Chapter 475: South by Southwest

In the Capet Center Tower, a 66-story luxury high-rise, Charles and Ivanka Trump started kissing as soon as they got back home from the Plaza Hotel.

"The banking industry in New York is way more developed and competitive than in California, especially in the core area of New York City. Regional and community banks face significant constraints here," Ivanka advised Charles when he mentioned the possibility of opening a branch of West Pacific Union Bank in New York.

Charles leaned back on the sofa and smiled, "I guess I oversimplified things. This financial crisis resulted in the merger and closure of nearly 3,000 banks. Even so, the U.S. still has over 5,000 banks around!"

America's banking industry isn't just talk. In the early days, the U.S. didn't allow interstate banking operations, not even within the same state.

This led to a large number of community banks across the U.S., where every city and town had its own bank!

In the 80s and 90s, with the rise of bank holding companies and new banking laws, interstate banking became possible, resulting in a wave of mergers among U.S. banks.

Still, with the Federal Reserve, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency overseeing the industry, along with various state laws, major U.S. banks focused heavily on developing international business.

The difficulty of developing domestic business was much higher than abroad, and now 90% of U.S. banks are community banks, averaged out. Although small commercial banks are referred to as community banks, West Pacific Union Bank, given its size, fell into the category of a large community bank, known as a regional bank.

Moreover, U.S. laws prohibited banks from opening branches in each state for the sole purpose of attracting deposits. Laws regulated the ratio of deposits and loans in each state.

This led to major U.S. banks becoming multinational banking groups because the deposits of the top 25 U.S. banks combined didn't even account for 40% of domestic savings. Competition among domestic banks was intense.

Ivanka leaned into Charles and asked, "When did you get interested in banking?"

Charles shook his head, "Not really interested, it's just that it would make many things more convenient. West Pacific Union Bank's services are comprehensive, including commercial banking, asset management, securities brokerage, and private banking services."

Ivanka nodded. She hugged his neck and flirtatiously said, "Tomorrow is the opening of the South by Southwest Music and Film Festival. Will you come with me to Austin for a few days?"

Every early March, Austin, Texas hosted a ten-day event blending music, film, and new media interaction, known as the South by Southwest Music and Film Festival.

Originally, South by Southwest was just a music festival, but later it added film and new media technology sections, evolving into a major gathering combining music, movies, and the internet!

"Sure," Charles replied nonchalantly, thinking it wouldn't be bad to check out the large-scale music, film, and tech event, especially since Twitter drew a lot of attention there in 2007.

Two days later, Charles and Ivanka were in Austin, Texas, a city known as the "Live Music Capital of the World," thanks in part to South by Southwest.

Interestingly, Texas also has a Colorado River that starts there and flows into the Gulf of Mexico, sharing its name with the famous Colorado River originating from the Rocky Mountains in Colorado and flowing through the Grand Canyon and Hoover Dam before emptying into the Gulf of California.

The Texas Colorado River runs through Austin, acting as the city's lifeline.

With tens of thousands of tourists pouring into a city with a population under a million, South by Southwest indeed filled Austin with excitement.

Music, movies, heat, euphoria, and an intoxicating frenzy filled the air!

Ivanka, dressed casually, held Charles' arm as they walked to the film section of South by Southwest. Compared to the music section, films were more to Charles' liking.

"Hey, look, that's The Hurt Locker!" Charles said as he spotted the poster for The Hurt Locker outside a theater.

He immediately took off his sunglasses and realized it was indeed Catherine Bigelow's film.

"What's up? Is this movie from your company?" Ivanka asked.

Charles shook his head, "No, it's an independent film. The distributor is Summit Entertainment."

"I'll make a call to find out," Charles said, putting an arm around Ivanka's shoulder while dialing Phyllis Jones to inquire about The Hurt Locker.

Charles knew this American patriotic film ended up winning the Oscar for Best Picture, beating Avatar.

"Charles, aren't we going to watch it?" Ivanka asked after he finished his call.

"No," Charles replied, kissing Ivanka and laughing, "You'd probably fall asleep watching this kind of political drama!"

Phyllis Jones had just told him that The Hurt Locker was filmed in 2007 but couldn't find a distributor for a long time. Though it got into the Venice Film Festival last year, it wasn't until the Toronto Film Festival that Summit Entertainment bought the North American distribution rights for $1.5 million.

No wonder Capet only spent $4 million to buy the North American distribution rights to last year's Golden Lion winner, The Wrestler.

It made sense for The Hurt Locker to be promoted at South by Southwest, but Charles wasn't really fixated on winning an Oscar. An Oscar for Best Picture without commercial value was meaningless.

That night, in an Austin theater, Charles and Ivanka chose to watch a horror thriller, Drag Me to Hell.

In the dim theater, Charles shivered with fright but felt oddly comfortable leaning in his seat, his eyes glued to the screen.

Drag Me to Hell was a well-made horror movie directed by Sam Raimi. With Sony still working on the script for Spider-Man 4, Sam Raimi had time to explore other films.

Though Charles knew Spider-Man 4 would face delays, it didn't stop him from keeping an eye on Sony's progress on the project.

Soon, Ivanka complained, "Can't we go back to the hotel? Why do we have to stay in the theater!"

"Alright, alright, we're going back," Charles said, withdrawing his hand from her chest with a grin, "This movie is pretty scary!"

*****

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