Hollywood Hunter

"It's so beautiful here, Daenerys Studios is definitely the most special movie studio I have ever seen."

In the second floor area of ​​Daenerys Studios in Malibu, CNN TV female reporter Dana Logan and Amy Pascal walked side by side in an office LOFT, surrounded by lighting photography and other staff, everyone was recording a File interview.

Strolling in the open corridor outside the office area, Amy smiled and said: "Simon designed it himself, and it is said to be based on the old-fashioned workshops where many artists gather in Manhattan's Soho District."

Dana Logan looked at the busy staff in the surrounding open office area and nodded: "If I can work here, I would be willing to work overtime every day."

"We have been trying our best to create the most comfortable working environment for our employees," Amy said, with a slight reduction in her expression, and solemnly said: "However, I still have to declare again that Daenerys Entertainment will never force Any employee works overtime."

Dana Logan did not shy away, and asked: "So, regarding the recent lawsuits by the three major unions on this ground, Amy, how do you explain?"

Amy thought for a while, and said: "I think this is the natural enterprising spirit of a new company. Everyone wants Daenerys Entertainment to develop faster and better. Moreover, it is not just a comfortable office in the studio. Environment, Daenerys Entertainment's employees, but the basic salary is at least 20% higher than other companies in the same industry. Therefore, I think the accusations and lawsuits against Daenerys Entertainment by the three major unions are very unreasonable. "

Dana Logan nodded slightly, but immediately asked another sharp question: "But, Amy, how do you explain the memorandum of cooperation Daenerys Entertainment just signed with Australia? If Daenerys Entertainment With the acquisition of MCA, the market share has increased again. Does it mean that Hollywood will have more job opportunities lost overseas?"

Amy did not answer directly, but looked at Dana Logan and said, "Dana, if you are invited to a job with a more generous salary and a very good salary, would you accept it?"

Dana Logan paused, and said, "Probably so."

"That's the reason. Employees have the freedom to choose better jobs. Similarly, companies also have the freedom to shift to a more relaxed business environment. Trade unions abuse their power to force companies too much, and it is inevitable for companies to flee. Not only Daenerys Entertainment, Over the years, due to the many restrictions in the California film industry, many studios have continued to move film shooting overseas."

Dana Logan couldn't help but said, "I suddenly thought of Detroit."

"Indeed, the decline of Detroit is a very regrettable thing, in which unions really have to bear a lot of responsibility. Just like some Latin American countries, their politicians in order to win voters, completely regardless of a country’s economic affordability. Constant promises of high welfare have resulted in economic collapse, and it is the ordinary people who are ultimately suffering."

"Amy, do you mean that the three major unions are abusing their power in this lawsuit?"

"As one of the Hollywood studios, we strictly abide by the basic agreement plans of the major unions. Even after the acquisition of MCA, this situation will not change. Any union member that cooperates with Daenerys Entertainment We will get a series of benefits such as salary, insurance, etc., even higher than other studios. We have fulfilled all our obligations, and the three major unions still come forward to obstruct Daneli I can hardly imagine Silk Entertainment’s acquisition of MCA for other reasons besides abuse of its power."

The recording of the interview took two hours, and Amy and Dana Logan also traveled throughout Daenerys Studios.

Finally ended the interview and temporarily arranged for the CNN team to take a rest. Pat Kingsley, who had been guarding Amy as a public relations consultant, walked over and turned the memo: "There are a lot of topics about Simon, which easily distracts the audience. , I think all the conversations in the administrative area at the beginning can be cut out and start directly from the scene in the office LOFT."

Amy looked at Jinsli's memo, thought for a moment, and nodded, "No problem."

Pat Kinsley added: "Also, the remarks about Latin American countries are also somewhat wrong, and they can easily be used by others. Daenerys Entertainment still has a lot of business in Latin America, and there is no need to cause those in power. Disgusted."

Amy recalled the situation just now and said: "Does this segment need to be re-recorded?"

"No, just do the editing."

Jinsli shook her head and talked about other issues.

The two discussed for more than ten minutes. Jinsli went to discuss the editing plan of the interview with the CNN team, and Amy rushed to a meeting in the administrative district. The content was Daenerys Entertainment's media-level public relations around the three major union lawsuits. And counterattack, as far as possible to promote the trend of public opinion toward their own side.

After Thanksgiving, after returning to Los Angeles for a few days, Simon returned to the East Coast again to focus on the operation of the Bell Atlantic acquisition.

The acquisition of Bell Atlantic is much smoother than MCA. Simon intends to take the company in one go. For this reason, he also arranged for Amy to make the public opinion on Hollywood as much as possible to attract more people’s attention. In order to reduce the public opinion resistance that Westeros may encounter in acquiring Bell Atlantic.

Today's interview is just one of Daenerys Entertainment's recent frequent campaign arrangements.

