Tokyo.

Japan in 1988 was still addicted to the vortex, and Tokyo at night was like a huge alien beast, with banknotes rushing in neon blood vessels, and the stock market and land prices swelled in the whiskey bubble.

Compared to New York at this time, this is heaven and hell.

People's perception of economic recession is lagging behind. The Japanese economic bubble burst in 1991, but ordinary people feel that the economic recession is about 94-95. Then there are the lost thirty years, the lost 40 years... and it has been losing.

Central District, a member-based high-level club.

In the Western-style private room, Sony American Vice President Shulhof, speaking fluent Japanese, reported to an old man opposite: "Our successful acquisition of Columbia Records means that we have obtained 25% of the global market share and have distribution channels in more than 40 countries, which is a great improvement to our global strategy."

"Well, thank you for your hard work this time!"

The old man nodded and raised his cup to show slightly.

He is nearly 70 years old, with gray hair, wearing a pair of glasses, and very thick eyebrows. He is one of the founders of Sony, Akio Morita!

Sony's current strategy is simply to combine "hardware + software".

The acquisition of Columbia Records was essentially to promote its own CDs and CD machines. The negotiations were negotiated for a long time, and it was initially $1.25 billion. A few months later, the record company's stock rose and it opened to $2 billion.

And I immediately encountered a stock market crash, and the market value of the record company plummeted. It was still $2 billion. If you buy it, we will sell it!

Sony won it in one fell swoop, setting a record for the largest amount of Japanese companies acquiring American companies. Although it was several times the premium, Sony believed it was very worth it and owned hundreds of thousands of music copyrights.

Akio Morita took a sip of wine and spoke slowly, saying: "More than ten years ago, home video recorders had just emerged. We launched the Beta standard and JVC launched the VHS standard. The two camps faced each other, they bound the American producers and rental stores, and gave priority to the distribution rights of popular videos. Our content was scarce and gradually became marginalized, and we lost."

Speaking of this, he was still unwilling to accept it and sighed: "I still think that if we had a rich film library back then, we might not have lost. This is also Sony's original intention to implement the hardware + software strategy."

"Now Sony's mini TVs, Watchman, 8mm cameras and other products are entering the US market. If we have a huge software library, it will bring unimaginable advantages."

Shulhof's heart was thrilled when he heard this and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I like movies, and it's my dream to own a Hollywood film company." Akio Morita smiled.

"I understand, sir! Please leave it to me."

Schulhof said immediately.

"How is the response to American public opinion when we acquire Columbia Records?"

"Most of them panic and regard it as an invasion of Japanese culture."

"This is not an invasion of Japanese culture. Our strategy is global localization. We acquire excellent companies, but it will not highlight Japanese characteristics and allow them to maintain their local characteristics. While you act, you should pay attention to the influence of public opinion."

Akio Morita repeatedly reminded him, and Shulhof agreed repeatedly.

Shulhof, when he heard that his name was German, was very familiar with the American market and had a good personal relationship with Akio Morita, so he was responsible for Sony's affairs in the United States.

Now, he has received a new task: acquire a Hollywood company!

…………

In March, the sunshine in Los Angeles returned and entered a warm and comfortable spring.

Schulkhof returned to the United States and held a meeting to study it immediately.

Hollywood used to be the top eight: Warner, United, MGM, Disney, 20th Century Fox, Universal, Paramount, and Columbia. But United was acquired by MGM and is now the top seven.

Sony will definitely not acquire small companies anymore and will directly target giants.

Schulkhov knew it was difficult, but Akio Morita sent a task and had to complete it himself, so he first asked for the seven majors.

It instantly shocked in Hollywood!

Those with strong family backgrounds, such as Warner, don’t even look at them, just mocking: “It’s not enough for the Japanese to buy a record company, they actually target Hollywood! They really think that they can buy everything with money? Humph! Nouveau riche!”

No matter how mocking you, you still feel sad, because you are so rich!

Disney was inexplicably surprised. How could I sell myself to Japan by making American cartoons? I directly refused. Similarly, there are also some Universal and Paramount companies, which are all in good financial situation.

MGM has poor management, a lot of debts, and ambiguous attitude, and expressed willingness to talk.

Finally, it's Colombia.

...

At this moment, there was a movie "Sad Hotel" on the screen in the Columbia company's movie room.

Before a Hollywood movie goes to theaters, it takes several rounds of internal trials. Experts and audiences are asked to give suggestions and make targeted modifications. After a while, it will be released. So those bad movies I see in theaters, hey! That is the result of people's efforts, otherwise it will be even worse.

Of course, it is not ruled out that the situation of breaking the can is not ruled out.

"Sad Hotel" is a trial, with Price himself in charge, and there are several senior executives, experts and audiences who signed confidentiality agreements. The director of the film is Chris Columbus, and his representative works include "Home Imperial", "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone", etc.

But that was later, and now he was sweating all over his head.

"What the hell is this movie talking about?"

“It feels messy!”

"It's absurd and not funny!"

This film tells a high school student who is obsessed with rock music and has a bad relationship with his mother. His mother is a fan of Elvis. The protagonist travels through a Cadillac car for some reason to travel to the 1970s, kidnapped Elvis, who was at the trough of his career, and brought him back to the small town of Ohio in 1988.

Elvis gradually regained his passion for music while getting along with the protagonist's family, and the protagonist also understood the meaning of family. Finally, with a small town concert as the climax, Elvis regained the charm of the stage, and the protagonist reconciled with his mother...

What the fuck!

After the screening, unanimous and friendly greetings rang out on the audience.

Price's head hurts, rubs his temples and asks, "Chris, what exactly do you want to express in this movie?"

"I, I want to tell a story of a teenager's growth through rock, time travel and black humor while paying tribute to Elvis." Chris Columbus said.

"But you didn't grasp the rhythm of the story, it seemed very confusing, and you took Elvis a bit unbearable and would cause lawsuits."

"I'm sorry, sir!"

Chris Columbus opened his mouth, unable to argue.

Price sighed and asked several experts, "Is there a possibility of saving?"

"If you change some of Elvis' plots, you can still release them."

“Can be released…”

Price was speechless. Is Colombia's standards so low?

There is no way, Colombia released three films at the beginning of this year, one by one, one by one, one by one:

"Campus Prodigal Son" costs 10 million and has a box office of 14.4 million;

"Stars and Bars" cost 15 million and has a box office of 375,000;

"Little Nikita" costs 16 million and has a box office of 13.5 million!

This movie "Sad Hotel" is not much better. It was released in September in history, with a cost of US$12 million and a box office of only 1.9 million, and it was a waste of nothing.

In recent years, Colombia has made a huge profit in only "Dragon Hard Boy 2", "Fifty First Loves" and "Air Prison". The last two films were written by Chen Qi, and there are also "Black Man", "Happy Death Day", "Mean Girl", etc., which are distributed by agents.

Chen Qi helped Colombia to a certain extent, but his overall performance was too widespread, and his stock price was still sluggish, and he owed a lot of debts.
Chapter completed!