Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 884 Class B Action Movie
"You guys are at Cannon, are there any projects going on?"

Ronald took Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Daan back to daydream.Of course, he didn't really ask the two action actors to be his bodyguards, but to support the scene when necessary.

Lundgren and Jean-Claude glanced at each other, knowing that the opportunity had come, and quickly talked about the project they were negotiating with Cannon Pictures.

Minahan Golan is a bit weird when making movies. No matter what kind of movie he makes, it looks a bit like a cartoon.For the two new actors, what Minahan gave them was also the protagonist of a comic book movie.

The project that Minahan prepared for Jean-Claude was Seaman's live-action movie.Seaman's adaptation of the movie "Universal Lord" this year starred Lundgren.But Lundgren's acting skills are too bad, so next year, he cooperated with Mattel and actually got the movie licensed by the image of "Seaman". .

The image of Lundgren in the audience still stays in "Rocky IV", that impersonal fighting machine made by the Souvier Alliance.Anyway, he didn't have acting skills to create a new role, so Minahan created a script for him, asking him to continue to play a fighting machine of the Souvier Alliance and go to Africa to fight against the rebels in a country.

After being bullied by Cuban mercenaries, he was rescued by the local tribe and moved by the free people. In turn, he beat off the Cuban mercenaries and Czechoslovak instructors under the Souver League, and finally won the support of the black brothers.

Their projects have been in preparation for a long time, but Minahan has been delaying for various reasons, and they dare not really turn against Minahan, so they have to go to the office every now and then to inquire about the progress.I happened to meet Ronald today...

When Ronald heard that their project had been delayed for half a year, he thought it didn't matter what Minahan said, what he did would truly reflect the financial situation of Cannon.

"Did Minahan give you a time to start filming?" Ronald rubbed his chin and asked the two action actors.

"He said it would be at least the middle of next year, but I think his usual evasive behavior may not be until the end of next year." Jean-Claude has not yet won the role of the cannon, so he does not particularly trust Minahan.

"You can't say that, Mr. Golan is very serious about making movies." Lundgren has already participated in a blockbuster Cannon, although in the end because he didn't have the money to do special effects, the final effect was as bad as a bad cartoon. "But maybe you're right, the big cannon projects are all suspended now, and we don't know what's going on, there are a lot of rumors."

"I can't promise you anything, but while Minahan hasn't started your 'big project', you may be able to film some small and medium-sized productions for my daydream...if you want." Ronald looked Two action actors with very good skills were moved to take advantage of it.

"Excuse me...was it your director?" The two looked at each other and asked Ronald.

"Haha, my daydream is a small production company that can only make movies under $500 million. So I can only be an executive producer at most, and the director and producer will find someone else. But I can guarantee one thing, you guys They will all be the absolute male protagonists of the movie, and they will give full play to your karate movements, and I will find the best movement guide to make your movements look good on the screen."

Jean-Claude and Lundgren looked at each other, and they had no choice but to believe what Ronald said.Anyway, apart from Minahan and Ronald, no one in Hollywood would ask them to make serious movies, and they are still leading actors.It’s not a big deal to have a smaller budget. Let’s make some money by making movies first, and wait until Minahan’s big production starts shooting.

"Very good, very good, I'm going to prepare the script now, and then find an action director to tailor a good-looking fighting scene for you."

Ronald was very happy. This kind of actor who knows karate, plays well, and has received training in film shooting is actually not so easy to find.Anyway, there are a lot of martial arts directors at Jackie Chan in Xiangjiang. When the time comes, find two to come over and make some Xiangjiang-style action movies, and replace the protagonist with a blond Westerner. Think about it. There is a market, and the audience here really didn’t watch it. Over that kind of oriental martial arts.

"I will pay for you to find a suitable acting coach. You should study hard and practice karate to maintain your skills. When there is something that needs you, you can just be my bodyguard."

Ronald patted the shoulders of the two, and went to practice Jackie Chan on the phone by himself, which made the two fighters wonder what kind of medicine was sold in Ronald's gourd.

……

"Luo Sheng, there is no problem. If you want to cooperate in making a movie, there is no problem at all. You can come to Xiangjiang to shoot, or I can send someone to Hollywood, hahaha... Sister Jiao, quickly translate for him... "Jackie Chan heard that Ronald wanted to co-produce a movie, and immediately patted his chest and said that there is no problem.

