Hollywood Domination Chapter 261: New believers, disciples

Jenny always thought that she cared about the entertainment circle in her previous life, but after time travelling, she felt that her knowledge was not enough—or her abilities were so limited that she couldn’t make better use of her knowledge. It is not difficult to buy some projects that must be exploded, which is similar to bending over to pick up money, but it is not so easy to invest in some companies that must explode. It’s like Marvel, she knew that the Avengers would burst into the sky, but casting “Iron Man” in Marvel was also the most difficult part for them to sell to Paramount, and Paramount still had to consider it Time, at this most suitable time point, Big Dream has no money to take over, and even Disney, because they just bought Pixar, are very cash-strapped, and have no spare power to swallow another behemoth.

Of course, if her timeline is similar to the original world, then she can say that Robert Iger didn't have much interest in Marvel at the time, because he really couldn't see the potential of Marvel——Manga Almost all the first-line heroes in Wei's hands were packaged and sold, and some second-line heroes remained, and the debt problem was also serious. In short, for the CEO, Marvel at the time was indeed not an ideal choice.

According to the timeline of the original world, Disney finally changed its mind and managed to acquire Marvel before Paramount took it. Jenny can't remember when this acquisition was in the original world. It's over, but judging from the current trend, it must be within this year that Disney wants to be tempted. Maybe it has a plan to acquire Marvel in the past few months. It is very likely that even if she didn't say it, Robert would come up with this idea himself, or someone else would offer advice-and judging from the results, Disney must have overcome many difficulties in the end and successfully completed the acquisition. Give credit to others. She has been building her insightful image in front of Robert. The investment in "Avatar" was once, and a year and a half ago, the persuasion to buy Marvel was once. Finally, "Iron Man" exploded, and Robert began to feel this. Given the allure of the proposal, it would be a pity if she didn't take the opportunity to push forward at this time, facilitate the acquisition, and continue to accumulate her prestige within the Disney department.

Of course, a better idea is to buy Marvel by Dameng, but this is almost a dream idea. Needless to say, Marvel’s valuation is at least 3 billion US dollars, which is when they are at their worst , The small money of hundreds of millions of dollars is completely ignored, and the big dream can't even pay for hundreds of millions of dollars. Although they are making a lot of money, if they want to develop a new series, they will definitely have to spend a lot of money. Having hundreds of millions or billions of cash in their hands at any time, for an industrial company, at least means that its size has reached a hundred million. Billion, or even hundreds of billions is not out of the question, and Big Dream is of course still a long way from this goal.

Furthermore, Marvel wants to sell itself, and there are many factors to consider. Just like DC sold itself to Warner, it is also to find a backer for itself that can shelter from wind and rain. Marvel wants to sell to Pai. Ramon, nothing more than valued the other party's rich experience in film development, including distribution channels, marketing methods and a series of unique technologies that can make the cake bigger. If you want to eat Marvel, Dameng has to work in Hollywood for more than 20 years and has accumulated a very rich background before you can try to talk about it. On the other hand, Disney, compared to Paramount, is more attractive to Marvel: Disney theme parks, extremely rich experience in peripheral development, and a background in animation, which are very compatible with Marvel. If Disney extended an olive branch before the filming of "Iron Man", Jenny felt that they might have bought Marvel at a relatively low price, but things are not so easy to handle now, "Iron Man" exploded, Marvel has the cost of asking the price, and the addition of a new competitor may also make them put on a stance up for sale, swinging between Paramount and Disney, driving up the price to a level that Disney cannot accept, or It may also be that Marvel has made up its mind from top to bottom to sell itself to the more sincere Paramount. No matter how good Disney shows, they can't move their determination.

For Robert, who cannot predict the outcome, these are all issues he needs to consider. After all, a failed acquisition will not only damage the morale of the company's employees, but also affect his prestige. And Jenny——she replaced the position of "initiating the first meritorious service" and got this bargaining chip. Of course, she also assumed the obligations due to this position. She had to advise Robert and provide a way out.

"The key is the opinion of the shareholders." She thinks so, and of course the fact is the same. In her discussion with Cesare, they both think that the acquisition of Marvel should be a very rare and special case, " Of course, for most corporate acquisitions, the difficulty lies in convincing shareholders and management at the same time, but I think what Disney wants to get from Marvel should be their huge IP resource pool. As for the industry chain , Disney has already existed, in fact, Disney must be the first company to develop IP, and the market model is created by us..."

She is telling the truth without any adulteration-based on the information that 'Disney finally succeeded in acquiring Marvel', of course it is also very good to deduce that Disney must acquire Marvel, and Marvel The reason why Wei Wei finally chose to sell himself to Disney, Disney's strong IP development ability is definitely an important element of Marvel's final nod, this element is indeed too important to Marvel... and it is indeed Disney's specialty.

The so-called ip (ualproperty intellectual property rights) is a fashionable term, that is, it was only mentioned in 2008. In Jenny's concept, she did not enter China until shortly before she crossed in 2014. Simply put, ip can It is interpreted as an industry chain centered on original content. For example, "Harry Potter" is the top IP. The original works, movies, games, theme parks, and peripheral products are all adapted from other original content. Film and television dramas or games, and thus derive an industrial chain development model, can all be named ip. Maybe the turnover of the original ip is not so high, but it is the first of everything, without it, there is nothing.

From this point of view, "The Hunger Games" and "Twilight" are both models of IP development, and Marvel is a treasure trove of IP resources. This company has accumulated countless resources in 60 years. There are heroes who focus on the basics, and Disney, which started with a series of fairy tale animations, is the ancestor of the IP industry. When they opened the Disney amusement park, the term IP industry did not even exist. Just like "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Cars", their greatest significance to Disney is not the box office of the movie, but the sales of peripherals born from it... Disney can only get billions of dollars a year At the box office, but the peripheral sales have tens of billions of dollars, firmly occupying the first place in the market. In this regard, the Big Six and it are simply incomparable. It can be said that as long as Marvel's IP library is taken down, even if the talent is gone, Disney has the ability to make it up again.

"Even without Marvel's management, we can do a good job in film and television projects. Of course, if they are willing to stay, all of this is of course great, but at least it means that we can reduce a lot of concerns during the acquisition , use some relatively tough methods, won’t you?” Jenny continued, “However, Disney has always been very reliable in this regard.”

For an acquisition case, shareholders and management care about very different things. Of course, what shareholders want is money, but what management needs is guarantees for the future—these guarantees are rarely in monetary terms , can they continue to grow the company the way they want? Will the company culture change, can what they want to do continue to be done in this company?

For high-end talents, their Maslow's level of needs is already quite high, and their physical needs must have been met long ago. Social status and emotional belonging are not too big a problem for these successful people. The acquisition case has nothing to do with it, and the 'self-realization' at the top of the pyramid of needs has accordingly become a factor they value more. And how to ensure the satisfaction of the management after the acquisition and keep the turnover rate at a normal value is also a key point in the acquisition case. After all, no one wants the newly purchased company to be empty, leaving behind a pile of information that no one else can take over. This will also greatly reduce the value of the company itself. It is hard to say how to keep the management in mind. The acquirer may be forced to make some reluctant concessions and commitments, which is one of the reasons why many acquisitions cannot be negotiated.

"Of course Disney is very creditable in this regard." Robert added immediately, pouring himself another cup of herbal tea: They had left the restaurant and came to Disney Robert's office. would be a problem, and Pixar has been part of the Disney system for a while, and it's been working fine."

He has obviously been weighing the pros and cons of this idea. Even when talking about management issues, it can be seen that Robert's expression is still a little thoughtful. Jenny nodded, not planning to go any further. —Robert should be given some time to think about it. "This is indeed a very attractive acquisition. Disney and Marvel are a match made in heaven. My instinct tells me, Bob, that this acquisition will bring Disney's business to a new peak."

