Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"This is Rachel I'm telling you, boss. She worked as a production director on the last "Adventures in Babysitting" and was very serious and meticulous. "

Ronald's script assistant, David Simkins, introduced Ronald to a slender young woman.

Simkins hopes to develop in the direction of a producer, and Ronald also needs a subordinate who can act as a producer, who can serve as his stand-in and supervise the filming progress of the crew in various crews.

This time, Ronald gave him an opportunity to work as a producer on Daydream in "Ecstasy," which was being filmed in Los Angeles and co-produced by Daydream and Roger Corman's company. Learn more skills from the veteran Coleman.

But at the same time, funds were raised and a new musical "Hairspray" written and directed by John Waters was launched. In order to save costs, Director Waters proposed to shoot in Baltimore, Maryland, where the story takes place.

There was no union power there, and Director Waters was a Baltimore native. There were a lot of familiar connections there, and he could use a lot of free extras from his old high school.

Ronald was not too worried about whether Director Waters would mess with the budget. This guy had always been a director making super low-budget movies, and "Hairspray" was the dream story he always wanted to make.

In this case, the director will complete the shooting with high quality as the highest pursuit. As for falsely reporting some costs during filming, Ronald could tolerate it as long as it was not excessive. Anyway, the entire movie only had a budget of $2.5 million.

Waters is a loner, though. In the previous super crude movies that were made for hundreds of thousands of dollars, he did all the chores by himself. The actors who filmed movies with him even put on their own makeup and brought their own costumes...

In such a formal film project, Ronald certainly could not allow this kind of thing to exist. So he asked Simkins to recommend a careful person who knew all the chores involved in filming a movie to be a producer on the "Hairspray" crew.

Simkins recommended Rachel Tara, the production director he met on "Adventures in Babysitting," to come over.

"Rachel, I think David has told you the main content of this work. In fact, it is similar to what you did when you were in Toronto." Ronald went up to explain the work to Rachel Tara. .

"Is there anything I need to pay special attention to?" Rachel wrote down the chores that Ronald told her. Although she was named a producer this time, she actually had the same job as the production director, helping the crew solve all the problems. The problem. Unlike a real producer, he does not have the power to interfere with the director's filming.

"nothing,

The main thing is to accumulate experience. After one or two movies, you should be able to actually take on the role of producer. Just like David was about to do. "Ronald said to Rachel who was a little nervous with a smile.

"OK!" Rachel immediately relaxed a little.

"This is my phone number. If you see any problems with the director on the first day of shooting in Baltimore, report it directly to me. If everything goes smoothly, you don't have to worry about the rest of the shoot.

After all, John Waters has more experience than you. "

"He is indeed very experienced. Now I can only help him with some chores, such as arranging buses." Rachel felt that Ronald was right.

"What bus?"

"Oh, didn't Director Waters tell you? In order to save money, he decided to let the main members of the crew take the bus to Baltimore."

"Oh, what...that's not necessary, not necessary, let's change it to a plane. At most you can just take economy class." When Ronald heard this, he thought to himself that this Waters was too economical. What he was shooting now was not Those $250,000 pieces of junk, but a "big production" with a production cost of $2.5 million.

Ronald and Rachel rushed to the departure point of the big bus, and the two buses were preparing to leave. One was filled with actors and the other was filled with some crew members.

"Oh, Ronald, you are such an angel. The thought of me being in a big production and being crammed into a bus like this makes me want to strangle John."

That bastard. "

A bald and very fat actor inside was very excited. He got out of the car and thanked Ronald, hugging him tightly.

"This is our main actor, Divine." Rachel hurriedly came up and introduced Ronald.

"Ah, okay, don't worry. If you have any questions when you get to Baltimore, just tell Rachel." Ronald was a little strange. This Divine's voice and figure were a bit strange. He is a typical obese patient, whose upper body is so fat that he looks like a woman.

"What role did he play?" Ronald asked Rachel in a low voice. He didn't pay attention to the cast list and wanted to say something to encourage morale, but he couldn't.

"He plays the main character's mother, Edna."

"Oh, good. Edna is a very important role. Director Waters was able to find you to play it. He has a very good vision."

"Hahaha... John and I have known each other for a long time, and I'm in every piece of trash he makes." Divine grinned widely, smiling very happily, finally able to make a normal movie.

"No, that's not right!" Ronald finally discovered what was wrong with Divine. This is obviously a role for a middle-aged woman, so why did you find a man to play it?

"Hahaha", Divine smiled proudly when she saw Ronald's look, "Do you think this is right?" As she said that, she took out a wig from her bag and put it on her bald head. . He even tidied it up proudly and struck two poses.

"Uh, boss, he's a Drag Queen." Rachel quickly whispered in Ronald's ear. She thought her boss already knew about director Waters' eccentricities. This Divine appeared in every one of his movies.

"Ah, ah... As expected, as expected, this is much more pleasing to the eye."

