Chapter 207 The Real Goal (2 in 1 6,000-Word Chapter)

After Katzenberg and Spielberg left, Ronan came to the door of the clubhouse and found that Tom Cruise, who had accompanied him, hadn't left and was sitting in the corner of the front hall waiting for him.

Ronan went over, pulled out the chair, sat opposite Tom Cruise, and said, "Are you free today?"

Tom Cruise shrugged: "For more than an hour, I just wondered what Spielberg and Katzenberg wanted you to do."

"It's nothing." Ronan said casually, "DreamWorks wants to acquire Relativity Entertainment."

Tom Cruise was a little taken aback, but quickly got to the point: "Embassy Pictures' overseas distribution network?"

Ronan nodded: "That's right, they can't buy overseas channels for the time being, and they don't want to spend a long time building them, so they focused on the embassy film industry." He sighed: "The success of a film can also bring trouble."

Tom Cruise almost spit out the coffee he just drank, and joked: "Troublesome? Pass it to me!"

Ronan ignored him and asked the waiter for a cup of coffee.

Although this is a private club and Ronan is not a member of the private club, but with Tom Cruise brushing his face, this service is not a problem at all.

Tom Cruise did not continue the topic just now, and asked: "How was the talk?"

Ronan didn't hide anything, and said directly: "The talk has collapsed. DreamWorks wants to exchange shares for Relativity Entertainment."

"This condition can actually be considered." Tom Cruise also believes that Relativity Entertainment is far inferior to DreamWorks: "As long as the ratio is right, you will not lose."

Ronan shook his head: "I ask for the controlling stake and decision-making power of DreamWorks."

This time, Tom Cruise didn't know what to say. He tilted his head and looked at Ronan for a while, before saying, "You did it on purpose, right? This has turned into Relativity Entertainment's acquisition of DreamWorks!"

"No." Ronan said, "I'm seriously talking to DreamWorks."

Tom Cruise said: "Forget it, I don't get involved in your business."

Ronan didn't stop talking, and continued, "After the talks broke down, I proposed that the Embassy Pictures cooperate with DreamWorks, and the Embassy Pictures will be the overseas distributor of DreamWorks."

Tom Cruise feels he can't keep up with Ronan's rhythm at all,

Frowning and thinking for a while, he said, "So, when you said you wanted to publish "Minority Report" on the way here, did you have such a plan?"

"Yeah." Ronan didn't deny it: "Tom, you are the actor and producer of the film, so I'll say hello to you in advance."

Tom Cruise thought of what happened before, and said, "Ronan, I owe you several favors. Regarding this movie, I will ask someone to talk to DreamWorks, and I will pay you back."

Ronan pointed to Tom Cruise: "You are always so out of touch." He said to Tom Cruise again: "Are you familiar with Jeff Katzenberg?"

"Knowing, not friends." Tom Cruise said.

Ronan was also not polite to Tom Cruise: "Can you find a time and help me make an appointment with him?"

Tom Cruise is always shrewd. He has practiced for so many years, and immediately thought of one thing: "Your real goal is not DreamWorks Pictures, but DreamWorks Animation Studio?"

Ronan acquiesced, and then asked, "Can I make an appointment?"

Tom Cruise thought for a while and said, "Jerry Fu is a golf enthusiast. I'm going to play golf with some friends in Malibu this weekend. I'll ask him to go with me then."

"Thanks, Tom," Ronan said.

The two chatted for a short time before leaving the private club. Ronan asked the driver to take Tom Cruise to Beverly Hills, and then returned to his apartment in North Hollywood.

Ronan has not made a move yet. The real estate agent thinks that Ronan is a big client who can cooperate with him for a long time, and proposed a few good suggestions. The stock market is still falling all the way. The pressure on banks or other financial institutions is gradually increasing, and some recovered houses also need to be dealt with, so we can wait slowly to find suitable houses.

Don't need to tell the real estate agent, Ronan will not be in a hurry. What happened in the past will happen one after another. The disaster will inevitably appear in September next year. At that time, the already fragile American society and economy will be hit hard again. It will take a few years to get over this breath.

What will happen in September next year is too serious. Ronan doesn't plan to have an occasion, just hide in New York safely.

As for jumping up and down to make some moves, that is a dead end.

This serious terrorist attack directly changed the United States, affected the whole world, and even forced the United States to change its global strategy.

Personal power is really not worth mentioning in front of such a big event.

Thinking of the World Trade Center that is about to collapse next year, Ronan suddenly had an evil idea. If someone forced him to go nowhere, he would invite the other party to negotiate on the top floor of the World Trade Center on the morning of September 11 next year...

