Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1286 Acquisition of British Starlight Cinemas

"Can you speak to Her Majesty?"

The Queen and Ronald chatted for a while before the lady-in-waiting came in and announced the end of the meeting. Ronald didn't even have a chance to protest.

Princess Diana stayed behind to discuss charitable donations with Elton John and others, so Ronald had to advise her not to show the spoof of "Top Gun".

"Ha, now that you mention it, I'm even more interested in taking a look." Unexpectedly, Diana's naughty girl nature broke out and she wanted to play a trick on Ronald.

Ronald had no choice but to present facts and reason with her with a bitter face. The style of this movie is not high. There are many plots borrowed from many erotic films. It also deconstructs the originally dramatic content of "Top Gun" into a joking attitude.

Elton John was laughing on the side, and both he and Anthony Hopkins noticed that this was a unique sense of humor of the British, using very serious words to poke fun at something that the other person is obsessed with. The more serious the words, the stronger the humorous effect.

"Hey, I see. You just want to see my movie being spoofed..." Ronald, who was talking dryly, also responded, "In fact, the movie I shot, 'Other People's Money' is also a very good comedy, starring Gregory Peck and my wife Diane. That kind of humor is more suitable for adults. If the charity screening chooses Toy Story, you may have to postpone the time to see this movie."

Ronald had no choice but to appeal to the princess' curiosity. "Other People's Money" is more in line with the tastes of the upper class, with many jokes that only the wealthy can understand, and the humor is subtle and cold. If it is not shown, the time for it to enter the British theaters will be greatly delayed.

"Now that you mention it, I am interested. You are just like the ones in Top Gun. Please send me the video tape. It is really fun chatting with you. I have to go first." Diana's royal secretary also came over to urge the schedule. Charles was about to rush to the next public event.

In fact, the couple seldom communicated with each other, and such matters had to be passed on through servants. The two children were the only few topics of communication between the princess and the prince.

"The videotape will not be available until the movie is finished, but if you want it, Princess, I'll go back and ask someone to make a copy."

"Call me Di, Ronald. Give me two more copies, Sarah wants to see it too." Sarah is the second prince's wife. Princess Diana said and left.

Ronald felt as if an inspiration appeared somewhere in his mind, but it was so fleeting that he didn't catch it. He stared at the floor blankly, trying to find the inspiration, and seemed a little frustrated to outsiders.

Anthony Hopkins and Elton John looked at each other, felt that Ronald was too pitiful, and decided to comfort him.

"This is actually a good thing, Ronald. Your Top Gun was watched by the royal family back then. Watching the spoof version now makes them still obsessed with your movie..." Elton John tried to persuade him but there seemed to be no response.

"Hmm..." Ronald didn't listen at all, but 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 your movie can be parodied by others shows that Top Gun's position in mass entertainment has become unshakable. It has become a symbol, a symbol, which is something that many people want but cannot do."

Anthony Hopkins understands the minds of filmmakers quite well and came up with a more acceptable idea.

This statement actually makes sense. The important point of parody is that the audience should understand which movie you are imitating.

The masterpiece of the Zucker brothers and the Abrahams trio, "The Unprecedented and Unrepeatable", is a parody of the "Airport" series produced by many stars in the 1970s. That movie was a big hit in the 1970s when the industry was sluggish, and many sequels were filmed.

So although the artistic value of "Top Gun" has not been recognized, it is indeed second to none in terms of popularity. Even if you have not seen the movie, you must have seen the Pepsi-Cola advertisement on TV.

"Ah, what did you say? Oh, it's okay. I can't sue for copyright infringement for parodying movies. Even the producers can't do anything about it. What use is there for a director like me?"

Ronald woke up from his thoughts, but he still hadn't caught the inspiration.

The group found Jodie Foster and Jonathan Demme, who were socializing in the London theater circle, and went back to the hotel together.

Ronald thanked Anthony Hopkins for his kind words of advice and talked to him about his new film "The Efficiency Expert". This film was shot by an independent Australian producer Richard Brennan, who also came to London this time to seek British distribution.

