Conquer America, Start with a Boxing Champion

Link originally considered Katherine and Mandy for the position of director of Lionsgate.

However, the two lack experience in managing companies and need more training. It is more appropriate for them to stay in the two small companies in Palm Beach and Palm Bay.

Evaka has been working with Mr. Thompson since she was a child. She graduated from an Ivy League school and has a double master's degree in economics and management from the Wharton School of Business. In her early twenties, she served as vice president of the Thompson Real Estate Group with a market value of tens of billions. She also founded a jewelry and clothing brand of the same name with a market value of hundreds of millions.

In recent years, her experience in Link Music has also been recognized by the business community. She has been listed in the "30 Best CEOs Under 30" list by Fortune Magazine for two consecutive years. Under her management, Link Music's market value is booming. It is only a matter of time before it breaks through one billion US dollars.

Evaka has rich experience in managing companies, and inviting her to manage Lionsgate is also a very suitable choice.

Link offered her an annual salary of three million, plus a 10% dividend on the company's shares, and she has the highest decision-making power over the management and operation of the company.

After considering it, Evaka agreed to work at Lionsgate, but did not ask for an annual salary of 3 million, and only retained 10% of the shares as dividends.

Hearing Evaka's agreement, Link was relieved. With Evaka in charge of Lionsgate, the group of executives below would be afraid to play tricks.

At the same time, Evaka also mentioned to him the issue of forming the Link Music Board of Directors.

With the board of directors, the company's operational issues can be directly handed over to executives such as George Kapar, Bob Harrison, and Graeme Ogood.

Several executives are responsible to the board of directors.

Every year, if the performance is qualified, they will be promoted and given a raise, and if it is not qualified, they will be replaced. It can also improve the company's internal structure, improve operational efficiency, and reduce the workload of Evaka, the president.

After considering it, Link agreed. The current shareholders of Link Music are mainly him and Evaka. The two hold 88.5% of the company's shares, and Scooter holds about 4.2%.

Graeme and other executives hold about 4.1%.

Four platinum singers under the company hold about 3.2% of the shares, and their shares are mainly acquired through song copyright dividends.

These people will also be the members of the board of directors in the future.

They are all acquaintances. After the establishment of the board of directors, the company's operation mode remains unchanged. The only benefit is that Ivaka will be freed up and have more time to manage the work of Lionsgate.

However, there is also a disadvantage.

That is, the bond with Ivaka is getting deeper and deeper.

As a result, he is now more and more inseparable from Ivaka. Once she is gone, his company may fall into chaos and his net worth will plummet.

Under this situation, he can only marry Ivaka.

"Marry?"

Link folded his arms and looked at the sunny and bustling Santa Monica Boulevard outside the window, shaking his head.

It doesn't matter if he marries Ivaka, but he has become accustomed to the current mode of getting along with Ivaka. What will it be like after marriage? Will it get worse?

He can't predict it.

This is also what he is worried about. Even as a world boxing champion, he will have many concerns about this matter before getting married.

He also suddenly understood why Fatty James would rather take the risk of coming to Los Angeles or New York than getting married.

But as an adult, this step will have to be taken sooner or later. What can be done now is to learn to accept it and start preparing.

Dong Dong Dong!

"Chairman, this is the box office situation of the newly released movies at the beginning of the year, as well as the movies in the promotion period and the information of the movie projects in preparation."

Secretary Amanda walked into the office with the information and said.

"Put it there, I'll look at it later."

After Amanda left, he poured a glass of mineral water and sat in the office chair to read the information.

After several acquisitions, Lionsgate's distribution capabilities are among the best in the field of independent production.

In addition to distributing its own films, it also participates in the distribution of films of independent production companies such as Relativity Media and Blue Sky Pictures. On average, one film is released every month, and 10 to 18 films a year. It is decided based on the financial situation in the first year. If there is money, more films will be made, and if there is no money, fewer films will be made.

The films released in the first three months include "Miss Poor", "Sweetheart Hot Dance 2", "Red State" and "Lincoln Lawyer".

The box office performance of several films is relatively average.

The first three films were released about two months ago, and the cumulative box office in North America was less than 30 million, which barely broke even.

