hunt hollywood

Nancy shook her head and said, "I tried talking to Simon, and he said no."

Iger was puzzled: "Huh?"

Nancy was a little helpless, and said: "Simon seems to be very fond of Marvel, and he didn't give me any room for discussion. I also talked to him about "Lord of the Rings", but was also rejected, and "Run Lola Run", he The surrounding copyrights have been packaged and sold. Coincidentally, the company has recently established a live-action movie of "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles". After researching, I found that its character settings are very suitable for adaptation into a horizontal version of the fighting game. And Phantom Studio After contacting them, they haven’t sold the game development rights of “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”, so I bought it.”

Iger is not familiar with the field of video games. Since Nancy has already considered all the issues that he can think of in a short period of time, he didn't rush to put forward any opinions.

Everyone chatted a few more words, and it was already noon, so we rushed to a nearby restaurant for dinner together.

Just after completing her investment in Blockbuster recently, Nancy quickly came up with another plan, which once again put a lot of pressure on Amy.

Amy thought about getting involved in video game development, but didn't have the time to push it.

Now, Nancy has come up with this plan. After the establishment, the game studio will also be affiliated with the consumer goods department, instead of the company's direct departments such as Daenerys Special Effects and Pixar Animation.If successful, Nancy must have the greatest credit.Even if it fails, the loss of 200 million US dollars is really insignificant to Daenerys Entertainment now.

So, at lunch, while trying not to show it, Amy inevitably grew closer to Iger.

Iger, with his gentle personality, was far from Nancy's energetic and aggressive temperament.

Obviously, it is impossible for Amy to know what Simon expects from Iger.

Even if the revenue scale of the consumer goods department managed by Nancy develops for a few more years, it is far from being able to compare with the TV department.Moreover, the consumer goods department is located in Los Angeles, and is destined to be under the control of the parent company at all times, while Iger, who is alone in charge of the TV department on the east coast, is completely at the level of a "feudal official".

After chatting for a while, although they were eating, they quickly talked about work.

Daenerys Entertainment's TV series are mainly produced on the West Coast. With the arrival of the TV season in spring, Iger will start to fly to Los Angeles every week.This time, besides the preparations for several TV series, there are more important things to do.

"About "Who Will Be a Millionaire", Tom invited me to dinner at noon yesterday and had a detailed discussion. He said that if we are not willing to make concessions, ABC can only reduce the number of episodes ordered for the second season and adjust the show. Time slot," Iger finished, noticing Nancy's puzzled eyes, and explained: "ABC chairman, Tom Murphy."

Nancy nodded, but did not answer.

Amy asked, "What about the conditions?"

Iger said: "The quotation for each issue is halved, and ABC will also participate in the revenue share of the advertisement placement in the program."

Amy frowned immediately, and said, "Simon probably won't agree to this."

Nancy looked around and couldn't help asking Iger, "Bob, what is our profit on "Who Will Be a Millionaire?"

As the head of the consumer goods department, Nancy is well aware of the revenue data for peripheral products of "Who Will Be a Millionaire".However, the company's annual financial audit has not yet ended, and she does not know the overall revenue and profit scale of this phenomenon-level popular reality show.

In the face of Nancy's inquiry, Iger did not hide it, and said: "According to last year's financial data, it is about 1.8 million US dollars. If you calculate the entire first quarter, it is about 2.5 million US dollars."

Nancy's eyes widened involuntarily, and her red lips parted slightly.

She felt that she might have heard it wrong, or that Iger had explained it wrong, so she asked, "Total revenue?"

Iger shook his head: "Net profit."

Nancy always felt that she would not be surprised by anything, but this time she couldn't help taking a deep breath.

Slowly exhaling a big breath, she still didn't believe it. She stared at Iger intently and said, "2.5 million US dollars, how is this possible?"

Being able to make a beautiful woman look surprised still satisfies the vanity of a man. Iger smiled and explained patiently: "Compared to TV series with only 13 or 26 episodes per season, "Who Will Be a Millionaire" has 69 episodes per season. , The transaction price of each episode is 200 million U.S. dollars. The first season of "Who Will Be a Millionaire", according to the settlement rules we negotiated with ABC, after the winter break last year, ABC has paid us 8300 million U.S. dollars for the first season. The cost, including the $15 million for the extra 3000 episodes before the season, only this part of the revenue reached $1.1 million. In addition, the total revenue from in-program advertising placement is $5600 million, and the syndicated distribution and overseas licensing revenue is about $2700 million."