Robert nodded slowly in deep thought. He held the mug and took a sip of the hot steam from the herbal tea, "And you are right, the management is only a trivial matter in this matter, the key depends on The attitude of shareholders—”

It has been a few hours since Jenny put forward this suggestion. Robert seems to have considered the whole matter thoroughly. The key to this acquisition."

An acquisition of such a large scale must of course obtain the approval of Disney shareholders, and which company Marvel will sell to depends on the attitude of Marvel shareholders. In Jenny's view, if Marvel shareholders With a long-term perspective, Disney even needs to pay a lower price than Paramount, and the reason why she is so eager to get Marvel's stock is also related to this. Paramount's acquisition of Marvel must be accompanied by the holding of many shareholder meetings. Timely access to shareholder groups and screening the attitudes of major shareholders will make Disney's acquisition more effective. ——Of course Disney can find others to do these things, but it is the most ingenious way to do it by Dameng. Besides, why does Jenny give this credit to others?

"So, I hope we make some concessions on the copyright of the "Iron Man" series," she returned to the origin of the problem, "so that we can reach an agreement with Marvel as soon as possible, which is very good for the big plan. Helpful, but it may temporarily damage Dameng’s report—fortunately, Dameng is not a listed company, it only needs to satisfy shareholders, what do you think, Bob?”

Robert's attitude has gradually become clear, but he still hasn't made it clear whether he will accept Jenny's suggestion. Now, under her temptation, he hesitated for a while, and finally showed a reserved smile.

"Go talk," he said, "Go Jennifer, you've got my back."

Although this statement may not necessarily mean that Robert has agreed to the 'big plan', it is enough for Jenny. She was a little worried at first, fearing that in this timeline, Disney would not acquire Marvel's, but Robert's attitude has continuously strengthened her confidence, and now she feels that all of this is likely to happen. Although Robert still hasn't said it clearly, this is also the caution he should have as a president.

To let go of the last trace of worry, Jenny raised the mug and touched Robert, and the two exchanged a tacit smile: Although before this, their friendship was considered close, but after tonight's meeting , Both parties feel that the relationship between each other has taken another step, and they already feel like confidantes and best friends.

"According to your guess, how much will Marvel offer?" Robert didn't mean to end the conversation right away, but talked with Jenny about some relatively insignificant trifles. "I think it should be no less than 50 million. If it is less than this number, they will not be able to speak at all."

"Fifty million is definitely a bottom line number," Jenny also agreed with Robert's opinion, "but they won't ask too high a price—otherwise they would rather give up the name "Iron Man" , It can be filmed under the name of "Iron Man vs. Captain America", I think it should be between 50 million and 100 million, probably close to 100 million, after all, Marvel is also eager to facilitate this deal."

"Is this your intuition?" Robert asked jokingly, but Jenny could tell that his tone was a bit half-truthful: Obviously, after intending to buy Marvel, Robert unexpectedly became superstitious up.

Actually, this is also human nature. People tend to hope for psychological comfort when making important decisions. But Jenny didn't intend to destroy the credibility of the 'Intuition Theory'. She shook her head and said with a smile, "I just said it casually. I don't have any strong intuition about this matter."

"Oh?" Robert leaned towards the table with great interest, and asked seemingly casually, "So when do you have a strong intuition? - I mean, of course, most of the time you just have a whim , but have you considered, what factors make you feel this way?"

Jenny has been selling her 'intuition theory' very hard, because it will make her many magic-stick predictions get better results, for example, the subprime mortgage crisis that is sweeping the United States now, she anyway It is also impossible to say something in 2007, and to judge with reason and evidence that it will definitely happen. When she reminded Cesare to stay away from the financial market, she can only use intuition to explain it. If Cesare happens to have a lot of money Investing in a fund owned by Lehman Brothers, and he trusted her intuition, she undoubtedly helped his friend recover a lot of losses.

