Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Dear viewers, we have interrupted the scheduled program and will now report breaking news from the Soviet Union."

Ronald motioned to Helen to turn down the news volume on the TV station. He was on the phone with his agent Niceta.

"How does Shirley Lansing get involved with the cast of 'All Over'? Isn't she the president of 20th Century Fox?"

"No, Ronald. Lansing has resigned from Fox. Melnyk, the producer of 'All About Me', is her old partner. The two of them have produced a series of blockbuster movies. Now there is a rumor in Hollywood." Sheen will return to independent production."

"So now the decision is in her hands?" Ronald became interested, "What is the main reason why we go to see her to talk about?"

"There are now three producers of 'Better Days'. Paramount is mainly responsible for distribution and small investments. Lansing and Melnyk's companies are the original production sponsors and are responsible for the artistic aspects, as well as the largest financial contributions. They are Wall Street's screen investment funds (sliver's partners). They are only responsible for providing money and get priority returns."

"This Wall Street fund only provides money, no matter how the movie is made. Paramount is mainly responsible for distribution, and Lansing is now the producer and decides who to hire as the director?" Ronald concluded.

"That's pretty much it, so she made an appointment to meet with you and talk to you about your revised script and what the movie would look like if you were to direct it."

"Great, I'm going to prepare some storyboards of important scenes I drew and show them to her during the interview. What kind of person is she? What do I need to pay attention to?"

"Hollywood legend has it that Shirley Lansing understood art and she had her own criteria for evaluating scripts, so you just have to tell the truth.

Of course, besides you, she will also meet with other director candidates. Herbert Ross was originally Melnyk's intended choice, but time dragged on and he went to make other movies.

Your strength is your grasp of the mentality of teenage audiences, and the guarantee of having a blockbuster teen movie. The weak point is that I have never made a feature film with two protagonists like this. "

The two discussed on the phone how to meet with Shirley Lansing to explain Ronald's directorial concept and vision for the finished film.

"Honey, are you going to be the director of 'All Over'?" As soon as she hung up the phone, Helen rushed forward, hugged Ronald's neck, and asked softly.

"I'm just one of the candidates, and it depends on Shirley Lansing's opinion.

But it’s true that this is the closest I’ve been to a director since filming ‘Fast Tempo’. "

"Whenever we can make a movie, it will be great. You will direct and I will star. Acting in a movie takes a long time. I will go to Britain after Christmas to prepare for fitness. I heard Reeve say that he is preparing for Superman. For the character, I have been working out for more than four months in total, and I estimate it will take almost that long.”

"You still have three Supergirl movies scheduled. At least until you finish three movies, I won't have the opportunity to direct your new movie." Ronald replied, "Do you want another slice of pizza?"

"Ronnie, don't you know what an actress fears most is gaining weight? I've probably gained more than a pound in the two days I've been here. If this continues, I'm going to become a fat girl." Helen hit Ronald.

"You have to go to the gym and build muscle anyway. It's okay to eat a little more now. I was a high school wrestler and I had to eat more to gain muscle. As long as I keep up with the amount of exercise."

"Then I'll eat half a piece. Well, it's so delicious." Helen tore off a small half and put it in her mouth, "Oh, shxt, I shouldn't indulge myself."

"Huh? Why did the Soviet Union lower its flag at half-mast?" Rona asked, pointing to the news on the TV.

"It just seemed that their general secretary Leonard passed away." Helen stood up, turned up the TV volume, and walked into the bathroom. She came out after a while, her face a little red.

"Drink some water, you seem a little hot." Ronald handed a glass of water to Helen.

His attention was still on the TV, where the host of ABC was broadcasting breaking news from the league. On November 10th, the ice hockey game that was originally broadcast was canceled and turned into the Leningrad Ballet's "Swan Lake". Angola also did not receive a congratulatory message from the top leader of the Union on Independence Day.

The next day, at 11 a.m. Moscow time, Moscow TV announcer Igor Kirillov officially announced the news of Leonard's death, and showed the Kremlin flags flying at half-mast in mourning.

The leader who has occupied the most powerful position among America's biggest rivals for eighteen years has officially withdrawn from the stage of history.

"Ronnie, don't you want to exercise?" Helen sat on Ronald's lap again, "Am I beautiful?"

"Of course, you are the most beautiful girl in the world." Ronald felt Helen's slender and curvy figure and picked her up into the bedroom.

"We invited former Secretary of State, Dr. Kissing, and Haig over the phone to express their assessment of the international situation." On the TV, the host of ABC TV was still receiving calls from guests, discussing Leonard's death and his assessment of the international situation. Especially the impact of bilateral arms control.

…

"Hello, Ms. Lansing." A few mornings later, Ronald and his agent Niceta came to meet with Shirley Lansing, the most powerful producer of "Full of Energy".

"Please take a seat." Shirley Lansing was very capable. After greetings, she asked Ronald to talk about his directorial philosophy.

"What do you want this movie to be like?"

"These are storyboards of several scenes I drew." Ronald took out a few sketches from the folder and handed them to Lansing.

