Traveling through the Tokyo bubble era

Chapter 857 No matter who you are, it’s the same

"What's going on?"

Hideki Hanyu asked the employee of Yunshang Pictures who showed him the way.

But the employee shook his head and replied, "Boss, I don't know either. Nothing happened here when I left just now."

Seeing that he couldn't get an answer, Hideki Hanyu simply walked over and asked Fred Weber who was still struggling with the man.

"What are you doing?"

When Fred Weber heard the voice, he turned around and found that it was Hideki Hanyu. He stopped arguing with the man and hurriedly spoke to Hideki Hanyu.

"Boss, that's Mario Casal."

When Hanyu Hideki heard the name, he didn't realize who it was for a moment.

There is only one reason for this situation, and that is that the name Mario Casar has no weight at all in Hideki Hanyu's heart.

Fred Weber saw Hanyu Hideki looking confused, so he quickly reminded him, "The president of Carloco Pictures."

"Oh, it turned out to be him."

After finally finding out who the man was, Hideki Hanyu looked towards Mario Casar.

Then he discovered that Mario Casal, who had been so arrogant in the face of Fred Weber just now, now avoided his gaze and stepped back unconsciously, showing the word "fear" vividly.

Seeing this, Hanyu Hideki sneered with disdain.

Mario Casar is the same person as Menahan Golan in the past and Harvey Weinstein in the future.

They do have some real skills, but the success of their company relies more on the opportunities of the times, luck, or some kind of unconventional "experience", which allowed them to rise in Hollywood.

What success brings them is not calmness and humility, but a surge in self-confidence and arrogance.

He acts arrogantly and without regard for the consequences. He has no foundation at all, like a rootless duckweed, but he takes the opportunities and luck given by the times, as well as unconventional means, as his own strength.

When such people succeed, they don't even care about the major studios in Hollywood. They are fearless and believe they can always be successful.

But their final outcome was that they all believed in the experience of success and refused to change with the times. In the end, they were overthrown by the things they firmly believed in and abandoned by the times.

"Mr. Casar, please explain why you came to Yunshang Pictures to cause trouble."

Hanyu Hideki asked in a cold tone.

For someone like Mario Casar, many people in Hollywood might be more respectful because his career is at its peak.

But Hideki Hanyu is definitely not among these people.

Mario Casal, who had just dared to yell in front of Fred Weber, responded to Hanyu Hideki's questioning in an extremely "friendly" way.

"I'm not causing any trouble. I'm just here to discuss cooperation with Mr. Fred."

Obviously, this guy also knows who to mess with and who not to mess with.

If Hideki Hanyu only owned Cloud Pictures, Mario Casar would not be so wary of him.

But considering Hideki Hanyu's identity as the world's richest man just announced yesterday, and his various companies that are closely related to the film and television industry, Mario Casal really has no choice but to be afraid.

Mario Casal was filled with regret at this moment. If he knew that Hideki Hanyu would come to Yunshang Pictures today, he would never cause trouble for Fred Webber even if he was beaten to death.

Naturally, Hideki Hanyu didn't believe what Mario Casar said, so he turned around and asked Fred Weber.

"is it?"

Fred Weber replied, "I met with the head of Hemdale today to discuss the Terminator copyright deal, and then Mr. Casal showed up and threatened that we either give up the copyright deal or the Terminator project must cooperate with them."

Hearing this, Hanyu Hideki looked at Mario Casal and sneered, "Haha! Is this how you come to us to discuss cooperation?"

Upon hearing this, Mario Casal, although he was afraid of Hanyu Hideki's strength, still gritted his teeth and spoke loudly in a timid manner.

"It was my Carloco Films that purchased the Terminator copyright from Hemdale first. When it was almost successful, Mr. Fred Weber suddenly intervened and ruined the deal. So it was Cloud Pictures that broke the rules."

Upon hearing this, Hanyu Hideki immediately showed a mocking expression.

"If it's about to succeed, it's not yet successful. What's more, the copyright is in the hands of Hemdale. It's their freedom to choose who to use. They can't blame us.

As for the rules? Isn't the rule in Hollywood that whoever has the money has the final say?

Didn't Carloco Films rely on high salary to snatch Stallone's schedule from the big studios? Do I need to help you recall this?

So, you can raise the price to steal others’ stuff, but others can’t raise the price to steal your stuff?”

Hideki Hanyu's blunt words immediately made Mario Casar's face turn pale.

This guy still looked unconvinced and seemed to want to say something.

Hideki Hanyu was too lazy to waste time with the other party.

"If you want to be decent, leave on your own while I'm still willing to reason with you."

After saying that, Hanyu Hideki walked towards the main building door without looking back, saying, "If the outsiders don't listen to my advice, let the security personnel throw them out directly."

Hearing this, Fred Weber instructed the employees around him, "Do as the boss says."

After saying that, he no longer paid attention to Mario Casal, turned around and followed Hanyu Hideki.

As for Mario Casal, his face had turned purple as he looked at the receding backs of Hideki Hanyu and Fred Webber.

But he, who was arrogant and domineering in the past, could not say anything harsh at this moment.

