Huayu: From charlatan to great entertainer

Chapter 344 Red Alert
Hoover Institution, Stanford University.

In the rented studio, a young man and woman stood facing each other.

Boss Lu's face was less than an inch away from Concubine Liu Yi. He was frowning and looking at her face carefully.

Xiao Liu had already entered the role and did not show any shyness at all. He was completely immersed in the role.

"Cover up the dark shadows under your eyes again. Use a nude powder for a darker color."

The young director arranged for the makeup artist to put on makeup, and he secretly sighed that the girl in front of him was becoming more and more haggard. He even had to use more concealer to hide her fatigue.

Liu Yifei's body was a little relaxed. She wore a beige linen shirt with khaki casual pants. The third button of the shirt was deliberately made old to restore the wear and tear caused by Zhang Chunru's habitual rubbing.

There are slight wrinkles at the trouser legs, which is a natural sign of sitting for a long time.

From makeup, to clothes, to people.

Almost flawless.

The on-site 3000K color temperature LED panel simulates the unique cool white halo of the archive.

Six adjustable spotlights projected from a 45-degree angle, casting delicate shadows on Liu Yifei's profile, highlighting her high nose bridge and slightly furrowed brows.

"Ready, Action!"

The main camera shoots a low-angle upward shot of Xiao Liu looking through a document. As the camera slowly moves forward, it captures the subtle trembling of her eyelashes under the fluorescent light of the reader, and the gentle touch of her right ring finger caressing the edge of the document.

The handheld photography on the other side focuses on the action of Liu Yifei pressing the paper with her left hand.

Her nails were trimmed neatly and rounded, and her fingertips were slightly white due to the force, which was exactly the same as the details in Zhang Chunru's previous work photos.

The little girl lowered her head, this was a pantomime moment that belonged only to her.

The green fluorescence of the reader creates a unique light and shadow effect in close-up shots, making her amber pupils look like amber immersed in the long river of history.

When reading the indescribable paragraph, Xiao Liu's pupils dilated slightly and he bit his lower lip unconsciously...

The camera moves away and the image will be blurred in post-production.

"Click! Passed!"

The crew members applauded as usual. Liu Yifei stood up by supporting herself on the table and breathed a sigh of relief.

Lu Kuan waved to her and walked to the monitor.

"any questions?"

"no problem."

The young director watched the replay and pondered, "The only thing to keep in mind is the emotional scale of the scenes where they're searching for information in different libraries across North America."

"Her emotional state was a gradual process. She didn't start out all sad and angry."

Concubine Liu Yi nodded: "I understand, I have been paying attention to this."

"Are you going back soon?" Liu Yifei asked about his schedule so that she could plan her time.

Boss Lu pulled out a director's chair for her to sit down. "Yes, the Olympics are almost one year away, and it's time to make the final report to the bosses."

As one of the chief directors, he is under a lot of pressure.

During this period, I have been filming during the day and discussing with the domestic Olympic team online at night.

The report in June will not only be reviewed by several bigwigs, but also be the time to finally determine who will serve as the chief director of the opening ceremony and who will serve as the chief director of the closing ceremony between him and Zhang Yimou.

Xiao Liu nodded, her lips feeling a little dry after having just applied lip gloss. "It just so happens that while you're back home, I've made an appointment with Sister Chunru's psychiatrist."

"He will try to help me find the medical records of her aphasia caused by anxiety and depression." The little girl licked her lips with the tip of her pale pink tongue, looking somewhat longing.

"This scene starts with silence, and then explodes within the silence. I'm really looking forward to it."

Boss Lu smiled indifferently, his stubble thick, his Adam's apple prominent, and his weariness barely concealed. "The PBS video is readily available, but you can come up with some ideas of your own. I'll discuss them with you when we get back."

"Ok!"

Concubine Liu Yi stared at his profile for a while, feeling a little sorry for his haggard appearance.

But the crew members next to her were still packing up the props, so she stammered and didn't say anything.

"Ring ring ring!"

Lu Kuan glanced at the phone, his expression slightly changed: "Talk."

Liu Yifei pricked up her ears. Huang Anna's voice was on the other end of the line: "Microsoft and Netflix simultaneously released public company announcements, involving two private placements and corporate bonds with a total value of approximately $10 billion."

Boss Lu silently calculated the cash that Hastings might have, and without hesitation hung up the phone and called Paulson.

“How much cash can I get in a week?”

Paulson was stunned when he heard this, then quickly clicked his mouse and saw the US stock announcement: "Currently, our CDS yield is around 520%. I can pledge it with Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo, and the most I can get is around 35 billion in cash."

