novelraw Chapter 323
Chapter 323
"A little girl who doesn't know the heights of the sky and the earth, what does she think she can change?"
In a mansion in Beverly Hills, Michael Ovitz, who was leaning on the bed and watching "The Tonight Show", took off his gold-rimmed glasses.
This world belongs to men.
Maybe some women control a certain amount of power by virtue of patriarchy and marriage, but they are like a few grains of sand in the sea, and they can't change anything at all.
The golden age of Hollywood is long gone.
Since Wall Street invaded Hollywood, the Hollywood actress who was able to sell bonds after the war has become a delicate and gorgeous crown. Although it is related to power, it cannot touch the core of power.
Hollywood is the art of film and the art of the deal.
Under the current system of patriarchal society, can ordinary women operate a project on an equal footing with the vast majority of producers and investors of different genders?
Oh come on.
Hollywood, or most men with a little bit of power in this society, have a very frivolous attitude towards women, but the ecological environment of Hollywood makes all this even more deformed.
To give a typical example, Miramax's Harvey Weinstein, he believes that sex is the best way to express power, so he constantly harassed various actresses.
In Michael Ovitz's view, there is almost nothing surprising about his behavior. Many people in the industry don't like Harvey Weinstein not because of unspoken rules, but because Harvey Weinstein is too arrogant. Domineering and unscrupulous.
Didn’t you see that during last year’s awards season, the heroine of “Shakespeare in Love” broke out that the suspected scandal with Harvey Weinstein has long been silent. The famous film businessman is still very active in the industry and plans to impact the next Oscar.
Obviously, people don't care about unspoken rules or sexual harassment, they only care about whether the movie can make money and how much money it can make.
Business is business.
Hollywood is a man's game, and a little girl's naive resistance will never accomplish anything. The luckiest thing about Josie Horton is that she has a good father who supports her behind her, and she can easily solve the biggest problems that other people usually face .
Thinking of this, Michael Ovitz couldn't help feeling a trace of unspeakable jealousy.
Because Frank Horton had completed the transfer of the shares he held not long ago, Josie Horton became an important "big figure" on the board of directors of Skynet Media, even though she never appeared at the meeting.
She can even dismiss anyone who works diligently for the company at any time, even Michael Ovitz is no exception. Of course, there are reasons why he is in charge of developing new projects that are not going well, but this girl has more and more The power that should not belong to her is also a reality that cannot be ignored.
Michael Ovitz said to himself: "She is simply another little Edgar Bronfman, the only difference is that the latter enjoys power more, while the former thinks that she has participated in the production of some projects, just Has really played Hollywood. Oh naive."
His wife asked, "What's the matter, dear? I thought you had a good relationship with Josie Horton."
"That's the old almanac from before." Michael Ovitz turned his head and said casually, "She always regards herself as the company's super major shareholder and dictates my work, but I just gave her a reciprocal favor. It's fine if she doesn't know how to flatter a mutually beneficial suggestion, and she unilaterally stopped answering my calls, which completely exposed her arrogant side!"
Although Skynet Media eventually obtained Skyeye Network, Michael Ovitz was not very happy, because in his plan, the acquisition of the other party was the best solution, otherwise he would not need to work hard to get Skyeye Network to go. Into a dead end.
However, in the end, Tianyan Network only accepted the holding of Skynet Media, and it was still carried out in the form of a share exchange. The consequence of this was that Josie Horton's company's shares were once again inflated, and he was about to enter the company that could otherwise be the CEO of him. Proposed danger line.
So Michael Ovitz has been trying to figure out how to dilute Josie Horton's equity recently, so as to prevent problems before they happen.
There are ways, but the means are a bit radical. It would be bad if Josie Horton, who has always been bad-tempered, suddenly goes crazy. The company he managed to control is not a tool for the other party to vent their anger.
"Forget it, we still need to stabilize her temporarily." Michael Ovitz said to himself, "The most important issue now is with DreamWorks. Jeffrey Katzenberg and Steven Spielberg Gedu chose the equity replacement, and Sishi seems to want to transfer the equity in his hand. Is there any possibility of changes in the board of directors? Recently, I always have a bad feeling that something big is about to happen..."
a few days later.
It's an ordinary and busy Monday morning.
Of course, it is not very common for Skynet Media or Hollywood, because it has officially completed the acquisition of DreamWorks.
