Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"So what exactly is this script?" Ronald asked Joel Silver.

"It's an adaptation of "Nothing is Forever." The author Rodriguez Thorpe is a real New York detective. Rich in detail, he was so popular that he was adapted into a Hollywood movie in the 1970s. Starring Frank Sinatra. "

Joel Silver winked at the blonde beauty in his arms, and the beauty obediently stood up and went out first, leaving the study room to him and Ronald.

Silver then searched on the bookshelf and found a paperback copy of the original first edition of "Nothing Is Forever" and handed it to Ronald.

"When we were filming "Streets of Rage", you left a deep impression on me. I wish I had found you to be the director at that time. "Joel Silver brought up old stories again. At that time, he and director Walter Hill, in order to steal money from the budget, took all the shots that could have been shot on location in a studio.

In a studio in Los Angeles, a Chicago subway station and a night view of the city were recreated. We also hired the best lighting engineer, the best costume designer, and the best composer, but we forgot to hire the best director.

Walter Hill's creative taste could not catch up with the new era of audiences, and it failed miserably at the box office and was ruthlessly abandoned. Joel Silver was deeply impressed by some of Ronald's ideas back then. In the years after the film failed and declined, Silver sometimes thought in the dead of night that if he had used Ronald as director, he might have continued to be successful.

Ronald took it and flipped through it casually. It was an ordinary paperback detective package. On the cover was an old detective-looking man, with a skyscraper in the background.

"Take it and have a look. If you are interested, please call me at any time. I am waiting for you. I have been working on this project throughout this year." Silver put on a simple and honest look and smiled warmly at Ronald.

"You've been busy all year? Where's your script?" Ronald looked at the introduction. It was about a retired detective named Joe Leland. When he went to New York to visit his daughter at Christmas, he was raped by a group of Germans. *Took his daughter, grandson and granddaughter hostage...

"The script is still being written..."

"Oh..." Ronald sighed. He didn't know whether he was surprised that the other party could keep his composure and pursue a wonderful script with excellence, or he was surprised that the producer was always like this, daring to come out to persuade when he had nothing in hand. Others join.

"Who is your bank mortgage? Sinatra is suitable. He is 70 this year, right? It's just right to play a retired old man."

Ronald was speaking in producer lingo,

It's a chicken-and-egg problem for a movie to be able to get a project approved, get a contract from a distribution company, and then start financing.

Hollywood, no matter who it is, likes to join projects that already have other well-known industry players on board. If a big star has agreed to participate in a project, then everything else will fall into place.

Unless, like Ronald, you use your own money to make movies. For a medium-sized or larger project in Hollywood, one needs to first secure distribution, director, and stars, and then use the people and resources already secured to persuade others to participate.

In terms of difficulty, because banks have no idea what projects will be popular, it is easiest to start with celebrities. As long as the star agrees to star, the rest of the difficulty will be an order of magnitude smaller.

This is one of the reasons why Hollywood stars are so popular and can do almost anything they want.

Precisely because celebrities play such a big role, when banks see celebrities participating in the project, they can basically regard them as collateral for the project, so everyone in the industry likes to call celebrities bank mortgages.

"Sinatra is already over 70, and his emphysema has made it difficult for him to perform on stage in Las Vegas. I don't think he can do heavy physical labor like filming a movie."

"Um...then who did you find?" Ronald continued to ask.

"We will find whoever you are willing to cooperate with. Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Clint Eastwood..."

When Ronald heard these names, he shook his head in his heart, Joel Silver was afraid

It's because they don't know the "history" between themselves and Stallone, and Stallone and Eastwood are both narcissistic, and they don't have a good relationship with themselves... It's just that Schwarzenegger and I are quite compatible.

"Wait a minute..." Ronald was still thinking about what project Schwarzenegger was filming now and whether it would be suitable for him to act in it. Suddenly, he realized that he had almost been deceived by Silver.

"You SOB, you haven't even managed to become a celebrity. You want me to be your bank mortgage, right?"

"Hahaha..." Joel Silver showed no shame after being exposed, but laughed loudly, "You should be proud, Ronald. Now you can also be like those big stars, and be fooled by SOBs on Wall Street. Ours is a guarantee of box office success.”

"So you, SOB, are here to use my name and then defraud those SOBs on Wall Street?" Ronald also laughed. Silver is really a wonderful person. To be honest, when you are a producer, you need to have this kind of shameless "talent" to try everything.

"To be honest, I really want to cooperate with you." Silver put away his smile and looked very sincere. "I have a very good relationship with 20th Century Fox. As long as I can agree to the director, I can tell them A better condition."

"Hehe... I also have a good relationship with their vice president Joseph Farrow. I can get what you mentioned myself." Ronald also didn't hide it. He has a good relationship with the CEOs of several major studios. It's not bad, Fox's Farrow worked with him to produce "Swagger", and they had a tacit understanding to steal a lot of Fox's money and resources.

"Go and talk, can you negotiate a commission on the box office?" Silver lowered his voice.

"Can you do it?" Seeing that he seemed to be able to do it, Ronald became interested.

