Chapter 279: The Seven Studios Plot

[Chapter 279: The Seven Studios Plot]

Michael Ovitz was right. The massive success of The Mask had already sent alarm bells ringing throughout the Seven Studios, and now that Good Will Hunting had also grossed big at the box office, the executives at Seven Studios felt they were under significant threat.

As it stood, at least four films in the year's box office top ten came from Guess Pictures. Guess Pictures' annual revenue was set to exceed $800 million, outperforming Seven Studios' box office results. A film company less than three years old was overshadowing the established giants of Seven Studios.

The conglomerate behind Seven Studios and its shareholders could not tolerate this. They demanded that the executives find every possible way to reclaim their box office dominance and maintain the 'Seven's' status and power in Hollywood. If they couldn't, heads would roll.

...

Under Michael Ovitz's leadership, the president of Seven Studios convened a meeting at the Death Star Tower. Officially, they were there to review the year's successes and failures and discuss the direction of next year's film market. In reality, they were plotting how to combat the rapid rise of Guess Pictures.

Ovitz, in the role of host and organizer, initiated the meeting.

"The first order of business is that if we're going to stifle Guess Pictures, we must come to a consensus to treat them as an enemy and cease all cooperation with them. Does everyone agree?"

Michael Ovitz stated.

The heads of Paramount Pictures, Sherry Lansing; Universal Pictures, Ron Meyer; and 20th Century Fox, Barry Diller all chose to support the motion. However, Columbia Pictures' president Jon Peters and Warner Bros' Terry Semel -- along with MGM's president, Frank Mancuso, and Disney's Michael Eisner -- remained silent.

The reason was simple. Columbia Pictures had a $500 million film deal with Guess Pictures. Asking them to stop cooperating was not feasible. Warner Bros and MGM also had ongoing collaborations, making it impossible to sever ties immediately.

As for Disney, Michael Eisner was primarily focused on resolving internal disputes and securing support from the majority of shareholders, so he couldn't contribute much to this issue, keeping quiet instead.

Sherry Lansing adjusted her glasses. "What Michael means is that all previous collaborations with Guess Pictures will no longer count; starting next year, Seven Studios will not work with them. Without sufficient funds and resources, Guess Pictures can only produce a limited number of film projects each year, and their growth will be stifled."

The heads of all Seven Studios nodded. Although they wouldn't collaborate with Guess Pictures, they could still work with Link, and the group unanimously agreed to this proposal. Ovitz, seeing the assembly reach an agreement, wore an elated smile.

"The second topic," he continued, "from next year onward, we will work together to suppress films from Guess Pictures, blocking them in promotional channels to reduce their visibility. Simultaneously, we will compete with Guess Pictures for theater distribution and screening rates. In fact, we did well with this during the summer box office. If it weren't for Guess Pictures' good fortune with Se7en falling during the O.J. Simpson trial, the film would have only grossed around $100 million instead of the $340 million it made. We shouldn't abandon a successful method over one mistake. Does anyone have comments on this proposal?"

"We can compete with Guess Pictures in distribution, but in terms of promotion, that's the media companies' responsibility. We can't speak for the collective opinion of the groups," Terry Semel from Warner Bros said.

"Exactly," echoed the heads of 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and Universal Pictures. MGM, lacking its own media company, was less affected by Ovitz's proposal.

Disney's Eisner was the most powerful among them, overseeing Disney's animated film, TV media, and theme parks. However, due to significant opposition from board members, his power was severely limited, and he opted not to voice his opinion.

"I hope everyone proactively suggests to their groups to suppress Guess Pictures in promotional channels. Guess Pictures has become an obstacle in the film industry; as long as they exist, media groups won't profit as they did before. I'm confident several media companies will agree to this," Ovitz cheerfully stated.

Everyone nodded in agreement, indicating they would propose the idea to their boards, who would ultimately decide. Seeing their consensus, Ovitz felt a surge of excitement; Hollywood belonged to Seven Studios. As long as they unified against Guess Pictures, the studio and Link would surely fail.

