Chapter 755

It's hard to keep the news in Hollywood secret, not to mention the fact that Michael Eisner has been in charge of Disney for ten years.

When Michael owitz heard Eisner's question, he was indifferent. Knowing that he had looked away, he nodded and said frankly, "I'm still hesitating."

Eisner took a sip of the wine and said, "if you decide, I can publicly support you."

Once upon a time in history, Eisner invited owitz to join Disney after the departure of carsenberg. Because of the power struggle, the two completely turned against each other in less than a year.

Now, a lot of things have changed, and the friendship that has lasted for more than ten years has been maintained.

A few months ago, during Eisner's heart surgery, as a close friend, owitz flew to New York with his family and stayed in front of his hospital bed for more than a week. Even the last generous compensation agreement between Eisner and Disney was won by owitz. In order to avoid stimulation to Eisner, during that time, owitz was asked whether he would join Disneyland I would deny it.

Such a friend is enough for Eisner to put down his heart and support each other.

Owitz was very clear about the obstinacy of his old friend for many years. He thought it would be good to get Eisner's understanding. Unexpectedly, he said so. He looked at each other by accident and quickly said with a smile: "thank you, Mike."

Eisner also laughed, and then said: "aside from the section that I was expelled from Disney, Mike, from the perspective of friends, I don't really recommend you join Disney now. Do you want to hear the reasons?"

Owitz made an expression please.

Esnara pulled the blanket over his knee, seemed to organize his language, and said, "I'm a spectator now, so I should see things better than you. Just like this time, do you think Vivendi's acquisition of Disney is going too well? Oh, I mean the process of going through the Ministry of justice. "

As Eisner reminds us, owitz quickly goes back to the details of this acquisition in his mind and finds some problems.

Sony's acquisition of Colombia at that time caused a lot of public opinion uproar in the United States.

At that time, most American media opposed the deal, because the logo of Columbia Pictures was the goddess of liberty, and Newsweek also published an issue of the statue of liberty with a kimono cover to remind the federal government of the invasion of Japanese capital. Under this kind of pressure, the Japanese had to say that Colombia would continue to be managed by local professional managers, which led to a disaster.

After that, MGM was acquired by Australian capital. We all know that Simon westero is standing behind the deal, and he is in his own hands after all. Because the United States and Canada are neighbors and have a strong sense of cultural identity, the rebound is not so fierce.

However, the French acquisition of Disney is totally different.

In recent years, contradictions between the United States and France have always been on the table. The anti American sentiment in France can be seen from the cheering of the local media when Disneyland opened in Paris a few years ago.

Moreover, compared with Columbia, MGM and paramount, Disney has a stronger attribute as a symbol of American culture. Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck have been accompanying the childhood of several generations of Americans. Disneyland in Los Angeles and Orlando is an important scenic spot that most Americans will inevitably visit in their lives.

For such a company with many special meanings, it is reasonable to say that even if the Ministry of justice passes the acquisition audit, in the face of fierce public opinion, some people in Congress should jump out to oppose it. As long as they do so, in the eyes of many voters who do not want to sell their childhood memories to the French, this is capital.

As a result, it seems unusual that everything went well.

Eisner looked at his old friend's face and said, "do you feel it?"

Owitz nodded and looked at Eisner: "there's someone behind this deal."

"Think about it again and you'll see who did it," Eisner said

Owitz thought a little, and a young man's shadow flashed in his mind, just a little uncertain: "Simon westero?"

Eisner nodded and said, "I don't have any evidence, but based on all the signs, the truth should be like this."

Owitz asked subconsciously, "but why did westero do it?"

Eisner noticed the gaffe in his old friend's voice and said with a wry smile, "so, this is the most powerful part of the young man. If I hadn't noticed the latest batch of projects of danielis entertainment, I would have hardly understood."

Owitz has a good memory, Eisner said, and the corresponding information immediately came to his mind.

The latest batch of foreign cooperation projects of danielis entertainment have been finalized in four aspects: thunderbolt baby and espionage with MGM, game of the brave with Warner Brothers and mummy with fox.

At first glance, there seems to be no problem.

