save the bachelors

Chapter 4268 4270 [Dream Factory]

Xiang Nan and Rose headed west, visiting wherever there were scenic spots.

If you like it, stay there for a few more days. When you get tired of it, hit the road again.

Anyway, they have plenty of money and time, so they don’t have to worry about food, clothing, housing, and transportation, nor do they have to worry about the passing of time.

That’s why I can do whatever I want, freely. I’m on the road every day, see new scenery, meet new people, and see new things happen every day.

They played cards with people in small bars, climbed Devil's Mountain on their own, watched cowboys grazing on ranches, dug fossils in the Grand Canyon, fished for trout in the Five Major Lakes, hunted grizzly bears in Yellowstone Park, and even encountered gangsters and robbers.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the rule of law in the United States was still not sound, and many places were sparsely populated, with no human habitation within a hundred miles, which gave many desperate criminals room to survive.

Xiang Nan and Rose were alone, young and beautiful, but weak and easily coveted by others. As a result, they were molested by hooligans, robbed by bandits, and ambushed by horse thieves many times.

However, their approach is bound to hit a wall.

Not to mention that Xiang Nan could easily wipe them out. Even Rose had become very skilled after practicing the Divine Foot Sutra, and a dozen strong men wouldn't be able to get close to her.

Therefore, anyone who dared to take advantage of them was beaten black and blue without exception, to the point that they began to doubt their lives.

……

Xiang Nan and Rose traveled from place to place until the middle of 2014, when they finally arrived in Hollywood, Los Angeles.

At this time, the war atmosphere in Europe was already very intense. The Central Powers, mainly the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and the Entente, mainly Britain, France, and the Russian Empire, were already on the verge of a war.

However, the United States did not participate in the war. Instead, it remained neutral and sold equipment to both sides, making a fortune.

According to post-war statistics, the warring countries lost 180 billion US dollars. That was 180 billion US dollars at the beginning of the 20th century, equivalent to 270,000 tons of gold (about 15 trillion yuan).

Not only did the United States suffer no losses, but it also made the warring parties owe it hundreds of billions of dollars. It went from being a debtor country to a creditor country and now owned 40% of the world's gold reserves.

Xiang Nan and Rose were not too concerned about the impending war. After arriving in Hollywood, they planned to start their own film company.

On the one hand, Rose wanted to be a movie star, and since he had such an idea, Xiang Nan was willing to help her realize her dream; on the other hand, the entertainment industry was notoriously chaotic, with many unscrupulous beasts and few upright gentlemen working in this industry.

The infamous "red sofa" originated in Hollywood. Even top stars like Marilyn Monroe had to be subject to the shallow rules of those film company owners and investors.

She wrote in her autobiography, "Yes, I slept with the producer. Everyone did that. If you didn't do it, there would be another girl waiting outside the door. I don't remember how many times I squatted down and unzipped their pants..."

Xiang Nan had also been in the film and television industry, so he naturally knew the ins and outs of the business. So, instead of letting Rose sign a contract with other film companies and be taken advantage of by the bosses of other film companies, it would be better for him to be the boss himself and make her famous.

Anyway, it’s not difficult for Xiang Nan to open a film company.

……

Afterwards, Xiang Nan founded his own film company - DreamWorks.

"DreamWorks?! What a nice name." Rose laughed.

At this moment, Hollywood has gathered hundreds of film companies, and dozens of movies are shot in Hollywood every day. It is quite prosperous.

  However, many film companies have ordinary names, most of which are named after their bosses, such as Nestor Productions, Lasky Productions, etc., which are not as nice as the name chosen by Xiang Nan. DreamWorks, a factory dedicated to making beautiful dreams for the audience!

"Of course." Xiang Nan nodded with a smile.

There are so many film companies in Hollywood, many of which are well-known, but there are only a few that are better than DreamWorks.

After DreamWorks was founded, Xiang Nan recruited staff and built his own studio.

Early film companies were all big studio systems, building their own studios, recruiting their own actors, directors, and screenwriters, investing, producing, and distributing their own films...

Hong Kong's Shaw Brothers Company is a typical example of the large-studio system.

However, the large-scale studio system exploits talent severely. Directors, stars, screenwriters and staff all receive monthly salaries and at most some dividends.

Therefore, employees' subjective initiative is generally low, and many talented actors, directors, and screenwriters do not like this.

This is the case with Chen Baixiang, who made 50,000 yuan for each movie he made at Shaw Brothers. Even though he had made hits such as "The Frog Prince", "I Love Rolando" and "Modern Cinderella", his salary was still 50,000 yuan.

Therefore, he later gave up playing the leading role and focused on playing supporting roles. After all, he could only make 50,000 yuan a movie, so it didn't matter whether he played the leading role or the supporting role, so why bother?

So later, in order to stimulate the subjective initiative of directors, stars, and screenwriters, Hollywood film companies introduced reforms such as profit-sharing system, star system, director system, and producer system.

However, for now, the large studio system is still the mainstream in Hollywood.

……

In June 1914, the Sarajevo incident broke out, and Archduke Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and his wife were shot dead by Serbs.

In July, the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on Serbia; in August, the German Empire declared war on France and Belgium; Britain declared war on Germany; the Austro-Hungarian Empire declared war on the Russian Empire; Japan declared war on the German Empire and took the opportunity to occupy Qingdao, Jiaozhou Bay, the Marshall Islands and the Caroline Islands.

In October, the Ottoman Empire announced that it would join the Allied Powers consisting of the German Empire and the Austro-Hungarian Empire and go to war with the Allied Powers, mainly Britain, France, and Russia.

The European continent was suddenly in chaos, and people's brains were turned into dog brains.

After learning the news of the outbreak of World War I, Rose couldn't help but feel a little worried.

Because many of her classmates and relatives are in the UK, now that the war has broken out, she doesn't know what will happen to them.

"Don't worry, everything will be fine as long as you don't go to the battlefield." Xiang Nan advised her.

During World War I, the British mainland did not suffer much damage. After all, the British navy was the strongest in the world at that time, and the performance of aircraft was not strong at that time, making it difficult to bomb across the sea.

However, they were still harassed by German airships, with hundreds of casualties. But overall, the rear was relatively safe.

But the situation was tragic on the battlefield. World War I resulted in the deaths of more than 700,000 British people and the injuries of more than 2 million people.

At that time, the total population of the UK was only 45 million. Excluding women and the elderly, the weak and the disabled, it was equivalent to losing half of the young people.

This also led to a large number of women of marriageable age being unable to find suitable marriage partners because all the young men had died on the battlefield.

"I hope so." Rose nodded.