Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Ding dong..."

"Ronald, it's nice to see you, please come in." The person who opened the door for Ronald was Cher's little boyfriend who made bagels.

"Hello...uh..." Ronald was speechless for a moment. He forgot the name of this Italian pastry chef who was 18 years younger than Cher.

"Rob Camiletti", the other person was still a little unhappy, "please come in."

Ronald didn't quite remember the Italian surname. He followed the other person into the small apartment. "Where's Xue'er?"

"She's on the phone with her agent." Rob motioned for Ronald to sit on the sofa in the living room, and then went into the room to call Cher.

Since Cher received the salary for "Moonlight", she also paid off the hotel room fee, and then found a "small apartment" to rent in New York. Of course, although the apartment is very shabby compared to Cher's singing status, it is still very large and in a better location than ordinary people's residences.

"Ronald, Ronnie, I'm so happy to see you. How is the box office of Dirty Dancing? I bought your movie soundtrack album, which gave me some inspiration."

Cher came out of the side room and hugged Ronald. She was still wearing a weird see-through outfit. Ronald saw several pairs of men's shoes in the shoe cabinet at the door.

"This boyfriend moved in so quickly?" Ronald secretly wondered if Xueer was here for real this time?

Sitting in Xue'er's warm apartment, Ronald explained the reason for his visit.

Because it involves her personal feud with David Letterman, Cher’s opinion must be sought in person for this hype.

David Letterman arranged two scenarios. The first one is to put the main hype on the personal feud between himself and Cher. In fact, the two people only had a verbal conflict last time, and there was no substantive conflict. This time the two of them appear on the show, whether they continue the feeling of conflict from last time or get back together, it is a very good choice.

The second plan involves the grudge between the two people and just treats this matter as if it never happened. Instead, she invited Cher's ex-husband, Sonny Bono, to appear on the show with her.

The two have never performed on the same stage since their breakup. Many American viewers still miss the song "I Got You Babe" that the ex-couple used to sing every time they hosted a show.

"David Letterman promised,

In addition to the normal appearance fee, you can pull up your band and sing a song from your new album at the beginning of the show. It's like promoting a new album for free. "

Ronald finished explaining the plan and then put forward the conditions.

"Then what does this bastard get?" Cher was obviously tempted. The sales of her new album were sluggish, so being able to sing live on Letterman's show was an opportunity with great commercial value.

"He has you as a star on the show and all kinds of gimmicks, which can obviously increase the ratings."

Ronald smiled and said, "This is a win-win opportunity. If I were you, I would definitely agree. The only question is which option to choose."

"As for me, I got my movie heroine, in front of a national audience, as a publicity stunt inviting everyone to go see the movie. You're going to say yes, right?"

Xueer listened and said nothing, looked at her boyfriend Rob, and then looked at Ronald, smiling and saying nothing.

"Rob?" Ronald looked at the Italian man making bagels.

"Why don't we choose the first option? Cher's every move now is followed by paparazzi reporters. If she and Sonny appear on a show, there will be a lot of reports." Rob Camiletti suggested Choose the first option.

"Good sign." Ronald relaxed a little. It was obvious that Rob wanted Cher to be exposed on the show.

But when I came here, I originally wanted to persuade Xueer to accept the second plan to reunite with her ex-husband again. The stunt of the two of them teaming up again on TV is obviously more popular than the late-night host David Letterman being scolded.

"The people of America still want to see you and Sonny reunited, Cher. Sonny Bono has been invited by David Letterman. He said that as long as you nod, Sonny is not a problem. He needs this kind of exposure now.

As for the scale of the conversation, topics, and what not to say, Letterman can all follow your ideas. "

"But the paparazzi always won't let Cher go. If you hype up her and Sonny's affairs again, I think there will be a lot of messy gossip news in the media. This will be a very bad harm to Cher. "

Boyfriend Rob Camiletti continues to give his opinion.

Ronald leaned back and smiled, not believing it.

He picked up the water glass on the table and took a sip. Cher is a model of a maverick woman. She can live with a boyfriend who is 18 years your junior, an ordinary bagel baker, and what happened to being on a show with her ex-husband?