"Okay! 35 billion."

Boss Lu said briefly, "Did you see the announcement? Hastings saw what I was up to, otherwise he wouldn't have gone to Microsoft for funding."

"He's now trying to eat up Blockbuster on one hand and defend Netflix from a surprise attack on the other."

"The Microsoft and Netflix deal will also take time. The market is closed tomorrow, so hurry up and arrange for the funds to be in place. The sooner we get there, the more time we have to seize the initiative!"

Paulson responded quickly: "I currently have twelve offshore entities, including a Cayman Islands SPV and a Panama holding company. Once the funds are in place, I can simultaneously acquire 4.9% of Blockbuster shares at a low price."

"Then announce that the concerted action group will initiate a takeover bid. Blockbuster's shareholders are now unwilling to stay and will not resist as long as the price is right!"

There was a sudden long silence on the other end of the phone.

"Hey?"

"Lu? Are you there?"

"I'm here, wait!"

Lu Kuan's heart was beating very fast, and he swallowed hard, feeling his temples throbbing!
He reached out and grabbed the wrist of Concubine Liu Yi beside him. The clock showed exactly two o'clock in the afternoon!
The closing hours of the U.S. stock market are different from those of the domestic stock market. Generally, they are closed from 9:4 in the morning to : in the afternoon, with no break at noon.

Now he has to make a difficult decision, and is also making an inference that will determine the fate of billions of funds.

Hastings saw his intention to lure him into the trap, and turned to unite Microsoft's manpower to obtain huge funds.

Judging from the market value and financial status announced by Netflix, Hastings holds 10 billion from Microsoft plus more than 10 billion pledged by Netflix, which is at most nearly 25 billion in funds.

His intention was nothing more than to take Blockbuster if he could advance, or to protect Netflix if he could retreat, and completely shatter his own wishful thinking.

But now there is a key issue that determines the outcome of the war: "information asymmetry"!
Hastings didn't know that he had a CDS fund with a return rate of up to 520%, which could produce up to 35 billion in cash in a short period of time.

Maybe if we get some help from Harvey and others, we can get some extra bits and pieces.

"Paulson, I have an idea."

The big short seller on the other end of the phone was stunned. What time is it now?

The market is only closed for two hours, time waits for no one!

Boss Lu said solemnly, "The enemy and us have information asymmetry right now. Hastings doesn't know we have a 35 billion cash aid package. So, do this."

"According to our previous plan, we will use offshore companies to conduct block trades for Blockbuster's shares, obtaining 30% of the chips in a fractional manner. We will stop each time we approach the 4.9% threshold and wait for the public announcement of joint actors with the original 15%."

“Although 45% doesn’t guarantee absolute control, it should be a relatively safe number.”

"However, we should adjust the floating shares in the secondary market to prevent Hastings from seeing our financial strength clearly."

"When the enemy retreats, we advance; when the enemy advances, we retreat. We will consume his funds at all costs!"

"We have 35 billion, and he only has 25 billion. The advantage is mine!"

Paulson was shocked. This employer really didn't take money seriously!
He didn't know the significance of streaming channels to Boss Lu's future plans, nor did he know the huge value of Netflix in the future.

Don’t even mention 35 billion, we’ll have to spend 350 billion!

Paulson said in a deep voice, "The operation is too difficult. I can only try my best to do as you say. However, you have to give me a bottom line..."

"At this critical moment, should we protect Blockbuster or Netflix?"

"Netflix! Of course Netflix!" Boss Lu said without hesitation.

Hastings is also a fucking lunatic. Who knows, he might use the empty city plan and just go all in on Blockbuster and bury himself in the ground.

Since you want to change your home, then change your home!
After Boss Lu hung up the phone, he felt his blood boiling. A multi-billion dollar acquisition and counter-acquisition battle was about to begin.

It is worth mentioning that the series of anti-takeover measures mentioned in the previous article, such as shark repellents, are ineffective in the face of huge amounts of capital.

In other words, it is a means to fight against rational acquirers.

If my boss Lu is determined today to acquire Netflix at all costs, then any means will be futile when he is defeated by force.

Of course, before the last step, you naturally cannot do such a stupid thing with extremely low cost-effectiveness.

Paulson has the most professional team on Wall Street, and they understand his strategic intentions. All that remains is to wait and see how the battle unfolds.

Lu Kuan looked up again. Everyone in the crew was far away. Concubine Liu Yi stayed by his side, listening to every detail. "Are you closing in?"

The young director smiled bitterly: "The thieves are cunning, and their victory has not been fully realized. We can only fight the foreign devils with real swords and guns."

