Chapter 172

Simon returned from Cannes, and the media discussion and controversy about "vulgar novel" winning the Palme d'Or became more and more rampant as the film neared its release, even overshadowing Ronald Reagan's upcoming state visit to the Soviet Union at the end of this month.

In the past two weeks, Simon has accumulated too much work. Before he could adjust the time difference completely, he quickly threw himself into the busy business of the company.

In addition to vulgar novel, instinct, which is scheduled for July 15, has entered the final cutting stage since its shooting in February. As the investor, screenwriter and the person most familiar with the selling point of the project, Simon naturally wants to participate in it.

Fox pictures, which is responsible for the distribution of instinct, has released the film's first TV Trailer during Simon's participation in Cannes Film Festival. The film will be submitted to MPAA for rating in early June.

During this period, Dustin Hoffman made some temporary changes to the script of rain man, so the shooting cycle of the film will inevitably be extended again, and it is expected to be completed by the end of June.

When Simon heard the news in Cannes, he could only expect that the project would not exceed the production budget of 25 million US dollars. He also realized that Tom Cruise's own writing team would make all his starring films into "Tom Cruise films" no matter whether the ending was good or bad.

In addition to rain man, scream, steel Magnolia and death poetry club, the selection of Batman's hero has entered the third round, and Simon has also begun to participate in it.

On May 30, Simon flew to New York again to participate in the recording of NBC's "Johnny Carson tonight show", which promotes "vulgar novel". Because of several reality shows, Amy Pascal and Simon also rushed to the east coast together.

At the same time, the competition for summer jobs is becoming fierce.

Due to the weak reputation and box office of Lucas pictures and MGM's special effects blockbuster "fortune fair", paramount and Samsung chose to advance the release time of "Crocodile Dundee 2" and "first drop of blood 3" to Wednesday, May 25.

As the second best box office sequel to "top gun" in 1986, "Crocodile Dundee 2" has a total screen size of 2837. Sylvester Stallone's "first drop of blood 3" also has 2562 screens.

During the week from May 20 to May 26, the cumulative box office of "Fengyun Jihui" in seven days was 11.05 million US dollars, ranking first in the weekly box office list.

"Crocodile Dundee 2", which ranked second, grossed $4.75 million in two days.

First drop of blood 3, third on the list, grossed $4.46 million in two days.

It is worth mentioning that the budget for the production of "first drop of blood 3" has reached a runaway level of $63 million. In contrast, the production cost of Crocodile Dundee 2, which made $174 million in North America two years ago, is still well controlled at $14 million.

What's more, this summer program will be followed by another movie, who framed roger rabbit, whose budget is out of control.

Disney originally prepared a budget of $45 million for who framed roger the rabbit, which was a rare big production level in the 1980s. But Robert zemigs eventually pushed the production cost of this project up to $70 million.

Now Disney simply can't afford to fail a project with a budget level of $70 million. Although Simon knows that the final box office data of "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" is very good, during this period of time, Disney is already in a panic because of this project, and several responsible persons are openly and secretly letting the wind ahead of time to help them shirk their responsibilities.

"Who Framed Roger Rabbit" will be released on June 24, not to mention.

Squeezed by three new films, when Harry meets Sally, whose box office curve has been very bright, dropped 33% this week, far exceeding the one week drop of only 1.20% since its release.

In the 11th week of release, "when Harry meets Sally" received another $4.11 million, with a total box office of $94.23 million, a step closer to breaking 100 million.

While arriving in New York to record "Johnny Carson tonight show," Simon also needs to take care of westero's business.

James Leibold, Jennifer's father, has settled the loan issue during this period, westero's investment in Cisco and other companies, as well as some important affairs of many technology companies in which the company shares, and many related contract documents and memoranda need Simon to discuss with James Leibold face-to-face, review and sign.

On the other side.

Amy's negotiations with the TV network continue.

The four major TV networks are all interested in the four reality show plans proposed by danielis pictures, but things are not going well because danielis pictures wants to take the initiative as much as possible in order to share more profits later.

TV networks generally classify these reality shows as traditional variety show types. This type of program is usually put forward by the production companies or producers in the industry. TV networks buy the ideas, invest in them and own the copyright. Even if it's outsourcing, the production company in charge of the program often only earns a simple service fee. If the audience rating of the program is high, it may get an extra bonus, that's all.Simon will not accept this condition for any reason.

"Who will be a millionaire" and "Survivor" are phenomenal reality shows that can support the ratings of a TV network in the original time and space. In my memory, only the annual advertising revenue can bring hundreds of millions of dollars of net profits to the TV network, and the boosting effect of the program on the ratings of the whole TV network is inestimable.

Moreover, once this kind of reality show is successful, the future overseas production license fee will also be a very considerable income. Just like "who will be a millionaire", this reality show at its peak had copies in dozens of countries all over the world, all of which had to pay royalties.