Still hurt? Don’t you know who is hurting whom? David Letterman even blushed with his scolding. With this kind of offensive power in the media, in all of America, it is estimated that only the female comedian who speaks without thinking, Joan Rivers, can compete.

"Rob, go and help me see if the reservations at the restaurant we're going to tonight are confirmed."

Xueer also smiled. She sent her little boyfriend away first, and then spoke to Ronald.

"Ronnie, you have also seen that I enjoy this relationship very much. I have met some celebrity tycoons before. Tom (Cruise), Fang (Kilmer), David (Geffen), Only Rob was just an ordinary waiter when he met me.

He knew I was a celebrity, so he still left me my phone number, hoping to date me. I also gave him his phone number and he made me feel very comfortable. That's why I let him live in my home.

He is still young and does not know how to face the media and the outside world's malice. Now he has some psychological defense conditioned reflexes.

The media nicknamed him Bagel Boy, but his name was not included in the reports. "

"Are you serious?" Ronald saw Xueer protecting and paying attention to his young boyfriend's fragile psychology, and found that Xueer seemed to be really serious about this relationship.

"I take every relationship seriously. I think it's better not to bring my ex-husband Sonny into the relationship, otherwise the media will bring up my old affair with him, and when Rob is mentioned, some people will just call him Bagel Boy.

Both of us are in the entertainment industry, so we understand that there is no personal grudge involved. But Rob doesn’t understand this, and I don’t want to embarrass him too much…”

"Our place has been reserved, no problem." The little boyfriend made a call and came back soon.

"Rob," Xueer held his hand very considerately, and the palms of their hands were pressed together, "Ronald agreed to use the first plan."

"Smart choice..."

Rob Camiletti still had the expression of a boy protecting his girlfriend. Although it was silly, Ronald somehow found it a bit warm. Forget it, it was Xueer's own choice anyway.

"Okay, I'll let Letterman's team make the arrangements. I still have things to go back to Los Angeles, so let's do this first."

"Ronald!" Rob Camiletti jumped up from the sofa...

"Huh?" Ronald looked back at him, his eyes shining. I'm not that familiar with you, right? You just call me by my name?

"Mr. Li, sir", Rob's aura immediately dropped, "I am also an actor, and making bagels is just my side job. I want to know, do you have a role that is suitable for me?"

"Send your resume and audition photos to my company. They will take care of it." Ronald and Cher hugged goodbye.

…

"Robertson, who proposed to run as a candidate for the Elephant Party, was accused of falsifying his experience. Several veterans of the same combat unit of the 1st Marine Division that he claimed to have stood up and accused Robertson of never being on the battlefield and never really facing a day. , the opponent's artillery fire and charge.

Robertson’s real task is to prepare drinks and snacks for the commander in the rear office every day..."

At the Los Angeles airport, Ronald, who had just returned, was watching live TV in the business jet lounge.

Roger Ailes' arrangement finally worked. Through CIA, Barbara quickly found Robertson's comrades in arms. Their testimonies were all contradictory to Robertson's claims.

"The current deputy commander-in-chief officially announced that he will run for the next election as commander-in-chief. He announced to reporters in DC today.

The deputy commander announced that he would continue the economic, diplomatic, and military policies of the current commander-in-chief. But on domestic matters, he will be more gentle to the people..."

A smile appeared on Ronald's lips. This carefully chosen moment made the deputy commander appear to be the natural and only candidate for the Elephant Party.

Among the applauding crowd at the back, Ronald also spotted Schwarzenegger and his wife, who was from the Kennedy family. This is the official debut, support the Xiang Party.

"How can a person go so far? How did he become what he is now?"

Behind the news is Ronald's tailor-made campaign advertisement for George Sr.

On the screen, the old couple George and Barbara, under the gaze of the justice, holding the Bible in their hands, began to take the oath to become the deputy governors of the United States of America.

"Perhaps it starts with George becoming the youngest fighter pilot in the Navy more than 40 years ago..."

