Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 213 Looking for the murderer!

In fact, when Ethan learned that Roy Disney wanted him to become the white knight of the Walt Disney Group, he had already learned about the market value of the major Hollywood giants.

then……

He was greatly shocked.

Different from the media aircraft carriers that people will see in the future, the Big Seven in Hollywood at this era are really small companies among listed companies. The cheapest one is only close to 200 million, and the most expensive is only 600 to 700 million.

Judging from the speed at which the Game of Destiny makes money, even if Ethan Jones lets these companies run for ten years, he is confident that he can acquire them in the fifteenth year.

There's nothing we can do about it. Who can blame video games for being so unreasonable in terms of how fast they make money?

And when there is a world in Ethan's head...

Then only a nuclear-powered money printing machine can bring him to an end.

In this case, Spielberg was not lying when he said that he could easily acquire a film giant, but what about Ethan's own thoughts... If there hadn't been the sneak attacks by Komodor and Rockwell, and the backstab by Allen Bradley, he would definitely have made a bold acquisition, but now?
cough--

Be steady.

Apart from anything else, if he dared to make any acquisition at this point in time, Morgan Stanley, which he had just robbed, would definitely make trouble, whether it was raising the acquisition price of the target company or luring other buyers to bid with him, which would make him feel like a thorn in his throat.

"We'll talk about officially entering Hollywood later."

Ethan couldn't refuse, but Evelyn dared to speak up. She looked at Spielberg with a smile and said, "Steven, for us now, the movie project is just a supplement to the game promotion. In our view, the movie can be a large advertisement to let more people know about our game."

"Okay, I understand..."

Since both of them had made their opinions so clear, Spielberg would not continue to argue.

As he nodded in agreement, Ethan changed the subject, "Steven, how far has your friend David Beigelman's case progressed? Will Columbia protect him?"

Since Ethan had been fighting the chip defense war and the plunder counterattack war in recent months and had no time to pay attention to Hollywood, he had no idea how far the Colombian check counterfeiting case had developed.

And this question...

Spielberg sighed, his eyes flickering with helplessness behind his lenses, "This matter..."

He lengthened his voice.

It seemed like he was organizing his words, but it also seemed more like he was recalling the entire process of the case.

"I don't really know." He shook his head. "The check counterfeiting case was quite a big deal a few months ago, but now it's quiet. Both Foberle and the IRS seem to have stopped investigating."

"I have inquired about the reasons behind this, and it seems to be related to the surrender of the shareholders of Columbia Pictures."

MGM made an acquisition offer to Columbia Pictures at the beginning of this year. Initially, the shareholders of Columbia Pictures strongly opposed it and refused to accept it.

But as the check counterfeiting case intensified, several major shareholders of Columbia Pictures received inquiry letters from Foberle and the IRS. Their views on the entire acquisition case suddenly changed 180 degrees. Those shareholders seemed to not want to stay in this inexplicable vortex any longer.

"It was probably around April or May. Columbia Pictures held an extraordinary shareholders' meeting. Nearly 70 percent of the shareholders were satisfied with MGM's offer, but they did not accept MGM's cash acquisition plan. They hoped that Columbia Pictures could be fully merged with MGM. In this way, after the transaction was completed, they could obtain a certain amount of shares in the new company."

"MGM agreed to Columbia's terms, and then the investigation into the check fraud entered a strange stagnation, and the deal between the two parties is now in the approval stage."

"This should be easy to understand, right? Because Hollywood has had monopoly cases before, the U.S. Department of Justice will evaluate whether this merger will recreate a company that monopolizes the market. If it is approved, the merger will be officially carried out."

"And then..."

"David Beigelman might be able to get away with the investigation."

Spielberg shared the information he learned.

These words also made Ethan's eyes flicker. He sneered and said, "So, the guy who attacked Columbia was Kirk Kerkorian, the boss of MGM?"

