"Robert, speaking of it, it's been almost half a year since we first met, right?"
Robert Shea put down his coffee cup, looked at Eric and nodded, "Almost."
"Remember the conversation we had when we first met?"
Robert raised his head and said, "We should have talked a lot at that time, what do you mean?"
Eric didn't care about Robert Shea's pretending to be confused, and reminded: "I told you, we don't have much time left."
Robert Shea looked at the sea view outside the window, fell silent, lowered his head and picked up the coffee cup again.
Eric continued: "I said at the time that the merger trend of media groups and film companies has begun. If we don't seize the opportunity in the last few years, then when this merger trend passes, we will completely lose our development. The opportunity to become stronger can only become a vassal of several major media groups in the future."
Robert Shea remained silent.
Eric sighed softly. There were some things he couldn't tell Robert Shea. In his memory, twenty years later, more than 90% of the media channels in North America were controlled by the six major media giants. If this happened in Twenty years later, Eric basically has no room for resistance and can only compromise.
∟→,
But it is different now. The control of American media is not yet highly monopolized, but in the hands of more than 50 large and small media companies. Therefore, even if all the media resources in the hands of several major film companies are gathered, it is impossible to control more than one-third of the public opinion channels. Although this turmoil seems to be menacing, except for those media that dominate the direction of public opinion. Most just go with the flow. Follow the wind to steer the rudder.
So Eric is not completely powerless to fight back. It's just that he has been waiting, waiting for his enemy to show his last weapon before he can fight back. Although the four lawsuits this time will hit his reputation again, they will not cause fundamental damage to him like the scandal at the beginning. After all, although he is a public figure now, he is not a public figure who relies purely on his fame. Even if it is because of this turmoil that he cannot pick up the guide tube for a short time, he can still lead the production of the film through other means .
Therefore, everything he does now is to keep the fireflies.
Firefly is like his personal city, as long as he has this foundation, he can develop his strength to conquer the city, and once he loses Firefly. Then even if he has a whole body of ability, he can't use it anymore. At most, I can only mention other people's cities to take care of affairs, and I will never be the master.
The two were silent for a while at the same time, and Robert Shea spoke first: "Eric, I heard that you may need to spend a lot of money to calm down this incident?"
"It's okay," Eric nodded, slightly guessing Robert Shea's intentions.
Robert Shea didn't keep Eric waiting, and said: "The 60 million US dollars you paid me last time, plus the dividends from the new line at the end of the year, although I spent part of it on investment, I can still come up with almost $60 million."
This time it was Eric's turn to be silent, 60 million, no more, no less.
"Eric, 15% is too little, which makes me feel insecure. I think it should be at least 25%."
Eric lowered his head and looked at the three palm lines of his palm without saying a word.
Which one is the career line
It must be the longest one.
After thinking for a while, Eric finally raised his head and said to Robert Shea, "I promise you."
The two discussed the specific details, and Robert Shea left satisfied.
When Robert Shea left, Eric sighed in disappointment. He originally wanted to merge Pixar Studios and Huahua Pictures, which had the right to adapt many of the best-selling movies in his previous life, into Firefly's banner. However, now it seems that , it is better not to do so.
Because John Barrymore was injured, the trial of this case could only be postponed to a week later, and for the other three lawsuits, Eric did not have to appear in court in person, and was completely handed over to his attorney team.
However, although he tried his best to avoid appearing in the public eye at this time, there was one thing that he had to appear on the stage.
On January 20, the 47th American Television Movie Golden Globe Awards was held at the Hollywood Hilton Hotel in Los Angeles.
And Firefly has won a total of 11 nominations for "Pretty Woman", "Dark War", "Steel Magnolias" and "Small Island", as well as "Friends" as a TV series, including Eric himself. For the two best screenplay awards for "Dark War" and "Small Island Cry", the Golden Globe Awards did not have the best director, otherwise Eric would have at least one more nomination.
If it weren't for this turmoil, Eric, who was nominated for two nominations at the same ceremony as not yet twenty years old, would undoubtedly become the most beautiful one on the red carpet. Although Eric also considered missing the Golden Globe Awards Ceremony, doing so would be tantamount to showing weakness to the enemies behind him, so Eric finally stepped on the red carpet bravely.