Let the actors get in the car and drive to the airport. Ronald also told Rachel in the car behind, "When you arrive in Baltimore, for the first few days, you have to call back to the company every day to report on the shooting situation. Do you understand?

Simkins said you don't need to fight, and you can stop reporting every day. "

Ronald felt a cold sweat. Director John Waters actually used a Drag Queen to play the heroine's mother. He didn't know what kind of mess would happen.

"Well, well, don't worry, boss, I will report every day until you recognize my work." Rachel thought she was approving the actor's bus trip, which made the boss feel that there was something wrong with her work ability, so she had to Assessment every day.

"John, John, look, Ronald is a generous boss and let us fly to Baltimore."

When they arrived at the airport, Rachel took Ronald's credit card and went to buy tickets for everyone on the spot. Divine got a flight with director John Waters. He happily hugged Waters who was waiting at the airport, leaving him speechless.

"Hi, Ronald, I just want to save some money on filming." Waters finally broke free from Divine's arms and explained his idea to Ronald.

"It's okay, these costs still have to be spent. If you take the bus, the actor's fatigue will take a long time to adjust."

"It doesn't matter, these are the partners I have worked with many times. Besides, I can also get free accommodation in a high school in Baltimore."

Ronald felt a little better. It seemed that Director Waters still wanted to make a good movie. After all, it was his semi-autobiographical work.

"Hi, Sonny. My agent has contacted you, right? Unfortunately, Cher did not agree to appear on Terman's show this time."

Ronald went back and spoke to a middle-aged man with a mustache next to the director.

This is Cher's ex-husband, Sonny Bono. This time, he also got a role in the crew. Because of his fame, only the director and him can enjoy flying to the filming location.

"It's okay, I'm already very grateful." Sonny seemed to be a gentle-spoken man. "Actually, this time I didn't do it for myself, but because of my and Cher's daughter, Chastity. She

She went to LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts in New York. My daughter was very talented in singing, so I wanted Cher to help us make her debut. "

"Oh, I don't know..." Ronald thought to himself, I didn't know your brother had this idea. If I had known, I would have played this card when I persuaded Cher to appear on the show.

"It doesn't matter, Cher and I have a very tense relationship, but she is a good mother." Sonny Bono said good things about his ex-wife, "If there is a chance, I mean if, I hope you can give my daughter Chester She wanted to get a chance in the acting circle. She majored in singing and acting at the same time in the performing arts college. The theme song of your "Famous" is her favorite. "

"Aha, majoring in singing and acting at the same time, that is the same role played by Irene Kara who sang the theme song of "Famous". Your daughter has talent, opportunity, opportunity..."

Ronald was busy all morning before sending everyone on the crew away.

"What time is my appointment with Joel Silver this afternoon?"

Daydream's secretary, Ms. Zhang, took out her appointment book and asked him to be in his office at three o'clock in the afternoon. We would go there to have some lunch, which was in time.

"Okay, feel free to order some Burger King. When it comes to burgers, theirs is indeed better, although not as good as McDonald's in terms of stock."

"The Dow Jones Index continues yesterday's downward trend..."

Arriving at Joel Silver's office, he was reading the financial news.

"Ronald, are you here?" Silver muted the TV. "Now we have two options. The first is to find other male stars to replace Bruce Willis. The second is to postpone the filming to next year. Bruce In the summer, when TV dramas are off-season, you can take time to shoot."

"What replacement do we have?" Ronald nodded. TV stars tend to be available from late spring to summer. American TV series usually span the New Year, and there will be a break of several months every summer.

Michael J. Fox is like this now, taking a break from TV series every summer to shoot two movies.

"The best candidate is Harrison Ford. I have contacted his agent, and he is also thinking of ways to transform. He just happened to be reading new scripts from various parties recently."

"Hmm..." Ronald pondered for a moment, Harrison Ford was actually a good candidate. His temperament is similar to that of Bruce Willis, the kind of ordinary person who is a bit bad. Han Solo, who was previously played in "Star Wars", and Dr. Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" are the kind of heroes who are likely to fail.

But therein lies his shortcoming. The images of these two characters are too deeply rooted in people's hearts. If John McClain, the male protagonist of this movie, was played by him, would the audience be able to recognize him?

"Let's get in touch first. We actually don't have much confidence that Harrison will agree. And he is a big star, which will help with the marketing of the movie." Joel Silver seemed to agree with this casting.

"Let's get in touch first." Ronald was a little worried. Such a popular star would definitely have to fight for power in the crew. How would the film be shot? Who would he listen to? All will be problems.

"Huh..." When Ronald returned home, he took out the frozen food in the refrigerator and started to make himself a quick dinner.

I'm going to discuss the work of "Ecstasy" with Roger Corman tomorrow.

Ronald turned on the TV and ate the tuna fish sandwich he had just made. If you eat it by itself, you don’t need to cut the sides.

