The night was deep, and in an apartment in North Hollywood, lights were on as Ronan sat in front of his laptop, his ten fingers tapping away on the keyboard.
"In 2029, the United States is thriving, with people living in peace and prosperity, and crime rates continuing to decline, reaching unprecedented heights of freedom and democracy."
"However, all of this is just a beautiful soap bubble."
Ronan hammered out the background setting of the script.
"To maintain this beautiful state, the US government has launched a program called 'Purge' to allow people to release negative emotions."
"The specific implementation of this plan is: from 7:00 p.m. on March 21, 2029, to 7:00 a.m. on March 22, 2029, all crimes — including murder — are legal. And during these twelve hours, emergency services such as fire alarms, ambulances, and fire departments will also be closed. So, during these twelve hours, all human activities can only rely on themselves."
By Hollywood standards, a film that inappropriately criticizes the US government is definitely not a good film.
This apparent prosperity behind dirty tricks is also a true portrayal of the beacon country.
More importantly, it caters to those who don't like America.
Like the Arabs.
Although some countries in the Arab world are close to the United States, Arabs in general do not like Americans, after all, Americans are their archenemies.
To put it bluntly, choosing this horror film is for financing needs.
For money, Ronan has absolutely no psychological burden in criticizing America, but he will control the degree.
The US government has always been one of the main antagonists in Hollywood movies. Ronan has read many research articles in this regard, and American audiences also like to see movies criticizing their own government.
This mentality is actually universal, domestic movies criticizing their own government are popular with audiences.
The horror film he wrote, the setting and theme are generally the same as the previous "The Purge," but to finance from the Arabs, there must be important roles for Arabs, or Arab descent.
As a family of four as the protagonist? Ronan paused to think, this is obviously inappropriate.
Although this project is mainly used to deceive money... no, it is used for financing, but he also wants to try to produce it. If four Arabs are the protagonists, let alone entering the theater, I'm afraid the distribution company will not even touch it.
This is not twenty years later, when having identities like a minority transgender person plus homosexual, bisexual, and feminist supporters could dominate the entertainment industry.
And letting Arabs be the protagonists is too fake.
If you meet someone who knows a little about Hollywood, as soon as you see four Arabs as the protagonists, the illusion will be shattered immediately.
Even though the main purpose of this project is financing, the early operation must be done in a truly authentic direction.
Ronan soon had an idea, how about having Arab characters appear as saviors?
The neighbors of this family are Arabs. The male host is not very friendly to the neighbors, but this family is saved by the Arab neighbors when the massacre night is about to end.
Arabs save Americans.
Ronan confirmed the basic setting of the Arab characters, and the specifics would be developed in the scriptwriting process.
In his previous life, he had been a producer for some small projects and was not unfamiliar with scriptwriting. Anderson's ability in this area was outstanding, but what he lacked most was experience.
At first, Ronan wrote slowly. After setting up the outline and establishing the framework, adding things to the template became much faster.
This film has few characters and limited scenes, making it one of the simpler types of scriptwriting.
However, he only slept for six hours a day and took a week to finish the first draft, which was only eighty pages long.
The first draft was a bit rough, and after a simple revision, Ronan didn't plan to do any more fine-tuning.
Time does not allow him to drag on.
A recent bank loan is about to mature, and failing to repay on time will cause huge trouble. Judith from the bank calls every week, which is annoying.
If the bank decides to withdraw funds early, it will be even more troublesome.
Although New Line Cinema, the distributor of "Survival in the Wilderness," did not urge for the copyright split, it cannot be delayed too long either.
The Nasdaq stock market is still on the rise.
Money must be obtained as soon as possible.
In the new week, Ronan signed a copyright transfer agreement with MasterCard and received $150,000. He then convened another staff meeting in the office.
"Let's start with some good news," Ronan first calmed everyone down. "Maybe you already know, the $150,000 transfer fee for 'Survival in the Wilderness' arrived this morning. There won't be any salary issues before the bank loan expires."
Upon hearing this, George Clint immediately said, "We'll get through this together!"
Mary and Robert Lee didn't speak, but they both looked much more relaxed.
At their age, salary means a lot, such as paying off loans, supporting their families, and so on.
Just motivating them with chicken soup is basically useless for people in this age group.
Ronan turned to the main topic and asked, "George, have you contacted your friends in the media industry?"
"I did," George said with a wrinkled face. "I met more than a dozen friends this week, including three entertainment reporters from 'Variety,' 'Los Angeles Times,' and 'Hollywood Reporter.' As long as we can afford the page fees, most people are willing to help us publish related news, but the page..."
