Hollywood Tycoon [US Entertainment + Business War]

"Mr. Sherman, your staff contacted me in a hurry a few days ago, saying that there is a Christmas gift for me. But I am too busy, Christmas has been missed, I don't know if my Christmas gift is still there ?” Lei Shidong stretched out his arms and hugged Jed with a smile.

For this young man, Lei Shidong really appreciates it.Both of them were born in New England, and they were both Jewish, so Redstone liked Jed very much, as if he was a junior.In fact, for a while, when Lei Shidong watched Murdoch preach everywhere that he wanted to train Jed as his successor, he was actually moved.

However, compared to Murdoch's successors (Murdoch's nephew is either not interested in News Corporation or incompetent), Redstone still has a daughter who is not bad - Summer.It's just that Summer's ability has not yet met Lei Shidong's expectations, but at least I still have time to train her.So he didn't look at Jed as if he saw his own son like Murdoch did, except that his eyes didn't shine.

"Christmas gifts won't disappear just because Christmas is over." Jed led Lei Shidong to his home very gracefully.In a place like Jed's house, the paparazzi naturally followed him 24 hours a day, so most of the media soon received the news.In connection with the news that Jed and Universal were at odds a few days ago, is it possible that Universal's talented screenwriter will switch to Paramount?

Old Bell was very happy to have a media tycoon like Lei Shidong visiting his home. Not only did he go to the Four Seasons Hotel to hire a group of chefs to prepare exquisite food, he even arranged for a string quartet to sing at home. .

This is also the first time that Lei Shidong came to Jade's house. He took a look and found that although the mansion was full of wealth, every decoration never showed off. The aura of a wealthy family seemed to be born with him .Lei Shidong nodded happily. You must know that New England is the most concentrated area of ​​Puritans in the United States, and they are very repulsive to things that are too luxurious.But they are very self-esteem, so the requirements for decorations are very high.Obviously, the layout of Sherman's house is still in line with Redstone's taste.

Seeing Lei Shidong's expression, Jed knew that he completely agreed with him.When later generations did economic research, Lei Shidong was also a manager that many economists and investors would analyze.However, many people believe that Redstone is inferior to Welch of General Motors in terms of personal charm; inferior to Disney's Eisner in terms of creative talent; and in terms of adventurous spirit, he is no match for Murdoch at all.But it is just such an ordinary-looking old man who holds the eighth largest theater company in North America—National Entertainment; the largest film company in the United States—Paramount; and the most senior TV station in the world— — CBS.

Moreover, unlike the control of Disney or Warner, these companies are completely under the control of Redstone, and the rest of the presidents and CEOs can only bow down to him as the chairman.And the most amazing thing is that Redstone started his business again after he was almost burned to death at the age of 58.The age when Lei Shidong started his second business is almost the age when everyone should be happy with their grandchildren and enjoy their family. However, Lei Shidong has brought Viacom, which is unknown, to become the fourth largest media group in the United States.

Looking at the energetic old man in front of him, Jed finally understood his charm.A company's biggest opponent is its own stagnation, but Viacom has a so-called "forever 30 years old" Redstone.Facing such a dynamic boss, how can the employees dare to slack off?

Jed handed a script to Lei Shidong, and Lei Shidong read it silently.Although Lei Shidong is a lawyer, he has been running a theater company for many years, so he can still judge the quality of the script.After watching "Forrest Gump", he said in surprise: "My God! Did you give me the Oscar statuette?"

"I don't have a director on hand, and I don't have more people to shoot this movie, so I can only hand over this movie to Paramount. My company will join in the name of assisting in the production. How about it?" Jed suggested.

"Why don't you just let us buy it out?" Of course Lei Shidong can see the value of this movie, not only in terms of box office, but also in terms of word of mouth.For such an excellent movie, Lei Shidong is naturally reluctant to share it with others.

"If I didn't have no manpower, I would have filmed it by myself." Jed was a little helpless about Redstone's "greedy", "I have a movie to shoot, so I will entrust this movie to you ,otherwise……"

"My Jed, you can't be so harsh on me as an old man, can you? Look at the last time you brought Cameron to me and said that you want me to invest, and you see that I agreed to you without saying a word!" Lei Shidong He quickly gave an example that he was very helpful and wanted to convince Jed.

"Mr. Redstone, if I remember correctly, the additional condition of your investment is that the distribution rights of this film in the United States and the world are owned by Paramount. You see, your investment has returned. Besides, Things have to be sorted out, and I will not sell my script. It's not like you haven't seen Universal, what they have ruined my script."

