Exploitation Hollywood 1980
Chapter 695: Who taught Ronald?
"Kirk..."
"Ronald..."
Crédit Lyonnais moved very quickly. They wanted to settle the matter at MGM before the results of the new election came out. So Kirk Kerkorian, who sold MGM back then, was approached by them again and asked him to return.
purchase.
Anyway, Kerkorian's hands and feet were not clean during his time at MGM. In the 1980s, he wanted to sell MGM to Ted Turner, the owner of Turner Broadcasting Company. Among them, MGM had an unusually rich filmography.
There are a lot of unclear things about the library.
When Credit Lyonnais later financed the acquisition of MGM by Italian swindler Giancarlo Parretti, it thought the film library was still among MGM's assets. Later, when Credit Lyonnais had to take over MGM, it discovered that
Several important parts of the film library were sold by Kerkorian several times.
For example, he sold the MGM film library before 1986, plus the Warner Bros. film library before 1950 that MGM acquired in the 1950s, and the bankrupt RKO Pictures film library.
Turner, later sold once more to Giancarlo Parretti…
What Ted Turner means is that these important film libraries were owned by Turner Media in the 1986 acquisition worth $1.5 billion in cash and stock.
However, Kerkorian said that it was because Turner failed to find a financier for the final payment of US$470 million and sold United Arts Pictures back to Kerkorian, which included most of the film library.
This time Credit Lyonnais has put MGM on the shelves again. Who owns the property rights of these film libraries has become an important factor affecting how much money MGM can sell.
"I heard that you are also interested in putting MGM on the shelves? Let me tell you the truth, this is a deep pit. If you want to play, it is best to cooperate with someone who knows the business, otherwise it will
You have also seen the losses inside. Credit Lyonnais also wrote off one billion US dollars of bad debts last year."
Kerkorian's expression was "I'm doing this for your own good". As soon as he exchanged greetings with Ronald, he immediately got into the mood, as if he was really thinking about Ronald and advising him to be cautious. But he also concealed the meaning of "you" in his words.
If you don’t know the inside story, you need to find someone who knows the inside story to cooperate. I am the person who knows the inside story best.
"No, I'm not interested in MGM. What they are really interested in is you, Kirk. If those bad debts are revealed by the Chinese people, I'm afraid you will also face criminal charges of falsifying accounts..."
Ronald immediately denied that he wanted to buy MGM, and he was fooled. A super salesman like Kerkorian relies on his accurate grasp of the opponent's mentality in one-on-one communication. If he had touched Ronald
The bottom line of morality is that soon, a scholar like Ronald will definitely not be able to compete with Kerkorian, who started from scratch in Las Vegas.
The best way to deal with salesmen who can knock on housewives' doors and sell them a few more Fuller shoe brushes to housewives who already have shoe brushes is to hear them say that they are helping themselves when they answer the door.
Better yet, when your shoes are clean, slam the door on their noses.
"No, Ronald, even if there are accounting problems, they are the responsibility of the accountants..." How could Kerkorian believe that such a thing would come to him.
"Do you think that Nevada passed a law two years ago to keep the list of shareholders and operating conditions of limited companies registered in Nevada confidential, giving you the confidence to evade federal investigation?"
Ronald revealed the secret in one sentence. Nevada, a state that relies on the gambling industry to collect taxes, is very clear about the "flaws" in this industry. For this reason, they have also revised the law to exclude federal agencies (FBI or
IRS, etc.) to check the status of companies registered in this state.
Kerkorian owned a series of shell companies, holding shares in each other. He sold MGM several times and bought it back at low prices. The various transactions in between were blocked by professional accountants and lawyers, making it difficult to
Find out who owns the property rights of those film libraries.
As for Crédit Lyonnais, it is basically an outsider. How can foreigners understand America’s business rules if they don’t suffer serious losses when doing business in America?
"Humph..." Kerkorian was noncommittal, but he also had doubts about his ability to persuade Ronald. This guy hadn't seen him for several years, and he was no longer the easy-to-deceive young director he used to be. Now Ronald has countless professional talents.
The staff is making suggestions for him. As long as you have some business acumen, it is not difficult to distinguish what is what.
"Let me tell you, you may not be able to get through this time."
Ronald smiled when he saw Kerkorian who didn't believe that his accounting scandal would be exposed. He started to say some key things.
The country's left-wing government has always been disapproving of America. The two sides have considerable differences within NATO, and there are also many economic frictions. But if a right-wing politician is elected, it will be another matter.
The shocking fraud suffered by Credit Lyonnais in America, this title alone is enough to become an issue when the new president and prime minister of the country meet with the general of America.
