I am Hollywood

Chapter 549: Chapter 550: DreamWorks



[Chapter 550: DreamWorks]

After Eric finished discussing the terms of the swap, Marcel Novare immediately showed his reluctance. He felt that even considering the 75% stake in MGM held by Lyon Credit Bank, the price of $1.2 billion was somewhat undervalued. Eric offered an overall valuation of MGM at only $1.2 billion, yet the company known only in whispers was valued by Eric at an astonishing $800 million.

"Eric, this is too harsh of a condition. Even if MGM's overall market value is barely $1.2 billion, the production company is definitely not worth $800 million."

Eric didn't bother to counter Marcel's statement. Instead, he gave a teasing smile to the Frenchman and nodded, saying, "Of course, if you don't agree, we can negotiate."

Marcel Nova were taken aback for a moment. Noticing the gazes of others in the meeting room, he couldn't help but show a wry smile. He realized that since Eric had already spoken, there was no room for bargaining regarding MGM.

Currently, MGM was clearly in a passive position. With the production company plan Eric proposed, the other major film companies in Hollywood surely would be eager to take on the distribution. The opportunity MGM had was primarily due to Eric's personal intentions. If he chose to ignore MGM, he could simply assist in the production of the 007 series and rid himself of the shadowy agreements tied to the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade without having to go through all this.

Thinking about these things, Marcel Novare nodded helplessly, "Alright, Eric, I'll submit this proposal to the board for discussion as soon as possible."

With that, the matter was essentially settled. As the host, Nicolas Seydoux was about to ask everyone to dinner when he suddenly remembered a question: "Eric, what do you plan to name the production company?"

Without hesitation, feeling somewhat lazy, Eric blurted out, "Let's just call it DreamWorks."n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"DreamWorks, nice name," someone said.

"Yeah, the Dream Factory -- great connotation," another chimed in.

Everyone nodded in agreement while Eric chuckled mischievously. However, the new production company indeed bore a striking resemblance to the DreamWorks of the original timeline. The name was quite fitting, but if Spielberg wanted to make big waves again, he would definitely need to choose a different name for the film company.

...

After dinner at the Seydoux family's mansion, Eric took a car back to his hotel. It was already 10:30 PM, and since it was still working hours in Los Angeles, he called the Firefly headquarters to discuss the day's events with the Firefly Films management and asked Michael Lynn to send a senior executive to participate in the negotiations for the new production company.

A few days later, a vice president from Firefly Films arrived in Paris to handle the negotiations for Firefly's interests in the DreamWorks film production company. The last stop of Jurassic Park's European promotion in Madrid, Spain, also held its premiere. Meanwhile, the box office data for Jurassic Park in Paris was quickly released. In its first week in France, Jurassic Park grossed over 27 million francs, while its competitor, Germinal, managed only around 6 million francs in its opening week. Even converted to dollars, Germinal's production cost was only half of Jurassic Park's, but its production cost of over 160 million francs was still the highest in French film history. Following the release of these figures, the French media was, of course, in an uproar, demanding that the French government pay attention to local films. However, Eric was well aware that many matters had already been settled behind the scenes. As the negotiations for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade were in their final stages, the U.S.government issued a final ultimatum to several European governments: if an agreement was not reached by December 15, 1993, the entire pact would be void. European countries understood that if the agreement was indeed voided, international trade would fall into a prolonged state of chaos, which Europe, in its economic recovery phase, could not afford.

By the time Eric received this news, he had already taken the creative team of Jurassic Park to Tokyo, Japan, preparing for the movie's premiere on July 29.

...

At the same time, Chris's negotiations with Nokia Group also yielded some results. The main shareholders of Nokia agreed to divest several companies unrelated to mobile communications from the group and to continue negotiating solely on Nokia's mobile communications division with Firefly.

After this agreement, the total assets involved in the negotiations were reduced from $1.1 billion to around $700 million.

Furthermore, Eric learned from Chris that, due to the gradual recognition of the GSM network by various European countries, many telecom companies were starting to shift their focus towards researching GSM standard mobile phones. If other telecom companies promptly launched GSM mobile phones, the technological edge Nokia had built up would quickly evaporate. In this scenario, Nokia desperately needed a significant cash infusion to fund the development of new mobile phones and for marketing their products, making Firefly's negotiating advantage more apparent.

With the scale of involved assets now down to $700 million, Eric instructed Chris not to worry too much about financial details. The most important thing was to secure a larger equity stake in Nokia. After further discussion about the prospects of mobile phones, Chris agreed with Eric's viewpoint.

...

Eric and the publicity team settled in the Chiyoda District of downtown Tokyo. Japan's economy had been booming throughout the 1980s, and this was peak national pride for the Japanese people. Upon arriving in Tokyo, Eric clearly sensed the palpable eagerness of the locals to do something.

After the premiere, Eric quickly left Japan, while many members of his team chose to remain, planning to tour Tokyo. Japan maintained a very favorable image in the West, so most held a deep curiosity about the country. Given that Tokyo was the last stop for Jurassic Park's promotion and their work was completed, Eric didn't push for anything more.

...