Although the "Philadelphia Story" filmed by Universal generally maintained the integrity of Jed's script, Jed was very dissatisfied with the handling of some details.The most important thing is that when the producer and the director were dealing with these details, they never thought of notifying him as the screenwriter.This also made Jade's ideal of being a screenwriter declared bankrupt. Not only the producers can bully the screenwriter, but even some foolish directors can look down on the screenwriter.If that's the case, then it's better to start your own production company and be your own director.

Jed's words convinced Lei Shidong. After all, Hollywood is a place where there are no secrets. As the boss of a large media company, it is quite easy to know some secrets of other companies that are not secrets.Not only is Lei Shidong clear about Jed and Universal's falling out, but Lei Shidong also understands the reasons for Jed's dissatisfaction.

In Lei Shidong's view, it is not impossible for Universal to win over Jade. After all, as the most senior film company of Hollywood's Big Six, Universal still has its background.In particular, the relationship between Universal and NBC has allowed Jed, who can create both movie scripts and TV scripts, to play more.But Universal's method was wrong. How could a dude who is not short of money give in because of a small money factor?What's more, there is still Murdoch's way of retreat, so why does Universal make a gesture of "I want to block you"?

Now that Jed is forced away, Jed still has his own movie path to go on, and the important thing is that NBC will not have an enemy with Jed at all because of this.Instead, NBC must be struggling with how to appease Jed?You know, if Jed was so angry that he took "Friends" and "Will and Grace" to switch to another channel, NBC would lose the most.

Lei Shidong thought for a while, "Well, how about handing over the films produced by your company to Paramount for distribution in the future?"

"This is not a big problem." Jed now does not have the energy and money to build a film distribution company with global distribution capabilities, so handing over to Paramount is obviously a "win-win" choice.

"So, does your film company allow Paramount or Viacom to take a certain share?" Redstone asked again.

"That won't work." Jed refused without thinking, "My Galaxy Films will be an independent production company and will not accept shares from media groups or other distribution companies. Not just you, Mr. Murdoch I also declined."

"That's a pity." Lei Shidong spread his hands regretfully, "Spielberg's new company doesn't let me have too many shares. Am I really so unattractive?"

Hearing what Lei Shidong said, Jed was immediately alert, and Spielberg's DreamWorks was established.Although the relationship between DreamWorks and Paramount was very close in the early days, with the development of DreamWorks, the two companies gradually drifted away.In the end, with DreamWorks repurchasing shares from Paramount, the two companies were completely separated.At this time, DreamWorks has developed from an independent production company into a large-scale film company integrating production, distribution and home entertainment, which can be regarded as the "seventh largest film company" outside the six Hollywood giants.And the most unexpected thing is that with the funding of an Indian consortium, DreamWorks was split into two, occupying the seventh and eighth positions in the Hollywood production company rankings under the names of DreamWorks Films and DreamWorks Animation respectively.

Someone once said that DreamWorks should be the last film company in Hollywood that counterattacked successfully with an independent production company.After all, under the modern film industry system, independent production companies cannot survive without relying on large companies.But once attached to these film companies, they will either become their satellite companies, or they will be completely reduced to their subsidiaries.But DreamWorks has become the only alternative, and that is because their company has ace directors like Spielberg, business geniuses like Jeffrey Katzenberg, and entertainment tycoons like David Geffen. .Therefore, it can be said that the example of DreamWorks is difficult to replicate, but Jed intends to go on and try.

He believes that he has the ability and opportunity to surpass Spielberg, and will surpass Geffen in terms of assets, but the only problem is that Jed lacks a management genius like Katzenberg to run the company for him.Lansing may be good, but Lansing's ability is in film distribution and production, which means that she may be an excellent distribution director or production director, but she is definitely not an ideal company president.

If Redstone or Murdoch knew about Jed's company management methods, they would probably be the first to jump out and scold Jed.The chairman, president and CEO of Jed's company are almost all assumed by Jed, even the COO and CMO. In addition to the financial officer, Jed almost wears several hats.More importantly, Jade's management relies on his law firm and accounting firm, which is a typical layman managing an expert.Jed, who is familiar with the business experience of later generations, also knew that this was not an option, so he specially visited several headhunting companies in the United States to find management talents.

But just as Jed was worrying about his company's management talent, the New Year has passed quietly, and the Hollywood awards season has entered a climax.The first award ceremony that attracts attention is the Golden Globe Awards. This is an awards ceremony that presents both TV awards and film awards, and it is regarded as a preview of the Oscars, so it naturally receives the greatest attention.