During the interview, Amy clung to the topic of "abuse of their power" by the three major trade unions, which was also a well-thought-out media public relations strategy. Doing so can put a label of'bureaucracy' on the top of the three major unions as opposed to ordinary union members, implying a subconscious impression that the union leaders are just playing with power and not sincerely seeking benefits for union members. Divide the internal role of trade unions.

In fact, this lawsuit of the three major trade unions did not bring any direct benefits to its members.

What's more, I have to admit that, relying on the salary and benefits that are much higher than that of the same industry and more opportunities to become famous, Daenerys Entertainment is definitely the most popular studio in Hollywood in recent years, and entertainment of all levels. Industry practitioners are very inclined to cooperate with this company.

Daenerys Entertainment’s previous cooperation agreement signed with the Victorian Government of Australia and the plan to establish a film and television production base in Toronto, Canada caused disgust from some Hollywood practitioners, but more people still saw it. To a large extent, the three major unions were the first to initiate a lawsuit and Daenerys Entertainment just made its own counterattack.

Different from the usual strikes, this lawsuit of the three major unions is unlikely to bring direct benefits to its members, but it has caused many people to lose countless job opportunities. Under the deliberate public opinion of Daenerys Entertainment, the three major unions One can imagine the pressure.

Amy's interview appeared on the CNN channel the next day, followed by a "Los Angeles Times" survey article on employee compensation data under Daenerys Entertainment.

In the lawsuit, the three major unions accused Daenerys Entertainment’s acquisition of MCA, which may lead to industry monopoly and cause the industry’s working environment to deteriorate, but in fact, whether it is Daenerys, which is far more comfortable and luxurious than other Hollywood studios City, or Daenerys Entertainment's salaries are significantly higher than the salary levels of studios in the same industry, which proves that the accusations of the three major unions are difficult to hold.

Universal Studios Burbank.

When Barry Gordon, chairman of the Screen Actors Guild, arrived, Lou Wasalman had just watched the video of Amy's interview, and his face was gloomy.

Barry Gordon's mood is by no means good, but he is relatively lucky.

Two days ago, the "Hollywood Reporter" exposed a scandal about George Cogo, chairman of the West Coast branch of the American Screenwriter Guild. A member of the American Screenwriter Guild who has the right to vote for the Oscar for Best Screenwriting Award stood up to publicly testify that When "Fiction" selected the Oscars, George Cogo personally called him and asked him not to vote for Simon Westeros.

George Kogo made a firm denial immediately and threatened to initiate a defamation lawsuit against the screenwriter.

However, everyone knows the facts.

Naturally, this incident could not have arisen out of thin air. A series of articles appeared in the media immediately, pointing out that since Simon’s debut, he has launched "Lola Run", "Butterfly Effect", "Reaper Is Coming", "Pulp Fiction", "Spiritual Excellent works such as the Sixth Sense. As a result, as the best screenwriter in Hollywood, he has even won the recognition of the best editing and best soundtrack awards in the technical category, but the American Screenwriters Guild has deliberately ignored them. Not to mention the awards, even few nominations are given.

In fact, everyone in the circle knows that the root cause of this incident was the strike in 1988. Daenerys Entertainment's reality show that did not require the participation of screenwriters made that strike seem very passive, and WGA finally had to make a compromise. However, under the operation of Daenerys Entertainment, this incident has become another proof of the Hollywood union's abuse of its power.

George Cogo's term of office began in 1987, and he would not leave until the end of 1991.

Affected by the "Hollywood Reporter" report, George Kogo may be forced to resign as chairman of the WGA West Section in advance.

In fact, what made the three major unions the most helpless during this period was Daenerys Entertainment's ability to manipulate and guide media public opinion.

Many observant people in the circle find that Daenerys Entertainment pays more attention to the management of media contacts than other studios. What is even more difficult is that Simon Westero is still rich enough.

Only at the end of the year, Daenerys Entertainment’s series of film announcements were significantly stronger than in the past. It is said that Westeros has approved an additional $20 million announcement budget for several films. Even Gucci, AOL, Cisco and many other companies under Westeros suddenly launched another powerful publicity campaign at the end of this year.

These can all mean massive advertising investment.

As we all know, North American mainstream media, whether it is a TV platform or a paper platform, the main source of income is advertising.

Although Daenerys Entertainment’s advertising is not enough to cover all types of media platforms, its field of involvement is also broad enough.

On the other hand, the mainstream media in North America basically exist in the form of comprehensive media groups, like Hearst Group and Newhouse Group, which have hundreds of newspapers, weekly magazines, and magazines, or have public television networks and cable Metropolis/ABC Group of TV stations, radio stations, etc.

Daenerys Entertainment only advertises to some of these media groups, which is enough to make these media groups short-mouthed.

As a result, the efforts of the three major trade unions to counterattack in the media these days have had little effect. Many articles that refute Daenerys's views on entertainment were stopped before they were even published. This made the three major trade unions seem very passive, coupled with Daenerys Entertainment's move to move film and television production overseas, not only did the union appear to oppose the continued confrontation with Daenerys Entertainment, even the first to Dannili The people who were in trouble at Silk Entertainment retreated.

