Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1554 Who taught Ronald?
"Kirk..."

"Ronald..."

Credit Lyonnais acted quickly, they wanted to deal with MGM before the new election results came out. So Kirk Kerkorian, who sold MGM that year, was called back by them and asked to buy it back.

Anyway, Kerkorian had some dirty hands during his time at MGM. In the 1980s, he wanted to sell MGM to Ted Turner, the owner of Turner Broadcasting. There are many unclear points about what happened to MGM's extremely rich film library.

When Credit Lyonnais later financed Italian swindler Giancarlo Paretti to acquire MGM, it thought the library was still in MGM’s assets. When Credit Lyonnais had to take over MGM, it discovered that several important parts of the library had been sold several times by Kerkorian.

For example, he sold the MGM film library before 1986, plus the Warner Bros. film library before 1950 that MGM acquired in the s, and the bankrupt RKO film library to Turner once, and later sold it again to Giancarlo Parretti...

What Ted Turner meant was that these important film libraries were acquired by Turner Media in a $1986 billion cash and stock acquisition in 15.

But according to Kerkorian, because Turner failed to find a financier for the final payment of $4.7 million, it sold United Artists back to Kerkorian, which included most of the film library.

This time, Credit Lyonnais put MGM on the shelf again. Who holds the ownership of these film libraries has become an important factor affecting how much MGM can sell for.

"I heard that you are also interested in MGM, which is on the shelf? Let me tell you the truth, this is a deep pit. If you want to play, it is better to cooperate with someone who knows the business. Otherwise, the losses here are also seen. Lyonnais Credit also wrote off $1 billion in bad debts last year."

Kerkorian had a face that said "I'm doing this for your own good". He immediately got into the mood after just greeting Ronald, as if he was really thinking about Ronald and urging him to be cautious. But his words also implied that you don't know the inside story, you need to find a partner who knows the inside story, and I am the one who knows the inside story best.

"No, I'm not interested in MGM. What they are really interested in is you, Kirk. If those bad accounts are dug up by the Chinese, I'm afraid you will also face criminal charges of false accounting..."

Ronald immediately denied that he wanted to buy MGM, so he was fooled. Kerkorian, a super salesman, relies on his accurate grasp of the opponent's mentality in one-on-one communication. If he could get to the bottom of Ronald, then soon, Ronald, a scholar, would definitely not be able to win the argument with Kerkorian, who started from scratch in Las Vegas.

The best strategy to deal with salesmen who can knock on housewives' doors and sell a few more Fuller's shoe brushes to housewives who already have shoe brushes is to slam the door on their noses when you answer the door and hear them say they are there to help them brush their shoes better.

"No, Ronald, even if there are accounting problems, it is the responsibility of those accountants..." How could Kerkorian believe that such a thing would happen to him.

"Do you think that the law passed by Nevada two years ago to keep the shareholder list and business conditions of limited companies registered in Nevada confidential gives you the confidence to evade federal investigation?"

Ronald's words revealed the secret. Nevada, a state that relies on the gambling industry for tax collection, is well aware of the "flaws" in this industry. For this reason, they have amended the law to prevent federal agencies (such as the FBI or IRS) from reviewing the status of companies registered in the state.

Kerkorian had a series of shell companies that held shares in each other. He sold MGM several times and bought it back at a low price. The various transactions in between were blocked by professional accountants and lawyers, so it was difficult to find out who owned the film libraries.

As for the Credit Lyonnais, it is basically an outsider. How can foreigners understand the American business rules if they do not suffer heavy losses when doing business in America?

"Hmph..." Kerkorian did not comment, but he also began to doubt his ability to convince Ronald. He hadn't seen this guy for a few years, and he was no longer the young director who was easily deceived. Ronald now had countless professionals giving him advice. As long as he had some business acumen, it would not be difficult for him to distinguish what was what.

"I'm telling you, you may not be able to get away with it this time."

Ronald smiled at Kerkorian, who didn't believe his accounting scandal would be exposed, and began to say something crucial.

The left-wing government of the United States has always been dissatisfied with America. The two sides have great differences in NATO and there are many economic frictions. But if a right-wing politician comes to power, it will be another matter.

The shocking fraud suffered by Credit Lyon in America, this title alone is enough to become the topic of discussion when the new president and prime minister of the United States meet with the President of America.

On the other hand, after Credit Lyonnais publicly announced the sale of MGM, there were quite a few people interested.

