Chapter 187: The Future Headquarters

When Arthur returned to Los Angeles, it was late January, and coincidentally, Winona Ryder called to tell him she had gone to Poland for a cameo in Schindler's List!

At the same time, there was a major international event related to Hollywood: an Italian investment group led by Giancarlo Parretti was accused of fraudulently obtaining large loans from Credit Lyonnais in France to acquire MGM and other film companies like Pathe.

With the arrest and investigation of Giancarlo Parretti and some executives from Credit Lyonnais, Credit Lyonnais immediately took control of MGM, Pathe, and other movie groups!

"Lyon Credit, MGM?" Arthur sat on the sofa in his Bel-Air estate and looked at the night sky outside after putting down the newspaper.

MGM currently had very few productions, and neither Kirk Kerkorian nor Giancarlo Parretti had really intended to manage MGM properly.

Is Credit Lyonnais planning to find someone to run MGM?

The next day, Arthur, accompanied by Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley, went to Glendale as Galaxy planned to purchase a plot of land for its headquarters.

"Arthur, this plot is quite large. Nearby, Disney has established the Imagineering Studio, and Interstate 5 is not far away, making transportation convenient," Tom Bradley, the African American mayor of Los Angeles, introduced to Arthur.

Arthur looked up and indeed saw that Disney had bought a piece of land nearby to build a studio, and further away in Burbank was Disney Studios.

The plot bordered the Los Angeles River and was not far from Interstate 5, with the 134 City Highway surrounding it!

"I want this entire plot. Galaxy plans to build its own production base here, including administrative buildings, media halls, studios, prop warehouses, editing rooms, and recording studios for post-production. We also need to reserve some outdoor sets; it will be a long-term investment process!"

Arthur pointed at the land nearby. Fortunately, Disney wasn't as powerful as it would be in the future, otherwise, this entire area would belong to Disney and ABC.

Tom Bradley nodded, "Of course, no problem. We are very much looking forward to Galaxy's investment here!"

Given the current poor state of the U.S. economy, Tom Bradley was certainly eager to see Galaxy investing locally to create jobs.

Arthur's plot exceeded 50 acres. If he really planned to develop it completely like he said, the investment would be in the hundreds of millions!

Arthur smiled, "Rest assured, I am also a Los Angeles local."

Taking advantage of the current low land prices, Arthur did not mind stockpiling some land for future use. North Hollywood is, after all, in the valley.

Hollywood and Century City, on the other hand, lacked available land and the prices were high. Glendale and Burbank in the suburbs were not far from Hollywood and were well-suited to be the headquarters of an entertainment company.

After all, a movie studio is different from talent agencies or film investment companies; it doesn't need to operate in bustling areas!

In the afternoon, Arthur arrived at the Orion office in Century City. Amy Pascal was not there. Mrs. Doubtfire was set to start shooting next month, and she had gone to inspect the location.

Whether it was Reservoir Dogs, or action films co-produced with Park City, Arthur wouldn't waste much effort participating in any of them.

At most, Arthur would just pay occasional attention when he remembered. What truly concerned Arthur were commercial films like The Bodyguard.

The reason was simple: not only did these commercial films have much higher production costs, but the distribution expenses were also significantly greater compared to art films!

At the Sunset Tower Hotel in West Hollywood, Galaxy's new film Mrs. Doubtfire held its kickoff press conference.

"Arthur, aren't you worried that Robin Williams might quit?" Amy Pascal asked Arthur Smith with a smile. Right now, the relationship between Galaxy and CAA wasn't great.

What if Michael Ovitz got Robin Williams to quit?

Arthur laughed, "No problem, as long as he compensates the crew $18 million for breaching the contract, Mrs. Doubtfire can let him go anytime."

"The insurance company and he would have to pay together, and I would find another lead actor to take part!"

Amy Pascal brushed back her hair, "He's good friends with Spielberg, he won't get involved in this kind of conflict."

