It's reasonable for me to be a three-time Golden Horse Award-winning director and an all-around

Chapter 126 When people are united, they can move mountains; when they are not, nothing can be accomplished (Seeking monthly votes)
2401 Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles, Brom House.

In the company's conference room, Jason Blum looked at the shareholders present, his feelings quite complicated.

Since its establishment in 2000, the Brim House has gone through countless trials and tribulations to finally reach where it is today.

The company's annual revenue has grown from several hundred thousand dollars to more than five million dollars today, and everything is moving in a better direction.

In order to increase revenue, he boldly proposed a transformation, wanting to change from a company that only does distribution business into a comprehensive company that combines production and distribution.

To his utter surprise, when he proposed this idea, he was met with opposition from the majority of the shareholders.

Even the company's management thought his idea was completely out of the ordinary and wondered if he was cursed by Satan.

Why forgo a stable future and gamble on a one in ten thousand chance of success?
Isn't that stupid?

What angered Jason Blum even more was that recently an independent production company had contacted Blum House, wanting to buy his life's work!

This is an insult to him!
How could he possibly hand over the company to someone else?

To his dismay, some of the company's shareholders began to waver.

Because the price offered by the other party was far higher than the market price, some people had the idea of ​​"cashing out and leaving the market".

This is definitely not good news for Jason.

Because the combined shareholding of all shareholders and management has reached 80%, the other party only needs to buy more than 50% of the shares to gain control.

While they couldn't oust the founder, they had the power to bankrupt the company and force him to leave!

Just thinking about this made Jason Brom feel so frustrated he was about to explode!

"Everyone! We've worked together for five years. You should know my capabilities. Don't you trust me at all? I can promise you that even if the House of Brom ventures into film production, it will never fail."

He is still trying to persuade shareholders to trust and support him.

However, the way everyone in the conference room looked at him was as if they were looking at a madman.

The major shareholder bluntly stated: "Jason, what makes us trust you? In the past five years, the profits I've earned from the company are less than one-fifth of what I earned on NASDAQ, but my investment is one-third of the funds invested in the stock market. This profit gap cannot be bridged by the word 'trust'."

Besides, MGM, one of the eight giants of Hollywood's golden age, is now on the verge of bankruptcy due to heavy debt. What makes you think you can make money in the film production industry?

Jason Blum argued, "I'll follow the example of DreamWorks and Lionsgate, starting with small budgets..."

Before he could finish speaking, he was interrupted by a burst of snickering laughter.

The second-largest shareholder shrugged and said, "DreamWorks has Steven Spielberg, Lionsgate's success relies on financial subsidies from the Canadian, German, and British governments, but what does Brom House have?"

Jason was speechless for a moment.

He wanted to say that he would find suitable low-budget film projects, like "Saw" and "Insidious," but in reality, it was just empty talk.

He doesn't even have a suitable project yet; everything is still just a concept.

Seeing that he remained silent, the shareholders did not say anything more and got up to leave.

However, they soon gathered again in another location to discuss the sale of the shares.

"Now is the best time to cash out. It's rare to find someone willing to offer such a high price. If we don't act now, we'll miss this opportunity."

"Yes! I plan to recoup my investment and invest it in real estate."

"The Paramount ruling, the bursting of the dot-com bubble, the 9/11 attacks—all of these prove that putting money in uncertain and unpredictable places is extremely risky!"

"Jason is completely insane. He actually wants to become the next Lionsgate? What makes him think he can have such a dream?"

“I’m going to buy MBS and CDOs. My friend made a fortune on these financial derivatives, enough to buy a mansion in Beverly Hills. The more the property prices rise, the more he makes!”

The major shareholders quickly reached a preliminary agreement.

It was rare for someone to be willing to take over, but Jason Blum, in a moment of impulsiveness, decided to become a producer, gambling on that one in ten thousand chance of success.

If we don't withdraw now, when will we?
Of course, Jason can buy back the shares if he doesn't want them to sell them to someone else.

But with the money he has, what can he use to buy it back?

Even if I take out a bank loan, I still can't raise enough money.

On the other hand, seeing that he could not persuade the shareholders, Jason Blum pinned his hopes on the company's management, hoping that they would stand on his side and resist the takeover by outsiders.

