American History 1988
Chapter 352 - 341: Orion

Chapter 352: Chapter 341: Orion

After seeing off Spielberg and his colleagues, Dean first poured himself a drink and took a short rest.

He still had business discussions ahead. His trip to Hollywood was not merely for a vacation.

"Dear, are you planning to establish a new studio?"

Jennifer had been outside hosting guests, but when she saw Spielberg and his group leaving Dean’s place one after another, she quickly seized the opportunity to slip in.

Katzenberg, Spielberg, David Geffen—these three were influential figures in Hollywood.

Together with the financially robust Dean, Jennifer was very much looking forward to their collaboration.

Honestly, Dean’s business was all in Silicon Valley; although Jennifer was keen to get involved, she couldn’t grasp the software and internet sector.

But she was very familiar with and interested in Hollywood, so she was very proactive about this matter.

Dean, who had originally planned to invite Kruger for a chat, simply pulled her onto his lap.

"It’s just an animation studio, dear."

"Animation?" Jennifer blinked, "Like ’The Lion King’ kind of animation?"

"You could say that, but DreamWorks might focus on 3D." Only 3D would be so costly because their special effects are much more expensive than 2D.

Upon hearing this explanation, Jennifer felt somewhat disappointed. "I thought it was live-action movies. Can animation make money?"

If the new studio was to focus primarily on animation, her involvement would be minimal.

Because it wouldn’t need actors, nor film studios; even the scripts are different from those of live-action movies.

If that was the case, how could she, as an actress, climb her way up to become a producer?

That was the most powerful position in Hollywood, and she had more than once fantasized about someday achieving it.

Then, using her privileges, she would pick a script, piece together a project, and fit all her friends into it.

Thinking about their respectful and flattering looks, Jennifer felt light as a feather.

But now, Dean told her it was going to be an animated film studio.

"Jennifer~" Dean said with a smile, reaching under her clothes, "Animation can also make money.

You just need to remember that I never engage in a losing deal."

Dean knew Jennifer’s little schemes, but indeed, the DreamWorks deal was feasible.

Investing 500 million US dollars and only taking a third of the shares was something he would never do.

After all, these Hollywood folk saw him as a cash bag—they wanted to use Dean’s money to make movies.

If the films made money later, they could take the lion’s share. Otherwise, if they lost money, a large part of the risk would fall on Dean.

Why does he handle most of the studio’s capital yet receive only a tiny share of the equity?

Regrettably, although Dean was rich, he was definitely not thoughtless.

On the contrary, having invested multiple times before, he understood the rules of the capital game better than anyone.

He intentionally didn’t reject Spielberg right away; instead, he kept them hanging with vague responses.

Not until DreamWorks faced financing difficulties did he turn the tables.

With 100 million US dollars, he secured 18% of DreamWorks Animation’s shares—a deal that would definitely not result in a loss in the future.

Although he didn’t have controlling shares in DreamWorks, whatever they did in the future, Dean could just liquidate his stocks and exit the scene.

By then, the value of an 18% share would be much more than merely 100 million US dollars.

Not to mention making several times the profit with ease.

As for Katzenberg and their greed toward Dean, expressing dissatisfaction in their dealings...

He scoffed. Everyone was in the same boat; no one should criticize another.

Each of these three men only put in 33 million US dollars during DreamWorks’ financing.

Yet together, their shares almost amounted to 60% of DreamWorks.

He himself put in a real 100 million dollars and still didn’t qualify over any one of them in the end.

Who truly is greedy? The nature of these Jewish men never changes.

With Dean included, nearly 80% of DreamWorks’ shares had been distributed.

This meant the remaining share was only around 20%; according to the rules of the game, a part of this needed to be allocated to the internal creative team.

Wait, had they forgotten about CJ Group from Korea? Beforehand, they had invested 300 million US dollars.

So here comes the problem: a 20% share clearly isn’t ample to be distributed fairly, and someone is bound to be at a disadvantage.

As for who would lose out? Dean and Spielberg understood this unspoken agreement.

In the Western world, of course, white priorities come first.

Foreign capital wanting to do business has to pay some ’tuition’.

Moreover, in this capital game, another party also faced significant risk.

That would be those financing DreamWorks: Silicon Valley Bank and Merrill Bank, with loans amounting to seven to eight hundred million US dollars.

As collateral, only the DreamWorks company itself was recorded.

Of course, the reputations of Spielberg and Dean served as an invisible security too.

Particularly Dean, some of his assets, including funds from his personal charity foundation, were involved with these two banks.

This was why they were willing to lend; if DreamWorks’ shareholders were replaced, this wouldn’t even be up for consideration.

The banks that funded half of DreamWorks’ startup capital became its biggest creditors.

If DreamWorks turned a profit, then well and good. If not, the banks may face a significant bad debt.

It’s not that Dean had a stern heart; rather, it was just how everyone played the game.

Now setting aside DreamWorks’ business for a moment, Dean needed to meet another guest.

"Jennifer, DreamWorks is just a small trial. I’ve told you, we’ll have other business ventures in Hollywood."

"Really?" Jennifer, previously somewhat disappointed, instantly sat up straight.