"Allen, did I ever tell you about my childhood dream? I wanted to be like migratory birds, continually moving from place to place, searching for a place where the temperature always remained at 23 degrees." Upon landing at Los Angeles International Airport with a few accompanying staff, Eric took a deep breath and said to Allen walking beside him.

Allen knew Eric moved to Los Angeles from London when he was just eight, and asked with a smile, "What about your dream before you were eight?"

Eric paused for a moment, then nodded, "Yeah, you know, the weather in London has always been terrible. I hated the damp and cold environment."

Allen laughed and asked, "And what happened later?"

"Well," Eric gestured as if embracing the bright sunlight around them, "I discovered that Los Angeles was just that place. Once you arrive here, there's no need to migrate anymore."

"Looks like you really don't enjoy flying all over," Allen summarized with a laugh.

"Definitely," Eric chuckled in return.

Eric's itinerary wasn't widely known. Upon exiting the airport, he was met by several company cars dispatched by Firefly Films. Eric noticed Jeffrey standing cheerfully by one of the

vehicles.

"Jeffrey, why did you come in person?" Eric approached in surprise and gave Jeffrey a hug.

"I had a free afternoon, and I heard you were returning today, so I came personally," Jeffrey

explained.

Eric let a few of his bodyguards, who had been with him around the globe, roam freely and sent Allen away before getting into the car with Jeffrey.

...

"Is there something going on?" Eric asked once the car started.

Jeffrey shook his head with a smile, "Do you think we've become so distant?"

Eric hesitated, then shook his head, "Of course not. I'm just a bit surprised."

"I really had no agenda today, which is why I came," Jeffrey reiterated. "However, there's a small thing -- last week, I went to New York and met the two kids."

"Oh?" Eric showed a puzzled expression.

"Kevin and Elia are both adorable," Jeffrey said, seeming a bit shy to ask. "Eric, Emily has been in frequent contact with Joan and Vicky. You're in closer contact with Chris than I am as a father. I just wanted to ask if you could find out when those two are planning to get married?"

It seemed that concern for children's marriage was a universal trait among parents. Eric couldn't help but chuckle internally, "Aren't they saying they plan to wait until they're thirty

to marry?" "Thirty..." Jeffrey pursed his lips, "So how old is Chris now?"

Eric paused. He remembered meeting Chris for the first time when Chris was twenty-six. Now,

three years later...

"Twenty-nine?"

Jeffrey nodded with distress, "Plus, I learned from Emily's father that Emily is actually a year

older than Chris."

Eric couldn't help but show a look of concern, spreading his hands, "Jeffrey, I can't help you

with this. You'll need to nag them as a father yourself. You know, children usually dread their parents nagging them. If you talk about it a few more times, they might just end up getting

married!"

"Does that actually work?" Jeffrey asked inquisitively.

Eric thought about it. Both Chris and Emily were stubborn individuals, so this method likely

wouldn't work well, but he couldn't think of a more suitable approach: "That's all I can come up with."

"Then I'll give it a shot..." Jeffrey sighed and didn't pursue the topic any further. Instead, he asked, "I've heard about the collaboration with the European film companies. However, don't you think that 30% stake is a bit low? Given your reputation now, simply acting as a producer would already be sufficient to claim a 30% profit share from a film."

"I don't think this should be simply calculated like that, Jeffrey. Think about it -- what does

MGM have left?"

"007?" Jeffrey asked, puzzled.

"Exactly. MGM only has 007 left as a bargaining chip," Eric replied with a laugh. "But that's not what I'm referring to. MGM doesn't even have a filming location anymore; everything was sold by that old man Kirk Kerkorian and even turned into MGM Hotel. Although the newly established DreamWorks film company will collaborate with MGM, production will still heavily depend on the resources Firefly has."

Jeffrey nodded in understanding. He knew that Eric had set a budget of $800 million for producing ten films, and given Hollywood's average production cost per film, spending $800 million on ten films was no easy feat. Firefly Films' shooting base and special effects companies would undoubtedly take on most of the production work. In that case, even without any shady dealings, Firefly would still make a substantial profit during production.

"On another note, Stan Winston has already chosen a new location for the Digital Domain studio and plans to set it up in Florida, where they offered three years of tax exemption. The new branch aims to construct a studio of around 20,000 square meters in the state capital," Jeffrey quickly shifted back to Firefly's matters.

Although Eric always kept track of various aspects of Firefly Films, he couldn't know every detail and had granted Digital Domain ample autonomy. Therefore, this was the first time he had heard about this news. However, Eric had no objections; a three-year tax exemption was a

good condition for Digital Domain. If he were in that position, he would have agreed as well. Even though the trend for special effects companies was shifting overseas, the profitability of the special effects industry in North America remained very high. Special effects companies were still thriving, and reputable effects studios had no trouble securing projects. Even after the establishment of Firefly Software, with more special effects studios emerging, this situation wouldn't change anytime soon.

"That approach works, too. Once Firefly Software is established, more special effects companies will undoubtedly emerge in Los Angeles, and having a subsidiary in Florida is also

a good choice." Eric nodded, smiling as he added, "Perhaps in a few years, we'll have to move our special effects company overseas."

"Is that really necessary?" Jeffrey asked, puzzled.

"Who knows," Eric shrugged his shoulders. He couldn't possibly explain too much to Jeffrey

at this moment.

*****

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