"There's no factor," she told Robert honestly, "and there's no premonition, and sometimes it just pops into my head like that. Last year, for example, when I was filming Monroe, I was watching a Regarding the news about Lehman Brothers, I heard some strange words, among which the word subprime mortgage caught my attention. Suddenly, my intuition told me that Lehman Brothers might not be able to survive this financial storm. So I gave Cesare and some friends of mine called and talked to them about it."

Robert’s expression suddenly became a little weird—Jenny added, “Of course, I want to call you too, Bob, but then I thought, you don’t seem to believe in this stuff, I mean, these gods and ghosts Strange thing, if you remember what you said when I persuaded you to buy Marvel last time—"

Her attitude was very peaceful, and she didn't mean to criticize, but Robert excitedly defended himself, "It's not that I don't trust your intuition, Jennifer! It's just that the company didn't have any more cash at the time, and We just bought Pixar, and the general meeting of shareholders will not agree to buy another multi-billion dollar company in the short term—"

Maybe because he felt that Jenny had a certain knot in his heart, he broke out another small piece of news, "In fact, even now, the company can't raise too much cash. I'm afraid we may not be able to outbid Pai in terms of cash bids." Ramon...I still have to think about how to solve this matter."

It seems that this is indeed the most important reason why Robert has not fully implemented the matter just now, Jenny nodded thoughtfully, and comforted Robert, "Cash can always be raised, if you need it, sir Meng can execute a dividend and ask Marvel for a part of the cash..."

Because Disney owns a lot of shares in Dameng, Jenny can’t help but feel disadvantaged sometimes. It feels like Disney is taking money. Of course, she knows that Disney has actually provided countless resources and great resources for Dameng. Convenience, but emotional selfishness still pops up from time to time. When it comes to dumping Marvel’s equity, she has a little calculation of her own: if Disney wants cash, she doesn’t mind getting the shares It was bought by Cesare and her, but it felt like Disney was a fool to do so, so she just thought about it, and didn't expect such a beautiful thing to happen to her. Even now, after she had spoken halfway, she felt that something was inappropriate, so she quickly stopped talking while Robert might not have noticed something was wrong.

However, if you feel that Robert can't catch any clues from this sentence, then Jenny may have underestimated this not domineering president. The middle-aged man with a friendly face blinked, quite He smiled interestingly, looked at Jenny, but did not hesitate at all, but said boldly, "This is not a big problem. If it is acquired by Disney, then Dameng can completely sell the shares of Marvel. Give it to individuals, and use it to cash out dividends..."

For Disney, whose entire company size is calculated at hundreds of billions, the dividends generated by Marvel's stock in the acquisition are simply too small to be considered, even if Marvel bought it at a price of 100 million Copyright, based on the current price of 25 US dollars per share, Disney can get 2 million shares. After the acquisition is completed, even if the stock doubles, Disney will earn 50 million, and it may not be able to pay all dividends back to the parent company. , For the president of the entire Disney, this is probably his salary for more than a year. Of course, Robert can choose to be penny-pinching and pretend not to hear Jenny's little emotions, but it is obvious that he pays more attention to maintaining Jenny's enthusiasm. After all, without Jenny, he would not be thinking about the acquisition of Marvel. Profound and mature (Robert had thought about it before, but the idea was not very complete), and this matter is not unreasonable in front of shareholders. If Disney wants to collect cash, it must cash out. It's normal, so what if it's intentional to give up the profits to Jennifer Jefferson? Compared with the profits this girl made for Disney, this small amount of money is not worth mentioning at all, just treat it as a bonus.

Giving money to the company is of course much easier than taking money out of his own pocket. Robert also intends to repay this miracle girl and draw the distance between the two closer—seeing the joy and embarrassment on Jennifer's face, he Can't help but smile knowingly: At this time, Jennifer has shown her weakness at a young age. If it were Cesare Vigeri sitting here, he would never be seen through because of his own thoughts And blushing.

