After Katzenberg and Spielberg left, Ronan arrived at the door of the clubhouse and found that Tom Cruise, who had accompanied him, had not left, but was sitting in the corner of the antechamber waiting for him.

Ronan went over, pulled out a chair, sat down across from Tom Cruise, and said, "You're idle today, huh?"

Tom Cruise shrugged: "Just over an hour, I'm just curious about what Spielberg and Katzenberg are looking for you." ”

"It's nothing. Ronan said casually, "DreamWorks wants to buy Relativity Entertainment." ”

Tom Cruise was a little taken aback, but quickly got to the point: "Embassy Pictures' overseas distribution network?"

Ronan nodded: "That's right, they can't buy overseas channels for the time being, and they don't want to spend a long time building them, so they are eyeing Embassy Pictures." He sighed: "The success of the film can also bring trouble." ”

Tom Cruise almost squirted out the coffee he had just drunk, jokingly, "Troublesome, just transfer it to me!"

Ronan ignored him and beckoned the waiter for a cup of coffee.

Although this is a private club, and Ronan is not a member of the private club, with Tom Cruise brushing his face, this service is not a problem at all.

Tom Cruise didn't continue the conversation and asked, "How's it going?"

Ronan didn't hide it, and said directly: "The talk has collapsed." DreamWorks wants to trade shares for Relativity Entertainment. ”

"This condition can actually be considered. Tom Cruise agrees that Relativity Entertainment is nowhere near as good as DreamWorks: "As long as the proportions are right, you don't lose." ”

Ronan shook his head: "I ask for a controlling stake and decision-making power in DreamWorks. ”

At this moment, Tom Cruise didn't know what to say, tilted his head and looked at Ronan for a while before saying, "You did it on purpose, right?

"It's not. Ronan said, "I'm serious about talking to DreamWorks. ”

Tom Cruise said, "Forget it, I'm not involved in your business. ”

Ronan's words did not stop, and he said: "After the talks broke down, I proposed that Embassy Pictures cooperate with DreamWorks, and Embassy Pictures should serve as DreamWorks' overseas distributor. ”

Tom Cruise felt that he couldn't keep up with Ronan's rhythm at all, frowned and thought for a while before he said, "So, when you said you wanted to publish the Minority Report, you had this kind of plan when you came here?"

"Hmm. Ronan did not deny it: "Tom, you are the actor and producer of the film, so I will say hello to you in advance." ”

Tom Cruise thought about the previous incident and said, "Ronan, I owe you several favors. I'm going to have someone talk to DreamWorks about this movie, and I'll give you a favor. ”

Ronan pointed at Tom Cruise, "You're always like that. He said to Tom Cruise, "Are you familiar with Jared Katzenberg?"

"Acquaintances, not friends. Tom Cruise said.

Ronan was also not polite to Tom Cruise: "Can you find a time to help me make an appointment with him?"

Tom Cruise, who has always been shrewd, has been practicing for so many years, and immediately thought of one thing: "Your real target is not DreamWorks Pictures, but DreamWorks Animation Studios?"

Ronan acquiesced, then asked, "Can you make an appointment?"

Tom Cruise thought for a moment and said, "Jared is a golfer, and I'm going to ask a few friends to play golf in Malibu this weekend, and I'm going to have him with him. ”

"Thanks, Tom. Ronan said.

The two chatted for a short time before leaving the private clubhouse, and Ronan asked the driver to take Tom Cruise to Beverly Hills and then back to his North Hollywood apartment.

Ronan has not made a move for the time being, the real estate agent believes that Ronan is a big customer who can cooperate for a long time, and proposed a few good suggestions, the stock market is still falling all the way, the economic situation will deteriorate more in the future, the number of bankruptcies will also increase, the pressure on banks or other financial institutions is gradually increasing, and some of the repossessed houses also need to be dealt with, and you can slowly wait to find a suitable house.

There is no need for real estate agents to say, Ronan will not be in a hurry, what has happened has happened one after another, and the disaster in September next year will inevitably occur, and then the already fragile American social economy will be hit hard again, and it will take a few years to relieve this breath.

The matter in September next year is too serious, Ronan doesn't plan to do the occasion, just hide from New York safely.

As for jumping up and down to make some moves, that's self-defeating.

This serious terrorist attack directly changed the United States, affected the whole world, and even forced the United States to change its global strategy.

The strength of the individual is really not worth mentioning in the face of such a big event.