"Absolutely. Fox's financial situation is not very good now. Their building is half-renovated, and the upper floors have not yet been renovated, so the legal department and finance department have moved in. We will take advantage of this period to discuss the terms with them. Absolutely You can make a lot of money.

Besides, your old relationship with Farrow has now lost his say in Fox. The new president is Leonard Goldberg, the former ABC TV station. We have known each other for a long time..."

"In that case, it's worth considering." Ronald thought of two friends in Japan who wanted to invest in Hollywood. Fox happened to be short of money, so it might be a good opportunity.

"That's right." Silver picked up the book from the table and put it in Ronald's hand. "Take a good look. Even if you don't direct, I welcome your company to invest in this film." Movie."

Ronald put it away, already planning to take some time to see if he could put some positive Japanese characters inside. Anyway, as long as a positive image appears in the movie, two Japanese pro-American entertainment industry bosses can invest.

"I said Joel, can you tell me the truth, who is the male protagonist in your mind, and who did you contact? Who rejected it, and who agreed to consider it? So that I don't have to worry about it again if I am interested in it later. Ask those who say no.”

"It's fair." Silver raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Both Eastwood and Stallone rejected it. We hope that the male protagonist will have action skills and a certain sense of humor. The most promising one right now is Schwarz. Singh, in contact."

"Sounds less promising?" Ronald saw two more names crossed out from the three names on the list.

"Hey, you'll understand if you make more movies. Not all the projects of the seven major studios will have stars competing for them."

Joel Silver took out a portrait and handed it to Ronald.

Above is a sketch of a male protagonist, with muscles all over his body and a smile on his face.

"You have to be talented in both action and comedy. These two conditions don't seem to be compatible, unless we find a black star Eddie Murphy."

"Humph, I understand." Ronald glanced at the portrait twice, and there were a lot of celebrities' names listed below.

The column on the left is action stars, including Stallone, Schwarzenegger, Eastwood and others. These are people who can shoot action scenes, but their comedy talents have not been proven yet.

The right column contains acting skills, including

Harrison Ford, Paul Newman, Al Pacino and others, but their ability to shoot action scenes is slightly inferior.

"I'll take this and take a look. I can't promise anything." Ronald patted the thick paperback and prepared to leave.

"Of course, of course, but I think you're going to like this and I think you're going to like this project," Joel Silver predicted.

"By the way, you said the screenwriter is still writing the script, is it too late? When will Fox start the project and when will it be released?"

"This year's Las Vegas trade fair is confirmed, next summer. Don't worry, the screenwriter I'm looking for is paying off his mortgage. His previous script was abandoned by Columbia. Now Disney is giving him some odd jobs and he can't make ends meet. , I gave him a high salary, and he could work 18 hours a day..."

"You fucking SOB, eighteen hours a day? Joel, don't squeeze me too hard. Now the Writers Guild is very dissatisfied with the division of videotapes. They have sent letters to me, a member of the union, encouraging everyone to refuse to make long films. Time to work overtime.”

"Yeah, yeah... you are still a member of the Producers Alliance now, you are on our side." Joel Silver laughed and sent Ronald out.

…

After negotiating the video rights for several films to be produced, Ronald prepared to go to the East Coast with Michelle Cannold to finalize the business of the video tape factory in New Jersey.

Since Ronald took a long-distance flight on a private business jet, he felt that business jets were much better than first class on commercial flights. He knew many big shots who owned business jets, and also obtained the contact information of business jet leasing companies through his broker. Got on the line with them.

Los Angeles and New York are the busiest business routes in America, with many flights commuting every day. Ronald can find cheap business jet rental sectors as long as he informs them in advance.

Many CEOs of listed companies, or wealthy people who rent business jets for travel, do not actually return immediately after flying to their destination. At this time, the business jet company needs to dispatch the plane back. At this time, if one or two passengers can catch a ride, the price can be greatly discounted. It’s just that the time is uncertain and you need to wait.

This time, Ronald was put on the waiting list by the business jet company, and it would take about 24 hours before there would be a scheduled flight to New York.

"Ronnie, where are you? New York or Los Angeles?"

Ronald, who happened to be hiding at home, received a call from Kelly McGillis.

"I'm in Los Angeles and may go to New York at any time. What? What's going on?"

"It's great that you are in Los Angeles. I need to ask you for help. Are you still in the same place?"

"Yes, come on." Ronald put it away. What did McGillis ask him for? It can't be the one I mentioned last time... right?

Just as he was wondering who McGillis' girlfriend would be, Kelly rushed over as quickly as possible and knocked on Ronald's door.

"Ronald, help me, I've been calling all over the phone these past two days." McGillis was very anxious when he came in.

"What's going on?" Ronald helped McGillis take off his shirt and hung it on the coat rack. I looked back and saw that there seemed to be no other person.

"Paramount couldn't find a suitable actor for the assault victim in "Pear Robbery," so they still wanted me to play the victim and find someone else to play the role of the lawyer. "

"Oh, how come?", Ronald took a list that McGillis took out of his bag, which included many of Shirley Lansing's proposed heroine candidates.