The fourth film, "The Lincoln Lawyer" starring Matthew McConaughey, was produced and distributed by Lionsgate. It was released on March 18 and earned 13.4 million in the first week, with a cumulative three-week box office of 29.07 million US dollars.

Compared with the cost of 40 million US dollars, it is expected to just break even.

However, the word of mouth of this film is good, with a media comprehensive score of B, Yahoo audience A-, and Rotten Tomatoes freshness of 80%.

The acting of the veteran handsome guy Matthew McConaughey is still very good, and there are not many complaints about the plot.

The media commented that this film is expected to be shortlisted for the Academy Awards next year.

Seeing Matthew McConaughey, he remembered a more famous movie "Dallas Buyers Club", which is considered to be the original version of "Dying to Survive". It has a good reputation and helped Matthew McConaughey win an Oscar for Best Actor.

Link didn't know whether the filming of this movie had started, so he took a pen and wrote down the name of the script and asked someone to check it later.

This month, Lionsgate will release a comedy film, "Mrs. Black's Big Family," a B-movie that will be released on April 22.

Link has never seen this movie, and has never even heard of the name. According to this situation, the box office results will probably not be too high.

In the past, he could stay out of the box office rankings and watch with a cold eye, but not now.

Every movie is made with the company's money, and it is also his money. If the movie box office is more than one dollar, he will make one more dollar. If the movie box office fails, he will lose money.

Thinking of this, Link suddenly felt that it was easy to buy a company, but it was not easy to make the company well and stand out in the competition with peers.

While checking the information, he also looked at several film projects that were being prepared, including "The New Good Guys", "The Hunger Games", "The Cabin in the Woods" and six other films. Among them was "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre 3D", which seemed to be from Asia. The one starring Alexandra Daddario.

He thought for a while, called Daddario and said that Lionsgate Films had several suspense film projects that needed a large number of young and beautiful actresses, and asked her if she wanted to try them out?

"No, I'm currently studying in an acting school."

Daddario said on the phone.

"Are you sure? Lionsgate is the largest thriller and suspense film production company in Hollywood. If you don't act in Lionsgate movies, do you want to quit?"

Link leaned back in his office chair and smiled.

Originally, the relationship between the two was normal, but since the news said that he spent 800 million to buy Lionsgate Pictures for Jennifer Lawrence, Daddario seemed to be bothered and didn't take the initiative to call him for several days.

"I can play other roles. It doesn't have to be a horror movie. I don't look scary."

Daddario said with a sweet voice.

Listening to her words, Link couldn't help but see her figure in front of his eyes.

Blinking big blue eyes, round cheeks, straight tip of nose, red and soft lips, along her slender swan neck downwards, is the delicate, sexy and fragrant collarbone, and further down is the plump and soft lips. Pile of powder.

It's really not scary.

"Yanni, I miss you. Come to Los Angeles, whether you are filming or not. I hope to see you every day."

Link said.

".Every day? Don't you have to accompany Jennifer Lawrence who is worth 800 million?"

Daddario asked tastefully.

"Yanni, don't believe those rumors. The reason I acquired Lionsgate is to have an independent film distribution channel.

If I were doing it for Jennifer, I would only need to buy part of the Lions Gate shares to help her get that role, not all of them. Speaking of which, I also considered you when I acquired Lions Gate.

You told me that you are suitable for thriller and suspense movies, and Lionsgate produces a large number of suspense movies every year. If you are interested, you can choose any of those movie roles, but filming is very hard. If you don’t want to film, be prepared to quit and do something else. Yes, I support you too. "

Link said slowly.

"I like movies, and I never thought about quitting the movie, but my parents want me to stay away from you, saying you are too busy."

"Really, what do you think?"

".I love you, I love you very much. I don't mind your fickleness. I just want to know whether you love me more or you love Jennifer more?"

Daddario asked cautiously.

"Yani, it's you. I don't know how to describe your importance in my heart. What I want to tell you is that the first person I think of when I wake up every day is you. I also think of you when I run. I am most All I want to do is kiss you, and kissing you is one of the most beautiful things that has ever happened to me.”

"I miss you too, and...I'm in Los Angeles too."

Daddario said softly.

"Really? I'll be right over."

Link asked the girl for the address, put away the documents on the table, told the secretary a few words, and asked Bob to drive to an ordinary apartment on Bird Street in West Hollywood.

