Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Ronald, we finally meet."

At the weekend, Ronald, accompanied by his agent Niceta, and Joel Silver, met the most popular male star in Hollywood today, Harrison Ford.

"Hello, Harrison."

Ronald took a closer look at Harrison Ford. He looked exactly the same in real life as he did on the screen. On his very tough face, there is an American optimism that does not matter any difficulties.

"I often heard Steven (Spielberg) and George (Lucas) talking about a young director who was very imaginative. I didn't expect it would take so long for us to meet."

"Well, it's a very busy industry and a lot of viewers think we should all get to know each other."

Most stars in Hollywood have a kind of extraordinary charm. In other words, the reason why they can stand out and become stars is that ordinary people do not have this ability to make people they get along with feel happy.

As long as they're willing to make you happy, celebrities can make anyone they hang out with feel like a really nice guy in a matter of seconds.

Just like Harrison Ford now, his attitude towards director Ronald and producer Joel Silver is similar.

"What they said really aroused my curiosity. Now, it's not like before. Young directors have the opportunity to direct their own movies after working on the set for a period of time. How did you get into this industry? Ronald?”

"I was very lucky because I met Roger Corman, and I was working on minimum wage to rewrite the script for him. One day on the set, the director happened to feel unwell and went to the hospital..."

"Oh, ha, it's him. Many people started out from him. I know that he gave the federal minimum wage, not the union minimum wage, hahaha..." Harrison Ford's voice was low and very masculine. charm. His laughter put everyone present at ease.

"So, Harrison, how did you get into this industry?" Ronald chatted happily with him and asked about his experience in the industry.

"I was about the same as you. I was playing a bit part on the set at the time. I was making the minimum wage of $120 a week. I played a courier in my first movie, and the producer didn't like me very much. He said I would never Might make it in Hollywood.

‘When I first saw a star, I knew they were going to be a star. You'd better stop thinking so much. Just like when I saw the famous star John Curtis, he played a department store salesman in his first movie.

As soon as I saw him, I thought he could be a star’

Then I just leaned over and looked at him."

At this point, Harrison Ford also imitated the look at that time, turned to look at Ronald sideways, and I asked him, "Don't you think Curtis played like a department store salesperson?"

"Hahahaha..." Everyone burst into laughter.

Ronald laughed too. Some of the jokes people told were not that funny in the first place. But the way they tell jokes still makes you feel that this is the funniest joke in the world.

"So, Harrison, what do you think of this script?" Joel Silver couldn't help but asked the big star what he thought of the script.

"I like this script very much. As you know, my principle for taking on roles now is that every new film must have different changes. I don't want to repeat the roles I played in the past."

Ronald nodded slightly. For such a famous star, what he is pursuing now is no longer commercial success. Instead, I have the opportunity to win awards and recognition from film critics, and to further expand my acting career.

He doesn't want to play any more space cowboy heroes like Han Solo or scholar heroes like Dr. Indiana Jones.

In Joel Silver's new script, the NYPD detective comes to Los Angeles to defeat terrorists, which is a very fresh idea for Harrison Ford.

"I like the setting of the protagonist John McClain very much. He is devoted to his family, merciless to his enemies, confident and smart..."

Ronald listened, something was wrong. Harrison Ford didn't seem to be talking about the civilian police detective in the script, who lived apart from his wife, didn't make as much as his wife, and was facing divorce.

"I just feel that something is wrong with some plot settings, so I invite you and Ronald to come and see if you can talk to him thoroughly."

"Oh, what's wrong?" Ronald and Joel Silver looked at each other and thought at the same time, here it comes!

The importance of stars to production companies is higher than that of directors and producers, and far exceeds that of any screenwriter.

On the one hand, they can attract investment, and banks will give them preferential loans for their sake. On the other hand, it saves marketing costs. When the audience sees celebrities starring in movies, they will go to watch them without advertising.

Therefore, celebrities often abuse their status to exert influence on movies and change the characters and plots in a direction that is beneficial to them.

However, Harrison Ford is still relatively disciplined among celebrities. He politely invited Ronald and Silver to come over for discussion, and would not be rude and directly suggest changes...

"For example, the background of this character is that of a less successful police detective. I have read the original work, which shows a retired police detective in a high position. Only such an experienced police detective can deal with terrorists. Those methods, aren’t they?”

"Ronald..." Joel Silver admitted that he did not understand the consequences of these plot changes, and looked to Ronald to ask for expert opinions.

