Any branch series of the DC movie universe, even if it can only reach half the box office level of "Batman Begins" in the future, is enough to support the performance of a major studio. Therefore, senior executives of Daenerys Entertainment and Time Warner Group will personally come forward to finalize the role candidates for the project.
Similarly, because these roles mean opportunities for many actors to rise to the top, the entire Hollywood, both those actors who are looking forward to it, and various agencies, are paying close attention to any news coming out of Daenerys Studios. Related Information.
When the news came out that the male and female protagonists of "The Flash" were finalized, not to mention the joy of those involved, countless eyes inside and outside Hollywood were instantly focused on Jason Gedrick and Robin White, both of whom were only in their twenties. The young man has become the focus of Hollywood's attention in just a few hours.
Daenerys Entertainment and Time Warner Group allow actors who have signed long-term contracts with the DC Cinematic Universe to star in other film projects. Although there are very strict restrictions, many producers have not officially contacted the parties to sign the contract before the DC Cinematic Universe team. The studios have already sent a series of invitations to the two actors' agencies, trying to secure their vacant schedules in advance of their participation in DC movie universe projects.
In the morning, the male and female protagonists of "The Flash" were determined, and in the afternoon, the core supporting roles of the project were also finalized.
Although not comparable to the heroes and heroines, these people also received a lot of attention.
Speaking of which, the casting process of the DC Cinematic Universe is very different from Hollywood tradition.
Traditional Hollywood film projects involve constant contact and negotiation with filmmakers, and the entire team is slowly pieced together. In the DC movie universe project, the initiative is completely on the side of the producer, because this series will not deliberately pursue any first-line stars. Super heroes such as Batman, Superman, and The Flash are household names in their own right. .
Therefore, once the casting starts, if an actor wants to get a certain role, as long as he passes the initial selection, he must first sign an agreement of intent. The terms include acceptance of the long-term contract of the DC Movie Universe, salary rules, image authorization, etc. If you don't Accept it, then there is no need to waste both parties' time.
This kind of casting process also means that once an actor is chosen, both parties can quickly sign a formal contract without having to haggle over the details. If an actor changes his mind at the last minute and wants to raise the price after being selected, not only will he be abandoned immediately, but he will also face huge compensation claims.
After confirming the main cast of "The Flash", someone will take over the subsequent signing and arranging the actors for relevant physical and performance training.
Simon sent Terry Semel and others away, and as soon as he returned to his office in the administrative area, the female assistant came in and told him that James Raybould had called before and said that there was something very important.
Without turning to the leather chair behind the desk, Simon sat directly on the edge of the table opposite, picked up the microphone and motioned to the female assistant to dial.
Jennifer dialed a series of numbers skillfully. As soon as she finished dialing, a hand came over from the side. After struggling a few times with anger and beating, she saw that Simon started talking to her father across from her, so she had to give up her struggle, but the hand let go of her again.
Smiling as he watched the female assistant pretend to help him tidy up his desk with red ears, Simon chatted with her for a few words, but his expression gradually softened.
The thing is about the 20% stake in ESPN that Robert Iger brought up at the party last Saturday.
Robert Egger returned to New York and quickly compiled a rough summary of information for Simon.
ESPN was founded 11 years ago and now has more than 57 million subscribers, annual revenue of $500 million, and net profit last year of $51 million.
Simon was a little curious at first as to why Metropolis/ABC Group didn’t buy back the 20% stake itself. Because of the veto power of the major shareholders, Metropolis/ABC Group had a greater advantage than any other buyer in wanting to buy out the 20% stake. . Because of the success of "Who Will Be a Millionaire", Metropolis/ABC Group's financial situation has been relatively good in recent years and it can fully afford the funds.
Materials collected by Robert Egger suggest why.
Neither Tom Murphy, the conservative chairman of Metropolitan/ABC Group, nor Warren Buffett, the major shareholder, are willing to pay a high price for this equity. The valuation of 20% of the shares at US$200 million is equivalent to nearly 20 times. The price-to-earnings ratio seemed too high to the two old men, and they were only willing to give a price of 10 times the price-to-earnings ratio.
In addition, ESPN has recently signed a four-year, US$400 million huge event broadcasting agreement with Major League Baseball. ESPN’s annual revenue is only US$500 million. Because of this agreement, the annual content cost has increased sharply by US$100 million. , and also allowed ESPN to take a very large risk.
