I’m in Hollywood

On the second day after the overnight meeting, the European Disneyland, which had just opened less than ten days, suddenly announced a temporary closure. The news shocked the whole of Europe and spread quickly throughout the world.

The construction of the European Disneyland lasted seven years, with an investment of up to $5.5 billion. This figure is even worth the years of fiscal revenue in some small European countries. It is definitely a world-class project in the 1980s when the dollar was strong.

On the day of the incident, Disney published a clarification and apology statement on the headlines of well-known newspapers such as Le Monde, The European Times and Le Figaro, which were ranked in the French circulation. After discovering the opening of the European Disneyland, a series of problems emerged. Due to the concept of being responsible for tourists, the management carefully decided to temporarily close Disneyland and rectify related issues.

However, this statement that completely follows the truth is basically not believed by many people. Most of the media and the public are more inclined to have major changes in the European Disneyland. Some irresponsible tabloids have caused accidents such as those in the European Disneyland. The news of dozens of casualties, and this completely abusive news has been recognized by many people, and some newspapers that do not know the truth have even reproduced this.

In a short day after the news came out, after repeated confirmation that it was not a prank, numerous TV media and newspaper and magazine reporters from all over the world boarded the flight to Paris in an attempt to find the truth.

The French capital is also on the day of the event. Through the press conference, I expressed strong concern about this matter. At the time, the mayor of Paris, Jacques Chirac, met with Firefly Films Chairman Eric Williams and Disney Ceo Jeffrey Carson. Berg, personally asked why Disneyland was closed.

Come out from the mayor's office. Eric and Kasenberg joined a black car. For two consecutive days of busyness, even if Kasenberger, who has always been known for his energy, can clearly see the feeling of a strong end, Eric has raised his eyes on the seat.

Suddenly there was a sound of the cans being pulled open. Eric barely opened his eyes and saw that Kasenberg had just opened a can of refreshing canned coffee, remembering something about Kasenberg. Jokes, the corners of the mouth couldn’t help but scream.

"Eric. Do you want it?" Kasenberg whispered.

Eric shook his head and now he is giving him a can of stimulant. He also can't afford the spirit. From the day before yesterday to the present, the two basically did not rest well, Eric felt that his biological clock had completely collapsed, and he even envied Kasenberg's full energy. When you feel tired, you can put a bottle of refreshing drink on your hands, and you will basically be able to 'resurreate blood', which is more useful than the red and blue medicine in the game.

The decision to temporarily close the European Disneyland was also the result of careful discussion between the two. The problem of the European Disneyland has been very serious. It is difficult to predict the effect of the rectification while operating conservatively, and the cycle will be extended accordingly. In this case, it is better to have a big move like a fire, even if it can't solve the problem completely. The attention caused by this series of actions can also be a world-class publicity and marketing, and there is no need to spend money. After a period of time, the reopening of Disney in Europe will definitely cause a greater degree of attention than when it was first opened.

Kasenberg quickly finished drinking the coffee. Said: "Eric, if you can't hold on, wait for the negotiations with the French investors, I will do it myself, you can go back to rest first."

Eric nodded in disappointment and agreed.

Through the questionnaire survey and the statistics of the first week's revenue, the European Disneyland has even undergone rectification. It is also very difficult to achieve the original profit in the short term, with $5.5 billion in construction funds. Most of them belong to bank loans. The money must be paid through the operation of Euro Disney, and the average annual principal and interest repayment amount is as high as 200 million US dollars.

At the same time, the initial serious budget was out of control, a large number of redundant projects were built, and the operation and maintenance cost of the European Disneyland was much higher than that of Tokyo Disneyland. It is not difficult to find this from the scale of the two parks. The total area of ​​the European Disneyland is nearly 2,000 hectares, while Tokyo Disneyland is only 204 hectares, which is only one tenth of the European Disneyland.

In this case, Disney can only renegotiate with French investors to discuss issues such as redistribution of profits. From the current situation, Eric basically does not expect Euro Disney to bring profits to the headquarters. I only hope that this overseas paradise can achieve balance of payments, and it will not be a drag on the head office.

Reluctantly handed over the matter to Kasenberg, Eric returned to the hotel, even lazy to wash, and flung directly on the big bed, woke up in the boundless black dream, and once again fell into the darkness outside the window.

After washing, I picked up the phone in the room and made a call. Eric came to the restaurant downstairs and told the waiter a few words. I found a card seat and ordered dinner for myself.

A dinner has not yet been finished, and Kasenberg has come under the guidance of the waiters.

"According to my dinner, I also gave Jeffrey a copy." When Kasenberger sat down opposite him, Eric gave the waiter a piece of mouth. Kasenberg had apparently not had dinner, and there was no objection. He just asked the waiter to add a glass of milk to himself.

"How is it?" Eric rubbed his paper towel and asked.

Kasenberger took out the folder from his briefcase and handed it over: "Louis Barthol has seen the information and has no objection to the temporary closure of the European Disneyland, but they hope to operate the park. I took it back and I refused."

If you give up control of the European Disneyland, then the project is completely out of control, and Eric has no confidence in the French business ability.

