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The film industry 影业 Cinderella story 又一个灰姑娘 Feb 12th 2009 | LOS ANGELES From The Economist print edition Two of Hollywood’s biggest brands form an unexpected partnership 好莱坞两大电影公司结成了意料之外的合作关系 LATELY DreamWorks SKG has been a wandering tribe. The would-be studio, which made films such as “American Beauty” and “War of the Worlds”, sold itself to Paramount in 2005. When that arrangement fell apart it found new partners in Reliance Big Entertainment [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], a Bollywood outfit, and Universal Studios. Then it fell out with Universal. So it was rather a surprise when, on February 9th, DreamWorks abruptly found itself in the promised land. Disney, the world’s foremost purveyor of wholesome entertainment, lent it money and agreed to market and distribute its films. 近几年来，梦工厂公司（DreamWorks SKG）在好莱坞的发展不禁让人联想到游牧民族。在2005年将自己卖给派拉蒙公司之后，这个曾今拍摄制作《美国丽人》、《世界大战》等影片的公司行将沦为一个工作室。当这份协议破裂之后，梦工厂又找到了宝莱坞的依靠娱乐（Reliance Big Entertainment）与环球影城（Universal Studios）。而在今年2月9日，与后者弄僵之后，梦工厂突然发现自己因祸得福。世界最大全年龄观赏电影发行商迪斯尼公司决定借钱给梦工厂并且包下梦工厂电影的营销和发行工作。 It is a good illustration of how the economic downturn is affecting Hollywood. Until recently executives were boasting that the film business was resistant, perhaps even immune, to recession. The number of cinema tickets sold actually increased during three out of the past four recessions. Box-office receipts so far this year are higher than last year. Admittedly, the share prices of media companies have tumbled?but that is because of the collapse in television and print advertising, and has little to do with Tinseltown. 梦工厂的情况折射出了好莱坞在经济滑坡时的状况。各大公司的经理们直到最近还在吹捧电影产业不仅能够抵抗经济衰退甚至能够对其完全免疫。诚然，在过去的4次经济衰退中，3次的票房收入持增长态势。票房收入也要高出去年同期。虽然各大媒体公司的股价一路走跌，但这都是由于电视剧和印刷广告的下滑所导致，与电影业并没什么关系。 Yet the downturn has profoundly affected the art of dealmaking. Although the breakdown of negotiations between DreamWorks and Universal has been followed by a storm of recriminations, the heart of the problem was that DreamWorks was finding it unexpectedly hard to raise debt. It is hardly alone in that. Two years ago investors were lubricating all sorts of strange alliances and start-ups?Tom Cruise wants to resurrect United Artists? Why not? But now the outside money has all but disappeared. The big studios, the primacy of which was never exactly threatened during the boom years, are now almost the only game in town. 但是，经济下滑已经明显影响到了电影公司之间的谈判模式。尽管梦工厂于全球影业的谈判破裂之后存在一系列的指责，但其核心问题还是在于梦工厂发现其中向外举债之难，更不用说这些都要由它一家公司来完成。两年前，投资者曾经通过例如汤姆?克鲁斯筹备重建联合艺术家公司（United Artists）等项目来游说各类圈外支持者和新兴投资者。然而现在，圈外有的几乎都是一座座的空城。那些在影视业繁荣时期绝不会将生存威胁与之联系的大工作室，目前也不过是仅存的独苗。 The alliance with DreamWorks is something of an about-turn for Disney. Under Bob Iger, who took over as chief executive in 2005, Disney has culled films that are a less than perfect fit for its family-friendly brand and has concentrated on turning those that are into amusement-park rides, lunch boxes and other spin-offs. This week’s deal will add as many as six films a year to Disney’s pipeline, swelling it by about half. The surge will not happen at once, however: DreamWorks will have to raise more money before it is capable of producing that many. 在与迪斯尼签署合作协议之后，梦工厂的同僚们现在可能要考虑为此作出一些改变了。鲍勃?伊戈尔自从2005年入主迪斯尼以来，迪斯尼会对合作公司的电影进行重新包装：那些与迪斯尼品牌亲民形象不符的电影将被一律剔除并且将另外一些电影中的元素转化为副产品，例如游乐园中的旋转木马、午餐盒等。本周梦工厂与迪斯尼签署的合作协议为迪斯尼本年度制作表上添加了6部影片，占到其原计划出片量的一半。但这一切并不像看上去那样乐观，如果要制作这么多电影，梦工厂必须要能够筹集到足够的资金。 Bloomberg News Spielberg takes a low-cost approach 布隆伯格新闻：斯皮尔伯格将选择低成本制作 These days DreamWorks is largely Steven Spielberg’s outfit. Jeffrey Katzenberg (the “K” in SKG) runs DreamWorks Animation, a separate, publicly owned company. David Geffen (the “G”) has retired from the studio. The remaining founder spoke warmly of Disney this week, calling it the “birthplace of imagination”. He is said to be looking forward to making more family films. Perhaps [link widoczny dla zalogowanych], but he still looks a little out of place in the magic kingdom. 这些年来，大部分梦工厂属于史蒂夫?斯皮尔伯格的地盘。杰弗瑞•卡森伯格（SKG中的“K”即是指他）掌管梦工厂的动画部门，此部门的运营独立于公司。梦工厂的另一位创始人大卫?葛芬（他代表了SKG中的“G”）目前已经退出了公司。公司的另一位创始人对迪斯尼本周的合作大加赞赏，称之为“想象力的摇篮”。他期望今后能够制作出更多家庭电影，但他看上去多少与魔法王国有那么点不合拍。 Mr Spielberg became America’s best-known, and perhaps best, film director by fusing blockbuster spectacle with an unflinching take on family life. The households even in his PG-rated films are almost uniformly dysfunctional. Think of Richard Dreyfuss flinging plants through the window in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind”, Frances O’Connor abandoning her adopted robot son by the roadside in “A.I.” or the defeated, self-deluding Christopher Walken in “Catch Me If You Can”. It is hard to imagine any of them donning Mickey Mouse ears. 在美国，能将对家庭生活的歪曲拍成精彩片段的导演中，斯皮尔伯格是最著名的，甚至也的确是最在行的 [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]。在他的一些辅导级影片中，家庭生活无一例外都被表现得畸形失常。比如《第三类接触》中，将植物扔出窗外的理查德?德莱弗斯；再比如《人工智能》中，纳将收养的机器人孩子抛弃在路边的弗朗西斯?奥康；甚至在《猫鼠游戏》中自暴自弃的克里斯托弗?沃肯。看看这些电影，谁能够想象出他们头顶米奇老鼠的大耳朵是何种状态。