The scene went from taking the oath to a black-and-white photo of old George in the cockpit of a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier.

"Or maybe it starts from this day in 1944, when George received the Flying Medal for Distinguished Valor for his heroic actions in the battle with the Japanese Navy."

The scene changed to a scene of old George being rescued from the sea, and then faded back to a scene of George and his wife taking an oath.

"Anyway, he started a business, brought his family to Texas and started a successful business. Then he ran for Congress and continued to serve the public in America. Then he became the ambassador to the United Nations, then the ambassador to China, and then the CIA director. .

The more you know about George Sr., the more you will find that in this century, no one is more suitable and more prepared to serve as the commander-in-chief..."

"Well done, well done." Ronald looked at the campaign advertisement shot by Emile Adolino and felt very satisfied.

This kind of documentary-style narration has no special effects or tricks. It just displays old George's resume in a very ordinary way. It is perfect for Emil to shoot this style of advertisement.

"Ronald, you are finally back."

When Ronald turned around, it turned out to be Joel Silver who had come specifically to pick him up.

"Has Schwarzenegger's agent contacted you? He has officially rejected us." Ronald pointed to the TV and said to Joel Silver. The actors they like in action movies would rather make comedies than continue action movies.

"It's still Bruce Willis. I've been talking to the new boss of Fox for a long time. We have to give Willis an unprecedentedly high price, so that he will agree to take care of both ends."

"How much can you give? We definitely can't afford Stallone's tens of millions."

"There is hope for 5 million. The new president of Fox also comes from a TV station. He is very interested in inviting a TV star to star in a movie. We will talk as we go."

Joel Silver hurriedly pulled Ronald into the limousine.

Ronald was in the back seat of the car, looking at Silver's plan, and then raised his eyes to look at him.

The other party nodded, and the two understood each other.

Both of them are familiar with this set of small tricks to do within the budget. Joel Silver is a master at this cost-inflating charade. If the actor's salary is raised to 5 million, then other expenses will not seem too high if they match his price.

Ronald doesn't care about this kind of thing. The bigger the budget, the more room the film can move. This script has great potential. If it can be a box office hit, the money will actually be nothing.

"Where are you stuck now?" Ronald heard that he was about to go to 20th Century Fox to meet President Leonard Goldberg.

"Mr. Goldberg likes to see TV stars succeed in the film industry. His philosophy is to make TV stations and film production companies into integrated media groups.

In this way, resources on both sides can be communicated with each other. Michael J. Fox's "Back to the Future" showed everyone that comedy stars can be successful across television and movies.

What we need now is for action stars to cross over. "

Ronald understood this Leonard Goldberg strategy. When he was in New York, he had some chats with Bannon. Wall Street's valuation of a company largely depends on how you tell your story to make investors think you can really do it:

aIntegrate resources

bReduce costs

Or you can do both ab and ab. Only then will the stock become popular. The value of the president and CEO, to a large extent, lies in communicating with the investment community and convincing them by telling a story that paints a big picture.

If they don't believe you, then the valuation of listed companies will be underestimated, which will make their life difficult.

Just like Kerkorian who almost fooled Ronald. Since losing Ronald as president, World Media Distribution Group's prospects in the Chinese market have begun to dim.

No one can convince the capital market that Hollywood in America can enter the film market there and occupy a certain share.

There are many Hollywood stars who have good relations with the other side of the Pacific, such as Gregory Peck, who is friendly with China, and the famous Italian left-wing director Bertolucci. But they are all left-wing stars with little commercial appeal.

The film can be released in China and has a good relationship with commercial film producers there. Only Ronald could do both. It can not only select movies that people there like to watch, but also gain official friendship.

Both of Kerkorian's Wall Street bonds were met with a cold reception from banks. The first bond raised only US$95 million, and the other financing from World Media Distribution, a joint venture between the three major studios, was estimated to be less than US$50 million.

Therefore, the same goes for Leonard Goldberg of 20th Century Fox. As long as he can be persuaded that the casting of Bruce Willis can convince Wall Street that they can get TV stars to star in movies, they will also be successful. The salary is only 5 million, which is very cheap.

