Hollywood Hunter

"Lola Run" was a blessing in disguise, and in the eyes of many people, it was almost the North American box office champion in 1987.

but.

Simon found that he has become more and more inclined to the poor ghost.

During this period of time, renting a luxury house, hiring Pat Kingsley, signing Amy Pascal, maintaining Daenerys Films, and even responding to the various expenses of public opinion storms, these all cost a lot of money. .

Now, not to mention Simon's own pocket, even Janet's little purse is completely clean. The more than 50,000 dollars saved from shooting "Lola Run" was used up in various expenditures.

On the other hand, although it is expected to have tens of millions of dollars in revenue, the North American box office share of "Lola Run" needs to be settled after the film is off-stage, and the distribution rights of other channels still in hand do not know when it will be realized. .

then.

Simon still has a lot of bills.

The rent of the luxury house is owed, Jinsli’s commission is owed, and Amy’s basic salary is also owed. Even after Amy’s employment, she wants to hire an assistant for herself. She temporarily pays her own money. The woman still complains about it. It's Simon.

Now, it is extremely urgent for Simon to get a sum of money as soon as possible.

In fact, Simon had already ordered Janet last month to take Daenerys Pictures and Orion’s "Lola Run" release contract to the bank for mortgage evaluation.

However, compared with the $100,000 loan that was borrowed from Wells Fargo Bank by relying on the "Butterfly Effect" script contract, Simon applied for tens of millions of dollars this time, so it is naturally impossible to get it overnight.

Only the preliminary review of all aspects of the materials was carried out for a full month, and then Simon encountered this public opinion storm again, considering the risks involved, several banks simply rejected Simon's loan application.

In the end, it was Wells Fargo that remained.

Los Angeles.

Inside the cliff mansion of Palisades.

After evaluation, Wells Fargo finally gave only a loan line of 20 million US dollars, which is US$ 10 million lower than the expected contractual share of the two Simons.

However, 20 million US dollars is definitely not a small amount.

Due to the huge loan amount, Wells Fargo specifically dispatched a senior vice president named Paul Olsen to personally conduct the most critical customer visit process in the loan review with Simon and Janet.

Paul Olson was about forty years old, brown hair, square face, and a gentle appearance. Although he was a very talkative person in private, he became meticulous and even a little stiff when he officially started working.

at this time.

In the study in the mansion, three people are sitting on the sofa in the reception area.

With a folder in his hand, Paul Olsen asked all the questions in the routine list word by word. Turning the conversation, he fixed his eyes on Simon and Janet, and said again: "Mr. Westeros, Johns Miss Dun, I must ask both of you to confirm again that the loan you applied for is for personal consumption only and will never be used for illegal operations such as movie investment, right?"

the third time.

Simon whispered secretly in his heart, but he nodded without hesitation and said, "Yes."

Janet echoed the answer stubbornly.

"Then, I need to reiterate again, Mr. Westeros, Miss Johnston, we will regularly track the loan flow of the two. Once we find that the two have used this loan for investment in movies and other irregularities, Wells Fargo will have The right to withdraw the loan in advance. Moreover, the credit history of the two will also be seriously affected."

Simon and Janet both had stiff smiles on their faces and nodded mechanically together.

"In that case," Paul Olsen finally closed the folder in his hand, smiled, and stood up and said: "It's nice to meet both of you, and I hope we have a good cooperation."

Simon and Janet finally relaxed, got up quickly, and shook hands with Paul Olsen.

After leaving Paul Olsen, Simon returned to the living room of the villa and lay down on the sofa a little tired. Janet also leaned in with an exhausted look, and her soft body was lying on Simon.

Simon put his arms around the woman's slender waist, looked at the ceiling, and sighed, "Finally I got the money."

Janet responded weakly, "Yes."

Simon arbitrage the money in advance, the ultimate goal is to use the stock index futures in the second half of the year, but this kind of thing is definitely not to be said.

Anyone with a bit of common sense knows that banks will never provide loans to borrowers with such intentions, even with collateral.

However, a loan application of up to 20 million US dollars always requires legitimate loan requirements.

After some consultation, the two filled in the ‘personal consumption’ column in the loan demand column in the original application, and the repayment period was one year.

Many Hollywood stars often apply for huge loans from banks for the purpose of consumption.

Since personal consumption is usually the purchase of real objects such as luxury houses and famous cars, even if the borrower cannot repay the loan for some reason, the bank can recover this part of the asset to make up for the loss. Therefore, this is a very legitimate reason for borrowing.

However, Simon's application still caused Wells Fargo's doubts.

Mainly the amount is too large.

Even if Simon and Janet can spend a lot, the huge sum of 20 million dollars is definitely not a small amount of money that can be easily spent.

The two even made up an excuse for wanting to buy a private jet, but they still failed to convince Wells Fargo.

Private jets can be installed in installments. Regal people usually choose to purchase private jets in installments, which also does not cost so much money.

Considering Simon's identity, Wells Fargo is easy to think that he is more likely to want to use the money to invest in movies.

The risk of movie investment is no less than that of stocks and futures.

Under normal circumstances, banks will not approve this type of loan.

