Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Ronald and his agent Niceta came to Universal Pictures to sign a director contract.

Universal Studios was originally the studio and location base built by Universal Pictures. Now it has become an amusement park. When Ronald was filming "Rock of Ages," he went on a date here with Marla, an extra student at Van Nuys High School.

Returning to the old place, Ronald has become the director of a theatrical feature film, and the school girl with a good figure no longer knows where she went. Are you still working in the film industry, or are you marrying someone and becoming a housewife?

Ronald cleared these nostalgic emotions from his mind. Today was a landmark day in his life. It should be looking to the future, not looking back to the past.

The director and contract have been reviewed by CAA and Ronald's personal lawyer, and the terms were finalized after a few back and forths.

Ronald was on a director-for-hire contract. Universal hired him to shoot "fast-paced Richmond High" because he was still a newcomer and hadn't been able to get the kind of film deals that established directors enjoyed.

Just like Amy Heckerling, who lost in the "fast-paced" director competition, she signed a directing contract because of the president's appreciation. It was only agreed that Heckerling would produce one film for Universal, and there was no restriction on the specific script. It would be up to her to negotiate with Universal.

If the first film does well at the box office, the contract for the other two films can be automatically renewed. Ronald was indeed a little envious when he heard about it. Why was Heikelin able to get such a good offer even though it was her first film?

Ronald's contract terms are stricter. Since the tragedy of "Heaven's Gate", when Michael Cimino single-handedly bankrupted United Artists, one of the top eight studios, and it was acquired by MGM, major studios have become more demanding on directors' contract terms.

Ronald must abide by the agreement to complete filming within seven weeks after the start of filming. If the schedule falls significantly behind schedule, Universal's producers have the power to fire him. If the daily samples he shoots fail to pass the producer's review and are asked to reshoot, he has the right to fire him.

Of course, judging from Ronald's level of further study at the "Roger Corman Film University", this possibility is close to zero.

Those who have the power to fire people are the two producers who signed a contract with him today, Art Linson and Irving Azoff.

Art Linson, one of the two, started his career as a producer. At the previous Oscars, he was the producer of the movie "Melvin and Howard" which defeated Ronald's "Famous" and won the best original screenplay. .

But Lin Sen is not content with being a producer.

His dream in life was to be a director, so he gave up on making other popular movies, took up the director's chair and directed a Bill Murray comedy movie "Freak Reporter".

The big production was a box office failure and was panned by film critics. He had to return to his career as a producer, overseeing several small productions for Universal.

Another producer, Irving Azoff, actually had little interest in being a film producer. He is an executive of MCA Records Group and the manager of the popular band Eagles.

But he belongs to Shenberg's faction in the MCA group, so he was sent to balance the power of the crew. Moreover, youth films require a lot of rock music for soundtracks, so it would be most convenient for him to handle copyright matters. So Azoff also came on board as the producer.

A low-budget youth comedy with a budget of 3 million, just for fun.

"Ronald v. Lee", Ronald signed his signature on the dotted line at the bottom of the contract. This means that he has officially become a "fast-paced" director.

"Congratulations." The two producers stood up and shook hands with him.

"Our time is limited. We will be there when filming starts, and we will not have time to go to the set every day. At that time, there will be an executive producer designated by Universal to represent our permanent set."

"When can I see him?" Ronald asked. He wanted to communicate with the executive producer (line producer) early and reach a consensus.

"Soon, she will be involved in the casting phase, and you will be able to meet in a few days."

Ronald and his agent Niceta walked out of the office, and on their way to the parking lot, Ronald said with emotion, "This is the first big opportunity in my life, and for Universal it is indeed a small opportunity that cannot It’s a small production. I thought at least one of Tom Mount and Mr. Sheinberg would be present to sign the contract.”

"Don't think so, Ronald. You will sign a contract with them one day. I am very optimistic about you." Niceta is becoming more and more satisfied with this unintentional client. Not only did he get in touch with Sheinberg, but he also met Spielberg.

"Actually, it's not that Mr. Shenberg doesn't value you. He was involved in something today. Columbia has proposed new terms regarding the transfer of Spielberg's ET."

It turns out that ET's script was not completely abandoned by Columbia, but was put into the warehouse of the turnaround deal.

The inclusion of the script in the circulation agreement indicates that Columbia has no intention of producing the film in the near future. But if other film studios want to film, they must obtain permission from Columbia and purchase the rights to film the script from here.

Originally, Niceta came forward to negotiate an agreement with Columbia to purchase the et script for US$1 million, but for some reason, president Frank Price vetoed this price and insisted on demanding a higher price.

Ovitz quickly followed up on the second round of negotiations. Price refused to lower the price no matter what. Instead, because of Ovitz's intervention, he raised the price and proposed to add 10% of ET Film's final net profit as part of the Columbia transfer agreement. condition.

