In the large conference room of Relativity Entertainment, nearly twenty people in the conference room burst into applause as Ronan and Ryan Kavanaugh, who represented Maple Leaf Pictures, officially signed the contract.

The applause was like a wave and the atmosphere was warm.

In the conference room, in addition to the necessary professional and notary personnel, there are also representatives from Wall Street.

After Relativity Entertainment, representatives of various investment institutions subsequently signed equity transfer agreements with Maple Leaf Pictures one by one.

"It was a pleasure to work with. ”

"Happy working together!"

Ronan shook hands with Ryan Kavanaugh and David Ellison.

David Ellison excitedly said, "I propose to have a drink together for our cooperation!"

This has been echoed by quite a few people.

Ronan whispered a word to Connie, who then had champagne and glasses brought in.

The deal, everyone present was very satisfied, Ryan Kavanaugh and David Ellison got the coveted stake in the big Hollywood company, becoming the largest shareholder of Walt Disney.

This temporary alliance, including Ronan, successfully got rid of Disney's pot and got a high return.

"Cheers!"

Ronan took the lead in holding the glass.

Then, there was a response: "Cheers!"

Everyone raised their glasses and drank together, and the atmosphere in the conference room was harmonious and warm, and several parties achieved their goals.

Others are leaving, and Wall Street people will quickly return to New York after completing the necessary formalities, after all, these companies, led by Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, still have plans for Disney in the stock market.

Ronan and Relativity Entertainment have completed the deal and will not participate in the follow-up action.

But Wall Street's plan needed relativity entertainment, and Robert Iger was ready to talk to them again.

After another glass of wine, Ronan personally sent Ryan Kavanaugh and David Ellison out of the Relativity Mansion.

In the words of the other side of the Pacific, these two are simply fortune boys.

Relativity Entertainment's previous shares in Disney, except for a small part that have been sold off in the stock market recently because of the continuous rise in Disney's stock price, the equity of the transaction with Maple Leaf reached 2.9%.

Maple Leaf Pictures was eventually acquired at a premium of 11.5 percent, with a total transaction value of $1.2 billion.

Counting part of the previous sell-off in the stock market, and excluding various taxes and fees, Relativity Entertainment made a profit of nearly $220 million between one in and one out.

After several years of planning and preparation, Ronan not only got the live-action film rights of Disney's classic cartoons, harvested Pixar Studios, and is poaching Disney Animation Studios, but also made huge profits.

Relativity Entertainment has not only gained gains, but also won a broader space for development.

Disney Animation Studios may sink for a long time, and Relativity Entertainment's animations will effectively fill this market.

As we all know, once an animated film is successful, its income is often far higher than that of live-action films.

In the past, Walt Disney, in order to sell peripherals, many movies can be described as crazy.

For example, Elsa's drag show, which is simply emptying the girls' wallets.

Ronan poached Robert Iger and grabbed a large number of Disney resources, and will be even more heartbroken in the future than the former Walt Disney.

Back in the office, Ronan took care of the approval of the film project for a while, when Connie knocked on the door and walked in.

"The first $500 million in funding from Maple Leaf Pictures has arrived. Connie said quickly, "The rest will be paid in three days." ”

Ronan nodded slightly: "Counting the $200 million deposit that has been paid, there is only $500 million left." ”

It has to be said that Ryan Kavanaugh and David Ellison's ability to raise funds is outstanding.

Another point that cannot be ignored is that Maple Leaf Pictures has received a high amount of investment, but there is no corresponding project, and the funds are all in hand.

Companies like Relativity Entertainment, Warner Bros. and Universal Pictures maintain large distribution teams and have to keep a huge amount of liquidity to pay for expensive distribution costs.

In some ways, this is one of the reasons why big companies have to focus on commercial films.

Because only long-term and continuous production of high-return blockbusters can ensure the efficiency of salary expenses, although the cost of a big-selling literary film may only be a tenth of that of a top commercial blockbuster, the profit margin is often lower.

The scale of investment of film companies is slightly larger, and if they continue to focus on literary and artistic film projects, the results are often more miserable.

Then again, once the top commercial production projects hit the streets one after another, the huge team expenses can drag down a film company.

Connie then said: "Scott has news that David Ellison has been in contact with him, and it is very likely that he will invest in the Pacific Foundation in the future." ”

Ronan asked, "He still has money?"

Connie replied, "Based on the analysis of our investigative analysis team, it is highly likely that David Ellison's investment in Disney came from Larry Ellison. David Ellison is an adult, his mother set up a trustfund for him that invested a lot of money, and Larry Ellison has continued to inject money into the trust fund over the years......

