Chapter 52: Envy and Jealousy

Just how many folks in Hollywood are jealous, it's hard to say. Anyway, lots of small studios started making comedies, and they seem to be doing alright. It's not that William White didn't want to make blockbusters. In tough economic times, comedies were more popular. If you made a serious movie, were you trying to depress the audience to death? Good heavens, people were already having a tough time, right? Was it really that hard to bring a little joy to folks? In this era, movies were mainly Westerns or anti-war films. Directors had a heavy sense of social responsibility and always seemed to want to pull people out of the shadow of losing wars. The current shift in trends was all about profits. Big directors wouldn't bother with comedies; they preferred things with a bit more flair. Police Academy? That's not even a real movie. You could call it a sitcom, and no one would argue. The reason directors didn't criticize it was due to their unequal status. The creator was just a college sophomore. What else could you say? Compare commercial value? Only Lucas and Spielberg might give it a shot. Compare artistic acumen? The guy was also a bestselling author. Regular directors couldn't really compete. Truth be told, he was just too young. What were you doing at 19? Probably hadn't even graduated high school. The guy was a genius, skipping grades, now a sophomore, and top in all subjects. Hard to beat that. Given the current information, even the Christmas release schedule seemed tight. His children's film appeared to be a hit. What was a $10 million advertising budget? Just throwing money around, and no one could really rival that. Such a young film company was really making waves. And don't say the company's structure was simple. Especially its distribution department, almost on par with the big leagues. There were two departments the big studios didn't have: the marketing and advertising departments. Everyone knew their value, and indeed, they were very helpful. Hollywood had mixed feelings about this new player. Saying they stole someone's business was very shallow. Many viewers were brought back to theaters by them; that was undeniable. In truth, there was friction among the giants. Since they couldn't suppress this new company, cooperation wasn't a bad idea. Even if they couldn't be friends, at least they shouldn't be enemies. For key release dates, the big players had an understanding. Nobody wanted to go against the dollar. Have you ever seen blockbusters going head-to-head directly? That's unrealistic; a two-week gap was necessary. As for Paramount and United Artists, let them be. A story about an underdog rising wasn't something they took seriously. If William White started making big moves, they looked forward to him playing himself into a corner. But he was still making low-cost comedies, clearly cautious. They fully understood William White. He wasn't some nouveau riche. His family not only had farms but also oil businesses. He owned a software company, which was reportedly quite valuable. Don't bother comparing wealth with such a guy; the so-called giants today were just professional managers. His assets were almost entirely private, incomparable by any measure. Hollywood's silence also stemmed from other factors. William White was a Texan. As someone from the Elephant's stronghold, they didn't dare pull any tricks. Next year was an election year. Given the current economic situation, Reagan's rise seemed certain. Look at the big boss's backing; a third of it came from a Texas background. If you messed with them now, you'd meet a rough end. ... "Master, we now own 50% of White Oil shares," said Fulton with a smile. The family crisis had finally subsided. If the business had been swallowed up, Fulton would never have been at ease. "Let's hold off for now. They're still messing with silver and can't focus on this," William White replied with a faint smile, a glint of coldness in his eyes. He wouldn't mind tripping up the Hunter family again. Kicking people when they were down was something he was quite good at. William White knew the coming frenzy would be the last. When silver prices exceeded 20 dollars an ounce, the world's financial system was thrown into chaos. Everyone wanted to know. Just how bad was this inflation crisis? If industrial products and agricultural goods increased like that, people might as well give up. A 90% currency devaluation -- what did that even mean? Better start packing and prepare for war. Actually, countries and regions outside the US were hoarding to various extents. Gold and silver spot trading had strict limits. Simply put, imports were allowed but not exports. This surge was irrational. The US hadn't collapsed, and the dollar's purchasing power was still very strong. If gold and silver were taken as the baseline, current prices should have increased tenfold. Other countries faced steep rises, but the US hadn't gone up much. Most other places were just panicking, with not as much real demand. As long as prices didn't soar, citizens wouldn't panic too much. As for the Hunter family's recklessness, the US Federal Reserve was very unhappy. They were tightening liquidity, and yet here they were causing chaos. The Soviets weren't behaving either, constantly clashing with Afghanistan, seemingly on the brink of war. Fighting was also happening in desert regions. The Soviets looked like they were about to join the fray, naturally pushing gold prices up. Speculators knew full well that if the Soviets started fighting, the futures market would go wild again. War news was good for metal futures but not for other industries. The defense sector wasn't even stirring. American weapons were too expensive. They couldn't sell them unless they were given for free aid. They felt they had to intervene in Afghanistan. If the Soviets claimed it, oil sources would be in trouble. The Soviets were really puzzling, having vast lands of their own, yet still grabbing others' territories. ... Police Academy's box office finally settled at $170 million domestically, with global earnings expected to exceed $250 million. Upon hearing these final numbers, not only Hollywood but also Wall Street elites were envious. That was just too profitable -- a single movie making a hundred million -- it was easier than robbing a bank. With any other company, people would have rushed to invest. But with this one, they couldn't. For starters, it wasn't public, and secondly, it didn't need money. If you made movies in Hollywood, whether successful or not, cooperation with the capital market was a must. ***** https://www.patreon.com/Sayonara816.