"Before the National Congress of the Donkey Party: the leader in 1996; after: he was finished"

"Hahaha..." Ronald was reading the newspapers and magazines delivered by the public steward while having breakfast the next day. The title of the political observation column in "Newsweek" had already pronounced the political verdict of the governor of Arkansas.

death penalty.

"What a pity, he is a very handsome man, smart and motivated." While drinking milk, Donna saw that the New York Times even wrote a classic lawyer joke about the governor.

There are some folk jokes in America that are actually not very friendly to certain groups of people. For example, there is a joke called "It takes a few so-and-so people to..."

For example, how many Poles does it take to change a light bulb?

Three of them, one aligned, and the two people below carried him around.

In the New York Times political column, a reporter wrote a variation of this joke about the governor of Arkansas, "How many lawyers would it take in a room for someone to tell the governor that he has the right to remain silent?"

Ronald leaned over and took a look. In fact, what the governor said about balancing the budget was very correct. However, after being ridiculed by the media, he probably would not be able to continue working in the political arena, because no matter where he went, this joke would always be there.

He will follow him like a shadow. Just like Mondale, the current leader, made a joke in the TV debate, no voters took him seriously wherever he went.

He called a car for Donna and took her to work. Ronald was leisurely walking in the two-story city apartment to the assistant in the New York office, the actor who played the fat girl protagonist in "Hairspray", Ricky Lake.

Come and sign work documents.

Lake is still thinking about returning to the film and television industry. After becoming an actor, he feels uninterested in other jobs. His conditions are not good, he is too fat, and he has not received any invitations to audition for other roles.

But Lake is actually very competent as an assistant. The fat girl works hard and tries her best to satisfy Ronald. In addition, she has lost ten pounds, so it is normal to give her a role when the time comes.

"Call the people on the list and ask them to come and see me. Set up a good time and don't let them do it again." Ronald was wearing a Hawaiian floral shirt and looking casual on vacation. He decided to meet at home.

For those who work for him, he can now enjoy the privileges of successful people such as Weintraub who met him at home to talk about work.

"Okay, I'll make a call." Ricky Lake went to the phone in the outside living room and made a call. Ronald looked at her back and didn't know what the fat girl was thinking, but the fat girl could only act.

Comedy has some potential, but I don't know how to make a comedy. Besides, Lake is still too fat and needs to lose ten pounds before he can play.

The first person to come was Ang Lee. He now has his own office. While helping Ronald read scripts and getting a salary, he is still revising his own scripts. The best thing is that he started to bring money home to his wife.

Since he no longer hangs around the house, his wife does not look at him all day long, and the family relationship has become better.

The two talked a lot about the selection of scripts, and Ronald was very satisfied. He ended Ang Lee's conversation ahead of schedule, and still had some time to catch up on old times and talk about some news in the industry.

"Are there any movies worth watching in your hometown?" Ronald remembered that he would choose to send movies to the Palm Springs Film Festival early next year. He planned to focus on Chinese-language movies, so he asked Ang Lee what movies were available in his hometown.

It's a good movie, you can buy it and show it in America.

"I haven't been back for a long time because I have to wait for the green card. This time I can go back with my wife to celebrate the Spring Festival." Ang Lee is very grateful to Ronald. The green card guaranteed by his company will be available soon. With a serious job,

My father can also be a little less harsh on himself.

"Then you go back and help the company take a look. There are many Chinese Americans in America and there are many audiences who like Chinese Kung Fu movies. Our company must seize this market segment."

"I will, but in recent years, there haven't been many commercial films at home. Chief Song, who is in charge of culture and entertainment, feels that Director Zhang over there won the Golden Bear in West Berlin, so the government supports literary and artistic films and aims at the European Three

It’s for major movie awards.”

It turns out that Ang Lee's hometown imposes a heavy tax on film screenings. It is a place where it is difficult to make good films. In the past few years, films that relied on the romantic dramas of a certain female writer to achieve good box office performance appeared. Now Song

The chief has given strong support to films with a high probability of winning awards, with subsidies of hundreds of thousands per film and tax exemptions. Many people in the film industry who make commercial films have no choice but to go to TV stations to make a living.

