Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Another meeting that Ronald could not avoid was the invitation from Joseph Farrow, the vice president of Twentieth Century Fox.

He serves as executive producer on director Michael Gottlieb's "Mannequin," starring Kim Cattrall and Andrew McCarthy, which has completed filming and is in the editing room for its first rough cut. Secondary assembly.

Ronald had the title of producer, and at this time he had the power to enter the editing room and inspect the director's work with senior executives from other producers.

Since the collapse of the traditional big studio system in the 1950s, directors have gradually gained artistic decision-making power over film editing. However, the producer is responsible for the financing and final box office results, so a handover point between the two parties is arranged in the system.

After completing the first rough cut, the producer will find some people to watch the internal test screening, and then make a decision based on his own experience and the feedback of the test audience whether the film meets the requirements, and make some modification decisions.

"Ronald, I'm a little nervous. I've never been invited to an internal screening of a movie I've made before."

Kim Cattrall sat in the chair next to her, leaning closely against Ronald next to her. Generally speaking, actors have no power and no need to participate in internal test screenings.

Ronald heard Niceta say that during the filming in Philadelphia, Kim Cattrall worked very hard, working harder than ever before, striving to make a breakthrough in the first real heroine movie she only got at the age of thirty.

However, according to Ronald's understanding of the thoughts of all parties before filming, it was the director's first time filming a theatrical feature film, and he was not very optimistic about the quality of the film. So he asked Cattrall to come and bounce ideas off her.

The internal test screenings were all attended by Fox receptionists, secretaries, and studio workers.

They often attend such internal viewing parties and are accustomed to copies of movies without opening and closing subtitles. Experienced secretaries will also place bets on the box office performance of movies based on some internal gossip.

Twentieth Century Fox didn't have time to assemble the title sequence with the lights waving in front of the theater, and the movie started without a title. This is the interior of a Pharaoh's pyramid. Cattrall plays Amy, the Pharaoh's daughter. She is wrapped in white cloth and pretends to be a mummy to avoid her mother's desire to marry her.

Cattrall, who was covered in strips of cloth with only two eyes exposed, vividly acted out his naughty attitude of trying to hide from his mother.

Ronald turned his head and glanced at Cattrall. After all, he underestimated her acting skills and efforts.

Being able to achieve this level is completely beyond the reach of a blond vase.

The audience can still see Amy's character from her eyes without seeing her full face. Cattrall's appearance is very unusual.

"What do you think of my performance? This is the best role I have prepared for since my debut. I have also become in good shape after working out. You will know after watching it." Cattrall smiled and said very brilliant.

"The wedding is ready. You have rejected the Pharaoh's jewelers, you have rejected the grain merchants, you have rejected the Pharaoh's food testers. Now there is only one choice. You must marry Hazara."

"So, what does Hazara do?" Cattrall took off his veil, his expression critical and curious.

"He was a fuel dealer."

"mom!"

"Well, he sells camel dung."

"Don't even think about it!"

"Don't be crazy, you must marry him."

Then the queen said something and explained to her daughter that women have no power in today's era. If women can do what they want to do, wouldn't the mother encourage her daughter to do it?

Amy is still full of dreams, and she prays to the gods, hoping to go to an era where women also have the right to chase their dreams. Then the blue light flashed inside the pyramid, the cave walls shook, and a final burst of ashes erupted, and Amy disappeared on the spot.

Ronald turned to look at director Michael Gottlieb on the other side. This sequence was shot skillfully and smoothly, and the special effects were visible. The cost was not high, but the effect was very good.

Although the performances of the two actors may not conform to the habits of ancient Egypt, for American teenagers, these lines and performances are exactly in line with their ideas.

Gottlieb felt the kindness and appreciation in Ronald's eyes, and nodded and smiled at him.

"It seems good." Ronald looked back. Gottlieb was able to balance so many interests and produce a movie with a very good beginning under a limited budget.

The opening theme song hadn't been finished yet, and the camera switched to modern times after the black screen. It went to the male protagonist Jonathan, played by motorcyclist Andrew McCarthy.

Jonathan is an unlucky guy who lost his job when he first came to work. When he came to pick up his girlfriend on a motorcycle, he was also teased by his colleagues. After a heavy rainstorm, his girlfriend also broke up with him.

"Forehead……"

Ronald covered his face.

Don't praise too soon.

I don't know what happened to Andrew McCarthy, but he didn't have the same level of acting as before. He was completely blank and could only express the emotions of the character with his eyes, grins, and fake smiles.

He recalled going to the Philadelphia set and director Gottlieb's practice of trying to exaggerate everyone's acting. But an exaggeration is an exaggeration. How come Andrew McCarthy acted so poorly?

"What the hell is going on? Why did Andrew act so badly?" Ronald couldn't help it. He approached Cattrall's ear, covered his mouth with his hand, and asked softly.

"Andrew? He was drunk every day on the set. When I was filming opposite scenes with him, I could smell the bad smell in his mouth."

"Tsk..." Ronald sighed, and throughout the entire movie, whenever McCarthy was present, he always seemed out of place with the other characters.

This also brought down Cattrall's acting skills. Several times, when Ronald saw her and McCarthy hugging, getting close, kissing, etc., Cattrall's face could not help but show disgust. It seems that this boy gang member is indeed very smelly.

But compared with Andrew McCarthy's performance of Jonathan, which was too exaggerated and looked very fake, the exaggerated performances of the supporting characters did not make Ronald feel uncomfortable.

It seems that the different roles also give different people's performances different tolerance ranges.

The male protagonist, Jonathan, is a silly boy who is naive enough to believe that a wooden model can turn into a living person because of his gaze at night when no one is around. Therefore, the audience must believe in such a person before they can participate in the whole story.

Then it requires Jonathan’s behavior to be authentic and trustworthy. The audience's tolerance for him is relatively low.

Several supporting characters, the security guard in the mall, the cheating manager, and the hero and heroine's ally, a black "Hollywood" with an obviously strange orientation and very feminine clothes, are all exaggerated supporting characters in fairy tales.

The audience has a high level of tolerance for them. They can be as bad as possible, as strange as possible, and as exaggerated as possible without feeling abnormal.

Ronald kept thinking about this while watching the movie. The same seems to be true in traditional fairy tales. The supporting characters can be very extreme, but the protagonist must be believable. For example, the two sisters and stepmother in Cinderella are evil and abnormal, and the seven dwarfs in Snow White are also very weird and exaggerated.

After watching the test screening, Ronald asked Cattrall to wait for him outside and went into the conference room with director Michael Gottlieb and executive producer Joseph Farrow. Discuss further modifications to the film.

"I said, Michael, what's going on with your filming? Why are the characters so exaggerated? It doesn't look like a live-action movie, but like those movable figures made by Disney."

Executive producer Joseph Farrow took time out to watch internal test screenings. His own project, with plenty of benefits to share. If the finished film is still of this exaggerated quality, I'm afraid the distribution department will be very dissatisfied. They will be afraid that it will not be released and no theater will be willing to show it, even during the traditional off-season.

At that time, if someone raises objections and reduces the distribution budget, I am afraid that I will lose a large piece of cake.

"What do you mean by that? I have expressed my opinion a long time ago. This kind of story is originally a story that is difficult to believe. The wooden model turns into a real person. It can only be told in this fairy tale way. The story must make people immersed, otherwise you will lose a lot of viewers." Director Gottlieb began to argue for himself.

"I know, but your filming is a bit too exaggerated. I can already imagine how those film critics will comment on the actor's acting skills - not at all."

"No, Cattrall's performance is very good, and the supporting characters also have their own characteristics."

The two talked fiercely for a long time, and finally Farrow thought of Ronald, who was silent.

"What do you think, Ronald? Who do you agree with?"