If this very risky and huge agreement ultimately fails, ESPN, which has been developing well, is likely to turn to decline.
Since Metropolis/ABC Group itself was unwilling to buy the shares, Simon thought that he would be sure to make the move, so he directly handed the matter over to James.
Unexpectedly, things suddenly changed again.
James told Simon on the phone that the acquisition of this stake was going very smoothly. He had communicated with Tom Murphy, chairman of the Metropolis/ABC Group, and the other party was very happy that Westeros Company could buy this batch of shares, and then Contacted Reynolds Nabisco and the feedback was very positive.
However, just this morning, Tom Murphy suddenly called James again and said that Metropolis/ABC Group would probably not be able to accept Westeros' investment in ESPN. The reason given was that another Metropolis/ABC Group partner Interested in these shares.
After James asked, Murphy revealed that the Hearst family, which has been interested in entering the cable television industry in recent years, wanted to buy the 20% stake in ESPN.
The Hearst family is a super media family as deeply rooted in the United States as the Newhouse family.
Although there are no Hearst family members in the top ten of this year's "Forbes" list of America's 400 richest people, only the Newhouse brothers occupy two of them. But in fact, the wealth of the Hearst family is comparable to that of the Newhouse family. This is only because the first generation founder of the Hearst family, William Hearst, had six children in total. After the wealth was passed down, the family became Excessive dispersion of ownership.
The Hearst family has been prosperous for a hundred years. At that time, William Hearst relied on the Hearst Group's nationwide media network to directly instigate the "Spanish-American War" between the United States and Spain. Although it is still criticized today, This is evident from the influence of the Hearst family on American news and public opinion.
Nowadays, the Hearst family has gradually begun to take over the power of the third generation. However, this media family still deeply affects American news and public opinion with hundreds of newspapers, weekly magazines, magazines and other media platforms throughout major cities in North America. The San Francisco Chronicle, which has great influence on the West Coast, is an industry owned by the Hearst Group.
Although Simon's personal wealth is several times that of the Hearst family, James feels it is better not to provoke such a media family that is so deeply rooted in the United States that it can instigate a war.
James originally wanted to find out more specific details before talking to Simon about this matter. This afternoon, William Hester III, the third generation heir of the Hearst family, contacted him again, but he sent an invitation to Simon, hoping that He will be able to attend a Hearst family party tomorrow night.
As for the purpose, it is obviously obvious.
After talking to James on the phone for more than 20 minutes, the female assistant had just left. Simon put down the phone and continued to lean on the edge of his desk to consider the matter.
During those days in New York at the beginning of the month, Janet told Simon that if possible, it would be best to make good friends with media families such as Newhouse and Hearst in the United States. These media families that control American news and public opinion, if they could Establishing connections will definitely help a lot in the development of the Westeros system.
It's just that it's not that easy for Simon, a newly wealthy upstart, to break into the circles of established aristocratic families. There are no aristocrats in the United States, but the aristocracy of some well-established families in this land is actually more serious than in Europe.
Moreover, Simon has his own pride. If others do not welcome him, he will not put down his dignity and join those circles.
Now, an unexpected opportunity has appeared.
Hearst, Newhouse, or the Graham family that controls the Washington Post Group may still control American news and public opinion, but Simon knows that with the advent of the Internet era, these old media The aristocratic families will gradually decline.
After the new century, many well-known newspapers and magazines that have been passed down for centuries and are currently completely out of reach, such as the Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Time, etc., will be sold to a series of new wealthy people at clearance prices. Just for newspapers and magazines to continue to survive.
Simon carefully reviewed the memories in his mind and soon discovered a message.
After the decline of the U.S. print media industry, the Hearst family's 20% stake in the ESPN television network accounted for more than half of the entire Hearst Group's annual profits.
After completing the acquisition of MCA, as long as the timing is right, Simon's next target is the Metropolitan/ABC Group, which owns the ABC Television Network and ESPN Television Stations.
Now give up 20% of the shares of ESPN TV station to the Hearst family. In a few years, with the rise of ESPN and the decline of print media, the Hearst family, which relies heavily on the 20% share of ESPN, is likely to become the entire A vassal of the Westeros system.
Even if only a small part of the huge media network composed of hundreds of newspapers, weeklies, and magazines remains in the future, it will still be a force of public opinion that cannot be underestimated.
