The investment in the movie "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon" was a complete and pleasant surprise for Kyle.
After all, the film's producer, Jiang Zhiqiang, had deep ties with Sony Columbia, and before the contract was signed, Kyle didn't think he could snatch it from Sony.
Offending Warner was already enough; if he offended Sony Columbia again, would Kyle still want to make a living in Hollywood?
Kyle still had that much self-awareness!
"I don't know what was wrong with the executives at Columbia that they were so stingy with their investment, otherwise, how could 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' have ended up under my Page Pictures?"
"Sony Columbia, what good people~"
Kyle grinned happily.
Dong!
Just then, there was a knock on the office door.
Chief Assistant Alexander entered the office, carrying a pile of documents.
"Is there something?" Kyle asked.
"Boss, news just came from Germany that the tax refunds for 'Spider-Man' and 'Harry Potter' have been processed. It's estimated that in another week, Monarri Company will be able to transfer the funds to Page Pictures' account."
Upon hearing this, Kyle's mouth immediately curved into a slight smile.
Tax refunds!
Germany is a country greatly favored by many Hollywood film companies, not because of tourism or cultural factors, but because of Germany's tax refund policy to support the film industry. This tax refund policy aims to attract foreign capital to participate in German film production and promote the development of the German film industry.
However, this favorable policy was exploited by Hollywood film companies!
For example:
Page Pictures' "Spider-Man" project first sells the film and television rights to Germany's Monarri Company, which then applies for a tax refund from the relevant German authorities. With a production cost of 140 million US dollars, they can apply for a 10% tax refund, which is 14 million US dollars.
After the 14 million US dollars are in place,
Germany's Monarri Company then sells the "Spider-Man" rights back to Page Pictures for 1 million US dollars.
With this transfer, before the "Spider-Man" movie even started filming, Page Pictures had already recovered 14 million US dollars.
So, do you think Hollywood film companies wouldn't like this policy?
They loved it to death!
This was simply a blatant exploitation of laws and policies!
The relevant German departments responsible for tax refunds gritted their teeth many times, wanting to cancel this policy, as no one likes to give away money for free.
However, as far as Kyle knew, this policy still existed until 2020, when Kyle transmigrated!
"Boss, here are the specific figures, please take a look." Alexander handed a document to Kyle.
["Spider-Man" successfully received a tax refund of 14 million US dollars;]
["Harry Potter" successfully received a tax refund of 13.5 million US dollars;]
Of course, as a partner and local powerhouse, Germany's Monarri Company also received a total return of 2 million US dollars.
"Not bad, this back and forth successfully recovered over 20 million US dollars for the two films." Kyle was delighted.
Alexander smiled and said, "It's only because our group is strong enough now, otherwise those German bloodsuckers wouldn't cooperate with us. Remember '300', we couldn't get a tax refund for that one."
The relevant German departments have a limit on the amount of tax refunds processed each year.
Not everyone can get a tax refund.
Without the involvement of German local powerhouses, try to get a tax refund?
Let alone Page Pictures, even the Hollywood Big Six rely on them to process tax refunds in Germany.
Kyle smiled and said, "We can't look down on those bloodsuckers. Without them, we wouldn't be able to apply for tax refunds, and besides, there will be many more opportunities for cooperation in the future."
Alexander nodded and then said, "Boss, besides the tax refund matter, we also received an invitation from ICQ this morning, inviting you to attend the ICQ third-anniversary reception on May 16th."
ICQ's third-anniversary reception?
Kyle couldn't help but blurt out, "What is Visage trying to do? Is he trying to disgust me?"
Kyle couldn't help but think that!
A month ago, on March 28th, ICQ held a reception for its first anniversary of listing on Nasdaq, and they didn't invite Kyle, the founder, to attend. Now, for ICQ's third anniversary, they actually invited Kyle again?
Moreover, Kyle had already sold all his shares in ICQ.
Sold them all, completely!
Now that they sent an invitation, do you think Kyle wouldn't overthink it?
"Boss, will you accept the invitation or decline it?" Alexander asked.
"..."
Kyle didn't answer immediately but fell into deep thought.
Kyle didn't deny having feelings for ICQ!
After all, ICQ was one of Kyle's most successful investments after his transmigration. During his tenure as ICQ's Chief Creative Officer, Kyle had offered advice and contributed many times, pouring a lot of effort into it.
Of course, it also brought Kyle extremely generous returns.
Angel round investment, subsequent A and B rounds of financing, a total investment of 8 million US dollars, brought Kyle hundreds of millions of US dollars in funds.
As for the conflicts with Visage and others, there's no need to elaborate.
As for ICQ now, hehe... its situation isn't great!
Its biggest competitor, Microsoft's MSN chat software, is frantically seizing ICQ's instant messaging market. At the same time, in various countries and regions overseas, local chat software is also emerging, constantly squeezing ICQ's living space.
It's no exaggeration to say that ICQ's good days are over!
It can even be said that its situation is precarious, and one misstep could lead to a bankruptcy crisis!
"Alexander, you reply to ICQ and tell them that I will attend." Kyle said.
"Yes, boss."
"Wait a moment!"
Kyle called out to Alexander and added, "You also send them an invitation, inviting Visage to attend the celebration banquet for '300' and 'My Big Fat Greek Wedding' on May 18th."
...ICQ Company.
"Chairman, Mr. Page has replied and said he will attend our third-anniversary reception." Reported Vadi, Vice President and one of the founders.
Upon hearing this, Chairman Visage immediately clenched his fists.
"Whew~~"
Visage's face, full of worry, showed a hint of a smile and he let out a sigh of relief: "ICQ's funds are tight now, and our competitors are aggressive. We can only pin our hopes on Kyle, hoping that he still remembers his feelings for ICQ and can help us, otherwise, we might not be able to overcome this difficulty."
"Will Mr. Page help us?"
Vadi smiled bitterly.
It should be known that Kyle's divestment from ICQ was partly a result of their coercion. Now that ICQ is in trouble, they are turning to Kyle for help. What kind of situation is this!
"If we don't try, how will we know the outcome? Moreover, we have no other way out!" Visage said through gritted teeth.