Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Word quickly spread that Frank Price and Sidney Shenberg had a boxing match at Universal Studios. Price is said to be like George Foreman who is good at punching, while Sheinberg is like Ali who is good at controlling distance with his jab.

When the two were fighting inseparably, martial arts master Ronald Lee, the young director who Sheinberg personally supported back then, the director of "The Kid", used a karate trick to separate the two and avoid the conflict. A "jungle war" in which both sides suffer losses.

Of course, there is also a theory that Ronald ended up supporting Frank Price, who bought his debut movie script for $350,000, and blocked Sheinberg's punch. Because Sheinberg wants to leave the blame for the failure of a certain movie to his benefactor Price who made his debut.

"Ronald, what do you think of the recent rumors that have been swirling around Universal Pictures? Is there any truth to them?"

"I think the people who made up the rumors have very rich imaginations. You can try to write a script. If it is interesting, you can consider pitching it to my company. I have always wanted to make a film that reflects the filming process, just like the director of the country, Tru. It's the same as "Day Makes Night" shot by Fu.

What if it opened with two of the most famous boxer screen personalities of our time, Rocky Balboa (played by Stallone in 'Rocky'), and Jake LaMotta (Robert De Niro in 'Angry')? Bull') boxing match, that must be very interesting. "

"Hahaha……"

Using humor to defuse the reporters who came over after smelling the smell, Ronald said goodbye to them with a smile and got into Little Bud's car.

As soon as he got in the car, Ronald's face fell.

Frank Price's prediction soon came true. He formally resigned to his boss the next day, with a grace period for resignation and a generous hush money called a golden parachute.

However, since he publicly cursed Jews at Universal, and "Howard the Duck" received a very low rating from internal film critics, it really takes an unlucky person to take the blame. Price's resignation this time, in the eyes of an insider , still quite ugly.

He has only been given a three-month grace period to resign, and his successor will be announced in September. And Price was not given a guaranteed distribution contract with his own production company, as was customary. This clause was even obtained by Tom Mount, the small giant of Universal Pictures who was forced to leave because of his wife.

And soon, a candidate who temporarily took over all his work took over his position and began to fully take over Frank Price's work at Universal.

“When it comes to finding potential scripts, potential directors and screenwriters,

Frank Price is a rare talent in Hollywood, and today there are only a few executives like him who read scripts in person. "Nicita was waiting for him in the car, preparing to accompany him to meet the president-elect who was temporarily working on his behalf.

"But...hey..." Ronald shook his head, "He doesn't understand office politics."

"Yes, his political fighting ability is too poor, even worse than the girls on the cheerleading team in public high schools."

I was scapegoated twice, at Columbia and Universal.

Price's eye for spotting blockbuster movies is truly extraordinary, and he saw "ET" at Columbia, "Back to the Future" at Universal, and "Out of Africa," which won seven Oscars at this year's Academy Awards. ".

But he was immediately kicked out because he was not good at taking credit and assigning blame.

Maybe he's better at being an independent producer than the president of a major studio. Only in this way can he better utilize his expertise in selecting scripts.

"Hello, Director Ronald, Mr. Tom Pollack is waiting for you inside."

Tom Pollack, the successor president who had not yet been formally appointed, did not immediately occupy Price's office, but chose a smaller one for temporary use. The surname Pollack was the same as that of "Out of Africa" ​​director Sidney Pollack, so Ronald knew he was also Jewish.

After drinking two cups of coffee at the door, Ronald had already begun to count the patterns on the carpet in the office out of boredom, before he was belatedly welcomed in by his secretary.

"Thank you," Ronald and Niceta exchanged glances. It seemed that the waiting time was also a signal.

"Hello and welcome, Ronald. Please take a seat."

Tom Pollack did not come up to hug and shake hands, but asked Ronald to sit down across the desk and said.

"Hello, Mr. Pollack. Your negotiating skills in Star Wars impressed everyone."

Ronald did his homework before coming. This Pollack has two famous names in Hollywood. One is that he served as George Lucas's lawyer for many years, and that he had the exclusive rights to the "Star Wars" peripherals, and The contract for the sequel rights was negotiated between him and 20th Century Fox.

