Entertainment 2000: Supporting female stars will bring you a hundredfold return

Chapter 368 I've worked hard for the company for many years, what's wrong with selling the company?
Hollywood is big, but Los Angeles is even bigger.

However, the top of the pyramid in any city or society is never crowded.

As the president of Paramount, it's perfectly normal for him to know high-ranking officials in the local FBI.

The American system dictates that the two sides have countless opportunities to meet.

On ordinary days, countless gatherings of celebrities would repeatedly bring the two of them together.

What are the Brown family members doing here?
What is her relationship with Tang Wen?
Shirley Lansing tried to remain calm.

Olivia Brown met her gaze, and she simply nodded.

They didn't show anything.

It seems they didn't recognize the other person's identity.

Years of experience have taught her that she must go directly to Tang Wen now and absolutely cannot strike up a conversation with this woman from the Brown family along the way.

Otherwise, the purpose of my visit today might not even have a chance to be expressed before it was aborted.

It's often said that Wall Street is a greedy shark.

Actually, Hollywood is just as good.

Driven by profit, they are now willing to provoke people and forces they previously dared not cross.

Shirley Lansing toned down her arrogance: "Is Director Tang inside?"

Lin Chih-ling smiled and said, "I'm taking care of some things."

Shirley Lansing took two more steps toward the chairman's office and suddenly saw the door open.

She was secretly pleased: it seems that Tang still respects her.

Unexpectedly, it wasn't Tang Wen who came out of the door.

Another young and beautiful woman!
She looks to be no older than 35.

Shirley Lansing's expression changed slightly.

The woman looked familiar, but at that moment, she was somewhat distracted and couldn't quite place who she was.

"Ms. Lansing, it's been a long time," came the voice from the other end, neither humble nor arrogant.

"Long time no see." Seeing that the other party was quite confident and dressed in a low-key old-money style, Shirley Lansing did not dare to be negligent and thought of many things in an instant.

But in the end, she chose to tell the truth: "I'm so sorry, I've been so busy lately that I can't remember some things. When was the last time we met?"

Sarah smiled: "The last time we met, at Paramount, your tax data was unusual, so we went to investigate..."

The IRS monitors the taxes of companies of all sizes.

If data anomalies are found, random checks will also be conducted.

Shirley Lansing swayed, her smile almost freezing: "You're the Getty Director of the IRS, look at my memory."

Sarah didn't mind: "Are you free tonight? We can have dinner together."

"Sure, let's talk business first."

At this moment, Tang Wen had already come out of the room and was standing at the door.

Shirley Lansing nodded to Sarah Getty and walked toward him.

Her eyes were unfocused.

My mood is completely different now compared to when I first walked in.

They originally thought they had Tang Wen completely under their control.

Now——

The Brown family member is with the FBI, and the Getty family member is with the IRS.

They are all people with real power.

Paramount has no fear of ordinary powerful figures.

But both of them come from prominent families.

In America, everyone knows that Wall Street is ruthless.

In the early days, money from Wall Street that came to Hollywood was often embezzled by film crews.

Just throw in a few explosion scenes, and the score will be even.

When it comes to ruthlessness and cruelty, Wall Street and Hollywood are nothing compared to these North American political families.

After entering and sitting down, Lin Chih-ling served tea and then left.

Shirley Lansing spent a lot of time exchanging pleasantries but didn't get to the point.

They underestimated the power Tang Wen possessed.

Before coming, I thought Tang Wen only had some connection with women's rights organizations, so that would be easy to deal with.

Paramount can also support women's rights.

As for Tang Wen's connections within the circle, they are not worth mentioning.

We're all out here doing this for the sake of the knife.

It's impossible to offend Paramount because of my friendship with Tang Wen.

Now, the situation is different.

Shirley Lansing confirmed that the two women outside were key figures in their respective families.

The Getty family is relatively weak, but they are not short of money; their family assets are in the tens of billions.

It has considerable influence within the state.

Sarah Getty is once again in a key position within the IRS.

No company wants to offend the other party.

The Brown family wielded immense influence, producing governors in the 1950s and 60s, which laid the foundation for the family's legacy.

After years of management, they are now one of the core families of the American Democratic Party.

They have stable alliances with multiple families.

It also has close ties with Hollywood.

Shirley Lansing was very capable, but she was ultimately just an employee.

She was getting old, and if she offended these two powerful figures, she had no idea whether Sumner Redstone, the real boss of Paramount, would protect her.

In the original timeline, Shirley Lansing would step down in two years.

My drive and determination are much weaker than when I was younger.

"Ms. Lansing?"

