Chapter 593： What do you have to do

"Saving Private Ryan" is the first heavyweight film launched by Firefly Films this summer. So after finishing the final cut yesterday, although it is Saturday, the firefly management can't wait to hold an internal test. ≥,

After watching the film, many executives who participated in the screening produced similar doubts with Kasenberg. The quality of this film is absolutely blameless. From the plot to the soundtrack, it is a first-class, but too real and tragic lens. The length of the film for nearly three hours and the r-rated rating that the film may encounter are the focus of concern.

However, the excellent performance of the fireflies in the past few years has made the company not in crisis because of the failure of one or two big production movies, and the film is the big boss of Eric, who personally made the project, even if the film failed, management They will not take on too many responsibilities, so everyone in the room does not have much psychological pressure, but they do their best to make their own suggestions for the details of the film.

Eric originally planned to let the rescue of Ryan Ryan officially released on June 6, 1994, the 50th anniversary of the Normandy landing.

But very unfortunately, the day of June 6 is just Monday, the first day of the working day. The weekly box office statistics cycle in North America is from Friday to the next Thursday. Some movies may choose to be released on Wednesday or Thursday, but for box office data, unless there is a very special date, few movie companies choose to put it on Monday. This person has just spent the weekend at the node where there is no such thing as watching movies.

Therefore, the consensus of the people is that the 50th anniversary of the Normandy landing is not so strong for the box office of the movie, it is not a very special date. Eric’s proposal was thus unanimously opposed. The final decision was made to advance the film release date to June 3.

The detailed declaration plan for the completion of Save the Ryan is four o'clock in the afternoon. After all, it was the weekend. After the end of the work, everyone quickly dispersed.

After leaving the meeting room, Catherine’s original feelings finally came down. She still remembers that after she finished her first feature film, “The Ruthless,” she was harshly pointed out by the executives of the small production company at the first screening. A series of changes to the opinion.

Although the cost of making the rescue of Ryan is dozens of times that of "Relentless", this situation did not happen today. The participants in the screening were discussing the details of the film for most of the time. This made her look at the young people who were lazy around, and she knew that if it wasn't during the editing period, the little man could bear the temper and even put his own eyes on it. The effect of "Saving Private Ryan" is definitely not as good as it is today. Thinking of this, Catherine’s resentment that Eric cut out some of his favorite shots disappeared without a trace.

Catherine was staring at the young side face with some ecstasy. Eric suddenly turned his head and faintly smiled at the corner of his mouth: "Look at your look and feel, do you want to invite me to dinner at night? Oh, then I promised."

Catherine didn't have any annoyance about Eric's little rogue tone, but the subconscious gave him a blank eye: "Don't you say that you want to go to the Oscar warm-up party at night?"

"The party is going to participate, and dinner is also to eat," Eric said with a smile. "Everyone knows. It is very difficult to fill the stomach at that party."

Catherine was hesitating what to do, and there was a rush of footsteps behind them. Kasenberg's voice came: "Eric, wait a minute."

The two stood still, and after Essex approached, Eric found out that his face had an unspeakable excitement.

"Eric, I just took a call, yes..." Kasenberg said that he suddenly stopped his voice and blinked at Catherine. Although he knew that Eric and Catherine had a bad relationship, he absolutely I don't spend $70 million to shoot a war risk movie that saves a lot of money, but Kasenberg doesn't know how much the two are.

Eric is about to let Kasenberg continue to talk, Catherine voluntarily quit: "Let's talk about it, I will go back first." When the woman finished, she walked toward the parking lot.

Kasenberg noticed that Eric had some depressed expression, and opened his mouth with a smile, but then he remembered something and swallowed it back to his mouth.

If Catherine is a girl of the same age as Eric, Kasenberg may also ridicule two sentences, and he believes that Eric will not be angry. However, remembering Catherine's age, Kasenberg couldn't help but shake his head. However, in general, Western women are always difficult to maintain, but Catherine looks like he is about thirty years old, and he has a temperament that he can't help but feel that his little boss will be so happy. .

