I am Hollywood

[Chapter 836: The Rise of the Media Oligarchs]

When it came to hosting a Titanic-themed exhibition, the best venue was undoubtedly the Rosarito film set in Mexico. However, after much discussion, everyone unanimously agreed that this idea was completely impractical.

Not to mention the visa issues, most fans simply wouldn't travel across borders just to visit the filming location of a movie. Moreover, safety at the Mexico-U.S. border was also a significant concern. Eric's trip to Mexico last year had left him with a strong impression of this reality. If a visitor encountered theft or even kidnapping while touring the Titanic set, or worse, lost their life, Firefly would find itself in a very precarious position. Such incidents were an unfortunate norm in Mexico, which was plagued with drug traffickers and gang violence. Cameron's friend, the Mexican director Guillermo del Toro, who had initially convinced him to set up the Titanic production in Rosarito, had seen his elderly father kidnapped shortly after he gained some recognition in Hollywood.

Los Angeles, on the other hand, was a different story. According to statistics, over 30 million tourists visited the city each year. As a holy place for movie fans worldwide, most visitors to Los Angeles typically toured attractions like Universal Studios and Disneyland, thus ensuring a steady stream of guests for the Titanic-themed exhibition.

After an afternoon of deliberation, Eric ultimately decided to place the Titanic exhibition within Los Angeles' Firefly Studios. The massive model of the Titanic that had been constructed in Rosarito would be disassembled and transported back to Los Angeles for reassembly, undergoing a complete renovation to create exhibition halls, restaurants, and other spaces for enhanced visitor experience. While this would incur hefty expenses, they paled in comparison to the enormous profits the Titanic would bring to Firefly.

Initially, Eric had purchased 100 hectares of land in Playa Vista. Although Firefly Studios had expanded over the years, much of this land had been utilized, there remained ample space to dedicate to the Titanic project. For a film destined to make its mark in cinematic history, Titanic deserved such treatment.

The company had a specialized team known as the Dream Engineers that was responsible for building and maintaining several major Disneyland parks across the globe. With the plan confirmed, the next stages of the project would be handled by this well-experienced crew.

During the meeting, some higher-ups also proposed expanding Firefly Studios into a full-fledged tourist attraction, mimicking the model of Universal Studios. This idea intrigued Eric. However, excluding Disney's brand resources, Firefly didn't possess enough projects accumulated over the years to support a theme park just yet. Therefore, this plan would have to be shelved. Nonetheless, the Titanic represented a promising start, and if successful, Firefly could later develop attractions based on their other movie projects more suitable for theme parks, leading to a natural transition into a tourist destination.

...

To wrap up the production of Casino Royale as quickly as possible, Eric didn't take a break that weekend. He finished the film's post-production work in the last two days, ensuring that the rating and promotional tasks wouldn't require his further concern.

As a new week began, while Eric hoped for a few days of rest, the influx of various matters kept him occupied. On Sunday night, March 16, FFM Television's highly-anticipated The Sopranos officially premiered. Eric had high hopes for this series. Aside from personally intervening in the casting of the lead role, ensuring that James Gandolfini from the original timeline was chosen, he hadn't meddled with any other aspects. Eric instructed Harvey Weinstein to allow the show's primary creator, David Chase, to have as much creative freedom as possible.

The Sopranos was recognized by multiple media outlets as the number one television series in the original timeline, mainly because it broke from traditional TV formats to create an entirely new and intricate narrative style. If those stuck in traditional production thinking nonsensically interfered, The Sopranos risked becoming a generic show, losing the unique qualities that made it appealing.

Although there were slight differences from the original, the core production concepts remained unchanged. Thus, after the first episode aired, The Sopranos immediately garnered significant attention from critics. Entertainment Weekly nearly gave it a perfect score, describing it as a "series filled with surprises." A well-known critic from the Boston Globe provided an enthusiastic review, saying, "The Sopranos is a surprisingly unique new series."

"The main character, Tony Soprano, is the head of a gang in New Jersey, but his crew is a far cry from the grandeur of the Corleone family in The Godfather, consisting merely of a handful of guys involved in shakedowns and protection rackets. His largest enterprise might just be a strip club. Beyond this murky identity, he is also a regular middle-aged man facing a midlife crisis, troubled by his restless children, a neurotic mother, and a wife who constantly brings him new challenges, forcing him to seek therapy.

From a character perspective, we might struggle to see any standout features. However, this innovative series presents a new layered narrative style underneath its mundane facade, with the storytelling flowing seamlessly without disorder, and the writer's control over the plot structure is nearly flawless, leaving audiences eagerly anticipating the next episode."

Eric wasn't too familiar with the process that led The Sopranos from its premiere to widespread popularity. He originally thought the series would develop gradually, akin to Breaking Bad later on. However, the response following the pilot episode far exceeded his expectations. In a call with Harvey Weinstein, Eric even asked if such an impressive media reaction was the result of Harvey's efforts, to which he chuckled and denied.

With strong initial promotion, The Sopranos' premiere drew 1.76 million viewers, nearly 40% of FFM's total subscriptions. As a pay cable channel, every viewer was a valid subscriber without the need to account for the 18 to 49 demographic, and no advertisements interrupted the show.

The Sopranos' successful launch immediately caught the attention of major competitor HBO, which once again announced its plans to produce original series in the upcoming week. They had previously announced plans for original programming last year, but due to slow execution within the Time Warner system, HBO hadn't released any formal projects until the premiere of The Sopranos.

Eric remembered HBO's first original series well. It wasn't Sex and the City or The Sopranos, but rather the less heralded yet equally excellent Oz. Given HBO's slow reaction, the Oz project was unlikely to fall into their hands. FFM had already acquired the script at the start of the year, and as long as The Sopranos garnered positive reactions, production on Oz would soon follow.

