MTL - Exploiting Hollywood 1980-Chapter 884 B-grade action movie

   "You guys are at Cannon, are there any projects going on?"

   Ronald took Dolph Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Daan back to daydream. Of course, he didn't really ask the two action actors to be his bodyguards, but to support the scene when necessary.

  Longel and Jean-Claude glanced at each other, knowing that the opportunity had come, and quickly talked about the project they were negotiating with Cannon Pictures.

  Minahan Golan is a bit weird when making movies. No matter what kind of movie he makes, it looks a bit like a cartoon. For the two new actors, what Minahan gave them was also the protagonist of a comic book movie.

  The project that Minahan prepared for Jean-Claude is Seaman's live-action movie. Seaman's adaptation of the movie "Universal Lord" this year starred Lundgren. But Lundgren's acting skills are too bad, so next year, he cooperated with Mattel and actually got the movie licensed by the image of "Seaman". .

  The image of Lundgren in the audience still stays in "Rocky IV", that impersonal fighting machine made by the Sowell Alliance. Anyway, he didn't have acting skills to create a new role, so Minahan created a script for him, asking him to continue to play a fighting machine of the Souvier Alliance and go to Africa to fight against the rebels in a country.

  After being bullied by Cuban mercenaries, he was rescued by the local tribe and moved by the free people. In turn, he beat off the Cuban mercenaries and Czechoslovak instructors under the Souver League, and finally won the support of the black brothers.

  The two projects have been in preparation for a long time, but Minahan has been delaying for various reasons, and they dare not really turn against Minahan, so they have to go to the office every now and then to inquire about the progress. I just ran into Ronald today...

   When Ronald heard that their project had been delayed for half a year, he thought it didn't matter what Minahan said, what he did would truly reflect the financial situation of Cannon.

   "Did Minahan give you a time to start filming?" Ronald rubbed his chin and asked the two action actors.

   "He said that it will be at least the middle of next year, but I think his consistent evasion behavior may not be until the end of next year." Jean-Claude has not yet won the role of Cannon, so he does not particularly trust Minahan.

"You can't say that, Mr. Golan is very serious about making movies." Lundgren has already participated in a blockbuster Cannon, although in the end because he didn't have the money to do special effects, the final effect was as bad as a low-quality cartoon. "But maybe you're right, the big cannon projects are all suspended now, and we don't know what's going on, there are a lot of rumors."

"I can't promise you anything, but while Minahan hasn't started your 'big project', you may be able to film some small and medium productions for my daydream...if you want." Ronald looked at the two An action actor with very good skills, he was moved to take advantage of it.

   "Excuse me... did you direct it?" The two looked at each other and asked Ronald.

"Haha, my daydream is a small production company that can only make movies under $5 million. So I can only be an executive producer at most, and the director and producer will find someone else. But I can guarantee one thing, you guys It will be the absolute corner of the movie, and will give full play to the characteristics of your karate movements, I will find the best movement director, so that your movements look good on the screen.”…

   Jean-Claude and Lundgren looked at each other, and they had no choice but to believe what Ronald said. Anyway, apart from Minahan and Ronald, no one in Hollywood would ask them to make serious movies, or roles. It’s not a big deal to have a smaller budget. Let’s make some money by making movies first, and wait until Minahan’s big production starts shooting.

   "Very good, very good, I'm going to prepare the script now, and then find an action director to tailor a good-looking fighting scene for you."

  Ronald was very happy. This kind of actor who knows karate, looks good, and has received training in film shooting is actually not so easy to find. Anyway, Ja in Xiangjiang has a lot of martial arts directors. When the time comes, find two to come and shoot some Xiangjiang-style action movies, and replace the protagonist with a blonde Westerner. Think about it, there will be a market. The audience here really hasn’t seen it. That kind of oriental martial arts.

   "I will pay to find a suitable acting coach for you. You should study hard and practice karate to maintain your skills. When you need to do something, you can just be my bodyguard."

  Ronald patted the shoulders of the two, and went to practice Ja on the phone by himself, so that the two fighters didn't know what kind of medicine was sold in Ronald's gourd.

  …

"Luo Sheng, there is no problem. If you want to cooperate in making a movie, there is no problem at all. You can come to Xiangjiang to shoot, or I can send someone to Hollywood, hahaha... Sister Jiao, quickly translate for him... "Ja heard that Ronald wanted to co-produce a movie, and immediately patted his chest and said that there is no problem.

