Exciting 1979!

Chapter 485 This fat sheep deserves to be slaughtered!

Accompanied by Gong Ying, Gong Xue made another trip to Qingniao Film Company and met with director Yan Hao.

Director Yan Hao is only in his early 30s, but he is short and has a youthful face, looking like a college student.

At first glance, Gong Xue felt that the director might not be very reliable. Yan Hao was also worried about whether Gong Xue, a mainland-born actress, could handle the role of Shan Shan. He actually hoped to find a Hong Kong actress with charm, such as Cherie Chung.

But Cherie Chung wouldn't risk going to the mainland; she's at the peak of her career.

However, upon meeting her, Yan Hao could hardly sense any mainland aura from Gong Xue, as long as she didn't speak.

Once they opened their mouths, their Mandarin was too standard and their tone was too serious, which gave them away. Fortunately, they knew how to do voice-over.

Gong Xue put a lot of effort into her image, and even lived with the single mother from Langning Toy Factory for a period of time.

Another credit goes to Gong Ying for her styling. Now, her second sister looks like a Hong Kong woman who has seen it all and has a lot to say, and she has a lot of charm.

Finally, Yan Hao tried out two scenes, and Xia Meng, who hadn't acted in a long time, personally acted alongside her, playing the role of Siqin Gaowa.

Gong Xue performed both scenes very well, and she did not show any fear even when facing a senior actress like Xia Meng.

Yan Hao shook hands with Gong Xue: "Everything's settled on my end. Welcome to the team."

Gong Xue hurriedly asked, "When will filming begin?"

Xia Meng said, "Director Yan wanted to create a desolate feeling, so he suggested that filming begin in the fall. During this period, you can stay in Hong Kong to maintain the feeling, or you can go back to the mainland first."

Gong Xue asked, "Is Siqin Gaowa still in Chaoshan?"

"Here I am."

Gong Xue: "Then I'll go see her first, then I'll go back to Beijing and let my work unit know before I come over."

This film, Bluebird, will be co-produced with the Pearl River Film Studio in mainland China. As a co-production, Gong Xue and Siqin Gaowa will follow the same procedures as actors from domestic film studios, receiving no pay but instead a salary and subsidies.

With no actors' salaries and no grand scenes, this film has a much smaller budget, making it the least expensive film Bluebird has ever made.

After leaving Qingniao, Gong Xue said to his younger sister with reluctance, "Then I'll leave in a couple of days. Let Mom take care of you."

Gong Ying laughed and said, "My belly isn't even big yet, don't worry, it's fine."

“And this is it,” Gong Xue handed a bunch of keys to his sister. “If Wei Ming comes to Hong Kong before me, give this to him. Or maybe we’ll come together.”

Just before leaving Hong Kong, Gong Xue suddenly received a phone call from Zhou Huimin.

"Sister Xue, you haven't forgotten me, have you? We said we'd have dinner together sometime."

"Of course, I remember." Gong Xue maintained his smile.

"Do you have time tomorrow? I have something urgent to ask you."

Gong Xue paused slightly, then finally said, "Okay."

~
Before Wei Ming and his team left San Francisco, the great-aunt launched a formal acquisition of AMC, with the acquisition price set at $3000 million.

In addition, there may be an additional investment of about $100 million, firstly to acquire other small theater chains, and secondly to build a multi-functional theater system to create a theater chain system covering North America, becoming the first theater chain giant, so as to increase bargaining power with the eight major Hollywood film studios.

Although this cinema chain has nothing to do with Wei Ming, it is absolutely trustworthy and forms a solid foundation for Wei Ming's foray into Hollywood.

Before leaving, Wei Ming made a suggestion.

“Tangren Bookstore seems to sell records as well, so could they also sell videotapes?” Wei Ming suggested. “If they control videotapes and can also take over television networks, then they can truly control the end of the film and television industry.”

The great-aunt and Gong Biyang, who was in charge of the bookstore business next to her, seemed to be deep in thought.

Suddenly, Ah Chao, the bodyguard and driver beside my great-aunt, handed her a newspaper, clearly indicating that he had something urgent to attend to.

After reading it, my great-aunt sighed, "Another old friend has passed away."

Seeing Wei Ming and the others' confusion, she handed the newspaper in traditional Chinese characters to Wei Ming. On the front page was an obituary for Mr. Liao.

Liao Gong was in charge of the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office for a long time, and he had friends all over the world. Even someone with a radical personality like my great-aunt treated him as a friend, which shows that he did a good job and united everyone who could be united.

Wei Ming expressed his deep regret. Just last year, Liao Gongcai had issued an open letter to Chiang Kai-shek, which received a warm response from the global Chinese community. It seemed that cross-strait relations were on the verge of moving forward. Now, the bridge between the two sides is gone, and a lot of work has to be redone. If time is wasted, the window of opportunity may be closed.

After reading the obituary, Wei Ming and the others boarded the plane. During his week in San Francisco, Wei Ming successfully secured a place at the University of California, Berkeley. The Department of Humanities in the College of Arts and Sciences at the university warmly welcomed Mr. Why to join the school and offered him scholarships and other lenient treatment that ordinary students could not obtain.