Although Ethan had nothing to do with the check forgery case, the attack on Columbia did affect his personal interests. When the mastermind behind the scenes almost caused the "Alien" project to be postponed, Ethan's only thought was to find the real culprit and take revenge on the real culprit!

not to mention--

MGM is the enemy!

Their Tom and Jerry is really good!
However, just when Ethan regarded MGM boss Kirk Kerkorian as an enemy and put him on the target, Spielberg shook his head and said, "Ethan, this matter may not be that simple."

He cleared his throat and said, "On the surface, Kirk Kerkorian is the biggest winner in the entire acquisition. He is also your direct competitor. So, by publicizing the check forgery case and dragging Columbia Pictures into the quagmire, not only can the semi-retired MGM regain its ability to produce and distribute movies, but it can also deal a blow to you, using the crisis in the film project to distract your attention and prevent you from fully devoting yourself to the main business of video game production."

"but--"

"He shouldn't have known about David Beigelman's check forgery."

Spielberg leaned forward with his elbows on the table, looking at Ethan with a powerful gaze. "I know about David Beigelman's case. When Furber investigated him last year, he was very low-key and never publicized the matter. At the same time, Columbia did not make a big accusation against David Beigelman. It was just a few people on the board of directors who conducted a self-investigation. In this case, how could MGM know about this?"

“They’ve been building hotels for the last seven or eight years!”

"Their development focus is not Hollywood at all!"

"When they tear down or sell off the companies in Hollywood, their influence in Hollywood will decline to a level that ordinary people can hardly imagine!"

“When actors can’t get suitable projects from them, directors can’t get films they like from them, and producers can’t get satisfactory investment from them…”

"Even if there was a traitor in Columbia Pictures, Kirk Kerkorian wouldn't know about it!"

"so--"

"The exposure of the check fraud case should have nothing to do with Kirk Kerkorian!"

Although Spielberg had just apologized to Ethan, and Ethan also said that he did not take the Columbia incident to heart, neither of them actually believed these things.

Spielberg didn't believe that a guy who was always vindictive could be so tolerant!
And Ethan...

I don’t take things personally but I can keep it in my heart right?

In this case, Ethan's questioning was to get to the bottom of the matter, and Spielberg's decisive words and detailed analysis made him very satisfied.

At this moment, he finally felt that Spielberg's previous concealment was self-protection.

After staring at Spielberg for a while, Ethan suddenly smiled and asked, "What's going on with this restaurant?"

"You don't have to eat for half a day?"

"Oh - I'm hungry too, I'll go take a look." These words made Spielberg understand and stand up.

As he left, Ethan tilted his head to look at his sister.

Since he never took anything to heart and would complain to his sister when he encountered something bad, Evelin, who knew the overall situation, directly expressed her thoughts, "It sounds quite sincere."

"So far, I haven't found any logical loopholes in his words."

"But the final judgment will still be determined by the real murderer he identified."

Evelyn's words touched Ethan's heart!

Since Spielberg can boldly state that Kirk Kerkorian is not the real culprit behind the whole incident, then... who does he think is the real culprit?

Only if he finds who he thinks is the real murderer can he tell others that Kirk Kerkorian is not the real murderer. In this case, by hearing the name of who Spielberg thinks is the real murderer, he can judge whether this guy is analyzing the case or trying to do something else.

So, after Spielberg urged the waiter to serve the meal, Ethan stared at the speechless starry sky and asked what was on his mind. After hearing his question, Spielberg, who was cutting steak, said, "If I'm not wrong..."

"The real culprit behind this should be Warner Communications."

‘Fuck! ’

As soon as the name Warner appeared, Ethan's eyes suddenly widened!
Because Warner hasn’t reared its head since they tied last year, and when Warner Communications boss Steve Ross has been playing dead, Spielberg thinks they’re the real culprits?
"Why?"

Ethan was curious.

"reason?"

He wanted to know why.

"The reason is simple." Spielberg forked a piece of steak into his mouth and chewed it. "Because it is in the interest of Warner Communications to kill Columbia Pictures."

