Chapter 4268 4270 [Dream Factory]

Xiang Nan and Rose headed west, wherever there were scenic spots.

If you like, stay there for a few more days, and when you get tired of it, hit the road again.

Anyway, they have plenty of money and time, so they don’t have to worry about daily necessities, nor do they have to worry about how time flies.

That’s why I can do whatever I want, be free, be on the road every day, see new scenery, meet new people, and have new things happen every day.

They played cards with people in small bars, climbed Devil's Mountain with their own skills, watched cowboys grazing on the ranch, dug for fossils in the Grand Canyon, fished for trout in Wudalian Lake, hunted grizzly bears in Yellowstone Park, and even I also encountered gangsters and robbers.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the rule of law in the United States was not yet complete, and many places were sparsely populated, with no human habitation within a hundred miles, which gave many desperadoes room to survive.

Xiang Nan and Rose were alone, young and beautiful, and weak in power. Naturally, they were easily coveted, so they were molested by gangsters, robbed by bandits, and ambushed by horse thieves several times.

However, their approach is destined to hit the wall.

Not to mention that it would be easy for Xiang Nan to destroy them. Even Rose's skills have become very good because of practicing the "Shenzhen Sutra", and even a dozen strong men can't even think of getting close to her.

Therefore, anyone who dared to take advantage of them would, without exception, be beaten so badly that they even doubted their life.

…

Xiang Nan and Rose kept going until the middle of 2014, when they finally arrived in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

At this time, the atmosphere of war in Europe was already very strong. The Allies, mainly the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Allied Powers, mainly the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire, were at war.

However, the United States did not participate in the war. Instead, while remaining neutral, it sold equipment to both sides and made a lot of money.

Post-war statistics show that the warring countries lost US$180 billion. That was US$180 billion at the beginning of the 20th century, equivalent to 270,000 tons of gold (approximately 15 trillion yuan).

Not only did the United States suffer no losses, but it also made the warring parties owe it tens of billions of dollars. It suddenly turned from a debtor country into a creditor country and owned 40% of the world's gold reserves.

Xiang Nan and Rose didn't care much about the upcoming war. After they arrived in Hollywood, they planned to start a film company of their own.

On the one hand, Rose wants to become a movie star. Since he has such an idea, Xiang Nan is willing to help her realize her dream; on the other hand, the entertainment industry is notoriously chaotic. There are many unscrupulous beasts in this industry and few decent people.

The infamous "Red Sofa" arose in Hollywood, where even top stars like Marilyn Monroe were subject to the shallow rules of film company bosses and investors.

She wrote in her autobiography, "Yes, I slept with the producer, and everyone does that. If you don't do it, there will be another girl waiting outside the door. I can't remember how many times I squatted down and unzipped them... …”

Xiang Nan is also someone who has been in the film and television industry, so he naturally knows Xiao Jiujiu among them, so instead of letting Rose sign with other film companies and being taken advantage of by other film company bosses, it is better to be his own boss and make her famous.

Anyway, it is not difficult for Xiang Nan to open a film company.

…

Later, Xiang Nan established his own film company, DreamWorks.

"DreamWorks?! What a nice name." Rose smiled.

At this moment, Hollywood has gathered hundreds of film companies, and dozens of movies are shot in Hollywood every day, which is quite prosperous.

However, the names of many film companies are very general, mostly named after the bosses themselves, such as Nester Production Company, Lasky Production Company, etc., which are not as nice as Xiang Nan's name.

DreamWorks, a factory dedicated to creating beautiful dreams for the audience!

"That's natural." Xiang Nan smiled and nodded.

There are so many film companies in Hollywood, and there are many film companies with famous names, but there are very few that sound better than DreamWorks.

After DreamWorks was founded, Xiang Nan recruited staff and built his own studio.

Early film companies had a large-studio system. They built their own studios, recruited their own actors, directors, and screenwriters, invested in, produced, and distributed films...

Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong is a typical large-scale studio system.

However, the big studio system exploits talent very seriously. Directors, stars, screenwriters, and staff all receive a monthly salary, and at most some dividends.

Therefore, the subjective initiative of employees is generally low, and many talented actors, directors, and screenwriters do not like this.

This is the case for Chen Baixiang. He makes movies in Shaw Brothers and earns 50,000 yuan per movie. Even though he has already made blockbuster films such as "The Frog Prince", "I Love Rolando" and "Cinderella", his salary is still 50,000 yuan.

Therefore, he later gave up starring in leading roles and specialized in supporting roles. Anyway, a movie cost 50,000 yuan, and it was the same whether he played a leading role or a supporting role, so why bother to put in more effort.

So later, in order to stimulate the subjective initiative of directors, stars, and screenwriters, Hollywood film companies introduced reforms such as the dividend system, the star system, the director system, and the producer system.

But for now, the big studio system is still the mainstream in Hollywood.

…

In June 14, the Sarajevo incident broke out. Archduke Ferdinand, the crown prince of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife were shot dead by Serbians.

In July, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia; in August, the German Empire declared war on France and Belgium; Britain declared war on Germany; the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on the Russian Empire; Japan declared war on the German Empire and took the opportunity to occupy Qingdao, Jiaozhou Bay, the Marshall Islands and the Caroline Islands.

In October, the Ottoman Empire announced that it would join the Allied Powers formed by the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and went to war with the Allied Powers, mainly Britain, France, and Russia.

The European continent was suddenly in chaos, and people's brains were all beaten into dog brains.

After learning the news of the outbreak of World War I, Rose couldn't help but worry.

Because she had many classmates and relatives in the UK, now that the war started, she didn't know what would happen to them.

"Don't worry, as long as you don't go to the battlefield, it should be fine." Xiang Nan advised her.

During World War I, the British mainland did not suffer too much damage. After all, the British navy was the strongest in the world at that time, and the performance of aircraft was not strong at that time, so it was difficult to bomb across the sea.

However, it was still harassed by German airships, killing and injuring hundreds of people. But in general, the rear was relatively safe.

But the front was miserable. World War I killed more than 700,000 British people and injured more than 2 million people.

At that time, the total population of Britain was only 45 million. Excluding women and the elderly, the weak and the disabled, it was equivalent to losing half of the young people.

This also led to a large number of women of marriageable age at that time not being able to find suitable marriage partners because young men died on the battlefield.

"I hope so." Rose nodded.