"The only thing we had to convince Leonard Goldberg was that he was a perfect fit for the script and could make Fox money more than any other action star."

Joel Silver explained to Ronald that Ronald, a busy man, was too busy right now, so he had to catch him directly at the airport. After all, my credibility with Fox's Goldberg is not as good as this master of commercial films who has never failed.

In the same way, the weight of what Ronald said was much heavier than what he said.

…

"I need a reason, Ronald." Leonard Goldberg was sitting in his office. He worked overtime specifically and stayed to see Ronald.

"You know, before the brothers Minahan Golan went crazy, the highest salary for a male star in Hollywood was US$5 million. Now you are looking at Bruce Willis, and the box office of the first movie was only average.

You're going to give him the same salary as Dustin Hoffman or Harrison Ford, so why wouldn't I go to those two actors? "

"He is an ordinary person." Ronald thought for a while and replied.

"Ordinary people?" Leonard Goldberg still doesn't quite understand.

"Yes, only if Bruce Willis plays the nypd John McClain will we believe that he is an ordinary person.

Whether you look for Schwarzenegger or Stallone, as soon as they appear, the audience will think, oh, this is the protagonist of that movie, a superhero. He will definitely bring out the characters in the movie like Rambo or the Terminator. The enemy was beaten to pieces.

The audience's impression of Willis is still the funny detective in Blue Moonlight. We can accept that he plays an ordinary person.

The key to the success of this script is that an ordinary person becomes a hero under certain conditions. By the way, he also solved the problem that he and his wife were about to get divorced because they lived in two places. The audience will resonate greatly.

After all, those things like going to Vietnam to fight, or flying planes and dogfighting with Alliance pilots, are too far away from our lives, and they are larger than life roles.

And the key to the box office of this movie is to make the audience feel that the positive characters in the movie are as big and imperfect as they are. There were troubles and difficulties, but in the end, he gritted his teeth and faced the hardships in life, and finally defeated him.

In a sense, this is an American dream. This is consistent with the image of the traditional Hollywood small-town hero, except that the cowboys in the past have now become the middle class in the big cities. "

Ronald became more and more fluent as he spoke. America is now very urbanized, and the mainstream audience is already people who grew up in the city. These people also need civilian heroes like them who come out of big cities.

Small-town heroes like Jimmy Stewart represented the American mainstream at the time.

"What you say makes sense, but how can you prove that Bruce Willis can do everything you say? After all, he is just a TV star."

Leonard Goldberg was touched by what Ronald said passionately. Indeed, only emerging directors like Ronald can grasp the current audience mentality. Those old people who rely on their past experiences cannot come up with such insights. Let alone filming it.

"It's simple, Mr. Goldberg." Ronald took out a document from his briefcase and handed it over.

"This is a sample survey of Bruce Willis's audience's attitude towards the movies he starred in. The score is very high."

"We all understand what this investigation is about," Leonard Goldberg said unmoved. He has seen many of these tricks on TV. In order to obtain higher salaries for the stars, agents will investigate and find out any results.

"This is done by Cinema. There is only one question in their investigation. If Willis stars in an action movie, would you like to see it?" Ronald handed the document forward. He was asking Cinema to investigate Cher. At that time, I also made a copy for Bruce Willis.

"You are a very experienced expert. The quality of such a survey, even with spatial operations, will have little impact on the results. In the appendix below, there is their sampling method and sampling data."

"You convinced me." Goldberg put down his reading glasses. He was very satisfied with the survey. "As long as Willis agrees, I will approve this 5 million salary."

"Ronald, I think your persuasiveness seems to be stronger than before." Joel Silver looked at Ronald, as if he had gone to New York, and his whole person became more like a top-notch person. Lied... no, a top producer.

"That's because I watched the top liar... ah, the actor's performance." Ronald thought of Kerkorian who went to Wall Street to make money, and the old George who engaged in elections. Acting skills in life require that he also You believe what you say more than your partner does.

"Okay, let's go meet Bruce Willis tomorrow."

…

"Ronnie", "Mr. Silver".

