After finishing a glass of champagne, Robert was astonished to see Ronan chatting and laughing with the Arab man, seeming to be having a good time.
"Seems like I underestimated Ronan a bit," he muttered.
Then he saw Ronan leaving the banquet hall with the Arab man.
Robert observed the entrance of the banquet hall with interest. "Ronan has grown up, hasn't he? Maybe this time he can secure investment from the Arab."
In a quiet corner of the hotel lobby, Saleh ordered two glasses of water, placing one in front of Ronan. He asked, "You owe loans to the bank, and you've offended the Jews. The chance of getting a loan is very low."
Ronan's words were undoubtedly well-founded, but he added many grievances against the Jews.
Jews wield great power in Hollywood, but there are also many in Hollywood who dislike Jews. However, these people would also not like Arabs.
"I'm planning to give up on finding investment domestically," Ronan said candidly. "There's a broader horizon overseas, and Germans have always liked to collaborate with Hollywood."
He tapped the table lightly. "After the project launch next week, I'll go to Germany to seek investment."
"Good luck." Saleh raised his glass, curious. "Are you holding a press conference? What's the new movie about? Can you tell me?"
Ronan hesitated for a moment before saying, "Well... I can't go into too much detail." He smiled. "I wrote the script, and the key characters are Arabs, like you."
Saleh tentatively asked, "They're not villains, are they?"
"No!" Ronan shook his head. "The character setup is like this..."
He briefly described a family of Arab descent who were major supporting characters.
"It seems different from the typical Arab characters in traditional Hollywood movies," Saleh remarked.
Ronan said directly, "Actually, the point I want to convey is simple. Americans have good and bad, black people have good and bad, Jews have good and bad, and Arabs also have good and bad."
"Yes! That's so true!" Saleh agreed at first, then added, "Why doesn't Hollywood understand such a simple truth?"
"It's not that they don't understand, it's that they choose to ignore it," Ronan said, his mind racing as he spoke. "So, there needs to be movies like this to wake up the audience. Just like the black movement, as long as we can open a small gap, there will be a day to reverse the entrenched perceptions."
He spread his hands. "Aren't people the same all over the world? There are good people and bad people."
Saleh was even more curious about the film after this conversation. "Are you holding a press conference? Can I come?"
This also fell within his professional duties, showing his ambition. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come to Los Angeles; he could have just stayed in Abu Dhabi and waited for his death.
"Of course," Ronan said, giving the time and location. "You're welcome!"
He had been considering how to invite Saleh to the press conference, but Saleh's proactive offer was even better.
They had enough common ground on the issue of Hollywood's portrayal of Arabs and chatted for nearly an hour.
Ronan never mentioned his intention to seek investment from Arabs, and Saleh never mentioned his own identity and work.
But under Ronan's subtle guidance, they hit it off and talked quite amiably. When they said goodbye, Saleh specifically asked for Ronan's phone number and instructed him to save him a spot at the press conference.
Once in Robert's car, Ronan breathed a sigh of relief, rubbing his face hard. Fortunately, in his previous life as a business elite, he had engaged in plenty of deceitful dealings.
"Did it go smoothly?" Robert asked.
Ronan nodded. "It went alright."
In the following days, he was incredibly busy: reviewing storyboards and posters made by the hiring team, planning the shooting schedule framework, finalizing gifts for the press conference, personally calling media reporters, submitting the project to the Producers Guild of America, preparing his speech for the press conference, searching for lawyers to draft and revise financing contract templates, and so on.
He even posted recruitment notices through the Director's Guild of America and advertised for behind-the-scenes personnel through the media.
All the preliminary work had to be done as if it were real if he wanted to get money out of this project.
During this time, Saleh invited him to meet several times, and they hit it off.
Saleh had no friends in Los Angeles, and his cultural and entertainment investment survey was very difficult. Under Ronan's intentional guidance, their friendship quickly warmed, and Saleh even wanted to see the specific story, to which Ronan agreed.
After repeatedly reminding him not to leak anything, Ronan sent Saleh an electronic version of the script. After Saleh read it, he called to express his appreciation, almost saying that Ronan was an old friend of the UAE.
...
On the first Wednesday of February, due to a slight delay in something, Saleh arrived at the Hilton Hotel's press room, which was already filled with journalists.