As the mascot of this acquisition, Jeffrey Katzenberg, one of the former three giants of DreamWorks, got a seat on the board of directors of Skynet Media. He is sitting in the middle of this oval conference table at the moment, as if Integrate well into the new company.
Richard Bram, chairman of the board of directors sitting at the top, looked around, and his eyes fell on Michael Ovitz on his left, signaling the latter to start speaking.
—Richard Bram, from Bram Capital, is an investment banker and husband of San Francisco Senator Dianne Feinstein.
Michael Ovitz nodded slightly, got up and walked to the projector, and said, "Everyone, let us welcome DreamWorks and SkyEye Network to officially join our big family!"
The twenty or so directors present applauded cooperatively.
"Thank you very much." With a smile on his face, Michael Ovitz raised his hand and continued, "It has to be said that the development of Skynet Media from a TV network to its current scale cannot be done without the efforts of each of us. I It is a great pleasure to stand here today and report to you the results of this quarter's project operation, as well as the company's long-term development plan."
"First of all, our ace series "Entourage" has been on the air for the first time...Reality TV shows have achieved impressive results...Although some projects that tested the water did not receive a good response, they did not Affecting the profitability of this season... next year's advertising bidding..."
"Secondly, our film department is on the right track, but the size of the core TV network is still not competitive, so our next plan is to continue mergers and acquisitions and vertical integration... Barry Diller's IAC is a good target... ..."
"Finally, it's time for Skynet Media to have a brand new name..."
After finishing his tirade, Michael Ovitz was very satisfied that the conference room was buzzing because of the IAC merger plan he had thrown out. From time to time, people were whispering or expressing various opinions.
Some people think that this plan is too radical, and some people think that this plan is exactly what they need now. The conference room of a large media company will become a supermarket that is promoting sales in a few minutes. The interests represented are endlessly debated.
Seeing that the fire was almost ready, Michael Ovitz exchanged glances with Richard Bram, the leader above. The latter cleared his throat, and after everyone quieted down, he said, "Michael, I admit your The plan is very attractive, but the key problem is that we don't have much liquidity anymore, not enough to acquire companies like IAC, and it is impossible to fully accept equity replacement."
Many directors nodded in agreement.
Skynet Media had just acquired DreamWorks, and acquired SkyEye Network by way of holding shares. This series of actions not only affected the structure of the board of directors, but also made its cash flow very tight, and it was also carrying loans from various banks.
"Of course this is a problem." Michael Ovitz, who had been prepared for a long time, was full of confidence, "So everyone, for our common goal, it's time to start a new round of financing!"
As soon as the voice fell, the restlessness in the meeting room was even worse than before. Many people expressed the need to suspend the meeting in order to call the forces behind it for instructions.
Of course, Michael Ovitz, who presided over the meeting, did not refuse. He directly announced the suspension of the meeting for half an hour, and asked someone to deliver the pre-arranged dining car and coffee. He and Richard Bram left the meeting room at the same time. to the bathroom.
Three or ten minutes later, everyone returned to their positions and began to vote on various proposals.
Unexpectedly, Michael Ovitz originally thought that the acquisition plan with no risk was stuck, and the financing plan made most people have reservations.
"Richard, we all believe that the financing plan needs to be decided after a more detailed and prudent discussion." It was a director from Navigator who spoke.
"Okay, but I hope that you have made the right decision when we meet next week." Richard Bram looked around with confidence, "Other than that, what else is there?"
Skipping the financing plan, everyone's questions mainly focused on whether IAC, a company, was worth acquiring. Richard Bram sent Michael Ovitz to answer them one by one, but he also got the support of some directors.
However, at this moment, a voice that made Richard Bram feel particularly unfamiliar sounded for the first time in the meeting: "I think that since last year, the company's core business, that is, the operation of the TV network, has undergone great changes. question."
Michael Ovitz frowned slightly, and noticed that the person who spoke turned out to be Jeffrey Katzenberg, who had a weak sense of presence before.
Jeffrey Katzenberg continued: "According to the data, the number of users of SKY and SKYY in the new year has not increased but decreased. The heavily invested medical drama "The Good Hand" did not achieve the desired effect, and the next season has been canceled. It's a foregone conclusion. And this year SKY didn't prepare well enough to lose the Olympic broadcast rights, which is a suffocating failure..."
"Guys, I must say that proper M&A is necessary, not sprawling aimless expansion. I know our CEO likes the bigger the better, as he has done with several projects in Hollywood, but each The financial statement for the first quarter is a very real issue..."