Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 161 Oh my god! Ethan is punching!
"WTF? Warner is here so fast?"

When the ban order from Warner Bros. reached the office building of Destiny Pictures, George Lucas, who was studying the script, was shocked. He stared at Gary Kurtz with wide eyes, "Gary, are you sure?"

"Warner has severed cooperation with Destiny Pictures in the three aspects of filming locations, personnel cooperation, and music composition?" He couldn't wait to confirm the facts.

Gary Kurtz nodded seriously, "Of course."

He pointed to the door of his office and said, "The president of Warner Bros. Pictures called personally. He said this was the will of their boss, Steve Ross."

'? ? ? '

This strange source of information left George Lucas confused, while Steve Spielberg, who was sitting next to him, was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

Because they both knew that Ethan Jones and Warner had irreconcilable conflicts, so before deciding to cooperate, the two of them were actually prepared to be sniped by the Warner Group.

no way……

Who makes this world so cruel and ruthless?

When you choose your friends, you are also choosing your opponents.

As for having the best of both worlds?

nonexistent.

But even if they were mentally prepared, wasn't Warner's speed really too fast?

Ethan Jones just opened a company, bought a script, and hired a manager. The project hasn't been formally established yet, and the investment hasn't been fully agreed upon, but Warner can't wait to wave its fist?

This is crazy——

"Oh Ethan—Warner really hates you—"

Steven Spielberg smiles as he holds the script.

Ethan shrugged and said, "It can't be helped. Handsome people will be hated wherever they go."

Like Stoudemire and Luke, when Ethan decided to enter Hollywood, he was already prepared to be sniped by Warner. After all, under his iron fist, Warner's current book loss has exceeded 30 million, and that kind of loss of real money will surely make their hatred continue.

But Ethan didn't care.

Although he also wants to develop peacefully, and it would be best to say goodbye to all troubles and say hello to all happiness, but that is obviously impossible. Everyone in this world has desires and cravings, and those profit-seeking capitalists will never let him develop quietly.

Since competition is unavoidable, let it come more fiercely.

Just like what Zhou Shuren said -

The person who understands you best in this world is not yourself, but your enemy.

Since Warner was willing to help him find and fill in the gaps, he would naturally accept it with pleasure.

Then give it a slap in the face as a token of gratitude while making improvements.

It's impolite not to reciprocate!

"So... does this matter have a big impact on us?"

Since he was mentally prepared, Ethan would not waste time venting his emotions. As he asked, the two people who were still shocked and joking also got into work mode.

George Lucas raised his eyebrows and said, "Oh Ethan - Warner's ban... actually had a big impact on us... because of their studio..."

“It’s a pain point that many movies cannot bypass when shooting.”

George Lucas turned his attention to Steven Spielberg.

Steven Spielberg, who had a good cooperation with Warner, nodded and said, "Yes, Warner owns a 110-acre location shooting site in Hollywood..."

Although all major film companies except Disney own studios, the size and usage of the studios under each company are slightly different.

Before the era of computer cutouts, that is, before the advent of the screen era, Warner owned the largest and most comprehensive studios in all of Hollywood. When many film companies were making scripts, they found that some scenes in the scripts could not be accommodated in their own studios, so they would contact Warner and rent venues from them.

For example, when Steven Spielberg was filming "Close Encounters of the Third Kind", Columbia Pictures asked Warner to rent a studio. Ethan's previous trip to the set also took place at Warner.

When the economy was booming and multiple Hollywood projects were started at the same time, some of Warner's popular studios even had schedules, and people who needed to make reservations had to queue up.

When a place with such a high tolerance level closed its doors to Destiny Pictures...

To say that there is no impact, or even that the impact is small, is to deceive oneself.

but--

Even so, Ethan still felt there was no problem.

"Our movie is all indoors, right?"

“You don’t need a studio that big, do you?”

"If there is no demand, how can we have any influence, right?"

He spread his hands.

Xiao Lu and Xiao Si were stunned by that twisted logic.

After staring at Ethan for a long while, they said, "Oh Ethan——"

"If you say so—that's fine too..."

"But..." Steven Spielberg added, "The studio is only a minor point. The real pain point is the prohibition of participation of employees and the prohibition of opening of audio reserves."

The prohibition on the participation of employees is actually easy to understand. According to the literal meaning, it means that Warner’s staff are prohibited from having any contact with Destiny Pictures, but in actual implementation, the points and aspects taken into consideration are not just these. Warner Bros. is a film company that produces countless projects every year. When the projects in production and waiting to be produced are related to Warner, in order to keep their jobs, those who gather here will naturally stand on the side of Warner and cut off from the projects of Destiny Pictures.

In addition, the projects being discussed and potential partners will also hesitate, because Warner has been working hard in this industry for decades, and there are countless contacts accumulated over time.

When Warner Bros. forbade its people to work with Destiny Pictures, that kind of ban was actually an all-round blockade from directors to crew members. Even if Destiny Pictures' new projects were led by Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, others would have to think twice when receiving an invitation from Destiny Pictures. After all, the projects in the hands of Steven Spielberg and George Lucas could only take care of a few people a year, but the projects in the hands of Warner Bros. could train hundreds or even thousands of people a year.

