Chapter 407: The Domineering Female President

Link didn't expect to run into several star actors while attending a meeting.

First, he met Megan Fox, the actress who became famous for her roles in "Transformers" and "Jennifer's Body." She was one of the most famous faces in Hollywood in recent years.

Megan was also an artist under the WMA agency, as was Michael Bay, the director of the "Transformers" series.

When filming "Transformers," the crew first selected actors within WMA.

Daddario also auditioned but didn't pass because she was too tall and had a large frame, which would make the male lead, Shia LaBeouf, look petite.

The second star he met was an actor named Rami Malek.

At first, seeing him acting nervously and looking around, Daddario joked whether he was a robber trying to rob him, a billionaire. When the actor came up to greet them and introduce himself, Link didn't recognize his name, but his appearance had a distinct Middle Eastern style with high facial recognition.

He stared at him for a moment and remembered a famous movie, "Bohemian Rhapsody," in which Rami Malek played the lead singer of Queen, Freddie Mercury.

He even won the Oscar for Best Actor for this role, becoming the second 80s-born Oscar winner.

Because of his appearance, Rami was still running around various studios in his thirties.

Several young actors came to greet them along with Rami Malek.

There was Rachel Bilson, the actress who became famous for "The O.C.," and her boyfriend, Hayden Christensen, who played Anakin Skywalker in the "Star Wars" series.

There was also Rami Malek's friend, Greta Gerwig, who played a supporting role in the recent comedy film "Arthur."

These people had played leading roles in movies and TV series and were more famous than Rami Malek.

Link chatted with them for a few words, asking about their new projects, and then left with Daddario.

He couldn't help but sigh at the number of actors living in West Hollywood after encountering five or six stars in one outing.

It was said that many actors lived in the West Hollywood community before they became famous and moved to wealthy areas like Beverly Hills, Malibu, and Santa Monica Bay after becoming famous. Therefore, the West Hollywood community was also known as the cradle of stars, the "flight deck of aircraft carriers."

"Want to walk around more?"

Link looked at the girl beside him as the sky darkened, and the neon lights reflected on her fair and delicate cheeks.

Her long eyelashes, bright blue eyes, and pink lips looked even more beautiful.

There was also her full chest, wrapped in a long dress but still showing its curves.

The desire that Susan Woester had interrupted in Link rekindled.

"Let's walk a little longer. You're too busy. I don't know when we'll go shopping next time."

Daddario held his arm and looked at the neon-lit streets with a longing expression on her pretty face.

"I'll be in Los Angeles for a while. Just call me if you want to go shopping. As long as there's no urgent business, I'll come out and walk with you. I also like shopping like this."

Link shrugged.

The night was a good cover. At night, the paparazzi in Hollywood got off work, and he could walk on the streets without wearing a hat and sunglasses, feeling very free.

He liked it this way too.

Daddario looked at his handsome profile and smiled slightly, placing his arm on her full chest and hugging him tighter. She knew which parts of her body Link was most infatuated with and was happy that he liked them.

"You don't have to go shopping with Jennifer Lawrence. If I ask you out at the same time as her next time, you don't have to worry about me. Just agree to her. I won't mind."

Daddario said softly, seeming very generous and free-spirited.

"Really? Then I'll go shopping with her now."

Link laughed.

Daddario blinked her big eyes at him, her hands gripping tighter.

Link chuckled and pinched her upturned nose.

"My relationship with Jennifer isn't as close as you think. We're more like lovers and partners. Every time we date, we talk about movies, not casual chats like this. Jennifer and I have never gone shopping in the US except for a few times in Paris. She wouldn't ask me out shopping either."

"Really?"

"I don't know what Jennifer is thinking. She seems a little afraid of me and always sees me as a big shot, or rather a superior, not a friend. We usually only talk about work and rarely say sweet nothings like we do."

Link said, putting his arm around Daddario's shoulder.

He wasn't lying to Daddario; it was the truth.

Since they met while filming "Midnight in Paris" last year, Jennifer Lawrence had kept her distance from him.