"What?" This kind of outrageous statement made Ethan a little confused. Because colleagues are always enemies!
Everyone wanted to die together!

In this case, Spielberg's argument simply does not hold water!

Just when Ethan frowned and thought Spielberg was a little strange, Spielberg said, "There is one thing you may not know. Columbia Pictures owns half of the shares of Warner Bros. Burbank Studio under Warner Communications, and this studio carries all the ownership of all the filming locations, post-production locations, and prop storage warehouses under Warner's name!"

"To put it simply, although Warner Communications has the most complete filming resources in Hollywood, half of them belong to Columbia Pictures..."

'...'

Ethan was shocked!

He really didn't know this news!

As Spielberg told the story, the feud between the two families was revealed to him.

As television entertainment grew and gradually entered the homes of the American people, the film industry encountered an unprecedented impact. The North American box office gradually shrank under the impact of the tide of the times, and major film industry giants began to feel the chill of winter since the 1960s.

In the early 1970s, Columbia Pictures was almost bankrupt and Warner Bros. also encountered a serious financial crisis. They wanted to save themselves. In order to cut costs, the bosses of the two companies met and decided to jointly create a studio called Warner Bros. Burbank to manage the two overlapping businesses.

When all the reusable departments such as studios, post-production rooms, prop houses, and production plants are merged together, both companies can get rid of a lot of useless expenses.

After they cut costs, the business conditions of the two companies suddenly improved at a speed visible to the naked eye. In just three years, their studio became the busiest place in Hollywood. Because with their merger, Warner Bros. Burbank Studio became the largest filming location in Hollywood, which can almost meet the filming needs of all production companies. With the emergence of this fact, major companies also began to cut their own filming locations, preferring to rent rather than employ people.

Ever since——

"Almost overnight, Warner Bros. Burbank Studios became the profit center of both companies, and Warner and Columbia were surprised to find that they could make money just by renting out the space."

Spielberg said with a serious look: "So, from then on, the two companies began to compete for the actual management rights of the company. Warner wanted to take the company for themselves, while Columbia, which provided the venue when the company was established, wanted to kick Warner out..."

"The two companies have been fighting over this for three years, and so far the two sides have been in a stalemate. So, if we can drag Columbia into a scandal trap and cause them to be acquired, then Warner will be able to monopolize the largest photography base in Hollywood."

"Oh——" Ethan understood what Spielberg meant.

"Who benefits the most and who is the most suspicious?" he asked.

"Yeah~" Spielberg nodded vigorously, "Whoever profits is the murderer."

If we judge from this perspective, Warner Communications is more suspicious than MGM.

But the problem is-

"I have two questions now."

After thinking for a moment, Ethan said, "First question, why didn't you tell me about this before?"

When Ethan cast a burning look at Spielberg, the guy who seemed to be determined to correct himself immediately smiled bitterly, "Sorry Ethan..." Spielberg said, "I didn't tell you this. First, when Columbia and Warner were obviously in opposition, you, who were already in opposition to Warner, could get more resources after cooperating with them. Second, I was helping David Bergelman with the project at the time. He needed to succeed, and I knew that the Alien project would definitely succeed, but I didn't know if you were willing."

"I don't know if you're willing to accept that the enemy of my enemy is my friend."

"Take the land under our feet for example. The Duke who delivered the Iron Curtain Speech never considered the guys in the east as friends..."

What Spielberg was talking about was a famous event in WW2.

Although John Bull and the Bear joined forces to fight Hans Cat, the two sides never regarded each other as friends. In August 1944, they had already had a crisis of trust. At that time, the Bear's army had reached the east bank of the Vistula River, across the river from Warsaw. While they were planning their next move, an uprising broke out in Warsaw, which was occupied by Hans Cat. According to common sense, the Bear should help, but the Bear refused and let Hans Cat suppress it, explaining that the rebels were criminals and they would not save them.

