After drinking the first glass of wine, Lin Mu raised his glass again: "The new century is already in sight, and Hollywood movies are ushering in a new era, and commercial films will enter a stage of rapid development in the new century." Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

The Asian economy has suffered setbacks in the crisis. However, the potential of the Asian market is still there, and it is a very obvious signal that Hollywood films have begun to pay attention to the use of Chinese elements, and the Asian film market will be a battlefield for Hollywood films and local films to compete in an all-round way, which is important for the development of Chinese films. It is both an opportunity and a challenge. Lin Mu's next glass of wine is a toast to the future of Chinese films.

Lin Mu rarely drinks alcohol on weekdays, but today he drank two glasses in a row, but he still had no intention of stopping.

He gave himself a third glass of wine: "The world is out of my generation, and the years are urging when I enter the rivers and lakes." In the talk and laughter of the emperor's hegemony, it is better than a drunk in life. Lin Mu quoted the classic lines in the Hong Kong film "Undefeated in the East", and used wine to cheer up: "This glass of wine is not only for myself, but also for everyone here."

The topic that several people got together to discuss the most was the future development of Chinese films. "If Chinese films want to succeed in Hollywood, it is necessary for our themes to be truly accepted by others, not just a few actors and martial arts to mix well. Hollywood doesn't tailor scripts for us, I think in the end, we have to rely on our own films themselves to achieve internationalization and enter the international market, so that Chinese films can achieve greater development

At the dinner table, Cheng Long showed this kind of ambition very much, compared to Li Lianjie, who was much more rounded and soft, always explaining everything from a yin and yang and circular point of view.

"Hollywood really likes to add elements of Chinese kung fu to its films." Yuan Heping has the most say on this issue, and in the past two years, producers or directors have been approaching him and inviting him to be the action director of a certain film, "but I think Hollywood movies are just a shelf of oriental films, and the real core values are still American culture." Just relying on Hollywood movies, we will never be able to make a movie that truly belongs to us. ”。

"To put it bluntly, there is still money and technology. Xiangjiang Films has never lacked talent, but it cannot be compared with Haoxiwu Films in terms of capital and technology. Technical problems can be introduced, but if they can't work, they can be directly asked to do it. I think funding is the biggest bottleneck restricting the development of Hong Kong films. Hollywood now makes a movie with hundreds of millions of dollars, and it is still in US dollars, and 100 million Hong Kong dollars in Xiangjiang is already the sky. ”

Wu Yusen has a wealth of experience in Hollywood and Hong Kong, after he became famous in Hollywood. A film company in Xiangjiang once asked him to make a film. He only asked about the cost of filming and directly refused. In Hollywood, he will be higher than this when he takes on any film, and people go to higher places, which is also the reason why many people are reluctant to go back after arriving in Hollywood.

"After He Guanchang's death, it was difficult for Wen Huai to stand alone in Jiashou, and the film company in Xiangjiang was even more decaying than Xiangjiang Films." Tsui Hark sighed softly, he came from Xiangjiang to the net, and he knew the situation there better than anyone else.

"If Xiangjiang films want to revitalize, they really need a leading figure, and the era of Run Run Shaw and the era of Wenhuai are the most prosperous periods for Hong Kong films. I think Mr. Xiao has the courage and the strength, since you are optimistic about the future development of Hong Kong, why don't you directly invest and make our own films? ”

In the last meeting, Yuan Heping made a similar suggestion to Lin Mu, in his opinion, although Lin Mu is an American, but he knows Chinese films very well, his Chinese-American identity can be accepted by both the United States and Hong Kong, and he is the most suitable person for the leader of the revival of Chinese films.

Yuan's words reminded Lin Mu that in Asia, the shadow of the financial crisis is about to dissipate. Many companies have shrunk their assets in crisis. At this time, it is the best time for Viacom to deploy in Asia. But for Viacom, the priority is not Asia. A new M&A battle has quietly begun, and Viacom's prey this time is CBS, one of the three major television networks in the United States.

