America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM

Chapter 85 The fish is about to take the bait

Double Star Entertainment, the Olsen sisters have just participated in a commercial event and endorsed a children's brand of toiletries.

Looking at the seven or eight-year-old little girls and boys in the audience, as well as a small number of teenagers, the Olsen sisters felt something strange in their hearts.

Children are still children. It seems that the two sisters have been deeply bound to children. No matter where they go, they have to deal with these little brats.

Those chirping noises are annoying. They say children’s smiles are the cutest, but after watching them for more than ten years, they are still a bit annoying.

After finally completing the activity process, the two sisters smiled fakely for more than an hour, making the two sisters feel that their apple muscles were almost stiff.

Now that I'm back at my own company, I can finally relax a little.

Sitting in a special rest room, as the company's major shareholders, they have this privilege.

There is a comfortable and soft big bed, an exaggerated dressing table, and even a bathroom with an exquisite bathtub. Only here can you relieve the fatigue of work.

Lying on the sofa, enjoying the service of a professional masseuse, her sister Ashley Olsen said quietly: "Now I feel very tired just attending an event. It was not like this before."

Sister Mary Olson also feels the same way: "I think the reason is not physical fatigue, but mental fatigue. Our hearts are too tired."

"Yeah, I'm tired of this."

"Ashley, why hasn't that guy contacted us yet? The script hasn't been revised yet, okay? The last time I saw it at MGM, it was obviously a very mature script. Anyway, I think it's better than "New York Hours" A hundred times more."

The force on her shoulders made Ashley Olsen moan in comfort. She closed her eyes and said, "Mary, "The Life of Adele" is a literary film, and of course it needs to be carefully crafted."

"In fact, I hope MGM can spend more energy on the book. You must know that this may be our last chance. The better it is, the better it will be for us."

As she spoke, she suddenly waved her hands in annoyance: "As for that stupid "New York Moment", a crappy script that actually cost us half a million dollars, damn it!"

Mary Olson smiled self-deprecatingly: "Maybe we can think about it on the bright side. It was this bad script that made us fly to New York to attract investment, and then we could meet that guy Eric Cooper."

"But he's also a nasty guy, and the smell of greed almost permeates his body, like rotten leaves."

dong dong dong

At this time, there was a knock on the door.

"Sister, it's me!"

Hearing the energetic voice outside the door, the two sisters looked at each other, both envious of their little sister.

The door opened, and Elizabeth Olson ran in. Although her clothes were thicker, she couldn't hide her cute temperament, and her smile was sweeter than her two sisters.

What the two sisters envy the most is their height. Although she is only 14 years old, Elizabeth Olsen's height is already comparable to her two sisters.

"You are indeed here, I knew it!"

Elizabeth ran to the third massage chair and sat down very familiarly. She also came to this place often.

"Elizabeth, have you finished filming?"

The little girl nodded lightly: "It's just a cameo, it will be over soon."

Then he stared at the faces of the two sisters: "OMG! Why do you look so tired? You were not like this the day before yesterday."

"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired. I can't feel it yet."

Elizabeth pouted: "Are you saying that I'm not famous enough? Although I know this is true, after all, when everyone mentions the Olsen sisters, they are talking about you two. No one will ever care about me."

The younger sister acted coquettishly, and Ashley Olsen's tone immediately became doting.

"Elizabeth, you are still young. It is too early to worry about this kind of thing now. You will find your own route. Our whole family firmly believes that you can become a big star."

Mary Olson added: "But remember, don't go the way Ashley and I did. You should go to the big screen. Don't stay on the small screen for too long. That will limit your development."

Elizabeth frowned: "But no one asked me to film. I wanted to play "The Little Spy", but the crew said I was not suitable."

"They gave this role to Alisa Vega. The second part of the movie was released in August last year, and it took over 100 million in box office. Now Alisa Vega is the hottest female teen star."

He waved his hand and signaled the masseur to go out. There were only three sisters left in the room.

