Including Ronan, Sand Sea Entertainment only had four employees left.
Marie was temporarily managing the company’s daily operations and finances, while Robert Lee from the Marketing Department and George Clint from the Publicity Department had nothing to do for the time being.
Ronan’s upcoming plans required manpower; at the very least, he needed to keep these three people on board.
Salaries had to be paid on time; people worked to make money.
Bullshit like “I’m creating a broad development platform for you” could only be used to fool fresh graduates.
Beyond the salary, he also had to give people some hope.
To be precise, they needed to get busy; it was easy to let one’s mind wander when idle.
“George, you’ve worked in the media industry; you’re an expert in publicity and have extensive connections in the media.”
In the office, Ronan held an all-hands meeting.
“You need to manage your relationships with them well; we will need the media for our next step.”
George Clint was in his thirties but naturally looked old.
He frowned, his face wrinkled like a sixty-year-old man’s.
“Mr. Anderson…”
“Ronan! Call me Ronan.” Ronan appeared very approachable.
“Are we going to work on a new film project?” George Clint asked.
Marie and Robert Lee also looked over with concern.
Ronan nodded.
“Yes. We’re initiating a new project to save ourselves.”
The three of them were full of surprise.
Seeing someone wanted to ask a question, Ronan spoke first.
“I’ll take care of the funding. Starting in February, your salaries will increase by ten percent, and I guarantee they will be paid on time.”
These words worked, and the three of them felt a little more at ease.
Ronan then said to the curly-haired man in his forties, “Robert, do you know anything about the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority?”
“They just set up an office in Los Angeles, mainly responsible for evaluating investment projects,” the curly-haired man replied.
“Just evaluating?” Ronan saw Robert, the curly-haired man, nod.
He thought for a moment and said, “Go make contact with the people at the office and find out their impressions of Hollywood. Also, collect some information on Abu Dhabi, such as their investment and cultural environment.”
Robert Lee thought for a moment and said, “I have a friend who often does business with Arabs; I can have him make contact.” He seemed to have guessed Ronan’s thoughts.
“Are you planning to seek investment from Arabs?”
Ronan nodded.
“I have a classmate from Abu Dhabi at USC. I’ve spoken with him over the last couple of days. Arab oil tycoons are incredibly wealthy and are waving their checkbooks around the world looking for investments.”
George Clint interjected, “Can we attract Arabs to invest in the company? If it’s film investment… Ronan, we just messed up a project.”
Ronan shook his head.
“If we let Arab capital buy shares directly in the company, we might face immense pressure.”
The three of them immediately understood what he meant.
There was an incredibly powerful force in Hollywood that was at odds with Arabs.
Ronan continued, “We will prioritize the film project; a single film project isn’t as sensitive.” The plan required manpower, so he still had to coax these three onto the pirate ship first.
“The three of you are veterans of Sand Sea. You didn’t abandon Sand Sea during these difficult times, and you didn’t abandon me, Ronan Anderson. I am very grateful.”
“There’s no need for that, Ronan,” Marie replied.
“It’s what we should do.”
Ronan knew the importance of team cohesion well.
After talking about feelings, he talked about practical matters, promising solemnly, “If we can secure investment this time, each of you can take one percent of the total as a bonus.”
The subsequent plans required them to execute; these three were veterans in the industry.
Robert Lee and George Clint looked at each other.
The latter asked, “Ronan, how much are you planning to raise?”
“My target is tentatively set on Arab tycoons,” Ronan said, feigning ease.
“Raising a few million dollars shouldn’t be a problem.”
The fact that these three could stay at the company until now meant they definitely had feelings for Sand Sea Entertainment.
Added to the financial incentive, their spirits were somewhat lifted.
As soon as the impromptu meeting ended, Ronan took Marie and rushed to the Blockbuster branch in Los Angeles.
In the office, Robert Lee said to George Clint, “I feel like Ronan has changed.”
“Yeah,” George Clint sighed.
“It’s normal to change after experiencing a painful failure.”
“I hope he doesn’t mess it up this time,” Robert Lee said, lacking confidence in Ronan.
George Clint, however, said, “Everyone in Hollywood comes from failure. Ronan has talent; what he lacks is experience.”
There were some things he wouldn’t say to Robert.
He had also been considering resigning and leaving recently, but for now, he would wait and see.
What if they actually secured the investment?
Those Arabs who made their fortunes on oil were said to never take money seriously.
Ronan brought Marie to the Blockbuster Los Angeles branch located in Century City and met the rights buyer, Anthony, in a reception room.
Blockbuster was the largest video rental chain in the United States, mainly engaged in video tape production, sales, and rental business.
