America: Starting with the acquisition of MGM.

Chapter 312 310. I hope they stick to it

Los Angeles, Cooper's house, internal party.

This time, not only relatives and friends from the entertainment industry were invited, but also senior executives from three Silicon Valley companies.

We used to have separate gatherings, but that’s too much trouble, and strictly speaking Facebook, YouTube and Lionheart are all closely connected to actors and directors, so it’s better to put them together.

In the study, FitzHeisenberg was reporting to Eric.

"Boss, I should have reported this to you a long time ago, but it's the first month since we launched our advertising business, and there are still many areas that are immature."

"We encountered a lot of problems, including payment, statistics, splitting, contracts, etc. Of course, these are not excuses. I should have considered it more carefully. Sorry!"

Eric didn't care too much about it, because he knew that everything is difficult at the beginning.

Among the three companies, Facebook has always been at the forefront, and YouTube and Lionheart are both moving forward based on the experience explored by Facebook.

FitzHeisenberg has always undertaken the heaviest tasks, and we should not be too harsh on such a capable subordinate.

Eric patted his shoulder and said comfortingly: "Don't mention these things. Just don't let them happen again in the future."

"I promise not! Regarding the first month's advertising revenue, it was a surprising number, $3.53 million."

"After deducting the share of the bloggers and other costs, the net profit was $1.61 million."

Hearing this number, Eric couldn't help but smile. It was much better than he expected. He thought it would be good to have $1 million.

After all, advertisers also have to test the waters first; it’s impossible for them to go all in right away.

“What’s the feedback like? Users, bloggers, and our sponsors.”

"Advertisers have given very positive feedback and are very supportive of our charging model. In our survey, the vast majority are willing to pay more, and Facebook's profits will continue to grow."

"The feedback from bloggers is also very good. They make real money. Some even make more than $10 a month. It is almost impossible to work normally."

"The only thing is that some users have opinions, thinking that we are no longer pure, and new users attracted from Myspace say that Facebook's functions are too simple and hope that we can develop more interesting uses for it."

Eric sneered: "Pure? Do you mean to make us operate at a loss all the time? Leave them alone!"

"But an interesting way to play it is to consider, what is the frequency of Facebook updates recently?"

"It can't be compared with the past. Boss, you know that creativity and inspiration take time."

"Well, I understand, but don't let up."

"Also, Fitz, do you know how to develop games? Small games that can be played on the web can help our users kill time better in their spare time."

Fitz thought about it and said, "As for games, some people in the team have done it before, but we are not professionals."

"It doesn't need to be too professional. I'm not asking you to make Diablo 2. Just casual but fun is enough."

Hearing this, Fitz scratched his head. He really wanted to say, Boss, your request is too abstract.

Especially the word "interesting", which is not only abstract but also difficult. It is subjective. What should I do if I think it is interesting but users find it boring?
Seeing that he didn't say anything, Eric gave an example: "Have you seen The Walking Dead?"

"Yeah! We are all watching it. Season 2 is really exciting. Everyone wants to see Season 3 soon. Boss, is the Governor dead?"

"Stop! Don't worry about whether the Governor is dead or not, just play a little zombie fighting game, Plants vs. Zombies."

"what?"

Eric gave him a detailed description, and Fitz left with a lot of questions: "Plants and zombies? How can this thing be popular?"

Judging from the development level after 20 years, Facebook has fallen behind Penguin. The reason is that Penguin has created its own ecosystem and is no longer limited to social attributes, so it is inevitable to enrich its functions.

The successful expansion of the advertising business has given Eric even more resources.

This is just the United States. Once the business in Canada, Mexico and Europe is opened, money will really start to rain.

And it is enough to prove to the market that Facebook is a very high-quality company and can go public.

Eric's ideal time for the IPO is the first half of next year. As his sole proprietorship, Facebook will inevitably increase his assets exponentially once it goes public.

It is expected that by then he will be qualified to compete with Bill Gates and Buffett, two old men who are at the top and runner-up of the Forbes list respectively.