Because he understood that Hideki Hanyu was not Fred Weber, and he could not bear the anger of such a person.

"Sir, please."

Then the staff from Yunshang Pictures came forward and politely invited him to leave.

Mario Casal finally chose "decency".

……

In the main building of Cloud Pictures' Burbank headquarters, in Hideki Hanyu's office on the third floor, Hideki Hanyu, Alan Horn, and Fred Weber all gathered together.

But at this time, Alan Horn said nothing, and Fred Weber had no choice but to endure Hideki Hanyu's scolding.

"So in my opinion, there is no need to waste time talking to Mario Casal. If he dares to come to your house to cause trouble, just have him thrown out."

After Hanyu Hideki finished speaking, Fred Webber explained, "Caroco Pictures has developed very well in recent years and is very prestigious among independent studios. I don't want to damage our image in the industry because of him."

"Hehe, you just think too much."

Hanyu Hideki said this, stood up and walked to the bright huge glass window, looking at the city view of Burbank in the distance, and spoke slowly.

“Alan, Fred, you have to understand that times have changed.

You should know better than me that the production costs of Hollywood's top projects are getting higher and higher, and the pay of influential stars is also getting higher and higher.

Overseas box office, videotapes, and peripheral derivatives also account for an increasingly higher proportion of a film's revenue.

This means that in the future, only large studios that control domestic and overseas distribution and complete peripheral channels will be qualified to initiate truly large-scale productions.

Although independent films are becoming more and more prosperous in Hollywood today, they can only hope to make a big profit with a small investment, and they simply cannot afford the cost of large-scale productions.

In the past, people like Mario Casal and Menahan Golan could rely on luck and opportunity to succeed.

But their situation will only get worse.

Menahan Golan is the best example. Without a stable profit foundation and capital support, it only takes one failure to be ruined. "

Hanyu Hideki said this and turned to look at Fred Weber.

"I told you last time that Mario Casar is just another Menahem Golan, so don't pay any attention to him. He will disappear from Hollywood in a few years.

As for the industry image that you are worried about, it is just another manifestation of strength.

If we had acquired Universal Pictures today, do you think he would still dare to treat you so arrogantly? "Hearing what you said, I can't wait to acquire Universal Pictures."

Alan Horn spoke with a smile, as if he wanted to change the subject to prevent Fred Weber from being too embarrassed by what Hanyu Hideki said.

Although Hideki Hanyu was dissatisfied with Fred Weber's "weak" performance, he also did not intend to pursue it relentlessly and really seek responsibility.

After all, he is a veteran who has worked together to lead Yunshang Pictures to this day.

So he followed Alan Horn's words and said, "The results will be known the day after tomorrow."

Alan Horn asked, "Does that need to be announced immediately?"

Hanyu Hideki shook his head and said, "No, keep it secret for now. We will announce it to the public after the initial handover is completed."

"Regarding the split, reorganization, and integration work after the handover, I have already made a work plan after communicating with the parent company. Since you are here, you should take a look at it first."

Alan Horn was obviously well prepared. As he spoke, he took out a document, stood up and handed it to Hideki Hanyu who was standing by the window.

Hideki Hanyu started reading seriously from the first page.

According to this plan, after being acquired, MCA Universal will be split into four major independent group companies: Universal Pictures, Universal Music, Universal television network, and Universal Studios.

The original Universal Studios itself, MCA Television Group, MCA Home Video and Pay Television, MCA Recordings, Putman Publishing, Cineplex Odeon Cinemas, Universal Amphitheater, America Cable Network, Universal Film and Television Archive and other companies.

All of them will be further split up according to their functions and business scope, and placed under four independent group companies.

This also includes the "annexation" of some cloud entertainment industries. For example, according to the original plan, except for independent operation in Japan, all overseas branches of Cloud Music will be brought under the unified management of Universal Music Group.

Of course, where there are mergers and acquisitions, there are sales. All the theaters originally owned by MCA Global will be absorbed by Crescent Cinemas and managed in an integrated manner.

However, Hideki Hanyu had no interest in the MCA artist management business that was left behind by Lou Wasserman when he started his business, and decided to sell it directly as a package.

After all, there are too many restrictions in this area, the profits are meager, and there are too many things to do, so the major Hollywood studios have basically given up. Only Lou Wasserman, out of his old business habits, has managed to find a way to retain some of it.

If there is any difference between this plan and the Universal Pictures in another time and space, it is that the TV network and Universal Studios are separated.

The former was due to policy restrictions. Although he could find a way to circumvent it, he did not want to be held responsible. He had asked his sister to change her nationality in preparation for this.

Moreover, in Hideki Hanyu's view, although television media is still in its golden age, it is an inevitable trend for its influence to be replaced by the Internet.

Taking both factors into consideration, making the TV network independent will allow for quick division and cashing out when unexpected situations arise, to prevent the main body of Universal Pictures from being affected.

As for why "Universal Studios" needs to be split up independently, it is of course to facilitate better cooperation between Universal Studios and Genie Entertainment.

After all, leaving all the well-known IPs of Elf Entertainment unused and setting up "Universal Studios" and "Elf Park" separately, isn't that a pure waste of money and resources?