He greeted Ronan first without disturbing him much, then received a set of promotional materials and found a place to sit.
There were many journalists in the hall, and Saleh specifically observed for a while. There were nearly a hundred reporters wearing press badges, and there were more than ten photographers carrying cameras alone.
Surprisingly, there was even a reporter from the Los Angeles Times.
It seemed that this project had a considerable impact in the media.
Saleh had been busy these days, collecting information about Ronan Anderson and Sahai Entertainment. Sahai Entertainment wasn't large in scale but had been around for over ten years.
Ronan Anderson did indeed face financial difficulties, as the Jewish-influenced financial institutions were not lending him money.
Sahai Entertainment had only received two loans in the past, both of which were extremely strict and required collateral worth seventy percent of the loan.
To be frank, he hoped this project would have a broad impact. After reading the script, the scene where Arabs became the saviors of Americans felt really satisfying.
Opening the promotional materials, Saleh carefully examined them. Whether it was the posters or the sketches, they were made very meticulously.
Although there weren't many scene sketches, the comprehensive design showed Sahai Entertainment's commitment and determination to this project.
Unlike the loud-mouthed Leonardo, Ronan Anderson was clearly someone who got things done.
"We've invested nearly twenty thousand dollars in this press conference," Mary said to Roger as she watched him straighten his clothes. "Just to put on a show for that Arab guy?"
Ronan raised a finger and shook it lightly. "This show isn't for anyone in particular, it's for everyone."
In case the Arab route didn't work out, he was also prepared to sweet-talk Indians or similar groups. After all, he could easily change the savior's identity.
At this moment, Robert Lee walked over and said, "Saleh's main job in Los Angeles is to assess the feasibility of cultural and entertainment industry investments. If he's willing to support us, our work behind the scenes will be much easier."
A knock on the door sounded, and George Clint pushed the door open, reminding, "It's almost time."
Ronan nodded lightly, put on his glasses, and said
, "Let's begin."
The journalists in the press room suddenly quieted down as Saleh saw Ronan step onto the podium. He listened attentively, realizing that Ronan was introducing some basic information about the project.
Because he had read the script, the press conference was a bit boring for him until Ronan announced the investment amount for the project.
"Sahai Entertainment will turn 'The Human Cleansing Plan' into a medium-budget action thriller movie with an initial budget of 10 million US dollars! The director is still being sought after, but invitations have been sent to Jamie Lee Curtis, Drew Barrymore, Johnny Depp, and George Clooney..."
Saleh had heard of all these people.
Jamie Lee Curtis starred in "True Lies"; Drew Barrymore was a famous child star; Johnny Depp seemed to have played Edward Scissorhands; and George Clooney was slightly unfamiliar, but he vaguely remembered him playing a doctor.
He didn't know much about Hollywood, but he could remember the names of the stars, which meant they were definitely big stars. Ronan was clearly planning a big move.
No wonder he needed financing.
10 million US dollars, even he couldn't come up with that kind of money.
During the question and answer session, a journalist specifically asked about the funding issue: "Mr. Anderson, your company's last film suffered heavy losses. Do you still have funds?"
"It's indeed difficult," Ronan's words reached Saleh's ears. "We are facing a certain funding gap, but I am confident we can solve it through financing."
The decision to invest 10 million dollars was carefully considered by him. It was higher than the investment in the previous film but not by too much.
Saleh furrowed his brows slightly, starting to think. Without money, a movie couldn't be made. This project, which leaned toward Arabs, would definitely perish without money.
Thinking of the Arabs' counterattack and salvation in the script, Saleh felt that this movie should be made.
He had been in Los Angeles for nearly three months and hadn't made any achievements yet. Responsible for cultural and entertainment industry investment surveys, due to the Jews' exclusion, there had been no progress at all.
Perhaps this could be a breakthrough?
Since he chose to come out and do something, he had to show some results, otherwise, what was the difference between him and those fools waiting to die in Abu Dhabi?
Unfortunately, he didn't have the money, nor did he have the authority to decide on large sums of money.
He was responsible for investment surveys, not investment decisions.
Hollywood movies had a wide influence and involved the image of Arabs. He didn't dare to make rash decisions.
After the press conference ended and the reporters quickly left, Saleh found Ronan and decided to have a good talk with this guy who seemed to be very much to his liking.