Of course, this cannot be said to be absolute. After the establishment of the former Orion, Mike Medova and others directly obtained a credit line of US$200 million from a bank in New York.

However, although "Lola Run" box office is a big hit, but because there is only one movie that has won the box office, Simon obviously can't enjoy the same treatment as Orion.

So there was the process that Paul Olsen repeatedly reminded or warned Simon.

If Wells Fargo knew Simon’s true intentions, maybe even today’s conversation would not be possible.

Moreover, accidentally being discovered during operation in the future will be a big trouble.

Anyway.

I can't manage that much for the time being.

This is actually the case with a loan. There are not many people who are completely honest after getting the money.

Otherwise, the bank would not have so many bad debts.

He took a deep breath and relaxed, thinking that the money would not be available until next week at the earliest, Simon was still a little worried, and his arms around Janet tightened, saying: "Baby, there is still no money now, or we will next How about saving a little and eating only two meals a day?"

Janet rubbed her cheek on Simon's chest and said, "I'm afraid I'm hungry. Eat three meals. You're done."

Simon nodded: "Well, I understand."

"what?"

"You count as one meal, so there are two meals."

"Hmm, or I call Kate too."

"Ok?"

"She counts as one meal, so it's three more meals."

"Good girl from the Federation, come, let me kiss."

"Bah, bastard."

After a little laughter, the two fell silent again.

Simon began to sort out all the recent things again. The most curious thing in his mind was where the ABC cassette came from.

Thinking carefully about the situation that day, Simon still can't remember who recorded the video.

Moreover, I made a few calls and deliberately rushed to the ABC headquarters to inquire while in New York, but also did not get an answer. ABC's response was that the video provider requested that the source be kept secret, and I don't know why.

Today is already March 24, Tuesday.

The storm cleared.

Yesterday, Simon finally officially signed a contract with Fox Pictures for "Reaper Is Coming".

The budget funds provided by Fox for the film will also arrive next week, and it is not a one-time payment. With a total budget of 8 million U.S. dollars, the first tranche was only 500,000 U.S. dollars, which was used in the early stage of the project, such as casting and viewing.

In addition, Orion Pictures has begun to talk about Simon's next film, and it needs to start recently.

Both of these projects are well established,

The last film in Simon's Project, "When Harry Meets Sally" by Nora Efron, is still hanging in the air.

In fact, Simon has not completely won the script.

Although due to the failure of the last "Fire of Heart" and the rather alternative story structure of "When Harry Meets Sally", no film company is interested in this script for the time being. But during the first contact, Nora Efron said that if Daenerys Pictures wants to buy the script, it must come up with a feasible production plan.

Obviously, Nora Efron is worried that Daenerys Pictures is just an empty shell, completely incapable of production, but wants to stock up on her own script.

It is very common for Hollywood to hoard scripts, and film companies often even buy exclusive rights to scripts for several years. If the production is put into production during the contract period, then the screenwriter will be paid for the follow-up remuneration. If the project is still not started after the expiration, the script copyright will automatically return to the screenwriter.

The box office of "When Harry Meets Sally" was even the most secure of the three films in Simon’s preliminary plan. His original consideration was that if there is really no investor, he would simply do it himself. Invest in this movie.

but now.

If you want this movie to be released in the summer next year, then the project must also start immediately.

Therefore, all the problems returned to a starting point.

money!

Nothing can be done without money.

Moreover, after estimation, the investment in "When Harry Meets Sally" may still be the highest among the three planned movies, even reaching 15 million US dollars.

In all fairness, Simon really does not want to invest in this movie himself.

Although the expected benefits of "Lola Run" are quite large, he hopes to invest the money in other goals with greater potential for value-added.

After thinking about it for a while, Simon patted Janet and said, "Get up, wait for dinner with Medoc, are you going?"

Janet gave a little ah, nodding her head.

Now that the North American box office potential of "Lola Run" has been determined, the issue of other channels for the film's distribution must also be put on the agenda. Since the North American theater distribution contract was signed with Orion, Orion will naturally enjoy the priority of distribution rights for the remaining channels of the film.

Simon's plan is to sell all other issuance rights at one time, so that a sum of funds can be obtained as soon as possible for the operation of stock index futures and other investments in the second half of the year.

However, with the North American box office scale of "Lola Run", the film's overseas distribution rights, video tape distribution rights and subsequent TV broadcast rights, the profit scale is at least twice that of the North American box office.

Simon is not clear about the subsequent sharing agreements signed by Orion and other theaters, but even if the average is only calculated based on a five-to-five share, "Lola Run" is expected to bring a total share of 100 million to Orion and Daenerys Pictures. Dollar.

Relative to the insignificant investment in production and publicity, this $100 million is almost a net profit.

Based on this reference, the remaining channels are issued with a profit scale of at least US$200 million.

According to the profit distribution rules of the North American box office and other channels of "Rola Run", Simon may be able to make a sell-off offer of $60 million.

60 million US dollars, even if it is a huge sum of money for the Big Seven, Orion Pictures naturally can't afford it.

Therefore, for the remaining distribution channels, Simon wants to complete the sell-off operation in a short time, but he can only sell them separately.

However, due to contract restrictions, Simon must first obtain Orion's consent before doing so.