For a full half-month, most of Ronan's energy was devoted to understanding the current social situation, especially in two aspects: the internet and Hollywood.
To break free from his predicament, he naturally needed to focus on his strongest suit.
The prerequisite for all of this—understanding the basic situation of today's society.
Hollywood was just as he remembered it. After collaborating twice with the future governor, James Cameron, it took several years to create a blockbuster.
However, this blockbuster had only just set sail, and currently, the global box office champion was Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park."
The landscape of internet technology was no different. Over a year ago, Steve Jobs returned to Apple, and the stock prices of Cisco and Yahoo steadily climbed. If memory served correctly, it would be until the turn of the new millennium before the bubble burst.
This was the best of times, the era of the rise of internet giants.
To catch this ride, one needed startup capital.
Not only did Ronan lack money, but he also carried a huge debt burden. In this half-month, he had attempted loans or other financing methods, but with advanced information in the United States, Sandsea Entertainment's repayment capacity was insufficient. Not to mention legitimate banks and financial institutions, even shady loan sharks wouldn't give him the time of day.
As a member of the Producers Guild of America, on Mary's advice, he submitted an application to the guild, seeking funding for "film industry subsidies and health plans."
This plan was mainly aimed at motivating and helping guild members.
The Producers Guild was not a labor union but a trade organization, with control in the hands of medium to large-sized companies. This application sank like a stone, receiving no response.
Unable to find external assistance, he could only rely on self-rescue.
Ronan's gaze turned to Hollywood, or more precisely, the film industry. He specifically visited several major industry organizations in Hollywood.
Every night, he also studied the past successes and failures of Sandsea Entertainment's cases, summarizing experiences and lessons learned.
Without money, everything was difficult.
Sitting in the office, Ronan slowly twirled his pen, contemplating what to do next. How could he quickly get the money he needed? Money was needed to catch the ride.
He paused his pen twirling and wrote down "movies" in his notebook.
Because of his previous job, he could reel off a long list of future Hollywood blockbusters, not just their Chinese titles, but even their English titles.
Anderson himself had the ability to write scripts, but Ronan hadn't considered this for the time being. Not only was it difficult for newbies and new scripts to gain attention, but even if someone took an interest, they wouldn't fetch a good price.
As for writing a script to direct himself, it wasn't worth considering.
He had never been a director, and Anderson hadn't studied directing either. They simply didn't have the capability, not to mention the lack of money.
Both the Andersons before him had produced films as investors and producers, just like other Hollywood companies, hiring the entire crew externally.
Ronan ran his hand through his hair forcefully. The time it took for a movie to recoup its investment was too long. Making a profit two or three years after investing in a movie was the most normal situation.
By then, the stock market would have crashed, and there would be no ride to catch.
Shooting a movie and waiting for it to make money upon release was clearly not a good idea.
So what should he do? Could he use a movie project to make money?
He threw away the pen and thought carefully. Many Hollywood film projects raised funds through financing before shooting even began. Overseas distribution rights could be presold, providing funds for the production.
However, this model required large-scale distribution companies or films involving well-known individuals, and at worst, a professional insurance company would provide third-party guarantees.
With his unknown name as Ronan Anderson and Sandsea Company's obscurity, preselling was out of the question.
Moreover, diverting financing meant for North America or Europe for other purposes posed significant legal risks.
Ronan threw away the pen, and a flash of inspiration crossed his mind. It was the 90s now, and information was relatively closed off. Hollywood remained quite mysterious to many overseas individuals.
For example, across the Pacific Ocean, very few people knew much about Hollywood.
He could totally set up a movie project and then seek financing overseas!
Ronan couldn't help but recall a fraud case from his previous life. There was a company in Yantai posing as a Hollywood film company, illegally raising funds externally, with fraudulent amounts totaling up to thirty million.
Some scammers even succeeded in Hollywood scams.
He remembered reading another report back then. A scammer disguised himself as a producer, not only swindling millions of dollars in investments in Hollywood but also becoming friends with many celebrities.
Seems somewhat feasible.
Of course, Ronan wouldn't run to the other side of the Pacific Ocean.
He still had some conscience left.
Internally in Hollywood wasn't suitable either; it wasn't conducive to long-term development.
With a concept and idea in mind, Ronan began to consider deeper and further.
Sandsea Entertainment had been established for nearly a decade, releasing numerous video works and being a member of the Producers Guild. Creating a new movie project was quite normal.
Starting a brand new movie project to scam—no, to finance overseas!
To successfully finance overseas, a tight plan was needed.
At the very least, it had to withstand some scrutiny.
Firstly, there needed to be appropriate targets.
The target audience must have assets, be not very knowledgeable about Hollywood or the North American entertainment industry, and not be well-received by Americans.
In case of any mishaps, they wouldn't have much recourse against him.
Secondly, this movie project had to be packaged.
It had to make outsiders believe at first glance... no, this movie project had to be real. He would be operating a movie project, but the actual investment and the public budget would definitely differ.
To achieve this, startup capital was needed.
Money, it was still a money problem.
Ronan grabbed his hair, setting it aside for now, and considered another matter: an exit strategy.
What if he failed? What should he do then?
A plan couldn't be a hundred percent successful, and he intended to live in North America long term.
Ronan skimmed through the keywords he had recorded over the past few days, his gaze falling on "blog."
Anderson had decent scriptwriting abilities. If he failed, he could serialize novels on a blog and submit them to publishers. Maybe he could make some money through plagiarism.
He had seen many bestselling Hollywood movies' originals; he had a rough idea and could give it a try. It wasn't certain to succeed, but it was still a path.
If things didn't go well, just do Anderson's Fifty Shades!
Once Ronan set his mind to something, he would strive towards the most successful direction possible.
The movie project needed a suitable script, at most, a medium-sized investment. Otherwise, Sandsea Entertainment wouldn't be persuasive.
Action movies were currently popular. Should he make an action movie?
A real movie project, even if it lost money, was reasonable and legal.
Ronan quickly abandoned this idea, though. Action movies were time-consuming and not suitable.
It would be better to make a B-movie, which also fit Sandsea Entertainment's
style and would increase credibility.
A B-grade horror movie was a good choice. Movies were minimally influenced by social environments, and horror movies were a type with very little influence.
Which horror movie to choose? Ronan currently had no idea.
Right, the chosen horror movie shouldn't offend the financing target audience.
The target audience had to be determined.
The Pacific Rim was definitely out, and Ronan wouldn't even go there if he were beaten to death. Europe and Australia weren't quite suitable either, as their film industries were also developed.
Got it!
Ronan's eyes scanned his notebook: The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority from the Middle East had set up an office in Los Angeles.
Abu Dhabi wasn't just wealthy; they definitely didn't know much about Hollywood, and Arabs were generally unwelcome in America.
Most importantly, if he remembered correctly, after accumulating astronomical oil wealth, Arabs from Abu Dhabi had been eager to expand their own fame and influence since the mid-to-late 90s.
It seemed feasible to play up the rivalry between Jews and Arabs?
Jewish influence was huge in Hollywood, and Arabs had extremely negative portrayals in Hollywood films, so it was hard to say there was no connection between the two.
Ronan jotted all of this down and would need to confirm later.
Then, he frowned. Abu Dhabi was far away in the Middle East. Going there to scam—no, to finance, would incur significant expenses in just travel costs.
It was better to secure startup capital first.
"Mary!" Ronan pressed the intercom. "Arrange a meeting with someone from PepsiCo for me. Let's talk about the sale of the VHS rights for 'Survive.'"
The VHS rights for this movie might fetch some money.