Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1547: Instilling Faith in Bronfman Jr.
"This family is indeed rich..."

Wanting to make this deal happen secretly, Ronald got the information about the Bronfman family and their Seagram company. At first glance, he was indeed a rich man with nothing but money.

The Bronfman family is a Canadian Jewish family. The first generation, Samuel Bronfman, was born on a ship that fled to Canada from the Russian Empire. They got rich by growing tobacco in their hometown of Russia, but Canada was too cold to be suitable for tobacco growing. The Bronfman family began to explore new businesses that could be done in winter, brewing.

When the second generation, when Edgar Bronfman Sr. was born, their Seagram company got a golden opportunity for development. America began to implement prohibition.

Seagram is engaged in brewing in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where brewing is legal. On the other side of the Great Lakes, in America, because of prohibition, bootleg liquor has become a high-priced commodity, and because it is illegal, it has gradually become a source of income for gangs.

Soon, a smuggling route from Montreal through the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes began to flourish. Seagram's various liquors were shipped to the Chicago area through this route, and then resold to Boston, New York, and other places.

The Brown-Forman family established a wholesale distribution point on the Canadian border, which became the largest alcohol consumption wholesale point in the world at that time.

Americans who grew up when Prohibition was repealed rarely understood how selling alcohol alone could make them wealthy. But with a little investigation, it was discovered that the Bronfman family's downstream distributor was Al Capone, the most arrogant gangster boss in Chicago at the time.

This gangster boss was able to fight the then-newly established FBI with heavy firepower such as the "Chicago Typewriter". Most of his profits came from selling the Brown-Forman family's private brew.

By the end of Prohibition, Seagram had become one of the largest alcohol manufacturers and wholesalers in the world, and later acquired Royal Salute and Chivas Regal, becoming the owner of some of the most famous alcohol brands.

After getting rich, they wanted to increase their influence. The second-generation head of the family, Edgar Bronfman Sr., wanted to increase his fame by acquiring a Hollywood studio.

He bought some MGM shares in 1966 and served as the chairman of MGM for a short period of time. But it was during that period that Bronfman realized that Hollywood was sometimes darker than the mafia.

Soon, in 1969, he transferred his shares to Kerkorian and withdrew from Hollywood, which he had once dreamed of.

His love for Hollywood seems to have been passed on to the third generation of the family, Edgar Bronfman Jr. Bronfman Jr. has always loved Hollywood. Since the 1990s, he has gradually taken senior management positions in Seagram and publicly admitted in the Wall Street Journal that Hollywood and the media are more advanced and promising industries than brewing.

Bronfman Sr. gradually withdrew from the company's operations and began to focus on his work as the chairman of the World Jewish Council. In the 1980s, he visited the League and was received by the last leader, Mikhail. He also used economic aid to exchange for the right of Jews in the League to migrate. In the last ten years of the League, a large number of Jews immigrated to Israel, Canada, and the United States, countries without traditional anti-Semitism.

Bronfman Jr. took over the company's main management in 1993. His first major move was to acquire a 15% stake in Time Warner for US$ million.

Judging from the behavior of the two generations, they have not changed at all, they are still the nouveau riche who started out in illegal business, and they want to gain social recognition and enter the upper class. So the glamorous occasions such as the World Jewish Association and Hollywood are particularly attractive to them.

Ronald gradually understood Bronfman Jr.'s mentality, and he was ready to have a face-to-face encounter with this third-generation rich man.

"Since he wants to be part of Hollywood so badly, should we invite him to the Palm Springs Film Festival? Or invite him to be the guest presenter at the New York Film Critics Circle Awards?"

Richard thought of two suitable locations to create an encounter between Ronald and Bronfman Jr. Although Bronfman Jr. had 15% of Time Warner's stock, he was still not truly accepted by Hollywood.

This man is rich, but the only occasion when people in the industry really listen to his advice on the development prospects of the industry with great respect is when those crews come to him for investment. In other occasions, he is still regarded as an outsider, and sometimes he can't even get a word in.

