Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Let me introduce myself. I'm Mario Casal of Carloco Pictures..."

Casal, the founder of Carloco, has been driven crazy. Cameron's spending method is really high. The movie has exceeded 50 and is still rising.

But no matter what the top executives of Carloco want Cameron to stop, Casal still insists on investing money in him. There is no other reason, just because the two special effects shots that Cameron has done are really eye-catching.

The T1000 liquid metal robot turned into a ball of fluid and passed through the fence door in the corridor. The railing cut his face into several strips, and then it returned to its original shape after passing. Casal, who has been working in Hollywood for ten years, has never seen such a visual spectacle.

He understands that if this movie is a box office success, he will become the second Sidney Sheinberg, a legendary producer who saw the potential of "Jaws" and insisted on supporting Spielberg despite the budget overrun and shooting delay.

But there is a limit to the financing. Even if Carloco Pictures still had a loan that could be used as collateral to the bank, such a record-breaking high-cost movie still made Wall Street institutions suspicious.

So he directly called several of the best Chinese restaurants in Los Angeles, found the one where Ronald was, and then went to persuade Ronald to make additional investments.

This was not only about getting money, but Ronald's continued investment could also be used to convince banks and increase their confidence in the project.

"Oh, this foreigner is too amazing. He has chased me to the restaurant. Should I hug him too?" Teacher Zhao still didn't quite understand the etiquette of Westerners, so he took the initiative to stand up and hug Casar.

This made the atmosphere harmonious. Ronald stood up and asked the waiter to add a seat next to him so that Casar could sit down and chat slowly.

Mario Casar was puzzled. Why did Ronald eat with two old Chinese ladies? What was going on?

After everyone sat for a while, Casar found an opportunity and chatted with Ronald at the coffee table next to him.

"I can invest, Jim is my friend. But this is not in line with business rules. If you want me to make additional investment, you have to pay me accordingly. I need to increase the share of Daydream in this movie, or you can give me a cut of the video tape profit or the profit of overseas distribution. Don't say I don't know, you need this investment, right?"

Mario Casal was already a little uncomfortable. Basically, everything that Carloco could exchange for money had been promised to Ronald. If he wanted to give Ronald a big piece, wouldn't it be a waste of time?

"Ronald, you know the significance of this movie to Hollywood and to Jim. You know the process of my several rounds of financing. If you want anything you like, I will give it to you. But the additional share is really impossible."

Mario Casal held the core interests tightly in his hands. He was not afraid of other investors signing the share ratio. Those laymen didn't understand the profound knowledge in it. Just the order of share can make them earn nothing.

But Ronald is not a layman. He is difficult to be deceived. And he has his own team of accountants and lawyers. That Mickey Kanter helped Jack Nicholson get 60 million from Warner Bros. That was the Warner Bros. that had accounted for "Batman" as a loss.

"Okay, okay, I'm also doing this for Jim's sake. That movie is really worth investing in. How about this, does your company have a Gulfstream aircraft?"

Ronald saw that he couldn't squeeze out any more oil, so he changed the subject and talked about Carloco's fixed assets.

"I've already given it to Schwarzenegger..." Mario Casar spread his hands, meaning that you should choose another toy.

"You? Then there's nothing to talk about? Investment can't be without returns, right?" Ronald turned and was about to leave.

It seems that Carloco's financial situation is more tense than he thought. In order to get Schwarzenegger to join, he promised a salary of more than 10 million yuan. With cash pressure, he exchanged part of the investment for dividends, and used his own Gulfstream III business jet to offset part of the cash.

"Wait, wait, we can discuss it..." Mario Casar grabbed Ronald. "There's no spot, do you want futures?"

Carloco had a good income in the past few years, and Mario Casar also ordered the latest Gulfstream IV. This type of aircraft can fly across the Atlantic, but the order queue is not yet ready for delivery.

"Hey? You have a Gulfstream IV, are you willing to give me the queue qualification?" Ronald turned from anger to joy, and he was very happy.

"Of course, for the movie Terminator 2. When it is filmed and released, what is a business jet?" Mario Casal was also very happy. Carloco's cash flow is almost exhausted. This plane will be delivered in a few months. Even if it does not fly by then, the airport parking fees and insurance premiums will be almost unpaid.

Both parties are very happy. The additional 10 million US dollars were quickly transferred to the crew's account, and Mario Casal also notified Gulfstream to transfer the ownership of the aircraft to Ronald.

...

"Hey, brother. Take a look at this shot, we just finished it." Cameron greeted Ronald's inspection in the special effects studio.

On the monitor of the workstation, there was a scene where the T1000 was frozen to pieces by a truck loaded with liquid nitrogen in a chase scene. The collapse of hundreds of particles was very impressive. On the other side was the sequel of this scene. After the temperature was restored, the liquid metal gradually turned into a lump like mercury, and slowly became clear into the robot with the image of the LAPD.

"This shot of lying on the ground with limbs broken looks very real to me. Can computer special effects reach this level?" Ronald pointed to the picture on the monitor and asked. This was beyond his imagination.

"I asked Robert Patrick to lie on the ground, and then found a disabled actor to shoot from this angle. It looked like his limbs."

Cameron explained with a smile that he could deceive the eyes of a director like Ronald, which showed that he played a good trick.

"Yes, Robert is very dedicated..." Ronald noticed that in the outdoor scenes shot in winter, Robert Patrick never exhaled white air, maintaining the image of a robot without any flaws. He must have held ice cubes in his mouth to lower the temperature before shooting. Moreover, he didn't sweat a drop in so many running scenes, which shows that he has made hard efforts in training.

"I just met with Mr. Roger Corman. He heard that the cost of your filming exceeded 100 million, and he sighed to me. Guess what he said?" Ronald's previous action movies such as "Black Belt Elite" are going to shoot sequels, and there are some new scripts in preparation. It's just right to pull Corman along to use his genius cost management ability.

"Ha, he must say that I betrayed the tradition of the New World." Cameron laughed.

"No, he said Jim I know, his movies look expensive, but every penny is spent on what you can see on the screen." Ronald looked at these carefully designed shots and sighed. With the current technical level, only directors like Cameron who understand both models and computer special effects can rack their brains to serve a feast that makes the audience happy.

"You have to hurry up. It will be released in the summer, and the special effects are not finished yet. There is also editing. Will you make it in time?"

"Terminator 2" has been officially named "Terminator 2 Judgment Day" and is scheduled to be released nationwide in early July.

Carloco's pockets are already empty, and the company responsible for distribution is also Ronald's relationship with Samsung Pictures. If Cameron fails to complete it on time, it will cause financial damage to both companies. There is no room for delay in this movie. Cameron must work overtime like crazy to catch up with the progress...

"I plan to work twelve hours a day and seven days a week. I have calculated the time for each work, and I will definitely make it in time." Cameron bit a Burger King, took a sip of Coke, and assured Ronald confidently.

"Don't be too nervous about this. It's still okay to take a day off a week... Otherwise, your efficiency will be reduced. I will send someone to bring you and the team some delicious food every day..."

...

After dealing with the Terminator, Ronald met Yang Yanzi again.

"Do I need to make an appointment to see you now?" Ronald said to Yang Yanzi with a smile.

Yang Yanzi was busy preparing for several film projects, and as Ronald's assistant, he had to let a new employee of the company take over temporarily. Ronald hadn't seen her in the company for several days.

"Boss, I'm working for you. These are all your projects..."

"How is the distribution of those two Chinese-language films going?" Ronald finished joking and asked about the progress of the business.

"Boss, I was just about to report to you that the distribution work in Chinatown has encountered some obstacles..."

"There are still obstacles? Shouldn't the cinemas in Chinatown be happy that they have Chinese-language movies?" Ronald couldn't help but wonder, because these cinemas were originally troubled by the lack of Chinese-language movie rooms.

"I am happy, but many movie theaters in Chinatown have no money to renovate and can't continue to operate. Large-scale closures may occur in the next two years. Not only them, but many old movie theaters in the old city are also unable to survive."

"Why? Didn't they operate well in the past few years? I didn't hear any problems... After so many years, they can operate without renovation?"

"Boss, I just found out when I chatted with them. This is stipulated in the bill that was just passed at the end of last year..."

Yang Yanzi took out a bound document from the folder. There were "PL101336" in the upper corner of the cover, indicating that this is Act No. 336 passed by the 101st Congress. In the middle is the name of the bill, "Americans with Disabilities Act".

Ronald turned to the back, "In America, 6% of the population are disabled. This bill is based on the principle of fairness for all Americans and stipulates that public facilities must provide disabled access to ensure that people with disabilities can enjoy equal public services and facilities."

In the implementation details later, movie theaters are also considered a type of public facility.

"Oh, Shxt"

Ronald slapped his forehead. This is a move that has a great impact on the film industry. However, not many people in Hollywood really discuss this matter. Because they are all chasing the glamorous filming process, not many people come from the dirty, tiring, and daily trivial projection industry.

Old-fashioned movie theaters, including most of the ones in Chinatown, are theater-style. They can accommodate hundreds of people, and there are often stairs in the middle, forming two-story steps. Some large old-fashioned movie theaters imitate the style of opera houses, and even have seats upstairs or boxes.

Once this bill is issued, those stairs in the middle must be equipped with passages that are convenient for disabled people to go up and down. In general, in order to accommodate the maximum number of spectators, these old-fashioned movie theaters have very narrow stairs that are convenient for spectators to go up and down, and it is impossible to simply add a disabled passage.

To meet this bill, some seats must be removed and then disabled passages must be installed. Those theaters with upstairs seats must also build elevators that meet the requirements of disabled people.

Although the original intention of this bill is good, these theaters are already operating in a dismal state. It is completely suicidal to close for several weeks to do renovation projects. Moreover, how many disabled people can come to the theater to watch movies even if a disabled passage is built? How many convenient places should be left for them to put wheelchairs?

These are all very troublesome things. The undercover inspectors of the Federal Department of Justice who are responsible for the inspection are not vegetarians when operating with facilities that do not meet the requirements. If we leave more seats for the disabled, it will be a waste if no one comes to watch, and other audiences will not like it. If we leave too few, they will complain again, and they will always file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. It is no joke to be in the media.

So, instead of making a big fuss, many operators of old cinemas are thinking of simply closing down.

"This is an opportunity..." Ronald thought about it and thought of Thomas W. Stephenson, the young master of the Hollywood Cinema Chain on the East Coast.

Although these cinemas are not very profitable, one thing is certain, the locations are not bad. They were all popular stalls in the downtown area, so they were used to build theaters.

Thomas came to Los Angeles with Douglas. Thomas W. Stephenson also knew about this opportunity, but he was suffering from the lack of extra funds to do this business. A chain of cinemas developed in the countryside of New Jersey is very traditional and old-fashioned. There is no room for imagination, so no one on Wall Street is chasing after it, and it is difficult to raise funds.

This time, Ronald took the initiative to contact him, and he knew that good luck had come.

Douglas Hansen, Jr., whose family was the largest landowner on Staten Island, made his fortune by building various commercial facilities. This was just right for the theater renovation business.

They looked at the address list of theaters in major cities on the West Coast that Ronald had investigated and encountered operating difficulties under the new law. After studying for a while, the three of them divided these theaters into several places.

Some of the landmark theaters with historical and cultural significance in the local area involved the feelings of many people, and the best way was to preserve them. These theaters would be excluded from the scope of acquisition because they would not make much money if they were bought.

Some of them were old-fashioned large theaters in downtown areas, which could be demolished and rebuilt into modern theaters with multiple halls.

There were also some old-fashioned theaters in not-so-good locations, with a lot of vacant land around them. If they met the conditions, they could be bought and developed into shopping mall complexes.

The three people discussed and decided to take advantage of this wave of laws to make a big push on the East and West Coasts. Thomas W. Stephenson, Jr. was responsible for the problems of theater management talents and management models, Douglas, Jr. used the family business to do the renovation and construction site selection work, and Ronald was responsible for most of the funds.

Hollywood truly has an irreplaceable resource, which is distribution. With the scale effect and the original production volume as a threshold, it is difficult for latecomers to get involved in the domestic distribution business in the United States.

However, the Disability Act, which lists movie theaters as public facilities, has accidentally opened a small window for Ronald to get involved in the distribution business.