Jennifer knocked on the door again and came in, holding some documents in her hand. She noticed the smile on the corner of Simon's mouth and asked, "What did dad tell you?"
Simon briefly talked about the content of the phone call just now. Of course, he did not disclose what had not happened yet.
After hearing this, the female assistant frowned slightly and said, "In this case, we still don't want this equity. A conflict with the Hearst family will be very troublesome."
Simon nodded and added: "However, the Hearst family can't just use a party to make me withdraw from the competition. They must give me some benefits."
The female assistant thought for a while and said: "The San Francisco Chronicle happens to be owned by the Hearst family. This time, we may be able to exchange a content cooperation agreement between the Igret Portal and the San Francisco Chronicle."
The Igret portal has previously established a cooperative relationship with the Murdoch family's News Corporation. However, Murdoch is only willing to provide news information from Europe and Australia to the Igret portal.
In North America, on the one hand, News Corporation's media strength is not that strong. On the other hand, it may be Murdoch's old fox's instinctive defense. The Igret Portal failed to gain access to News Corporation's "New York Post" and other media platforms. Get content support.
At present, the North American news on the Eaglet Portal mainly comes from the cooperation of a small local newspaper in San Francisco, and the quality of the content is difficult to satisfy. It would be great to be able to get news content from the San Francisco Chronicle, which is headquartered in San Francisco.
"It's a very good idea," Simon nodded, stretched out his hand to pull the female assistant in front of him, and said with a smile: "But now, let's first think about where to spend the night tonight."
The female assistant was held in Simon's arms, and she placed her side face on Simon's thorny chin, and said: "Jenny has been very dissatisfied on the phone recently. She said she would bring back a bottle of red wine mixed with pepper water. .”
Simon smiled and said, "Just don't drink."
The female assistant nodded her head solemnly, but added a little sinisterly: "She said she would give you a drink."
Janet went to Europe last week and successfully bought Chateau Latour for US$120 million. She then attended this year's Autumn Fashion Week in Milan and planned to return to North America tomorrow. The Boeing 767 had already flown to Europe in the morning. Pick people up.
In the evening, he could only take the Falcon business jet owned by Daenerys Entertainment to spend the night in San Francisco with Jennifer. Simon sent the female assistant back to Los Angeles the next morning, and continued to fly to the East Coast on the Falcon.
The time has been arranged.
Simon arrived in New York at about four o'clock in the afternoon East Coast time. After waiting at JFK Airport for less than half an hour, the Boeing 767 that Janet and her party were traveling on also landed on the runway.
This time, not only Janet came back, but Sofia Fesi also came, and she also brought her family members, including her parents and a pair of children.
In a phone call a few days ago, Sophia said that she hoped that her two children could go to school in the United States and that their parents would stay with them.
Simon has not met Sofia's children yet, but he knows that the woman has previously arranged for a pair of children to study in a private school in Geneva, Switzerland.
Switzerland is well known for its excellence in private schools, and there is no big language barrier when studying there. Sophia suddenly sent her children to North America. Simon guessed that there should be other things going on, maybe her ex-husband wanted to I want my child back.
However, Sophia didn't say it clearly, and Simon couldn't ask too detailed questions.
Next to the runway of JFK Airport, Janet walked out of the cabin and saw Simon. She immediately trotted down and fluttered into the man's arms like a bird returning to its nest. Until the sound of high-heeled shoes clicked behind her, the woman finally bit Simon's lips gently. After a while, he was willing to let him go.
Simon also saw Sophia and her party.
Sofia Feisi was wearing a white professional OL suit, still intellectual and beautiful. She was holding a child on both sides. The boy was older, about ten years old, and looked a little shy. On the other hand, there was a little girl of seven or eight years old. But it was a pair of sparkling blue eyes that looked at Simon without fear.
Behind Sofia Fesi was a couple with gray hair. Seeing Simon looking at them, they all nodded in greeting with some restraint.
Because Sophia's parents were present, Simon originally just wanted to shake hands with the female executive as a greeting, but Sophia let go of the two children and generously stepped forward to hug Simon before introducing her family.
There are two children, a boy named Daniel Facey, 10 years old this year, and a girl named Gemma Facey, 7 years old this year.
When introducing her parents, the female executive didn't seem so enthusiastic.
Although it was only their first meeting, Simon noticed that the couple were very accommodating to their daughter. However, although Sofia brought them to the United States to look after their children, the gap between the female executive and her parents was very obvious.