Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 237 I have to admire you

This season, the NBA's salary cap is $1500 million, and Johnson's remaining contract will always take up part of the salary cap space;
But Aaron felt that Jerry Buss must have a solution.

After chatting with Jerry Buss for a while, Aaron also met tonight's protagonist Summer Redstone. Aaron had to admire this guy for being able to acquire Paramount at the age of 70.

The Redstone family's National Amusements Company is essentially a cinema chain company. In 1986, it swallowed up Viacom Group and became a media tycoon!
"Aaron," suddenly, Michael Ovitz came to Aaron.

"Good evening, Mr. Ovitz!"

Michael Ovitz nodded. "I heard you're going to buy Samuel Goldwyn Films?"

"Yes, Suguang previously acquired the AMC cable TV network and needs film library resources;"

"Moreover, Sugon's current distribution system also needs to be supported by a film library."

Aaron didn't hide anything, after all, this was the normal strategy.

Michael Ovitz was a little sad. Seeing his former subordinates achieve such brilliant results, he became more and more interested in running a film company.
Giant agencies like CAA and ICM are always missing something because they cannot get involved in the production business due to antitrust laws.

"It seems that leaving CAA was the right decision for you!"

Michael Ovitz had just recommended Joe Roth, the head of 20th Century Fox, for Disney to leave;

However, as a long-time friend of Michael Eisner, he also wanted him to join Disney to replace Jeffrey Katzenberg, but the specific position had not yet been decided.

"CAA is not bad either. It's the largest agency in Hollywood now," Aaron smiled. Besides, Michael Ovitz was selected as the number one person in Hollywood's power list by the British magazine "Premiere" for three consecutive years!
Michael Ovitz waved his hand and said, "CAA's annual profit is less than that of one of your movies..."

Afterwards, Aaron took Monica Bellucci to the balcony of the banquet hall to get some fresh air!

"The preview of 'Philadelphia Story' received very good feedback. Have you read the script of 'Garage Horror'?"

Aaron lit a cigarette and took a drag.

"I've seen it," Monica Bellucci said, kissing Aaron on the cheek. "I read the script. The scene isn't too complicated. It should be quick to shoot, right?"

Aaron nodded. "Well, the scene is generally very simple. We'll shoot it in the parking lot under the Shuguang Building."

"There are so few scenes and actors, and you're the only bright spot in the show!"

"Garage Horror" is originally a low-budget thriller, with a sexy beauty and a perverted security guard, one escaping and the other chasing;

Blood plasma, darkness, and big breasts—standard horror movie specifications!
"Since the beginning of this year, I have spent a lot of time learning English and taking acting training. I should be able to fulfill the director's requirements."

"Don't worry..." Because Viacom first acquired Blockbuster for $87 billion, and then borrowed money from banks to acquire Paramount Communications Group;

As a result, the debt of the entire Viacom Group is now increasing. What Summer Redstone has to do next is to sell some assets to reduce the debt!
As the first media tycoon to propose "content is king", Summer Redstone's emphasis on Paramount is self-evident.

Then, in front of an audience of more than 300 people, Summer Redstone gave a powerful speech: "My goal is to be number one;"

"So, I hope that everything I do is number one. I'm not saying that I can do it, or that I should be. I'm just saying that I like to be number one."

With the acquisition of Viacom, of the seven major Hollywood film studios, only Disney and MGM still maintain their independence.
Compared to Disney, which owns its own children's cable TV network, record company, theme park, live-action and animated film companies, and international distribution network, MGM can only be said to be half-dead now. After all, it was almost dismantled by Credit Lyonnais.

In the hotel lounge, Summer Redstone asked Paramount Pictures Chairman Sherry Lansing about Dawn Films!

"Dawn? The founder of Dawn, Aaron Anderson, is a Hollywood golden boy. He first worked as an agent at CAA.

“Then I discovered some new directors like Steven Soderbergh and David Fincher, and made a name for myself in the independent film world;”

"After that, we formed Dawn and supported the black director John Singleton to develop the hit film Ghost;"

"His masterstroke was acquiring the thriller horror film 'The Silence of the Lambs' from Orion, which won him an Oscar!"

Sherry Lansing was very impressed with Aaron's accurate vision, and Paramount later purchased "The Addams Family" from Orion and achieved success;
But I heard from ICM Nancy Josephson that Aaron Anderson was also optimistic about this movie, but he lacked funds and could only buy one, so he chose the cheaper "Silence of the Lambs".

Summer Redstone smiled and said, "I've heard of the reputation of Hollywood's golden boy. Aaron Anderson's vision for movies is unmatched."

"The fact that Dawn has grown to such a scale in just four years is enough to prove his ability!"

Summer Redstone looked at Shirley Lansing and asked, "Is it possible to acquire Dawn Films?"

Sure enough, Shirley Lansing also guessed that for someone who claims that content is king, there must be hope for dawn!
What a pity! Shirley Lansing shook her head. “Disney, 20th Century Fox, Sony, and others are all interested in Dawn;”

"But Aaron Anderson has no intention of selling Dawn."

"Okay," Summer Redstone did have this idea, but he had just acquired Paramount and did not have much energy to pay attention to Dawn.

At present, Viacom needs to utilize Paramount's content resources as soon as possible. Viacom has strong distribution capabilities and needs high-quality content providers like Paramount!
Moreover, Summer Redstone, who was already 70 years old, no longer had the energy to participate in the front-line production business, and Paramount was still mainly managed by Shirley Lansing;
What he needs to do is to grasp the general direction and combine cable TV with high-quality film companies.

Shirley Lansing, currently the only female helmsman of a major Hollywood film group, is naturally cautious;

It is also unusual to like to co-invest in works with other film companies in order to share risks. After all, there are not many cooperative projects between the six major Hollywood studios!

(End of this chapter)