American fame and fortune

Amidst the wave of public opinion criticizing Johnny Depp, a piece of news in the media did not attract much attention.

Annapurna Pictures declared bankruptcy less than three years after its establishment.

Due to default on bank loans, the company's assets were applied for preservation by the bank. Among them, the most valuable part was the copyright of several films.

The three films that have been completed include "The Lone Ranger" and "Transcendence" which were released, as well as "The Seventh Son" which could not find a suitable distributor.

One film currently in post-production is "Lights Out" directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

In addition, Megan Ellison’s bank loan involved amounted to US$250 million.

It is very difficult for ordinary people, even ordinary billionaires, to pay back this money.

Megan Ellison also has no such ability.

At this time, the advantage of having a good father came to the fore. Larry Ellison personally took action to settle Megan Ellison's debt.

But the condition is that Megan Ellison must leave Hollywood and return to San Francisco.

Even a billionaire can't stand the sinkhole dug by such a lofty daughter. He can fill it up once, but he will vomit blood again.

This also corresponds to the saying that the super rich are not afraid of their children eating, drinking and having fun, but they are afraid that their children will make progress and start a business.

In another world that Martin experienced, Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures followed the Oscar-winning route and was the most successful awards season company after Weinstein Pictures. It received 52 Oscar nominations alone. item.

But the Oscars are no longer the Oscars of the 1980s and 1990s. It is no longer possible to win awards just for the taste of old white men. In the LGBT era that has rapidly evolved, the films that the Oscars appreciate are completely divorced from the majority of the audience and basic market rules.

Behind Annapurna Pictures' triumph at the Oscars was a complete commercial failure.

An award-winning film often costs tens of millions of dollars, but even if it gets several Oscar nominations, the box office will only be a few million dollars.

Arts awards don't keep studio companies alive.

The Annapurna Pictures of this world chose the business path, but fell into the huge pit of Johnny Depp.

Megan Ellison came out of the office building foyer and got into the car. After the car drove not far, she said, "Stop."

Derrett, who was driving, stopped the car.

Megan Ellison lowered the car window and looked at the Annapurna Films office building opposite. After leaving today, it would be difficult to come back.

Several commercial vehicles suddenly stopped at the entrance of the office building. A group of people led by Judith got out and took over the small building.

Megan Ellison turned back abruptly and said, "Let's go."

The car drove towards the airport, and Larry Ellison sent a private plane to Los Angeles to take Megan Ellison back to San Francisco.

As she was approaching the airport, Megan Ellison received a message about the bank.

After the bank took over the few remaining assets of Annapurna Pictures, it announced that it was preparing to sell the rights to "The Seventh Son" and "The Hunt for Lights."

For banks, there is no point in keeping the film if it does not cash in.

…………

Burbank Davis Studio.

Harris Carter had just returned to Los Angeles from New York and immediately came over to see Martin.

The several-month acquisition and sale journey was very fruitful.

"Hi, Boo." Harris said hello to Bruce first, then pulled out a chair and sat across from Martin. He took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to Martin: "All the details and documents are in it. "

Martin opened it and flipped through it.

Harris briefly introduced: "During this period, I used various shells to purchase many of Depp's assets at low prices, including Depp's ocean-view villa in Malibu, the super apartment occupying the entire top floor of the Columbia Building, and the apartment on New York's Upper East Side. A duplex apartment, a villa in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, a wine estate in Bordeaux, and that antique ketch.”

Martin nodded slowly, these are worth a lot of money.

Harris added: "We are not the only ones who are eyeing Depp, there are also some businessmen. Depp's hillside villa in Beverly, the castle in London, the farm in Kentucky, as well as his collection of famous wines and many arts The luxury goods and classic cars fell into the hands of others.”

“It’s pretty good to win these,” Martin said.

Harris said with a smile: "We were the first to get the news, as well as Depp's asset details, and we kept an eye on them, so we had some advantages."

Bruce also participated in this acquisition and investment, so he was inevitably curious and asked: "What have been sold now?"

Harris introduced: "The antique two-masted yacht was sold to JK Rowling, the villa in the 16th arrondissement of Paris was sold to French actress Léa Seydoux, the wine estate in Bordeaux was sold to an Eastern star, and the Columbia Building The penthouse was sold to Sandra Bullock for a total profit of $25.77 million."

He paused slightly and added: "We are currently negotiating with a singer about the transaction of a duplex apartment in New York's Upper East Side; several wealthy people from South Asia are interested in purchasing a sea-view villa in Malibu, and we are still discussing the details."