Mary Olson then said: "Elizabeth, becoming famous too early may not be a good thing. It will put you in the vanity fair too early and will wear away the aura of the actor."

"There are too many young and famous actors who have neglected their studies. Not everyone is a genius. Most people will not practice their acting skills from movies. Instead, they will gradually fix their acting skills as the number of acting roles increases, and they will only use the most comfortable and most comfortable ones. To perform in a low-effort way, to become formulaic.”

Ashley Olsen suddenly interrupted: "Wait, you seem to be talking about ourselves."

"Isn't it? Fans often criticize our acting skills for being the same. Everything we do is smiling, giggling, frowning, pouting, followed by a few exaggerated body movements. Don't you pay attention to the fans' comments?"

Ashley Olsen's eyes widened: "Of course I pay attention, but I only pay attention to those who like me, and never look at those who scold me, although I know what they say may be right.

"I really envy you. I can't ignore those negative fans. Even though I'm angry when I see them scolding me, I feel like something is missing if I don't look at them. Alas!"

Elizabeth Olson jumped off the massage chair, took out two chocolate candies from her pocket and threw them to her sister.

"If you're not happy, just eat this. I took it when I came out of the set, and then perform "New York Hours" well, and everyone will change their views on you."

Looking at the innocent little girl in front of her, Ashley Olsen smiled bitterly and said: "Elizabeth, I have some bad news that I forgot to tell you. "The New York Hour" has been cancelled."

"What! What about my role?"

"It's gone, it's all gone. Everyone said that the script was terrible, and it was just a loss of money when it was filmed."

"But I think the script is very good, inspirational, funny, youthful and passionate. I like this story."

Ashley Olsen held Elizabeth in her arms and gently stroked her head: "Yeah, that's why it failed, because it's only for people your age, a slightly more mature audience. , don’t watch this type of movie anymore.”

"But don't worry Elizabeth, we have found a new project. This movie is great and may win an award."

"Is there a role for me?"

After hearing that it was an award-winning film, Elizabeth Olsen raised her head and asked, her eyes full of longing.

"I'm not sure about this, but Mary and I have read the script, and there doesn't seem to be a suitable role for teenagers."

"profound"

I found that the younger sister was a little disappointed. After all, the role that was originally planned was suddenly gone. The two older sisters couldn't help but feel a little guilty.

"Elizabeth, this movie is funded by MGM, we can't make the decision."

"Well, we'll give Eric some advice and maybe he can give you a role in another movie."

"Eric! Eric Cooper? That vice president of MGM?" Elizabeth Olsen pushed her sister away and said with some surprise.

"Yes, that's him. You actually know about Eric Cooper?"

Elizabeth's eyes were shining: "Of course I know, he always appears in the media recently. God, he is so handsome, more handsome than many male celebrities."

"You guys have met. Is he as handsome in person as in the media reports?"

Although the deepest impression Eric left on the Olsen sisters was greed, in retrospect, that guy was truly handsome, and his looks were comparable to Leonardo DiCapri in "Titanic" profound.

Coupled with his status, if he is willing to make an idol drama, he will become the dream of all American girls in an instant.

"Yes, Eric Cooper is indeed extraordinary looking."

"Can you take me to meet him?" Elizabeth Olsen was like a star-chasing fan.

"No problem, I think we will meet again soon, and I will take you with me then."

"Yes!"

boom!

The three sisters were talking happily when the door of the lounge was suddenly pushed open and a middle-aged man with glasses broke in.

"Ashley, Mary, what do you want to do? During the morning event, the advertiser complained to me that your behavior was very unprofessional."

Looking at the man in front of them, the three sisters immediately put away the smiles on their faces. Elizabeth hid back. She was a little afraid of this man.

"Robert, we arrived at the venue early to interact with fans and introduce products. I don't think my behavior was unprofessional."

"Besides, I've said it before, this is our private space. You can't just barge in without Mary and I's consent!"

