I have a friend who is an independent film producer, which is another way of saying "I have a friend who is about six weeks from bankruptcy."
But he's a real friend of mine - as opposed to the hundreds of people I know in the entertainment business whom I call "friends" merely because there isn't a phrase to describe people I'm tired of despising.
But this story isn't about me. It's about my friend, the independent film producer.
Not long ago, he called up someone he's known for over 20 years. They had a meeting a few weeks ago about a project my friend was working on.
The guy he's known for such a long time is in the talent management business - although, when you get right down to it, everyone in the entertainment industry is in the talent management business - and the meeting went well: everyone was happy to see everyone else, everyone was excited about the project, everyone was going to follow up.
The meeting ended on a high note, with lots of excited and enthusiastic chirping from all sides. But the real test of any meeting in Hollywood is what happens afterwards, when the follow-up phone call is placed. When my friend did, in fact, follow up a few days later with a phone call, he expected to get his call returned.
Which it wasn't. At least not immediately. Now, what happened here isn't all that hard to understand. The follow-up phone call wasn't really all that necessary - the project in question is about six weeks away from requiring any action on the part of the talent management side - but often if you're trying to get a project off the ground and into motion, you spend a lot of time sitting around making calls and not much else. Except, of course, waiting for those calls to be returned.
When they're not, the echo chamber inside your head keeps sounding different reasons why.
Left to his own imagination, my friend conjured up all sorts of betrayal scenarios. He twisted himself up into a lather of paranoia, which gave way to wounded anger. Angry because: "Hey, this guy is my friend. Or was my friend," he shouted to me over lunch, when he was unburdening himself. "Why is he being all high and mighty and unreachable all of a sudden?"
But the anger ran deeper. My friend had suddenly learnt a very important lesson about the way Hollywood, and everywhere else, works: in life, in love, and in business, it's all about leverage.
Whoever has it, has the upper hand. Sometimes it's unclear who, exactly, has it and who doesn't. But in my friend's case, there was no confusion: if you're waiting for a guy to call you back, then that guy has the leverage.
And here's another way to tell who has the leverage: the guy who's mad doesn't have it. It didn't matter that there was a perfectly good reason why the telephone call was delayed. His friend, who is in the talent management business, was busy trying to talk one of his most successful movie star clients - many of whom are clinically insane - from investing in an underwater restaurant and iPhone app. He was busy, in other words. He had a lot of fires to put out. He'd get back to his friend when he had a spare moment.
Meanwhile, his friend was spinning himself into wilder and wilder furious torrents.
But, see, here's the challenge: eventually, you're going to get that call. Eventually, the friend of 20 years is going to call you back, and the key at that point is to drain your anger and resentment away so that the call, when it comes, can be productive. Actually, that's the challenge for almost everything - from driving on the freeway to dealing with your children - but it's hard to do, especially if you've been stewing.
What you don't want to do is sit down and dash off an angry e-mail about your old friend's rudeness, his highhandedness, his lack of loyalty, and his generally unprofessional behaviour.
"So what did you do when you thought he wasn't calling you back?" I asked my friend at lunch.
"I dashed off an angry e-mail about his rudeness, his highhandedness, his lack of loyalty, and his unprofessionalism."
"So when did he finally call you back?" I said.
"He actually had. I think my SIM card was somehow dislodged," he said. "Which was OK, because I felt so bad about it that I insisted he let me take him to lunch to apologise."
"How did that go?"
"Haven't had it yet. I'm still waiting for him to get back to me with some dates."
He could be waiting a long time.
Rob Long is a writer and producer in Hollywood
THREE
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COMPANY%20PROFILE
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Other workplace saving schemes
- The UAE government announced a retirement savings plan for private and free zone sector employees in 2023.
- Dubai’s savings retirement scheme for foreign employees working in the emirate’s government and public sector came into effect in 2022.
- National Bonds unveiled a Golden Pension Scheme in 2022 to help private-sector foreign employees with their financial planning.
- In April 2021, Hayah Insurance unveiled a workplace savings plan to help UAE employees save for their retirement.
- Lunate, an Abu Dhabi-based investment manager, has launched a fund that will allow UAE private companies to offer employees investment returns on end-of-service benefits.
How to avoid crypto fraud
- Use unique usernames and passwords while enabling multi-factor authentication.
- Use an offline private key, a physical device that requires manual activation, whenever you access your wallet.
- Avoid suspicious social media ads promoting fraudulent schemes.
- Only invest in crypto projects that you fully understand.
- Critically assess whether a project’s promises or returns seem too good to be true.
- Only use reputable platforms that have a track record of strong regulatory compliance.
- Store funds in hardware wallets as opposed to online exchanges.
German intelligence warnings
- 2002: "Hezbollah supporters feared becoming a target of security services because of the effects of [9/11] ... discussions on Hezbollah policy moved from mosques into smaller circles in private homes." Supporters in Germany: 800
- 2013: "Financial and logistical support from Germany for Hezbollah in Lebanon supports the armed struggle against Israel ... Hezbollah supporters in Germany hold back from actions that would gain publicity." Supporters in Germany: 950
- 2023: "It must be reckoned with that Hezbollah will continue to plan terrorist actions outside the Middle East against Israel or Israeli interests." Supporters in Germany: 1,250
Source: Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
Emergency
Director: Kangana Ranaut
Stars: Kangana Ranaut, Anupam Kher, Shreyas Talpade, Milind Soman, Mahima Chaudhry
Rating: 2/5
Funk Wav Bounces Vol.1
Calvin Harris
Columbia
Safety 'top priority' for rival hyperloop company
The chief operating officer of Hyperloop Transportation Technologies, Andres de Leon, said his company's hyperloop technology is “ready” and safe.
He said the company prioritised safety throughout its development and, last year, Munich Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies, announced it was ready to insure their technology.
“Our levitation, propulsion, and vacuum technology have all been developed [...] over several decades and have been deployed and tested at full scale,” he said in a statement to The National.
“Only once the system has been certified and approved will it move people,” he said.
HyperloopTT has begun designing and engineering processes for its Abu Dhabi projects and hopes to break ground soon.
With no delivery date yet announced, Mr de Leon said timelines had to be considered carefully, as government approval, permits, and regulations could create necessary delays.
Vidaamuyarchi
Director: Magizh Thirumeni
Stars: Ajith Kumar, Arjun Sarja, Trisha Krishnan, Regina Cassandra
Rating: 4/5
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
PROFILE OF HALAN
Started: November 2017
Founders: Mounir Nakhla, Ahmed Mohsen and Mohamed Aboulnaga
Based: Cairo, Egypt
Sector: transport and logistics
Size: 150 employees
Investment: approximately $8 million
Investors include: Singapore’s Battery Road Digital Holdings, Egypt’s Algebra Ventures, Uber co-founder and former CTO Oscar Salazar
The biog
Fast facts on Neil Armstrong’s personal life:
- Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930, in Wapakoneta, Ohio
- He earned his private pilot’s license when he was 16 – he could fly before he could drive
- There was tragedy in his married life: Neil and Janet Armstrong’s daughter Karen died at the age of two in 1962 after suffering a brain tumour. She was the couple’s only daughter. Their two sons, Rick and Mark, consulted on the film
- After Armstrong departed Nasa, he bought a farm in the town of Lebanon, Ohio, in 1971 – its airstrip allowed him to tap back into his love of flying
- In 1994, Janet divorced Neil after 38 years of marriage. Two years earlier, Neil met Carol Knight, who became his second wife in 1994
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Monster
Directed by: Anthony Mandler
Starring: Kelvin Harrison Jr., John David Washington
3/5