America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 774 Not afraid of eating, drinking, and having fun, but afraid of ambition and entrepreneurship.

Amidst the overwhelming wave of criticism against Johnny Depp, one news item in the media went largely unnoticed.

Annapurna Films declared bankruptcy less than three years after its founding.

Due to defaulting on bank loans, the company's assets were subject to asset preservation measures by the bank, with the most valuable portion being the copyrights to several films.

The three completed films include the released films "The Lone Ranger" and "Transcendence," as well as "Seventh Son," which could not find a suitable distributor.

One film currently in post-production is "Lights Out," directed by Kathryn Bigelow.

In addition, Megan Ellison herself was involved in bank loans totaling $2.5 million.

For ordinary people, and even for most billionaires, repaying this debt would be extremely difficult.

Megan Ellison also lacks this ability.

At this time, the advantage of having a good father comes into play. Larry Ellison personally stepped in and settled Megan Ellison's debt.

But the condition is that Megan Ellison must leave Hollywood and return to San Francisco.

Even a billionaire can't withstand the massive mess created by his ambitious daughter. He might be able to fill it once, but doing it again would be too much.

This also confirms the saying that super-rich people are not afraid of their children indulging in food, drink, and entertainment, but they are afraid of their children being ambitious and starting their own businesses.

In the other world Martin experienced, Megan Ellison's Annapurna Pictures followed the Oscar-contending route and became the most successful awards season company since The Weinstein Company, garnering 52 Oscar nominations alone.

But the Oscars are no longer the Oscars of the 80s and 90s. Simply catering to the tastes of older white men is no longer enough to win awards. In the rapidly evolving LGBT era, the films that the Oscars appreciate have completely deviated from the majority of viewers and basic market rules.

Behind Annapurna Pictures' Oscar triumph was a complete commercial failure.

An award-winning film often costs tens of millions of dollars to produce, but even with several Oscar nominations, it may only gross a few million dollars at the box office.

Art awards cannot save a studio company from survival.

Annapurna Pictures in this world chose the commercial path, but fell into a huge pit with Johnny Depp.

Megan Ellison got into her car after leaving the office building lobby. She hadn't driven far when she said, "Stop for a minute."

Dreit, who was driving, stopped the car.

Megan Ellison rolled down her car window and looked at the Annapurna Film Group office building across the street. She knew that once she left today, she might never have the chance to come back.

Several vans suddenly stopped in front of the office building, and a group led by Judith got out and took over the building.

Megan Ellison abruptly turned around and said, "Let's go."

The car headed towards the airport, where Larry Ellison had sent a private jet to Los Angeles to pick up Megan Ellison and take her back to San Francisco.

As she approached the airport, Megan Ellison received a message about the bank.

After the bank took over Annapurna Films' remaining assets, it announced that it was preparing to sell the rights to "Seventh Son" and "Lights Out".

For banks, keeping the film as cash is meaningless.

…………

Burbank Davis Studio.

Harris Carter had just returned to Los Angeles from New York and immediately came to see Martin.

The months-long acquisition and sale journey was very fruitful.

"Hey, Bruce." Harris greeted Bruce first, then pulled out a chair, sat down opposite Martin, took a document from his briefcase, and handed it to Martin: "All the details and receipts are in here."

Martin opened it and quickly flipped through it.

Harris briefly explained, "During this period, I used various shells to purchase many of Depp's assets at low prices, including Depp's seaside villa in Malibu, the super apartment occupying the top floor of the Columbia Building, the duplex apartment on the Upper East Side of New York, the villa in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, the vineyard in Bordeaux, and that antique two-masted yacht."

Martin nodded slowly; these were quite valuable.

Harris added, "We're not the only ones eyeing Depp; some businessmen have also been involved. Depp's hillside villa in Beverly Hills, his castle in London, his ranch in Kentucky, his collection of fine wines, and many works of art and classic cars have all fallen into other hands."

Martin said, "It's already quite good that we were able to take these."

Harris said with a smile, "We got the news first, and we also had Depp's asset details. We kept an eye on them, so we gained some advantages."

Bruce, who also participated in the acquisition investment, couldn't help but ask out of curiosity, "Which ones have been sold so far?"

Harris explained, "The two-masted antique yacht was sold to J.K. Rowling, the villa in the 16th arrondissement of Paris was sold to French actress Léa Seydoux, the Bordeaux vineyard was sold to an Asian star, and the penthouse in the Columbia Tower was sold to Sandra Bullock, for a total profit of $2577 million."

