Chapter 263 — MPAA Membership
Inside the bar's restroom, Sophie Marceau was pressed against the wall, wrapping her arms tightly around Aaron as they kissed passionately. Her half-loosened clothes only made her more alluring.
Aaron leaned against her, breathing heavily as his hands traced along her soft figure. "You feel… different tonight."
Sophie smiled, her legs lightly brushing against his waist as she leaned in and whispered by his ear, "Oh? What's different?"
"…You seem especially excited."
"Maybe it's because Four Weddings and a Funeral did so well at the British Academy Awards?"
Just as they were talking, faint but unmistakable sounds came from the adjacent stall. The two exchanged a glance, instantly understanding.
Sophie let out a soft laugh—and lowered herself, pulling him closer.
Aaron let out a muffled breath, his hand resting gently against her hair…
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At the 66th Academy Awards in Los Angeles, held at the Music Center, The Piano saw major wins. Holly Hunter took home Best Actress, while young Anna Paquin won Best Supporting Actress, beating Winona Ryder.
Director Jane Campion, however, only won Best Original Screenplay, missing out on both Best Director and Best Picture.
Meanwhile, Tom Hanks lived up to expectations, winning Best Actor for Philadelphia.
Aaron, however, paid special attention to the Chinese-language film Farewell My Concubine. With strong word-of-mouth and the backing of New Line Cinema's awards campaign, it secured the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film—adding to its earlier Golden Globe win in the same category.
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At the same time, Condé Nast's fashion magazine Vanity Fair organized a special post-Oscars celebration.
They invited Hollywood elites and award winners to gather at the Sunset Tower Hotel for a grand after-party.
"Vanity Fair's after-party, huh?" Aaron remarked with slight surprise upon arrival. This would later become one of the most iconic Oscar-night traditions.
Editor-in-chief Graydon Carter clearly had vision. Under former editor Tina Brown, Vanity Fair had already flourished—and Carter was proving just as capable after taking over.
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Soon after, Aaron ran into Jack Valenti, president of the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA).
Valenti, who had held the position since 1966, was originally a politician. His contributions to Hollywood were undeniable—most notably, he established the modern film rating system in the United States.
This system replaced the rigid restrictions of the old Hays Code, allowing films greater creative freedom while giving audiences the ability to make informed viewing choices—especially for protecting younger viewers. It was an achievement that secured Valenti's lasting legacy in film history.
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"Aaron," Valenti said with a faintly helpless smile, "it seems you're quite determined to have Dawnlight join the MPAA as a full member."
"The problem is," he continued, "the seven official seats in the MPAA are extremely difficult to change."
"If Dawnlight wants in, the best way… is through succession—or replacement."
Aaron took a sip of his drink. "So what you're saying is… the number of official MPAA member seats isn't going to increase."
Jack Valenti spread his hands. "Exactly. And that's precisely what makes MPAA membership so valuable."
The Motion Picture Association of America controlled the film rating system—effectively holding a vital lever over the entire industry. The seven major studios, as official members, were in a position of enormous influence.
At present, the MPAA's evaluation and rating mechanisms clearly leaned in favor of those seven studios.
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After finishing his conversation with Valenti, Aaron finally understood the situation completely—
If Dawnlight wanted to enter the MPAA, the only viable paths were to acquire one of the existing major studios or merge into one of them.
Among the current seven:
Warner Bros. belonged to Time Warner
Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures were under Sony
20th Century Fox was owned by News Corporation
Paramount Pictures was part of Viacom
The Walt Disney Company was practically impossible to acquire
That left only two realistic targets:
Universal Pictures, owned by Panasonic
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM), controlled by Crédit Lyonnais
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Later that night, in his Bel-Air mansion, Aaron lay on the bed staring at the ceiling, deep in thought.
He was weighing the possibility of Dawnlight acquiring Universal or MGM.
Suddenly, Sophie Marceau emerged from under the covers and rested herself against his chest. "What's wrong? Not in the mood?"
Aaron gently patted her. "Just thinking about something. You travel to Paris often—recently, Pathé secured new investors, right?"
"For Crédit Lyonnais, they're probably looking to sell MGM as well. What do you think—if I were to take over MGM/UA?"
Sophie blinked thoughtfully. "Last year, Crédit Lyonnais was already planning to break up MGM/UA and sell off assets to recover capital."
"According to French reports, MGM/UA's most valuable assets now are United Artists' library—over 1,100 films—along with the MGM brand and its development slate."
"The reason they haven't sold yet is because Crédit Lyonnais decided to reinvest in MGM. After operating it for a while, they might be able to sell it at a higher price."
"But one thing is certain—they won't hold onto MGM for long."
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Aaron smiled faintly. He had already reached similar conclusions.
Creative Artists Agency (CAA) had likely influenced Crédit Lyonnais' decision.
After facilitating major deals involving Columbia and Universal, Michael Ovitz had begun to harbor ambitions of controlling a major studio himself—though antitrust laws remained a major obstacle.
Through its deep partnership with Crédit Lyonnais, CAA had already packaged several projects for MGM.
At the same time, CAA was also assisting Seagram in entering Hollywood—shifting its focus from Time Warner to Universal under Panasonic.
Following the death of Steve Ross, new Time Warner chairman Gerald Levin had firmly rejected Seagram's investment proposal.
That effectively killed Seagram's plan to gradually take control of Time Warner through capital infusion—especially as Time Warner brought in new investors such as Liberty Media, Itochu Corporation, and Toshiba.
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Meanwhile, Yoichi Morishita, the new president of Panasonic, had shown a lukewarm attitude toward Hollywood.
His desire to offload MCA/Universal was barely concealed.
Compared to the other major studios, both Universal and MGM were surrounded by uncertainty—making them the most likely candidates for a change in ownership.
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