After a moment's hesitation, Eric looked at Katzenberg and said, "I am in charge of the preparatory stage for the acquisition of ABC for the time being, and I will make corresponding adjustments after the formal negotiations begin." ”

When Katzenberg heard this answer, he shrugged his shoulders slightly to show that he understood, but his expression was inevitably a little lost.

After the meeting, Eric noticed that Jeffrey had just winked at him, and pretended to be at the end of the paperwork.

After everyone in the room had left, Eric said to Jeffrey, "Am I a little too indecisive?"

Jeffrey came to Eric's side, leaned on the wide mahogany desk, looked kindly at the tired young man leaning on the leather chair, and said: "I remember reading somewhere that a lot of wealth tends to make people indifferent, so, Eric, I hope you are more humane, if you just didn't hesitate to leave Michael behind and hand over the acquisition to Jeffrey, I think most of the people in the conference room will feel uneasy, Michael's achievements as the CEO of Firefly are obvious to everyone." ”

Compared with Peter Cooper, who made Columbia Pictures a miasma, Michael Lynn, who has a conservative but very steady style, has taken care of everything in Firefly Pictures in order for two years, and in the face of Jeffrey Katzenberg, whose subsidiary Disney is eyeing him at any time, Michael Lynn did not choose infighting to ensure his position like Time Warner management, which is what Eric admires and likes very much.

If possible, Eric would have kept Michael Lynn at Firefly.

The reality is that a company can have two co-presidents. Just like Warners from Steve Ross. But there can only be one CEO who is the commander. Moreover, Eric has not heard of a situation where the CEO of a large group has switched positions with his subordinates, and once the position is replaced by someone else, as a predecessor, he will either be promoted to a position of 'virtual title' and become the chairman of the board of directors who maintains influence over the company but does not have much decision-making power, or he will leave directly.

Most of Firefly's shares are concentrated in Eric's hands, so there is no board of directors. Moreover, even if a board of directors is established in the future, the position of chairman of the board of directors cannot be placed on someone other than Eric.

Therefore, once Michael Lynn leaves, he has no choice but to leave Firefly completely.

"Michael is only fifty years old, right?"

For Westerners who generally do not accept old age, fifty years old can still be regarded as the stage of young and vigorous.

"Fifty-two," Jeffrey said, reaching over and patting Eric on the shoulder, "Eric, I used to think that many of your decisions were very risky. But now I know that you must have been confident at the time. From this point of view, you are a little conservative compared to Jeffrey's sharpness, and Jeffrey has come to take over Michael's position, which just complements you. So, Eric, talk to Michael, it's a common occurrence for Hollywood executives, and Michael is only in his early fifties now, and he has plenty of time to do something else away from Firefly. ”

Eric took a deep breath and got up, "There's just some time before work, so I'll be over." ”

……

Michael Lynn's secretary was answering the phone, but when he saw Eric coming over, he quickly covered the microphone and looked at Eric with an inquiring look.

"Bring in two cups of coffee for me and Michael," Eric said to the secretary, knocking on Michael's office door a few times, pushing it open and walking in.

Michael Lynn was a little surprised at first when he saw Eric walk in, but soon showed a relieved expression, stood up and asked Eric to sit down on the sofa in the lounge area, and said with a smile: "Eric, just made you very embarrassed, right?"

Eric showed an embarrassed expression, most of the Firefly executives could realize that Eric wanted to put Katzenberg in the position, and Michael Lynn certainly couldn't be unaware.

Michael Lynn's secretary pushed the door in with two cups of coffee and quickly walked out.

Eric sorted out the wording and was about to speak, but Michael Lynn said: "Eric, the scale of fireflies is getting bigger and bigger, and I find that I am a little overwhelmed by many things, in fact, I have already thought in my heart, and when my contract expires next year, I will voluntarily submit my resignation and leave the company to do something else." ”

Now it was Eric's turn to be surprised.

Michael Lynn looked at Eric's surprised expression, smiled slightly, and continued: "My contract is until April next year, so I will start handing over the work of Firefly from the beginning of next year, in fact, I also think Jeffrey is more suitable for this position than me. ”

Eric had expected the conversation to turn into an argument, but the situation was far beyond his expectations.

"Michael, what about you...... What are you going to do without the fireflies?"

