With the suggestion from City Councilor Susan Molinari, Ronald asked his private lawyer Lindsay Dole to draft an application for rezoning land rights. He only had to wait for the approval of the Staten Island City Hall meeting before work could resume.
He continued to build his Jiangnan gardens.
After handling this matter, Ronald quickly called the travel agency and arranged to go to a resort on the east side of Long Island, New York, to enjoy a few days.
"Didn't you say you were coming by yacht?" Diane got off the traveling car and put on big orange sunglasses, a light yellow straw hat on her head, and her white pants had a bit of a Marilyn look.
"Didn't I miss out on gardening for two days?" Ronald followed down, wearing preppy-style clothes, a navy top, cropped pants, and boat shoes.
"The outfits for taking a boat, a plane, and a car are all different. I haven't prepared them to perfection." Diane's clothes were prepared for taking a boat, which is a bit regretful.
"It doesn't matter, there are no reporters here." Ronald got into the convertible sports car prepared for him, which is the most common means of transportation here.
The easternmost point of Long Island is called Hampton. It is the first place where immigrants set foot on the land of New York State. The immigrants from England did not have any creativity and directly named it after the place name of their hometown. In the future, it was expanded and divided into East Hampton.
London and Southampton.
Ronald came to Southampton and asked Steve Bannon, who also invested a little bit in "Dirty Dancing," to rent a vacation home. The house is in Sagaponack Village, which is the location of one of the most expensive postal codes on the East Coast.
, the whole village has only 700 residents.
Ronald drove the sports car and headed south along Route 27. Soon he arrived at Bannon's house. The waiter had already cleaned the room and was waiting for them.
The houses are all far apart, so you need to use binoculars to peek at the neighbors' gossip. Ronald was very satisfied with this place, so he arranged to go fishing on a yacht and enjoy Broadway plays. Although there are few people here, compared to Manhattan
There is a lot to enjoy. The golf course in the town is the most expensive in the United States.
Bannon arranged everything well, and Ronald and Diane rested peacefully for a few days. The next day they were able to go fishing with Long Island's famous Captain Red, and on the third day they went to Southampton.
Relaxation in the bathing company on the beach.
The bathing center is located on the private beach and is membership-only. Ronald was able to get in because Bannon had specially obtained a club membership card in order to entertain the big shots in Washington, DC.
Lunch was eaten on the beach. Ronald chatted with the people next to him. They all had surnames from old money families such as Rockefeller, Astor, and Vanderbilt. They had nothing in common and chatted for a few words, so they had to sit down separately.
Have a meal.
"Are you Diane Lane? I like your 'Streets of Rage', can you sign it for me?" said a young man from the Rockefeller family who looked less than twenty years old and seemed to have different hobbies from his elders.
, I saw a female celebrity coming up to her to ask for an autograph and strike up a conversation.
"Thank you." Diane didn't expect that this young man liked his own movie. In fact, more people liked "Love at the Sunset Bridge" or "The Naughty Boy".
"Would you be kind enough to have lunch with me?", the young Rockefeller began to be courteous.
"I came here with my friends..." Diane smiled and pointed at Ronald who was engrossed in eating across from him. He had been very brave in the quiet resort for the past two days and ate seafood whenever he came across it.
"Everyone here is a friend, your friend won't be unwilling..." It's not like Rockefeller has never seen female stars here before, "No, you are a director, right? I have seen the TV show you accepted for Top Gun
Interview.”
"Ha... today is really my lucky day. I met my favorite actress and director at the same time. Do you mind if I sit down?" He then took the coffee by himself and sat at Ronald's table.
superior.
"Are you here on vacation? How do you feel?" Little Rockefeller asked.
"It's great. I didn't expect to see the latest Broadway play 'Speed-the-Plow' at the same time."
"I like it very much. This is a drama written by David Mamet, reflecting Hollywood. You can also see that I like Hollywood. The version on Broadway at the Candy Box Theater is better. The protagonist Karen is played by Madonna. You like Madonna
A performance?”
"She plays drama? God bless her, if the role is suitable, she will be very good." Ronald did not expect that Madonna still had the dream of being an actress in her heart and went directly to Broadway.
"During the New Year holiday, Madonna filed a domestic violence complaint against her husband Sean Penn. Unexpectedly, Broadway gained a good actor."
"Really?" Ronald was busy filming a movie, and he really didn't know about this gossip that spread across the United States. It is said that Madonna also filed for divorce.
"Would you buy a house here, Director Ronald?" The young man seemed to know no boundaries.
"I don't have any plans...it's just a vacation..." Ronald declined to discuss further.
