Chapter 1717. The role of ak film

In the United States, acquiring a listed company is very troublesome, with complicated procedures and a long process, which often takes more than half a year or even longer.

But MGM has its own particularity. It is a listed company, but 92% of its shares are directly or indirectly concentrated in Kerkorian's hands, and only 8% of the shares are actually circulating in the market.

Of these 8% of shares, 5% are held by MGM's middle-level executives, such as Charlie Cooper, who holds 1% of the shares. In fact, only 3% are actually in the hands of retail investors.

And just as the film "Windtalkers" had just suffered a disastrous failure, the 3% of retail investors in the market had been sold out and all of them were quietly bought up by his father at the first opportunity. So theoretically speaking, Charlie Cooper can now be considered the second largest shareholder of MGM.

As for the shares held by the other middle and senior management of MGM, Charlie Cooper certainly couldn't buy them all because he had conflicts with that group of people. However, he couldn't do that, but Kerkorian could.

So in the next short period of time, Kerkorian increased his shares to 96%, and the actual controlling stake of the two people reached 100%.

Then comes delisting, which is the real purpose of gathering equity, allowing MGM to delist and achieve privatization.

Finally, it was sold directly to Cooper and his son, which saved a lot of acquisition time and the battle could be resolved within a month at the earliest.

Although listed companies can raise funds for development, that is relative to ordinary companies. For Eric, who has the advantage of foresight, it is completely unnecessary. Going public will only drag him down.

Moreover, MGM is in such a miserable state now and is no longer favored by the market. Even if it goes public, it will not be able to raise much money and will only cause more trouble. It is really unnecessary.

As for the government departments, there was no problem at all. With great financial support, the process went unexpectedly smoothly!

As the $2 billion arrived in installments, news of MGM's acquisition also spread in the market.

At this time, the company was still gloomy because of the box office failure of "Windtalkers". Upon hearing the news, some middle and senior managers began to investigate the acquirer, but there was no reaction at the grassroots level.

It doesn’t matter who they love, it doesn’t matter to them anyway. No matter who takes over, they still have to use them. If they dare to fire them, they will make a fuss. The union is not there to just sit there and do nothing.

In fact, Sony and Warner are more concerned than a few senior executives.

Both companies had long wanted to take over MGM and had held private talks with Kerkorian many times, but the results were not satisfactory.

The reason is very simple, the money was not enough!

Sony and Warner were only willing to pay $400 million to $500 million in exchange for part of MGM's shares and thus obtain the operating rights of MGM.

These two companies believe that their own strength is enough to revive MGM, and then slowly dilute Kerkorian's equity, thereby swallowing up MGM at a relatively small cost, but it will take a longer time.

But Kerkolian didn't buy it at all. He just wanted cash, plenty of cash, and said anything else was nonsense.

Kerkorian was not at all interested in the plans such as IP, studio, director, special effects, etc. that Sony and Warner talked about.

In the eyes of this casino tycoon, any acquisition that is not made in the form of cash is considered rogue and freeloading.

So when Sony and Warner learned that the acquisition amount was as high as 2.8 billion US dollars, in cash, they gave up the idea of ​​intervening.

2.8 billion US dollars, even if the two companies share it equally, each will have to pay 1.4 billion US dollars, not to mention that it is impossible for them to share it equally.

The most important thing is cash. No matter how much fixed assets you have or how big your IP is, it is useless because it is not cash.

No one made trouble, and the delisting was completed in just one month. The subsequent acquisition process also went smoothly, and major Hollywood companies and even some forces on Wall Street turned their attention to the Cooper family.

No one thought that they could suddenly get $2.8 billion. In the eyes of the market, the father and son must have acted as white gloves for some wealthy sponsor.

But no matter what, Eric suddenly became a hot commodity in Hollywood, and Charlie Cooper's status was further elevated.

He used to be just the CEO of MGM and an insignificant employee under Kerkorian.

He is still the CEO of MGM, but his identity has changed to a movie tycoon boss with billions of wealth.

