America 1919

After some simple pleasantries and a few drinks, Griffith suddenly asked the question he was curious about.

"From what Mr. Block has just said, do you intend to enter Hollywood?"

Donnie nodded, "Indeed, I am considering it. The Miss America pageant is about to end, and I always have to plan for the future of these girls!"

Charlie Chaplin spoke somewhat bluntly, "Mr. Block, I\'m afraid you see it too simply. Hollywood is now dominated by a few big studios. A new company can only work on small productions or rely on a big studio; otherwise, success isn\'t that simple to achieve!"

Even then, Hollywood actually had two types of productions: one was commercial productions, and the other was the niche genre with experimental nature.

Griffith said with some helplessness, "Mr. Block, I believe you\'re already aware of United Artists\' situation. Even for us actors with some fame in Hollywood, it\'s not easy to find proper opportunities for film actors!"

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Donnie wore a smile, "But I know that both you and Ms. Pickford, Mr. Douglas, are still persisting in this endeavor, actively seeking new opportunities, right?"

This struck a chord with Charlie Chaplin, so he no longer minced his words, speaking with some anger, "Hollywood is completely controlled by those big studios now. They hold all the distribution and production channels, and even the actors, directors, and screenwriters are under their control. This situation is abnormal for the development of movies.

With their development trajectory focusing solely on money, movies will eventually be destroyed by these people!"

Griffith, looking at the smile on Donnie\'s face, thoughtfully asked, "Mr. Block, I know you are a very talented person; otherwise, you wouldn\'t have come up with such a brilliant idea as broadcasting the destruction of private liquor to the whole country. If Mr. Block has any thoughts about the development of our company, please don\'t hesitate to enlighten us!"

Charlie Chaplin looked at Griffith with some surprise. In his view, although Donnie Block was very capable in business, he had never been involved in the film industry before. How could he possibly solve the problems of United Artists?

Donnie shook his head, "Griffith, you overestimate me. Although the film industry and Miss America both belong to the entertainment business, they are two different fields after all, so I personally don\'t have any ideas!"

Chaplin showed an \'I knew it\' expression, while Griffith looked at Donnie with some confusion; he felt that Donnie\'s expression was hiding something.

"By the way, I heard that in the initial stage of your company\'s founding, the plan was for each of you, including you, Mr. Chaplin, to produce five films a year for the company. But now it has changed to all four of you producing a total of five films a year for United Artists—is that correct?"

Upon hearing this, both Chaplin and Griffith showed a bit of embarrassment.

Indeed, as they said, they were full of confidence when they first founded United Artists, but now their ideal has been defeated by reality.

Their wound had been publicly exposed by Donnie, which indeed made them feel somewhat embarrassed.

"Mr. Block, are you flaunting your superiority?" Chaplin couldn\'t help but ask.

Donnie gestured dismissively, "Of course not. In fact, I greatly admire the four of you for founding United Artists. The reason I invited Mr. Chaplin here, besides asking him to be a judge and award presenter for Miss America, is that I also hope to purchase some shares of United Artists from you and jointly develop the company with everyone!"

At this point, Donnie didn\'t need to hide anything anymore; his intention was indeed to acquire a stake in United Artists.

And since Griffith was also present, and based on Donnie\'s recent research, Chaplin and Griffith\'s shareholdings in United Artists had already exceeded 50%. So, as long as he could reach a consensus with them on this matter, many problems would be much easier to solve!

First, enter Hollywood, become a shareholder in United Artists, gain a certain right to speak, and then look for ways to solve the current problems of United Artists.

The order of these steps was crucial and non-negotiable.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"I knew it!" Upon hearing that Donnie wanted to invest in their United Artists, Griffith was instantly certain of his previous suspicion. Donnie must have a way to solve their company\'s situation; otherwise, he would have no reason to choose to invest at this time.

Griffith thought of this, while Chaplin thought of something else—Donnie was aiming to reap the benefits.

They had put in so much effort to establish United Artists, and now Donnie Block wanted to invest?