The content scope of "Universal Pictures" in the future will definitely include all IPs owned by Hideki Hanyu, not only Genie Entertainment, but even Pixar, as well as his novels, picture books, etc.

It is estimated that the Pokemon Land in Kanagawa, which is currently cooperating with the Seibu Group, will also cooperate with Universal Studios.

As for whether the future Universal Studios project will be called Genie·Universal Studios/Theatre or Universal·Genie Studios/Theatre, it doesn’t matter to Hideki Hanyu at all.

After all, when he chose to split MCA Universal, he gave up adding the name of Yunshang System to the front.

In the future, Universal will just be Universal, and Cloud Entertainment will just be a shareholder of several independent Universal groups.

He will not learn from Sony, which promised Columbia to operate independently but has been subtly using Sony's influence to cover the Columbia brand for many years.

So much so that later, when people mentioned certain well-known film and television IPs, they naturally ignored Columbia and directly said it was Sony Pictures.

The reason why Sony did this is simple. It simply wants to use the communication characteristics of the entertainment industry to enhance its own brand awareness and influence.

Perhaps secretly, some Sony executives were also considering the needs of the country and nation.

But for Hideki Hanyu.

As a time traveler with a Chinese soul, it is good enough that he has not secretly carried out terrorist activities in Japan. It is wishful thinking to expect him to work internationally for Japan.

Even if he did something to make the Japanese proud, it was entirely for himself.

As for enhancing the brand influence of Cloud Entertainment, Hideki Hanyu believes that this is not necessary at all.

Cloud Entertainment is different from Sony.

Sony is a comprehensive multinational corporation. In addition to the entertainment industry, its main revenue comes from consumer electronics.

Therefore, relying on the entertainment industry to enhance Sony's brand image and influence in Europe and the United States is equivalent to advertising for consumer products for Sony.

But Yunshang Entertainment is just an entertainment media group with its roots in Japan and its main sphere of influence in Asia. Its current business in Europe and the United States is mainly focused on media, cinemas, and film distribution.

Even because of the particularity of the industry, in order to avoid hostility from local people, Yunshang Entertainment has always been downplaying its presence.

The media industry mainly focuses on acquisitions and holdings, and never operates the business itself.

Cinema operations and film distribution are also expanding through Crescent Cinemas.

In this case, going to great lengths to use Universal Pictures to increase the popularity of Cloud Entertainment will not only fail to help Cloud Entertainment's revenue, but will instead cause resentment and rejection among local consumers.

Therefore, unless necessary, Hanyu Hideki will deliberately downplay the presence of Yunshang Entertainment in this acquisition overseas in addition to promoting it in Japan.

For example, in this acquisition, Cloud Entertainment only invested US$2.5 billion and held 38% of Universal's shares.

As for the remaining 62% of the funds, they will be managed by the newly established "America Entertainment Investment Company" by Hideki Hanyu.

Behind this company, in addition to Hideki Hanyu using multiple companies and vests to cooperate with Cloud Entertainment to control Universal, he also took the opportunity to attract some local American dignitaries and important partners to invest.

One of them is Karl Mapp, a lobbying partner in Washington DC who was previously invited by Hanyu Hideki.

Now it seems that although these people’s shares are not large, their value is not too high.

But with the time traveler Hideki Hanyu around, the rise of Universal is only a matter of time.

As Universal becomes more successful and brings more benefits to these people, the ties between them will become tighter and tighter.

Anyone who can be chosen by Hideki Hanyu now will definitely not be an ordinary person in the future.

And this is the advantage of time travelers.

You can start planning more than ten years or even decades in advance, at a time that others can't even imagine.

"You did very well."

After a while, Hanyu Hideki quickly finished reading the document and praised Alan Horn.

After returning the documents to the other party, Hanyu Hideki reminded him again, "When handing over, communicate more with the parent company about overseas business and make sure to complete all the work in the shortest possible time."

Alan Horn took the document and seemed to want to say something, but he hesitated.

Seeing this, Hanyu Hideki asked directly, "Just say whatever you want to say."

Alan Horn then spoke up. "MCA Global has a large number of employees with a complex structure. It is difficult to sort out the interests in a short period of time. We promised during the acquisition that we would not adjust the personnel, but personnel changes are inevitable for such a large-scale split and reorganization."

“Haha, who said that once you make a promise you have to do it.

Besides, the premise of the promise is that they are obedient enough. "

Hanyu Hideki said this in a cold tone.

In fact, he really wanted Alan Horn to go to Europe to learn from Bernard Arnault, who was fighting a life-and-death battle with Ophelia Abel in the "Strategic Development Decision-making Department" of AI International.

When that guy bought Dior, he promised not to lay off any employees.

The results of it?
On the first day of taking over Dior, Bernard Arnault wielded the butcher knife and launched the "Guangjin Plan" with drastic measures.

Alan Horn then asked, "What about Lou Wasserman? We promised him the CEO position at Universal Television."

Hanyu Hideki's cold answer immediately sounded.

"It doesn't matter who it is, as long as they hinder our plans."

(End of this chapter)