The Best Entertainment Era

In the large conference room of Relativity Entertainment, nearly twenty people in the conference room burst into applause as Ronan and Ryan Kavanaugh, representing Maple Leaf Pictures, officially signed the contract.

There were waves of applause and a warm atmosphere.

In the conference room, in addition to the necessary professional and notary personnel, there are also representatives from Wall Street.

After Relativity Entertainment, representatives of various investment institutions signed equity transfer agreements with Maple Leaf Pictures one by one.

Pleasant cooperation.

Happy cooperation!

Ronan shook hands with Ryan Kavanaugh and David Ellison.

David Ellison said excitedly, I propose to have a drink together for our cooperation!

This got a lot of people's response.

Ronan whispered a word to Connie, who then sent someone to bring champagne and wine glasses.

Everyone present was very satisfied with this transaction. Ryan Cavanaugh and David Ellison got the coveted equity of a major Hollywood company and became the largest shareholder of Walt Disney.

This temporary alliance, including Ronan, successfully got rid of Disney's pot and got high returns.

cheers!

Ronan held the wine glass first.

Then, there was a response of Cheers!

Everyone toasted and drank together, the atmosphere in the conference room was harmonious and warm, and all parties achieved their goals.

Others have left the market one after another, and everyone on Wall Street will return to New York quickly after completing the necessary procedures. After all, these companies, led by Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, still have plans against Disney in the stock market.

Ronan and Relativity Entertainment have finalized their deal and will not be participating in the follow-up.

But Wall Street's plans needed Relativity Entertainment's cooperation, and Robert Iger was ready to talk to them again.

After another glass of wine, Ronan personally sent Ryan Kavanaugh and David Ellison out of the Relativity Building.

In the words of the other side of the Pacific,

These two are simply money-giving boys.

Relativity Entertainment previously bought a small amount of Disney equity, except for a small part that has been sold off in the stock market due to the continuous rise in Disney's stock price. This time, the equity in the deal with Maple Leaf reached 2.9%.

Maple Leaf Pictures finally acquired with a premium of 11.5%, with a total transaction value of up to 1.2 billion US dollars.

Counting the part of the previous stock market sell-off and excluding various taxes and fees, Relativity Entertainment made a profit of nearly 220 million US dollars between one entry and one exit.

After several years of planning and preparation, Ronan not only obtained the live-action film rights of Disney's classic cartoons, but also acquired Pixar Studios, and is poaching Disney Animation Studios, and also made huge profits.

The theory of relativity entertainment not only has harvested, but also won a broader space for development.

Disney Animation Studios may be sinking for a long time, and Relativity Entertainment's animation will effectively fill this market.

As we all know, once an animated film is successful, its income is often far higher than that of a live-action film.

In the past, Walt Disney made many movies frantically in order to sell peripheral products.

For example, Elsa's drag show, it is just emptying the wallets of girls.

Ronan hired Robert Iger and grabbed a large number of Disney resources. In the future, he will be even more insane than Walt Disney was.

Back in the office, Ronan dealt with the approval of the film project for a while, when Connie knocked on the door and walked in.

Maple Leaf Pictures' first tranche of 500 million US dollars has arrived. Connie said quickly, The rest will be paid within three days.

Ronan nodded slightly, Counting the 200 million USD deposit already paid, only 500 million USD is left.

It has to be said that Ryan Kavanaugh and David Ellison have outstanding ability to raise funds.

Another point that cannot be ignored is that Maple Leaf Pictures has received a high amount of investment, but has no corresponding projects, and the funds are all in their hands.

Companies such as Relativity Entertainment, Warner Bros., and Universal Pictures maintain a large distribution team all year round, and to pay for expensive publicity and distribution costs, the company must retain a huge amount of liquidity.

In some ways, this is one of the reasons why big companies must focus on commercial films.

Because only blockbuster films with high returns can be produced continuously for a long time, the efficiency of salary expenses can be guaranteed. Although the cost of a blockbuster literary film may be only one-tenth of the top commercial blockbuster, the profit margin is often lower.

The investment scale of film companies is slightly larger. If they continue to focus on literary and artistic film projects, the results are often quite miserable.

Having said that, once the top commercial production projects hit the street one after another, the huge team expenses may drag down a film company.

Connie said at this time, Scott sent news that David Ellison has already contacted him, and it is very likely to invest in the Pacific Foundation in the future.

Ronan asked, Does he still have money?

Connie replied, According to the analysis of our investigation and analysis team, David Ellison's investment in Disney is very likely to come from Larry Ellison. David Ellison is an adult, and his mother was his mother. A trust fund with a lot of investment was established, and Larry Ellison has also been injecting money into the trust fund over the years...