Including Fox TV owner Rupert, Walt Disney Chairman Michael Eisner, and General Electric's Jack Welch. In addition, the British-Dutch media group PolyGram and Germany's Bertelsmann are also interested in this asset.

Under such circumstances, there is no way Kerkorian could hide the little tricks he had done before.

In the past, he had deceived young people like Ronald, or media owners like Ted Turner who had problems with their own business, or scammers like Giancarlo Paretti, so he was confident that he could control these people after being exposed.

But after all, Kerkorian was just a small-time Las Vegas gangster. When he met big gangsters like Rupert, Eisner, and Welch, who were well-connected in both the political and business circles and had deep connections on Wall Street, his tricks quickly disappeared like rain in the Nevada desert.

Multinational corporations like PolyGram and Bertelsmann are backed by their own governments. If they are to be made to bear the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars, people like Kerkorian are not qualified.

Moreover, more importantly, the fate of these players is not comparable to that of an amateur like Giancarlo Paretti, who can't even do the job of a liar, nor is it like Ted Turner who has serious mental problems. They will definitely figure out all the illegal operations of MGM during the period when Kerkorian was in charge in the early stages.

At that time, exposing this shady deal would not affect their acquisition of MGM, but would also reduce some acquisition costs. Credit Lyonnais could sue Kerkorian with confidence and make up for the loss in the acquisition price. At that time, no matter which competitor they reached an acquisition agreement with, they would join forces to deal with Kerkorian, the fat sheep.

"You are not serious..."

After his trick was exposed, Kerkorian stopped selling completely. He knew that if Ronald was willing to meet him this time, he would make an offer, but he had a premonition that this offer would be a severe robbery of his wallet.

"My management team thinks so, and I also think their analysis is correct. I think your only way out is to bid to buy back MGM..."

Ronald's solution is quite tricky. Let Kerkorian offer the highest price and beat all the competitors, so that the bad debts can be rotten in his own pot. As for the extra money you paid, just regard it as retribution for your previous rogue behavior.

"Well, what do you want? Ted Turner paid $4.7 million to buy the film library. How about selling it to you for $5.5 million?"

Kerkorian actually believed in Ronald's analysis. He himself had similar concerns, but he just didn't quite believe it. On second thought, it would be a good idea to sell this piece of fat meat that everyone wanted to eat to Ronald. He could also make a small profit, and then throw the conflict away and let Ronald and Turner go to court to fight for the copyright of those classic business cards.

"Hey, Kirk, didn't you hear me?" Ronald smiled coldly. If he continued to act crazy and stupid like this, he would have to withdraw...

"Give me a hint?"

"I've said before, I'm not interested in MGM, but I'm interested in United Artists. Their film library hasn't been sold into a mess by you yet..." Ronald pointed at the other party's nose and stated his asking price.

"United Artists, I can sell it to you, but I still have RKO's film library and Warner's copyrights before 1950..."

"Kirk, I don't want garbage. You should clean up the stuff you pulled out yourself..." Ronald interrupted the other party without hesitation and tried to sell his film again, saying that he only wanted a much smaller film library, but without the United Artists that was being sold out by Kerkorian.

"Well, you have grown into a qualified businessman, so it's settled..."

"Oh, and in the contract, I have to specify that the copyrights of two works belong to me, one is the 007 series... the other is Popeye from Paramount Animation..."

"Very good..." Kerkorian gritted his teeth. He had heard about Ronald's promotion of the new 007 film. It seemed that he was very interested in this old spy series. However, Sony Columbia had obtained some cooperation licenses with Ian Fleming's partners during Giancarlo Parretti's tenure at MGM. This was also a flawed film copyright. Ronald would handle it himself.

"Let's shake hands..." Ronald smiled at the old sly guy who had deceived him with the name of a Sino-US joint venture publishing company, and stretched out his hand to shake hands with him.

"In terms of price..."

"Once you have dealt with the MGM issue, we can discuss the asset ratio between the two companies. Let your subordinates handle these matters."

Ronald did not discuss the price. Kerkorian had a heavy workload. He would wait until he was almost certain that MGM's affairs were handled, and then he would leave. This way, he could explain everything to everyone. He was not trying to compete with big men like Eska or Welch for business. Instead, after Kerkorian was confirmed to be in charge of the business, he would buy the assets he was selling and provide him with financing.

