Hollywood Hunter

In Los Angeles, in the mansion halfway up the hill in Palisades, Simon just got out of the car when Amy Pascal greeted him.

The two came to a living room on the second floor of the villa together, and when they saw them entering the door, the two on the living room sofa stood up together. In addition to Simon's female assistant, Jennifer Rebold, another person is a little surprising, Meg Ryan.

Just nodding his head in greetings, Simon sat down on the solo sofa next to him, looked at Meg Ryan, and said in a flat tone: "Specifically, what is going on?"

Meg Ryan looked at the young man on the opposite sofa. The first time he met, he was not the kind of approachable temperament. Under the shadow of this young man, he had been ups and downs for more than a year. Goodbye at this time, the feeling he gave her It seems a bit more alienated.

Noting his eyes swept again, Meg Ryan hurriedly got up and talked about recent events.

Relying on "When Harry Met Sally" became a first-line actress, but suddenly fell into a situation where there was no film for a year in a row after the inexplicable change last year, Meg Ryan almost To collapse, resent a young man who is getting more and more powerful in Hollywood.

Therefore, when Michael Ovitz approached her, hoping that she could openly file a lawsuit against Daenerys Entertainment, Meg Ryan agreed immediately.

Anyway, they are desperate.

However, as the beginning of the matter approached, Meg Ryan became more and more nervous.

Because she gradually understood that Michael Ovitz just wanted to use this lawsuit to prevent Daenerys Entertainment from acquiring mca.

And, the more you think about it, the more Meg Ryan feels that he is just a **** in the whole thing.

Michael Ovitz promised to help her claim huge compensation from Daenerys Entertainment and help her revive her career after the fact. These two things are unlikely to be realized in Meg Ryan's view.

Meg Ryan has secretly consulted with a lawyer more than once, and the response obtained is that Ovitz helped her to find the reasons for the lawsuit and the evidence is not sufficient. The best result is that Daenerys Entertainment is forced by the pressure of public opinion in order to calm down as soon as possible. Take the initiative to seek a private settlement and pay a sum of compensation. However, this lawsuit may destroy a large business worth billions of dollars.

A nasty young man banned her just because she terminated the contract early after she became famous. If she messed up a multi-billion dollar acquisition because of her relationship, she didn't know what would happen.

As for caa, this talent agency failed to protect herself last year. Meg Ryan didn’t think that afterwards Michael Ovitz would really withstand the pressure of Daenerys Entertainment and a worth of 21 billion. The pressure of the super-rich dollar spared no effort to help her. Or, even if Ovitz is really willing to do this, when most of Hollywood has close ties with Daenerys Entertainment, she confuses Daenerys Entertainment for a multi-billion dollar business. When the conflict between the two parties was completely irreconcilable, Meg Ryan did not feel that the major studios would risk offending Westeros to cooperate with her.

When Michael Ovitz informed her yesterday that she would formally file a lawsuit against Daenerys Entertainment in the near future, Meg Ryan, who had been still hesitant, finally made up his mind, and in turn sought a relationship with Simon Westeros. Cooperation.

Although it would certainly offend Caa to do so, it is always right to choose the stronger one between Michael Ovitz and Simon Westero. If Westeros still refuses to lift his ban afterwards, there is nothing to lose anyway, and it is not too late for her to file a lawsuit.

Simon listened to Meg Ryan’s narrative, flipped through a prepared indictment in his hand, took her to finish, looked up and asked: "In addition to the Actors Guild, there are other Is it?"

Meg Ryan thought for a while, and said, "There should be more, but Mike... When Ovitz talked to me, he only talked about me."

Simon retracted his gaze to look directly at Meg Ryan, leaning on the sofa, closing his eyes and thinking.

If it is other time, such a lawsuit is nothing to Daenerys Entertainment. Almost any large company is surrounded by lawsuits of various sizes all year round.

However, at the critical moment when Daenerys Entertainment initiated an acquisition from mca, such a lawsuit that Daenerys Entertainment used its industry advantages to suppress actors in the circle suddenly appeared, and it would definitely easily cause the media and the public to oppose Daenerys Entertainment. Continue to expand concerns and crusades.

