Chapter 127: Acquiring the Theater Chain
With the phenomenal box office success of "Saving Private Ryan" and word-of-mouth praise, the name "Yi Feiyang" once again resonated throughout Hollywood.
Yi Feng Yang himself, as a Chinese-American director, has been the subject of rumors about his genius directing skills, and has received constant attention from all of Hollywood, becoming the target of pursuit by countless paparazzi seeking to dig up news.
According to the general way of thinking, since being pursued by Hollywood, one should take the initiative to show off and let the media and the public know themselves. If necessary, they can also shout a few words in front of the camera, deliver a few speeches that are not inferior to Martin Luther King's moving speeches, and then become truly famous.
It can be said that the idea above is the voice of most people who come to Hollywood to make a name for themselves.
What's going on here?
Is it not for fame and wealth, to make a name and gain a million?!
Struggling for so long, the goal is very clear, let the spotlight shine in your eyes, and let money keep you awake forever!
However, Yi Feiyang was an exception. At such a noisy moment, he chose to remain low-key and silent.
To the point where many media outlets wanting to interview him were left bewildered, while others are eager to expose themselves and become famous, this Chinese Yi always hides and dodges, playing hide-and-seek with everyone? Is it true that Eastern and Western cultures have vastly different understandings of fame and success?
These media can't figure it out, and even the people around Yi Fei Yang can't figure it out.
But none of these things prevented Yi Fei Yang from doing something very important - going to pay his respects to the elephant Henry.
On Henry the elephant's tomb, Yifei Yang placed a bouquet of fresh flowers in front of the monument.
On the tombstone. A photo of Henry the elephant, beaming with a happy smile, a smile that Yi Feiyang had never seen before. It was said to be a photo taken when his daughter was just born.
On the tombstone is engraved an epitaph: "A fat man, a dead fat man, a really dead fat man!"
It is said that this epitaph was written by Henry the Elephant himself, meaning to say that a long time ago everyone cursed him as an idiot. He was a dead fat man, now the fat man has finally died.
Yi Feiyang felt that the title "Death Director" was somewhat ominous, having personally filmed two films and then personally witnessed the departure of two people from the world.
One was poor, miserable old Mr. John, who had no friends and was left with only a small dog when he departed; the other was a wealthy porn magnate, who lived in luxury but also had no friends and was equally lonely when he left.
Two people, at two extremes of wealth and poverty, yet sharing the same fate when they leave.
This made Yifei Yang think. What is the point of being alive?!
He let out a sigh, then opened a can of Coke and poured it over Henry the Elephant's tombstone.
"In life, because of diabetes, you had to give up your beloved Coke. Now, you can drink as much as you want!" Yì Fēi Yáng said softly.
Behind him stood Annie Hathaway, Fatso Gao's family treasure, and Henry the Elephant's private lawyer. Everyone understood Yi Feiyang's mood, so no one spoke up.
After a while, Anne Hathaway gently pulled Yi Feiyang and said, "Let's go back."
"Yes, Mr. Yi, we should also discuss your acquisition of TOP Film Company's theater chain." The private lawyer said.
Yi Feiyang nodded and a group of people walked out. As soon as they stepped out of the door, a large number of media reporters surrounded them.
"Yi, can I have an exclusive interview with you?"
"Mr. Yi, what's your next plan?"
"What's your next play going to be?"
……
"What's the future development of DreamWorks?"
"How do you view yourself constantly creating miracles?!"
"What do you think of those movie reviews?"
……
Facing a swarm of reporters, Yi Feiyang only said one sentence, "Sorry, no comment for now." Then he lowered his head and walked away, with those reporters closely following him.
The scene was chaotic for a moment.
A TV reporter holds a microphone, with chaos in the background. Live report: "Everyone has seen this, it's Chinese-American director Yi Feiyang's first public appearance after his new film broke 100 million yuan at the box office. However, he won't accept any interviews or visits."
"China Yi has now become the most sought-after young director in Hollywood, especially since each of his films becomes a classic and sparks topics. Many famous Hollywood stars and film companies are eager to work with him, but China Yi seems to have no concrete plans for shooting his third film yet. His fans, however, can't wait any longer. Yes, we're all curious - what's China Yi's next project? What kind of miracle will he bring us this time?"