"Of course," feeling her softness, Dean rose respectfully with a bow.

"Could you please invite Mr. Kruger over?"

"John Kruger of Metropolitan Media?" This name was a resounding one in the entertainment industry, and Jennifer was no exception.

"Exactly, I have a business deal I’d like to discuss with him," Dean said, patting her shapely buttocks.

Jennifer gave him a seductive glance and then leaned closer to his ear to blow a breath of warm air.

"Do you need me to have Liv and Winona stay a couple more days?"

"Ahem~" Dean cleared his throat, "Perhaps we could take the Sapphire to Hawaii?"

"As you wish~" Jennifer flicked her tongue out, touching his earlobe.

Tsk, this girl was getting better and better.

Two minutes later, John Kruger had walked in with his assistant, without a female companion.

Seeing this, Dean patted Jennifer’s hand, signaling her to step away for a moment.

Once the room was left with only the tight-lipped insiders, the media tycoon started speaking with a smile.

"Congratulations, Dean. You’re just one step away from being the richest man in the world."

"Come on~, I thought we considered it all to be a joke," Dean shrugged helplessly.

At their level, who cared about Forbes?

The information published there was always second-hand; Dean was sure that those listed in the top few had their hidden fortunes.

Kruger chuckled, "But it’s still quite astonishing, isn’t it? If I remember correctly, you just turned 25 after Christmas."

"More or less," Dean did not deny it, getting up to pour a glass of prized red wine for the German tycoon.

A few years ago, John Kruger was always number one on the Forbes list.

Only later, with the tech industry becoming the economic engine of America, did he begin to be overtaken by Seattle and Silicon Valley.

This year he ranked fourth with a fortune of $6.4 billion, right behind Dean.

However, the gap between the top three in the Forbes 400 was not too significant, but from the fourth place down, it was a cliff-like fall.

After thanking Dean for the red wine, Kruger started seriously sizing him up.

Realizing at the age of 80 that the era now belonged to the youth.

"I heard you just finished a deal with Spielberg and others?"

"Yes," Dean said, settling back into his sofa with a glass in hand, "but that was for an animation studio."

"Animated movies?" Kruger somewhat understood, still harboring the traditional belief that animation did not count as serious cinema.

This explanation answered the questions in his mind, otherwise it was a new studio, and contacting him.

Kruger had to doubt Dean’s sincerity, because they were also set to discuss a movie deal today.

"You mentioned over the phone that you were interested in Orion?" the aged Kruger, having grown weary of beating around the bush in negotiations.

He had dealt with too many businesses in his lifetime, and Orion was just an insignificant part of his commercial empire.

"Yes," Dean nodded, "having spent a long time in Silicon Valley, I thought of coming to Hollywood to relax a bit."

"A fine strategy~" Kruger nodded understandingly, having remembered the media’s views on Dean’s relationship with Hollywood.

Young people were always a bit more playful; he probably was the same at that age.

"So, how do you want to go about this deal?" Kruger swirled the wine in his glass.

"I’ve looked over some of Orion’s information and asked some friends.

It hasn’t been doing well over the last few years, having undergone a bankruptcy reorganization at the end of ’92."

Orion Studios was established in 1978 under the wing of Warner Bros, and it had also seen glorious days.

In the 1980s, renowned directors like Woody Allen, James Cameron, and Jonathan Demme had worked with Orion.

However, starting from ’86, Orion faced its first operational crisis and eventually Warner Bros parted ways with it.

It was then that John Kruger began to get involved with Orion, and at that time Ray Easton was also on its shareholder list.

The two had even fiercely competed for the control of Orion.

A year later, John Kruger emerged as the victor, with his Metropolitan Media holding over 70% of Orion’s controlling shares.

But the good times didn’t last long; starting in ’89, Orion faced a string of box office failures.

Although there were hits like The Silence of the Lambs and Dances with Wolves, everything else resulted in losses.

By ’91, Orion had accrued debts over $500 million, and its financial situation was a total mess.

In the meantime, John Kruger had tried finding other investors, like New Line Cinema and Republic Pictures, but they couldn’t agree on a price.

He even attempted to sell Orion to Marvin Davis, the owner of 20th Century Fox, for $1.2 billion.

Unfortunately, due to the price, that deal also fell through.

Eventually, at the end of ’91, Orion had to file for bankruptcy protection.

John Kruger took over Orion himself and then began its restructuring.

Layoffs, cutting projects... After a radical overhaul, Orion finally reopened in early ’93.

But things still did not seem to improve, and by the end of ’94, Kruger was already planning to give up on Orion.

Just then, Dean’s call came through, leading to today’s meeting.

However, unlike the scenario typically imagined, with a brainless young super-rich wildly waving banknotes, Dean seemed quite knowledgeable about Hollywood.

"You seem to know a lot about Orion’s history?" Kruger perked up a bit.

"Of course," Dean smiled, "I’ve had some help from an old friend."

As he was speaking, there came a knocking on the door.

"Here they come~," he nodded to Kruger.

The media tycoon was curious who it was until he saw the figure at the door and exclaimed in surprise,

"Is it you?!"

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.