After all, Wei Ming is a Cannes Palme d'Or winner, a famous bestselling author and musician, and is considered a potential Nobel Prize-winning author. Berkeley would be happy to add a Nobel laureate alumnus to its ranks.

Wei Ming plans to return to Beijing to complete the necessary procedures in China once he finishes his work, and then officially begin his study abroad life with his sister in the second half of the year.

Now they have to fly to Los Angeles.

During this period, Wei Lingling contacted Atari, and next she will go to Warner, the parent company, to have a talk.

Wei Ming also found the contact information of Robert Shaye, the owner of New Line Cinema, and they arranged to meet in Los Angeles.

On the plane, Wei Ming and Wei Lingling learned about Atari and video games.

Atari was the first company to produce arcade machines, and they have many patents in this area. They have a game called Breakout, I don't know if you've ever played it?

Wei Ming nodded. He had played it before, but it was in his previous life, and it probably wasn't the original version.

Wei Lingling said, "This classic game is from Atari and can also be played on arcade machines in Hong Kong. One of the developers later started his own company, Apple, which has already gone public."

This is a new piece of information. Wei Ming knew that Steve Jobs had worked at Atari, but he didn't know that this classic game was actually created by him.

Furthermore, Steve Gary Wozniak, who worked with Jobs to develop brick-breaking technology and found Apple, was also an alumnus of UC Berkeley.

“Atari’s most popular product was the Atari 2600 home video game console. It was very popular in the United States when I was studying there. Many male students had one. It is said that there was one Atari 2600 in every three households in the United States,” Wei Lingling said. “It was also because the development cost of this game console was too high that Atari was acquired by Warner for $76 million in cash in 2800.”

It was worth 2800 million seven years ago.

Wei Ming asked cautiously, "So how much did it ultimately cost to develop this game console?"

Wei Lingling: "It cost more than $100 million, but Warner made the right bet. The Atari 2600 brought Warner more than $2 billion in profit. It's just a pity that its glory ended at this moment."

She carried with her a copy of the Alamogordo Daily News, which contained news about Atari destroying 350 million E.T. game cartridges.

Atari sold each game disc for $25, which resulted not only in a loss of tens of millions of dollars, but also in damage to Atari's reputation. This led to a slump in Atari's reputation and the entire American home video game industry until a few years later when Japanese companies such as Nintendo made a comeback and devoured this multi-billion dollar home video game console industry.

Wei Ming: "Atari was once so glorious, it feels like even Ronning would have a hard time taking it over."

Wei Lingling: "Let's give it a try. When I went to Atari, the company was laying off employees. Atari is a considerable burden for Warner now." Wei Ming realized that he had never played an Atari game console before, so when they arrived in Los Angeles, they first bought an Atari 2600 and some game discs, and started playing as soon as they got to the hotel.

The game "ET" is indeed garbage, no wonder it was destroyed. It's not easy for Wei Ming to buy a copy. It seems that even big IPs are not a panacea. Consumers can tell whether they are being treated like fools.

Once Wei Ming started playing the game console, he discovered that Wei Hong was a gaming tyrant; once she started playing, it was difficult for anyone else to interfere.

However, she was indeed better at the game than anyone else. Even Wei Lingling, who had played before, was no match for her, let alone the clumsy and forward-leaning Lizhi, who could only watch Wei Hong play Pac-Man.

So Pac-Man was invented so long ago, and it was even created by the Japanese. Then Wei Ming asked again, and well, Snake was also invented.

Later, he subtly probed Wei Lingling and finally confirmed that there was an old classic game that had not yet been invented.

If his aunt can really take Atari, Wei Ming will bring up this game.

Negotiations were not easy. At this point, Atari was in the midst of a collapse, and Warner was still hoping that the market could recover and Atari could regain its former glory. Therefore, they asked for a high price. The price of $500 million was simply treating them like Japanese people.

Wei Ming's suggestion is: "We might as well wait a little longer. I expect the home gaming market to get worse and worse, and Atari's burden will get heavier and heavier. At that time, the price will definitely drop again."

Wei Lingling worried: "Will we miss out on a golden opportunity for industry development? After all, Japanese companies have been very aggressive lately, especially giants like Sony."

Wei Ming said, "How about this, you can set up a game division in Hong Kong first. After all, you didn't really intend to do the game industry in the United States. The costs are much higher than in Hong Kong and mainland China. All you want is Atari's technology and patents. When you buy it, you'll need a team in Hong Kong to take over."

Wei Lingling sighed: "What you said makes sense. Then I'll go back to Hong Kong and build a team first."

Then Wei Ming pulled out a small game proposal: "Help me register the copyright for this, and then have a Hong Kong team make it. Consider it training."

Wei Lingling took it and looked at it: "Wei what square?"

"Temporary name, a puzzle game. You can see if there's a better name later. The gameplay is..." Wei Ming explained, leaving Wei Lingling somewhat confused. It really was just a small game.

However, her claim that she likes brain-training games sounds like it could easily fool those parents.

