Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 162 Tsk!
"A spokesperson for Warner Communications issued a statement today, saying that Warner Communications has never, and will never, use its leading position in the industry to suppress other small and medium-sized companies in the past, present, or future. Warner Communications has always been diligent in operating in the film and television industry based on the principle of equal competition. The remarks made by Ethan Jones, the founder of Game of Destiny, in an interview were groundless accusations..."

"Regarding Ethan Jones's false statements, according to past circumstances, Warner Communications will immediately pursue his actual responsibility in accordance with the law. However, considering that the two parties have had friction before and the two parties are still dealing with a lawsuit, Warner Communications will reserve the right to prosecute. After the existing disputes between the two parties are resolved, it will use legal weapons to defend its legitimate rights and interests..."

The next morning, NBC News reported Warner Communications' solemn statement.

The audio of the host's serious voice and the image of the news reading were transmitted to every corner of America through radio and television signals.

For ordinary people, this well-documented source of information is nothing more than another collision between the Game of Destiny and Warner Communications, and this kind of thing has happened many times in the past year, but for Hollywood practitioners... Warner Communications... this is simply shooting itself in the foot!
"Ha ha ha ha--"

In the MCA chairman's office, Sidney Sheinberg laughed happily.

"Steve Ross was so angry at Ethan Jones that he issued a statement?"

"This is really embarrassing!"

"Although they have irreconcilable conflicts with the Game of Destiny, and they would be looked down upon if they did not launch a counterattack when the Game of Destiny entered Hollywood, why did Steve Ross choose to declare war directly?"

"Does he think Ethan Jones is David Geffen? Can he just hold his nose and bear it after being banned? Ethan Jones is not afraid of him! You want to use unspoken rules in the industry? Then I will overturn the table! Anyway, banning is not something that can be made public. Whoever is exposed will be damned unlucky!"

In the CEO's office of Paramount.

Barry Diller and Michael Eisner kept clapping their hands on the armrests of the sofa. They were almost laughing to tears at the fact that they enjoyed seeing their peers suffer more than making money themselves.

"Steve Ross is really unlucky this time," Barry Diller said with a laugh. "Over the years, he has been so arrogant to everyone he met, but today he met someone who didn't play by the rules."

"Before, Warner dared to ban competitors at will because the guys they banned were basically in Hollywood. When those people couldn't jump out of the Hollywood circle, no one would offend Warner because of those individuals, but now..."

"Ethan Jones is not from Hollywood! How can the old Hollywood ways work on him when he can make a fortune without Hollywood?"

"You want to ban me?"

"Then I'll let the whole world know that you want to ban me!"

"Let me see who's anxious!"

Barry Diller's words made Michael Eisner nod his head, "Yeah~Yeah~Yeah~"

"I guess Steve Ross looks pretty angry right now?"

"He wanted to teach Ethan Jones about the rules of Hollywood, and then..."

"Ethan Jones simply didn't tolerate him and overturned the table."

"At the same time, this guy is also wearing a coat of the American dream?"

"Wow~Wow~Wow~This kid is really interesting!"

"At such a young age, you already know how to take advantage of others."

That's right!

The reason why Ethan Jones bought a press release saying that he was banned is because no matter in the past, present or future, there is no such thing as freedom of speech in America!
There are many things you can do, but you definitely can’t say them!
For example, anti-Semitism, anti-blackness, and anti-gay. You can secretly think about these things in your heart, and you can even have less contact with them in your life and have less interactions with them at work, but -

You must never show it!
Anyone who dares to express such opinions publicly will be in trouble!

Just like Mel Gibson, who publicly criticized the Jews after drinking, saying that they were responsible for wars all over the world, and then he disappeared. Not only could he not get any work, but even the box office revenue of "Brave Heart" was not paid to him by the theaters. He blatantly kept all the profits.

And Liam Neeson, who said he wanted to kill black people, but ended up kneeling faster than anyone else.

For example, assuming gender...

Before Ethan traveled through time, the gender diversity of Americans had already developed to over eighty.

Its iteration speed is so fast that even the increase in letters cannot keep up.

When Ethan was already accustomed to this kind of magic clash, Warner suddenly called and said that he would forbid his companies and employees from cooperating with him?

Oh--

My dear Warner! You are using your monopoly position to suppress your competitors!

Is monopoly allowed in America?
Do not!
This is not allowed!
You can try to do it, but you can never admit it!
Regardless of whether it is the oil split case that has already happened, the cinema split case, or the upcoming telecommunications split case, they are all naked antitrust cases.

When these facts appeared in Ethan's mind...

I don’t give a damn whether it’s for commercial reasons or anything else!

I don’t give a damn about whether you have a monopoly on the film industry or not!

As long as I think you have it, I can spray it!
Because the great New York real estate developers have proven time and again that the so-called war of public opinion does not require conclusive evidence. If groundless words can make people uncomfortable and make competitors flee within five hours, then this is a perfect offense and defense!

When I swung the iron fist of public opinion that was dozens of versions ahead of the current ones...

I just want to ask you, does Warner dare to take it?