Nancy listened intently, and quickly reported the final statistics: "The total revenue is 1.96 million US dollars, and the net profit is 1.8 million US dollars, which is really reasonable. My God, no wonder our little boss is so profligate. The two companies under his name The financial situation has not been a problem, it is really profitable."

However, as she deepened her thinking, Nancy also immediately discovered the problem.

As far as she knows, NBC is the best operating network among the four major networks.

The financial year cycle of the four major TV networks is basically calculated from the last quarter of each year.

According to General Electric’s public financial data, affected by last year’s scriptwriters’ strike, NBC’s total revenue in fiscal year 1987 and 1988 was US$33 billion, but its net profit was only US$3.1 million, compared with US$3.8 million in the previous year. The U.S. dollar has fallen sharply, and margins are less than 10%.

After careful consideration, Nancy confirmed that the season of "Who Will Be a Millionaire" can bring Daenerys Entertainment $2.5 million in net profit, but there is no problem.

The television network operates seven days a week, and the total number of prime-time programs is about twenty or thirty.

However, just like the films produced by Hollywood film companies every year, a small part of these TV programs must be profitable or loss-making, and most of them basically maintain a balance of payments.Coupled with the huge basic operating expenses of a national TV network, it is very rare to be able to earn $3.1 million a year like NBC.

Look at "Who Will Be a Millionaire" again, this program occupies the most golden three-day eight o'clock slot among the seven days of the week, and it is an hour-long program.Because of the phenomenal ratings data, the scale of its advertising revenue is exactly the same as the studio's most profitable movie with a box office of over [-] million each year.

Compared with ABC's comprehensive investment in running a national TV network, as a producer, Daenerys Entertainment only needs to bear a total production cost of about 2000 million US dollars and a small amount of marketing expenses in the early stage.

Therefore, for Daenerys Entertainment, the total revenue brought by the first season of "Who Will Be a Millionaire" to the company is about 2.8 million US dollars, which is less than 10% of the annual revenue of the TV network.But like a mega-budget, high-grossing movie, Daenerys Entertainment's profit margin on the show is close to 90%.

Occupying the best quality resources and taking the most lucrative profits without having to share the huge operating expenses and loss-making project costs of ABC TV Network, Daenerys Entertainment is naturally making money and making money.

Thinking of this, Nancy quickly asked Iger again: "Bob, how much can ABC earn from this project?"

Iger thought for a while, and said: "If you only count this program, it is about 8000 million US dollars."

When Nancy heard this, her eyes wandered between Amy and Iger, and she parted the corners of her mouth and silently made a weird grimace.

Amy and Iger also looked at each other silently.

Daenerys Entertainment raked in 2.5 million. As a platform owner, ABC, which should be in a strong position, only has a profit margin of 8000 million US dollars, which is less than one-third of Daenerys Entertainment. Anyone who changes it will be upset. .

Tom Murphy was able to patiently negotiate with Daenerys Entertainment mainly because ABC really couldn't do without "Who Will Be a Millionaire".

Although the average ratings data of a single program is firmly suppressed by "Survivor", compared to "Survivor" with 13 episodes per season, "Who Will Be a Millionaire" is 3 episodes a week.

With the super high ratings data of "Who Will Be a Millionaire", ABC, which was originally only slightly stronger than the emerging FOX among the four major TV networks, has become the No. The NBC television network of the United States faintly showed a go-ahead posture.

Under such a good situation, ABC would not dare to abandon "Who Will Be a Millionaire" rashly.

But at the same time, if Daenerys Entertainment is unwilling to make compromises and the distribution of benefits is seriously unbalanced, as long as the ABC management has a little foresight, this TV network will definitely try to get rid of the "Who Will" at all costs? Become a Millionaire Dependency.

Everyone was silent for a moment, and Amy finally said: "Simon has to decide this matter himself. Bob, you can talk to ABC again, and then write a report and send it to Melbourne."

Iger nodded, the matter is of great importance, and this is the only way to do it now.

Chapter 233 Reducing Holdings and Cashing Out (Revised)

A pier south of Melbourne.

After three days of continuous shooting, "Batman" finally ended the first action scene of the film.

The plot begins with five consecutive murders in Gotham City. Some of the victims were shot, some had their necks twisted, and some had signs of being bitten by animals.Based on the clues, Batman successfully rescued the "Gotham Times" female reporter Vicki Val when she was about to be killed, and followed the murderer along the sewer all the way to an abandoned pier on the edge of the city.

The murderer revealed his true face. It turned out to be a huge monster with sharp teeth and scales resembling a crocodile.

After a hard fight, Batman finally subdued the crocodile man.

