Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 993 The third labor negotiation

   "We are now buying through different New York Stock Exchange seats every day. The buying price at this stage has not caused the stock price to fluctuate. The action of sweeping up Coca-Cola stocks at a relatively low price has been very successful so far."

  The manager of Charles Schwab is very satisfied with Ronald, a VIP customer. Compared with those speculative traders who do short-term trading, or open the market every morning to fight against reverse fluctuations, Ronald’s trading strategy, which buys one million a day, has no requirements for stock brokers, even an intern Can do well.

  Although it has dropped by nearly 25% from the peak, Coca-Cola still has a market value of more than 10 billion U.S. dollars. Such a buying order of more than 20 million yuan, if you buy slowly, it will not make any waves at all.

   "Very well, you have to be more cautious in your operations, so that you can buy more shares when the price is low." Ronald was very satisfied with Jiaxin's professionalism, and he could transfer a little money to buy here in the future.

"Don't worry, we are the most professional on the west coast. We are not inferior to those financial institutions on Wall Street. We are even stronger in technology. There are daily technical analysis briefings generated by computer programs. It is free for big customers like you. Don't you need me to order another one for you?" The manager was dissatisfied with this simple transaction, and tried to sell more stocks to Ronald, and only the broker could make money by buying and selling.

   "Hey, I don't know that, just buy Coca-Cola, this stock has helped me make a lot of money in the past, I just like Coke."

"There are not many investors who are as dedicated as you, and I admire it." Charles Schwab's manager said good things, but he was still thinking about how to get Ronald to buy more other stocks. The important thing is to trade more.

Coca-Cola now has a price-earnings ratio of nearly 14 times, and it is an ancient carbonated beverage industry, and it is still being closely pursued by PepsiCo. It continued to decline in the first half of the year, and Ronald will soon be unable to bear this loss of wealth. At that time, I will sell financial consulting services to him.

   "Hi, I need to deal with a little matter, please continue."

   Ronald came out of the office where he was on the phone, and continued to talk to the visiting guests.

  The guest is David Horowitz, the owner of a public relations company in Hollywood. He found Ronald through his marketing consultant, Michael Gray, and asked for help.

  The name Horowitz sounds like a Jew, and he looks a bit like him, with a characteristic nose and baldness, which are typical characteristics of Eastern European Jews. He was commissioned by television producers Linda and Harry Thomason to speak.

"Linda and Harrison are good friends of mine from Little Rock, Arkansas, and I trust them and owe them one. I've tried a lot, but Johnny Carson is the best in American TV. The most powerful man with the most ego, I can only find a way to find all the people who can persuade him to let the Governor of Arkansas appear on his show for help."

   "You are the second person to come to me for this matter." Ronald looked at him. "Actually, I have asked someone. Carson is unwilling to destroy the gatekeeper role of traditional media."

  The so-called traditional media gatekeepers (Traditional media gatekeepers) are actually people like Johnny Carson, the actual leaders in journalism and the media industry.

  They are very conceited, thinking that the general public does not know what news they should believe, and is often biased by false or biased news, forming harmful prejudice to society.

  Media gatekeepers, such as news editors, producers, reporters, anchors (such as Carson, but also people like Bernstein who exposed Watergate), should be responsible for deciding what information deserves public attention and how to disseminate it.

To maintain the image of a media gatekeeper in the public, it is necessary to be impartial in the elections of the two parties. Therefore, Carson has always been very strict about the principle of not inviting politicians to talk shows. The only exception is The current Grand Commander, Ronald Sr., also appeared on Carson's evening show after he had stepped down as the governor of California in 1975.

   Moreover, the commander-in-chief turned out to be from Hollywood, and he has also served as a program host on a TV station for many years, so he is considered half of the industry. The governor of Arkansas is incumbent and has no contacts in the media. It is not uncommon for Carson to run into a wall.

   "I just think it's unfair that he didn't have a fair chance to express his views in front of the national audience. Such a promising young politician should not be cut off by such an inexplicable broadcast accident."

   "Huh..." Ronald felt a little interesting. Arkansas is a well-known poor state. Many people on the east and west coasts don't know where this state is and what celebrities are there. But it is such a governor, there are so many people in the media circle who persevere in running for him. Speaking of which, he is a very charismatic person.

   "Maybe you're right, but I can't be of much help. You've probably heard that I have a good relationship with David Letterman, but you should also know that Letterman is not a proper lobbyist."