It is always difficult for ordinary people to understand the power of capital, and they have to admit that a super-rich with a personal net worth of more than 20 billion US dollars, a rapidly emerging business empire, is indeed not so easy to provoke.

Handing a cigar to Barry Gordon, and when the secretary brings coffee and leaves, the two old men both mumbled in silence in the office.

Lou Vasalman's situation these days is by no means good.

Especially after Westeros suddenly announced the Bell Atlantic acquisition.

The shareholders of MCA weren't too anxious, and they waited patiently for the management led by Lou Vasalman to fight for more benefits for them. However, the Bell Atlantic acquisition has made many shareholders nervous, worrying that the deliberate delay of the MCA management will lead to the failure of the acquisition.

Or, even if the acquisition is finally reached, will the transaction price be lower than Daenerys Entertainment’s last offer of $7 billion.

You know, MCA's stock price fell all the way after the announcement of the Bell Atlantic acquisition.

Coupled with the withdrawal of Panasonic and the disruption of the three major trade unions, it is difficult to say which direction things will go. At present, the dark clouds of the Gulf War have enveloped the world, and the U.S. economy is already weak. Recalling the trauma caused by the Vietnam War to the U.S. economy, if this acquisition becomes protracted, when the war breaks out and the stock market goes down, MCA will only become more passive. .

These days, Simon Westeros clearly turned his attention to the Bell Atlantic acquisition on the east coast and even stopped contact with MCA. Although in the media, they pitted against the three major trade unions, many people feel that Westeros may be deliberately delaying and expecting the war to break out.

Counting from Halloween’s "Ten Days of Crisis", to "Dancing with Wolves" and "League of Pink Fans", Daenerys Entertainment has appeared in three blockbuster movies at the end of the year, which is enough to show that Dany Lisi Entertainment is still developing rapidly even without MCA.

Conversely, MCA is far from having such confidence.

Up to now, Universal Pictures produced a movie in 1990, and there is not even one with a box office of more than 100 million yuan. The best performance "Back to the Future 3", the North American box office finally only exceeded 87 million US dollars. "Ten Days of Dangerous Love", which was co-operated with Daenerys Entertainment, although it was also a hit, it did not reach the 100 million mark.

Therefore, Daenerys Entertainment's demand for MCA is really not that urgent.

If the management controlled by Lou Vasalman delays and causes Simon Westero to lose patience, and the other party wants to cancel the acquisition, it will only need to pay a mere $60 million in exit fees. Not to mention 60 million US dollars, even if it is more, for Simon Westeros, it seems that it is not painful.

As for Lou Vasalman himself, he also began to hesitate now.

Some of the chips passed by Michael Ovitz to him have shrunk too much compared to the agent's original plan.

Paramount Communications, which was enough to directly confront Daenerys Entertainment, withdrew. Meg Ryan, who may have caused a scandal, withdrew. Dustin Hoffman and Tom K., who originally planned to publicly oppose the acquisition Ruth and other Hollywood celebrities also retreated.

Now, the three major Hollywood unions that are most likely to suppress Daenerys Entertainment have also been retreating under the recent public offensive.

Although he still has some hole cards in his hands, Lou Vasalman really doesn't have much confidence.

Even if Westeros is pressed, Vassarman is not sure whether the young man will directly bypass the MCA board of directors and contact shareholders. He understands that the reason Westeros did not do this is just to achieve the goal of acquiring all the shares of MCA at one time through standard procedures such as board approval and shareholder voting.

Buying MCA shares from shareholders directly with cash may allow Simon Westeros to easily obtain control of MCA, but he wants to buy all the shares of MCA, and it will become more difficult in the future. Many insistence The shareholders who did not sell at the end of the road will certainly wait for the price, causing Westeros to pay higher and higher prices.

However, even if it does not directly buy shares from shareholders, Westeros can actually call MCA shareholders to convene an extraordinary general meeting and vote to remove the current board of directors.

At that time, Lou Vasalman will lose his greatest support.

Of course, the biggest disadvantage of doing this is that this acquisition will become protracted.

However, no matter how you consider it, Lou Vasalman does not think that the delay in the MCA acquisition for several months will be detrimental to Daenerys Entertainment. No one would think that after the outbreak of the war next year, the U.S. economy will not only continue to decline, but will recover quickly. This is unreasonable.

After smoking a cigar in silence, Barry Gordon spoke first: "Lu, we plan to reach a settlement with Daenerys Entertainment and dismiss the lawsuit by next week at the latest."

Lou Vasalman just smiled bitterly.

This is a lawsuit that is difficult to win. Daenerys Entertainment is not the second and third-tier film companies that allow the union to decide. In addition to reconciling as soon as possible, to prevent Daenerys Entertainment from doing more things that endanger the foundation of the union. There really is no better choice for the big unions.