——

When he came here, he suddenly felt that the nearby street scene looked familiar.

After looking around, I remembered that Gal Gadot had lived here for a while, and he often came to stay overnight during that time.

Later, he moved to New York, where he trained and prepared for competitions and rarely came to Los Angeles.

And Gal Gadot also wanted to join the crew for filming. By 2009, he entered the music scene and started dating Taylor, and his contact with Gal Gadot gradually became less and less.

Later, I heard that she had married a wealthy businessman in Israel, and the two completely lost contact.

Thinking of Gale, Link felt that he was very young emotionally at that time and worried too much about dealing with problems.

Now, he would never easily let go of any girl who was willing to stay by his side.

Seeing a few bouquets of fresh red roses placed in a roadside flower shop, he got out of the car wearing a peaked hat and bought a bouquet. Holding the flowers, he came to the door of D’Addario’s apartment, knocked twice on the door, and the door Opened in response.

Big-eyed beauty Alexandra Daddario is standing at the door.

She has long golden brown hair and a little light makeup. Her round face has become more delicate and sweet. She is wearing a blue knee-length dress, showing off her tall and sexy figure. The curves of her chest are still high and bulging, making her look plump and plump. .

"Link, you're here!"

Daddario curled his lips and smiled.

Link smiled softly and looked into her eyes passionately. Daddario blinked his big eyes, his beautiful cheeks gradually turned red. Link put down the bouquet and reached out to hug her.

Kissed her red and soft lips fiercely and domineeringly.

Close the door with your feet.

The two kissed in the entrance hall for more than ten minutes, condensing all the unsaid words into this kiss.

Link carried the limp Daddario to the sofa, hugged each other and chatted a few words about Daddario.

She came to Los Angeles the day before yesterday. Her agent contacted her to audition for a new movie role. She didn't want to tell him so early and wanted to give him a surprise.

Daddario leaned on his shoulder, blinking his cunning and beautiful big blue eyes and said with a smile.

Without waiting for the girl to say anything else, he kissed the girl's eyes and gently pressed her on the sofa.

When taking off Daddario's chest wrap, he couldn't help but think of the two of them's first sexual experience.

That was at the end of December last year, just before Christmas.

Because Daddario wanted to stay at home to spend Christmas with his family, he promised to go to Catherine's place to spend Christmas, and also promised to spend Christmas Eve with Ivaca.

So the two agreed to spend the day before Christmas together in Daddario's small apartment.

That day, the two of them got up early in Central Park, ran in the snow, and shopped at Wal-Mart.

After returning to the apartment, we made breakfast together, watched the snow falling in New York on the balcony, and kissed in the snow.

Cuddle up on the sofa and watch comedy movies, kiss on the sofa until the girl collapses in his arms.

He rolled on the sofa with the girl in his arms like he did today, and gradually untied the girl's restraints.

It's like a scientist peeling off the outer covering of an atomic nucleus, revealing its explosive interior.

When he adopted a rigorous scientific attitude and used tools to further explore the mysterious interior of the atomic nucleus.

That wonderful feeling made him tremble all over. The spiritual world seemed to have encountered a nuclear explosion. A huge mushroom cloud rose in front of his eyes. The world was only red, white and pink. The smell of a nuclear explosion was also in his nose. It was wonderful. The words are so ecstatic.

From then on, he never let go of the girl, until about five o'clock in the afternoon, when it was getting dark, there was a sudden knock on the door outside Daddario's apartment.

At first, both he and Daddario ignored it, but then the knocking on the door intensified, and someone outside shouted, 'Yanni, I know you are here, I heard your phone ringing, open the door quickly.' The voice was rough and serious.

When Link heard Alexandra say that the person outside was her father, he knew that their date had to end early.

"Huh! Yani, no one will knock on the door today, right?"

Link looked at Daddario and smiled.

"maybe."

Daddario wrapped his arms around his neck and kissed him with a smile.

"Then we need to focus more. Let me see where your limits are."

Link pulled the blanket over the two of them.

The space under the blanket becomes airtight, the temperature gradually rises, and the blood flow speed increases.

This also results in a total doubling of taste, touch, and sensory stimulation.