Shirley Lansing, who was weighing the pros and cons, was brought back to her senses by the sound.

"I'm sorry, I've been too tired lately." She strategically sipped her tea.

Tang Wen: This woman has been rambling on and on for ages, but she hasn't said what she's here for.

Did they give up on acquiring their own company?
Or is it that you want to go back and investigate your relationship with the Brown and Getty families before making any further plans?
Tang Wen felt that giving up was unlikely.

Most likely it's the latter.

Shirley Lansing is a very resilient female leader.

For example, for many years they have persisted in suppressing DreamWorks and Spielberg.

Tang Wen didn't want to give her another chance to pester him, so he seized the opportunity to say, "Ms. Lansing, have you thought about what you'll do next after leaving Paramount?"

Shirley Lansing's eyes turned cold; she felt offended.

Because Paramount doesn't belong to her.

She understands the saying "when people leave, the tea cools."

They are particularly sensitive to this kind of topic.

Tang Wen then brought up the next topic: "Paramount wants to cooperate with me, and I'm also very willing to cooperate with you."

He emphasized the pronunciation of the word "you".

"Tang, please tell me in detail."

Tang Wen poured her some tea and said, "I've been following the development of women's rights in California. With your qualifications, experience, and abilities, you're perfectly suited to be a representative of women's rights."

Your experience is a guiding light for aspiring actresses; a single sentence can save them from taking a decade of detours.

With your abilities, you'll have a much wider world to explore after leaving Paramount.

Shirley Lansing looked surprised. She listened to the praise without feeling excited; instead, she frowned.

Why are you, a Hollywood filmmaker, so concerned about women's rights?
Thinking of those two young ladies from wealthy families outside.

The answer is obvious: the depth of Tang Wen's connection with their two families is beyond his imagination.

They even tried to drag me down with them.

Tang Wen continued to offer promises: "If our collaboration goes smoothly, I'm willing to invest one million to establish a 'Young Female Artists Care and Development Foundation' for you."

A willingness to spend real money is always the strongest form of support. Shirley Lansing was tempted, but remained cautious: "A million dollars isn't enough to set up a foundation."

It's good that it's biting the hook.

Tang Wen smiled broadly: "I believe that the Los Angeles government and the California state government will not stand idly by in the face of such a progressive and egalitarian foundation." "They will allocate funds to me?" If so, this would be fantastic.

“Be confident, Shirley! With your abilities and influence, isn’t it perfectly normal for you to allocate funds to your foundation?” Tang Wen shrugged, looking very confident.

Shirley Lansing hesitated, wondering what price she would have to pay.

Before she could speak, Tang Wen continued with his suggestion: "The sooner the foundation is established, the better. If it can be set up this year, those Hollywood stars who support equality will surely donate some money, right?"

Shirley Lansing is still at the helm of Paramount and her influence remains.

There must be people trying to curry favor with her.

"Don, what do you want?" There were only two people in the room, both from the predatory class of Hollywood, and Shirley Lansing no longer hid her intentions.

She was indeed tempted.

If he could get the support of the families of the two women outside, plus the fact that he still had two or three years until retirement, then he could succeed.

The foundation has a good chance of success.

She doesn't need to do anything too big; as long as she can connect with women's rights organizations, make her voice heard, and influence some votes, she can still retain power after leaving office.

This point is very important.

Many people age quickly after leaving their jobs and leaving the center of power.

As the party making the suggestion, Tang Wen did not make it arbitrarily.

In his memory, Shirley Lansing from the original timeline donated money to establish a medical cancer treatment foundation.

Tang Wen looked at her calmly: "You, or rather Paramount, want to collaborate with me on a film?"

“That’s right, and that’s not all. Before I came here, I wanted to exchange shares with you and bring you onto Paramount’s big ship.”

“Big ships aren’t for me.” Tang Wen refused decisively, which didn’t surprise Shirley Lansing.

Tang Wen: "Cooperation is no problem, and making a series of films with Paramount is also no problem. However, I want to be in a dominant position."

“This is difficult.” Paramount was interested in Tang Wen because of his profitability.

"I'm a director, producer, head screenwriter, and investor. Am I really inferior to Tom Cruise?"

The reason for mentioning Tom Cruise is that the rights to the Mission: Impossible series are jointly owned by Tom Cruise and Paramount.

In the later installments, even the production rights fell into the hands of Tom Cruise.

It is speculated that Tom Cruise received more than 30% of the total box office revenue.

Tang Wen was making an offer when Shirley Lansing hesitated for a moment: "What kind of film series?"