Eric nodded and agreed with Kasenberg's decision. The folder was opened and the grass-fitting agreement was read. The content of this contract is not much different from the negotiation bottom line that he and Kasenberg have discussed. Disney gave up the patent grant fee for the first five years of Euro Disneyland, and halved the patent license fee five years later. In exchange, French investors need to invest 300 million US dollars for this project as a working capital for Euro Disney.

Abandoned the patent licensing fee, although Disney's previous investment will not be recoverable for a long time in the future, but in fact, Disney did not suffer, because if the European Disneyland losses. Just the repayment pressure of billions of dollars in loans may cause the bankruptcy of Europe Park. At that time, in addition to voluntarily giving up the patent licensing fees, Disney had no second way to go. Because Disney was too strong in the previous negotiations, it took only 49% of the joint venture company with less than 15% of the total investment, and most of the money came from the French government's special loan. This means that once the European Disneyland does not achieve the expected profit, Disney's strong position will directly reverse, when the French investors will not only pay more, even the Disney headquarters to fund back, and now, through Abandoning the patent authorization fee, this seemingly generous condition, once again get $300 million in working capital from French investors, Disney can be said to be making a big profit.

After rushing through the new contract, Eric continued to eat his own dinner. The waiter also brought up Kasenberg's dinner.

After dinner, the two did not leave, the waiter took the initiative to remove the tableware. And on the coffee, Eric told Kasenberg: "Although the park's management rights can't be handed over to them, this business adjustment is still to let them participate as much as possible, from the manager's report to me. You can see it, many of the problems are obvious, but our team is obviously ignored."

"I know this." Kasenberg looked at the waiter and poured himself a cup of coffee, but just pushed the coffee aside. I didn’t drink any more. Obviously, I was hurt in the past two days: “Eric, I will stay here at the helm until the park reopens and is on the right track. The movie at the end of the US has been confirmed. Although Frank is somewhat conservative, he will not make any mistakes. There is no big problem in his temporary management of Disney's business."

"Well, I wanted to tell you about it yesterday, but I was so busy that I lost my mind. I just stayed here. It’s just that I have been thinking about a problem for the past two days. ""

Kasenberg looked at Eric in a puzzled way and made a rare joke: "You don't really want to think of those newspapers, change Disneyland to Firefly Paradise?"

"Of course not," Eric shook his head and said: "Disney is already a very mature cultural symbol. I wouldn't do anything to turn Disneyland into a firefly paradise. I want to say that I have to put Europe Disneyland. Renamed Disneyland Paris."

Kasenberg swayed his head slightly: "I don't understand, Eric, is this necessary?"

“I feel very necessary. From that questionnaire, it can be seen that the French who come to Disney still occupy a very large part. Moreover, the 300 million potential tourists in the so-called two-hour aircraft range radiation range now seems to It’s not realistic. The 300 million people obviously don’t have the eagerness to Disneyland in our original imagination. Most of the people who came to play in the first week, except the French, were only tourists from the countries in France. So, we are not as good. First, we focus on the operation of the French tourists who have the most potential for consumption. Since the French are so proud, we will vote for it, and the name will be changed only a little, and we have already decided to determine what the French think. Language French is the first language of the park, English is an alternative. In addition, the park's projects and activities should also focus on the integration with French culture, just like the Mickey Mouse photo I showed you the day before."

Some of Kasenberg was convinced by Eric, but he still asked: "When you change your name, will it be too abrupt and the purpose is too obvious?"

Eric laughed: "It depends on the media public relations means of the operations department."

"Then let me get out a plan as soon as possible," Kasenberger nodded. "You, Eric, when are you going to go back, Jurassic Park is still late, you can't leave Is it too long?"

"I stayed for a few more days. Later work was personally responsible for Stan. He was involved in most of the filmmaking process. He wanted to know what effect he had already had. He would not have any problems. If he can let go In the management of the digital field, I even intend to hand him the sequel to the director."

Kasenberg knows that Firefly is expected to shoot three Jurassic Parks. When he heard this, he was a little surprised: "Don't you plan to personally direct the sequel?"

Eric shrugged: "Look at the situation, I am not sure about myself."

The two were chatting casually, not far from the far and near sound of a rush of footsteps, Eric just turned his head, Allen had already come to him.

Allen hurriedly nodded to Kasenberg, only to say to Eric: "Mr. Williams, phone, phone in New York, urgent."

"Jeffrey, wait a moment, I will finish the call after we finish the call," Eric said to Kasenberg, and got up and left with Allen.

Although Kasenberg was curious about what would happen in New York to find Eric, he did not ask, but said that he nodded.

After more than ten minutes, Eric did not appear, but only Allen walked in a hurry: "Sorry, Mr. Kasenberg, Mr. Williams has already gone to the airport, he wants to fly to New York tonight, let me Come and tell you."

"What happened?" Kasenberg stood up and his expression was solemn.

Allen shook his head and thought about it and said: "I don't know much, but it has nothing to do with the company. It is... a private matter of Mr. Williams."

Kasenberg sees Allen’s words and stops, but since it is Eric’s private affairs, he relaxes a little and does not ask: “Don’t you go back with Eric?”

Allen replied: "Mr. Williams asked me to stay here for a while and communicate with him about the rectification work here."

Kasenberger nodded. "In this case, you have been with me lately, yes, what else does Eric have left?"

"No," Allen opened his mouth and didn't say anything. After Eric took the phone, he hurried and didn't have time to explain anything. (To be continued)