With a huge investment in film projects, Ronan will not be involved for the time being, but films of the type of "Fatal Bend", with the current situation of Shahai Entertainment, can still draw funds and manpower to operate.

The first thing is to find the right director.

Ronan contacted William Morris, who had cooperated several times, and also said hello to other brokerage companies in the circle, and now Shahai Entertainment is no longer an obscure small company, and new projects can also attract the attention of these brokerage companies.

In many cases, it is not easy to find the right director for a low-budget film.

There will always be a paradox in this regard, new directors dare not use it casually, and qualified directors are paid highly.

You can't make a film with an investment of millions of dollars, and more than half of the funds are used to pay the director's salary.

Ronan can only use his memory to find a name that he can remember from the list of directors provided by various agencies, and it must also be suitable for the genre of horror films.

Relativity Entertainment made a lot of money in its first year, but some of it was time to settle with someone.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority asked Saimir of the Los Angeles branch office to act as a plenipotentiary representative to settle the investment revenue of "Ace Agent" with Shahai Entertainment.

"How is Mr. Minister?" Ronan said to Saimir as if he was still an old friend of Abu Dhabi, "It's a pity that I can't go to Abu Dhabi to meet Mr. Minister." ”

Semir doesn't seem to be dead yet: "We should continue to cooperate. ”

Ronan immediately said: "yes, I also think we should continue to work together, I have a new movie in my hands......"

If the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is willing to continue to invest in Shahai Entertainment's films, he raised his hands to welcome it.

But the words of the two sides were clearly not on the same channel, and Semir said: "Let's talk about this later, I need to ask Mr. Minister." ”

Ronan asked, "Mr. Minister, has you been busy lately?"

Semir replied: "Very busy, the minister is in Manchester, England. ”

In fact, there is no need for Saimir to say, Ronan also knows what Mansour is up to, and it has been often reported in the newspapers and media recently that Mansour's Abu Dhabi consortium and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. are competing for Manchester United in the Premier League, and both sides want to become the new owners of this European giant.

Manchester United's largest shareholders are the three horse racing tycoons, who are actually very eager to sell their shares, but they are met with strong opposition from Manchester United fans, and the whole of the United Kingdom is also extremely dissatisfied with the acquisition of Arabs and News Corp., and the British media and even the whole European media are criticized.

There are even some extreme Manchester United fans who have formed a new Manchester United club to play in the English regional league, claiming that they are the embodiment of the Manchester United spirit.

In this era, the spirit of iron-blooded football is gradually dissipating, and business is invading every corner of professional football.

The boycott from the UK from the official to the media to the fans may have ultimately led to the failure of the takeover, but Ronan is well aware that the Abu Dhabi consortium has achieved its goal and that their name has spread around the world with Manchester United.

It's a pity that Ronan has more than enough power now, otherwise he can buy a professional team to play.

If nothing else, the publicity effect is very good.

Ronan remembers well that Rupert Murdoch's turn-of-the-century takeover of Manchester United ended in failure, with the Reds falling into the hands of the Glazer family a few years later.

I don't know if the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will change.

In a few more years, Ronan feels that he may also have the time and energy to play this game.

Ronan asked tentatively: "Did Mr. Minister's takeover of Manchester United go well?"

There was a lot of coverage in the media, and there was no need to hide it, saying: "The fans of Manchester United are too troublesome and too stubborn. ”

Ronan said: "The British still think that they are an empire on which the sun never sets. ”

That makes sense. Semir always had a strange feeling, why couldn't he cooperate when it was clear that Ronan had many of the same views and ideas as theirs? He couldn't figure it out, but he didn't mention it again, saying, "It's just a matter of money." ”

Ronan feels that this is not only a matter of money, it seems that the longest crown prince in history is also the chairman of the FA, and if the FA intervenes, it is not impossible to call a halt to the deal.

But he didn't remind Semir that since the two sides could no longer cooperate, it was good to maintain the current relationship.

"The revenue statistics of "Ace Agent" have been settled. Ronan gets back to the point: "I am very grateful for the investment from the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and would like to settle the settlement with you as soon as possible. ”

Semir asked, "Did 'Ace Agent' fail?"

Ronan, of course, has to admit: "Yes, it was a very painful failure in business. However, we have almost reached our goal of getting the film out there around the world. ”

It is normal for business investments to have successes and failures, and in the past few years, there have been many cases of failed investments in Abu Dhabi, and the failure of a film will not make the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority feel much touched.

