The Best Entertainment Era

This store is really big.

Walking between the shelves, Ronan picked up a few German sausages, looked at them, put them back, and said to the blonde middle-aged woman next to him: Aunt Helen, you told me you opened a butcher shop, I thought it was for sale. What started as a pork shop turned out to be a meat supermarket.

The blond woman named Helen laughed and said in awkward English: So, come and help me.

Turning out of the shelves, Ronan looked around at the five to six hundred square meter meat supermarket. He had never seen so many sausages, pig's trotters and bacon before.

Helen said deliberately: I have nine stores like this in Berlin.

Ronan couldn't help laughing: It turns out that my Aunt Helen is a rich woman.

How about it, isn't it good? Helen repeated the old saying: Do you want to come to Germany to help me?

Ronan shook his head: A person like me is still suitable for development in Hollywood.

Helen also heard the old Mrs. Anderson mention Hollywood, saying: The film industry is too risky.

Well, so I'm trying to find ways to avoid and reduce risks. Ronan asked suddenly: Aunt Helen, you have to pay a lot of taxes every year, right?

Helen nodded lightly: A lot. Germany is a tax-heavy country. Among other things, my personal income tax has to be paid at a maximum rate of 51%. Although there are legal ways to avoid tax, the amount of tax avoidance is very small.

Ronan made a joke: This is the glory of paying taxes for you.

Helen laughed: I would rather not have this honor. She asked concerned: By the way, was your movie a success?

Successful, the box office in North America is more than 50 million US dollars. Ronan thought for a while, and said: If I remember correctly, it will be released in Germany after the New Year. The title of the film is Human Purge.

Helen took Ronan to continue participating in the supermarket, and said, I'll take Tony to have a look then.

Tony Koch is her son, who has just graduated from university and is working in the financial industry in Munich.

The two walked around the meat supermarket, then went to the office area on the second floor, came to Helen's office, chatted about the old Anderson couple who would die unexpectedly, and talked about the childhood fun of little Anderson, basically in the Reminiscing about bitterness and thinking about sweetness.

Stay in Germany for Christmas, Tony will come back from Munich. Helen said suddenly, You won't have any relatives when you go back to Los Angeles.

Ronan didn't refuse: Okay. I'm going to stay in Berlin for a while.

Helen asked curiously: During the phone call, you said you had business to deal with? Are you going to make a movie in Germany?

Ronan shook his head: It's not filming in Germany. He simply explained: We plan to sell two film projects to German film companies.

The shooting and production of Hollywood movies is more of a technical issue, but the way the Hollywood film industry operates funds is a legal and financial issue.

Even now, in the late 1990s, more than 90 percent of Hollywood movies lose money at the box office, no matter how big those box office numbers appear to be.

Because making movies in Hollywood has become very expensive, the investment, shooting and distribution of most movies cost far more than the box office revenue in theaters.

If you want to make a movie truly profitable, you have to do everything possible to operate it.

An excellent producer must know how to operate a film within the legal scope in order to maximize profits.

If Hollywood only used the box office to make a living and made movies with its own funds, all film companies, including the six major companies, would have closed their doors long ago.

Ronan's two projects, Reaper and Kingsman, will not have a dollar from him or Shahai Entertainment, and they will all be financed from Abu Dhabi.

If the operation is obtained, a considerable part of this part of the budget can be converted into the legal income of Shahai Entertainment without the need for accounting.

In the afternoon of the same day, under the introduction of Muller's lawyer who acted as an intermediary, Ronan met Ram, a representative of TMG Film Company in Germany.

But the talks between the two parties were not smooth, even a little unpleasant.

The handling fee of 60% of the tax refund? Ronan didn't hide it at all, and his dissatisfaction was written on his face: As far as I know, you didn't charge any handling fee for your cooperation with Paramount Pictures!

The man named Ram was a short man with a very serious face: Mr. Anderson, I need to remind you that your Sand Sea Entertainment is not Paramount Pictures! TMG has different policies for each customer, Paramount Pictures and TMG are long-term partners, and your Sand Sea Entertainment is the first time to cooperate with TMC, there is a lack of trust between us, and TMG has to take huge risks.

