Chapter 13

Before nine in the morning, Ryan arrived at Stellar Agency according to yesterday's appointment and saw Heidi sitting bored at the front desk.

"Hey!"

"Heidi, long time no see," Ryan greeted casually as he approached, then looked around and, seeing no one else, whispered, "Heidi, I have a question for you."

"How old is Helen exactly?" He had always been curious about Helen's age.

"What are you up to?" Heidi looked at him strangely. "Are you trying to figure out every woman's secret, or do you want to pursue Helen?"

"I warn you, don't even think about making a move on Helen." Ryan showed a helpless expression and said, "I'm just curious."

"Helen looks like she's in her twenties, but her demeanor is very mature, as if she has a lot of experience."

"Someone like her, with a good background, should be like a delicate flower at this age."

Actually, more than her age, he wanted to know who Helen's parents were and her relationship with George Lucas.

Well, such private questions were difficult to ask.

"Hmph!"

"Don't try to trick me. Unless Helen wants to tell you herself, I won't reveal anything."

Heidi saw through his intentions at a glance; he was obviously trying to pry into Helen's background.

"Alright, you should go to Helen's office now instead of wasting time."

Heidi rolled her eyes and ignored Ryan.

At her words, Ryan had to go upstairs. He knocked on the door and, without waiting for Helen's permission, pushed it open and walked in.

Helen's attire today seemed completely different from her usual image. She wore a white dress with beautiful patterns embroidered on it. Her black hair fell down her shoulders, tied with a white ribbon, and she wore two delicate metal earrings, exuding a charming aura.

She already had an impressive figure, standing nearly 1.75 meters tall. The silk dress accentuated her curves, making her look even more tall and sexy.

The long dress almost reached her mid-calf, and below her slender legs, she wore black stockings and silver high-heeled shoes adorned with rhinestones.

"Wow, dear Helen, you look stunning today."

Looking at Helen in front of him, Ryan didn't hide his admiration, his eyes scanning her from head to toe, involuntarily drawing closer, catching a faint scent of jasmine.

As Ryan approached, Helen, without any expression on her face, said, "I have a party to attend later, so I don't have much time."

"And please focus on business matters."

Ryan complained, "You should invite me to be your escort, now that would be business."

Helen ignored him and continued, "I've already negotiated with the distribution department of 20th Century Fox. The staggered profit sharing is acceptable."

"But it must start from a $50 million North American box office. For every additional $10 million in box office revenue, you can get a 0.5% share, up to a maximum of 5%."

Originally, she hoped to start from a $30 million box office and get a 1% share for every additional $10 million. But 20th Century Fox flatly refused. If the film's box office did well, they would have to share a large portion of the profits.

After several negotiations, 20th Century Fox reluctantly agreed to the staggered profit-sharing.

However, it had to start from a $50 million box office, and for every additional $10 million, Ryan could get a 0.5% share, up to a maximum of 5%.

Although the maximum was only 5%, starting from a $50 million box office was already valuable.

If it were Ryan himself, let alone staggered profit-sharing, even the buyout price would be reduced by more than half.

"Starting from a $50 million box office!"

"It seems that 20th Century Fox estimates that the film's final box office won't exceed $50 million."

Ryan immediately saw through 20th Century Fox's intentions. They were just estimating that the film's final box office wouldn't exceed $50 million.

"So I suggest you cancel the staggered profit-sharing. This way, you can slightly increase the buyout price."

Helen, not paying attention to Ryan's gaze, adjusted her clothes and said, "Of course, if you insist, $800,000 is still a very good price."

Since 20th Century Fox compromised and agreed to staggered profit-sharing, the original price of $900,000 naturally needed to be changed.

The profit-sharing here refers to the North American box office share, not the global box office share.

If it were the global box office share, unless 20th Century Fox had gone crazy, they would never agree.

And, apart from the share of the North American box office, it had nothing to do with video tapes, TV broadcasts, adaptation rights, and so on.

"Alright."

"When can we formally sign the distribution contract?"

Ryan naturally wouldn't refuse. Once the film's box office achieved the results of his previous life, he would earn millions of dollars.

Apart from paying taxes and Helen's agent commission, the rest would be Ryan's personal income.

He didn't believe that what he could achieve in his previous life couldn't be done now, especially with News Corporation as the backing of 20th Century Fox.

"If you agree, we can sign the formal buyout contract tomorrow afternoon."

Helen corrected him deliberately; it wasn't a distribution contract but a copyright buyout contract.

"By the way, Helen, I hope the buyout fee for the film can be paid by mid-April." Ryan didn't want the money to be taken away by the tax authorities as soon as it arrived.

Starting from February each year, until around mid-April, it was tax time, and everyone had to file taxes.

As long as the payment was made after the tax filing deadline, there would be no need to deal with the tax authorities for a long time.

"Okay."

"I suggest you hire a personal assistant and a trustworthy financial manager to handle your finances and legal tax avoidance."

"And it's best to buy a car and upgrade to a decent apartment, preferably closer to Hollywood," Helen suggested.

As an agent, she couldn't always act as an assistant, and legal tax avoidance was something every Hollywood figure had to deal with.

"Well, dear Helen, before I find a suitable assistant, can you introduce me to a real estate agent?" Ryan blinked at her.

Finding a suitable personal assistant would take some time, and finding a trustworthy financial manager would take even longer.

In his previous life, he had seen many news reports about Hollywood stars or famous athletes being swindled out of all their assets by financial managers.

One of the most ridiculous cases was when he suddenly discovered that the mansion he had apparently been living in for a year wasn't in his name but in the name of his financial manager. It was like a farce.

"I can introduce you to a familiar real estate agent."

Seeing Ryan's gaze, Helen suddenly felt a little helpless. It seemed that she, as an agent, temporarily had to take on multiple roles.

"If there's nothing else, I need to go downstairs to attend a banquet."

With that said, Helen stood up and was about to leave.

Seeing this, Ryan couldn't help but try, "Dear Helen, don't you really need an outstanding companion like me?"

"No."

Helen didn't even look

 at him, directly refusing.

Ryan was prepared for this and could only lament, "I knew it would be like this."

"However, regarding the three lead actors of the film, I hope to sign the buyout contract first and then send them to Africa for a while and bring them back at an appropriate time."

Although he had already told Helen about this, he wanted to remind her again.

"You don't need to worry about these matters. I will discuss with the distribution department of 20th Century Fox. But you must remember, you can't have any connection with 'The Blair Witch'," Helen suddenly became stern.

Compared to 'The Blair Witch,' which was about to sign the buyout contract, Helen had more faith in Ryan's new script.

Although it was also a low-budget film, it was much better than 'The Blair Witch.'

So, they absolutely couldn't risk it for 'The Blair Witch.'

Ryan naturally understood what she was referring to and shrugged, showing his innocence.