Chapter 393 Link is too treacherous

While Link and Jolie, Liv Tyler, Winona Ryder and Gong Li were resting in the mansion, the competition for the North American summer box office was intensifying.

This situation not only worries the bosses of small film companies, but also the top executives of the seven major film studios.

There were too many blockbusters released at the same time, and the publicity and screening rates of many movies were seriously insufficient, which directly led to the box office of most movies being generally lower than expected.

If this situation continues to deteriorate, the profits of all film companies will decline, and those with poor performance may go bankrupt.

Gold medal producer Scott Rudin expressed his views on the matter during an interview on the show.

Scott believes that the current North American theater schedule is too crowded, with too many movies released at the same time, causing huge congestion. Many high-quality movies are unable to attract audiences, resulting in box office losses.

In the long run, this situation is very unfavorable and can easily undermine the confidence of investors and filmmakers.

At the same time, the homogeneity of film themes on the market is becoming more and more serious, and many movies have similar contents. This situation will not only dampen the enthusiasm of movie fans to watch movies, but also be detrimental to the sustainable development of the film market.

Scott Rudin advocated that all film companies should not blindly follow the trend in subject matter, but focus on content innovation. He also suggested that the seven major film studios should make good schedule arrangements before promoting commercial films to prevent congestion of commercial blockbusters and the deterioration of the market environment.

Finally, Scott Rudin suggested that the film industry pay more attention to independent films, give independent films more room to survive, and prevent the proliferation of commercial films.

In an interview, Daniel DeVito, the general producer of Guess What Pictures, supported Scott Rudin's statement, believing that the Big Seven studios, as major members of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), should play a greater role in the development of the film industry.

Daniel DeVito also criticized the seven major film studios for excessive competition, bullying, and project monopoly.

I hope that the Big Seven film studios will be more open and inclusive in accepting independent film companies like Guess What Pictures, and not be hostile to independent film companies.

The film industry is a community of interests. Whether actors or producers, independent films or commercial films, practitioners are closely linked together by their interests, forming complex cooperative relationships.

Helping independent film companies is helping the Big Seven themselves.

On this point, the Big Seven Studios should learn from Guess What Pictures. During its development, Guess What Pictures not only cooperated with the Big Seven Studios, but also cooperated with independent film companies such as New Line and Miramax. It is a role model for the film industry.

Daniel DeVito's words were recognized by many of his peers. The current North American film market is in chaos and independent film companies cannot make money. The main reason is the oppression of the seven major film studios and the inaction of the MPAA. The MPAA should bear the main responsibility for this matter.

"What is Link going to do?"

In the office, Michael Ovitz looked at the newspaper article in confusion.

Daniel DeVito is very famous in the circle. He is a gold medal producer and Link's right-hand man. The two are a golden pair, but Daniel is relatively low-key in the circle and rarely expresses any opinions publicly.

This time, he publicly criticized the Big Seven Studios. It must be Link's intention. Ovitz smelled a conspiracy.

Michael Eisner, who was wiping his glasses with a glasses cloth, said without looking up, "In recent years, the film industry has become more and more prosperous, and it has become easier for filmmakers to make money. However, people's desires are not easy to satisfy. After making money, they want to make more.

The current film industry is highly competitive, but the total box office revenue is also increasing significantly. Everyone must be very dissatisfied when they see other companies making huge profits while their films are losing money.

Daniel DeVito spoke out at this time, probably hoping to unite independent film companies in this way, point the finger at the Big Seven, use public opinion to put pressure on the Big Seven, and make them bear the notoriety of bullying the market. "

"Damn it, the most profitable company in Hollywood in recent years is Guess What? Link. This bastard took the benefits but wants the Big Seven to take the blame?"

Ovitz cursed.

"Link is indeed very cunning. Guess what, when it comes to making money, it's a Big Eight studio, but when it comes to taking responsibility, it becomes an independent film company. Its stance is very flexible."

"This bastard has never been a good person. He is lustful and insidious. In order to promote his movies, he often uses any means necessary, even using dead people. However, many media outlets often praise him as a good person and an inspirational idol. Ha!"

Ovitz narrowed his eyes suddenly as he spoke. "When 'Net' was a big hit, he was shot in New York. Could this also be his conspiracy? He might be the mastermind behind this. He hired the gunman. His purpose was to promote the movie and discredit the top executives of our seven major film companies to gain sympathy from the whole society. Otherwise, how could the gunman fire several shots at close range without hitting any target?"

The more Ovitz talked, the more he felt that this was all directed and acted out by Link. He had previously suspected that it was Harvey who did it.

"It's unlikely. The risks of this kind of thing far outweigh the benefits. With Link's current worth, there's no need to take this risk."

Eisner put down his glasses cloth and put on his wire-framed glasses.

Ovitz thought about it and it made sense. "If he hadn't directed and acted in it himself, this matter would not have been resolved. Now he is targeting us at the Big Seven Studios, probably thinking we are the mastermind. How are you going to deal with it?"

