With an introduction from Samuel Hill, Ronald shook hands and exchanged pleasantries with the Abu Dhabi bigwig.

After making the introductions, Samuel Hill took the initiative to excuse himself and leave.

In this lavishly decorated conference room, only four people remained. Ronald sat alone, with the Abu Dhabi bigwig Mansell beside him, and two attendants in their forties standing behind Mansell.

From the moment Ronald saw Mansell, his mind was racing. He had already felt that the name sounded familiar, and seeing the person in real life made it even more so.

This man looked four or five years older than Samuel Hill, with a classic Arab face—Ronald was sure he had seen him before.

“Mr. Anderson,” Mansell said very politely, “welcome to Abu Dhabi.”

Ronald replied with a smile, “Thank you. I appreciate Abu Dhabi giving me this opportunity.”

A scene from his memory appeared—wasn’t this man the very same Mansell Sheikh who, in his previous life, owned the Premier League club Manchester City? Back then, he was already the public face of the Abu Dhabi consortium, which was rumored to have assets exceeding a trillion dollars.

This was definitely a big shot.

Even without considering his past life, just his two current titles were enough to call him a heavyweight.

Ronald had never dealt with someone of this level before. Suddenly, he felt a bit nervous. To reach this status, while being a royal certainly helped, he must also be highly capable. Getting someone like this to willingly open his wallet would not be easy.

In fact, if things went wrong, all his previous efforts could go up in smoke.

This was a crisis.

But Ronald didn’t show it. His face remained calm and natural. After all, isn’t a crisis also an opportunity?

If this were ten years later, when Arab capital had fully entered the Western world, he would just exchange a few pleasantries and leave. But right now...

Since arriving in Abu Dhabi, he had been in frequent contact with people from the investment authority and could sense their mindset. After accumulating oil wealth, Abu Dhabi not only wanted to make money through investments but also sought to make a name for itself globally and expand its influence.

Mansell’s massive investment in the Premier League was probably a prime example of this.

If Mansell was willing to invest, the funding problem would be solved.

Although he had his concerns, with the opportunity right in front of him, he couldn’t let it slip by easily.

Letting it go might only magnify the crisis many times over.

After a few polite exchanges, Mansell asked very directly, “Mr. Anderson, I heard you just messed up a movie?”

On the first day of the fundraising event, he had gone to the venue, collected a lot of information, and even instructed the investment authority’s US headquarters to investigate Ronald Anderson and Sandsea Entertainment.

Although the investigation results hadn’t come in yet, Mr. Anderson’s performance and the detailed information—even including tax records—were quite reassuring.

“Yes,” Ronald knew he couldn’t hide it, so he answered honestly, “I raised six million dollars to produce an action film called ‘Desperate Survival,’ but the North American box office was only eight hundred thousand dollars.”

Mansell frowned slightly, and a chubby man standing behind him interjected, “

Your first film failed—can you guarantee the second one will succeed?”

Their money came from oil, not out of thin air.

Ronald observed carefully. Such a blunt question was something Mansell wouldn’t ask directly, so he had his subordinate do it.

“Many top Hollywood directors and producers, like Spielberg and George Lucas,

their first films weren’t successful.” Ronald wasn’t afraid to mention his past failures at all. “James Cameron—the director of ‘Titanic’—his first film, ‘Piranha II,’ was also a complete flop.”

“James Cameron’s

first film failed too?” The chubby man seemed skeptical.

Ronald smiled, “That’s no secret in Hollywood.” He continued, “I can’t compare to those geniuses, but ‘Desperate Survival’ was the first film I produced. I was impulsive and aggressive at the time and made a lot of mistakes. Failing made me fully aware of those mistakes, so I won’t repeat them in my next project.”

Mansell laughed and changed the subject on his own initiative: “I heard from Samuel Hill that you’ve faced a lot of difficulties from the Jews?”

Ronald smiled again, this time a bit bitterly, and said, “It’s nothing much. The non-Jewish forces in Hollywood, uh…”

He deliberately glanced at the two men behind Mansell.

Mansell understood what he meant and said, “Don’t worry. I guarantee on the honor of the Al Nahyan family that our conversation won’t be leaked.”

In fact, Ronald wasn’t afraid of leaks. He could always find plenty of reasons, like being slandered by Arabs, but this was a show for Mansell to get his attention.

“You must have heard that Jewish influence in Hollywood is enormous,” Ronald shifted the topic to the Arabs’ archrivals, “to the point where they’re almost controlling all of Hollywood.”

To be honest, he didn’t have a great impression of either group—in fact, he liked the Arabs even less—but this wasn’t the time for personal feelings.

He once read a quote from a Hollywood mogul that made a lot of sense: Remember, don’t get emotional—this is the entertainment industry. If you take it too seriously, you lose.

This applied both to whose voice Hollywood movies represented and to personal feelings within the industry.

Mansell nodded, “Hollywood, controlled by Jewish interests, has always been smearing Arabs.”

Anyone who pays even a little attention to Hollywood movies can see that.