The Olsen sisters didn't want to give a good look to this man who had single-handedly created him and wanted to control him all the time.

Obviously, Robert Solny is also aware of the contradiction between them. The relationship between the two parties has long been irreconcilable, and being connected together is purely for profit.

However, Double Star Entertainment's performance has continued to decline in recent years, and the two sisters are not very obedient.

After calming down, Robert Solny asked: "Ashley, I heard that you gave up "New York Moment", why don't you discuss it with me, you gave up a good opportunity."

Mary Olsen snorted: "We don't need 'The New York Hour' anymore because we're going to have a new movie soon."

"What! Why didn't I know about this? What kind of movie is it?"

"Keep it secret!"

"you!"

Seeing the determined eyes of the Olsen sisters, Robert Solney understood that continuing would be asking for trouble, and sneered and turned around to leave.

Seeing the annoying person leaving, little Elizabeth asked: "Isn't this bad? Mr. Solny seemed very angry."

"Don't worry, someone will take care of him."

In the corridor, Robert Solney only felt suffocated. The Olsen sisters were becoming more and more presumptuous, and they actually didn't take him seriously at all.

It's a pity that I only own 45% of Double Star Entertainment's shares and can't do anything to their family.

Back in his office, Solny stroked his forehead and couldn't help but think of what happened a few days ago.

A private equity fund on Wall Street contacted him through a friend and said that there was a good project that was attracting investment.

This project turned out to be that MGM needed financing, and Robert Solny met with the other party through the help of a friend.

"Mr. Solny, as a Hollywood person, you should be very clear about MGM. Now this lion wants to raise funds through private equity to expand the scale of production. This is a high-quality project."

"It sounds good, but I don't understand why MGM suddenly wants to raise funds. It has been developing very well recently and the new movies it launched are all making money." Solny asked.

"Haha, good development does not mean that there is no shortage of money. The Coopers mortgaged everything and took out huge loans before completing the acquisition from Kerkerian."

"After paying Kerkerian, they actually don't have much liquidity in their hands, but they have to face bank debt collection, company operations and investment in new projects."

"Especially the cooperation with Hasbro, which cost more than 200 million U.S. dollars in copyright and movie costs. Coupled with other film and television dramas produced, MGM is under great financial pressure."

"Movies are an industry with slow returns, so now the Coopers are encountering difficulties. I think you've heard that MGM plans to re-list."

"However, relisting requires a process, and MGM can't wait that long, so it entrusted us with private placement."

Robert Solny couldn't help but recall the news he saw some time ago. Both Charlie Cooper and Eric Cooper expressed the idea of ​​re-listing in interviews.

And what is the purpose of listing a company? Better financing and development, of course.

“How many shares are MGM willing to put up?”

"20%, in exchange for US$1 billion, is the valuation we gave. As long as MGM maintains a good development momentum and it resumes listing in a few months, the market value will only be higher but not lower."

"Then why choose me? There are obviously many more suitable investors in the market." Solny asked strangely.

"Hahaha Robert, you are just one of our targets because MGM has put forward conditions that the private placement targets cannot be other major film and television companies in Hollywood. He does not want his opponents to penetrate into MGM."

"At the same time, investors must also have certain experience in the entertainment industry. If they don't want to quarrel with shareholders who don't understand anything, then there won't be many choices left for us."

These two conditions were reasonable, but not enough to dispel Robert Solny's doubts.

After that, he asked someone to inquire about the situation at MGM. Among the group of executives who were kicked out by Cooper and his son, his friends were the main targets of the inquiry.

This group of people was well aware of MGM's liabilities, and when they heard the price of US$2.8 billion, they couldn't help but take a breath.

He also asked friends in the bank for inside information, and after paying some favor fees, he got the inside story about the US$2 billion loan that Cooper and his son were carrying.

The private equity fund also investigated and found that it was indeed a legitimate company.

These things supported each other, everything seemed reasonable, and most of Solny's doubts disappeared.