Chapter 19 Are you interested?

In early April 2000, many financial critics couldn't understand the series of changes between AC Media and Sony Records. First, Sony Records announced on Friday that it was about to take over MCM Records. But just two days later, AC Media suddenly announced on Monday that it had successfully acquired Universal Music for 6.5 billion yuan and would merge with MCM Records to form a new Universal Music. As for Sony Records, the spokesperson only mentioned at the end that it would cooperate with them in-depth.

It's really a hell. Even if there is a big reversal, it won't be so dramatic, right?

However, the facts will not change with their surprise. AC Media has taken back control of MCM and is stronger. It has cross-holding shares with Sony Records, but it has more shares than Sony. It also has a seat on the board of directors of Sony Records, but Sony Records can only hold shares...

These and some unimportant details were disclosed one after another. Financial critics immediately changed their tone and began to praise AC Media's proper strategic deception. The previous words that ridiculed them for encountering heavy setbacks seemed to have never been said. A commentator from the Wall Street Journal praised Adrian and Crowder as natural partners.

Well, at least this sentence is correct. Adrian and Crowder did cooperate well. One is responsible for business negotiations and company operations, the other is responsible for creativity and development, supporting and supplementing each other, and completely plays a 1+1>2 role.Take this big reversal as an example. In addition to Claude's commercial alliance, Adrian's various creativity provided by him for trading also contributed.

For example, when forcing Motola to sign the contract, those two TV series, "Internship Storm" and "Office Storm", easily tied up Viacom and NBC.

A large part of American TV series describes police, doctors and lawyers, so Adrian promised "The Internship" to CBS. In memory, the TV series has a viewership of 10 million at least in the first two seasons. After the millennium, with the continuous development of cable TV, the ratings of wireless TV stations have begun to decline. It is already a good series to reach 10 million.

It is a little worse for NBC. "Office Storm" was originally a British miniseries. It was very interesting to shoot with documentary techniques. Its ratings were not low in the UK. Later, NBC bought the copyright. Although the ratings of the US version were not high, the quality was still good.

However, even the British version has not been released yet. The shooting techniques are used properly and can be well Americanized, and the ratings will definitely reach two levels.

Of course, more importantly, Adrian made a guarantee that these will be two good TV series. To this day, is there anyone who doesn’t believe what the director of Miracle said?

The same goes for the arrangements for Warner and Fox and Sony Columbia, and it goes without saying that Fox and Sony Columbia have been discussed for nearly two months, Adrian's proposal has both succeeded and failed.

The success is because the overall story of the trilogy is much better than the original. The author of Marvel and the screenwriter of Global finally made the story basically self-consistent based on the outline he gave. Although there are still many bugs, this is a problem with Marvel Comics itself.

Moreover, the reason for Dr. X's paralysis, the relationship between Wolverine and Sabertooth Tiger has also been set by Adrian's requirements. As long as the original version can be maintained after production, it will definitely be more popular.

But it is impossible to extend this to set other characters' stories because the amount of information is too large and society is always developing. The plots people like today may hate tomorrow, and commercial movies are particularly obvious in this regard.

Unless we start shooting immediately after we finish the script, we might have to rewrite the story in the past few years, and there are too many characters in "X-Men". Apart from the main heroes, we are not sure which ones will be popular and which ones will not be popular after being shot into a live-action movie.

After the discussion, Jing and Global gave Adrian an assessment together.

What they said is indeed very reasonable, so Adrian gave up this plan, and the initial request was just to make the series derived not so ugly.

Even so, it is enough to attract Fox and Sony Columbia to participate. Adrian also hinted that some valuable superheroes will definitely consider selling. Needless to say, what choices they will make, no one knows that Marvel is a big gold mine now.

Adding up all the factors, and News Group is a largely bystander, even if Sony Columbia supports Sony Records, it is very limited, so it will naturally be settled.

In the end, Warner is left. They have DC, so it is impossible to get involved in surprise. However, the TV network is not wide, and there is no suitable program. They have always been their heart disease. And they are still trapped in the quagmire of American Online. Adrian used the reality show "Fast Forward" suitable for cable TV broadcasting to get them done.

In addition, Adrian also proposed that the support of Sony Group by supporting the high-definition DVD format standards was still proposed. Although it is still 2000, the dispute over the standards has already begun, but it has not reached the level of intense force a year or two.

It was his decision to cooperate with Sony Records instead of taking this opportunity to swallow it up. This is certainly a good opportunity. All situations are beneficial to AC Media. The other party also has its own chess pieces. If you don’t want to raise funds, Adrian still has a lot of funds, but Sony Group may not give up Sony Records. Even if the benefits of the record industry are beyond the first three items, this will be a troublesome thing and will have an impact on the subsequent plans.

