Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The small town of Montecito in Santa Barbara is about an hour and a half drive from the center of Hollywood. Ronald was invited there to meet Hollywood star and producer Michael Douglas.

Little Bud drove Ronald to a mansion on a hill in the town.

Outside the two large iron gates on Hot Spring Road, Little Bud pressed the call button. After a conversation, the security guard opened the electric gate. Ronald's car pulled into the large house on seven acres.

"Nice house," little Bud couldn't help but admire aloud as he drove towards the house on the main boulevard.

“It is indeed a good house with a great view and great privacy.”

Ronald agreed. The gate was less than a mile away from the house. All reporters were blocked from taking photos, and there were big trees in the middle blocking the view of the telephoto lens.

The big trees on both sides of the main road in the mansion were all very tall and thick, and Ronald felt that they were all at least fifty years old.

Sites for building houses on hills are also very scarce. This mansion is in the best position on the mountainside, with views of the coastline, the town, and hot springs flowing through it.

"Deandra and I bought this after we got married in 1979. We also hired a designer to remodel the swimming pool. The hot spring water here happened to be very good, so we introduced him to the house."

Michael Douglas, standing at the gate of his Mediterranean-style mansion, and his good friend Daniel DeVito greeted Ronald at the door and introduced him to the origin of his house.

"I didn't know you and Danny were friends." Ronald saw the owner and the male protagonist of "The Evil Husband" standing together.

"Ah, we have a long history. We went to drama school together in Connecticut, and then we shared an apartment in New York." Michael Douglas hugged his friend.

No wonder he went to the premiere of "The Evil Husband". It turned out to be to support his friends, Ronald thought to himself.

"Ronald, you have to attend more Hollywood parties. My relationship with Michael is not a secret in Hollywood." DeVito also came over to joke, and welcomed Ronald into the big house with a smile.

"Cameron, this is the Uncle Ronald you really want to see, the great director of Top Gun." A little boy ran in, heard Michael Douglas greeting him, and came up to ask Ronald for his autograph.

"Your autograph book is really good."

Ronald signed Douglas's son's autograph, and the autograph book also had the signatures of many other directors and stars.

"Thanks!"

After sending his son away, Douglas introduced Ronald to the fun part of the house.

As soon as we entered the party hall, which was far away from the quiet and domestic part of the house, we were greeted by a commotion.

Ronald had the illusion of walking into the set of "The Great Gatsby". This place was too much like a special ball hall in the golden age of the 1920s.

"Be happy and enjoy the fun that Hollywood should have." Michael Douglas handed over a glass of wine, and Danny DeVito was also accompanying him.

Ronald received the invitation from Michael Douglas during the day. The other party said that he had to talk to him in person about some movie matters.

Having met Douglas several times, Ronald felt good about the most promising second-generation actor from a famous Jewish acting family in Hollywood, so he agreed to the invitation to his home.

There were many handsome and beautiful men and women at the party, talking loudly. Ronald soon became the center of attention, and people kept coming up to introduce themselves.

"Is it a bit noisy?" DeVito is of Italian origin. Ronald and several Italian directors and actors are familiar with it. His main agent, Niceta, is also of Italian origin.

As an actor, he has a poor appearance and always plays supporting roles. So he quickly discovered that Ronald didn't like such noisy occasions.

"Everyone, Ronald and I have something to talk about. Please enjoy yourself."

Michael Douglas got the signal from his friend, put his arm around Ronald's shoulders, and the three of them walked into an aisle together and went to a small room on the side to talk about business.

"Ronald, we have only met a few times. I heard Danny say that you are a director who understands the balance between art and business..." Michael Douglas first praised Ronald.

"Michael, can I call you Michael? We are each other, and I also like watching your movies. You said you had something to do with me on the phone?" Ronald showed a smile.

Michael Douglas also understood that Ronald was a man who could discuss issues straightforwardly.

"It's like this. In Hollywood, my father Kirk is a good friend of many Jews. This time you approached several studios and wanted to sign a distribution contract. Several troubled people called to tell you about this. my father.

He originally wanted to talk to you in person. But I happened to visit him that day, so he asked me to bring you the attitudes of those friends. "

"What do you mean? What do they want you to say?" Ronald seemed to understand that the discussion still revolved around the movie "Dirty Dancing."