Even though they had slept together in a Paris hotel and lived together for more than ten days, Jennifer didn't dare to get too close to him.

Usually, she rarely took the initiative to disturb him unless he called, as if she was a little afraid of him and was very careful and measured with him.

But every time they dated, Jennifer was very enthusiastic, letting him do whatever he wanted and trying to satisfy all his requests.

If he wasn't sure that Jennifer also liked him, he would have thought she was compromising.

This was also the difference between Jennifer and Daddario.

"It sounds like Jennifer is a little pitiful?"

Daddario laughed.

"Pitiful?"

"Yes, Jennifer is a small actress, and you're the big boss of a film company. Being together feels like you, the big boss, are taking advantage of her."

Daddario covered her red lips and laughed.

Link chuckled and thought for a moment. It seemed a bit like that.

The two walked for a long time on the neon-lit streets until the stars filled the sky and they were sweating. They finally returned to Daddario's small apartment.

Bathing, kissing, making love.

They did everything they loved.

In the morning, they jogged together on the streets of West Hollywood. At around 9 o'clock, he drove Daddario to her company, ending the date and returning to Lionsgate.

---

Back in the office, he continued to review the materials he hadn't finished yesterday, mainly Lionsgate's film plan for the second half of the year.

Originally, Lionsgate had $180 million in foreign debt. After delisting, it lost a financing platform, and its funds were even shorter.

He planned to cut several high-investment projects, concentrate funds on shooting low-budget horror films and literary films, and develop valuable series like "The Hunger Games."

He wanted to control the company's annual film projects to about ten to save costs.

For this, he invited Vice Chairman Jon Feltheimer and CEO Steven Beeks for a face-to-face discussion to seek their opinions.

After all, before March, the company's development plan was formulated by Jon and several senior executives. Listening to their opinions on this matter could also make the implementation smoother.

Jon Feltheimer agreed with his proposal to cut several film projects to maintain a smooth transition for the company.

Because the company was now delisted, it was no longer like before, where it could raise funds through the stock market, sharing profits and risks.

Without extra funds, cutting some projects and maintaining the stability of others was necessary.

But how many projects to cut, how many to keep, and which ones to keep still needed careful discussion.

Link nodded in agreement. He planned to visit the production department personally when he had time to find some movies he had heard of that had good box office performance.

He would try to avoid big flops like "Waterworld," "Cutthroat Island," and "Windtalkers."

However, on the issue of developing new series, Feltheimer had different opinions.

This type of film had high investment, a long payback period, and relatively high risk. The existing "The Hunger Games" was enough to keep the company's production department busy for several years. Other series could wait until the company's financial situation improved.

Link thought about it and agreed with his proposal.

The company is currently short on funds, and maintaining the existing film projects is already a strain. Developing another one would affect other projects.

However, not having the money to develop now doesn't mean there won't be in the future.

He planned to continue reading bestsellers, trying to find a few novels with adaptation value and buy the copyrights first.

They could be developed when there was money in the future. Even if there wasn't, holding onto them was better than letting competitors make money from them.

The total annual box office revenue in North America was around 10 billion. If competitors made an extra 100 million, Lionsgate would make 100 million less, and the pressure on them would be greater.

This was the law of the jungle in Hollywood. When there was an opportunity to create difficulties for competitors, one had to act immediately, without any mercy.

While Link was chatting with Jon Feltheimer, the secretary came to report that Ryan Kavanaugh, the president of Relativity Media, had come to visit him.

Relativity Media's headquarters was also in Santa Monica, on 102nd Street, not far away.

The company was founded in 2004, and its president, Ryan Kavanaugh, came from Wall Street. In 2004, he raised nearly $1 billion from the hedge fund management company Elliott Management to invest in movies in Hollywood.

Initially, he invested in several film projects mainly controlled by Universal and Sony, making a lot of money and becoming a new star in the film industry. It was also a relatively successful independent film company in recent years.

For example, "The Forbidden Kingdom," "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift," "The Pursuit of Happyness," "The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor," "Public Enemies," "Season of the Witch," "The Social Network," and so on.