Owitz also knows that this is a way for danilisi entertainment to relieve the pressure on other Hollywood film makers caused by its too strong power.However, after Eisner's wake-up call, at this time, the problem came out.

Of the ten projects, the first four were launched. It's no problem. They are all blockbuster movies. There are too many at one time to meet the schedule. However, danielis entertainment would rather give MGM two projects at one time than let the remaining Disney, Sony and paramount share, which is obviously not in line with danielis Entertainment's early cooperation strategy.

You know, Disney only released a movie "sleepless in Seattle" with danielis last year. The relationship between the two sides was so harmonious that there was no reason to suddenly cool down.

Obviously, this arrangement was deliberately made by danielis entertainment.

So here's the problem.

What on earth is Simon westero doing this for?

Eisner looked at owitz's hesitation and took the initiative to help him solve the mystery: "it's normal that you can't figure it out for a moment. From the rise of Los Angeles film industry at the end of last century to now, everyone has been used to the coexistence of several major Hollywood studios for a century. However, in recent years, the pattern of Hollywood is undergoing fundamental changes, and the city can no longer accommodate the co-existence of seven major studios. "

When owitzton understood something, he felt that a basin of cold water was pouring down from his heart. Some truths were only a thin layer of paper, but he was not willing to expose them by himself. Subconsciously, he asked, "what's the relationship between this and westrow's secretly pushing Vivendi to buy Disney?"

Eisner once again showed a wry smile: "it's very simple, if Disney is still in the hands of the federal people, once Denise entertainment is suppressed too hard, we will certainly rebound, and everyone will make a fuss. Neither the white house nor Congress will sit by and ignore it. Now that Disney has been sold to the French, things are different. Whether the company goes bankrupt or goes bankrupt in the future, Washington is unlikely to actively come forward. So, in my opinion, cutting off cooperation is only the first step. Hollywood is still the big seven now. In the next five to ten years, it may become the big five or even the big three. Moreover, the big studios that can survive will never be able to compete with Denise entertainment. "

The voice fell, and the atmosphere was silent for a moment, leaving only the occasional crackle of wood burning in the fireplace.

After a while, Eisner finally sighed: "Hollywood is no longer our world."

Owitz also rarely had some dispirited mood. He took a sip of his red wine, looked up at Eisner and asked, "Mike, what are you going to do in the future?"

Eisner is only 52 years old this year. For the social elites in his class, he is just at the age of prime. In addition, his heart recovery is very good. Owitz does not believe that his old friends will be willing to enjoy retirement.

Hearing this question, Eisner shook his head slightly to get rid of some of his recent emotions, and said: "I'm currently looking through the information about new technology industry investment, and I've hired a computer teacher. I plan to try this investment in the future."

"new technology, we are not familiar with these, and now many media are saying that the new technology bubble is already very serious and may burst at any time."

"nothing is familiar at the very beginning, and I will not press all of my own business," Eisner said, smiling. "And, following Weiss Troll's pace, the vistle system has been increasing the layout of new technology, saying that the bubble is not as serious as what is described outside. I can't play that big. It's better to invest in some small projects than to be idle. "

In the past 10 years, Eisner once prospered in the original lukewarm studio, and was eventually bought by Vivendi group with nearly 10 billion dollars in cash. In fact, it has a beginning and an end, and there is no doubt about his ability as a professional manager. Therefore, in fact, some enterprises have invited them these days, most of them are directors or consultants, and there are also some core executives and the like.

However, after the twists and turns of the past few months, Eisner has been disheartened to continue to work as a professional manager for others. In addition to the casual jobs of directors and consultants that he is considering, his future plan is to invest and take care of the tens of millions of dollars he has accumulated over the past decade, so that he can be his own boss.

After listening to Eisner's talk about investing in new technology, owitz could not help thinking of his contact with Bill Gates last year.

At one time, the two sides almost reached a cooperation. Owitz hoped that CAA would become the exclusive agent of Microsoft in entertainment, advertising, media and other aspects in Hollywood. However, he could only raise US $50 million for this cooperation. This is actually a large sum of money for CAA, most of which came from external investors. As a result, Gates didn't look up to it at all and soon turned to DreamWorks .

Originally, he hesitated to join Disney. When he fully understood the layout of a young man, owitz hesitated even more.