"I want to say an American dream about young people in a small town..."

Ronald pointed to the tractor duel scene in the painting, "This is like Nascar racing in the minds of young people in small towns. What they can drive is either their father's tractor, or their mother's pickup truck or SUV.

Being able to engage in chicken duels with tractors and drive nuisances down drains is like being a city boy watching Han Solo take interstellar travel in the Millennium Falcon. "

To explain clearly, Ronald also quoted several "Star Wars" memes.

"This is the final dance scene. We used some group dances from old musicals and added the latest dance styles. This combination happens to be the most popular dance among young people in small towns."

Shirley Lansing listened very carefully, interrupting Ronald from time to time to ask for details.

"In general, my idea is to make this film into a high-concept new musical and dance film for small town youths. Urban youths went to small towns and overturned the conservative dance ban with their friends, gaining the popularity of two previous generations. Understand, this is an old story form, and I want to add new meaning to it.

The overall tone of the story will be retro, but the lens selections will be realistic. This can gain a kind of recognition among young people in small towns.

In recent years, it is difficult for urban teenagers to see real-life youth movies that truly reflect small town life. A young man from a big city comes to a small town and leads the people there to freedom. This is also a very immersive story for them. "

"What do you think of the story of the heroine Ariel?" Lansing asked the question proactively when she saw that Ronald did not talk about the story of the female character.

"I think she is a very good introduction to the story. At the beginning, she stood on two cars on the road, facing the big truck on the opposite side, just to arouse the curiosity of the audience. Why would a pastor's daughter do this? She made such a deviant and very dangerous move. In addition, she was also very brave in fighting against domestic violence by her boyfriend."

"In this small town, the only residents in this town who truly embrace the free spirit are the heroine Ariel, her best friend Rusty, and her mother, the pastor's wife Wei. Without the hero Lun Cong After transferring from Chicago, I want to take the lead in proposing the repeal of the dance ban, and it should be these female characters.”

Ronald was keenly aware that Shirley Lansing was more attentive when listening to her own explanations of these female characters. He quickly said more about his understanding of the main girls.

"Who do you think could play the leading role of Lun?"

"I recommend Tom Cruise. He played a supporting role in Coppola's new film 'The Kid,' and then starred in Warner's 'Risky Business,' which is also a story about a teenage man coming of age. .”

"Ha, I know him, he's great, he's doing great on Fox's 'Lights Out.'"

"There's also Robert Lowe, another actor in 'The Boy'. He's also a pretty boy, so he's suitable for this type of role. The two of them are very convincing when girls fall in love with each other at first sight."

"Excellent, that's it for today, we will contact you if we have further decisions. Thank you Ronald."

Ronald shook hands with Lansing and exited the office with Niceta.

"Did I miss the point of Lansing? I feel like she pays more attention to the development of the heroine Ariel's story?" Ronald left the office and asked Niceta a little depressed.

"Not necessarily. I heard that Lansing's style is like this. I'll go back and ask Paula Wagner. She dealt with Lansing during 'Lights Out.'" Niceta answered as she backed the car out of the parking lot.

"This Screen Investment Fund (Sliver's partners), they made most of the investment, why don't they do anything?" Ronald was a little confused about not seeing the largest investor.

"The founder of this fund, Roland W. Bates, was originally a securities fund manager on Wall Street. It is said that the fund he launched has a total of 80 million. It was originally to solve the problem of insufficient film sources for the HBO cable TV station.

The movies they invested in all have TV rights to be broadcast by HBO, and half of the money can be recovered. Later, Eisner invited them to invest in Paramount's new film. They didn't know anything about film production. They believed in their vision because they had seen Paramount's endless blockbuster movies in recent years. "

"Oh, I wish I had investors like this who only invest money and don't care about art." Ronald thought of his "Night of the Comet" project, but he soon lost one or two investors who had absolute trust in him. It's a pity that my good friend from high school, Douglas Jr., doesn't have that much pocket money.

Meanwhile, Melnyk was chatting with Shirley Lansing about the progress of the project.

"Let me say, Shirley. You have met both candidates. How do you feel?"

"Ronald Lee's story is rather bland, and his acting skills are not the way to win in feature films. But his casting is very good, and his agent happens to be the agent of Tom Cruise, the leading actor I am optimistic about.

As for Michael Cimino, his story outline is more capable of dramatic conflicts, and the story is more realistic and darker. The audience will like Lun, the main character in the story. His directing skills have also been tested by the Oscar for Best Director, and now his price is very cheap. It's just that we need to keep an eye on him in terms of budget.

We could sign a contract with him and fire him if the budget went over $7.5 million or if he was three days behind schedule. If he saves the budget and completes the shooting ahead of schedule, we will reward him.

As for Ronald, we can invite him to participate in the writing work and give him a writing credit. Cimino is not good at turning stories into actual scripts and storyboards. This aspect happens to be Ronald's strength. He sorted out the story structure very well. "

"Great, time to work your charm, Ronald will agree, right? I'd like to see the project start sooner."

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