Hollywood Director 1992

"Cunning fellow!" At the Death Star Mansion - CAA agency headquarters, Michael Ovitz watched Link on TV with a complex expression.

Ron Meyer smoked his cigarette and said faintly, "We really underestimated him."

Michael Ovitz snorted coldly, his face turning even worse.

Before participating in the bet, he knew Link as a young, intelligent, wealthy, and capable person, but he never took him seriously or considered him an opponent. So, his participation in the bet was entirely on a whim, just for fun.

Considering the quality of 'The Firm' and Tom Cruise's reputation, they didn't think they would lose.

However, after 'The Firm' was released, influenced by 'The Wedding Banquet' and 'Ace Ventura: Pet Detective,' he became agitated and anxious, making a series of irrational decisions, including repeatedly raising funds to promote 'The Firm' and suppressing the box office of 'Final Destination'.

This also led to him investing more and more in this bet.

In the end, he was outmaneuvered and lost to Link and his 'Final Destination'.

This resulted in him, Ron Meyer, and several important CAA clients losing hundreds of millions of dollars.

It also indirectly led to Richard Gere's severe injury and disability, Robert Downey Jr.'s imprisonment, and Dustin Hoffman's damaged reputation.

Even CAA's star client, Tom Cruise, had his work affected.

This time, CAA's losses were too great.

Looking back, Michael Ovitz deeply regretted participating in the bet.

If he hadn't participated, he wouldn't have lost so much money.

If he hadn't continued to increase the stakes after the bet began, raising the box office of 'The Firm' and suppressing 'Final Destination,' he wouldn't have invested so much, the losses wouldn't have been so great, Robert Downey Jr. and Richard Gere wouldn't have clashed, and Tom Cruise and the others wouldn't have been affected.

The more Michael Ovitz thought about it, the more regretful he became.

"Michael, Link has already gained a foothold in Hollywood. Guess Pictures is becoming increasingly powerful after successfully distributing seven films, becoming the strongest company in the independent film sector. I suggest proactively improving relations with Link. Having a potential collaborator is more beneficial to CAA's development than having a competitor," said Jay Maloney.

Michael Ovitz knew Jay Maloney was right.

CAA is an agency, and its profits come from commission splits from its clients' salaries and production splits from film projects. This profit model requires them to maintain close cooperative relationships with film companies.

From a company perspective, improving relations with Link and Guess Pictures is very necessary.

However, from a personal perspective, asking him, the number one person in Hollywood, to actively befriend Link, someone who brought great losses to the company and himself, was something he couldn't do.

"Restoring relations with Link is indeed necessary," Ron Meyer said. "Link likes to use new actors in his movies. Not cooperating with him won't affect him much, but his movies are popular, and he creates many stars. Cooperating with him is more beneficial to us."

Michael Ovitz took a few deep drags of his cigarette and nodded.

On TV, Larry King continued to ask, "Link, I heard your third film has finished filming. What genre is this movie? Can you give us a little hint?"

Link said, "It's a thriller, and the content involves religion and crime. John Milton mentioned the seven deadly sins of Christianity in 'Paradise Lost': gluttony, greed, sloth, pride, lust, envy, and wrath. This film is also based on these seven sins. The level of suspense is no less than the previous two films."

"A crime thriller? I have a bad feeling that after this movie is released, perhaps something bad will happen again," Larry King said with a serious expression.

"Larry, you have to believe in science."

"Haha, Link, why don't we make a bet? If you lose, you'll buy me a drink?" Larry King laughed.

"I'm sure I'll win," Link smiled and bumped fists with Larry King.

Larry King continued to interview him on other questions.

After finishing the CNN interview at noon, Link then participated in interviews with 'The Hollywood Reporter,' 'Vanity Fair,' and CBS Television, talking about the film bet and the disputes with Robert Downey Jr. and others.

He clarified some scandals and rumors.

However, the effect was not great, and there were still many malicious news reports in the media.

