Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"I like the two movies you produced by Daydream, 'Dirty Dancing' and 'Love Is Not for Sale'. They made me very excited. Especially my mother, 'Dirty Dancing' was just right. It was something that happened when she was young, and she also participated in the Peace Corps project and went overseas to promote the idea of ​​​​JFK leadership."

The person who said this to Ronald was Thomas Stephenson Jr., a theater manager from New Jersey and New York whom Ronald had known at the Western Film Showcase in Las Vegas.

His father owned five theaters in New Jersey and continued to invest in building new multiplex theaters in department stores on the outskirts of the city. The business gradually expanded to New York State and formed alliances with chain theater operators in the northeastern states of Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and Washington, DC.

Ronald's Daydream Pictures has initially reached a release agreement with them. This time, "Love Is Not For Sale", which has just been edited and received an MPAA R-rated rating, will join forces with "Dirty Dancing". I did a test screening with them, hoping to get a better release time and screen.

Thomas Stephenson Jr. liked Ronald's movies very much. After the test screening, he came over to chat with Ronald and Douglas Hanson Jr., an important shareholder of Daydream.

"So, how many copies are you going to order?" Ronald asked the driven heir to the cinema. Thomas Sr. gradually put him in charge of all aspects of cinema operation, preparing him to take over when he had enough experience.

"My personal love is one thing, but business is another." Thomas Stephenson Jr.'s current position is as the buyer of his father's theater chain and several partner theaters in New Jersey. Both the schedule and the number of copies have important suggestions.

"Oh, why do you say that? Your taste is very good, and your taste is very similar to the taste of ordinary American audiences. I think from a business perspective, you should also order more copies of the movies produced by our company. "

Douglas Jr. and he were of the same age, both were rich second generations, and planned to inherit their ancestors' business in the future. They also liked movies, so they had something in common.

"I personally like these two movies very much. Especially "Dirty Dancing" directed by Ronald. The narrative of this movie is very smooth and the emotions are well mobilized. I was so moved at the end that I almost cried.

But business is business. Our cinema operators in the Northeast still mainly purchase movies from the seven major studios. I hope you can understand. "

"Yeah, I understand, it's a marketing issue." Ronald nodded.

This question came up when he and distribution manager Cannold were meeting with movie theater buyers on the West Coast.

I often hear similar statements.

The seven major studios will invest heavily in marketing the film. They release a fixed number of movies every year, purchase TV advertising time, newspaper space, buy film critics, and even have fixed suppliers for on-site poster production.

The purchase volume is large and stable, and you can get big discounts.

Daydreaming is like setting up a distribution company specifically for the filming of "Dirty Dancing." "Love is not for sale" was acquired incidentally. All marketing costs are 30% to double higher than the purchase price of Big Seven.

If we assume that the two movies are of the same quality and have the same budget, movie theaters will of course be willing to buy movies from the seven big and wealthy movies, and the marketing they invest will be able to attract a lot of viewers.

On the other hand, Ronald's movies don't star well-known stars. The only impression the audience has is Ronald. As for the seven major movies released at the same time, they either have celebrities starring in them or are old series movies like 007. As long as the audience sees a name, they will want to watch it.

This is why Ronald set aside twice the production cost to spend on marketing. At least let the movie theaters feel that it’s not a loss if they buy their movies for screening.

But this is all known in advance. Ronald was neither disappointed nor optimistic.

A few weeks after returning from Cannes, he worked with Michel Cannold's team, starting from Los Angeles, San Francisco and other places in California on the West Coast, to Seattle, Washington, and then to Las Vegas, Nevada. ,, and then enter the deep southern states.

There are no very large cities in the southern states, like Houston, Dallas and San Antonio in Texas. The time spent has to be evenly distributed among all the cities, which is very hard.

After completing a circle there, it then turned north, going to industrial cities such as Chicago and Detroit in the Great Lakes region of the Midwest, and finally passed through Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and finally came to the seat of the earliest thirteen states in America.