Ronald knew that McGillis wanted to play the role of the lawyer and use the film to evoke the atmosphere in American society that was unfriendly to female victims. She wanted to use the film to show that it was the criminals who deserved moral blame, not the sexy female victims.

Moreover, she herself is suffering from similar problems. If this movie can be made, it may be a good relief for her.

"However, none of you can convince the female celebrities on this list? Can I convince them?" Ronald was a little surprised why McGillis came to him for help.

"Kim Basinger, Demi Moore, Jennifer Beals, Michelle Pfeiffer, Meg Tilly..."

At a glance, Ronald saw that except for Basinger, they were all actresses who had a "history" with him. Especially the last two names…

He was very suspicious that this list was for him.

"Who drew up this list?" Ronald did not show any emotion, but calmed his voice, smoothed out the list, and spread it out on the table.

"Sheryl Lansing came up with it. She approached everyone on the list and they all turned them down. She seemed determined that I wanted to be in the movie, so let me beg you."

Kelly McGillis looked at Ronald with two big eyes and blinked a few times. There is an actor's sincerity and desire in it.

Ronald sensed from McGillis's eyes that she did not seem to be the one who intended to use her past history. So the suspicion of Lansing who came up with the idea is very high. What does she want to do? Do you think you are still the little screenwriter you were back then?

Ronald stretched out his hand, slowly flattened the paper on the table, and pressed it flat one by one. The unevenness caused by the wrinkles was applied very hard every time, as if he was smoothing out the memories that came up because of the list.

"I don't have the ability to convince them. I guess there must be a reason why Lansing and Paramount came forward and they declined the role?" Ronald said slowly.

"Hey... I know that too." McGillis sighed. "I think so too. This is not something that can be persuaded by a director, and it has nothing to do with the salary. This is the star's choice of his career path."

McGillis seemed to deflate for a moment. She fell into Ronald's lap and covered her face with her hands. "I came to beg you because I had no other choice. Ms. Lansing said that you might have a way to convince one of them. She said that the works you directed made all the women beautiful. Your words are persuasive. I ...I'm sorry, I really want to be in this movie."

As expected, it was Lansing who was causing trouble. Ronald smiled and said, "Then you can just stick to playing the female lawyer? Don't touch the role of the victim."

"Thank you..." McGillis kissed Ronald gently on the mouth. "But there are too many people who can play the role of this lawyer. Lansing is still in contact with Jane Fonda and Mel Streep. If she doesn't find a suitable candidate for the victim, she will ask me to play it. , and then give the role of the female lawyer to those two."

"This Lansing is too cunning." Ronald felt angry for a moment, picked up the tea cup and slammed the table.

This old woman is too smart with her calculations. McGillis has made "Top Gun", and now is the time when banks are most optimistic about it as a box office guarantee. Her interest in the role of prosecutor in the movie's case was too obvious, and was taken advantage of by Shirley Lansing.

As long as McGillis plays the victim, it's still a big bank mortgage. Financing and issuance are not a problem.

As for her past events, I don’t know where she dug them out. Especially the last Meg Tilly, who is now an equally powerful producer in Hollywood and the wife of Tim Zinnemann, asked her ex-boyfriend to contact a married woman? She definitely has no peace of mind about this matter.

"Forget it, I know you're in trouble too. If it doesn't work out, I'll just stop acting. I think their filming plans will have to be put on hold. We'll talk about it later." McGillis said happily, stroking his hair.

"This has nothing to do with you." Ronald shook his hand, took out his handkerchief and wiped the water that splashed on his hand.

"If you don't mind, let me ask." Ronald had another question that he didn't want to understand. "I can understand that you don't want to play the victim. Why aren't these actresses willing?"

"Hey, Lansing had someone change the script and add a crime memory scene at the beginning. That's why it was impossible for me to accept the role."

Kelly McGillis stood up, went to his bag, took out a script, and handed it to Ronald.

"Oh, Shxt!" Ronald flipped through the previous scenes and couldn't help but cursed. How many scenes have the heroine been raped by criminals in a bar and taken turns on a pinball machine? Have they been written out?

"Prepare

Rated R? For the market? "Ronald closed the script and threw it on the sofa.

"Yeah, there wouldn't be a big market for this kind of subject matter." McGillis also had a painful look on his face. Originally, a movie that exposed corruption and promoted righteousness had to make commercial compromises for the sake of box office, and added scenes of victims to attract male audiences.

"I have never felt like today that the commercial logic of movies also has a very unreasonable side."

Ronald felt that McGillis's various experiences actually reflected some bad aspects of the business society. Everything is measured by box office, and sometimes you have to bear the price.

"Do you really want to be in this movie?" Ronald admired McGillis a little and hoped that she could realize her wish.

"I think about it, but I don't think so. You don't have to do things you don't want to do because of me."

McGillis hugged Ronald tenderly. In the world of Hollywood, it is rare to have such a director who can hear what the actors are saying.

"I will ask when I go to New York. But don't ask for anything."

Ronald picked up the list she had brought with him. Apart from the sexy female celebrities I know, there are two names I haven't heard of. If one of his phone calls can make them decide to play the victim for the sake of fame, then it's considered a fair trade.

"Rosanna Arquette, Kristen Davis, who are they?"

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