In a red brick-style apartment on 79th Street in the Upper East Side, next to Third Avenue.
The size of the party was not large, and it was basically all close friends of the Raybould family. There were more than 20 men, women, and children in total.
After some pleasantries and introductions, James Raybould sat down in the living room next to the living room and talked about something that Simon was very concerned about recently: "I have collected a piece of information about New World Entertainment, Simon, if If you need it, you can take it back when you leave. Before the stock market crash, the company's operating conditions were still okay. Although the film department is not outstanding, the TV and comics departments are both profitable. NBC ranked third in ratings this fall. "Ultimate Police Network" is produced by New World Entertainment."
New World Entertainment was reorganized from last year's New World Pictures.
James Raybould mentioned this company mainly because New World Entertainment is now the parent company of Marvel. The company bought Marvel Entertainment from a company that went into bankruptcy last November.
Simon withdrew his attention from a middle-aged man who worked at the ABC TV network among the guests and asked, "What now?"
James Raybould said: "After the stock market crash, New World Entertainment's current stock price has plummeted 51% from its highest point, leaving less than 190 million US dollars. However, the company's liabilities exceed 220 million US dollars. dollars, and the main creditor is General Electric.”
When Simon heard this, he understood what the next situation of New World Entertainment would be without any further explanation from Raybould.
Film and television production companies are very dependent on external funds. New World Entertainment's operating conditions before the stock market crash may have been pretty good. But now, with the share price plummeting to the point of insolvency, financial institutions will certainly no longer provide any funding to the company.
Lack of funds makes it difficult to start projects, and profits are naturally out of the question. What follows is a vicious cycle leading to bankruptcy.
However, Simon was a little curious: "How could New World Entertainment be connected with General Electric?"
James Raybould explained: "General Electric acquired the NBC television network last year, and because of several Federal Communications Commission (FCC) laws in the mid-1970s that restricted television networks from producing television programs themselves, GE supported New World Entertainment as a Own TV programming provider.”
Simon did not expect that New World Entertainment would have such a big backer as General Electric. He was originally only interested in Marvel, which was owned by New World Entertainment. However, as he combed through the information mentioned by James Raybould in his mind, he quickly came up with another idea.
New World Entertainment's film business is tepid, but its television and comics divisions are both profitable, so the company is almost a perfect complement to Daenerys Pictures. If he can buy the entire New World Entertainment, in addition to the Marvel he wants, Simon can also get involved in the field of television production.
However, the risks of doing so are also obvious.
New World Entertainment's current market value is US$190 million. If it is fully acquired, it will definitely need to pay a certain premium. In addition, the debt of more than 220 million US dollars will definitely need to be borne by itself in the future.
Moreover, it is easy to buy the company, you only need to pay for it, but when it comes to operations, Simon himself has no experience, and he is not sure whether Amy is qualified.
Thinking of this, Simon glanced towards the living room again. Just as he was about to retract his gaze and continue chatting with James Raybould, he found that the middle-aged man named Robert Egger whom he had been paying attention to brought two eleven The two-year-old girl came over.
Coming to the two of them, Robert Egger took the initiative to introduce: "Simon, these are my daughters, Kate and Amanda, they are your fans."
As soon as Robert Egger finished speaking, Amanda, who was slightly shorter, came over in a familiar manner and said: "Simon, you are really good at playing guitar. Can you teach us? Well, just "Flight of the Bumblebee" will do. .”
Simon smiled and said: "There is no secret to this piece of music, you just need to practice more."
Amanda shook her head: "No, Kate and I have been learning for more than half a year, and we still can't play as well as you."
Simon said patiently: "That's it. It's a pity that we don't have a guitar now. How about you play it and I'll see what the problem is."
The two little girls suddenly looked disappointed.
Because it was a house party, the conversation was interrupted, but James Raybould didn't mind. Hearing this, he said: "Jenny has a handful, you can ask her to bring it over. I happened to watch the video on "Good Morning America" that day. Now, honestly, I’m looking forward to hearing Simon play guitar again.”
When the two little girls heard this, they turned around and ran to find Jennifer.
Simon invited Robert Iger to sit down and looked at the middle-aged man who once again brought Disney to its peak after succeeding Michael Eisner in the original time and space. He said: "Speaking of which, Bob, I have always been curious, how on earth do you guys Did you find the videotape?"
Robert Egger looked at the young man opposite the sofa. He was stunned for a moment and said, "Don't you know?"
Simon was a little confused: "What do I know?"
Robert Egger looked at James Raybould again: "Jim, you don't know either?"
James Raybould was even more confused: "Does this matter have anything to do with me?"
Robert Egger suddenly smiled and said, "In that case, I'd better not talk too much."
Simon and James looked at each other, and quickly realized Robert Egger's hint, and said in unison: "Jenny?!"
Robert Iger shrugged and smiled: "I didn't say anything."
Jennifer Raybould quickly came downstairs with the two little girls, and Amanda was holding an acoustic guitar in her hand.
Everyone who attended the party today had basically heard about Simon playing "Flight of the Bumblebee". Seeing that he was going to give live instructions to the two little girls, they all came over with great interest, standing or sitting around them. Around the room.
Simon didn't show any airs at all. He first asked the two little girls to play once and then gave some instructions. With everyone's encouragement, he even played two pieces of music himself.
As soon as she took the guitar downstairs and felt the teasing looks in the eyes of her father, Simon and Bob, Jennifer realized that she still couldn't hide the little secret that she originally wanted to keep as her own, and she felt a little uncomfortable. She shyly hid out and saw everyone gathered in the living room. She stood at the door and looked across the crowd at him talking and laughing with everyone.
After a moment, a burgundy figure appeared beside him unknowingly. He realized it was Janet, so he nodded slightly.
Janet was holding a glass of red wine and did not come forward. She watched quietly for a while, then turned to her and noticed that Jennifer still wore a ponytail tonight. She leaned over and whispered: "He likes it very much."
Jennifer felt the direction of Janet's gaze and felt a little guilty. When she heard the words, her fair face suddenly turned red and her eyes dodge, trying to pretend that she didn't hear anything.
Janet seemed unaware of her embarrassment and continued: "However, you have to be careful, the little bastard is very hateful."
Jennifer was a little confused and waited for Janet to take the initiative to continue speaking, but there was no follow-up.
After a moment, he couldn't help but turn his head and glance at her, and his voice was so low that he almost couldn't hear it: "Wha, what?"
Janet's mischievous little hand reached over, grabbed her ponytail and gently smoothed it, then quickly let go. With a smile on her lips, she leaned close to her ear and said, "One night, he insisted on letting me Tie your hair up and, you know, ride like a horse, it's just so abominable."
Like, riding a horse.
this.
Um.
I should pretend not to understand.
However, the strong image was floating in her mind, and her face was about to burn. In the end, he couldn't hold it back, so he took a step back while holding on to the door frame, made an excuse like a mosquito, turned around and slipped upstairs.