"Ronald, you have always been very kind to me. I got the most coveted job at Daydream. But this is an invitation from Paramount. I don't want to do anything behind my back, so I have to be honest.
, I want to give it a try, I hope you can understand."
Michelle Cannold, the distribution director who has been working for Ronald since "Dirty Dancing", came to Ronald this day and confessed that he had been contacted by a headhunter and would ask him to interview for a new job at Paramount Pictures.
position of president.
As a typical white man who has never been immersed in the office politics of a major studio, he has been daydreaming about development since his debut in video distribution. He was quite honest with Ronald.
Michelle Cannold admits that he is very satisfied with the platform that Daydream has given him, but the temptation of big studios is difficult to resist for everyone working in Hollywood.
"Oh, Michelle, a big studio may not be suitable for you. In Daydream, as long as you do your job well, there will be no problems, but that is not the case in a big studio. There is no boss watching, everything is
See how the top managers below plan for themselves..."
Ronald was also surprised by this sudden poaching. This time, Martin Davis, the president of Paramount's parent company Gulf and Western Company (the same name as the original boss of 20th Century Fox), suddenly personally intervened in Paramount.
Meng's personnel affairs.
Ever since Michael Eisner was pushed out of Paramount and failed to take over, Paramount has been in a situation of competition for hegemony. Everyone at the vice president level feels that they can rise to the top and replicate what Eisner did back then.
The road to acceptance.
But there is no one who has both Eisner's skills and his ability to recognize people and assign them well. Paramount has been deteriorating in recent years, and the output of good works has dropped sharply compared to the years when Eisner was in power.
It's a complete mess and lackluster.
To make matters worse, during Michael Eisner's time at Paramount, he had many visionary and capable independent producers who contributed to more than half of the films that were blockbusters and won awards.
For example, the two producers of "Top Gun" that Ronald once directed, Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, were also driven away by these infighting people.
Their previous project "Days of Thunder", which they collaborated with Tom Cruise on, failed to recoup its costs in the domestic market due to mediocre box office, and could only wait for the slow recovery of its profits from overseas box office and video revenue, but was rejected internally.
, cleared out.
These two were not just people who were waiting for death. They immediately went to Disney to find their old partner Eisner. Eisner was also unambiguous and immediately signed a distribution contract for three movies with them, which immediately caused the internal strife within Paramount.
an open secret.
After some operations, the stock price of Gulf and Western Corporation, the parent company of Paramount Pictures, fell in response, from a peak of nearly fifty US dollars to less than forty US dollars. Disney, on the other hand, relied on the huge sales of "Beauty and the Beast"
, rose from 25 to 32 per share.
Gulf and Western Company, which had been renamed Paramount Communications in the stock market, encountered double negation from fund traders and analysts on Wall Street. President Martin Davis could not bear it and must re-appoint someone who could be like Al
He wanted a capable person like Eisner to revive the company. He completely ignored the fact that he was the one who was afraid of Eisner when he first came here and drove him away.
"I know, I just want to give it a try..." Michelle Cannold took out a resignation letter and handed it to Ronald's hand.
"There is no need to resign. I will still reserve my position for you. Just give it a try. If you don't succeed, you will still be the distribution director of Daydream." Ronald turned over the resignation letter without reading it.
on the table, and then said the above paragraph.
Michelle Cannold left very gratefully. She didn't expect that the young boss could understand him so well. Ronald closed the door and found Richard to scold him.
"They poached me, it's really too much. Daydream is just a medium-sized film studio at best..."
"It's really hard to say no. Here he's facing Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme. When it comes to Paramount, he can decide whether to greenlight a project, and that's a star like Tom Cruise." Richard
De is very clear about this. There are many Hollywood producers who have such a dream of guiding the country in front of stars.
"Whatever, I don't think Michelle has such talent. Taking the position of Paramount may not be a good thing for him. Unfortunately, I was quite optimistic about him and regarded him as a daydream candidate for president in the future.
candidate……"
Ronald shook his head. He had some arrangements in cinemas, production, overseas distribution, video tapes, TV stations, etc. If Tiansui people were willing to have a chance to integrate these resources, then it might not be a mini pie.
Ramon Communications Corporation.
"I don't think it will succeed. The most powerful candidate for the Paramount position this time is..." Richard whispered the person's name in Ronald's ear.
"This is the opportunity for Tom and Paula. I will not express any opinions on this matter. It depends on which of them can get this position..." Ronald nodded, Cruise/Wagner Pictures
I'm lucky that a major studio wants to change its president. This is a rare opportunity.
However, it is difficult to say whether an agent like Paula Wagner knew some inside information in advance and was so determined to establish a star-centered production company. In this case, Michelle Cannold's prospects will be
It's worrying.
My Daydream Pictures business is not big enough to attract talented people. Michelle Cannold's move... If it were placed in a big studio, he would definitely be kicked out. I still have to pay
He left a chance, but in future business and promotion, Ed Bastian, who was in charge of newspapers and television stations in New York, would get the upper hand.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! After leaving, Richard was also amazed that his client could tolerate a subordinate in this way. Is it out of sincerity or a gesture? No matter
Either way, it's not something a simple businessman can do.
In any case, this kind of nostalgic approach shows that Ronald is not a cold-blooded person. He also cares about some old relationships in business calculations, which is a good thing for his status.
…
Sure enough, after going for the interview, Michelle Cannold only got a notification waiting for news. Feeling cheated, he could only come back with a low eyebrow and beg Ronald for forgiveness.
However, Ronald didn't seem to mind this matter too much and even comforted him in turn.
"Ah, don't be discouraged, Michelle, at least you still have a daydream distribution system running for you..."
"I don't know what's wrong with me. Being headhunted has blinded my mind. Hey, I shouldn't have made such a choice." Michelle Cannold was still a little frustrated when she spoke.