"The page doesn't matter. We can even accept the third or fourth page," Ronan wanted media coverage for the new project.
The Los Angeles Times is one of the top three newspapers in the United States, and Variety and Hollywood Reporter are the two major entertainment magazines. For small movie projects, it's hard to even buy page space.
Ronan pondered for a moment and then said to George, "Keep in touch with them, especially 'Variety,' 'Los Angeles Times,' and 'Hollywood Reporter.' I will hold a press conference for the new project soon."
"The new project..." George was about to ask, but Ronan raised his hand to interrupt. "Let's talk about the new project later."
He looked at Robert Lee. "Have you contacted the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority?"
Robert Lee placed a folder on Ronan's desk and said, "My friend has contacted a director from their office, who is mainly responsible for investigating the investment feasibility of the cultural and entertainment industries... Well, how should I put it, he has a very poor impression of Hollywood. He seems to hate Hollywood a bit and says that Hollywood is an accomplice of the Jews in defaming the Arab world."
"Investigating the cultural and entertainment industries?" Ronan caught the point.
"Yes, including movies," Robert said, "But he's not doing well. You know, Arabs have never been welcomed in the industry."
Ronan nodded slightly. This situation was not unexpected. Although the claim that Hollywood is controlled by Jews is exaggerated, Jewish influence on Hollywood is indeed significant.
One can imagine the image of Arabs in Hollywood movies.
For example, James Cameron's "True Lies" once sparked collective protests in the Arab world, and almost no Arab country imported the film.
But Hollywood
and the American media? No one cares; they'll criticize Arabs however they want.
Of course, there's quite a bit of dirt on Arabs as well.
Ronan quickly glanced at the information about Abu Dhabi collected by Robert Lee through various channels. Compared to Saudi Arabia, the UAE is relatively open. Saudi Arabia prohibits public screenings of movies, and ordinary Saudis have to fly to the UAE to watch movies in theaters.
This ensures that Emiratis have some understanding of movies.
But due to distance and information dissemination, Emiratis are relatively familiar with Hollywood movies, but they are very unfamiliar with how Hollywood operates.
Not only the UAE, but Hollywood in the 1990s was shrouded in mystery to most countries.
Ronan put down the information and said, "Robert, can your friend arrange a meeting with that person?"
Robert Lee thought for a moment and said, "He mentioned that the person will attend the 20th Century Fox's appreciation dinner this weekend."
"Is it easy to get an invitation?" Ronan asked.
"Leave it to me," Robert said.
Ronan took out three copies of the script titled "The Purge" and pushed them to the front of the desk, saying, "This is the script for the new project. Take a look, all of you."
While the three took the script, he ran his hand through his messy hair and said, "Our next task is to promote this new project. I will register it with the Producers Guild of America through proper procedures. Mary..."
Ronan looked at the middle-aged woman. "Hold a press conference next week. You go contact the venue and arrange it at the Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills. George, you are responsible for contacting media reporters. I will prepare PR fees and a batch of gifts for you. Whether it's a major newspaper or a tabloid, even if you have to hire paparazzi with money, make sure there are fifty reporters present!"
Having money and gifts makes things easier to handle. George Clint immediately said, "No problem."
Ronan then turned to Robert and said, "You represent Desert Sea Entertainment to invite Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio. Leak it to the tabloid reporters and try to ride on the hype of 'Titanic.'"
George Clint shook the script and suggested, "Send invitations to stars who might be in horror films, it's easier to create buzz."
Ronan agreed and said thoughtfully, "Invite Jamie Lee Curtis, Drew Barrymore, Johnny Depp, and George Clooney."
"Their agents won't even bother to respond," Robert Lee, who was also a veteran in the film industry, said. "They can't be bothered to reject."
Ronan pinched his chin. "It's better if they don't respond. Robert, remember to send out formal public invitations."
"I got it," Robert said. He closed the script and said, "Is this script suitable? The setting is indeed interesting, but Arabs..."
Mary and George had similar thoughts and looked at Ronan at the same time.
The script was questioned, not praised as brilliant out of nowhere, but Ronan didn't mind. He said directly, "Don't forget, we need financing from Arabs. Once we get the investment..."
Robert immediately understood, "As long as we get the investment, we have the final say on how the script is changed."
"It's time to get it done." Ronan stopped Mary, "You hire a small team to create posters and storyboard illustrations based on the script. Make them as beautiful as possible."
Mary nodded, "I'll get on it."
Ronan pointed to his messy hair, "Recommend a stylist to help me."
Being twenty years old is not very convincing, and Anderson has made himself look too haggard. He must make himself look like a successful and mature producer.