Along the way, Ronald has basically understood the mentality of movie theater buyers and operators.

When running a movie theater, which movie is the best-seller is not very important to them. The most important thing is to ensure that the movie you buy will not be taken offline within a week of its release due to insufficient audiences.

Among the movies released every year, only about 20% or less can achieve an attendance rate of more than 50% and can make cinemas make a lot of money.

For other movies, the most important purpose is to keep operating without losing money. If you accidentally buy an independently produced movie, but the attendance rate is low due to insufficient marketing and insufficient audiences, the losses will cause the cinema operator to lose all his money.

After all, the movie theater business is a competition of who can fill the seats more fully.

Along the way, Ronald had grown accustomed to their lack of confidence in their marketing efforts. So he was about to explain his marketing plan to Thomas Stephenson Jr.

In addition to having invited film critics from major media to attend the film critics' special event, Ronald also cooperated with the three major studios Universal, Paramount, and Disney. During their free time in marketing their own films, Ronald Borrow their media resources.

The most important thing, of course, is that he is waiting for advertisements on TV stations with real money, and with the connections he has accumulated over the years, he and several leading actors have attended multiple talk show TV programs and accepted interviews on talk shows to expand their influence on the general audience. .

"I believe in the strength of Daydream," Thomas Stephenson Jr. smiled a little baby-faced. "You all mentioned these in the media package. Of course I believe in your determination."

Some producers will stop investing in marketing due to poor box office, poor reviews from film critics, or low ratings from live audiences. Therefore, the operators of these cinemas usually do not believe in the promises made by the producers. Ronald explained and guaranteed again and again.

"Actually, I'm worried about two other things." Thomas Stephenson Jr. said to Ronald.

"Please tell us that we should be honest with each other. There is nothing we can't say to make money, and we can talk about it." Douglas Hansen Jr. immediately showed his sincerity, took Thomas Jr.'s hand, and asked him to sit down and talk in detail. It is rare for a cinema operator to be able to express specific concerns to producers.

After all, film is a very risky industry, and you need to calibrate your understanding of reality at any time. Many directors and star-turned-producers are often unable to tell whether other people's words are flattery or the truth. They don't realize that they are surrounded by lies until their films fail at the box office in the end.

"The first thing is the MPAA rating of 'Love is not for sale'. Our cinema operators don't really like R-rated movies..."

Thomas Stephenson Jr. explains how movie theaters are thought of today. When the film rating system first appeared, movie theaters felt that violence and erotica might attract more adult audiences to the theater.

However, several X-rated movies failed at the box office, and the average box office of R-rated movies is not higher than that of PG movies.

Audiences from ordinary families who watch "The Sound of Music" will not just go to the cinema to watch it even if they hear about a good X-rated movie. They also have to worry about the impact on their families and children.

Teenagers are the main group of people who go to movie theaters now. Although I like those exciting plots, R-rated movies require adult companionship after all, and many female viewers don't like too many violent scenes.

In the past few years, thanks to the vigorous public relations efforts of major directors such as Spielberg, MPAA passed the new rating of PG-13. The new rating has many less violent and... scenes, but still provides enough sensory stimulation. Best of all, you don't need to see your driver's license to watch PG-13.

Therefore, PG-13 quickly replaced PG and R-rated movies, becoming the favorite of the teenage audiences of Movie Watch Assistant, and the average box office is also the highest.

More importantly, watching these scenes that make people nervous or blood-thrilling can make people nervous and eat more French fries and popcorn. There is an unusually large amount of salt or sugar in it, which will make people thirsty and increase the sales of Coke.

In addition to box office, PG-13 is also stimulating sales of other soft drinks and snacks in movie theaters.

"'Love Is Not For Sale', our director Steve Rush is already making urgent changes and will submit it to the MPAA for re-rating soon. We discovered this problem when we were on the West Coast, so we have dealt with it urgently and it will be released next week There are results.”

On the first stop of Ronald's national sales tour, Los Angeles, he knew he and Daydream's bunch of newbies had made a mistake. An emergency meeting was held, and the conclusion was that "love is not for sale" needs to be significantly revised.