As for the two directors who have won awards in Europe, Director Hou won the West Berlin International Film Critics Special Award for "Once Upon a Time in Childhood" in 1985 (he is not as good as Yimou, this award is a minor award that ranks very low). and 86

Director Yang, who has been a childhood sweetheart since childhood (the film starred Director Hou, and the two had a falling out) and won the International Film Critics Award at the Locarno Film Festival in Switzerland, has received strong support.

As long as they can win gold medals at the three major European film festivals and outdo their opponents, they will have continuous financial and resource support.

"This is not a good strategy." When Ronald heard this strategy, he felt it was wrong. This kind of unique niche movie should be in a place where the movie market is developed so that enough specific groups of people can watch it.

The living place of many movies.

Blindly making films that conform to European aesthetics will inevitably shrink the market for basic commercial films and fall into a vicious cycle. Commercial films will become less and less popular, and those that do will be despised. If this continues, Ronald is not optimistic about Ang.

Film development in Lee's hometown.

"So, are there any good movies in the past that are worthy of me buying the distribution rights in America?" Ronald felt that since it can nurture award-winning directors in Europe, the film market there should be okay in the past few decades.

Accumulate, there will always be some good movies.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Do you still remember our club activities at that time? I went to the Cultural Department to borrow Mr. Hu Jinquan's film," Ang Lee replied, after so many years in his hometown, it has also

As for the movies of Li Hanxiang and King Hu, some people abroad like them. Maybe Ronald will consider buying them?

Later, Li Hanxiang's Guolian company went bankrupt and he went back to Xiangjiang to make romantic movies to pay off his debts. Only Hu Jinquan still insisted on his own ideas.

"Okay, if you have copies or video tapes there, you can borrow them for me. I want to see their works in the next few days." When Ronald heard that one of them was proficient in photography, and the other was proficient in photography, they were both.

People who are very proficient in traditional culture are interested in it and it is good to satisfy their own hobbies.

…

Next up was Dolly Bernstine, Daydream's head of distribution, who had done a great job acquiring theaters. Ronald already owned three of the Manhattan Grindhouse theaters.

It’s funny to say that although the Paramount Act that did not allow studios to acquire theater chains was overturned, the movie theater business has long since lost its former glory. Ronald made an offer, and the original boss couldn’t wait.

Sold it and left.

Bernstine is very enthusiastic and is currently responsible for Daydream's video distribution business.

"We are doing very well in the videotape market this year, and can even be said to be one of the five best videotape manufacturers. There are few companies that can get good reviews for every videotape like us."

Bernstine admired Ronald's vision for selecting films. "Hairspray" is the sales champion in the video tape market. It is especially popular among black people and fat people. The protagonist in this movie, Fat Girl Lake, likes

Black culture, which is rare among black audiences.

The white people in Eddie Murphy's movies respect him at most because of the role he plays. Very few white people like black culture.

However, the purchasing power of black people is limited, and many people do not have video recorders. The main customers for buying "Hairspray" videos are fat people. There are few movies that take care of the mentality of fat people. Generally speaking, they mainly laugh at them, and many

Comedy movies or comedy characters in movies are all fat, such as Ronald's good friend, John Candy.

The audience likes to see people who are not as good as themselves suffer, and they can use sympathy. They can also watch people who are higher than themselves fall, and they get extra pleasure.

There is also a video sales winner produced by Daydream. It is a romance film "Love Is Not For Sale" jointly invested by Ronald and Bannon. It is also well received in the video market. Many of the viewers who bought this video are obedient

The "Geek" reading boy.

These nerds, who are naturally socially awkward, may not want to go to the cinema with their classmates and friends and be laughed at and ignored by the social savvy people, but this does not prevent them from enjoying a romantic comedy at home in which a homeboy turns around and falls in love with the most beautiful cheerleader. Who doesn't?

What about such a dream? What’s more, being a science geek kid is usually a child from an upper-middle-class family, so buying a video recorder is not a problem.

