America: My Time

Chapter 143 Counterattack
Chapter 143 Counterattack

Brand efficiency should consider long-term benefits. Spokesperson models should sign contracts for at least five years, or even longer, ideally up to ten years. It would be difficult for any model to accept such a long-term endorsement deal with a relatively unknown clothing company, and it would be even more unacceptable for their agency.

John worried that the contract was too short, and that the other party might leave the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show after it expired, harming Victoria's Secret's interests. When profits are involved, there are no sentiments; that's the nature of capital. He wouldn't be foolish enough to work for someone else's benefit!
John instructed his secretarial team to create a detailed plan regarding the requirements for organizing the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show and the selection of models, which they would then discuss with Victoria's Secret and Elite Model Management. He didn't intend to interfere in the initial model selection and training, as he lacked the necessary skills; it was best to leave professional matters to professionals.
Although John handed things over to his secretarial team, he still couldn't escape management troubles. There were still many questions from Andrea Jung regarding the Victoria's Secret situation and the brand development of the Forever Group, which forced John to take time out of his schedule to discuss them with her!
"Boss, as the acquisition progresses, integration has become a major issue. Although we have the help of Legendary Entertainment, there are still many problems to face. Many companies have significant internal issues, and the slightest misstep could trigger a major upheaval!"

"I know that there are many management challenges in industries like clothing and cosmetics. We should adjust the personnel that can be adjusted and remove those that cannot. We cannot leave hidden dangers for the company. Victoria's Secret tries to select women for its management positions to avoid unnecessary troubles after the show is a success."

What kind of trouble? Andrea Jung knew perfectly well that there was far too much darkness surrounding clothing companies like this, and not just clothing companies, but the entire modeling industry was rife with terrible scandals. Precisely because she understood how terrifying these industry shady practices were, when John founded Elite Agency and entered the modeling industry, he had already given instructions and made arrangements for management to also employ women, to avoid damaging the company's reputation and implicating herself.

“There are many problems before the show. Once the news spreads, there will be a lot of interpersonal issues, which is very disadvantageous for us. After all, the number of people for the show is limited, and we can't refuse completely.” Although the show has not yet started, the internal news has already been leaked, which makes Andrea Chung feel helpless.

"The rules cannot be changed. The core models must be in our hands. Only if elite agencies can do this will the Victoria's Secret Fashion Show not be affected in the future, and we will not pay a huge price to benefit others. No one can persuade us on this point. This time we have mobilized the power of NBC, Legendary Entertainment, and even Phoenix Media. With such a huge investment, how could it be affected by the selfishness of a few people? And who can guarantee that there are no hidden dangers behind these personal relationships!"

The American modeling industry is far darker than Hollywood, and this isn't just an industry problem; it's also deeply intertwined with Wall Street. The New York modeling scene is inextricably linked to Wall Street, the financial behemoth. Behind every model is the shadowy hand of Wall Street, and many models are playthings of Wall Street tycoons, especially those from overseas. To remain in the US, and specifically in New York, they are forced to submit to the control of Wall Street tycoons.

Sin and evil are the true reflection of the New York modeling industry. All sorts of sins and evils occur in this industry. Agencies lure models into using illegal drugs to control them, treating them like commodities—all these sins and evils are evident in their actions. Knowing all this is why John is so cautious; he doesn't want to be associated with those shady characters, doesn't want to bear the blame, and doesn't want his reputation to be damaged!

Compared to the madness of Wall Street, Hollywood is nothing. The darkest place in the US is Wall Street! Because of this understanding, they are more cautious and careful, which is why they make such arrangements for elite brokerage firms, Victoria's Secret, and even the Forever Group!
The arrangements made by the Forever Group were not difficult; all they had to do was make their own decisions. However, as those old guys failed to get everything they wanted and their goals were not achieved, and as they became more vigilant, Legendary Entertainment faced trouble once again, suffering joint suppression from Hollywood giants. This time, the one jumping the most was not Warner Bros., which John and Robert Iger hated the most, but Disney, their pawn.