"Don't think so. I understand that people want to realize their ambitions. This is what everyone wants in Hollywood. And you are very honest with me...I have no reason to blame you..." Ronald was being honest.
The two words are emphasized.
Michelle Cannold's heart skipped a beat. Fortunately, she wasn't so obsessed at the time that she listened to the evil headhunter and went to the interview without telling Ronald. Hollywood is not a place that can keep secrets for a long time...
"What questions did Paramount ask you? What kind of person are they looking for?" Ronald asked another question casually.
"This is..." Michelle was about to say that the questions in the interview were confidential, but her heart suddenly jumped again. The honesty that Ronald said just now was still ringing in her ears. He quickly organized his words, "
I think they wanted to find someone who could bring them box office success, and that's where I lost points..."
Michelle Cannold honestly told Ronald the interview questions and his answers. As expected, what Paramount needs is a president who can boost its stock price.
Therefore, this is not just about how to make money, but also about how to satisfy the analysts and fund buyers on Wall Street. Although they don't understand Hollywood, they can affect the company's stock price. When the same financial report comes out,
The stock price can fluctuate a lot whether it is promoted or not.
And this is the only assessment indicator for the boards of directors and CEOs of those companies.
Michelle Cannold, who serves as the distribution director in an unlisted company like Daydream, has no similar experience at all. His answer is to control the scale of investment, produce and distribute a large number of small and medium-cost productions, and other
Cooperating with small production companies, each film does not seek big wins, but only seeks small profits to recover costs in the local market.
To put it simply, it is to accumulate small wins into big wins and ensure that you do not lose money at the same time. Goddess of luck will always favor one or two films out of ten movies, so that you can achieve good box office results.
This kind of thinking is quite in line with the thinking of non-listed companies like Daydream. If it has its own distribution channel, this approach can undoubtedly achieve good results.
But in the eyes of Paramount boss Martin Davis, this answer is simply incomprehensible. If you don’t make big productions and gather big stars, how can you let people know what you are doing on Wall Street? Those fund managers work every day
They have to face dozens or hundreds of recommendations from listed companies. If there is no movement, how can they buy Paramount stock?
Michelle Cannold, who doesn't know how to maintain investor relations and only knows how to make movies, is undoubtedly not a good candidate, so he was eliminated in the first round.
…
"What did you say during the interview?"
On the other side, CAA's agent Kevin Huwen was also communicating with another potential candidate for president. He did not expect that this outdated female star would be working behind Stanley Jaffe.
Filmmaker, Shirley Lansing, actually has great hopes of becoming Paramount's new president and CEO.
Since being kicked out by Twentieth Century Fox's boss in the oil industry (also named Martin Davis), Shirley Lansing has been in the independent production business with Stanley Jaffe.
The "Fatal Attraction" they co-produced allowed both the leading actor Michael Douglas and the leading actress Glenn Close to successfully expand their influence. However, in the end, Glenn Gross was eliminated by Ronaldo at the Oscars.
German-directed Cher was a dark horse in winning Best Actress, but she also lost out to "The Last Emperor," which swept the Oscars that year, and received no five nominations.
However, she also gained the reputation of well-known female producers in Hollywood, and many sideline film projects approached her. For example, she was co-produced with Japan, and Michael Douglas and Ken Takakura collaborated on the story of the nuclear bomb generation's resistance to American culture.
The invasion of "Black Rain", and "Pear Blossom" which made Jodie Foster win the Best Actress for the first time.
In fact, these film projects could not find distributors in mainstream Hollywood, but under the operation of her partner, Stanley Jaffe, they achieved double success at the box office and awards.
What followed was a series of dizzying moves. Stanley Jaffe and Shirley Lansing broke up, and he went to Paramount to replace Brandon Tartikoff, who left NBC because of his daughter's car accident, and became Paramount Pictures.
President of Gulf and Western Corporation, the parent company of the industry.
When Paramount Pictures undergoes a major shake-up this year, his advice in the ears of Chairman Martin Davis is inseparable.
In this way, the good news was not left to outsiders, and Shirley Lansing, his partner at the time, naturally became a strong contender for the CEO of Paramount Pictures.
"I followed the plan you gave me and hired stars and big-name directors to reduce the risk of each project. I did not pursue market share or profit margins, but pursued the maximum box office revenue for each film. This is smaller.
With market share and profit margin, it can also give relatively high profit figures and have a very good influence."
"Very good, this is the result after discussions between me and several famous celebrity brokers. Taken together, this is the most beneficial answer to the stock price of listed companies. So how can you get these good projects?"
"Hey, what else can I say, grab those popular stars, especially male stars who have the ability to star in different types of films. You know, it turns out that Stanley (Jaffe) is responsible for selecting scripts."
"No, no, no, you are the best producer, the person who plays a leading role in the Stanley-Shirley combination. Your answer is very good. Some news I got here said that you have entered
It’s the second round.”
"Hmm, hurry up and find some directors for me to interview. In the second round, they will definitely ask me how to choose good scripts and directors." Shirley Lansing said in her heart, you don't need to say this, Stanley
You called me a long time ago.
"I have found the director who is most suitable to answer this question to talk to you. You will definitely get this position..." Agent Kevin Hu Wen smiled.
"Oh, who is it?"
"Ronald Lee may be one of the directors with the highest return on investment in Hollywood..."
"Oh, it's him..." Shirley Lansing was a little unnatural. The director circle was mostly middle-aged and elderly. For such a young director, his still charming appearance would not be very attractive.
Moreover, when I was working at 20th Century Fox in my early years, I even rejected Ronald.
"Don't worry, Ronald also has something to ask of you. He will tell you the secret of selecting successful scripts in Hollywood..."