Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 560 Screen Fund

   "Ronald, you come with me".

   Ronald and Weintraub finished talking, his wife Jane Morgan appeared at the door of the living room and beckoned Ronald to pass.

   "Hello, Ms. Morgan." Ronald hugged the former singer.

  Jane Morgan wore a long black dress today, with a black bag on her arm, decorated with inlaid rubies, very precious.

   "Remember what you promised Barbara last time at the White House? Her son came to Los Angeles from Texas today. I'll take you to chat with him just as you're here."

   "Oh, her son is going to enter the film industry, right?" Ronald recalled the last request from the deputy commander's wife.

   "The movie industry, the oil industry, it's not all the same for them..." Jane Morgan smiled mysteriously, "Go and drive my car, he's at the Sheraton Hotel."

   Ronald got into the driver's seat of Jane Morgan's Aston Martin, the roar of the sports car engine was so loud that Jane Morgan closed the window so that he could speak.

   "What kind of sports car do you drive yourself? You are so tall, you should buy a Ferrari." Morgan said, seeing that he was a little cramped in the driver's seat.

   "I don't have a sports car yet," Ronald told the truth.

   "You should have one. In Hollywood, in the entertainment industry, people always judge your status based on your clothes and cars. When CAA's Ovitz just made money, he couldn't wait to change to a Porsche 911.

   "Oh..." Ronald realized that he had also ridden the 911, and it seemed that he should buy one. It was indeed time to improve on the scene.

"Barbara's son George Jr. is a very good boy, he is Barbara's eldest son. It's just...his mother expects too much of him, just tell him the truth, in the deputy commander's family. , he is quite a good talker."

When they arrived at the Sheraton, the two asked George Jr. where he lived at the front desk. The lobby manager recognized Jane Morgan and took them to the lounge. Inside was a man in a yellow-green fine plaid suit with a undone neckline, holding a large glass. Beer drinking.

"Jane... Nice to meet you, this must be the one my mother praised Ronald." The man in his thirties was very enthusiastic, without the typical alienation of a high-ranking official's child. .

   Ronald feels better about him than JFK Jr.

   "Two more beers, I'm going to have a drink with a new friend. You know the oil company in Texas, I drink it too. Every day is the beginning and the end, and when it comes to beer, California is not as good as Texas."

   "Oh, you guys talk first, I'll go and call Barbara." Jane Morgan was about to leave with her bag. "

   "Okay, I surrender, I'll just drink less, don't tell my mother, Jane."

   "I have two large servings of fries. The rest of California is good, but the portion is too small." After that, he drank a beer and chatted with Ronald.

   Ronald thought that the son of the deputy commander was very interesting, not like the son of a high-ranking official, but like an uncle next door, who could brag and chat with him. It's just too much drinking.

   "I graduated from Yale, I'm from the fraternity there, what college are you from, what fraternity, man?"

"My grandfather also graduated from Yale, but I dropped out of NYU after just over a year. While in college, I built a fraternity myself and ran it into the best fraternity in the New York area." Ronald recounted how he asked Eddie to be a model for the cover of an adult magazine.

   "It really belongs to you", the other party laughed, "Your last name is not common in New England, is it from the family of General Robert E. Lee during the Civil War?"

   "Actually, on my great-grandfather's mother's side, it was the Jerome family. They had a watch business in New Haven."

   "Jerome? What a coincidence, I know them. Do you know? It is said that both of us were originally from America on the Mayflower."

   "Is that so?"

   The two chatted while drinking, and the time passed quickly. The other party stopped asking for beer and walked out of the bar with Ronald to his suite.

   "So, can you tell me what kind of movies make money?" After Barbara's eldest son finished drinking, the two finally started talking about business.

"You asked a million-dollar question, and I don't think even the most experienced producer in the industry can give you a simple answer." Ronald didn't expect the other party to come up and ask the ultimate question of the film industry .

   "Hey, listen, Ronald. We Texas cowboys like to be straight, and I was asked to be the board director of SilverScreenPartners, which my brother Roland Bates of the Yale fraternity did.

   He is an investment banker on Wall Street. He told me that the fund in the first phase was in good condition. In the second phase, he decided to make it bigger, raising $200 million, and only opening it to 20,000 high-net-worth individuals. I'm on the board, so I'm responsible for the use of funds, is there any good way for you to know the box office prospects of the movie in advance? "

   said, he took out another bottle of beer from the refrigerator in the room, opened the can and drank it.

  Ronald fell into deep thought. Obviously, the other party didn't really want to understand the formula for making money in movies, but wanted to find a way to ensure that the movies invested by the Screen Fund would not lose as big as "Heaven's Gate".

   "Hey man, I don't know how to make movies, you don't have to be afraid that I will tell you your secret." While drinking a beer, the other side gave Ronald a wink.

   "I'm thinking of a simple and easy way to make the movie you invest in not lose money." Ronald also took a bottle of beer and toasted him.

   "If you're just investing, I think it's better to examine the producer rather than the script and the director, the actor."

Ronald thought of an answer that the other party could understand: "The job responsibilities you mentioned are actually the responsibility of the producers in Hollywood. So as long as you find a reliable producer, you can be sure that he will give the green light. The projects are all those good projects.”

   "Your idea is really good. My father always said that politics is about people."

