Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Ronald, this is a good opportunity. Shirley Lansing's favorite Ron Howard has turned her down to film 'Mermaid'. Herbert Ross, Michael Cimino, Ron Howard, she has already After losing three directors, if we are still unsure about the director, this project will go into cold storage.

And you are the reviser of the last version of the script. Tom Cruise also wants to cooperate with you. This is an investment of eight million US dollars and a big studio project. Your "Night of the Comet" is not as good as put off. "

Paula Wagner found Ronald and tried her best to persuade Ronald in the CAA office to take over "Footloose" first.

"Paula, tell the truth, I want the director to be 'full of energy' and how many people are going to nod?"

"There are mainly a few people we have to interview. First of all, Ms. Shirley Lansing, who is in charge of the project. It's not difficult for her. Unless she has another famous director, you will be his first choice. .

Then there are the two producers responsible for bringing the project to fruition, Lewis J. Lachmeier and Craig Zaidan. We just need to convince them that you are capable of directing this movie.

And then there's Daniel Melnyk, the president of indieprod, who is the executive producer of the film. . He doesn't care much anymore, so we are very successful.

The penultimate person is Mr. Katzenberg, vice president of production at distributor Paramount. You have dealt with him, and he has always been generous to projects with excellent scripts.

The last step is President Eisner's signature, and you have a very good impression on him. As long as we get to this point, there won't be much problem in getting the final green light. "

"In other words, I have to interview these five or six people again to sell myself? And everyone has different ideas about the project? If anyone is dissatisfied with me, I will Revise it again and then submit it again. Do you have to pass five levels to finally get the qualification to be a mentor?"

"Well, I thought you were a person who thought the glass was still half full. We have to look at the problem from a positive perspective. This is not a project invested by Paramount alone. With multi-party investment, there are naturally several hurdles to pass. And several of your competitors have been nominated for Oscars or even won awards."

"My answer is no, Paula, I have no problem with you, and I really want to work with Tom, but I have already started the preliminary preparations for 'Night of the Comet.' Although 'Full of Energy' is a big investment, there is no need for me to give up." For a small project that is already secure, go for a big project with an unknown success rate.

"

"Well, what you said makes sense. I thought you would want to work with Tom. Apart from you, he only wants to work with big directors."

"I'll call him."

Ronald declined any further bids to direct "Better Days." This kind of big studio project has too many people to manage, and everyone's words are not counted. Only by convincing them all can the final decision be made, and the process can be completed to satisfy everyone's preferences. Half a year has passed.

Unless you are already an Oscar-nominated best director, or a genius who has repeatedly achieved box office miracles, everyone has to go through this "planning hell."

No wonder Cannon's Minahan Golan always accuses these Hollywood producers of talking and talking every day without actually making movies, unlike him who talks less and does more.

Thomas Coleman, the president of Atlantic, is also somewhat similar to Minahan's character. If he likes a project, he will sign a contract and start filming. Maybe small companies don’t have a stacked management team and can make decisions quickly.

He recruited two colleagues, Wayne Crawford and Andrew Lane, to serve as producers of "Night of the Comet" with Ronald. The pair are also producers on Atlantic's upcoming "Valley Girl."

They sat down with Ronald and went through the expenses in the shooting budget one by one, counting the money bit by bit.

Atlantic invested $500,000 in the "Night of the Comet" project and will handle distribution for America. Then there was 100,000 from Roger Corman's new company Millennium, 300,000 from Cannon Pictures, which was responsible for overseas distribution, 100,000 from Ronald Douglas Jr., and finally, 200,000 from Ronald himself. .

A total production budget of 1.2 million.

Then comes the expenses. Atlantic has to pay itself a director’s remuneration of US$100,000 first, and then various online expenses. For example, the actor Kevin Costner’s salary is calculated based on the entire movie. Like him, it is calculated based on the film. Also paid are the two leading ladies, Catherine Mary Stuart, and Kelly Maroney. Plus a supporting actress, Mary Woronov.

In addition, director of photography Arthur Albert, art director John Muto, and special effects director Jim Cameron were involved in the work in advance.

The rest is the offline costs paid every week or every day after the shooting starts. For example, the cost of other supporting actors, lighting, photography, drivers, makeup, hair, etc., the cost of film, the cost of applying for a street scene shooting permit from the city hall, etc.

Then there are the costs of stunts—lightning, explosions, drag racing, guns, stunt doubles, special effects models and makeup, etc.

Then there are the must-have interludes for teenagers that teenagers like, such as "Famous" with Irene Cara's song "Fame", which will increase the spread of word-of-mouth among many teenagers.

"Night of the Comet" is a small production, and all the soundtracks and soundtracks have to be purchased with their own money. The cost of purchasing this part of the soundtrack occupies about 10% of the total budget.

In the end, there was still about 100,000 US dollars left as flexible funds to prevent overspending during the filming process. If it doesn't work out, Ronald still has some money in reserve that can be used to make amends. If this money is used up, he can finally turn to Roger Coleman.

The two producers and Ronald moved around, but the budget was still a little tight, so they discussed where they could squeeze out some money.

