Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 666 $300 Million Financing

   A new year has arrived and Ronald is back in Hollywood.

   Little Bud took time off to stay at home with his family and girlfriend, while Ronald called a taxi home by himself. Arriving in West Hollywood, where the apartment is located, Ronald simply told the driver to stop. He found a new storefront near the apartment with a sign that said the videotape for rent.

   Ronald walked in and saw that the store took up a corner position, and the signboard could be seen by the crowd on both roads. The rent of such a store is the most expensive. It seems that the business of video tapes has been good recently, and a good location can be rented.

  The rental shop is full of racks for videotapes. Ronald found some old classics around the corner. He asked the shopkeeper to get a basket and threw the videotapes into it one by one.

   "Actually, you don't have to pick up all the videotapes at once. The rental rate of classic movies is not high. You can borrow new ones every time you come and pay them back."

   "I'm a student of the directing department, and I have to do my homework." Ronald made a fool of himself.

   "It's up to you, ordinary video recorders can't rip anyway." The shop owner didn't care either.

   "Oh? Why?" Ronald asked him reflexively.

"Hey, otherwise how can we make money by running a rental store? Congress passed legislation that all VCRs sold in America have anti-copying devices. If these VCRs are put into the VCR and copied to a blank tape, they will automatically trigger and record. The picture flickered on and off, making it impossible to see at all.”

  The owner looked at Ronald, thinking that I have seen many young people like this, and they all want to borrow it back and rip it at one time, and then don’t have to pay the rental fee of a few dollars for a rental.

   "That's good." Ronald didn't put the videotape back on the shelf as the shop owner thought, but continued to observe the rest of the shelves of movies shot in recent years, and put them in when he saw the good ones.

   "This is the counter for sale, $99 a plate." The shopkeeper reminded Ronald as he saw Ronald put the latest videotapes in a cloth bag.

   "Can you pay by credit card here?"

   "Of course", the owner suddenly realized that he is a real movie enthusiast.

  Ronald then went to the store, and on one wall, he found a lot of videotape titles and actors that he had never heard of.

   "What movie is this? Why haven't I seen it?" Ronald picked up a video with an actress in a swimsuit on the cover called "Orange Is the New Black 6" and asked the owner.

   "This is a good film. It did not go through the screen distribution channel, but directly recorded a videotape."

   Ronald put it back on the shelf, it turned out to be this shoddy movie, like the old drive-in exploits.

   took a load of videotapes and settled the bill, Ronald went back to the apartment. He picked up the VCR that he had bought before Sony sued Universal, and recorded it experimentally.

   Sure enough, none of the video recorders before this had an anti-piracy function.

The next day, Ronald called his agent Richard and asked him to help him rip all the classic old movies and send them to the film studio in Xujiahui, and let Director Huang and their young assistant directors have some Opportunity to be exposed to the latest Hollywood techniques.

   "Meinahan Golan came to see you several times during the festival. Would you like to see him if you have time?" Richard picked up his notebook and talked with Ronald item by item.

   "Exactly, I'm looking for him too." Ronald thought of Diane. Now I am in a position of incompetence.

  If you want to make a suitable movie, you can play a role of Diane above the main supporting role. However, the box office performance must be considered, and Diane cannot be rigidly assigned to play the leading role.

  What if you want to make a movie with Diane as the main character? Financial resources are not enough.

   It happens that the Cannon Films in Meinahan has gradually become the company with the largest number of movies produced in Hollywood.

   Last year made 17 movies, more than Paramount and Warner Bros.

   "Ronald, you are welcome." Minahan hugged Ronald, who came to visit, in high spirits.

   "Next year, next year, I will be able to host you in the brand new Cannon Films building." Minahan pointed to a construction site opposite and said to Ronald Homai.

   "Oh, it seems that your business is very good." Ronald thought, as expected of a Jew, the office building has not been built yet, and the first floor of the office has been reserved.

However, Cannon is now making waves in the European pre-sale market. In addition to Jean-Luc Godard of the hair country, he recently signed the famous Italian director Franco Zeffirelli with his help and returned to Hollywood to shoot operas. The movie "Othello".

   "Hahaha, it's all thanks to your breakdance, this is our cannon, it's me Minahan himself, the beginning of my success in Hollywood, I'll never forget this friendship, Ronald."

   Ronald waved his hand modestly, and was about to ask for a role for Diane.

   "How about we work together again?"

   "Cough cough..." Ronald coughed a few times to cover up, and put down the coffee brought by the secretary. Why did Meinahan start making up his mind again? There's no way he's going back to making those low-budget movies.

   "Look, Ronald. You've only made two movies in the past year. Most of the time, you're on vacation. Why not put that time to good use?"

   "Being a director is very tiring, working every day..." Ronald was interrupted before he could finish.

"I found that Hollywood is a waste of quality resources. Look at you, look at Stallone, look at Schwarzenegger, you make one or two movies a year, and then... Bang... Either go to Hawaii or take a vacation to the Caribbean, You must know that in the golden age, a director, an actor, had to shoot at least three or four films every year.”

