The ringing of the phone made Mr. Thurray shift his gaze from the news to the somewhat old-fashioned, deep red telephone.
He put down the newspaper in his hand, took off his glasses, and picked up the phone. “This is the Colgan Theater Management Company. I am Thurray.”
Mr. Thurray was the president of the Colgan Theater Management Company, a family-owned business.
Mr. Thurray’s grandfather had built the first movie theater. At that time, the novelty of movies attracted many curious people, allowing them to earn their first pot of gold.
The old man believed that this was a brand new entertainment project that was bound to have a brilliant future, because it was not as incomprehensible as opera, and at the same time, the price of watching a movie was low, affordable for anyone.
The most numerous people in this world were not the rich, but the poor.
The difficulty of getting five cents from each poor person was far less than the difficulty of getting five million from a rich person. Mr. Thurray’s grandfather continuously invested the money he earned into opening new movie theaters.
Before the guy who shouted “five cents to watch a movie” appeared, they were able to maintain a healthy operating situation.
The annual gross profit was about 300,000 to 500,000, depending on whether there were any blockbuster movies.
But after the “five cents to watch a movie” slogan and business strategy came out, their profits began to plummet.
Because of the panic that the five-cent tickets of others would steal their customers, everyone was lowering the price of their tickets.
At first, none of them were willing to lower the price. He had even participated in some social events organized by theater operators, and everyone had agreed to maintain the price together.
But as someone secretly began to lower the price of movie tickets for the midnight shows, the price war completely broke out.
It didn’t take long for the price of movie tickets in Golden State to drop to five cents. It could be said that in the two years before the advent of sound films, making movies was a gamble, and showing movies was also a gamble!
If you won the gamble, you could make money.
If you lost the gamble, you would lose money.
The entire theater chain had fourteen movie theaters, operating in Golden State, and the business was not bad.
Golden State was a prosperous and wealthy place. The richest and most powerful group of people in the Federation lived here.
A little bit that leaked from between their fingers was enough for the people here to eat and drink their fill.
This was the place with the highest consumption level in the entire Federation, but the people’s wages were also very high.
In the per capita wages of ordinary people counted by the federal government, it led the entire Federation with a per capita wage level of 51.50.
It was even twice the per capita wage in some remote areas!
This also made the people here more open and trendy in their consumption concepts, and they were also willing to accept new things.
So… their business was actually not bad.
But the fact that the business was good could not cover up the fact that the theater chain had been losing money for the past few years. If it weren’t for the fact that Mr. Thurray thought of this as “ancestral property” and wanted to pass it on, he might only have half of the movie theaters in his hands now.
He had sold all his villas, cars, and everything else, and used the money to maintain the movie theaters.
If sound films had come a little later, he might not have been able to hold on!
But fortunately, sound films came, with an unstoppable momentum. The movie theaters were instantly revived and began to make a lot of money.
Everything he had once lost was earned back in a very short period of time by showing movies, and earned back several times over.
Movie tickets were no longer five cents, but twenty-five cents, thirty cents, thirty-five cents!
Recently, some movie theater operators in Golden State were also discussing whether to raise the price of movie tickets to over forty cents!
In short, his life was very pleasant now.
The wife who used to argue with him over some small things all day had become docile, and was even willing to take the initiative to help him release his stress through oral sex.
The two children who used to be indifferent to him had also become sensible and obedient, knowing to hug him when he came home and tell him “welcome home.”
If someone asked him how many steps it took to get from hell to heaven, he would definitely answer that person, only one step—to become rich.
I should get a better-looking phone. This one is too old!
As he thought this, he mechanically spoke the words he had said many times into the mouthpiece.
“Mr. Thurray, this is Wanli Pictures.”
Hearing this name, Mr. Thurray frowned, and then a mocking smile appeared on his face.
A film company from a small place actually wanted to share the box office with him?
He had attended the film festival and exhibition in Creek Valley City and had taken a fancy to the new type of movie, The Mystery of Angel Lake.
He had inquired with the production company and was willing to buy out the movie for 8,000 to be shown in his fourteen movie theaters.
But the deal fell through. In the end, he even offered a price of 12,000, but the production company did not agree. They only accepted box office sharing.
There was no other way. He agreed.
In the actual operation, he found that the other party actually had no good way to determine how many tickets he had sold, so the idea of defaulting on the debt arose in his mind and could not be erased.
He had not paid a single penny for this movie, and had already earned tens of thousands from it, and it was still continuing to make a profit.
“It’s you again?”
His voice grew louder unknowingly. “Shit, I’ve already told you.”