Because this contract helped Lucas become the richest man in Hollywood, Pollack has always been professional and ethical in not disclosing the name of his negotiating opponent at Fox.

Sure enough, when he heard Ronald mention his most proud deeds, a smile appeared on Tom Pollack's face, and he gradually let down his guard and no longer had a businesslike attitude.

"This place is a mess now. I was asked to deal with this mess because of my relationship with George. George was in a bad mood, but he still told me that you are a very good young man who knows how to respect older people. This industry is really like a roller coaster, and everyone who has made a name for themselves in this industry was once a person who was praised at the top..."

Tom Pollack told Ronald some old gossip, which was nothing more than saying that everyone has bad times, but Ronald understands the importance of luck in the film industry and will not look down on people because of temporary success or failure. , will be a good long-term partner.

Now Universal is on the cusp of a storm, and Sheinberg's position may not be guaranteed. What is needed most now is to smoothly get through the failure period of "Howard the Duck", and now Ronald's new film is linked to Price, who has resigned. Too close a relationship...

Ronald didn't say anything, just looked at the other person's face and kept nodding.

On the one hand, Tom Pollack was too talkative and couldn't get a word in at the moment. On the other hand, it is related to the other party's second "famous" place in the industry...

He is cross-eyed!

One of his two eyes is severely squinted. When he is still, his two eyes seem to be looking at two separate objects on the left and right. So while he's looking at you with one good eye, his other eye is staring a foot away from you.

This feeling of communication was quite strange. Ronald always felt that he was not talking to him. There were a few times when he had the urge to play a prank and looked a foot away from the other person to talk.

Good family upbringing prevents such strange thoughts. But Ronald had to spare some energy to suppress this thought. If he really did this accidentally, he would have to completely offend the other party.

"So my client Ronald, when can we resume the preliminary preparation work, casting and the formation of the technical team, it is imminent." Niceta helped Ronald ask the most important question of their visit.

"Ronald, I just took over, but I read the script for the movie right away, and Frank wasn't the only one in Hollywood who read the script. It seemed to me that there was a serious problem with it."

"What's the problem?" Ronald heard that it was a serious problem and quickly took out his notebook. From a historical perspective, the other party's vision for reading scripts is no worse than that of Frank Price.

"You have been studying this script for a long time, what do you think of this script?" Tom Pollack looked sideways at Niceta's face next to Ronald, but he was talking to Ronald.

"I think it is a very good script, with both the reality of business war and the style of old-fashioned Hollywood screwball comedy. Nowadays, young people from small towns who come to big cities to work will encounter all the problems of the protagonist. I think the audience is quite broad. And they are all happening around urban audiences. In the past ten years, there have been no movies that touched on these contents..."

Ronald valued the other party's opinions and expressed his own thoughts in an important way.

"What you said makes sense. This is what makes this movie great and what I like about it. But this is also the big problem I mentioned. The acting methods of drama and comedy in the movie are very different. What do you plan to do with that? Which style is the main one?

In those scenes, how much of a light comedy was it? How much of a drama style is it? "

Tom Pollack looked at Ronald with his other eye, and the original eye moved to the other side, seeming to be looking at the door again.

"But in my opinion, this kind of stylistic deviation is not a big problem. Just like Helen Slater's previous role in 'The Evil Husband', it actually used a drama style to perform comedy. Just a story.”

"You are right, but I have just taken over and need time to determine all this. In my opinion, is it better to find another screenwriter to overall control the style? I can talk to whoever you want. And you said As for Helen, it remains to be seen how the audience's response to her previous film "The Evil Husband" will be. It is not as good as Michael J. Fox's male lead, whose acting style is very similar to that of his in "Back to the Future", and has already withstood the audience's reaction. test."

Tom Pollack looked at Ronald with the same eye again.

This action of constantly switching eyes to stare at him, whether it was the other party's habit or a deliberate psychological tactic, made Ronald feel irritable.