When the sunshine of Los Angeles shines from the east balcony into the west bedroom window, and the battlefield in the house moves from the living room carpet to the bedroom, this protracted battle comes to an intermission.

"Yani, your appearance is so beautiful. Your eyes and body are very big. You are suitable for playing the heroine in a commercial blockbuster. If you want to consider changing, I can find you some suitable roles."

Link hugged the girl, his palms resting on his favorite spot.

"No, being a vase is boring. I prefer to play challenging roles."

Daddario closed his eyes and said lazily.

Link smiled softly. All the actors who have just debuted have the dream of winning an Oscar and winning an Oscar. They think that winning an Oscar is easy.

When they come to Hollywood and see that there are many actors around them who are more beautiful, better, and have better acting skills than themselves, but they are still ordinary actors, then many people will recognize the reality and constantly correct their set goals.

From an Oscar winner to a movie star, in the end it would be nice to just take on a role that has lines and a face on the screen.

Later, I discovered that it is too difficult to get ahead as an actor. Some people give up and others persist. Those who give up do not necessarily mean failure, and those who persist do not necessarily mean success.

Only those who stick to their goals and finally get on the Oscar podium can truly achieve their goals.

Among actors of Daddario's generation, only a few such as Emma Stone and Jennifer Lawrence have achieved this, and the others have become stepping stones.

Daddario has only filmed a few movies so far, and is not as good as a second-tier actor in the industry.

The road was going relatively smoothly in the past, so she would think about taking on some challenging roles, strive to win the Golden Globe Oscar, and be recognized by the mainstream film industry.

According to the original trajectory, after her career suffered a setback, she would reluctantly choose the path of a vase, and she made many movies with her face and body as the selling point. She also exposed her sexy and hot figure in the TV series "True Detective". Like she is now.

But now Link shows up.

He would not allow her to continue to take that kind of scenes, and it was best not to even have intimate scenes.

For an actor like her, even if she takes off her clothes, gets fatter, or becomes ugly, it will be difficult for her to win Oscar favor. So don’t sacrifice yourself and just treat acting as a hobby. If there are good roles, you can act them. If there are no good roles, you can do it. Rest, beauty and fitness, and maintaining beauty are the most important.

"Yani, what do you think?"

Link asked, stroking her long, fluffy curls.

"Can't you do an intimate scene?"

Daddario batted his long eyelashes.

"Yes, I love you so much. I hope you belong to me only. I will feel uncomfortable when I see you filming intimate scenes with male actors."

Link hugged the girl tightly, feeling the soft squeeze from her chest and the fragrance from her hair.

His muscles became harder and stronger.

"My dear, you are so domineering."

Daddario hugged his waist and said softly.

"Do you really want to win an Oscar? I think being a producer is not a bad idea. You have been in the film industry for more than two years and you know a lot about things in the industry. Do you want to consider becoming a producer?

First shoot a low-budget art film or a thriller. Think about it, when you turn a piece of text into a movie, and it is accepted by many audiences, recognized by major film awards, and has both box office and word-of-mouth success, is that sense of accomplishment greater than Is it more fulfilling to be an actor?

When you are a producer, if you meet a suitable role, you can also participate in it. As a filmmaker who can act and produce, even if you are very beautiful, others will not call you a vase. "

Link whispered in the girl's ear.

He thought that Daddario also worked as a producer later on, so it would be a good idea to give it a try now. Even if he didn't know how to do it, he could learn from the veteran producers in the company. Over time, practice would make him perfect.

"I listen to you. I won't do intimate scenes, and I won't let others kiss me. My whole body belongs to you alone, okay?"

Daddario wrapped his legs around him and said affectionately.

"Okay, no regrets."

Link looked into the girl's big blue eyes, nose to nose and said.

"No, I can tattoo your name here, tattoo I love you, everything about me belongs to you."

The girl blinked her big eyes and pointed at her ribs.

"No need, your body is perfect, don't let the tattoo ruin her, tattoo it in your heart, let me know that you will always love me."

"I will. Since I met you, I feel that every day is great, and time has slowed down. I am not as impatient as before, because there is a still you in my heart, Link. I like you so much. I imagine I don’t know what I would do without you, so please don’t leave me.”

"of course not."

The two huddled in the blanket and talked about sugary love words for dozens of minutes.