"Who did you find to distribute it in America?" Ronald thought that this movie also had serious commercial content and he had rich experience in daydreaming.

"I'll go find him. He dreams of selling it there."

"Hello, Ronald." Richard Brennan has thick eyebrows and looks very energetic. He is dissatisfied with the current state of movies and always wants to shoot some serious themes that concern the society.

This movie "The Efficiency Expert" is very realistic. The ending does not involve summoning the Japanese to save everyone like Ronald did. The male protagonist also does not win the favor of the factory owner's daughter whom he has a crush on. In the end, he climbs to a high place with a female worker to see the scenery.

"Hello Mr. Brennan." Ronald shook his hand.

"It's Sir Brennan." Richard Brennan is a recipient of the Order of Australia, nominated by the Governor-General and appointed by the Queen. He just received this Australian government honor a year ago. In fact, only the highest-ranking knights can be called Sir in this medal, but Richard Brennan often uses it to enhance his status in London's social circles.

"Hey..." Ronald smiled and didn't care about the man's rudeness. But he didn't care about the movie anymore and asked him to discuss it with Michelle Cannold, the distribution manager of Daydream.

"Isn't Ronald a director? How come he has a distribution company?" Brennan held the business card with a puzzled look on his face. He originally wanted to show off his power and maybe trick him into coming to Australia to make a movie or something.

"As for you, he is just a director and has certain distribution capabilities for low-budget independent productions." Anthony Hopkins was also very dissatisfied and gave him a few words of advice, telling him to do the public relations himself.

……

"Yoram, long time no see..."

"Ronald, it's nice to talk to you."

Anthony Hopkins actually said incompletely. Ronald's distribution ability is no longer limited to America. One of the purposes of his visit to London this time was to meet Yoram Globus, the cousin of Menahan Golan.

Although Minahan still 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 didn't do well at Cannon. He didn't have his cousin's vision for film creation and could only use some successful formulas to invest in movies. He didn't make any profitable movies in the past two years.

To make matters worse, Giancarlo Paretti, the Italian financial tycoon who bought Cannon Pictures, did not release a single movie in more than a year. He spent all his time picking up girls with the company's bills and even seduced last year's Miss Universe runner-up.

Yoram Globus was very worried. This behavior was exactly like that of a financial fraudster. He was worried that the mine created by this financial operation would explode one day, and it would be troublesome if he became a scapegoat.

"Giancarlo Parretti, did he acquire MGM in the same way?" Ronald and Yoram went to the house provided by Elton John to have this private conversation.

"Yes, a total of $1.2 billion." This is what Yoram was worried about.

"Who could lend him so much money? The 250 million he used to buy Cannonball was already amazing. Now the junk bond market has collapsed again, where did he get the money from?" Ronald wanted to buy some cinemas under Cannonball's Star Cinema Line, which he acquired from London a few years ago. He wanted to build up 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 cinema is not very profitable, it is also an asset-heavy, low-return industry.

People in Hollywood think that selling blockbuster movies is what they should do, and that the sunset industry like movie theaters should be left to the operators.

However, 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 actually lies in the bank account the next day.

The way these money are handled is different from that in the United States. In the United States, cinema operators generally keep the money in their own accounts for as long as possible, delaying for more than a year before sharing the money with the producers.

But overseas cinemas don't have such a sense of grandeur. Their biggest problem is that there are not enough good movies. In Europe and Britain, there are few movies that are as popular as those produced in Hollywood. Within the entire industry, artists use awards rather than box office as the standard for measuring success.

Therefore, they do not have much bargaining power with the producers. The most common form of payment is advance payment, which is invested in the production before the film is shot.

For projects that are not from the seven major studios, this is an investment that is vital to the project. Only after the producers get this money can they finalize the contract with the star. With the contract, they can apply for a bridge loan from the bank, and then pay the money back after the filming is completed and the film is released (or declare the company bankrupt and default on the debt).

Yoram hesitated for a while, but finally told Ronald the truth.

"Of his money, the first payment was borrowed from Credit Lyonnais, and then he used MGM's future income as collateral to apply for financing from the seller, Kerkorian. This meant that he borrowed the money from Credit Lyonnais from the seller again as the second payment..."

