Entering the banquet hall, Ronan immediately saw the three giants of DreamWorks and hurried over to greet David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg, and Steven Spielberg.
Although the three exchanged a few polite words, it was difficult for them to remember a nobody like him.
After leaving the circle of the three giants, he didn’t hide away; instead, he pulled out all the stops and kept looking for people to chat with.
Ronan chatted with a production executive from Warner Bros.
about the “harry potter” series they had acquired last year, talked to a Japanese-American executive from Sony Columbia about the upcoming “Godzilla”, had a drink with a distribution vice director from Paramount Pictures, inquired about the integration of the “the lord of the rings” copyright from a Miramax executive, and probed a William Morris Agent about the salary of third-tier stars…
A large crowd surrounded the three giants, expressing their boundless admiration.
Ronan didn’t try to squeeze in there again, just watching from the periphery.
The three giants were ambitious, wanting to break the near-monopoly of The Big Six in Hollywood, but unfortunately, this path was simply impassable.
The most critical factors were distribution and the industrial chain, especially the former.
In his past life, DreamWorks established a relatively sound distribution mechanism in North America but was powerless in the face of the much broader overseas market; the overseas distribution of its films could only be left to The Big Six, which, combined with other factors, ultimately led to a dismal end.
In the traditional distribution industry, the biggest piece of the pie was firmly held by The Big Six; breaking this situation was too difficult.
The DreamWorks model wouldn’t work.
Ronan was very certain of this; fighting against enemies who possessed the advantages of time, place, and people, the chance of winning was extremely low.
To break the situation of The Big Six, one had to find other paths.
If one day Sand Sea Entertainment faced this situation, what should be done?
For some reason, this thought flashed through Ronan’s mind and spread uncontrollably.
Given the current situation of Sand Sea Entertainment, this was a distant goal, even a fantasy.
But who doesn’t have a little fantasy?
Ronan shook his head; at this stage, he could only think about it, and it was better to be pragmatic for now.
“Good evening.” Someone greeted him from the side.
“Good evening.” Ronan responded immediately.
The man was in his thirties, with an honest face that gave people a sense of reassurance.
He gestured to Ronan with his wine glass.
Ronan didn’t take a drink, simply nodding in acknowledgement.
A waiter passed by, and Ronan asked for a glass of wine, raised it to the man, and took a sip.
“You must be Mr. Anderson, right?” The man initiated the conversation.
Ronan looked at the man’s honest face; if this guy went to Abu Dhabi, he felt he could pull in another $10 million in investment.
“I am Ronan Anderson.” He said softly.
The man introduced himself: “Edward Barker, an Agent from the Mooreby Agency.”
Ronan shook his hand and said, “Nice to meet you.”
Edward Barker smiled with a face full of honesty: “I read the newspaper a few days ago; Mr. Anderson’s company is hiring directors and actors?”
Coming here tonight was mainly to look for opportunities, but for an ordinary Agent, pushing an unknown client into a big project was quite difficult.
He had originally secured a good position for a client, but that unreliable guy made an unreasonable request, causing the cooked duck to fly away.
And the unreliable guy happened to be the one with the most potential for success under him.
In this kind of setting, it was best to cast the net as wide as possible; perhaps he would catch a fish.
Ronan could guess the purpose of this Agent and asked directly: “Does your agency have suitable candidates?”
Edward Barker didn’t answer, instead pointing to a quieter area of the banquet hall and inviting: “Shall we go over there to talk?”
Ronan nodded: “Okay.”
The two came to an area near the terrace of the grand banquet hall.
There weren’t many people nearby, only five or six people gathered in a circle.
In the middle, a man was saying something, which sounded like he was soliciting investment or promoting something.
Edward said: “I’ve read the newspaper reports about Sand Sea Entertainment and “the purge”. Sand Sea Entertainment seems to have financial difficulties?”
Ronan stopped paying attention to the other side and replied: “Your information is outdated. My financing was successful, and Sand Sea Entertainment has ample funds.”
Hearing this, the smile on Edward’s honest face became even more honest: “Does the budget for “the purge” really have $11 million?”
Ronan smiled but didn’t answer.
If there were really an $11 million budget, the threshold of Sand Sea Entertainment would have been trampled down by entertainment Agents long ago.
Agents were well-informed.
Edward had heard some things.
Having rejected multiple agency offers, the budget for “the purge” definitely wouldn’t be $11 million.
That was fine too; the competition would be much smaller.
His client desperately needed to direct a film to increase his resume, and the salary was secondary.
“I have a director among my clients who might be suitable.” Edward said in a low voice: “He has written scripts for “The Neighbor” and “21 Jump Street”, served as an assistant director and executive producer for three TV series, and has also directed several episodes of “the x-files”. He is preparing to transition from TV series to film.”
Ronan nodded.