"Actually, I kind of agree with Joseph a little bit, and I agree a little bit with Michael." Ronald said, "In fact, I also think that the exaggerated acting skills of the supporting characters in this movie are not a bad thing. Disney's little activities Man', and the character of the supporting character is very exaggerated."

Ronald used the fingers of both hands to flex and stretch, and put a quotation mark on the term "mobile little person", "Cattrall's performance is very good, her figure is also maintained very well, and she changes with the wooden model. The scenes are convincing. But Andrew, he disappointed me a little bit. The ability of the whole movie to put the audience into the dream, because of his expressions and movements, will go down a notch."

"Ha...Andrew."

The other two people stopped talking.

"How did he do it? I believe that if he could show a normal performance level like the previous movie 'Pretty in Pink', the audience might not even notice the disharmony in the movie." Ronald asked.

"He was crushed."

In the end, Joseph Farrow spoke. After all, Andrew McCarthy was the person he found.

It turns out that McCarthy, as a member of the Hollywood "brat pack", has been increasingly criticized by public opinion.

The leader of the Brats, Emilio Estevez, got together last year with another of Ronald's enemies, Italian independent producer Dino De Laurentiis.

He took a fancy to Emilio's potential and signed a three-film contract with him. The first "Chariot of Fire" was released by Laurentiis' own company in July this year.

The quality of the movie is average, and the audience generally hates Emilio's gang of boys. This kind of teenage star who does not do his job has to bid farewell to theaters after two weeks of release. The box office did not even reach the production cost.

Another film, "Wisdom", which he wrote, directed and starred in, is also failing at the box office and is looking for a distributor in Hollywood.

Rob Lowe, another main member of the Brats gang, co-produced "Last Night" with Emilio's girlfriend Demi Moore, which did well at the box office. This movie directed by newcomer director Edward Zwick has just been released and unexpectedly earned 35 million at the box office.

But Rob Lowe's stardom was also in jeopardy. He was rumored to have had affairs with many actresses, and there were a lot of fans who claimed to have had a one-night stand with him.

The title of "Boy Gang" has been attached to these young actors since they came out. Regardless of whether what they do is different from other actors or not, the audience's perception of them is very unfavorable.

The Brats' bad reputation put a lot of pressure on Andrew McCarthy. Many good-looking roles would not be handed scripts to him, but many bad boy roles were beckoning to him.

Coupled with the previous film "Pretty in Pink", the box office did not meet expectations. Andrew McCarthy was almost clinically depressed. He stayed away from Hollywood and returned to New York, where his parents lived. This resulted in fewer scripts being sent to him, which led to him becoming addicted to alcohol and getting drunk every day.

"Hey, the mentality of a loser." Ronald sighed in his heart. The best way to fight back against this kind of pressure from public opinion is to use a successful character to fight back, instead of being afraid at home every day.

Tom Cruise was also swept under the rug by reports of "The Brats" at first, but once "Top Gun" came out, no one regarded him as a member of the "The Brats" anymore.

"How is he doing now?" Ronald couldn't help but feel that the actor's industry really depends on luck and there is a lot of pressure. In addition, many actors have emotional and sensitive personalities and are prone to psychological problems.

"A rehabilitation center has been arranged for him. So, what do you propose?" Executive producer Joseph Farrow shook his wrist, revealing a gold watch under the sleeves of his close-fitting handmade shirt.

Ronald recognized it as a Rolex but didn't understand the model number. He also flicked his wrist, revealing his Casio electronic watch, "It's still early, how about we go to the editing room to discuss it in detail?"

"My idea is, if there is a chance for these close-up reaction shots, I would ask Andrew McCarthy to reshoot them. See if the effect can be better. If there is no chance, delete them. And then reduce some of the scenes where he and Cattrall are in the same frame, especially A total of half a minute of awkward shots may be lost, but the number of times when the audience is acting strangely can be reduced by five or six times.”

Ronald was on the editing machine, fast forwarding and rewinding, found a few shots that he thought were not good, and gave suggestions to the director.

