Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Ronald was very busy now. After finishing shopping, he went directly to the editing room, where Walter Murch was editing Ronald's second film "Moonlight".

"How's the sample this time?" Ronald handed a cup of coffee to Murch, like a promising student who always wants to hear the teacher's praise.

"Very good, very good. I saw very good dramas, here, and here." Walter Murch pointed out several scenes to Ronald, saying that he liked them very much and that they were very interesting to watch.

Ronald took a look and saw that they were all scenes at the dinner table. It seems that this kind of table scene really tests the skills of actors and directors. Murch, who has led the editing and sound design of many films, is well-informed and speaks directly, so this praise is very valuable.

"Are you still going to play Dean Martin's 'That's Love' at the beginning?" Murch put the first reel of film on the editing table. He had already synchronized the sound and video, and could start to slow down with Ronald. Did the editing.

"Yes, what suggestions do you have?" Of course, Ronald followed the soundtrack in his dream and found Jimmy Liner, the music broker he met during "Dirty Dancing", to ask the record company to buy this old song. right to use.

"It wasn't my idea, it was your director of photography, David Watkin, who said it to me in Toronto. You know, David is a classical music lover, and he thought the opening should be from the opera 'La Boheme.' The aria of your cold little hands.

This happened to be the music when the hero and heroine fell in love. When they went to the opera together, they couldn't help but fall in love with the performance, and they confirmed that they were the right ones for each other. "

"Okay, what do you think?" Ronald asked Walter Murch to play a aria from La Boheme, then closed his eyes to reflect on it, and then compared it with "That's Love."

"I think from an artistic point of view, Bohème is more relevant. The audience will hear the opera scene behind the music again. This is a repetitive process in the symphony. Movies are sometimes like symphonies. You Repetitions and variations on themes are required.”

"Yeah, but I'm worried about the audience reception. It won't be as good as the Dean Martin song that became a household name."

"You are the director, you make the decisions. Dean Martin's songs are also very good, but in terms of structural integrity, they are not as good as this song 'Your Cold Little Hands'."

"How about we make one for both versions, and then we'll see the reaction during the test screening."

The editing work is very boring. They read the materials over and over again. The two of them can cut about five or six scissors a day, and the rest of the time is spent discussing and trial and error.

"I think it's not that difficult to edit your movie. You seem to know the final effect of your film before shooting. This is not the case with some directors. They often don't know what story they want when they shoot.

When I was editing for Coppola, I basically only had one or two scissors a day. "

"What about your own 'Back to Oz'?" Ronald asked Murch.

"I did not direct the film myself as an editor. Generally speaking, I still prefer free expression. Clay animation takes up too much proportion, and I have no confidence in the results of the shooting."

What Murch is talking about is actually two main schools of directors.

At one extreme is Hitchcock. He was extremely disgusted by actors' improvisation on set, and once said that he would treat actors like cows and horses.

All scenes were planned before shooting. Once an actress felt that her performance was not good and asked for a new one. Hitchcock couldn't help but agree, but he didn't even open the lens cover of the camera and just let the actress walk through it again.

After the actress found out, she was very angry with Hitchcock. She was still dissatisfied with her performance and just wanted to improve herself.

Hitchcock said that for him, her performance was already completed in the previous scene.

Many directors, including Stanley Kubrick and John Ford, prefer this method.

At the other extreme is Francis Coppola. This guy can improvise tomorrow's script on set. During filming, he also encourages actors to use different methods to improvise.

So when Murch edited it for him, each piece was performed in a different way. You can match them up, and the final plot can even be completely opposite.

Ronald, like most directors, falls somewhere in the middle between two extremes. He mainly makes commercial films, so the performance of actors is not that important. This "Moonlight" can be regarded as a drama in which he attaches great importance to acting.

…

The clip continued, and suddenly one day, Joseph Farrow, the vice president of Twentieth Century Fox, suddenly called Ronald and asked him to come over and have a chat.

"Mannequin is scheduled to be released on the 12th of next month. Our distribution budget is not large. Now we have an opportunity to get some free popularity, but we need your help."

Joseph Farrow got right to the point, and the "swaggering" movie went well in audience test screenings, but was poorly received by critics and was panned.

Seeing this situation, 20th Century Fox gave up its intention to promote the film in the media, and instead relied on word-of-mouth from the audience.

"An absolute piece of shit, this movie is depressing for anyone who remembers what movie comedy is supposed to be."

Ronald picked up the movie review that Farrow had placed on the table and read it. These film critics have gone through the public relations of 20th Century Fox and came to see the film critics' special show.

