Writing Web Novels In America-Chapter 364 - 347: There Cannot Be Another Random

New York, Manhattan, in front of Disney Publishers.

A young man handed his briefcase to the assistant behind him.

Then, he lifted his head to embrace the gentle winter sunlight and looked toward the skyscraper.

"Let’s go, let’s see what kind of mess this really is!" the young man muttered softly as he stepped onto the stairs.

"Editor-in-chief?" Two female receptionists quickly stood up and greeted him respectfully.

The young man didn’t pay attention and made his way directly to the elevator, heading for the executive office area.

"He’s pretty arrogant," a receptionist commented with a pout, clearly dissatisfied.

"Of course," the other shrugged, "he’s highly favored by ’Emperor’ Eisner, unlike the previous editor-in-chief who only had the support of the Disney family."

"Doesn’t that mean..." the receptionist looked around and lowered her voice, "there’s going to be a big shake-up at the top?"

Well, although that’s what this parachuted-in editor-in-chief also thought,

his immediate priority was something else.

"The former editor-in-chief signed an agreement with Amazon? To sell reference books at a price lower than the bookstore channels?" the young man asked in surprise, holding a document.

"Yes," the former executive replied, his voice weak.

"Shit!" the young man cursed under his breath and reluctantly picked up the phone.

He was here to clean up the mess.

But who would have known that after receiving the retirement order, the former editor-in-chief could still come up with such a damned new trick!

"Disney headquarters? This is the publishing division, could you please put me through to Mr. Eisner?"

Around ten minutes later, an authoritative voice came through the phone.

"What’s the issue?"

The young man organized his thoughts and explained the problems faced by the publishers in the most concise terms possible.

His central idea was just one.

"The situation is worse than imagined, I hope headquarters can provide certain support."

Eisner, after listening, made no particular commitment, simply hung up the phone and took a sip from his water glass.

In fact, facing such a situation, this Emperor, who detested betrayal, also felt helpless.

"The publishing division is Disney family’s last fig leaf, and now, it has been torn off by our own hands."

There’s no need to go as far as suing the former editor-in-chief for this matter.

Such drastic measures would likely provoke a rebellious mentality among the shareholders.

"After all, this company is still called Disney!"

Of course, another reason Eisner wasn’t planning on doing much was because,

from the current standpoint, the internet tide seemed unstoppable.

Therefore, expanding into new sales channels was also acceptable.

"Just as long as it’s not like wangwen.com, bypassing the publishers and directly contacting the authors."

The "Emperor" thought for a moment and dialed the intercom, summoning his assistant.

"Has Universal responded to our feedback regarding our position?"

"No," the assistant shook his head, "currently, the negotiations for the new project ’Arcane Throne’ are still ongoing."

That damned Little Bronfman!

Due to health reasons, Eisner tried to keep his emotions from getting too worked up.

But still... he could feel intermittent bouts of angina.

The current situation between Hollywood and that website is similar to when the Six Major Publishers tried to blacklist the website.

If the publishers united and forced authors to choose sides A or B,

then I believe most authors would rather trust the Six Majors with years of history, as opposed to that mysteriously popping-up website!

However, there was a betrayer among them, Random House, which left a way out for authors.

Right now, the website’s TV series adaptations are progressing smoothly.

But once the Great Commander passes the "Telecommunications Merger Bill" he promised to the media conglomerates,

can Netflix, HBO, or even ABC, CBS withstand acquisitions from major media groups?

Without adaptation channels, why would those famous authors continue to support a young Asian entrepreneur?

Of course, this premise assumes not opening up the most lucrative and quickest return channel of movie adaptations.

Otherwise, after one successful movie, should a box-office hit emerge,

it’s hard to guarantee that a second-tier film company like Lionsgate, with deep Wall Street ties, wouldn’t enter the fray themselves.

"The only reason they haven’t made a move yet," Eisner said, stuffing a pill into his mouth and washing it down with water,

"is that they’re somewhat weak, can’t sustain a large investment, and still want to wait and see."

So, now Universal is playing the role of the Six Majors’ betrayer, just like Random House did initially.

"Did Universal really think Disney and Viacom’s reach was so limited, simply because they didn’t stop the first release due to the public outcry?"

Alright, there really wasn’t much they could do about Random House,

since its backing, Bertelsmann, has its main playground in Europe.

But Universal’s main playground is in the United States!

Eisner pondered for a moment, then picked up the phone to call Redstone.

Even though in the media world, he was slightly higher in status than the other due to Disney’s influence,

in the Jewish world, a professional manager couldn’t compare to a media mogul.

And this time, they wanted to communicate with Mr. Old Bronfman, the Chairman of the World Jewish Congress.

"You go and negotiate with the Canadian liquor tycoon," Eisner said on the phone, planning the next step with the other party.

"However, Old Bronfman is very indulgent with his son," Redstone said, also feeling somewhat helpless about this younger generation.

"Then, I’ll reach out to Spielberg and release a smokescreen," Eisner thought for a moment and replied slowly.

"We offer not to target DreamWorks’ first self-produced film, ’Saving Private Ryan’, in exchange for delaying Universal’s potential cash cow project ’Jurassic Park 2’."

"But DreamWorks, supported by Microsoft’s Paulson, is not much easier to deal with than Wangwen.com," Redstone thought about the internet upstarts’ disregard for money and his mouth twitched slightly.

"First of all, it’s just a smokescreen. If Universal accepts our proposal, then everything will remain as is," Eisner’s heart hammered more intensely.

He gritted his teeth and continued, "Moreover, Larry Elson has been quite interested in Hollywood lately."

"A technology elite who abides by the rules and collaborates with Hollywood’s top directors,"

"is much easier to deal with than two who don’t follow the rules and hold a vast amount of IP,"

"Right." Redstone had to admit, after a thought, that the other party made a lot of sense.

"I’ll go and communicate with Old Bronfman, but hopefully, we won’t need these tactics," he pressed his temples and sighed deeply.

"These amateurs are really causing too much trouble!"

Isn’t that the truth?

Eisner hung up the phone, a wry smile of resignation on his face.

"Which movie does Disney have the best chance of moving up the schedule and harvesting a high box office?" he asked his assistant.

"Uh..." the assistant flipped through files, then looked up and replied, "’The family-friendly movie, ’101 Dalmatians’."

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