Chapter 1: Rebirth

( The starting few chapters may portray the mc as a racist, but he is not like that,

Even though the original author had written some racist stuff here and there, I have not included them in this translation

The Mc won't show discrimination against his friends and enemies,

He also won't show favoritism even for the Chinese filmmakers he meets in the future, he is the type of mc who will try to put the profit first and is extremely cunning.)

The morning sun rays fell on the straight road, illuminating the English letters all over the street.

Ronan was standing in front of the newsstand, staring at a copy of the "Los Angeles Times".

The date in the newspaper is January 5, 1998.

Ronan rubbed his haggard face and grabbed the bird's nest-like hair.

When he woke up from the bar in the early morning, he realized what had happened, and now he had confirmed it.

He got reborn to Los Angeles in 1998 from across the Pacific Ocean more than two decades later.

To be precise, this is Burbank, a satellite city of Los Angeles.

"Morning, Mr. Anderson." The newsstand boss greeted him, "Did you come to get the newspaper?"

Ronan nodded and bought a copy of the Los Angeles Times, and walked to the entrance of the small office building next to it.

"Isn't that Ronan Anderson?"

A fat middle-aged woman came out from the newsstand: "Look at his desolate look! A true prodigal, old Anderson's family property, and company have been screwed over by him."

The boss of the newsstand pulled the woman a bit and said, "Lisa, don't talk nonsense".

The middle-aged woman murmured, "Is it the truth?"

These words were all heard by Ronan, but he ignored them because they were right

The former owner of this body was already in a deep shit.

He slowly came to the office building.

Among the hanging nameplates, he easily found the name of Sand Sea Entertainment.

Ronan did not enter the building immediately, he looked at the golden yellow company nameplate and let out a sigh

After drinking with an advertiser, he returned home drunk and laid down, and then woke up in a bar in Los Angeles and became this guy named Ronan Anderson.

From waking up in the early morning to now, the chaotic thoughts have gradually become clear.

He had read a lot of novels about rebirth and reincarnation, and it is not difficult to accept it.

He was an orphan in his past life, so apart from the good job he had, he didn't have much to worry about.

Ronan lowered his eyes, and the original Ronan Anderson's memory emerged in his mind.

This guy can be described in one sentence: The heart is higher than the sky, and life is thinner than paper.

Roman Anderson had a good background. His father Mr.Anderson is a millionaire.

He found Sand Sea Entertainment in the 1980s and mainly engaged in film productions.

This company is small in scale and mainly produces B-level films that directly distribute video tapes.

Old Anderson is a typical conservative and never touches projects with an investment of more than one million.

During the ten years of its establishment, all the company's works were unknown, but they have accumulated a lot of money.

More than a year ago, the old Andersons went hiking in the Utah Geopark.

But unfortunately, they were both killed by a landslide.

The company and family properties all fell on Ronan Anderson.

19-year-old Ronan Anderson dropped out of the USC Film School and took over Sand Sea Entertainment.

The company is very small, and Ronan Anderson holds 100% equity.

The young people's ideas are mostly very radical.

He wanted to develop Sand Sea Entertainment into a large production company.

So he completely negated the old Anderson's business strategy and put most of the company's cash, the insurance proceeds of the old Andersons, and also mortgaged the family's old house and raised six million US dollars, and produced a Cliche action film called "The Knight".

This is an era when action movies are all very popular. Even art and literary stars like Nicholas Cage have transformed into action stars.

But it was a pity that in early October last year, "The Knight" was released in North America, and it was removed from theaters in just four weeks.

North American box office had reached $800,000 U.S. dollars, after distribution fee deduction along with the various other fees, the Sand Sea Entertainment's box office share was close to none.

The film made a big splash in North America, and nobody cared about the overseas distribution copyright.

In the following two months, Sand Sea Entertainment's capital chain broke, banks came to collect debts, and employees left one after another.

Ronan Anderson fell into the dilemma of impending double bankruptcy for both the company and himself.

The young man with a heart higher than the sky collapsed instantly and began to wander around the bars to get drunk which led to the current him being reborn.

"Without the surname Ellison, He actually dropped out of the school and invested in movies" ( I think he is referring to David Ellison who was born with a silver spoon)

Ronan didn't know what to say.

From the memories he was left behind, he knew that his predecessor was a true talent and could even be said to be a top student at the Film Academy of Southern California.

And he was also quite accomplished, especially in the drama department.

The original script of "The Knight" was also written by Jr.Anderson himself.

But talent and success cannot be equated.

His predecessor was too idealistic and too impulsive.

He invested almost all the capital to make such high-risk products like movies.

With Ronan's years of experience in the entertainment industry, the best way to invest in movies is to borrow chickens and lay eggs.

Of course, borrowing chickens to lay eggs is also very difficult.

When he was living on the other side of the Pacific Ocean in his previous life, Ronan graduated from a second-rate theater academy and had always been engaged in the industries related to film and television production.

Initially, he worked as an assistant production manager in the crew, with his hard work and various means he stepped on countless competitors along the way and became a small producer.

With the popularity of Internet video, he moved to QQ Videos to coordinate some of the content production and operations.

Looking at the nameplate of Sand Sea Entertainment, and thinking about the film knowledge and operating experience, Ronan smiled suddenly.

"Hollywood and the Internet", he has a lot to offer.

According to the times, there may be a chance to stand at the highest point and see the world from the top with money and beauties.