Entering the study, Ronan put down these messy thoughts and seriously considered the matter of DreamWorks.

Frankly speaking, DreamWorks Animation is worth more than Spielberg and DreamWorks Pictures.

But there are some things that I can only think about now. Development comes step by step. You can’t become fat in one sitting. Relativity Entertainment is temporarily insufficient. It is impossible for Dreamworks Animation Studio to change its doors.

What's more, DreamWorks Animation Studio is not independent, and is still part of the group company DreamWorks.

Not independent? Ronan wrote it down on the notebook in front of him and drew a circle.

Relatively speaking, the entertainment strength is insufficient, and some things can only be planned, but it can be tried as an overseas distributor of DreamWorks Animation Studio.

Regardless of online or offline, Embassy Pictures has established a corresponding distribution network.

A large part of it belongs to the network and resources left by Polygram Films in disguise. It can only be said that the former Polygram Group had a big business and was quite powerful in the 1990s.

Ronan knew that because the strengths of the two companies were not equal, it would not be easy to win the overseas distribution rights of DreamWorks Animation Studio.

He didn't think about getting all of them, just signing a few.

Of course, Ronan also has confidence, after all, the distributor is in the upstream of the producer's industrial chain.

Although Embassy Pictures is not comparable to the distribution labels of the six major companies, the dirty relationship between the six major companies and DreamWorks is no longer a secret, and DreamWorks has always wanted to get rid of the restraint of the six major companies.

After the DreamWorks Group fell apart in the previous life, the independent DreamWorks Animation Studio did not even have the ability to distribute in North America. This animation studio, which ranks among the top three in the Hollywood industry, can only exist as a pure producer, even if its Animated feature films with good response continue to appear, but due to distribution reasons, the revenue capacity has always been poor.

In the news that Ronan read in his previous life, Jeff Katzenberg wanted to sell DreamWorks Animation Studio to a large company with distribution capabilities more than once, let alone the six major levels, and even considered committing himself to the Lions. Gate Films.

Much of this is due to distribution.

Just like the later DreamWorks Pictures kept changing their doors, the six major companies controlled the right to speak in distribution, and they exploited several DreamWorks brands more severely.

Ronan believes that the most suitable entry point lies in the relationship between the six major companies and DreamWorks.

But to be convincing, Embassy Pictures also needs to come up with tangible achievements in overseas discovery.

After thinking for a while, and considering possible entry points in several aspects, Ronan called Connie and asked her to collect more information about DreamWorks Animation Studio as soon as possible.

It never hurts to learn more about DreamWorks Animation.

Ronan took a trip in the middle and went to the nearby Blockbuster chain store to rent three animated feature films produced by DreamWorks: "Ant Brother", "Rush to the Golden City" and "Prince of Egypt".

When going through the leasing procedures, Ronan once again experienced the low efficiency and long waiting time of Blockbuster.

Many people even complained.

But Blockbuster dominates the video tape and disc rental market, and there are no strong competitors at all.

Once there is no competitor of the same level, many companies will have problems.

After going through the rental procedures, Ronan went home and watched these three movies specifically. "Ant Brother" and "Rush to the Golden City" are very strange, and he has never seen it before. clean type.

This animated feature film adapted from "Exodus", the only impression left on Ronan is the song "hen. You. Believe" sung by Mariah Carey and Whitney Houston.

This song can also be regarded as a classic among the movie golden songs.

It's a pity that this song is the only thing left by this animated feature film. The film itself is not very successful. It is estimated that Jews can feel that kind of enthusiasm after watching it.

After watching these three animated feature films, Ronan confirmed one thing, DreamWorks Animation Studio did not determine its own style.

Ronan's own senses, Disney animation is characterized by truth, goodness and beauty, Pixar studio is characterized by modern truth, goodness and beauty, and DreamWorks animation studio is characterized by spoof truth, goodness and beauty.

Just as there are few purely funny plots in the animated feature films of Pixar Studios, the later films of DreamWorks Animation Studio basically have purely funny elements.

Only with characteristics can we go on.

Like Blue Sky Studio, which has no characteristics, even Twentieth Century Fox, which acquired it, almost looked down upon it later.

Blue Sky Studios is a tragedy. Its technology is not as good as Pixar, it is not as good as Disney for playing with emotions, it is not as funny as DreamWorks, and it is not as good as lighting entertainment for keeping costs down. In the end, it can only eat squirrels for a lifetime.