“That what-the-hell-mystery you filmed, no one in Golden State cares about it, and no one likes to watch it. I haven’t even sold a thousand movie tickets yet!”
“If you want money, no problem. I’ll mail you a hundred dollars. Don’t call me every day. I don’t have time to waste with you greedy worms!”
He glanced at the steaming coffee and newspaper, and the pipe placed on the side. He had a whole afternoon to spend here quietly.
The voice in the receiver was relatively young and also unfamiliar. It was not the same person who had called the previous few times. “Mr. Thurray, the other cinemas in Golden State have all reported good box office results. Did you make a mistake?”
Mr. Thurray cursed a couple of times. “What the fuck does that have to do with me?”
“Listen, young man.”
“I don’t care about your movie. Here, it just doesn’t sell. I’ve already taken it off the playlist, understand?”
“And, don’t call me anymore!”
The young man’s voice in the receiver did not become abnormal because of this. “Do you know what the consequences of doing this are?”
“Consequences?” Mr. Thurray laughed twice. “You mean you’ll come over and bite me a couple of times?”
“Haha!”
He slammed down the phone with a click, then shook his head and picked up the newspaper again.
For him, this was his job. As long as he sat here, and every once in a while, the ticket office would send over a box of money.
His worker would count the money clearly in front of him, stack it neatly, and then put it in a tin box.
In the evening, he would take a portion of it to the bank to deposit.
The work was just like this, simple, easy, and not troublesome.
He didn’t take the small film company from far away in Likalai State to heart at all. This was Golden State, not their kind of small place.
Lance put down the phone. He stubbed out the half-smoked cigarette in the ashtray, then looked at the director. “Is there more?”
The director took out a few more movie theaters and their detailed information. “Some of these also say that no one is watching, and some, although they have reported the box office, have not paid the money.”
Lance took it and looked at it. There were some all over the country. This was indeed a headache, but it was not impossible to do so.
“Is the situation with other film companies the same?” Lance asked. He seemed to have some new ideas.
The professor shook his head. “Currently, only we are using the box office sharing model. They are still using the buyout and screening method.”
After all, buyout and screening had been going on for so many years, and for the production company, they could recover the cost at once, avoiding many troublesome problems.
For the investors of the movie, they also preferred the buyout and screening model. The payback period after the movie was filmed was very short, which was conducive to their capital mobilization and adjustment.
Seeing Lance’s expression, the director’s voice lowered a little. “But in fact, everyone is also willing to use this model. Previously, two movies sold for nearly 10 million in total, but they only sold for less than 3 million at the film festival.”
“More than 7 million in profits were eaten up by the movie theaters. The production companies are also discussing that they can actually get more from this.”
“And the reason they can sell for so much is because they used the gimmick of being the first sound film and the like to sell the price up.”
“Now, even for the same movie, 700,000 to 800,000 is probably the limit.”
“And our movie has almost had so much profit.”
Lance looked at the list again. The movie theaters involved were scattered all over the place, involving more than a dozen cities in seven or eight states.
While he was thinking, the room was very quiet. After about two minutes, he asked, “If we can ensure that the box office sharing can work, and ensure the利益 generated by the movie to the greatest extent.”
“Do you think there will be film companies that will give us their movies to distribute?”
The director reacted after a while, with an uncertain expression on his face. “Probably?”
“After all, as long as we prove this, they should be able to understand that this can let them earn more money.”
Yes, definitely!
Lance looked at Elvin. “Make the arrangements. I hope these movie theaters and their operators can pay me the money they owe as soon as possible, and put it into the company’s account.”
“If anyone doesn’t cooperate…” he lowered his head slightly, and Elvin immediately understood.
No one can default on Lance’s debt and still live freely.
“I know what to do,” Elvin took the list and looked at it. “I’ll go and arrange it now.”
Lance added, “I’ll go to this Colgan Cinema myself.”
He just happened to have something to do in New Golden City. With the reopening of the casinos and the funds squeezed out of the Kodak family, the first batch of money had begun to flow.
He could choose not to go to New Golden City and directly transfer the money to the account designated by Tom.
But he could also go over and let them know where this money came from and who gave it to them.
Giving benefits must be done in a tangible way.
The director had a surprised expression on his face. “Wouldn’t this… cause some trouble?”
Lance shook his head and leaned back in his chair, his legs crossed, and said with a smile, “In running a film company and filming movies, you are the professional.”
“But in this aspect, I am the professional.”
Lance’s considerations were very simple. He wanted to earn money from criminal businesses, and he also wanted to earn money from legitimate businesses. Moreover, movies were an industry with huge future potential and also huge influence.