He emphasized his tone: We must be responsible for investors!

Compared with big companies, this small company has no human rights at all! Ronan couldn't help but complain in his heart.

But he didn't get angry. Just as people are never equal, companies cannot be equal.

But this German's rigid attitude made people feel a little uncomfortable.

Ronan smiled and said, You still charge investors a handling fee? Five percent? Eight percent? Or the highest fifteen percent?

This TMG is worthy of being a successful film company, and it eats at both ends.

Ram didn't change his face: This is a legal fee.

The rigid face is as thick as steel.

Ronan frowned slightly: Mr. Ram, up to ten percent!

Ram had no room for negotiation: Sixty percent!

Ronan glanced at Attorney Mueller, who slowly shook his head, expressing his helplessness.

Your company takes 60%, and the remaining 40% I have to pay for various expenses, there is not much left. Ronan also put on a serious face: This transaction is meaningless .”

But Lahm said: Sandhai Entertainment can win TMG's friendship!

Hearing this, Ronan looked at the little German, as if seeing someone more shameless than himself for the first time.

In the face of millions of dollars of funding, I want your friendship for a fart?

Ram said seriously: If this transaction is successful, it can foster trust between each other and establish a foundation for long-term cooperation. He didn't seem to be joking: Mr. Anderson, we must not be too short-sighted in the long run.

Ronan resisted the urge to ridicule, but it was useless, and said lightly, I need to think about it for a few days.

Ram stood up, left a business card, pushed it to Ronan, and said, This is my contact information. If Mr. Anderson wants to cooperate, you can call me.

After finishing speaking, he left without any nostalgia.

Ronan glanced at the business card, threw it in his pocket, and asked Mueller's lawyer: The client you contacted is not good?

Mueller's lawyer said: TMG is the company that has the most cooperation with Hollywood and has an excellent reputation.

But they are too greedy for small companies. Ronan asked again: Can you still contact other companies?

Lawyer Mueller nodded slightly: Of course. He reminded Ronan: The credibility of small companies is a problem, and they can't afford such a big project. They can't find enough German investors.

Ronan pinched his forehead and asked, Is there any other way?

I will contact other large and medium-sized film investment companies. Lawyer Mueller did not want to let the business he got go away: However, they have always cooperated with large Hollywood and European companies, and the conditions will not be much better.

Picking up the cup, Ronan took a sip, frowned and thought for a while: If it doesn't work, he can only try a backup plan.

Lawyer Mueller. He asked slowly: If a new film company is established, can it carry out this kind of operation?

Lawyer Mueller was very professional and immediately replied: Yes. There are no legal restrictions on this aspect. As long as the company completes the formalities, it is completely possible to conduct transactions in this aspect.

This is consistent with the information that Ronan specifically checked before.

Lawyer Mueller's voice suddenly changed: But the new company needs a strong enough intermediary agent, and the agent needs to open up channels for you and lobby the approval agency.

He further said: Why would a film company like TMG, which does not have real production capabilities, dare to charge fees to small Hollywood companies? Because they have established a stable channel and have a good relationship with the approval committee.

Ronan asked, Where is the middleman?

Me. Attorney Mueller said with a smile: Me and the whole team behind me.

He raised a finger: We only charge 10% of the refund amount.

Ronan was silent for a while, and took a deep look at Muller's lawyer: Your strategy has succeeded, and I agree to this deal. He looked in the direction where Ram left: Let's use the outrageous conditions offered by TMG as a foreshadowing. , and then propose less fees as bargaining chips.”

Attorney Mueller showed no embarrassment after being exposed, and said: We each get what we need.

None of these characters who have been immersed in business for many years is simple.

How sure are you? Ronan asked.

If your two projects are small productions, I won't talk to you at all. Mueller's lawyer is confident: Two commercial projects with a budget of 40 million US dollars are already very convincing.

Ronan nodded, his voice gradually lowered, and he consulted Mueller's lawyer on professional issues in this area. The questions were very detailed, and he confirmed them with the information he had read.

He didn't leave until evening.