"In addition to these movies shot by Daydream, there are also video rights that you buy for movies produced by other companies. The top two are 'Streets of Rage' and 'The Legend of Billy King,' both of which are selling very well. Boss,

You should find us more movies like this in the future." Bernstine said half-flatteringly, but generally with a bit of admiration.

"You can't all rely on me, and you don't have to make money for everyone. The video tape market is so good now, and soon the big studios will realize this market and taste. Unlike theater movies, we are afraid that we won't be able to buy them at such good prices.

It’s a cheap movie.”

Ronald was also a little surprised. The movies he bought to please his two female friends were "Streets of Rage" starring Diane as a rock star, and "Billy..." a modern Joan of Arc movie based on MJ's song starring Helen.

"Golden Legend" unexpectedly gained very good recognition in the video tape market.

So good that late-night theater programs from NBC and ABC came specifically to buy the TV broadcast rights from Ronald to fill the empty program list due to the writers' strike. The revenue from one movie was hundreds of thousands, which made Ronald

A closer look at the reasons for the success of these two Cult movies.

In fact, they all have the characteristics of the B-level movies shot by Roger Corman and specially for drive-in theaters. They are suitable for teenagers and overall exciting, but they are not suitable for the mainstream market.

If we use poetry as an analogy, this kind of movie has only one sentence but no chapters. On certain occasions, it is particularly popular and beautiful, and has touching emotions. However, it does not meet the taste of the mainstream market and is only suitable for some people. Those who like it will like it very much.

Be sure to buy a box of video tapes for collection.

For example, "Streets of Rage" is particularly suitable for young male viewers who like The Godfather. They have no idea about the rules of the adult world. This movie with a somewhat childish plot just fits their mentality.

The "Billy King Legend" is a girl version, a beautiful woman who was wronged, relying on the power of friends and public opinion in society, defeated the authority, washed away the injustice, and gained love. Young girls also like it especially.

These are all the plots they dream of.

The sales of these two films far exceeded Ronald's own expectations. The original intention was to please the two of them, so he prepared the video copyrights as gifts for them.

If you want to transfer it now, it will be particularly troublesome and you will have to pay an expensive tax. It is estimated that the cash in Diane and Helen's hands is not enough to pay next year's federal taxes.

Although it was a gift to the other party, Ronald still had to pay an expensive federal gift tax. If the lifetime gift limit that a person can receive is exceeded (usually several million US dollars), in order to make up for the legal loopholes, the two beauties also

Waiting for the inheritance tax to be paid (looking at this year's income, the capital value of the two movies has exceeded the limit).

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! In addition, if the two beauties want to transfer the ownership of the movie in the future, they will have to pay capital gains tax. If George Sr. fails to run for the leadership and does not continue to enjoy the tax extension benefits.

Ronald consulted lawyer Lindsay Dole. In this case, it was best to set up a trust and put the property rights of the two movies into it, with Diane and Helen as the beneficiaries respectively, so that they could receive a steady stream of money.

The assets in the trust are the annuity generated every year. You can enjoy the income without any worries.

Ronald felt it was not a good idea to set up a trust for just one movie because the value of the two Cult movies was still rising.

The video tape market is filled with young people, low-level blue-collar workers, and some white-collar movie lovers. It is a combination of many mutually exclusive market segments. This is similar to the movie market, which is dominated by young male and female teenagers.

The Unified Market is very different.

The more niche the market is, the easier it is to pay for the things you like. Both movies have high potential, such as sequels, licensed comics, licensed toys, dolls, and video games, etc.

So the final solution is not to transfer the copyright directly, but to transfer the income rights of the annual video tape to the two people as income. In the future, when there are more assets like Ronald, a trust can be arranged in a unified way and both of them will be included in the trust.

As the beneficiaries, Aunt Karen and cousin Donna can also be handled in this way in the future.

In this way, they can get the peripheral income from their works every year without having to raise funds. They can handle the production of sequels and derivatives by themselves. They only need to collect checks at home four times a year.
To be continued...