Until the bed was illuminated by the setting sun, and the temperature gradually increased under the blanket.

Nuclear war breaks out again.

The world under the blanket is turned upside down and magnificent.

——

Boom, boom, boom! Boom, boom, boom!

The war was still going on. There was a clear knock on the door. Link and Daddario were too involved and ignored it. The knock on the door rang three times and then stopped. A cell phone rang in the living room. It was Link. 's song "Stay With Me".

I don't want you to leave

I don't want you to go

Will you hold my hand

I hope you can hold my hand

Oh, won't you stay with me

Oh, you gotta stay with me

'Cause you're all I need

"Could it be your parents?"

Listening to the ringtone of his cell phone, Link stopped and looked at the rosy-faced girl.

"It's impossible. They work in New York and won't suddenly come to Los Angeles. It could be my agent Susan. She said she would come over in the afternoon to deliver a new script."

As he was talking, someone outside called out, ‘Yani, are you there?’ Daddario said it was Ms. Susan Waters’ voice.

Susan, a former colleague of her mother's, is now an agent at William Morris, and Daddario is one of her many artists.

Link let go of the girl's waist, Daddario slowly stood up, wrapped a blanket around his chest, and opened the bedroom door.

Link lay on the bed and waited for two minutes when he heard chatter coming from the living room.

Susan asked Daddario who he was dating, and Daddario said no one.

Susan said that she didn’t need to use her eyes to see or smell with her nose. She knew there must be something just by listening to the sound. She also said that she didn’t want to interfere with her personal affairs, but her mother had warned her that she was too naive and would easily suffer in Hollywood, so she I had to ask a few more questions.

Link smiled as he listened. After ten seconds, Daddario came in holding his clothes and said that Susan was here to deliver the script.

"Guess what the script is?"

Daddario winked and smiled.

“Is it a Lionsgate movie?”

"Yes, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre is another horror film. I originally wanted to act in an art film, but Susan said that my acting skills are relatively immature and need to be sharpened. She wanted me to act in a thriller and suspense film first, so she often helped I take these kinds of movies.”

Daddario said.

"It makes sense."

Link walked into the bathroom to take a shower. Daddario also took off the blanket and walked in. He looked at the girl and said, "Being an actor is very hard. Your parents are both professional elites. They have never advised you to do anything else." Working?"

"Of course, when I graduated from high school, they helped me make some career plans. They wanted me to be a lawyer and asked me to practice debating. I said I wanted to be an actor, and they didn't object. They thought I would quit in spite of the difficulties, but I persisted. In three years, now not only I want to be an actor in my family, but my sister and brother also want to be actors. Fortunately, my brother is a lawyer, otherwise our whole family would have to become actors. "

Daddario smiled and applied some shampoo on him.

After washing off the secretions from his body, Link put on his T-shirt and trousers and came to the living room first, ready to chat with Daddario's agent, Ms. Susan Waters.

——

Ms. Susan is in her forties, has an average appearance, is slightly fat, has long bleached red hair, and wears a casual suit and jeans. She is very fashionable and capable.

"Mr. Link Baker? I'm Susan Waters, nice to see you here."

Ms. Susan looked at him and greeted him with a smile.

"Hello, Ms. Waters!"

Link shook hands with the other party.

Although the other party is just an agent, the most important profession in the entertainment industry is the agent.

They are considered to be the lubricant for the smooth operation of the giant machine of Hollywood, and the "inside" of the entertainment industry.

The corresponding actors are the "face".

Sometimes the role played by agents in the entertainment industry is more important than that of actors.

This profession is also similar to the professional promoter of a boxing promotion company. The job of a boxer is to train every day and strive to improve his boxing strength.

And the work of a boxing promoter is more. He needs to constantly promote the boxer and help the boxer find a suitable opponent. After finding the opponent, he needs to negotiate the appearance fee, the time of the game, the venue, the pre-match publicity, etc. It often takes months or even more time to prepare for a boxing match.

When they arrange everything, the boxer goes to the game, whether he wins or loses, it only takes a few minutes. In comparison, promoters are more active in this industry.

The same is true for actor agents. After signing an actor, the agent needs to package the actor, promote public relations, help them choose scripts, find suitable roles, have a certain degree of education, and know what kind of script is more suitable for the actor.

