After finishing a glass of champagne, Robert was surprised to find that Ronan was actually chatting and laughing with that Arab man, seemingly having a very pleasant conversation.
“Seems like I underestimated Ronan a bit,” he muttered.
Then, he saw Ronan and the Arab man leave the banquet hall together.
Robert stared at the entrance of the banquet hall with great interest: “Ronan has grown up.”
Perhaps this time he really could pull an investment from the Arab’s hands.
In a quiet corner of the hotel lobby lounge, Saleh ordered two glasses of water, placed one in front of Ronan, and asked, “You owe bank loans and have offended the jewish people; the possibility of getting a loan is very low.”
What Ronan said could definitely stand up to verification, except he added a lot of dissatisfaction toward the jewish people.
The jewish people have great influence in Hollywood, but there are actually many in Hollywood who dislike them; however, these people wouldn’t like Arabs either.
“I’m planning to give up on finding investment domestically,” Ronan appeared very frank.
“There is a broader world overseas; the people in Germany have always liked collaborating with Hollywood.”
He lightly tapped the table: “After the project launch press conference next week, I’ll go to Germany to find investment.”
“Good luck.” Saleh raised his glass, asking curiously, “You’re holding a press conference? What’s the new movie about? Is it convenient to say?”
Ronan hesitated for a moment and said, “Well…
I can’t say too much detail.” He laughed, “I wrote the script myself, and there’s a key character who is an Arab like you.”
Saleh asked tentatively, “It’s not a villain, is it?”
“No!” Ronan shook his head.
“The character setting is roughly like this…”
He briefly described the Arab family who served as the main supporting characters.
“It seems different from the traditional image of Arab characters in Hollywood movies,” Saleh said.
Ronan said directly, “Actually, the point I want to express is very simple: Americans have good and bad, Black people have good and bad, jewish people have good and bad, and Arabs also have good and bad.”
“Right!
That’s exactly right!” Saleh first agreed, then added, “Such a simple truth, why doesn’t Hollywood understand it?”
Ronan shook his head: “It’s not that they don’t understand, it’s that they turn a blind eye.” His mind raced as he spoke, “So, a movie like this needs to appear to wake up the audience. Just like the Black civil rights movement, as long as a small opening can be made, there will be a day when inherent perceptions are overturned.”
He spread his hands: “Aren’t people all over the world the same? There are good people and bad people.”
Saleh became even more curious about the film and asked, “You’re holding a press conference? Can I go see it?”
This was also part of his job; he was ambitious, otherwise, there would be no need to come to Los Angeles; he could have just gone back to Abu Dhabi to live an idle life.
“Of course you can.” Ronan gave him the time and location: “You are most welcome!”
He had been considering how to appropriately invite Saleh to the press conference; it was better that Saleh brought it up himself.
On the point of Hollywood blackening the image of Arabs, the two had enough common ground to chat for nearly an hour.
Ronan never mentioned seeking investment from the Arab, and Saleh never mentioned his own identity or job.
But under Ronan’s subtle guidance, the two had a very pleasant conversation and hit it off.
Getting into Robert’s car, Ronan breathed a sigh of relief and rubbed his face hard.
Fortunately, he had been a business elite in his previous life and had done plenty of deceptive things.
“Did it go well?” Robert asked.
Ronan nodded: “It was alright.”
In the following days, he was busy beyond measure, reviewing storyboards and posters produced by the hired team and formulating the framework for the shooting plan.
He finalized the gifts for the press conference, personally called to invite media reporters, went to the Producers Alliance to register the project for ‘the purge’, prepared his speech for the press conference, sought a lawyer to draft and modify financing contract templates, and so on.
He even posted a recruitment notice at the Directors Guild and published recruitment advertisements for behind-the-scenes staff through the media.
To use this project to get money, all the preliminary work had to be done as if it were real.
During this period, Saleh invited him to meet several times, and the two had very pleasant conversations.
Saleh had no friends in Los Angeles, and his investigation into cultural and entertainment investment was very difficult.
Under Ronan’s intentional targeting, their friendship heated up rapidly, and Ronan even agreed when Saleh wanted to see the specific story.
After Ronan repeatedly warned him not to share it, he sent Saleh an electronic version of the script.
After Saleh read it, he made a special phone call, nearly calling Ronan an old friend of the UAE people…
On the first Wednesday of February, because he was delayed by something temporary, by the time Saleh arrived at the Hilton Hotel’s news hall, the hall was already full of reporters.
He first went to greet Ronan, not bothering him too much, took a set of promotional materials, and found a place to sit.