It's just that the movie hasn't been released yet, and the content of the movie reviews has not been released to the media yet, but is only circulated within Fox.

"Does this author, Leonard Martin, have any grudge against you?" Ronald raised his head and glanced at Farrow.

"No, but the media in America have the right to report freely. We can only invite them to come and write movie reviews. As for what to write, we have no control over it."

Joseph Farrow took a puff of cigarette. He was also very dissatisfied with the marketing department's negligence. CEO Barry Diller is turning his attention to the TV station, and he and the new boss still have a lot of work to do.

Fox's film division is now leaderless. Everyone goes their own way and only cares about finding their own interests in it.

If the marketing department hadn't allocated some budget and wanted to find some film critics to write reviews, this "exuberant" film would most likely have been ignored by the critics. Instead of being like now, there were a bunch of very negative movie reviews.

"Nonsense, why didn't you give me some vacation vouchers, sponsor the annual meeting of the Film Critics Association or something?"

"That's Eisner's strength. We at 20th Century Fox respect the media." Joseph Farrow was still arrogant.

But seeing Ronald's disdainful smile, he stopped pretending.

"xck, if I were the president, I would have to fire up the garbage in the marketing department."

"This movie is made by fools, for fools, about fools." Ronald continued to read, which was the Washington Post's film review.

"For Michael Gottlieb, who co-wrote and directed the film, 'Swagger' is the best example of what it means to be perfunctory."

This is a New York Times film review.

"Damn it, you guys at Fox suck too. I know these people. When they were at Paramount and Universal, they were all well taken care of."

Ronald read a lot of scolding movie reviews, but none of them had anything good to say. Fortunately, he was listed as a producer and was not scolded.

Finally, there’s Roger Ebert’s from the Chicago Sun-Times.

“There are many bad movies, but they have great vitality.

But this "spirit" is dead-on. The audience kept a vigil for it for an hour and a half, and then finally ended the ceremony and left the funeral ceremony.

In fact, halfway through, I was ready to have someone lead us in turning the rosary beads and starting to mourn it.

The film stars Andrew McCarthy and Kim Cattrall.

They are actors that I have admired before and will, without a doubt, admire again.

Years from now, they may look back on the project with a mixed smile and a shrug, just as we remember Paul Newman's trashy film The Silver Cup. This bad movie does nothing to damage our love for them, it just appears in our memories as a joke.

In 'Beauty,' McCarthy plays an incompetent young man who is fired from one job after another, while Cattrall plays an Egyptian princess who is reincarnated as a dummy in a Philadelphia department store window..."

"Isn't there anything better?" Ronald read halfway through and threw Albert's film review on the table.

These film critics are so bad.

To unanimously criticize a commercial film for its poor artistic quality, poor acting skills, and loopholes in the story is to deliberately belittle the film by telling partial truths.

Commercial movies are not so particular about the completeness of the details of the story and the harmonious performance of the acting skills.

Needless to say, such unanimous criticism must be from a certain movie in the same period. They spent a lot of money to buy their praise, so much so that they would step on a big company's production for comparison.

"Here's a nice article."

Joseph Farrow tossed over a bound magazine sample.

"Philadelphia is a great city that was once the capital of our United States..."

"Isn't this a movie review?" Ronald read the previous paragraphs, all of which were talking about Philadelphia's current economic recovery, capital entering the suburbs, and active commercial activities.

"Look down." Joseph Farrow didn't say much.

Ronald continued to scroll down.

At the end of the article praising the city, the author finally remembered this movie and mentioned that the new Hollywood movie "Spiritual" was set in Philadelphia and was filmed in Philadelphia.

"This movie is a swaggering, if clumsy, one of the greatest ever told on film set in 1980s Philadelphia. Really, it's the most exhilarating movie ever made about this city."

"Hey..." Ronald smiled bitterly. This was a complimentary article published by a magazine in the city where the film was shot. The black mayor of Philadelphia attached great importance to the filming of the film in Philadelphia, but that was it, and he only said it at the end. A few nice words about the movie.

"Stop talking about this, what do you want to do?" Ronald put down all the movie reviews and asked about Joseph Farrow.

"Starship Band is the band that sang the movie ending theme, Nothing Can Stop Us Now, and they are quite satisfied with this song. The lead singer Grace Slick wanted to give herself a happy memory before leaving the band.

So their record company is willing to pay for Grace Slick to shoot a music video so that we can take advantage of the popularity of this song. "

Joseph Farrow talked about his plan. He had no resources to rely on. He just saw that Ronald's "Top Gun" and the theme song "Take My Breath Away" complemented each other and brought a lot of sales to each other. I want to imitate it.