So it is better to cooperate. It is easier to sweep Motola out in this way. Of course, there must be benefits, such as they hold more shares and have seats on the board of directors, while Sony Records can only hold shares.

However, Adrian did not let them go completely. Although the two sides agreed to divide the market together. With Universal Music being acquired and MCM Records, the new Universal Music will be the largest record company with the largest market share. It is fully qualified to make such suggestions. However, after the record industry began to sluggish across the board in the past few years, according to the agreement, Sony had to take the lead in attracting firepower. AC Media just needs to wait behind to pick up fruits. This is the advantage of the Prophet.

It is precisely because of the targeted arrangements given by Adrian that Claude can almost perfectly differentiate and crack them.

In fact, this dual-core model with excellent cooperation and strong complementarity is what many companies pursue. The most famous example is Disney. After Walt Disney and Roy Disney (not the Roy Disney of Walt's nephew) founded Disney Company, Walt was responsible for design and production, while his brother Roy was responsible for financial operations and business management. The excellent cooperation between them made Disney animation develop rapidly.

The same was true for the golden decade from the early 1980s to the early 1994s. Michael Eisner was responsible for creativity and planning the general direction. Frank Wilson, who understood him and could tolerate his weird temper, was responsible for business negotiations. Disney, which was originally worth more than one billion, became a large group worth tens of billions.

Unfortunately, Wilson was killed in 1994 due to a helicopter crash. Eisner lost a good partner, Disney's management began to become unbalanced, and internal power struggles emerged again.

There are many such examples, and Sony's Akio Morita and Fukada Ire are also typical examples. They founded Sony together and developed it to the peak, but after their deaths in 1997 and 1999, Sony also began to go downhill.

No matter what AC Media will do in the future, as long as Adrian and Crowder continue to cooperate in close cooperation, and with the cheater, it will not be difficult to climb to a higher peak.

Now I can finally breathe a sigh of relief temporarily.

Claude raised his glass, and as always, after completing the acquisition, he and Adrian privately celebrated with a drink in the office, the difference was that this time it was in Adrian's office.

So, aren't you going to start integrating our new Universal Music?Adrian raised his cup and ran into him.

Oh, let me go, how much energy has I consumed during this period?I'll always give me a few days to rest.Claude complained, I am not as leisurely as you.

laid back?I have two movies to complete this year, as well as the late stage of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, the preparations for the remaining two films of The Matrix, and a lot of movies and TV series to be asked about.

Adrian smiled and spread his hands out.

But it is also very convenient for you to reduce stress, isn’t it?Claude shrugged.

No no no no, Crow.Adrian laughed, at least I wouldn't rent some venues and let the models come and play undressing and walk the catwalk...

OK OK, let’s not talk about this topic anymore, okay?Claude interrupted quickly.

Don't worry, Crow, even if the Godfather knows, he will only scold you a few words. You said that he praised us for the recent strategic deception.

Adrian said leisurely, and then asked something: By the way, Elle did not participate in your inexplicable activities.

Of course not. Everyone knows that she is your collection, and Alexander also pays attention to these things. Claude sighed when he said this. Frankly speaking, I regret it now. Ed, I wouldn't have given it to you if I had known it.Then again, why do you always make women treat you so...and knowingly?

Because I know what they are thinking!Adrian laughed, this is talent, Crow, don't be jealous of me.

Yeah?Mr. Adrian, then please tell me what Miss Penelope Cruz was thinking at the beginning?Claude immediately showed an interesting look.

Adrian didn't think it was offended, but just shrugged: What else could it be? Being blinded by the momentary desire and temptation, intervening in things that she had no ability to intervene. There are always such stupid women in the world.

Having said that, he sighed in his heart. According to Penelope's performance, she should be a smart woman with moderation and progress. Why did she join in the incident like a different person after encountering this?

He was not sorry for anything. After that, he could already look at things more objectively, or control himself more.

You have to pay the price to do something wrong, but in this way, your Spanish collection must be vacant.

But, you just drove her back?Claude originally wanted to say something, but after thinking about it, he just asked this question.

Then what do you think I should do?Leave her and… Adrian made a few gestures, and Claude burst into laughter.

Of course, the premise of letting go is that Penelope is smart enough, otherwise it would be difficult to say.

So, when news came from Spain that she and Almodovar turned against each other and announced their withdrawal from the entertainment industry, Adrian sighed again. It turned out that Penelope was still smart. She obviously understood what Adrian said to her, don't let me see you in Hollywood again.

Even if she can pretend to be deaf and dumb and take on some European movies in the future and cannot radiate the entire world, what's the use?