Yuan Shikong, affected by the'eavesdropping scandal,' News Corporation had to abandon its long-prepared wholly-owned acquisition of Sky TV. Because the timing of the two events at that time was very coincidental, it is difficult to say whether there is some causal connection between them.

Daenerys Entertainment will obviously face the same situation.

Of course, the situation is also different.

If there is any connection between the ‘eavesdropping scandal’ in my memory, it’s probably that the entire United Kingdom does not want News Corporation to expand further, because Murdoch’s control over British public opinion has made everyone feel like a needle.

Now, Simon knows that many people in Hollywood must be worried about Daenerys Entertainment's acquisition of mca, but there should be few people who will really oppose it. Michael Ovitz did this obviously only to ensure that his employer, Panasonic, can successfully complete the acquisition, and then he can get tens of millions of dollars in M&A consulting fees.

After carefully sorting out in his mind, Simon opened his eyes and looked at Meg Ryan, who looked nervous, took out the checkbook from his pocket, put it on his lap and wrote for a while, tore it off and handed it to the coffee table in front of him. Meg Ryan said: "Wait for Jenny to help you contact Ma, or you want to go to ICM, you can sign a new agency contract. If you want, Daenerys Entertainment can also sign you another film contract. In addition, this is for you. Take this money and go abroad to play for a few months, and come back after the new year."

Meg Ryan finally breathed a sigh of relief after hearing Simon's words, and even felt a sense of suffering.

Simon's assistant personally helped her introduce the agency, which was enough to show Daenerys Entertainment's attitude, and then signed a film contract with Daenerys Entertainment, even if she was completely lifted.

Then, looking at the check on the coffee table, Meg Ryan wondered if she should get up and get it.

Simon did not wait for her to move, and said to the female assistant: "Jenny, you take Miss Ryan away first. I have something to discuss with Amy."

Jennifer nodded, got up and helped pick up the check and handed it to Meg Ryan, who stood up on the other side, and said, "Miss Ryan, come with me."

Meg Ryan took the check and followed behind Jennifer, and went out through the hallway until she stepped onto the stairs. She dared to glance at the check carefully, and then almost staggered.

5 million dollars.

Far beyond her expectations.

Speaking of which, Meg Ryan has not only been unable to receive film appointments this year, but also began to struggle financially. After she became famous with "When Harry Meets Sally", she signed the second film contract "Rocket Expert", and all the remuneration was used to pay for the termination fee. Several endorsements who were in contact with her originally, because she was in the circle There were no rumors of being blocked.

I just heard that the young man was going to send him abroad, and thought he would only sign a check for several hundred thousand dollars at most. Unexpectedly, the actual figure exceeded her expectations by 10 times.

Although I felt very uncomfortable, deep down, Meg Ryan found that the grievances she had accumulated against the young man for more than a year almost disappeared inexplicably, leaving only some complicated emotions of unknown meaning.

At least, he is much better than Michael Ovitz.

Also a big Hollywood boss, Ovitz just gave her some short promises that were difficult to fulfill. Westeros can directly sign a check for $5 million and completely unlocked all the restrictions on her.

When Jennifer took Meg Ryan to leave, Amy couldn't help but ask, "Simon, are you planning to go to Japan immediately?"

Simon nodded and said, "Of course, I am going now."

"So, what should I do here?"

Simon said solemnly, "I may think things a little simpler, but there is still room for recovery."

Amy didn't answer, but waited for Simon to continue.

Simon sorted out his thoughts again and said: "The key to the matter lies in one thing, a conflict of interest. When we acquire mca, which party’s interests will be affected, which party may jump out and prevent it. Hollywood, we and several big The relationship between the unions is not good, and it is not surprising that they will jump out. However, the resistance from the union is actually not that big. We have joined the producer union and signed formal agreements with several major unions. Even if they want to stop, they can only express their concerns or produce actual evidence that Daenerys Entertainment has violated the interests of union members. Now that Meg Ryan has backed down, I don't think they can find other evidence. The other is that resistance may come from our Hollywood counterparts."

