At the end of June...
The Golden Dawn Entertainment Group held its big mid-year meeting for all the company bosses.
The main topic was, once again, building their own network to show their movies in other countries.
"First of all," Zane Blackwood said, his voice strong and serious, "we must all be clear. Our cooperation with Paramount is over."
"It no longer exists."
"And I want to make one more thing clear: We can still work with other Hollywood companies, but when it comes to showing our movies overseas, Wald Pictures must build its own channels. This is not up for discussion!"
"We must have our own distribution in all four big regions: South America, Europe, Australia, and Asia!"
Zane was being very forceful, which was rare for him. He wanted to stop anyone from thinking they could just go back to the "easy way" of working with Paramount.
His strong words made many of the bosses in the room go quiet. They had been secretly hoping they could just stay partners with Paramount.
Why? First, it was easy. It let them just focus on making movies, and they knew they'd make a good profit.
Second, the "Big Six" Hollywood studios (like Paramount) were just so big and powerful that most people were a little scared of them.
For the last 20 years, many companies had tried to challenge the Big Six. But what happened? They were either bought or crushed.
Even the super-powerful DreamWorks (Steven Spielberg's company) was having a hard time!
"Everyone, please remember," Zane said, his voice a little softer but still firm, "I am not some crazy challenger. I am a wealthy man. A very wealthy man."
He looked around the room. "Victor, you're the CEO of the whole group. Tell us your opinion."
Everyone in the room turned to look at Victor. He was the number-two boss, right under Zane. What he said mattered.
"I support the boss's decision," Victor said, his voice clear and strong. "It's time to end our cooperation with Paramount."
"And," he said, "I have some numbers to show you all why."
He put a chart on the big screen.
[1996, the movie "Static"]
Wald Pictures sold the overseas rights to Paramount.
In the end, Wald Pictures made a total profit of $9.2 million.
But Paramount, who just distributed the movie, made a profit of at least $45 million.
Victor let that sink in. "In other words, we did all the work, and Paramount made five times more money than we did. We were just working for them!"
The room was silent. The bosses all looked a little grim.
Then Victor showed them more numbers. Wrong Turn, The Human Purge Project, Juno, The Sixth Sense...
"Everyone, do you know?" Victor said, "With just these six movies, Paramount has made at least $300 million in profit from our hard work!"
"Especially The Sixth Sense!" he said, "It made $600 million. We, the company that made the movie, ended up making less money than Paramount, who just distributed it."
"Do we really want to continue this blood-sucking deal?"
Victor looked around the room. "Remember, our boss, Mr. Zane Blackwood, is a super-rich man with a net worth of over $2 billion. He has the money and the power to make us a stronger company."
Ms. Donna, the TV boss, spoke up first. "I agree with the boss and Mr. Jones." Old Bill, the new president of Wald Pictures, said, "There's nothing more to say. The boss is rich, so we have nothing to worry about. I support it!" Kevin Fitch, the VP, added, "Our plan for Mexico is already working. We can't ignore a market as big as Europe."
One by one, all the heads of the companies agreed. Zane's decision was now unstoppable.
The truth was, the meeting wasn't really a discussion. Zane had already made up his mind!
But getting all his bosses to agree and be excited was important. It would make the whole company work harder and faster.
(Of course, Victor "forgot" to mention that without Paramount's big network, those movies might not have made so much money in the first place. But he and Zane both "forgot" to mention that. This meeting wasn't about the past; it was about getting the team pumped up for the future!)
"I just want to go it alone!" That was the key point.
With everyone on board, Zane waved his hand and set the next big goal: The European Strategy!
On July 3rd...
During the 1998 World Cup in France, "Old Bill" McNick, representing Zane's company, went to Europe. He had a big meeting with the senior leaders of UEFA (the big European soccer committee).
His goal? To make a new movie.
"Mr. Johansson," Old Bill said to the UEFA President, "our company wants to make a movie about soccer. It's called... 'Goal! The Dream Begins'."
"We're here to talk to you first, and then we're going to talk to FIFA (the world soccer committee). We want to make a great movie, or even a series of movies, that will make us a profit and help make soccer even more popular around the world. It's a win-win."
Zane knew the Goal! movies would be famous. And this was the perfect way to get his foot in the door in Europe.
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