America 1919

Donnie asked with a smile, "Meyer, I think Miss Yaxia who's aiming for the top spot in the preliminary competition must already be a hot favorite for the regional champion by now, right?"

Actually, Donnie also wanted to expand the "Atlantic City Post" to other cities at this time, but the "Atlantic City Post" did not have the capacity to do so at present. Even if it were possible, it would only rank as a lesser-known newspaper, which would adversely affect the Miss America event.

Therefore, in the end, Donnie chose to collaborate with local newspapers; however, no one had anticipated the Miss America competition to become such a huge sensation prior to this.

Thus, those newspapers had all secured their collaboration with Starry Entertainment at a low price.

Meyer nodded proudly and said, "Of course, Yaxia is naturally the biggest favorite!"

Although the voting data was controlled by Starry Entertainment, their control could not be baseless; at the very least, they had to ensure that the girl with the most 'flower value' was leading ahead of the others in the initial stage.

This was also to demonstrate the fairness of the Miss America pageant!

Donnie laughed, "That's right. If you, Meyer, wish to earn less and are willing to compensate for mine and Nucky's losses, I have no objections!"

Hearing Donnie's words, Yaxia's face immediately showed a look of disappointment because she knew Meyer all too well, even knowing about the mole on his body!

Sure enough, after hearing Donnie's words, Meyer immediately laughed and said, "I think second place isn't bad either!"

Donnie nodded; respect was still necessary toward this underworld kingpin from New York.

"After the competition is over, I will arrange for Miss Yaxia to meet some Hollywood directors!"

Yaxia, who had become disappointed because of Meyer's denial, was instantly excited when she looked at Donnie.

"Haha, if that's the case, then that's great!" Meyer laughed heartily.

At this point, Donnie saw Charlie, the lucky guy with a sullen face who hadn't spoken, "Charlie, we haven't seen each other in quite a while, and your friends in Atlantic City are starting to miss you!"

Hearing Donnie's teasing, Charlie's face grew even darker, but remembering that Donnie still held leverage over him, he could only suppress his dissatisfaction.

"Charlie, that's where you're wrong. Since you have your own friends in Atlantic City, why did you always make excuses when I invited you to come over?"

Meyer asked curiously.

"I, I was just not feeling well at the time!" Charlie said awkwardly.

In Donnie's mind, these Miss America contestants were just tools for him to make money. To any capitalist, it would be unethical not to squeeze every last drop of value from a product.

"Walker, what do you think about us establishing our own film company in Los Angeles?"

Donnie asked Walker.

Walker was startled and asked, "You want to set up your own film company?"

Donnie nodded, "Indeed I have such a thought. As you know, the Miss America competition will always come to an end, but I need these Miss Americas to continue to advertise the brand after the beauty pageant ends. Therefore, I need them to be in the public eye continuously. Apart from movies, I can't think of any better way to do this!"

Walker nodded in agreement with Donnie's opinion, but still threw cold water on him, "It's very difficult to succeed in Hollywood. You should know that the exclusionary sentiment in Hollywood is very serious, and you have no prior experience in the film industry. Even if you establish your own film company, it would be difficult to succeed there.

You can see this from United Artists, founded by people like Charlie Chaplin, Pickford, Douglas, and Griffith—each one a famous Hollywood star—and even so, their company remains a small one in Hollywood, unable to break the monopoly of the major studios."

Hollywood is not only exclusionary, but there's also a severe issue, which is the major studios' monopoly over the American film industry's production, distribution, and exhibition.

Originally, Chaplin and others wanted to use their joint efforts to establish a film company and use their fame to break the monopoly of the major Hollywood studios.

But as the saying goes, the idea is beautiful, the reality is cruel.

Under the pressure of the major studios, the mere survival of United Artists was already quite an achievement! Your next read awaits at M-V-L

After Walker told Donnie about these issues, Donnie realized that his earlier thoughts were a bit too idealistic.

But Donnie still remembered that, wasn't United Artists at one point during the '30s and '40s one of the big eight in Hollywood?

Which means, they must have used some operations later on to develop!

"If we take a stake in Chaplin's United Artists?" Donnie thought that since United Artists could rise later on, taking a stake in them now at their lowest point would also be a good decision.

Moreover, investing in this company would mean that he and the current hottest stars in America would become colleagues.