Ovitz didn't know for a while whether Price was deliberately making things difficult for Sheinberg or if he smelled something was wrong, so he had no choice but to start arduous negotiations. Sheinberg also took matters into his own hands.

"In the end, we will probably talk about 5% of the net profit share. Frank Price, the president of Columbia, surprised us. He doesn't just read the script." Niceta joked. "Not sure why Price saw the potential in et."

In the evening, Ronald found Cameron and Gale, and the three of them celebrated Ronald in the restaurant. He was the first to realize his dream and become a film director.

"What other reason could there be? It's just that Price saw a few Jews together and suspected that they were conspiring to secretly steal a script that could sell well." After hearing Ronald talk about et, Cameron blurted out.

"Don't say that, I remember that Gale seems to be of Jewish descent." Ronald said softly.

"My father is Jewish, but my mother is Catholic, and I was basically raised according to Catholic customs." Gale replied, not caring about this.

"Do you still remember Jenny, the scene recorder of 'Rock'n'Roll'? I remember her last name was Rosenberg. After filming 'Rock'n'Roll,' she seemed to have a good future." Ronald thought of an acquaintance, Jenny's starting point was very high when she debuted.

"Yes, in this industry, Jews have a large network of connections, and it is indeed an advantage to join the industry." Gale does not deny the status of Jews in the film and television industry.

"First of all, congratulations to Ronald for realizing his dream." Gale and Cameron raised their glasses, and the three of them drank it down.

"Sheinberg, Spielberg, Ovitz, they are all of Jewish descent. And Frank Price is of pure Anglo-Saxon descent, and his ancestors can be traced back to the passengers on the Mayflower.

So seeing all three of them Jewish being involved in this project. It's natural for Price to be suspicious. If he insists on keeping ET's script, Spielberg may not start the project immediately, but let him go to Universal and leave a 5% net profit sharing agreement, so that he can make money no matter what.

It seems that Frank Price is still very sophisticated. "

After listening to Ronald talk about the whole incident, Gale used the family wisdom of the daughter of a Jewish investor to analyze the ins and outs of the incident for the two men. "

"Rosenberg, Sheinberg, Spielberg, Jewish names are all very distinctive," Ronald said.

"Yes, many of the Jews in America are actually descendants of Slavs from Eastern Europe who immigrated here before and after World War II. Of course, there are also those who changed their names to Anglicans. For example, my ancestor's original surname was Hurwitz. He immigrated to America and later changed his name to Hurd.

Witz is also a common Jewish surname ending, and there are also examples such as Horowitz, which was changed to Holtz. Hecklwitz changed his name to Heckerling. "

Ronald's heart moved. It seemed that Amy Heckerling was also Jewish. After these people occupied high positions in the studio, they promoted Jewish directors and actors. As long as you are Jewish, you can get better opportunities or advance faster than your peers.

"Ding ding ding..." James Cameron tapped the wine glass with a metal spoon, "I also have news to announce. I got the position of special effects director and will start filming immediately."

"Congratulations!" Ronald came back from his thoughts, raised his glass and gestured to Cameron together with Gale.

"What movie is it?"

"It was the sequel to 'Piranha' directed by Joe Dante. The project had a budget of $500,000. No network was willing to buy the TV rights, no distributor was willing to pay an advance, and Roger Corman was unwilling to invest.

It happened that an Italian producer, Ovidio Assonitis, came. He wanted to enter the American film market and invested this money. My special effects work on Clash of the Stars caught his attention.

I had just signed the contract and was about to go to Jamaica to scout the location.

The script is very interesting, and there are scenes of piranhas leaping out of the water and attacking humans. It's much more difficult than 'Piranha', which copies 'Jaws' to hide danger under the water, but it also has more visual impact. "

Cameron has also taken a big step forward in his career.

"What about you, Gale, do you have good news too?" Ronald looked at Gale's smile and guessed that her career progress was also good.

"Yes, Roger asked me to be the executive producer (line producer) of several movies. After I accumulate some experience, I can be my own producer."

"congratulate."

Gale, who had been working as a production assistant on the set, is now an executive producer. In the film industry, to become a producer, you must start as a production assistant, then an executive producer, responsible for the daily management of the set, and then it is your turn to be a producer.

But in any case, the word "人" is added after producer, and the power and title are significantly different, marking the beginning of a formal producer's career.

The trio who talked about their ideals on the set of "Rock of Ages" have now begun to realize their ideals. In less than three years, a lot has happened, but they are all moving forward slowly but surely.

Ronald mentioned the time when they talked about their ideals on the set, and the three of them toasted together to congratulate each other.

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