I’m in Hollywood

Because of Eric's special instructions, in just one week, good news came from Los Angeles, and the Firefly TV drama department successfully won The Story of the Emergency Room.

In his memory, Eric was very impressed by the touching appeal of Story from the Emergency Room in a series of ordinary and trivial medical work shots, and he still clearly remembered the first time he watched it. When I came to this American drama, Eric had no interest in this kind of medical drama, but after one episode, Eric was firmly attracted by the story, and then he watched the big drama out of control. Some episodes, and then Eric also found the equally popular Grey's Anatomy, but the strong taste of palace fighting and some details released in the first episode of Grey have an impact on The Story of the Emergency Room. The parody made Eric can only sigh what the hell is this.

Of course, it may also be due to Eric's age at the time. The series of protagonists in Story from the Emergency Room are adults in their thirties and forties, and it is relatively easier to let that time pass. The young Eric resonated, and the protagonist of Grey was a group of interns who had just left the medical school, and the target group was also young people.

Due to differences in living habits and time zones, although the four major public television networks in North America have very comprehensive coverage, during the day, they usually arrange different TV programs according to different regions, especially the sub-TV stations distributed in major cities in North America.

The main competition period for the ratings of the four major TV stations is the three-hour prime time period from 7:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. in each time zone. During these three hours, the comedy programs are 22 minutes long and the drama TV series are 43 minutes long. The show is mixed with other types of reality shows.

Under normal circumstances, as long as a public TV station has one or two high-rating programs to attract viewers, then because of the viewing inertia, it can guarantee the basic audience of the TV station. The reasons for several major TV stations for ten years, and after Friends, because of the lack of high ratings programs, they also quickly fell behind other TV networks. The final major shareholder has to conform to the general trend of media group integration and will merge with Universal Pictures.

Although it is not easy to operate a network that covers the whole of North America and has more than 200 sub-tv networks, it will take back the broadcasting rights of Friends next year and own The Story of the Emergency Room. Develop a few more good reality shows, and at the same time, with the cooperation of Firefly Pictures' rich film and television content resources, as long as the operators of the TV network are not idiots, although they will not be far away from other major TV stations, they will definitely occupy a leading position. no problem. There will not be a situation where the original time and space TV station has become a drag on the Disney Group.

After the record-breaking Jurassic Park in late September spurred a sharp rise in media stocks, and as Viacom completed its takeover of the Blockbuster chain, Paramount Communications' two bidders unanimously accelerated their acquisitions. Pace, for some time in early October, can be seen in newspapers and TV news programs almost every day.

but,

Then something happened that completely broke the balance between the two sides.

In addition to Barry Diller, one of the major shareholders of Paramount Communications' bidders has the support of two communications equipment operators, Comcast and Telematics, but on October 11, at\u0026t (AT\u0026T) ) suddenly announced the acquisition of the telecommunications company. Telecom's majority shareholder and chairman, John Malone, would have been Barry Diller's biggest backer. Comcast has never been too enthusiastic about acquiring Paramount Communications. This sudden acquisition means that the biggest support behind Barry Diller has disappeared.

Without the financial support of telecommunications, Barry Diller was quickly defeated in the competition with Redstone.

On October 23rd, after a week-long final bidding process, Viacom Chairman Redstone and Paramount Communications Chairman Martin Davis officially announced at the Paramount headquarters in Hollywood, Los Angeles. Viacom buys Paramount Communications for $11 billion.

In Eric's eyes, although Paramount Communications has several TV stations, music companies and a publishing house in addition to Paramount Pictures, its value is not much higher than that of Disney. Redstone won the company with an indomitable attitude of taking advantage of him. Apart from proving that he is still 70 years old, he can't get too many benefits.

Of course, that's not something Eric cares about, after all. Although Eric is not clear about many details, Eric has long known the outcome of this bidding, so his attention has always been on another person, Barry Diller.

In the bedroom of the East Hampton villa, Eric held a little guy in one hand and looked at Joanna who was quietly packing for him. Said: New York is getting colder and colder, why don't you go back to Los Angeles with me?

Joanna carefully folded a pair of Eric's trousers and stuffed it into the suitcase, and said softly, Vicky hasn't come back yet, and I don't want to go to Los Angeles.

Eric didn't force Joanna's little insistence, and said, I'll come over and spend it with you during Thanksgiving.

Okay, Joanna put on a gentle smile on her face, and then said, You came here last year, over there... will they be dissatisfied?

No, they are not married, and most of them have to go home to celebrate Thanksgiving with their families, Eric shook his head, thinking of Xiao Nizi again, and said, That, I mean, do you mind? Will Drew come with her, she doesn't have a good relationship with her parents?

It's okay, just bring her along.

Although I don't like Xiao Nizi's surly character in my heart, Joanna will never show it in front of Eric. In other words, Eric has rarely felt any negative emotions from Joanna since they met. Perhaps this is why Eric prefers to stay by this woman's side subconsciously.

After packing Eric's luggage and handing it over to the maid next to her, Joanna took Hawaii from Eric's arms: You can go now, don't delay too late.

It's okay, Eric rubbed his son's chubby face in his arms: It's the company's plane. My boss still has the right to make them wait for a while.

...

