Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Ronald, I'm Billy, Chris is next to me, we are the editors of Top Gun, do you remember us?"

"Of course, how could I forget? Have you gone to see the finished film? We may be very successful this time, and it is expected to be in the top three at the box office of the year."

Ronald suddenly received a call from the two editors of Top Gun, and he chatted with them about the box office situation with a smile.

There was another anomaly at the box office in the fourth week. This week, Paramount added more than 400 theaters nationwide and released more than 700 new copies.

The weekend box office suddenly increased by 20% and once again exceeded the 10 million mark.

Two abnormal box office rebounds, Hollywood has not seen such a strong movie in many years. The king's appearance has appeared, and various evaluations, analyses, and hindsight have come in one after another. Everyone is analyzing why "Top Gun" is so powerful.

Some people believe that Ronald is good at using hit singles and movies to promote each other. Starting with "Night of the Comet", every movie has a nice interlude, which was in the top ten at the time of the movie's release.

This time "Take My Breath Away" shot to the top of the charts and stayed there for a long time. Fans and moviegoers influence each other. After watching a movie, they feel that the songs are good, which will increase sales. After watching the singles on the station, many people are attracted to go to the cinema.

Others felt it was Ronald who led the way with a fast-cut narrative pace. The film critic also found music videos and commercials shot by Ronald, and pointed out that "Top Gun" was the first Hollywood blockbuster to learn the editing rhythm of music videos and commercials.

The first generation of teenage viewers after the baby boom has reached adulthood, and even more viewers are still watching music videos every day and advertising on all public television stations.

To cram a complete plot, or story, into within ten seconds to three minutes, a faster editing speed and shorter shots must be used to reconstruct the grammatical content of the movie.

He described Ronald as the first director in the 1980s who deeply understood the tremendous changes among teenagers. It is also predicted that in the future, Hollywood’s fast narrative rhythm and shooting method that omits a large number of transitional scenes will gradually become a popular trend.

Others feel that no matter what movie Ronald makes, there is always a sense of reality. The fighter plane combat scenes are very much like that. And when he shoots karate, he gives people the feeling of a professional karate master.

The in-depth understanding and presentation of industry-related content is what makes Ronald's films attractive.

certainly,

Ronald doesn't think it's true. Especially the third statement, the instructor pilots at Miramar Base still criticized a lot of their own air combat scenes.

"Of course we watched it, Ronald. We called you this time because we wanted to tell you something." The two editors, Billy and Chris, brought up the topic.

"Oh, please speak." Ronald said

"Last weekend, Paramount's top management sent a project manager over and asked us to pull out all the stunt footage from 'Top Gun' and look at it in detail. They even found some scraps that you didn't use. Come, put it together again according to the editing log, and take it away."

"I remember that I didn't take any extra shots. Basically, I used all the usable shots in the feature film. The rest either had no impact or were defective and couldn't be used. Even the launch of the Sidewinder missile specially approved by the Navy I have used the lens several times.”

"Yeah, that's what we said. But the manager didn't care about that. He took all the working copies away. We thought it was unusual, so we gave you a call."

"Okay, thank you. Did that person say what it was going to be used for?"

"We asked, but he didn't answer. But he asked us a lot of questions, how long the original film was, and checked the editing log one by one. He worked here for a whole day and checked all the films before leaving. .”

"Okay, thank you, I'll remember this favor."

Ronald hung up the phone and immediately called Niceta, "Call that bastard Ned Tanin. What does he want to do? Take my remaining footage and shoot a sequel?"

"I know, I'm going to protest." Niceta switched the phone to another ear, "However, theoretically you do not have ownership of the movie lenses. Even if these lens films are not used in the feature film, the property rights still belong to Paramount Yes. They are the production company, so in theory if they really do that, we can only blame them morally. It is best not to make trouble outside the circle."

"Fcuk! It's impossible. I almost didn't get the footage for all the aerial combat stunts I shot. If they want to make a sequel, they can figure it out on their own and don't get any filming tips from me. Damn it, Ned really It’s shameless.”

"As long as he doesn't take advantage, I will join forces with several CAA agents to put pressure on Paramount. This is really disappointing."

The gold and dollar storm caused by Minahan Golan has greatly affected Hollywood. In the past, the CEO of the Seventh Group would not be able to do such a thing to a popular director. But now the film remuneration is skyrocketing. If we don't do some outside work, next year's financial report will be a loss, and we will lose our seats, and we won't be able to worry about the future.

Ronald even felt that in this era, being a senior executive of one of the seven major studios, although one has a high position and can decide the fate of many people, is also greatly restricted by stars and famous directors.

This is not an easy job. If you can't quit after working for a few years, open your own production company, and get a guaranteed distribution contract, people like Ned Tanning and Tom Pollack probably won't be willing to do it. Go sit in that seat.

"Sorry, let's continue."

After Ronald answered the phone, he walked into the office of Daydream Pictures in West Hollywood.

Sitting there were two middle-aged women, one was Eleanor Bergstein, the screenwriter of "Dirty Dancing", and the other was Linda Gottlieb, the producer she was looking for.

There was also a middle-aged man, Michelle Cannold, the production director of the video production and distributor "Weston Pictures" that Linda went to find.

"It doesn't matter. We saw the script that Linda brought and we really wanted to make this movie. It's a very unusual movie. It tells the whole story from a girl's perspective. It's a female version of 'break dancing'. "

Michelle Cannold continued the topic just now, Weston wants to buy the production rights and start filming this "Dirty Dancing".

Weston is a small company in Connecticut. Before 86 years ago, they mainly produced video tapes for the seven major studios and were an outsourcer for the seven major studios.

