Hollywood Hunter

Nodding understanding, Lou Vasalman asked, "What kind of reconciliation conditions?"

Barry Gordon said: "Daenerys Entertainment abandoned its plan to establish a film and television production base in Toronto."

"Give up forever?"

Barry Gordon shook his head: "Three years."

Lou Vasalman was silent again.

Such reconciliation conditions are completely giving the three major trade unions a step that can barely be justified.

Having controlled MCA for so many years, Lou Vasalman knew very well that it is definitely not that easy to build a film and television production base overseas.

Studios may have to pay more for filming in California and have to endure various restrictions from the union, but they have a very stable and mature film production system.

In contrast, making a film in an unfamiliar area often encounters a lot of problems. The local government’s non-cooperation, residents’ troubles, the price of businesses and even the nuisance of the gangsters, etc., usually make the original hope The crew that saves money spends more.

Daenerys Entertainment is able to obtain many discounts and government cooperation in Australia because of the existence of the powerful snake in the family of Westeros's wife. However, it was naive for Westeros to think that this model could be easily replicated in Toronto.

Probably no one would think that Simon Westero was a naive person.

So, Daenerys Entertainment's plan to build a film and television production base in Toronto may have been just a bargaining chip to force the three major unions from the beginning.

The three major unions voluntarily gave in. Daenerys Entertainment conveniently took this unintended bargaining chip as a step and placed it at the feet of the three major unions without any substantial loss.

Barry Gordon continued to smoke a few cigars. Seeing that Vasalman was silent, he asked: "Lu, what are you going to do?"

When Lou Vasalman heard this question, he felt annoyed in his heart. He simply squeezed out the cigar in his hand and said, "Probably, this studio is still going to be given to young people."

I expected that the lawsuits of the three major labor unions would bring enough pressure to Daenerys Entertainment. I would use resources on my own side to continue to create obstacles to Westeros at the public opinion and government levels, and let the other party take the initiative to abandon the acquisition. If it doesn't help, we must continue to hold the control of MCA in our hands.

However, after the three major trade unions with high hopes attacked, they were faced with almost one-sided passivity. After two weeks, they retreated.

On the MCA side, apart from the board of directors firmly controlled by Lou Vasalman, he does not have many advantages. Most shareholders tend to cash out as soon as possible to avoid the deterioration of the US economy leading to continued decline in MCA's stock price. Judging from the current economic trends in the United States and the looming war situation, this possibility is very high.

Lou Vasalman felt that if he continued to use his back hand, Simon Westero would then directly target him personally.

Perhaps, it is like accusing the three major trade unions of "abusing their power".

Lou Vasalman can almost think that Daenerys Entertainment’s reason for accusing himself of abuse of power is likely to be an abuse of power, and he does want to hold his power. The entire Hollywood, Steve Rose, Martin Davis, Michael · Eisner, Shirley Lansing, etc. etc., who is not so.

People who have tried the taste of power probably only instinctively pursue more, and few can easily give up.

Speaking of it, the young man who is only 22 years old this year will undoubtedly become the most powerful person in Hollywood in the coming decades. Moreover, judging from the skill shown by Westeros in a series of recent events, he is also sufficient to control his own power.

22 years old.

It is hard to imagine why a young man who should have just stepped out of the university campus is so amazing.

Thinking of his own son who has reached middle age but is still ineffective, Lou Vasalman feels more frustrated.

The two old men were sitting in the office chatting without a word. The door was knocked, and the secretary came in and pointed to the TV in the corner of the office, and said, "Mr. Vasalman, maybe there is something for you. I should see."

Lou Wasalman nodded, and the secretary walked in and turned on the TV, and quickly tuned to a local channel in Los Angeles.

A news conference is playing on the TV screen.

Lou Vasalman saw Matthew Broderick among a row of youths who were sitting on the stage telling their own experiences, and he understood the cause of the matter.

This was originally one of Michael Ovitz's preparations.