If you dare to sue, it doesn’t matter!
I, Ethan Jones, paid out of my own pocket to help Stoudemire's compatriot David Geffen seek justice!

Meanwhile I will buy more press releases and continue to 'cry'!
I haven’t even talked about the redneck’s upbringing.

At that time, I will say that the reason why Warner Group banned me is because they always thought I was a bumpkin and unworthy of making movies, because after I made money, I invested the money in the land. I love the land deeply, but a place like Warner, where only the upper class can stay, obviously does not welcome me.

Then organize the workers at home to cause some trouble.

Let Uncle Thomas go to the Farmers' Association and cry about the injustice.

Warner, do you want to use me as a demonstration?

hehe--

Do you believe that I will talk nonsense to you in my defense?
Want to disgust me?

When it comes to disgusting people, I, Ethan Jones, am several generations ahead of you!
If Uncle Thomas's teachings had made him understand the true power of industry in America before, then now that he owns the industry, he can use Internet thinking to do more!

I have money and connections! I have a trump card behind me! You, an entertainment guy, want to fight me?
cut--

Sir! Times have changed! How about some substantive attacks?

"From the looks of it, Ethan Jones should have reached a cooperation with Columbia Pictures?"

In the office of the Disney chairman.

Walt Disney's son-in-law Ron Miller looked at the report with emotion: "I heard that Steven Spielberg has been frequenting Columbia Pictures these days?"

Such news made Dwayne Tatum nod his head and say, "Yes."

"I've heard about this, too."

"Besides, if they hadn't reached a consensus on cooperation, CBS wouldn't have been so happy to release this news, right? Although CBS and Columbia Pictures are in the same boat, they can't do such things as attacking their competitors without reason."

After a pause, Don Tatum smiled and said, "More importantly, this result is not bad for us, right? Although we didn't get Ethan Jones, Roy Disney didn't get him either, which put us Disney into a balance again."

"Also, judging from the current situation, Ethan Jones may be interested in entering Hollywood, but he will also share the benefits for the sake of the situation..."

"We are not afraid of his greed, but we are afraid of his determination, right?"

Dwayne Tatum stared at Ron Miller with burning eyes.

The Walt Disney family member nodded and said, "You are right, Tang En."

"This will at least prove one thing."

"The game of fate is not unreasonable. We can still cooperate."

Yes! While Gary Kurtz registered a subsidiary company, Destiny Music, for Destiny Pictures to disgust Warner, with Steven Spielberg's help, Destiny Pictures also reached a consensus on cooperation with Columbia Pictures, and both parties would jointly invest in the filming of the movie "Alien".

The reason is also very simple.

Firstly, Ethan never thought about making movies by himself from the beginning. When he registered the film company in a legitimate way, he was sending a signal of goodwill to the outside world, letting those who wanted to cooperate with him know that he, Ethan Jones, had a project and everyone was welcome to inquire.

You can be arrogant as a person and cruel to your enemies, but don’t arouse public outrage in the industry, right?

Make more friends and fewer enemies; this saying applies everywhere.

Secondly, he is more aware that Hollywood is a place deeply tied to the media industry. The entertainment programs initially broadcast by major radio and television networks in the United States were movies produced by Hollywood companies. The TV series and talk shows created for them later also relied on Hollywood. This is Warner's home turf. If it wants to avoid the tragedy of being banned, it has to cooperate with other companies.

Take Columbia Pictures, which he finally chose, for example. This company and CBS, the Columbia Broadcasting Network, have had a cooperative relationship for decades. Since 1948, the two parties have cooperated to establish a television program production company to produce television programs exclusively for CBS.

Although the cooperation between the two parties only lasted until 1951, because of the power struggle within CBS, they withdrew their investment from the TV company, but the TV program production company still exists and has been supplying CBS. In 1974, it was reorganized into Columbia Pictures Television Group and continued to provide CBS with the high-quality programs they needed.

When this kind of cooperation that has gone through thirty years of ups and downs is there, Columbia Pictures naturally becomes the best choice for Destiny Pictures. After the two parties have direct interests, Ethan does not have to worry about being inexplicably banned by the media before the end of the cooperation.

As for the specific contents of the cooperation agreement...

That's all allocated on demand.

In terms of responsibilities, Destiny Pictures and Columbia Pictures jointly financed the film, covering all production costs of the film. Columbia Pictures will be solely responsible for the subsequent promotion and distribution, but this does not include possible promotion and distribution of electronic games. Columbia Pictures has no right to require Ethan to produce games to cooperate with the promotion and distribution.

In terms of rights and interests, the two companies share the box office dividends of the film equally as producers. At the same time, because Columbia Pictures is responsible for publicity and promotion, they will take 20% of the total box office as publicity and promotion expenses after receiving the box office share from the theaters. If the film is eventually released globally, the overseas publicity and promotion commission will be 25% of the final overseas box office revenue.

In addition, Columbia Pictures also has the rights to sell the movie "Alien", including but not limited to package purchases by airlines and high-end venues, external sales of videotapes, copyright sales to pay cable TV networks, regular TV networks, and local TV channels, as well as possible album sales of the film's soundtrack. In this regard, Columbia Pictures will take 30% of the total revenue as a sales commission, and the remaining 70% will be divided equally between Destiny Pictures and Columbia Pictures.