If the copyright is handed over to the television network, the profits that danilisi pictures can share in the future will certainly shrink significantly, and the overseas licensing fees that can continue to generate revenue will have nothing to do with the company.

On the upper east side, the rybold apartment.

It's June 1. Last night, the "Johnny Carson tonight show" broadcast a special interview with the creator of "vulgar novel", and the film is further away from the release. All the pre promotion and marketing work has been completed. The next step is to see the market performance of the film.

Tonight is an invitation to dinner for the rebalders. Besides Simon and Amy, the rebalders' best friend Robert egger and his wife are also here.

After this time of tug of war, Denise pictures and ABC finally reached the first agreement on "who will be a millionaire" yesterday.

ABC TV network will obtain the North American copyright of who will be a millionaire. Denise pictures reserves the copyright of the project outside North America and is fully responsible for the production of the program. According to the terms of the contract, ABC TV network can't get rid of Denise pictures producing the program alone, and Denise pictures can't transfer the program to other local TV networks in the United States.

It can be said that this is a contract that neither party can kick out.

In addition, the production budget and competition bonus of the project are borne by Denise pictures, and ABC pays the subscription fee of each season according to the audience. Denise pictures will then pre produce a week-long trial to test the program's effectiveness, and set to broadcast it in the following week starting June 20.

If the program meets the viewing standard, both parties will negotiate the order price for the first quarter.

This year's autumn show has been seriously affected by the writers' strike. Once the trial broadcast of who will be a millionaire is approved, ABC plans to order 69 episodes at one time and broadcast three episodes a week, just to fill the traditional 23 week schedule from autumn to spring.

As an indoor question answering reality show, the budget for each issue of who will be a millionaire is not high. The basic venue recording costs only about $200000, and the $1 million bonus is not so easy to get. The total bonus of $100000 per issue is more than enough.

However, even according to the expenditure of $300000 per issue, the cumulative production cost of 69 issues of the whole season will exceed $20 million, which is obviously a huge expense.

ABC's breakeven line is 10 million viewers in autumn.

If the audience size is less than 10 million, ABC will be able to provide program subscription price of less than 20 million US dollars. Within the tolerable viewing range of the television network, if danielis pictures wants to keep the program, it can only rely on its own sponsorship to make up for the production budget.

In this era when cable TV is not popular, the threshold of 10 million viewers is not low, but it can never be high. This also shows that ABC doesn't have much expectation for who will be a millionaire.

In addition, because the trial time is the most unpopular summer program for the TV network, ABC's standard for the number of viewers of the trial set is 6.5 million.

In the dining room, everyone enjoyed the food and naturally discussed the reality shows.

Robert egger happened to be arranged opposite Simon to talk about who will be a millionaire. The ABC executive turned to survivor: "Simon, I think survivor is more interesting than who will be a millionaire. However, the risk of this program is too great. Because of the continuity of the plot, it must be produced one season at a time. It is impossible to arrange trial episodes, and it can not be cut off immediately in case of poor ratings. So, I think it's better to arrange it to be played in the summer. In this way, if you succeed, you can go back to autumn, and if you fail, it won't have a big impact on the TV network. "

Simon nodded his approval, then shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Bob, although we've done a lot of preparatory work, it's definitely too late."

In fact, many popular reality shows in my memory were first put on the summer file for trial broadcast, and then re adjusted to the popular schedule after success. Robert egger can easily see that reality shows have not yet sprung up, which undoubtedly shows the network executive's keen professional sense of smell.

"In fact, now is just an opportunity. This year, we have no programs to broadcast, so we can only take some risks." Robert egger continued with a smile: "so, Simon, if you can make a little concession on the terms of cooperation, I can call Daniel now to finalize it."Now that "who's going to be a millionaire" has signed up, Simon is not so eager for the other three reality shows. As long as next month's trial set can be successful, these projects will not lack buyers, and Denise pictures will get more initiative.

Of course, if it fails, there is nothing to do.

"Bob, the cooperation conditions I can accept for" Survivor "are similar to" who will be a millionaire ". It's a win-win cooperation plan. I don't think I have room for compromise," Simon said, shaking his head and refusing. He said, "well, Bob, if the TV business of Denise pictures develops well, would you like to help me?"

Simon had just made some explorations through James Leibold before. At this time, in front of everyone, everyone in the restaurant looked at Robert egger.

Robert egger was a bit surprised, but he said quickly: "Simon, if I can have a better career development platform, I would be happy to change my job. But I don't see that kind of potential in Denise films right now. "

Simon said with a smile, "can I take this as a promise?"

"You're a fantastic young man, and I'm curious about what happens when I work for you. So, why not? "Robert egger shrugged and asked Simon in surprise," I remember when you tried to buy new world entertainment at the beginning of the year? "

Unexpectedly, he got a reply from Robert egger. Simon didn't hide the fact and said, "yes, I still haven't given up this kind of effort."