   "Directors today are different from the past. In addition to directing, they have to worry about casting, stars, rehearsal, editing, and many other things." Ronald found that Minahan was starting to get excited again, what happened to him?

"Last year, you recommended Goncharovsky, his director of 'Runaway Train', has been selected for the Golden Globe Award at the end of the month, and is very likely to win. I gave him two film contracts, and he will soon be with 'Music'. The heroine of The Voice, Julie Andrews is collaborating on a new film."

   "Oh..." Ronald found it hard to keep his mouth shut.

   "Quack..." Minahan noticed Ronald's expression, "You must think I invited you, or film those low-cost exploitative films, right?"

   "Huh?" Ronald raised his eyebrows. Cannonball still wants to make a big production?

   "I tell you, we did those big moves late last year." Minahan turned around and took a few documents from his desk.

   "This is an agreement between me and the owners of the Superman movie rights, the Salkind and Son, and I have bought the filming rights for the fourth Superman movie."

   "Huh?" Ronald looked up and down at Minahan, where did this fat Israeli man get so much money?

   "When the time comes, invite your girlfriend, that Helen Slater, to appear together in the fourth installment. The male and female supermen will destroy all nuclear weapons together and save the earth. How about it? Are you interested?"

Minahan chuckled, "No interest? It doesn't matter, I signed a seven-film contract with Chuck Norris, with a total salary of 25 million. I will give you more than 1,500 for any action movie you want to make. Invest. How?"

   "Chuck Norris can't act," Ronald muttered a few times.

   "Not interested? I'm going to discuss with Stallone here and sign him for Cannon to shoot. Do you want to direct him on the set? Let him listen to you obediently."

   "Can you sign him? Will he?" Ronald knew that Stallone was a popular action star. Holds "Rocky", and "First Blood" two best-selling series. For any one of them, the pay is five million dollars.

   "I can throw money at him! If five million is not enough, then eight million, if eight million is not enough, then ten million, twelve million, fifteen million. I don't believe he is not interested!"

   Ronald licked his lips, not to mention Stallone, I was tempted.

Minahan pointed to the construction site outside the window, "The Cannon Building we invested in will be completed next year. I also want to acquire a few European theater chains and an American cable TV station, whether it is distribution, pre-sale, filming, or even Video tapes, TV stations, we all have to get involved. In the future, Cannon will be a comprehensive entertainment entity.

   "Ronald, fight with us? I can give you the best. Just like Fox and John Ford."

   said that, Minahan looked over with piercing eyes and stretched out his hand to shake Ronald.

   "I have to think about it again, this is a big decision that needs to be discussed with the agent." Ronald reached out and shook his hand.

  …

   "Where did Meinahan get so much money? I even think he's crazy." Ronald returned to CAA's office and told his agent Nisita exactly what happened.

   "You don't know yet? Minahan's cannon, with the help of Wall Street mogul Michael Milken, raised $300 million in cash in junk bonds. Now the whole Hollywood is buzzing."

   “Junk bonds? What are those?”

   "I don't know either, but it's an extremely powerful financing method. Minahan is bold enough, and his ambitions are great."

   "Reliable? The name doesn't sound reliable, junk bonds?"

   "Wait, anyway, now everyone doesn't understand what he wants to do. Anyway, your Top Gun hasn't been released yet, so you have an excuse to delay it."

"Um…"

   Ronald felt that the knowledge structure of the broker also encountered a blind spot.

   "Lindsay, Lawrence, do you know what junk bonds are?" Ronald called his personal lawyer and accountant. All three received long-distance calls and had a conference call. "

"The meaning of junk, also called high-yield bonds, refers to the rating of corporate bonds. If the operating conditions are not good, then the rating agency will give a relatively poor rating, such as BBB, which is collectively referred to as junk bonds in the bond market. , usually the interest will be higher." Miss Lindsay explained to him.

   "I don't understand, since the rating is rubbish, how can anyone still buy it?"

"This is due to our great commander." Lawrence laughed, "Under the great command of the Federal Reserve, the Federal Reserve has implemented a low interest rate strategy for a long time. The recent Plaza Accord has caused the US dollar to depreciate significantly against the currencies of other G6 countries. This is an era of rare easing in history. A lot of liquidity has nowhere to go, and any corporate junk bond is worth investing in.”

   "Is that okay?"

   "Yes, a lot of money is looking for possible investment projects. Of course, projects like Cannonball need to be packaged and sold by high-level people. It was Wall Street's Milken who packaged bonds for them, and he is now called the king of junk bonds in the circle."

   "Is this money reliable?"

   "It's not reliable, the interest is very high, and it needs very high growth to cover the interest. And Milken's methods have always been barbaric. The companies he packaged have more or less whitewashing of financial statements, if not fraudulent."

   In the end, he was still young, and Douglas Hansen, a rich third-generation Jr. of Staten Island, gave him a solution.

"The interest cost of this money is very high. If it is used to invest in industries, it is difficult to find suitable projects. Therefore, most people use it to do leveraged buyouts, or to invest in the securities market, or to bet on the appreciation of the yen. ."

   "Looks like I have to be more cautious. I think Minahan is a little crazy."

   "Whoever has $300 million in cash is like that."

   (end of this chapter)