Do you want to shoot so-called art films in your entire life?

Moreover, Adrian would not give her the opportunity to pretend to be deaf and dumb, and he also took her to attend the signing ceremony. With one word, she also offended another media group, so it would be better to withdraw cleanly.

Penelope also played a trick and used this method to show goodwill. He first participated in a small Spanish production, and then attacked on excuses when he collaborated with Almodova.

Almodovar is a person who further discovered Penelope's charm. He had a falling out with him, and the rumors of returning because of the unfavorable development of Hollywood, it would be natural to withdraw from the entertainment industry and would not be associated with other aspects.

What a pity, but if you have a vacancy, nothing is perfect.Adrian commented on the news.

He kept staring at Penelope, and knew very well how anxious she was, like a wrecked dog, what happened after returning to Spain.

However, the whole thing was not completely over. Although she was still a little bit of a brain to let it go, the interest rate must be charged a little.

For example, the crew of "Fast and Furious" that has been filmed immediately was replaced, but they did not give an explanation, and let the outside world make a guess. Then someone would collect some clues and then make up some plots. At that time, her reputation in the entertainment industry would be completely ruined.

In addition, there is also an interest, but he plans to wait a few years before collecting it.

Okay, let’s talk about the serious business, such as personnel changes. Sony Records helped us find several restless guys, and we need better people to replace them.

Claude changed the topic, and Eric helped us a lot this time, so we had to express it.

Of course, of course, if Eric hadn't entered the interior of Sony Records, we wouldn't know when they would have to deal with it.

Adrian nodded. The artistic director of the new Universal Music must be his. He is very capable and very loyal to us. No one else can do this job except him. If someone on Universal Music doesn't recognize it, it doesn't matter. I have equipped Eric with the title of legendary music producer.

So, you plan to... Claude raised an eyebrow.

That's right, those classic songs were done with the help of Eric.Adrian replied with a smile.

Well, then next, I plan to transfer Clifton, the deputy director of the publicity department, to the music department to preside over the work, Charles, the director of the planning department, to be the secretary of the board of directors, and Kurt, the former secretary of the board of directors, came to the headquarters.

Claude continued.

Just make the decision on these, I... Adrian suddenly paused, wait!

What's wrong?Claude was a little strange.

Adrian didn't answer, just frowning and thinking about something, then, the knock on the door rang, and after permission, Charlize walked in with the folder.

Sorry, Ed, it's not that I want to disturb you, but this document must be signed by you and Crow.

She said this, wearing decent OL clothing, black transparent stockings and high heels, the bulge of front and back tilted with an indescribable temptation, but she looked calm and quite attractive.

OK, thanks.

Claude took it, looked at it in detail, then signed his name and handed it to Adrian, "Don't look at her, you look at her like this every day, can't you wait for me to leave before you look at her like this?"

What I think is my business.Adrian withdrew his gaze from Charlize, who was calm and signed his name on the document.

By the way, Charlie, I have a question.Adrian suddenly asked after returning the documents to Charlize.

Please say, but I have the right not to answer some cross-border questions and reserve the right to fight back.Charlize said leisurely, while Claude burst out laughing.

Adrian shrugged without hesitation: Speaking of which, how long have you been my secretary assistant, Charlie?

7 years, 1 month, 9 days.Charlize answered in one go.

Wow!Adrian couldn't help but scream, do you actually remember it so accurate?

I have confidence in my memory and if you are giving me a few minutes I can accurately count this number to the hour.

Charlize said in a very plain tone, as if it was just a trivial matter.

This is not needed.Adrian raised his hand and then coughed dryly, "Okay, Charlie, I want to ask, are you interested, go to ABC to be the director of the planning department?

Charlize immediately raised his eyebrows, and Claude next to him also showed a look of surprise.

I think you shouldn't be controlled by anyone, and I shouldn't have any auditory hallucinations, right?It took several seconds before Charlize looked at him and exhaled.

Oh, of course!Adrian raised his hands and asked again, So, are you interested in becoming the director of ABC's planning department, Charlie?

A few minutes later, Charlize gave the answer: As you plan.

After saying that, the girl turned around and walked out without waiting for him to speak.This time, Claude didn't joke about this. As soon as the door was closed, he asked anxiously: Are you serious, Ed?

Do I look like I'm kidding?

Adrian spread his hands and said, don't tell me, do you think Charlie doesn't have that ability, or do you think she's done in the past seven years and you haven't seen anything at all?

No, I just... Claude made a gesture, you're sure you're willing to let her out for office.

Adrian didn't speak.

All right!Claude sighed, if you decide, and Charlie decides, then I have no objection!