When the probabilities of opportunities are not equal, everyone knows what to choose.

And, more importantly—

Warner has a precedent of banning.

“I have a friend named David Geffen, the owner of Shelter Records.”

"Because of his good vision, he signed famous singers such as the Eagles, Joni Mitchell and Bob Dylan, and enjoyed great success in the music industry. But when his joint venture company Atlantic Records was acquired by Warner, everything changed..."

Steven Spielberg talked about the secrets of Hollywood, "Warner wanted to hold all these valuable musicians in their hands, but David disagreed, so Warner announced to the public that David Geffen was banned. Overnight, his record company could not get any business."

"This situation caused dissatisfaction among the musicians of Shelter Records, so they took the initiative to change jobs and joined Warner. With their departure, the value of Shelter Records plummeted instantly. Although there is a penalty for breach of contract, what if the Los Angeles court does not accept the case? What if it accepts it and then drags it out?"

"Just like the lawsuit between you and Warner and Philips in San Jose, when Stanford thought you were fine, or when President Fred Terman thought you had no problem and should not bear legal responsibility, he put pressure on the court to repeatedly welcome the settlement between the two parties and dragged the case against entering the trial stage for various reasons, no one could stand this feeling of powerlessness, right?"

"So when David found out that he couldn't beat Warner no matter what he did, he decided to give in and sell his record company to Warner, and Steve Ross only offered five million."

"Then, in order to show his goodwill, Steve Ross invited David to cross-industry business, arranged for him to be the vice chairman of Warner Bros. Film Studios, and caused Clint Eastwood to conflict with him, and then used this as an excuse to put him on ice and refused to release his employment agreement."

"That was last year, and the earliest he could return would be in 1980."

"This kind of thing makes people in the circle in awe of Steve Ross. Now, it has only been a year since David was put on ice. No one dares to disobey Warner before David is released."

Although Steven Spielberg is serious,...

Ethan felt very uncomfortable holding it in, he really wanted to laugh like a pig.

"Everyone in Hollywood is afraid of Warner? That has nothing to do with us!"

"Since our invitation will cause trouble to people in Hollywood, then we won't look for them! America is so big, where can we find directors and actors?"

"If that doesn't work, then we'll go to John Bull!"

"Hollywood likes to use actors and directors from there anyway!"

That’s right! Xiao Si’s words reminded Ethan of something!
That's Ridley Scott, the director of John Bull!

Although he didn't want to interfere with Xiao Lu and Xiao Si's production, but...

If Warner brings someone to his door, he should still thank them, right?

Ethan's decisive reaction made Xiao Lu and Xiao Si open their mouths.

Because at this moment, the two suddenly felt that there was nothing wrong.

After all, as directors, they have all shot films abroad.

Many of the contents in Star Wars were shot at John Bull. Not only that, in this year, many Hollywood projects have the presence of John Bull people. After all, you are my father and I am your biological father. The blood relationship is unbreakable.

And those people...

That really has a bit of Shakespearean arrogance, and he doesn't care about Warner.

Because they always think that they are very awesome, and being able to act in movies is a blessing.

"Uh - Ethan - if that's what you want to do - that's fine -"

George Lucas nodded and exchanged a glance with Steven Spielberg.

Both of them saw determination in each other's eyes.

Audio storage is even simpler. Warner Music, a music company under Warner, actually started out by composing music for movies. In 1956, Arthur Kelm, a signed artist under Warner, composed a song for Paramount's movie that was the most popular movie soundtrack of the year, and it was sung by artists under Paramount's music company. When Warner found out that Paramount was shamelessly fleecing them, they decisively established a music company and entered the music industry.

Not only that, after their establishment, they waved their US dollars to make crazy acquisitions in the market. David Geffen was a victim. So far, they own the music copyrights of a number of music stars such as Led Zeppelin, CSN Band, Bette Midler, as well as the soundtracks and synthesized sound copyrights of countless movies.

When Warner refused to open this copyright library to Destiny Pictures, it meant that even if they found a soundtrack suitable for the movie in Warner's music library, they could not use it.

Either choose something else or be original.

If there is even a little bit of plagiarism——

Warner will take them to court.

For this kind of thing——

He, Ethan Jones, is even less afraid!

Ethan said directly to Gary Kurtz: "Immediately set up a music company under the name of Destiny Pictures, and the name is Destiny Music."

"Then, didn't you just say that the president of Warner Bros. Pictures informed you that Warner will refuse to cooperate with us in any aspect from today? Instead, you should call him and tell him that thanks for their reminder. Destiny Pictures has improved its corporate structure overnight and established a music company. If we succeed in the future and become a giant in the music industry, then Destiny Pictures will definitely treat Warner Bros. to a meal!"

"Remember, you must emphasize that this is my will!"

"Although Warner's ban seems fierce, there's actually nothing to be afraid of, right?"

"We didn't even think about cooperating with them from the beginning! Because our two companies have conflicts that cannot be reconciled! They just came to us because they felt good about themselves! So, Gary, when you call us, add a sentence and say that if they keep trying to get attention next time, I'll ask them for advertising fees!"