"If you don't use the ultracam camera, the rent can be half the price." A producer made a suggestion.

"Kill me. I'd rather go to the pawn shop and pawn my pants than use that crappy machine." Ronald still remembered the nightmarish effects of using this super-card film machine and was determined not to obey.

"If you don't want soundtracks and interludes, just use public version music. This can save a little money. This is what low-cost movies do anyway." Another producer suggested.

"This is not good. As soon as the audience hears the familiar music, they will know that it is shoddy music. If you have the ability, you should hire someone to compose the music. And there must be a popular episode, which will help spread word of mouth."

Ronald remembered that the song "Girls just want to have fun" he heard in his dream was very nice, but he had not heard this song on the radio. When the time came to set the soundtrack, he would look for music Ask your friends about it.

"Then let's start shooting like this. We trust your cost control ability. You graduated from Roger Corman University. The previous step of 'fast pace' was completed with quality and quantity."

"It's because I don't trust myself very much. After all, this movie is my first time as a producer, so there are a lot of things I'm not sure about."

"I have a suggestion, I hope you don't get angry." Producer Wayne Crawford was a little embarrassed when he saw Ronald, and remembered what president Thomas Coleman said to save the film budget as much as possible to ensure the release of "Valley Girl" Fund entrustment.

"Please tell me. It's all for the movie shooting."

"Can you postpone your director's remuneration and pay it later? In this way, the total budget of 1.2 million can be used for production, and we can convert your remuneration into a share of the profits after the film is released. Your twenty The investment of 100,000 yuan and the director’s remuneration of 100,000 yuan can be regarded as a 25% share of the profit.”

"Yes, in fact we also hope that the director can handle the remuneration issue in this way. In this way we can share the risks." Another producer Andrew Lane said. In this way, the director's remuneration must depend on the production quality of the film. It is very beneficial for Atlantic to hope to improve the quality of movies and prevent directors from making mistakes.

"Sharing?" Ronald couldn't help but think of a big legend in the film industry, "Profit sharing that you can never get."

"I'm going to discuss it with my lawyer."

After discussing with private lawyer Lindsay, Ronald made some changes to the sharing terms, signed an agreement with Atlantic, and then received advance preparation and filming funds.

If the filming of "Night of the Comet" is completed and released successfully, then Ronald's director's remuneration of 100,000 US dollars will first be paid. After the box office breaks even point, his investment of 200,000 US dollars will be automatically reimbursed. Finally, when the movie's box office breaks through If the amount exceeds 5 million, the profits from the movie will be distributed at a ratio of 25%.

"This will first ensure that my investment is recovered, and if there is a surprise, I can also share some money." A few days later, Ronald introduced the arrangement to Cameron, who came with a special effects model.

"Oh, you are also a producer who can get a share of the profits." Cameron placed several zombie head models on the table. There were disgusting wounds on the gray faces.

"This is good, consistent with the tone of the bad guys." Art director John Mutter has always wanted to make the main color of "Night of the Comet" a comic-like feeling. The good guys are bright colors, and the bad guys are dark colors, which makes the audience's imagination more interesting. The subconscious knows their alignment when it sees it.

"These are the bad guys from the scientific research base. They looked like humans at the beginning. After they were not treated with the blood of healthy children, they gradually became rotten." Cameron pointed to another batch of special effects models on the table.

"We can add some material to the wound." The special effects makeup artist also came to participate in the discussion.

In the preparatory office built in the rented large warehouse, Ronald watched the progress of various preparations progressing smoothly and felt very satisfied. Thinking more about the difficulties when preparing a movie is to save time on filming. If you discover a shot that you can't finish while filming, that's going to cost money.

"The three protagonists have all put on their costumes. Come and take a look, director." The costume department called him again.

Ronald saw Kelly Maroney, who plays sister Samantha, wearing a cheerleading outfit and showing off. She played a cheerleading team in "Fast Times", so she is very familiar with it.

"Is it this blue one, or this red one?"

"The blue one, the blue one is more vivid, and the red one is a little darker. Take the blue one and make another one. Kelly will have to wear this outfit for many scenes." Ronald ordered, wearing only one suit for many filming God, I'm afraid it will stink in the end.

Ronald then selected costumes by Kevin Costner and Catherine Mary Stuart.

"Director, are you okay with this motorcycle stunt?" Ronald, the stunt team's old partner, was Debbie Evans, the award-winning stuntwoman who once defeated the male stunt team members.

"Okay, I don't need to do any difficult stunts, I just need to show that the heroine Regina is a girl who loves machines."

"Ronald, take a look at this sketch of motion control photography." Jim Cameron came to Ronald again to discuss how to shoot the comet's return special effects at the beginning.

"Director, this afternoon you have to attend auditions for several major supporting roles, including the heroine's stepmother, father, and the son brought by the stepmother. There is also the owner of the movie theater where the heroine works."

"That stingy boss left Roger Corman to make a cameo. I've already made an agreement with him."

"Okay, let me mark it. There are also a few gangsters who were involved in a shootout in the mall, and a few children who were captured by the base to use as antidotes..."

Everything is proceeding in an orderly manner, just waiting for everything to be ready for filming to start.

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