Thinking of the World Trade Tower, which will collapse next year, Ronan suddenly had a bad taste, if someone forces him to have no way back, wait for the morning of September 11 next year to negotiate with the other party on the top floor of the World Trade Tower......

Entering the study, Ronan put aside these messy thoughts and seriously thought about the DreamWorks business.

Frankly, DreamWorks Animation Studios is worth more than Spielberg and DreamWorks Pictures.

But there are some things, I can only think about it now, the development is step by step, you can't get fat in one breath, Relativity Entertainment is temporarily lacking, and it is impossible for DreamWorks Animation Studio to change its door.

What's more, DreamWorks Animation Studio is not independent, and now it is part of the DreamWorks group of companies.

Ronan wrote it down in the notebook in front of him and drew a circle.

Relativity Entertainment is not strong enough, and some things can only be planned, but becoming an overseas distributor of DreamWorks Animation Studios can give it a try.

Whether online or offline, Embassy Pictures has established a corresponding distribution network.

A large part of them belong to the network and resources left over from Polygram Pictures, which was inherited in disguise, and it can only be said that the former Polygram Group had a big business and was quite powerful in the 90s.

Ronan knew that it would not be easy to win the overseas distribution rights of DreamWorks Animation Studios because the two companies were not equal.

He didn't think about getting it all and signing a few.

Of course, Ronan also has confidence, after all, the distributor is in the upstream of the producer's industrial chain.

Although Embassy Pictures is not as good as the distribution labels of the Big Six, the dirty relationship between the Big Six and DreamWorks is no secret, and DreamWorks has always wanted to get rid of the shackles of the Big Six.

After the collapse of the DreamWorks Group in the previous life, the independent DreamWorks Animation Studio did not even have the ability to distribute in North America, and the top three animation studios in the Hollywood industry could only exist as a pure producer.

In the news that Ronan has seen in his previous life, Jareven-Katzenberg has more than once wanted to sell DreamWorks Animation Studios to a large company with distribution capabilities, let alone the Big Six, and even considered committing to Lionsgate at one point.

Much of this is due to distribution.

Just like the later DreamWorks Pictures constantly changed its door, the six major companies controlled the right to discourse in distribution, and they exploited several DreamWorks brands more severely.

Ronan believes that the most appropriate place to enter is the relationship between the Big Six and DreamWorks.

But in order to be convincing, Embassy Pictures also needs to come up with tangible overseas discovery results.

After thinking about it for a while, and considering the possible entry points in several aspects, Ronan called Connie and asked her to gather more information about DreamWorks Animation Studio as soon as possible.

It never hurts to learn more about DreamWorks Animation Studios.

Ronan went out in the middle of the trip, and went to the nearby Passcard chain store to rent three animated feature films produced by DreamWorks: "The Story of Brother Ant", "Into the Golden City" and "The Prince of Egypt".

While going through the leasing process, Ronan once again experienced the low efficiency and long waiting times of Pepsi.

There are even quite a few people complaining.

But Pepsicard is the dominant player in the videotape and disc rental market, and there are no strong competitors at all.

Once there are no competitors of the same level, many companies will have problems.

After going through the leasing procedures, after Ronan went home, he watched these three films, "The True Story of Brother Ant" and "Brave into the Golden City" are very unfamiliar, I haven't seen them before, "The Prince of Egypt" belongs to the type that has basically forgotten clean.

The only impression left by Ronan of this animated feature film based on "Exodus" was the song "hen. You . Believe》。

This song can also be regarded as a classic among movie hits.

It's a pity that this animated feature film is left with this song, and the film itself is not very successful, so I guess the Jews can only have that kind of blood boiling feeling after watching it.

After watching these three animated feature films, Ronan was sure of one thing, DreamWorks Animation Studios did not determine its own style.

Ronan's own senses, Disney animation is characterized by truth, goodness and beauty, Pixar Studios is characterized by modern truth, goodness and beauty, and DreamWorks Animation Studio is characterized by spoof truth, goodness and beauty.

Just as Pixar Studios' animated feature films rarely have purely hilarious plots, later DreamWorks Animation Studios films basically had purely hilarious elements.

Only with characteristics can we go on.

It's like a featureless Blue Sky Studio, and even the Twentieth Century Fox that acquired it is almost inadmirable.

Blue Sky Studio is a tragedy, the technology is not as good as Pixar, the emotion is not as good as Disney, the funny is not as good as DreamWorks, the cost is not as good as lighting entertainment, and in the end you can only eat squirrels for the rest of your life.

Before the weekend, Ronan made a special trip to Louisiana, because he applied for a tax rebate, and the crew of "Fatal Bend" had already started filming on location in Louisiana.