Before the weekend, Ronan made a special trip to Louisiana, because he had applied for a tax rebate, and the crew of "Fatal Turns" had already started filming exterior scenes in Louisiana.

Louisiana's tax rebate is not as big as Germany's, only 8%, and it will not be returned to the production company until the film is shot and all productions are completed.

"The tax rebate is not much." York, the financial officer of the crew, said to Ronan: "It's 800,000 US dollars. Louisiana has strict regulations on this area, and we can't get the money in advance."

Ronan supported a big tree next to him and said, "There is no need to worry about this. Remember to transfer the tax refund to the company's income."

York, who was trained by Mary, immediately said: "I understand." He also reminded: "All filming and production of the film must be completed in Louisiana."

Ronan nodded slightly: "Yes."

Americans have strict restrictions in this regard, not as bold as the Germans, not even the British.

The British tax rebate policy requires that the applied crew only need to use British actors for some of the leading actors and some scenes to be filmed in the UK.

In the future, if you can apply for a tax refund overseas, you still have to go overseas to shoot, such as Australia is also a good choice.

Tax refund applications also require competition. Not every country has looser restrictions like Germany. Many countries and regions have a certain quota for movie tax refunds. After the quota is issued each year, you have to wait for the next year.

Ronan saw that the crew temporarily entered the filming gap, patted York on the shoulder, and said, "Do a good job of financial supervision."

Passing through the periphery of the set and bypassing the camera slide rail, Ronan found the director Guillermo del Toro. This Mexican director is not tall and his upper body is severely fat. Just like his director's nickname, he looks a bit like a spinning top.

Seeing that Guillermo del Toro was resting, Ronan pulled a chair, sat next to him, and asked in a low voice, "Is the filming going well?"

Guillermo del Toro said: "It rained continuously some time ago, and no one could enter the forest. The shooting was a week slower than planned, and it may not be completed this month."

Ronan said: "Don't worry, we have plenty of time, we must first ensure the quality of the shooting."

"Yeah," Guillermo del Toro asked, "won't it delay the release?"

Ronan smiled and said: "No. The release time is tentatively scheduled for next summer, and you have plenty of time to complete the shooting and production."

Guillermo del Toro breathed a sigh of relief. The first film he came to Hollywood to shoot was not a success. If there were two consecutive problems, his future development would be in trouble.

Fortunately, he tends to cut horror films, which has always been the genre he is good at.

As a director who started out shooting horror films, Guillermo del Toro still has some confidence.

Guillermo del Toro said a little more about his vision for the film: "This film was shot in Louisiana." He pointed to the dense jungle and the rolling hills in the distance, and said: "I think the film camera You should not pursue exquisiteness and delicacy, the dense forest and horror coupled with a bit of the wilderness of the road movie can add a lot of rough atmosphere and boldness to the film."

Ronan asked: "Is there any film that has been shot and developed? I'll take a look first."

Guillermo del Toro pointed to an equipment truck on the road fifty meters away, and said, "There are some copies in the car, and there are playback equipment."

Ronan nodded: "I'll go and have a look first, you continue to shoot."

Guillermo del Toro called an assistant director to accompany Ronan.

When he came to the car, Ronan immediately selected some copy films and asked the assistant director to put them up.

After watching it for a while, he nodded slightly. This kind of outdoor scene, which is almost all mountains and jungles, is indeed more suitable for the rough and atmospheric style.

Ronan also watched a long shot taken by Guillermo del Toro — the scene where a killer hacks to death a girl in a blue sundress.

I don't know why, maybe it's a personal mentality? Ronan felt that this shot was very characteristic. The killer cut it up in an instant, and then the pupils of the girl's beautiful eyes gradually enlarged. When the camera turned far away, the lower jaw and the body fell into the big tree. The shot was not careful, and even It's a bit rough, and the whole process of dying is just a careful pat on the eye, but it's very special.

It's a rare shot with a weird beauty.

Maybe it has something to do with Guillermo del Toro being a geek director himself?

Looking at other shots, as Guillermo del Toro said, the rough style is more suitable for this film.

On the one hand, it is due to the background, on the other hand, it must also be considered for grading.

There are also the characteristics of this traditional American horror film itself.

Madness and dismemberment often appear in American horror movies.

Bloody dismemberment, violent fighting, this is a summary of the old Americans' definition of horror.

Often in order to achieve a terrifying effect, the screen is filled with blood red and rust, dirty and old trucks, torture chambers far away from human habitation, plus a few perverted murderers with ugly appearance and evil heart. It is the fear of visual stimulation, not the psychological fear after watching.