"The third issue," Ovitz proposed, was encouraging the Big Seven to notify directors, photographers, screenwriters, and actors in the industry to refrain from joining Guess Pictures' projects, especially influential directors and actors. If they succeeded in this, Guess Pictures would find it challenging to produce more than four or five films annually.

"However, this might not be easy," Ron Meyer interjected. "Link tends to work with up-and-coming talent, including Jim Carrey, Matt Damon, Ben Affleck, Joaquin Phoenix, and Renee Zellweger, many of whom have grown through Guess Pictures. Even if we persuade the current actors to avoid Guess Pictures, there's no way we can convince every aspiring actor out there. Plus, the top directors and actors have creative control over their projects; convincing them will be difficult. Lastly, with Guess Pictures closely cooperating with agencies like WMA and UTA, even if CAA and Big Seven collaborated, we couldn't control half the actors and directors in Hollywood. This proposal sounds great but lacks feasibility."

Terry Semel agreed. "Exactly, look at Tom Hanks; he is dead set on joining Link's new film. Who could stop him?"

Ovitz's expression darkened, recalling when Guess Pictures had invited Tom Hanks for a lead role in their last film. Ovitz had hoped to leverage Hanks against Link, effectively forcing him to raise the offer, but what happened? Link wasn't playing ball, willing to replace him rather than increase the payment. In the end, he couldn't outsmart Link or even mend his relationship with Hanks.

Every time he remembered that moment, it made Ovitz grit his teeth with frustration, wishing he could take Link down.

"Michael's suggestion has merit," Sherry Lansing spoke up in support of him. "While it may be challenging to implement, the potential outcome is significant; if we can persuade Hollywood's top directors and actors to avoid Guess Pictures, their production capabilities will inevitably be affected, and they won't be able to compete in the box office. However, given the difficulty of this proposal, let's do our utmost during execution without pressure to enforce it."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

Seeing yet another proposal pass at the meeting, Ovitz couldn't contain his excitement, his mouth twitching in a smile. Three topics had already been approved, and if they could implement these three effectively, the bankruptcy of Guess Pictures wouldn't be long in coming.

"The fourth issue," Ovitz continued, presented a series of seven strategic attacks against Guess Pictures. After thorough discussions, all seven measures passed unanimously.

In an exuberant mood, Ovitz banged his fist on the table, declaring they would use these seven nails to pin Link to a metaphorical cross, ensuring he would never rise again. Applause and cheers erupted in the room.

...

After the meeting, Michael Eisner approached Ovitz again and extended another invitation. If he were willing to join Disney, he could oversee everything within the company; the salary was in the millions, with a 5% share of returns and 10% voting rights.

Eisner's re-invitation stemmed from discovering Michael's ideas during internal issues at Disney. Following the death of Frank Wells and Jeffrey Katzenberg's departure, the internal conflicts at Disney had escalated, making it impossible for Eisner to gain full support from the board.

To prevent him from monopolizing power, the board planned to appoint a CEO to counterbalance him. Considering this, Eisner aimed to invite someone reputable yet less skilled in office politics to assume the CEO position at Disney.

After much consideration, only two candidates fit this criteria: Michael Ovitz and Link. Although Link was the chairman of Guess Pictures, he seemed ill-equipped for internal strife. If he were to join Disney, he would be the ideal choice. However, Link was focused on making films and showed little interest in the position.

This left Ovitz -- an incredibly capable individual, skilled in diplomacy and business negotiations, endowed with leadership charisma that had helped CAA become the largest talent agency in the world. However, he clearly had weaknesses -- his commercial thinking was immature and emotionally driven.

While at CAA, Ovitz wielded influence no one could challenge. But once he left, his power would significantly wane, and Eisner believed he could manage this wild card.

Hearing Eisner's invitation, Ovitz found himself in a dilemma. Joining Disney would directly allow him to undermine Guess Pictures and Link, essentially using Disney as a podium to challenge them -- this would surely put Link in a tight spot. Yet leaving CAA would mean he could no longer influence their operations or leverage that network against Guess Pictures.

Uncertain about his decision, Ovitz decided he needed more time to think it over.

*****

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