Capítulo 388: Chapter 389: Initiation
[Chapter 389: Initiation]
After taking the memo from Allen, the two walked towards the conference room. Eric whispered, "How's that situation coming along?"
Allen kept his voice low as well. "It's all set. The choices for director Renny Harlin and the lead actress Gina Davis have already been shared with Bruce Evans. However, we've managed to make him realize that someone is very interested in the script for Cutthroat Island. Now he isn't in a hurry to act and is at a stalemate with our staff. Plus, there are some others starting to inquire about the Cutthroat Island script, likely Robert's people."
Eric nodded with relief and pushed open the conference room door. They walked in together.
Today's meeting mainly focused on summarizing Firefly Films' work over the past year.
From the beginning of the year to now, Firefly had fully produced only two films, Ghost and Sleeping with the Enemy. However, both films had impressive box office performances. Ghost, Sleeping with the Enemy, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and The Silence of the Lambs all crossed the $100 million mark. Aside from that, Firefly handled the distribution of a few smaller productions from second and third-tier companies during the film off-season, which also brought in a small profit.
Even though the holiday box office had just begun, North America's total box office for 1990 had already surpassed $5 billion. However, Firefly's total box office revenue so far had only reached a little over $600 million, claiming 12% of the domestic market share. While this figure was significantly lower than last year's performance under Eric's productions, if one considered the context, the difference was apparent. This year's earnings were achieved entirely independent of any major distribution deals, whereas last year, nearly all of Eric's films were released by the big seven agencies. Even with high profits, they merely acted as a simple production company.
After a year of consolidation with New Line, Firefly already resembled a major studio with complete production and distribution channels, similar to the big seven. While they still lagged behind the established major studios in terms of depth, their box office share had already exceeded 10% of Paramount Pictures, with MGM being left well behind, ranking sixth among all Hollywood film companies.
On the television front, Firefly's Friends dominated the fall ratings, while the game show Who Wants to be a Millionaire gained massive acclaim.
The X-Files, which premiered in September alongside Friends, garnered an average of 17 million viewers. While this performance was significantly lower than that of Friends, The X-Files had a primary audience demographic concentrated among teenagers aged 16 to 30, unlike the all-age appeal of Friends. Therefore, the viewership was still impressive.
Moreover, the narrow target demographic made The X-Files even more attractive to advertisers, leading to ad revenue that surpassed other shows with similar viewership by over 20%.
In addition, the company made considerable strides in both video rental and international distribution. Their video department established a partnership with rental giant Blockbuster. Through the international distribution of films like Ghost, Firefly also set up subsidiaries in major box office countries like the UK, France, and Australia.
The expansion of business signified a significant investment of funds. Thus, Firefly's net profit for the first three quarters stood at only $160 million. After Carolyn Elliott finished her financial report, Eric announced a $20 million bonus plan for all Firefly employees.
As low cheers erupted, only Robert Shea frowned slightly. He was already aware of the bonus plan beforehand. After its proposal, Robert opposed it. However, Eric had used his power as chairman to pass the plan.
...
Hearing Eric announce it again, Robert still felt irked. He thought Eric was being too generous.
After all, distributing this $20 million meant his shareholders' dividends would decrease by $5 million. To fund the production of Ghost Detective, Robert had raised $30 million by mortgaging his assets. Now, with this film's failure, he would have to use his year-end bonus to repay debts, making that $5 million a significant loss for him.
As he pondered over the issue, Robert suddenly heard Eric continue, "Now we'll move on to the next agenda item: the removal of Mr. Robert Shea from the CEO position at Firefly."
For a moment, Robert nearly thought he had heard wrong. However, witnessing the sudden hush in the room and the strange looks from the executives directed at him, Robert felt a chill down his spine, quickly followed by intense anger. He jumped to his feet, pointing at Eric and shouted, "Eric Williams, do you even know what you're doing?"
Eric did not respond immediately. He looked towards the other attendees in the conference room and said, "You all can leave. I need to have a private conversation with Robert."
As his words settled in, everyone in the room, including Robert's loyal subordinates, quietly stood up and walked towards the exit.
Robert waved his arms in excitement, sneering, "I don't need to talk to you alone. If there's something to discuss, it can be in front of everyone. Hey, Michael, Hardy, Raynas, you all stay."
Michael Lynn and a few others turned back briefly, glancing at Eric and Robert. Michael sighed and said, "Robert, why don't you just have a proper conversation with Eric?"
With that, the group continued their exit.
Robert noticed the reactions of his loyal subordinates and instantly realized that Eric had already begun to layout this move. It filled him with frustration and anger at being made a fool. If Eric hadn't been a tall, strong young man, Robert might have rushed forward and fought him.
Yet, he still roared, "I'm telling you, you won't succeed. You'll pay for this. I'm a shareholder of Firefly, and I own a quarter of the company. So if you think you can push me out, think again."
After a brief pause from Robert, Eric interjected, "Regarding your shares in Firefly, I'll buy them back at a reasonable price, making sure you won't incur any losses. Plus, I'll guarantee that you will receive your full share of this year's profit distribution."
*****
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