"Oh my god, look! A reporter tried to grab Yi's arm but was pushed away by him! This is a very serious physical conflict! Slow down the footage now, everyone can see clearly on the screen that the black reporter used his hand to grab... yes, grab Yi's left arm, and Yi unceremoniously pushed him away with great force. That poor black reporter almost fell to the ground!"
"The camera cuts back, and the black reporter seems to be muttering to himself, probably cursing China Yi. China Yi gets into the car directly without paying attention to him, while other reporters rush to take pictures of him getting in! The car starts slowly, but many reporters are still standing in front taking fierce shots, you can imagine that the flashlights have already dazzled China Yi's eyes... From this angle, we can vaguely see that he is using his hand to block the flashlights... It seems that China Yi's heart is not ruthless enough, if it were other celebrities, they would have stepped on the gas pedal by now!"
"Wow, China Easy's car has finally started moving, but those reporters are still hot on their heels, they're really too dedicated, risking life and death to get the scoop... However, we hope these reporters can be more rational and give China Easy some private space. And, we kindly remind dear China Easy, you should hire a few bodyguards, because you'll encounter even more trouble in the future. Everyone knows that in America, reporters are scarier than robbers! That's all for today's report, please stay tuned to CBS TV, News Flash, sharing with you! I'm Blake Newman, reporting live!"
……
Yi Feiyang finally got rid of those persistent media reporters and took a car directly onto the highway, heading to TOP Film Company.
It's still the building that looks more like a nightclub than a film company, but the originally eye-catching "TOP Entertainment Company" sign is being dismantled due to construction.
Anyone who is slightly informed knows that since the death of porn mogul Henry, TOP Film Company has been "in name only", if it weren't for the fact that the film "Saving Private Rachel" was too hot in the North American market, I estimate that TOP Film Company would have been acquired by other adult entertainment companies, or even squeezed out.
However, it is rumored that the newly rising Dream Illusion Entertainment intends to absorb the dissolved TOP company employees into its banner and absorb them as new members.
Whether this rumor is true or false, for those top employees who are at their wit's end and worried about their livelihoods, it is a great piece of news.
Not to mention the strength of Dream Illusion Pictures, but its current development momentum is absolutely the best among new film companies. Especially as the boss of the company, Yi Feiyang, he is a legendary great director, almost every time he shoots a movie, he breaks historical records, his existence itself is a miracle!
Being able to work with such an awesome person, creating a career together, is absolutely exciting and thrilling.
……
Inside the office of TOP movie company.
Yi Feiyang sat in the boss chair that originally belonged to Henry the elephant, studying with his private secretary William the acquisition of the eight major cinema chains and the absorption of its employees.
Of course, these things involve some legal procedures and articles of law, which are not easy to fly, so he still asked his private lawyer Louis Carl to come over.
Karl carefully reviewed the documents presented by William's lawyer, studied several key points of contention, and waited until Easy Flying thought the content was okay before both parties finalized the agreement.
Yi Feiyang acquired eight major cinema chains, including "Mega Star Cinema", with a huge sum of $240 million. These eight major cinema chains have a total of 58 cinemas, located in six districts of Los Angeles, and are valued at over $300 million if calculated by market price.
Easy Fly acquired the eight major theater chains at a price lower than market value, saving $6 million. The cost was to absorb the laid-off employees of TOP Corporation as regular employees of Dream Movie Company, with equal treatment and benefits. Most importantly, within two years, Dream Movie Company cannot arbitrarily fire these people without special reasons.
Yi Feiyang roughly calculated that he needed to absorb about thirty employees, at a salary of 1 million yuan per person per year, the annual expenditure would be 30 million, and two years would be 60 million, which is exactly the amount of the preferential contract offered by Henry the elephant!
Yi Feiyang couldn't help but shake his head and sigh, this big elephant was really too good at math to be a businessman.
But after Yi Feiyang carefully looked at the information of over thirty people, he couldn't help but feel delighted again.
These people are almost all old employees or old subordinates of TOP Entertainment Company, who have been struggling with Henry the elephant since the company was founded. There are those in charge of promoting and distributing small films, those in charge of finance, those in charge of video copying, and even those in charge of "tax evasion"... The key is under the condition that American law permits... In addition to these, there are also some experienced star scouts, professional agents, etc., which are exactly what Dream Film Company lacks now.
Yi Feiyang had reason to believe that even if not all of these people were talented, there must be one or two who were particularly outstanding. What he needed to do was to dig them out and let them serve him wholeheartedly!