Many plots that director Rush put in the finished film, such as an intimate scene between the heroine Cindy and her ex-boyfriend football player, and many very explicit conversations among high school students discussing boyfriends and girlfriends, were deleted.

Director Steve Rush's creative freedom was interfered with and he lost his temper with Ronald. He said that he is no longer the director who made epoch-making youth films such as "Fast-paced Richmond High", but has become a profit-seeking businessman.

This made Ronald very sad and he was really speechless.

Rush's anger is reasonable. If "Love Is Not For Sale" does not depict the real life of high school students, it will completely degenerate from a "fast-paced" and realistic movie into a teen romantic comedy that only scratches the surface of reality. Crossed.

"Earn money first. As long as you can make money in this movie, you will have more creative freedom in the future." Ronald thought for a long time and had to repeat what Roger Corman said to him back then. listen:

"Listen, Director Rush. As long as you change this movie according to my opinions, you will never have to work for me again."

Steve Rush was indeed moved by Roger Corman's golden words, and cut the film to PG-13 standards exactly as Ronald intended. Ronald saw the revised version in Chicago last week, and it has been urgently submitted to the MPAA for revised ratings.

"Very good. If I can get a pg-13 rating, my theater will increase the number of copies it buys, and I will also convince other operators in the alliance. They are all very optimistic about my vision."

Thomas Stephenson Jr. is very happy that his opinions are valued by Ronald. Daydream is now in the initial stage, and it is good to be able to value the opinions of cinema operators.

"The second thing is that you have to get better movie reviews." Thomas Stephenson Jr. extended a second finger.

"The urban suburbs in the northeastern region are one of the most educated places in America. Children here take drama and art classes in high school. Most of their parents are college graduates, and their judgment of movies is quite high. Rely on the recommendations of film critics.

Especially places like New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware and DC have strong trust in the film reviews of several newspapers in New York. "

The box office of a movie in its first week is determined by the number of viewers it attracts. In the Northeast, the effect of film critics is much greater than in the Deep South and Midwest.

Sometimes, only well-educated residents of middle-class suburban communities in New York can understand the film reviews in the New York Times and the New York Post.

"We are working hard on this. I can at least guarantee that the media in New York will most likely say good things for us."

Bribing film critics is something that cannot be discussed in a general way. Ronald said it to this extent, even those in the cinema can understand it.

In addition to spending heavily at the Chicago Film Critics Association to sponsor their annual conference, Ronald is also sponsoring the New York Film Critics Association to sponsor a retrospective of their favorite women's films, as well as next year's New York Film Critics Association awards.

Of course, all this money was disseminated through the old money connections on Douglas Jr.'s side, through various foundations, trusts, and cultural promotion associations.

At the same time, Ronald also found his personal lawyer Lindsay Doerr to sponsor some government-subsidized large movie theaters with ancient history through his boss's connections in New York City Hall.

In short, in order to daydream that the first two films he released would be an instant hit, Ronald searched for many connections, spent a lot of money and resources, and made sure to do his best.

"Then I have no doubts. I will order a copy of your movie according to the highest standards." Thomas Stephenson Jr. finally relented, "In addition, my mother really likes 'Dirty Dancing'. Can you provide a copy for her and Her sister Tao is going to put on a special show?"

"Haha, no problem, Manager Cannold will arrange it." Ronald shook hands with him tightly.

"You should be careful about the Jewish groups in the New York film industry. I heard some news that someone is going to target your Dirty Dancing." Thomas Stephenson secretly whispered two words into Ronald's ear while shaking hands. sentence.

Then he raised his eyebrows at Ronald and Douglas Jr. and turned to find Cannold.

"What did he say?" Little Douglas saw something wrong with Ronald's face and came over to ask.

"He said that the Jews in the New York film industry wanted to do something against our movies." Ronald covered his mouth with his right hand and told Douglas Jr.

"Huh, there are a lot of Hollywoods here. What kind of trouble can the Jews make?"

"Ignore them, we just have to do our own thing."

The film-selling tour continues, and Ronald's last stop is New York City. This is both sweet hometown and a place that is picked on by film critics. It also has the highest concentration of large movie theaters in the country.

New York has always been one of the meccas of theater, and various large movie theaters have been built since early on. The population density here is also the highest in America.

Therefore, New York has inherited many large movie theaters throughout history. There are many large screening halls that can accommodate thousands of people, or even three to five thousand people.

After entering the 1970s, the impact of television made these movie theaters in decline. The impact of attendance on halls is much greater than that of mid-sized and small cinemas.

These cinemas, which were either demolished due to urban expansion or could only show midnight movies, were given the name grindhouse cinemas.

There are also some of the most luxurious theaters that occupy the best locations and were once crowded with stars, but they are subsidized by the New York City Hall. A large number of retired business executives and second-generation old moneymen occupy various committee positions after retirement, providing subsidies to these places that bring them memories.

At the same time, they can also get more scarce tickets for ballets, operas, or movie premieres starring stars. These are the status indicators that distinguish these people from ordinary people. Not those Broadway musical tickets for tourists.

Therefore, the movie theater viewing party held in New York was different from the previous ones. The people who came were all in suits and ties, dressed as if they were going to the opera.

"We invited several experts to help us evaluate the two Daydream movies." Several cinema operators came over to introduce Ronald.

After receiving subsidies, in fact, these large cinemas are not private enterprises to a certain extent. All those who have the power to issue subsidies must come and demonstrate their power.

Therefore, what is rare here is not only movie buyers, but also many people who do not understand movie management, so they have to hire some experts to help them make judgments.

"This is Aaron Russo, the producer of the now highly rated TV series 'Wise Guy'." Ronald shook hands with him. He recognized this man who thought he was tall but was greasy. Fatty was the expert invited by Weston Pictures when the project of 'Dirty Dancing' was being developed.

"This is the Jew who wants to trouble me?" Ronald thought to himself.

"Who is this……"

"Mr. Tisch needs no introduction." Ronald shook hands with another so-called expert. This was the sponsor of New York University Tisch College and the youngest son of the Tisch family. Their family is old money, and they have a share of the New York Giants in the NFL.

When I wanted to film "Dirty Dancing", this was Steve Tisch, who was uncomfortable with the plot of the script depicting a Jewish girl falling in love with an Irish boy.

The two sides did not continue talking, and Ronald felt the malice in the other person's eyes.

“We’re showing ‘Dirty Dancing’ right now,” Daydream distribution manager Michelle Cannold announced as the screening began.

After 100 minutes, the movie ends with a carnival dance to the accompaniment of the theme song. The credits began to scroll up and the lights in the hall came on.

Cannold invited several experts to the front desk to offer their opinions.

"What else do you want to say? I have never seen such a ridiculous movie. Burn the copy and file a claim with the insurance company."

Aaron Russo, the show's producer, came to the front desk and started spouting rants about criticizing "Dirty Dancing."

"Huh?" Ronald stopped Douglas Hansen Jr. who was about to go up to argue with him.

He jumped onto the stage in front of the screen.

"What, am I wrong? What are you filming? A Jewish doctor's daughter running away with a dancing poor Irishman? Films must be based on reality."

Aaron Russo looked at Steve Tisch sitting below and was encouraged by the latter to continue his provocation.

"Who the hell are you? You're just here to comment on my movie." Ronald was not polite to him and pushed Fat Russo to stagger.

"You loser, you lost the fight with me for the production rights of this movie, and you just uttered arrogant words here. I think you should get out."

Not satisfied, Ronald pushed Russo several more times and knocked him off the stage.

"Where did the rubbish come from? Let's continue talking about business." Ronald saw Douglas Jr. taking over, locking Russo with wrestling techniques and pulling him out.

He turned back, looked directly at Steve Tisch below, and asked, "Does anyone else have some reliable artistic criticism of the movie?"

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