Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Ring, ring, ring..." Ronald rang the doorbell.

"Hi, Ronnie." Jim Cameron opened the door and hugged his friend warmly.

"Hi, Jim, hi, Gale." Ronald saw Gale from behind and greeted her quickly, "Have you moved in with Jim?"

"Ha, actually I moved in with Gail." Jim explained.

Ever since Gale Hurd took care of Cameron for a period of time in Italy and returned to Los Angeles, the two have known each other.

Because the divorce procedures between Cameron and his wife still need a lot of time to process, the two are still living together as boyfriend and girlfriend.

Cameron had little money, so Gail re-rented an apartment, where the two had been living for several months.

Ronald handed over the wine he bought as a late gift. Under Gale's guidance, we visited the two people's den.

I have to say that Gail is a career-oriented woman and her home is a bit messy, but Cameron is also a casual person, so the two seem to match up well.

"Are you still writing with pen and paper?" Ronald saw a table set up in the corner of the bedroom, with handwritten scripts on it, and a lot of scratched words written on it.

"Do you mind if I take a look?"

"Of course, this is the story of the robot you saw me painting in Rome, Italy, as the protagonist."

Jim handed over a typewritten draft of the script and motioned for Ronald to take a look.

The script is not thick, only about forty or fifty pages. Ronald opened it and saw that it was not in the standard Hollywood script format, but a literary script with no indoor or outdoor markings for filming. There is no label for the shot, just a story.

"Thank you." Ronald took the coffee brought by Gale and simply sat down to read the script. A few people are inseparable and don't care about clichés.

The story is about a future where mankind is ruled by the computer "Skynet", and the human resistance has been fighting against Skynet and his robots. In order to completely eliminate the resistance, Skynet sent two robots to return to the present with a time machine, trying to find the mother of the resistance leader and eliminate him before he was born.

The human resistance also used a time machine to send two soldiers back. One died during the transmission, and then he dealt with two robots sent by Skynet. One was a liquid metal robot that could mimic the shape of a human.

One is a warrior who kills people.

In the end, the human warrior impregnated the future leader's mother and sacrificed himself in a duel with two robots.

"Oh, the imagination of this script is very good." Ronald turned to the last page, which showed portraits of two humanoid robots. One is powerful and holds a shotgun; the other is handsome and can change into someone else to confuse the other person.

This story seems to have the temperament of a Spielberg script. I am afraid that many of the plots will have to wait until actual filming is completed to determine whether it is good or bad.

The core of the story is still an imaginative exploitation film. If Coleman were to shoot it, it would only have a budget of half a million yuan.

"Tell the truth, brother." Cameron saw that Ronald was a little untrue.

"I don't know. This kind of movie ultimately depends on the level of special effects. The lower limit can be a Corman movie, and the upper limit can be a Spielberg or Lucas movie. But if you are the director, I will like it. .”

As soon as the words came out, Ronald felt something was wrong. It seemed that the plots of the two great directors Steven and George were actually similar to Corman-style exploitation films, except that they invested more in special effects and filming. It's just better.

"Hahaha, Roger used to say that Lucas just used more money to make his movies." Gale has heard similar statements.

"So you got the investment?"

"No, we're still pitching the idea to major studios for Jim to direct."

"It's really not easy. I wrote a new science fiction movie, but it was rejected by many studios."

"Oh, it's a science fiction theme, can I see it?" Cameron became interested.

Ronald took out his script and handed it to Jim.

"Does Jim still work with pen and paper?" Ronald asked Gail.

"Yes, he feels that the typewriter limits the creative process of writing and revising at the same time. Sometimes I help him type."

"I'll give you a computer. I used it before, along with WordStar software and a printer. It's very convenient for writing scripts."

"Of course, you are a rich man now." Cameron joked while reading the script.

Ronald shook his head, "I made some money and improved my life, but that money is still far from making movies."

"You want to invest your own money to make a movie?" Gale said strangely. No one in Hollywood does this. Even Roger Corman used theater advance sales money to make movies.

"I didn't want to invest my own money to make a movie, but I couldn't find anyone willing to invest, so I had to contact Mr. Coleman. He was only willing to invest 500,000. I calculated that it was not enough, so I could only consider myself. Invest a little bit.”