The entire social system of the Federation had all kinds of problems. For example, the people of the upper class never treated the lower class as human beings. Those gentlemen had even said such things.
They believed that ordinary people were not human, the elite class was barely human, and only the upper class was human.
Some people even said in private that the reproductive rights of the inferior should be deprived, because the inferior should not continue to reproduce.
But people had to admit that they seemed to be inseparable from this large number of the lower class of society. Then whoever has a greater influence on the lower class of society will occupy more initiative in economy, politics, and all aspects.
By mastering a more profitable distribution capability, film companies will rely on him more. Before they can do it themselves, they must listen to Lance’s words.
By the time they can do it themselves, Lance has already used this time difference to complete more things, more layouts, to make his position more unshakable!
Think about it, those movie stars and actors with great fame publicly express views that are favorable to him, or stand on his side at a critical moment. Even if one day he stands in the dock, those prosecutors will have to be careful with their words.
In the Federation, prestige is the best amulet.
The police in the city can kill an unknown ordinary person for no reason, but when they deal with those famous people, they have to be doubly careful and consider not to be troubled in return.
This is the benefit of prestige.
Lance needs prestige.
At the same time, this also represents huge economic benefits. When film companies find that they can get more benefits from here, if they want to ask Lance to help distribute, they need to pay Lance a sum of money.
The money Lance can earn from here will no longer be a small number. It is a percentage of the total box office of all movies in the Federation every year, not a specific number!
With interests and prospects, there is a driving force.
Soon, the young men of the Lance Family began to act.
Lance also boarded the train to New Golden City.
Two days later.
When Lance came out of the station, the surging feeling of the era became very clear again. He stood on the steps of the station, as if he could hear the heartbeat of “blood flowing” in this city, this country, because of its pumping.
The heartbeat of the era!
Everything here is filled with things that make people full of power!
To be honest, he liked this city.
After standing on the steps for a while and adjusting his emotions a little, his gaze fell on Tom on the sidewalk at the bottom of the steps, and he shook hands with Tom.
“Why did you think of coming over in person?” Tom welcomed him into the car on the side of the road. Lance’s convoy was also here.
He had come by train, and the convoy had come directly from the interstate highway. At this time, the speed of the train and the car were about the same. As long as they kept driving, the car could even be a little faster.
After all, the time it takes to refuel a car is much faster than the time it takes to add coal and water to a train.
Lance sat in the car, swaying back and forth, not letting his butt press down on his clothes. “I’ll send the first sum of money over in advance, and by the way, I’ll chat with the senator.”
“In addition, I have some small things to deal with here.”
Tom said in a joking manner, “The senator has time tonight, but it will be a little later.”
Lance nodded. “There’s no hurry. The senator’s business comes first. These are just small matters of mine.”
Tom said with a half-smile, “This is not a small matter of yours.”
He knew how much money Lance had sent this time, which was why he said so.
After the two had a simple chat, Lance asked, “I’ve been reading the newspapers recently. The conflict between us and Dantra seems to have escalated. Has there been any decision in Congress?”
Tom looked at Lance with some surprise.
If these words had come from the mouths of those politicians, celebrities, or experts, he would not have found it strange.
But for it to come from the mouth of a gang leader would give him a very absurd feeling.
When did a gang leader also need to have an international perspective and a high degree of political sensitivity?
If all gang leaders were like this, then wouldn’t the Federation be turned upside down?
He was only in a daze for a moment, and then he smiled and nodded. “This is not a secret. The federal government will not compromise with the Dantra government. There is actually no possibility of compromise between us anymore.”
He seemed to be about to say something but stopped. Lance, however, sighed. “The war is still coming.”
Tom asked, “Why do you think so?”
Lance looked at him as if he were looking at a fool, which immediately made Tom feel a little ashamed and angry. “I was just testing you.”
“I hope you were really testing me!” Lance followed up with a retort, but soon he and Tom both laughed.
Neither of them continued to go deep into this topic. Tom knew the “standard answer,” so he was not so interested in Lance’s answer. As long as the result was correct, that was enough.
Tom treated him to a meal. The dinner in the Federation was just like that. Lance even felt that it was not as delicious as what that stubborn old man Anderson made.
After dinner, he was taken to the villa where Senator Cleveland worked. This was where he worked and rested.
To say it was a villa, it was more like a large office with a place to rest.
Although Congress provided an office for every senator, the not-so-large office could not accommodate the senator and his team at all.
So except for when they were on duty and had to be in the office, at other times they would work in other places.
At nearly nine o’clock in the evening, the senator came back from outside, reeking of alcohol.
(End of a Chapter)