“This store is so big.”

Walking between the shelves, Ronan picked up a few German sausages and looked at them, put them back, and said to the blonde middle-aged woman next to him: "Auntie Helen, you told me that you opened a meat shop. I thought it was a pork shop, but it turned out to be a meat products supermarket."

The blonde woman named Helen laughed and said in English with a little awkward pronunciation: "So, come and help me."

Turning out of the shelves, Ronan Huan looked at a meat product supermarket of five or six hundred square meters. He had never seen so many sausages, pig's trotters and bacon.

Helen said deliberately: "I have nine stores like this in Berlin."

Ronan couldn't help laughing: "It turns out that my Aunt Helen is a rich female."

"How is it, isn't it?" Helen reiterated the old words: "Do you want to come to Germany to help me?"

Ronan shook his head: "A person like me is still suitable for developing in Hollywood."

Helen also heard Mrs. Anderson mention Hollywood, saying: "The film industry is too risky."

"Well, so I'm trying to avoid and reduce the risk." Ronan asked suddenly, "Aunt Helen, you have to pay a lot of taxes every year, right?"

Helen nodded gently: "Many. Germany is a country that has heavy taxes. Not to mention anything else, my personal income tax must be paid at a maximum of 51%. Although there are ways to avoid taxes legally, the amount of tax avoidance is very small."

Ronan joked: "This is the glory of paying taxes."

Helen laughed: "I would rather not have this honor." She asked with concern: "By the way, did your movie succeed?"

"It was successful, and the box office in North America was more than 50 million US dollars." Ronan thought for a while and said, "If I remember correctly, it will be released in Germany after the New Year. The film is called "Human Purge Plan".

Helen took Ronan to continue participating in the supermarket and said, "I will take Tony to see it."

Tony Koch is her son. He has just graduated from university for a short time and is engaged in finance in Munich.

The two of them walked around the meat products supermarket, then went to the office area on the second floor, came to Helen's office, chatted about the old Anderson couple who died unexpectedly, and talked about the interesting stories of little Anderson's childhood, basically remembering the bitterness and sweetness.

"Stay in Germany for Christmas, Tony will come back from Munich." Helen said suddenly, "You don't have any relatives when you go back to Los Angeles."

Ronan did not refuse: "Okay. I'm going to stay in Berlin for a while."

Helen asked curiously: "When you were talking on the phone, did you say you had a business to deal with? Are you going to make a movie in Germany?"

Ronan shook his head: "It's not a movie in Germany." He briefly explained: "It's going to sell two movie projects to a German film company."

The shooting and production of Hollywood movies is more of a technical issue, but the way the Hollywood film industry operates is a legal and financial issue.

Even if it is only the late 1990s, more than 90% of Hollywood movies will definitely lose money in terms of box office revenue, no matter how big the box office numbers seem.

Because filming in Hollywood has become very expensive, the investment in most movies, the funds consumed by shooting and distribution far exceed the box office revenue in theaters.

If you want the movie to be truly profitable, you must do everything possible to operate it.

An excellent producer must know how to operate a movie within a legal scope to make the most profit.

If Hollywood only made a living with the box office and relied on its own funds to shoot movies, all film companies, including the six major companies, would have closed down long ago.

Ronan's funds for filming "The Death is Coming" and "Ace Agents" will not come from him or Shahai Entertainment, all of which are raised from Abu Dhabi.

If it is operated, a considerable part of this budget can be converted into legal income from Shahai Entertainment without accounting.

That afternoon, Ronan met with the representative of Ram from Germany's TMG Film Company under the introduction of his lawyer Mueller who acted as an intermediary.

But the talks between the two sides were not going well, and even a little unpleasant.

"The tax refund fee is 60%?" Ronan did not hide his dissatisfaction at all, and wrote it on his face: "As far as I know, your cooperation with Paramount Pictures does not charge any handling fee!"

The man named Ram is a short man, with a very serious face on his face: "Mr. Anderson, I need to remind you that your Shahai Entertainment is not Paramount Pictures! Tmg has different policies to treat every customer. Paramount Pictures and Tmg are long-term partners. Your Shahai Entertainment is working with Tmc for the first time. We lack trust, and Tmg also has to take huge risks."