After Simon Westero became famous, the story of him breaking five legs by himself was also an anecdote in Hollywood. The ins and outs of the matter are generally known in the circle. Because of this, the young people really didn't count as reasoning. After Meg Ryan quit, neither Ovitz nor Vassarman thought about using this move.

Unexpectedly, several youth associations took the initiative to jump out.

At this moment, looking at the young man in the center of the press conference podium with his dentures removed and his lips sunken like an old man, crying about his tragic experience, Lou Vasalman almost couldn't help believing it.

Five people, including Matthew Broderick and Mark Stein, who had a few teeth knocked out by Simon’s elbow, completely reversed the black and white, claiming that a few years ago they had some quarrels while having fun in the bar. , The extremely vengeful Simon Westero tracked and intercepted a few of them. In the end, he not only interrupted the legs of five of them, but later bit them back, using the reputation of Matthew Broderick as a persecution, demanding that the other party do something. Compensation.

Matthew Broderick had to spend half a million U.S. dollars for a settlement at the beginning because of the success of several blockbuster films. In order to prevent the other party from harming his reputation.

However, after Simon Westero became famous, they still did not let them go. Matthew Broderick was destroyed by Westero’s revenge, and he has not received any offers for more than a year. .

When the reporter questioned why Simon Westero dared to attack the six of them alone, Mark Stein, whose lips were sunken and described as miserable, said that Westeros was wearing a baseball bat at the time, and several of them were completely barehanded. Moreover, Mark Stein also showed on the spot the report that Simon KO ten professional-level fighters in the Melbourne boxing field at the beginning of the year, proving that he has this kind of strength.

At the end of the press conference, the five Mark Stein said that they would file a lawsuit in the Los Angeles District Court on the grounds that Simon had caused continuous and long-lasting severe physical and mental trauma to them.

Matthew Broderick also filed a lawsuit on the grounds that Simon Westero violated California's "Unfair Commercial Competition Act" and maliciously used his influence to destroy the cause of others.

Not only that, but Matthew Broderick’s lawyer also stated that there is reason to believe that Simon Westero used the $500,000 extorted from Matthew Broderick to produce "Rola Run ", Matthew Broderick will also use this to file a lawsuit, requiring Simon Westero to return the original 500,000 US dollars in cash and all the benefits brought by this cash.

When the reporters at the press conference heard it, they almost boiled over.

Even reporters who know some industry insiders force themselves to believe the nonsense of the few guys in front of them, the benefits of 500,000 US dollars in cash, if this is the case, then the excitement will be great.

As we all know, Simon Westero made his fortune by relying on the huge profits earned by "Rolla Run", and then not only established Daenerys Entertainment, he also made a big profit by betting on S&P 500 index futures during the 1987 stock market crash. pen. If you want to calculate the original income of $500,000, Simon Westero's current net worth of $21 billion can be said to have come from this.

Watching a few young people on the TV screen leave behind the media, and watching the full press conference patiently, Lou Vasalman couldn't help feeling a little.

As the chairman of the Screen Actors Guild of America, Barry Gordon also heard something about the original incident. At this time, he looked at Lou Vasalman and asked, "Did you arrange it?"

Lou Vasalman shook his head and said, "I know about it, but there is no arrangement."

Everyone in the circle knows the inside story, how to arrange it?

Lou Vasalman hadn't thought about turning right and wrong completely, just like the few youths just now, because this matter was too much to stand up to scrutiny.

However, thinking about it carefully, Lou Vasalman understood a little bit, including Matthew Broderick, a few people have nothing to lose. By holding a press conference with such a big fanfare to make matters worse, they have the first opportunity. Even if their own rhetoric cannot stand scrutiny, the public always tends to sympathize with the weak.

After all, Simon Westeros is too strong.

At the beginning of the year, the video of Westeros hitting ten in Melbourne with consecutive KOs amazed many people. Such a tyrannical guy really dared to attack six people alone.

After all, I brought a baseball bat.