...

During the weekend, while Eric was at work, Christina stayed behind at the manor. The girl who had initially planned to spend the weekend at the estate only complained lightly to Eric over the phone.

Monday morning arrived. After finishing a call with Harvey Weinstein, Eric entered the dining room to read the day's newspaper. Christina, wearing a cropped T-shirt and jeans, with an apron nearly engulfing her petite frame, buzzed around serving breakfast in the dining room before finally sitting down across from Eric. Yet today, there was an unusual expression on her face -- one that resembled admiration or perhaps awe, leaving Eric a bit confused.

Taking a sip of hot milk beside him, Eric jokingly asked, "Why are you looking at me like that? Did you just now realize I'm actually this handsome?"

"Not really," Christina said, smiling. She glanced at the stack of newspapers in front of Eric, raised her hand as if to point at something, paused, stood up, and inexplicably said, "I just remembered; I flipped through them this morning, and it's probably on the sofa by the wall."

Curious, Eric watched Christina dash out of the kitchen, quickly returning with a copy of Forbes. It turned out to be the latest issue of Forbes magazine, which he remembered was set to release today. Oh, this issue featured the list of the 400 wealthiest people in America, no wonder she had reacted that way. Eric's net worth had already reached $67.7 billion last year, and most financial media predicted he would surpass $80 billion when this issue came out -- $80 billion was quite a staggering figure for most.

This year, aside from the stable growth of Firefly Group, its investments in companies like Cisco, Yahoo, and America Online had nearly doubled. For instance, Cisco's market value had increased from just over $10 billion last year to $33.2 billion based on recent stock prices. America Online's market value, previously under $10 billion, had similarly risen to $15.3 billion.

"Let me see how much money I have now," Eric said with a smile as he took the magazine from Christina. Predictably, his photo graced the cover, and only glancing at the headline, he exclaimed in shocked amusement, "They really want to put me on the hot seat!"

On the magazine cover, what surprised Eric wasn't just the eye-catching figure of $98.7 billion, which was over $10 billion more than what most media had projected. It was the sensitive headline beneath that read, "The Rise of the Media Oligarchs."

The term "oligarch" was by no means a flattering one. While nearly all capital entities aspired to become industry oligarchs, few would openly brag about it. The term implied monopoly and exorbitant profits, as well as exploitation and oppression.

Just like in the early 20th century, although the Rockefeller family created an unprecedented wealth legend, their notorious practices, such as employing mercenaries to suppress miners, led to their lasting bad reputation. Even a century later, the Rockefeller descendants faced reporters spouting, "Do you still want to control America?"

Of course, even if one didn't care about external reputations, the connection to the term "oligarch" often led to unwanted antitrust investigations, which was quite the headache.

However, Eric soon noticed a crucial distinction -- the title used by Forbes was "The Rise of the Media Oligarchs" rather than simply "The Rise of the Oligarchs." That added word made a significant difference.

Realizing this, Eric quickly flipped through the magazine to find related articles.

...

"As is well known, Hollywood movie companies have always exhibited a competitive atmosphere throughout a century of development. Due to the strong uncertainties inherent in creative industries, it is challenging for any one company to dominate entirely. However, in recent years, the gradual relaxation of federal regulations on the media industry has allowed Hollywood's major movie companies to transcend their original confines in content production. Thus, the previously balanced state has been rapidly disrupted. The most vigorous force in this new reshuffling of the media industry is undoubtedly the Firefly Group, which was founded less than a decade ago.

Although the Firefly Group has yet to release its financial report for 1996, based on a wealth of publicly available information, we can predict that the Firefly Group's overall revenue for 1996 will likely exceed the unprecedented figure of $30 billion. Even just five years ago, only a handful of media companies crossed the $10 billion annual revenue threshold.

The Firefly Group's explosive revenue growth is attributable to a series of mergers and acquisitions since the 1990s. While media giants like Time Warner and Viacom have also pursued similar mergers, only the Firefly Group, after successfully merging with New Line Cinema, Disney, and ABC, through the remarkable foresight of Eric Williams and a robust and efficient internal management team, has managed to achieve rapid integration between the various companies post-acquisition, alongside persistent high-speed development.

By contrast, Time Warner, under the leadership of the late Steve Ross, could almost be indistinguishable from a disbanded group. Viacom's Sumner Redstone, while an experienced veteran, notably lacked the acumen for the rapidly evolving media industry. Following the mergers with Blockbuster and Paramount Pictures, the fundamentally conservative Redstone did not effectively restructure or integrate the two companies. Blockbuster's business showed clear signs of decline, while Paramount's film operations remained uninspired.

Theoretical analysis hardly showcases the differences among these three domestic media giants; however, their annual performance reports make it abundantly clear.

Based on available information, in 1996, Time Warner reported annual revenues of $10.1 billion, enduring an annual loss of $191 million. With fixed assets of $35 billion, Time Warner's stock market valuation stood at only $24.3 billion. In contrast, Viacom achieved revenues of $12.1 billion with a net profit of $1.2 billion, transforming into North America's second-largest media group, although the gap between it and the Firefly Group was starkly evident.

Thanks to its media networks, film and entertainment, theme parks, merchandise, and special effects companies, the Firefly Group's annual revenue has reached approximately $30 billion. Considering the group's average net profit margin of 11% from previous years, the Firefly Group's annual net profit should be around $3.3 billion. Given the ongoing strong growth across its various business sectors, the primary valuation for a public company suggests Firefly Group's market value should soar to around $85 billion.

Hence, whether in terms of annual profit, revenue figures, or market valuation, the Firefly Group has indeed created a significant gap from its industry competitors, demonstrating the characteristics of a dominant oligarchy."

*****

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