But to his utter surprise, the management team chose to remain neutral!
"Luna? I want to know why?"

Seeing that his former comrades-in-arms were no longer willing to support him, Jason felt increasingly devastated.

Luna, the management representative, is a middle-aged woman with long brown hair, a capable demeanor, and outstanding abilities.

In response to Jason's questioning, she replied, "Jason, we share the same view as the shareholders and are not very optimistic about the company's strategy of transforming into a film producer."

This is actually just the surface reason.

The real key point is that she has been communicating with Peter Griffin, the president of Ruixing Pictures, during this period.

The other party offered a condition that was hard for the managers to resist!

Provided the acquisition is not opposed, Brom House will have the opportunity to participate in the distribution of "I Am Legend" and "Taken" once the transaction is completed.

what does this mean?
The former cost $1.5 million to invest in, while the latter cost over $1200 million.

These are all film projects that the Brom House never dared to dream of before, nor could they possibly get their hands on!

Since the company's inception, the highest investment they have ever issued is only $300 million.

Now, with the opportunity to rise to the top overnight and participate in the distribution of film projects worth tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars, earning more money than before, who wouldn't be tempted?
At the management level, everyone's income, in addition to their basic salary, comes from profit sharing.

The more money the company makes, the more money the individual receives.

They don't have the same lofty ambitions and ideals as Jason Brilliant, who wants to rival Lionsgate.

Their ideals are very straightforward: money and profit.

They choose whatever is most advantageous for them right now; it's that simple, straightforward, and direct.

As the saying goes, "With unity of purpose, even Mount Tai can be moved; without unity, nothing can be accomplished."

Jason Blum is currently facing the dilemma of "disunity".

With shareholders wanting to sell their shares and management not on his side, the likelihood of Brom House being acquired by outsiders has exceeded 90%!

Okay, so what should we do now?

After returning to his office alone, he fell into deep thought.

As Harvey's "student," he did not agree with Harvey's way of doing things, but he greatly admired Harvey's business acumen.

So he tried to put himself in Harvey's shoes and think from his perspective: "If Harvey were in this situation, what would he do?"

The next second, Miramax Films' development path came to mind.

When Miramax, which was at the height of its success, was acquired by Disney, Harvey also resisted.

However, resistance is clearly futile when faced with a behemoth like Disney.

So he chose to accept the acquisition and joined Disney alongside Miramax, becoming its partner, and then produced and released many globally acclaimed works such as Scream, Pulp Fiction, The English Patient, and Kill Bill!
As of now, Harvey remains the company's president and, leveraging Disney's influence, has become an undeniable force in Hollywood, raking in huge profits. Thinking about this, Jason Blum's mindset gradually began to change.

Since the acquisition is something we can't change, why not accept it gracefully?

As long as I can keep my 20% stake, it doesn't matter who I cooperate with.

Moreover, he had specifically looked into this company called Ruixing Film Industry during this period.

Based on current information, this independent production company has extremely high potential!
The low-budget horror film "Lurking" made Lionsgate famous, which coincided with Lionsgate's early development strategy.

Then they signed Chinese director Lu Rui and collaborated with companies such as Lionsgate, Sony Columbia, and Warner Bros. to launch projects such as "I Am Legend" and "Taken," which aligned with DreamWorks' early development path.

Learning from the development models of DreamWorks and Lionsgate—wasn't that exactly his previous goal?
However, he wanted to transition from distribution to production, while Ruixing wanted to expand its distribution channels based on production.

Putting aside all those messy external conditions and getting straight to the point, isn't this still a powerful combination of "production + distribution"?

Thinking about this, Jason Brom suddenly wanted to meet the president of Ruixing Film Company and have a chat with him.

Without hesitation, he immediately instructed his assistant to make a phone call to arrange a suitable meeting time.

……

The cast and crew of "Taken".

It was already April, and the film crew was in the latter half of their shooting schedule in Hollywood.

Ryan Gosling, who played the "airport shill," was chased by Jiang Wen and eventually fell off an overpass, where he was run over and killed by a heavy truck.

People are not cars.

A 2-ton car might be able to knock an 8-ton truck flying, but a person weighing less than 200 pounds would only face certain death if confronted by a heavy truck.

In addition, Michael Shannon, who plays a gangster boss, was also shot in the head by Jiang Wen.