There were also upcoming famous film projects like "Limitless" starring Bradley Cooper, "Immortals" starring Henry Cavill and Mickey Rourke, and "Haywire" directed by Steven Soderbergh.

Its current market value was between $180 million and $200 million, nearly double that of 2009, and it was called the ninth largest in Hollywood.

Also, because of the good performance last year, President Ryan Kavanaugh was named the "Billion Dollar Producer" and "Film Person of the Year" by Variety magazine at the beginning of the year.

However, Link remembered that Relativity Media didn't enjoy its success for long.

Because the company was backed by Wall Street hedge fund companies, Wall Street capital was more profit-oriented, eager for quick success and instant benefits, while film was an art that required careful crafting.

After 2009, Relativity Media raised hundreds of millions of dollars each year to invest in film production, launching more film projects than established independent film companies like Lionsgate, New Line Cinema, and The Weinstein Company.

By 2015, due to investing in too many projects and raising too much financing, while the capital return was too slow, the company's capital chain broke, leading to bankruptcy. This was a classic case of Wall Street capital failing in Hollywood.

"Haha, Mr. Link Baker, I finally get to see you in person. I'm your fan."

Ryan Kavanaugh was a chubby man in his thirties with reddish-brown short hair and stubble, wearing a gray suit. He extended his hand from afar.

"Mr. Kavanaugh, welcome to Lionsgate."

Link shook hands with him in the hallway in front of the door. Since last year, Lionsgate had started distributing films produced by Relativity Media, so the two companies were partners.

"Ryan, what are you doing here?"

Jon Feltheimer greeted him from the side.

"Haha, Jon, I should be asking you that. You've already sold the company, why are you still here?"

Ryan Kavanaugh laughed.

"I'm back at Lionsgate for retirement."

Feltheimer shrugged.

"Haha, Mr. Baker, it was definitely a wise choice to invite Jon back. I was originally thinking of asking him to be the president of Relativity Media, but unfortunately, I didn't have the chance."

Ryan Kavanaugh pointed at Jon and laughed.

"Yes, with Jon here, my work will be much easier."

Link smiled and invited Kavanaugh into the meeting room.

The main purpose of President Ryan Kavanaugh's visit was to strengthen his connection with the new Lionsgate helm.

He hoped that the two companies could cooperate more on films and work together to increase the share of independent films in the North American film market.

Kavanaugh also complained a few words about Harvey Weinstein, saying that Harvey was a Hollywood bully who liked to use his resources to exclude outsiders.

Link smiled, not knowing whether the other party really had a grudge against Harvey, but he had heard about the conflict between Ryan Kavanaugh and Harvey.

At the Oscars earlier this year, Relativity Media's "The Social Network" and The Weinstein Company's "The King's Speech" became rivals.

The former received nine nominations, and the latter received 12 nominations, both with a good chance of winning the Oscars for Best Picture, Best Director, and other major awards.

At the beginning of the awards ceremony, the mainstream media was more optimistic about "The Social Network," believing that it was more innovative and creative than "The King's Speech."

In the voting on major movie websites, "The Social Network's" reputation and popularity far exceeded "The King's Speech," and it was considered the best film of 2010.

However, during the award selection period, a lot of negative news about "The Social Network" broke out in the media, exaggerating minor flaws in the film.

The public relations department of "The King's Speech" stepped up its efforts, inviting many British history experts to praise the film.

During the judges' voting period, The Weinstein Company also sent out many DVDs, small gifts, and held screening parties to attract votes from over 5,000 Oscar judges.

As a result, at the Oscars, "The King's Speech" won four major awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Original Screenplay.

"The Social Network" only won three insignificant awards: Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Original Score, and Best Editing.

When the two films were released at the end of last year, their box office results were similar.

But after the Oscars, the global box office of "The King's Speech" reached nearly $300 million, while "The Social Network" just exceeded $180 million.