"How much money are they planning to pay?" Ronald understood that this was because he was interested in his company's music video shooting capabilities. "Take My Breath Away" was shot in a Navy and Air Force aircraft graveyard. It didn't cost much and the effect was great.

"This number," Joseph Farrow held up three fingers.

"That's it. Then we can only use movie scenes to intersperse and edit. Are you Fox willing?"

"Okay, but don't use too many scenes of the hero and heroine."

"Okay, you can ask the lead singer of Starship Band to dress up as the character in the movie and shoot some additional scenes." Ronald came up with an idea to save money.

Let the lead singers act out the plot of the movie and intersperse it with real movie scenes. This not only saves money, but can also be used as a trailer and played on TV stations.

"Then I'll let them find you." Joseph Farrow was satisfied. He and Ronald cooperated tacitly on this movie and tacitly understood each other to make money. You can also send a few of your own people to join the crew as starring roles.

Isn't that why you work hard to become a company executive?

"By the way, Starship Band, are you planning to release a soundtrack album for the movie?"

Ronald asked Joseph Farrow.

Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer are already preparing to release the "Top Gun" soundtrack. In addition to a few interludes and theme songs, some soundtracks to enhance the atmosphere are also planned to be included.

Ronald didn't know how this kind of soundtrack was operated, so he happened to ask Joseph Farrow, who had become a vice president at the studio. He must be very clear about these things.

"What does it have to do with the band? The movie soundtrack is produced by the film company and has nothing to do with the record company. They just publish the copyright and wait for the money.

This movie doesn't seem to be well received, and I don't plan to release a record. "

Joseph Farrow was amused by Ronald's ignorance. I don’t want to release this kind of record, which is purely a money-losing thing. If it is reflected in the financial statements, wouldn't it be another clue?

Let’s be honest and stop losing money on this movie. Anyway, we have almost made what we should make, but the market does not recognize it. No one knows whether the movie will be a hit or not, and the executives of the film company cannot predict the future?

"Is it led by the film company? I thought it was produced by the record company?"

Ronald was a little puzzled. Movie soundtracks are also records, right? Why isn't it produced by a record company?

"Whoever takes the risk gets all the rest. That's the law of this business, Ronald."

Joseph Farrow pointed at the director and producer with the cigar in his hand. The young man was still a little inexperienced, and he could just teach him.

After listening to Joseph Farrow's explanation, Ronald discovered that the distribution rules for the film's soundtrack must indeed be dominated by the film company.

The interludes in the movie are mostly old songs. Some use singers to re-sing a new version, and some just use the old version of the recording.

For example, in Ronald's "Dirty Dancing", due to production cost constraints, the tracks of old records were mixed directly into it.

When a record company wants to release an album, it depends on how many consumers can pay for it. Depending on the capacity of the market, determine the size of the distribution, the number of productions, and the marketing budget.

As for the original soundtrack composed of movie interludes, this kind of collection of old songs and new songs, how much it can sell depends entirely on the box office of the movie.

Record companies can only predict the market based on singers or bands. No one in the record company can predict the sales of this kind of derivative record that is accompanied by a movie.

In line with the principle of who knows the market better and who is the boss, historically the soundtracks of movies have been published and distributed by film companies.

Of course, in the late 1970s, "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever" started the trend of record companies entering the movie market, which also led some record company bosses to invent ways to use movies to promote new records.

Robert Westwood, Jerry Weintraub and other record industry tycoons also completed the task of transitioning to Hollywood.

But the box office of a movie is even more unpredictable than the sales of records.

These tycoons quickly lost their mojo and lost a lot of money in the film industry. By the second half of the 1980s, record companies were staying away from movies.

They are only satisfied with licensing the songs and getting a small share of the movie soundtracks. At least this way, there's no risk.

Old songs can sell well again and they can earn a lot of royalties. If the acoustic record doesn't sell, they have nothing to lose.

Ronald learned about the production process of acoustic records and began to make plans in his mind. Speaking of the old songs from "Dirty Dancing," copyright broker Jimmy Lena didn't spend much money to get them.

If this movie does well at the box office, relying on the cheap copyrights of these dozen interludes, the album will be profitable, right? I wonder if movie fans who like movies will buy another record and listen to it at home?

With his thoughts on his mind, Ronald took leave of Joseph Farrow's office. After walking a few steps, I heard a magnetic female voice calling me.

"Ronald."

Ronald looked up and saw the officially "powerful" heroine, Kim Cattrall.

"Why are you here?"