"One company is no longer enough for Viacom." This is the main reason why Sawam and Lei Shidong are determined to buy a television broadcasting network. In that year, Viacom achieved a turnover of hundreds of millions of dollars, and its Paramount Pictures, Bepsi Pictures Music Television Network, Music Group, and Simon Publishing Company all achieved profits, of which Paramount Pictures alone made a profit of more than B dollars, which accounted for almost half of the group's total profit. It is based on the company's good operating status and abundant capital allocation that Sanam-Lei Shidong decided to further expand the industrial chain of Viacom.

Viacom's development over the years has adapted to the trend of industry consolidation. Accurate judgment of the development trend of the entertainment industry and decisive acquisitions are the key to the development of Viacom. In line with Timber's positioning, Viacom has always defined itself as a content provider. Content providers need to have a long-term and solid future. There must be an integration of upstream and downstream resources, and the possession of transmission channels is particularly important.

"Over the years, the development of Viacom has been following the development concept of the entertainment industry chain you put forward at the beginning, and now we have a strong content manufacturing enterprise in the upstream of the entertainment industry chain, and the development of Paramount Group is far beyond my original imagination, in comparison. Our communication channels in the downstream of the entertainment industry chain have become a relatively weak link, in a conversation with Lin Mu. Sanam said without worry.

"The appraisal agency's estimate of CBS's market capitalization is between $2 billion and $5 billion, and if we want to buy all of the businesses, we have to bid higher than that. It's going to be an incredibly big acquisition! Are you sure Viacom is ready now? For Lei Shidong's thoughts. Lin Mu already had a clear judgment.

"I see hesitation in your eyes!" In Lei Shidong's memory, indecisiveness is not Lin Mu's style of doing things, "I feel very strange, where did the man who fought alone at the board meeting go?" ”

Lin Mu knew that Lei Shidong was using the agitation method. The acquisition of CBS would require a huge amount of capital, and there was a lot of opposition to the deal within Viacom.

In the past, Sanam and Lei Shidong could influence the resolutions of the board of directors through his personal authority, but now the situation has changed. Because Sanam is a Lei Shidong is old. There are many things he can't do by himself, and his physical health has been unstable, and he has been away from many important company decisions, which has also greatly reduced his personal influence.

Lin Mu is different, although he prefers to focus on the operation of Paramount Pictures, but during the period of Lei Shidong's recuperation, he is the only person who can control the overall situation, after serving as the vice chairman of Viacom, he promoted the reform of the company's management system, and achieved remarkable results, in recent years, the company's major decision-making strategies are presided over by him, and the continuous growth of the group's strength and the steady improvement of corporate efficiency have won him the increasing trust of the directors. In particular, Lin Mu is more flexible in the way he deals with problems, and his decision-making is more democratic, which makes his position in the company more and more important, although it is not known when Lei Shidong will choose to retire, but everyone knows that the next chairman of the board of directors of Viacom is none other than Lin Mu.

When he knew that he couldn't control Lin Mu, Sanam began to deliberately cultivate Lin Mu as his successor. It is also his intentional or unintentional decentralization that has boosted the rise of Lin Mu, but in the basic development strategy, he hopes that Lin Mu can be consistent with himself Lei Shidong knows that the funds involved in this acquisition are huge, and many directors of the company are unwilling to take such a risk, at this time. Lin Mu's attitude becomes crucial.

"I agree with you on the acquisition of CBS, but this company has a huge business, and it will take a long time to complete the business combination after the merger. We had to develop a complete M&A plan. CBS is doing well at the moment, and in order to successfully acquire this company, it needs to offer a price that satisfies the other party. I'm afraid we will also have to pay a lot of price, Lin Mu explained.