He emphasized: "We are responsible for investors!"

Compared with a large company, this small company has no human rights at all! Luo Nan couldn't help but complain in his heart.

But he didn't get angry, just as people were never equal, companies and companies could not be equal.

However, this German's stereotyped attitude made people feel a little uncomfortable to see.

Luo Nan smiled and said, "You are also charging investors for handling fees? Five percent, eight percent, or the highest fifteen percent?"

This tmg is worthy of being a successful film company, eating both ends.

Ram's face did not change: "This is a legal fee."

The stereotypical face is as thick as steel.

Ronan frowned slightly: "Mr. Ram, up to 10%!"

Ram had no room for negotiation: "Sixty percent!"

Ronan glanced at Lawyer Muller, who shook his head slowly and signaled that he could do nothing.

"Your company takes 60% away, and I have to pay various expenses for the remaining 40%, and I don't have much left at all." Ronan also put on a serious face: "This transaction is meaningless."

But Ram said: "Shahai Entertainment can win TMG's friendship!"

Hearing this, Ronan looked at the small German, as if he had seen someone more shameless than him for the first time.

In the face of millions of dollars in funds, I want your friendship to be of no use?

Ram said seriously: "If this deal is successful, it can promote trust between each other and build a foundation for long-term cooperation." He is not like he is joking: "Mr. Anderson, you should look at it in the long run, not be too short-sighted."

Ronan resisted the urge to sarcasm, which was useless and said lightly: "I need to think about it for a few days."

Ram stood up, left a business card, pushed it to Ronan, and said, "This is my contact information. If Mr. Anderson wants to cooperate, he can call me."

After saying that, he left without any nostalgia.

Ronan glanced at the business card, threw it into his pocket, and asked lawyer Mueller: "Is this client you contacted so good?"

"TMG is the company with the most cooperation with Hollywood and has outstanding credibility," said Mueller lawyer.

"But they are too greedy for small companies." Ronan asked again: "Can you contact other companies?"

Lawyer Mueller nodded slightly: "Of course." He reminded Ronan: "The credibility of small companies is a problem, and they are not able to take on such a big project, and they cannot find enough German investors."

Ronan pinched his forehead and asked, "Is there any other way?"

"I'll contact other large and medium-sized film investment companies." Attorney Mueller didn't want the business he got to run away: "However, they have always worked with big companies in Hollywood and Europe, and the conditions are not much better."

Holding up the cup, Ronan took a sip, frowned and thought for a while: If it really doesn't work, I can only try the backup plan.

"Attorney Mueller." He asked slowly: "If a new film company is established, can this be done?"

Lawyer Mueller was very professional and immediately replied: "Yes. The law has no restrictions on this aspect. As long as the company's procedures are complete, it is possible to do transactions in this aspect."

This is consistent with the information Ronan has checked specifically before.

Lawyer Mueller suddenly changed his voice: "But the new company needs a strong enough intermediate agent, and it needs an agent to open up channels for you and lobby for approval agencies."

He further said: "Why do film companies like TMG that do not have real production capabilities dare to charge small Hollywood companies for handling fees? Because they have established stable channels and have a good relationship with the approval committee."

Ronan asked, “Where are the middlemen?”

"I." Attorney Mueller said with a smile: "Me and the entire team behind me."

He raised a finger: "We only charge 10% of the tax refund."

Ronan was silent for a while and looked at lawyer Mueller deeply: "Your strategy has been successful, I agree to this deal." He looked in the direction of Ram leaving: "First borrow the outrageous conditions offered by tmg as a prelude, and then propose less fees as bargaining chips."

Lawyer Mueller was not embarrassed at all after being exposed, and said, "We all need it."

None of these people who have been immersed in business for many years is simple.

"How sure are you?" Ronan asked.

"If your two projects are small art films, I won't talk to you at all." Attorney Mueller is confident: "It's already very convincing to package two commercial projects with a budget of $40 million."

Ronan nodded, his voice gradually lowered, and he consulted lawyer Mueller about professional questions in this area. He asked very detailed questions, and confirmed each other with the information he had read.
Chapter completed!