He paused briefly, then added, "We're currently in talks with a pop star about a duplex apartment on New York's Upper East Side; several wealthy individuals from South Asia are interested in buying a beachfront villa in Malibu, and negotiations are still ongoing."

Martin nodded: "You've worked quickly, thank you for your hard work."

As the actual person in charge, Harris received additional compensation on top of his share of the profits.

The two were chatting when Bruce's phone rang. He took it out, glanced at it, and interjected, "Breaking news: the bank has taken full control of Annapurna Films and is preparing to sell off its assets."

He looked at Martin: "Including Seventh Son, and Kathryn Bigelow's Hunt for Lights Out, which is currently in post-production."

Martin told Harris directly, "You contact the banks and try to buy these two films. Seventh Son is worth a maximum of $3000 million. If it's more than that, just give up."

Dragged down by "The Lone Ranger" and "Transcendence," "Seventh Son" is finding it difficult to find a distributor for large-scale theatrical release, and its profit prospects are not optimistic.

Even if a distributor is found, they are unlikely to invest too many resources in this film.

Martin's target is Netflix, and he's confident he can sell it to Netflix for $4000 million.

Harris wrote it down.

Martin recalled the circumstances surrounding "Lights Out," stating that in his previous life, the female lead in the film was Jessica Chastain. Because he had a few scenes in the film, Jessica Chastain rejected Megan Ellison's invitation and never accepted the role.

The director is James Cameron's ex-wife, Kathryn Bigelow, but Martin doesn't recall Bigelow directing anything after Lights Out.

From this perspective, the film's profit prospects are not very good.

Martin called Jessica to check, and found that the production cost of "Lights Out" was $4000 million. He then told Harris, "The other one, the highest bid won't be more than $2000 million."

Harris said, "Banks usually sell these distressed assets below cost. I've been in Los Angeles recently specifically to handle these kinds of deals there."

Martin didn't stand on ceremony with him: "Alright, let's get moving."

Harris didn't linger; he left the studio and contacted his subordinates to make preparations.

Martin then left his office, crossed the pedestrian bridge that spanned ABC and the Disney studio, and entered the Disney studio, ready to go to the La La Land studio to rehearse the song and dance numbers.

This film will feature a lot of song and dance scenes, and to achieve the desired effect, a lot of hard work in the early stages is essential.

Before entering the piano room, Martin suddenly received a phone call from overseas.

"Hello, are you Mr. Davis?" the person on the other end asked cautiously.

Martin said, "Hello, I'm Martin."

On the other end, she quickly introduced herself: "I'm Clara, Mr. Davis. Do you remember me? Last year when you came to Seoul for the premiere, Samsung threw a big welcome party for you and director Ridley Scott. I attended the party, and we exchanged contact information when you left."

Martin had almost completely forgotten about it, but her reminder brought it back to his mind.

I remember she had studied in the US before and could speak fluent English.

Martin said, "I remember you, a beautiful lady... um, is there something you need?"

Clara's voice was filled with surprise: "My contract with the agency here is expiring, and I'm having some trouble signing a new one. I want to try my luck in Hollywood, but I don't know anyone there, so I had to call you."

Martin understood what these words meant immediately. Without certain connections, even many star actors from other countries would find it difficult to find suitable opportunities in Hollywood, let alone someone like Clara who was not well-known.

After a moment's thought, he said, "My brokerage firm, WMA, has a branch in East Asia. You can join WMA and develop business outside your home country."

The Korean entertainment industry is practically a slave system. When Clara had the opportunity to break free and develop her career in Hollywood, she didn't hesitate at all: "Martin, I'll do whatever you say."

Martin gave Clara a phone number: "If you want to join WMA and contact this person, do this first."

The two hung up the phone.

Martin entered the studio and happened to run into director Damien Chazelle.

The latter stopped Martin and brought up a casting issue: "A while ago, Catherine Daddario auditioned for the role of Alexis. There are also two supporting actresses for Mia. I have some thoughts on the casting."

Martin nodded: "Go ahead and say it."

Damien Chazelle said, "For the other two roles, I think it would be best to cast a Black actress and a Latina or other ethnic actress, so that the film can avoid some controversy."

Martin certainly understood that this was a nationwide trend, and it was becoming increasingly evident.

It doesn't matter which ethnicity the actors are from, but there must be a Black actress.

Martin agreed: "Yes."

Damian Chazelle said, "I'm going to say hello to the casting team."

Martin went straight to the piano room, and after his piano and dance practice was over, he received a call from Alexandrovich.

This guy had just returned to Los Angeles from Europe and came looking for me immediately.

(End of this chapter)