Not every director in Hollywood focuses solely on filming without concerning themselves with other matters.
If he encountered a troublesome type of director, like in the case of the the purge production team, Ronan would be annoyed to death.
This was also one of the reasons why he hadn’t made a decision after interviewing so many people.
By signing the agreement first and securing James Wong’s project, James Wong would turn a blind eye even if he saw certain things.
Besides, this project really had great profit potential.
Because in his past life, Ronan had watched all the works in this series, from final destination 1 to final destination 5.
James Wong was the director of the first installment of this series, and the Glen Morgan he mentioned should be the primary screenwriter.
“The copyright is jointly owned by you and your friend, right?” Ronan continued, “Can you represent his opinion?”
James Wong said very firmly, “Yes! Bringing this story to the big screen is the greatest wish for both Glen and me.”
Ronan reminded him, “What about your Agent…”
Although Agents are usually smooth and wouldn’t easily confront others, if the Agent strongly opposed everything discussed so far, there might be complications.
“I will convince Edward,” James Wong immediately replied.
“The copyright owners are Glen and me.”
He had finally met someone willing to invest and let him be the director; the opportunity was too rare to miss.
Giving up now was only for a better future.
Ronan appeared very calm, even somewhat hesitant, as if committing to invest in James Wong’s project would cost him a great price.
He shook hands with James Wong: “I hope we can reach a formal agreement.” He intentionally diverted James Wong’s attention: “the purge is in urgent need of a director.”
James Wong shook Ronan’s hand firmly: “We will definitely reach an agreement.”
If he hadn’t seen that Sand Sea Entertainment was in urgent need of a director and was very interested in him, how could he have made such an additional request?
Ronan wasn’t too worried about the Agent issue.
James Wong’s desire to direct his script was too strong, to the point of being willing to tie himself to it.
If anyone tried to stop him, they would only be kicked to the side.
Sand Sea Entertainment didn’t mind negotiating with non-Agents.
Hollywood trade unions have agreements with the Agents’ union; members registered with the union must obtain work through negotiations by an Agent.
Of course, regulations are one thing, and reality is another.
According to the “Entertainment Act,” Agents must pass exams and be licensed to practice.
However, there is a group called Managers that is rising rapidly, negotiating work for clients without obtaining legal licenses.
He had roughly looked into it; Edward and James Wong were signing for the first time, and the legally valid contract period was one year.
In Hollywood, the penalty for terminating an Agent contract isn’t high, and there is no such thing as an agency or Agent taking over and blacklisting a client.
Because the law stipulates that an Agent can only sign a contract with a client for a maximum of three years, and if they cannot provide sufficient work choices to the client for three consecutive months, the client has the right to automatically terminate the contract.
This is the exact opposite of the other side of the Pacific.
Agents are always service providers, and the cost for a client to get rid of an Agent is relatively small.
Before they reached the company door, an Arab man in a suit walked in.
“Hi, Ronan.” The Arab man waved at Ronan.
Ronan replied with a smile, “Good morning, Saleh.”
The person who walked in was none other than the authentic guide, Saleh Zayed.
Seeing that typical Arab face, James Wong couldn’t help but nod slightly.
With the support of a Middle Eastern oil tycoon, Sand Sea Entertainment’s funding would definitely be fine.
“Saleh, let me introduce you to some friends.”
When Saleh came over, Ronan introduced him: “This is James Wong, who is basically confirmed to be the director of our the purge.”
Hearing “our the purge”, Saleh was in a great mood and hurriedly shook hands with James Wong.
Ronan continued to introduce: “This is Director Wong’s Agent, Mr. Edward.”
Then, he specifically introduced them to James Wong and Edward: “This is Prince Saleh Zayed from Abu Dhabi.”
After James Wong and Edward greeted him, they looked at each other.
This Ronan Anderson was truly not simple.
The support of a prince from an oil nation meant that funding was not a problem at all.
After a few brief pleasantries, James Wong and Edward soon took their leave.
Ronan took Saleh into the office.
“Is the preparation going smoothly?” Saleh asked with concern, “You’ve confirmed the director?”
Ronan took a brand new cup, poured him a glass of water, and said, “We’ve only reached a verbal agreement; there are still negotiations ahead.”
