Chapter 350

Inside the New York office of Miramax.

Harvey Weinstein was roughly groping his assistant who was sitting on his lap while thinking of when he ran into Arthur Smith at the bar entrance last night.

The disdain in Arthur's eyes deeply wounded him. Who would've thought that the kid who once needed an appointment to see him would grow to such heights?

In just a few years, Arthur Smith had come this far, and now even Disney couldn't compete with the movies from his studio, Galaxy.

"Knock, knock, knock," came a knocking on the office door.

"Sir," the assistant in his lap spoke weakly.

"You leave first," Harvey Weinstein brusquely pushed the woman off and yelled towards the door, "Come in!"

The door opened, revealing Bob Weinstein, his sharp features accentuated by his glasses. The assistant quickly tidied her disheveled clothes and scurried out of the office.

Bob Weinstein was used to this kind of scene. He casually plopped onto the sofa, "There's been a banning order on Kids!"

The banning order came from Disney Films.

And Kids was an independent film in which Miramax had invested.

Kids told the story of Terry, a youth from the lower rungs of society who took pleasure in deflowering virgins. Jenny, who recently had a fleeting romance with Terry, discovered she had contracted HIV. To prevent further tragedy, Jenny went to great lengths to find Terry.

As a coming-of-age film, Kids had no moral boundaries, boldly and provocatively portraying youth, sex, and desire!

To Disney, the film was too far removed from what they represented, and they directly prohibited Miramax from distributing it.

Harvey Weinstein dared not complain against Disney in such matters, "Find a small indie distributor instead!"

Miramax had gone on a crazy buying spree with Disney's money over the last two years, but they hadn't produced many noteworthy films. Harvey Weinstein was also worried about offending Disney executives.

"Harvey, Disney's patience is limited. If we don't produce satisfactory work, we will be booted out in disgrace," Bob Weinstein had no respect for his brother's so-called artistic pursuits. He cared about profits, about how much box office revenue a film could generate!

Miramax's current lineup could barely garner awards or box office success, guaranteeing their eventual abandonment.

Bob knew it, and so did Harvey. Waving his hand, Harvey said, "Understood. We'll invest in Dimension Films next. Let's develop more bloody and horror B-movies!"

Such B-movies might not rake in a lot of money, but at least they wouldn't incur large losses;

They could generally secure small profits.

"Alright, I'll leave for now," Bob Weinstein had been waiting for those words. Dimension Films, as a subsidiary of Miramax, was mainly managed by Bob Weinstein himself!

Harvey Weinstein actually had high hopes for Quentin Tarantino, the genius who had directed Reservoir Dogs.

He knew the great reception Tarantino's new film Pulp Fiction had received in industry preview circles. He was hoping to win Tarantino over at the Cannes Film Festival.

...

Arthur, along with his consultancy team comprising Jim Colter and Emily Shear, flew to Paris for final negotiations with Credit Lyonnais!

Credit Lyonnais had been facing numerous setbacks over the past few years. The case involving MGM and Pathe due to the fraud led by Italian Giancarlo Parretti and the complicity of bank executives, resulted in significant losses for Credit Lyonnais.

Last year, Credit Lyonnais was also entangled in a lawsuit over the Adidas acquisition case brought by Bernard Tapie, the president of Marseille, initiating a lengthy legal battle!

Currently, Credit Lyonnais operates as a state-owned French bank under absolute government control.

This year's new CEO, Pascal Lamy, previously served as an adviser to former French Economy and Finance Minister Jacques Delors, and later became the deputy director of former French Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy's private office. When Jacques Delors assumed the presidency of the European Commission, Pascal Lamy became Delors' chief of staff!

Before he became the CEO of Credit Lyonnais this year, Pascal Lamy had already served as chief of staff at the European Commission for eight years.

In a suite at the Ritz Paris, Arthur, who had just left Credit Lyonnais headquarters, immediately convened a meeting with Jim Colter and Emily Shear!

Arthur spoke seriously, "Galaxy has various ongoing projects. Besides my $500 million investment and the $300 million from Wall Street, the remaining $300 million needs to be resolved through negotiations with Credit Lyonnais."

Galaxy would also take over MGM's $400 million debt.

"Credit Lyonnais suffered significant losses from MGM. They probably won't want to assume this new $300 million debt," Jim Kolter explained.

Arthur's expression remained unchanged, "I'm not a fraudster like Giancarlo Parretti. Would Credit Lyonnais not give Galaxy even this courtesy? Or do they prefer to trust Kirk Kerkorian, the gambler?"

Jim Kolter nodded, "Alright, we'll do our best to persuade them!"

*****

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