In fact, Ronald's DDH has already attracted the attention and concerns of some people in the industry, who fear that he will become another large Hollywood studio with its own distribution channels. Fortunately, Ronald's DDH strategy tends to be conservative, only rooted in wireless TV networks in certain states, and has basically no involvement in national media and the currently popular cable news networks.

In addition, with the establishment of DreamWorks, it obtained huge amounts of financing and began to build its own distribution channels, which helped Ronald avoid the attention of many people.

But obviously, the big players in these industries have begun to turn to the synthesis of large media groups. Film studios, national television stations, and newspapers, anyone who wants to work in this direction will be regarded as a current or potential competitor and will be suppressed.

The film library is a very important part of the competition among large media groups. Not only is it a high-quality asset that brings stable cash flow to the company, but it can also provide enough classic content for TV stations.

……

"Ronald, I see that you don't seem to want to be a distributor?" Spielberg asked Ronald, holding a drink in one hand and Ronald's son Roger in the other.

Two days later, Ronald hosted a banquet at his home for a group of famous Hollywood directors, including Spielberg, Coppola, Scorsese, Cameron, and Cameron Crowe.

The banquet was held in the name of thanking them for nominating Roger Corman for the Honorary Oscar. Although so many well-known directors and producers spoke well of Roger Corman, Hollywood still did not pay enough attention to this B-movie king who had long been out of the mainstream film circle and the king of drive-in theaters, and refused to give him the honorary award named after the Academy Executive this year.

Fortunately, with the first nomination, there was a breakthrough. As long as this action is repeated every year, one day the Oscars will recognize Roger Corman's contribution.

However, if you owe someone a favor, you still have to thank them. Ronald invited them to his home for a meal. As important figures in Hollywood, the directors were very respectful and brought some gifts.

"Yes, distribution is a very tiring job, and I don't want to do it. This is not the 1950s, when whoever controlled distribution controlled the film distribution channels, but now not many people go to see at least two movies a year."

Ronald knew that Spielberg's DreamWorks was trying to build domestic and international distribution channels, not the kind of distribution channels that would be developed through cooperation with others, but rather distribution channels that would be controlled by the company itself.

To maintain such a distribution channel now, in addition to the possibility of being hit by existing competitors, it also costs a lot. And to make it profitable to maintain a distribution line, you have to produce enough movies to spread the distribution costs.

After thinking it over, Ronald gave up the idea. Now that he had a movie, he could just temporarily cooperate with many distributors. Although he made less money, he didn't have to pay for the high fixed costs of manpower and location.

It seems that these Hollywood bosses are still living in the past decades, and they are obsessed with having their own independent distribution lines. This is not only true for DreamWorks, but also for medium-sized studios. Even Miramax, which has been acquired by Disney, Harvey Weinstein also wants to retain an independent distribution line.

I really don’t know whether their enthusiasm for theaters named after themselves is inherited from Old Hollywood or a misunderstanding of today’s film business model?

"You sound more like a director than a businessman now..." Spielberg laughed. It was a good thing that Katzenberg was in charge of this kind of thing. If he were to do it, he would be bored to death.

"Yeah, this thing is painful and boring. The more I do it, the less artistic I feel I am losing."

"If you ask me, we directors should just think about making movies." Brian De Palma, who used to date girls with Spielberg, said. In fact, he didn't like Ronald and laughed in his heart. Ronald's artistic ability was not high.

However, these words still touched his heart. The box office failure of his previous movie made him fall into a low point again. His current mentality is that it would be best for him to just be a mercenary rather than the person responsible for the box office.

"Hahaha, for the director, just think about making movies, cheers." Ronald laughed and looked at Jim Cameron, and the two smiled at each other. Both were the latest graduates from Roger Corman Film University, and they did not agree with this statement.

"By the way, Ronald, where did you learn your current directing skills? I heard that you only took Marty's class for one semester at New York University?" When Coppola heard the word "artistic ability", he suddenly remembered something.

Unlike the pioneers of the New Hollywood, they worked as a small group at the time, criticizing each other's films and offering selfless advice, so their artistic abilities improved very quickly.

But as Ronald grew up, it seemed that apart from Jim Cameron, he had no small circle of director friends with whom he could encourage each other.

"Hahaha, maybe Marty is a good teacher." De Palma commented again. His friendship with Scorsese can be traced back to his childhood.

“Hahahaha…” Everyone laughed and started discussing, who taught Ronald the most important directing skills?