On the other hand, after Credit Lyonnais publicly stated that it would sell MGM, there were really many people interested.
Including Rupert Rupert, the boss of the Fox Television Network, Michael Eisner, chairman of the Walt Disney Company, and Jack Welch of General Electric. In addition, the British-Dutch media group PolyGram and Germany's Bertelsmann also
Interested in this asset.
Under such a situation, there is no way to hide the little tricks Kerkorian had done before.
In the past, he deceived young people like Ronald, or media bosses like Ted Turner who had problems with their own business, or liars like Giancarlo Parretti, but after he was exposed, he took advantage of these people.
, it is still certain.
But in the final analysis, Kerkorian is still a small-time gangster in Las Vegas. He met big gangsters like Rupert, Eisner, and Welch, who were both political and businessmen, and also had deep connections on Wall Street.
, his tricks quickly disappeared like rain in the Nevada desert.
And multinational groups like PolyGram and Bertelsmann are also backed by their own governments. If they want to make them suffer hundreds of millions of dollars in hidden losses, people like Kerkorian are not qualified.
And, more importantly, the fate of these players is not comparable to that of laymen like Giancarlo Parretti, who can’t even cheat, nor is it like that of Ted Turner, who has serious mental problems.
In the early stage, all the illegal operations of MGM during Kerkorian's time were clarified.
When the time comes, exposing this secret will not affect their acquisition of MGM, and it can also reduce some acquisition costs. Credit Lyonnais can confidently sue Kerkorian and recover the loss in the acquisition price from here.
By that time, I am afraid that no matter which competitor reaches an acquisition agreement, they will join forces to deal with Kerkorian's fat sheep.
"You're not serious..."
The trick was exposed, and Kerkorian stopped selling at all. He knew that if Ronald was willing to see him this time, he would make an offer, but he already had a premonition that this offer would severely rob his wallet.
once.
"My management team thinks so, and I also think their analysis is correct. I think your only way out is to bid to buy MGM back..."
Ronald's solution is quite tricky. Let Kerkorian offer the highest price to beat all the competitors, so that the bad debts will naturally go to his own pot. As for the extra money you have to pay
Well, just think of it as retribution for being a hooligan in the past.
"Okay, what do you want? How about selling the film library that Ted Turner bought back for US$470 million at a cheaper price of US$550 million?"
Kerkorian actually believed Ronald's analysis. He himself had similar worries, but he didn't quite believe it yet. Then he thought about it and sold Ronald this piece of fat that everyone wanted to eat.
It's also a good idea. You can still make a small profit, and then throw the conflict out and let Ronald and Turner go to court to fight for the copyright of those classic business cards.
"Hey, Kirk, didn't you listen to me?" Ronald smiled coldly, and if he continued to pretend to be crazy like this, he was about to get away...
"Give me a hint?"
"I said, I'm not interested in MGM, but I am interested in United Artists. Their film library has not been sold to a mess by you..." Ronald pointed at the other person's nose and stated his asking price.
.
"United Arts can sell it to you, but I still have RKO's film library and Warner's copyrights before 1950..."
"Kirk, I don't want rubbish. You can clean up the stuff you pulled out yourself..." Ronald interrupted the other party without any explanation and tried to sell him again, saying that he only wanted the film library to be much smaller but not messed up by Kerkorian.
Sold by United Artists.
"Okay, you have grown into a qualified businessman, that's it..."
"Ah, also, in the contract, I want to specify that the copyright of two works belongs to me, one is the 007 series... the other is Popeye from Paramount Animation Department..."
"Very good..." Kerkorian gritted his teeth. He had heard about Ronald's promotion of the filming of the new 007 film. It seems that he is very interested in this ancient spy series. However, Sony Columbia once worked in James Bond.
When Carlo Parretti was in charge of MGM, he obtained some licenses to collaborate with Ian Fleming's collaborators. This is also a flawed film copyright. Let Ronald deal with it by himself.
"Let's shake hands..." Ronald smiled at this old cunning man who had used the name of a Sino-US joint venture publishing company to deceive him, and stretched out his hand to shake his hand.
“In terms of price…”
"When you finish handling MGM's affairs, let's discuss it based on the asset ratio between the two. Let your subordinates take care of these matters."
Ronald will not talk about the price. Kerkorian's task is quite heavy. He will wait until he is almost certain to handle the MGM matter before he leaves, so that all aspects will be explained. He is not with Eska,
Or Welch, a big boss like this is robbing business, but after the business has been determined to be handled by Kerkorian, he buys the assets he sells and provides him with financing.