It was acquired by Sumner Redstone’s Viacom in the early nineties and had a looming monopoly trend in the video market.
Anthony, who received Ronan, was just a very ordinary rights buyer, yet he didn’t think much of Sand Sea Entertainment.
Small production companies like Sand Sea were as numerous as hair in Hollywood.
“A $200,000 copyright fee is absolutely impossible!” Anthony’s voice was calm, but his tone carried a hint of arrogance.
“‘dead end life’ was a box office disaster and isn’t worth that price.”
Ronan, of course, knew he had overquoted, but he still tried to negotiate as much as possible.
“‘dead end life’ is an action film with a unique style, incorporating the bloody elements of a b-movie. This type of film has always been a favorite in the video market. Moreover, there are many precedents of films that failed at the box office but were highly successful in the video market, like ‘The Shawshank Redemption’, which has had a very good response in the video rental market over the last few years.”
Anthony said with a touch of disdain, “That film still hasn’t recouped its costs yet. Maybe it will be profitable in another five years, but isn’t time a cost too?”
Ronan simply asked, “What is your offer?”
Anthony said coldly, “$80,000.”
“That’s impossible!” Ronan put on an expression of disbelief.
“The production cost of ‘dead end life’ was as high as $6 million!”
In fact, this was a normal offer.
In the vast majority of cases, the basic video licensing fee for a film was 10% to 20% of its North American box office.
The hotter a film’s box office, the higher the copyright licensing fee, and there were also sales or rental splits.
Sand Sea Entertainment was an old client of Anthony’s, but in the face of commercial interests, that was basically useless.
Especially since Sand Sea Entertainment was about to go bankrupt.
Anthony shrugged, his tone again carrying disdain.
“Let me remind you, the North American box office for ‘dead end life’ was only $800,000.”
Such a rotten film that had completely failed at the box office couldn’t give Ronan any confidence at all.
But $80,000 was indeed too little.
Ronan said again, “Beyond the standards strictly stipulated by the industry association, Sand Sea Entertainment won’t ask for any backend splits.”
Anthony frowned and thought.
Just as b-movies were an important category in the video industry, bloody action films had a certain market in video rentals.
“A complete buyout!” He raised an eyebrow and said, “Including television rights.”
Ronan deliberately gritted his teeth.
“I want $300,000!”
Anthony laughed heartily, his smile full of mockery.
“Young man, Sand Sea Entertainment is about to go bankrupt. If you go to any other company, it’s impossible for them to offer you a high price.”
“Sand Sea Entertainment hasn’t gone bankrupt yet,” Ronan retorted nonchalantly.
Anthony shrugged as if he were hearing a joke and said directly, “$150,000! A one-time buyout for video and television rights! Don’t waste your time and mine anymore.”
Ronan paused slightly, then said slowly, “Alright, $150,000.” He emphasized, “Your side needs to pay in full when signing the copyright transfer contract.”
Anthony said nonchalantly, “Fine.”
The negotiation ended, and both sides signed a draft agreement.
The formal contract would have to wait until Blockbuster’s side passed the review.
According to Marie, a small deal like this of over $100,000 basically wouldn’t have any surprises.
For a behemoth like Blockbuster, over $100,000 was naturally a deal that couldn’t be any smaller.
Leaving the Blockbuster branch, Ronan looked back at the nameplate.
The attitude of that Blockbuster buyer made him furious, but he had nowhere to vent it.
Let alone the situation where Sand Sea Entertainment was facing bankruptcy, even in its heyday, it wasn’t taken seriously by the people at Blockbuster.
The wealth and status of both sides were simply not on equal footing.
Ronan became even more determined to carry out his plan.
Marie asked at this moment, “This money is the startup capital, right?”
Ronan said with a smile, “Without this operating budget, how are we going to attract investment?”
Marie reminded him, “According to the contract we signed with the distributor, New Line Cinema is entitled to fifteen percent of the copyright transfer fee.”
Ronan had read the contract and naturally knew this.
He thought for a moment and said, “Follow the formal procedure to notify New Line Cinema, and try to delay the payment of the split as much as possible.”
Marie nodded.
“Delaying for two months shouldn’t be a problem.”
Ronan sighed; the distributor was the top of the Hollywood food chain.
Distribution companies not only took a cut from the box office but also generally took a cut from peripheral copyright revenue, usually ranging from ten percent to forty percent.
“Do you have the script ready?” Marie asked with concern.
Ronan nodded.
“It’s ready.”
Now that he had the startup capital, he needed to come up with a convincing project; the foundation of the project was the script.