Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Can you speak to Her Majesty the Queen?"

The Queen and Ronald chatted for a while, and then the lady-in-waiting came in to announce the end of the interview. Ronald didn't even get a chance to protest.

Princess Diana stayed on to plan charitable donations with Elton John and others. Ronald had no choice but to advise her not to show this spoof of the "Top Gun" movie.

"Ha, if you say that, I'm more interested in seeing it." Unexpectedly, Diana's naughty girlish nature showed up and she wanted to tease Ronald.

Ronald had no choice but to tell her the truth with a grimace. The style of this movie was not high. It had many scenes borrowed from many pornographic films, and the content of "Top Gun", which was originally very dramatic, was deconstructed into A joking attitude.

Elton John was snickering next to him. Both he and Anthony Hopkins could see it. This is a unique British sense of humor. They use very serious words to make fun of something that the other party is obsessed with. The more serious he is, the more serious he is. Say, the stronger the humor effect.

"Hey, I can see it. You just want to watch my movie and be pranked." Ronald, who was dry-mouthed, also reacted. "Actually, other people's money for this movie I made is also very good." comedy, starring Gregory Peck and my wife Diane, that kind of humor is more suitable for adults. If the charity screening chooses "The Condor", you may have to postpone the time you see this movie. That’s a lot.”

Ronald had no choice but to appeal to the princess' curiosity. "Other People's Money" is more in line with the tastes of the upper class. There are many jokes that only the wealthy class can understand, and the humor is subtle and cold. If it is not screened, the time it will enter theaters in Britain will be greatly delayed.

"You put it that way, I'm definitely interested. Just like Top Gun back in the day, send me the video tape. It's really fun chatting with you guys. I have to leave first." Diana's female royal secretary also came over to urge her schedule. , Charles was already rushing to the location of the next public event.

In fact, the couple rarely communicated. Such matters had to be communicated through servants. Only the two children were one of the few topics of communication between the princess and the prince.

"The videotape, the videotape will not be released until the movie is over, but if you want it, Princess, I will go back and find someone to make a copy."

"Call me Dai, Ronald. Give me two more copies, and Sarah wants to read them too." Sarah was the wife of the second prince, and Princess Diana left after saying that.

Ronald felt as if an inspiration appeared somewhere in his mind, but he failed to catch it. He stared at the floor blankly, trying to find that inspiration. To outsiders, he looked a little frustrated.

Anthony Hopkins and Elton John looked at each other and felt that Ronald was too pitiful, so they decided to comfort him.

"This is actually a good thing, Ronald. The royal family also watched your Top Gun back then. Now that I've watched the spoof version, I still miss your movie." Elton John tried to persuade him but seemed to have no reaction.

"Yeah" Ronald didn't listen at all, he just tried hard to recall what he thought at that time.

"Ahem, in fact, the emergence of deconstructed parody movies is an indispensable part of a movie's classicization. The fact that the movies you directed can be parodied by others shows that Top Gun's position has become unshakable in popular entertainment. , has become a symbol, a symbol, which many people cannot achieve.”

Anthony Hopkins still understands the hearts of filmmakers better and came up with a more acceptable idea.

This statement actually makes sense. The important thing about parody is that the audience must understand which movie you are imitating.

The famous work of the trio Zak Brothers and Abrahams, "All the Sky" is a parody of the "Airport" series produced by many stars in the 1970s. That movie was a hit that spawned many sequels in the 1970s when the industry was sluggish.

Therefore, although the artistic value of "Top Gun" has not been recognized much, it is indeed second to none in terms of the popularity of the work. Even if you haven’t seen the movie, you must have seen the Pepsi-Cola commercial on the TV show.

"Ah, what did you say? Oh, it's okay. There's no way to sue for infringement of a parody movie. Even the producer can't do anything. What's the use of me as a director."

Ronald woke up from his meditation, but he still couldn't grasp the inspiration.

Everyone found Jodie Foster and Jonathan Demme, who were socializing with the London theater circle, and went back to the hotel together.

Ronald thanked Anthony Hopkins for his kind words and chatted with him about his new film, "The Productivity Guy." The film was made by Richard Brennan, an independent Australian producer, who also came to London this time to seek British distribution.

"Who did you find to distribute in America?" Ronald thought that this movie also had serious commercial content, and he had rich experience in daydreaming.

"I came to find him. He dreamed of selling there."

"Hello, Ronald." Richard Brennan's eyebrows were thick and energetic. He is dissatisfied with the current status of movies and always wants to shoot serious subjects that are of social concern.

This movie The Efficiency Expert is very realistic. It doesn’t end like Ronald summoning the Japanese to save everyone, and the male protagonist doesn’t win the favor of the factory owner’s daughter he has a crush on. In the end, he climbs up to a high place with a female worker to enjoy the scenery. .

"Hello Mr. Brennan." Ronald shook his hand.

"It's Sir Brennan." Richard Brennan is a recipient of the Order of Australia. He was nominated by the Governor-General and appointed by the Queen. He just received this Australian government honor a year ago. In fact, only the highest-ranking knights of this order can be called Sir, but Richard Brennan often uses it to enhance his status in London social circles.

"Hey" Ronald smiled, not caring about this man's rudeness. But he didn't care about the movie and asked him to discuss it with Michelle Cannold, Daydream's distribution manager.

"Isn't Ronald a director? Why does he have a distribution company?" Brennan held the business card with a puzzled look on his face. Originally, he wanted to show off his power, maybe he could trick him into coming to Australia to shoot a movie or something.

"You, he is just a director, and he has certain distribution capabilities for low-cost independent productions." Anthony Hopkins was also very dissatisfied and gave him a few pointers to go to public relations.

"Yoram, long time no see"

"Ronald, it's nice to talk to you."

Anthony Hopkins actually said that Ronald's distribution capabilities are not limited to America. One of the purposes of his visit to London this time was to meet Minahan Golan's cousin, Yoram Globus.

Although Minahan still wanted to spit on the ground when he heard his cousin's name, it did not prevent Ronald from meeting him in London.

Yoram Globus actually didn't do well with the Cannons after driving Minahan away. He didn't have his cousin's vision for film creation, so he could only use some successful formulas to invest in films. I haven't made any profitable movies in the past two years.

What's even worse is that the Italian financial tycoon who invested in the acquisition of Cannon Pictures, Giancarlo Paretti, hasn't released a movie in more than a year. He spends all day hanging out with the company's bills to pick up girls. Seduced last year's Miss Universe runner-up.

Yoram Globus was very worried. He acted like a financial fraudster. He is worried that the landmine caused by this financial operation will explode one day, and he will be in trouble if he becomes a scapegoat.

"Giancarlo Paretti, this is how he acquired MGM?" Ronald and Yoram went to the house provided by Elton John to have this private conversation.

"Yes, a total of 1.2 billion US dollars." This is what Yoram is worried about.

"Who can lend him so much money? The 250 million to buy Cannon is astonishing. Now that the junk bond market has collapsed again, where will he get the money?" Ronald wanted to buy Cannon. Some cinemas of the Star Cinemas chain acquired from London years ago. Establish some distribution capabilities in Britain.

Overseas distribution capabilities are actually a key part of the film industry. Many Hollywood filmmakers have not yet seen their benefits. Although operating a movie theater is not very profitable, it is also an asset-heavy, low-return industry.

People in Hollywood feel that selling blockbuster movies is what they should do, and let operators like them in the sunset industry of movie theater chains do it.

But the issuance capabilities of Britain and Europe have a very hidden advantage, which is cash flow. The cash collected from the box office every day is literally lying in the bank account the next day.

The money is handled differently than America does. In America, most movie theater operators will keep the money on their own accounts as long as possible, delaying it for more than a year before sharing the accounts with the producers.

But overseas movie theaters don’t have such arrogance. Their biggest problem is that there are few good movies. Europe and Britain rarely produce movies as popular as Hollywood. Across the industry, artists measure success by awards rather than box office.

Therefore, they do not have much bargaining power over producers. The most common form of payment is advance payment, which is invested in production before the film is shot.

For projects from non-Big Seven studios, this is an investment that affects the life and death of the project. Only after the producer has received this money can they finalize a contract with the star. With the contract, they can apply for a bridge loan from the bank, and then pay back the money after the filming is completed and release the film, or declare the company bankrupt.

Yoram hesitated a few times before telling the truth to Ronald.

"The first payment of his money was borrowed from Crédit Lyonnais, and then he used MGM's future income as collateral, and then applied for financing from the seller Kerkorian. It was equivalent to using Crédit Lyonnais' money again. Borrow it back from the seller as a second payment.”

"No wonder you want to run away"

When Ronald heard this, he realized that this Italian knew how to play. Use the assets acquired from MGM as security to borrow money from Credit Lyonnais. This money is paid to MGM owner Kerkorian as the first payment. After proving his strength, he will use future MGM income again. Make a guarantee and borrow the money back

Isn’t this what Chinese people often call a white wolf with empty hands?

He thought of Kerkorian who wanted to deceive him back then, but this time he met Giancarlo Parretti, a fraudster with a higher ranking than him.

"But MGM has not produced or distributed any new movies in the past year." Ronald pointed out the key point. Without future income, this game will almost become unplayable.

"My current job is to make up various film projects, and then make up the reasons why they have to be postponed. Stars have schedule conflicts, and the director's artistic views are different from the producer's."

No wonder Yoram was now anxious to sell some of the good stuff in the cannon, then roll up his blanket and run away.

"Hey, I just want to see the expression on Kerkorian's face when he finds out that he has been deceived." Ronald thought about how he was almost deceived by Kerkorian into working for some Chinese and American film industry. President, now Kerkorian is about to explode, and he wants to laugh.

"Well, actually, Kerkorian may not have a problem."

"Huh?" Ronald gestured to Yoram to talk.

"This is my guess. Giancarlo Paretti is obsessed with beauties who want to be female stars. There may be big loopholes in his contract with Kerkorian. And the internal affairs of MGM Some senior executives, including Giancarlo Parretti, still retained their old staff. I suspect those people were waiting to return to Kerkorian before anything happened.”

"Good guys, let's see how two liars fight."

The only thing Ronald really cares about is Cannon Pictures' Starlight Cinema. Minahan spent a lot of money to buy it. This is one of the largest assets Giancarlo Parretti spent 250 million to acquire 40% of Cannon's shares.

Yoram talked about the equity situation of this part of the theater chain. In many complex contract structures, they were deliberately signed to deceive Giancarlo Parretti.

Cannon owns the majority of the shares, but Yoram's most important private power is deciding which Hollywood films to import. As the "tycoons" of Hollywood, he and Minahan were very convinced by the British operators at that time. The movie copies they bought were always loved by the audience. In fact, casual imports are better than those government-funded cultural films.

When Minahan broke with him, this power and shares were transferred to Yoram's private name as a condition for Minahan to take away the film copyright of Cannon.

Now Yoram wants to run away, and he urgently needs money to continue his life. Whether he stays in Hollywood or returns to Israel, this share worth tens of millions of dollars is his safety cushion.

Ronald initially agreed to the deal, in which the powers would be transferred to an anonymous limited liability company incorporated in Delaware and then passed through a complex shareholding structure to allow Daydream to use

Yoram was very happy to get the first advance payment. He was having a hard time at MGM Cannon. Even last year's bonus and dividends were owed to this day. Although it was fun to travel and meet theater operators from various countries, my pockets were actually empty.

"How is Minahan doing now?" Yoram now begins to miss the days when the two brothers worked together, he was responsible for distribution and Minahan was responsible for production.

"He is very good. He has made money from his previous small productions. He also wants to shoot a live-action comic book adaptation movie with an investment of tens of millions of dollars. But every time he talks about you, he spits on the ground."

Ronald wanted to laugh when he thought of Minahan. This man was still full of energy, talking and laughing as before.

"Hey, it's all Wall Street money that makes us dizzy." Yoram also smiled. This was the Minahan he knew.

Professional lawyers will take over the subsequent delivery and operation of these theater shares, and Ronald talked to Yoram about other things.

"Where are you going next?"

"I may go back to Israel. Giancarlo Paretti is too exaggerated. I'm afraid that not only the creditors but also the FBI will come."

"Then I wish you success in your career back in Israel." Ronald clinked glasses with him. Taking the money to resign and flee back to Israel is the safest plan.

"By the way, there's one more thing." Before leaving, Yoram thought of something again and turned back to Ronald:

"Actually, Cannon also has a high-quality asset. Are you interested?"