The Wolf of Los Angeles.

Burbank, Warner Studios.

New Line Cinema and BlackRock Film Foundation held a joint press conference in the studio's press room.

The confirmed director Chris Weitz and leading actress Nicole Kidman were also present.

Facing dozens of media outlets, New Line Cinema President Robert Shea officially announced that "The Golden Compass" project would receive investment from the BlackRock Film Fund with an investment of up to $9000 million.

The project cost $1.8 million to produce, and BlackRock Film Fund received half of the investment.

When Anderson and Robert Shea exchanged contracts, there was warm applause from the audience.

After the press conference ended, Anderson briefly accepted interviews from reporters, returned to Universal Studios, and came to Focus Features, where he had a private conversation with James Schamus.

Brokeback Mountain's flop during awards season didn't deter the BlackRock Film Fund.

BlackRock headquarters is calling for continued advancement of marginalized groups initiatives in Hollywood.

But the failure of "Brokeback Mountain" made other film companies doubtful about operating this type of film.

Without the halo of an Oscar-winning film, Brokeback Mountain's commercial performance was poor. Ordinary North American audiences rarely pay for European film awards, and the influence of the Venice Golden Lion on the North American film market can only be said to be better than nothing.

Even after expanding its screening scale several times in North America, Brokeback Mountain still grossed just over 10 million U.S. dollars.

Seeing that it cannot make a profit, the distributor is preparing to withdraw the film from theaters.

Anderson believes that the failure of "Brokeback Mountain" was due to various off-site factors. Although the quality of the film itself is remarkable, he still chose to work with James Schamus.

Faced with the check waving by the BlackRock Film Fund, James was very interested and searched around Hollywood before finding a suitable script project, which was an autobiography of a gay politician.

James introduced in detail: "He was a pioneer of the gay movement in the United States and the first openly gay person in politics. He once served as a commissioner of San Francisco's Fifth District and was eventually shot and killed by conservatives. He is very representative."

Anderson was looking through the script: "I've heard of this guy."

James understood the needs of the BlackRock Film Foundation and tailored the film: "I plan to release this film before the next election. All the extras in the film will be from the gay community, and it is expected that there will be thousands of people. This will deepen the project's cooperation with gay organizations and bring together a moving collective memory."

Anderson agreed: "Just do as you said, BlackRock Film Fund will invest in this project."

James breathed a sigh of relief. After all, it was not easy to find such a generous investor.

…………

Coast Building, Twitter's move is entering the final stage.

Andrew Miano, a producer from New Line Cinema, came to visit Hawke.

He came on behalf of the newly established "Golden Compass" studio.

After the greetings, Andrew immediately apologized: "I am very sorry for declining the investment from the West Coast Foundation. New Line Cinema was interested in cooperating, but due to some unexpected factors, we had to decline."

Hawke said politely, "It's okay."

New Line Cinema didn't want to lose this potential investor, so Andrew quickly said, "If you are interested in investing in a movie, New Line has other projects we can cooperate on."

Hawke waved his hand and said, "I personally like The Lord of the Rings trilogy very much, so I have a special liking for magical epics and am only interested in this type of movie."

Andrew wondered if the company was going to launch a new fantasy film project?
Hawke asked, "According to news reports, you accepted investment from the BlackRock Film Fund. Did they set any restrictions?"

"There are regulations in this regard." Andrew still wanted to get investment from Hawke, so he told him the truth: "The BlackRock Film Foundation made up the remaining funding gap for the project, but there was a restrictive clause that we could not accept investment from other individuals or institutions. We had no choice but to decline."

Hawke smiled and said, "I believe we will have opportunities to cooperate in the future."

The two sides exchanged contact information and Andrew said goodbye and left.

Hawke didn't expect that the straight hook could actually catch fish.

Based on the analysis of the existing situation, the BlackRock Film Foundation was involved in the installation of eavesdropping devices.

It is obvious that there is a bug in Conference Room 2.

Continue to release wrong information? Too many direct hook fishing attempts will easily arouse suspicion.

Hawke thought for a while and decided to take a two-pronged approach.

It would be best to find their weak spot through the FBI channels and obtain direct evidence.

On the other hand, BlackRock is promoting programs for marginalized groups.

Hawke has previously considered an internal evolution of BlackRock’s so-called marginalized population program.

…………

On the southern slope of Santa Monica, in a seaside cafe, a pair of Mexican women holding hands came.

Both of them looked to be under 30 years old and had somewhat masculine looks.

They came to a booth by the sea and sat opposite Betty. Betty asked someone to bring coffee and asked, "How is your life at the Matthewsing Association?"

