Chapter 158： Future itinerary

The affairs of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority did not cause much trouble to Ronan. On the third day after Ronan clearly refused, Saleh and Aziz returned to the UAE. Before leaving, Ronan and Saleh had another I met and discussed in detail once, and I was sure that there would not be much trouble on the investment bureau.

Ronan also imagined that if the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority is pressing too much, it will take the initiative to expose the acquisition and then appear as a victim. North American public opinion has always been unfavorable to Arabs, and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will definitely face a huge pressure.

But in this way, it is bound to become hostile to the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority.

Fortunately, the final result proved that Ronan thought too much.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority claims to control trillions of dollars in assets. Although it attaches great importance to the publicity and influence of Hollywood, it does not take Ronan and Relativity Entertainment too seriously.

Ronan got the news from Saleh that His Excellency Chief Mansour has left Abu Dhabi for Manchester, England. He wants to buy Manchester United and faces a strong competitor, Rupert of News Corp.- Murdoch.

It is estimated that Chief Mansour has no intention to care about relativity entertainment for the time being.

Ronan knows that the entanglement between the theory of relativity and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority has not yet ended.

The movie "Ace Agent" has not yet been settled.

The Embassy Pictures’ overseas copyright authorization negotiations for "Ace Agent" and "Reaper Is Coming" have reached the final stage, and the partner is still Sony Entertainment.

Gramercy Pictures’ conditions were similar to those of Sony Entertainment, but under Ronan’s instructions, the Embassy Pictures gave priority to Sony Entertainment as its partner.

For nothing else, Chris is still negotiating on behalf of Sony Entertainment.

Chris was very helpful in taking down the distribution department of Polaroid Films. Ronan was also a reward, and Sony Entertainment was also one of the two companies with the highest price.

In the conference room of Embassy Pictures, Chris and Garcia signed the contract on behalf of the companies on both sides and reached a licensing agreement.

Chris did not leave immediately, but found Ronan.

"We are all old friends." Chris came up and complained: "I have worked together so many times, and your price is still so high."

Ronan greeted Chris with a cup of coffee and said, "The Ace is only $10 million, which is not expensive at all. Such a wonderful action movie has a huge overseas market."

Chris thanked the person who brought the coffee, and then said to Ronan: "This film only cost 10.6 million U.S. dollars at the North American box office. I don't know what happened overseas. If it messes up, I won't be able to stay at Sony Entertainment. Living."

Ronan smiled and said: "My people have done market research. A region in Arabia alone can generate $10 million in revenue. This film is definitely more popular overseas than in North America."

Having said that, without a good market forecast, will Sony Entertainment pay $10 million?

Chris sighed, "I hope so."

Ronan said again: "Okay, stop complaining. Didn't I still sell you the overseas copyright of "Reaper Is Coming"?"

"Yeah, "Reaper is here" is really good." Chris raised **** at Ronan: "But that is not a film, but a film package, which contains two video tape movies. how many years?"

The contracts were signed, and Ronan told the truth: “It was filmed four years ago when my father was still alive.” He then emphasized: “Chris, although these two films have been out for a long time, I can tell you Assure, the chance of piracy overseas is extremely low."

Chris was more certain than Ronan: "There is absolutely no pirated copy of these two films overseas. I am sure of this because even someone in the industry who specializes in finding films has never heard of these two films!"

Ronan has worked hard for it. How could this little thing be embarrassing, he said: "The total price of the three films is only 50 million US dollars, and the overseas box office of "Death is Coming" alone can get you back."

After the theater team has completed the box office statistics, the issuer settles with it. In most cases, North America is divided into about fifty to five, and overseas is roughly about one-third.

As for discs, video tapes and TV broadcasts, revenue is mainly concentrated in countries with relatively complete copyright protection.

Chris took a sip of coffee and said, "I have no opinion on "Reaper is Coming", those two films..."

Having said that, he shook his head straight, thinking that the film would go to Sony Columbia, with "Reaper Coming" as the core of the film package, plus two bad films shot in Colombia, one good film with four bad films, overseas Is there a market?

There seem to be more bad movies in total, so three are good.

After a cup of coffee, Chris left: "I won't bother you."

Ronan personally sent him out of the Embassy Pictures.

In the future, it may no longer cooperate with Sony Entertainment. After all, the overseas distribution channels of Embassy Pictures are being integrated. When the next film is finished, it will be able to use its own channels to distribute overseas films.

