In the conference room of Embassy Pictures, Ronan found two people, Robert Lee and Garcia Rodriguez.

Ronan asked Garcia directly: "Is the recruitment process going smoothly for the establishment of overseas channels?"

If Embassy Pictures had found the right people, it wouldn't have to think of anything else.

Garcia shook his head: "It's not going well." He explained: "Hiring only a single person doesn't help much to build an overseas distribution channel, what we need is a team." But of all the companies in Hollywood that had distribution capabilities, any of them were much larger and had a much larger platform than Embassy Pictures, and we approached the leaders and members of six small teams, all of which were turned down. ”

Robert then added: "We were in quiet contact with the overseas distribution team of New Line, and they directly stabbed the senior management of New Line, and the senior management of New Line sent us a warning. ”

Ronan asked with concern, "Is there any other trouble?"

"Nope. Robert said: "We immediately stopped contact with the people of the new line, and this matter is over for the time being." ”

Ronan kept it in mind and reminded: "Pay more attention to the new line in the future." ”

Digging into the corner of someone's wall will definitely make people very uncomfortable.

Garcia added: "The issuance of such a key position is basically a breach of contract with the hiring company. If you want to poach people, the liquidated damages alone are a huge expense. ”

Ronan nodded slightly, this situation is normal, and the employees in key positions of Shahai Entertainment and Embassy Pictures also have liquidated damages.

I think when the Japanese first entered Hollywood, they used to make a big joke about liquidated damages.

After Sony Entertainment bought Columbia Pictures, the Japanese were very self-aware and knew that they were amateurs in the film industry, and after being recommended by others and carefully scrutinized, two producers from Warner Bros. were recruited to take charge of Columbia Pictures.

But I don't know why, when Sony investigated, it didn't find that there was a breach of contract between Jon Peters and Peter Guber and Warner Bros., Warner Bros. sued the court with a complaint, and Sony Entertainment paid $800 million in compensation for this poaching!

Of course, Sony Entertainment is willing to pay the money and must think that these two characters are worth it.

In fact, these two were famous bastards in Hollywood in the late eighties.

The two invested in Spielberg's "The Color Purple", but Spielberg's strong demand, there was a clear stipulation in the contract that Jon Peters and Peter Guber were not allowed to enter the set for a single step!

can make the famous Spielberg fearful like a tiger, which shows the outstanding destructive ability of these two people.

Sony Entertainment's partnership with the two is a tragedy within a tragedy, from Sony Entertainment's acquisition of Colombia to their dismissal in 1994, which is rumored to have caused more than $3 billion in losses to Sony's film and peripherals.

Akio Morita's ouster has something to do with Sony Columbia's dismal management and hiring of these two men.

But the two are definitely not useless, Jon Peters and Peter Guber have a good investment vision, especially Peter Guber, who later founded a film investment company that only invests and does not participate in production, and he also became the co-owner of the Golden State Warriors more than a decade later.

Robert then said: "Not only is it costly to poach people, but it can also make us a public enemy in the industry. ”

"Digging people alone won't solve the problem. Ronan had this realization.

If overseas distribution can be solved by digging into the wall, DreamWorks will not always be without overseas channels.

Ronan asked, "Do you know PolyGram Pictures & Entertainment?"

"I've heard of it. Garcia Rodriguez answered: "It's a small film company owned by the record label Polygram, but this company is ...... How to say it, there are too many people and the institutions are bloated. ”

Robert is more well-informed: "At the beginning of this year, Polygram's holding company, Philips and Siemens, sold the company's main body, that is, the record company, to the French media giant Seagram for $10.6 billion, Seagram was previously the holding company of Universal Pictures, but now it is not, they reached an agreement with the French water group Vivendi, and Universal Pictures already belongs to Vivendi. ”

Ronan made a simple query on the Internet last night, knowing that what Robert said was true, and said: "In this deal, PolyGram's film subsidiary was not initially involved, but with Vivendi and Seagram reaching an agreement, Universal Pictures asked the new owner to take Polygram Pictures, because PolyGram's film library has many high-value film rights." ”

Thinking of the names of those films, Ronan is a little envious: "Four Weddings and a Funeral", "Extraordinary Suspects", "Trainspotting", "Two Big Smoking Guns", "Ice Storm", "Death Row Walk" and so on.

As we all know, the library is a film company's most valuable asset.

"Universal Pictures only needs PolyGram Pictures' library?" Garcia specializes in distribution, and roughly guessed what Ronan meant.

