Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Rick Niceta signed Francis Coppola.

This news immediately caused a sensation in CAA and agent circles. It is true that he is of Italian descent, but Coppola is not the kind of director who can be signed by being of the same ethnicity.

The reason why Niceta was able to defeat competitors such as Limato and sign Coppola was because he helped Coppola secure a distribution contract with Warner Bros. for the new film "The Kid".

A Warner president who had just taken over and urgently needed to establish his professional authority. A major director who desperately needs to make a hit movie to save his reputation and finances.

A successful agent is one who can understand the real needs of both parties and has the connections to communicate the needs of both parties to the right people. With this signing, Niceta successfully promoted himself to the top five in the CAA power rankings.

"Coppola is famous for stubbornly insisting on his own opinions, regardless of the opinions of the producers, often going over budget and overdue. However, often under huge financial pressure, he can actually produce masterpieces that explode at the box office and critical reviews.

Last time, the financial pressure of "Old Love, New Love" was not big enough, so Francis just played it according to his own ideas. This time, if he didn't take it well, he would lose his house and vineyard. His wife will not let him go. Italian men listen to their mothers and wives. "

Niceta is in the office, having a meeting with Paula Wagner, Tom Cruise's agent.

"Tom made me a list of directors he wanted to work with. Coppola was the first on the list." Paula carefully straightened the knot of Niceta's tie, kissed him, and sat back On the seat next to you.

A famous director's movie project can include many actors to refresh their resumes, and this time "The Naughty Boy" happens to be an ensemble cast.

Niceta was very happy and suddenly became the target of all CAA colleagues to please.

"I would have given Tom a quick audition, but Coppola is Coppola."

A director who can make "The Godfather" is very authoritative in art. Niceta can't guarantee that his people can get the roles they want. Everything depends on Coppola's wishes.

"It would be great if there was someone Coppola trusted artistically who could help Tom." Paula herself knew that although Tom worked very hard, his education level was not high and his reading comprehension ability was worrying, so he might not be able to accurately Understand the role.

Coppola is also a person who is particularly persistent in casting. He chose Marlon Brando for The Godfather.

and Al Pacino, who would rather risk being fired than insist on them starring.

"So when Ronald comes later, be nice to him. I recommend him to be a trainee for Coppola. If Coppola agrees, he will participate in all casting processes."

"Oh, is it so?"

"Dang Dang", after the knock on the door, a young man wearing sunglasses and a full beard walked in.

"Ronald, long time no see. Black tea or coffee?" Paula Wagner stepped forward and hugged him.

"Black tea, thank you." Ronald took off his sunglasses and walked to the table.

"What's wrong with you? Didn't you sleep well?" Niceta noticed that Ronald's eyes were red and bloodshot.

"Yeah, I read the copy again, and there are a lot of things I'm not satisfied with. I think too much." Ronald held the table, sat down slowly, and grinned.

"I couldn't sleep and got up to exercise, so my muscles were sore." He took the initiative to explain.

"Be careful, you still have a job here." Niceta looked at the discomfort on Ronald's inner thigh and shook her head secretly.

"Hey, okay." Ronald adjusted his sitting posture to avoid the sore parts, "What kind of job is it?"

"The last time you commented on 'The Amazing Dirt Band,' it reached the ears of Paramount executives. After consulting with director Lou Adler, they agreed to meet with you and take a look at his first cut. Let’s see if there’s any way to remedy it and cut out the ending.”

"Here's the script," Niceta placed the bound script on the table and slid it over.

Ronald caught it with one hand, "Okay, I'll see. When will you meet the director?"

"The sooner the better, I greeted Coppola for you. He has finished the financing of the new film and will interview you and several other candidates next week to select a trainee and learn from the group throughout the process, starting from the audition start."

"Then I'll read it now. Please help me contact director Lou Adler." Ronald picked up the script and read it.

The next day Ronald met with Lou Adler, the director of "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Amazing Dirt Band." Lou Adler actually has some connection with Ronald. During the filming of "Famous", Ronald came up with the idea to add the part of "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" that he was the producer of.

They watched the director's cut in a screening room at Paramount.

The movie tells the story of a girl who is a supermarket saleswoman and becomes the lead singer of a punk band.

Small town girl Corinna stars Diane Lane. Corinna's mother unfortunately passed away, and she worked alone to support herself and her sister. I was interviewed by a reporter in a supermarket and complained about the economic downturn due to the Persian energy crisis. As a result, I was fired by the supermarket owner.

Desperate, Corinna unexpectedly found that her interview remarks were broadcast by local television stations, attracting public attention. So she formed a garage punk band "The Magic Stains" with her sister and cousin (Laura Dern), trying to make money by performing.

Because of Corinna's media exposure, the band was spotted by a local concert promoter and opened for a concert by a washed-up rock band.

Unexpectedly, the musical standards of the three of them were extremely poor. Neither her sister nor her cousin knew how to play instruments, and Corinna herself sang out of tune.

The organizer wanted to replace them, but Corinna saw something bad and had all three sisters get skunk hairstyles, and then continued to express her views on the economy and the situation to the media. Hopefully it will continue to attract media attention.

Her remarks and appearance attracted the attention of national media. After being broadcast on television, she became a nationally renowned spokesperson for rebellion, attracting thousands of low-class girls who were as dissatisfied with reality as she was to watch the show.

The Magic Stains continued to support other bands on their national tours. Finally, I earned enough money to support myself, my sister, and my family.

The movie has no ending and no closing credits. Ronald looked at the director and almost laughed.

This director's film budget is much larger than mine, but the results are much worse than mine.

The whole film is full of messy plots and arrangements. In some shots, it is obvious that the lighting is inconsistent, there are many gaps, and the actors' performances are not consistent at all.

If Roger Corman were to shoot it, it would only cost between three hundred and five hundred thousand dollars at most, and the shot would be better than his.

Ronald finally let go of his long-term anxiety and let out a sigh of relief.

Sometimes there is no need to constantly compare with top directors. If you look at the works of other "normal" directors, your own films are not so bad.

"Lou, I don't understand. You did a good job shooting. Why is there no ending?"

"Ah, Ronald. Do you support my shooting concept?"

"I... still support it." Ronald didn't know what the director's philosophy was, but such a noisy exploitation film was in line with his own principles for making films, except that it was a waste of money.

"I'm very distressed. My screenwriter doesn't want to sign her name in the movie and wants to change her name to a pseudonym."

"Why?" Ronald thought to himself, could it be that the filming was too bad?

"She thought the movie needed a 'normal' ending. The Miracle Dirt was a poor band, the lead singer was out of tune, and the musicians couldn't play more than six chords. The music wasn't enough to spark a pop, and the band couldn't succeed."

"So the ending is that they return to the small town and return to life? You only need to shoot a few scenes to explain the ending of each character." Ronald himself did this.

"But I didn't shoot those scenes." The director said hesitantly.

"It doesn't matter, you just need to take a still picture and explain it with subtitles."

"Mr. Eisner, the president of Paramount, let me watch the movies you participated in, 'Rock and Roll High School' and 'Famous,' Ronald." The director took off his glasses and wiped them with a handkerchief. "You filmed That’s great, I think you should support me.”

"Of course I support you." Ronald wasn't sure what the director meant.

"The Last Miracle Band should be on the charts." The director turned to stare at Ronald, trying to see his first reaction.

"Is this...is this possible?" It's a bit exaggerated to have an out-of-tune band on the charts.

“Anything can happen in music. The Ramones from Rock ‘n’ Roll High School, who are so hot right now, sing out of tune.”

"You are the boss and you are familiar with the music industry. If you think about it carefully, it's not impossible." Ronald thought for a while. It is true that Ramones' skills are not very good, but he is popular.

"I just said you would understand me, Ronald." The director hugged his shoulder hard.

"But we have a problem now. I didn't think about this when we were filming. It was only during editing that I thought of giving them an ending where they become famous in one fell swoop."

"If you don't have the footage, we can call Diane and Laura back for reshoots."

Ronald felt that the director was hesitant, as if he was embarrassed to say something.

"Yes, yes, can you help me think of an ending?" The director looked at Ronald sincerely, "The biggest problem now is that Diane and Laura have grown a lot taller. If If you reshoot, it will obviously not match the previous picture.”

"Pfft..." Ronald couldn't help but spit out.

"Sorry, I choked on my tea. Ahem..."

Unexpectedly, the root of the problem lies here. This movie was filmed more than a year ago. Diane has obviously grown a lot taller than when filming, and Laura Dern has grown more than ten centimeters. The audience can definitely tell the difference.

No wonder director Lou Adler always couldn't finish the scenes. Maybe he was too embarrassed to talk about his stupid mistakes and didn't want to follow the screenwriter's wishes and end it there.

In addition, he is the owner of a record company and has many things to do, so it has been postponed until now...

"Otherwise, we postpone the ending story for two years, let the three-person girl band become famous and hit the big time, shoot a music video, appear on the TV station, and then use this MV as the ending, wouldn't it be more natural?"

Ronald still thought of a way for the director. With so many actors and staff's efforts, it would be a pity if the film could not be released due to the director's mistakes.

"This is a way..."

Ronald struck while the iron was hot, "If you are still worried about their height, we can mainly use upward shots. Originally, upward shots would make the actors appear taller, making it harder to distinguish them.

Then have Laura and another girl sit down and play bass, leaving Diane standing while playing guitar and singing, so that the height is more consistent with the original image.

We are showing some scenes of their albums, accepting awards, etc., interspersed and edited into a montage. The audience's attention will be distracted and they will not notice the sudden change in the actor's height. "

Director Lou Adler kept nodding. He was worthy of being a genius spotted by Eisner. "If you don't want to worry about two things, why don't you, Ronald, write and direct this ending scene." This directorial work made me happy. After he exhausted his passion for movies, he might as well go back to the music industry.

"I have other things going on recently..."

"I'll hire you to reshoot with my own money. It only costs 50,000 US dollars for one day. Then you can help me edit the ending." The director returned to the style of a record company boss and directly used money to throw money at Ronald.

"I really have other things, Mr. Adler."

"Sixty thousand."

"I still have to prepare for the interview with Director Coppola..."

"Sixty thousand, plus I owe you a favor."

"Okay, just think of it as saving the movie."

"Very good, I'll sign a contract with your agent."

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