America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

How could one believe that Martin and Louise were reliable if they hadn't been through the baptism of the big six's accounting books?
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It was only after Wu Maoting took a fall with Warner Bros. Pictures that he realized the value of his original partners.

Martin outlined all the risks upfront, emphasizing that the profitability of the project was uncertain. Wu Maoting found himself increasingly convinced of Martin's sincerity and credibility.

Martin then said, "There's a romantic comedy project. I haven't seen the script yet, but the producer is reliable. I'll contact you once I've read the script."

"No problem," Wu Maoting left his contact information in Los Angeles and took the opportunity to say goodbye.

Martin escorted him to the studio lobby.

Before Wu Maoting left, he shook hands with Martin and said, "I'll be waiting for your good news."

Martin responded with a word of acknowledgment.

As these guests departed and Martin had not yet gone upstairs, Louise came in from outside.

She pointed behind her, "That looked like the investor from Myanmar, right?"

Martin said straightforwardly, "He invested in 'Terminator 2018' and was swindled by the accounting at Warner Bros. Pictures."

Louise immediately understood, "So he's looking to come back to you?"

"Gavin Newsom's wife, Jennifer Siebel, the one who was harassed by Harvey, has a romantic film project," Martin roughly outlined what happened at the party yesterday, "She hasn't given up on Hollywood and wants to pull me into investing. Originally, I was thinking of allocating some funds from 'Lone Survivor', but then he came to me."

Louise said, "Regardless of whether the project succeeds or fails, we can still make management fees and a cut. Investing in the Newsoms is worthwhile. I heard from my father that after Gavin's term as Mayor of San Francisco City, he might run for Governor. He'll be partnering with someone and if successful, would be appointed as Lieutenant Governor."

Martin laughed, "It feels pretty good to do favors with other people's money."

Louise checked her watch and said, "It's about time, shall we go to Warner?"

The two of them headed out together, walking across the street to the Warner Building opposite them.

Today's meeting had many attendees, involving many subsidiaries and cooperative companies under Warner Bros.

On the way up, Martin ran into Dede Gardner from Plan B, and due to Aniston's connections, they had a brief chat in the elevator.

Exiting the elevator, he also saw Robert Reiner from Castle Rock Entertainment. Since the 90s, all films produced by this company have been distributed by Warner Bros.

The group arrived at the conference center and sat around a long conference table.

Soon, more than twenty people were seated, many engaging in private conversations, speculating about what the new management at Warner intended to do.

Dede Gardner mentioned to Martin, "I heard that the new person in charge is planning to increase the percentage cuts of film distribution, both online and offline."

Martin wasn't surprised, "Distribution companies are at the upper stream of the production chain. North American distribution is still negotiable, but global distribution can only be managed by the big six in Hollywood."

Louise noted, "The best scenario is to maintain the status quo."

Not long after, Kevin Shiyuan, accompanied by Daniel and two other Warner executives, entered the conference center.

The meeting began.

Kevin Shiyuan got straight to the point, "We've invited our partners from Warner here today mainly to discuss future collaboration details, ensuring that we continue to work closely together for mutual benefit and success."

Martin and Louise sat quietly towards the back, waiting for what was to come.

Kevin Shiyuan's words were courteous, "During the past five years, thanks to our close collaboration and mutual efforts, Warner Bros. has consistently been at the forefront of Hollywood. We hope to maintain our lead over other companies in the future!"

Applause erupted in the room.

"However, since the economic crisis in 2008, Warner Bros.' profits have declined, and the global industry channels have narrowed." The anticipated shift came, as Kevin Shiyuan began to highlight the difficulties, "Warner too faces great challenges and tests, we've been persisting, bearing the brunt of the economic crisis for the past two years, preventing the downstream partners from being affected.

This has resulted in today's scenario, where the pressure is on Warner, while the partners share the profits."

Kevin Shiyuan's pleasantries sounded pleasant.

Martin and Louise exchanged glances, knowing that often the sting lies behind sweet words.

Kevin Shiyuan continued, "Warner Bros. alone has borne this for two years, and under such immense pressure, we can no longer shoulder it. Normal industry cooperation requires the maintenance of all parties involved. We share profits, we share risks; this is the path to healthy and stable long-term collaboration."

A senior executive from New Line Cinema spoke up, "I completely agree."

Someone from Legendary Pictures chimed in, "Without Warner's powerful distribution capabilities and channels, we wouldn't have succeeded. Naturally, if we enjoy the profits brought by Warner, we should also share the risks with them."

Kevin Shiyuan pressed down his hand for attention, "The main risks will still be borne by Warner Bros., all of you just need to follow behind Warner."

He wasn't going to be the bad guy at the forefront, and said, "I have other work to handle. The rest of the meeting will be led by your old friend, Daniel."