"Don't get me wrong, my father and I have a normal relationship. I just don't like people interfering with the creative freedom of artists. But those people are very powerful, and I think I am probably the best person to convey this message."

Ronald's body relaxed. Anyway, those people found a suitable person to take the message. This is a friendly gesture.

"So, what do they want to say?" Ronald took a sip of wine. "Wait, let me guess, does it mean that the Seventh Group will not sign a publishing contract with me?"

"That was just an accident, Ronald. No studio executive can refuse you. They don't want to bear the blame for missing Ronald's movie." Douglas also relaxed and sat diagonally opposite him.

"But I have to say that Hollywood is still occupied by a group of old men, and many times their opinions have great influence."

"You want me to quit?"

"No, like I said, I hate it when someone interferes with my creative freedom, and I won't let them do that to you."

"So..." Ronald didn't know what Michael Douglas meant. He was not very familiar with Hollywood's way of expressing "no" without ever saying "no" in his words. He turned his head and looked at the Italian DeVito.

"Michael and those old antiques are not the same. You can't imagine a producer who made 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' doing this." DeVito lived up to Ronald's expectations and came out to speak out and convey Michael Douglas's intentions. , explained in more detail.

"Michael hopes that you can tone down the controversial plot of a young Jewish woman in the script. This way you can give those old timers an explanation and bypass their complaints..."

Ronald generally understood. There was a small circle of high-level Jewish people. They were still very worried when they learned that Ronald was promoting the film everywhere. It is always possible for a popular blockbuster director to find a producer who takes risks regardless of the unspoken rules.

And they didn't really want to estrange their relationship with Ronald. After all, they were still waiting for Ronald to help them make other blockbuster movies.

So, they asked the leader of the Jewish gang in old Hollywood, Kirk Douglas's son Michael, to spread the message.

They wanted to ask Ronald to slightly modify the love story between a Jewish girl and an Irish poor man in the script. Otherwise, after it is released, Ronald's sales ability might secretly encourage young girls in the Jewish community to imitate this kind of love story. Behavior.

As long as Ronald can make concessions, they will not interfere with Ronald's plan.

"So as long as the audience doesn't think of a girl from a rich Jewish family dating a poor Irish guy, they won't interfere with my filming?"

"That's it."

"What about the distribution contract of Big Seven?" Ronald put forward conditions, hoping that the Jews could give him a distribution contract, so that the filming of "Dirty Dancing" could be launched.

"My father is just famous and fair, so some old friends remember him. You have to discuss the specific distribution contract with them."

"So I just didn't interfere, and I didn't say that I would take over the project." Ronald understood the other party's conditions in his heart.

"So, what do you say?"

Seeing that Ronald was deep in thought and didn't speak for several minutes, Danny DeVito asked on behalf of his good friend.

"I can promise not to promote the outrageous behavior of Jewish girls in the movie and lower the audience's view of the love between baby and Johnny. I also want to make a promise not to interfere with my affairs anymore."

"Great," Michael Douglas said, draining his glass of wine. "Now we can talk about real art."

"What real art?"

"I've been hesitating recently whether to take a new role in a movie. It's a movie about a married man cheating on his wife. I don't want to play the kind of knight image in 'Emerald' again. I like this script very much.

The director is Adrian Lyne. You worked with him in ‘Flashdance’. What is he like? "

Michael Douglas was not very used to this kind of atmosphere of spreading rumors. When Ronald nodded and agreed to the conditions, he breathed a sigh of relief and started talking about the real movie.

"Adrian is a true visual master. He can shoot passion beautifully." Ronald thought for a while and objectively evaluated Director Ryan, an old friend.

…

"Do you really want to change the script?" Niceta asked Ronald about his plan after learning about the message that Ronald got at the party.

"I have my own way. I won't change the script. Anyway, I just need to meet the needs of those Jews." Ronald had his own solution.

However, the premise of the Jewish gang's promise not to interfere was that Ronald wanted to reduce the impact of the movie on young Jewish women. Do you want to create a fake script and go to the Seven Big Companies to deceive the Jewish senior executives and get investment?

In short, his strength is still not strong enough. If only he had enough money, or knew the Wall Street tycoons who helped Minahan raise money.

Or better yet, is there any foreign capital willing to enter the Hollywood distribution channel, so that you don't have to do the distribution yourself?

7017k

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :