I’m in Hollywood

Concerned about impeding media freedom, (the Federal Communications Commission) imposed limits on the number of media a media company could have in the same area, and in the early days even stipulated that a network could not have more than two public television stations in the same area at the same time, but these restrictions With the development of the times and the promotion of capital forces, it has been relaxed, otherwise the phenomenon of the monopoly of news channels by several major media companies in North America would not have occurred.

However, the restrictions at this time are still relatively strict, and the TV network covers the entire United States. In order to pass the review, Firefly has to promise to divest a public youth TV station in Los Angeles that it acquired when it acquired Disney within a certain period of time.

After solving these problems, the merger between Firefly and Firefly quickly gained scrutiny.

At the same time as the review, Firefly began a large-scale debt financing plan. Firefly has achieved ultra-high profitability in the past two years, but in order to ensure the company's sufficient cash flow, Eric only intends to withdraw $2 billion in cash from the company for this acquisition, and the remaining $8 billion will be raised by issuing bonds.

Firefly and the TV network after the merger in the future have a large amount of excellent assets, coupled with the same stable operating conditions and profit expectations of the two companies, no one will doubt the solvency of Firefly in the future. Credit ratings are maintained at a very high level of aa.

So, for a whole week, Eric was surrounded by executives from Morgan Stanley, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch, and investment bankers from all over the world. After all, when it came to an $8 billion bond issue, investment banks If they get this business, the basic commission and the interest margin earned during the issuance process are enough for them to earn hundreds of millions of dollars in profits. In the 1990s, the annual profits of most investment banks in the United States were only about one billion dollars.

In order to raise this huge amount of money as soon as possible. Eric followed Chris's advice and chose two lead underwriters, Morgan Stanley and Deutsche Bank, to undertake the $4 billion bond issuance each, while raising funds in North America and Europe.

After a really busy week in New York, because he was surrounded by a lot of media, Eric didn't even go to Long Island to see his one-year-old son and daughter, and he didn't even have a chance to pay attention to Katherine, who was also in New York. .

March 21. Although things in New York are still very busy, Eric had to get on a plane back to Los Angeles to attend the 66th Academy Awards.

Firefly's small Gulfstream business jet landed at Santa Monica Airport and felt someone tap on his shoulder. Eric opened his eyes and saw the tall flight attendant in front of him. Eric tapped lightly. head, stand up.

A week in New York, every day until late at night to rest. The only thing Eric wants right now is a good night's sleep.

Walking off the plane alone with a suitcase,

Looking at his watch, it was already five o'clock in the afternoon, feeling the warm sunshine above his head, Eric realized that the time on the watch was US Eastern Time. At this time, it should still be two o'clock in the afternoon in Los Angeles, before the Oscars ceremony. Five hours left to start.

As one of the most important film awards ceremony in the United States and even in the world, the stars participating in the Oscars are often ready within a few days of the ceremony. Eric thought it was rare for him to be in such a situation. He just received an award speech from the Oscar organizing committee three days ago. It was only because Eric was discussing the details of the bond issue with the acquisition team at the time, Eric just glanced at it briefly, and now he has basically forgotten all about it.

However, fortunately, what he is going to present is the last best picture, and as the awards ceremony is nearing the end, there will be no more restrictions on the speeches of the presenters. Feel free to play, Eric believes that no one in the academy will settle accounts with him.

It was Kapoor who came to pick up the plane. Although Eric's identity was far from being a director, matters such as attending events would still be arranged for help.

The two chatted and laughed and got into a commercial car, and Kapoor joked to Eric: You are the only one who cares about Oscar so casually. Some stars of the company will even be unable to sleep for several days when they hear that they are going to attend.

Eric smiled and gestured to Kapoor with his faint dark circles under his eyes, and said with a smile: I can't guarantee that I will fall asleep at the Oscars, by the way, the seat they arranged for me will not be in the first place. Arrange?

Kapoor said: What do you think? Who dares to put you in a secondary corner now?

Okay, Eric shrugged. If I take a nap at the Oscars, I'll probably increase the ratings for the awards ceremony.

Kapoor laughed, and after a while, he said, By the way, have you been following the latest Hollywood news?

Eric shook his head and said, No, what happened?

Last week, Michael Ovitz sold his shares in caa. This morning, Japan's Panasonic Group announced the appointment of Michael Ovitz as president of Universal Pictures. Michael Eisner is about to undergo heart surgery. Kapur paused and said, Michael Eisner's heart problem is very serious. I heard that the success rate of the quadruple bypass surgery to be performed this time is only about 75%.

Neither Eric nor Kapoor had any friendship with Michael Eisner, not to mention that Eric was very aware of the results of Michael Eisner's heart surgery, so he had no idea and just asked, Panasonic did not let him go. Is Michael Eisner leaving?

Global's business situation has been improving in the past two years. As long as Michael Eisner successfully completes the heart surgery, he can still return to his previous working state. The Japanese are also waiting for the result.

I think Universal will definitely be in trouble in the future, Eric said with a smile: Although Michael Ovitz has managed caa very well, after all, a film company is not a brokerage company. If Michael Eisner fails to It will not be easy for Michael Ovitz to maintain Universal's situation after getting through this operation. If Michael Eisner can successfully complete the operation, then the situation will be more interesting.

Kapoor saw a gloating smile on Eric's face and asked, What do you mean?

Although Michael Eisner and Michael Ovitz are very good friends, it's just that they are both very controlling people when there is no corporate power struggle involved. Once Michael Eisner If Na goes through the surgery smoothly, then Universal Pictures is likely to be caught in an internal power dispute, Eric said, and suddenly asked: By the way, did Michael Eisner prepare a golden parachute for Michael Ovitz? An employment agreement like that?

In my memory, Michael Ovitz took away more than 100 million US dollars in severance compensation after working at Disney for more than a year, because Michael Eisner made a tailor-made compensation amount for Michael Ovitz in advance. Very high golden parachute deal.

It seems like this is the case, otherwise Michael Ovitz would not have given up caa to join Universal Pictures so simply. When Sony just acquired Columbia five years ago, he also invited Michael Ovitz to run the company. Ovitz immediately refused.

That's it, Eric nodded with a smile: Let's just wait and watch the show, Universal will definitely be very lively in the future.

Kapoor also nodded, but his expression was a little different.

Eric noticed Kapoor's expression and asked with a smile: You don't want to change to a film company executive like Michael Ovitz, right?

Kapoor nodded slightly, without denying it.

Eric is very clear that most executives of brokerage companies aspire to become the top executives of film companies, which not only means more generous salaries, but also broader powers.

However, although there have been many cases in the history of Hollywood where agents turned into film company executives and producers, there were not many very successful ones. In Eric's memory in his previous life, only Ron Mayer, who successfully took charge of Universal Pictures One can be regarded as the head of a big film company.

From the bottom of his heart, Eric did not recommend Kapoor to change careers, but facing Kapoor's thoughts, Eric didn't know how to persuade him. It seemed that he could only let the facts prove it.

Tell me about tonight's Oscars. I haven't paid much attention to it. Which awards are more promising for Pulp Fiction?

There is no big-name director competition this year. I think Quentin is very likely to win the best director, Kapoor also put aside what just happened and said: However, the most stable should be the best original screenplay.

Eric remembered that the best actor in his previous life this year should be Tom Hanks, but because Hanks filmed Saving Private Ryan ahead of time, Philadelphia Story changed the actor. Rick didn't see the nomination for Best Actor in Philadelphia Story, but thinking of another person, Eric shook his head and said, Then John Travolta's Best Actor shouldn't be in play, right?

Kapoor nodded: Daniel Day-Lewis lost to Al Pacino in My Left Foot a few years ago, and this year he was nominated for the second time, with a better chance of winning than John . Travolta is much bigger.”

Although Pulp Fiction has amazed critics and fans alike, there is no strong competitor this year. But Eric finally found that because of the limitations of the subject matter, the possibility of this film winning important awards such as best picture is still very low, and the subsequent facts also proved this. (To be continued.)(www.. )