章 753: Chapter 754: The Web
[Chapter 754: The Web]
Seeing Virginia curled up on the couch, sulking a little, Eric had no choice but to call the maid to take the three little ones away. He then squished onto the couch and gathered the woman into his arms, saying, "Alright, being strong has its limits. Elia's situation is a bit special; you shouldn't always compare her to Kevin."
Virginia leaned into Eric's embrace, murmuring, "I know, I just worry... I'm afraid you won't like Kevin in the future."
Hearing Virginia's somewhat hesitant words, Eric realized her concerns ran deeper than just that. Although she had never mentioned the Hawaii Fund in front of him, the overseas investment fund he had whimsically established in his daughter's name had made an impression on Virginia. With Nokia's market value skyrocketing in recent years, the 51% stake in Nokia held by the Hawaii Fund had exceeded $3 billion. From Virginia's anxious little details over the years, Eric could sense her worries about the future.
Everyone had their biases, and Eric acknowledged he couldn't always be neutral. Even though the births of the two little ones had been unexpected, he felt no resistance; rather, he was reassured. At least, in this strange world, he had two close relatives by blood.
Holding Virginia, after a moment of contemplation, Eric said, "Vicki, Buffett invited me to a gathering on Thursday. Why don't you come with me?"
Virginia realized that since Eric had addressed her so seriously, the gathering would certainly not be an ordinary party. Bringing her along would, in essence, publicly acknowledge certain aspects of her identity. With noticeable surprise, she lifted her head but soon hesitated, asking, "What about Joan?"
"I'll talk to her. You know Joan isn't too interested in these things."
Biting her lip for a moment, Virginia seemed to muster a great deal of resolve before shaking her head, "No, I don't want this to affect my relationship with Joan."
"I told you, Joan will definitely understand. It's settled then. In the next couple of days, choose a nice dress," Eric patted Virginia, not allowing her to refute, and changed the subject. "Let's talk about movies. What do you think about your recent project?"
With Eric changing the subject, Virginia let her guard down, replying, "Ever since The Sixth Sense, it feels like I can only play a mother now. This time, I'm a single mother."
Eric chuckled, "At least you're a beautiful single mother."
Just then, the sound of quick footsteps scampered in, and before Eric could turn his head, a small, fragrant body dashed between him and Virginia, pushing her aside, and affectionately called out, "Eric!"
Of course, it was Drew.
Annoyed, Virginia swatted Drew on the thigh as she was pushed aside, but the girl didn't take it seriously. Giggles erupted as she kicked a bit and nestled back against Eric.
Virginia had no choice but to get up and clear the single chair, straightening out her somewhat messy clothing. "It's almost time to prepare dinner, so don't make too much noise."
After Virginia left the room, Eric wrapped his arm around Drew's waist and asked, "When did you arrive in New York?"
Drew kicked off her tan leather boots and snuggled beside Eric. "Not long ago. I flew in this morning with Amy. She's off to Manhattan to meet Frank."
Eric only kept an ear on MGM's general situation and didn't meddle in the specific operations. He hadn't expected Amy Pascal to come to New York as well. He asked, "With the film release window at the end of the year being so critical, is it appropriate for all three of you to leave Los Angeles?"
"This is a very important matter -- discussing adjustments to the pricing of the stock offering. The Nasdaq index has risen 16% in the past few months, exceeding 750 points. If we stick to the pricing from a few months ago, we'd be at a disadvantage. Anyway, we only have Scream and Mean Girls, both low-budget films, so it won't be a problem to step away for a few days."
Eric recalled how the Nasdaq index had indeed skyrocketed since 1995; his rebirth hadn't changed much. Listening to Drew, he pinched her cheek and smiled, "Not bad, you can rattle off so many professional terms. Looks like you've been studying hard these past few months."
Drew playfully nipped at Eric's fingers, pouting, "Ugh, does that mean I was stupid before?"
"Not stupid, just smart in the wrong ways," Eric dodged her teeth, asking, "After the price adjustment, how much funding can we raise?"
