Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1147: Focusing on the high-quality assets of Cannon Pictures

"Minahan, you are a cunning liar. You deliberately added the name of Lombada, a name that our cannon has purchased the ownership of, to the subtitle of your bad movie. Don't think that we will just give up. See you in court!"

Yoram, Minahan's cousin and current president of MGM, shouted to Minahan as he got out of the car.

Ever since he kicked Minahan out of the cannon and took his place, his figure has grown more and more sideways.Now he has surpassed Minahan and become the fat man with the biggest belly on the scene...

There is a row of tall and handsome men behind him, each of them looks like a male dancer in "Dirty Dancing". In addition, they are all wearing Italian-style waist-fitting suits, which creates a good comedy effect for a while.

"Drink... Bah..." Minahan spat at his cousin, a very vulgar move, which made the Italian dancers in the row behind him shake their shiny heads in disgust and whisper to each other.

"I'm sorry for you, you bastard. You stole my movie idea, and then you signed a contract with Lumbada's single publisher first, and now you're competing with us for release time. Who brought you to Tel Aviv back then, hand in hand? Teach you how to sell movie tickets?"

The two Israeli brothers just stood at the crossroads and had a big quarrel. They cursed from English to Hebrew. When they were not satisfied, they continued to curse Russian curses that they had learned from their parents when they were young...

"Where are the people on our side? Go and call over..." Ronald took a look and saw that the number of people on the opposite side was absolutely dominant. Although Minahan's momentum was now dominant, but just in case, he quickly turned around and let Minahan's 21st Century Shadow Ask the professional staff to call someone.

"Where are they? Where are they?" After only seeing each other for a few minutes, a large group of employees from 21st Century Pictures (Minahan's new company) and the actors of the movie were all running away in front of the cinema. come over.

Ronald took a look and saw that there were all kinds of people dressed in various ways. Some were wearing public relations suits and ties, some were wearing T-shirts for audience research, and there were a few marketers wearing caps and photography vests. He had not forgotten it. Put the expensive camera in the car first...

"Yeah, very energetic..." Ronald felt that Minahan was quite capable. Although he was stingy with his subordinates, he was still a producer who really wanted to make movies, and the crew was very united.

"Who wants to fight Minahan? It turns out it's you guys who are plagiarists..." Finally, the last one running over from behind was the heroine Laura Harling.

She was wearing a red short dress today, with a small red bag hanging on her shoulders, and bright strappy high-heeled sandals under her long legs, so she moved a little slower.After all, she was a Miss Universe, and she walked and posed gracefully, which made Ronald's eyes light up.

"This bright red suit really suits the super beauty," Ronald thought to himself.

Sure enough, Laura Harling attracted more attention than just Ronald.Behind Yoram, an Italian man pushed aside the gigolo and got out from behind...

"Beautiful lady, I wonder if we have any misunderstanding?" He said, coming over to hold her hand and kiss her.

"Pa..." Laura Harling's star map depends on whether this movie will have an impact. She slapped the opponent's hand open, turned around and walked to Minahan's side to express her position.

"Who is that person?" Ronald stood aside and, with the help of Richard, avoided the flash of the photographer.Today's confrontation between two fat Israelis will definitely be reported tomorrow.

"Giancarlo Parretti, the owner of Cannon, he also acquired Pathé Film Company in China..."

"Who does this guy think he is?" Ronald had a bad impression of this person. There are no good men and women in Hollywood, and some are actresses who betrayed themselves for an opportunity. But such a disgusting behavior, this is what he thinks of Hollywood actresses. Become a street girl?
"Hahaha, I'm not a bad person, I'm an investor..." Giancarlo Paretti came to pester him again.

Ronald glanced at him. This man was quite handsome, with a big face and the unique enthusiasm of a Latino. However, he had big bags under his eyes due to excessive drinking.His smile was a bit obscene.

Giancarlo Parretti looks a bit like the portrait of Napoleon, a monarch in the history of his country. I guess he prides himself on this. He also has a similar hairstyle, with a strand of hair hanging down on his forehead and curled. .

Seeing the confrontation between the two fat Israeli men turn into a dirty affair, most of the reporters at the scene lost interest.Because Giancarlo Paretti is the owner of the media, this kind of news cannot be reported in the newspapers. How can two fat Israelis fight vigorously?
"Hmph, drink...bah..." Mina saw Yoram hiding behind him, and spat on the ground again, "Let's go..." He turned around to greet everyone, and proudly put a squirt on his head. Went to the entrance of the cinema.

