I am Hollywood

[Chapter 1114: Inside and Out]

A new week began.

As expected, the main conversation among major North American media outlets revolved around the recently concluded Oscars. However, similar to this year's ceremony, which garnered a record low viewership, the discussions surrounding The Horse Whisperer's multiple Oscar wins weren't as heated as anticipated.

Most newspapers, magazines, and television outlets continued to keep their focus on the surging Nasdaq tech stock market. Last week, after Forbes reported that Eric's net worth soared past $300 billion due to the tech stock boom, the Nasdaq index experienced a significant uptick, resulting in major losses for hedge funds that shorted the index.

It seemed that while many licked their wounds over the weekend, the moment Monday started, bearish sentiments about the Nasdaq returned with fervor, as if trying to bring down the index that had just crossed the 3000-point mark last week.

Among this bearish faction, the most notable was the Tiger Fund, which two years earlier had made significant gains during the Southeast Asian economic crisis alongside George Soros's Quantum Fund. Tiger Fund founder Julian Robertson even appeared on NBC's Today show, openly criticizing the serious bubble in the Nasdaq tech stocks, specifically calling out several tech companies in the Firefly system, like Yahoo and Cisco.

Interestingly, Eric had a brief encounter with Julian Robertson at a gathering in New York last year. While he didn't expect that one meeting would forge any relationship, he certainly didn't anticipate Robertson would suddenly take aim at the Firefly system.

Eric only came to understand the situation when Chris called him from New York. Apparently, last week's surge in the Nasdaq had led to a $500 million loss for the Tiger Fund, which had established a significant number of short positions.

Just two years ago, the Tiger Fund's total capital had surpassed $22 billion after successfully capitalizing during the Southeast Asian economic crisis. However, since suffering a loss while betting on Russia alongside Soros last year, the Tiger Fund had been struggling.

After two significant failed investments in Russia and American Airlines, Tiger Fund's capital dwindled rapidly to $16 billion. Now, as the Nasdaq tech stocks kept rising and Soros's Quantum Fund remained passive, it was curious to see Julian Robertson firmly placing himself on the bearish side.

In just a week, the Tiger Fund had lost $500 million, indicating Robertson's strong commitment to shorting the market. It made sense he was anxious enough to appear publicly in this manner.

However, while this sudden downward strike resulted in a minute dip at the beginning of the new week, a surge of speculative capital continued to flood into the tech stock market, meaning this fluctuation didn't impact the overall trend of the Nasdaq.

By Wednesday, the Nasdaq index bounced back to where it was at the open on Monday, and remarkably, it didn't even drop below 3000 points throughout the entire process.

The Nasdaq index surpassed the 3000 mark several months earlier than Eric had expected, but he didn't change his original plan. He didn't even contemplate pausing due to the sudden bearish rhetoric. Starting Monday, he decisively ordered the Clover Fund's traders to gradually divest from the stocks held.

...

That same week, Yahoo soon published an article titled "AOL and Time Warner Merger Will Severely Impact Healthy Competition in the Internet Industry," boldly positioning itself against the AOL-Time Warner merger. Other media within the Firefly system quickly followed suit, advocating for the Federal Justice Department to immediately reject the merger proposal.

To avoid any blowback, Eric chose to go all out, completely cutting off any private support for the AOL-Time Warner merger and not informing the management teams of AOL and Time Warner in advance.

Steve Case didn't expect that the Firefly system, which had previously expressed support for the merger at the Justice Department consultation meeting, would suddenly turn against them. Frustrated, he quickly released an open letter on AOL's portal, accusing the Firefly system of being the real culprit behind "disturbing healthy competition in the Internet industry." He even referenced a recent article from The Washington Post to support his claim that the Firefly system sought to monopolize the industry.

This round of turmoil resulted in a plethora of voices from both the media and politics speaking out in favor of AOL and Time Warner. Naturally, the already established Firefly system, resistant to allowing any competitors to grow, found itself facing widespread backlash.

