Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 307 Spokesperson for the American Dream

"Aaron Anderson, he's just a kid, what makes him think he can compete with Seagram for the MCA?"

In a high-rise suite at the Pierre Hotel, Edgar Bronfman Jr. sat on the sofa, looking furious.

Herbert Allen, sitting opposite him, could only sigh softly. "There's nothing we can do. Aaron Anderson is now an idol for young people across America, the embodiment of the American Dream."

"He also had a very close relationship with President Clinton, and the White House has mentioned him many times. He has a strong appeal among young people."

Of course, most importantly, Aaron Anderson was too capable. In just a few years, Dawn Studios became a force to be reckoned with, comparable to the six major Hollywood film studios.
With blockbuster films released every year, Dawn is now a golden brand in Hollywood. Why can't such a company acquire MCA?

"Eisner has already said that Panasonic has significantly raised its price estimate for the MCA due to increased competition."

“Siglen’s acquisition of MCA will cost even more, and the fact that Dawn exposed the deal will bring in other competitors!”

Edgar Bronfman Jr. was naturally angry. He had only wanted to use Michael Ovitz's connections to quickly acquire MCA, and the cost would not exceed his expectations.
But now, companies like Dawning, PolyGram, and Bertelsmann have all expressed their opinions.

However, the six major Hollywood studios are the window for promoting American culture, and Washington cannot be bypassed if one wants to acquire them.
Edgar Bronfman Jr. doesn't believe the other party has the political resources of the Bronfman family!
Meanwhile, Aaron and Monica Bellucci returned to their villa on East 72nd Street in the Upper East Side and went into the bathroom together for a bath!

Massimo Trossi, the director and star of "The Postman," passed away in June of this year, shortly after filming wrapped.

"It's a pity that Massimo Troisi didn't make it to the film's release."

In a luxurious bathtub, the sexy Monica Bellucci leans against Aaron, recounting the Italian film "The Postman"!
Aaron stroked the woman's 36D breasts, "It is indeed a bit of a pity. Giuseppe Tornatore recommended 'The Postman'."

Actually, the film that Aaron paid attention to at this year's Venice International Film Festival was the Chinese-language film "In the Heat of the Sun," which was nominated for the Golden Lion.

“Giuseppe Tornatore, he’s a great director,” Monica Bellucci knew that he was the one who won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, and whose film Cinema Paradiso made him famous!
Aaron smiled, lowered his head and kissed the woman in his arms, then said, "Giuseppe Tornatore is going to shoot a new film next year called 'Celestial Scout,' and Crescent Moon Pictures is the North American investor."

"You'll play the female lead in this Italian comedy."

Aaron and Giuseppe Tornatore have known each other for several years, starting their collaboration on Cinema Paradiso;
After that, Aaron arranged for Jennifer Connelly to make a cameo appearance in his film "Everybody's a Family," and Giuseppe Tornatore to participate in the production of the American version of "Scent of a Woman."
Giuseppe Tornatore's works are quite artistic, but the number of his works is really small.

“Oh, really?” Monica Bellucci was, of course, very eager to work with Giuseppe Tornatore;
In the Italian films she starred in before, she was nothing more than a decorative figure, simply showing off her body.

"Of course!"

Because Dawn was going to acquire MCA, Aaron in New York frequently met with banks and fund managers on Wall Street.
Not only American banks, but also European investment funds are very interested in Dawn.

Tianhai Fund is located in a skyscraper near Times Square. Steve Case, CEO of AOL, suddenly comes to visit Aaron Anderson!

"Steve, what's up?" Aaron owned a 4.85% stake in AOL, which was now worth over $10 billion, multiplying his initial investment several times over. Steve Case sighed. "Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen wanted to acquire AOL, but he refused."

“He owns 25% of AOL, and I hope you can help me redeem Paul Allen’s shares.”

AOL's online services caught the attention of Microsoft, and Bill Gates made it clear: "Either we'll be acquired by Microsoft, or we'll be squeezed out by Microsoft!"

Aaron tapped the table. "How much funding do you still need?"

"Paul Allen is asking for $3 million, and we've already raised $1.8 million!"

"Does that mean you can only buy back 15% of the shares held by Paul Allen now?"

Steve Case nodded.

“Alright, I’ll have Aurora acquire the remaining 10%,” Aaron said. He had previously borrowed 150 billion yen from Sakura Bank, which is about 1.7 million US dollars. Acquiring a 10% stake in AOL for 1.2 million yen shouldn’t be a problem.

"Thank you, Aaron!"

"Alright, this will pass. Microsoft's target will soon be AOL."

Steve Case's eyes lit up. "You mean Netscape, which was founded this year?"

Netscape launched the Mosaic Netscape browser, which became very popular. Although Microsoft also values ​​web services, it is about to launch MSN web services to compete with AOL.
However, once Netscape's browser gains traction, Microsoft will shift its focus!
“That’s right, Microsoft’s new generation operating system is about to be released, and they won’t allow Netscape’s browser to dominate the market.” Aaron knew very well that Microsoft would be developing Internet Explorer next.

"Anyway, we've already achieved our goal by rejecting Paul Allen's acquisition offer!"

Although Steve Case disliked Microsoft intensely, he was powerless to do anything about it, given that it was a large corporation with a market capitalization of nearly $400 billion.

After Steve Case left, Aaron made a phone call, offering 10% of AOL's shares, which Dawn naturally accepted.

Then, Aaron leaned back in his chair and unconsciously sighed at how fast Microsoft was developing. He believed that the release of the Windows 95 operating system next year would cause another surge in the stock price.
In recent years, Aaron has also increased his holdings of Microsoft stock during several stock splits. Tianhai Fund currently owns 0.81% of Microsoft's shares, which is worth approximately $3 million!

Aaron went to the window and looked down at the renovated Times Square, which was indeed much cleaner and tidier.

Paul Allen, this guy seems to be an investor in DreamWorks SKG as well;

I wonder if the trio of Jeffrey Katzenberg, Steven Spielberg, and David Geffen have started contacting Paul Allen yet.

(End of this chapter)