In the blink of an eye, it was already late autumn, the tulip groves of Beverly Hills began to bloom with yellow leaves, and Sun Ziming also returned to his manor with his girlfriend and children. The house is lively again, and the three tomboys toss the house into a mess, but the adults who come and go in the house are all worried.

Thanks to the horror tycoon, the American people are panicked, and the autumn file is full of mourning, even "Family Man" directed by Bright Ratner and starring Nicolas Cage, only got a premiere box office of 12 million, and the total box office did not even reach 50 million.

What's even worse is Disney, they took a fancy to the box office appeal of several Chinese action stars, and spent a lot of money to invite Cheng Long, Robert Downey Jr., Li Zhi, and Jiang Wen to star in "Shanghai Noon". The salary of the first three leading actors alone is nearly 50 million, and the film was filmed in China and the United States, with a total investment of 120 million, but the box office for the premiere was only 8.68 million and the total box office was 46 million.

The American people are no better than the Chinese, they have no habit of saving money, and they are used to spending tomorrow's money today. The employees of the light and shadow company are also accustomed to spending lavishly, and the company used to make more money and bonuses, and they are used to spending money when they have it. Now that this kind of bad luck has happened, coupled with the sharp fall in the stock market, even ordinary employees who receive monthly salaries are asking whether the company can suspend the construction of the theme park at the end of the year, and give everyone a little red first, otherwise those mortgages, car loans, and even yacht loans will have problems.

After looking forward to it, the boss was finally returned in the light and shadow company, but Sun Ziming entered the conference room, and the atmosphere after greeting everyone was a little dignified.

"Harry Potter 1", "Desert Island", and "Behind the Lies" in the summer are all very good at the box office, and the company has also made a lot of money, so everyone happily invested the company's profits in the "Harry Potter" theme park, thinking that the full value of the movie will be squeezed out in the future. But I didn't expect that the great United States would be attacked by terrorists, and the autumn file would fail completely, and I didn't even expect much for Christmas.

They are not ordinary employees and middle-level managers, knowing that since the theme park has started construction and is an ironclad money-making project, there is no reason to slow down or stop work and give everyone dividends. What they are worried about is, how long will this situation last, and whether the Christmas schedule will still release key films as planned?

"Boss, everyone is ready, can you start?"

"Wait a minute", Sun Tzu Ming signaled Jill to wait for a moment, glanced at the shareholders, and smiled: "Last night, Peng called me, wanting Rui Li to be the director of the company, and wanted him to be the company's deputy general manager, focusing on the company's film promotion, do you have any opinions?" ”

As soon as Lucas, the biggest opponent in the company, raised his hand, Sun Ziming's face turned to James Cameron's side, and he said with encouragement in his eyes: "Judges, do you have something to say?" ”

James was staring at his old rival, and when he saw that the other party raised his hand, he hurriedly raised his hand, and then Sun Ziming's words said: "Well, I don't think Rui is messing around in Washington, which is a good thing!" That kid really has a lot of publicity methods, and he can promote the film best at the minimum cost every time. Ming, I think it was a wise decision.

If you want me to say, people like him shouldn't go to Washington, where people are liars and braggarts......"

For five minutes of talking, James didn't waste a second, and finally said useful, "I approve Ruilai to be the company's deputy general manager, responsible for the company's public relations and publicity work." ”

With this 'king of the world' taking the lead, Chris and Roland also echoed it, and even Robert Emma, who wanted to watch the play, said yes again and again.

In terms of film publicity and hype, it is true that Li Rui is more capable than Lianna, since the kid left the company to go to Washington, the company suddenly lowered half a grade in terms of hype films, and often had to spend more money to achieve the original effect.

When Sun Tzu turned his eyes back to Lucas's side, this stubborn old man had no intention of speaking, what was the point of going against everyone?

"Ok, that's all guò. Doug, go and call Rui in. ”

“Yes/sir”

After a while, Li Rui came in, and after greeting everyone for a while, he didn't sit with James and Jim, nor did he get together with Lucas and the film fund, let alone George and Jill, but took a chair and inserted it between Chris and Roland.