Despite the outward opposition, the Firefly system took no concrete measures to impede the AOL-Time Warner merger behind the scenes.

As days passed, it seemed that both Steve Case and Terry Semel, who was set to depart after the merger's resolution, didn't show any interest in questioning anyone from the Firefly system. It was an unspoken agreement between both parties.

...

These high-level capital maneuvers didn't occupy much of Eric's time, as he focused on Hollywood instead.

The Blair Witch Project, after its third week of showing, saw a predictable drop of 53% in box office revenue, yet it still amassed $28.9 million in that week alone. Over three weeks, the total box office took in $111.68 million, continuing to break records for return on investment.

Moreover, although the film's third-week drop was significant, the upcoming Easter holiday period promised a wave of students on break. Thus, even with several new films set to release in the coming weeks, according to New Line Cinema's distribution department, the Blair Witch Project was projected to easily surpass $150 million in North America.

Due to the box office marvel that the Blair Witch Project was creating, numerous Hollywood studios began to show interest in DV filmmaking, a burgeoning method at the time. Some studios even rushed to greenlight a series of DV film projects.

However, it was clear that most were only seeing the investment return miracle of the Blair Witch Project without recognizing that the film's success was primarily due to its groundbreaking internet marketing strategy, rather than the DV technique itself.

Even for those who realized this, the internet marketing platform had just been overly exploited by the Blair Witch Project. In the coming years, other projects trying to replicate its success were destined to fail.

...

Gravity was still undergoing a monotonous and repetitive CG production phase, so Eric didn't need to keep a close watch, which allowed him time to focus on other projects within the Firefly system.

On the Firefly Group front, the first Harry Potter film was officially greenlit, and a press conference was held that week where author J.K. Rowling flew in from London.

Although she hadn't explicitly made the request as before, Eric still proactively promised that they would employ as many British actors as possible in the film and shoot on location in the UK. This approach would accurately reflect the novel's setting; after all, the unique, chilly atmosphere of England wasn't easily replicable elsewhere.

...

On MGM's side, after a lengthy year of preparation, Bond 19 was finally set to go into production in April, with preliminary plans for a summer release the following year.

Additionally, The Fast and the Furious, which had been released earlier in the year, had completed its theatrical run after three months, ending with a total North American box office of $218.6 million. Given MGM's combined production and distribution costs of $70 million, it was undoubtedly a huge success.

Due to this North American box office triumph, The Fast and the Furious was pushed into the prime summer slots for most overseas markets. From the early reception in various international markets, it looked likely that the film would out-earn its North American revenues, with total global earnings potentially hitting the $500 million mark.

The success of the Fast and Furious franchise also shifted the stance of Kevin Costner, the male lead of the Mission: Impossible series, who had been in a wait-and-see position and eventually signed deals with MGM for two more films in the spy movie universe.

Simultaneously, as the Fast and Furious series gained traction, MGM's burgeoning interest in the Jason Bourne series naturally attracted greater industry attention.

...

Century City, MGM Headquarters.

As the end of the workday approached, Hollywood's notable producers Frank Marshall and Kathleen Kennedy rose to their feet, shaking hands with Eric, Amy Pascal, Frank Mars, and several other MGM executives before bidding farewell.

After Eric had made a suggestion at last weekend's Vanity Fair party, Amy quickly connected with Frank Marshall afterward.

The Marshalls had stopped working at Amblin Entertainment and were actively looking for new opportunities. MGM offered impressive terms, and both parties agreed that upon collaboration, they would seamlessly take over the prominent projects within MGM's spy movie universe.

As MGM's key decision-maker, Eric knew he had to be present for such an important partnership, and today was the final round of contract negotiations with the couple.

With both sides eager to collaborate, a week's worth of discussions brought them to a tentative agreement.

The formal signing ceremony was scheduled for next week.

As the couple departed, the remaining executives didn't disperse and took their seats once more.

After discussing the negotiation details, Amy brought up the lead role issue in the Bourne series.

*****

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