Exploiting Hollywood 1980

I don’t know if there’s something wrong with the dream, or if I haven’t seen this movie in my previous life. Ronald felt a little uncomfortable because he had to rely entirely on his screenwriting skills to revise the script of "Dragon Dance".

Through the good relationship between CAA and Paramount, Ronald came up with the idea to refer to the outlines of previous versions of the script. The original script was obviously pulled by Travolta, RSO Records, Paramount and other parties, and it was not a very smooth story. There are many little thoughts from all parties involved.

Travolta hopes to show more of his sexy image, and RSO Records hopes to include more hit songs to once again promote the popularity of the Bee Gees. Their record sales dropped severely due to the disco destruction incident.

Paramount may be most concerned about the quality of the story itself. They want to make the story as attractive as possible, with a reasonable beginning, middle, and end. As long as the story stays above par, many viewers still want to see John Travolta dance.

Not quite understanding the ecology of Broadway, Ronald picked up the phone and asked a friend for help.

"Don, this is Ronald, asking you to do me a little favor." He called Don Simpson, the producer of "Flashdance." "Have you finished shooting the scenes in Philadelphia? I want to borrow someone from you. .”

…

"Cynthia, thank you for coming to help me. I will ask you some questions you have encountered in your dance career." Ronald found a cafe and met Cynthia Rhodes (Cynthia Rhodes), who played the club dancer in "Flashdance" ( thia rhodes) met to discuss the script.

"Ah? Why? I thought you had a script for me to act in." Cynthia joked.

“I’m writing the script for Travolta’s ‘Saturday Night Fever’ sequel.”

"Ah..." Cynthia suddenly exclaimed, "Is there finally going to be a sequel to this movie? Or will Travolta play Tony Manero?"

"Uh, yes." Ronald didn't expect Cynthia to be so obsessed with this movie. It seemed that the original work was indeed deeply rooted in people's hearts.

"It would be great if I could play a role in this movie, because we used to imitate the moves of Travolta and his partners."

"Aren't you a ballet and jazz dancer?" Ronald asked curiously. "Saturday Night Fever" is about a young Italian man who dances disco in a discotheque.

"Disco was popular at that time. We all danced secretly, but we couldn't let our parents know." Cynthia answered.

"All right,

Then I started asking. How did you become a dancer? "

"I grew up dancing and was a little singer. When I grew up, I tried my luck on Broadway in New York. But I wasn't lucky enough to get a Broadway role.

Then I filmed some commercials and music videos, and acted as an extra in a few movies. Recently, my agent found me an opportunity to appear in "Flashdance." Cynthia, dressed in simple clothes, answered with a coffee cup in her arms.

"Can you still sing?"

“As a kid I sang at garden parties in my hometown of Nashville.”

Ronald was impressed. Nashville is the heart of American music and is home to many record companies. Although she is a small garden party singer, she should have a certain level to be selected.

"For an average dancer, if you want to get onto Broadway, what key people do you need to impress?"

"It's mainly a preliminary selection of casting directors, and then the director of the musical will do a group interview to select candidates for the backup dance line. The protagonists are basically selected from famous dancers. Occasionally, there will be dancers who dance from the backup line. At that time, first It’s my dream to be a backup dancer and then be chosen to play the lead role.”

In Broadway musicals, the backup dancers usually do the dance background behind a line, which is called the backup dance line. Only the leading role can be performed before the backup dancer line.

"Then why didn't you persist?"

"Hmm... How should I put it? The career length of female dancers is generally only half that of male dancers. I was already twenty-three years old at the time and didn't have a real opportunity, so I wanted to try the film industry."

"How likely do you think a dancer like Manero, who was the best at the disco, would be able to get on Broadway and be cast in a leading role?"

"This is not a type of dance. Disco is more unrestrained and free. Broadway jazz dance requires more basic training and rehearsal. However, if a dance genius like Manero concentrates on learning, it is not impossible. He looks so handsome."

"What about before he was selected? What kind of job could Manero do to support his family?"

"His appearance and dancing skills are very popular in discotheques such as Club 54. He can make a lot of money by working as a waiter. If he doesn't go to these sensual places, he can work as a dancer in a fitness club. Coach, you can survive in Manhattan.”

…

Ronald asked a lot of questions and kept a big book of all the problems, temptations, and troubles a dancer would encounter in a big city.

"Thanks, Cynthia, that's about it. Paramount will send you a check for the cost of the interview."

"Ronald," Cynthia looked at him with twinkling eyes, "Do you think I can play a role in the sequel?"

"I don't know. I'm not the director of this movie, I was just asked to revise the script. I can say hello to Paramount and say good things about you, but I can't guarantee anything?"

"Really?" Cynthia happily hugged Ronald and kissed him on the face, "I'm so happy."

"Don't get too excited, it's just an audition opportunity." Ronald touched his face. Cynthia has blond hair, is cute, and is a dancer, so she fits her own aesthetic.

First, we slowly weave a lot of dancers’ life materials obtained from interviews with Cynthia into different plots.

The next step is to have several main lines to connect the various plots together. The original script was weak in this regard, which is why Travolta and Sternwood were dissatisfied.

Without the guidance of dreams, Ronald still resorted to the old method, writing all the plots of Tony Manero on three-inch index cards, and then nailed them to the cork board on the wall, arranging them front to back and left to right.