This slippery head, Sun Tzu scolded brightly and secretly, signaling that Jill could start.

"Everyone knows the financial situation, and we now tell you something that you may not know......."

The project at Universal Orlando City is smooth, but it also costs a lot of money, and as of last week, the company's profits for the first half of the year have been basically exhausted. Light and Shadow Company is a listed company, and it is impossible to have hundreds of millions of dollars in cash on the account on a regular basis as before, so what should I do with the follow-up funds now?

The solution is nothing more than either borrowing money from the bank, or the shareholders paying out of their own pockets. Unless a listed company expands its shares, it is impossible for shareholders to pay out of their own pockets, so they can only borrow from banks.

"As you all know, Far Eastern Bank has a branch in New York, and I have contacted their general manager and am ready to borrow $300 million from them at an annual interest rate of 5%, do you have any opinions?"

As soon as Jill's words fell, Robert raised his hand and objected: "No, no, although he is obviously a director of Far Eastern Bank, business is business. Our movies are all insured at Flymanji Insurance Company, and I should also go to Flymanji Insurance Company for my loan. ”

This opposition is ineffective, and most of the people here have invested in Steve, not only avoiding this stock market crash, but also making considerable gains, how can they echo his opinion? What's more, the Far Eastern Bank is Sun Ziming's, and the fertilizer and water do not flow into the fields of outsiders, it is almost the same everywhere, otherwise why would those consortia absorb so many member companies?

Jill glanced at the people at the conference table, knocked on the table with a Parker pen, and said in a deep voice: "Tongguò, the last thing, that is, the issue of the Christmas file, do you have any opinions?" Our Christmas file, are we still showing films such as "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" as scheduled?

I would like to remind everyone that if the interests of the cinema chain are damaged, our interests will also be damaged. Our approach is to find a balance between the two! ”

This time, even Lucas did not oppose because of opposition, several giant companies and cinemas are a community of interests, and it is an open secret that they cross-sharehold each other, and everyone loses and prospers. The market is sluggish, and while studios can cut back production and postpone blockbusters, they can't sit idly by and watch the dismal performance of cinemas. The three major cinema chains, hundreds of thousands of employees and a large number of daily expenses, if they can't attract enough people, they will immediately face huge losses.

Giants are giants because they have mastered distribution channels, and these distribution channels come at a cost. For example, the light and shadow company is an offshore company, holding shares in the three major cinema chains of Regal, AMC, and Cinemark, and if they don't make money, it means that the light and shadow are also losing money! And the three major cinema chains also use the same means, holding shares in the light and shadow company, and Paul, Casey, and Wilson, who are sitting next to Robert, are their representatives.

Universal and Disney don't know that nine times out of ten this year's autumn stalls are box office Waterloo? But they still gritted their teeth and insisted on putting the 120 million large-scale production "Shanghai Noon" and the very box office "Family Man" in the autumn file, just for the common good, and not to let companies other than the giants squeeze into the huge cake of distribution!

Light and shadow are lucky, "Harry Potter" and "Desert Island Aftermath" are all ranked in the summer file, and they have escaped the unlucky day of the autumn file, but the Christmas file can't be avoided no matter what. Everyone has seen the sample film of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", the quality of the production is quite excellent, and with the box office appeal of Fa Ge and Li Zhi, it should not be a big problem for this film to exceed 100 million at the box office, but now as long as the theater is in need, it can only be used as cannon fodder according to the established schedule. The same is true of "X-Men", the watchers all think it is a good film, but it is just a good film in normal times, and in the current situation, God knows how high the box office can be.

"Shanghai Noon" has two superstars, Cheng Long and Li Zhi, and the box office is only 50 million, not to mention "X-Men" and "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"?

Before the meeting, Paul and Casey announced: Warner Bros. is going to take "Deadly Romeo" starring Li Lianjie and Alia to save the market at Christmas, what film will Light and Shadow use to save the market?