Martin nodded: "You moved quickly, thank you for your hard work."

As the actual manager, Harris received additional compensation in addition to the shareholding.

The two were chatting, and Bruce's cell phone rang. He took it out, looked at it, and added: "The latest news is that the bank has fully taken over Annapurna Pictures and is preparing to sell off Annapurna Pictures' assets."

He looked at Martin: "Including "Seventh Son", and "Lights Out" which Kathryn Bigelow is currently in post-production on."

Martin directly told Harris: "You contact the bank and try to buy these two films. The maximum price of "Seventh Son" is 30 million US dollars. If the price exceeds this price, you will give up."

Being dragged down by "The Lone Ranger" and "Transcendence", it is difficult for "The Seventh Son" to find a distributor to enter theaters on a large scale, and its profit prospects are not optimistic.

Even if a distributor is found, it is impossible for the distributor to invest too many resources in this film.

Martin’s goal is Netflix, and he is still confident that he will sell it to Netflix for US$40 million.

Harris took note.

Martin recalled the situation related to "Lights Out". In his previous life, the heroine of this film was Jessica Chastain. Because he had a few inserts in it, Jessica Chastain rejected Megan Ellison. Invitation, I didn't accept this role at all.

The director was James Cameron's ex-wife Kathryn Bigelow, but after "The Hunt", Martin did not remember Kathryn Bigelow directing other works.

From this aspect, the film's profit prospects are not good.

Martin called Jessica and asked Jessica to check. The production cost of "Lights Out" was US$40 million. He said to Harris: "For another one, the highest bid will not exceed US$20 million."

Harris said: "When these kind of bad assets are realized, banks usually sell them below cost. I stayed in Los Angeles during this period to deal with these businesses in Los Angeles."

Martin was not polite to him either: "Okay, let's act quickly."

Harris didn't stay long, left the studio, and contacted his subordinates to make preparations.

Martin immediately left the office, crossed the overpass spanning ABC TV and Disney Studios, entered Disney Studios, and prepared to go to the "La La Land" studio to rehearse singing and dancing.

There will be a lot of singing and dancing scenes in this film. If you want to achieve the best results, you will need to practice hard in the early stage.

Before entering the piano room, Martin suddenly received a call from overseas.

"Hello, is this Mr. Davis?" he asked cautiously.

Martin said: "Hello, I am Martin."

The other side quickly introduced himself: "I am Clara, Mr. Davis, do you remember me? Last year you came to Seoul for the premiere, and Samsung held a grand welcome party for you and Director Ridley Scott. I was also present at the time, and when you left the party, I exchanged contact information with you.”

Martin had almost forgotten about it, but after her reminder, he remembered it.

I remember that she once came to the United States to study and could speak fluent English.

Martin said: "I remember you, a beautiful lady... Well, do you have anything to do with me?"

There was surprise in Clara's voice: "My contract with the agency here has expired, and I have encountered some difficulties in signing another contract. I want to go to Hollywood to try my luck. I don't know anyone else in Hollywood, so I had to call you."

Martin understood what these words meant as soon as he heard them. Without certain connections, even if many star actors from other countries came to Hollywood, it would be difficult to find suitable opportunities, not to mention someone with a low reputation like Clara.

He thought about it for a while and said: "The brokerage company I work for, WMA, has opened a branch in East Asia. You can join WMA and develop business outside your home country."

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Bangzi’s showbiz world is a place of slavery. Clara had the opportunity to jump out and go to Hollywood without any hesitation: “Martin, I will listen to you.”

Martin gave Clara a phone call: "If you want to join the WMA and contact this person, do this first."

The two hung up the phone.

Martin entered the studio and happened to meet director Damien Chazelle.

The latter stopped Martin and talked about an incident in the casting process: "Some time ago, Katherine Daddario came to the crew to audition and passed the audition for the role of Alexis. Mia was also accompanied by I have some thoughts on the choice of actors for the two supporting roles.”

Martin nodded: "Just say it."

Damien Chazelle said: "For the other two roles, I think it is best to choose a black actress, a Latina or other ethnic actress, so that the film can avoid some criticism."

Martin certainly understands that this is a developing trend across the United States, and it is becoming more and more obvious now.

It doesn’t matter which ethnic actor is cast in the latter, but there must be a black actress.

Martin agreed: "Okay."

Damien Chazelle said: "I'm going to say hello to the casting team."

Martin went directly to the piano room, waited until the piano and dance practice was over, and received a call from Alexandrovich.

This guy just rushed back to Los Angeles from Europe, so he came over immediately.