Chapter 331: A super-giant project that costs 20 million before the project is established
The Oscars were approaching, and Ronald approached Billy Crystal to discuss a few words for the awards show.
"Gregory Peck? Is he coming to present an honorary award?" Billy Crystal asked.
"No, the honorary awards are given by Spielberg and Lucas. The main reason is that when Gregory presented the award to Audrey Hepburn at the Golden Globe Award, the ratings hit a new high, so the Academy also wanted to invite him to improve it.
Ratings..." Ronald waved his hand...
"Oh, who is that? Are you going to give Coppola an honorary award?"
"No, it will be announced soon. It is Kurosawa Akira from Japan..."
"Oh," Billy Crystal expressed understanding, "you gave more time to announce the nominations. I watched the previous awards videos. What were your considerations?"
"This year I plan to use images to speak more. Now the acting award nominees must be accompanied by performance clips from their nominated movies. Those lame comedian hosts in the past few years have said too much... By the way
Reduce the pressure on your host."
Ronald, this is also from a director's point of view. Nowadays, the Oscar awards show is more broadcast to the TV audience, allowing them to see relevant scenes, which is much more important than the host saying a few wisecracks. Oscars are not what they used to be.
The small-scale entertainment insiders gathered, but the production ideas have not yet caught up with the requirements for television broadcasts.
"Ronald, Ronald..."
At this moment, Richard ran into Ronald's large work room panting.
"Ronald, Panasonic has really come to contact you...ah, you have something to do..." Richard saw Ang Lee and consciously shut up.
"Um..." Ronald pointed to the upstairs, and the two of them went up to a small private study.
"Panasonic has contacted Niceta. Their chairman, Masaharu Matsushita, wants to invite you to be their consultant for the acquisition of MCA..."
MCA is the parent company of Universal Pictures and Universal Music Group. Panasonic was jealous of Sony's acquisition of Columbia Records and Columbia Pictures, and wanted to complete the two major transactions that took Sony three years to complete.
"I have already promised Sony's Dahe Sang... I am a man of my word..." Ronald waved his hand, indicating that he would not break his promise.
"But Panasonic has spoken and can give you this number..." Richard whispered a number into Ronald's ear.
"Huh?" Ronald looked like he had miscounted the number of digits. This price was equivalent to the best eight or eight years since the release of "Dirty Dancing" when video tapes and soundtrack albums were sold. He made a net profit.
It's not impossible to say that I can be a consultant and help them connect the dots... As for Oga Norio, I can go and apologize and explain the situation... Speaking of which, I also helped Oga Norio a lot.
He should understand himself...right?
"Then let me go and continue to contact them?" Richard was also shocked by this number, so he came to Ronald's house as quickly as possible. If it succeeds, it will benefit him and Niceta a lot.
"Let's ask about the situation first... Well, let's confirm, are there any additional conditions?" Ronald felt very outrageous. Don't these Japanese entrepreneurs regard money as money?
"Recently, the pace of overseas acquisitions by Japanese entrepreneurs has been very urgent. Many companies are buying high-quality assets in America and Latin America..." Richard dropped the sentence and went back to the CAA office to discuss with Niceta.
…
"Ronald, Carloco has contacted me about the Terminator sequel. They have started substantive copyright negotiations..."
Just when Ronald was thinking about getting something for nothing, James Cameron called him.
"Well, I heard that Pioneer Electronics from Japan injected capital into them..."
The Japanese companies Richard mentioned this morning that are buying assets all over the world include Pioneer Electronics, which started out manufacturing speakers for the US military.
Compared with Panasonic's intended full acquisition, which needs to be reviewed by joint government agencies such as the Committee on Foreign Investment (CFIUS), Pioneer's investment in Karoko is relatively low-key and does not involve any controlling interest. It is more like an investment by a minority shareholder.
Behavior.
So they don’t need approval from members of the House of Representatives and the Senate, and multiple committees. In addition, Carocco is only a medium-sized studio, not as representative as the Big Seven, with classic films that have many people’s memories.
There is no library and no domestic distribution channels, so it is easy to invest money in Calocoli.
After getting the money, the first thing Carocco did was to start filming Terminator 2.
"Carocco is crazy. Their founder Mario Casal paid Heimdall 10 million dollars and bought 50% of their copyright..." Cameron's tone on the other end of the phone was very
"Hot", this number stimulated him.
When Heimdall invested in him to film "Terminator", he had a bad time with him. Heimdall's boss, John Daly, forced him to sign a contract of betrayal and tried every means to squeeze him out of "Terminator"
director position.
Now this boss has done nothing but sits at home and gets 10 million US dollars.
"Casal is really crazy. The $10 million was Heimdall's exorbitant asking price. Why did he just agree without counter-offering?" Cameron saw that his enemy at the time was using his works.
, got 10 million for nothing, and whether it was because of anger or jealousy, Ronald could hear his excitement through the phone line.
"Isn't this a good thing? It shows that they are very serious. To be honest Jim, they paid Heimdall 50% of the copyright ten million. What does this mean? It represents your 25%, which is also worth five million!"
"Oh, Shxt..." Cameron called out and suddenly fell into silence. The money made him very... He didn't continue to complain, and hung up the phone after saying a few words.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Damn it, doesn't this also mean that Gale can get five million for nothing?" Suddenly Cameron reacted and shouted angrily.
