Chapter 383: Trip to the White House
"Link, what have you been busy with lately? Why don't you take a break after filming the new movie?"
At the Pelican Hill Golf Course, with blue sky and white clouds and green grass, Link, Jerome Preston, Jay Maloney, Graydon Carter and others chatted while playing golf.
Lin Ke was wearing a baseball cap, a Polo T-shirt and casual trousers, holding a golf club in his hand. He smiled and said, "I was busy on the set for the past two months, and there were a lot of things piled up at the company. I have been catching up on my homework at the company these days."
"Haha, Link, given your current situation, you can definitely hand the company over to a professional manager, so you can have less work to do."
Jerome Preston laughed.
"I'm afraid that won't work."
Without waiting for Link to answer, Jay Maloney smiled and said, "To be a good movie company owner, you need to know a lot about movies. No one can compare to Link in this regard, and no one can do better than him in this position."
"That's true. If there was such a person, Big Seven Pictures would have invited him to the company long ago and would not have been suppressed by Guess Pictures in the film industry."
Graydon Carter said.
"To manage a film company well, it takes more than one or two people. You also need a group of capable helpers. Otherwise, I won't have time to play golf here."
Link smiled, walked to where the golf ball stopped, and estimated the distance between the ball and the next hole with his naked eyes. After measuring the distance, he stood more than two feet away from the golf ball, swung a No. 8 short club, and easily hit the ball more than 20 meters away.
The little white ball fell on the grass and rolled more than five feet before stopping more than a foot away from the hole.
"Great! Almost a double eagle."
Jerome and his friends applauded enthusiastically, praising his golf skills, saying that he was better than the professional golf championship champion Corey Pavey, and persuaded him to participate in this year's "American Masters Tournament", saying that he would definitely win the championship.
Link looked at the small white ball on the grass not far from the hole, and felt that his golf skills were very good. If he participated in professional competitions, he might have a chance to win the championship.
It’s just that the golf open tournament cycle is too long, time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the prize money is not much, so it’s not cost-effective to participate in such a tournament.
Link, Jerome and their friends played a few rounds. As summer was approaching and the weather outside was hot, they returned to the club lounge to drink coffee and chat.
Jamalone told him that at a meeting of CAA executives some time ago, someone proposed to ban Guess the Movie and prohibit CAA artists from cooperating with Guess the Movie.
The proposer was Vice President Ron Meier, whose proposal was supported by more than one-third of senior executives.
Jamalone expressed his opposition on the spot, which led to the proposal not being passed.
Jamalone speculated that this was the work of the Big Seven Pictures.
Last year, Guess What Pictures performed too well in the box office market and became a thorn in the eyes of the seven major film studios. They planned to join forces with CAA to continue to suppress Guess What Pictures. Maloney advised Link to be careful.
Link nodded to show that he understood.
After returning to Los Angeles, he also received news that several presidents of the seven major film studios had gathered again to discuss countermeasures to deal with Guess What Pictures.
The specific method used is currently unknown.
But no matter what the method, he and Guess Pictures have a way to deal with it.
"Hey, Link!"
While they were chatting, Michael Ovitz and his men came over and greeted him warmly, as if they were old friends who hadn't seen each other for a long time. "Haha, Link, I heard that you often play basketball here. I didn't expect it to be true."
Link smiled and said, "I often come here to play ball in my free time. Why are you here too?"
"Haha, I used to be a frequent visitor here, but I seldom come here in the past two years."
Michael Ovitz glanced at Jay Maloney and said, "You can ask Jay. He followed me here the first time."
Jemaloney smiled politely, "Yes, it's convenient to talk about work here."
"Link, I didn't expect you to come here to play. With your status, you can go to more high-end clubs. Do you want me to introduce you to some?"
Michael Ovitz laughed.
Link smiled and shook his head. He understood what Ovitz meant. Pelican Hill Golf Club was a mid- to high-end social venue in the circle, and he was now worth billions and was one of the richest people in the world. He could join more high-end clubs and social circles.
For example, Bill Gates' Foundation, Berkshire Hathaway's Board Club, Epstein's private club, etc. These high-end clubs are invitation-based. Club members are either rich or noble, with a net worth of at least one billion US dollars, have great influence in the industry, or have extremely high prestige in politics or academia.