"Actually, the house here is very nice. If you consider it, I can say good things about you to the owners committee..."
"..." Ronald felt that this child was a little too lively.
"Mr. Li, your phone number is from New York." The waiter pulled the long telephone line over, took off the receiver and handed it to Ronald, just in time to save him.
"It's me, Ronald." Ronald took the receiver and turned his back to the curious teenager.
"Ronald, are you enjoying your stay there?" The call was from Bannon.
"Steve, I'm very satisfied with this vacation. Life here is more interesting than the resorts on the West Coast that host Hollywood stars."
"Hahaha, of course, this kind of place has been a resort for the rich for hundreds of years, and the service level must be higher than that of the nouveau riche on the West Coast."
Bannon felt that this helpful Ronald was happy and had achieved his goal, "I called you because your old friend came to New York and he wanted to meet you. Find me here."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Old friend?" Ronald thought to himself, who is Bannon and is so cautious?
"We bought shares of his company in Tokyo. Mr. Dahe said that he had a conversation with you once and appreciated your understanding of Eastern and Western cultures."
"Oh, he came to New York?"
"I'm going to stay here for a few days. I happen to be free tonight. Can you come over?"
Ronald covered the phone and asked Diane, "Bannon said that an important person wants to see me, can you..."
"Let's go, I'll go back with you. I've almost spent enough time here." Diane curled her lips. Although it was a good thing to have movie fans, such a hormonal boy was really difficult to deal with.
"You really don't like it here?" Ronald asked Diane on the way back.
"My father took me here when I was a child..." Diane looked at Route 27 outside the window and said, "It's just Eastampton on the east, where people with no money go. There is also a direct railway, and there is the easternmost city in New York.
There are many people taking pictures there.”
"Really? Why don't we take the train too? It's still early."
The passenger railway business in America is not doing well, and only some of them are still operating as tourist attractions. Ronald and Diane took the direct railway to Manhattan, and sure enough, many middle-class families came to vacation.
The children screamed happily, and the parents quickly tried to think of ways to prevent them from running around in the car too excitedly. The family enjoyed the photos taken with a disposable imaging camera.
"This is the life of ordinary people..." In contrast, Ronald also prefers this form of mass entertainment. As a film director, if he becomes famous, he will live in a large single-family house and be separated from ordinary people.
Over time, they will fall out of favor with the public. Many directors are unable to make touching films after becoming famous, and success syndrome is the main reason.
…
"Mr. Ohga..." Ronald met Sony's second-in-command, Norio Ohga, at a high-end Japanese restaurant in Manhattan.
"Ronald San, we meet again, hahaha..."
After dinner, the two of them drank tea and chatted in a private meeting room.
Dahe drank Japanese matcha that the waiter had mixed with a tea spoon, motioned for Ronald to have a taste, and then waved the waiter to leave.
"Ronald Sang, I am here this time and I want to ask you something again. This matter is top secret until it is announced. I believe in Ronald Sang's character, but the matter is very important, so I want one of yours.
promise."
"Of course, I will not tell anyone before you announce it. We are just chatting among friends. In fact, I also have another identity. I purchased some Sony stocks and am a de facto shareholder."
"Hahaha... That would be better..." Dahe didn't expect Ronald to say this.
"We want to acquire an American film company, and I would like to ask you, will the Americans recognize us as shareholders of a Hollywood film company?"
"this……"
Ronald did not expect that Dahe had not only acquired the record company, but now he would actually acquire the film company.
In the script of "Working Girl", the Japanese company's acquisition of an American media company appears to be the screenwriter's speculation. Could it be that in reality, Japanese people also want to do this?
"Do you have any questions? I want to meet you just to hear your true thoughts. There are people in the company who follow my opinions. I want to find someone who is objective and knows enough about Hollywood to listen to him.
That's my opinion." Da He saw Ronald's hesitation.
"Actually, it's nothing. There's a similar plot in my new movie."
Ronald took a sip of matcha, which tasted completely different from Chinese tea. He put down the tea cup, thought about it, and said to Dahe.
"Records are different from movies. Hollywood has been the pride of ordinary Americans in the past eighty years. The movies here are related to the lives of each of us ordinary Americans. When we were children, our parents took us there
See, when we become adults, we go see it with our partners, and when we have children, we go see it with them.
It can be said that the most profound memories of any ordinary person's life are involved in Hollywood movies. To a certain extent, our lives are also shaped by Hollywood movies."
"Is that so..." Norio Ohga frowned. What Ronald said was exactly what he was worried about.