"Maybe I'll take a break to spend more time with my family, and besides, I like red wine very much, and I'm going to go around Europe and look for a decent winery. I'm definitely going back to Hollywood when I'm done, you know, I've been in this industry since 1967, I've been doing it for more than 20 years, and it's impossible to leave the industry now, and I'll start my own production company when the time comes. ”

Eric slowly came back to his senses and said to Michael Lynn, "If you need help then, you can call me at any time." ”

"Of course, if possible, I would like you to help me pick out the script at that time. ”

Eric put down a big stone in his heart, and agreed in a refreshing tone: "Of course this is no problem, speaking of which, except for the company's party, we haven't talked in private, let's have a meal together in the evening?"

"There's a nice Michelin-starred restaurant on Amanda Street, which I go to a lot and try it together in the evening?"

"Okay, I'm in for a treat," Eric wanted to invite Michael to Sharp Corner Manor, but since the other party personally recommended him, he didn't refuse.

"Of course it's your boss who has a treat," Michael Lynn said with a hearty smile, "Then I'll ask the secretary to call the locator and see you in the evening." ”

"See you in the evening. ”

Send Eric out of the office. Michael Lynn sat back in his comfy office chair. Sighed softly.

Michael Lynn remembered a scene more than two years ago when Eric had been in contact with him in private. Eric wasn't as talkative back then. Michael Lynn would never have thought that in just two years, Eric's personality had changed drastically, mainly because his position in his heart had changed. At that time, he was on Robert Shea's side, and by this time, Eric had already regarded him as his own, and this identity was also the reward of his two years of dedicated care of fireflies.

Of course, it's impossible for Michael Lynn not to fall in love with the position of CEO of Firefly Pictures, but he knows more about advances and retreats than Robert Shea. When he realizes that Eric is likely to put Jeffrey Katzenberg in the position after his contract expires. Michael Lynn also struggled for a while, but he quickly figured out something, in a film company with a simple and straightforward shareholding structure like Firefly Pictures, if you engage in infighting to maintain your position, you will only get swept away.

Although outsiders have been speculating, as an insider, Michael Lynn knows very well that the "Cut Throat Island" in the summer of 1991, which caused Disney Studios and Robert Shea to lose hundreds of millions of dollars at the time, was a trap thrown by Eric.

Robert Shay had a falling out with Eric during the Firefly, and he planned to regroup after he left. But the good line film company he runs has not improved in the past two years, and several films that have been shot at a huge cost have also ended miserably in a silent way. A lot of people have even forgotten about Robert Shea.

Counting the newly established DreamWorks Productions, through various collaborations, Firefly Pictures has been able to directly influence the big movie companies in Hollywood, including Sony Columbia, Twentieth Century Fox and MGM, plus Firefly Pictures itself, the four major film companies occupy most of Hollywood's power.

Under the influence of this horror, Eric did not even have to tell him that the other studios that worked directly with Firefly Pictures would not cooperate with Robert Shea's production company in any way. Even the other three major film companies, in order to maintain a good relationship with Firefly Pictures, will not easily contact Robert Shea.

With these stakes at stake, Michael Lynn certainly doesn't want to end up in the same fate as Robert Shea.

So he made the decision he just made wisely.

Taking the initiative to withdraw, not only can he retain his shares in Firefly Pictures and get a generous dividend every year, but also the contacts he has accumulated in Firefly Pictures in recent years can also be completely retained, not to mention Eric Williams, even his successor Jeffrey Katzenberg will remember his benefits, which will be a great help for him to continue to develop his career in Hollywood in the future.

……

Eric was a little confused at first, but after calming down and thinking about it, he quickly understood the purpose of Michael Lynn's decision.

However, Michael Lynn could have figured it out that Eric would not treat the other party badly in the future.

With some time left to leave work, Eric returned to his office, and had just read a few minutes of the document when the phone on his desk rang.

Eric picked up the microphone, and when the secretary said something, Eric nodded, "Let her in." ”

Momentarily, the Spanish girl poked her head into the office and looked at Eric's smiling expression.

"Hey, little wildcat," Eric called.

Penelope Cruze heard this, and then relaxed the door opened, and the girl, dressed in a black slip dress and holding a delicate white handbag, carefully closed the office door, and walked to the opposite side of Eric's desk, only to complain with a little resentment: "Eric, I thought you forgot about me." ”

"How is it possible, I just came back from Tokyo yesterday, and I haven't had time to call you yet. Eric said, hooking his hand at the girl, "Come here, let me kiss it." ”

Eric's desk was very large, with a computer monitor and landline on the desk, as well as a pile of papers, taking up only a small portion of the space. Penelope gave Eric a wild smile, and jumped up with his little hand on the table, pushing the stack of papers in front of him to the side. Slowly crawled over the table to Eric.

Eric smiled in surprise. Don't mind either. She pecked lightly on the lips of the Spanish girl and asked, "What have you been doing lately?"