Because of this incident, the Duke later delivered the Iron Curtain Speech, angrily criticizing the Russians for watching the fire from the other side of the river and disregarding innocent lives in order to promote their ideas. After entering Warsaw, the Russians found a series of evidence to prove that those guys before were scum and that their own behavior was not wrong.

Even though everyone knows that there is no right or wrong in this kind of ideological dispute, these bloody facts do prove one thing: the enemy of my enemy is never a friend.

Ethan didn't want to delve into this kind of thing, but at the same time he knew that Spielberg's reasons were very real.

"Oh Steven - I said I don't care about that kind of thing."

Ethan smiled and said, "Everyone has selfish desires, and so do I."

"I want you and George to manage the movie for me because your level can make me money."

"Ethan - I -" As soon as these words came out, Spielberg immediately wanted to say something, but no matter how his Adam's apple moved, no sound came out of his throat.

Finally, I could only sigh and say, "I'm so sorry."

"Okay, okay, let's not talk about this."

Ethan waved his hand and said, "Second question, are you using the result to infer the cause? If so, then I think this conclusion is a bit unreliable, because before someone formally proposed to acquire Columbia, how did Warner know that the other party would not target Warner Burbank Studios?"

When Ethan raised this question, Spielberg, who was still feeling guilty, immediately looked up and looked around. After realizing that he was in a private room, he came to his senses and breathed a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong?" Ethan became interested. "Is this question difficult to answer?"

“No, no, no—” Spielberg shook his head and said, “This question is not difficult to answer, but the answer to this question may damage the image of Warner Communications, so it cannot be told to others.”

Spielberg's caution made Ethan look serious. When he gave him a confused look, Spielberg also spoke. He lowered his voice like a thief and said, "Ethan, if I remember correctly, did I tell you before that Warner Communications suppressed David Geffen?"

"Yes." Ethan nodded, "You said so."

"You know David Geffen is Jewish like me?"

"of course."

"Steve Ross, chairman of Warner Communications, is also Jewish. You also know this, right?"

"Yes."

As Ethan nodded continuously, Spielberg also swallowed.

He first glanced at Evelyn to make sure the girl wouldn't talk nonsense, then looked at Ethan and said in a hoarse voice: "Although the internal strife in our group is very serious, we are still very united in the same industry. For example, David Beigelman is also Jewish, so he is very good to me, and I also return the favor. However, Steve Ross is different."

"He was not one of us from the very beginning."

"Do you know how he got started?"

"He was collecting protection money in New York."

At this point, Spielberg stopped and stared at Ethan with his straight eyes.

And a huge wave had already set off in Ethan's heart!

'what? '

"Is the boss of Warner a gangster?"

‘Fuck! ’

"Could this guy be a clean-cut guy?"

Ethan was shocked.

But the next second, he felt something was wrong.

"Wait, where did you say he got the protection money?"

"New York."

"Oh Sxxt! Did you mean New York, not New York?"

"Yes." Spielberg nodded seriously and said, "It's the New York you were thinking of."

"As for why he can collect protection money there——"

"The reason is very simple."

“Because he didn’t start from scratch either.”

Note: ① The cooperation between Columbia and Warner began in the early 2s. Due to financial problems, they could only merge all the physical venues that could be reused. This method worked quickly, but the entire cooperation was not terminated until the s, and the venues written in the article belonged to Warner. The reason for this incident is also very simple. Sony acquired Columbia. Those who watch American entertainment should know that after Sony acquired Columbia, it poached two big scumbags, Peter Gubel and Jon Peters, from Warner. In order to get these two people, Sony gave half of the shares of Columbia Building, Columbia's feature film, film and television distribution rights to Warner, and also handed over the studio that Warner had been thinking about for nearly years. (Warner released a documentary " Years of Warner" in May this year. It is quite objective. The only problem is that they only pick good things to say. For example, the things in the article were recorded by Sony in its own film company's major events, but Warner itself did not say it, and the people who did these things were Steve Ross.) ② The example of "the enemy of my enemy is my enemy" in the article comes from "WW Memoirs".

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(End of this chapter)