Sometimes you even need to know some performances, crisis public relations, award public relations, etc. These are the abilities of a professional agent.

Compared with actors, they can often crush many actors who have not even finished high school in terms of knowledge, knowledge, IQ, and connections. This is also the reason why many agents can keep artists firmly in their hands.

In the Hollywood agent circle, there are also different levels.

CAA Creative Elite Company, WMA William Morris Endeavor Agency, ICM International Creative Management Partners, and UTA United Elite Economic Company are also considered the "Big Four" in the performing arts agency industry.

Among the four major agencies, WMA, where Susan Waters is located, was founded in 1898. The other three agencies have less years of establishment than it, and it is also considered the mother of Hollywood agencies.

Before the 1970s, WMA was the most powerful agency in Hollywood.

In January, Ovitz and five other agents resigned from WMA and founded a new agency, CAA, ending WMA's monopoly and becoming the most powerful agency in Hollywood.

However, by January, Ovitz and others left CAA, and with the newly established ICM and UTA, CAA's strength had greatly decreased. WMA learned from its mistakes and bravely caught up. In recent years, it has been able to compete with CAA in terms of strength.

There is a famous "mailroom" in WMA agency, which is a place that all agents must go through. Only newcomers who do well in the mailroom can be further transferred to formal agents.

The work of WMA's mailroom is very complicated and can train people very well. It mainly runs errands for stars and veteran agents and takes on many chores.

For example, delivering a check to a star who is having a party at the Beverly Hills Hotel, telling him that a certain script has been negotiated, or delivering the script to an artist who is picking up girls on a cruise ship, and going to Chinatown to bring a pork knuckle rice to the veteran agent, helping the actors to check the script, carry bags, clean suits, etc., 24 hours a day without rest.

It is said that those who can stick to the mailroom at first will become very powerful people.

For example, Michael Ovitz, the founder of CAA, Michael Eisner, the former chairman of Disney, Barry Diller, the former president of Paramount, Jeffrey Katzenberg, the president of DreamWorks, and other Hollywood bigwigs have all been trained in the mailroom of WMA.

Because the people trained in the mailroom are too powerful, and all of them are traitors, by the 1980s, WMA took the initiative to shorten the time for newcomers to train in the mailroom from two years to three months.

Link didn't know how long Ms. Susan Waters had been training in the mailroom, but judging from her behavior, she was also a very capable person.

"Mr. Baker, what a coincidence, I just met Catherine not long ago, and I see you here again."

Ms. Susan laughed heartily.

"Do you know Catherine?"

"Yes, more than ten years ago, she came to Hollywood to make a living. At that time, I had just entered the industry, and we worked together for a while."

Ms. Susan spread her hands and said.

"It's really a coincidence."

Link shrugged.

"Oh, I forgot to congratulate Mr. Baker on his successful entry into Lionsgate and becoming the youngest head of a Hollywood film company. Mr. Baker has made brilliant achievements in the boxing and music industries, and he will surely make amazing achievements in Hollywood in the future."

Ms. Susan praised with a smile.

"Thank you! I hope so."

Link smiled and looked at the script "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" on the table, "Is this the next movie you prepared for Annie?"

"Yes, it's a coincidence, it's a film project of Mr. Baker's company."

Ms. Susan said.

Link nodded, looked at the script and said, "It should be no problem for Annie to audition. If there are any suitable roles in Lionsgate in the future, as long as Annie likes it, she can come and try it. In addition, Ms. Waters, Annie is my girlfriend. Please take care of her in the future at work. If you have any difficulties, you can come to me."

"Okay, Mr. Baker, I understand what you mean. Yani's mother, Yani and I are all friends, so it's my duty to take care of her."

Ms. Susan smiled slightly, and looked at him with some surprise.

She had read relevant news about Link and Daddario in the newspaper, and also heard some from Daddario's mother.

She originally thought that Link was a playboy, greedy for women, and was just playing with Daddario.

But listening to his advice, it seemed that he was very serious about Daddario, like a real girlfriend, which surprised her.

This also made her start to rethink Daddario's career.

With a big man like Link, Daddario should not be just like now, she should have more and better opportunities, and maybe have the opportunity to become a top Hollywood actress.