There were many reporters in the hall; Saleh watched for a while, seeing nearly a hundred reporters with badges and over a dozen cameramen carrying video cameras.
Not far away, there was even a reporter from the Los Angeles Times.
It seemed this project had quite an impact in the media.
Saleh hadn’t been idle these past few days; he had specifically collected some information about Ronan Anderson and Sand Sea Entertainment.
Sand Sea Entertainment wasn’t large, but it was an old company that had been established for over ten years.
Ronan Anderson indeed faced financial difficulties; financial institutions heavily influenced by the jewish people simply wouldn’t give him a loan.
The only two loans Sand Sea Entertainment had in the past were also mortgage loans with extremely harsh conditions, worth only seventy percent of the physical value.
Frankly speaking, he hoped this project would have a wide impact.
After reading the script, the scene where an Arab becomes the savior of Americans was truly gratifying.
Opening the promotional materials in his hand, Saleh began to read carefully.
Whether it was the posters or the sketches, they were produced with great detail.
Although there weren’t many scene sketches, the comprehensive design showed Sand Sea Entertainment’s investment and determination for this project.
Unlike that talkative Leonardo, Ronan Anderson was clearly a man of action.
“We invested nearly twenty thousand dollars into this press conference.”
In the lounge behind the news hall, Mary watched Roger straighten his clothes and said, “Just to put on a show for that Arab?”
Ronan raised a finger and shook it: “This show isn’t for one person; it’s for everyone to see.”
In case things didn’t work out with the Arab, he was also prepared to fool someone from India or elsewhere; anyway, the savior’s identity could be changed at will.
Robert Lee walked over at this time and said, “Saleh’s main job in Los Angeles is to investigate the feasibility of investing in the cultural and entertainment industry. If we can get him to support us voluntarily, our future work will be easier.” This chapter is updated first at novelping dot com.
A knock sounded, and George Clint pushed the door open, reminding them, “It’s about time.”
Ronan nodded slightly, put on his plain glasses, and said, “Let’s begin.”
The reporters in the news hall suddenly quieted down.
Saleh saw Ronan walk up to the podium and put away his materials; these all had strong investigative value.
On stage, Ronan began to speak, and the surrounding reporters were all taking notes seriously.
Saleh had read the script and could tell Ronan was introducing some basic information about the project.
Because he had read the script, the press conference was a bit boring until Ronan announced the project’s investment amount, which made him perk up.
“Sand Sea Entertainment will turn ‘the purge’ into a medium-scale action thriller with an initial budget of 10 million dollars! We are still looking for a director, and as for the actors, we have already sent invitations to Jamie Lee Curtis, Drew Barrymore, Johnny Depp, and George Clooney…”
Saleh had heard of all these people.
Jamie Lee Curtis was the Female Protagonist in ‘true lies’; Drew Barrymore was a famous former child star; Johnny Depp seemed to have played that man with scissor hands; George Clooney was slightly unfamiliar, but he vaguely remembered him playing a doctor.
He didn’t know much about Hollywood, but anyone whose name he could remember must be a star.
Ronan was planning a big move.
No wonder he needed financing.
Ten million dollars was something even he couldn’t just produce.
The reporter Q&A session began, and one reporter specifically asked about the funding issue: “Mr. Anderson, your company’s last movie suffered heavy losses. Do you still have funds?”
“There are indeed difficulties,” Ronan’s words reached Saleh’s ears.
“We face a certain funding gap, but I am confident we can resolve it through financing.”
Ten million dollars was a choice he had carefully considered; it was higher than the previous film’s investment, but not too much higher.
Saleh frowned slightly and began to think, so much so that he didn’t hear the subsequent questions.
A movie cannot be made without money.
A project like this, which favored Arabs, would surely fail if it lacked funding.
Thinking of the Arab’s counter-attack and rescue in the script, Saleh felt it would be best if this movie was actually made.
He had been in Los Angeles for nearly three months and hadn’t achieved anything yet.
The cultural and entertainment investment investigation he was responsible for had made no progress because of the exclusion by those Hollywood jewish people.
Could this be a breakthrough?
Since he chose to come out and work, he certainly had to achieve something to show people; otherwise, what difference was there between him and those idle guys in Abu Dhabi?
Regrettably, he didn’t have the money in his hands, nor did he have the decision-making power over large sums of money.
Saleh was responsible for investment investigation, not for making the final investment decision.
Hollywood movies have a wide influence, and since it involved the image of Arabs, he didn’t dare make a hasty decision.
The press conference ended, and the reporters left quickly.
Saleh found Ronan, deciding to have a good talk with this guy who was very much to his liking.