"New World Entertainment's strength in the field of TV program production is still very strong," Robert egger commented. "It's a pity that the pace of expansion is too big, and there are stock market disasters and strikes in succession. They are doomed to be unable to escape this disaster."

Simon nodded, looked at James Leibold and asked, "Jim, what's the latest share price of new world entertainment?"

James Leibold thought for a moment and said, "I don't know in recent days. It was $8.50 at the close of last Friday, with a total market value of about $210 million."

When trying to acquire new world entertainment at the beginning of the year, the company's share price soared to close to $17. Then Simon made a gesture of giving up completely. Coupled with the financial deterioration and strike, the share price of New World Entertainment fell back to a low level in recent months.

James Leibold finished, and gave Simon an interesting glance.

During this period, according to Simon's instructions, westero secretly bought 1.23 million shares of New World Entertainment shares again, still stuck below the public reporting line of 5% shareholding ratio. As long as it needs to, westero can continue to absorb a lot from the open market at any time.

There's no need to be so frank with Robert egger.

Robert egger didn't seem to think much, but said, "Simon, if you want to get new world entertainment, maybe you can get in touch with GE."

Simon has not yet reacted, but James Leibold is awakening subconsciously: "good idea, I should have thought of it."

People looked at James Leibold for no reason.

Aware of his gaffe, James Leibold grinned awkwardly and said to Simon, "General Electric is the main creditor of new world entertainment, Simon. This company is now insolvent. If we make a public acquisition, we will certainly have to bear a huge debt that is almost equal to the market value of new world entertainment in the future. However, if we can buy GE's debt and put pressure on new world entertainment to convert debt into equity. According to the scale of GE's debt, we can get at least 90% of New World Entertainment shares, and save half of the expenses. "

Simon soon understood James Leibold's explanation.

Of course, if this is done, retail investors in the circulation market, even including the secret holding of westero company itself, will undoubtedly become the biggest victims. 90% of the debt to equity ratio, equal to the original shareholders in the hands of the stock directly devalued to one tenth of the original share price.

However.

If new world entertainment finally goes bankrupt, the shares in the hands of shareholders will also become worthless. There are risks in investment. Simon didn't sacrifice my dedication to complete thousands of families. He made up his mind quickly.

After dinner, it's already ten o'clock in the evening to leave leibulde's house. Simon and leibulde agree to go to the company tomorrow morning to talk about new world entertainment. They open the door and let Amy Pascal into the car.

Simon wants to return to her apartment on Lexington Avenue in the middle of the city and take Amy back to her hotel.

Neil Bennett in the front row started the car. Simon and Amy chatted casually. Suddenly, they thought of another thing and said, "Amy, from tomorrow on, stop talking with NBC about our reality shows."

Amy Pascal was a little puzzled: "huh?"

Simon thought about it and said, "stop it all. Not only NBC, but also the other companies. You can go back to Los Angeles tomorrow."

Amy Pascal felt like she understood something, but she didn't get her joints right. However, she gradually got used to not going to the bottom of Simon's decision, just saying, "what about the preparations?"Simon said, "of course, this is going to continue."

According to New World Entertainment's precarious state, westero's purchase of GE's creditor's rights can definitely help the other party avoid a big loss. However, compared with Ge, Simon's strength is still too weak. Who knows if Ge will have other thoughts.

"Who's going to be a millionaire" will be on trial next month. If this reality show can be as successful as it was in the original time and space, three other reality show projects in Danielle's hands will also become Simon's chips.

Ge is the parent company of NBC TV network. The original intention of this aircraft carrier level enterprise giant to invest in New World Entertainment is to provide NBC with more content resources. At that time, Simon can fully rely on the reality show project with great potential in hand in exchange for GE's cooperation with westero's debt to equity swap plan.

Take Amy to the hotel and Simon to the penthouse on Lexington Avenue.

Open the door, the living room is quiet, but the light is on.

Simon takes off his shoes and goes through the porch. Catherine on the sofa sits facing the door, wearing a slim light blue plaid shirt and straight white slacks. He is looking down at a magazine.

She turned quietly behind the woman until Simon bent down. Catherine found that he came back. She slightly tilted her head in shame and let the man kiss her cheek. Then she went to rub her neck and said in a low voice, "have you had a drink?"

Simon sniffed the good smell of the woman and said, "just some red wine."

Katherine felt Simon's hands coming from behind, put aside his magazine and held him down, with a slight tremor in her voice: "I, I just made coffee."

Simon just said, "well."

The two hands were still doing mischief, and seemed very interested in the button of her shirt, so they pulled off one. Damn it. New clothes. I knew that I couldn't stop this strong little bastard for a long time. As expected, I couldn't stop him, but I continued to show my attitude.

I don't want to.

Powerless, he let him grind and fiddle for a moment, feeling that he was hugged Well, it was like a robber when she carried it. She was very dissatisfied and hammered him a few times.

Little bastard.

How could that be!