The advantage of dreams is that they provide the direction of several climactic scenes, which is equivalent to giving the main line, or one of the main lines, of the movie. Just fill in the blanks for the rest.

Now that I have no guidance, I can only rethink on my own and come up with a main line that is logically coherent, emotionally ups and downs, and has various unexpected plots.

The biggest problem arises in Manero's dance career. In the script Ronald obtained, Manero was written as a dancing genius who yearns for Broadway. But in the original work, he was clearly a grassroots dancer who excelled at disco. How could he make a smooth transition to a Broadway musical?

Just like Cynthia said, a handsome man who can make a lot of money in Club 54 and has no shortage of women. How did you find the motivation to give up everything and start dancing on Broadway as a backup dancer?

You have to find a suitable motivation for Manero to go to a musical on Broadway with his girlfriend who is a backup dancer on Broadway, and fall in love with that kind of dance at first sight?

Ronald feels that what he lacks most now is time. While he is revising the script of "Dragon Dance", he also has his own "Night of the Comet" that needs revision, financing, and finding suitable actors.

In order not to delay the progress of both parties, he divided his time into chunks based on half an hour as the minimum unit. Then strictly within each block, only do relevant things.

It was like this, and I was so exhausted that only a week later, I made preliminary revisions, and then went to the gym to submit the revised script to Travolta.

Travolta is dancing. Now he dances three hours a day and lifts barbells for two hours to regain his figure and dance ability.

"Manero was fascinated by the heroine of the musical. He gave up his job as a bartender and went to a gym to work as a dance instructor. While making money, he recovered and learned the basic skills of jazz dance. Finally, he was impressed by the audition for the new musical. After becoming a director, he was selected as a backup dancer.

At the same time, Manero's girlfriend was also selected as a backup dancer. The two of them worked hard together in their careers.

During rehearsals, the musical heroine had a conflict with her boyfriend who did not want her to continue her dance career. Manero comforted and helped the heroine. Manero's girlfriend thought he was in love with someone else, but in the end during the dance, the two understood each other's feelings and got back together. "

Travolta quickly read the script and said, "Ronald, you are really fast and of high quality. I am very satisfied. What do Paramount and Sternwood think of this?" He said the last sentence to himself. The agent said it.

"Mr. Sternwood agrees. As long as you are willing to star in Paramount, everything else is easy to negotiate."

"Okay, then we need to find a good director. I really like the kind of Manero who struggles like Rocky that Ronald said last time. We'd better find a director like Rocky movies who is good at Film small people’s struggle and success stories.”

"Do you have any candidates?" the agent asked Travolta.

"Well... help me think about it, anyone? You can also help me think about it, Ronald."

"Since you like Rocky so much, why don't you direct Rocky?" Ronald replied. The script was inherently flawed, and it had to satisfy the interests of several investors. Ronald had no dream references and didn't want to direct the film.

Besides, he was still busy with "Night of the Comet", so he had no intention of recommending himself, so he said it casually.

"Ah? Right? Please help me ask Mr. Stallone if he is interested?" Travolta said excitedly to his agent.

"The director of the first Rocky movie wasn't Stallone, right?" Ronald muttered.

After submitting the script of "Dragon and Phoenix Dance", we are one step closer to the established goal.

Next it’s time to find the remaining main actors. There are hints in the dreams of several male and female protagonists. Except for the male protagonist whose acting skills are not very good, the other characters are very enough for a low-cost exploitation film.

Actors who are too expensive cannot be hired themselves.

First look for the heroine Catherine Mary Stuart, the beauty who was tricked by Minahan into filming the heroine of the musical "Apple".

"What script? Is it an ensemble drama like Fast-paced? Am I playing the protagonist?" Catherine Mary Stuart was very interested in the movie directed by Ronald. She had long wanted to make a "Fast-paced" movie. "Movies like that made a name for themselves.

"One of the protagonists, there are only two valley girl sisters as the protagonists, and you are the one who plays the most important role. In fact, I only came up with the plot after I saw you at Minahan's banquet last time. It is a science fiction movie A teen movie with zombies added in.”

"It sounds complicated, but I really want to act. When is your schedule set?"

"At the beginning of next year, I still have some technical matters to deal with. If everything goes well, it will be around the end of January or the beginning of February. Can your schedule be arranged?"

"Okay, I have a small recurring role on the new season of the soap opera Days of Our Lives, but they are planning to write me off. I will be available after late January next year."

"Okay, I'll call your agent and send him the script."

Then we asked Mary Woronov to play an important role as a female scientist in a doomsday base. She played the old-fashioned headmistress in "Rock and Roll High School" very well. She is a good actor who really has acting skills, but has been ignored by the mainstream of Hollywood.

"Mary, I'm Ronald. I'm going to direct a new film. I have a role as a female scientist. Do you want to play it?"

"Ronald?" Voronov didn't realize which Ronald it was.

"Is it Ronald? He is a fast-paced director who was the temporary director of Rock and Roll High School back then. I just wanted to ask him..." A voice spoke to Mary in a low voice.

"Ronald, I'm glad you can think of me. Can you come to my house to talk in detail? I have something that I can't leave." Mary Woronov put down her hand covering the microphone and said to Ronald.

"Okay, no problem. I'll bring the script." Ronald agreed, just in time to chat with Mary about her views on the script.

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