Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Video tape manufacturers are an industry invested by Colombia, and we have a good relationship with them. It is not a big problem to rush to produce the three movies we purchased.

However, if we rush to go public before the strike ends, we will need to spend a lot more costs. It would have cost extra money to make way for other video tapes on the production line. Workers also have to pay three times their wages for overtime work... This is completely unnecessary. "

The person who protested to Ronald was Dolly Bernstine, the manager of the Daydream Video Business Department. This was with Michelle Cannold at Weston Pictures. She speaks directly and cares about details. Unlike Cannold, who is a bit artistic, Bernstine has a completely Jewish family education and lets profits speak for itself in everything.

"I appreciate your dedication to your career." Ronald was very happy when he saw Dolly getting excited, which meant that this fat female manager was committed to her duties. He went to the coffee machine himself and gave Dolly a cappuccino.

"It's not that I don't know the problems caused by rushing to work, but now let's not get entangled in the gains and losses of this laugh, but look at this issue from the perspective of company strategy. You will not always be the manager of the video tape business.

You see, if the strike ends, then new movies and TV series will be released soon, and our window is not long..."

Ronald first affirmed Dolly's professionalism and hinted that she could be promoted to other higher business positions in the future as the company develops. With the comfort of making coffee himself, Dolly Bernstine drank the coffee cup with both hands. After a few sips, my mood gradually calmed down.

"I understand that our pipe dream business is growing rapidly, and the video tape business needs to cooperate. But I have to say again, if this continues, we will always encounter problems, and Colombia will not always have a good relationship with us. It is time to have our own Video tape production plant."

"Very well, the box office share of 'Dirty Dancing' is about to arrive. This is a lot of money. Can you represent the company and go to New Jersey and Arizona to investigate which places are suitable for building or acquiring video tape factories?" . Then write a report to me, and after we discuss it, you will be responsible for the project."

"That's good, I'm going to make an inspection plan." Seeing that the factory she had suggested several times finally made some moves, Dolly Bernstine immediately stood up and left.

"Dolly, good job!" Ronald quickly stood up and praised his colleague. For subordinates with such strong abilities, you need to calm down their emotions, listen to their ideas, and then give them appropriate projects to take charge of.

"Ronald? Hi Dolly", just as Michelle Cannold came in to see Ronald. He and Dolly nodded. Cannold was originally in the video production business. He still liked to deal with artists, and by the way, he helped Ronald manage some distribution channels.

This time he came also for the premiere of "Die Hard" co-produced with Silver Productions in July.

Several celebrities contacted by Ronald said they would attend if their schedules did not conflict. Even Schwarzenegger, who had just returned from filming "Red Square" in Moscow and Riga, Latvia, said he would definitely come back to support the show.

The presence of so many male action movie stars has invisibly elevated the level of Bruce Willis' first action movie. As long as the newspaper news of the day is published, all viewers will see Schwarzenegger, Stallone, these veteran action stars, all going to see an action movie by Bruce Willis, the former TV comedy star.

People's thinking is actually easily influenced by the media. Since they appear together, Bruce Willis and them will be classified into the same category.

】

"Very good, Michelle, I don't know what to do without you." Ronald looked at the premiere plan. It was very professional from beginning to end. He was able to recruit a group of managers with strong professional abilities. Daydreaming means good luck. Give them more bonuses and more respect, and they will continue to create more wealth for themselves.

"Dolly did a good job. I think she can take over more work in the distribution department in the future. I still prefer to follow the production process from scratch and watch the movie being made from scratch."

Cannold hinted that Ronald could find the grown-up Dolly to take on more work, "And your assistant Laike, she is very capable and can take over some of Dolly's original work. I didn't expect her talent behind the scenes. As good as she is on camera.”

"You don't need to worry about her. She is here to lose weight. Once she meets the standards of Hollywood, her dream will still be at the front desk." Ronald waved his hand. He also wanted to keep this fat girl, but people Everyone has his own ambition.

"In addition, our Dirty Dancing box office share is coming soon, right? Can we buy a cinema in New York and a cinema in Los Angeles like I told you last time? Many of our movies need premiere theaters, and we always have to borrow and coordinate them. Schedules are always not easy. We are still a small company.

If we have our own sites in these two cities, many theater chain buyers will have more confidence in our distribution capabilities. "

Cannold brought up another incident. That's why Daydream needs its own cinema. Ronald has decided to shoot more low-cost romance films and kung fu films in the future. With his own cinema, he can easily meet the conditions for domestic release. In this way, it is easier to get better terms when facing video tape dealers.

After all, being shown in American cinemas is not an achievement that every movie can achieve. With a track record of being shown, regardless of whether the box office is good or not, video sales channels are more willing to release such films.

"Make a plan and find some signed acquisition targets. As long as the price is right... By the way, how much does it cost to buy a cinema in New York now?"

"I made a rough estimate. There are five suitable single-screen cinemas here, with prices ranging from two million to five million. Multi-screen cinemas will be more expensive, and the new cinemas in shopping malls cost between 15 million and 20 million each."