But thinking about the mess left by little Anderson, he can't help but have a headache.

Ronan entered the office building with a newspaper.

It was during working hours. There were a lot of people coming and going, and many people glanced at him strangely.

Even some people's rude comments can be heard.

"The company that the old Anderson had developed in ten years has been finished by his son in just over a year."

"Do you think Old Anderson would crawl out of his grave with anger?"

"Look at his decadence, maybe he will jump off the building anytime soon."

"Little Anderson is a failure to be a man."

Ronan Anderson didn't care about it,

when he came to Sand Sea Entertainment on the second floor, the remaining four employees had already arrived.

The company is not too big, his office was tens of square meters.

Originally there were nearly 20 people in the company.

But most of them resigned and left. The last four employees were the confidants of the old Anderson.

A brown-haired woman in her forties among the four greeted him and asked with concern: "Ronan?"

"I'm fine, Mary." Ronan shook his head.

The other party used to be old Anderson's assistant, and later served as the company's chief financial officer, with a very strong working ability.

Ronan had just entered the office, followed by a middle-aged man in his forties.

"Mr.Anderson", He put a letter on his table and said, "This is my resignation letter"

After taking the resignation letter, Ronan glanced at it briefly and said, "Jamie, the company has not gone bankrupt yet"

This person was also very talented so he wants to try and keep him

Jamie did not hesitate and said firmly "I'm very sorry but I have a mortgage and a car loan, and two children, so I can't take any risks."

The twisted melon is not so sweet so Ronan nodded slightly, "Did you get a new job already?"

"Hmm," Jamie responded.

Ronan picked up the pen, signed the resignation report, and pressed the phone to ask Mary to go through the resignation procedures for Jamie.

　　As soon as Jamie left the office, he faintly heard a quarrel outside.

That is the voice of Mary questioning Jamie.

　　 Ronan knows very well that the company is in shambles. If there is no response, it will not take long for the remaining people to resign.

"How can we get out of trouble as soon as possible?" he was thinking deeply.

　　 Suddenly there was a knock on the door, to which Ronan responded, and Mary opened the door and came in.

　　 "Miss Judith from the bank is here."

　　 The predecessor had been hiding from the bank, Ronan knew that this was not the right way and said, "Please let her in."

　　After a few seconds, a tall blonde girl followed Mary into the office.

　　 "Hello, Miss Judith."

"Hello, Mr.Anderson." Judith put the dunning notice in front of Ronan

She smelled the unpleasant alcohol smell, a trace of disgust flashed in her eyes, and said directly, "Your company's one million dollar mortgage in our bank, The loan is still due in three months, and your personal one million dollars real estate mortgage is due in six months."

　　 Ronan glanced at the dunning notice and said, "I know."

　　 Judith reminded, "I hope you can repay in time."

　　 The blonde woman said no more and left.

　　 Ronan received the reminder notice.

Banks rarely come to collect money. It is estimated that the bank is also worried about the situation of Sand Sea Entertainment.

　　 Sand Sea Entertainment's million-dollar loan is an old account, which was secured by the copyright of the film produced by the company before 1997

Ronan Anderson had also mortgaged the North Hollywood apartment which he had inherited from the old Anderson.

　　Without a last resort, the bank will not take any coercive measures.

　　 He wanted to do something before that happened, but now facing a huge debt of two million dollars, Ronan has a headache and subconsciously had the idea of ​​running away.

　　 Taking a deep breath, Ronan dismissed the unreliable idea, and it was not yet the end of the mountain.

　　 If you want to use your advantages to achieve a beautiful career, even those who are reborn will not get it easily.

　　 He looked at the middle-aged woman and asked "Mary, how much money is left in the company account?"

　　 Since all the finances are handled by her, Mary has been working in this area and immediately replied, "$25,000."

Ronan still has five thousand dollars in living expenses.

What can he do with just thirty thousand dollars, can he still earn 2 million US dollars in just half a year with this amount of money?

What a joke!!

This little money is not enough for the salary and daily expenses of the company

Utilities, office leases, network communications, etc. all require money.

　　 If there is no salary for at most two months, even Mary, who was the most loyal to the company, can't hold it.

　　Mary then reminded him, "The Videotape and Television copyrights of the movie "The Knight" are still there, we can sell it to Blockbuster, and it can last us for a while."

"I will think about it", Ronan waved his hand

Mary stopped talking, turned, and left the office.

For a low-budget flop film like "The Knight", the videotape copyright can't be sold for a high price.

After thinking for a while, he had no clue for the time being.

Except for the Los Angeles Times, Ronan also asked Mary to help him buy a bunch of recent newspapers and magazines and looked at them seriously.

He had just crossed over and he urgently needs information.

If you don't understand the current social situation, then you can try to start understanding it.

While reading the newspaper, he also took out his pen and notebook to record useful pieces of information.

After looking throughout the morning, Ronan recorded two pages and circled the most important ones,

[ Last weekend, the North American box office of "Titanic" directed by James Cameron exceeded $200 million.]

　　[ High-tech stocks are rising all the way, the Nasdaq index continues to rise, and Cisco and Yahoo are attracting attention.]

　　[ Metafilter, a community blog site initiated by Matt Howie, drew criticism from critics.]

　　[Abu Dhabi Investment Authority from the UAE, a local tycoon in the Middle East, set up an office in Los Angeles.]

　　 [There were more than 1.4 billion people who attended theaters in North America last year].