   "Well, I have prepared the script here, and I will send someone to negotiate with you. Don't worry, your people will help me, and all income will be in accordance with Hollywood standards."

   "Luo Sheng is too polite, we are all friends..."

  Ja hung up the phone, and said to Sister Jiao, "Hollywood has a lot of rules. Director Luo said it was a small production, and he still worked on the script so rigorously. When his people come, remember to remind me to treat them well..."

   "Jackie, their small productions cost millions of dollars, and they are big productions with you. Do you think that people like Xiangjiang make movies and fly paper, and write scripts on the spot?"

"Don't tell me, people's things are still good. The tapes that Luo Sheng gave me last time were pasted on the wall during filming. For plastic, use special tape for plastic, for whitewash, use special for whitewash, and for wallpaper, use special for wallpaper. If I had these good things when I photographed the food truck, I wouldn’t have to pay the owner of the old castle for the decoration money after I finished the photo.”

  …

"Ronald, you asked me to investigate the financial situation of Cannon Films, and I already have the results." Ed Bastian, a partner of PricewaterhouseCoopers, flew to Los Angeles to report the investigation to Ronald face to face. Condition.

   Ronald took the report and flipped through it.

   "You mean, Cannon's current finances are not bankrupt, but it is unable to make large investments?" Ronald asked Ed after hastily flipping through the report.

  "Yes, in fact, Cannon's 400 million financing has been spent, and the main places are divided into three places:

   The first is to acquire the largest theater chain in Britain, Starlight Cinemas. The acquisition gave them distribution capabilities in Europe. As a result, they cooperated with the EMI company in the country of hair, and obtained the holdings of theater chains in the country of hair, Spain, and Italy. Now Cannon is already the company with the strongest distribution ability in Hollywood in Europe. …

  The second is the shooting of more than 40 films every year, ranging from small productions of 6 million to large productions of 30 million. Originally, most of the cannon shooting budget was to get back the funds from the pre-sale in Europe, and then through the mortgage issuance contract, a Belgian bank made a bridge loan. However, this bank is now being investigated for money laundering, and there is a gap in their capital chain, which is used to make up for it with financing.

  The third is the new office building they built. The scale of this building is only a little smaller than the new building of 20th Century Fox. The real estate market in the past two years has been very good, and this is one of their best assets. "

   "Such a big spender, spent 400 million in two years?" Ronald lamented that Minahan's ability to spend money is also top-notch.

   "Spending money reasonably and quickly is actually a kind of ability. You can see that these three investments are actually more cost-effective." Ed Bastian hurriedly gave Ronald Cope the difference between running a company and personal wealth. The cost of financing from the bond market is interest. If you can spot the purchase of high-quality assets, not only can you cover interest, but you can also add value. If the money is not spent in the bank, it is a waste.

   "British Starlight Cinemas is a high-quality asset. In fact, Cannon encountered financial difficulties this time. Their first move was to mortgage Starlight Cinemas and obtained a loan of 80 million pounds from the British Bank."

   "So it's like this, the cannon building is also easy to get a mortgage?" Ronald understood the essence of the company's investment.

"That's right, Cannon's financial crisis is actually a temporary difficulty in cash flow. They are seeking a $300 million loan from Wall Street, and they will use the building that will be capped soon as collateral. Now it seems that the possibility of success is very high." De Bastian approves of the client's inference.

   "So, their financial crisis is mainly caused by the second item, the investment in big movies that didn't pay back?" Ronald continued to flip through the materials.

  Cannon was a film company that mainly focused on small and medium-budget exploitation films. Twenty or thirty exploitation films are filmed every year, most of which can be sold on TV, and the box office pays off. And it is hard to guarantee that there will not be one or two big-selling works among the twenty or thirty films. For example, "Breakdancing" filmed by Ronald for them is the biggest successful project.

  This kind of business, although it can’t sell well, and it can’t win Oscars, but it is stable, the payment cycle is short, and it is also a good business.

  But after getting 400 million in financing, Minahan seems to have changed, and started to play big productions and big stars. Not only did he destroy Hollywood's star salary structure, he gave Stallone a salary of more than 10 million, and he also invested in several major productions of more than 30 million US dollars a year.

