America 1987

Chapter 57 Orion Pictures

Nolan's collaborations with Warner Bros. and Universal have placed him within the cognitive framework of Hollywood's "studio system" from the very beginning.

Even though Memento was made on a very low budget and its North American distribution was handled by New Markets—a company even more peripheral than Miramax—Nolan quickly moved into Warner Bros.' franchise system (The Batman trilogy), a choice that film critics would interpret as "embracing commercialism."

The distinction between commercial films and art films sometimes depends on the director's collaborators.

Nolan was able to turn things around at the Oscars with "Oppenheimer" not only because the film's subject matter was appealing.

This is also because he publicly broke with Warner Bros. in 2020 over disagreements regarding the streaming distribution strategy for "Tenet." Nolan made a rare public criticism of Warner Bros. at the time, calling HBO Max "the worst streaming service," before switching to Universal Pictures in 2021.

Although he switched to another major studio, the media at the time interpreted it as "an artist rebelling against the oppression of a major studio."

This is right up the alley of film critics.

Film critics highly favor directors who are individualistic and dare to resist authority for the sake of artistic expression.

After Quentin Tarantino established himself as a top-tier director with "Pulp Fiction," all six major studios extended offers to him. However, Tarantino is quite individualistic and has a fastidious approach to expression, so he only directs scripts he writes himself, not others.

Therefore, even though he stopped using sophisticated techniques like non-linear and circular narratives, film critics still viewed his films as auteur expressions rather than commercial products.

That's why David entrusted the film to Harvey Stein for distribution. If he had entrusted it to Paramount, it's hard to say whether it would have won awards like it did in the original timeline.

Weinstein was quite cunning; in the original timeline, his Miramax was acquired by Disney back in 1993.

As a result, he tried to prove to the industry that his independence had not been eroded by big studios by acquiring foreign art films and funding independent American directors, while at the same time he used Disney's distribution channels and financial support for publicity and promotion.

This unconventional approach allows its films to gain both the cultural capital of art films and reach a mainstream audience.

If Weinstein is second to none in exploiting loopholes in the rules, probably no one in Hollywood would dare to claim the top spot.

However, these things can only be considered opportunistic in the end. In reality, he did not create any new benefits or value; he just used some shady methods to get a larger share of the pie.

His subsequent downfall was not without reason. Someone who can't grow the pie, but only knows how to divide it, or even uses cheating methods to divide it, is bound to be universally disliked in any industry.

After his scandal, Kevin Spacey, though shut out of Hollywood, at least had the European Film Festival (Venice) willing to accept him. Harvey Stein, on the other hand, is likely destined for a life of imprisonment and soap-picking in his later years.

After carefully comparing the situations of Harvey Stein, Kevin Spacey, and Quentin Tarantino in their original timelines, David planned his future development path.

Good movies shouldn't be kept all to yourself; you should learn to share them, binding the interests of dozens or even hundreds of people to yourself, and making yourself a central node in the network of interests.

Capitalists are pragmatic; only by becoming an irreplaceable hub can they maintain an invincible position in Hollywood.

So David has been busy with important matters lately.

Arthur Krim, sitting in his seat, glanced at his colleagues in the conference room. Although most of them looked somewhat worried, the relaxation in their eyes was obvious.

He couldn't help but sigh. No wonder, the company being acquired by a director who could make blockbuster commercial films could indeed restore everyone's confidence to some extent.

Orion Pictures' financial crisis had been brewing since the mid-1980s.

1985 was a "bleak year." Apart from "Looking for Susan" and "Code Name: Silence," almost all the films that made it to the North American box office were less than $1000 million, including "Remo Williams," which attempted to create a 007-style series.

The consequence of mismanagement was that the company fell into a "serious financial crisis" in early 06, to the point that it was almost taken over by Warburg Pincus. CEO Arthur Crimson himself was only able to get through the crisis thanks to his friend John Kruger buying 6.5% of the stock.

Unfortunately, the company's financial situation did not improve in the following two years.

The continued losses have placed a considerable financial burden on the parent company, Viacom. Sumner Redstone founded Viacom with the aim of building a new media conglomerate and creating a media empire.

That's why, in the original timeline, he sold his 67% controlling stake to Kruger at a low price in 1988.

However, David has now snatched it away.

As for most people within Orion Corporation, they naturally welcomed this personnel change.

Orion Pictures was founded by executives from United Artists and has a long history of respecting creators' autonomy and being "director-friendly."

After all, the immediate effect of a director's brand is far greater than that of a purely financial investment.

The most crucial task for a film company is project selection, regardless of the company's size; this is of paramount importance.

Even MGM, one of the six major film studios, almost went bankrupt in the original timeline because of John Woo's "Windtalkers".

Therefore, the ability to judge a film's box office potential becomes especially important at this time.

Logically speaking, Krim shouldn't be questioning a director who just made "Ghost" on such a matter, but the director's age really made him a little nervous.

A young man in his early twenties sat at the head of the table with a smile on his face. His angular features had an inexplicable softness to them, and with his blond hair and blue eyes, he looked exactly like an idol actor.

"Good morning, ladies and gentlemen."

The other person paused for a moment, then continued.

"I am David Ovitz, the new chairman of Orion Pictures. I know you may be worried that I might make sweeping reforms, and that some people might lose their jobs as a result."

However, I assure you all that I will not interfere with personnel changes within the company for at least six months, nor will I easily dismiss any of you gentlemen or ladies present here.

David was telling the truth; in the short term, he really wouldn't be making many personnel changes to Orion's senior management.

How did Paramount decline in the original timeline? It was the result of internal power struggles at the top.

After Sumner Redstone's health deteriorated in 2015, he resigned as head of Paramount. His daughter, Sherri, then engaged in a fierce power struggle with company executive Duman, which lasted about a year before a winner emerged.

As a result, the company's shares fell by 46% within two years, its debt remained at over $10 billion for a long time, and rating agencies downgraded its debt rating to junk status.