Tom Hardy's character, "Marco," is electrocuted and dies.

The filming has now reached the auction stage.

Jiang Wen originally intended to coerce the buyer into buying his daughter, and then use the opportunity to escape from the den of iniquity with her.

Unexpectedly, before leaving, he was attacked from behind by one of the auctioneer Christian Bell's men and knocked unconscious.

When he woke up again, he found himself tied to a pipe in a basement corridor.

Bale is also a master at playing villains. With a cigar dangling from his mouth, he asked in a sinister tone, "Who are you?"

Jiang Wen did not hide his identity: "The girl you auctioned is my daughter, and I am her father."

Bell shrugged: "I'm really sorry, but I'm also a father of two, so I understand how you feel."

Although he felt sorry for Jiang Wen, as the person in charge of the auction, he had to abide by the rules.

Once the auction is over, money is exchanged for goods, and no one can change that.

"Kill him."

He waved to his men and left with a flourish.

But just as Jiang Wen was being strangled, he suddenly discovered that the screws on the pipes in the basement corridor where he was tied up were loose!

Seizing the opportunity, he used all his strength to pull off the loose screw and quickly eliminated all the surrounding enemies!
Although "Taken" is an action film, it is not the same as a typical kung fu action film.

Strictly speaking, the action in this movie is designed for killing and subduing enemies, emphasizing a single, fatal blow, rather than the flashy, elaborate action of Jackie Chan and Li Lianjie's kung fu films.

Otherwise, Lü Rui wouldn't have chosen Jiang Wen, a "drama actor".

Like Hu Jun, Jiang Wen is not a martial arts actor, but his energetic temperament fits the male lead's image perfectly, and that's enough.

After eliminating the enemy, he seized the weapon, caught up with Bell, and swiftly took down his bodyguard.

This time, it was Bell's turn to panic: "I think we should talk..."

But Jiang Wen, who was eager to save his daughter, had no time to waste on words with him.

Four shots were fired in quick succession, and Bell collapsed to the ground, revealing the buyer's location under death threats.

It's on a boat right by the dock!
"Bang bang bang!"

The magazine was emptied of bullets, and Christian Bale was officially taken offline.

"Crack!"

Behind the monitor, Lü Rui called "Stop" with satisfaction.

At this point in filming, only two crucial scenes remain.

High-speed chases on yachts, and a bloodbath to rescue his daughter!
"Okay, that's enough for today's filming. We'll continue tomorrow."

It's already past 5 p.m., time to wrap up.

As for tomorrow's filming schedule, it has been arranged for the afternoon and evening, with no scenes to be filmed in the morning.

Seeing that the film crew was starting to wrap up, Peter Griffin, who had been waiting nearby, quickly came over and told Lü Rui about the progress of the acquisition.

"Jason Brom wants to meet with you to discuss cooperation?" Lu Rui raised an eyebrow and asked with interest.

"Correct."

Peter Griffin nodded, after all, he was the president on the surface, while Lü Rui was the behind-the-scenes boss.

After thinking for a moment, Lü Rui replied, "Let's arrange it for tomorrow morning. Let him come to the 'I Am Legend' set, and we'll meet him there."

“Okay.” Peter immediately understood what Lü Rui was thinking and added after a moment’s thought, “There’s a big scene they’re filming over there tomorrow morning.”

"Haha, let the new friend observe first, and then we can talk in detail."

Lu Rui's lips curled up slightly, and a look of determination flashed in his eyes.

The current Blum House is far from reaching the scale of later generations.

He believed Jason Blum would make the right choice.

After all, cooperating with Ruixing Film Industry is his best option right now.

As for the goal of expanding the film production business, it had long been disrupted and could not proceed due to Lü Rui's deliberate sabotage.

After agreeing on the terms and conditions of the negotiations, Peter turned around and went to the set of "I Am Legend" to arrange the follow-up matters.

Meanwhile, the "Taken" crew wrapped up filming and returned to their hotel.

After returning home, Lü Rui took a shower and was just about to go out for dinner when another phone call came in from China.

It was Ning Hao who called.

His voice was filled with excitement and barely suppressed joy: "Director Lü, filming for 'Crazy Stone' has officially wrapped!"

(End of this chapter)