In fact, Ronald's DDH has attracted some attention and concerns in the industry, fearing that it will become another major Hollywood studio with its own distribution channels. Fortunately, Ronald's DDH strategy tends to be conservative and only takes root.
The wireless television networks in some states have basically no involvement in the national media and the now popular cable news networks.
Coupled with the establishment of DreamWorks, the huge amount of financing obtained, and the establishment of its own distribution channels, it helped Ronald block the attention of many people.
But obviously, the big players in these industries are beginning to turn to the synthesis of large media groups. Movie studios, national television stations, and the newspaper industry, anyone who wants to work in this direction will be regarded as a current or potential
competitors and suffered some suppression.
The film library is a very important part of the competition of this large media group. Not only is it a high-quality asset, bringing stable cash flow to the company, but it can also bring enough classic content to the TV station.
…
"Ronald, it seems like you don't want to do distribution?" Spielberg raised a drink in one hand and held Ronald's son Roger in the other, looking at Ronald and asked.
Two days later, Ronald hosted a banquet at his home for a number of well-known Hollywood directors, including Spielberg, Coppola, Scorsese, Cameron, and Cameron Crowe...etc.
This banquet was held in the name of thanking them for nominating Roger Corman for the Oscar Honorary Award. Although there are so many well-known directors and producers saying good things for Roger Corman, Hollywood still
This king of B-movies and drive-in theaters, who has not been in the mainstream film circles for a long time, still does not pay enough attention to him and refused to award him an honorary award named after the Academy's executive committee this year.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Fortunately, with the first nomination, there is a breakthrough. As long as this action is repeated every year in the future, one day the Oscars will recognize Roger Cole
Mann's contribution.
However, since they owed a favor, they still had to express their gratitude. Ronald invited them to his home for a meal. As important players in Hollywood, the directors were also very considerate and brought some gifts to the door.
"Yeah, distribution is a very tiring job, and I don't want to do it. It's no longer the 1950s. At that time, if you mastered distribution, you mastered the distribution channels of the movie. Now, not many people go to see at least two movies a year.
.”
Ronald knew that Spielberg's DreamWorks was looking for ways to build domestic and international distribution channels. It was not the kind of cooperation with others, but distribution channels in its own hands.
To maintain such a distribution channel now, in addition to the possibility of being beaten by existing competitors, it also costs a lot of money. To maintain a distribution line profitably, you have to produce enough movies to dilute the distribution costs.
.
After much thought, Ronald gave up the idea. Once there was a movie, he could temporarily cooperate with many distributors. The reason behind making less money was that he did not have to pay high fixed costs such as manpower and local locations.
.
It seems that these big guys in Hollywood were still living a few decades ago and were bent on having their own independent distribution lines. Not only DreamWorks, but also medium-sized studios, even Miramax, which has been acquired by Disney, haha
Weinstein also wants to maintain an independent distribution line of his own.
I really don’t know if their enthusiasm for theater chains with their own names is inherited from old Hollywood, or is it a misunderstanding of today’s film business model?
"When you speak now, you sound more like a director than a businessman..." Spielberg smiled. Fortunately, Katzenberg is in charge of this kind of thing. If he were to do it, he would be bored to death.
.
"Yeah, this stuff is very painful and boring. The more I do it, the more I feel my artistic ability is declining."
"If you ask me, we directors just want to make movies." Next to him, Brian De Palma, who used to pick up girls with Spielberg, answered. In fact, he didn't like Ronald, and he was secretly laughing in his heart.
Ronald's artistic ability was not high to begin with.
However, this sentence still spoke to his heart. The box office failure of the previous movie made him fall into a trough again. His current mentality is that it is best for him to be a mercenary instead of the person in charge of the box office.
"Hahaha, just think about making movies for the sake of the director, cheers." Ronald laughed and looked at Jim Cameron with his eyes. The two looked at each other and smiled. They are all Roger Corman movies.
The latest graduates from the university do not agree with this statement.
"By the way, Ronald, tell me, where did you learn your current directing ability? I heard that you were at New York University and only attended Marty's class for one semester?" Coppola heard Art
The words "ability" suddenly reminded me of something.
Unlike these pioneers of New Hollywood, they all worked as a small group to criticize each other's films and put forward selfless opinions, so their artistic abilities improved very quickly.
But when Ronald was growing up, it seemed that apart from Jim Cameron, there was no small circle of director friends who could help each other.
"Hahaha, maybe Marty is a good teacher." De Palma commented again. His friendship with Scorsese can be traced back to childhood.
"Hahahaha..." Everyone laughed, and then began to discuss, who taught Ronald the most important directing skills?
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