However, all this may be about to change. Ronald got the exact information from Ron Mayer that Bronfman Jr. was the one who really had the power to take over Universal Pictures and Universal Music from Panasonic.

“This is his investment record…”

Ronald picked up Bronfman Jr.'s investment records in the securities market and studied them. After studying them, Ronald also began to smack his lips. "This guy's investment ability is second only to mine..."

Ronald took advantage of Viacom's acquisition of Paramount and made a lot of money by shorting the company's stock. However, judging from the stock investment records, he did not make any money but lost some money.

I don't know if this young Bronfman is lucky or really capable, but he spent more than 820 million to buy Time Warner stocks. In just over a year, the price has now exceeded 2 billion, more than double the original price.

"When it comes to investing in Hollywood listed companies, my vision is still a little lacking..." Ronald felt a little uneasy as he looked at the Wall Street Journal, two famous Wall Street newspapers, and the Investor Daily, both of which had exclusive interviews with Bronfman Jr.

If I invested in Microsoft or Coca-Cola, these companies would also announce their performance. Hehe, I would definitely have more interviews than you.

……

"Hello, Mr. Bronfman, it is our honor to invite someone like you who is so passionate about Hollywood to attend the film festival."

This year's Palm Springs Film Festival, Sonny Bono, now a U.S. congressman, also came back to attend the opening ceremony. Ronald's financial support for him was very adequate, and it was time to repay this sponsor.

As soon as Bono came back, he immediately revised the schedule of the film festival. In addition to inviting Bronfman Jr. to attend the film festival, he also arranged a keynote speech for him at the opening ceremony. The title of the speech was "Realizing the Global Expansion of the Hollywood Media Industry through Acquisition and Integration..."

Bono became a congressman and got to know the descendants of these wealthy people better. They are always pretentious, like to express their opinions on things, and also like the feeling of being recognized or defeated after being challenged.

So, if you want to put little Bronfman in a good mood, take the opportunity to chat with him more and implant your ideas in his mind, the best way is to let him talk enough first.

"I envision growing Seagram into a global media powerhouse, particularly in music, film and television.

The company needs to move away from the traditional winemaking business and invest in the entertainment and media industries to promote industry integration and globalization. The entertainment and media industry is a much more exciting industry than winemaking. It not only has great investment opportunities, but is also an industry that can greatly enhance human welfare, at least compared to the winemaking industry..."

"Hahahaha..." The audience laughed and applauded. This was not Ronald's intentional arrangement. Bronfman Jr. was naturally inferior to self-made rich people like him, but among the rich kids, he was considered outstanding.

His appearance is more inspired by his mother's genes, and he looks better than old Bronfman. Plus, he talks about lofty topics and has a sense of humor. It has to be said that Americans love this kind of hero.

Ronald was also very considerate and clapped with everyone. Just then, he met the eyes of Bronfman Jr. who had deliberately glanced over to see his reaction. Ronald smiled with his teeth showing and nodded slightly to greet them first. Bronfman Jr. also responded with a look and a nod.

"I believe that starting with Viacom's acquisition of Paramount and the establishment of DreamWorks, Hollywood will usher in a new era of diversification and expansion through acquisitions, especially through the mergers and acquisitions of television stations, cable television, records, and international pentahedrons, which will break industry boundaries and closely integrate the film, television and music businesses to form a stronger market competitiveness."

"Wow, wow, wow..." Everyone applauded again. This time the applause was even louder. With such sponsors with big wallets, life would be much easier for Hollywood practitioners.

After the speech, the movie started, and Ronald found an opportunity to have coffee with Bronfman Jr.

"You invested in the opening movie, right? The one that speaks Chinese?" Bronfman Jr. was well aware of the trends in Hollywood.

"Yes, Ang Lee is my college classmate. His level is greatly underestimated in the industry. This is his third work. I am pushing him to direct an English film. Then you will know how extraordinary he is."

Ronald did not show any special friendliness to Bronfman Jr., nor did he have the attitude of looking down on newcomers that Hollywood veterans often have. He started talking about industry gossip like he was talking to an old acquaintance, talking about who was a potential director and which star might soar to the sky.

