Chapter 212: Dug

With the previous cooperation as the basis, the negotiations with the Mountain Foundation went very smoothly. Shahai Entertainment signed the director contract before Lun Wiseman and announced the official launch of the "Underworld" project, and then introduced the Firefighter Fund as the first Three parties guarantee the completion of the film, thus solving the prerequisites for investment by the Mountain Foundation.
　　 Immediately, the Mountain Foundation and Shahai Entertainment signed an investment agreement to invest US$16 million in the "Underworld" crew. The various conditions of the contract are almost the same as the investment in "The Bourne".
　　 Ronan also solved the most critical funding problem of "Underworld". The remaining 4 million US dollars of funds will be solved by Shahai Entertainment by borrowing from Relativity Entertainment.
　　 After the two parties signed the agreement, Ronan held a special reception banquet.
　　 At the banquet, Laksh-Roshan made some observations and asked Ronan: "Why didn't you see Payaka Chopra?"
　　 "She is preparing for filming." Ronan replied casually.
　　 Laksh-Roshan had a guess, he should be like most people, and after the freshness, he will get tired.
　　 Shahai Entertainment and Ronan are important investment lines that the Mountain Foundation has finally caught up in Hollywood. In order to show sincerity, Laksh-Roshan whispered: "When will Ronan go to Mumbai again?"
　　 Ronan didn’t know what Laksh-Roshan meant, and said, "I will definitely visit again when I have time."
　　 Laksh-Roshan would be wrong, thinking Ronan understood what he meant, and said with a smile: "Wait for you to go to Mumbai again, I will arrange to make sure you are satisfied."
　　 Hearing this, Ronan instantly knew what he meant. He just smiled. He can't refuse the sincerity of his partners, right?
　　 Last time, he did feel the sincerity of Roshan's uncle and nephew. Given the lower social status of Indian women, it is estimated that this time the sincerity will not be bad.
　　 Sure enough, the Indians are sincere.
　　 Laksh-Roshan thought about it, what are the young and beautiful female stars in India? Since we have to give some sincerity, this sincerity must be sufficient.
　　 Ros Khan's uncle and nephew contacted PricewaterhouseCoopers and hired them to continue to serve as financial supervisors, and then left Los Angeles.
Shahai Entertainment’s preparations for "Dark Night" are also proceeding rapidly, and people of various occupations are recruiting. After several projects, the production company has accumulated enough experience in this area and created a set An effective mode of operation.
　　 Commercial films operate according to a model that has been successful several times, with relatively low risks.
　　 Ronan also made contact with Angelina Jolie and Kate Beckinsale, the former is filming "Tomb Raider", there is no schedule for the time being, and the $8 million offer is too high.
　　 This offer can only allow Ronan to assign Angelina Jolie as a candidate.
But Kate Beckinsale’s offer is also not low. "Pearl Harbor" has been filmed. Although it has not yet been released, the qualifications of the leading actress in a major production are enough to make Kate Beckinsale's remuneration increase. ten times.
　　 Kate Beckinsale’s agent asks for $5 million, which is a hundred times more than her pay for starring in "Pearl Harbor".
　　 This top commercial production directed by Michael Bay, Kate Beckinsale’s heroine is only paid $50,000.
　　 Of course, this is also in line with Kate Beckinsale's previous worth.
　　 Not to mention the $50,000 salary, even if the crew is given $50,000, there are countless actresses rushing to be the heroine.
Ronan asked Kate Beckinsale to continue negotiations. As a producer and production company owner, for Ronan, Kate Beckinsale is not worth $5 million. The actress’s The commercial appeal is limited, and most commercial movies starred in previous lives are ultimately fate.
　　According to Ronan's most ideal plan, the heroine of this series should be paid less than 2 million US dollars, and can also sign a trilogy at one time.
　　 "Pearl Harbor" has not been released yet. As the heroine, Kate Beckinsale is in full swing. If you can't talk about it, you have to change someone else.
　　The same can be said. Ronan would rather hire Angelina Jolie as the heroine for $8 million than Kate Beckinsale who is paid $5 million.
　　 The latter is far worse than Angelina Jolie in terms of commercial value or topicality.
　　 Ronan made three-handed preparations, looking for other suitable actresses, continuing to negotiate with Kate Beckinsale, while maintaining contact with Angelina Jolie.
　　 After Ros Khan's uncle and nephew returned to Mumbai, the first 5 million US dollars was quickly paid, and Shahai Entertainment borrowed 4 million US dollars from Relativity Entertainment to ensure that the project started immediately.
In fact, Shahai Entertainment’s investment does not cost $4 million. "Underworld" is nominally based on Nancy Collins’ short story "Monster Love". The copyright fee for buying this novel is naturally calculated into the cost. .
　　 Nowadays, the number of projects produced by Shahai Entertainment is gradually increasing, and the amount of funds required is also increasing. Attracting investment has solved most of the production funding problems.