Penelope didn't go down after kissing, kicked off the high heels on his feet, and lay lazily on Eric's desk with two calves, really like a little wild cat, looking at Eric who was reading the document with smart eyes, and said: "After our training was over, Michelle said that the plan for "Breaking Bad" had changed. We were given a short acting training course. ”

"Well, it's always right to learn a little more now, and when you become famous in the future, you won't have that time. ”

"Eric, when is the movie going to start?"

Eric put down the file and thought about it, and said, "Do you know about the DreamWorks production company that Firefly Pictures and MGM co-founded?"

"Yes, I just heard about it today. ”

"This project has been transferred to DreamWorks Productions, and the specific cooperation plan should be released this week, and when the Paris side comes up with a confirmed plan, the "Breaking Bad" project will enter the actual production stage. The start-up should be at the end of September, and it's a green light project for Firefly and MGM collaboration. The production is very well funded, and there will be no obstacles. ”

Given the information he wanted to know most, Penelope said contentedly, "I'll tell those two guys later, they're still worried about the movie going to go away." ”

Eric reached out and pinched Penelope's sharp chin and teased, "Aren't you worried?"

"Of course not, this is your movie," Penelope shook his head, shook Eric's hand away, reached out and grabbed it on the table, stretched out his finger and drew it on Eric's palm, "Eric, my sister has come to Los Angeles, and my mother was worried that I wouldn't be able to take care of Monica at first, I ...... I gave her $200,000 and she didn't say anything more, in addition, I bought a house in Santa Monica for $950,000, and a Toyota sedan, $50,000, and my sister's enrollment fee, I picked a private Spanish middle school......"

Penelope pretended to say this casually, but kept carefully looking at Eric's expression, although Eric gave her a credit card that could be overdrawn heavily, but the smart Spanish girl knew very well that this was definitely not something she could squander arbitrarily, especially when she bought that house, the Spanish girl was extremely worried, it was 950,000 US dollars, before the age of eighteen, she never imagined that she could brush off nearly a million dollars at one time, which is equivalent to 60 million pesetas when converted into Spanish currency at this stage。

Eric only listened for a moment, then interrupted Penelope to continue to report the bill to himself, Eric is actually very clear about these things, so he is also satisfied with Penewheelp's performance in the recent period: "Don't talk about these bad things, I don't want to hear it." ”

The Spaniard immediately stopped and changed the subject: "Eric, will you go to my place tonight and see my new home?"

"I made an appointment for dinner, so I can't go back with you," Eric saw Penelope's eyes immediately brighten, and said, "It's not suitable to take you there this time, let's talk about it when I have a chance." ”

Penelope didn't show any disappointment, and asked, "Then you can go to my place after dinner?"

"It may be late, and it will affect your rest. ”

Penelope shook his head: "It's okay. ”

"Alright then, tell me the address, and I'll go over in the evening. ”

Penelope took the pencil and sticky notes from Eric, wrote down his address on the table, and took a key from his purse and handed it to Eric. Eric took it and put it away, remembering the other two girls, and asked, "Do Kate and Charlize live with you?"

"No, they're still living in their original apartment, Eric, why don't I invite them to move in with them?"

"Oh, no, I don't think they would have moved in if you had spoken. ”

Penelope stuck out her little tongue, of course she knew why Eric said that, but she didn't care, and stayed in Eric's office for a while before Penelope took his leave.

After getting off work, Eric and Michael drove together to a three-Michelin-starred restaurant on Amanda Avenue near the Firefly headquarters, and did not talk about anything during the meal, just chatting all over the world. Michael Lynn, who lives in Burbank for work, is familiar with this generation, and soon takes Eric to a nice bar, and the two do not separate until nearly eleven o'clock in the evening.

Eric got into the car drunk, remembered the events of the afternoon, took out a sticky note from his sincerity pocket and handed it to the driver, and said, "Let's go to this place." ”

I don't know how long it took, Eric heard someone shouting to himself, opened his eyes, and saw the driver in the front seat pointing out the window and saying, "Mr. Williams, it's here." ”

Eric turned his head to see a small villa on the side of the road with the lights on, and said to the driver, "You guys go back first, and come and pick me up next morning." ”

After getting out of the car, Eric shook his head a little dizzy, only to see under the street lights that this was a white two-story villa, surrounded by trees and shadows, the environment was very good, and the Spanish girl was quite good at choosing a place.

When he came to the door, Eric was about to ring the doorbell when he remembered that Penelope had left him the key, looked for it, found it in his trouser pocket, opened the door and walked in. (To be continued......)