"Palm Springs is a B-level film festival. It's not easy to invite you as a guest, right?" Bronfman liked this tone. This kind of attitude of accepting him as an important player in the industry made him most comfortable.

Therefore, he also wanted to show that he was knowledgeable about the various conventions and rules in the industry. A film festival like Palm Springs would not be able to invite someone of Ronald's level.

“I used to be an importer and imported a lot of Chinese-language and Japanese films. I chose Palm Springs as the trading market for distribution, which gave me many good memories. I really like this kind of audience and this kind of atmosphere.

Ha, you know, Robert Redford also goes to the Sundance Film Festival, which he founded, every year. This is all due to the nostalgic thoughts of sentimental people like us. "

"You are not just sentimental. I have studied medium-sized film festivals like this. Many imported films and independent productions can get good distribution prices here. Some film projects can also get financing at film festivals. I am very optimistic about such platforms. When I get...well, I will also participate more often in the future."

"Ha, maybe you're right. But I'm only interested in the movie itself..." Ronald smiled, neither admitting nor denying.

Anyway, young Bronfman’s personality is like that of a child who has not grown up. No matter how much education he has received, no matter how much power and money he has obtained, he is ultimately still a "child" who needs affirmation and recognition from "adults".

For example, communicating with Ronald on an equal footing like an insider, or exposing Ronald's disguise with just one sentence and seeing through his true thoughts about the film festival, are all ways to gain "recognition".

“Maybe…hahahaha,” Bronfman Jr. smiled with a smug look on his face, as if to say, “I’ve seen through you, stop pretending.” “By the way, since you like Chinese and Japanese movies so much, is now a good time to invest in them?

"Now? Now may not be a good time. Chinese-language films will be highly recognized internationally in the future, but in terms of box office, there are not many people in America who can watch non-English films with subtitles.

If you come to bid for the distribution rights, I will withdraw. It is not a good idea to price such niche films too high. "

Ronald said, whether it was true or not, that Ang Lee's "Eat Drink Man Woman" was filmed with more skill than his previous two films, The Wedding Banquet and Pushing Hands, and that it was time to make an English film and introduce him to mainstream Hollywood.

But Ang Lee himself is still hesitant. This director is not good at this. He always seems to lack confidence in his abilities. I have to find time to help him build up his confidence.

"Then what do you think of Japanese movies? We are much more receptive to Japanese culture, and Ronald has contributed to this. When I watched The Karate Kid back then, I was so excited that I even practiced the crane kick in front of the mirror..."

"Hey, this action is indeed popular. The stunt double in our movie can do it beautifully." As soon as Ronald heard the topic of Japan, he knew that the fish had taken the bait. He deliberately did not mention Japan itself, but talked about the action scenes of The Karate Kid.

Young Bronfman patiently chatted with Ronald for a while about the filming of action movies, but he still couldn't hold back and brought up the topic of Japan again.

"I feel that there is a huge gap between Japanese culture and ours. Sometimes I don't know what they are thinking."

"Oh, yes, you discovered it too?" Ronald smiled in his heart, now he could lift the rod.

"Yeah, they don't seem to be profit-oriented. Sometimes I don't know what they are thinking. I clearly offer a lot of money, but they don't want it and want to find other buyers... What kind of mentality is this?"

"Edgar, it's not that they don't want more money. No one will refuse more money. It's just that for the Japanese, they often have to consider face. You have to find a way to give them a little face so that they can repay you in other places."

"Face?" Bronfman Jr. mused.

"Yes, the Japanese don't want to be seen as losers, so you have to make them look like winners. Once they have this, they can give you discounts in other places."

"Is that so?" Little Bronfman was still skeptical, and his habit of distrusting others took over again.

However, instilling a belief may be more important than convincing such a person. When he encounters the opportunity to negotiate with Panasonic again, Ronald's words will come up again, and Bronfman will regard them as a brilliant idea that he came up with, and the purpose of doing this today will be achieved.