"I cannot disclose that to you at the moment."

Shirley Lansing sensed something unusual: "A huge investment?"

"Yes."

"Do you own the copyright?"

If the copyright is in Tang Wen's hands, then Tang Wen's demands are likely to be met.

“Oh,” Tang Wen said without the slightest embarrassment, “Speaking of which, it might take you and me working together to take it down.”

Shirley Lansing nearly lost her composure, but a sense of relief welled up inside her: Don was the same kind of person as herself and those bastards in Hollywood.

This discovery actually put her at ease.

As for whether letting Tang Wen take charge of the project would harm Paramount's interests.

She had worked diligently for Paramount for over a decade, and with only a few years left to go, she was about to slightly harm the company's interests...

No, she's clearly still working hard for the company, bringing in large-scale series and productions controlled by Tang Wen.

The company should reward itself!

The two talked for a long time.

In the evening, Tang Wen, along with Olivia and Sarah, had dinner with Shirley Lansing.

At the dinner table, Tang Wen's tacit understanding and close relationship with the two women was observed by Shirley Lansing.

After the meal, the two chatted for a while and reached a preliminary agreement on cooperation.

Next, Tang Wen will do his best to secure the adaptation rights for Transformers and G.I. Joe, and help Shirley Lansing build relationships with feminist organizations.

Shirley Lansing will provide private assistance to help Tang Wen acquire the adaptation rights and support him during future awards season.

Send her away.

Tang Wen looked at the two women beside him.

Today, thanks to them, Shirley Lansing recognized the "power" that Tang Wen possessed.

In the evening, a torrential downpour was naturally in order to retaliate.

The three arrived at Sarah's villa.

After showering, they hadn't even had two drinks on the sofa before they huddled together and started kissing...

A fierce storm raged, continuing into the middle of the night.

The two women didn't open their eyes until almost noon the next day.

Upon waking, I felt a warm and lazy feeling, like basking in the winter sun.

"Being with him is truly degenerate."

"I have to admit, he has a magic that no one else has."

The two women looked at each other and smiled.

Tang Wen is no longer at the villa.

He was at the company, interviewing a director.

After about ten days of preparation, Nicole Kidman's agent, Pat Kinsley, carefully selected several new directors to bring over.

In the conference room, several male directors in suits were both excited and nervous.

They kept shifting their sitting positions, occasionally glancing at each other, their eyes filled with wariness.

"Hello Mr. Tang, I am..."

Tang Wen clicked the mouse and looked at the newcomer's advertisement on the computer screen from a scrutinizing perspective.

After reviewing the works and materials, I asked a few questions but did not give an immediate response.

These directors are completely unknown in later generations.

Clearly, he hasn't made a name for himself.

However, this does not mean that their directing skills are lacking.

In reality, most people simply don't have the opportunity.

"Dang Dang Dang"

The previous interviewee left, and the next person entered.

Tang Wen narrowed his eyes slightly. This person seemed to be the original director of "House of Wax".

"Mr. Tang, hello. My name is Zomi Hilla, and I am from Barcelona, ​​Spain."

Sure enough it was him.

After learning a little about it, Tang Wen handed him a synopsis of "House of Wax": "If you were to make this story, how would you do it?"

“Hmm,” after reading the story outline and thinking for a while, Zomi tentatively replied, “I will build an abandoned town and create a terrifying atmosphere as much as possible… As for the wax figures, I prefer to use real materials…”

No wonder this movie didn't make much money.

So you not only built a wax museum, but also an abandoned town.

Tang Wen remained silent, but his thoughts had already drifted far away.

This reminded me of another film by this director, also a horror film called *Orphan*.

"Orphan" was quite profitable, and there were even sequels.

However, if "House of Wax" were made according to his idea, it definitely wouldn't make much money; the cost would be too high.

"If you were chosen to direct, would you be willing to film overseas?"

Filming overseas reduces costs.

Zomi was overjoyed: "I'm willing! Mr. Tang, I'm even willing to go to Africa to film!"

"Okay, go back and wait for news. We'll let you know the results within three days."

Zomi thanked him repeatedly, then carefully closed the door and left.

Tang Wen did not look up when there was only one interviewee left.

The man's opening words gave him a pleasant surprise.

Tang Wen looked up at the slightly Australian accent and his eyes lit up: it was Wen Ziren.

The original director and screenwriter of the Saw series.

He was thin and frail, wore glasses, and looked like a top Chinese student, with the unease of a young man meeting a powerful figure on his face.

"Director Tang, hello! I especially love your 'Saw'. Oh, my name is James Wan..."

(End of this chapter)