Having directed “the x-files” sounded pretty good.
In this era, the status of TV shows was far inferior to films.
Even the famous Rachel McAdams was transitioning to the film industry, and countless TV directors also wanted to step into the film industry.
Ronan took out a business card and handed it to Edward: “This has the company’s address and contact information. You can bring people over at any time.”
Edward hurriedly put it away: “I will call you before I go.”
He exchanged a few polite words with Ronan and then left with an honest smile.
This trip could be considered a small gain.
The resume of having directed several episodes of “the x-files” sounded good, but the specifics would have to be discussed after a face-to-face meeting.
Ronan was also preparing to leave at this time, but he heard the words from the small circle nearby.
The man who didn’t know whether he was promoting or soliciting investment seemed a bit excited, and his voice was relatively loud: “The store rental model of Blockbuster is destined to become a thing of the past. They are slow to react and lack optimization and integration of video tape resources. Netflix’s online rental business is the future. Investing in Netflix means getting the future! Netflix has created a monthly fee system. Consumers can rent films unlimited times, and there are no late fees for overdue returns. Netflix needs a sum of money, needs a platform…”
A dark-haired man in glasses suddenly interrupted him: “May I ask, how many paying customers does your company currently have? How many paying customers do you plan to develop next year? How many years until you can go public?”
“Netflix was just established.” That man said: “Our goal is the future…”
The man in glasses shook his head and walked away directly.
When Ronan was socializing earlier, he heard someone introduce this person as an executive from Disney’s investment department.
The other few people also left one after another.
Ronan, however, was very interested.
He walked over to greet him and introduced himself: “Hello, Ronan Anderson.”
The man looked over, nodded: “Hello, Reed Hastings.” He had noticed Ronan earlier and asked directly: “Are you interested in my company?”
Ronan said vaguely: “The model you mentioned is very interesting.”
Reed Hastings sized Ronan up: “Obviously, this model is very powerful. With the development of the Internet, my company can surpass Blockbuster.”
Having worked in Internet video operations in his past life, how could Ronan not know the name of Netflix?
Glancing at Reed Hastings, he suddenly turned his head to look at the location of the three giants of DreamWorks.
“Can we talk?” Ronan asked.
Reed Hastings didn’t answer, instead asking: “Who are you?”
Ronan understood what he meant and said: “I am the president of Sand Sea Entertainment.”
“I’ve heard of it, a small company that makes video tape films.” Reed Hastings was now engaged in film online rental and had considerable knowledge of companies in the Hollywood industry.
He shook his head directly and said: “We don’t have a need to talk.”
Ronan was a little surprised: “I can invest in your company.”
Reed Hastings said very sincerely: “Thank you, really, I am very grateful that you can think highly of my company.” He smiled apologetically: “What I need is not just capital, but a big platform from a big company. Your Sand Sea Entertainment cannot provide that. A union between the weak and the weak has no meaning for Netflix.”
Ronan roughly understood the other party’s thoughts.
After all, he had seen detailed information about this person in his past life.
A few years later, Reed Hastings would be at his wit’s end and would even take the initiative to contact Blockbuster, preparing to sell the company to his arch-rival.
For Reed Hastings, Blockbuster was the arch-rival.
It was precisely because he was dissatisfied with Blockbuster charging him late fees for video tape rentals that he had the idea of founding Netflix.
Ronan probed a few more sentences, but Reed Hastings was very stubborn and refused flatly.
Indeed, Sand Sea Entertainment could not provide the hard conditions such as film sources and platforms that Netflix urgently needed.
Sometimes, investment is about more than just money.
Ronan couldn’t chase Hastings to invest, but Netflix had entered his field of vision, giving him more ideas.
Now was not the best time; his funds were entering the stock market, and he couldn’t make large investments for the time being.
If he remembered correctly, Netflix was just a startup now, and it could only be said to be an amateur team.
For a company like Netflix, the early stage was basically burning money, and Hastings wouldn’t be able to hold on for two years.
Ronan watched Hastings leave, gently rubbing his chin.
He would have to keep a close eye on Netflix in the future.
This banquet trip was very rewarding, especially regarding Netflix and Hastings.
Ronan walked forward along the side near the terrace while thinking.
Not long after walking out, he suddenly saw Leonardo DiCaprio.
Leonardo DiCaprio was wearing an exquisite handsome face and was pestering a blonde girl.
The girl was wearing a goose-yellow short dress, with long hair draped over her shoulders, slender limbs, a tall figure with excellent proportions, and a pair of green eyes with a natural melancholy on her delicate little face.
Blonde hair, long legs, this was exactly Leonardo DiCaprio’s cup of tea.
But the girl didn’t seem to buy Leonardo DiCaprio’s account, and she was clearly a little impatient, or even disgusted, with his pestering…