Hollywood starts with an agent

Chapter 537 Free Media
After Sugon conducted its first stock split, its share price subsequently rose 4.6% to $48 per share, and Sugon's market capitalization exceeded $400 billion.
Currently, Sugon's market capitalization is $403.2 billion!
Second only to Time Warner and Disney Group, but based on current trends, Dawn's future is indeed bright.

Early in the morning, in the bedroom of Belair Estate, Aaron woke up with Christina Yerry and Monica Bellucci in his arms;
Aaron got up and went to the bathroom to take a shower because he was meeting with John Malone, the chairman of Liberty Media, that day.

"Hmm, Monica, you're awake too?"

Aaron had just finished showering when he saw Monica Bellucci enter the bathroom as well.

“Yes, I’m awake,” Monica Bellucci smiled and came over to hug the man.

"Mmm," Aaron felt Monica Bellucci's sexy and fiery body, and the two kissed passionately!

After the kiss, Monica Bellucci put her arm around Aaron and said, "Life Is Beautiful recently started its theatrical run in North America and has received extremely high praise."

Monica Bellucci was referring to the Italian drama film "Life Is Beautiful," written, directed, and starring Roberto Benigni!

"Life Is Beautiful has apparently been released in many countries, and its box office has exceeded $1.2 million."

"With North America and other regions included, Life Is Beautiful's final global box office will definitely exceed $2 million."

While feeling the woman's 36D bust, Aaron said, "I almost forgot about this movie!"
After its release in the United States, "Life Is Beautiful" did indeed generate a considerable response, receiving high praise from the media and film critics.

The Boston Globe: "Roberto Benigni's Life Is Beautiful breaks half a century of taboos, taking viewers away from the reality of death camps and into a bittersweet escape from reality. Most Jews can laugh and cry, and will not see the film as blasphemous!"

The San Francisco Chronicle: "This is an ambitious film from the hand of a brilliant Italian comedic genius. It's a sincere effort that's genuinely funny at times and heartbreaking at others."

USA Today: "It's surprising that anyone could attempt to handle this subject in a bittersweet way, and to a large extent, it's already a major achievement!"

The Washington Post: "Critics of the film failed to realize that its humor is not a denigration of the unspeakable tragedy of Auschwitz, but a celebration of the parents' sacrifice."

The Hollywood Reporter: "Crafted by Italy's top comedians and most popular filmmakers, this is a rare comedy that takes on a bold and ambitious theme and has proven to be worthwhile!"

……

The release of "Life Is Beautiful" was just a minor episode for Aaron, since it wasn't invested in by Dawn Crescent Pictures, but only had the North American distribution rights.

In the historic Bitmore Millennium Hotel restaurant in downtown Los Angeles, Aaron and John Malone, chairman of Liberty Media, sat facing each other.

"Mr. Malone, congratulations on TCI Group's successful merger with AT&T (American Telephone and Telegraph Company) for a hefty price of $480 billion!"

In the middle of the year, TCI Group, controlled by Liberty Media, was acquired by AT&T for $480 billion, a premium of more than $85 billion.
In fact, in 1993, John Malone made a shocking decision to sell TCI to telephone giant Bell Atlantic for the equivalent of $340 billion in stock. However, the deal was blocked due to regulatory requirements, and TCI's cash flow and stock price suffered a major blow.

AT&T is the largest mobile wireless phone service provider in the United States, with more than 900 million customers. Ten years ago, AT&T Group, the parent company of Bell Systems, was forcibly broken up into the new AT&T and seven Bell local telephone companies.
TCI is now the second largest cable television system operator in the country and also holds approximately 23.5% of Sprint's mobile wireless phone business, Sprint PCS.

The U.S. Department of Justice approved the acquisition on the condition that both companies completely divest their shares in Sprint PCS within five years.
John Malone smiled. “Selling TCI has always been my idea, but it has come to fruition this year. After the merger, AT&T can combine its own long-distance, wireless, and internet services with TCI’s original cable television, telecommunications, and internet businesses to provide a more comprehensive range of services.”

Liberty Media's investments are now very broad, not limited to telecommunications and cable television businesses, but also include shares in several media groups, including Dawning Media Group!
"Mr. Malone, you must have something to say to me this time, right?"

Aaron thought this guy probably wanted to buy more shares of Dawn Media, since Liberty Media is also one of News Corporation's major shareholders!

"Aaron, I want to acquire Dawn's 50% stake in USA Cable Network."

John Malone's words left Aaron somewhat stunned.

"USA, Mr. Malone, the USA is a nationwide cable television network with a large number of subscribers. This is an important asset for Dawn!"

Aaron tapped the table. The USA cable network has a lot of channels and is backed by two major media groups, Dawn and Viacom. It has a lot of licensed content assets, so USA is quite valuable.

"Aaron, Dawn is currently focusing its efforts on developing the AMC cable television network system, which overlaps somewhat with the USA cable television network."

"Selling your stake in USA Cable Network to Liberty Media will allow you to better develop AMC!"

After listening to John Malone, Aaron admitted that the other party had indeed done his homework. Because Dawn only had half of the USA shares, Aaron paid more attention to AMC cable television network.
However, the USA's heritage and influence are far beyond what AMC can match.

"Of course, Aaron, I know Dawn is definitely not short of money, so I plan to use STarz!, a pay-TV station under Liberty Media, to exchange for shares in Dawn USA Cable!"

STarz! is a pay-TV movie channel launched by Liberty Media in 1994.
It competes with paid channels such as HBO, Showtime, and Bravo.

"Starz! Television, Mr. Malone, are you kidding me?"

Aaron shook his head. What kind of nonsense is Starz now? It only has a few users.

“It wouldn’t be difficult for me to recreate a premium pay channel under AMC Cable Network, Starz! The network is too young, and its library of assets isn’t very attractive!”

John Malone took a sip of coffee. "As a leader in Hollywood content distribution, Dawn could monetize very quickly if it owned an existing premium pay channel."

“AMC’s own cable channels aren’t actually idle. To create a new one, you need to cooperate with other cable TV operators, and all of this takes time.”

"Furthermore, in addition to Starz! television, Liberty Media is also willing to give up 20% of BET (Black Entertainment Cable Network)!"

BET, founded by Robert Johnson, was the first publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange to be majority-owned by Black people.

Founded in the early 1980s, BET was the first entertainment television network in the United States created for Black television viewers, and it remains the highest-rated Black channel to date.

(End of this chapter)