He couldn't help but blurt out, "Okay, Mr. Pollack. You might as well try to find another screenwriter, but the start time is just around the corner. If the shooting plan needs to change..."

"Just call me Tom, Ronald. There are no changes to the shooting plan. I just need to dispel some of the doubts of the upper management and let me, who is new here, make a reconfirmation. As long as we agree on the acting style of the script, we will be fine in no time. Start shooting."

"Please send these two gentlemen out." Tom Pollack worked very efficiently. After communicating with Ronald, he immediately rang the bell and called his secretary to ask them out.

"I'm very sorry. There seem to be a hundred things that need to be dealt with here, and I have to speed up. Let's arrange a time as soon as possible to talk about the script..."

"Huh..." Finally getting rid of the squinting Pollack, Ronald sat in the Mercedes-Benz, took out a bottle of Coke from the refrigerator, and took a sip, "This person is really weird. I talked to him. I always seem to be led by his nose."

"You're not just being led by him, Ronald." Niceta sighed.

"What?" Ronald was confused.

"Think about it, what did you promise him? What did he promise you?"

"You mean, he is deliberately playing tricks on us? Using some ambiguous answers to dangle us, and then keep delaying?"

Ronald was not an idiot, but he was so agitated by those weird squinting eyes that he didn't see through the other party's true intentions. "

"It's okay. Today's situation is actually within our expectations. In this case, we will wait and see. If Tom Pollack does not take the initiative to contact us, then he must want to find someone else to take over your project.

Besides, it's time to think about that Barry Morrow script. "Nisita said to Ronald.

"That movie script with only one scene? Didn't it say that Sidney Pollack was going to direct it?" Ronald took a big sip of Coke.

"Sidney gave up and moved on to his own production company."

"So you came to me?" Ronald took a sip of Coke dissatisfied.

"Come on, Ronald. In today's Hollywood, Spielberg and Sidney Pollack always have priority. They both always have priority to get scripts that have a chance to win Oscars. That's okay. shameful."

"Okay, let's take a look first." Ronald put his hands behind his head and lay on the leather seat.

Ordinarily, I should be very satisfied. There are only two Jewish directors in Hollywood who can read those scripts that are "promising to win the Olympics" before him. Most other great directors write their own scripts, or have the ability to organize a team of screenwriters.

However, why is it a little uncomfortable?

…

"Ronnie, have you decided not to direct that 'Secret of Success' movie?"

A few days later, as Niceta expected, Tom Pollack did not call him to discuss the progress. It seems that the other party wants to use this delaying method to make him give up filming the script in order not to arouse his resentment.

"The new producer and I have some differences in creative direction." Ronald gave an official breakup answer, then put his arms around Helen Slater's neck, and the two kissed.

Helen still looks like the one in "The Evil Husband". Her blond hair is slightly longer than before, exceeding her ears and not reaching her shoulders. In addition to beauty, it also adds a bit of playfulness.

"If... I mean if..., if you don't become a director, wouldn't you object to me playing the heroine?"

"Well... no, who said I would object to you playing the heroine?" Ronald felt something was wrong and quickly denied it.

"Don't lie to me. You just dislike my poor acting skills. But I think I'm quite suitable for this movie. Just like 'The Evil Husband', I also use the method of acting in a drama to act in a comedy. I think I can do it." have to……"

Helen said and turned away, she seemed a little sad.

"Actually, you don't have to think too much about your acting skills. This role is quite suitable for your real performance." Ronald smiled. Anyway, in "Secret of Success", the heroine is a somewhat superficial financial manager, who doesn't know much about this kind of thing. But I also think that others respect me not because of my beauty but because of my professionalism, which is really similar to Helen.

"Really?" Helen became happy, "Then I asked my agent to contact me for the audition? Hehehe."

"I don't mind at all. If you act, I won't have as many worries as if I were a director."

Ronald put his arms around Helen and they lay on the bed laughing.

"Hey, silly girl." Ronald sighed in his heart as Helen hugged him tightly. If you don't become a director, your biggest competitive advantage will be gone.

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