Sparse but neatly combed, he sat behind the desk and said to Ronald.

This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! The old white man sitting in front of Ronald is a famous director in Hollywood. He once won the Oscar for Best Director for "General Patton".

Franklin Schaffner, who also made the science fiction masterpiece "Planet of the Apes".

He has just been elected as the president of the American Directors Association in the general election.

When Ronald received the new Directors Guild ID card last month, he saw the signature of the new president, Schaffner.

"This is a coincidence. I have no credit. No one knew before that only selling video tapes for 30-40 US dollars can bring the maximum profit to the movie."

Ronald replied humbly.

In fact, if it weren't for him, there would have been other movies. Other producers revealed this and they were just lucky and happened to get this opportunity.

"Humility is a good quality, especially for a famous director." Schaffner was born in 1920 and is already 67 years old. No matter how you look at Ronald, a new director of his own nephew's generation, you will always like him.

"But don't be too modest. What you bring to the Directors Guild is not only more residual dividends, but also gives us more bargaining power in front of the studio.

Also, the number of new members joining the Directors Guild is decreasing. But we have a large number of old guys like me who want to receive pensions.

You have opened up the video tape market, and our Directors Association can also receive a lot of dividends and add to the pension pool."

Schaffner was elected as president by many retired directors and members from the golden age of Hollywood.

One of his important policy agendas is to develop more financial resources so that these old brothers and fellows can have a more dignified retirement life.

"What? The number of new members is decreasing now?"

Ronald heard what he was interested in and asked the president.

"Yes, there are a lot more advertising directors, but their first-level members can't pay much membership fees. There are film directors and TV series directors who can pay large membership fees and bring dividends. The number of new people who have joined the Directors Guild in recent years

It’s all slowly declining.”

"Oh? Is that because new directors don't join the union? Or?" Ronald was a little surprised.

"Every director of a movie released in America must join a union, except of course that weirdo like Lucas. His own Lucasfilm handles his own distribution business."

Schaffner sighed. If Lucas could return to the Directors Guild, there would be a lot more dividends to be collected.

"Today's production costs are already very expensive. When you joined the club, it was still possible to make a movie with one to two million yuan. Now the lowest low-cost movie requires 6 to 8 million yuan to be made.

And without training in low-cost films, film directors have no chance to enter the industry. Only now do I realize how many qualified members Roger Corman's New World Pictures has provided to Hollywood and the Directors Guild.

Unfortunately, drive-in theaters are also declining across the country, and his exploitative films that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars are not doing well at the box office."

"Fortunately, I entered the industry early. If I had entered the industry now, I would have had to wait another ten years before I had the chance to hold a guide tube for the first time, right?" Ronald secretly thought he was lucky.

The first movie I participated in, "Rock and Roll High School", was made with a small budget of several hundred thousand. The director's first film, "Fast Pace", was made with a small budget of three million.

If he were to give eight million to a new director now, Ronald asked himself, he might not have the confidence to believe in himself who had never made a feature film.

"I will convene senior members of the union and lawyers to discuss how to negotiate with the Producers Guild to add the videotape to the remaining dividends.

We plan to imitate cable TV and set a bottom line for sales. Any movie that sells video tapes above a certain amount needs to allocate a portion to our Directors Guild.

I will also coordinate my position with the two actors' unions (the Screen Actors Guild and the TV Actors Guild) and the Screenwriters Guild.

In short, everyone appreciates your kindness this time, and any director who makes a hit movie will be able to earn extra money in the future."

"Haha, I'm glad that I can bring some benefits to everyone." Ronald is a member of the Directors Guild. The union also gave him a lot of support back then. He feels very happy to be able to repay something."

"When it's time for the meeting, you can come too and let the old guys meet you." The more Schaffner looked at Ronald, the more satisfied he became.

"If I have time, I will definitely come. You know, unlike you in the big studio era, I have the opportunity to observe and learn from great directors. I really hope to have the opportunity to communicate with other directors, and it is best to be by their side.

Look at their experience in making movies."

"Ha, okay. We in the Directors Guild still have some old men who can meet your requirements. Billy Wilder is an old friend of mine, and he must also want to meet you."

…

When Ronald returned home, he received another call from Daydream's general manager Eddie.

"Ronald, Producers Alliance president, Nick Conte called me and he invited us to join the American Film and Television Producers Alliance as Daydream Films."

"Huh? That's an alliance between the employers... No, I'm the employer now."

Ronald reacted and opened Daydream Pictures and got involved in the distribution business. Now he is a proper investor.

"Yes, you are already the employer, my boss.

The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP) is a loose alliance that negotiates profit-sharing contracts with major unions.

The seven major studios are all members of the alliance, as are several medium-sized producers, such as Heimdall Films, which made The Terminator, Orion Pictures, a regular Oscar-winner, and the Italian De Laurentiis Pictures.

industry, and there are dozens of small producers like us.

This is different from the more official film association "MPAA". The Producers Alliance is mainly a loose organization and is jokingly said to be established to sign contracts.

Nick Conte used to teach in the law department of Stanford University and also worked as a labor lawyer for many years. Now he is responsible for negotiations between the entire league and major unions.

So this time, it was him who invited us to join and coordinate our positions."

"Oh, well... I am a member of the Directors Guild and the Writers Guild. Now if I join the Producers Guild, which side should I stand on during negotiations?"

"Haha, normally in your situation, you would avoid all discussions and negotiations." Ed had already inquired about the details. Spielberg had a similar identity to him and would automatically avoid every negotiation.

"Okay, ask a lawyer to take a look at the documents, and we'll join as soon as possible." Ronald realized that in the future, the remaining dividends from movies produced by Daydream will be allocated to the three major labor unions as soon as possible.
Chapter completed!