By mid-August, after a month and a half of hard work and spending more than 8 million US dollars to build relationships, the acquisition was finally finalized. The speed was nothing short of miraculous.

In Charlie Cooper's opinion, there was no need to rush. It was $8 million, enough to make a B movie.

But Eric still insisted on moving quickly because the post-production of "Red Dragon" and "Barbershop" had been completed and would be released soon.

These are two big-money movies, and you never know what Kerkorian might think of, such as raising the price at a very high price. Such things are not uncommon.

Moreover, Eric was not confident about the other major film companies. In any case, things might change if he delayed, so it was better to lock in the profits.

At night, the Cooper family was holding a party. Not many people were invited, only Eric's four best friends and a few of his father's friends.

The reason for inviting these people is naturally to make a major change in MGM's senior management.

The structure of a film and television company is very complex, including multiple departments such as marketing, production, creativity, administration, finance, script, etc., and each department has multiple branches.

For example, the publicity and promotion department is responsible for art, poster production, advertising and other work, and there are more than 2,000 employees under it.

Including the number of people in other departments, MGM employs more than 3,000 employees, and the monthly salary expenses are as high as several million dollars.

But don’t think that 3,000 people are a lot. Compared with Warner and Disney, MGM is just a dwarf, because Warner has more than 80,000 employees worldwide, which is very scary.

Among the seven major film and television studios in Hollywood, MGM has the fewest employees, which indirectly reflects its most depressed state.

However, even with more than 3,000 employees, there are many factions within the company. Although Charlie Cooper is the CEO, he cannot control the overall situation, and there are many people in the company who disagree with him.

So at the beginning of this acquisition, my dad contacted several executives from small companies and invited them to join MGM to replace the disobedient guys.

As for Judy, Warren, Bordeaux and Billy, it is too early to let them take power now. They should learn from them first and wait until they are capable of taking charge on their own.

Sitting around the barbecue grill, Eric gulped down a beer. "I've been very busy lately. Now things have finally come to fruition. Are you ready to enter the industry?"

Hearing this, the four of them immediately started talking at once.

"Having come this far, is there any better choice? Hahaha."

"Yes, I contributed 3 million U.S. dollars. Even though it's just a small amount, I am still a shareholder after all."

"In the film and television industry, I seem to see the call of countless beauties."

"Seriously Eric, what positions are you going to give us?"

Eric flipped the grill and said, "Go to the various departments to learn first. The time is two months. I want you to be familiar with the various tasks of the department within two months. I need to know what you are best at. Of course, you also need to do the other tasks I assign."

"What job?"

“A lot, such as discovering and purchasing copyrights, including potential comics, novels, games, etc.”

"For example, Spider-Man? So far, it is the North American box office champion!" said Warren.

"Resident Evil is also good. Although I haven't played the game, the movie is great. Milla Jovovich is so hot after being infected! And it also had a high box office."

Eric nodded. "That's right. Zombies are a very marketable subject. I also plan to shoot a TV series. I need you to do a market survey to ensure that there will be no copyright issues. After you join us, work with the marketing department to do this."

"Also, Transformers has great potential for adaptation, but the copyright is in the hands of Hasbro, which is a piece of fat meat that we need to get."

"There is a writer named George Martin. He has a very good work called A Song of Ice and Fire. He has worked in Hollywood. I want to get his copyright no matter what."

"There is one more very important thing. Who among you likes to watch bad movies?"

The four of them looked at each other, not understanding what he meant.

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"It's the kind of movie that has simple special effects, low cost, bloody plot, and low ratings. The kind that theaters won't show."

Warren swallowed a piece of barbecue and said vaguely, "Discs? As long as there is an exciting cover, there are many such movies on the disc market. My dad likes them very much. He bought a lot of them. I have also seen many of them."

Eric's eyes lit up. "Yes, the TV and disc markets are indeed the main territory for bad movies. Warren, are you interested in helping me run a bad movie company?"

"What?"

Warren choked and looked like he was having trouble breathing.

Judy used the Five Thunder Palm to hit him on the back, and then he spit out the barbecue.