Reshooting something like this must be a helpless last choice. Because it is unlikely that the actor will return to the state he was in during filming. So Ronald just selected a few close-ups of single people to make suggestions.

"Hmph..." Director Michael Gottlieb turned the knob on the editing table back and forth many times, and he reluctantly admitted that Ronald's plan was right.

"What do you think, Joseph?"

"Is that all? I have no objection. You are a professional, Ronald."

"Hey, hey..." Ronald covered it up, Joseph Farrow said this, as if to imply that director Michael Gottlieb was an amateur.

"By the way, where are the opening and ending theme songs? Let's take a look too." Ronald thought of his dream, as if he had dreamed of a song, and it sounded good.

"Here", director Michael Gottlieb found the recording of the opening and ending theme songs, hung up the tape recorder and played it for Ronald and the others.

"Shxt!, you should have put this song on the preview copy." Ronald confirmed that this was the song he had dreamed about in fragments. The overall melody of the song is very catchy, the voices of the two singers are also very magnetic, and the rhythm is bright and upbeat. Maybe it will be a good song on the charts.

"You know what? I think we should find a singer to shoot a music video and then play it repeatedly on the station. Just shoot some scenes of the singer and edit them together with the movie clips."

Ronald is in a good mood, and there is a popular song at the end, which will increase the number of viewers who come to the movie to listen to the song.

He shared some of his experiences with the two people present.

"I think this is a good idea." Director Michael Gottlieb nodded frequently.

"Ha, let's do it. I'll let the distribution and marketing department increase the budget." Joseph Farrow was very happy, and he had more excuses to increase the budget.

"Who would have thought that a 47-year-old rock female lead singer, Grace Slick, could still sing this kind of song." Joseph Farrow lamented.

"Will a lot of resources be invested in marketing before the movie is released? For example, will the protagonist have any TV interviews? Or exclusive interviews with newspapers and media?"

Seeing that Ronald was in a good mood, he began to give him indirect hints.

"Of course, of course. I will arrange it." Joseph Farrow understood what Ronald meant. "For the TV interview, Fox will try to find the best opportunity to appear. Andrew McCarthy also has to go to the rehabilitation center, so we will put all the resources are devoted to Miss Cattrall. After all, she is the reason why many viewers go to the cinema.

The newspaper interviews would be with Miss Cattrall, who would be shared with Michael. After it is released in February next year, it will depend on the situation whether additional resources will be added. "

"Kim would be happy." Ronald shook hands with Joseph Farrow.

"She deserves it and we all see her talent and hard work."

"Let's go, Kim. Mr. Farrow has agreed to give you a lot of TV talk time. Just before it comes out next year."

Ronald came out and waved Cattrall, who was waiting anxiously, to come over and told her the good news.

"Really? I..." Cattrall happily kissed Ronald on the spot, and then hugged Ronald tightly.

"You have to get used to it. This movie is well shot and you will have many interview opportunities. If necessary, I can find a public relations company to give you some media training."

"You're so kind, Ronald." Cattrall hugged him a little tighter, letting Ronald fully feel his "gratitude."

"What a stunner." Ronald also became more energetic. He picked up Cattrall's coat from the chair, put it on her, and then helped her pull her blond hair out of the collar.

He put his arm around Cattrall's waist. There is a heat in the long silk skirt. This woman is so naturally passionate.

"Let's go." Ronald held Cattrall in his arms and walked toward the door. The texture on his hands made him uneasy.

"Is my waist very strong? In order to shoot this movie, I kept up my daily fitness habit after filming. So what you see now is my best condition." Cattrall said in Ronald's ear He whispered softly.

"Who can bear this?" Ronald buzzed as a stream of blood rose from his ears to the top of his head.

"During the filming, the costume designer even praised me that my figure is better than those six sculptures."

"Huh?" Ronald heard this and suddenly turned to look at Cattrall. Cattrall, who was caught off guard, twisted his waist and leaned against Ronald. His eyes were as spiritual as at the beginning of the movie, as if asking, "Do you feel it?"

"No, wait a minute, where are your sculptures?"