Cannold came prepared and took out a plan and handed it to Ronald.

"Well, why are they all cinemas in Manhattan? Are they so cheap?" Ronald flipped through the plan for a long time. He discovered a confusing fact.

The single-screen cinemas listed by Michelle Cannold are all in Manhattan. Most of them are located on 42nd Street, not far from Broadway, the drama center. The intersection of the two streets is near Times Square in Midtown Manhattan.

In theory, a single-hall cinema in this location would not be worth only one or two million dollars.

Seeing Ronald's confused look, Michelle Cannold was prepared. He took out another folder and handed it to Ronald.

Ronald opened it and saw that it was full of real photos taken near 42nd Street. The decoration of these cinemas is very old-fashioned and fancy. The lights of various colors at the door flicker according to a certain pattern, and an old aesthetic of the 1960s and 1970s comes to the face.

"Isn't this a mill cinema?" Ronald understood. These cinemas were all built in the 1930s when movies were the most profitable. After the impact of television, these single-hall cinemas with 500 to 1,000 seats in each hall, which were very close, quickly lost the audience market.

But the operators did not want to close down. They began in the 1960s and found a unique screening model, which is to screen many X-rated movies, even some low-level movies that do not participate in the PAA rating, or imported movies.

The business model of this kind of cinema relies on volume. Therefore, the interior decoration has not been renovated since the 1950s. It also retains the movie-watching habits of the golden age. As long as you buy a ticket, you can go in and watch movies continuously, as many times as you want, until you don't want to watch anymore.

This ticket-buying model is derived from the ancient theater. There are many such mill-style theaters around the regular Broadway dramas, which show dramas all day long, attracting middle- and lower-income audiences with low costs, fast pace, and continuous performances.

This model is also derived from a series of performance venues in Paris, England that attract middle- and lower-income people. It is named after the cancan dance, a dance that exposes thighs. The most famous one at that time was also called Moulin Rouge ().

Such mill cinemas, with many low-rated movies released, quickly became a gathering place for various gray businesses. They couldn't make much money, and had to deal with all kinds of messy things. The original operators of the cinemas were all elderly people, and their children didn't want to continue this business, so the selling price was not high.

"If we buy this kind of cinema, will we also take over those messy things?" Ronald asked.

"No, I have carefully selected them. These theaters are all near one end of Broadway, which is much better than those at Times Square. So the prices are also higher, generally more than one million dollars.

In terms of operation, we can retain the original management team. Although they are not professional enough, they need this job. We are adding some popcorn and cola vending machines, so it is not a problem to break even.

Our low-cost movies are basically not a big problem to be shown in these theaters."

"We need to find an independent third-party company to evaluate it. We can't get involved in those gray businesses. It doesn't matter whether we make money or not. We just need a few theaters of our own to facilitate the release." Ronald gave a few instructions, which made him seem to understand the operation of theaters.

"Don't worry, I have done a detailed investigation. Some of them were operated by Cannon Cinemas. Their 'Runaway Train' even premiered in New York in one of them."

"Oh? That's no problem." Ronald was relieved when he heard that Minahan had held the premiere of the movie directed by Russian director Konchalovsky, starring Jon Voight, Eric Roberts, and Rebecca De Mornay, who were nominated for Oscars. After all, it was a movie nominated for the Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor Oscars. It would not be embarrassing for the cinema to hold the premiere.

"Then let's do it. I'll let Eddie prepare a check for you. Our box office share has arrived. You two can decide on the acquisitions below 5 million." Ronald is now rich and powerful. With a box office share of nearly 30 million, he must find a place to spend it as soon as possible.

Otherwise, after the election of the president is settled, if the Donald Party wins, there seems to be no hope for the extension of the tax cut bill. Then he can just spend money suddenly.

It is rare in America for a candidate from the same party to take over after two terms as president. Ronald had to make some preparations.

…

"Ronald, a Mr. Thomas W. Stephenson Jr. from New Jersey called and wants to talk to you. Can you call him back? He is the son of Thomas Stephenson Sr. and a small boss of Hollywood Cinemas."

A few days later, agent Richard called and found Ronald, who was on vacation in Palm Springs again.

"Stephenson, Hollywood, ah... I remember it. I attended the Western Film Expo with him, please pick it up for me." Ronald remembered this young man, who was in Las Vegas for the first time. I met the rich second generation when I attended the Western Film Expo called the Film Festival, which is actually an annual trade fair in Hollywood.

This person is quite interesting. He likes artistic movies, but as a buyer, he prefers low-cost movies that make money. His father also deliberately cultivated him and asked him to start as the most important film buyer in the theater. Many people knew him at the film festival.

"Hey, Thomas, why did you think of calling me? We had a great chat in Las Vegas last time."

"Hello, Ronald. It's great to hear your voice again. Your recent movie has been playing in our cinema for a long time and I loved it. Thomas Stephenson Jr. still remembers himself when he hears Ronald, Very happy too. Then he said that he had something to discuss and could he come over for an interview.