This time, Eric did not bring any female companions, but was alone.
After passing the media access area, Eric stopped to show a confident smile in cooperation, and let the flash lights go on crazily.
"Eric, Eric, can you say a few words?" A reporter shouted at this time.
Eric smiled noncommittally, neither agreeing nor denying. If the other party asked any difficult questions, Eric made up his mind to leave directly.
"Eric, you haven't shown up during this time, so what are you doing in the Malibu estate, are you preparing a new script?"
Eric was stunned for a moment, he didn't expect that the other party would ask such a question. Under the current situation, how could he still think about the script. However, since this question is not too harsh, Eric replied: "I just registered a music company, and I may release a single after a while."
"Eric, can you tell me about the theme of the single first?"
"Mr. Williams, what's the name of the music company?"
"Eric, you're going to give up directing movies. Are you going to make music?"
Eric didn't intend to answer any more questions. was about to leave. Hearing the last question, he still rolled his eyes and said, "It's just for fun. My main focus will always be on movies."
After saying this, Eric ignored the reporters and walked directly towards the end of the red carpet.
Compared with last year, although Eric's achievements this year are more eye-catching, the number of people who come to say hello is obviously much less, and most of them are men who are familiar with him. As for the actresses present, except for Julia, Virginia and Nicole who nodded to him according to Eric's instructions in advance, the other actresses were concerned about Eric's current reputation, No one dared to come forward and talk to Eric.
Eric didn't care, it's everyone's instinct to seek advantages and avoid disadvantages.
During the waiting period, celebrities continued to appear on the red carpet.
About ten minutes later, amidst the cheers of fans, Eric saw Aniston, who was wearing a white tube top dress, walking over and posing for a while in the media area. Came to the rest area.
The eyes of the two met without any accident, and the reporters who were paying attention to the situation here also raised their cameras. Expect newsworthy behavior from the split couple.
"Jane..." Eric didn't move, and called softly. After that day, Eric tried to contact Aniston more than once, but the little girl seemed determined this time and never took it again. There was no response to any calls or letters he sent, and the flowers he sent were returned.
Aniston only looked at Eric's face for less than two seconds, then quickly turned away, and walked in the opposite direction to Eric as if nothing had happened.
Eric sighed, and didn't dare to join in this situation. He didn't care too much about his own reputation, but for Aniston's sake.
During this period of time, because Aniston had 'cleared' the relationship with him on the day the incident happened, among the few women who had a close relationship, only Aniston was basically not attacked. If he leaned over at this time and spread the news that the two of them were suspected of getting back together, it would definitely bring trouble to Xiao Niu.
"Eric, are you alright?" Jonathan Demme, who was standing next to Eric, comforted him, noticing Eric's downcast expression.
Eric shook his head: "It's okay."
Tom Hanks on the other side also said at this time: "Eric, I believe everything will pass."
"Of course." Eric smiled confidently.
…
In the ceremony hall, Eric sat at the table of "Small Island Cry", because this table was arranged at the back, Eric would feel more comfortable and would not attract too much attention.
Of course, the world will never revolve around a certain person. Therefore, the turmoil that Eric is encountering has not affected the lively atmosphere of this Golden Globe Awards in the slightest, perhaps because he received some instructions in advance. Well, this year's host didn't tease Eric. During the entire award presentation process, Eric's name was not even mentioned much, and the camera rarely scanned the table where Eric was sitting.
Eric also gradually realized that someone was going to deal with him coldly. Well, although the Firefly-related movies and TV series got 11 nominations tonight, they definitely won't win any heavyweight awards.
Things really happened as Eric expected, because the release time of "Scent of a Woman" missed the nomination of the Golden Globe Awards. The best picture in the category, without exception, went to other companies. The two nominations for best screenplay related to Eric also fell through. Even the most likely two nominations that Julia had won in her previous life, she got nothing, not to mention Virginia's nomination for Best Actress in a Drama Series for "Small Island", let alone no Any suspense falls on Michelle Pfeiffer, a "Baker Brothers" heroine whom Eric has no memory of.
