Chapter 387 Hollywood Avenue of Stars

McKinsey was hit and turned into a vegetable. After the newspaper published the news, many people said he was lucky because he would not have to go to jail.

Hardy called Henry and asked, "Who did the MacKenzie thing?"

Henry shook his head. "I didn't find out."

Hardy did not arrange for MacKenzie to get hit. Hardy arranged for him to go to prison and then slowly enjoy life in prison.

If you have nothing to do, pick up some soap or something.

It was a blessing for him to be turned into a vegetable.

And it would make others suspect that he did it, after all, he was the one who stood up to bring down McKinsey. Hardy thought about it and knew who should have done it.

It cannot be avoided that the politicians who used to support McKinsey have simply abandoned it completely now that McKinsey has lost its usefulness.

Damn,

Politicians are sometimes more ruthless than gangsters.

"Let someone keep an eye on the driver, then we'll have a chance to investigate further to find out who did it." Hardy said to Henry.

"Understood, Boss."

......

McKinsey was finished, and the commission of inquiry was over.

A few days later, the White House announced that it would disband the investigation committee and would be more cautious about such investigations in the future, basing everything on the U.S. Constitution, but it would no longer give people the opportunity to abuse power.

One thing Hardy has been thinking about these past two days is how to restore the prosperity of Hollywood. First there was the Paramount Act, and then there was the McKinsey scandal, which dealt a heavy blow to Hollywood.

In addition, the rise of television has also had an impact on the film industry. The current situation in Hollywood is far worse than its most glorious period.

It is not an exaggeration to describe it as Xiao Tiao.

The hit movies this year include Taylor's "Beauty and the Beast" in the first half of the year, Eastwood's "Indiana Jones" in the middle of the year, and Marilyn Monroe's "Some Like It Hot" which is still in theaters.

"Some Like It Hot" was well received after its release. Monroe was already famous, and now she has become people's favorite sexy goddess.

"Some Like It Hot" is still as popular as ever two months after its release. It is still showing in more than 300 cinemas, and its box office has already reached over 16 million, making it the box office champion this year.

These three movies are all produced by HD Pictures. As for other film companies, they are not as lucky as HD Pictures. This year, eight out of ten movies have lost money, and all film companies feel that survival is difficult.

After two days of thinking,

Hardy had an idea.

Called Edward, the head of HD Films.

"Invite MGM, Warner Bros., Paramount, Universal, Disney, and 20th Century Fox in my name and tell them I plan to discuss the future of Hollywood with them."

Edward immediately notified the film companies.

Hardy came forward to call the meeting.

These companies all attach great importance to it.

Hardy is not only the boss of HD Pictures now. His Hardy Group is now a super large group with its own bank, dozens of companies in the United States, as well as industrial clusters in Cayman and Japan. Its strength is no less than that of a conglomerate.

In fact, it is not an exaggeration to call it the Hardy Group now.

The CEOs of these companies all agreed to go.

The meeting place was at Hardy's manor in Beverly Hills. These bosses all had their own manors in Beverly Hills, so coming here was like visiting.

After the servant brought the coffee, he left the room and closed the door. Hardy looked at the bigwigs in the film industry and said, "Everyone, has everyone had a hard time in the past one or two years?"

Mike Warner, the third brother of Warner Bros., shook his head and smiled bitterly: "It's very difficult. Warner has only released 13 movies this year, and the performance is not very good. It is expected that the loss this year will reach more than 5 million US dollars."

"We at Paramount are similar," said the Paramount boss.

Mayer of MGM looked at Hardy and said, "I think only Mr. Hardy's HD Pictures is the most profitable. HD Pictures produced three movies this year, all of which were big hits. All three movies ranked in the top three of the sales list, especially Miss Monroe's movie. It is estimated that HD Pictures can earn more than 10 million in pure profit."

"Mr. Hardy, I wonder what you want to discuss with us?" asked Disney's boss.

Hardy took a puff of his cigar and said calmly:

"Hollywood has been hit hard by the Paramount Decree and McKinsey. I think we should think of ways to make Hollywood prosperous again. As the most powerful film company in Hollywood, we can take the lead."

"Mr. Hardy has an idea?"

"I do have a few ideas. The first is to deeply develop the U.S. market. The U.S. market is still our base and must be preserved."

"Second, we should vigorously develop the European and even Asian markets. Although the European and Asian markets cannot compare with the U.S. markets now, little by little, a dozen countries together may not be less than the U.S. market."

"I know that each of your companies has also developed the European market and even formed a competitive relationship. Under the current circumstances, I hope that everyone will put aside their prejudices and form an alliance, so that you can make more money."

