America 1919

"I..."

Douglas opened his mouth, still not knowing what to say, and finally blurted out a sentence.

"I want to buy your shares in United Artists!"

Donnie raised his eyebrows, then relaxed them, shaking his head, "I'm afraid there's no way to satisfy you with that, Doug, as Starry Entertainment has no intention of selling its shares in United Artists!"

"I will give you a satisfying price!" Douglas continued.

Donnie waved his hand, "Doug, no offense, but do you think the buyout price you are offering could excite me?"

Douglas was about to retort against Donnie, but then he appeared embarrassed once more. Who was Donnie now?

Atlantic City casino tycoon, Wall Street's Magician, president of a company with a market value over a hundred million, a future giant in the oil sector... Indeed, he had made some money in Hollywood over the years, becoming the first star to buy an estate in Beverly Hills.

But then what?

Next to Donnie, his own assets probably didn't even count as small change, right?

Watching Douglas, who didn't know what to say, Donnie shook his head slightly. Since he had no other requests, Donnie himself had something in mind that he wanted to see if Douglas would agree to!

"Doug, if you are interested, consider selling your shares of United Artists to me. I will definitely offer you a price that will excite you!"

What Donnie cared most about in United Artists were Charlie Chaplin and Griffith. Chaplin's talent lay in combining writing, directing, and acting, but most importantly, it was Chaplin's influence that mattered; with him, the United Artists signboard wouldn't fall.

As for Griffith, his capabilities were in producing. Although Griffith was also a famed actor and director, it was clear that, being behind the scenes, his role as a producer was easily overlooked, leading people to focus on more well-known actors like Chaplin, Douglas, and Pickford when they thought of United Artists.

Thereby overlooking the success Griffith had in producing.

Although Donnie had always taken a laissez-faire attitude towards United Artists because he had not yet found the right opportunity to take over, that did not mean he wasn't paying attention to the company's operations!

Over the past two years, United Artists had released a total of twelve films, big and small productions alike, with almost four films per person. Among them, Chaplin's films had the highest box office, but in fact, the most profitable movies were the middle and small-scale ones where Griffith served as producer.

The films Douglas was responsible for could only be described as satisfactory, and these past two years, Douglas has been somewhat ambitious, constantly wanting to make big productions, which unfortunately struggled to bring equivalent returns at the box office.

As for Pickford, well, in another timeline in Hollywood of the 21st century, it was hard to find a handful of films led by an actress, let alone now.

Pickford's movies needed a suitable male actor to sell well; bluntly put, at this time, actresses were considered an embellishment, not the main draw for box office revenue!

Along with the United Artists shares he had acquired from Pickford, Donnie now owned 40% of United Artists' shares, making him the largest individual shareholder. However, Chaplin and the others still held 60% of the company's shares, preventing him from having ultimate authority.

Additionally, Chaplin was a leading figure in Hollywood resistant to talkies (sound films).

Chaplin once said, "I do not believe my voice will enrich any of my comedies. On the contrary, my voice would destroy the image I hope to create."

It wasn't until talkies had dominated screens worldwide that Chaplin, very reluctantly and out of necessity, shifted to working with sound films. But by that time... a new king rises with each passing era, and Chaplin, crowned as the king of comedy by later generations, could only live on in legends.

Donnie was undoubtedly going to have United Artists make sound films and even lead the trend of talkies!

This would inevitably lead to conflict with Chaplin's philosophy.

To prevent this, more shares in United Artists would be necessary.

Donnie respected Chaplin's artistic achievements, but those achievements couldn't stand in the way of his advancement in the media industry!

Douglas clearly hadn't expected Donnie to want to buy his shares in United Artists, and in fact, at this time, he hadn't considered selling his shares in the company.

Just as Donnie had previously mentioned to Pickford, everyone could see that without the major studios imposing sanctions, United Artists was improving, with its valuation continuously rising.
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A rational person wouldn't choose to sell their shares at this time.

Therefore, Douglas declined Donnie's suggestion,

and left his office.

Douglas didn't leave the Surf Hotel; he was staying there.

After returning to his room, Douglas immediately called Chaplin and informed him that Donnie wanted to purchase his shares in United Artists.

"Donnie has always been a person with a strong desire for control; you can tell from his actions during the shorting war at ABC. Even facing such a formidable opponent, he still refused to give up his control over ABC. Now that all his business has been set on the right track, I think he definitely wants to make a move on Hollywood, aiming to take United Artists from our hands!"