Looking at Catherine and driving away, Eric asked: "Jeffrey, what happened?"

"Oh, that's it," Kasenberger regained his mind and regained some of the excitement: "I just got a call, Warren Buffett, Tom Murphy and Berkshire. A partner, Charlie Munger, arrived in Los Angeles in the afternoon, and the three are now in Buffett's holiday home in Los Angeles."

Buffett and Tom Murphy came to Los Angeles, and Eric was amazed. Then he guessed Buffett’s intentions and he wanted to contact Jeffrey and others to hold a meeting. Just taking out the phone, Eric’s mobile phone rang.

"It must be about this," Jeffrey waved at Eric. "You answer the phone, I contact Jeffrey."

Eric pressed the button and there was a mysterious voice from Kapoor: "Eric, just a friend called and asked me for a few invitations to warm up the party tonight. Guess who is coming over?"

Eric smiled and reported three names: "Warren Buffett, Tom Murphy, Charlie Munger."

"Amount..." Kapoor apparently squatted, and then he laughed: "I should have thought of such an important thing, someone will definitely inform you at the first time. Then you look at it. I have to contact. Preserving the company. Strengthening the security work for the party tonight. Yes, I originally invited some reporters tonight, would you like me to cancel this link?"

Eric said: "No, since all three of them have come to Los Angeles, then this initiative has completely fallen on the firefly side, and it is basically impossible to keep this kind of thing secret."

The media all over the world have been watching the fireflies on the acquisition of ab TV, and Warren Buffett did not appear in Los Angeles. If the reporter can't find the mystery, it will be too incompetent. What's more, since Buffett and others personally came to the door, Eric not only did not want to keep it secret, but even hoped that the incident would be more and more fun.

......

The sky has just ended, and there are a large number of reporters outside the Hollywood Sunset Tower Hotel, and even two live TVs.

The guests who came to the im Oscar warm-up party soon realized the unusual things. There are hundreds of parties in the Oscars before and after the scale, but no one can attract such a large scale. media focus.

With a few phone calls, most people can find out what happened.

Although these reporters are directed at the meetings of great people such as Eric Williams and Warren Buffett. But during the waiting period. In the face of a star-faced star, the reporters did not regret the film. Whenever a Hollywood star appears outside the hotel, it can bring a flash of flashlight. Therefore, most of the stars who came to the party were very fascinating, especially those second- and third-line stars who were lacking in exposure. They slowed down and tried to make these reporters take a few more shots.

Time soon came to seven o'clock in the evening, and the sky in Los Angeles in March was completely dark.

The ballroom that was packaged by im was already crowded with Hollywood celebrities, and everyone was surrounded by small circles to discuss what was going to happen this evening.

"I thought the negotiations really broke down. I abandoned all the ab stocks in my hand a few days ago, and I might lose hundreds of thousands of dollars." The chubby white man with a glass of champagne is next to him. Several companions said this, the tone is relaxed, it seems that the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars has not been taken care of. The girl who had been leaning against him by the bird had heard the fat man, and couldn’t help but scream at him.

Another middle-aged man in a white suit squinted at the petite **** his companion with some traces. Some proudly said: "I bought three thousand shares yesterday, if I took a low position, if Eric Williams tonight And Warren Buffett can negotiate, and maybe it will be replaced by a stock of Firefly."

Another tall middle-aged man quickly said: "It is not so easy to want firefly stocks. I heard that the main difference between fireflies and ab is that in the stock replacement share, Eric Williams is only willing There are very few stocks for fireflies. Now the ab stocks in the circulation market are not much. If the acquisition is completed, in order to achieve privatization, most of the outstanding shares may be required to be converted into cash or bonds, otherwise it is impossible to reach the transaction. The minimum number of shareholders who are delisted."

The petite girl next to the fat man said in a curious tone: "If these investors are not willing?"

A tall middle-aged man smiled and said: "If you insist on not selling, then the stock in your hands may be placed in a packaged company by Firefly, but this is not cost-effective, because the company's market value is difficult to determine after privatization, in the hands of The value of stocks tends to shrink dramatically, and those stocks don’t give you any say, so smart people will choose to cash out.”