“I understand the company, but what does a bad movie company do?”

"It's a film and television company that specializes in making bad movies. Of course, this bad movie is not a derogatory term. What I want is a small investment with a big return. The game is to make a small investment with a big return, just like many B-level movies. Do you understand?"

Warren frowned. "You mean the Blair Witch type?"

"Almost, but the promotion of Blair Witch is too expensive. We don't want to play that model. I want a pure melodramatic, knockoff, vulgar movie. Do you understand?"

Warren hesitated: "I have seen a lot of these movies, but can they really make money? And is it really a good idea to do this?"

The other three were also speechless: "Eric, making a bad movie is equivalent to destroying your own reputation."

"Yes, of course big companies won't do this kind of thing, so didn't I ask you to register a company some time ago?"

"You mean AK Films?"

"Yes, after I take over MGM, I will select a group of professionals to join AK Films. It will be my white glove, specialized in making bad movies."

The four of them suddenly realized that Eric had asked them to register a company and then nothing happened. It turned out that he had already made up his mind.

Of course, Eric did not do this on a whim, because there is indeed a company in Hollywood that specializes in producing copycat bad movies, called Madhouse Pictures.

The films it produced include but are not limited to "Atlantic Rim", "Super Battleship", "The Hobbit", "Avatar vs. Alien", etc. Just looking at the names, you can tell that they have a very authentic copycat flavor.

Moreover, the cost of making a movie like "The Asylum" is generally kept within 1 million US dollars. You read that right, less than 5 million, just 1 million.

Whether it’s the special effects or the costumes and props, it gives people a feeling of a street stall.

But the strange thing is that every movie produced by Madhouse makes money, and it also launched a very well-known bad movie series "Sharknado", which has made a great reputation in the global bad movie industry.

Even later, as more and more bad movies were made, a fixed fan base was formed.

We know you suck, but we just want to see how bad you have become this time, and we will even buy a set of genuine discs for your collection.

This phenomenon of ugliness-judging is quite similar to the release of the Chinese film "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" that year. A large number of audiences went to the cinema with a mentality of ugliness-judging, which contributed to the box office.

As for whether such rampant counterfeiting to ride on the popularity of others will lead to lawsuits, the answer is no.

Madhouse Pictures started the road of piracy in 2005, and by 2023, it had pirated more than 300 Hollywood blockbusters. All major Hollywood companies have not escaped the clutches of Madhouse, but it has only been sued twice.

The original company is too lazy to go through legal procedures because it takes a long time and it is basically impossible to win the lawsuit. Have you seen Nanshan Pizza Hut lose?

Madhouse was once sued by Warner for "The Hobbit", but Madhouse Pictures stated that my Hobbit is a primitive race in Indonesia, and also produced various scientific reports, which are completely different from your fictional Hobbit.

Because of this, and the fact that the bad movies in Madhouse basically don't go to theaters, but are almost all released on TV and DVDs, everyone's targeting different groups of people, so there is no point of competition.

Moreover, not only is there no competition, but after Asylum Pictures became famous, the copycat blockbusters can actually help promote the genuine products. It's a win-win outcome, so why not do it?

In Eric's conception, AK Films and The Asylum are both similar and different. The similarity is of course that they produce all kinds of bad movies, but the difference is that AK will also shoot some low-cost B-level movies, which may not be bad enough, but the cost is definitely not high.

Another very important point is that Eric really needs money. He still owes the bank 2 billion US dollars. The annual interest is an astronomical figure for ordinary people.

So he needed to make money, no matter what. However, the film and television industry was a slow payout industry, and he couldn't make money from shareholders after delisting. The only person he could rely on was himself.

So money! money! money!

I have to say it three times: Eric must make money like crazy!

He has even turned his attention to the stock market. Although he doesn't know much about this industry, he knows that there are several companies that he will definitely not lose money by buying.

Besides, AK Films is its own white glove, and it can start with copycat MGM movies.

It's only 2002 now, and Asylum Pictures hasn't taken this path yet. Sorry, I want to occupy the track in advance.

(End of this chapter)