Wei Ming glanced at his watch: "It's almost time, let's go to the airport."

"okay."

Melinda arrived, and the two went to the airport to pick her up. After they met, Melinda asked, "Weren't you here to send your child to college? Where is your child?"

Wei Ming: "Don't even mention it, Xiao Hong is playing games at the hotel."

Wei Lingling: "My husband is watching other people play games."

hotel.

Lizhiqiu said, "Xiaohong, please let me play one more round."

Faced with Lizhi's earnest plea, Wei Hong blushed and pulled her arm away from Lizhi's embrace: "You're a noob."

Lizhi: "But you're a human being, you can't play for 24 hours straight!"

"Oh, just one more game, just one more game and I'll go to sleep." Wei Hong gripped the controller, lost in a frenzy.

When Wei Ming returned with Melinda, he forced Wei Hong to shut down her phone and gave her a stern warning: "If you keep doing this, I'll send you to a drug rehabilitation center in the United States. Playing games should be a relaxing activity. Are you trying to kill yourself?"

Wei Hong was both scared and tired, and she fell asleep on the bed after saying only a few words.

Lizhi glanced at the game console and decisively chose not to touch it; she wanted to maintain her image in front of Wei Ming.

Then the three bosses, each accompanied by an assistant, went to meet Robert Shaye, the CEO of New Line Cinema.

Robert smiled when he first saw this lineup. He saw a charming and talented man with three mistresses talking business with him.

He stared greedily at Wei Ming, who was like a tempting, fat sheep; it would be a crime not to fleece him!
So when Wei Ming expressed his intention to acquire the company, he also offered his price: "I can sell you 50% of my new line shares for $1000 million. I will only keep 40% for myself, and the rest will belong to several other senior executives of the company."

This means Robert Shaye has become a multimillionaire, owns 40% of the company, is the second-largest shareholder, and remains the controlling shareholder, since their acquirer is a foreigner, or rather, an American of Chinese descent.

This offer far exceeds the valuation of the new line. Wei Ming smiled and said, "Mr. Saya, how much do you know about me?"

Robert Shaye said, "These days I've been getting to know Mr. Why better. I've actually read your novels and listened to your songs before. I'm a fan of your books and I'm really looking forward to your Palme d'Or winner. So I'm happy to make this collaboration happen."

Wei Mingdao: "I still don't understand enough. I have also led several films in Hong Kong, and it can be said that every one of them was a blockbuster. My strength in the film industry is no less than that in novels and music. With me as the new boss, New Line Cinema's valuation may increase several times every year, and in a few years it may be among the top nine in Hollywood."

Robert Shaye wasn't intimidated by this; anyone can boast, but he laughed and said, "I believe you, so welcome to New Line."

Wei Ming: "I valued Newline at $10 million, which is actually an overestimation of Newline. I want 70% of your shares, which is $7 million. You will still have 20%. If someone is willing to sell the last 10%, and it is someone who is insignificant to the company, we are willing to take it."

So while Robert Shaye isn't a multi-millionaire, he's a 700 millionaire. If he adds his savings, he'd be a 900 millionaire, very close to becoming a multi-millionaire, which is quite enviable.

But he only has 20% left, which is an awkward proportion. If the company can really grow big, a CEO with 20% of the shares can also wield great influence in Hollywood.

But if it's just about maintaining the status quo, he probably would rather give up the new line and start from scratch.

Yeah, if I'm not happy with my job, I can just take the 700 million and start a new brand!

But he wanted more rights, so he wanted to exert more control over the client.

"I need to think about it carefully, after all, the new line is the culmination of more than ten years of my hard work."

Wei Ming: "We are leaving the United States tomorrow. We hope you can give us a reply as soon as possible. We will not wait for you if you do not reply soon."

It doesn't have to be a new production line. Even other small companies, as long as they have basic production capabilities and distribution channels, even if the channels aren't very smooth, Wei Ming is confident that he can cultivate a small Lionsgate.

After Robert Shaye left, Wei Ming asked Wei Lingling, "Auntie, can you help me find out where the copyright for Tolkien's novels is? I want to acquire it."

"Tol King, do you mean The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings?"

Wei Ming: "It would be best to have both."

Wei Lingling asked worriedly, "This kind of subject matter can't be handled with a low budget, are you sure?"

Wei Ming: "I'm not filming now, but if I can hold onto it for the long term, I'm willing to pay any price."

Wei Lingling: "Okay, I'll ask for you."

Actually, they weren't leaving tomorrow. Wei Ming just didn't want to waste time arguing with Robert Shaye and hoped the other party would make a decision as soon as possible. So he preferred to offer more when making the quote, just wanting to get DreamWorks' media empire into the next stage as quickly as possible.

Moreover, Wei Ming does not intend to own only New Line Cinema in Hollywood. Buying existing companies is just the first step. DreamWorks will definitely establish its own brand later, focusing on big-budget classic films and building a brand image.

When they returned to the hotel, coincidentally, they saw Cheng Long checking in alone, without Chen Chong by his side.

Wei Ming immediately stepped forward to greet him.
(End of this chapter)