I am Hollywood

Chapter 1147: Chapter 1149: The Conditions



[Chapter 1149: The Conditions]

Venice Beach was located right next to Playa Vista, separated only by the Barona Channel.

After leaving the restaurant where he had dined with Carl Icahn, Eric's car quickly arrived at Firefly Studios. Because it was the weekend, the studio wasn't overly crowded. He instructed the driver to stop the car, and as he stepped out with Elisabeth, they casually walked along the concrete main road of the studio. It was then that he addressed her earlier question. "Calculating the time, those who should know about Carl Icahn coming to visit me already do."

Walking side by side with Eric, Elisabeth quickly connected the dots as he spoke. "You let people spread the word?"

To unexpectedly seize control of a company, the first rule was to keep it a secret. Carl Icahn certainly wouldn't want to make his visit to Eric a public spectacle. If Eric intended to cooperate, then not many people would know about their recent lunch together.

Eric smiled noncommittally. "Carl Icahn and Ron Perelman, while they excel in capitalizing on corporate stocks, certainly aren't lacking in business acumen and operational capability. Just look at Ron Perelman; after taking over Revlon with modest means, he's been serving as the chairman for years now, and the performance of that cosmetics company has been quite good. Similarly, if Icahn were to gain control over Viacom, who's to say whether this media conglomerate wouldn't become a threat to the Firefly system? If I had to choose between an older king who values his own power over the company's interests and an ambitious, energetic new lord, I would undoubtedly prefer the former. As for the benefits he's promising now, there's no legal obligation; who knows if he'll follow through later? Besides, why should an outsider come to Hollywood to promise me anything? If I wanted something, I would simply go after it myself."

Elisabeth gazed adoringly at the confident man beside her, feeling her cheeks heat up but still habitually remarked, "It seems like all of Hollywood belongs to you."

"Of course it does," Eric raised his arms, showcasing the tall soundstages lining the road. "In the Hollywood of the future, if I want them to have meat to eat, they can feast. If I don't, they won't even get a sip of broth."

Elisabeth considered arguing but reflected on Eric's series of strategic moves in Hollywood over the years and found that this scenario could very well come to pass.

Firstly, the Firefly system had already taken control of four out of the seven major film companies in Hollywood. Just last year, these four companies accounted for over 70% of Hollywood's box office market share, leaving the other three major studios and numerous smaller production companies to split the remaining 30%. In any other industry, such a drastic disparity in market share would signal the emergence of a monopolistic giant. And that's precisely what the Firefly system had achieved.

Secondly, with CG special effects films gradually becoming mainstream in Hollywood, possessing the capability to produce blockbuster effect-laden films had become increasingly vital for Hollywood studios.

Firefly's Digital Domain not only controlled the industry's cutting-edge CG technology but had also gathered many second- and third-tier effect companies around it through the use of special effects software, technical licensing, and profit bundling. These smaller effect companies, by relying on Firefly's software and technical licenses, primarily worked on projects for Firefly's major film companies, making them effectively subsidiaries; when necessary, they would have to follow Firefly's directives.

As for those visionary firms looking to break away from the Firefly system, without sufficient technical strength or lucrative effect orders, mere survival was a challenge, let alone further development.

Lastly, there was the '4200' plan that Eric was laying out. Once the core technologies of 3D and IMAX movie formats were controlled by the Firefly system and promoted widely, other Hollywood firms would have to look to Firefly for guidance if they wanted a piece of the new cinematic technological revolution.

Though traditional film production had low barriers to entry, there had always been those eager newcomers willing to throw money at Hollywood. However, going forward, building barriers would culminate in a scenario where merely pouring in cash would ultimately result in failure. The power of capital would begin to diminish in its influence over Hollywood. The Firefly system would evolve from a local player that traditional firms might hesitate to compete against into a powerful monolith.

While lost in these thoughts, Elisabeth snapped back to reality when a passing producer greeted them warmly. She nodded in response and turned to Eric, saying, "Speaking of broth, didn't you say Marvel had other projects we could handle? Now that Iron Man has been a success, what about ours?"

"The X-Men universe -- how's that for meat?"

"Mm-hmm." Elisabeth huffed in satisfaction but shot Eric a playful glare. "I thought you might hand that over to MGM or Columbia."

"I considered it," Eric laughed. "In fact, if Fox hadn't so nimbly announced their ban on Paramount, I wouldn't have handed the X-Men universe to you."

Elisabeth immediately felt a spark of irritation and playfully pinched Eric's arm. "You still don't trust me."

"Of course, I trust you," Eric replied. "But I don't trust your old man. I remember he just said he'd hand Fox over to you not long ago, and then he suddenly stuffed his new girlfriend into the TV station."

Elisabeth felt deflated when Eric brought this up.

Truth be told, the ban on Paramount was something Elisabeth had executed impulsively, announcing it before notifying her father, which earned her a deserved scolding.

"Don't even start," she muttered as she leaned against Eric. "Being caught between you two control freaks is quite tough."

Eric comfortingly patted Elisabeth's waist and joked, "What if we staged a coup and kicked your dad out?"

"That might cost him his life," Elisabeth chuckled. "I don't want to be labeled cold-hearted; my dad isn't like Redstone, the type who would cling to power at the cost of turning against his own children. Honestly, if I were a man, my dad would surely support my succession."

"If you were a man, I'd be in trouble."

"You have no shortage of women."

