Chapter 426: Acquisition of British Starlight Cinemas
"Can you speak to Her Majesty the Queen?"
The Queen and Ronald chatted for a while, and then the female official came in and announced that the meeting was over. Ronald didn't even have a chance to protest.
Princess Diana stayed behind 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 taking a look." Unexpectedly, Diana's naughty girlish nature showed up and she wanted to play a trick on Ronald.
Ronald had no choice but to tell her the truth with a grimace. The style of this movie was not high, and it had many scenes borrowed from many pornographic films. It also deconstructed the content of "Top Gun" that was originally very dramatic into
A joking attitude.
Elton John was snickering next to him. Both he and Anthony Hopkins could see it. This was a unique British sense of humor. They used serious words to make fun of something that the other party was obsessed with.
To put it seriously, the stronger the effect of humor.
"Hey, I can see it. You just want to watch my movie and be pranked..." Ronald, who was dry-mouthed, also reacted, "Actually, I made this movie with other people's money."
'It's also a very good comedy, starring Gregory Peck and my wife Diane. The sense of humor is more suitable for adults. If the charity screening chooses "The Condor", you may see this movie.
The time has to be pushed back a lot.”
Ronald had no choice but to appeal to the princess's curiosity. "Other People's Money" is more in line with the tastes of the upper class. It has many jokes that only the wealthy class can understand. The humor is subtle and cold. If it is not shown,
, the time to enter British theaters will be greatly delayed.
"If you say that, 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 is already rushing to the next public event location.
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. Sarah wants to read them too." Sarah was the wife of the second prince. Princess Diana left after saying this.
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 the inspiration. To outsiders, he seemed a little depressed.
Look.
Anthony Hopkins and Elton John looked at each other and felt that Ronald was so 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 a few words of advice but seemed to have no reaction.
.
"Well..." 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 a movie directed by you 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 even if they want it.”
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 film of the Zack Brothers and the Abrahams Trio, "Unprecedented", is a parody of the "Airport" series produced by many stars in the 1970s. That movie was made in the 1970s when the industry was sluggish.
A hit that spawned numerous sequels.
Therefore, although the artistic value of "Top Gun" has not been recognized much, it is indeed second to none in terms of popularity of the work. Even if you have not seen the movie, you must have seen the Pepsi-Cola commercial on the TV show.
"Ah, what did you say? Oh, it's okay. You can't sue for infringement if you parody a 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 Efficiency Guy." The film was produced by an Australian independent producer, Richard Brennan.
Yes, he 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 it there."
"Hello, Ronald." Richard Brennan's eyebrows are very thick and he looks very 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. At the end, it didn’t summon the Japanese to save everyone like Ronald did. Moreover, the male protagonist did not win the favor of the factory owner’s daughter whom he had a crush on. In the end, he climbed up to a high place with a female worker to enjoy the scenery.
.
"Hello Mr. Brennan." Ronald shook hands with him.
"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, this order only has the highest level of knights.
He can only be called Sir, but Richard Brennan often uses it to enhance his status in London social circles.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Hey..." Ronald smiled and did not care about this person's rudeness. However, he didn't care about the movie and asked him to go find Bai directly.
Daydream's distribution manager Michelle Cannold went to discuss it.
"Isn't Ronald a director? Why does he still 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 has certain distribution capabilities for small-budget 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."
In fact, Anthony Hopkins's story was incomplete. Ronald's publishing capabilities were no longer limited to America. One of the purposes of his visit to London this time was to meet Minahan Golan's cousin and make an appointment.
Ram 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.
After Yoram Globus drove Minahan away, he actually didn't do well in Cannon. He didn't have his cousin's vision for film creation, so he could only use some successful formulas to invest in films. There has been no success in the past two years.
Make a movie that makes money.
What's even worse is that the Italian financial tycoon who invested in the acquisition of Cannon Pictures, Giancarlo Parretti, has not released a movie for more than a year, and spends all day hanging out with the company's bills to pick up girls.
She also seduced last year's Miss Universe runner-up.
Yoram Globus was very worried. Such behavior was exactly like that of a financial fraudster. He was worried that the landmine caused by this financial operation would explode one day, and he would be in trouble if he became a scapegoat.
"Giancarlo Paretti, this is how he bought 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's subsidiary.
Some of the cinemas of Star Cinemas acquired from London years ago have formed 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 be doing, and let operators like them in the sunset industry of movie theater chains do it.
But the distribution 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 sitting in the bank account the next day.
The way this money is handled is different from that in America. In America, generally movie theater operators will keep it in their own accounts for 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 that are as blockbuster as Hollywood. Within the entire industry, artists focus on awards rather than box office.
as a measure of success.
Therefore, they do not have much bargaining power over producers. The most common form of payment is advance payment, which is invested in the 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 gets this money can they finalize the contract with the star. Once the contract is in place, they can apply for a bridge loan from the bank.
, and then pay back the money after the filming is completed and released (or declare the company bankrupt and default on its debts).
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 the second payment..."
"No wonder you want to run away..."
When Ronald heard this, he realized that this Italian knew how to play. He used the assets acquired from MGM as collateral to borrow money from Credit Lyonnais. The money was paid to Kerkorian, the owner of MGM, as the down payment, proving that
After strengthening his own strength, he once again used future MGM income as a guarantee to 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 Paretti, 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 is almost unplayable.
"My current job is to make up all kinds of 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 is 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."
"Ah?" Ronald gestured to Yoram to talk.
"This is my guess. Giancarlo Parretti is obsessed with beauties who want to be female stars. There may be big loopholes in his contract with Kerkorian. And inside MGM
Some of the senior executives, including Giancarlo Parretti, still retained their old staff, and I suspect that those people had been waiting to go back to Kerkorian before something happened."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Good guys, let's see how the two liars fight..."
The only thing Ronald really cares about is the Star Cinema of Cannon Pictures. Minahan spent a lot of money to buy it. This is Giancarlo Parretti's 250 million acquisition of 4% of Cannon Pictures.
Ten shares are one of the greatest assets.
Yoram talked about the equity situation of this part of the theater chain. Under the complicated contract structure that was deliberately signed to deceive Giancarlo Parretti, the important part of the theater chain is actually Yoram's personal property.
controlled.
Cannon owns most of the shares, but one of the most important rights privately owned by Yoram is the right to decide which Hollywood movies to import. As the "tycoons" of Hollywood, he and Minahan were very convinced by British operators.
Yes, the movie copies they buy will always be 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 a sum of money to continue his life. Whether he stays in Hollywood or runs back to Israel, this share worth tens of millions of dollars is his safety cushion.
Ronald initially agreed to the deal. These powers will be transferred to an anonymous limited company established in Delaware, and then through a complex shareholding structure, Daydream can use...
Yoram was very happy to receive the first advance payment. He was having a hard time at MGM-Cannon. Even last year’s bonuses and dividends were in arrears to this day. Although he traveled abroad and worked with theater operators in various countries,
It was nice to meet him, but his 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 has to spit 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 has made us dizzy..." Yoram also smiled, this was the Minahan he knew.
The subsequent delivery and operation of these cinema chain shares will be taken over by professional lawyers, and Ronald discussed other matters with Yoram.
"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. It would be the safest plan to resign with the money and then escape back to Israel.
"By the way, there's one more thing..." Before Yoram left and went out, he thought of something again and turned back to Ronald:
"Actually, Cannon also has a high-quality asset. Are you interested?"