Ronald told Gale about his problem. Accompanied by CAA's agent, he approached several major studios but received no positive response.

Gale chuckled and looked at Ronald, "You didn't find a producer. Your agent accompanied you to sell the script?"

"Yeah, how do you know?" Ronald replied.

“Then it’s no surprise you get this reaction.

For such an independent production project, the most important thing is to find a producer so that his interests will be consistent with yours and he will try his best to promote the project instead of considering his own interests. "

"What do you mean?" Ronald seemed to feel that he had touched a little bit of the truth.

"Your agent is from CAA, right? Their agent only wants to fill the project with actors from other agencies.

The top executives of the studio want to take no risks and rely on the original successful formula to replicate success. They would rather make less money and just add one more successful movie to their credit list.

Their interests are not aligned with those of the director, and neither of them has the artist in mind. "

"It's true, I fired my old agent, and now the project is handed over to Gail and she is the film producer." Cameron interjected while watching "Night of the Comet".

"Oh?" Ronald looked at Cameron and then at Gale Hurd, thinking that this is indeed the case.

New movies are always risky, and no one knows whether they will make money. How can one fight without a partner standing in a trench?

So Ronald asked,

"How do you and Jim work together? Can I also ask you to be a producer? How about you also read my script, are you interested?"

"My energy and time are now devoted to the Terminator project. If you want to hire me, you still have to wait in line." Gale replied. She was actually a newcomer to the industry and did not have enough resources and connections to promote Cameron. The script occupies her main energy.

Gale looked at Ronald and still didn't understand, "You don't know how lucky you are, Ronald. You made a blockbuster movie right after your debut.

Jim's current situation is very embarrassing. Big studios are unwilling to invest in science fiction films. Some people in small studios want to plagiarize his ideas, or buy his scripts and find people to film them themselves. "

"Hey, I understand..." Ronald recalled how his fast-paced script was almost snatched away, "Then what can you do to protect Jim's interests?"

"Jim wanted to be the director, so I signed a contract with him, and he sold me the script for 'Terminator' for one dollar, and I stipulated in the contract that only Jim could be the director. "

Ronald knew that the two were boyfriend and girlfriend, and Cameron had not yet finalized the divorce, so they could not share the property rights of the movie as husband and wife.

Gale is willing to take over the role of producer, but she needs a guarantee to prevent Cameron from burning bridges after getting the filming funds, so she will buy the rights to the film and serve as the film's producer.

Cameron was also afraid that after Gale got the investment, he would kick him out and replace him with a famous director, so he included a clause in the transfer contract, on the condition that Cameron must be the director and cannot be replaced by someone else.

In this way, the two people have formed a close combination of interests. If they want to make a movie and make a lot of money, they can only succeed if they work closely. If any one person breaks the contract, it will cause big problems and the movie will not be made.

As expected of an American couple, their interests must be protected. It seems that Gale’s father is also Jewish...

"Your script is very interesting. It puts zombie elements in the apocalyptic background of science fiction. It is a fusion of science fiction and zombie films."

Cameron spoke favorably of Ronald's script.

"I am now trying to reduce the budget. Some scenes must be deleted. If you are free, you can help me see if I can make some special effects scenes and makeup with a low budget."

Ronald made his request, and if Cameron wanted to, he could pay some fees. Jim and Gale were busy selling the script. They must have had no income for several months, and they might still be eating up their past savings.

"You know, this is also our problem. I have met several producers who are doubtful about the investment in the movie. Why don't you help Jim see if you can eliminate some scenes from the script structure? After all, you have already I have made a movie, but Jim’s Piranha II doesn’t really count..."

"I won't admit directing that bad movie." Cameron muttered.

The post-production of "Piranha II" has been completed. According to the requirements of the Directors Guild, Cameron must watch it once. When he comes back, he will take his name off the subtitles.

"Okay, then let's swap and read each other's scripts. Then we'll see if there are any ways to reduce the shooting budget."

Gale drafted two contracts. Ronald and Jim agreed to read each other's scripts, then criticize each other from an objective standpoint, and write a report on how to reduce the budget of the other party's film shooting without affecting the final screen effect.

7017k

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :