The filming was complete.
The next steps were naturally post-production editing, scoring, and all the other work that came with it.
Although Wald Pictures was small and barely registered in Hollywood, it still had its own editing studio. With the cheat-code-using Zucker personally pitching in, along with experienced post-production staff, the work went incredibly quickly.
In just one week, they had finished the film. All that remained was to schedule its release. It was much faster than films made in Hollywood at the time.
A life with cheat codes needed no explanation!
As for the "movie genius Zucker" everyone kept talking about, let the title fade away with the wind.
Cheating was satisfying, but it came with risks.
"Goddamn, we finally finished! I swear, I'm never jumping in to do this myself again. I'd rather pay someone else."
For Zucker, the vampire, to say the words "pay someone" showed just how grueling the director's job had been. Run Lola Run was the first film Zucker had directed, and it might well be the last one he ever directed himself.
"I, Zucker, should just quietly stick to being a pretty face!"
Zucker was daydreaming about the wonderful life ahead when a phone call suddenly jolted him awake.
Ring, ring...
"Hello, Mr. Wald. This is Zhang Wei, your attorney." A voice came through the phone.
"Uh..."
Zucker froze for a moment. It took him several seconds to remember who Zhang Wei was.
He was the tax attorney Zucker had hired.
"Attorney Zhang, this is Zucker Wald. Are you calling about the tax-avoidance plan?"
"Yes. We've finished designing your plan, and your applications for SpongeBob SquarePants and Teletubbies have been registered with the Copyright Office. If you're free, I can come over and go through everything with you now," Zhang Wei said over the phone.
"Great, great. I'm free now. I'll see you soon."
After hanging up, Zucker immediately shouted, "Yes!" He jumped up and punched the air again and again.
How could he not be excited?
SpongeBob SquarePants and Teletubbies! They were hugely influential shows for children, and their merchandise was an even bigger phenomenon!
With two gold mines in his hands, how could Zucker stay calm?
It was no exaggeration to say that if he produced these two shows and got them successfully on the air, he could coast through life from then on and easily be worth tens of billions of dollars by 2020.
Before long.
Half an hour later, Attorney Zhang Wei arrived.
"Mr. Wald, it's already March 16, 1996. We have less than forty-five days before the tax-filing deadline, so we'll need to move quickly."
Zhang Wei was an excellent attorney who did everything by the book, which Zucker greatly appreciated.
"Don't worry, Attorney Zhang. I'll do everything I can to help."
Zucker took legal tax planning extremely seriously. He spared no expense on legal and service fees. No matter how stingy he could be, he knew this was one commission he couldn't skimp on, or it could lead to trouble.
Over the next while, Attorney Zhang Wei explained the tax plan to Zucker in detail.
Zucker already had a fairly clear understanding of these matters. After all, he had worked in administration in his previous life and had always been sensitive to tax issues.
Understanding the subject was one thing, but after hearing Zhang Wei's explanation, Zucker still couldn't help clicking his tongue.
"Damn American tax authorities! If I didn't do some legal tax planning, I'd have to pay more than five million dollars in taxes," Zucker cursed.
"Mr. Wald, don't get worked up. If you hadn't acquired Wald Pictures, you'd likely owe nearly another half a million dollars in taxes. You have to remember that most of your wealth came from the stock market," Zhang Wei said calmly.
Zucker nodded.
He knew his own affairs best. Nearly three-quarters of his current net worth of almost thirty million dollars came from the stock market. That made for a truly staggering tax bill.
"So what do I need to do now to legally reduce my taxes?"
Zucker hurriedly asked.
In the United States, where tax laws were rigorously enforced, people might assume that tax avoidance was illegal.
In fact, there was a popular saying in the United States: "Pay your taxes as required by law, and legally minimize them."
So legal tax avoidance was allowed in the United States.
"Generally speaking, common methods include opening accounts overseas, making use of tax-free gifts, setting up trust funds and family charitable foundations, and so on. But taking your personal circumstances and the time constraints into consideration, Mr. Wald, I've chosen two main approaches: investment and spending. We'll reduce your liquid assets as much as possible, thereby lowering the funds listed on your balance sheet and legally reducing your taxes," Zhang Wei explained.
After that,
For a full hour, Zhang Wei went over the details of how to legally reduce Zucker's taxes.
The next day.
Zucker woke early and contacted a real estate agency, planning to buy a property in Burbank.
First, it would serve as both a tax strategy and an investment;
Second, he would live closer to the movie studio.
Although Burbank was part of Los Angeles, it was a full twenty kilometers from downtown. It was home to many of Hollywood's entertainment companies. That's right—the world-famous Hollywood barely had any movie studios left in Hollywood itself. They were all in Burbank.
(This is true. Of the Big Six Hollywood Studios, only Paramount was still in Hollywood County. The others had moved to Burbank long ago.)
Zucker's Wald Pictures was also based in Burbank. For the sake of being close to the company and reducing his taxes, he decided to buy a villa there.
That's right, a villa.
It was a large, two-story house with a basement, a floor area of 320 square meters, and a 400-square-meter yard with a lawn, a swimming pool, and other amenities.
It cost a total of 4.6 million dollars.
Of course, Zucker took out a bank loan. As a transmigrator, he knew that the dollar would keep losing value in the future.
"Since I've bought a villa, I might as well buy an office building as an investment."
Buying a building as an investment was risky in the United States. Choose the wrong location and it could end up sitting on your hands, but choose the right one and it could be a remarkably profitable deal.
As it happened, Zucker knew exactly where to buy.
Silicon Valley!
That's right. With the Internet booming, Silicon Valley would produce one wealth myth after another. Before the Internet Bubble burst in 2000, land and property there would only grow more valuable!
And right now, land in Silicon Valley was actually quite cheap—at least, much cheaper than in Los Angeles and Burbank.
For six million dollars, Zucker bought an eight-story office building on the outskirts of Silicon Valley. By coincidence, it was not far from Apple's headquarters and could be seen just by looking up.
(The Apple headquarters mentioned here refers to its old Silicon Valley location. After all, many people know that Apple's current headquarters is in Cupertino, California.)
"From now on, this building will be called the Wald Building!"
"Hahaha, I'm a genius!"
Zucker was delighted.
"Ding-dong!"
[Congratulations, host. You have received a piece of future information.]
Zucker's spirits instantly lifted. The useless system had been dormant for more than two months, and it was finally giving him another gift. He hurriedly opened it.
[Message: In June 1996, MGM and Sony Columbia will compete for the film and television rights to Marvel's Spider-Man.]
Holy crap!
Spider-Man!
Spider-Man 1, 2, and 3, The Amazing Spider-Man, and even the rebooted Spider-Man films were all box-office bombs. They also made a killing in the DVD and video-game markets, as well as through merchandise licensing, in a market worth tens of billions of dollars.
In his previous life, Sony Columbia had relied on it to stay afloat.
Spider-Man 1 had grossed a total of 930 million dollars. Its games and merchandise had also brought Columbia more than a billion dollars in profit in just one year. How could Zucker not be excited?
If the system hadn't tipped him off, Zucker would have been too busy to get involved.
[...] Sorry, the second update is a little late today. I've been swamped. My apologies, everyone.
Before you continue