"Pfft-"

"Ha ha ha ha--"

Ethan's words amused both Steven Spielberg and George Lucas.

Gary Kurtz, the general manager of Destiny Pictures who received the task, suppressed his smile and nodded with an expression that looked like he was about to get hurt.

If the three people who had been in Hollywood for many years instinctively felt worried when they received the threat notification just now, because in Hollywood, Warner Bros. is the invincible devil, then now, with Ethan's arrangement, that worry has dissipated.

At this moment, they felt that Ethan was right!
They didn't think about Warner from the beginning, so why should they be afraid of Warner?
Moreover, when Atari, with the support of established companies, was defeated by Ethan, what was there for Warner to be proud of? Although video games were a new field that Warner did not understand, did Ethan Jones know much about this industry that had only existed for five years? But he did it!

When the two sides were not equally powerful, Ethan Jones was able to win. So now...

It's just a repeat of the previous duel!
If Ethan is confident of winning, then they are also confident of doing it!
Because they know that—

If you want to gain more power, you must go through all this!
not to mention……

They still have a way out, don't they?

The reason why Warner Bros. said that its subsidiary would not cooperate with Destiny Pictures and did not bring Steven Spielberg and George Lucas with them at all was because Warner Bros. knew that it could not stop them! Their bases were in Universal and Fox respectively. When they could make money with their eyes closed, even if Warner Bros. issued a ban, Universal and Fox would not bother to pay attention to them!

And since this struggle has nothing to lose for them——

"MFxxk!"

"It's really exciting!"

The two burst into foul language one after another.

When the boss Ethan didn't care, Gary Kurtz, who had "Star Wars 2" to his credit, cared even less. He went straight to register the company and completed the formalities as Ethan requested, and then called the president's office of Warner Bros. Pictures.

In the process, Ethan also asked Steven Spielberg to contact Columbia Pictures for him, and discussed with them about the cooperation of the "Alien" movie.

Then, he asked the other party to buy a news report from CBS.

When Steve Ross learned from his subordinates that Ethan Jones thanked him for his reminder, he shook his head happily while sitting in the boss's chair.

"The kid's fight back," he commented.

However, the president of Warner Bros. Pictures didn't think so. He took out a videotape from behind and pushed it in front of the group's boss, "Boss, when registering the music company, Ethan Jones also accepted an interview with CBS TV..."

'? '

The news made him frown.

After he signaled his subordinates to play the videotape on the office TV, the snow screen flickered for a few seconds, and then the black and white picture appeared in his sight.

That was the office that Destiny Pictures had just bought. Ethan Jones was sitting in front of the wall with the logo on it, showing his handsome face to the audience with a smile on his face.

“Yes, starting today, we at Destiny Games will be involved in film production because we want to bring better ideas to the world in more ways.”

"Although our formation has caused dissatisfaction among some companies, such as Warner Communications, which has always had conflicts with us, they have officially informed us that they refuse to cooperate with us in any aspect and will not allow other Hollywood practitioners to join our project, but this will not affect our project."

"Yes, even if it is a cross-border business, I am confident that I can achieve success."

"Because I am American, the country I stand on is America, it's that simple."

“Since the 17th century, our ancestors have been pursuing their dreams here, and they have realized their dreams with their hard work, courage, creativity and determination.”

"It was this inspiration that led me to pursue my entrepreneurial career and success in the video game industry, and it also convinced me that the truths of the Declaration of Independence are self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

"Although Warner Communications' attack on us may be against our declaration, and it can even be said that they are using their leading position in the industry to attack us, we are not afraid because their boss Steve Ross is about to die. As a person of the old era, he can no longer board the ship of the new era, and I, the helmsman of the new era, will set sail."

"What? You're asking me if it's this confidence that led me to success?"

"No, no, no -"

"I'm just a 22-year-old kid."

"My parents are both dead."

"The only education level is high school."

“Even if I was confident, that wasn’t the real foundation of my success.”

"I want to tell you, the reason why I succeeded is because I love this land! I believe this is where miracles are born! I believe this is where dreams are made! All the suffering is a test from God on the road to success! Those evils will eventually be defeated by the hardworking Americans!"

“I love America!”

"God Bless America!"

"America is the best in the world!"

“That’s why I’m successful!”

"What? You ask what Warner Communications and Steve Ross are?"

"hehe--"

"All corruption will be defeated by miracles!"

Ethan smiled at the TV camera.

"Squeak!——"

Steve Ross bent the pen in his hand!Let the ink flow!
Because he knows——

"Something bad has happened!" he muttered.

That's right!

He, Ethan Jones, is not afraid of any difficulties!

You, Warner Group, want to ban me?
you can!

Now that you’ve made your move, don’t blame me, Ethan Jones, for the punch!
Note: ① In reality, Warner did ban David Geffen, and the means were even tougher than what is described in the article. It was precisely because Warner was too tough that David Geffen hated him very much, and in the 1990s he bought the villa of Warner founder in Beverly Hills to conquer him. In the end, the house seemed to be sold to Jeff Bezos.

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(End of this chapter)