At the same time, Vicky Val, who was in shock, called the police, and Director Gordon, who was also closely investigating the recent murders, personally led the team to the pier.Because the police arrived, Batman had no time to interrogate the crocodile man, so he had to flee ahead of time.

This action scene is followed by a literary scene, which is also the first official contact between Director Gordon and Batman.

The night scene shooting that started recently is still eight hours from [-]:[-] pm to [-]:[-] am.It is midsummer in the southern hemisphere, and the sky is very long, but usually after the pre-shooting preparations are completed, the night has already fallen.

It was already one o'clock in the morning, after the previous action scene ended.The scene didn't need to be switched too much. The police were cleaning up the mess in the original venue. Director Gordon was reminded and came to a nearby warehouse.

The set here has been completed ahead of schedule, Simon simply communicated with the two actors, Adam Baldwin and Tommy Lee Jones, and the shooting officially began.

The slate was laid down, and all the actors who had been buried in advance moved.

Director Gordon walked hesitantly to the streetlight in front of the warehouse, while Batman squatted on the edge of the warehouse roof, most of his body was covered by a cloak.

The composition of the shot has obvious implication, Director Gordon and Batman, one is in the light and the other is in the dark.

Feeling a slight sound above his head, Sergeant Gordon looked up and finally saw the 'wanted criminal' he had been looking for for a long time.

The two confronted each other briefly, and Gordon spoke first: "Well, although...but, you did a good job."

But Batman didn't intend to greet Gordon, and said in a calm and indifferent tone, "Have you discovered the connection?"

Gordon nodded: "Counting Vicki Val, three journalists have been attacked in the past week. Something must have happened in the city, and someone wanted to cover it up."

Batman paused, and didn't tell Gordon that he had actually discovered five related murders, but said, "I need a copy of the crocodile's interrogation report."

"I don't cooperate with criminals," Gordon blurted out, sensing Batman's hesitation just now, he asked again: "Do you know anything else?"

Batman returns as is: "I don't cooperate with the police."

Gordon frowned: "Then why do you think I will hand over the report to you?"

"Tomorrow night at 12 o'clock, still here."

Gordon moved his feet on the spot, as if he was thinking about how to gain some initiative.After a brief daze, he looked up again, and the figure on the roof had disappeared.

"CUT!"

Simon behind the monitor slightly raised his hand and shouted, and then began to replay the footage just now.

Adam Baldwin and Tommy Lee Jones soon came together.

"The emotion is not in place," Simon himself explained to Tommy Lee Jones according to the playback: "Tommy, this conversation means that the two of you have unconsciously formed a certain potential tacit understanding, rhythm You need to be careful. Also, your little action just now was too deliberate, so adjust it next time."

What Simon needs is a feeling. Naturally, there is no way to tell the two of them how to act in too much detail. They can only figure it out by themselves.

After re-discussing, the two actors made some preparations and started the second shooting.

When Bruce Wayne was in the state of Batman, he basically had three attributes. The requirements for Adam Baldwin's acting skills were not high, and Tommy Lee Jones was also an old actor for many years.Therefore, after taking several shots repeatedly, Simon got the satisfactory effect he needed.

At two o'clock, the crew finished work on time.

Simon went to bed at about three o'clock in the morning, had breakfast at nine o'clock the next morning, and returned to his study in the hotel suite.

Jennifer's main job is to maintain contact with the two local companies in North America, and she doesn't need to stay up late with Simon on the set.Simon walked into the study, and the female assistant had already prepared the documents he needed to review today.

"We have established 5000 long contracts of Nikkei 225 index futures on the Osaka Stock Exchange. The opening index is about 31200 points. The average margin for a single lot is 25300 US dollars, and the total margin payment is 1.26 million US dollars. Dad thinks that the company only needs to keep 5000 A reserve fund of 1000 US dollars is enough to protect against risks, so another [-] holding positions can be added."

The Nikkei 225 Index futures currently have two contracts on the Singapore International Monetary Exchange and the Osaka Stock Exchange. The contract multiplier of the Singapore Exchange is 500 yen, and the contract multiplier of the Osaka Exchange is 1000 yen.

Based on the contract multiplier of 1000 times on the Osaka Stock Exchange, the book value of each contract held by Westeros is 3120 million yen.

最近几年日元对美元持续升值，近期汇率达到123比1。3120万日元换算后大致为25万美元，远超标普500股指期货价值。同样的10倍杠杆，10%的保证金比例就是2.5万美元。

While listening to Jennifer's introduction, Simon flipped through the documents in his hand.