"It's in the warehouse of 20th Century Fox, I don't know. The six sculptures are in different postures. There are sitting postures, standing postures, and half-sitting ones looking back. They are all specially made for a certain lens. "

"You'd better take them all back," Ronald warned in Cattrall's ear.

"Why?" Cattrall was puzzled. "The house where I live is small and I can't fit it in."

"You don't want to know that after the movie is released, you will become famous, and some men will move home those sculptures that look very like you, and then..."

"Oh..." Cattrall figured it out and quickly took Ronald to the warehouse to get his sculpture back.

"One, two, three, four...why are there only four?"

Sure enough, when they arrived at the 20th Century Fox production warehouse, only four of the six statues made for Cattrall by Ronald's friend Dai Young were still on the floor.

"I don't know, I'm just a custodian, working the day shift every day." The warehouse custodian is a white man with an unshaven beard and a smell of beer in his mouth.

"Okay, we have to take away the rest. If you have any news about the two missing ones, you have to inform us."

"This is the property of 20th Century Fox." The custodian was reluctant. Such real-life statues are rarely seen in movie props.

"If you have questions, call Joseph Farrow." Ronald asked Cattrall to sign for confirmation, then borrowed a trolley and transported the sculpture to the parking lot.

Little Bud was in the Mercedes-Benz and quickly came out to take over, "Oh, is this the statue of Miss Cattrall? It's very beautiful."

"Thanks, Bud. I'm going to take it home. Please deliver it to my apartment. This is the address. The concierge will take care of it."

"No problem, I will hand over to the concierge." Little Bud put the three statues in the back seat and passenger seat of the car, and then fastened their seat belts.

"Put this on the back seat of my Ferrari." Ronald held the last statue, the half-sitting one with his body forward and his eyes looking back. He placed it on the back seat of the Ferrari and adjusted it. Take a posture.

Cattrall got in the car and Ronald took her to the Beverly Hilton Hotel.

The doorman from the Hilton Hotel came over and opened the door, "Good afternoon, Mr. Li."

"Hello," Ronald got out of the car first, took Cattrall's hand, and waited at the door.

"Miss, won't you come down?" The doorman said to the statue in the back seat, "Oh, shxt, this is a dummy."

"Hahaha" Ronald and Cattrall both laughed.

"Thank you. In one hour, bring us a bottle of champagne and a plate of strawberries." Ronald took out a tip of twenty dollars and handed it to the doorman, and then helped put the statue on the sofa.

"Okay, sir, thank you, sir." The doorman closed the door happily and left.

After closing the door and turning around, Ronald found that Cattrall had taken off his coat, was wearing a red dress, and was also sitting on the sofa.

Cattrall also leaned forward and looked back at Ronald, "Which one do you think is sexier, me or the statue?"

Ronald felt a little dazed for a moment, as if there were really two Cattralls in front of him.

This scene is a little too similar to the scene in the movie where Cattrall transforms from a statue into a real person.

"Jin..." Ronald pulled Cattrall up, "You don't have to be like this. In my eyes, you will always be a diligent, brave, and very talented actress."

"I like hearing you say that, go on." Cattrall hugged Ronald, otherwise a warm current flowed into his heart if he was hugged by Ronald's palm.

"You have a good figure and are very beautiful, but in the opening mummy scene, the audience was conquered by your temperament without even seeing your face. This is rare for an actress."

"Oh..., Ronald." Cattrall became more and more happy as he listened. He grabbed Ronald's hair and then jerked his head back, feeling dizzy.

"Can I see you again?" Cattrall felt very strong after working out. She was lying on the bed, drinking champagne and strawberries. The two aromas mixed together, smelled particularly good and made people feel happy.

"Of course, you know, I appreciate your performance in the movie. You can call my agent at any time in the future. I am usually very busy. If you have anything, just talk to Niceta or Richard."

Ronald knew what Cattrall meant. The contract between the two was about to expire soon, and they would still be busy with their own projects. Cattrall liked Ronald's performance and wanted to capture this young blockbuster director.