During this period, Link again received investment applications from multiple investment companies, including CAA, Time Warner Group, Vanguard Group, BlackRock Group, Morgan Investment, Goldman Sachs Investment, etc., all of which were giants in the capital circle.

Link understood that Guess Pictures had become a sweet treat in the eyes of Wall Street capital.

The recent negative news in the media was probably related to these investment companies.

Continuing to refuse would probably bring a lot of trouble and delay his filmmaking.

Link called in several senior executives to hold a meeting and decided to accept financing, but the valuation of Guess Pictures was $500 million, not the $220 million offered by Wall Street.

Since they all have a positive outlook on Guess Pictures, it shows that the company's shares are very valuable. Increasing it by one time from the original base doesn't seem excessive.

"$500 million?" Michael Ovitz frowned upon hearing the quote. "Link, are you kidding me? Columbia Pictures has been established for more than 70 years and has released thousands of films. Its market value is only $3 billion. Why should Guess Pictures be worth $500 million?"

Michael Ovitz is not only the founder of CAA, but also a broker in the capital circle.

He once used his resources to help Sony acquire Columbia Pictures in 1989.

In 1990, he helped Matsushita Electric acquire MCA, the parent company of Universal Pictures.

Now he is hired by Vanguard Capital to negotiate financing matters with Link.

It's just that Link doesn't seem to want to accept financing and wants to continue eating alone, which makes him very unhappy.

Link smiled and said, "The market value of a film company is not determined by the length of its establishment, but by the film company's performance. Since its establishment, every film produced by Guess Pictures has been a big hit, and the box office revenue ratio often reaches thousands or tens of thousands of times. Last year, the revenue ratio was even higher than that of the Big Seven film companies.

This shows that Guess Pictures' ability to make money is not worse than that of the Big Seven film companies.

My quote of $500 million is not much, it's even less.

In addition, do you know how many people have wanted to invest in Guess Pictures since the end of last year? 127, including individuals and investment companies. This shows that Guess Pictures has great potential, and may grow into a large film group comparable to the Big Seven in the future. It is very cost-effective to invest in Guess Pictures now, and it will be a pity to miss it."

"Comparable to the Big Seven?" Michael Ovitz chuckled dryly in his throat. "Link, I'm seriously negotiating with you, and I hope you'll be serious too."

"Michael, you are a Hollywood veteran, and I have great respect for you. I wouldn't joke with you. To be honest, the current market value of Guess Pictures is 500 million. By the end of the year, we plan to increase the market value of Guess Pictures to more than 1 billion. If you want to invest in Guess Pictures, it's best to start early. There may be no chance to invest later."

Link leaned back in his office chair and smiled.

"$1 billion? Not a bad goal. I'll consider the financing matter further and give you a message in a couple of days." Michael Ovitz snorted coldly and hung up the phone forcefully.

He took the initiative to call Link to discuss cooperation, which was also giving Link a chance to seek peace, but Link didn't know how to cherish it.

Then don't blame him for being ruthless.

Michael picked up the phone and called Vanguard Capital, suggesting that they continue to suppress Guess Pictures and force Link to bow his head.

Link has no foundation in Hollywood and will definitely not be able to last long.

Vanguard Capital is the most powerful entertainment capital in Hollywood and is also a major shareholder in film companies such as Warner Bros., Disney, and 20th Century Fox.

As long as Vanguard Capital is willing to take action to suppress Link, Link and Guess Pictures will have no chance of survival.

"Boss, is it okay for us to do this?" In the office, Liu Xiaoli looked at Link worriedly.

Recently, there have been many rumors in the industry that Guess Pictures is making too much money and is being coveted by the Big Seven film companies and Wall Street capital. Those forces are preparing to jointly annex Guess Pictures.

In this case, Link not only does not plan to compromise, but also plans to make a fortune from the capital side.

She is very worried that the Wall Street capital tycoons will abandon negotiations and use other methods to deal with Link.

"Don't worry, we still have a lot of chips, we won't lose," Link said confidently, flipping through the newspaper and smiling.