After a moment of silence, Chris asked for his boss, "Paul, which film do you prefer?" ”

"Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon"

Paul Harrison did not hesitate to choose "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", which has two big stars, Fa and Zhi, and Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McLaren and others in "X-Men" are still unknown in Hollywood, this multiple-choice question is easy to do.

"No, we feel that "X-Men" is more suitable, after all, it is adapted from a comic, and it is easier for fans to accept it in this extraordinary period."

Chris's shirk made Kathy Paquin next to him mock mercilessly: "Chris, you didn't eat breakfast, your blood sugar is too low, right?" ”

The internal opinions of the light and shadow company are also the same, and they are all more optimistic about "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon", and even optimistic about its performance at the Oscars and Golden Globes. Now if you want to throw this film that everyone is optimistic about to the Christmas file that may fail again, who would want to?

"NO, NO, Casey, you have to believe in our vision, the people we have here are all A-level directors in Hollywood, and they are quite sure of the box office."

When it came to interests, everyone let go of the harmony just now, and Matthew Wilson sneered: "Chris, you are not optimistic about "Desert Island Afterlife", what is the result? ”

'Ahem, cough, cough', on a crisp autumn day, there was a cough in the conference room. If it weren't for Boss's insistence on being placed in the summer file and released on a large scale, it might have become the second "Shanghai Noon", and it would have slipped through his fingers without even counting cannon fodder.

Paul They don't care about Chris's embarrassment, they look directly at Sun Ziming, only he is the real authority on the box office of the movie. They don't believe that the famous China Ming will also talk nonsense with his eyes open! If the light and shadow refuse, then the future schedule will have to be renegotiated.

Sun Ziming groaned for a while, in this case, he didn't know which film was better. But because of the difference in vision and mentality, Sun Ziming quite supports Chris's view that in this extraordinary period, perhaps the most welcome thing for the audience is to relax rather than appreciate a good quality classic. However, he knew that the theater chain could not refuse in extraordinary times, and for the long-term cooperation between the two parties, even if he knew that there would be losses, he had to agree to their request.

"Paul, I support Chris's view that these are extraordinary times and the audience needs more to relax than to think. Of course, if you insist on the release of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon instead of X-Men and The Princess Diaries, as your partner, I will reserve my opinion and agree to your request. ”

Now it's Paul's turn to be embarrassed, Sun Ziming's keen judgment of the box office market is praised in Hollywood, but this involves his interests, will he still tell the truth? Light and Shadow is only a minority shareholder in the theater chain, but he accounts for more than half of the shares in Light and Shadow.

Several people exchanged glances, but decided to ask for the release of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" on time, everyone thought that the good film failed, and the responsibility was not on them, but on the downturn in the market. But if you listen to the other party's opinions, and "X-Men" is unsatisfactory at the box office, the company will inevitably blame itself. The position of director of the light and shadow company, but a large group of people are staring!

"Ming, otherwise, we will release "Princess Diaries" and "X-Men" at the same time? We promise that we will do our best to give the best amount of film. ”

It's too much! The people in the office were all angry, and even Robert and the others who liked to sing the opposite tone had extremely ugly faces.

At this time, Jill wrote a small note to Sun Ziming: they were already crazy, and promised them to grab a good schedule for next year.

After a little hesitation, Sun Ziming passed the small note to George, stared at Paul and them, and said word by word: "OK, Paul, you have to sue your boss, you owe us a favor!" ”

“Think/you/sir”

Paul and the others breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts, now that the theater chain is losing money every day, their lives are not easy, and they can make Light and Shadow promise to come up with three of the best films to take risks, and they can be regarded as having an explanation for the boss. Chris and the others just wanted to object, but when they saw the small note that came over, they honestly shut up. It's true that Hollywood is a commercial society, but it is also sophisticated, and for big people like Boss, the last thing they want to owe is favors. Giving up two good films that are not bad, but it can make the theater chain owe the company a big favor, this deal is a good deal anyway.

After discussing the matter, the meeting ended, and Sun Tzu explicitly signaled George and Li Rui to go to his office.