I’m in Hollywood - Chapter 664

[Chapter 658 Auction House]

Chapter 658

Eric sat in the back row of the auction hall, quietly watching the positions of several major companies participating in the auction.

The sudden announcement to extend the payment time for the purchase of the animation department is also the result of careful consideration by the senior management of Firefly.

In order to ensure that no Hollywood forces would make trouble in the process of winning Marvel, Eric hung up the ‘Shui Ling cabbage’ in the animation department for more than a month. In this more than a month, he intends to win the animation department. Buyers must have discussed and evaluated this business many times, and several major film companies should have calmed down from their initial suspicion and excitement about Firefly’s decision to sell the animation department, and determined the final decision based on their own financial situation in detail. The upper limit of the quotation cannot even rule out the possibility of forming a series between various companies.

Firefly suddenly announced that it would extend the one-year payment period to three years, leaving a very ample time for the final buyer to raise funds and pay, and could easily break the established bidding strategy of potential buyers.

After all, Disney’s animation division is too enticing for several major companies to enter the animated film market, especially now that the “Lion King” box office is soaring.

Of course, such an obvious surprise attack will definitely be slandered by buyers, but the ‘preferential conditions’ temporarily given by Firefly also give buyers no reason to refuse.

The people in the hall were about the same. Katzenberg walked to the podium and sat down beside Eric. He asked excitedly and expectantly, “Eric, how much do you think you can get this time?”

Eric said.

: “It will definitely exceed 2 billion US dollars. A few days ago, the big-name stars uniformly boycotted the studio’s remuneration compression, which should give them some inspiration and raise the price higher. After all. Animated movies can not only bring more Live-action movies are even more profitable. And the characters in it won’t ask for high salaries like big-name stars, and it can also make them less dependent on live-action movies.”

Frank Wells, who sat on the other side of Eric, also Asked: “Eric, in this case, do you think it is possible to reach 3 billion?”

“This is unlikely,” Eric shook his head, although in his memory, the market value of Pixar animation in the original time and space immediately rushed to 1 billion US dollars after the success of “Toy Story”.

However, the technical difference between hand-drawn animation and computer animation ≡↓style_txt; difference also limits the value of Disney’s animation department: “Unless we expand the scope of copyright authorization for several animations such as “The Lion King”, or even transfer the copyright completely, Disneyland Both the Disney store and the Disney store need the copyright of these animated characters, and we can’t do that.”

Several people chatted casually, and the bidding team that had just left gradually returned to the lobby. After half an hour, Katzenberg returned to the stage.

After a few simple words to liven up the atmosphere, Katzenberg picked up the gavel and

loudly announced the official start of the auction.

Then, there was silence in the hall for a moment.

It seemed that no one was going to make the first move, and it was deadlocked for a few seconds.

A middle-aged man sitting in the third row held up the number plate for the first time: “$1 billion.”

Eric looked over, and the person holding the plate was John Carley, the president of MGM. He shook his head and smiled. Knowing that MGM is totally here to join in the fun.

Of course, John Culley must have some unrealistic illusions when he raised his placard for the first time. May will definitely happily take the animation department with $1 billion, and even if MGM has not fully recovered, Eric believes that MGM’s shareholders and creditors will not be stingy to spend the $1 billion.

Of course, the reality is that this is impossible.

“No. 9, $1 billion…”

Katzenberg gestured in the direction of John Cali, and before he could say more, another bidder raised his placard: “1 billion 10 million.”

This time The minimum markup for the auction was $10 million, and although the second bidder only added $10 million cautiously, the competition began to heat up and the auction price began to skyrocket.

1.3 billion, 1.5 billion, 1.7 billion, 1.9 billion…

The auction went on for less than ten minutes. With Summer Redstone personally shouting out the price of $1.9 billion, more than half of the potential buyers in the auction room had been eliminated, and only Paramount, Fox, Warner and Seagram, which is about to buy Universal.

After a palpable hesitation on the $1.9 billion price tag, Fox president Joe Ross raised his number plate: “$2 billion!”

“Number four, from Twentieth Century Fox, $2 billion,” Katzenberg’s voice rose again on the auction stage, full of bewitchment: “I’m going to say that just ‘The Lion King’ can bring in a net profit of $1 billion for the film company. So, $2 billion , only represents the net profit of the two “Lion King” films. I believe that the excellent team of Disney’s animation department has accumulated over half a century to produce the second, third and even more “The Lion King”, just It’s a matter of time, then, $2 billion, the first time…”

Eric listened to Katzenberg’s hysterical flickering, while looking in the direction of the Fox team.

At Eric’s suggestion, Elizabeth apparently didn’t get involved, and Murdoch didn’t show up either for whatever reason.

The only person leading Fox to the auction was President Joe Ross.

Speaking of which, “Home Alone” in the original time and space was produced by Joe Ross and distributed by Fox, and Joe Ross should have been dug into Disney with a high salary for the outstanding box office of “Home Alone”, and Frank Wells in the original time and space Before his unexpected death, Michael Ovitz briefly served as Disney president.

However, because of the appearance of Eric in this space and time, Joe Ross still maintains a cooperative relationship with Fox, and in the personnel changes after Barry Diller left Fox, he took the position of President of Twentieth Century Fox, as for Fox by Rupert Murdoch himself.

Since Murdoch didn’t show up in person, Fox was all but certain to be out after Firefly suddenly played the card of extending the payout period.

after all.

Radical relative to Summer Redstone.

Murdoch is far more conservative, with $2 billion likely to be Fox’s last bid.

After the price rose to 2 billion US dollars, the frequency of bidding in the audience was much slower. In many cases, almost the moment Katzenberg dropped the hammer, the voice of the bid appeared in the audience.