“Preparing a movie is more complicated than I thought,” Saleh sighed.
“This is just the beginning,” Ronan said truthfully.
“Robert is inspecting shooting locations, and equipment rental and actor auditions haven’t started yet… Once the director is in place, the speed of this work will accelerate.”
Saleh nodded, “Professional people doing professional things; I have benefited a lot.” He then asked, “Is that Director Wong also from a minority group?”
“Chinese-American.” Ronan bluffed at the right moment, “I thought about it carefully; for a film like this, finding a white director isn’t appropriate. A minority director is the best choice. He can better understand the characters’ situations and shoot the content we need.”
Saleh gave a thumbs up in admiration, “Ronan, you are so right! There are too few people in Hollywood with your level of ideological awareness.”
Ronan smiled, using the tone of a standard white left, “Every ethnic group, every community, is equal.”
“Hmm,” Saleh nodded repeatedly, “I’ve said it before, let professional people do professional things, but there are some idiots over in Abu Dhabi who want to interfere with projects invested in by the Investment Bureau.”
The corner of Ronan’s eye twitched imperceptibly, and he said, “I cannot accept people who are not film professionals.”
Last time he went to Abu Dhabi, he learned that the exhibition industry in Abu Dhabi was quite mature, but the film production industry was still in the preparation stage.
Saleh had been keeping in close contact with Ronan and immediately said, “I’m being transferred back to Abu Dhabi next week; I will suppress the voices of those idiots.”
Ronan felt relieved; the effort he had invested in Saleh had not been in vain.
“Got a promotion?” he said, “Congratulations!”
Saleh laughed, in a very good mood, and said sincerely, “Actually, I came this time to say thank you. Without your trip to Abu Dhabi, I wouldn’t have been promoted so quickly.” This chapter was copied from NovelPing without permission.
Ronan maintained his humble, good-guy persona: “Don’t say that. Saleh, it was you who helped me.”
Saleh understood in his heart that a person like Ronan who works steadily is truly rare.
Ronan looked at the time, “I’ll treat you to lunch to see you off.”
Saleh nodded, “Sure.” It was uncertain when they would meet again, so he added, “I really want to see the purge soon.”
Ronan replied with a smile, “Once the movie is produced, I’ll send you a copy first.”
“Great!” Saleh was very happy, “It’s a deal.”
He added, “Ronan, if you need my help, you can call or come to Abu Dhabi to find me.”
Ronan acted like an old friend and didn’t stand on ceremony with Saleh, “I will.”
Saleh took a sip of water and said, “Especially when you need film financing, don’t forget me; this counts as my achievement too.”
Ronan walked over and patted Saleh on the arm, “I couldn’t forget you even if I forgot everyone else.”
On 13th Street, where Sand Sea Entertainment is located, a car just drove out of the parking lot.
“Ronan Anderson agreed to invest in that script of yours?” Edward accelerated, “You’re not kidding?”
James Wong nodded, “It’s true.”
Edward couldn’t help but mutter, “Is something wrong with this guy’s head?”
James Wong glanced at him, and Edward immediately shut his mouth.
This result was too unexpected.
Originally, he had secured the director position for scary movie for James Wong, but who knew this guy would come up with a bundle plan, and as a result, the duck that was already in hand flew away.
It was hard enough to get connected with Ronan Anderson, and now James Wong was playing the bundling game again.
If it weren’t for the fact that the one-year Agent contract was about to expire, and that he had no other promising clients under his management besides James Wong and Glen Morgan, he wouldn’t have tolerated this no matter what.
Now it’s great: a paranoid met a pushover.
Can that project succeed?
He had also read the script; the core concept was that Eastern style.
Could Eastern-style horror sell well among American audiences?
Ronan Anderson must be desperate because he couldn’t find a suitable director.
After all, he was a somewhat well-known spendthrift in the industry.
Edward suddenly thought of that Arab man.
Did Ronan Anderson have oil funding support?
He probably didn’t take the Arab’s money too seriously.
An unreliable script, plus a somewhat paranoid director, plus a pushover investor—that project would end up miserable, right?
Forget it, no need to think so much and so far ahead.
Getting James Wong and Glen Morgan to renew their contracts and securing a large commission income was the important thing.