Some clubs are more serious, where people only talk about work and making money, exchange inside information, and transfer resources to each other during gatherings; some are more informal, where eating, drinking, and entertainment are more high-end and there are many options.
Link is a Microsoft shareholder and also owns a large stake in Berkshire Hathaway, and after buying these shares, he also automatically gained admission to both clubs.
However, he seldom attends club gatherings because he is the only Chinese in these clubs and he is relatively young. He cannot find suitable people to communicate with at the gatherings and would feel bored.
In terms of enjoyment, his daily life in the villa is more exciting than the most exciting parts of those indecent clubs. Those indecent things cannot tempt him, and he has no interest in getting involved.
"Okay, I know you're very busy and not interested in joining. If you're interested in the future, come find me and I'll introduce you to some very interesting clubs."
Michael Ovitz winked and smiled.
Link smiled, thanked him, and wanted to end the conversation, but Ovitz kept holding him and talked about cooperation.
"Link, I've been thinking seriously recently that Disney and Guess What Pictures should cooperate more. In addition to your cooperation with Miramax Films to make movies, our two companies should also cooperate directly. Guess What Pictures is currently the most profitable company in Hollywood, and Disney is often ranked in the top three. If the two of us work together, we will definitely make more money."
"Yes, if Disney has a good movie project, Guess What Pictures can also invest in it, and vice versa."
"Haha, let's do it."
Ovitz laughed.
At this time, assistant Lewinsky came over with a cell phone. It was a call from the President.
Link said hello to Ovitz and the others, then took the phone and went to the side to chat with the president.
Michael Ovitz looked at Link who was talking on the phone in the aisle and narrowed his eyes, with jealousy in his eyes not hidden at all. But when Link finished the call and turned around, his expression relaxed instantly, with a warm smile on his face.
——
Over the weekend, Link was invited by the Clintons to visit the White House and chatted with them about movies.
The Clintons claimed that they were his fans and were willing to support his work in Hollywood. Link expressed his gratitude and said that he would also support their work and wish Clinton a successful re-election.
Clinton also asked him privately how many girlfriends he had and whether the rumors in the media that he had more than 40 girlfriends were true or not.
Link said it was true.
Clinton swallowed enviously.
After the trip to the White House, Link went to Hong Kong Island again, on the one hand to deal with the investment matters of Jinshan, and on the other hand to check the filming of "Zheng Chenggong".
After half a year of filming, the progress of "Zheng Chenggong" reached 80%. Lin Ke finished editing the film shots at the Silver Metropole Film Studio in Hong Kong Island, watched it once, and felt it was pretty good.
The movie has grand scenes. The cities, streets and large warships in the movie are all built in the style of the Ming Dynasty. The naval and land battles are filmed very realistically and look very exciting. The actors performed well, the props and costumes were very exquisite, and the details were well handled.
However, there were still problems with some of the plots. He pointed out several problems, about 8% of the plots, and asked the crew to rework and reshoot.
"Boss, it will cost a lot of money to reshoot so many scenes."
Chen Chong expressed concern.
"It doesn't matter. As long as the quality of the movie is good, it's worth spending a little more money. Director Feng and his team did a good job shooting the movie. As long as it's finished according to my requirements, the movie should be pretty good."
Link said as he looked at the film slice.
"Well, you are a professional in making movies. If you say it's good, then it's really good."
Chen Chong leaned against him and smiled intimately.
Lin Ke talked to the main creative team of "Zheng Chenggong" and affirmed their work in the past few months. He also pointed out the problems and asked them to pay attention to details.
Directors Feng Xiaoning, Tsui Hark, Chen Kaige and leading actor Jiang Wen each expressed their opinions and finally guaranteed that the film would be a good one.
The day after Link arrived in Hong Kong Island, Liu Xiaoli also brought Liu Qianqian to join him.
The mother and daughter returned to China in early February to celebrate the Chinese New Year and had originally planned to return to the United States in March. However, Xiao Xixi's grandfather was in poor health and was about to have surgery in the hospital, so Liu Xiaoli had to stay at home for a few more weeks.
After finishing his work in Hong Kong, Link returned to the United States with Liu Xiaoli and her daughter.
(End of this chapter)
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