November 17, 9 a.m. at Wald Pictures...
Jordan, the head of Paramount's overseas department, rushed into the Wald Pictures office. He had just seen the opening weekend numbers for The Sixth Sense and he was in a hurry.
"Hi, Jordan!" "Hi, Kevin!"
The person who greeted him wasn't Zane or Victor. It was Kevin Feige, the vice president of Wald Pictures.
Victor, the CEO, was way too busy with all the new movie ads. And besides, he was now the boss of the entire Golden Dawn Entertainment Group. He had too much to do. He left these kinds of meetings to Kevin.
"Kevin, I think you know why I'm here," Jordan said, trying to catch his breath. "Yes, I'm here for the overseas rights to The Sixth Sense."
As Jordan spoke, he was thinking about how much things had changed.
A long time ago, when he first came to Wald Pictures, he had acted all high-and-mighty, like a big shot from a big company. The person he met back then was Zane Blackwood himself.
But now? Wald Pictures had grown up. Fast.
They had their own way to get movies into theaters all across America. They were no longer a "small" company. They were a real Hollywood player.
Not only that, but their parent company, Golden Dawn, had a TV network, an animation studio, a music company, internet companies, and toy stores.
It was the beginning of a media empire.
In Jordan's eyes, Zane and his company had grown from nothing to a true powerhouse, right before his very eyes.
"They are rising so fast!" Jordan thought.
"Jordan, our movie has only been out for 3 days," Kevin Feige laughed. "Are you really in that much of a hurry?"
Jordan laughed back. "Kevin, how can I not be in a hurry? Your movie just won the weekend championship! A small studio never does that. Of course I'm in a hurry!"
He then added, "And don't forget, Paramount and Wald Pictures have deals for other movies too."
He wanted to get this movie into overseas theaters as fast as possible. That's how he made his money and got his achievements.
"Jordan, since you brought up contracts," Kevin said, his voice suddenly becoming very pointed, "that reminds me. Our other movie, The Human Purge Project... it seems your company hasn't paid us our share of the money yet."
Jordan just stood there. He looked a little embarrassed.
Kevin was right. Paramount should have paid Wald Pictures that money a long time ago. But they hadn't. Zane's money department kept asking, and Paramount kept making excuses.
"You guys at Paramount aren't being very kind," Kevin said, staring at him.
Jordan tried to stay calm. "Don't worry, Kevin. When I get back, I'll... I'll help you push them to pay."
Kevin shook his head. "Let's do this: First, you pay us the money you owe us for The Human Purge Project. Then we can talk about The Sixth Sense."
Jordan was speechless. He was cursing his own company's money department in his head. I'm here trying to make the company money, and you guys are making us look bad!
But this was how big companies acted. They would hold back money to show you who was boss. It was a shameless, dirty trick. They knew that if you tried to sue them, their army of lawyers could drag it out for years.
...
After Jordan left, a few other people came to visit Wald Pictures.
Two of them were from big Wall Street banks. They wanted to invest in Wald Pictures and buy some shares.
The third person... was a clown.
He was a middle-aged man with a mustache, from a Danish film company. He walked in with his nose in the air.
"You are in charge of Wald Pictures?" he said in a loud, arrogant voice. "Hehe, hurry up and call your boss. Tell him the man from the great Danish company Vickilock is here."
"What for?" Kevin asked.
"Of course, it's to buy your company!" the man said. "Don't worry, we are a big company. Our offer will be very good. You should feel blessed that we are even interested in a small company like yours."
Darn! Kevin thought. I've seen arrogant people, but I've never seen a clown like this!
Kevin held back his anger and forced a smile. "Okay, then. How much money are you offering? I have to tell my boss, you know."
The man looked very pleased. "I like your attitude. We will buy you for... $10 million!"
Pfft!
Kevin almost spit out his coffee. The other workers at Wald Pictures who were listening just burst out laughing.
$10 million? To buy all of Wald Pictures? This guy had to be drunk.
"I say, buddy," Kevin said, "did you even... look up our company?"
"Of course!" the man shouted. "You're just a small film company. $10 million is more than enough! Your boss will be overjoyed."
You investigated nothing! Kevin thought. Where did this clown come from?!
...
Soon, Zane, who was still on Wall Street, heard this story over the phone.
Zane laughed out loud. He laughed so hard his stomach hurt.
"A $10 million offer?!" Zane said. "I make more than that on one movie! Where did this guy get the courage to say he wants to buy my company?"
Just as he was catching his breath, his other phone rang. It was Henry from Gale Capital.
"Boss!" Henry's voice was shaking with excitement. "The South Korean won! Its value is dropping faster than we ever imagined! In just a few hours, we've already made a profit of $11 million!"
Suddenly, Zane's laughter stopped. His expression turned serious. The game was on.
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