High-tech stocks have been soaring, the Nasdaq index keeps climbing, and Cisco and Yahoo are in the spotlight.

A community blog website called METAFILTER, launched by Matt Howie, has drawn criticism from commentators.

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, hailing from the oil-rich UAE in the Middle East, has set up an office in Los Angeles.

Last year, North American movie theaters saw over 1.4 billion admissions.

Chapter 2: Financing Plan

For a full half month, Ronald devoted most of his energy to understanding the current state of society, especially focusing on the internet and Hollywood.

To get out of a predicament, naturally, you have to focus on what you do best.

The prerequisite for all of this is to understand the basic situation of today's society.

Hollywood is just as he remembered: after James Cameron collaborated twice with the future governor, he spent years building a massive, unstoppable ship.

However, this ship has only just set sail; the current global box office champion is Steven Spielberg's "Jurassic Park."

Internet technology is no different. Jobs returned to Apple just over a year ago, Cisco and Yahoo's stock prices are steadily rising, and if memory serves, the bubble won't burst until the new millennium arrives.

This is the best of times, and also the era when internet tycoons are rising.

To catch this express train, you need a sum of seed money.

Ronald not only has no money, but is also deeply in debt. During this half month, he did try to get loans or use other financing methods, but with the abundance of information in America and Sahai Entertainment's poor repayment ability, not only did formal banks and financial institutions turn him down—even the private high-interest lenders he could reach looked down on him.

Because Sahai Entertainment is a member of the Producers Guild, at Mary's suggestion, he submitted an application to the Producers Guild, seeking support from the "Film Industry Allowance and Health Plan."

This plan is mainly intended to encourage and help guild members.

The Producers Guild is not a union, but a trade organization, with the real power held by medium and large companies. His application sank without a trace, receiving no response at all.

Unable to find external help, he could only rely on himself.

Ronald set his sights on Hollywood—more precisely, on movies—and made a point of visiting several major industry organizations in Hollywood.

Every night, he also studied Sahai Entertainment's past successes and failures, drawing lessons from them.

It's hard to do anything without money.

Sitting in his office, Ronald slowly twirled his pen. What should he do next? How could he get money as quickly as possible? Only with money could he catch the express train.

He stopped twirling his pen and wrote "movie" in his notebook.

Because of his previous work, he could name a long list of future Hollywood blockbusters—not just their Chinese titles, but most of their English titles as well.

Young Anderson actually has screenwriting ability, but Ronald wasn't considering that for now. Not only are new scripts from newcomers hard to get noticed, even if someone was interested, they wouldn't fetch a good price.

As for writing a script and directing it himself, that was out of the question.

He had never been a director, and Young Anderson hadn't studied directing either—he simply didn't have the ability, and besides, he had no money.

Previously, The Andersons had always produced movies as investors and producers, just like other Hollywood companies, with all directors and crews hired externally.

Ronald scratched his head hard. The payback period for movies is very long; making a profit two or three years after investing in a film is completely normal.

By then, the stock market might have already crashed—so much for catching the express train.

Waiting for a movie to be released and make money is clearly not a good solution.

So what should he do? Is it possible to make money using a movie project?

Throwing down his pen, Ronald thought carefully. In Hollywood, many movie projects are financed through fundraising. Often, before a film even starts shooting, overseas distribution rights can be pre-sold, and the funds obtained are used to prepare the film.

But this model requires a mid-to-large-scale distribution company, or a film involving well-known figures; at the very least, a professional insurance company must provide third-party guarantees.

With the obscurity of Ronald Anderson and Sahai Entertainment, the possibility of pre-selling anything was zero.

Moreover, setting up a project and diverting North American or European financing for other uses carries huge legal risks.

Ronald tossed aside his pen, and a flash of inspiration crossed his mind. It's the nineties now, information is relatively closed off, and for some people overseas who aren't in the film industry, Hollywood still retains a considerable air of mystery.

For example, across the Pacific, very few people today know much about Hollywood.

He could totally set up a movie project and then seek financing overseas!

Ronald couldn't help but recall a fraud case from his previous life: a company in Yantai posed as a Hollywood film company, illegally raising funds from the public, and scammed as much as thirty million.

There were even some con artists who managed to pull off scams in Hollywood itself.

He remembered reading another report at the time: a scammer pretended to be a producer, not only swindling over ten million dollars in investment in Hollywood, but even becoming friends with many celebrities.

It actually seems somewhat feasible.

Of course, Ronald would never go across the Pacific.

He still had that much conscience.

As for inside Hollywood, that wouldn't be appropriate either—it wouldn't be good for long-term development.

With a concept and an idea in mind, Ronald began to think deeper and further.

Sahai Entertainment has been around for nearly ten years, has released multiple videotape works, and is a member of the Producers Guild. Setting up a new film project would be perfectly normal.

Start a brand-new movie project, and go overseas to scam—no, to raise funds!