This is more suitable for expression with a rough lens style.

In contrast, there are few disgusting metamorphosis and bloody dismemberment in oriental horror films, and they are more brought to life through a kind of psychological suggestion, delicate pictures, inadvertent lines, smart and intermittent sound. The audience fears.

After watching some scenes, Ronan returned to the set. Guillermo del Toro was filming the chase scene. Several young actors and actresses went on stage to shoot one after another. Probably because they were not experienced enough in acting, Guillermo del Toro would occasionally It will call to stop the shooting and give on-site guidance to the actors.

Like Guillermo del Toro, the cast is from CAA, and among them is a familiar face from Ronan, a young actress named Alisa Dushku.

This is an actress who was born as a child star. She played Schwarzenegger's daughter in "True Lies" and is also an important part of the famous untouchables in Hollywood movies.

Because she has a good "father".

The old man is a very difficult character. First of all, his true identity is Zeus, the god of the Greek gods, and secondly, he is a Jedi Knight and the ancestor of Darth Vader, the number one villain in "Star Wars", because he is the master of Anakin Skywalker. , In addition, he is also Batman's first teacher.

The most important thing is that he is still a retired agent who kills without saying a word. A small pistol can bloodbath the entire criminal organization.

Equally famous is Keanu Reeves' dog.

In Ronan's previous life, after "Avengers 3" was released, some netizens combined the contents of "Avengers 3" and "John Wick" to create a new version of comics.

Thanos found Dr. Pancake and snatched the time gem. Dr. Pancake sealed the gem in a dog. Thanos tore the dog to find the gem. Then Keanu Reeves, who was looking for the dog, appeared on the stage. The horrible consequences even Thanos I can't afford it either.

Between filming, Ronan approached Guillermo del Toro and said, "Good shot, keep this style."

Guillermo del Toro nodded to Ronan and continued busy with the work at hand.

Ronan didn't bother him, and took the initiative to go to the periphery of the set.

"Mr. Anderson." A white man in a suit and leather shoes came over, "We met, I'm Brewster."

Ronan shook hands with him: "Hello." He pointed to the location of the location: "You are the agent of those actors, right?"

"Yes." Brewster showed a warm smile: "It's me."

Ronan glanced at the set and said, "A few of your actors and clients have performed well. I am very satisfied with this cooperation."

Brewster said with a smile: "CAA provides the best service, I hope we can cooperate."

Ronan, as a producer and owner of a film company, of course knows the value of an entertainment agency, and will not ignore the other party's overtures. He nodded slightly and said, "I am good friends with Tom, and he strongly recommended CAA to me. Facts have proved that Tom's recommendation is correct."

Brewster said again: "I came to Louisiana this time, and I also brought greetings from Mr. Brian Lord. Mr. Lord invites you to visit CAA when you have time."

"I've heard of Mr. Brian Lord's name a long time ago, but I haven't had the chance to meet him." The other party was polite, and Ronan was also very polite: "I will definitely find time to visit when I return to Los Angeles."

Brian Lord is one of the co-founders of CAA today, and to put it bluntly, he is a partner.

There is a saying in Hollywood these days: "If you can find a way to get Brian Lord's cell phone contacts, then anything can be done."

This is of course an exaggeration, there are too many things that Hollywood agents can't handle, but it also reflects Brian Lord's status in CAA and even the entertainment brokerage world.

As for the parallel management of CAA's internal brokers, all brokers have equal status, that's just talking to the outside world. Brian Lord is actually the head of a large broker team in CAA, with dozens of executives under him. Brokers are responsible for specific jobs.

CAA is not a traditional partnership model either. Brokerage partners have very few shares together, and the controlling rights have already fallen into the hands of international investment funds.

Ronan knew very well that CAA had high-quality client resources, and cooperating with CAA would save a lot of trouble. As long as the conditions were right, these large and medium-sized Hollywood agencies could be partners of Relativity Entertainment.

For example, Brian Lord, the resources under his hands are enough to form a large crew for Sand Sea Entertainment.

Of course, if you really want to use CAA's packaged service, the cost is not low.

It depends on the specific situation. If the input-output ratio is reasonable, it is not impossible to use it.

Brewster then said that he would contact Brian Lord to determine when to invite Ronan to CAA, or Brian Lord would take the initiative to visit.

Ronan left Connie's contact information to Brewster so that he could communicate and determine the itinerary.

Ronan returned to Los Angeles from Louisiana just before the weekend, and Tom Cruise called to invite Jeff Katzenberg to play golf.