Like a victorious rooster, Minahan laughed wildly, waved his hand, and led the crew back, shouting at the entrance of the cinema like a salesman of inferior products, "Come and see our movie." , this is the most authentic Lombard musical, not the counterfeit opposite..."

Giancarlo Paretti over there was not discouraged. He turned around and started looking for his next prey, "Forget it, where is Melora? Where is Melora?"

What he went back to find was the heroine of Yoram's version of "Lombada", Melora Harting.Her looks are indeed a notch lower than Miss Universe Laura Harling.

This lambada dance movie was shot quite well, and the story can be justified. The main dance part is because the heroine Laura Harling is a Latina born in Mexico, and she can dance better than Melora, who is native to America. Harding is more charming.

The two movies were released head-to-head. The box office on the first day of the weekend was over 100 million for Minahan's side and just over 100 million for Yoram's side. Both movies have achieved some success.

"Hey, it's all the traitor Yoram. If it weren't for him, the resources of the two movies could be combined, and our Cannon would have another movie that can be called a box office success..." The man came over the next day to claim credit. Minahan, at Ronald's house, yelled and cursed his cousin.

"If you dare to spit, I will kick you out. Diane is pregnant now and hates people who are not clean." Ronald looked at him and talked about Yoram again, fearing that he would ruin his home. Got dirty.

"No, no way..." Minahan chuckled twice and went to drink coffee again...

"Why are you still talking about our cannons? Now you should be talking about my 21st Century Pictures..." Ronald discovered the problem in Minahan's words.

"Hey, this is my lifelong dream after all. I originally wanted to use the platform of Cannon to make a career in Hollywood..."

Minahan is still very concerned about Cannon's plight, and it has almost become a knot in his mind.Ever since he was driven out by the cannon, he has been reviewing what he did wrong all the time.

The final conclusion is: first, because of the high interest rates, his financing cost of US$4 million was too high.

Second, the shooting of his film projects was not controlled by a professional producer. He was the only one in charge. He launched too many films and the budget exceeded the budget. In the end, he could only make hasty edits and could not spend much on publicity and distribution. effort.

The third and second points are related, that is, there are too many bad movies that shortchange important movies that should have been heavily invested.For a movie like the fourth Superman movie, if 4000 million can be invested according to the original plan, there is still hope that Cannon can be revived.

"According to you, Cannon now has the capital injection from this Italian banker and should have started to shoot some big-investment projects. Why are they still competing with us for low-cost movies like Lambada?"

Ronald didn't understand. This Giancarlo Parretti bought EMI and Cannon. In addition to the film libraries of both, he also owned two theater chains in Europe and Britain. Why don't you come and do some big production?Why are we still repeating the low-cost route of the cannon?
"Hey, I don't think he's a serious movie maker. I heard from my former employees at Cannon that this guy holds parties everywhere every day. In the name of Cannon and EMI boss, he plays and dances night after night with all the people in Hollywood. Female celebrities dating..."

Minahan was heartbroken when he spoke.Ronald had never been so sad when he talked about being betrayed by Yoram and being driven out of the cannon.This man has many shortcomings, but one advantage is that he is the kind of boss who really wants to make movies.Although his vision for selecting scripts is not good, his ability as a director is not good, and his ability to manage a company is not good, he is willing to do anything in order to make a successful movie.

"Is that so? They don't even make a big production right now?" Ronald was slightly moved. He had seen this behavior from the Australian tycoon who once bid for Columbia Pictures.

"Yes, I have several employees who have been following my Cannon and they all came to my new company. They can't stand a boss who picks up girls every day and doesn't make any serious movies... Although I can give them what I have now The salary is less than a cannon, and they are willing to work with me." Minahan said proudly, confident in his charm.

……

After seeing Minahan off, Ronald quickly found Richard and said, "This is the situation. Please help me collect the rumors in the circle, and I will find someone to go to Wall Street to inquire about it."

I'm afraid that those old employees gave up higher wages to join Minahan, not because of Minahan's unique charm, but because those employees knew that the cannon might have a big problem, and they would be unemployed if they didn't run away.

"Well, Steve (Bannon), thank you for the message..."

Sure enough, comparing the news from Richard and the information from Wall Street that Ronald learned from Bannon, Cannon is really in big trouble.

Yoram focused more and more on borrowing money here and there to fill holes, so as to prevent the company from being forced to declare bankruptcy one day when it could not pay the interest on the junk bonds.