"Some people are very friendly, but some have gone crazy," Rosa said seriously. "They think that society and the country have let them down. If someone looks at them in a slightly strange way, they will be considered discriminatory and an enemy of homosexuals."

Sora's perception is different from that of ordinary homosexuals: "When they are of normal sexual orientation, others look at them as ordinary people. When they become homosexuals, others still look at them as ordinary people. Then, isn't their change of sexual orientation in vain?"

Rosa agreed: "What you said makes a lot of sense."

Betty looked at the couple in front of her, not knowing what to say.

Sora smiled and said, "When we were policewomen in Mexico, we all liked men. Our husbands were killed by traffickers and colleagues who colluded with the traffickers. We clung to each other for warmth, and that's how we are now. We just love each other, we're not homosexuals."

Betty knew their past: "Those bastards were killed by the mercenaries we hired."

"What do you need us to do?" Rosa asked.

"Nothing special, just as I said." Betty came here with a mission: "Your most important task is still to become a senior member of the Matthews Association. There will be funds from overseas to help you, and we will also create some incidents to help you move to a higher position."

Sola looked around and lowered his voice slightly: "The funds of the Matthewsing Association are not abundant. As long as a certain amount of investment is made, it will not be difficult to add two new director positions to the Matthewsing Association."

Betty responded, "No problem, I will get the funds and let you know when the time comes."

Rosa asked softly, "Besides these?"

Betty elaborated, "According to the information I received, the BlackRock Group or its BlackRock Film Foundation may sponsor the Matthewsing Association. They will certainly make a series of requests. You are responsible for influencing the top management of the Matthewsing Association and letting BlackRock set an example."

Sora was curious: "What kind of example?"

Betty said directly: "BlackRock should show sincerity and recruit a certain number of homosexuals as employees."

Rosa understood what was going on: "Send those difficult homosexuals to BlackRock and let them become time bombs inside BlackRock?"

Betty shook her head: "No, it's about pushing BlackRock to set up a sexual orientation equality department to coordinate a series of issues related to sexual orientation equality within the company."

Sora nodded: "If Blackrock itself doesn't take homosexuality seriously, they will lose trust. Those people are very sensitive."

Rosa thought more: "If a company invests a portion of its manpower and resources in such matters, it will inevitably affect the emotions of employees and hinder the normal operation of the company."

Betty picked up the coffee, took a sip, and continued, "Remember one thing, except for matters involving us, you must stand firmly on the side of the gay community in other matters."

"We will," Rosa said.

The three of them drank coffee and continued to talk about the affairs of the Matthewsin Association.

…………

District Court, downtown Los Angeles.

Accompanied by her lawyer, Alice picked up the pen and signed the settlement document.

On the other hand, Jamie Foxx's face was as black as coal, almost shiny.

After both parties signed the agreement, the mediator announced that a settlement had been reached.

Alice was the first to leave the mediation room.

The lawyer walked with her quickly toward where the car was parked, reminding her as they walked: "I will urge the other party to complete the payment as soon as possible."

The car door opened at this time, and Fiona got out of the car and said, "Once the money is in place, we will pay the lawyer's fees immediately."

The lawyer smiled and said, "You are a wise lady."

In comparison, the woman next to her was not smart enough and had no idea what was going on. Without a lawyer, she would not be able to get the compensation.

The lawyer got into the Mercedes Benz next to him and left the court first.

"Get in the car." Fiona waited until Alice fastened her seat belt, then started the car and turned onto the main road.

Alice held her forehead with her hand, looking dissatisfied: "The lawyers want to take 80%! US dollars! God, they make money too easily."

"Don't forget, you can get $120 million." Fiona reminded: "You signed the commission agreement, don't mess with the lawyer, and make sure to pay on time, otherwise it will be very troublesome."

She emphasized: "They have dozens of ways to turn you from a winner into a loser!"

Alice felt heartbroken, but she was not confused. She said, "I will pay him on time. I can't afford to offend a lawyer."

Fiona drove her to her temporary residence in Santa Monica and asked, "What are your plans for the future? You can't be an actor anymore."

"After I get the compensation, I plan to go to the Sacred Valley to be an actor." Alice had already thought about it: "This incident with Jamie Foxx has made me famous, really famous. This kind of fame will allow me to join the Sacred Valley and negotiate a good price."

Fiona turned and glanced at her.

Alice said: "In Hollywood, being fucked is all for free, but in the Sacred Valley, you can get paid for being fucked." (End of this chapter)