I don't know how long it has passed, but there is still an inexplicable ambiguous atmosphere in the office. Kelly Haines is sitting across the desk in a demure posture, holding a pencil in her hand and helping Eric supplement the score based on the memory just now. Occasionally Answer the question posed by the man in front of you. ≤,
Regarding Eric's discovery in the "Los Angeles Times" in the morning that Ron Perelman bought the bonds of the Firefly Group, both Katzenberg and Chris from New York concluded that there is no need to worry, and they hold the same point of view Buffett also handed Eric a detailed personal letter in an attempt to reassure him.
Because there are many precedents, it is not difficult to guess Ron Perelman's mind. The Wolf of Wall Street probably wants to take advantage of the storm caused by Firefly's internal reform of the animation department, and take advantage of the situation to join other creditors on the Firefly board of directors. , Obtain the number of directors and participate in the group's operation and management decisions.
If you think about it in the long term, this is only the first step of Ron Perelman's plan.
After successfully joining Firefly's board of directors, what Ron Perelman had to wait for was the moment when Firefly's business encountered difficulties.
Film and television media has always been a very risky industry. Although Hollywood has gone through a century of ups and downs, it is still the few major film companies. But in fact, the owners of these film companies have changed countless times. Every time a film company encounters bankruptcy due to a film failure, the original owner may take the initiative or be forced to transfer it to the next one.
After the current bond issuance is completed, Firefly Group's accumulated debt will reach US$10 billion. According to various interest calculation formulas for different bonds, the total amount of final repayment is expected to be around US$15 billion. According to the average ten-year bond time limit, Firefly Group will need an average of US$1.5 billion in debt expenditures each year. Of course, this is only theoretical data, and, although it seems that this figure even exceeds the annual profit of Firefly in the previous years. But in fact, according to Firefly Group's annual market value and revenue growth expectations, as well as the complex tax relief system, this expenditure will not become a burden on Firefly Group.
but. All of this has a premise, that is, Firefly's operating performance has been maintained in good condition.
However, in the minds of everyone in the industry, it is a media group with film and television business as its core. It is almost impossible to maintain a stable level of performance all the time. Perhaps the failure of several big-produced films or TV dramas in the next year or two may cause Firefly Group's financial constraints. Moreover, when the "locomotive" lacks power, the resulting domino effect will also cause other business downturns. And thus a vicious circle is formed.
What Ron Perelman was waiting for was that moment in the future.
Once the Firefly Group encounters difficulties, the creditors can submit a debt-to-equity swap request to the Federal Trade Commission and the Firefly Board of Directors under the banner of protecting their own funds, so that the creditors can become the owners of the Firefly Group.
In the original time and space, MGM, which is burdened with huge debts, has been on the verge of being turned back by creditors more than once.
In Buffett's personal letter, the sharp-eyed investment tycoon analyzed Ron Perelman's attempt to launch this attack, and the biggest reliance was probably to join hands with Disney's hand-drawn animation department to put pressure on Firefly shareholders. Buffett said that if he hadn't seen the material that night, it would be because of the huge profits that "The Lion King" is expected to generate. He will judge that Eric will keep Disney's hand-drawn animation department safe at all costs, and this may also be a bargaining chip for creditors to threaten to join the board of directors.
However, now that Eric has good reasons to be determined to reform the Disney animation department, the threatening chips relied on by Ron Perelman have not been established from the beginning. Buffett also sincerely stated that even if other situations happen, Berkshire Hathaway will stand firmly on Eric's side and can provide maximum help.
After reading several documents, Eric looked up at Kelly and asked, "Have you read Buffett's letter?"
Kelly shook her head, wondering: "What's wrong?"
"Look first." Eric handed over Buffett's personal letter.
Kelly quickly read the contents of the letter paper, thought for a moment, and said, "I don't think there is a problem. What Buffett said makes sense."
"I didn't mean that. Look at the last paragraph."
Kelly read the last paragraph, her beautiful eyebrows frowned slightly, and after thinking about it, she said, "It seems that there is no problem with Buffett's promise that Berkshire Hathaway will stand firmly on Firefly's side. I think it’s a good thing.”
"According to Buffett's personality that has turned the pursuit of profit maximization into an instinct. Don't you think this promise is too generous?"
Kelly smiled and said: "Eric, you are too suspicious, I think Mr. Buffett's doing this is more likely because of your ability and wants to pull you to Berkshire Hathaway What about the successor, haha."
Listening to Kelly's joke, Eric also laughed and stopped worrying about this issue.
After quickly browsing through all the documents, Eric suddenly thought of being pigeoned by Peter Schneider this morning, and raised his head and asked, "Did you see Peter Schneider at today's high-level meeting?"
Kelly said: "No, shouldn't he and Roy Disney come to your side?"
Eric frowned, and said quickly, "Kelly, help me find out the whereabouts of the two of them?"
Kelly noticed Eric's suddenly serious expression, and said, "Now?"
"Yes, now, immediately."
Kelly nodded, took out her mobile phone and address book, rummaged through them and started making calls.
Eric picked up a pen and quickly wrote information on the Firefly Group, Disney Animation Department, Ron Perelman, Chris, Buffett, David West, etc. on a piece of draft paper. And he connected related words with his usual lines, and quickly formed a net.
The blank space in the middle of this net was quickly filled in by Eric with another word.
It didn't take long before Kelly put down the phone and said to Eric: "The two of them can't get through on their personal phone calls. I only found out that Peter Schneider and Roy Disney went to New York. I don't know the specifics. .”
When Eric heard about New York, he basically understood it, and said, "No need to check, they must have gone to see Ron Perelman."