"Acquired the Columne North Asia Broadcasting Corporation. Viacom was able to get a TV broadcasting network that covered the whole of the United States, and then we expanded the network to Europe, Asia, and eventually a global media network! "Dominating the United States is not enough for Lei Shidong's **, his goal is to establish an entertainment dynasty in the world that transcends national borders.

Lei Shidong's ideals did not affect Lin Mu's rational judgment. What worries him now is the fact that "the development of the Internet in the future will inevitably have a huge impact on the traditional TV broadcasting industry." At the current pace of development of network technology. In the foreseeable future, online media will inevitably replace television as the most important media channel. The problem we face is that Viacom has reached a bottleneck where the acquisition of CBS will allow us to break through that bottleneck. But I am personally concerned about whether CBS will be able to deliver the expected benefits to Viacom in the future! ”

"You're saying that the acquisition of CBS is good for Viacom's current development. But is it likely to constrain Viacom's development in the future? Lin Mu's analysis made Sanam and Lei Shidong frown.

"It will take a long time for the Internet to completely replace the dominance of television broadcasting, but the further it goes, the greater the impact of the development of the Internet on these two industries. Without a buyout of CBS now, Viacom's growth will stagnate. If an enterprise does not have the possibility of upward development, then the development of the enterprise will come to an end. The acquisition of CBS solves the current development of Viacom, but the acquisition of CBS does not mean that we have completed the creation of the entire entertainment industry chain! Lin Mu said this not to shake Sanam and Lei Shidong's determination to acquire CBS, but to let Lei Shidong see the current situation clearly.

"Your analysis does make a lot of sense, but I don't think the network will replace TV that soon, CBS for a long time. Sanamre Shidong, who can still play to its advantages, insists on his opinion, but he doesn't want to argue too much with Lin Mu on this issue, the two of them have the same basic position, and the acquisition of CBS is an inevitable choice for Viacom's development.

"The capital operation of the Rising Sun Fund in Xiangjiang this time is very successful, so how do you consider Viacom's plan to invest in the Asian market?" Sanam and Lei Shidong turned the conversation to the Asian region, which Lin Mu is more concerned about.

The decision to invest in Asia was that the two had seriously discussed this topic a year ago, and Lei Shidong also personally visited Xiangjiang for inspection. But at that time, Lin Mu had already predicted the outbreak of the Asian financial crisis, and he believed that after the crisis, it was the best time to invest in Asia. And the economic turmoil caused by the current financial crisis is over. At this stage, the basic conditions for investment have been met.

"I'm still going to start with the film industry first. Acquire a film company first! After a gathering with Cheng Long and Yuan Heping, several Chinese filmmakers. Lin Mu has already begun to think about this problem. And Tsui Hark provided him with a very important news, after He Guanchang's death, the disheartened Ministry Wenhuai intended to find a new partner for Golden Harvest.

Founded in the 90s, Golden Harvest is a veteran film company in Hong Kong and the leader of Hong Kong films after Shaw Brothers. Once upon a time, the films produced by Golden Harvest were the hallmark of Heung Kong films. To date, the company has financed and produced more than 100 films, playing two world-renowned superstars and countless acting stars, Bruce Lee and Cheng Long.

Golden Harvest has produced works that have not only made Chinese kung fu movies famous all over the world, but also created Hong Kong comedy films and action comedy films. The company's films have repeatedly broken box office records in Hong Kong, such as Bruce Lee's "Tangshan Brother", "Raptors Across the River", "Jingwumen", Cheng Long's "Police Story", "Red Fan District" and so on. Golden Harvest was the first Asian production company to break into Hollywood, and in the 00s, Jackie Chan's "Cannonball Speed" and Hollywood stars and "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" both set the highest box office record for an independent film in the United States that year.

In the history of Xiangjiang films, Golden Harvest has left a lot of firsts. In particular, the management of independent production has promoted the rapid development of Xiangjiang Films. Unfortunately, after the inevitable era, due to brain drain and poor management. Coupled with the decline of the entire Xiangjiang movie, Golden Harvest is no longer in the limelight.