At the end of the development, Eric had given up any hope, thinking that all 11 nominations would fail. However, when it was the turn of the TV series for the Best Actress in a Musical Comedy Series, Aniston unexpectedly won the Best Actress Award. main character.
Looking at the little girl on the podium who said with a touch of surprise that she didn't mention her award speech at all, Eric showed a sneer at the corner of his mouth, what is this, is it a warning to the women who are close to him. Just break with Eric Williams. Just get an award
The two-hour awards ceremony passed. Eric didn't plan to attend the subsequent party, and was about to leave when a strange waiter handed him an envelope.
Eric got on the car back to the Malibu manor before opening the envelope.
There is only a piece of paper inside, with a series of numbers written on it, 19900201.
It is easy to distinguish, meaning February 1, 1990.
Eric didn't have to think about it, he knew it. This is the ultimatum given to him by the manipulator behind this storm.
I really can't hold back, Eric thought in his heart, in his previous life Michael Jackson had been attacked by the media for three months, and he was only a month old, and his spirit hadn't collapsed yet, so he was about to resort to all kinds of attacks. 'Killer'
Thinking of Michael Jackson, Eric couldn't help but find that his current experience had many similarities with Michael Jackson in his previous life.
The reason why Michael Jackson was attacked on such a large scale in 1993 was not only because of his black identity, but also because of his status as a signed singer. In one fell swoop, he jumped to the position of the boss of Sony Records, and not only got 50% of the shares of Sony Records. He also owns the song copyrights of famous superstars such as the Beatles and Elvis Presley who make people jealous.
In the 1990s, the recording industry was still prosperous, and the copyright of these songs alone was worth more than one billion US dollars, not to mention the 50% stake in Sony Records.
And all of this is unbearable for the giants of the recording industry and the predominantly white Western world.
So, after an overwhelming turmoil, Michael Jackson began to fall silent.
More than ten years later, in 2009, Michael Jackson was 50 years old and planned to hold 50 world tour concerts as a commemoration. Many people thought that this 50-year-old pop musician would definitely not be as beautiful as before, but things were not as many people imagined. A total of more than 750,000 concert tickets were sold. Swept away by fans around the world within hours, the Emperor Superstar, it turns out, is still the Emperor Superstar.
So, a few days before the start of the much-anticipated 50 concerts, a generation of superstars died inexplicably.
Thinking of this, Eric couldn't help shivering, thankful that he was not reborn into a black person. Therefore, although he is now jointly squeezed out by several giants, he has not been discriminated against from the bottom of his heart by the public.
After the Golden Globe Awards, Eric and Robert Shea quickly signed a contract to transfer 10% of Firefly's shares again, and at the same time directly transferred the $60 million cash paid by Robert Shea to the account of an investment company in New York.
Although both Jeffrey and Chris raised objections to this and hoped that Eric would leave a sum of cash for emergencies, Eric was firm and asked Chris to use the 60 million US dollars plus the amount that had already arrived before. Accounted for 10 million U.S. dollars, a total of 70 million U.S. dollars in cash, trying to win as many shares of Cisco as possible.
Before this turmoil, Eric has never paid too much attention to money. He feels that as long as he develops steadily, he will surely reach the peak step by step in the future.
But after the turmoil, Eric discovered that in this world of capital, money is the most important thing, it is like a talisman, if Eric was a billionaire with billions of dollars in property before, even No matter how young he is, these people dare not attack him like this.
Time passed day by day, enduring the indiscriminate bombardment in newspapers and media every day, and Eric could also hear good news from time to time, because most investment institutions were not very optimistic about Cisco's prospects, and Cisco's current market value Only 225 million US dollars, therefore, under Chris's price offensive, some investment institutions that had already decided to buy Cisco shares transferred their subscription shares.