"No wonder you wanted to run away..."

Ronald heard this and thought that this Italian was a good player. He used the assets of MGM as collateral to borrow money from Credit Lyonnais, and paid the money to Kerkorian, the owner of MGM, as the first payment. He proved his strength and then borrowed the money back again with future MGM revenue as collateral...

Isn't this what the Chinese often say, "get something for nothing"?
He thought of Kerkorian who had tried to defraud him, but this time he encountered Giancarlo Paretti, a fraudster with a higher level than him...

"But MGM hasn't produced or released any new movies in the past year..." Ronald pointed out the key point. Without future income, this game will soon be unplayable.

"My job now is to make up all kinds of movie projects, and then make up reasons why they have to be postponed, such as conflicts in star schedules, or different artistic views between the director and the producer..."

No wonder Yoram is now anxious to sell off some of the goodies in the cannon and then roll up in a blanket and run away.

"Hey, I just want to see the expression on Kerkorian's face when he finds out he's been duped." Ronald thought about how he was almost duped by Kerkorian into becoming the president of Sino-American Film Company. Now that Kerkorian was about to go bankrupt, he wanted to laugh.

"Well, actually, Kerkorian may not be a problem."

"Huh?" Ronald motioned for Yoram to speak.

"This is my guess. Giancarlo Parretti's mind is on picking up those beautiful women who want to be actresses. There may be a big loophole in his contract with Kerkorian. And Giancarlo Parretti still retained some of the senior executives within MGM. I suspect those people have been waiting to run back to Kerkorian before something goes wrong."

"Good fellow, let's see how these two liars fight..."

What Ronald really cared about was the Starlight Cinema of Cannon Pictures. Minahan had bought it at a high price. It was one of the largest assets of Cannon Pictures when Giancarlo Parretti spent 250 million to acquire 40% of the shares.

Yoram explained the equity situation of this part of the cinema chain. Under many complicated contract structures that were deliberately signed to deceive Giancarlo Parretti, an important part of the cinema chain was actually privately controlled by Yoram.

Cannon owns most of the shares, but Yoram personally has the most important power, which is to decide which Hollywood movies to import. As Hollywood "tycoons", he and Minahan were very impressive to British operators, and the copies of the movies they bought were always loved by the audience (in fact, any imported movies are better than those government-funded cultural movies...).

When Menahan broke up with him, this power and shares were transferred to Yoram's personal name as a condition for Menahan to take away the film copyright of Cannon.

Now Yoram wants to run away, he urgently needs 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 tentatively agreed to the deal, which would transfer these rights to an anonymous limited company established in Delaware, and then through a complex equity structure, allow Daydream to use...

Yoram was very happy to get the first advance payment. He had a very hard time inside MGM Cannon. Even last year's bonus and dividends were still in arrears. Although traveling abroad and meeting with theater operators from various countries was very glorious, his pockets were actually empty.

"How is Menahan now?" Yoram now began to miss the days when the two brothers worked together, he was in charge of distribution and Menahan was in charge of production.

"He's doing fine. His previous small productions made money. He also wants to make a live-action comic book adaptation movie with an investment of tens of millions of dollars. But every time he talks about you, he spits on the ground..."

Ronald wanted to laugh when he thought of Minahan. This man was still full of energy, and his voice and laughter were the same as before.

"Oh, it's Wall Street's money that has made us crazy..." Yoram also laughed. This was the Minahan he knew.

The subsequent delivery and operation of these cinema shares will be taken over by professional lawyers, and Ronald will talk to Yoram about other things.

"Where are you going next?"

"I might go back to Israel. Giancarlo Parretti has made things too exaggerated. I'm afraid that by then not only the creditors will come, but also the FBI..."

"Then I wish you success in your career in Israel..." Ronald clinked glasses with him. Taking the money, resigning, and then fleeing back to Israel would be the safest option.

"Oh, there's one more thing..." Yoram remembered something before he left and turned to Ronald:
"In fact, Cannon has another high-quality asset. Are you interested?"

(End of this chapter)