The money for Giancarlo Parretti's acquisition of Cannon was provided through the bridge loan bank that Cannon often cooperates with, Crédit Lyonnais.

In other words, Giancarlo Parretti used the Cannon's assets as collateral, borrowed another sum of money, and then bought the Cannon.

This kind of leverage-on-leverage operation was used by many people during the first six years of the previous commander-in-chief's term.But now that the Federal Reserve has entered a rate-raising cycle, if it still does this, then it will have to pray to God that Cannon will produce a super hit production like Batman to fill the hole.

However, speaking of Batman, Cannon also has some Marvel Comics assets, such as Spider-Man, Fantastic Four, etc. I wonder what the details of the contract they signed back then were?How many years have they been authorized?

The best example of making a lot of money from adapting movies by making movies from comics is the Salkinds and their sons, the producers of the original Superman series.They obtained the rights to adapt Superman for 20 years and made a fortune from it. They filmed three Superman movies and sold the rights to the last one to Minahan at a high price.

"Get Minahan for me...wait..." Ronald picked up the phone and originally asked his assistant Lake to call Minahan, but suddenly he had other ideas.It's better not to let Minahan know about this matter.

Cannon will definitely have big problems if it continues like this. Ronald wants to take the opportunity to obtain the copyright of important movies and the distribution rights of video tapes.There are also those Marvel movie adaptation rights. If the length is suitable, you can also buy them and wait for the right time to release them.

It’s impossible to repay this loan if I don’t shoot big-production cannons all the time.Just relying on the boss to pick up girls cannot generate cash flow.It's just a matter of time, and time is on the side of caring people like Ronald.

The only problem is that I don’t know how many people have the same idea as Ronald. They are waiting to see the cannon before it collapses one day, and then they pounce on the fattest piece of meat first before others can react. Eat it.

But this thing is still worth doing. At least, Ronald can buy the copyrights of his break dancing and martial arts films by Jean-Claude Van Damme.These movies have been hot-selling in the video tape market for a long time, and they can also be regarded as a souvenir of one's own growth.

"Well, let's watch slowly and don't disturb Yoram first." Ronald and Bannon discussed the operation.

"Yoram is not an idiot. I'm afraid he is already looking for a way out..." Bannon chuckled. As a former CFO and current president, Yoram must have a clear understanding of Cannon's financial situation. He is now letting it go Giancarlo Parretti was acting recklessly, maybe he was also looking for a way out.

"Anyway, we have to watch quietly and don't shoot to alert the hunters and other hunters..."

"Understood, by the way, can't NBC order more of that TV series?" Bannon changed the subject.

"NBC gave me a five-episode order because I agreed to adapt the TV series version of Working Girl. If you let Seinfeld film well and have ratings, it may not be impossible to renew..."

"Hey, okay..." Bannon also knew that there was little hope. This TV series would most likely be a tie-in for bundled sales.

……

"Are you cooperating with the Cannon people again? I don't like them very much..." Diane came out and saw Ronald talking on the phone, and couldn't help but ask.

"No, in fact I am working with Minahan and I am a competitor with Cannon." Ronald said with a smile.

"Oh, I saw the photo of their boss pursuing Laura Harling, the heroine of your new movie. It's disgusting... By the way, Miss Universe is wearing a red dress. Isn't she beautiful?"

"Hey, don't worry, Bannon and I discussed it. Cannon seems to have a big financial problem. I plan to buy out my break dance copyright before they are finished..." Ronald quickly changed the subject. .

"They are going bankrupt? How do you know?" Dianqi said.

"Before a company goes bankrupt, there must be a large number of old employees running away. I checked and found that there are several old employees who are willing to endure low wages and Minahan's temper and run away to his 21st Century Pictures."

"That being said, isn't Orion also very possible?" Diane said to herself.

"What?" Ronald was startled by her words. It couldn't be possible.

"I recently went to Orion Pictures to attend the video release ceremony of my film 'Love at Sunset Bridge'. I heard that many Orion people are looking for jobs..."

"No way, I still have two movies to work with them on, and Orion is also responsible for distribution and award winnings..."

"Then go and see if the crew has financial problems? I've been on many crews with financial problems, and there are usually signs...such as the quality of the lunch is downgraded, the photographer and director suddenly become less picky, and they take only one or two shots. It’s easy to pass, and many people also call to look for jobs..."

"I'm going to call Rachel Talalay, the director of on-site production..." Ronald panicked when Diane said...

(End of this chapter)