If the Oscars were a boxing match, Harvey Weinstein used old but practical boxing techniques in the ring to beat Ryan Kavanaugh black and blue, leaving him with no power to fight back.

Ryan Kavanaugh criticized Harvey in person, probably because he heard that Link and Harvey were not on good terms and wanted to use this to strengthen cooperation with him.

Link didn't object to this.

Ryan Kavanaugh was backed by Elliott Management and had no shortage of money.

There were also rumors that Relativity Media's production department liked to use Wall Street's pure mathematical methods to study film investment, that is, using "big data" to study whether a film would be profitable to reduce investment risk.

Judging from the past few films, this algorithm had some use.

If there were suitable projects, they could also cooperate.

But considering that this company eventually went bankrupt due to too much financing and too many creditors, leading to insolvency, they should pay attention to the scale of cooperation to prevent getting splashed with dirt when the other party fell.

"Link, do you think winning awards is more important for a movie, or making money?"

Ryan Kavanaugh suddenly asked with a smile.

"Making money! Without funds, the company cannot survive."

Link said affirmatively.

"That's true. Compared to the art of film, I also care more about whether a film is profitable. Our company's method of using big data to estimate whether a project is profitable is the most scientific and accurate film production method in the current film industry, and it has been repeatedly verified in the past few years. Link, if you're interested, we can study and invest together."

Kavanaugh said.

"Sounds good. I'll visit Relativity Media sometime to learn."

Link nodded.

"Haha, welcome, Link. Compared to Harvey and those old guys in the seven major film companies, we are the younger generation, with more common topics and hobbies. I hope it's the same in movies."

Ryan Kavanaugh said with a warm expression.

After chatting for a while, Kavanaugh said goodbye and invited him to the company's new film project party before leaving, hinting that there would be many actresses at the party and asking him to help choose a leading lady, praising his good taste.

Link didn't refuse directly and said he would attend if he had time after asking about the time.

After Kavanaugh left, film companies with cooperative relationships, such as Warner Bros., Touchstone Pictures, Blue Sky Studios, Focus Features, Summit Entertainment, and Anchor Bay Entertainment, sent people to contact him.

The Ellison siblings also personally visited Lionsgate to discuss the possibility of cooperation.

It took Link a week to deal with these matters, welcoming and seeing off guests every day, engaging in political maneuvering, feeling that it was more difficult than fighting the Aragon race in 2008.

Fortunately, when he was about to collapse, Miss Ivanka Trump finished her work at Link Music and flew from New York to Los Angeles to take over Lionsgate.

"I can take over Lionsgate, but I have one condition."

Ivanka, wearing a women's suit and high heels, strode down the hallway of Lionsgate.

Four soon-to-be executives and four assistants in suits followed not far behind them, looking imposing and full of momentum.

"What is it?"

Link asked.

"First of all, we need to make it clear that Lionsgate is a business, not your hunting ground. From now on, you are not allowed to casually put actresses in the crew, nor are you allowed to have improper relationships with actresses who have cooperated with Lionsgate."

Ivanka said without stopping.

"Are you talking about Jennifer and Alexandra? I knew them before I joined Lionsgate, and it just so happened that the company had suitable roles for them. It's not considered taking advantage."

Link explained.

"Except for them, if the company has suitable roles for them, I will arrange it. You don't need to interfere. I'm referring to other actresses. Our work must focus on the film, finding suitable actors to participate in our films, not just beautiful actresses, and not to make anyone famous."

Ivanka suddenly stopped and stared at him with her blue eyes.

"I understand what you mean and will never make this kind of mistake because my purpose in buying Lionsgate is to make money with this company, not to pick up girls. I won't lose sight of the big picture for small gains."

"I hope you can do what you say."

Ivanka glanced at him and strode into the meeting room, leaving behind a charming fragrance.

Link looked at her back and shook his head. This woman's aura was getting stronger and stronger. When talking to her, he often unconsciously fell into a disadvantage and became cautious.

If this continued, he might not be able to control her after marriage.

This was definitely not a good thing.

Link sighed.