"Don't worry, I won't harass you. I'm just afraid that I won't forget you in the future." Cattrall picked a good-looking strawberry and put it into Ronald's mouth.

"Hmm..." Ronald's mouth, which was chewing strawberries, was sealed by Cattrall again, and a scent accompanied by the champagne came over.

…

On the second day, the internal test screening score of "Brilliant" was given to Ronald.

Out of a total score of ten, more than a hundred 20th Century Fox employees gave it an 8.3 score.

"What kind of level does this score count in internal screenings?" Ronald didn't understand the scoring standards for internal screenings, so he approached his agent Niceta for advice.

"The specific standards are not clear, but they are roughly equivalent to EMA's b to b+. To give you a reference, Emilio Estevez's new film 'Wisdom' was screened internally at Fox and only received a score of 6.2 .”

"It's nothing compared to that hunchback." Ronald gradually felt relieved after hearing this comparison. It seems that the box office performance of "Extremely High" will not be too bad, and my famous vision of selecting movies will not be challenged for the time being.

"Michael Douglas called. He just finished filming Fatal Attra and wants to talk to you."

"Let's wait until the editing of my new film is completed. Please explain it to him for me, and I'll find him after I'm done." Ronald roughly guessed Douglas's intention, and set the time to meet after the editing of "Dirty Dancing" was completed. after.

"Spielberg called from Xujiahui Film Studio and said that your friends, Assistant Director Huang and Xiao Yan, helped him a lot and expressed his gratitude."

"Remind me to call him back. Or you can send me a telegram first. It's difficult to get through international long distance calls there."

After dealing with some things accumulated during the filming and vacation, Ronald was about to leave Niceta's office.

"Rick", the door was pushed open and Paula Wagner walked in.

"Oh, Ronald, you are here too." Paula hugged him and then handed her husband Niceta a piece of paper. Niceta looked at it and it seemed that the two of them had something to discuss.

"I was about to leave." Seeing that she seemed to have something to talk to her husband, Ronald said goodbye.

"By the way, Ronald. Do you still have stock investments?" Niceta suddenly stopped Ronald, "I originally planned to talk to you about this new legislation."

“The tax reduction bill pushed by the Prime Minister will be passed by both houses of the House. The new provisions treat income from long-term stock investment as the same as other income, and the highest tax rate is also applied.

The tax exemption limit of 60% of long-term asset income has also been cancelled. Please contact your accountant immediately. If you don’t sell it this year, the new tax law will apply next year. Rick and I, as well as all our stars, need to be notified. ” Paula went on to explain.

"Ah?" Ronald didn't expect that the new tax law would have such a trick, "Didn't you say that the commander-in-chief supports tax reduction? Why did you increase taxes?"

"It's a tax reform bill, not a tax cut bill scrawled in the newspaper." What Paula Wagner held in her hand was taken from an accounting firm. It contained a concise explanation of the provisions of the new tax law that have a major impact on star actors.

The top federal personal income tax rate has been lowered from 28% to 20%. This is good news.

But in the past, if you bought a house or stock, and made money by holding the asset for more than a year and then selling it, when you sold it, you only needed to calculate and pay a discount on the profit as the tax payable. Under various discounts, only about 30% of long-term capital income is subject to tax.

In this way, the actual tax rate for investing in stocks and real estate is only 10%. The "Tax Reform Bill" promoted by the media as a tax reduction bill actually more than doubled the tax rate for these high-income groups.

Moreover, the new bill also cancels many of the original tax relief provisions. For example, if you re-purchase assets, there will be no tax deferral benefits in the future. If you sell and make money, you will have to pay taxes. .

Therefore, celebrities must allocate their assets again to avoid high losses after the new tax law.

"Fortunately, I sold all the stocks." Ronald crossed himself secretly. "Otherwise, I would have to pay millions in back taxes? This still does not include the losses caused by the inevitable fall in stock prices due to the increase in taxes."

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