However, where there is pride comes disappointment. Inside the MGM office, Eric sighed helplessly as he looked at the report in his hand.

It has been a month, and this is destined to be a war with no winner.

After a series of huge declines, the North American box office of "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" did not break 3 million US dollars and was stuck at 2 million US dollars.

Although "The Hunger Games" came from behind and narrowed the gap, it only earned $1.97 million and also did not break 2 million.

"Van Helsing" is even worse, let alone 8000 million, it's only over million now, and by the time the next film is released, it will at most break million.

During this period, movies such as "Kill Bill 2", "The Silver Lining" and "The Untold Story" were released one after another, and Angelina Jolie, Ethan Hawke, Kim Basinger and other handsome men and beautiful women appeared in the film.

The six major forces seemed to have suddenly gone crazy, constantly deploying troops and increasing the intensity of sniping.

Eric was also angry when he saw this, but he couldn't be a coward, so he played the cards in his hand, such as "Barbershop 2", "Sharknado 3", and "Machete".

According to tradition, the "Sharknado" series should be released during the Christmas season, but this year's Christmas season is also full of blood and gore.

"Inception" has to face the siege of a number of blockbusters such as "The Incredibles", "Iron Man" and "Spider-Man 2", leaving little room for other movies to survive.

From this perspective, there is no difference between putting it in December and putting it in November.

Go ahead, do whatever you want, no one will survive anyway!

The current film and television market can only be described as chaotic. The competition has become more intense and the market has fallen into chaos.

Hollywood is the world's film and television center, and the chaos here will turn the global film and television industry upside down.

Not to mention the small companies that were trembling and didn't know what to do, even the audience was almost confused.

There are too many movies released at the same time, but the money in the audience's pockets is limited, so they can only make choices.

In terms of global box office, "The Hunger Games" and "Prisoner of Azkaban" are far ahead of other films and are almost reaching the $4 million threshold.

However, neither professional institutions nor analysts within MGM believe that there is much room for growth.

It is highly likely that the ceiling will be just over 5 million US dollars, which is quite a distance from the 6 million or even 7 million that Eric expected.

This is the consequence of vicious competition, but what can be done? This battle will not stop until one side bows its head and admits defeat.

But it's not all bad news. The analysis report handed over by Carroll shows that Paramount may not be able to hold on. Since the showdown between the two sides, Paramount has been charging forward with Disney and Warner, but how strong are they? How rich are you?
In recent years, apart from "Mission Impossible", there have been no other works that can attract the public's attention.

What's more, being involved in a high-intensity war, movies that could have made a lot of money can only make a small profit, those that originally made a small profit become break-even, those that originally made no loss become loss-making, and those that originally made a loss have to make a living.

Paramount has released a total of 11 movies so far this year, 9 of which lost money and only 2 made a small profit. Its performance is much worse than that of second-tier companies such as Lionsgate, New Line, and Dimension.

In other words, Disney lent it some money, otherwise it would have been even uglier.

"Six months ago, I contacted Paramount and hoped that they would remain neutral, but they refused."

"Now contact him again and test the waters. Considering Paramount's falling stock price, I want to see how tough Brad Grey really is."

Carol nodded: "As long as Paramount can no longer hold on and remains neutral, once the door is opened, Universal and Fox may also have ideas."

"Well, the key is to have someone to take the lead."

"Boss, the year-end is coming soon. I have a feeling that the Christmas season will be the final battleground."

"Why do you say that?"

Eric walked over and looked at Carol's big breasts directly. Anyway, the purpose of this slut seducing him was already obvious.

It was obviously winter, but she changed into light clothes when she arrived at the company. Her work clothes had been specially altered and were obviously much tighter.

I don't have the intention to fuck her, but it's quite fun to tease her.

Noticing that her boss was looking at her, Carol proactively straightened her body to please her boss's eyes. Although it was not written in the contract, she considered it to be within her job scope.

"After the Christmas season, next year's financial report will be released soon. Now everyone's stock price is not looking good. Although some are growing, if the growth does not meet expectations, it will be a failure."