Ronan understood what was going on, It really is the super rich second generation.

Strictly speaking, he who inherited Shahai Entertainment can also be regarded as a rich second generation, but compared to David Ellison, he is really far behind.

Connie finally said, Robert sent news that contact with the Disney Animation Studios Chris Buck team is currently at a critical stage. Chris Buck wants to meet with you and hear your commitment.

When? Ronan asked.

Connie replied, Robert said this afternoon would be best.

Ronan nodded, Yes. He thought for a while and said, Have you made an appointment?

Connie said, Robert's appointment is a yacht club in Santa Monica, which has long been jointly acquired by Will Smith and Tom Cruise.

Ronan had no objection Yes.

After finishing the work at hand and having lunch at the restaurant, Ronan left Century City by car.

The black Rolls-Royce Phantom drove not far along Santa Monica Boulevard, and encountered a big traffic jam near an intersection in the fringe area of ​​West Hollywood.

Several police cars rushed forward from the side road with their sirens whistling.

Finch yelled into the communicator, Stop! Come over on the 2nd and 3rd, pay attention and stay vigilant!

Ronan sat safely in the car. Although he was very curious, he didn't have any thoughts of getting out of the car. His own safety was more important than anything else.

Two cars moved over, and the guards were in front of the Rolls-Royce Phantom.

At the same time, a bodyguard went to find out the situation.

Ronan glanced at his watch and called Robert Lee. When he hung up, Finch said, I see, there are two robbers robbing a convenience store less than 300 meters ahead. I met a patrolman and took the owner of a convenience store as a hostage. He is confronting the police. The robber only has a pistol. It is estimated that the process will be completed soon. Let us wait a while.

Such things are not uncommon in Los Angeles, and the distance from the car is relatively far, and there are many bodyguards, so it is not a threat at all.

Just as Ronan nodded, before he could say anything, there was a sudden burst of gunshots in front of him.

Finch was a little surprised, There was a firefight so soon?

Including him, all the bodyguards looked forward vigilantly.

After waiting for a while, the crowded queue of cars gradually began to move. Special police personnel were clearing the traffic. The black Rolls-Royce Phantom was sandwiched between two bodyguard cars and drove through the congested area.

Through the window of the car, Ronan saw the convenience store with broken glass doors, and there were faint bloodstains...

When approaching Santa Monica, Finch said, There is definite news. The police shot dead two robbers just now, and the black hostages and two passers-by were unfortunately killed.

Ronan was speechless, Sure enough, it's the style of the Los Angeles police.

Finch said directly, They have always been rough in their work.

Ronan didn't know what to say, maybe he should describe it in another way?

In order to prevent the robbers from taking the hostages as a threat, the Los Angeles police decisively shot and killed the hostages.

This incident directly caused Ronan to be late.

I'm sorry, I met the Los Angeles police on the way to deal with the case, so I came late.

Inside the yacht club, Ronan shook hands with a middle-aged man wearing glasses, It's nice to meet you, Mr. Barker.

Chris Buck said, It's an honor to meet you, a Hollywood legend.

Ronan glanced at Robert Lee and said, I heard that Robert said you wanted to see me, so I rushed over immediately.

Chris Buck said, My team and I have worked in Disney Animation Studios for more than ten years, and the decision to leave was not easy.

I understand, Ronan said.

He attaches great importance to Chris Buck, an ordinary-looking Disney employee who represents a very large animation production team at Disney Animation Studios.

The team first worked with Jeff Katzenberg on The Lion King, and later led the production of animated features such as Pocahontas, Mulan, and Tarzan.

Although it is inevitable that personnel will come and go during the period, the core team headed by Chris Buck has not changed significantly.

It is no exaggeration to say that Chris Buck and his team represent the heritage of traditional Disney Animation Studios.

But now, they are no longer taken seriously. After the decline of hand-drawn animation, Michael Eisner turned his attention to live-action movies, and once wanted to abolish the hand-drawn animation department.

Chris Buck and his team had to switch to computer animation.

But the two computer-animated feature films they produced, Silver Island and The Legend of Bear, fell far short of expectations, further marginalizing Disney Animation Studios.

In the past two years, Disney has spent too much energy in internal fighting, and the original leading animation studio has gradually been ignored.

Chris Buck and his team had to think about the future.

Continue to stay at Disney and wait for Disney to stabilize internally, or leave Disney and seek a new creative environment?

This is a choice they must face.