The guests were chatting in a low-pitched voice, and there was a small commotion in the banquet hall. As a party organizer tonight, Kapoor Sid hurried through the crowd and realized that The most important guests tonight are coming soon.

Although many outsiders came tonight in the banquet hall, most of them are still stars, agents and other film and television practitioners in the Hollywood circle. Although they have heard of Buffett’s deeds, they are still more concerned about Eric. The young Hollywood tycoon with the first richest aura on the head, many people have spirited, some actresses also deliberately went to the corner to check the makeup, looking forward to leaving a face in front of Eric Williams A good impression.

At the same time, the driver drove the car directly to the hotel entrance because it was not expected that the party would gather so many reporters outside. So the two cars that Eric and Kasenberg respectively took were surrounded by reporters.

Until Kapoor appeared with the brigade security guard. Try to open up the crowd. Eric got the following car.

Outside the wall of the security guard, several executives of Erik, Kasenberg, and other fireflies got out of the car. The reporters suddenly became crazy, and they took pictures and yelled at Eric.

Going to the door of the hotel, when the reporters thought that these big people would disappear without saying a word, Eric stood on the steps and stopped, pressing his hands to indicate that everyone was quiet, and said: "About tonight I will hold a press conference after the party ends, but it is not convenient to disclose anything now. Please wait patiently."

"Is it really a showdown tonight?" Eric’s voice just fell, a reporter asked in a hurry, not even having any name. The reporters who were originally planning to speak heard the problem of the key, and quieted again in the same place.

Eric’s mouth smirked and nodded without a trace, but did not answer directly. “I don’t think Mr. Buffett will come here because he appreciates a Hollywood star.”

After saying this, Eric did not give reporters a chance to ask questions. Turn around and walk towards the hotel lobby.

Eric took Kasenberg and others to talk to Kapoor and walked into the elevator, just appearing at the banquet. The crowd in the hall seemed to feel the nails attracted by the magnetic force, and they gathered together at the door. Various greetings floated around Erik and Kasenberg.

Although most of the women's brokerage contracts are in im, but in addition to Penelope tonight, Eric did not see other women in the crowd, even the little Nizi who likes to party did not come to join in the fun. Penelope only used his eyes to say hello to Eric, and he continued to stay with the other two girls of Charlie's Angel. Although the thoughtful Spanish girl is still not clear about the specific situation, she It is also clearly aware that Eric has a very important thing to do tonight.

At the moment, im can be described as a strong horse, James Cameron, Quentin Tarantino, Tom Hanks, Al Pacino, Julia Roberts and many other first-line directors and actors are gathered at this time. Its overall strength is no worse than the aa in the past few years. Since the founder Marvin Joseph gradually withdrew, Kapoor has successfully become the head of im with the company's equity and the personal relationship with Eric.

Eric spent more than ten minutes and greeted the acquaintances one by one, and came to a reception room with Kapoor and others.

Today, Buffett did not come late, Eric just talked with everyone, Kapoor received a notice, three Buffett arrived.

Kapoor took the security guard to rescue the three old men who were also trapped in the car. Eric and Kasenberg, who stood in the hotel lobby, greeted them.

After Buffett shook hands with others, he said to Eric: "Eric, we met again."

"Yeah, I have been looking forward to meeting again," Eric said with a smile.

Buffett and Eric shook hands and then introduced: "The two are Tom Murphy, and Charlie Munger."

"Hello," Eric smiled and stepped forward, and it was a compliment. Then the group did not go to the banquet hall, but went directly to a small conference room prepared by the hotel.

After the waiter sent the coffee and left the meeting room, Kapoor nodded to Eric and turned and pushed the door away.

In the conference room, only the tops of the fireflies and abs were left. Kasenberg, Jeffrey, Michael Lynn and Frank Wells were sitting on both sides of Eric, opposite the Buffett trio.