"I heard about the film review, so I came to ask about it."

Cattrall didn't look too good. She heard that the critics collectively gave the film the lowest possible score. I only got a real heroine role when I was thirty, and I was about to be ruined by these film critics.

"Don't worry, for this kind of small production, film reviews actually don't play a big role." Ronald hugged the unhappy Cattrall and went downstairs with her.

"Is that so? I really don't know anything right now, Ronald. Can you tell me? I really don't know..."

Cattrall's brows furrowed together, and when he heard Ronald say this, he seemed to have found a life-saving straw.

She was indeed tired.

She has wanted to be an actress or a star since she was a child, but no one has ever really treated her well and planned her career seriously.

I was deceived many times, and it was only after I passed my thirties that I finally became a heroine with enough roles.

"Of course, the reviews and marketing of a movie only determine the box office. For such a small production, it is impossible to spend a lot of money to achieve good opening results. It still depends on the audience's reputation."

Ronald has a lot of experience in small-scale film productions. He knows very well that film marketing and film reviews can give you a good opening weekend box office, but the final outcome depends on the quality of the film itself.

"Really? I believe you now. Don't lie to me. I can bear anything. I just want to know the true situation." Cattrall has been hit hard. She is more interested in lies than failure. Hated.

"I'm not going to lie to you. You still remember the movie 'Monsters in Chinatown' in which Diane guest-starred. The movie reviews were pretty good. I remember that you appeared on many TV shows and gave interviews. How was the box office in the end?"

"real?"

"Of course, Joseph Farrow told me that the ratings from the audience test screenings were good, with a B+ level. The company's ratings are more objective, but they won't be very different. This kind of romantic comedy has this kind of audience reaction, and it won't be bad. Where did it go?"

Ronald's confidence in the box office is pretty good. It will probably be able to recoup the cost and make a small profit.

Kim Cattrall felt better after seeing Ronald's solemn assurance that the movie was not as bad as the critics said.

"Which hotel are you staying in? I'll go with you." Cattrall has nothing to thank him for now. He can only treat himself as a gift to the man who always helps him at critical moments.

"You don't have to do this, we are friends." Ronald knew that the contractual relationship between the two was over and there was no need to force others.

"Between friends, you can occasionally..." Cattrall couldn't let it go, so he got into Ronald's Ferrari and stopped leaving.

Ronald got into the driver's seat and drove back to the hotel.

"What would you like to drink?" Ronald opened the door, took out the champagne from the refrigerator, and poured a glass for Catterall and himself.

"Well, Ronald." Seeing that the other party wanted something romantic, Cattrall took the glass and took a sip, leaving a red lip mark on the glass.

She went over and turned on the TV station, tuned it to a channel dedicated to playing old songs, put down the wine glass, took Ronald's hand, hugged him and danced side by side.

"Do you love me?

I can really dance.

Do you love me?

I've entered that dance..."

This cable TV channel was playing black music, which happened to be the soundtrack for a dance at the beginning of "Dirty Dancing."

Ronald is held by Cattrall and feels her amazing charm.

Suddenly, some inspiration seemed to appear in his mind. Ronald tried his best to catch it, but he ran away again.

"Well..." Seeing that Ronald was a little absent-minded, Cattrall quickly took Ronald's hand and placed it on his hips and waist, and then crawled into his arms.

"Come dance and don't think about other women."

Ronald's blood surged from the friction. He ignored the inspiration and started dancing passionately with Cattrall.

"I'm working hard.

You always drive me crazy.

Don't be lazy,

Let’s dance wildly together…”

This song "Do You Love Me?" is very rhythmic. Ronald and Cattrall danced very energetically. They both danced with a good rhythm. As they danced, their bodies rubbed against each other, making their whole bodies feel more and more heated.

Following the rhythm of the swing dance, Kim Cattrall squatted down with twists and turns, then stood up and returned to a half-squatting position. She reached for Ronald's waist, and with a snap, the metal buckle was released.

"shxt!", Ronald felt so comfortable that his mind was spinning, "I thought of it. I thought of it."

Catterall looked at him with confusion, "What did you think of?"

"I thought about it. If 'Dirty Dancing' released an original soundtrack, the audience would buy it not to listen to the music, but to learn how to dance."

Ronald suddenly figured this out and felt great.

He bent down and picked up Cattrall with a strong force.

"Ah...hahaha...Ronald, you are too strong."

"Uh...ah...ah..."

Cattrall was in ecstasy, as if he had lost his senses. Accompanied by the strong rhythm of dance music, his consciousness was as if he had gone to the place of bliss.

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