Moreover, Embassy Pictures has recently recruited fairly suitable staff, divided into two teams, and went to the Middle East and Africa respectively to prepare for the establishment of an office there and open up market channels.

Since he will not release films overseas for the time being, the experienced Alan Albert also went there and will personally lead people to open the market.

News came from Robert Lee and Danny Donald, who were patrolling all over the world. Because of the embassy film’s funding, the offices in most areas were successfully established. Some important personnel who originally belonged to the branches of Polygram Pictures have also transferred At the gate of Embassy Pictures.

Ronan is also asking Mary to train staff, and each district must send a financial director.

It can be said that the structure of the entire company is also under construction. Ronan will delegate power appropriately, but will not allow a certain individual or department to overpower.

In addition, Ronan has a relatively clear understanding that he is lacking in handling the company's daily affairs. This is normal. A person has limited energy and cannot be comprehensive.

He has discussed with Mary, Robert and George. These three are also the veterans of Relativity Entertainment and his absolute confidantes, but the three also have self-knowledge that they are competent in managing a certain department, but they lack the ability to coordinate the overall situation.

Mary gave Ronan a suggestion to hire a professional manager or other suitable person to serve as the CEO of Relativity.

Ronan has seriously considered this. When the company is large enough, an external CEO can be hired. The chief financial officer, president, and his personal chairmanship will be sufficient to form a more balanced supreme power structure. .

Ronan has also considered his future role and cannot be separated from the actual work of the company. Therefore, he must be chairman. If he wants to maximize his foresight, he can also serve as the chief creative officer. Once the company is larger, he must He must be a member of the project review committee.

In Hollywood's medium and large companies, there is basically an audit committee department. If the audit committee does not give the green light, a film project cannot be prepared.

The existence of the audit committee has its drawbacks, but it can filter out many garbage items. In general, the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages.

Of course, these are the next steps. Relativity Entertainment is now an independent production company and belongs to the independent film circle. The independent film circle has always been chaotic and there are not so many rules.

The overseas copyrights of "Ace Agent" and "Reaper Is Coming" were sold, and the early income has basically come to an end. Incomes such as TV broadcasts and disc and video tape rentals are long-term offline incomes.

Ronan also asked Mary's finance department to seize the time to complete the accounts, and at the same time asked George Clint to notify the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and private investors to settle investment income with them.

But the notice is that settlement can be done through an international accounting firm, and they can also send someone to Los Angeles.

It will not settle in Abu Dhabi anyway.

Due to the massive energy and import and export business between North America and the Middle East, international settlement is easy,

The settlement time is in April, and Ronan needs time here.

With the receipt of overseas copyright income from "Ace Agent" and "Death Is Coming", Relativity Entertainment and its two companies, Shahai Entertainment and Embassy Pictures, all projects in 1999 have been completed. The three companies need to calculate the specific revenue status. And net profit, also need to prepare for tax filing in April.

In a country that started to resist taxes, taxes are more eternal than death.

Fortunately, Embassy Pictures and Shahai Entertainment will soon invest in new films, and there is room for investment tax deduction.

Like the sequel of a successful movie, especially the one with low investment, Ronan does not plan to refinance the filming, except for the promise of Tom Cruise's 1.5 million US dollars investmentHuman Removal Project" Investment in the sequel will be raised within the company.

Compared with the original film and the first pioneering film of the series, the sequel of the successful film has much smaller investment risk.

For the first movie with a large investment, the budgetary funds still have to be shot by financing, passing on risks.

In addition, the film-watching department of Embassy Pictures has been re-established. There are currently only five professional film buyers, but they are all veterans of the Embassy Pictures who have been selecting films and watching films around the world for many years. At the film festival, go find a small production suitable for the embassy film industry.

The types of films bought by these people have inherited the tradition of the embassy film industry for more than ten years, mainly independent films with an investment of less than US$200,000.

According to the current North American film market, especially the home entertainment market, the purchase of this small production, as long as one of the four can make money, it can basically guarantee a return.

This is also the source of income that Embassy Pictures relied on before it was acquired by Ronan.

Ronan also asked him to prepare materials for the Cannes Film Festival. The Cannes Film Festival in May has the strongest commercial scope of the three major European film festivals. In his eyes, the essence of the film festival is not the competition unit, but the film transaction. .

The biggest role of the festival is to provide a trading platform for buyers and sellers.

These are all written into the itinerary, and Ronan's itinerary in the next few months is almost full.