If you're not someone like Jerry Brookheimer or Steven Spielberg, no one will just hand you money on a silver platter. Even if you've produced a film or two, you might still remain unknown, or perhaps you've never been involved in filmmaking at all, and you have grand ambitions in this field. Moreover, if you're not born into wealth, you can't just throw around a few million dollars for fun.
In that case, you must understand that before you understand film production, you need to understand how to raise funds.
In Hollywood, if you were to document the ins and outs of fundraising, it would far surpass the complexity of a film script.
In this regard, Ronan's personal experience was quite representative.
So, he was very aware of the importance of fundraising, and over the next few days, he had many discussions with Tony.
Ronan couldn't tie himself down to Arab businessmen in Abu Dhabi for the long term; that would definitely not be a wise choice.
Even though the pitfalls were well hidden, digging too many holes would eventually raise suspicions.
This trip to Germany was also quite fruitful for Ronan. By collecting information from various channels and observing firsthand, he gained a better understanding of German funding options.
Many Germans interested in investing in Hollywood films for tax benefits, but unfortunately, most of them thought they had escaped the clutches of the German tax authorities, only to jump into a pit called Hollywood.
Tax refunds were also a form of fundraising. At this stage, Ronan had managed to open up preliminary channels for fundraising.
The films produced by Sand Sea Entertainment fell into the category of traditional independent films, making it quite difficult to find investment for indie films.
Ronan was well aware that he was far luckier than 99% of independent filmmakers. Typically, even an experienced independent producer would need three to five years to bring a project from concept to the big screen.
In his previous life, at the Cannes Film Festival, a producer claimed that his film had been in the making for fifty years, starting with his grandfather's initiation, spanning three generations of his family before financing was finally secured.
Ronan had just entered this game, and with his large company size and no distribution company under his belt, he couldn't yet adeptly navigate many of the game's rules. Plus, he needed profitable and successful films to attract more funding. Among all Hollywood producers and studio bosses, he was definitely one of the most conscientious.
With the assistance of Helen Koch and her family, and with a professional team hired as intermediaries, the operation of the two projects, "Death Comes" and "Ace Agent," went relatively smoothly. Any hiccups encountered during approval were resolved one by one by Muller's legal team.
Under Helen Koch's efforts, Koch Films managed to raise $40 million from numerous friends and relatives. This money went into Sand Sea Entertainment's account as the buyout fee for the copyrights of "Death Comes" and "Ace Agent."
According to the agreed-upon legal contract, Ronan paid out $30 million in advance based on projected film revenues to lease the copyrights of both films, including sequels, for 20 years. Additionally, after three years, he had the option to buy the rights outright for $100,000.
The remaining $10 million was promised by Ronan to Tony Koch that, after the film profits were received, it would be prioritized to pay off Koch Films.
Koch Films also benefited significantly, as they would charge a 5% commission on all investors, besides helping Helen and Carnivore Company with legal tax avoidance.
From a monetary perspective, this job paid much better than Tony Koch's financial ventures in Munich.
With most of the work done, Muller's legal team continued to lobby, and now it was just a matter of waiting for approval.
With work temporarily completed, Ronan finally found time to consider other matters.
Such as his main focus in Europe, Carmen Case.
Initially, they had agreed that Carmen Case would visit him when she came to North America, and he would visit her when he came to Europe.
Ronan called her, and after a long wait, someone finally picked up.
"Am I interrupting your work, Carmen?" Ronan asked.
A somewhat tired voice came from the other end of the line, "No, I'm just taking a break." She seemed to notice the caller ID and asked, "Are you in Europe, Ronan? Is this... a German number?"
Ronan smiled and said, "I'm in Berlin, thinking of paying you a visit."
"Maybe that's a bit far," Carmen Case replied, "I'm in Estonia, tied up at the moment."
Ronan was curious, "Back home?"
In his impression, most models from Eastern Europe, once they achieved some success, didn't like to stay in Eastern Europe.
Carmen Case explained, "I'm dealing with business matters."
Ronan's curiosity grew, "You're investing in business?"
"Yeah," the voice on the phone replied simply, "Most of the money I earned from modeling has been invested in business."
Thinking of how most models wasted their lives away, Ronan couldn't help but admire, "Impressive, Carmen."
"It's just some simple clothing businesses," Carmen Case seemed quite modest.
Ronan added, "That's still impressive."
After chatting for a few more minutes, there seemed to be someone calling Carmen Case in the background. Ronan said goodbye proactively. Before hanging up, he jokingly said, "Carmen, I wish you'd become the richest woman in Estonia soon."
On second thought, if supermodels managed their income and fame seriously, they could indeed create a successful career.
Ronan remembered most vividly Gisele Bündchen, undoubtedly the unparalleled supermodel in the business aspect in his previous life.
After the New Year, "The Human Purge," distributed by Sony Columbia Pictures, was released in Germany. Ronan specially took Helen and Tony to the cinema to watch it.
Similar to North America, the film wasn't particularly hot; the attendance rate was average, and there were both fans and detractors among the audience.
Horror films were usually like this; even acclaimed horror films like "The Shining" and "Saw" had many horror movie fans who didn't like them.
There had never been a film on this planet that everyone liked.
The results of Muller's legal team's operations also came out at this time.
"Ronan! Ronan!"
In the newly renovated office of Koch Films, Tony ran in excitedly. "Good news! Great news!"
Ronan looked at him and asked, "Has it been approved?"
Tony nodded repeatedly, "I couldn't reach you on your phone, but Muller's lawyer called me directly. Both 'Death Comes' and 'Ace Agent' projects have officially been approved and granted a $5 million tax refund subsidy!"
Ronan clapped his hands, "Finally approved!"
Five million dollars! For him and Sand Sea Entertainment at this stage, it was definitely a huge sum of money.
"Yeah!" Tony laughed heartily, "We've got our 5% commission! This feels awesome! Easy money!"
Ronan gave him a hearty pat on the back and said, "You're treating for lunch!"
Tony immediately agreed, "Sure, I'll treat you to a big meal! Pick any restaurant in Berlin, it's on me!"
Ronan glanced at the time and pushed him out the door, "Let's go."
Five days later, the tax refund amount arrived in Koch Films' account, then transferred to Sand Sea Entertainment.
Ronan settled the fees with Muller's lawyer, paying the commission of $500,000 in full.
Before Tony's Koch Films could truly open up this business, Ronan would likely continue to cooperate with Muller's legal team's intermediaries.
The plan for the trip to Germany was basically completed, with all goals achieved. Ronan bid farewell to Helen and Tony, carrying the $4.5 million haul, and hurried back to Los Angeles from the dusty streets of Berlin, ready to move on to the next step of the plan.