Ronan nodded slightly: "This is the news I heard by chance, Universal Pictures itself has complete distribution channels, there is no need to rashly add a large number of people to disrupt the existing mature configuration, and PolyGram is far away in the United Kingdom, Universal Pictures plans to lay off most of PolyCrystal Pictures' personnel, especially the distribution personnel who are of little use to them." ”

Robert unconsciously raised his voice: "This is our chance!"

Garcia knows more about the distribution industry, saying: "I remember that PolyGene never released a film in North America, that 'The Usual Suspects' was distributed by Sony Columbia, and that 'Ice Storm' and 'Death Row Walk' were produced by Gramercy Films. ”

Ronan frowned: "I found out from the Internet that Polygram Pictures has established a film distribution channel relying on its world-class record channels. ”

Could it be that the news on the Internet is fake? Ronan inevitably thinks so, after all, there are too many fake news on the Internet, and a certain encyclopedia of a certain mother in his previous life has simply become a fake base.

"I'm just talking about North America. Garcia told the truth: "I don't know much about the situation overseas. ”

Embassy Pictures' business is currently limited to North America, and with the nature of Americans, the focus outside of North America is relatively limited.

Ronan looked at Robert: "You go and check the relevant situation, the transaction between Vidiwang, Seagram, PolyGram, and Universal Pictures, the focus is on their attitude towards Polygram Pictures, as well as PolyGram's own business. ”

Compared to Garcia, Robert's path is wilder.

Robert didn't say anything: "I'll go today." ”

Ronan said to Garcia, "Do you know anyone at Universal Pictures? ”

Garcia knew it was a big deal for the company's future and said, "I'm going to ask somebody. ”

Ronan advised, "This matter should be dealt with first. ”

After Robert and Garcia left, Ronan thought about it and called Dinah again, and her firm Senches also has a business in the UK, with a London office and a company that specializes in entertainment media.

Subsequently, Ronan personally rushed to the law firm of Saxe and interviewed with Dinah for some time.

Attorney Dinah provided him with contact information: "This is a private detective, who sometimes works with Zew, is very familiar with the British entertainment industry, you can ask him to check the situation, and I will call him later." ”

Ronan knows that the world is not only white and black, but also that many law firms have contact with marginal forces, and guesses that this should be some kind of private detective.

He agreed, and reached a business contact with a private detective on the same day, and Ze Law Firm also had business dealings with Polygram Pictures, and Dinah lawyer would also help him collect relevant information within the scope of the regulations.

It's not about breaking the law or committing a crime.

In just two days, the situation in all aspects has gathered in the hands of Ronan, and there is a lot of information in all aspects, which needs to be summarized and found useful.

Ronan has never stopped studying since he came, and he has also analyzed countless cases, which is not difficult for him at all.

After looking at it for an afternoon, he had an idea of the general situation.

France's Seagram Media Group, the controlling party of Universal Pictures in recent years, has been in acquisition talks with Polygram since 1997, and the deal involving $10 billion was negotiated for two years, and finally reached in 1999, Polygram Records merged into Universal Music for $10.6 billion.

But as soon as the acquisition was complete, Seagram found that it was a huge burden, and its other businesses deteriorated, so it had to merge PolyGram Records into Universal Pictures, and Vivendi, a water company also from France, took over, and reached a deal last month, and completed the share change this month.

As a party to the deal, Universal Pictures wanted more than PolyGram Records, and was very interested in the film library of PolyGram's subsidiary, Polygram Entertainment, and when Vivendi negotiated with Seagram, in order to win the support of Universal Pictures' executives, he also agreed to buy Polygram Pictures again.

Compared with the tens of billions of dollars of Polygram records, Polygram Pictures is not worth mentioning at all.

As for PolyGram's staff, Universal Pictures has hardly any interest.

Polygram is a quintessential international company with multinational staff, and PolyGram Pictures is no different.

These people have been stationed in London for a long time, and Universal Pictures' film business is completely centered in Los Angeles, and if you want these people to move to Los Angeles, not to mention the willingness of the employees, the subsidy alone is a bottomless pit.

Universal Pictures has negotiated a library acquisition with PolyGram Pictures, and other aspects are still undecided, but judging from the available information, Universal Pictures does not need PolyGram Pictures employees.

These people are numerous, well-paid, and don't want to leave London, which is basically of little help to Universal.

Ronan doesn't need these people either, he needs a small part of them - employees in the distribution department.

Polygram Pictures has the ability to distribute!