"After all the fees are taken out, around $1.05 billion," Drew replied and then added, "Oh, by the way, when we arrived yesterday, Seymour Gilbert, the chairman of Morgan Stanley, invited us to a cocktail party tomorrow night. He asked if you were free to join?"
Thanks to Chris, the Firefly network had always maintained close cooperation with Morgan Stanley. Besides this MGM stock offering, they had been preparing for AOL's IPO and Nokia's stock listing in the U.S. for over six months, all handled by Morgan Stanley. The IPO for AOL and the public listing for Nokia were both set for next January. Unless major disagreements arose, Yahoo's IPO would certainly fall under Morgan Stanley's purview. However, Eric had never met Seymour Gilbert, Morgan Stanley's chairman. Since the opportunity had presented itself, he nodded in agreement. "Sure, where's it going to be?"
"In Manhattan..." Drew tilted her head, thinking for a moment. "I can't remember the exact address, but someone will pick us up."
Eric nodded. "Since the offering is set for December 9, we should increase the marketing efforts for Scream, which is set to release on Thanksgiving. While the market is confident in MGM, the success of this low-budget film could still yield positive effects."
"I know, Amy thought of that too. The production budget for this film is $14 million, and we plan to invest $10 million in marketing. If the opening week goes well, we can continue to add funds."
Eric continued, "Additionally, since there aren't any issues with the offering, MGM won't lack for funding in the next few years. So, you all should work on getting back the movie licensing MGM has authorized to others."
Drew nodded, looking at Eric, waiting for him to continue.
Eric had been considering the issue of a pay cable channel. Currently, the combined libraries of Firefly, Fox, and MGM had surpassed 10,000 films, yet none of the three companies had a dedicated pay cable channel for movie broadcasts and had to sell the rights to others. The best option would have been to acquire HBO from Time Warner, which hadn't been doing so well recently. Eric had hoped for that opportunity, but during Terry Semel's visit regarding Lifetime, he had casually probed the matter, only to be met with a firm rejection.
Although HBO hadn't yet gained fame through original series like Sex and the City or The Sopranos, it was still a solid asset thanks to Time Warner's cable operations. Even if Terry Semel were agreeable to a spin-off sale, the Time Warner board wouldn't approve it. Thus, unless he intended to swallow up Time Warner entirely, buying HBO would be a tall order.
Considering all this, Eric continued, "You guys tackle those tasks, and stop all new television broadcasting authorizations right away. I'm planning to launch a dedicated pay cable channel for movies next year, with a collaboration between Firefly, MGM, and Fox."
"Can't it just be between us two?" Drew twisted around on Eric.
"You know my plan," Eric chuckled, "So, if you're unwilling to deal with Liz, just let Amy and the others handle it."
"Fine, fine."
...
The two chatted for an unknown amount of time until they heard a gentle knock on the door. Eric turned to see Joanna standing at the door, looking at them. "Eric, Drew, it's time for dinner."
"Okay," Eric pulled Drew up, and they walked into the corridor where Joanna lightly tugged at his sleeve.
Noticing Joanna seemed to have something to say, he nudged Drew, "You go ahead. We'll be right there."
Drew winked at him playfully but remained silent as she headed towards the stairs.
"What's up?" After watching Drew disappear, Eric asked Joanna.
"Come with me," Joanna led Eric to her bedroom and pulled out a pink gift box from her bedside drawer, handing it to him. "Terry Semel had someone send this over this morning."
Eric tugged the delicate card from the gift box, seeing a line that read: For the beautiful and intelligent Miss Hawaii Williams, from Terry Semel.
Chuckling, Eric tore open the wrapping paper. Inside was a VHS tape, beautifully boxed with a picture of penguins on the cover. The title was The World of Penguins.
Judging by the look, it appeared to be a documentary. Eric remembered an iconic film Warner had released in his past life titled March of the Penguins, but this was clearly something else.
Joanna's expression showed she recognized the cover of the tape and proceeded to recount the small incident that transpired between Terry Semel and Hawaii that day.
*****
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