Seeing Vasalman's denial, Barry Gordon looked at the TV screen again and smiled: "Anyway, it's time to watch another lively."

Lou Vasalman also smiled.

In this acquisition case, Simon Westero worked almost every step of the way, exquisitely defusing many obstacles faced by Daenerys Entertainment, making Vasalman completely unable to parry. Now, in the face of those young people completely letting go of their bewilderment, Vasalman wondered how the other party was still stunned.

In this era, one of the biggest characteristics of investment for large telecom giants is stability. The telecommunications industry has been developing for a century. Investing in monopolistic industry giants such as AT-T and Seven Bells will neither get too generous returns nor suffer too much loss.

Because the stock price of this type of company can easily rise and fall with the trend of the macroeconomic situation, the US economy has continued to be in a downturn recently. Since Westeros wants to acquire Bell Atlantic at a 30% premium, it controls many shares of this company. Investors have no intention of holding on to it.

Therefore, when Bell Atlantic's board of directors reached an agreement with Westeros, the shareholder vote that followed, under the careful operation of the Westeros team, was also passed very smoothly. ,

Then it was submitted to the US Department of Justice and the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which controls the telecommunications industry, for review.

Arranging things in Los Angeles, Simon has been running between New York and Washington on the east coast these days in order to obtain government approval.

Although the Department of Justice is one of the president's cabinet departments, and ministers are nominated by the president to accept orders, the Bush administration obviously does not have much favor with Simon, but this department is not under the full control of the White House.

In the midterm elections in the United States in early November, the Democratic Party won a big victory, winning the majority of seats in the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives. At the same time, within the Department of Justice, there are also Democrats serving as senior department officials. It is true that Westeros’ acquisition of Bell Atlantic will not encounter one-sided obstacles.

As for the Federal Communications Commission, this is more beneficial to Simon.

Because as an independent government agency, the FCC is directly responsible to the US Congress and is not under the control of the White House.

Moreover, in the final analysis, the Bush family is a very mature family of politicians. Unless necessary, it will not offend a super rich man like Simon with huge net worth and great social influence, plus Westeros. The company's acquisition of Bell Atlantic will not affect the industry structure and is not suspected of monopoly.

Therefore, this acquisition is almost a certainty.

It can be said that in these days from the end of November to the beginning of December, Simon is still more through the acquisition of this incident by Bell Atlantic, reorganizing and deepening and consolidating his contacts in the US political circle.

Upon hearing the news of the press conference held by Matthew Broderick and others, Simon had just eaten in Washington with US Congressman David Merros who had been in contact a few days ago.

Janet had completely experienced the ins and outs of the original incident, so she was furious in the subsequent phone calls, threatening to severely teach those people who turned black and white, so that Simon would not care about this matter, and she planned to be personally responsible.

This world has never lacked right and wrong. After Simon knew the details, although he was angry, his heart was not touched too much. He did not have the energy to take care of this matter, so he casually agreed to Janet to take charge of this matter.

On the other hand, Matthew Broderick and his colleagues were obviously carefully conspired and planned. Although the story is not seamless, it is reasonable and reasonable. In addition, the media’s natural instinct to watch the excitement is not too big, this matter It was quickly hyped up.

Of course, Daenerys Entertainment would naturally not let things ferment, and immediately counterattacked in the media.

Regrettably, the incident did not leave an official record in the police system. At that time, the situation of all the people was too miserable, and there was no record. Afterwards, the two sides quickly reconciled. After the police were operated by Matthew Broderick, they also thought that more is worse than less, and they did not continue to investigate.

When Matthew Broderick and the others stopped the first move, everyone had their own words, and there were some signs that they were about to fall into Rashomon.

After the press conference, the local media in Los Angeles quickly exposed the further demands of several young people.

Five people, Mark Stein, filed a lawsuit in the Los Angeles District Court for a total of 100 million U.S. dollars for the long-term physical and mental trauma they suffered. Matthew Broderick even opened his mouth, asking for compensation as high as $1 billion.