Eisner thought for a moment and said, "We can let Guess What Movies join the MPAA and become one of the real Big Eight. We won't give them the opportunity to jump left and right, and Link can't continue to make a fuss about this matter."

When Ovitz heard this, his eyes lit up and he clapped his hands and laughed.

Shortly after Daniel DeVito spoke out, the MPAA announced that it had approved Guess What Films' application and accepted Link as a member of the MPAA committee.

The Motion Picture Association of North America (MPAA) was founded in 1922 and initially emerged as a trade organization for the film industry. With the rapid development of the Hollywood film industry, the association has played an increasingly important role in the film industry.

The current main role of the MPAA is to classify films, safeguard the freedom of film artistic creation, maintain the diversity of the film market, guarantee the right of people of all ages to watch movies, supervise monopoly in the film industry, crack down on piracy and infringement, as well as develop overseas film markets and promote American films to the world.

The power body of the Motion Picture Association of America is the MPAA Committee, whose main members are the chairmen or presidents of the seven major film companies. Presidents of small film companies are not eligible to join.

Link is the only senior executive on the committee who is not from the Big Seven Film Studios.

Michael Eisner, the rotating chairman of the committee, welcomed Link's joining and hoped that he would play a more important role in the Motion Picture Association of North America and provide more impetus for the development of the North American film industry.

Link expressed his gratitude over the phone.

Since 1994, Link has applied to join the MPAA committee many times, but was rejected by the committee every time, on the grounds that Guess What Pictures was established not long ago and was too small to qualify to join the committee.

Now that public opinion has begun to attack the Film Association for inaction, the association has introduced Guess Pictures into the committee, probably hoping to divert public attention and make Guess Pictures the target of public criticism.

Sure enough, when Link announced that he would join the MPAA committee, public opinion began to change, and many articles criticizing him and Guess What Pictures appeared in newspapers.

It is said that after its establishment, Guess Pictures acquired a number of poorly performing independent film companies, including Triangle Entertainment, Good Machine Pictures, Artisan Entertainment, and Carlock Pictures, so the rise of Guess Pictures was built on the "corpses" of many independent film companies.

Now that Guess Pictures has become one of the Big Eight in Hollywood, it will exploit independent film companies like the Big Seven in the future. Guess Pictures is the enemy of the independent film industry.

After this article was published, it received support from many filmmakers. Director Rob Reiner accused Guess What! of being the biggest cancer in Hollywood and the biggest enemy of independent film companies. If there was no Guess What! Pictures, everyone could make money.

Many filmmakers thought it made sense and turned around to criticize Link and Guess What Pictures.

"Haha, Link shot himself in the foot. Let's see how he can make amends this time."

When Ovitz saw the news in the newspaper, he slammed the table and laughed.

Link was busy filming and had no time to pay attention to what was happening in the media.

After joining the MPAA, he submitted an initiative to the committee through his company with three proposals.

First, the eight major film companies and their subsidiaries focus on controlling the number of commercial films produced each year and increasing the proportion of art films. Second, they attract a number of independent film company producers to join the MPAA to jointly discuss the development of the American film industry.

Third, an independent film week should be set up during the summer vacation. No new commercial blockbusters should be released during the week, so as to provide more support for the promotion and distribution of independent films.

Every item in this initiative is designed for the development of the film industry.

Although following the proposal will slightly weaken the influence and revenue of the eight major film companies in the short term, it will be of great benefit to the entire film industry and the eight major film companies in the long run.

Link also mentioned in the proposal that Guess What Pictures is willing to support it no matter how much it costs.

However, the proposal was returned shortly after it was submitted. The MPAA committee rejected his proposal, saying that it was unrealistic and not very feasible.

However, after this initiative was exposed by the media, many filmmakers praised Link and Guess Pictures for their responsibility and for taking the initiative to do something for independent films after becoming the representatives of independent films.

It’s a pity that the Big Seven studios are still very powerful in Hollywood, and it’s not easy for them to help independent films develop.

"Is this Link's purpose, to use this initiative to change public opinion?"

Ovitz flipped through the newspaper and frowned. “What if the committee agrees to his proposal? Does he really want to pave the way for independent films?”

Eisner also frowned, "Link and Guess What Pictures are not short of money. If the MPAA dares to agree to his proposal, he will dare to accept it. The Big Seven Pictures have to pay dividends to shareholders every year, and they don't have that much money in their accounts. Link uses this method to reduce the financial reserves of the Big Seven Pictures.

In addition, supporting independent films and art films is a loss-making business for the Seven Major Films, and the presidents of the Seven Major Films would not agree to such a proposal. Link must know this, so he dared to use this method to reverse public opinion. "

"This bastard is so cunning."

Ovitz was so angry that he started cursing. After Link joined the MPAA committee, he originally thought that Link would be attacked by public opinion and his reputation would suffer a huge loss, but he did not expect that Link would use this trick to fight back, and the effect was very good.

Ovitz had to admit that the 24-year-old Link was sometimes more cunning and shrewd than him, a 51-year-old.

(End of this chapter)