"This store is huge."
Walking between the shelves, Michael picked up some German sausages, looked at them, and then put them back. He told the blonde middle-aged woman next to him, "Aunt Helen, when you told me you opened a meat shop, I thought it was a butcher shop, but it's actually a meat product supermarket."
Helen, the blonde woman, laughed and replied in slightly accented English, "So, will you help me?"
Coming out from the shelves, Michael looked around at the 500-600 square meter meat product supermarket. He had never seen so many sausages, pig trotters, and bacon before.
Helen joked, "I have nine stores like this in Berlin."
Michael laughed, "So, my Aunt Helen is a wealthy businesswoman."
"How about it? Pretty impressive, right?" Helen asked, "Want to come to Germany and help me?"
Michael shook his head, "Someone like me is more suited for Hollywood."
Helen had heard about Hollywood from the late Mrs. Davenport and said, "The film industry is too risky."
"Yes, that's why I'm trying to minimize and mitigate those risks," Michael suddenly asked, "Aunt Helen, you pay a lot of taxes every year, right?"
Helen nodded slightly, "A lot. Germany is a high-tax country. For example, my personal income tax rate is as high as 51%. Although there are ways to avoid taxes legally, the amount is minimal."
Michael joked, "That's to let you enjoy the honour of paying taxes."
Helen laughed, "I'd rather not have that honour." She then asked with concern, "By the way, did your movie succeed?"
"It did, with over $50 million at the North American box office," Michael replied, thinking for a moment, "If I remember correctly, it will be released in Germany after the New Year. The title is 'The Purge.'"
Helen continued showing Michael around the supermarket, saying, "I'll take Tony to see it then."
Tony Koch was her son, who had recently graduated from university and was working in finance in Munich.
The two of them wandered around the meat product supermarket and then went to the office on the second floor. There, they chatted in Helen's office about the late Mr. and Mrs. Davenport and shared childhood stories about young Davenport, reminiscing about the past.
"Stay in Germany for Christmas. Tony will be coming back from Munich," Helen suddenly suggested, "You don't have any family in Los Angeles anymore."
Michael didn't refuse, "Sure. I'll be in Berlin for a while."
Helen curiously asked, "You mentioned on the phone that you had business to handle? Are you planning to make a movie in Germany?"
Michael shook his head, "Not filming in Germany," he explained briefly, "I'm preparing to sell two film projects to German film companies."
Making Hollywood movies is more about technical issues, but the industry's financial operations involve legal and financial matters.
Even in the late 90s, over 90% of Hollywood films would lose money if judged solely by box office revenue, no matter how big the box office numbers appeared.
Because making movies in Hollywood had become very expensive, most films' investment, production, and distribution costs far exceeded their box office revenue.
To make a film genuinely profitable, every possible means must be employed.
An excellent producer must know how to operate a film within the bounds of the law to maximize profits.
If Hollywood relied solely on box office revenue for survival and used its own funds to make movies, all the film companies, including the Big Six, would have long gone out of business.
The funds for Michael's "Dead Man's List" and "The Secret Agent" projects wouldn't come from him or Seashore Entertainment. They were entirely financed through Abu Dhabi.
If operated correctly, a significant portion of this budget wouldn't need to be accounted for and could be turned into legitimate income for Seashore Entertainment.
That afternoon, Michael, introduced by intermediary lawyer Mueller, met with Ram, a German TMG Film Company representative.
However, the meeting was not very pleasant.
"A 60% handling fee for the tax rebate?" Michael's dissatisfaction was evident. "From what I know, you didn't charge Paramount Pictures any handling fee in your collaboration!"
Ram, a short man with a stern face, said, "Mr. Davenport, I need to remind you that your Seashore Entertainment is not Paramount Pictures! TMG treats each client differently. Paramount Pictures is a long-term partner with TMG, and this is Seashore Entertainment's first collaboration with TMG. We lack mutual trust, and TMG has to take on significant risks."
