Chapter 154

The Peninsula Beverly Hills, elegant piano music filled the banquet hall, and couples were dancing gracefully in the ballroom.

"Charles, congratulations!" Brad Grey, who had just assumed the role of Chairman of Paramount Pictures, warmly embraced Charles Capet.

"Haha, Brad, I should be congratulating you! Plan B Entertainment is a promising production company, and now Paramount has another strong production ally," Charles said, referring to Brad Grey's success in convincing Plan B Entertainment, owned by Brad Pitt, to move from Warner Bros. to Paramount.

At that time, the blockbuster Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was still in theaters and was produced by Plan B Entertainment for Warner Bros.

Not only that, Brad Grey also poached senior vice president of the television department, Gail Berman, from 20th Century Fox, appointing her as President of Paramount Pictures.

"Charles, what Paramount is truly interested in right now is Capet Pictures under your leadership. DreamWorks had approached us earlier, hoping to collaborate on developing a live-action Transformers movie, but unfortunately, Hasbro chose you!" Brad Grey, of course, trusted Spielberg's judgment, and as DreamWorks could not afford the massive investment required for Transformers, seeking a collaborator was only natural.

Now, Capet Pictures had acquired the capability for North American distribution. Charles Capet's movies were immensely successful and could easily attract support from Wall Street investors to establish distribution channels.

"Paramount still has the Mission: Impossible series. We can always keep our market share in North America!" Charles was well aware of Paramount's desire to acquire capable independent production companies. Similar to how Lionsgate chairman Frank Giustra had to initiate a poison pill defense to counter a takeover attempt years ago.

Brad Grey's intention to acquire Capet Entertainment was genuine, but the current valuation of Capet Entertainment was difficult to determine. More importantly, Charles Capet had no intention of selling it.

"Charles, Capet Pictures seems to have several big projects in the works. The international market is becoming increasingly important. There are always opportunities for collaboration!"

Charles nodded, knowing that even if Capet Pictures managed its own international distribution, it would still require distribution agents in many regions and countries.

Worldwide, the only film distributors with global reach were the six major Hollywood studios.

"Have a great time!" Brad Grey patted Charles' shoulder and walked away.

Charles watched Brad Grey's back for a few moments and just smiled.

An ambitious man, aiming to lead Paramount to another revival? With the Transformers series already seized by himself, Paramount lost a significant boost.

Brad Grey was planning to withdraw from Universal International Pictures (UIP), which was co-managed with Universal, to establish Paramount's own international distribution channel, Paramount International Pictures.

UIP was initially a joint international distribution network formed by Paramount, MGM, and Universal.

However, in the late 80s when Kirk Kerkorian was in charge of MGM, he focused solely on developing MGM casinos and hotels, neglecting MGM's movie business. He sold MGM's production studios and many movie props, and shut down MGM's distribution channels.

Currently, MGM's North American distribution channels were inherited from United Artists, and UIP's shares were allocated to Paramount and Universal.

Among the six major studios, except for the jointly managed UIP by Paramount and Universal, all had their own independent international distribution networks.

Sony Columbia owned Columbia TriStar International Pictures; Disney had Buena Vista International and Disney International Pictures; Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox were similar.

Although the six majors had joint regional distribution offices in some smaller markets and regions, it was limited.

For example, Fox-Warner distribution office in Switzerland or Columbia-Fox distribution office in the Netherlands.

Paramount's intent to leverage its resources in UIP to establish its overseas distribution channel was undoubtedly to better develop Paramount.

"Ah, international distribution channels are not easy!" Charles murmured to himself. For Paramount, it wasn't difficult; after all, they had been a movie company for nearly 100 years.

With strong foundations and intellectual property as support, they just needed to refine it. But for the young Capet Pictures, it was much more challenging. Even if MGM restructured its international distribution, it would be far easier than for Capet Pictures.

"Charles, good evening!"

"Oh, it's you, Jessica!"

Jessica Alba, also signed with ETA, had met Charles a few times that year due to the releases of Sin City and Fantastic Four.

Her fame exploded, landing her on Men's Health's Most Beautiful Women list for six consecutive years.

"Care for a dance? You look absolutely stunning tonight," Charles commented, admiring Jessica's tanned, sexy skin and light yellow evening gown.

Jessica Alba smiled and nodded, letting Charles lead her onto the dance floor.

"Your role as the dancer in Sin City and the Invisible Woman in Fantastic Four made every man unforgettable," Charles praised her beauty while holding her close.

Back in the day, when Charles first attended such a party, he seemed to have chatted with Jessica Alba briefly.

With her Latin heritage and petite figure, Jessica Alba's chocolate butter-like skin and pretty face always made magazines categorize her as a sexy beauty.

"In Fantastic Four, I finally felt like I wasn't just a trophy actress anymore," Jessica knew her position clearly, aware that producers and directors wanted her to showcase her figure and flaunt her sex appeal in films. But as an actress, she still sought more.

"A trophy!" Charles laughed, leaning close to her ear and whispering, "But there are many actresses in Hollywood who would love to be a pretty trophy but don't even get a chance, right?"

Jessica Alba was taken aback for a moment, then nodded at Charles, completely agreeing.

"True, Hollywood never lacks pretty actresses!"

Jessica Alba, only 24 years old then, had been in the industry for quite some time. She probably knew Hollywood better than Charles did.

"Hollywood is like that. Some people desperately try to hold onto their positions, while others desperately try to break in," Charles shook his head. "It's all about market choices and eliminations!"

*****

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