Didn’t mention it any more, so as not to make Jennifer more uncomfortable, Robert jumped to the point he was more concerned about, “Bear Stearns just got the help of the Federal Reserve, Jennifer, are you sure your instinct is that Ray Will Mann Brothers go bankrupt? Don’t you think the Fed will give it a hand?”

It seems that some of Robert's investments may be related to Lehman Brothers... Jenny shook her head and tried her best to recall her vague memory, "At least my intuition is this way, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch ...These names make me feel very ominous."

Nodding thoughtfully, Robert suddenly smiled self-deprecatingly, "Well, now I'm starting to regret not taking "Avatar"... I still remember you mentioned "Alice" at that time? Suggest it also Shooting and producing with 3D technology?—By the way, Jennifer, speaking of this, we plan to launch "Alice" at the end of this year. Is your schedule okay? Also, since we are all working with Warner on the heroine film, Then the next big production must be left to Disney anyway—"

"In terms of schedule, there should be no big problem. I will go to London in a few days to check the editing progress of "Monroe". After that, I shouldn't leave Los Angeles for too long, which is also convenient. We have some business activities——" Jenny blinked at Robert, who smiled knowingly, "During this period, I will be filming Rob Marshall's "9" in Los Angeles, but there are not many scenes, and there is indeed some time in the second half of this year. Do you have any thoughts on the next big production, Bob?"

"I don't know if you have read "Princess of Mars", "Robert suddenly became interested, "This is quite a classic science fiction novel——"

His narration was interrupted by Jenny's laughter, but the Disney CEO didn't get angry. On the contrary, he looked at Jenny excitedly and expectantly. His expression could even be described as a bit stupid. "What, Jennifer, did this novel spark your intuition?"

"Oh, dear Robert, it really inspired my intuition." Jenny smiled and shook her head, intentionally putting on a well-thought-out look—except for the intuition of the magic stick, she also wanted to grasp everything Opportunity to create an image of your own wisdom, "But even without intuition, I can tell you, my dear, that the days of modern science fiction are, I think, over..."

#

For presidents and stars with busy schedules, it is not easy to find a suitable time to meet and chat, so they also cherish the opportunity to talk. This night, the lights in the Disney president's office came on In the middle of the night, and the next morning, Robert Iger set off for South America to inspect the local investment environment. As for Jenny, she also boarded the first-class flight to London two days later - "A Week with Monroe" has been completed After finishing the first cut, as a producer, of course she has to go to the studio to review the results, and communicate with Salvi about the editing of the release version and the screening version.

Because this is a transoceanic voyage, it is not so easy to find a suitable private charter plane, and Jenny is relatively poor recently, so she still chooses an ordinary passenger plane. Fortunately, there are not many first-class passengers on this flight, and she After wearing sunglasses, it didn't attract too many people's attention.

Although she hasn't been filming recently, she is still very busy during the time in Los Angeles, especially the increase in dinner parties, which seriously affects Jenny's sleep--over the years, she has gotten used to it. The feeling of falling asleep hungry, if there is food in the stomach when she goes to bed at night, she can't sleep well. So after the plane took off, she pulled a blanket to wrap herself up, planning to sleep through the entire flight.

However, this plan did not come true—the airliner had just changed from liftoff to level flight, and Jenny had just adapted to the change in airflow.

"Hurry up, hurry up," she handed the receiver of the plane phone to Jenny, "You talk to him directly! —— Cesare, Cesare is on the other end of the phone."

"Uh," Jenny was still a little confused, she put the phone to her ear and asked, "What's the matter?"

"Marvel's Kevin called me just now." Cesare's opening remarks dispelled her drowsiness, and it was discernible that there was a hint of excitement in his voice.

"What, you mean—" Jenny sat up straight, and her heartbeat began to speed up.

"You're right." Cesare seemed to pause intentionally, as if he was joking with Jenny, he stretched out his voice and said slowly, "They have already made an offer, The price is—"