Johnny Carson's ego is very big, it is difficult to speak, and David Letterman has changed from his apprentice to the host of his show. Although the relationship between the two is good, it is not convenient to intervene in each other's program arrangements. There is a delicate competition here.

  Letterman's late-night show is already the second-best late-night talk show in America after Carson. The best of other networks' programming, Ted Koppel's ABC news show "Nightline," was no match for Letterman.

  Johnny Carson has double the ratings of Letterman thanks to prime time. But the content quality of his program may not be twice as high as that of David Letterman. Especially now that the screenwriters are on strike, the gap between the two is getting closer.

  David Horowitz didn’t know how to beg. Harry Thomason and his wife may have helped the governor of his hometown because of his fellow countrymen, but he collected money to solve the problem for others.

  As a public relations person, it is his advantage to know a lot of people, but for such a thing that breaks the rules of the TV station, there is no such powerful person in his network. Ronald may have no choice, or he may not have enough interests to impress him, so he has no choice but to get up and leave, and continue with emergency public relations.

   "Why do you want to help him?" Ronald's voice came, "I rarely see someone working so hard for a politician."

"He is a person who really does things for the people. He may have many shortcomings, but if you know him, you will be moved by his ambition." Horowitz heard the joke, and quickly recited the words of the Thomasons. again.

"Horowitz's public relations ability in Hollywood is not weak. Maybe you can ask him for help in next year's awards season." Michael Gray was on the side to help this colleague. helpful.

   "Maybe...", Ronald thought for a while, people with dreams are worth helping, "Maybe you can go to Gerald Slater of PBS, I will give him a call."

"I have looked for him, but Carson is famously difficult to talk, and I came to see you with the idea of ​​doing my best. I still go back to his show producer Fred DeCordova, thinking There is a way to arrange for him to meet the governor, many people don't like him at first, but after meeting Bill, they will be convinced by him involuntarily."

   Horowitz got up and left.

Ronald listened to what he said was so interesting that he became a little curious about the governor. He had only seen such a personal charm in the current commander-in-chief, while old George and his opponent Dukaski did not have it at all. .

   Ronald put this matter behind him, he has more important things to deal with. The writers union strike, which has been dragging on for too long, is about to end.

  The Producers Union convened another meeting, inviting all members of the union to attend to jointly resolve the issue of the strike.

"We got what we wanted," said the league's president, Nick Coonter, waving the contract papers in his hand, and asked his assistant to distribute a copy to everyone in the meeting. "Three main demands, adding The length of the contract, more creative freedom, and residual dividend rights on sub-hour shows, we only let them get the bare minimum."

  Ronald took a look, especially the appeals of the three major screenwriter unions. In fact, there is no substantial difference in terms from the last negotiation.

  It seems that the members of the Screenwriters Union can't hold on anymore. The actor's charity sale did not raise too much money. Compared with the producer union, the screenwriters were the first to have income problems. Most of the members regretted the last time they vetoed the agreement.

  These producers did not give concessions as the negotiator Walton promised, but insisted on the conditions and did not let go. It seems that screenwriters are not so irreplaceable compared to these capitalists. Producers were unwilling to budge, preferring to hire more foreign writers and more non-union members to work on them.

  Maybe these capitalists will really make them collectively unemployed. At that time, what kind of creative freedom, if the dividend ratio is not increased, I will starve to death first, the wife will remarry, and the child will be beaten by the stepfather.

  The other party refused to make concessions this time, which made everyone understand that Walton, the nice-talking negotiator, actually made a serious misjudgment of the producer's bottom line, and he was used by him as cannon fodder.

   They banded together and passed the motion, a vote of no confidence in Walton. In this way, those extremist members who are still immersed in false dreams have to agree, and under the persuasion of the special commissioner of the commander-in-chief, they proposed a new settlement agreement, which is a big step towards ending the strike.

   This time the ball was kicked to the Producers Union.

Ronald looked around. The small and medium-sized producers here showed joy on their faces. Many of them didn't read the terms carefully. They just flipped through the important points and began to discuss with each other how many projects could be resumed after the signing was approved. advanced.

"It seems that our side can't take it anymore." Ronald handed the contract to the lawyer Kanter who came with him. He is the attorney representing several producers here. After reading the contract, he nodded to the clients , is acceptable.

  Like screenwriters, what producers need is just an excuse to get down smoothly. It's been so long, it's almost unbearable for everyone.

   "Now to vote..." Nick Counter began handing out ballots.

  The result of the on-site counting of votes was still not passed.

  Although the Producers Union has many members, each member has different voting weights on collective bargaining agreements. The seven major studios and the three major wireless TV stations produce the most programs, so they should have more say in labor negotiations.