　　 In fact, there is another way to attract funds, Ronan has not used it, and that is the movie pre-sale.
　　 To put it simply, before a movie has been shot and produced, the corresponding screening rights of the movie are sold to overseas agencies, who obtain copyright funds from them and invest in preparation, shooting and production.
　　 This is also the risk of passing on other people's money to make movies.
　　 The existence of a third-party completion guarantee is a guarantee for pre-sale.
　　 Pre-sales require overseas distribution channels. The pre-sales of some independent film companies’ films are pre-sold through the distribution company’s channels.
, But it is difficult to attract overseas agents for general movie projects.
　　 If you want overseas agents to pay in advance, you must show them profitability.
　　 Large companies, big productions, well-known directors, and star actors are all necessary conditions for pre-sales.
Embassy Pictures has just opened up overseas distribution channels, and Shahai Entertainment is also in its infancy. Apart from "The Bourne", there are no other mainstream commercial film projects, and there are investors investing, so Ronan has not considered using pre-sales for the time being. Way of financing.
　　, such as future investment big production, pre-sale is a necessary financing method.
　　 On the other hand, after Ronan and Katzenberg’s long-term contact, DreamWorks Animation Studio is finally ready to cooperate with Embassy Pictures.
　　 The continuous success of "Human Clear Project 2" overseas has a little dispelled the doubts of DreamWorks Animation Studios management.
　　 One month after the horror-thriller movie was released, the North American box office totaled 95.5 million US dollars, the overseas box office was 61.38 million US dollars, and the global box office exceeded 150 million US dollars.
　　Especially the overseas box office of 61.38 million U.S. dollars is enough to prove the ability of the Embassy Pictures' overseas distribution network.
In addition, Embassy Pictures is distributed in overseas offices around the world, and also sent an offline distribution contract back to its Los Angeles headquarters, including DVDs, video tapes, TV networks, new media copyrights, and other venues distribution copyrights. Down the channel.
　　In just one month, the overseas distribution network of Embassy Pictures won an offline distribution contract worth more than 25 million US dollars.
Ronan sent personnel from the Oriental Office to two locations in Wenwu and Wu, where they visited some local manufacturers and reached a preliminary cooperation intention. Under the same circumstances as the DreamWorks Animation Studio, they took out the history Related samples of Lake, Fiona, Donkey and Fire-breathing Dragon.
　　 This also dispelled the last doubts of Katzenberg and DreamWorks Animation Studios.
　　On the issue of animated feature films alone, Embassy Pictures really can’t compare with Walt Disney, but it’s not inferior to the other five companies that are also in the initial stages of animated feature films.
　　 And the distribution of Embassy Pictures is less, and the cooperation with DreamWorks Animation Studio is more equal.
　　 Not long after Thanksgiving, Embassy Pictures organized a negotiating team and started formal release negotiations with DreamWorks Animation Studios.
　　 Of course, DreamWorks Animation Studio will not venture into it. It just talks with Embassy Pictures about the overseas release of "Shrek", and other animated feature films will not be involved for the time being.
　　 Katzenberg’s attitude is very clear, first look at the release effect of "Shrek", and then decide whether it is a long-term cooperation.
　　 The last time Ronan went to DreamWorks Animation Studio, I heard Katzenberg mentioned that the creative team of DreamWorks Animation Studio is planning a story about African animals.
　　 This also caught Ronan's attention, but there was no time.
"Generally speaking, the negotiations are very smooth." Garcia Rodriguez, who was in charge of the negotiations, said: "But I heard about one thing~EbookFREE.me~Kasenberg and Spielberg are because of our There were some disputes about the cooperation."
　　 Ronan nodded: "Don't worry, with Katzenberg here, Spielberg can't change his decision to go to DreamWorks Animation Studios."
　　 The split power structure of the DreamWorks Group also gave Ronan and the Embassy Pictures opportunities.
García Rodríguez said at this time: "The people in the live-action film department of DreamWorks had contacted me and wanted to dig me to their side. Ronan, we must pay attention, they must have contacted other people. , Can’t acquire our overseas distribution channels, people who want to dig us.

　　 Ronan said: "Just keep your eyes on it. If the personnel from the non-critical departments leave, you don't have to stop them as long as they pay the penalty."
　　 The Embassy Pictures has signed contracts with the employees and managers of key departments, and must not engage in related industries within three years after resignation.
　　 It is inevitable to dig people like this. As long as there is no job-hopping of the whole department, Ronan is not worried about some individuals transferring to other companies.
　　 After nearly a year of preparation and adjustment of the overseas distribution network, it is no longer impossible to operate without someone.
　　 DreamWorks is not nothing. When Embassy Pictures signed the contract with DreamWorks Animation Studios, four people from Embassy Pictures transferred to DreamWorks’ live-action film department after the other party had paid the full liquidated damages.
　　 But the manpower is not enough for DreamWorks to build an overseas distribution network.