Boss Lu covered his chest with his hands and frowned.

Concubine Liu Yi hurriedly supported him and asked, "What's wrong?"

“I feel bad.”

"Angina pectoris?" The little girl turned pale with fright. She took out her cell phone and was about to make a call, but was angered by the washing machine's words and laughed.

Boss Lu sighed to the sky, "I failed to ambush Hastings. This time, I might have to pay a heavy price. I'm worried about my US dollars!"

Concubine Liu Yi rolled her eyes at him coquettishly: "Some people feel they're at a disadvantage when they haven't taken advantage of enough. You're one of them."

The young director thought hard, "No! I have to give that old guy some more trouble!"

Friday, May 2007, 5, was destined to be the most thrilling beginning for the North American DVD rental industry, or the future streaming media industry.

Starting around 2:30 p.m., shares of Blockbuster on the New York Stock Exchange and Netflix on Nasdaq both saw slight fluctuations.

However, the former's intraday chart trend is obviously stronger, with MACD and various deviation indexes constantly rising.

At around three o'clock, Blockbuster's stock price suddenly rose sharply from US$2.85 to around US$3.25, marking the strongest news since the recent bankruptcy rumors!

The shareholders were stunned. Could it be true what the young director said about acquiring Blockbuster?
Stupid people have too much money!
Gradually, some investors began to enter the market to test the waters and build positions at low levels to see if there would be a wave of upward movement on Monday.

Hastings obviously noticed this, and his acquisition team and secondary market traders acted quickly, using their limited funds to start building a base position.

At the same time, he is also closely monitoring the dynamics of his own stocks, and has not found anything abnormal so far.

Looking at his watch, Hastings prepared to go to Bastide in downtown Los Angeles to meet with several media friends.

To build momentum for himself and discredit Lu Kuan.

It’s a business war, so that’s part of the story.

Is Boss Lu idle again?

In the evening, as soon as the crew finished filming, they contacted Harvey, Iger and others and invited them to dinner at the Stanford Country Club.

Obviously, during the two days of market closure, many attacks will become increasingly frequent.

Saturday was a day of preparation, but starting at 10 a.m. on Sunday, various online forums, print media blogs, Facebook and Twitter in North America started arguing!
First, Wenjie, the company that produced the "Paranormal Activity", "Alien", and "Insidious" series, announced that the company intends to continue to increase its capital based on its 15% equity and acquire this -year-old company.

Although it is an old store on the verge of death.

Netflix then issued a statement expressing its intention to acquire its competitor Blockbuster and integrate industry resources to provide better online and offline DVD services to North American and global users.

The incident caused a huge uproar and instantly attracted a large number of onlookers and professional financial and Wall Street media.

The reason is simple. Since both of you want to acquire the company, why do you rush to publish articles to build momentum on a market holiday?

Aren’t you afraid that investors and institutions will rush to buy shares when the market opens on Monday?

Boss Lu’s answer is that he is not afraid. The key to victory in this battle is to fight Hastings to the death and consume his limited $25 billion in funds.

Hastings’ answer was screw it, he had already announced it, it didn’t matter whether Netflix said it or not, it might as well build momentum for himself!

This dictator has been in the industry for more than 20 years, so he naturally has no shortage of media resources.

Soon, The Washington Post took the lead and fired the first shot in the "reverse direction".

The Post said: Lu Kuan lacks industry experience and is short-sighted and profit-driven, and will not be a good business leader.

Under his leadership, Blockbuster will be like the once glorious Mytube, with no long-term development plan at all.

Hastings accused Lukuan of focusing only on short-term profits as a financial investor and not understanding the DVD industry's long-term strategy of "content is king."

At the same time, he hinted and accused the Chinese capital under his control of conspiring to monopolize the traditional film and television rental and emerging streaming media markets through capital operations. His intentions are despicable!
Of course, Boss Lu also responded.

The New York Daily News, which has Chinese capital background, exclusively broke the news:
Hastings' mansion and Netflix's layoffs

Netflix founder Hastings was revealed to have purchased a $1200 million beachfront villa in Santa Cruz, while Netflix laid off 9% of its employees during the same period.

The reporter said: "While Hastings was drinking champagne on the yacht, Netflix employees were worrying about next month's mortgage payments."

A Netflix spokesperson responded that the layoffs were part of a business adjustment and had nothing to do with Hastings' personal life.

Coincidentally, the San Francisco Chronicle also revealed an old story:
Hastings acts arbitrarily and expels Netflix veterans

Hastings held absolute power during Netflix's development. In 1999, co-founder Marc Randolph was forced to give up the CEO position, and the subsequent frequent changes in the executive team led to a lack of stability in the company's strategy.