Louisiana doesn't get as much of a tax rebate as in Germany, only eight percent, and it doesn't go back to the production company until all production has been made.

"Tax refunds are not much. York, the financial officer of the crew, said to Ronan: "There are $800,000. Louisiana is very strict about this area, and we can't get the money in advance. ”

Ronan held on to a big tree next to him and said, "Don't be in a hurry in this regard, remember to transfer the tax refund to the company's income." ”

York, who had been trained by Mary, immediately said, "I understand. He added, "All of the filming had to be done in Louisiana. ”

Ronan nodded slightly: "Yes." ”

The Americans' restrictions in this regard are strict, not as bold as the Germans, and even the British are not comparable.

The UK's tax rebate policy requires that the crew applying for only some of the leading actors use British actors and some scenes to shoot in the UK.

In the future, if you can apply for a tax refund overseas, you still have to go overseas to shoot, for example, Australia is also a good choice.

Tax refund applications also need to compete, not every country is as relaxed as Germany, many countries and regions have a certain number of film tax rebates, and after the annual quota is issued, you will have to wait for the next year.

Ronan saw the crew temporarily enter the filming break, patted York's shoulder, and said, "Do a good job of financial supervision." ”

Walking through the perimeter of the set and around the camera slide, Ronan found director Guillermo del Toro, a Mexican director who was not tall and had a badly fat upper body, a bit of a spinning top like his director's nickname.

Seeing Guillermo del Toro resting, Ronan pulled a chair, sat next to him, and asked in a low voice, "Did the filming go well?"

Guillermo del Toro said: "Some time ago, there was a lot of rain, there were no people in the mountains and forests, the filming was a week slower than planned, and this month may not be completed. ”

"Don't worry, we have a lot of time, and we have to make sure the quality of the shoot first," Ronan said. ”

"Hmm. Guillermo del Toro asked, "Won't it delay the release?"

Ronan smiled and said, "No. The release time is tentatively scheduled for next summer, and you have plenty of time to complete filming and production. ”

Guillermo del Toro breathed a sigh of relief, the first film he came to Hollywood to shoot was not a success, and if there were problems twice in a row, the future development would be in trouble.

Fortunately, horror films that are biased towards the Cut genre have always been the genre he is good at.

As a director who started out in horror films, Guillermo del Toro still has confidence.

Guillermo del Toro also said a little bit about the film: "This film was shot in Louisiana. He pointed to the dense jungle and the rolling hills in the distance, and said: "I think that the film lens should not pursue exquisite and delicate, the dense and terrifying forest with a little road movie wilderness temperament, but can add a lot of rugged atmosphere and boldness to the film." ”

Ronan asked, "Is there any film that has been printed?" ”

Guillermo del Toro pointed to an equipment car on the road fifty meters away and said: "There are some copies in the car, and there are also playback devices. ”

Ronan nodded: "I'll go over and have a look first, and you continue to shoot." ”

Guillermo del Toro called an assistant director to accompany Ronan over.

When he got to the car, Ronan immediately selected some copies of the film and asked the assistant director to put it up.

After watching it for a while, he nodded slightly, this kind of location scene that is almost all mountains and jungles, the lens is indeed more suitable for the rough and atmospheric style.

Ronan also watched a long shot shot by Guillermo del Toro – a scene where a murderer hacks a girl in a blue sundress to death.

I don't know why, maybe it's the relationship of personal mentality? Ronan thinks that this shot is very distinctive, the murderer cut it up in an instant, and then the pupils of the girl's beautiful eyes gradually dilated, and the camera turned away to see the jaw and body fall from the tree, the camera was not careful, and even a little rough, and the whole process of death was just a detailed eye shot, but it was very special.

It's rare to shoot a weird beauty.

Maybe it has something to do with the fact that Guillermo del Toro is a geek director himself?

Looking at other shots, as Guillermo del Toro said, the rugged style is more suitable for this film.

On the one hand, it is due to the background, and on the other hand, it is also necessary to consider the classification.

There are also the characteristics of this traditional American horror film itself.

Mad demons, dismemberment, are often seen in American horror movies.

Bloody dismemberment, violent fighting, this is a definition of horror summarized by the old beauties.

Often in order to achieve a terrifying effect, the screen is full of blood red and rust, dirty and dilapidated trucks, torture chambers far away from people, plus a few perverted murderers with ugly appearances and evil hearts, this is the horror of Lao Mei, and the pursuit is always visual stimulation and fear, rather than psychological fear after watching.