"Third, I think we should talk to the government. Hollywood's role is not just to make movies. We also have the important mission of exporting American culture. I hope the government will give us more support, such as lowering taxes."

Hadi's proposal.

The bosses of these film companies all agree.

In the past, all companies competed with each other, and if the environment was good, they could make money. Now, survival is difficult, and if they continue to waste their energy internally, they will lose more than they gain.

It is better to unite.

As for the formation of a monopoly.

No,

They only reached a verbal agreement and a consensus to advance and retreat together. They will not form a company. There is no monopoly without direct cooperation.

At most, it is about formulating industry rules.

"I have another suggestion." Hardy spoke again.

Everyone else looked at Hardy.

"The tourism industry is also one of Hollywood's important sources of income. The current situation is that each company operates its own tourism projects. I think we should have a unified plan to make the tourism industry more mature and attract more tourists."

"For example, Universal and Warner both have their own studio tour performances, and Disney has animated character performances. Why don't we combine these projects and form a dedicated entertainment company?"

"My proposal is to build a real amusement park, invest our own resources and form a theme park, with the goal of attracting more tourists."

Everyone thought this proposal was good, but they were still unsure about how to cooperate. Hardy smiled and said, "Let the people below discuss the details. We only need to work out the general framework."

Everyone nodded.

This is a good idea. Putting resources into building a theme park will indeed attract a large number of visitors. As for the mode of cooperation, whoever provides more resources will have a larger share. These things can be quantified, which is not difficult for their subordinates.

"I have another suggestion," Hardy said again.

People say, you have so many ideas.

"What's the suggestion?"

"Build a Avenue of Stars." said Hardy.

"What is the Avenue of Stars?" Everyone was puzzled.

The concept of the Walk of Fame was not proposed until 1958, and the first star was placed in 1960. Hardy's proposal now is 8 years ahead of schedule.

Hadi explained:

"To put it simply, it is to create an 'Art Hall of Fame' street, select the best artists, carve their names on stone slabs, and pave the street. The more contributions people make to art, the more stars they will get, which is a recognition and reward for their artistic achievements."

"I have temporarily divided it into five aspects: the movie camera, which has contributed to the film industry. The television set, which has contributed to the television industry. The phonograph record, which has contributed to the record industry. The radio microphone, which has contributed to the radio industry. The tragicomedy mask, which has contributed to live drama."

"As for the selection, we can set up a 'Avenue of Stars' selection committee to select qualified artists every year and award them stars."

"If an artist has made an outstanding contribution in a certain area, they should be awarded a star. For example, Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable's Gone with the Wind is a film that has gone down in film history. They can both be awarded a star."

"If someone has made contributions in all five aspects, they will be awarded five stars, but I think the number of people awarded five stars is very small."

"Even animated characters can be used, such as Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck from Disney, Tom and Jerry from MGM."

"I plan to organize a 'Star Avenue' carnival night. Not only will there be star awards, but there will also be carnivals. This will definitely attract a lot of people to Hollywood. I believe it will have a great publicity effect on Hollywood."

The bigwigs present all admired Hardy in their hearts. He had so many ideas, and they were always good ideas. No wonder he could make his business so big.

Hardy called them together not to suppress them or annex them, but to find a way to solve Hollywood's problems. For these businessmen, they also admire Hardy's character. If it were them, they would probably think of how to maximize their own interests first when they had so many good ideas, but Hardy took them out and shared them with everyone.

"I agree with all of Mr. Hardy's proposals," Mayer spoke first.

"I agree too." said the third Warner.

"I think Mr. Hardy's proposal is very good, and I agree." Paramount Chairman nodded.

......

With everyone agreeing.

The Hollywood Film Alliance was formally formed. Although it was only verbal and had no binding force, for these bigwigs, one word was enough.

At least they won't leave before it harms their own interests.

As for Hardy's proposals, these bigwigs began to prepare separately. Some were responsible for approaching the government, hoping to give it preferential treatment and support in terms of tax policies. Some were responsible for organizing several major film companies to build theme parks, and Edward from HD Pictures was responsible for the Avenue of Stars.

As the location of the Avenue of Stars, Hardy chose one of the pedestrian streets on Hollywood Avenue. This street is close to several movie studios and is a commercial street with shopping malls, luxury stores, restaurants, and coffee shops. It is very suitable for leisure shopping.

The biggest reason why Hardy chose this place is that many of the buildings on both sides of the street are properties of Hardy Real Estate. He had wanted to build the Avenue of Stars for a long time, so how could he not plan ahead? He had people start acquiring properties a few years ago. Now many of the luxury stores here are properties of Hardy's company.

When this place becomes the Avenue of Stars, the pedestrian street will surely become more prosperous.

......