---

On the day Ivanka took office at Lionsgate, she announced the convening of an expanded Lionsgate management meeting.

The heads of nine departments, including film production, TV production, distribution, brand marketing, legal, finance, public relations, and international film, were required to attend.

There were 38 people in total.

At the meeting, Ivanka named and criticized six executives above the director level, including CEO Steven Beeks, Vice President Michael Burns, and the former head of the production department.

The reason for the criticism was simple: "The Hunger Games" was independently produced by Lionsgate, but during the production process, outsiders were allowed to interfere in the film's casting and actor selection.

There was no sense of responsibility or courage as executives of a major film company, which led to Lionsgate's current predicament.

It also directly affected the crew's work, resulting in losses of millions of dollars or even more.

This loss was caused by the negligence of several executives and could not be entirely borne by the company.

Ivanka announced on the spot that CEO Steven Beeks' annual performance bonus would be deducted by 50%, and the other five executives would be deducted by 30% to 10%.

For those in management who were unwilling to accept the punishment, they could resign, and she would sign on the spot and provide 18 months' salary.

Hearing this, CEO Steven Beeks and others secretly wiped their sweat.

After Link took over Lionsgate, they thought the matter was over, but no one expected Ivanka Trump to appear halfway and criticize them by name at the meeting, which suddenly increased the pressure on them.

As for resigning, they naturally wouldn't do that.

Although there were many film companies in Hollywood, it was very difficult to become a company executive. After resigning, unless they were lucky enough to join one of the six major film companies, the treatment at other small production companies would definitely not be as good as Lionsgate's.

Ivanka sat in the chairman's seat at the conference table, expressionlessly scanning the dozens of executives present. Her beautiful face became cold and serious.

Seeing that no one offered to resign, she continued to announce that, given the company's current financial situation, some underperforming and inefficient employees would be laid off by the end of the year, with a ratio of about 20%.

Wow!

Hearing this, there was an uproar in the conference room.

Lionsgate's poor financial situation was a fact. Not only did it have $180 million in debt, but in the first three months of this year, the company lost $37.36 million, which indeed put some pressure on its finances.

But in 2009, the company had already gone through a round of layoffs. The total number of employees in various departments was originally 425, but now there were only 312 left. If another 20% were laid off, many positions might be left vacant.

However, after seeing the four new executives opposite the conference table, they had to shut their mouths. Steven Beeks recognized two of these four executives.

One was Jeff Jones, 51 years old this year, who was once a senior executive in Warner Bros.' content development department and participated in the development of dozens of film projects such as "Suicide Squad" and "Batman." He had extensive experience in the film industry.

The other was Stacey Snider, who served as the head of distribution at New Line Cinema from 1999 to 2007.

After New Line Cinema was acquired by Warner Bros. in 2007, she joined DreamWorks' marketing department as the main person in charge and participated in the production and distribution of films such as "The Switch" and "The Fifth Estate." She was a very capable woman.

The remaining two also looked like very shrewd and capable career elites.

With these experienced people, even if all of Lionsgate's employees left now, they could recruit the necessary employees in a very short time.

Thinking of this, Steven Beeks and the others felt even more pressure.

Ivanka's actions clearly showed that she wanted to rectify Lionsgate's internal workplace, put pressure on the original executives, and force everyone to work hard. If they didn't work hard, they would lose their jobs.

President Beeks sighed inwardly and couldn't help but miss the days when Link was the chairman. There was no pressure, and the work was very easy. Unfortunately, after Link resigned, those days were probably gone forever.

"Does anyone want to resign?"

No one responded.

Ivanka then announced several new appointments, placing Jeff Jones, Stacey Snider, and the other two in key positions at Lionsgate.

"Any questions?"

"No!"

"President Beeks, please show the four new executives around Lionsgate's work environment."

"Yes, Chairman!"

President Steven Beeks stood up and said.

"Meeting adjourned!"

Ivanka glanced around, picked up her laptop from the table, and left.

After she left, the others looked at each other and hurriedly left the meeting room, much faster than when Link adjourned the meeting.

(End of chapter)