"Well, I'll prepare the script here, and I'll send someone over to negotiate with you. Don't worry, your people will help me, and the income will be all in accordance with Hollywood standards."

"Luo Sheng is too polite, we are all friends..."

Jackie Chan hung up the phone and said to Sister Jiao, "Hollywood has a lot of rules. Director Luo said it was a small production, and he was so strict about the script. When his people come, remember to remind me to treat them well..."

"Jackie, their small productions cost millions of dollars, and if you put them here, they are big productions. Do you think they are like Xiangjiang making movies and Fei Zhizi, who write scripts on the spot?"

"Don't tell me, people's things are still good. The tapes that Luo Sheng gave me last time were pasted on the wall during filming. For plastic, use special tape for plastic, for whitewash, use special for whitewash, and for wallpaper, use special for wallpaper. If I had these good things when I photographed the food truck, I wouldn’t have to pay the owner of the old castle for the decoration money after I finished the photo.”

……

"Ronald, you asked me to investigate the financial situation of Cannon Films, and I already have the results." Ed Bastian, a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, flew to Los Angeles to report the investigation to Ronald face to face. Condition.

Ronald took the report and flipped through it.

"What do you mean, Cannon's current finances are not bankrupt, but it is unable to make large investments?" Ronald asked Ed after hastily flipping through the report.

"Yes, in fact, Cannon's 4 million financing has been spent, and the main places are divided into three places:
The first is the acquisition of the largest cinema chain in Britain, Star Cinemas.The acquisition gave them distribution capabilities in Europe.As a result, they cooperated with the EMI company in the country of hair, and obtained the holdings of theater chains in the country of hair, Spain, and Italy. Now Cannon is already the company with the strongest distribution ability in Hollywood in Europe.

The second is that more than 40 films are shot every year, ranging from small productions of 600 million to large productions of 3000 million.Originally, most of the cannon shooting budget was to get back the funds from the pre-sale in Europe, and then through the mortgage issuance contract, a Belgian bank made a bridge loan.However, this bank is now being investigated for money laundering, and there is a gap in their capital chain, which is used to make up for it with financing.

The third is the new office building they built. The scale of this building is only a little smaller than the new building of [-]th Century Fox. The real estate market in the past two years has been very good, and this is one of their best assets. "

"Such extravagance, spent [-] million in two years?" Ronald lamented that Minahan's ability to spend money is also top-notch.

"Spending money reasonably and quickly is actually a kind of ability. You can see that these three investments are actually more cost-effective." Ed Bastian hurriedly gave Ronald Cope the difference between running a company and personal wealth.The cost of financing from the bond market is interest.If you can spot the purchase of high-quality assets, not only can you cover interest, but you can also add value.If the money is not spent in the bank, it is a waste.

"Britain's Starlight Cinemas is a high-quality asset. In fact, Cannon encountered financial difficulties this time. Their first move was to mortgage the Starlight Cinemas and obtain a loan of 8000 million pounds from the British Bank."

"So it's like this. It's easy to get a mortgage for the Cannon Building, right?" Ronald understood the nature of the company's investment.

"That's right, Cannon's financial crisis is actually a temporary difficulty in cash flow. They are seeking a $3 million loan from Wall Street, and they will use the building that will be capped soon as collateral. Now it seems that the possibility of success is very high." De Bastian approves of the client's inference.

"So, their financial crisis is mainly caused by the second item, the big movie they invested in didn't pay back?" Ronald continued to flip through the materials.

Before that, Cannonball was still a film company mainly focusing on small and medium-budget exploitation films.Twenty or thirty exploitation films are filmed every year, most of which can be sold on TV, and the box office pays off.And it is hard to guarantee that there will not be one or two big-selling works among the twenty or thirty films. For example, "Breakdancing" filmed by Ronald for them is the biggest successful project.

Although this kind of business can't sell well, and it can't win at the Oscars, it is stable, with a short payback cycle and a steady flow of water. It is also a good business.

But after getting 4 million in financing, Minahan seems to have changed, and started to play big productions and big stars.Not only did he destroy Hollywood's star salary structure, he gave Stallone a salary of more than 1000 million, and he also invested in several major productions of more than 3000 million US dollars a year.