Conversing playfully, they had already crossed the soundstage area. Eric intended to continue on towards the Digital Domain studio to check on the progress of Gravity's production when Elisabeth pulled him over to a bench in the center garden at the crossroads.

Leaning intimately against Eric and surveying the studio grounds, Elisabeth soon added, "But what about giving the X-Men universe to Fox? What about MGM and Columbia? I think Columbia might need this project more than MGM."

"MGM already has a spy film universe; that project can run smoothly for at least ten years. Columbia also has a big series planned; Marvel can divert some projects there. You, however, are at a disadvantage. Fox doesn't even have a major production series. Besides, the tighter we wrap Fox into the Firefly system, the more your dad, even if he's unhappy in his heart, will have to let us run riot in Hollywood, right?"

"I don't want to run riot with you."

"Liz is a good girl; it's me forcing you into this."

"Ugh."

As Eric toyed with a strand of Elisabeth's blonde hair, he smiled and remarked, "Actually, if we want to further expand the film business, Fox has another excellent option."

Elisabeth blurted, "Star Wars?"

"Smart; looks like you've considered this issue too."

"Lucas said once he finished the prequel trilogy, he'd retire. I even thought about buying Lucasfilm when that happened," Elisabeth discussed but hesitated again. "But while the prequel did well at the box office, it wasn't well-received, and the sales of Star Wars merchandise didn't meet expectations. I'm not too sure if people will be interested in the series going forward."

"You're mistaken; the Star Wars brand is definitely solid. The current issues primarily revolve around Lucas himself, and the failures in merchandise sales stemmed from over-licensing by Lucasfilm. As long as we can sideline Lucas, the brand still has immense potential."

"Sideline Lucas? The fanbase will revolt!"

"The impact of the Star Wars series far exceeds that of Lucas himself. Audiences are more interested in seeing the continuation of the series on the big screen rather than who's running it. Besides, there's no need to explicitly push Lucas out; we could conveniently give him a title like executive producer."

Elisabeth mulled over this for a moment before nodding and adding, "You seem to think further ahead than I do."

"Yeah, if Fox doesn't act, Firefly will certainly snatch up Lucasfilm."

Just then, Eric's phone rang. Pulling it out, he didn't recognize the number but didn't think much of it, casually answering, "Hello... oh... I'm off this weekend; let's talk Monday... No need for dinner; just have my assistant schedule a time."

After a brief chat, Eric hung up the phone. Elisabeth didn't lean in this time; she waited for Eric to finish before asking, "Who was that?"

"Tom Freston."

"Oh," Elisabeth nodded, already aware of Tom Freston and understanding his intent with the call. "I heard that Redstone has confirmed Freston as his successor for the Viacom CEO position. He's also one of the executors of the Redstone family trust."

"That's hard to say," Eric replied with a smile. "Even though Redstone is seventy-six, if he suddenly realizes he can still go for another ten years with someone waiting to take his place, he'd likely kick that person to the curb."

"Ten more years and he'd be eighty-six; how is that possible?"

"Power, you see."

"Ha! As if you don't care about power at all."

"Who knows? I once thought about retiring early at forty to enjoy life." Eric tilted his head back to gaze at the clear blue sky over Los Angeles. "But over time, I realized that's not really possible. The pursuit of different things varies across social strata. You could delight a middle-class office worker struggling to make a living by letting him retire early to enjoy life. But asking someone at the pinnacle of power to give up everything at the height of their abilities would be worse than killing them, as power is a real pleasure for them."

"If you can say that, you'll likely do better than Redstone and my dad in the future."

"Not necessarily. Wise young rulers often become obstinate and foolish in old age; predicting the future is tough."

"Eric, you're always so pessimistic," Elisabeth scooted closer, affectionately rubbing her head against Eric's shoulder. "Don't be like that, okay?"

"Yeah, I might have some mental issues. So you all have to treat me well. Otherwise, if I lash out, the results could be unpredictable."

"That's not good enough, you jerk."

Eric chuckled, standing up and taking her hand. "Come on, Gravity wraps up its final cut next month. I'll take you to see the fruits of my labor from the past year."

...

The weekend quickly passed.

Having come to Los Angeles on Saturday, by Tuesday morning, Viacom's co-president Tom Freston finally got to meet with Eric.

Although the announcement to spin off Blockbuster from Viacom had been made over the weekend, the media's largely negative outlook meant that this severance strategy didn't significantly help the situation.

On the first working day, Viacom's stock fell by another 1.7%. Though the decline seemed to be narrowing on the surface, even with this drop, Viacom would likely shed billions in market value over the week.

Additionally, some film funds on Wall Street had reported yesterday afternoon that if Viacom couldn't quickly resolve its looming crisis, these funds might halt their partnerships with Paramount Pictures.

Film funds on Wall Street operated similarly to credit financing agencies; they provided funding to Hollywood without sharing in copyright or production while enjoying substantial profit-sharing based on the box office performance of the films they invested in.

Most of the huge debts accrued by MGM stemmed from continuous losses on invested films, which caused delays in payment to these film funds.

If Wall Street were to cut off financial support and this became public, many projects in production at Paramount would likely come to a halt, and this would be no less than another disaster for Viacom, akin to another ban on Blockbuster.

While it was evident that the Firefly system was behind this predicament, in the face of a string of challenges and the potential threat to control from Carl Icahn lurking behind the scenes, Viacom had no choice but to reconcile quickly with the Firefly system. Redstone was even prepared to accept harsh terms from the Firefly system at this point.

*****

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