I chatted about some topics at random. After a while, Buffett finally said: "Eric, I think this thing will continue to be delayed, and it will not be of any benefit to everyone, so I think we are still open and honest, what do you think?"

Eric smiled and nodded, but he believed that everyone in the room was very clear. At this time, the fireflies had completely gained the upper hand. Even a large part of the inside of the ab publicly stood on the firefly side a few days ago. If it is not to avoid the internal turbulence of ab, Eric can even take advantage of the part of the ab side that tends to be a firefly, and quickly take control of ab.

"Mr. Buffett, I don't want to waste too much time on this kind of thing. Everyone knows that fireflies are not the only choice for ab."

Buffett hasn't spoken yet. Tom Murphy sitting next to him can't help but say: "Everyone knows why you choose ab. Among the three major TV stations, only ab has the best operating conditions. Our TV network is Now the most perfect one in the United States, the affiliated TV station is also the most in the United States. If you choose any two of the other, it will take at least three years to catch up with ab. Of course, I even think that because of complicated internal problems, you may even catch up. If you don’t have the chance, you can’t keep going.”

Although Fox TV has been on the rise for several years, Tom Murphy is still used to the name of the 'three major TV networks'.

Eric shook his head and smiled: "Mr. Murphy, what you said is just your personal assumption. I think a few years ago, many people assumed that Firefly Pictures did not have any possibility to join the Big Seven, but now it is But it has become a reality. And, from the ratings of TV programs "Friends", "Archives" and "Who will be a millionaire", I think your assumption is no longer valid."

Tom A. Murphy’s mood has been very bad in the past week because of the internal shareholder’s rebellion and the negotiations with Firefly’s film industry. To hear Eric’s words, Tom Murphy’s face was a bit embarrassing and he was waiting for a rebuttal. Charlie Munger, sitting on the other side, asked with great interest: "So, Mr. Williams, why do you insist on acquiring ab instead of the other two TV networks? I want to choose nb and bs. Any one of them can save you a lot of money?"

Eric smiled: "As Mr. Murphy said, ab is the top three... Oh, it should be the best of the four major TV networks."

Charlie Munger continued to ask: "This does not seem to be a reason?"

"This is the reason, of course, mainly because I don't want to buy nb or bs, I put too much energy into the tinkering of the two TV networks, I have more things to do."

"Oh," Charlie Munger was even more curious: "Complete the acquisition of the TV network, Firefly will be the largest integrated media group in the United States and the world. According to the federal antitrust law, fireflies are almost impossible to continue to expand at that time. Going down, what else do you have to do?"

Eric said: "I think this should not be the topic we are discussing today?"

Charlie Munger also suddenly realized that he was about to take the topic away. He noticed the eyes of his old friends and coughed up, but he still said something: "I am really curious about the minds of young people now." If possible, why not take a moment to talk casually?"

Eric nodded and smiled: "Of course, no problem, Mr. Munger, if you have time, you can call me at any time."

Buffett did not dismiss the face of his old friend. When the two finished speaking, he took out a notebook from his pocket and handed it to Eric. "Eric, this is the last concession I can make. You can Look at it first."

Eric took the little notepad and gestured to the left and right. The booth was open on the table. Kasenberg and Michael Lynn came together to look at the paper, Jeffrey and Frank Wells. Then I didn't mean to come over.

Buffett’s offer is not much different from the last time it was received, but it has made concessions on the shares that Firefly has already held. Fireflies can add the shares held by them to a 30% share swap. Among the proportions.

After the last quotation, in order to suppress the stock price of ab, Firefly sold 3 million shares, and the shareholding ratio was also reduced to 5.5%. Simply convert, Buffett is equivalent to reducing the share conversion ratio to 28.4%, according to the merger. With a market value of $30 billion, each percentage point is equivalent to a difference of $300 million, and the amount involved will be even greater in the future. Eric certainly cannot easily retreat.

Quickly wrote a series of negotiating figures, Eric handed the notebook to Buffett, saying: "Mr. Buffett, this is our plan." (To be continued.)