"Ronan, you're still alone. Semir rehashed the old words.

Ronan said with a smile: "No one can guarantee 100% success in business investment. He didn't want to get involved with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority anymore, so he motioned to Connie, the assistant standing behind him: "Settle the statement to Mr. Saimir." ”

Connie immediately sent a thick stack of lists, and the accountant brought by Semir took the initiative to take it.

Saimir quickly took his leave and left, and although the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority didn't really care whether the investment was profitable or failed, the necessary vetting process would definitely have to be done.

The Los Angeles office even hired a professional accountant from PricewaterhouseCoopers and an entertainment lawyer from a law firm to conduct the audit.

Three days later, Saimir took the initiative to come to Shahai Entertainment and sign for the investment share of "Ace Agent".

In the review of lawyers and accountants, there is no problem with Shahai Entertainment's revenue data on this film, which is fully in line with the law and Hollywood's industry regulations.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has recovered less than 30 percent of the $25 million it invested in the "Ace Agent" project.

"Ace Agent" grossed $10.6 million at the North American box office, and the distributor, Embassy Pictures, received $5.6 million from the theater side at the box office, deducting 30% of the distribution costs and the corresponding interest on the North American distribution loan, and only $2 million went to Shahai Pictures.

Shahai Entertainment also legally deducted 15 percent of the operation and management fees and various taxes and fees, including union fees, from this figure, leaving 1.2 million US dollars.

Due to the overall loss of the film, Shahai Entertainment did not take another 20% profit share.

In terms of offline and peripheral revenue in North America, Embassy Pictures, as the distributor, withheld $500,000 as distribution income, Shahai Entertainment had $300,000 in operating expenses, and the remaining $500,000.

The overseas rights of the film were sold for a total of $10 million, and Embassy Pictures, as the agent distributor, took 40 percent of the distribution contract with Shahai Entertainment as an intermediate fee, and Shahai Entertainment's operation and management fees and various taxes including union fees withheld $1 million, leaving $5 million.

In the end, Shahai Entertainment settled with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority at $6.7 million.

In terms of revenue, Shahai Entertainment undoubtedly produced a film that was an extremely commercial failure, and even the $25 million public cost could not be recovered.

But for Relativity Entertainment as a whole, "Ace Agent" is another extremely successful movie.

Relativity Entertainment itself did not invest much in it, but it made $10 million in revenue from the film.

As for the expenses of personnel, office and equipment attached to the crew of "Ace Agent" during the operation of the crew, it is difficult for outsiders to calculate at all.

The two newly leased offices of Shahai Entertainment, from the rent to the purchase of office equipment to the cost of personnel expenses, are all calculated in the two crews invested by Abu Dhabi people, and are included in the loss of film and consumables for film shooting.

There are too many wasted and inexplicable funds wasted by a crew in filming.

It's like a large-scale play, a few more NG times may cost tens of thousands of dollars more.

The film fails, but the production and distribution companies win, and that's Hollywood.

Because of the official background of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, Ronan did not do anything in the later income at all, and did everything in accordance with the law, and even gave up 20% of Shahai Entertainment's profits.

He believes that he definitely belongs to a producer with a conscience.

Ronan has an account in his heart, counting the expenses of Shahai Entertainment, the sum of the various benefits of Relativity Entertainment in "Ace Agent" is about 15 million US dollars.

This does not take into account the tax rebate allowance in Germany.

There are many benefits to borrowing chicken-and-egg shooting, and if you lose money, some investors will pay, and if you benefit, the production and distribution company can get a huge income from it.

For a non-sequel film that is too risky, financing filming is undoubtedly the most appropriate way.

Even the accountants and lawyers engaged in the entertainment business fully approved the settlement of Shahai Entertainment, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority did not raise any objections.

The two sides settled the accounts, and Ronan's cooperation with the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority came to an end.

Subsequently, Ronan asked private investors in Abu Dhabi to come to Los Angeles for settlement, and most of them would come to Los Angeles in person after a while.

Ronan has prepared two responses, and for these private people, there are not as many concerns as the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

If they want to continue to invest in Sand Sea Entertainment's films, Ronan will continue to work with them.

Shahai Entertainment will also have film projects next, such as "Fatal Bend", which all need to raise funds.

But before the local tyrants of Abu Dhabi came to Los Angeles, someone specifically approached Ronan and wanted to continue to cooperate.