After a few more bidding rounds, Seagram’s Edgar Bronfman also opted out at $2.2 billion after Fox.

In the end, there are only two competitors left, Paramount and Warner.

This result is not beyond Eric’s expectations. Buying Universal is Seagram’s first priority. If he gets Disney’s animation department at an exorbitant price before buying Universal, it will mean Seagram’s first priority. Tim’s leverage to buy Universal has dwindled.

If the animation department is won at a high price, but the acquisition of Universal fails due to this, then Edgar Bronfman will cry without tears.

In the lobby, Time Warner Terry Semel once again shouted a price of $2.33 billion, but Eric could hear it.

Compared with the still high-spirited Summer Redstone, Terry Semel is not so full of air.

“It seems that the result is obvious.” Frank Wells whispered beside Eric.

Eric nodded slightly and listened to Summer Redstone’s quick follow-up of the offer, saying: “Terry Semel is too constrained compared to Summer Redstone. Time Warner Only people like Steve Ross can fully control it. Moreover, the current situation inside Time Warner is almost caused by Steve Ross. Unless there is another manager who is highly expected, the future will be very long. For a period of time, Time Warner has not been very stable internally.”

Frank Wells had worked for Time Warner for many years, and he nodded in agreement, but shook his head slightly, saying, “The kind of manager you are talking about is fundamentally unreliable. It is unlikely that the leaders of the major factions in the Time Warner system, such as Warner Communications, Turner Broadcasting, Time Publishing Group and Warner Bros. Entertainment, are very strong in their respective fields, and they will not agree with a brand new one at all. Managers will not be willing to let the other party occupy a high position in Time Warner. Only a strong figure like Steve Ross who created Time Warner will make them submit to orders, unfortunately, Ross died too early. ”

Steve Ross is similar in age to Warren Buffett, Summer Redstone and Rupert Murdoch, all just past their sixties, compared to a group of old men who are still alive and kicking twenty years later, Steve Ross, the media man who created Time Warner, died a bit early.

Eric glanced at Terry Semel, who was hesitant again following Summer Redstone’s offer, and said, “If I were a Time Warner shareholder, since everyone can’t be tied together, I would rather choose Divide the group. Otherwise, this long-term internal friction will only lead to the decline of Time Warner’s overall strength.”

In the memory of the previous life, Time Warner eventually walked the road of continuous business splitting, but this media The timing for the giant to make such a decision is obviously too late. In the end, before Eric was reborn, the market value of Time Warner, which was originally on par with the Disney Group, was only about 50 billion yuan, less than one-third of its heyday. The Disney Group’s market value was close to $200 billion at one point.

Frank Wells said regretfully: “Everyone now thinks that the bigger the group, the better. It is not easy for Time Warner to coexist peacefully, but it is also not easy for them to part ways. Eric, if the future Firefly is too bloated, would you be willing to split the group?”

Eric smiled and pointed to Katzenberg on the stage: “Am I doing this right now?”

Frank Wells nodded suddenly, Said: “I ignored this matter.” The

two chatted in a low voice, and the bidding in the field had entered the final stage. Eric obviously heard Terry Semel’s tone trembling and reported 24 The price of 100 million US dollars, looked up at Terry Semel’s back.

Eric’s gaze locked on Terry Semel didn’t have time to turn away, but after a brief hesitation, Summer Redstone raised the number plate in his hand and shouted angrily: “2.5 billion Dollars.”

Terry Semel’s shoulders slumped visibly.

Katzenberg on the stage said a few more words bewilderingly. After three counts, Terry Semel didn’t raise the card again, so he dropped the gavel in his hand.

The percussion sounded, and Katzenberg raised his voice: “Congratulations to Mr. Summer Redstone, Paramount Pictures will get the Disney Animation Department.”

In the applause that gradually sounded, everyone in the venue stood up, many People also walked towards Summer Redstone and others.

Eric also walked over with Frank Wells and others, and said congratulations enthusiastically.

The follow-up formal signing will be carried out after Paramount confirms the detailed contract and the list of assets of the animation department. Therefore, after a brief press conference, Firefly hosted all the guests participating in the auction in another lobby of the Hilton Hotel.

After a round of entertainment with champagne in their hands, Eric and Katzenberg came to a corner with few people.

“The final price is at least $300 million higher than what we expected,” Katzenberg’s expression was still excited: “It seems that the measures to extend the payment period adopted today have really worked, UU Reading www.sonicmtl.com Judging from Terry Semel’s reaction at the scene, Time Warner’s original bid limit should be around 2.2 billion. After 2.2 billion, Terry Semel’s expression was obviously not so calm, although Summer Redstone’s reaction didn’t change much, but I guess his initial reserve price should also be around 2.2 billion.”

“Let’s not mention this,” Eric said with a smile on the corner of his mouth, “You, new How’s the Disney animation department going, I haven’t seen the relevant documents in the last few days?”

Katzenberg replied: “I plan to fund a digital animation at the same time at the California Institute of the Arts in Los Angeles and the San Francisco Art Institute in San Francisco. The production major is divided into six-month short-term training courses and two-year standard professional courses. The short-term training courses mainly recruit people who have computer and painting skills and have accumulated work experience by poaching people from existing software or advertising companies. Professional software training for digital animators so that we can get the new Disney animation department up as quickly as possible, but that’s a lot more expensive. In the long run, we’re still relying on training from two years ago to provide us with a steady stream of More professional digital animation talents, I am currently asking the strategic planning department to make the relevant budget, and you will be able to see the relevant report at the end of the month.” (To be continued.)

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[End of this Chapter]