It just so happened that this year was not lucky, none of his major productions were successful at the box office, and he didn't get a bridge loan from the bank in accordance with the tradition, but advanced his own funds for the filming, so there was no difficulty for the time being.

As a small company, Daydream has sold "Dirty Dancing" to make money, but it has to learn a lesson, and it cannot gamble with its own money over and over again.

"On the surface it looks like this," Ed Bastian tapped his hand on the table, "but there are deeper reasons. Originally, Cannon could continue to raise funds in the market by issuing bonds, at least their current financial statements , better than a few years ago, you can get lower interest issuance conditions.

However, some profound changes are taking place on Wall Street right now.Milken, who previously handled the bond issue for him, is now under investigation by the prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, and he is in a lot of trouble.

The bonds of Cannon Pictures are also part of Milken's series of suspected illegal financial operations, so there are no bond brokers on Wall Street who are willing to get involved in the company's bond issuance operations. "

"So your conclusion is?" Ronald understood that Minahan's company assets were still abundant, but the cash flow was a bit dry.The original financing channel of bond issuance was blocked by a special investigation. No wonder some people began to spread the word, trying to take advantage of him.

"As long as they are willing to take out the building to mortgage the loan, Cannon can get through this difficult time. But they have to make a real blockbuster movie, just one, and one can change the bankers' opinion of them.

Otherwise, if the market continues to question their future earning power, it will only be a matter of time before something goes wrong again. "

"Hmm..." Ronald didn't quite agree with Ed Bastian's conclusion.Making money from making movies is largely a matter of luck.No one is sure of victory.To truly be able to operate in a healthy manner, we still have to return to the route of shooting small productions and quickly returning to the cost of exploitation films.

Make a steady little money every year, and then expect one or two money-making movies to appear in it.

"Thank you, this report is here with me, maybe it will be useful in the future..."

Ed Bastian left and Richard walked in.

"Mr. Ovitz has arranged the time. Please go and see the shooting scene of Steve Segel's new play. But he has other things to do, so he won't accompany you to the scene this time."

"Okay, let's go by ourselves." Ronald nodded.

Steve Siegel, Ovitz's aikido coach, won the appreciation of Ovitz, and Warner Bros., who contacted him, produced and released a B-level action movie with Siegel as the leading actor.

Although Ovitz is the owner of a brokerage company, he has actually done a lot of work as a producer, and he has a good vision.The "Ghostbusters" packaged by CAA before was a great success and became the annual box office champion.

The project that Ovitz set up for Siegel was definitely not for the purpose of repaying the master, but for the box office prospects of this kind of movie.Ronald wanted to steal a lesson. Even Ovitz was optimistic about what kind of action movie it was.

"What has Mr. Ovitz been up to lately?" Ronald asked Richard.

"Well, I know he's been in constant contact with Mr. Spielberg, and I don't know anything else..."

"Oh, he is very persistent."

Spielberg has always been reluctant to sign an agent contract. He has been able to do a job between Universal, Warner Bros., and Paramount studios without being bound to any distribution company.And based on his strength, he doesn't actually need Ovitz to help him get the project done.

If we talk about the role of producer, Ovitz and Spielberg actually have some meaning of competing with each other.So Ovitz wanted to take Spielberg into his pocket and further control the abacus of his stars, but it has not been successful.

"He's been very busy recently, and we can't find him all the time. Except for his secretary, no one knows where he is. This time, I saw his secretary arranging his schedule, so I found him by chance."

"Okay, let's go by ourselves. Call Duff (Lundgren), and Jean-Claude (Van Daan)."

"Duff, Jean-Claude, we're going to the set of a new film by an actor named Steve Segal, who likes to scare people with aikido and is well-known in Hollywood. So your main task , just don't let him touch Ronald.

This person often arranges for photographers to hide by the side and take pictures of guests being frightened by him. Although Ronald is not necessarily afraid of him, we must prevent such things from happening. "

On the way to the Warner Bros. set in Burbank, Richard spoke to two fighting experts about the day.

"Hey hey..." Ronald laughed beside him. In fact, he was not afraid to fight on the spot, just to see how good the aikido master certificate that Siegel boasted.

　I wish you all a happy new year.

Also thanks to the new leader infinityykz.

　
(End of this chapter)