However, the Golden Globe Award is a blessing for Jed. The first screenwriting award that Jade won was the Golden Globe Award for Best Film Screenplay for "Thelma and Louise".Of course, Jed's "Friends" swept all the major awards in the Golden Globe TV sitcom category.In the following year, Jade successfully joined the family with "Scent of a Woman", while "Friends" still swept all major awards.As a result, the media have speculated whether Jade will win the Golden Globe movie screenwriter three times in a row, and whether "Friends" will still be a strong sweep?This topic has sparked a lot of discussion since the announcement of the nominations for the Golden Globes.

The prevailing opinion is that Jed is most likely to win three consecutive screenwriting awards in the film category, after all, his "Schindler's List" is enough to ensure that he wins the award.If this year's Golden Globes must find another way, then Jade's other script "Philadelphia Story" is also very suitable.It can be said that whether it is mainstream or alternative, Jed has an extremely good script.But when it comes to TV awards, many people think it's impossible for "Friends" to sweep the "comedy, musical short and TV movie" categories three times.

As "Seinfeld" has accumulated more and more viewers, it has the potential to challenge the status of "Friends", the number one sitcom in the United States.However, as the broadcaster, NBC doesn't care who is number one. Anyway, no matter who is number one, won't the champion and runner-up be broadcast on their own station?It is precisely because of the endless battle between "Seinfeld" and "Friends" that more than doubled the cost of NBC's Tuesday prime time advertising in one fell swoop.So for who gets the last laugh in the end, NBC must be one of them.

When Jed appeared on the red carpet, he got no less spotlight than other stars.Moreover, many second- and third-tier stars saw Jed appearing, and immediately rushed over.Firstly, I want to rely on Jed to be on the page, secondly, I want to see if I can get a role or something, and thirdly... Even if Jed Sherman is a gay known to everyone in Los Angeles, so what!My sister's devil figure will definitely make him change his mind.

Jed would not be too disgusted with these stars who came together.They also hoped to be able to get the upper hand, and they didn't have too much malice, so Jed also happily took a group photo with these little stars in his arms, looking like a playboy.

At this time, someone who was watching the live TV broadcast angrily threw the popcorn in his hand on the TV, and muttered in his mouth: "Tsk tsk, I said that I was not feeling well a few days ago! Look, with the beautiful woman Get well soon!"

Jed sneezed at this time, thinking that it is really easy to catch a cold in Los Angeles in January.So I brought a group of second- and third-tier starlets into the hall as soon as possible after taking pictures, and the remaining group of reporters who wanted to ask questions but had no chance to ask questions stayed on the scene dumbfounded.

Some teenagers not far away were also asking each other who the unfamiliar man was just now.It's no wonder that teenagers in Los Angeles don't know Jed, because Jed's usual pages are either not suitable for them or they have no interest in reading.Although Jed also walked the red carpet in the past two years, most of them followed the crew, so they were easily overlooked.But this year, Jed walked the red carpet alone, together with a group of second- and third-tier starlets, which made everyone notice him.However, Jed was too unfamiliar to the children, so they inquired about it one after another.

Finally, an older fan replied: "He? The heir of the Sherman family, he is very rich. I heard that he has written several books and scripts in recent years. He must be considered an entertainment circle."

"Oh, so it's a screenwriter." Most of the people lost interest immediately, who would follow a screenwriter after a star?

"But he's so handsome and rich." There are still a very small number of nympho girls who are still fantasizing about something.

"He's gay, and he's not interested in women." Someone immediately coldly popped the pink bubbles of these nympho girls.

Sure enough, "Seinfeld" won a big victory in the TV categories of "comedy, music shorts and TV movies" during the awarding time, changing from the embarrassing role of "accompanying the prince to study" in previous years.At this year's awards ceremony, "Seinfeld" won all the awards except for the actress award next to "Friends", which made Jed feel a little embarrassed.But fortunately, in the film category, Jed lived up to expectations and won the best screenplay with "Schindler's List".

"I am very grateful to the Hollywood Foreign Press Association for awarding this trophy to me again. Although it is the third time, I am still very happy. Next year, I hope to participate in the Golden Globe Awards not only as a screenwriter, but also as a director. Come join us in this grand event." Hearing Jed's confession, many people immediately realized that this guy was really ready to direct a movie. "Next year, I will still surprise everyone, thank you everyone."

When Jed stepped off the podium and was led by the staff to the backstage for an interview, all the reporters received orders from their editor-in-chief to find out what the subject and content of Jed's film were, in short The more detailed the better.So as soon as he got backstage, Jade was treated warmly by the reporters.But Jed, who is already used to it, already knew what to say and what not to say, so he smiled and did Tai Chi with the reporters.