Carloco acted quickly and contacted Ronald that night. They heard that Ronald also wanted to invest in Terminator 2, and one of the founders, Mario Casal, personally visited with his team.
"You are very confident, Mr. Casal." Diane was too fat and inconvenient, so Ronald personally brought several cups of coffee to the guests.
Carloco has already given Heimdall 10 million, Gale Hurd 5 million, plus Cameron's 5 million, before filming, plus various miscellaneous expenses, they will have to pay 2000
More than two million.
This is simply the most arrogant studio in Hollywood. A few years ago, when Minahan Grant just received $400 million, and he was still very arrogant, he said he invested $40 million to make Superman, but he never spent any real money like this.
It was so enjoyable to take out.
"Call me Mario. Of course, I have always been very confident in the film industry. My partner does not believe that big productions can bring big returns, so I have bought out his shares. Moreover, I think you are also very confident, Mr. Li.
Confidence." Mario Casal only regarded Ronald's evaluation as a compliment and just rubbed his hands and smiled.
"My confidence comes from Jim. As long as he is the director, I have confidence..."
"Hahaha, our goals are the same." Mario Casal took a sip of coffee and couldn't tell whether it tasted good or bad. He then said to Ronald, "I have made accurate calculations.
I can give Director Cameron five million to buy a 25% stake in the movie, but the movie must be released before Memorial Day next year (the last Monday in May).
Time is very tight. Regardless of whether Cameron wants to direct or not, I will move forward with this project. If he is willing to join, I am willing to pay another one million for the script, plus the director's fee. As for between us, I can leave it for you.
An investment share, we must advance this matter... Time waits for no time..."
"This..." Ronald was also shocked by his arrogance. Is this a stud? "I can bring Samsung to be a domestic publisher..."
"I can find Canal for European distribution, and their subsidiary Le Studio Canal has also agreed to inject capital..." Mario Casal's enthusiasm made him have an unhealthy blush on his face, and he began to talk about his love for the country.
A sequel is planned.
This enthusiasm was so contagious that Ronald agreed to invest in the project on the spot and convinced Cameron to direct it.
"Jim, this is the situation. The conditions are very good, but their timeline is relatively rigid. If you join, you will probably be as busy as when you were filming the first part..."
"Fuxk it, I did it..." Cameron, who had been silent for a while, suddenly agreed. After all, the conditions given by Carloco were too good.
In addition to acquiring the copyright and the top script fee in the industry, there is also a director's salary commensurate with Cameron's status, plus bonuses that increase according to the box office ladder. Cameron is very confident in the quality of his sequels, and now he is sure
You can become financially free.
…
"This is the special assistant to Matsushita Masaharu, chairman of Panasonic Electric... This is Ronald..."
A few days later, people from Panasonic, Niceta, Richard and others came to visit and secretly communicated about the MCA acquisition.
"Ronald San, this is our proposal..."
A dozen pages of cooperation negotiation terms were held in both hands by the assistant and handed into Ronald's hands.
"Huh?" The more Ronald read, the deeper his frown deepened.
"Is this what Chairman Panasonic meant? Then you don't have any sincerity?" Next to him, Niceta couldn't help it. This clause was too harsh.
If Ronald wants to make this money, he must go from Universal's film library index to communication with Congress and the review committee. Each project must be broken down into phased results, and then each small result must be evaluated by Panasonic. If
If the assessment results are not met, money will be deducted.
Moreover, Panasonic has learned lessons from Sony and learned from the advanced experience of Hollywood, and has also implemented long-term performance appraisal. Only half of the consultant's contract of more than 20 million was paid in cash, and the other half was given to the acquisition
Stock options after MCA.
"Ha, this is also what our president, Toshihiko Yamashita, means. This is the corporate culture that our Panasonic Electric relies on for its success. Everyone is equal. Even the chairman of Panasonic himself has to take turns cleaning the toilets in the office..."
"Everyone is equal..." Ronald suddenly didn't want to do it anymore. Was he exploiting me as an employee?
"Forget it, I am an artist after all, these things are not my strong point..." If I follow this proposal and stop doing other things this year and work wholeheartedly for Panasonic, I may not be able to get money.
Although 50 million is a lot of money, it's not that I can't earn it...
"I understand, Ronald Sang's loyalty to our old friends is admirable..." Panasonic's assistant to the chairman said his last words and left.
It seems that the industry was indeed aware of his help to Sony and even his promise not to interfere in other acquisitions.
In this case...
Ronald picked up the phone and dialed Norio Ohga at Sony.
After a while, the other party called back, "Ronald San!"
"Dahe Sang, the people from Panasonic have indeed invited me to help them smooth the merger and acquisition case, and they have offered me a sky-high consulting contract..."
"If Ronald Sand feels it's a pity..."
"No, no... I have already refused. I will never forget what I promised to Dahe Sang. But since they came to me and offered such a high price, they must be determined to get it done. You still have to have
All prepared..."
"You are right. I would like to thank Ronald Sang again for his love for us. I will keep this friendship in mind..."
After hanging up the phone, Ronald looked at his two managers and smiled. He had to know his affection for Dahe Sang.