"The Dow Jones Index continued to fall by 57.61 points on Thursday, narrowing the decline to 2.39%. Compared with this year's highest point, the cumulative decline has been 12%. Analysts said that this indicates that the stock market has reached a staged bottom, and fund managers It means that the bull market is still continuing and the market outlook is expected to rebound."

"Well, I sold my stocks last year to make a movie, but I actually missed the bull market that rose by 50%." Ronald thought while eating. Fortunately, the movie "Dirty Dancing" made good profits in all aspects. Once the box office is collected and the video tapes go on sale, let’s take a look at the stock market to see if there is investment potential.

…

'Ronald', Roger Corman welcomes himself with open arms

s student.

"Roger," Ronald stepped forward and hugged him, "Is this the first time we've made a movie together since Rock and Roll High School?"

"Hey, yes. It's been eight years."

Roger Corman couldn't help but lament that time flies so fast that he even sold his New World Company.

"Cassandra Peterson is a very good actress, and her script has great potential." Colman is very fond of the joint venture project that Ronald recommended. "This is exactly the kind of horror movie I like best. , but also with such humor.”

"Yes, it's the kind of movie you're best at. What do you think, do you want to direct it yourself?" Ronald asked his former boss.

"Hahaha, I do have itchy hands." Coleman laughed, "But I'll wait until later. Now I'm focusing on production. I have to make about ten films every year. Small and medium-sized productions have already taken over my time to recover costs. All the time."

"This time I found James Signorelli. He has directed several episodes of Saturday Night Live and the sequel to the hit film Police Academy. He just has the right style."

"I have no doubt about your vision." Ronald agreed after looking at the director's materials that Coleman had found. There may be no one in Hollywood who has a better eye for selecting directors than Coleman.

The two of them finalized the cooperation in a few words. The rest of the work was left to Coleman's wife, Julie, and Ronald's producer David Simkins.

Roger Corman still decided to shoot the movie in Hollywood, Los Angeles. He was very experienced in dealing with labor unions and was very credible in the industry. He was able to find various staff members who were at the right level but only paid the minimum wage.

"Your Dirty Dancing made a lot of money." Roger Corman was very sensitive to the box office of this kind of movie.

"It's not bad. I hope to get good box office results overseas." Ronald replied, "I'm also planning to release the video. I hope I can make a little more money this time so that I can continue to invest in other movies."

"You are very good. The producers who entered Hollywood at the same time as me all invested in real estate after they became successful." Roger Corman has been in this industry for a long time. People like him who continue to invest in the film industry are not When a failed company closes down, it means quitting after making a lot of money.

"However, you also have to invest in some other industries. This industry is becoming more and more profitable now."

"Hahaha, actually I also invested in some real estate." Ronald said with a smile.

"There is also the stock market. The stock market is also a good investment target. I think the recent stock market correction has been severe, and it is time to buy the bottom."

"Ah, really? You also invest in the stock market? Then I have to think about it too."

…

Unexpectedly, Roger Coleman was also investing in the stock market. Ronald thought about Joel Silver watching the Financial Channel yesterday. The stock market has really risen dramatically this year, and I missed a big bull market.

When Ronald got home, he turned on the TV and tuned to the financial channel.

"The chairman of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Kerkorian, today announced the issuance of bonds totaling $35 million to finance MGM's new business venture..."

Ronald ordered Domino's pizza delivery today and ate and listened. Kerkorian's financing was not smooth, raising only US$35 million, and the interest was still high.

"The most powerful hurricane this year in the North Atlantic has hit coastal cities in Britain and France, causing dozens of casualties.

More than 15 million trees are expected to break in Britain, and power company lines are severely damaged. Financial centers including the London Stock Exchange and the London Futures Exchange announced today that they would be closed due to power outages. "

"Is it so powerful?" Ronald looked at the scene of the hurricane on the news, and the scene from London. The host of the outdoor program was blown by the wind and could not complete his words.

"On the New York Stock Exchange today, the Dow Jones Index continued to fall, closing at 2246.74 points, with trading volume hitting a record high."

"Has it fallen again?" Ronald picked up the phone and called Donna, who worked at a New York fund, to ask about the situation. Is it possible to buy the bottom?

"Hello? Donna, I'm Ronald

, the stock market fell again today? Can I copy it..."

"Ronnie, I'm very busy right now. The London exchange is closed today. Some of Mr. Simmons' procedural transactions were not confirmed by the London exchange. Our employees are all on the phone... I don't have time to chat now. Let's talk about it next week. ..."

"Oh...Okay, I love you. Bye!" Ronald felt very comforted when he heard that Donna had returned to Long Island to work and was now in a good mood.

"I love you too, Ronnie. Your BMW helped me a lot. I was able to end my internship early and return to the company to participate in the company's main business of program trading... I won't talk about it anymore. I still have a dozen calls to make. Bye. !」