Kelly immediately thought of the intention of these two executives to meet Ron Perelman, and asked, "Then what should we do now?"
Eric's smile became a little mysterious. Said: "This is a good time to fight an eye for an eye."
Kelly was a little confused, so Eric continued: "Tomorrow is the premiere of "Charlie's Angels", right?"
Kelly recalled Eric's schedule and asked, "Didn't you say you didn't plan to go?"
"Go, we must go. And everyone will go together," Eric patted the table lightly, and said: "Those three old men who are still in Los Angeles, and Chris from New York, let him fly over tomorrow. Hmm , and Katzenberg and Michael Lynn..."
After thinking about it, Eric didn't continue to add people.
The few people just mentioned are communities of interests closely related to the Firefly Group. Needless to say, the shareholders of the three of Buffett, Chris is absolutely trustworthy, and Katzenberg is the next CEO of Firefly. If even he can't be trusted, Eric doesn't need to continue playing in Hollywood. Although the last Michael Lynn is about to leave, he is also a minority shareholder of Firefly Group.
As for other high-level executives, Eric temporarily gave up the idea of telling them. After all, the fewer people who know about something in his mind, the better.
oh. It seems that there is another insider.
In the original article on the analysis of the 2D animation industry, Eric specifically asked different staff in the assistant office to collect different information, and the final summary work was completed by Kelly herself, so she was the only one who was able to see the "chain of evidence" the whole picture. Moreover, whether it is Kelly's status as Eric's first assistant or the close relationship between the two now, Eric does not want to exclude her.
Eric glanced at Kelly Hines in front of him, and said with a smile, "You come together tomorrow, after watching the movie, let's chat together."
Kelly also realized at this time. Tomorrow is definitely not as simple as just watching a movie, there must be something else about to happen. However, Eric's unhesitating trust also warmed her heart.
"Then shall I inform them first?"
Eric shook his head and said, "I'll make these calls myself. You can help prepare a few invitations to the premiere. Also, don't forget to send a car to pick up Buffett and the others tomorrow. With Buffett here, the three old men will surely Not willing to spend money, in case they show up outside the red carpet in a taxi, I can't afford to lose this person."
"Oh Well."
…
After "The Lion King" experienced a record-breaking box office of more than 46 million U.S. dollars in the first weekend, the total box office reached an astonishing height of 69 million U.S. dollars in the first seven days of the week. Correspondingly, the Western film "Law Enforcement" with a production cost of more than 63 million US dollars only had a pitiful first week box office of just over 10 million. Not only did Warner's big production film with the purpose of sniping "The Lion King" fail to complete My own "mission" fell behind "True Lies", "Star Trek 7" and "Saving Private Ryan" other than "The Lion King", and completely became the cannon fodder of this hot summer file.
Faced with a direct loss of more than 70 million US dollars, in order to give shareholders an explanation, Warner involved the director, producer and several corresponding executives of "Law Enforcement Titans" as the successor to Paramount's "Beverly Hills Cop 3". After ", the second batch of unlucky ones in Hollywood's "expulsion season".
Eric himself did not expect that before "Future Water World", Kevin Costner had already experienced a silent tragedy. The first part of "Mission: Impossible" in this time and space has entered post-production. Eric has watched the samples in detail, and he is very satisfied with the shooting results of Kevin Costner's version of Ethan Hunt and Brian De Palma.
Therefore, Eric's only concern after "Law Enforcement Titans" is whether "Future Water World" will become yellow because of this. The Spy sequel opens up to Kevin Costner's lion.
The day before July, Eric secretly led the new version of "Charlie's Angels" held a grand premiere in Los Angeles.
After MGM's "Rain Man" in 1988, it has been silent for six consecutive years. During most of the years, there were no more than ten films released, and there was not even a single film with a box office of over 100 million. After many twists and turns, last year the two new helms of MGM, CEO Frank Macasso and President John Carley, intended to complete the company's recovery plan by releasing "Bear Mountain" and "The Last Phantom Hero". Ended with failure.
Now, the ten-film production plan of DreamWorks Production Company and the 007 series restarted by its subsidiary United Artists have become MGM's last fight. Once it fails again, the only way out for MGM is bankruptcy and liquidation, and the company's assets will be auctioned to repay the huge debt of more than one billion U.S. dollars. The 75% stake in MGM in the hands of Crédit Lyonnais will become a pile of waste paper.
Compared with the nervousness, worry, or expectation of MGM executives, Lyon Credit Bank, and the major European shareholders of DreamWorks Productions, Eric's mood is relatively relaxed. For this film, Eric has put enough thought into it. From the script to the actors, from the director to the producer, Eric has personally appointed according to his memory, and his participation in the production progress and final editing of the film is far more than that of other filmmakers. Movie.
Judging from the results of several test screenings of the new version of "Charlie's Angels", the filmmakers and ordinary audiences who participated in the test screenings have given enough praise. If this film still fails, it can only be said that the heavens will not bless MGM.
As for Eric himself, he has experienced so much glory since his rebirth. Although he has not changed too much to start looking forward to failure, he will definitely not be afraid of failure.
Although there was no plan to attend the premiere, since he changed his mind and appeared at the scene, Eric also dutifully made a full gesture. On the red carpet, I accepted some interviews with reporters, and specially recruited three girls to take a series of group photos to satisfy the gossip of the media on the spot.
When Buffett's three old men came out of a luxury car at the end of the red carpet, Eric immediately went up to greet him, and ignored the media people who became more excited because of Buffett's appearance, and led the three into the room. cinema.
***
ps: today three changes ten thousand
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