   "So, how should I select qualified producers to invest in?"

   "It's nothing more than looking at their past historical achievements."

"Hey, you're a genius. No one in the top executives of a Texas oil company can talk about the business as clearly as you do, talking about oil futures, oil exchange contracts for pipelines and tankers every day, I can hear it. I don't understand half of it."

   "Come, cheers", the other party held the Tennessee whiskey in his hand, and toasted Ronald's beer again.

"However, it's too troublesome to inspect the past for each producer. Otherwise, I will find a great big producer to invest and let him manage all the small producers. That's what I said to my brother Roland Bates. "Speaking of Barbara's eldest son, he used the thumb of his left hand to draw a big figure, and a few fingers of his right hand drew a bunch of small figures.

"You're a cool guy and a smart guy, Ronald. When you come to Texas, I'll serve you with the best beer and barbecue, all large, hahaha." The other party gestured clearly to himself Investment plan, very satisfied.

   Ronald was infected by this Texas cowboy-style blind fun, and laughed too.

  …

"Very good, your ideas are very creative and very in line with the characteristics of the film industry. Little George, others say that being a director is just borrowing your influence, only I know that you are a very wise person at Yale... …”

Roland Bates, the founder of the    Screen Fund, was very surprised when he heard George Jr. calling and talking about his investment strategy. This idea coincides with my own, investing in producers instead of scripts and creators.

   Investors should not delusionally know how to do business better than practitioners. As long as they identify the position responsible for the profit and loss of the project in the industry and find the right person, they can be one step ahead and get a good return on investment.

"I have a similar idea as you, but you go a step further with your idea of ​​finding a big producer to invest in. The most successful executive in Hollywood over the past decade is Michael Eisner from Paramount, and we just have to work with him. Bundled together, there is a considerable benefit anyway.”

"Haha, I'm very happy. As a director, I can put forward my own opinions." Little George is also very happy over the phone. He can be recognized by others as a director, much happier than being treated as a mascot in an oil company. . "

"I have a good friend who is a rising star in the industry introduced to me by my mother. These opinions are based on his ideas. After your second installment of the screen fund is sold out, don't forget him, he directed several Movies are very popular, and the return on investment is more than ten times."

   "Who?" Roland Bates didn't care about specific projects, but George Jr. instructed him to always remember.

   "Ronald Lee, his ancestors, like mine, can be traced back to the Mayflower," Barbara's eldest son boasted triumphantly.

   "Is that so?" Roland Bates was shocked. Could he be one of those blue blood nobles? Why don't you do finance and defense industry, and go to be an artist? "Don't worry, I will personally explain to Eisner."

  …

   "Ronald, Michael Eisner called me personally to thank you." Two days later, the agent Nisita found Ronald to announce the good news.

"Eisner personally promised that when he officially takes over Paramount, the project of the plane will be yours. You will pay as much as you want, whoever you want, whoever you want, the director of photography, the art director, whoever you want to use. .

   There are also celebrities who have an appointment with Paramount, just pick them. Even if you want to play Jack Nicholson, or Warren Beatty, the male lead, try to convince you. From actresses to the most popular **** star Kathryn Turner, down to the unknown young actors on Broadway, you can find anyone you like, you want to fuck..."

  Nisita didn't say what happened next, but looked at Ronald up and down. How can someone with great energy suddenly come to support this client? Was it really as Paula Wagner guessed that he had found his father's family, a Mayflower passenger in the same vein as the deputy commander's family?

   "Yale University, Mayflower, New England, Wall Street, private equity funds, 200 million", all kinds of elements pop up in the broker's mind, it is not impossible.

   "Mr. Eisner? I have no friendship with him?" Ronald was confused.

"Several CAA partners have rumored that after he takes over as Barry Diller's president and CEO, he will get a big investment from Wall Street, and for at least the next two years, there will be no shortage of Paramount projects under his leadership. money."

   "Oh..." Ronald realized, "Since this is the case, then the script of that fighter can be carefully considered."

   I didn't expect Barbara's son to be so powerful. Since there is no cap on resources, it will be easier to handle.

"Jane, the person you introduced is really good. Roland Bates's mother called me and praised little George badly. He said that he has a brain, understands business, and most importantly understands the essence of management, Not to manage specific things, but to manage people.

  I'm really happy, he's been in the oil company for so long, all I've heard is negative news, now Laura can rest assured. "

  The silver-haired Barbara told her old friend Jane Morgan about her happiness on the phone. Although the eldest son is not good, now it seems that he is finally qualified to be a nominal executive.

   "Who's calling?" Weintraub asked his wife Morgan when he got home.

   "It's Barbara. He complimented Ronald. His eldest son is doing well this time. She will agree to let him be the director of the Screen Fund."

   "Oh, the screen fund?" Weintraub thought of the legendary $200 million production fund. If it weren't for Colombia already having a similar Delphi fund, I would be jealous of this kind of money that only invests money and doesn't interfere with production.

   "I'm going to Las Vegas, and the owner of MGM, Kerkorian, asked me."

   "Don't forget, if you see a blond woman in the MGM Hotel, you can pull it into bed if it suits you, one million dollars at a time." Jane Morgan said sourly.

   "Honey, I'm just going to talk." Weintraub broke out in a cold sweat.

   (end of this chapter)