In the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, elegant piano music filled the ballroom, and couples danced gracefully on the dance floor.
"Charles, congratulations!" Brad Grey, who had already taken over as chairman of Paramount, hugged Charles warmly.
"Haha, Brad, I should congratulate you too. Pitt's Plan B Entertainment is also a promising production company. Paramount has another production company to provide firepower," Charles said, referring to how Brad Grey had convinced Pitt's Plan B Entertainment to switch from Warner Bros. to Paramount shortly after taking office.
The blockbuster "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory," still in theaters, was produced by Plan B Entertainment for Warner Bros.
Not only that, Brad Grey also recruited Ms. Gail Berman, a senior vice president from 20th Century Fox's television division, to serve as president of Paramount.
"Charles, what Paramount is truly interested in now is your Capet Pictures. DreamWorks had approached us hoping to jointly develop a live-action film of the transformers toys, but Hasbro ultimately chose you!" Brad Grey naturally trusted Spielberg's vision. DreamWorks was already unable to develop and invest in the massive "transformers," so finding a partner was a natural course of action.
Unfortunately, Capet Pictures now had North America distribution capabilities, and the films produced by Charles Capet were so successful that he could completely win the favor of Wall Street investors to support him in building his distribution channels.
"Paramount still has 'mission: impossible.' I believe it will always maintain its market share in North America!" Charles was well aware of Paramount's desire to acquire capable independent production companies. When it launched a bid to acquire Lionsgate Films back then, Lionsgate's chairman Frank Gusta had to activate a poison pill plan to counter it.
Brad Grey's desire to acquire Cape Entertainment was certainly real, but Cape Entertainment was difficult to value at the moment. More importantly, Charles Capet had no intention of selling.
"Charles, Capet Pictures seems to have several major productions in the pipeline. The overseas market is becoming increasingly important, and we always have opportunities for cooperation!"
Charles also nodded. Even if Capet Pictures handled its own overseas distribution, there were still many regions and countries that required overseas distribution agents.
And the film distributors with global distribution capabilities worldwide were none other than The Big Six of Hollywood.
"Have fun!" Brad Grey said, patting Charles on the shoulder before walking away.
Charles stared at Brad Grey's retreating back for a few moments, just smiling faintly.
He was an ambitious man, wanting to lead Paramount to a revival? The transformers series had already been preempted by him, losing a major boost.
Brad Grey was planning to withdraw from UIP, the overseas distribution channel co-managed with Universal Pictures, and establish Paramount International Films, Paramount's own overseas channel.
UIP was originally an international distribution network jointly formed by Paramount, MGM, and Universal in the early days.
However, in the late 1980s, when Kirk Kerkorian was in charge of MGM, he was solely focused on developing MGM's casino hotels and paid little attention to MGM's film and other businesses. He not only sold MGM's studio lot and numerous film props but also closed MGM's distribution channels.
MGM's current North America distribution channels were those of United Artists from back then, and its shares in UIP were naturally given to Paramount and Universal.
Aside from Paramount and Universal jointly managing UIP, the other The Big Six all had their own independent international distribution networks.
Sony Columbia owned Columbia TriStar International Films; Disney owned Buena Vista International and Disney International; Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox were also similar.
Although The Big Six also had jointly built regional joint distribution offices, these were only in some small markets and regions.
For example, the Fox-Warner distribution office in Switzerland or the Columbia-Fox distribution office in Netherlands, and so on.
Paramount's use of its resources in UIP to establish its own overseas channels was, of course, also for the better development of Paramount.
"Alas, overseas distribution channels are not easy!" Charles muttered to himself. For Paramount, it was certainly not difficult, after all, it was a film company that had been developing for almost a hundred years.
With strong heritage and copyrights as support, all that was needed was refinement; for the young Capet Pictures, the difficulties were much greater. Even if MGM were to reorganize its overseas distribution channels, it would be much simpler than for Capet Pictures.
"Charles, good evening!"
"Hmm, it's you, Jessica!"
Jessica Alba was also one of the actresses signed by ETA. He had met her a few times. This year, due to the release of "sin city" and "fantastic four."
Jessica Alba, who had been selected as one of FHM's sexiest women for six consecutive years, became famous.
"Let's dance, you look truly beautiful tonight," her sensual brown skin paired with a light yellow evening gown.
Jessica Alba smiled and nodded, then was led by Charles onto the dance floor.
"The dancer role in 'sin city' and the Invisible Woman in 'fantastic four' make all men unforgettable," Charles said, praising Jessica Alba's beauty while holding the Lady's waist.
He recalled that when Charles first attended such a party, he also chatted with Jessica Alba a few times.
Jessica Alba had Latina heritage and a petite figure, with skin as sensual as chocolate butter paired with a beautiful face, always leading magazines to categorize her as a sensual beauty.
"In 'fantastic four,' I seem to finally be more than just a pretty face," Jessica Alba was very clear about her own positioning. Although she knew that producers and directors only needed her to display her figure and flaunt her sensuality in films, as an actress, she always hoped for a bit more ambition.
"A pretty face!" Charles smiled, leaning close to the Lady's ear and whispering, "But there are many actresses in Hollywood who want to be pretty faces but don't even get the chance, right?"
Jessica Alba was stunned for a moment, then nodded at Charles, completely agreeing with his statement.
"That's true, actresses. Hollywood has no shortage of beautiful actresses!"
Jessica Alba was only 24 years old now, but she had been in the industry for quite some time, so she should be more familiar with Hollywood than Charles.
"That's just how Hollywood is. Some people desperately want to hold onto their positions, while others desperately try to squeeze in from the outside," Charles shook his head.
"These are simply choices and eliminations made by the market!"