Steven Spielberg was also one to avoid offending either side, not expressing any opinions, and was focused on directing Schindler's List according to his plans.

Arthur complained in his heart about Universal's chairman, Lew Wasserman, not being able to handle even one Spielberg. Wasserman was indeed getting old.

"It's just a talent agency, they can deal with those indie production companies. But challenging distributors?" Arthur shook his head, knowing that distributors were backed by capital, unlike those financially struggling movie production companies!

"By the way, what is James Cameron up to? Is he preparing the script for Spider-Man?"

Terminator 2: Judgment Day, which was released last summer, had grossed over $500 million globally.

James Cameron was on fire right now!

"He's apparently signed with 20th Century Fox to develop a drama, and he's co-writing a script for Crowded Spaces with Todd Graff from The Abyss," Amy Pascal shrugged, implying that Spider-Man would have to wait.

"Crowded Spaces?" Arthur hadn't heard of this work, but it seemed like another aborted project of James Cameron's, just like Spider-Man.

"Amy, what do you think of MGM?" Arthur suddenly asked about the old movie studio.

"MGM?" Amy Pascal glanced at Arthur, guessing that he had some thoughts about MGM.

"As for MGM, its internal management is quite chaotic, and it hasn't developed its own works well in recent years. It's changed hands multiple times, losing some early rights, but MGM's film library is still quite valuable and needs reform!"

Amy Pascal put it mildly. MGM needed more than reform; it required a major overhaul.

Those conservative filmmakers couldn't keep up with the changes of the times.

"MGM doesn't have any new projects; its valuable assets are the rights library," Amy Pascal said, shaking her head.

"Credit Lyonnais suffered significant losses with MGM; they are most concerned with getting cash flow!"

Arthur smiled, "Credit Lyonnais hasn't even put MGM on the market yet. Let's wait. Right now, we can't come up with the billions of dollars needed."

Galaxy's current debt was in the hundreds of millions, and it had an upcoming loan repayment of a hundred million this year.

Acquiring MGM right now would be difficult and highly unlikely!

Let's wait a couple of years; Galaxy's growth is skyrocketing, no need to rush.

"I will keep an eye on MGM. If Credit Lyonnais decides to sell, Galaxy will definitely be a strong contender," Amy Pascal had no doubt about that.

Unfortunately, Arthur's ambitions were high; he wanted to wholly acquire MGM while ensuring he remained the majority shareholder.

Without sufficient funds, it wouldn't work. MGM's 50% stake in the 007 franchise and distribution rights for The Hobbit series were all premium assets!

After the press conference, Arthur and one of the stars, Jennifer Connelly, went to Palm Springs in Los Angeles County.

Palm Springs is about 120 miles southeast of downtown Los Angeles, located in the Coachella Valley within the Colorado Desert, known as California's famous desert oasis resort!

"This is a political fundraiser led by Ted Turner of TBS. Former San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein is running for U.S. Senator from California. Former California U.S. Senator Pete Wilson became Governor last year, leaving his seat vacant," Arthur briefly explained to Jennifer Connelly after arriving at the golf resort in Palm Springs.

As a top graduate of Yale and Stanford, Jennifer Connelly was quite bright and asked, "Isn't Ted Turner's main base in Georgia? Why is he interested in California politics?"

Arthur smiled, "TBS now has deep relations with Hollywood. Anyone in the media industry is bound to be involved with California."

In the evening, Arthur mingled in the banquet hall with billionaire David Geffen, veteran star Elizabeth Taylor, and pop king Michael Jackson.

"Arthur, Elizabeth Taylor got married again last year. It's her eighth marriage and her seventh husband," Jennifer Connelly briefed Arthur on the legendary actress's marital history.

"She's 60 now, right? Eight marriages and seven husbands, how does that work?"

"She divorced and then remarried one of them in the mid-70s, then divorced again!"

Arthur's mouth twitched, "Impressive..."

*****

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