This result surprised John greatly. Although Legendary Entertainment was also developing animation, there was no substantial conflict with Disney in the short term. However, Disney was causing trouble, which annoyed both John and Robert Iger.

Although John understood that someone must be orchestrating this, he had to face the fact that if even Disney dared to challenge Legendary Entertainment, then it wouldn't be long before the entire Hollywood would be in turmoil. Under such circumstances, it was only natural to teach Disney a lesson.

“Iger, it seems we’re about to make another big move. Now that Disney has jumped out, Warner Bros. will probably lose patience soon. Since they want to fight, then we’ll have another big battle with them. We have toys and merchandise to recoup our losses. What do they have? As for Disney, we’ll either do nothing or we’ll make them pay dearly. We’ll suppress them completely, knock them into the abyss, and make them afraid of us.”

“That’s what I think too, but doing so would require us to rearrange everything, readjusting many plans, which would cause some unnecessary losses!” “Losing a little profit is nothing, as long as we can let those Hollywood bastards know our determination. Now that Disney has jumped in, we don’t need to wait any longer. We’ll go all out on animation, poach Disney’s people, fully launch Legendary Animation Studios, and also launch NBC Animation Channel. Finally, we’ll suppress Disneyland! I want to know how long Disney can hold out under this all-out attack!” At this moment, John was also determined to use Disney to establish his authority and cripple it!

Of course, this is only what's on the surface. Behind the scenes, John is also accelerating his plunder of Disney's IPs. With animation going full steam ahead, John wants to break Disney's backbone. Classic animated film stories such as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, The Lion King, and Mulan have all been frantically registered by John. The princess series that originally belonged to Disney has been completely targeted by John.

"Boss, we don't have too many problems with the animation, but it's difficult to compete with Disneyland. If we were to complete this project on our own, the investment would be too large."

“I know that we don’t actually need to invest independently, and our target is not Disney in the United States, but Japan. We want to build Universal Studios in Japan, and directly compete with Disneyland in Tokyo. We want to teach Disney a lesson and let them know how terrible the consequences of angering us will be!”

Is there a possibility of failure in building Universal Studios in Tokyo? While the possibility exists, it's not significant. The Japanese love entertainment, and the success of Disneyland and Universal Studios is undeniable. Moreover, this time it's not entirely Legendary Entertainment's responsibility alone; it's a collaboration with Japan. To counter Disney, John has chosen to have Universal partner with Phoenix Media, leveraging the IP rights of these two entertainment giants to create a containment strategy for Disney.

John also targeted some projects originally belonging to Disneyland, turning them into Universal Studios projects, with the water park even being directly drawn up for him. This time, he wanted to use Disney to establish his authority and show the Hollywood giants the consequences of going against Legendary Entertainment. Warner Bros. hadn't frightened them before; this time, he would teach them a lesson in fear.

The funding would come from loans from Japanese banks, which wouldn't be a problem for Legendary Entertainment and Phoenix Media at this point. Moreover, with the copyright, planning, and construction all handled by the Japanese companies, the financial burden on Legendary Entertainment and Phoenix Media wouldn't be significant. Most importantly, Legendary Entertainment's plan was to split the equity equally with the Japanese companies, a far smarter move than those fools at Disney. Of all the theme parks in the world, Japanese parks are the most profitable, and John didn't want those shorty companies to profit from it.

John believed that once such a plan appeared, those bastards in Japan would absolutely not be able to refuse it. They would definitely fight for this big pie. As long as there were no problems on the Japanese side, Universal Pictures and Phoenix Media would not have much of a problem, or even any pressure at all. After all, as long as the Japanese were involved, funding would not be an issue.

With the backing of two major corporations' IPs, there's no financial pressure, so naturally there won't be any obstacles. No one would turn down money, especially those greedy bastards in Japan, who would never refuse such a benefit.

Now that the Japanese Disneyland has opened, anyone who pays attention can know about the Disneyland situation and understand how popular and profitable the project is. Under such circumstances, how could John not have confidence?

(End of this chapter)