Chapter 46 Making A Low-budget Movie

  After leaving the bank, the salesperson with a joyful expression congratulated Hardy, saying, "Mr. Hardy, you're amazing! You bought that toy factory for less than forty thousand dollars. Even if you were to sell it right away, you could make a profit of ten to twenty thousand dollars."

  "Mr. Hardy, if you need anything related to real estate in the future, feel free to contact me anytime. My name is Edward," he said, handing over a business card.

  "Didn't you give me one before?" Hardy took the card, looking puzzled.

  Edward smiled, "I always give a business card when meeting with clients, for easy contact. If a deal is struck, I give another card to leave a lasting impression and ensure the client remembers my name."

  "Dealing with old clients often yields success rates several times higher than with new ones," he added.

  Hardy felt that this guy's analysis was correct. If he didn't hand over his business card a second time, he would have forgotten about him.

  Returning to the toy factory once again, now fully owned by Hardy, he instructed, "Sean, find people to renovate the factory's office building and dormitory. The yard also needs attention. Then, have someone create a sign that says 'HD Security Company'. This will be the headquarters of the security company from now on."

  "Okay boss."

  After walking around the office building, there was a large basement below, and Hardy had an idea and said: "Sean, let someone clean and Transform this place into a warehouse."

  "What are we planning to store in the warehouse, boss?"

  "Turn it into a gun warehouse, How can a security company not have its own gun warehouse?" Hardy said it with a smile.

  He pictured the 200 square meter basement filled with guns and ammunition, imagining it must be quite shocking.

  In the United States, adults are eligible to purchase firearms and ammunition. Guns are rampant, and gunfights can occur at any time. Security companies must apply for legal documents to carry firearms. Now that the business license for HD Security Company has been issued, the procedures for legally holding weapons are still being reviewed. But this did not prevent Hardy from building his weapons arsenal.

  Although Sean was average in combat, he had a sharp mind. Entrusting him with the renovation of the security company was no issue.

  Now that he has acquired a good base, its time to get more subordinates and train them, but recruiting more people would take some time.

  Hardy realized it had been days since he visited the film company. Despite not getting paid, he couldn't neglect his role as Noah Film Company's assistant chairman.

  Driving to the film company, the receptionist Susan smiled flirtatiously at Hardy. "Good afternoon, Assistant Hardy."

  "Good afternoon, Susan, I haven't seen you for a few days, and your skin has become more delicate." Hardy said it with a smile.

  Susan blushed, her big eyes twinkling as she looked at Hardy.

  If Hardy invited her to dinner now, she would surely accept, perhaps they could play house again tonight.

  But now he has Ava Gardner, whom he can eat at any time. That woman is considered the best in all of Hollywood, keeping Hardy content and focused on his current priorities, with little distraction or interest in other women at the moment.

  Just as he entered his office, the film company's general manager, Cohen, walked in. "Hardy, I was actually going to call you, but here you are."

  "What's up, General Manager Cohen?" Hardy asked.

  "Warner Bros. reviewed the script we discussed in the meeting earlier. They think it's decent and are willing to collaborate on the film. We're having a meeting this afternoon to finalize things and prepare to sign with Warner Bros.," Cohen explained.

  "Good, I'll be there on time."

  After sipping the coffee Susan brought him, Hardy entered the meeting room. General Manager Cohen and the heads of several departments were already present.

  Cohen glanced at the documents in his hand. "Warner Bros. agreed to collaborate on the film, but they want to make significant revisions to the script. The previous plot had some gaps. The film's title has been decided: 'The Golden Outlaws.'"

  Upon hearing the title, Hardy searched his memory.

  Hmm... no recollection.

  It meant the film had already been lost in the sea of movies.

  In later years, film investors summarized the 80/20 rule, where eight out of ten films lose money, leaving only two profitable or break-even. Since the 1940s and 1950s, Hollywood has produced thousands of films annually, accumulating over decades, how many of those movies can people even remember?.

  The films that truly left marks and profit immensely are rare, hence they are considered classics among classics.

  Cohen continued, "Warner Bros. is willing to collaborate, but they want to take the lead with their production team. We'll only be investors."

  The message was clear: Warner Bros. wanted control over the script and production team, with Noah Films only contributing financially.

  In the world of capital, whoever holds the power makes the decisions.

  "But what about our actors? Dozens of our actors have been idle for half a year," complained Thomas, head of the acting department.

  Hans, head of production, was even more dissatisfied. "Directors, writers, cinematographers, lighting technicians, props masters, and musicians—I have more idle staff."

  Cohen shrugged helplessly. "I know, but we're not confident about this film, and we're short on funds. We have to follow Warner Bros.'s lead, or else our investment could be a loss. We're investing 150,000$."

  After the meeting, Hardy went to Thomas's office to chat. Thomas grumbled, "Even if we made a low budget film, it'd be better than just sitting around and following others lead. If we keep doing this, the company might really go bankrupt soon."

  "Is Cohen not managing the company effectively?"

  "The person who needs to get out of this company the most is Cohen. He has no vision, no achievements, no connections. The boss handed the film company to him, and he hasn't made a dime for the boss," Thomas remarked.

  Hardy thought, Could this guy be trying to use me, the assistant chairman, to relay these thoughts to Sigel?

  Heh... interesting.

  There's politics and contradictions everywhere.

  Even in such a small film company.

  Back in his office, Hardy lit a cigarette.

  Originally, he had considered giving Ava Gardner a small role in this film if it went into production. But now that it was going to Warner Bros, that plan seemed to be over.

  Noah couldn't continue like this.

  An idea flashed through Hardy's mind—what if he invested in and directed a low budget film himself?

  He had seen countless films in later years, any random one was a classic. Finding a low budget film shouldn't be difficult.

  Making money and attracting women it's a win-win.

  But this film couldn't be handled by Noah.

  There were too many issues with Noah, and this wasn't his company, even though the boss was Sigel, Hardy didn't have the noble sentiment of making a bridal dress for others.

  How much money could he put up now?

  He earned $170,000 from two robberies, spent $40,000 on the toy factory which could be covered by a mortgage on the factory building, potentially retrieving some money.

  Apart from leaving some for expenses, he could likely put up $150,000.

  Investing $150,000 in a film, even in 1946, would be considered a small production.

  What to film? Hardy had a sudden inspiration. He once played a PS4 game based on a film a classic Western film.

  In later years, it was considered one of the classics of Westerns.

  That film, produced in 1964, only cost $200,000 but earned tens of millions at the box office and received numerous accolades.

  Hardy picked up a stack of paper and wrote down a title.

  "The Wild Bunch."

  Summary:

  A lone bounty hunter named John arrives in a small town on the Mexican border and learns about the ongoing conflict between two factions the Ramon brothers and Sheriff Baxter. Seeing the plight of the townspeople, he decides to eliminate these two forces of evil.

  The film features a female character Ramon's captive—a role with minimal screen time but high impact. Hardy believed Marisa was perfect for this role.

  The synopsis was about three to four thousand words long, and Hardy felt it explained the story clearly. He picked up the phone and called the office.

  "Mr. Hardy, what can I do for you?" came the voice on the other end.

  "Get the company's screenwriters for me. I need to talk to them," Hardy instructed.

  Everyone has their specialty, he couldn't write a script, so he left it to the professionals who were right here.