Finally, Columbia Pictures also owns the rights to screen, release and sell the film "Alien" in theaters for the next 20 years. If there are no legal disputes over any single project, the contract will be automatically renewed upon expiration.

To be honest, when Ethan saw such a contract, he was shocked.

He knew that Hollywood distributors were vicious monsters, but he didn't expect them to take such a drastic cut. The North American promotion fee was 20% of the total box office? The overseas fee was 25% of the total box office? What's the difference between this and robbery?
More importantly, is it difficult to sell the movie after it is released? If a movie has great box office, it will definitely be welcomed by the public after entering the video market, and vice versa. When this positive cycle appears, Columbia Pictures will also take 30% of the sales commission in this regard? Isn't this a bit outrageous? If the cost above is to send the videotapes to sales outlets in various regions, then he can also do the game of fate!

They have their own fleet!

But when Stoudemire and Luke said that this contract was better than 99% of Hollywood film collaborations, Ethan asked Gary Kurtz to find a lawyer to review the contract and signed it after confirming that it was correct.

As for what's good about it...

"The first point is that there is no agreement on peripheral products in the entire contract. In other words, after the movie is released, the accompanying toys, clothing, dolls, etc. are all your own projects."

“You don’t have to split the money with Columbia Pictures.”

Ethan could see what Xiao Lu said.

It was precisely because he discovered that movie-related products were not within the scope of Columbia Pictures' agency that he did not react so strongly to the entire contract.

After all, although facehuggers are ugly, they still sell well.

And the second point...

"The second point is that the entire contract only stipulates the authorization of videotapes as a form of widespread dissemination. No other means are authorized. In other words..."

"If Universal wants to obtain the rights to distribute the film in the future, we will not look to Columbia Pictures, but to Destiny Pictures."

There is a different kind of light shining in Spielberg's eyes behind the lenses.

“WTF???”

This fact surprised Ethan a little.

“Is this how your Hollywood contracts are drawn up?”

Spielberg nodded.

"If it's all rights, we'll write 'all' in the contract."

George Lucas also added.

"If you are someone who has just arrived in Hollywood, you will basically be fooled by this. For example, if you negotiate with a film company alone, they will write "all" on the first contract. When you feel that it is not right because you know that your games make a lot of money and you can't give it to them, then they will follow your wishes and write "all" except for video games."

"Once text like this appears, no matter how you sue, you will not win."

"And the contract I signed with Fox clearly states that only the movie screening rights, re-screening rights and video sales rights of Star Wars belong to Fox, and everything else is mine."

"I used all myself."

Ethan was very grateful for these words.

I'm glad that I didn't act rashly and I'm glad that I held on to both thighs.

Otherwise, he estimated that he would be cheated.

With the active sharing of benefits and the active entry of Columbia Pictures, the project of "Alien" was put on the right track. It took three days for Stoudemire and Lu to make the budget. The two estimated that the investment in the entire film should be between 8 million and 10 million.

After submitting the project to Columbia Pictures for review, their CEO David Beigelman simply asked, "You guys should be able to make games for movies, right?" Then, without waiting for Ethan's response, he directly used the power of the CEO to approve the project. From then on, Columbia Pictures only needed to send a financial officer and a staff member to serve as executive producer and follow the team.

Ethan was not surprised by this decisiveness.

Because Stoudemire told him that after the cooperation was established, David Beigelman called the boss of Columbia Pictures with a smile and told him that Columbia Pictures had already achieved a leading position in the industry. They had surpassed Universal, Fox, Paramount, Disney, and MGM, and reached a substantive cooperation with Destiny. Next, he will work hard to develop docking in the field of electronic games.

This kind of step-by-step operation and the practice of taking credit for results made Ethan smile and shake his head.

There is no way. The identity of a professional manager can only shine in a public company.

When a company's shareholder structure is relatively simple and shares are relatively concentrated, they are so humble.

"So, everything from now on is up to you?"

After watching the cooperation being fully concluded and witnessing Gary Kurtz giving Steven Spielberg and George Lucas the producer contracts they deserved with 5% of the box office revenue each, Ethan breathed a sigh of relief.

"uh-huh."

The three of them nodded, indicating that there was no problem.

But the next second, they said, “Ethan, we discussed it and decided to follow your suggestion and put the production of this movie outside.”

"Because of Warner?" Ethan asked, "Are you afraid they will cause trouble?"

"Yes." The three answered promptly.

"When you've already broken off relations with them..."

“You’re bound to run into trouble when you make a movie in Hollywood.”

"We promise."

"Okay, no problem for me." Ethan said indifferently, "Since the contract has been signed, I will trust you unconditionally. As long as you can come up with a space version of Jaws, let alone filming it outside, even if you film it on Mars, I will agree."

"Because even if Warner is powerful, they can't reach Mars."

"Hahaha--"

Ethan's joking words made the three of them laugh.

The words teasing the opponent filled Destiny Pictures with a cheerful atmosphere.

(End of this chapter)