In addition, they also produce some x-rated movies, which are not shown in theaters but sent directly to video rental stores.

But starting this year, the fire cannot be contained within the paper. Weston's profitability was so good that they began to acquire other production companies and distribution channels. This aroused the vigilance of Qida. Since the video tape market is so profitable, why should we outsource it instead of doing it ourselves?

So starting this year, Weston has been unable to get outsourced video production and sales orders for Hollywood blockbusters. They began to shoot their own movies, and Michelle Cannold was the production director they found. He had experience in making two B-level movies.

"What you said is very interesting, but I originally wanted to buy the production rights of the entire movie and shoot it myself. Weston is a man who stole his love."

As he said this, Ronald glanced at the screenwriter Eleanor.

The producer, Linda, attached great importance to the film because Ronald went to London to attend the premiere, so she took this opportunity to convince Linda to meet Weston's people, and the two parties hit it off, Weston said. Five million dollars could be invested in making the film.

But as Michelle said, whether it was screenwriter Eleanor or producer Michelle Cannold, the first director they thought of was Ronald.

No way, they came back and contacted Ronald, hoping that he could direct this small production.

"It's not that I don't want to make this movie, I'm very optimistic about it. But the movies I make now all have budgets of tens of millions. Unless my company produces this kind of small production, there is no reason for me not to direct it. Movies with stars in them."

"Yes, this is why we came to you to talk." Michelle Cannold is a very frank person. All his production experience is X-rated video tapes. If he wants to film such a story about a Jewish girl, , it is best to find someone with experience to perform the operation.

"So what did you think about it?" Ronald also learned to listen to the other person first when encountering something.

"This is what we think, ahem..." Michelle Cannold cleared her throat, "We Weston can give up part of the investment share, and your Daydream Pictures will be responsible for the production. We use Invest and distribute to join in the cooperation. This is the second film that we at Weston have made independently, and it is also the first film that is not X-rated and we want to release it in theaters."

"Okay, in principle, I agree to participate in the production. The director will be found according to your ideas. I can check the artistic standards and help you find suitable young actors to audition."

Thinking that he did not get all the production rights, Ronald was not very interested. Since he had a small investment share, he would do as much as he could.

"Well, I'm glad you can join this project. Let's go back and discuss it with Weston's senior management."

"You'd better hurry up. I'm going to Japan soon to attend the premiere of Top Gun there. I don't want to cause any complications."

After suffering a loss in this kind of thing, Ronald figured it out. He told General Manager Eddie the bottom line of the signing conditions and asked him to take full control of the negotiations and participate more in "Dirty Dancing". , it can be regarded as Daydream’s first time involved in the production and distribution of theatrical movies, and he will accumulate experience for the future.

"Ronald, don't you have a chance to direct?" screenwriter Eleanor asked quietly.

"I said, why didn't you wait for me to come back? If I invested my own money, I might still be interested in directing."

"Linda is my best friend. When we were young, we went on a double date. So she begged me and said that the name of this movie was worth a million dollars, and I agreed to go to Weston to see it. .”

"Okay, then I will ask my agent to step in and introduce you to a few suitable directors. As long as I fully communicate with the directors on production, I can still grasp the overall temperament."

Ronald thought to himself that he had dreamed of several wonderful dance sequences anyway. He had drawn the storyboards for this part, so the director must be able to execute it well.

…

"Ronald, are you no longer a director? Then I don't want to act either." Michael J. Fox heard that Universal had changed directors and called Ronald.

"It doesn't have to be like this. I resigned as director for other reasons. You don't have to resign because of me, if you like the movie."

"I quite like this script, but I originally wanted to work with you once. It's not nonsense like creative differences, right? Is it because the new president of Universal has a conflict with you..." Fox said on the phone.

"Not really. I can trust you, right, Michael." Ronald asked.

"Of course, what's the secret?" Fox's curiosity was piqued.

"Have you heard the rumors about that Universal high-level boxing match?"

"What? Is that true?"

"Absolutely. I happened to witness everything from the side, so it's not convenient for me to continue the project led by Frank Price. In fact, it has nothing to do with you."

"What about your girlfriend Helen? If you want her to be the protagonist, I will ask the agent to let you know. If you don't become the director, I will resign. When they come to beg me, I will help you take her with you. .”

"You're too polite. It's better not to interfere too much in the new director's choice. Besides, Helen..."

"What's up with her?"

"It's nothing. When I was a director, I didn't like to be interfered with in casting, so I didn't want to do this to others. That's what Confucius said." Ronald didn't say anything. Helen was much taller than Fox. If the two of them were To really play the leading role of a hero or heroine, you have to make various adjustments like McGillis and Tom Cruise.

"That's it. Don't forget me if you have the chance in the future. We will always make a movie together."

…

"Damn it, Ronald, that cunning guy, couldn't find a single second of usable air combat footage in Top Gun. He edited it all into the movie." After hearing the report, Ned Tanin cursed loudly. , the sequel was scrapped.

"What does Michael J. Fox mean?" Tom Pollack asked the production director of "Secret of Success" with squinting eyes. "He still wants to work with Ronald?"

"He said that he originally came to the crew because of Ronald. Unless we find a replacement who is on the same level as Ronald, he will consider quitting the project."

"Hmm...it seems that without Ronald, this project really can't be completed."

"I have to give him some benefits. I remember the heroine is one of Ronald's girlfriends?"

"But Helen is too tall and can't play well with Fox."

"What do you think?"

"Ronald submitted a casting call for the opening scene, how about we grant his wish?"

"Okay, you go and communicate with Niceta, we don't mean to offend Ronald."

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