After taking the memo from Allen, the two walked to the meeting room together, and Eric asked in a low voice, "How about that?"
Allen also lowered his voice: "It's all done. The candidates for the director Renny Harlem and the heroine Geena Davis have been disclosed to Bruce Evans, but we have also managed to make him realize Seeing that someone is very fond of the script of "Cutthroat Island", he is not in a hurry to make a move now, and is in a stalemate with the staff we sent. Moreover, some other people have begun to inquire about the script of "Cutthroat Island". It's Robert's."
Eric nodded in relief, pushed open the door of the conference room, and the two walked in together.
The main topic of today's meeting is the summary of Firefly's one-year work.
From the beginning of the year to the present, Firefly has only produced two wholly-owned films, "Ghost Love" and "Sleeping with the Enemy", but the achievements in film distribution are very dazzling. Sleeping with the Enemy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Silence of the Lambs have all made over 100 million at the box office. In addition, Firefly also distributed several small productions of independent production companies in the off-season. The film also brought a small amount of profit.
Although the holiday season at the end of the year has just begun, the total box office in North America in 1990 has exceeded 5 billion US dollars, but the total box office of Firefly this year is only a little over 600 million so far, accounting for 12% of the local box office. While this figure is far behind the box office results of last year's Eric-produced films, if you think about it carefully, you will find a huge difference. This year's achievement was achieved when Firefly released it independently. And last year. Almost all of Eric's films are distributed by the seven major agencies, and even if they are extremely profitable, they are still just a pure production company.
After a year of integration with New Line, Firefly has already formed the prototype of a large studio with complete production and distribution channels like the Big Seven. However, it has surpassed the 10% ratio of Paramount Pictures. As for MGM, it is far behind, ranking sixth among all Hollywood film companies.
in television production. "Friends" independently produced by Firefly still dominates the ratings in the autumn, and the variety show "Who Will Be a Millionaire" is even more acclaimed.
"The X-Files", which was broadcast at the same time as "Friends" in September, also got an average viewership of 17 million. Although this result is much worse than "Friends", the main audience of "X-Files" is concentrated in teenagers aged 16 to 30 Among them, it is not a comedy for all ages like "Friends", so this result is also very good.
What's more, because of the concentration of viewing age groups, "X-Files" is more favored by advertising companies, and the advertising revenue is more than 20% higher than that of TV series with the same ratings.
In addition, the company has also made considerable progress in the two businesses of video tapes and overseas distribution. The video distribution unit has partnered with video rental giant Blockbuster. Through the overseas distribution of several films such as "The Love of Ghosts", Firefly has also established its own branches in several major ticket warehouse countries such as Britain, France, and Australia.
Business expansion also means a lot of capital investment. Therefore, the net profit of Firefly in the first three quarters was only more than 160 million. After Caroline Elliott finished the financial report, Eric immediately announced that he would face all Firefly employees with a total amount of 20 million US dollars. Dividend plan.
Amidst the low cheers, only Robert Shea frowned slightly. Robert knew about this dividend plan beforehand. After the plan was proposed, Robert Shea expressed his opposition, but Eric used his chairman powers passed the scheme.
Hearing Eric's announcement again at this time, Robert Shea still felt very uncomfortable. He felt that Eric was too generous,
After all, taking out the $20 million means that his shareholder dividends will be reduced by $5 million. In order to make "Ghost Detective", Robert Shea raised 30 million U.S. dollars by mortgaging his own assets. Now that the movie fails, he has to use his year-end dividends to repay the loan. Therefore, 5 million U.S. dollars is for Robert Shea It is also a very big loss for Yi.
While thinking about this matter in his mind, Robert suddenly heard Eric continue: "Now, let's start the next topic, about the removal of Mr. Robert Shea from the position of Firefly CEO."
For a moment, Robert Shea almost thought that he had heard it wrong, but seeing the strange atmosphere in the conference room that instantly fell silent and the strange eyes of all the executives present looking at him, Robert Shea felt a chill down his spine. , followed by extreme anger, he stood up suddenly, pointed at Eric and shouted: "Eric Williams, do you know what you are doing?"
Eric didn't answer immediately, but looked at the other people in the meeting room: "Go out first, I'll talk to Robert alone."
After the words were finished, everyone in the meeting room, including Robert Shea's direct subordinates, stood up quietly and walked out of the office.
Robert Shea waved his arms excitedly, and said with a sneer, "I don't need to talk to you alone. Is there anything I can't let everyone hear? Hey, Michael, Hardy, Reinas, you stay here."
Michael Lynn, who was named by Robert Shea, and several original subordinates stopped briefly, looked at Eric and Robert, Michael Lynn sighed, and said: "Robert, you follow the Eric talk."
After speaking, several people walked out of the office without stopping.
Robert Shea saw the reactions of several direct descendants in his eyes, and instantly realized that Eric had already started to deploy this matter, which made him feel frustrated and angry that he was fooled. If Eric was not a tall A strong young man, Robert Shea has almost rushed forward and punched him.
But he still roared: "I tell you, you will not succeed, you will pay the price, I am a shareholder of Firefly, I own a quarter of the shares, so if you want to drive me away, don't even think about it!" think."
After Robert Shea paused briefly, Eric interjected: "As for the shares of Firefly, I will take them back at a reasonable price, which will not let you suffer. Besides, this year's profits will be shared with me. I will also pay you in full." (To be continued...)