Ronan understood what was going on: "Sure enough, it's the second generation of super rich." ”

Strictly speaking, he can be regarded as a rich second generation after inheriting Shahai Entertainment, but compared to David Ellison, it is really much worse.

Connie concluded: "Robert's news that the engagement with Disney's animation studio Chris Buck team currently talks about a critical stage where Chris Barker wants to meet you and hear your commitment firsthand. ”

"When?" Ronan asked.

Connie replied, "Robert said it would be better this afternoon." ”

Ronan nodded, "Yes." He thought for a moment and said, "Have you made an appointment?"

"Robert's appointment was with a yacht club in Santa Monica, which had long since been acquired by Will Smith and Tom Cruise," Connie said. ”

Ronan has no opinion: "Yes." ”

After taking care of the work at hand and going to the restaurant for lunch, Ronan left Century City in a car.

The black Rolls-Royce Phantom drove not far along Santa Monica Avenue when it encountered a large traffic jam near the intersection on the edge of West Hollywood.

Several police cars whistling with sirens rushed forward from the service road.

Finch shouted into the intercom, "Stop!" 2nd and 3rd, stay vigilant!"

Ronan sat peacefully in the car, although he was curious, he didn't have any idea of getting out of the car, his own safety was more important than anything else.

Two cars moved over, escorting the Rolls-Royce Phantom as they approached.

At the same time, there was also a bodyguard to find out about the situation.

Ronan glanced at his watch, called Robert Lee, and when he hung up the phone, Finch said: "I understand, less than three hundred meters ahead, there are two robbers who robbed a convenience store, and they happened to meet the patrol police, who took the convenience store owner as a hostage, and are confronting the police, the robbers only have pistols, it is estimated that it will be dealt with soon, let's wait for a while." ”

This kind of thing is not uncommon in Los Angeles, and it is far away from the car, and with many bodyguards, it is not a threat at all.

Ronan had just nodded, and before he could say anything, there was a sudden burst of gunfire in front of him.

Finch was a little surprised: "A firefight so soon?"

All the bodyguards, including him, looked ahead vigilantly.

After waiting for a while, the long queue of crowded cars gradually began to move, and the police had special personnel to clear the traffic, and the black Rolls-Royce Phantom was sandwiched between two bodyguard cars and drove through the congested area.

Ronan looked through the window of the car and saw a convenience store with a broken glass door, and there were faint traces of blood......

Approaching Santa Monica, Finch said, "There's definite news, the police have just shot and killed two robbers, and the black hostages and two bystanders have been killed. ”

Ronan was speechless: "Sure enough, it's the style of the Los Angeles police." ”

Finch said directly: "They work roughly. ”

Ronan didn't know what to say, maybe in another way?

In order to prevent the robbers from threatening hostages, the Los Angeles police decisively shot and killed the hostages, and in order to prevent the robbers from taking passers-by and continuing to serve as hostages, they decisively shot and killed passers-by......

This incident directly caused Ronan to be late.

"I'm sorry, I met the Los Angeles police on the way to deal with the case, and I was late. ”

Inside the yacht club, Ronan shakes hands with a middle-aged man with glasses: "It's a pleasure to see you, Mr. Buck." ”

Chris Barker said: "It's a great honor to meet you, a Hollywood legend. ”

Ronan glanced at Robert Lee and said, "I heard Robert say that you want to see me, so I rushed over immediately. ”

Chris Buck said: "My team and I, who have worked at Disney Animation Studios for over a decade, made the decision to leave not easy. ”

Ronan said, "I understand. ”

He has a lot of value for Chris Buck, a seemingly ordinary Disney employee who represents a very large animation production team at Disney Animation Studios.

The team first worked with Jared Katzenberg on The Lion King, and later led the production of animated feature films such as Pocahonta, Mulan, and Tarzan of the Apes.

Although personnel inevitably came and went during this period, the core team led by Chris Buck did not change particularly much.

It's no exaggeration to say that Chris Buck and his team represent the legacy of traditional Disney animation studios.

But now, they are no longer taken seriously, and after the decline of hand-drawn animation, Michael Eisner turned his attention to live-action films, and at one point wanted to eliminate the hand-drawn animation department.

Chris Barker and his team had to make the transition to computer animation production.

But the two computer-animated feature films they produced, Treasure Island and The Legend of the Bear, fell far short of expectations, leading to the further marginalization of Disney Animation Studios.

In the past two years, Disney has spent too much energy in infighting, and the animation studio, which was originally second to none, has gradually become unpopular.

Chris Barker and his team had to think about the future.

Do you stay at Disney and wait for Disney to settle down internally, or do you want to leave Disney and seek a new creative environment?

It's a choice they have to face.