In the past two weeks, the growth rate of the Nikkei 225 Index has accelerated significantly.In December last year, when the Nikkei 12 index broke through 225 points, the monthly increase was only 30000 points, but in the past two weeks, the Nikkei index has risen by a full 623 points, an increase of 860%.

Simon didn't know if this was the result of someone hearing the news and starting to follow.

The only funds that Westeros can use freely at present are the 2 million US dollars just transferred from Daenerys Entertainment. The planned 5000 lot positions are completed, and the remaining funds are only 7000 million US dollars.Simon is not as clear about the trend of the Japanese stock market in the coming year as he was in the North American stock market in 87, so he must not be full of positions, and needs to reserve a fund to resist the risk of a possible margin call.

After rough calculations, according to the current position ratio, if the Nikkei 225 index can still reach a high of more than 38000 points in the original time and space.Theoretically, excluding the stock index futures transaction tax and high capital gains tax in the Japanese market, Westeros' $2 million principal can probably double by the end of the year, achieving a 100% net profit.

Compared with the one two years ago, the current one-year operation with 100% net profit is really not a very good business.If Simon made other investments based on the information in his memory, he could actually earn that much in a year.

Buy Columbia Pictures stock now, for example.

Throughout 1988, Columbia Pictures released a total of 15 films, but the annual box office was only 8800 million US dollars.That's right, 15 movies, 8800 million, and an average of less than $600 million in box office revenue per movie.

Although Samsung Pictures, a joint venture between Columbia and HBO, has better annual box office figures, the total box office of the same 15 films in 1988 was only US$1 million.It is rumored that Samsung Pictures has accumulated losses of more than 9800 million U.S. dollars in the five years since its establishment. In order to cover up this fact, HBO's parent company, Time Group, even had to spread the losses to other departments through financial means.

Although the news that Sony may acquire Columbia has been spread, due to the studio's sluggish performance, Columbia's stock price continues to fall, and even the Coca-Cola Group, which holds 49% of Columbia's shares, has fallen.

The current market value of Columbia Pictures is only 16 billion US dollars, and the debt ratio has reached 100%. If it falls further, it will be insolvent.

However, Simon clearly remembers that Sony acquired Columbia in the second half of the year, and the final transaction price was US$34 billion, which more than doubled.Moreover, Sony also assumed the entire $16 billion of Colombia's debt, bringing the total value of the entire deal to $50 billion.

If Simon enters the market and buys the shares of Columbia Pictures now, he can also double the income in the second half of the year, and the risk is lower.

However, because he is in Hollywood, Simon's doing so will definitely cause unnecessary speculation and even be investigated for insider trading.

As Ivan Boesky, Michael Milken and a large number of arbitrage trading tycoons who have been in charge of Wall Street for many years before have fallen, the FBI, which has earned enough reputation and is in full swing, must hope to put a man like Simon Westero Big fish with even more bizarre trajectories of getting rich have been caught in the net.

Therefore, seeing many stock arbitrage opportunities such as the recent Reynolds Nabisco acquisition and Sony's acquisition of Columbia in the next few months, Simon refrained from making a move.

Although he disagrees with most of the hedge funds on Wall Street who are bearish on the Japanese stock market, there is no such risk in making money through the Japanese stock market.

Suppressing the rise of Japan is entirely the "political correctness" of the United States in recent years.

Of course, the profits generated by speculating on the Nikkei 225 index futures may not necessarily come from Japan, but this is not what Simon needs to care about.

Constantly deliberating in his mind, Simon nodded after hearing Jennifer conveying James Raybould's suggestion, "Yes."

The position has increased to 6000 lots, and the risk is still within a controllable range.However, even so, the expected income is still difficult to satisfy Simon's appetite.

Funding is still a big problem.

Simon didn't intend to speculate on stock index futures by means of loans, and it was unlikely that he could get a loan for this reason, and he didn't allow himself to take such a risk.

Thinking of this, Simon suddenly remembered something, raised his head and asked Jennifer, "Is your father still in the company?"

Jennifer nodded: "It's six o'clock in the afternoon in New York, but Dad is still there. When you were having breakfast, Dad called and said he would wait for you."

After speaking, the female assistant picked up the phone on the table, dialed a series of numbers skillfully, and then handed the receiver to Simon.

After the reduction of Motorola stock, the number of listed technology companies held by Westeros is 25, of which 16 have board seats, and the other 9 simply hold shares and do not participate in the board of directors.

In order to avoid affecting the entire technology stock market in the process of reducing Motorola, Westeros issued a one-year non-reduction statement for companies that did not join the board of directors and a three-year non-reduction statement for companies with board seats.