"Failure will further undermine the confidence of stockholders. From the perspective of a normal investor, if this war continues, I will definitely withdraw."

“Why don’t I invest my money in a more profitable industry?”

"The war in the Middle East is still going on. Wouldn't it be better for me to invest in steel, textiles, and medicine?"

"In the past, movie companies could tell people a good story, and a good story could bring high profits, but if things continue like this, good stories will only bring meager profits."

Eric smiled and said, "What you said makes sense. But personally, I only hope that the scope of the war will be reduced, but I don't want it to disappear."

"Paramount, I don't feel anything for it, I can quit if I want."

"Whether it's Universal, Sony, or Fox, I actually hope that these three companies will withdraw."

"But this is enough. I hope that Warner and Disney will fight MGM with all their might, and it would be best if the fight lasts forever."

"Even if the two families want to make peace, I won't agree. It's unrealistic to deal with six families at the same time, but I can handle one or two families."

Carol frowned, then suddenly realized something.

"Boss, you want to bring down Warner and Disney. Why didn't I think of that?"

"As long as they collapse, MGM will undoubtedly be the world's largest film and television company, and we will regain the status we had in the last century."

Eric didn't say anything. Not everyone has the vision and perspective, or it takes a long time to cultivate.

Carol could only think of this much and dared to think of this much, but she didn't know that Eric's ultimate goal was to swallow up Warner and Mickey Mouse.

"Anyway, go ahead and express my intentions. If Brad Grey is willing, we can meet in private."

"Ok, I see."

At night, Eric sneaked into a movie theater with Daddario to watch "Machete Kills".

This movie is a genuine B-level movie, with all kinds of messy elements mixed together. The main feature is that it is illogical but lively enough.

There are too many big names making cameo appearances in the film, like Charlize Theron, who plays a transgender female killer.

He only appeared for a few minutes, and then the human skin mask was torn off, and he turned directly into Ryan Reynolds.

Will Smith is a hapless guy who dies as soon as he appears on screen, while Johnny Depp plays a sissy who is shot dead.

The final boss battle was a fight in which the protagonist directly climbed onto a rocket and flew into space, which somehow turned into a Star Wars battle. It was outrageous that the protagonist was accidentally injured while falling from a height of 10,000 meters.

The film's promotion directly targets "Sharknado". I'm not going to pretend anymore. I'm going to be frank. I'm just bad, but I'm bad in a stylish way.

Anyway, Eric and Daddario had a lot of fun watching the movie, and everyone else in the cinema was laughing too.

It’s so nice to see so many big stars making fun of themselves.

After the movie, Eric took Daddario home.

Before I knew it, I had been with the Husky girl for more than two months, and our relationship had reached a critical point.

She was a very clever girl and never asked for anything on her own initiative.

Movie resources are one thing, but girls always like jewelry, accessories, perfumes, and bags, but Daddario never talks about it.

Even when they occasionally go out shopping, she won't drag Eric to go shopping, which makes him feel a little embarrassed. Today, he specially bought a diamond necklace for him.

"Baby, I'll put it on for you."

"Thank you, dear, you are so kind to me!"

After a sweet kiss, Daddario fell into Eric's arms.

He held her in front of the mirror and said, "Look, you are very beautiful. Do you like it?"

"Well, as long as it's something you give me, I like it. In fact, the gift is not important. I just want you to spend more time with me."

Eric bit her earlobe gently, "Yes, we will have a few months to spend together soon."

"Honey, are you going to start filming? Are you going to start filming Dragon Ball?"

"Well, you've been training for more than a month, so it's almost done. Dragon Ball is not Fist of the North Star. The key is the special effects."

"By the way, how are you getting along with the crew?"

"It's pretty good. Everyone is very friendly. I have the best relationship with Crystal Liu. After all, we are the only two main female characters."

Eric nodded, thinking that it would be best if you two get along well and become half-sisters with different skin colors, so that it would be more natural for you to sleep in the same bed in the future.

(End of this chapter)