He emphasized, "We have to be responsible to our investors!"
Compared to big companies, small companies had no rights! Michael couldn't help but complain inwardly.
But he didn't lose his temper. Just as people were never genuinely equal, companies couldn't be equal, either.
However, the German's rigid attitude was somewhat irritating.
Michael smiled and said, "You also charge investors handling fees, don't you? 5%? 8%? Or the highest, 15%?"
TMG deserved to be a successful film company, profiting from both sides.
Ram remained unfazed, "This is a legal charge."
His stern face was as thick-skinned as steel.
Michael frowned slightly, "Mr. Ram, at most 10%!"
Ram was adamant, "60%!"
Michael glanced at lawyer Mueller, who shook his head slowly, indicating there was nothing he could do.
"If your company takes 60%, the remaining 40% won't leave much after covering various expenses," Michael said sternly, "This deal is meaningless."
Ram replied, "Seashore Entertainment can earn TMG's friendship!"
Hearing this, Michael looked at the short German man as if seeing someone more shameless than himself for the first time.
In the face of millions of dollars, what use was your friendship to me?
Ram seriously said, "If this deal succeeds, it can foster mutual trust and lay the foundation for long-term cooperation." He didn't seem to be joking, "Mr. Davenport, you need to think long-term and not be short-sighted."
Michael suppressed the urge to mock him. It was pointless, and I calmly said, "I need to consider it for a few days."
Ram stood up, left a business card, and pushed it toward Michael, saying, "This is my contact information. If Mr. Davenport wants to cooperate, you can call me."
With that, he left without any hesitation.
Michael looked at the business card and then put it into his pocket, asking lawyer Mueller, "The client you contacted is not very good?"
Lawyer Mueller said, "TMG collaborates the most with Hollywood and has an excellent reputation."
"But they are too greedy with small companies," Michael said, "Can we contact other companies?"
Lawyer Mueller nodded slightly, "Of course." He reminded Michael, "Reputation is an issue with small companies, and they can't handle such large projects. They can't find enough German investors."
Michael rubbed his forehead and asked, "Is there another way?"
"I'll contact other medium and large film investment companies," lawyer Mueller didn't want to lose the business, "But they usually cooperate with big companies in Hollywood and Europe so that the conditions won't be much better."
Michael took a sip from his cup, frowned, and thought for a while: If it doesn't work, I'll have to try the backup plan.
"Lawyer Mueller," he asked slowly, "If a new film company is established, can it operate in this way?"
Lawyer Mueller was very professional and immediately replied, "Yes. There are no legal restrictions on this. As long as the company is fully compliant, it can engage in such transactions."
This matched the information Michael had previously researched.
Lawyer Mueller added, "But a new company needs a strong intermediary to open channels and lobby approval agencies for you."
He continued, "Companies like TMG, which lack real production capabilities, dare to charge small Hollywood companies because they have established stable channels and good relationships with the approval committees."
Michael asked, "Where are the intermediaries?"
"Me." Lawyer Mueller smiled, "My entire team and I."
He raised one finger, "We only charge 10% of the tax rebate amount."
Michael was silent for a while and then looked at Lawyer Mueller deeply, "Your strategy succeeded. I agree to this deal." He glanced in the direction Ram had left, "Using TMG's outrageous terms as a backdrop and then offering lower fees as leverage."
Lawyer Mueller wasn't embarrassed at being exposed and said, "We each take what we need."
These business veterans were far from simple.
"How confident are you?" Michael asked.
"If your two projects were small indie films, I wouldn't even talk to you," lawyer Mueller was confident, "Two commercial projects with a combined $40 million budget are already very convincing."
Michael nodded, his voice gradually lowering as he consulted lawyer Mueller on specific questions in this field. He asked very detailed questions and cross-referenced them with the information he had reviewed.
It wasn't until evening that he finally left.