The newspaper quoted Patty McCord, Netflix's former chief talent officer, as saying that Hastings "is difficult to dissuade once he makes a decision and is as stubborn as a beast."

This news caused a strong reaction and is an old story that has been buried in the dustbin of history.

At this moment, Hastings had the same idea as Wendy Deng and others:

How could he know so much about the "Netflix palace fight" nearly 10 years ago?

Boss Lu: You wrote it in your autobiography, boss!
These two revelations were mainly intended to arouse resistance within Blockbuster to Netflix and Hastings's acquisition.

If he is portrayed as a dictator, how can the old employees of Blockbuster, big and small, who hold shares, not be afraid?

Now that Hastings is here, what good can happen to the incumbents who have led the old DVD giants into a dead end?
Of course, audiences and the media love novelty.

Under deliberate guidance, the news quickly spread.

The power of social media is enormous. On popular North American social software such as Facebook and Twitter, reports from former employees and anonymous Twitter employees have appeared.

Hastings is a well-deserved iron-fisted leader and business leader, but such people are often tough and must take the lead and the right to speak.

This Randolph was the founder of Netflix, but was driven out by Hastings and the board of directors due to differences in ideas.

Who does he look like...

Wang Zhidong of Sina.

In 2003, Wang Zhidong was invited back to Sina by Lu Kuan and Chen Tianqiao. He joined forces with the barbarians to drive out Duan Yongji and avenge the previous incident.

History is always strikingly similar.

So Randolph became the King Zhidong of North America, and was pushed to the forefront by some behind-the-scenes forces. He began to accept media interviews and strongly criticized Hastings' autocratic rule.

For example, myself – founder Mark Randolph was forced to resign and received only symbolic compensation;
In 2004, CTO Eric Meyer was fired for opposing the contraction of the DVD business;
Nearly half of the seven board members are Hastings' close associates, including his golfing buddies.

Hastings was furious and used more harsh words to directly hit the weak spot of this oriental serpent!

The Wall Street Journal:
[Red Alert: Chinese Capital Invades Hollywood]

Netflix founder Hastings recently publicly questioned Lukuan's acquisition motives, saying that it has close ties with China Film Group and may use Blockbuster for political propaganda.

Hastings said: "Blockbuster is one of the top two DVD companies in the United States and has enormous value. It cannot be controlled by foreign forces."

The Daily cited national security disputes similar to the Nippon 7-11 acquisition, suggesting that foreign capital behind Lukuan could manipulate the direction of Netflix's content and affect the output of American culture.

The New York Daily analyzed the current funding situation and sources of the North American Q&A industry:
Apart from the nearly $2 million in box office profits from "Planescape: The Last Airbender" and "Twilight Season 1" that were just earned after the new year, the profits from the "Paranormal Activity" and "Insidious" series have basically been invested in film reproduction.

The proceeds from the sale of Mytube, plus the equity pledge funds of Focus Media, in the hands of this oriental director, are no more than 20 billion yuan.

Hastings can come up with $25 billion in acquisition funds, and he is playing at home.

The balance of victory seemed inevitably to tilt towards one side.

The war of public opinion between the two sides intensified, and many third parties who were watching the fun and had close ties with the two parties gradually joined the camp.

Like Sony Columbia.

The film and television studio, one of the six major Hollywood studios, claimed that if the short-sighted investor Lu Kuan took control of Blockbuster, Sony Columbia would consider signing an exclusive film supply agreement with Netflix.

This is tantamount to taking personal revenge, transferring the dissatisfaction with Mr. Lu making a Holocaust-themed movie into commercial behavior.

For a time, a series of Chinese media backed by the Zheng family started to fight again, accusing Sony and Columbia of having ulterior motives and secretly trying to support Japan's right-wing forces.

The latter spoke out immediately to refute the rumors, explaining clearly that he had no political stance and no bias, and was just doing business, and he had more trust in Hastings' leadership ability.

Of course, I just listened.

The crew of "The Sky of History" is harassed every now and then. There must be financial support behind it, right?

It may come from various scum associations in Japan, or it may come directly from donations from Sony.

No matter what you say or what you scold, the truth will eventually show up with your own actions.

On Monday morning, Blockbuster's opening auction at 9:25 on the New York Stock Exchange was somewhat intriguing.

Countless large orders are showing their fangs and claws at the buy-one position, which seems to indicate that today is extraordinary.

At 9:30, the market officially opened, and the scene that drove countless investors crazy appeared.

(End of this chapter)