"Hello, Thomas, are you still a buyer?" Ronald soon met Stephenson who came from Los Angeles.

"Hi, Ronald, yes, I am still a buyer now, but instead of buying movies, I buy movie theaters." The two chatted for a while, and he immediately explained the purpose of his visit straight to the point.

It turns out that New Jersey's Hollywood Cinemas, owned by Thomas Stephen Jr.'s family, has been developing very well in recent years. In addition to New Jersey, there are many franchised theaters. They have expanded their territory in New York and New England in the east. The number of franchised theaters has reached nearly 100, making it a top-ranked theater chain on the East Coast.

This time he also set his sights on several mill theaters on Forty-second Street, because after the repeal of the Paramount Act, the competition for theater mergers and acquisitions became fiercer, and the Stephenson family decided not to continue to attract independent theaters to join them. , but his family purchased several cinemas, exceeding one hundred.

Like Ronald's daydream, Thomas Jr., who was in charge of the acquisition, also took a fancy to several movie theaters on Forty-second Street that once belonged to the Cannon Cinemas chain. It turned out that after his offer was rejected by the cinema owner, he found out about Daydream who was also bidding, so he called Ronald's agent to negotiate.

"Can you give me these cinemas? I have to achieve good results in the company before I can hope to take over greater authority." Thomas Jr. has high hopes from his father and is training him to be his future successor, but other people in the company The shareholders are not very convinced and need him to make achievements to convince everyone. That's why the important acquisition work of breaking through 100 theaters was handed over to his son.

"Sorry, Thomas, my company needs these cinemas. As you know, my company now has many low-cost movies. If they can be released in cinemas, it will bring me a lot of benefits. I don't need to explain this to you. Right? "Ronald rejected the other party's proposal, we are not that familiar yet, right?

"I understand, I understand, do you think this will work? If you can withdraw from the bidding, then I can sign a cooperation agreement with your daydream. In the future, I will guarantee a certain number of low-cost movies produced by your company. You will never suffer a loss.

In fact, operating a movie theater is a specialized business. Let professional people like me do it. In this way, you can focus on production and more movie theaters can show it. It is also a win-win situation for us. "

Thomas Stephenson Jr. talked about the difficulty of running a movie theater, and pointed out that the Mill Theater environment is complex and requires a professional team to operate it.

Ronald still shook his head. Regarding this kind of agreement, there was no guarantee that he could control several movie theaters. When you buy a movie theater, you are seeking insurance. You can watch your own movies in movie theaters if you want. Besides, there is still so much money that has not been spent, so I have to buy a few.

"Okay, if we can't make a deal, we are still friends, right? I will continue to support your movies in the future." Little Thomas didn't let go when he saw Ronald, knowing that the other party must control several movie theaters in his hands before he would be willing to accept it.

"How about this, let's work together in another way?" Ronald suddenly had an inspiration.

"I'm willing to listen to any reasonable proposal." Thomas sat down again.

"I will buy these theaters and then join your Hollywood theater chain. You will follow your franchise conditions and send people to me to run them. In this way, you can save money to buy other theaters and join the movie franchise. The quantity can be greater than the original, which is more beneficial to your goals and a more suitable win-win method.”

Ronald's proposal was to control the cinemas himself and then join the other party's cinema alliance. In this way, Thomas' goal of showing his ability in front of shareholders can be exceeded. Anyway, movie theaters are not filled with theatrical movies at all times. Your own low-cost movies can always find slots for release.

"I will run it all? I want to send my people to be managers, my people..." Thomas felt that this proposal was a good one and hinted that he would stand on his side in future theater conferences. He will also send his own direct descendants to run Ronald's movie theater.

"make a deal!"

Ronald stretched out his hand and shook it vigorously, "Come on, let's relax for a while. The massage here is good and very relaxing."

…

"The total cost of purchasing three movie theaters was less than five million. The budget for acquiring the video tape production line and moving it to Staten Island was less than $800,000. What are you going to do with the rest of the money?" Private accountant Lawrence Wang Ye Fly to Palm Springs.

Ronald also scratched his head. This symbolic purchase of a few cinemas and then a small production line can meet most needs. Cannon's large-scale purchase of cinemas overseas has been proven to be very risky. There is no need to list his own daydream, and the production volume is not large, so there is no need to be so aggressive.

Ask Ronald how to deal with his income. The speed of spending money is far slower than that of making money.

"Should I still invest in the securities market? Coca-Cola and Microsoft split it in half? Microsoft's stock price has fallen sharply now. Their new operating system Dows 2.0 has a bad reputation and many bugs."

Ronald took the stock chart and looked at it. There are indeed some problems. After Apple Computer cleared the founder out of the company, the subsequent new Macintosh computer models received good responses. Microsoft had to launch its own graphical operating system.

However, their operating system always has some compatibility issues and often crashes.

"Let's buy Coca-Cola. I'll buy this stock, it's safe." Ronald's "Dirty Dancing" shooting funds were mostly earned from Coca-Cola stocks. He has feelings for it.