The share of the stock in hand has increased from the initial 7%, and at the end of January, all 70 million US dollars have been spent, and a total of 23% of Cisco's shares have been taken, although according to Cisco's market value of 225 million US dollars, 70 million Getting 23% of the shares is simply a big loss. However, if calculated according to Cisco's market value of 500 billion US dollars at its peak, the value of this shareholding will be an astronomical figure.
Of course, Eric also knows that as Cisco develops and grows, this share will definitely be gradually diluted, but as long as it can maintain a share of about 10% in the end. It will still be a huge fortune in the future.
While Chris spent all 70 million US dollars. February 1st finally arrived. The four lawsuits are still entangled. At the same time, the Los Angeles Branch of the Federal Trade Investigation Commission, an anti-monopoly investigation agency in the United States, held a press conference, announcing that it would investigate the suspected monopolistic behavior of Firefly and United Elite Brokerage Company (uta).
As soon as the news came out, public opinion was once again in an uproar, and various analyzes soon appeared in newspapers.
In the Malibu Manor, Edward Lewis hurried into the living room and sat down opposite Eric. At this time, several people were already in the living room. jeffrey, robert shea and uta ceo kapoor sheed are all here.
"Edward, let's talk about the situation first?" Eric poured Edward Lewis a cup of coffee before saying.
Edward drank the coffee in one gulp, relaxed for a while, then took out a thick stack of documents and put them on the coffee table, took out one of them and said, "Eric, this is roughly the case, the Federal Trade Investigation Commission has begun to investigate Firefly and Uta will conduct investigations and collect evidence, and if you are convicted, then you will have to sell all of Uta’s shares. You may also face a huge fine.”
"How much will this fine be?" Eric asked the question he was most concerned about. Columbia and Fox jointly owed Firefly a huge share. Eric realized that the final killer must be related to money.
Edward Lewis found another document and said: "According to the provisions of the anti-monopoly law, under normal circumstances, the penalty is based on 20% of the income generated by the violating company due to monopoly behavior. But this amount is not fixed, and it is flexible. Quite big, if you do it well, you don’t even have to pay a penny fine, you just need to transfer the uta shares in your hand, but if…”
"Edward, I'm sorry to interrupt you. You know, we all have a little understanding of the relevant laws, so you can just say how much fine I might have to pay for it."
"Uh, okay," Edward Lewis said, "According to the violations of Firefly and Uta, you may have to pay a fine of up to 160 million U.S. dollars."
Eric jumped: "How could it be so much? Uta's profit today is only a few million?"
Edward explained: "Eric, it's not about your algorithm. You should calculate uta and fireflies together, because uta and fireflies were both your personal property before. And I learned from Carolyn Elliott Got some material from the lady and you're grossing over $400 million for the year. Add in the possible revenue from the five movies that are still in theaters, since uta and firefly's violations aren't serious, so, 20 % of the base amount does not have the possibility of increasing, so in total, the penalty you have to pay may reach up to 160 million."
Eric was stunned, and asked, "How long is the time limit for fine collection?"
Edward knew what Eric was asking, and said: "According to the current situation, this lawsuit will not exceed three months, and after that, you still have three months to pay the fine. By the way, Eric, I just I have emphasized to you that US$160 million is only the worst possible possibility, in fact, under normal circumstances, the fine will be far lower than this figure, or even not paid.”
"Half a year," Eric murmured to himself in a low voice as if he didn't hear the comfort in the second half of Edward's sentence. He didn't ask Edward what would happen if he didn't pay the fine when it was due. Obviously, nothing less Assets are frozen and then auctioned. What is his asset, it is only fireflies.
Moreover, although these films at the end of the year may earn far more than 160 million US dollars in profits, Eric can be sure that after these films are released, he will not be able to get this money except for litigation. And when the lawsuit is won, half a year is estimated to have passed.
Since the matter is irreversible, Eric no longer worries about gains and losses, and said to several people around him: "Since we have reached this point, we should fight back."
Jeffrey has been holding his breath for a long time, because Eric lacks trust in other people, so, so far, only Jeffrey is present who knows about the videotape he left before: "Eric, you need to What shall we do, just say it?"
Hearing Jeffrey's words, other people in the living room also turned their attention to Eric. (To be continued..)