Arturo Madrigal's cell phone rings and he doesn't recognize the number, but he can see that it's coming from his hometown of Guadalajara, Mexico. It's May 27, 2008. He's in San Antonio, where he's been living part time for most of the past two decades, launching one start-up after another: used-car dealerships, restaurants, lawn-care companies, rental properties. He thinks that once you know how to manage one sort of business, the skills are basically transferable. Case in point: Arturo recently, through a complicated series of events, acquired the rights to a film script written by a notable American screenwriter. It's potentially a very valuable script, and although Arturo has no prior experience in the business of making movies, he'd like to try to get this one produced.
He answers the phone. The voice on the other end of the line is tight and panicky.
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