When he arrived in Los Angeles, it was already 12:00 noon Western Time on October 24th. Eric got off the plane. Without contacting anyone else, he took the car and headed for the hotel on Sunset Boulevard. Barry Diller was already waiting in the hotel. Own.

Although Barry Diller can be seen on TV every day during this time, but this time when I see him. Eric could still feel the undeniable disappointment radiating from Barry Diller.

The two stood across the door of the hotel room and greeted Barry Diller. Eric looked at the middle-aged man who had just turned 50 and was already bald and white-haired, and said, Barry. You must not have eaten lunch. Well, shall we go to the restaurant?

Okay, I'll go and put on my coat, Barry Diller turned and walked into the room, and quickly came out wearing a black coat.

The two walked to the elevator door together. Eric pressed the button, glanced at Barry Diller, who still seemed to be in a trance, and comforted: I don't think there is any need for you to be disappointed, believe me, if you win Paramount for $110, that's a good idea. disaster.

If you lose, you lose, Eric, I'm not the kind of person who doesn't dare to face failure, it's just... well, it's been a busy year. Suddenly you realize that all your work is in vain, you should be able to Feeling this feeling, Barry Diller suddenly realized that Eric, a young man with a strange path to success, had never experienced such a failure, he laughed at himself, and said, Disappointment is always inevitable, It will be fine in a while.”

The two walked to the restaurant of the hotel together. It was meal time, and the people who could stay at the luxury hotel on Sunset Boulevard were not mediocre people. They saw Eric and Barry Diller appear together. They all whispered involuntarily, and some people took the initiative to say hello.

After dealing with a few people who were familiar but could not name names, Eric and Barry Diller chose a seat by the window and sat down.

Barry, what do you want to eat? Eric took the menu from the waiter: I treat guests. You know, I rarely treat people to dinner.

Barry Diller smiled, ordered a random pasta, and returned the menu to the waiter.

Eric didn't force it, he also ordered a pasta and a bottle of red wine.

Wait for the waiter immediately. Eric said: Barry, I didn't comfort you just now. Paramount, in my opinion, is only worth the price when Firefly acquired Disney Pictures. I can bet you that it won't take five years, Leishi. Dong will surely regret it.

Eric remembered Lei Shidong's character, and smiled again: Of course, Lei Shidong will definitely not put regret on his face.

It's not the same, Eric, Barry Diller shook his head and said, Just like your fireflies, I think fireflies are more valuable in your heart than anyone imagined, and so am I, although Paramount wasn't my first job, but I feel like that's where my career really kicked off, and it was just kind of an experience at William Morris and TV. If I had $11 billion now, I'd be sure I won't hesitate to grab Paramount from Redstone, but unfortunately, I didn't.

The two chatted casually, and lunch was brought up quickly. After flying in the sky for a few hours, Eric only drank a bottle of water.

Barry Diller seemed to have found a trace of his youthful breath from Eric's actions, and he felt a little more relaxed and picked up the cutlery. Neither of them are the kind of people who eat slowly, so they settled down to the lunch in front of them. Barry Diller took a sip of red wine and said, Eric, although it's very enjoyable to eat like this, I still recommend that you eat more slowly in the future. , You know, I was similar to you when I was young, and I was tossed by stomach problems for many years.

Eric nodded with a smile, picked up the red wine next to him and gestured to Barry Diller, and the two drank some more red wine before Eric finally said, Barry, what are you going to do next?

Barry Diller looked at the hustle and bustle of traffic on the street outside the window, and remembered the evaluation in the media that he had been away from Hollywood for a while at the beginning of the year, and suddenly he was a little confused.

Although he briefly left the Hollywood circle for running this shopping TV station, Barry Diller has never given up the idea of ​​returning to Hollywood. However, the original smug acquisition plan failed due to a series of changes, and Barry Diller finally realized that it still seems that it is not so easy for him to return to Hollywood.

However, Barry Diller also has his own pride, this once all-powerful Hollywood tycoon, he can easily see Eric's intention from the layout of Firefly Pictures during this period, but since he had already decided not to To be another employee, a man of firm mind like Barry Diller certainly wouldn't go back on his word so easily.

Eric, Jeffrey seems to be playing a leading role in the news of Firefly's withdrawal from Fox, and if I guess right, maybe next year or later, you'll have him Taking over from Michael Lynn?

There is nothing to hide about this, Eric nodded and admitted.

Barry Diller shrugged slightly, with some helplessness and self-deprecation in his expression again: Then you have to know, whether in the period or the Paramount period, Jeffrey has always been my deputy, what do you think? , can I go back?

Barry, I'm going to buy a network, you know what I mean, I want you to run the network.

But you're not going to keep the network absolutely independent. The network is still under the jurisdiction of Firefly's headquarters, right?

Eric nodded. If after the acquisition of the TV network, the two parties still maintain their own business independence, then there is no difference between them and no acquisition. The main purpose of Eric's acquisition of the TV network is to maximize the use of the TV network's channels to maximize the benefits of Firefly's film and television resources.

Barry, although the network can't remain absolutely alone, I can assure you that Jeffrey will not overly intervene in the management of the network, not even me personally, you know, my personal The reputation has always been very good.”

Barry Diller still shook his head and said, Eric, it won't work, you should know Jeffrey's character, if I join Firefly, this exchange of positions will make me and Jeffrey feel very uncomfortable. (To be continued.)

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