hollywood entertainment mogul

"Hey, Duca, don't hang up the phone in a hurry, I haven't finished speaking yet."

Not long after he hung up the phone, Harvey Weinstein called again.

"Oh, Harvey, keep talking, the signal is pretty good now."

Duca leaned on the office chair and said.

Harvey snorted, "Duka, I know that LV Pictures has developed well in the past two years, and its market value is higher than before, but our Miramax has also developed well in the past two years.

The films we released have also achieved very good results, such as "Love in April", "Love in High Heels", "The Swordsman 2: The East", "Double Dragon Club", "Spirit of Mongolia", "Life in Troubled Times", etc., all of which are at the box office.

More than ten million.

In addition, our film has won multiple film awards and been shortlisted, including the Golden Globe Award and the Oscar. This is something that no one can do in the independent film field, and I think you also understand this."

"Yes, Miramax did a good job."

"Spirit of Mongolia", released by Miramax, was nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Golden Globe Awards in January and the Oscars in March this year.

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"Love in April" won the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards at this year's Golden Globe Awards, and received three Oscar nominations, Best Supporting Actress, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Costume Design.

There are other films that have also won many awards.

From this point of view, Harvey is indeed a little expert in winning awards.

However, these movies are not produced by Miramax Pictures.

Miramax only shot two low-budget movies last year, with average box office results.

Harvey bought all the other films at several major film festivals. He obtained the North American distribution rights of the films, showed them in North America, and profited from box office share. At the same time, he spent money on public relations awards to obtain more profits.

Generally speaking, Miramax Pictures is still a film studio, and its business is to transfer film copyrights. It is more commercial than a production company like LV Pictures that dares to take risks and invest in film production.

It took two years for Miramax to join Disney as its underling, receive $700 million in filming funding, and truly become an independent production company.

Now Harvey wants to exchange shares with him. First, he is interested in the production capabilities of LV Pictures. He wants to get the distribution rights of LV Pictures movies so as to get a share of the pie;

Secondly, it is said that Harvey is ogling Disney and asking for accommodation. With an ally like LV Pictures, the bargaining chip will undoubtedly be greater.

For LV Pictures, whether the shares are exchanged or not has little impact.

By exchanging shares, with the help of Miramax's production, distribution, and public relations and awards capabilities, LV Pictures will develop further, or if Miramax is acquired by Disney in the future, LV Pictures and Disney can further cooperate.

There will be no impact if we don’t exchange shares. DreamWorks is currently under preparation. In two years, there will be publicity and distribution channels and peripheral sales channels. With DreamWorks as an ally, there will be a stable development period of at least seven or eight years.

Both options have pros and cons. Whether or not to switch depends on the attitudes of Harvey and Miramax.

"Duka, let's cooperate. You will be responsible for the production and investment, and I will be responsible for the promotion. If we join forces, we will definitely make a lot of money."

Harvey said with some excitement.

"Sounds good, what is your valuation of LV Pictures?"

Duca asked.

"80 million, this is the latest valuation given by Wall Street consulting firms."

This 80 million is only the film library, brand name, and talents of LV Pictures, and does not include the money earned from investments or projects currently being filmed.

Comparing MGM, which has the lowest market value among the seven major studios, with $2.8 billion including debt, and Columbia Pictures with $4.3 billion including debt, the valuation of $80 million is not low.

“What’s Wall Street’s price for Miramax?”

Duca asked again.

"$180 million."

Harvey continued, "Last time Duca proposed exchanging 5% of Miramax shares for 18% of LV Pictures shares, I was too short-sighted and did not agree. Now I am proposing a new share exchange agreement.

How about I exchange 10% of Miramax shares for 20% of LV Pictures shares?

According to the normal market value of stock exchange, 20% of LV Pictures shares can only be exchanged for 8% of Miramax shares. We are friends, and the remaining 2% is my sincerity, how about it?"

"Well, is 2% also called sincerity? I think 20% for 20% is sincerity."

Duca smiled.

"What? Equivalent exchange?! 20% of Miramax shares are worth 36 million, and 20% of LV is only worth 16 million. My Miramax has been established for 20 years, and LV has only three years. How is this exchange possible?

Established, Duca, you can bargain, but please respect the laws of the market, okay?"

Harvey said a little tiredly.

Duca shook his head, "It is precisely because I respect the laws of the market that I put forward such a condition. Think about it, Harvey, do you remember the first time we met? I was going to invest in Miramax. At that time, Miramax

Sri Lanka’s market capitalization is only 100 million, right?”

"Yes! In the past three years, the market value of Miramax has nearly doubled. Duca, my Miramax still has great potential, so don't you think an equal exchange is too much?"

"How to go too far? Three years ago, LV Pictures was worthless. Two years ago, LV Pictures' market value was 30 million. This year, LV Pictures' market value is 80 million. It doubles in one year. What will it be next year? 160 million or 2

100 million? Compared with Miramax, my LV Pictures is developing much faster, so 20% for 20% is very suitable."

Duka said in a deep voice.

On the other end of the phone, Harvey was silent for a while, "Duka, LV Pictures has developed well in the past two years, but no company can continue to develop so fast forever, just like Miramax's same development in the first few years of its establishment.

soon.

But the movie market is only so big. If LV Pictures continues to develop, it will inevitably encounter obstacles. The movie market is also unpredictable. Your movies have sold well in the past two years, but you can guarantee that your movies will continue to sell well.

A big hit?

This is impossible. We cannot exchange existing value for unrealized value, this is wrong.”

Harvey sighed softly.

"Harvey, it seems that you don't agree with the development potential of LV Pictures, so we won't be able to cooperate."

"Wait a minute, Duca, let me add two more points. How about 12% of Miramax for 20% of LV Pictures shares? This is the greatest sincerity I can give, how about it?"

Harvey asked.

"Harvey, the first-week box office of "Absolute Deal" was 50.25 million. Is there any Miramax movie that can get such figures?

You can't, only I can, so 20% for 20% is a huge concession I made for the sake of an old friend. You can think about it for a few days before giving me an answer."

Duca hung up the phone and shook his head. Last time he proposed to exchange 18% for the other party's 5%, but Harvey disagreed and wanted to exchange 5% for his 35%.

This time Harvey refused again, I hope he won't regret it in the future.

——