Maybe you should also think about new technology.

He has always been a person who dares to try new things, and he has accumulated a good family background over the years. Think about the gossip about instagram's creation some time ago. It's just a picture sharing website set up by a maid next to westrow and several vases with millions of dollars. In just over half a year, its valuation has reached hundreds of millions of dollars, which is a huge profit.However, owitz is also not a fickle person.

Has been quietly planning to join Disney for some time, suddenly changed his mind, which is not in line with his code of conduct.

Eisner has been paying attention to the old friend's expression, then said: "Mike, if you insist on joining Disney, I can give you some advice."

Owitz, look.

"First of all, sign as long a contract as possible with enough compensation to make sure Vivendi can't fire you easily," Eisner said

Owitz nodded. He had thought of that.

According to federal and California laws, in order to avoid conflicts of interest, owitz wants to join a big studio as an executive. First of all, he needs to sell his shares in CAA and completely cut off the connection with the talent agency. For owitz, once he takes this step, it means that it is difficult for him to go back. If he can't succeed in Disney, he will probably have to retire early.

Therefore, in the process of negotiation with Vivendi group, owitz's first thought is to ensure his own interests through strict default clauses.

In the past, owitz did just that.

Later, when owitz, who had only been with Disney for more than a year, left, he took away a huge amount of compensation totaling more than 100 million US dollars. However, after an interview, owitz was not excited at all, because he gave up his talent agency and was fired by Disney. His career was completely destroyed. In comparison, the wealth of tens of millions of dollars is not much different from that of 120 million dollars.

Eisner saw owitz nodding, then said: "the second is to wait."

Owitz wondered, "wait?"

"Yes, wait until Vivendi can't hold on, and is forced to choose to sell Disney again. At that time, with the lifting of the ban on media integration, I think the possibility of domestic investors in the federal market will be very large. At that time, if you can continue to hold the position of Disney's head, maybe there will be room for it. "

Owitz understood and couldn't help laughing: "Mike, how long do you think I need to wait?"

"It won't be too long. I think three to five years will be enough," Eisner said

"Do you think Disney's new boss will keep me in charge then?"

"So, as I said just now, sign a long-term contract as far as possible, and then you will have one or two years. As long as you can prove your strength, it's not a big problem to continue to stay."

Owitz just had a bitter smile.

Give up the CAA that has been established for many years to join Disney, if it can be used, even if the final conditions given by Vivendi still can not meet the expectations at noon, owitz will agree.

However, the current situation is that Disney is doomed to be suppressed by danielis entertainment. Owitzs doesn't feel that after joining, she can compete with Simon westero. On the contrary, it will make the embarrassing relationship between the two sides worse.

At last, owitz made his own choice.

Refuse Vivendi's invitation.

Eisner also saw owitz's final choice, just said: "Mike, I hope you won't blame me for telling you this tonight."

Owitz laughed: "if you don't say this to me, I will blame you in the future."

Eisner raised his glass to owitz and said, "why don't we set up a new technology investment company together? You can still run CAA. Just help me keep my contacts in Hollywood. I'll be responsible for specific things. Although it's an emerging industry, we can't be worse than those little boys in Silicon Valley. "

Owitz didn't hesitate this time. He was already excited just now. Now that he has decided to give up the chance to join Disney, he must find something else to do. So he nodded and said with a smile, "it seems that I'm going to hire a computer teacher, too."

"We don't have to spend too much time on it, professional things only need to be done by professional people, and westero is not necessarily a computer expert."

"It's hard to say. From the news I've heard in recent years, I haven't found anything that the young man is not good at."

Eisner thought about it and had to nod his head to admit: "I really don't understand how such a freak can appear in this world. I often wonder whether the rumors about him, such as psychics and aliens, are true."

"Who knows, but in recent years, the profession of psychic is very popular. Some time ago, Streisand quietly asked me to contact a psychic for her."

"Do you believe it?"

"I haven't tried, but it's said to be very effective. There are always things in the world that we can't understand."

The topic of the two old friends became more and more biased, and they began to chat aimlessly.

It's impossible for the two of them to know, because their decision tonight makes the history of Hollywood more and more deviate from Simon's memory.