The Best Entertainment Era

Right of first refusal? Alan Shane's expression was not very good: Why?

Ronan knew very well that when negotiating, he couldn't put forward all the conditions at once. That would break the other party's psychological bottom line, but he had to push back the other party's psychological bottom line little by little.

Frankly speaking, $1.5 million is not a small number for him, given the budget for three projects.

Splitting that $1.5 million out is a lot less stressful.

Ronan smiled and said, One is that I am still conducting research on this project, and the other is that the funds on hand cannot be turned over for a while. Trading with the right of first refusal is beneficial to both of us.

This is also a pattern commonly used in Hollywood.

When a producer or production company discovers novels, scripts or other valuable literary materials, compared with spending a lot of money on one-off purchases, pre-paying a small amount of pre-emptive rights transactions can effectively relieve the pressure on funds and increase corporate value. room for maneuver.

Perhaps the previous bargaining lowered the psychological bottom line, or perhaps this kind of transaction is more common, Alan Shane did not refuse outright, and asked, What's your condition?

We signed a preemptive purchase agreement. Ronan said, I will pay your company 10% of the sale fee, which is an upfront fee of 150,000 U.S. dollars.

The right of first refusal is exclusive and irrevocable, which means that during the contract period, other people can no longer obtain the item reserved by him.

In this way, it only cost 150,000 US dollars, but controlled the copyright of Bourne's Identity for a period of time in the future.

Alan Shane was thinking, and Ronan said again: In the next 18 months, this work will be officially approved, and I will pay the remaining 90% of the cost.

Seeing that Alan Shane did not speak, Ronan continued: This is a win-win transaction. If the film cannot be approved within 18 months, the $150,000 advance payment will be yours, and you can still keep the copyright.

Alan Shane thought for a while and retorted: 18 months is too long, 12 months at most. In addition, the $150,000 is only a deposit and will not be included in future buyout fees.

Ronan calculated in his mind and said: There is no problem with 12 months, but I request the right to extend the authorization period. If the 12 months expires, if the project has not been approved, I will pay another 150,000 US dollars and extend the time for 6 months.

This is also just in case, he refuted the latter condition: The $150,000 will be included in the $1.5 million buyout fee.

When negotiating the right of first refusal, we must negotiate the price of the future buyout transaction, otherwise the copyright owner will temporarily raise the price, and we will have to cry.

Alan Shane is also a veteran in the industry, so he didn't get entangled in this, and slightly changed the conditions that he didn't say before: I ask for a project bonus and a share of the box office. He said loudly: For the film project to be approved, you need to pay me a project bonus of 200,000 US dollars .When the movie is released in the future, I will ask for a 5% share of the box office.”

Hearing this, Ronan can roughly guess that this is probably the so-called condition that Alan Shane said before.

Ronan shook his head firmly: You are not the original author, so it is impossible to enjoy the project bonus and box office share.

But the copyright is in my hands. Alan Shane said.

Ronan sighed: If this is the case, then keep it in your hand. Anyway, you have kept it for 13 years.

Alan Shane couldn't find any words to refute for a while. After being exposed, a copyright that had been held in his hands for 13 years really didn't give him enough confidence.

Let's each take a step back. Ronan offered sweetness in a timely manner: 150,000 U.S. dollars will be used as an advance payment. When the project is established, we will pay you another 1.5 million U.S. dollars in copyright buyout fees.

Alan Shane's conditions were originally for bargaining, and he frowned and thought about it.

Ronan showed an impatient expression at the right time.

Alan Shane Productions spent $300,000 in 1986 to buy the 20-year film and television copyright of Bourne's Identity. Ronan didn't know much about the depreciation of the dollar. It is estimated that the other party should earn around $1.5 million.

Just like he wouldn't be stupid enough to negotiate a box office sharing contract with Alan Shane, no one wants to do a losing business.

Seeing Ronan's impatience, and thinking that the copyright has been suppressed for 13 years, Alan Shane made a decision: 150,000 US dollars will be used as an advance payment, and 1.5 million US dollars will be paid for the copyright buyout fee when the project is established. In addition, you have 6 month authorization extension, subject to an additional payment of $150,000.

Ronan stretched out his hand: It's a deal.

Alan Shane shook hands with him: It's a pleasant cooperation.

The two company leaders negotiated the most critical copyright fee, and the following small matters were naturally discussed by the following people. Only three days later, the two parties signed a formal agreement and filed a copyright change record with the Copyright Bureau.

All kinds of copyright changes in Hollywood must be filed accordingly, and the Copyright Bureau is the only institution recognized by law.

For example, scripts, a script is only filed with the screenwriters union. Once plagiarism or other infringements are involved, the filing of the screenwriters union is only effective for the industry and cannot be used as legal evidence.

As the purchaser of the copyright, Shahai Entertainment borrowed USD 150,000 from Relativity Entertainment in the form of a loan, and paid off the advance payment on the day the contract was signed.

Of course, for the later buyout expenses, Sandsea Entertainment must also use loans to raise funds.

As for the interest rate of the loan, it's not too high, just a fixed rate of 15%.

This is also the loan interest rate generally adopted by big Hollywood companies from left to right.

Compared with the nine-out-thirteen-return and the like, it is very conscientious.

It's a pity that both Sandsea Entertainment and Relativity Group have limited scale and capabilities at this stage, and some things can only be used by overseas investors.

Therefore, the funding for this project, Ronan's plan is still to be settled from overseas.

The copyright of Bourne's Identity has just been acquired, and the project is still far away from being approved. Mary has already started to make accounts with the newly expanded financial department staff.

With three financially independent companies in hand, the operating space is further expanded.

After winning the copyright, this project is temporarily included in the copyright library, waiting for later operation.

George Clint was right in reminding him that Ronan himself also has a clear understanding that the resources under his hands are almost used up to the limit, and it is impossible to operate such a big project as The Bourne Shadow at the same time.

Ronan's main energy was put on the two projects of The Blair Witch and Death Comes. The doomed hit Ace Agent put less energy into it, and more energy was given to George- Clint and Paul Greenglass are in charge.

This is also an intention to cultivate George Clint. In the future, when the company grows bigger, it is impossible for him to be a producer for every project.

The time soon came to March, and after the 1999 Oscars ceremony, public opinion across the United States was in an uproar, unanimously criticizing Oscar for its best picture and best actress in the past ten years.

As an industry insider, Ronan saw a classic business operation case behind the chaos.

The success of Shakespeare in Love and Gwyneth Paltrow has nothing to do with film art, but a very successful business operation.

The success of this operation is enough to bring tens of millions of dollars in profits to the producers.

Ronan planned that when he has the ability in the future, he can also join in this Oscar game. Maybe he will make a lot of money and at the same time win a few Best Actress awards.

There is also a secret rumor that Best Supporting Actress Judi Dench, in order to impress Harvey Weinstein, directly tattooed the name of the Jewish fat man on her buttocks. It is said that she took off her pants in the private room to let Harvey- Weinstein checked it out for himself.

In contrast, I strictly control the audition and refuse bad temptations righteously. I am really a decent person.

But Ronan didn't know how long this decent person's style could last, but he knew very well that when a person is not tempted, the temptation is often not strong enough.

While Ronan was at work, an official from the Los Angeles office of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority came to his door.