At this point, Simon suddenly stopped talking.

Amy waited for a moment, and tentatively said, "Paramount?"

Simon nodded: "Paramount."

In the current eight majors in Hollywood, Daenerys Entertainment has deep or shallow cooperation with the other six, and three of the six, Fox, Warner Bros, and MGM, will definitely not jump out. Columbia and Disney are unlikely to come forward. Universal is the one involved, and it is impossible for him to oppose his acquisition. In the end, only Paramount is left.

The tide of integration in the American media industry has started from the merger of Time Inc. and Warner Bros. In the next few years, this integration will be further accelerated as the legal restrictions on horizontal integration in the two major areas of film and television in the media industry are further opened.

Although it missed Universal, Daenerys Entertainment is not without other options, but it is definitely difficult to form a company that can strongly complement Daenerys Entertainment at the right price.

Even Disney, which became one of the Hollywood hegemons many years later, can't do it.

Although Disney also operates the theme park business, it does not have much accumulation in records, TV and theaters at this time. As for the strength of the animation business, it will overlap with Daenerys Entertainment, not to mention Disney's current 2D animation. Movies are destined to be eliminated by 3d animation movies, but if you buy it, you will have to face the trouble of pruning.

Daenerys Entertainment has close cooperation but the internal disputes are all the same for Time Warner.

It is difficult for Simon to look at the others.

With this clear, Simon will no longer be procrastinated. In order to successfully complete the two acquisitions in his hands, some small disputes must be discarded. After all, the two scripts that Paramount stole from Simon did not gain any benefit.

After making up his mind, Simon said to Amy: "You will contact Paramount’s Martin Davis later, and ask him if he is interested in the two movie appointments. In addition, as long as Daenerys Entertainment completes the mca For the acquisition, I can guarantee that the usa TV station, in which both mca and Paramount hold 50% of the shares, will maintain the original shareholding status. Unless Paramount actively sells it, Daenerys Entertainment will only seek the right to operate the usa TV station. With some of our accumulation in the TV industry, I believe Martin Davis will not remain indifferent."

Amy nodded, admiring her boss’s unbridled decision. After thinking about it, she said, “I remember that you wanted to buy the right to edit the TV series "Mission Impossible" in Paramount’s hands. The film is about."

Simon wondered: "Isn't the "Mission Impossible" project already approved?"

"It should be still dragging. As long as the shooting has not started, we will have no problem getting this project."

"As long as Paramount is willing to share this project, I can personally participate in the screenwriting and production."

Amy smiled and said, "This should be no more problem."

Simon added: "In addition to Paramount, you recently asked the company's public relations team to pay close attention to the trends of various media. Well, isn't the end-of-year schedule already about to start? This time we will get an extra 2000 for some of our films. Ten thousand dollars has been announced for the budget, but don’t rush to sign the contract first, and talk to the media slowly to let them know how generous the advertising order is."

Amy hesitated: "20 million, it seems, a little too much?"

Among the films that Daenerys Entertainment personally released at the end of the year, the only more important ones are "Dancing with Wolves" and "Home Alone". The other ones either don't have much expectations for the box office, or other studios are responsible for the release.

Simon insisted: "20 million is 20 million. The money that should be spent must be spent. Moreover, this money will not be spent in vain after all. It will definitely be beneficial to our movie box office. Or, even if not, it can Those media know that Daenerys Entertainment is a very generous big customer, and it is not worth giving up such a big customer for a few reports."

"Well, I will discuss with Bob and the others tomorrow."

"Also, as much as possible to find out what other arrangements Ovitz has made."

"I will."

After Simon explained this, he considered for a moment, and asked Amy, "Do you have anything to add?"

Amy smiled and said: "You have finished talking, I can't remember it for a while, but as long as I think of it, I will definitely do it as soon as possible."

Simon nodded: "In this case, I will go to Japan later, and feel free to contact me whenever I encounter any emergency."

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