This is more suited to a rough lens style.

In contrast, there are few disgusting perversions and bloody dismemberments in oriental horror films, and more through a psychological suggestion, delicate pictures, inadvertent lines, and smart and intermittent sound, to bring fear to the audience.

After watching some footage, Ronan returned to the set, Guillermo del Toro was filming the chase scene, several young actors and actresses were filming one after another, probably because the acting experience was not rich enough, Guillermo del Toro would call to stop filming from time to time and give on-site guidance to the actors.

Like Guillermo del Toro, the actors are also from the CAA, and among them are Ronan's familiar face, a young actress named Alyssa Dushku.

This is a child actress who played Schwarzenegger's daughter in "True Lies", and is also a famous and important part of Hollywood movies.

Because she has a good "daddy".

That daddy is a very difficult character. First of all, his real identity is Zeus, the Greek god of gods, and secondly, he is a Jedi, the grandfather of Darth Vader, the number one villain in Star Wars, because he is the master of Anakin Skywalker, and he is also the initiation teacher of Batman.

The most important thing is that he is also a retired agent who kills suddenly without saying a word, and a small pistol can bloodied the entire criminal organization.

The same name is Keanu Reeves' dog.

In Ronan's previous life, after the release of "Avengers 3", some netizens connected the content of "Avengers 3" and "Fast Pursuit" to create a new version of the comics.

Thanos found Dr. Pancake to snatch the Time Gem, Dr. Pancake sealed the gem into a dog, Thanos tore the dog to find the gem, and then Keanu Reeves, who was looking for the dog, appeared, and even Thanos couldn't afford the terrible consequences.

In between shoots, Ronan approached Guillermo del Toro and said, "Good shot, keep it this way." ”

Guillermo del Toro nodded at Ronan and continued to get busy with the job at hand.

Ronan didn't bother him either, and took the initiative to go to the periphery of the set.

"Mr. Anderson. A white man in a suit came to him, "We've met, I'm Brewster." ”

Ronan shook his hand: "Hello. He pointed to the set of locations: "You're the agent of those actors, right?" ”

"Yes. Brewster smiled enthusiastically: "That's me." ”

Ronan glanced at the set and said, "Several of your actor clients have performed well, and I am very satisfied with this cooperation." ”

Brewster said with a smile: "CAA provides the best quality service, and I hope we can still work together." ”

As a producer and owner of a film company, Ronan certainly knows the value of an entertainment agency, and will not ignore the other party's overtures, nodding slightly and saying: "Tom and I are good friends, he strongly recommended CAA to me, and Tom's recommendation proved to be correct." ”

Brewster added, "I'm coming to Louisiana with a greeting from Mr. Brian Lorde, who has invited you to have time to visit CAA. ”

"I've heard of Mr. Brian Lord for a long time, but I haven't had the chance to meet him. The other party was polite, and Ronan was also very polite: "When I return to Los Angeles, I will definitely find time to visit." ”

Brian Lord is one of the co-founders of CAA today, and to put it bluntly, a partner.

There's a saying circulating in Hollywood these days: "If you can find a way to get your hands on Brian Lorde's phone address book, you can do anything." ”

Of course, this is an exaggeration, there are too many things that Hollywood agents can't handle, but it also reflects Brian Lorde's status in the CAA and even in the entertainment agency world.

As for the parallel management of brokers within CAA, all brokers are equal, and that is just talk, and Brian Lord is actually the head of a large team of brokers at CAA, with dozens of executive brokers under him in charge of specific work.

CAA is also not a traditional partnership model, with brokerage partners adding up to very few shares, and the controlling stake has long since fallen into the hands of international investment funds.

Ronan knows very well that CAA has high-quality customer resources in its hands, and cooperating with CAA can save a lot of trouble, as long as the conditions are right, these large and medium-sized Hollywood agencies can be partners of Relativity Entertainment.

For example, Brian Lorde, the resources under his hands are enough to assemble a large crew for Shahai Entertainment.

Of course, if you really want to use CAA's packaging service, the cost is not low.

It depends on the specific situation, and if the input-output ratio is reasonable, it is not impossible to use.

Brewster later said he would contact Brian Lord to determine when Ronan would be invited to the CAA, or if Brian Lord would come and visit.

Ronan left Connie's contact information with Brewster so that he could communicate and confirm the trip.

Just in time for the weekend, Ronan was back in Los Angeles from Louisiana, and Tom Cruise had already called and invited Jared Katzenberg to play golf with him.