  This vote is like this. The hardliners headed by NBC and Warner Bros. are still unwilling to compromise on this. The last clause stipulates in terms of dividends that TV programs shorter than one hour can also participate in the dividends of international distribution.

   This is the biggest loss for them, and other small and medium-sized producers, and cable TV networks do not have much international distribution capabilities, even if they agree to this, there is not much problem.

On the other hand, TVB, Paramount and Warner in Qidali all have strong international distribution capabilities. If the red line of the minimum duration of one-hour programs falls, the dividends for screenwriters will increase a lot, and other creator unions will also The same clause will be required according to the jurisprudence.

  Seeing that these big producers once again vetoed the collective bargaining agreement, more than 100 small and medium-sized producers and regional TV stations in the venue began to speak loudly.

   This is the conspiracy of big manufacturers to further weaken the strength of these small TV stations and small studios through rules. If there is a financial problem, they will buy them at a lower price.

   "Quiet, quiet," Nick Coonter struck a wooden hammer on it, "The new collective bargaining agreement has not passed."

Seeing that everyone was quiet, he took the opportunity to announce the result, "The second item on the agenda, the board of directors of the screenwriters union, proposed another temporary motion, they can represent the screenwriters, and each studio, sign a provisional agreement, giving everyone The item in hand is exempt."

  It's like in the producer union, everyone has a dark heart. The screenwriters union is also very divided.

  Some committees represent the interests of those extremist members and stand with the negotiator Walton, resolutely not to make concessions on the three main terms, especially the one-hour minimum time limit for participating in overseas distribution dividends involving economic interests.

  But most of the members have been annoyed by these extremists. No matter what harsh terms are, it is better than not having a job and living as a thing.

  They bypassed the negotiator Walton, and passed an interim resolution on the union's board of directors, giving screenwriters who wanted to return to work a chance to negotiate with the production company alone.

   That is to say, they no longer believe in any ghost union that will represent their interests. Simply launched a vote to let the board of directors who understand the situation intervene in Walton. They know that the minimum time limit clause is difficult to pass, and it is true to go around and get some money to tide over the difficulties.

   "Agreed, through..." More than a hundred small and medium-sized film producers and people from small and medium-sized TV stations shouted out. The seven major film producers and the three major public TV stations are almost done. Everyone has to eat, you can't smash all your jobs, can you?

  The second round of voting, because it is a provisional agreement, only requires a simple majority to sign.

   Soon, more than 150 members of the alliance voted for it. Warner, Paramount and the three major TV stations still object, but with a provisional agreement, their objections are not binding. Soon the small and medium-sized member units began to applaud. Although it was not the expected complete victory, it was just a one-month temporary agreement that would be renewed when it expired, but it was finally possible to avoid this **** strike.

   "Hurry up, let's sign a provisional agreement with the screenwriters union, and several projects can be resumed immediately." Ronald was very happy, and hurriedly sent someone to notify several crews that the screenwriters could be hired openly.

  However, because a legally binding formal agreement has not been signed, there is no way for the screenwriters union to stop the strike, so the strike continues.

  The number of screenwriters hired by small Hollywood producers is still limited, and the major TV stations that employ the most people have not signed a temporary agreement to resume work.

  More than 9,000 screenwriters union members, most of them still haven't resumed work. Disappointed with the Producers Union and the union's negotiators, they made a drastic move that no one expected.

  The Screenwriters Union convened a general meeting, requesting re-election of the board of directors, asking the new board of directors to remove Walton, the negotiator, and take back his full authority to act as an agent to decide the terms of the negotiation.

In addition, including the seven major studios and several major TV stations, 18 major companies that did not sign the provisional agreement and voted against the formal agreement were also sued by the screenwriter who regained the dominance of the board of directors .

   "What did he sue them? Is it illegal to oppose the agreement?" Ronald was also confused when he heard the news.

   "Anti-monopoly..." Nisita, who was chatting with Ronald about the casting of a new film, spit out a term that made everyone in Hollywood shudder.

   "Anti-monopoly? Is this going to drop nuclear weapons?" Ronald was taken aback. Hollywood was still very prosperous in the 1950s, but it was hit by the anti-monopoly law and beaten by TV.

"It's more like nuclear deterrence. Recently, there was a screenwriter who ended his life because his child couldn't pay for college tuition and his credit card was overdrawn. So the members of the Screenwriters Union want to drop a big bomb so that everyone can end it as soon as possible. This farce."

  (end of this chapter)