Barry Diller's tone was very flat, but Eric realized that it was doomed to have no further results on this topic.
Although Eric feels a little regretful, it is more of a pity. With Barry Diller's talent, running QV, a TV shopping company with a scale of less than 1 billion US dollars, will definitely not be able to give full play to his talent, let alone Eric. Ke is very clear that within a few years, with the emergence of e-commerce, TV shopping will soon be abandoned.
Barry Diller gave up this opportunity, so the hope of returning to Hollywood is slim.
The goal was not achieved, and Eric was not in a hurry to leave. The two chatted about other things casually. It was not until three o'clock in the afternoon that Eric's mobile phone rang.
After connecting, Eric listened to something said on the other side, and quickly hung up the phone.
Eric didn't avoid Barry Diller when he answered the phone, so after he hung up the phone, Barry Diller said, "Is Jeffrey calling?"
Eric nodded with a smile. Barry Diller has received a lot of attention during this time. Although the Paramount acquisition case has been settled, the attention on Barry Diller has not disappeared immediately. In just a few hours after the two met, the news had already spread to many people.
Although both parties knew that Jeffrey Katzenberg's call must be to test Eric's intention to contact Barry Diller, but Eric still explained: "Jeffrey said that a movie of the company has just been completed. In the final cut, ask me if I want to see the finished film?"
"Then you go to Burbank, the time left is just enough to watch a movie." Barry Diller said with a smile, and then added: "Jeffrey's character is still a little impatient, similar to Michael, Frank Wells, who has a very peaceful personality, just complements him. You have to know that during the years when Michael was in charge of Disney, Frank was always a buffer between Michael and Disney executives. Whenever those executives After being scolded by Michael, Frank will come forward to appease those people's emotions. I don't know much about Mr. Hansen. So if you let Jeffrey be the eo, I suggest you better let Frank continue to be Jeffrey's Deputy."
Eric got up and put on his coat, reached out and shook hands with Barry Diller: "Thank you for your suggestion, Barry, I will seriously consider this matter."
Barry Diller personally sent Eric out of the hotel. As soon as the two walked out of the hotel gate, they were surrounded by a group of reporters who heard the news and asked them about their intention to meet.
Since Barry Diller did not agree to his invitation. Eric didn't intend to cause extra problems, and without saying anything, he got into his car under the protection of his bodyguards.
When he came to the headquarters of Firefly, Eric found that Katzenberg was waiting for him in the lobby with a group of people. On the phone, Katzenberg's excuse was to invite Eric to come over to watch the finished film of "Interview with the Vampire". Starring Cruise, Kirsten Dunst and others all appear here, as well as David Geffen of David Geffen Productions, which co-developed the film.
After greeting everyone one by one, although Katzenberg concealed it very well, Eric could still see the doubt and search hidden in his expression.
After a brief greeting. A group of people surrounded Eric in the middle and walked towards the elevator. Because there were too many people, everyone consciously divided into two groups. An elevator was given to Eric, Katzenberg and David Geffen.
Entering the elevator, Eric chatted with David Geffen for a few words before asking Katzenberg why he didn't see Michael Lynn and others.
"They are all in Playa Vista," Katzenberg replied, and said nonchalantly, "Eric, why did you come back suddenly today?"
Eric explained: "Barry and I are good friends. He failed to snatch Paramount from Redstone, so I came back early to comfort him."
Katzenberg nodded, and he seemed relieved. As Barry Diller's old subordinate, after Barry Diller failed to acquire Paramount. Katzenberg also called to say hello. But he didn't believe that Eric just came back from New York just for this matter, relative to himself. The relationship between Eric and Barry Diller is much weaker, and a phone call is enough to express comfort.
Katzenberg was also able to guess the reason for the meeting between Eric and Barry Diller. Since Eric said so at this time, instead of admitting the purpose of the meeting, it means that the two did not agree on something. There was no need to talk about the matter, so he felt relieved.
To be honest, Katzenberg doesn't think Michael Eisner is much more capable than himself. Many successful Disney films in the late 1980s were completed under his leadership. But if compared with Barry Diller, Katzenberg is willing to feel inferior, so it is difficult for Katzenberg to imagine that Barry Diller also joins Firefly Pictures. Katzenberg is definitely not willing to take the eo position in the film industry. He has struggled for so many years before he is expected to be the head of a major film company. How could he give up so easily. But with Barry Diller as his subordinate, Katzenberg found this situation even more unimaginable.
Putting aside his worries about the incident, Katzenberg became chatty, chatting about some recent events. Standing on the other side of Eric, David Geffen, who also had a bald head, also keenly felt that the atmosphere suddenly became very relaxed, and he also followed suit.
The three of them talked and laughed all the way to the projection room, and while the projectionist was preparing to play, Eric approached Katzenberg, who was sitting on his left, and whispered in his ear, "Jeffrey, David seems a little too enthusiastic, is something going on?"
David Geffen was sitting on Eric's right. Katzenberg lowered his voice and said, "Geffen Records is about to leave Time Warner."
The screening room is not a place to talk about things. Katzenberg sat up straight again after saying this sentence. He believed that this sentence was enough for Eric to understand the information he wanted.
Of course, Eric understood the intention of Katzenberg's words. It is now 1993, and the historical development in the original time and space. Tomorrow David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Katzenberg will co-found DreamWorks Films.
