willing to work hard, he might even be promoted in the future, for example, when expanding into the Chinese market.
"Boss!"
"Have Billy come to see me."
"Alright!"
A moment later, Chen Xing knocked on the door again and ushered Billy and the others in.
"How's the investigation into that matter I mentioned?"
A woman wearing glasses immediately handed over an investigation report. Eric vaguely remembered her; he had seen her at a meeting. She seemed to be a mid-level manager in the marketing department.
Billy began, "Over the past three days, we've visited almost all physical stores in Los Angeles and consulted professional comic companies and publishers. We found a total of 27 zombie-related works, including comics and novels."
"However, the popularity of these works isn't high; some were even self-published by the authors. I've bought all of them. Are you interested in taking a look?"
Eric carefully read the research report and found no comic version of the walking dead, which made him secretly relieved. It seemed the original work hadn't been released yet. For him, this was good news.
"Categorize those 27 works. Send me those that involve post-apocalyptic survival and human struggle."
Soon, a few novels were sent over; there were no comics.
"According to your request, only these five fit, but these five only touch upon some human struggle. The main plot is still a thrilling story about killing zombies."
Eric opened a novel called "King of the Apocalypse." Just by its title, he knew what it was about.
It was 2002, and zombie works lacked depth and didn't focus on discussing humanity as a selling point.
"Well done. Next, keep an eye on George Martin and acquire the rights to his novels as soon as possible, especially A Song of Ice and Fire. No matter what methods you use, this one must be acquired."
Upon receiving praise, the group immediately smiled. Everyone at MGM had been very tense recently, but now they finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Throughout the morning, Eric roughly skimmed through the five novels. After confirming there would be no copyright disputes, he was completely at ease.
After lunch, he called the production department manager directly to his office. Although this middle-aged man was also a talent scouted by his father, the other party clearly understood who held the real power. He was just a high-level employee, and this young man held the power of life and death. ₆ ₉ ₛ ₕ ᵤ ₓ . c ₒ ₘ
"Julio, take a look at this script outline. I'm preparing to develop this project."
"the walking dead Part One? You've already planned sequels before even starting production?" Julio frowned slightly.
Seeing Eric remain silent, he could only continue reading. An outline wasn't long; it merely laid out the background, characters, and plot outline clearly.
After reading it, Julio pursed his lips and, after organizing his thoughts, said, "Purely in terms of creativity, I think it's very good, and the market prospects should be positive. But there are also a few issues."
"Speak!"
"How many episodes do you plan for the first season? Although the outline only describes the story, I can foresee that producing this kind of TV series will be very costly. Makeup, props, extras, locations—many scenes we can't even film in a studio. If we shoot on location, it will involve troublesome matters like blocking off streets, which will burn through a large sum of money."
"Although the prospects for this show are good, considering the production costs, I'm concerned that the profit margin might not be high."
Julio was a very experienced producer, but the more experienced he was, the more he considered, and production costs were paramount for a producer.
In his experience, this type of show was undoubtedly a big production. Otherwise, the desolation of the apocalypse couldn't be created. He estimated that the cost per episode would not be less than 1.5 million US dollars. Too little, and it wouldn't achieve the desired effect, only making it look like a clumsy imitation.
So, what he really meant was not just a small profit margin; he was worried about a huge loss, but due to his position, he couldn't be too blunt.
Eric had naturally anticipated Julio's concerns. Before he transmigrated, he had learned that the average production cost per episode of the walking dead was 2.75 million US dollars.
Even in that era, it was considered a very expensive show. In 2002, after deducting inflation, it would still be terrifyingly high. If word got out, it would probably make the jaws of many peers drop.
But its return on investment was equally astonishing, with an average revenue of 11 million US dollars per episode, making more money than many movies.
"You don't need to worry about costs. For the first season, I plan to make 12 episodes, with an estimated investment of 40 million US dollars. I want to create a high-quality series that can win awards."
The original first season of the walking dead only had 6 episodes. That was because of high costs and great future uncertainty. Even the wealthiest investors wouldn't dare to put too much money in at once. 6 episodes per season was also a common number for many high-investment American dramas.
But knowing it would be a huge hit, making only 6 episodes would be petty. Eric planned to directly integrate the content of the original first and second seasons.
However, he would drastically cut the emotional storylines of the second season. Those drawn-out emotional entanglements were truly unnecessary, especially the love triangle between Rick, Lori, and Shane. Audiences would only feel disgusted and annoyed. When he first watched the show, he wanted to kill that old hag, Lori!
Why did the walking dead get worse with each season? A major reason was testing humanity for the sake of testing humanity. Audiences didn't dislike human struggle, but often, logic was completely disregarded, and everything looked idiotic, which would only be counterproductive.
Therefore, human struggle and tests were necessary, but they had to be profound enough, placed at crucial junctures to serve as a finishing touch.
At the same time, the proportion of zombie-killing scenes needed to be increased to constantly stimulate the audience's adrenaline, making the walking dead a work that was both thrilling and profound. This was Eric's goal.
With a budget of 40 million US dollars for 12 episodes, the average per episode was at least 3.33 million. After deducting inflation, this was at least 1 million more per episode than the original. This extra portion was naturally for the greatly increased zombie scenes and for hiring more reliable screenwriters. He would even throw money at it to get a high-quality script.
Across the desk, Julio's heart skipped a beat. He opened his mouth, wanting to offer some advice, but seeing Eric's high spirits and ambition, the words he was about to say were swallowed back.
"I'm just an employee, why should I displease the boss? Moreover, letting this young hothead stumble might not be a bad thing."
With this thought in mind, Julio nodded, "Understood. I will arrange for the most excellent producers to be responsible for this project. Do you have any requirements for the screenwriters and directors?"
"The director should ideally be Frank Darabont or Neil Marshall. Of course, if you can bring in John Carpenter, I will applaud you. You can find the screenwriters, but I will oversee the script."
Of the three directors Eric mentioned, John Carpenter needs no introduction; I believe no one is unfamiliar with his great name.
Frank Darabont was the director of the original first season of the walking dead, and he also directed the masterpieces the shawshank redemption and The Green Mile. Eric really liked his directing style; his zombies were more aggressive, with stronger oppression and tension.
As for Neil Marshall, many people may not have heard of him. His works include The Descent, Dog Soldiers, Doomsday, and he also contributed to acclaimed American dramas like Game of Thrones, Westworld, Black Sails, and hannibal. He is very capable.
Ring
Suddenly, his phone rang. Eric waved his hand, and Julio tactfully left the office.
"Eric, this little beauty is a bit difficult. I suggest you come to Israel yourself!"
He had just received notice that there would be a meeting tonight. It seemed slacking off was out of the question.