Similarly, the person who opened the door to Ronald and Joel Silver was not Bruce Willis himself, but his girlfriend, Demi Moore, who had recently moved into his home.

"Demi", Ronald was a little surprised, but he quickly adjusted.

The two hugged and said hello like friends.

"Bruce will be here soon. He stayed late last night on the set of Blue Moonlight."

"Demi, who's here?" A voice came from upstairs.

"Honey, it's Mr. Ronald and Joel Silver," Demi shouted upstairs.

"Oh, I almost forgot, just wait for me, I'll be there soon." Bruce Willis showed his head at the edge of the stairs and said hello to Ronald, and then he stuck his head out again, "Demi, I Where did you lose your pants last night?"

"Here we come." Demi gave Ronald a charming smile, as if to say, "Aren't you jealous? It turns out that I can give you all these benefits." Then she went upstairs to help her boyfriend clean up.

"What is that?" Silver looked at Ronald, and he also saw something abnormal in that smile.

"Demi also wants to play a role. She is a very ambitious actress." Ronald could only say this.

"oh……"

"Sorry, something happened to the crew last night and I stayed there very late."

After a while, Willis came down from the stairs while buttoning his shirt.

"It's okay, Bruce. We are here to tell you good news. Fox has agreed to give you a salary of 5 million." Joel Silver began to persuade him to agree to take care of both TV series and movies.

"I'd love to, but you're late. We had a meeting last night and the producer wanted me to play a larger role in this season of Blue Moonlight. I don't have time to act in movies."

"But this is a good opportunity for you to get into the movie. Five million US dollars is also the top salary for a Hollywood actor. If you miss this opportunity, the price of your future salary will be..." Joel Silver began to persuade.

"Believe me, no one wants to act more than me. But my contract with the TV station..."

"Can I ask what happened on the set of Blue Moonlight?" Ronald interrupted Silver, who was confused, and patted his thigh to signal him to calm down first.

"Isn't it about love?" Bruce Willis glanced at Demi Moore, held her hand tightly, and kissed her.

"Huh?" Ronald didn't know why.

"The heroine, Sybil Shepherd, was recently pregnant. She and the chiropractor, Bruce Oppenheimer, seemed to be in true love. So this season, she can't have too many scenes, and many of them have been transferred It’s my character’s side.”

Bruce Willis shrugged, regretting the opportunity, too.

"For love?" Ronald grinned.

"Shepard is already 37, and this is her last chance." Demi Moore added a blow next to her. She was also dissatisfied with Sybil Shepherd, who played the heroine in "Blue Moonlight." This woman has always competed with Bruce Willis for scenes, and now Willis can't do both.

What a hassle!

…

"What a hassle!" Joel Silver complained to Ronald in the car.

"No way, you can't condemn true love." Ronald also sighed, what is this?

Cher and Shepard made the choice for love. In fact, it was themselves who suffered the greatest loss in terms of interests. Since I have no complaints and am willing to sacrifice my career for love, it's hard for others to say anything.

After all, America is a free society, and everyone has the right to make their own choices.

"Let's look for other candidates. Hey!"

"Hey..." Ronald also sighed.

He turned on the car radio.

"Affected by the tax bill introduced by the House of Representatives Ways and Means Committee in the morning, today's Dow Jones index fell 95 points, down 3.81% from yesterday. This is the first correction after the stock market has steadily increased by more than 60% this year.

Analysts believe that the main reason for this brief and unexpected adjustment is the tax bill in the House of Representatives, which will reduce the tax benefits related to financing mergers and leveraged buyouts. Another important reason is that the international trade deficit data for the third quarter released today was not satisfactory.

The sharp appreciation of the yen did not narrow America's trade deficit with Japan as economists predicted.

Next, let’s listen to the experts’ analysis. "

"Hi..." Ronald changed the radio station. Fortunately, he didn't invest the money in the stock market.

"Do you love me? Do you love me?"

Ronald's "Dirty Dancing" soundtrack came from the bandstand. This record made me work overtime every day to print money.

"Hehehehe..." Ronald laughed out loud.