  It happened that luck was not good this year, none of his major productions were successful at the box office, and he didn't get a bridge loan from the bank in accordance with the tradition.

  As a small company, Daydream has sold "Dirty Dancing" to make money, but it has to learn a lesson, and it cannot gamble with its own money over and over again. …

"On the surface it looks like this," Ed Bastian tapped his hand on the table, "but there are deeper reasons. Originally, Cannon could continue to raise funds in the market by issuing bonds, at least their current financial statements , better than a few years ago, you can get lower interest issuance conditions.

  However, Wall Street is now undergoing some profound changes. Milken, who previously handled the bond issue for him, is now under investigation by the prosecutor for the Southern District of New York, and he is in a lot of trouble.

  Cannon Pictures’ bonds are also part of Milken’s series of allegedly illegal financial operations, so there are no bond brokers on Wall Street who are willing to get involved in the company’s bond issuance operations. "

   "So your conclusion is?" Ronald understood that Minahan's company assets are still abundant, but the cash flow is a bit dry. The original financing channel of bond issuance was blocked by a special investigation. No wonder some people began to spread the word, trying to take advantage of him.

   "As long as they are willing to take out the building to mortgage the loan, it will not be difficult for Cannon to get through this difficult time. But they must make a real blockbuster movie, as long as one, just one can change the bankers' opinion of them.

   Otherwise, if the market continues to question their future earning power, it will only be a matter of time before problems arise again. "

   "Hmm..." Ronald didn't quite agree with Ed Bastian's conclusion. Making money from making movies is largely a matter of luck. No one is sure of victory. To truly be able to operate in a healthy manner, we still have to return to the route of shooting small productions and quickly returning to the cost of exploitation films.

   Make a small amount of money steadily every year, and then expect one or two money-making movies to appear in it.

   "Thank you, this report is here with me, maybe it will be useful in the future..."

   Ed Bastian left and Richard walked in.

   "Mr. Ovitz has arranged the time. Please go and see the shooting scene of Steve Segel's new play. But he has other things to do, so he won't accompany you to the scene this time."

   "Okay, let's go by ourselves." Ronald nodded.

  Steve Siegel, Ovitz's aikido coach, won the appreciation of Ovitz, and he contacted Warner Bros. to produce and distribute a B-level action movie, and let Siegel play the role.

  Although Ovitz is the owner of a brokerage company, he has actually done a lot of work as a producer, and he has a good vision. The "Ghostbusters" packaged by CAA before was a great success and became the annual box office champion.

   The project that Ovitz set up for Siegel is definitely not for repaying the master, but for the box office prospects of this kind of movie. Ronald wanted to steal a lesson. Even Ovitz was optimistic about what kind of action movie it was.

   "What has Mr. Ovitz been up to lately?" Ronald asked Richard.

   "Well, I know he's been in constant contact with Mr. Spielberg, and I don't know anything else..."

   "Oh, he is very persistent."

  Spielberg has always been reluctant to sign an agent contract. He is able to do a job between Universal, Warner Bros., and Paramount studios, and he is not bound to any distribution company. And based on his strength, he doesn't actually need Ovitz to help him get the project done.

   If we talk about the role of producer, Ovitz and Spielberg actually have some meaning of competing with each other. So Ovitz wanted to take Spielberg into his pocket and further control the abacus of his stars, but it has not been successful.

   "He's been very busy recently, and we can't always find him. Except for his secretary, no one knows where he is. This time, I saw his secretary arranging his schedule, so I found him by chance."

   "Okay, let's go by ourselves. Call Duff (Lunger), and Jean-Claude (Van Daan)."

"Duff, Jean-Claude, we're going to the set of a new film by an actor named Steve Segal, who's known in Hollywood for scaring people with Aikido. So you two The main task is not to let him touch Ronald.

   This person often arranges for photographers to hide by the side and take pictures of guests being frightened by him. Although Ronald is not necessarily afraid of him, we must prevent this from happening. "

   On the way to Burbank Warner Studios, Richard told two fighting experts about today's situation.

   "Hey hey..." Ronald laughed beside him. In fact, he was not afraid of fighting on the spot, just to see how good the aikido master certificate that Siegel boasted.