娛樂資訊:演出公司欲借傑克遜身後名贏利

【英文原文】

Jackson Backers Hope To Harness New Goodwill

摘要：規模盛大的邁克爾•傑克遜(Michael Jackson)悼念儀式週二舉行，這場悼念活動促使傑克遜的宣傳公司和遺產代理人拿出了新的計劃：借公衆重新煥發的好感以贏利，併爲他的三個孩子、他母親以及各項慈善基金管理好正在進行的事業。

Michael Jackson's lavish memorial service Tuesday inaugurated a new effort for his promoters and handlers: channeling the public's renewed goodwill into profits and an ongoing business for his three children, his mother and charities.

Mr. Jackson was preparing, amid some skepticism, for a series of 50 comeback concerts at London's O2 arena that were scheduled to start next week.

Randy Phillips, president and chief executive of AEG Live, the concert promoter that hosted Tuesday's service and was to have staged the London shows, said it was fitting to memorialize the so-called King of Pop by seeking new ways to package and sell his music.

'Michael was bigger than Michael, as we're all learning,' Mr. Phillips said during rehearsals for the memorial service, 'as he himself learned when the O2 shows sold out.'

Mr. Phillips added that there should be some limits to exploiting Mr. Jackson's musical legacy.

'Do I think his music should be licensed for suppository commercials?' he asked. ' No, obviously.' Short of that, Mr. Phillips saw few reasons to hold back. 'His estate is in debt and they need to get out of debt,' he said. 'They can do it easily given his enormous popularity.'

For AEG, the stakes are high. The company had taken on considerable financial risk by booking Mr. Jackson into the ambitious run of concerts. Now, it is looking to make itself whole by marketing Mr. Jackson's memory.

Disagreements within Mr. Jackson's family about who should have control over his estate at first hindered heirs and business partners from taking advantage of the renewed attention.

But a ruling Monday by a Los Angeles judge cleared the way by naming as temporary administrators of the estate two of Mr. Jackson's business associates. Those administrators, lawyer John Branca and record executive John McClain, are empowered to make decisions on behalf of the estate.

Late Monday, an official concert Web site began selling T-shirts, belt buckles, hats and other memorabilia originally created as souvenirs for the O2 concerts.

AEG also plans to make a documentary about Mr. Jackson's preparations for his comeback bid, using 100 hours of footage it shot during planning and rehearsals. The company's proceeds from such a film, however, will depend on striking a licensing deal with the singer's estate.

The estate and AEG have a number of such issues to resolve, including whether the estate must repay AEG the $20 million or more it advanced to Mr. Jackson ahead of his concerts. The promoter had spent close to $30 million in preparation for the concerts.

People in the concert industry estimated that AEG might have realized a net income of around $50 million from the 50 shows. Now the company must see whether it can offset 50 nights' worth of merchandise and food sales, licensing deals, VIP ticketing packages and other revenue streams lost to the canceled shows.

'Until we sit down and lay out a strategic plan,' AEG's Mr. Phillips said, 'I don't know if we'll recoup, make money, lose a little money, or what.'

A $17 million insurance policy taken out by AEG would pay off only if a pending toxicology report supports a claim that Mr. Jackson's death was accidental, Mr. Phillips said. Additionally, the promoter is in the process of offering refunds on the nearly one million tickets it sold, whose face value was estimated at between $85 million and $120 million.

The company is giving fans the option of keeping their tickets as souvenirs, in lieu of a cash refund. That would offset Mr. Jackson's obligation to the promoter, but people familiar with the situation said that so far, just 10% have asked for the souvenir ticket.

【中文譯文】

規模盛大的邁克爾•傑克遜(Michael Jackson)悼念儀式週二舉行，這場悼念活動促使傑克遜的宣傳公司和遺產代理人拿出了新的計劃：借公衆重新煥發的好感以贏利，併爲他的三個孩子、他母親以及各項慈善基金管理好正在進行的事業。

傑克遜原定從下週開始在倫敦O2 arena舉行50場演唱會，本來正在爲此做準備。不過也有人對此表示懷疑。

演唱會宣傳公司AEG Live總裁兼首席執行長菲利普斯(Randy Phillips)說，找到新的方式將號稱“流行音樂之王”的傑克遜的音樂重新包裝並出售，這是再合適不過的紀念方式。AEG Live主辦了週二的悼念儀式，傑克遜倫敦演唱會本來也是由該公司負責。

菲利普斯在悼念儀式排演時說，邁克爾不僅僅是邁克爾，我們所有人都正認識到這一點，當倫敦演唱會門票一售而空時，他自己也認識到了這一點。

菲利普斯補充說，對傑克遜的音樂遺產加以利用應當有所限制。

他問道，他的音樂應不應當被授權用於栓劑廣告？顯然不行。除了這類用途，菲利普斯認爲沒什麼理由阻止。他說，傑克遜債務重重，需要擺脫債務。由於他擁有巨大的聲望，這一點很容易做到。

對於AEG來說，風險很大。這家公司與傑克遜簽約組織這輪規模龐大的演唱會已經在財務上冒了極大的風險。現在，它指望拿傑克遜身後之名做文章，藉此全身而退。

傑克遜家人就誰應當獲得他的財產控制權存在分歧，這種情況一開始妨礙了其財產繼承人和商業夥伴對公衆的再度關注加以利用。

但洛杉磯一位法官週一指定傑克遜的兩位商業助手擔任臨時遺產管理人，從而掃清了障礙。傑克遜的長期代理律師布蘭卡(John Branca)和音樂界管理人士麥克萊恩(John McClain)得到授權，對遺產事宜做出決定。

週一晚間，演唱會的一個官方網站開始出售T恤衫、皮帶扣、帽子和其他紀念品，這些最初都是爲倫敦演唱會設計的紀念品。

AEG還計劃製作一部有關傑克遜爲復出演唱會做準備的紀錄片，利用在策劃和排練期間拍攝的100個小時視頻爲素材。不過，該公司在這樣一部電影上獲得的收益將取決於能否與傑克遜的遺產代理人達成授權交易。

遺產代理人和AEG還有諸多此類問題有待解決，包括是否必須歸還AEG爲演唱會先期支付給傑克遜的2,000萬美元。AEG爲演唱會所做的準備工作花費已接近3,000萬美元。

業內人士預計AEG原本可從50場演唱會中實現大約5,000萬美元的淨收入。現在這家公司必須弄清楚能否彌補取消演唱會所造成的損失，包括50場演唱會的商品和食品銷售收入、授權交易、VIP套票以及其他收入。

菲利普斯說，只有坐下來拿出實實在在的計劃，我才能知道我們是會彌補損失、贏利還是會賠點錢。

菲利普斯說，AEG的一份價值1,700萬美元的保單隻有在毒物學檢驗報告證實傑克遜死於意外的情況下才能生效。此外，AEG正在爲已經售出的近100萬張演唱會門票退款，其票面價值估計在8,500萬美元-1.20億美元之間。

AEG給了歌迷們一個選擇：保留他們已買的演唱會門票作爲紀念，而不用退票。這可以抵消傑克遜欠AEG的部分債務，但知情人士說，迄今爲止只有10%的人要求留下門票作紀念。