Daniel stood up and nodded to the old friends seated on both sides of the conference table.

Kevin Tsujihara left the meeting room.

Daniel moved to the main seat and said, "Ladies and gentlemen, as you are all well aware, in recent years, the distribution costs in Hollywood have been climbing steadily, and Warner's distribution cut with partners has never changed..."

Facing these partners, he also felt somewhat uncomfortable, but the strategy established by Kevin Tsujihara would not change, and had to be implemented.

Warner Bros.' film business had become first in the industry both online and offline, and with Warner's extensive global distribution channels as an asset, it made sense to increase the distribution fee percentage.

Daniel agreed internally and directly said, "Starting with contracts signed now, North American distribution fees will increase by 2%, overseas distribution fees by 3%, and all offline channel fees by 5%!"

"Agreed!"

"I think it's fair!"

The eager voices of agreement all came from companies like New Line and Legendary Pictures, which were controlled by Warner.

Including Martin and Louise, the others remained silent for the moment.

Robert Reiner from Castle Rock Entertainment suddenly said, "I agree. Without Warner's distribution channels, our films could never have earned so much."

What he said was indeed true; distribution companies hold the upper stream of the industry chain, relying on direct channels to the global market.

But when such massive interests were involved, who would readily concede?

The eyes from non-Warner-controlled companies all turned sharply to Robert Reiner, surprised at how quickly a traitor had emerged.

Daniel said with a smile, "Ladies and gentlemen, our cooperation will be even more successful."

For the time being, no one spoke, and the meeting room fell into a moment of silence.

Martin looked at Robert Reiner again. For an established company like Castle Rock Entertainment to make such a choice, he could understand it.

Castle Rock Entertainment had cooperated with Warner Bros. for many years, and their offline channels for films relied heavily on Warner, to the point where the profitability of their film library's offline channels was tightly bound with Warner. If a fallout with Warner Bros. happened, it wasn't impossible, but the sunk cost was somewhat high.

It could be said that the longer a company had cooperated with Warner Bros., the harder it was for them to detach from Warner's dependence.

Newly established companies, on the other hand, were relatively better off.

With the meeting over, Martin prepared to leave when Daniel stopped him, "Do you have time for a private chat?"

Martin, unchanged as before, replied, "If you have something to say, of course I have time."

The two went to a reception room on the other side.

Daniel said, "About those three old films from Warner's library, I owe you an apology."

Martin waved his hand dismissively, "It's alright. It was just a preliminary intent, and Warner Bros. always had the final say."

Daniel elaborated further, "I had given a heads-up to the people at Warner Bros., but with the change in leadership, there were many changes in the management, which led to events unfolding in an unexpected direction."

He appeared quite helpless, shifting all the blame onto others, "The people at Warner Bros. are so inconsiderate. Even though they had promised me, they turned around and pushed those three movies into the project discussion phase; Exodus even got the green light from the review committee."

Martin didn't believe a word, but he didn't show it, he sighed, "Lost is lost. Although I thought the market prospect looked promising, raising funds for big productions is also quite difficult for me, but..."

His words said he didn't care, but his face was full of regret, "I had been thinking, once the film would succeed, I'd give you a separate finder's fee and consultancy fee."

Daniel was stunned, thinking to himself why didn't you say so earlier? I've already reported the situation! If you had said so sooner, I would have kept at least one for you no matter what!

Martin continued, "I'm still looking at other old films, hoping to find another suitable project for a remake. When the time comes, we can proceed quietly, without alarming those ill-intentioned troublemakers."

Daniel promptly responded, "Absolutely, if you find interest in other projects, remember to contact me. We can plan it together, just the two of us."

"By the way, what's happening with Exodus?" Martin asked with great interest, "I've heard the project has made significant progress?"

Seeing this, Daniel naturally thought Martin was still perturbed, and gave a simple introduction, "The project has been officially named 'Pharaoh and the Gods', with a production budget that may exceed 150 million US dollars, adapted from the Bible with fantasy elements incorporated. Warner Bros. and Christian Bale have nearly reached an agreement.

After Bale finishes shooting Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises, he will work on this film, which is expected to premiere in 2012."

Martin inquired, "And the director?"

Daniel replied, "Still in talks with Ridley Scott, but there shouldn't be an issue."

Martin remembered that Ridley's 'Robin Hood' would premiere at the start of this summer's blockbuster season. Another epic movie, with Ridley's robust endurance, should be bearable.

Then again, based on the patterns from his memories of a past life, the harder Ridley fell with an epic movie, the more vigorous his comeback to science fiction would be!

The novel "The Martian" was not yet complete, still in its final stages, so Martin could afford to wait a bit longer for Ridley Scott.