"Japanese products defeated many domestic products in the American market, and then you came to acquire many companies, but these are all side effects. Movies are different from ordinary refrigerators and cars. They are related to the common memory of the people.
"
"Then what do you think we need to do to avoid arousing opposition from the American people?" Norio Ohga touched his forehead.
"Can I ask, why do you want to acquire a Hollywood film company? You also sell hardware in Japan, right? Video recorders and cameras are top-notch in the industry, and I use them both, but selling video recorders and making movies are two different things.
Bar?"
"Ronald San is still so sharp. Our Beta format video tapes have not competed with the VHS format. Although the video recorder market in America was opened up by our case with Universal..."
Norio Ohga talked about the case that Sony and Universal fought in the Supreme Court. After they won the case, video rental stores started popping up all over America.
However, the market was opened, but the largest share was not captured. Although the Beta format video tapes had better image quality and smaller size, the VHS format video tapes completely occupied the market that was finally opened.
Beta format video tapes are still used by some users who have the highest requirements for image quality, but the disproportionate number of video tapes in the two formats on the market has declared Sony's failure in this war.
It seems that Sony has spent a lot of effort to develop the market, but it only gets the most delicious chocolate sauce on the ice cream sundae. The largest amount of ice cream is occupied by the VHS format of JVC, Panasonic, and Hitachi Alliance.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Sony’s president, Mr. Morita, was very sad about this failure. He summed up his experience, mainly because Sony’s film library was not enough. If he could own enough
Classic movie copyrights, then Beta format video tapes will exclusively own the best classic movies.
Recently, Sony has been developing new innovations. A new product with a similar concept to the best Walkman sold in America, the Watchman, will be sold in large quantities. Sony has placed its trust in this product.
I have the same expectations as the Walkman.
Dahe took out a small TV set to Ronald and handed it to Ronald.
After pressing the button on the portable TV set, which was not much larger than a Walkman, the TV signal appeared on a two-inch display. Ronald pulled out the antenna and tried it. The image and sound were both clear.
There are also some interfaces on the back of the machine that can connect to cable TV signals. The most interesting thing is that there is a socket on the back of this mini TV that can put Beta's small video tape.
"That's all?" Ronald looked at the small TV screen, which was smaller than the TV set in the 1950s. Watching movies on it was just too much.
"Yes, Mr. Morita is very interested in this matter. He told me that the program and the machine are like Sony's two wheels, which must be made to run at the same time. So, I want to hear your opinion on how to make it work."
Don’t Americans resent our acquisition?”
"This...", Ronald thought, how did I know? In Working Girl, Tess took advantage of this antipathy towards you Japanese people and used a legal loophole to block the Japanese people from acquiring American media.
.
Politicians also need to listen to the voice of the people. You Japanese people have a bad reputation in America. When people hear that classic Hollywood movies have Japanese surnames, they will definitely be very disgusted.
Seeing Da He staring at him, Ronald scratched his head. He still had to say a few words when someone came to visit.
"I think in many Hollywood movies, after the Japanese acquired the American company, they began to use Japanese methods to manage production and find Japanese people as managers. There was a movie 'Gong Ho' the year before last.
It was meant to speak favorably for Japanese management, but after it was released, the response was bad. Many people thought your managers were like devils, and those who finished the production quota at the bottom were put on a belt of shame, just like the Germans during World War II...
"
"I know about that movie. My friend at Toyota told me that the movie is a textbook and an example of how to manage American employees."
Once Norio Ohga heard what he said, he knew that what Ronald said was on point. He was indeed a master of both things and the American people. Otherwise, it would be impossible for a person like this to be so sensitive.
"Also, we are very concerned about American-style heroes. Our children want to be them since childhood. If our heroes all become Japanese-style heroes in the future, then we will feel very uncomfortable."
"What do you mean?" Dahe wanted to ask for more details.
"Just like the movie I shot, Daniel, the protagonist, has learned some Japanese philosophy, but he is still essentially an American hero who is not afraid of taking risks and has the courage to try.
If you bought a Hollywood studio and made heroes who looked like Toshiro Mifune instead of John Wayne, it would be very uncomfortable. We would ask, what on earth is Pearl... what is that, you know me
mean."
Ronald almost said, after the attack on Pearl Harbor, who won? Since the Americans won, heroes should be shaped according to our philosophy and ideas.
Norio Ohga was thoughtful. After sending Ronald off, he began to draft a report to Mr. Morita.
Hollywood is a proud cultural center that represents America. Any idea of an acquisition that only considers business matters is immature and even harmful. We must use methods that do not touch the sensitive nerves of American politicians and people.