However, a big deviation has taken place in history now, and Katzenberg did not leave Disney because of the intensified conflict with Michael Eisner. Spielberg also has no intention of going solo due to the success of "Jurassic Park", only David Geffen's record company has some conflicts with Time Warner due to the death of Steve Ross. And out of the Time Warner Group.
Although Geffen Records cannot compare with world-class record giants such as Columbia Records and Universal Records, David Geffen, who joined with his own music company when DreamWorks was established in the original time and space, is the richest of the three. A generous one.
Now that there is no DreamWorks, David Geffen obviously wants to find a close partner for his record company again. Among the top seven at this time, apart from the old company Time Warner that just left, Firefly Pictures is undoubtedly the the best choice.
After the step-by-step success of "Home Alone", Eric also thought about it for a while. If he wants to develop Firefly into a media giant involving all media and entertainment industries, the record company is of course also in his plan.
However, after several years of experience and precipitation, Eric gradually calmed down.
Just like Eric said when he talked to Elizabeth about Yahoo that he would not get involved in print media, Eric found that expanding Firefly's territory to the music field was also not a good choice. Like the paper media that declined rapidly after the new millennium, the recording industry has already experienced a decline under the threat of the pirate industry due to the appearance of tapes that were much cheaper than vinyl records in the 1980s. After the advent of the era, the emergence of online music downloads will completely plunge the record industry into the abyss.
It's still a few years away from further decline in the recording industry though. But if Firefly wants to get involved in the music field with great fanfare, it may happen under the competition of several traditional record giants. Firefly took advantage of several years of development and had just gained a firm foothold, and the record industry's cold winter was coming soon, so the gain outweighed the loss.
Eric's mood watching "Interview with the Vampire" may be similar to that of Westerners watching "Journey to the West". Without a cultural foundation, it is difficult to resonate too much with this type of film. Throughout the viewing process, Eric was absent-mindedly thinking about the record company that Katzenberg just mentioned.
After the movie was played, Eric applauded mechanically along with the others in the auditorium, however. The last thing on his mind was rather than getting into music distribution at this time. It's better to use the network and hardware to build a charging platform like Apple in the original time and space. That is the way to make money in the music industry in the Internet age.
The lights in the projection hall were turned on, and everyone in the projection hall began to discuss in low voices. Eric was thinking about the idea he just had, when a female voice rang in his ears.
"Mr. Williams, what do you think of the movie?"
Eric raised his head, and saw Anne Rice, who was about fifty years old, dressed in black, with a haircut similar to the one Anna Wintour met a while ago, took the initiative to come over.
Eric could tell from Anne Rice's expression that she was very satisfied with the finished film, but Eric didn't pay attention to watching the finished film just now, and could only echo from memory: "It's great, especially Kers Teng's performance gave me the feeling that her 12-year-old body hides a 35-year-old soul."
Anne Rice was still a little dissatisfied when she saw Eric sitting here in a daze, but when she heard Eric's words, the emotions just disappeared immediately, and then she showed a feeling of finding a confidant, and waved her hand Kirsten Dunst from afar beckoned over, hugged him affectionately, and said, "Mr. Williams, what a coincidence, I feel the same way."
It's not a coincidence that this sentence was originally said by you.
Eric secretly underestimated, but on the surface he said calmly: "So, Ms. Rice, you are also satisfied with this movie, right?"
"Yes, I was worried that Mr. Cruise would not be up to the role, but his performance far exceeded my expectations."
"In this case, Ms. Rice, why don't you write a movie review yourself," Eric said following the woman's tone, "This will be very helpful for the promotion of the movie, and it will also make you more fans To be able to see the movie."
Anne Rice's status in the vampire theme is almost equivalent to that of romance novels and Aunt Qiong Yao. As long as this well-known author personally supports it in the media, the effect will be no less than that of a million-dollar advertisement.
Annie Rice didn't promise right away, but just said ambiguously: "I will express my true opinion for this film."
After Anne Rice finished speaking, she took Kirsten Dunst's little hand and walked out of the auditorium, chatting with Lolita in a low voice from time to time.
The crowd also quickly moved into a conference room, where the main creators of the film, the producer of Firefly, the director of the publicity department, and several specially invited film critics began to express their opinions in order to understand some details of the film. to modify.
Although most people look forward to it, Eric has never expressed his opinion. It's still the same sentence. He, a guy whose soul comes from the West, doesn't feel much about vampire movies at all, so he rashly proposes revisions. Maybe it will backfire instead.
Half an hour into the meeting, David Geffen received a call and said goodbye to everyone. Eric and Katzenberg also took the opportunity to see David Geffen off and left the conference room.
The parking lot of the Firefly Park is open-air. When the three of them left the office building and walked towards the parking lot together, David Geffen seemed to ask casually: "Mr. Is there an intention to develop?"
"Sorry, David, I haven't considered this aspect yet, but Firefly's main energy in the next stage will be on the TV network. Even if it wants to enter the record industry, it will have to wait until a few years later."
David Geffen snorted, his expression didn't change much. Although he wanted to get close to the vibrant and towering tree of Firefly Pictures, David Geffen didn't have other ways to go. Rick was not eager, so he didn't say anything more.
After David Geffen left, Katzenberg said regretfully: "Eric, actually, I think this is a good opportunity." (To be continued.)