"But on the other hand, the protagonist in the original work is a retired police detective who goes to see his daughter with whom he has a bad relationship. This is also a kind of hero who appears with frustrations in life. At the end of the story, he not only solves He solved terrorists and solved problems in life...in his own way."

Ronald knew very well that the core of this movie was different from the protagonists played by Harrison Ford in the past who had the aura of success when they appeared, and even different from all other previous Hollywood movie protagonists.

This is a protagonist with ordinary people's worries and problems. This is an important reason why the audience can sympathize with him and become concerned about his story. Ronald is not optimistic about the box office performance of such a story if Harrison Ford plays the high-rise version of Han Solo.

"Well, you make sense. At the beginning, due to the estrangement between him and his wife, and the fact that his wife used her maiden name to work in the company, I felt a little uncomfortable here, but I can't explain why." Harrison Ford frowned slightly, and he continued to raise a plot problem.

"This is a marriage where the woman is strong and the man is weak. McClain's wife is the vice president of a multinational company and earns much more than a New York police detective. That's why we set up an annoying character who wants to be with him. The reason why the wife plays the role of a male vice president who has a one-night stand. The audience must hate someone who seduces the hero’s wife like this, so we later killed him with one shot.”

"Hahaha, indeed, I was very relieved after watching that part."

Harrison Ford understood that Ronald was unwilling to rewrite major parts of the plot to fit his already established star image. But we are all people with status in the industry, so when it comes to this, we just need to understand each other.

"Would you like to visit my collection? I also have the laser gun from Star Wars." Harrison stopped pestering and stood up to chat with Ronald. Seven or eight out of ten Americans were Star Wars fan.

"Sure, can you give me a picture and sign it for me? My cousin is a big fan of Dr. Indiana Jones."

Ronald asked for an autographed photo of Harrison Ford for his cousin.

"Of course. What's your cousin's name?"

"Donna, she graduated from MIT's Department of Physics. She always felt that the doctor you played changed the perception of top academics. Doctors can be so charming..."

"Hahaha", Harrison Ford was very happy and signed a still of his Raiders of the Lost Ark "To the charming Donna..."

…

"Can't you really change it? The plot or something? Harrison is the most popular male star now." Joel Silver said to Ronald in the car after leaving Harrison Ford's house Just to double check, he didn't want to lose this opportunity.

"I can't say, but if you still want this story, he is not suitable. If the script is changed, it will not be this story."

Ronald spread his hands. It's not that he doesn't like Harrison Ford joining the movie. However, there are certain elements in the way of such a big star's drama, which is not to damage the image of the star itself.

Whether he is a policeman, a cowboy, or even the president, Harrison Ford must be the one who can solve all the troubles when he appears. He cannot have the same troubles as ordinary people.

"Although you are right, but...what a pity..." Joel Silver took out a bottle of champagne from the refrigerator, opened it with a bang, and poured it for Ronald. Then he turned on the car TV and watched the news.

"Huh?" Ronald felt that familiar thought again. Is this the plot of a movie he dreamed of?

"Boring news." Silver saw that the tragedy of hurricanes in Western Europe was still being broadcast on TV. He found a video tape from the corner and inserted it into the car VCR.

"Uh...ah..." A blonde girl was lying on her back, and another handsome guy was using an ice cube, starting from her belly button, along her body to let her feel the coldness of the ice cube, teasing him.

Then he took out a piece of cloth to cover the girl's eyes, then let her taste strawberries, and finally replaced it with a chili pepper, making the girl scream.

"Is there any mistake, we are two men, what are we doing watching this?" Ronald recognized his friend, director Adrian Lane, sexy blonde Kim Basinger, and handsome boy Mickey Rourke starring 's "Nine and a Half Weeks of Loving You."

"Why, do you want to go to my place? There are many blond girls waiting to meet you. Hahaha..." Joel Silver laughed out loud.

"Seriously, what do you think of Mickey Rourke as the leading actor? How about him playing John McClane?"

"Ronald, Ronald..." Joel Silver saw Ronald distracted and thought he approved of his casting.

"Then let me go talk to Mickey Rourke's agent?"

"Ah, okay." Ronald came back to his senses. The scene of watching the pornographic video tape in the car just now seemed to trigger some familiar feelings.

…

"Adrian, I'm Ronald. Why doesn't Mickey Rourke want to be in my movie?"

The communication with Mickey Rourke's agent was very difficult. When the other party heard that it was a project for Ronald Lee and Joel Silver, he immediately rejected it and said that Mickey Rourke had begun to focus on business other than acting. Don't want to repeat myself.

Ronald was confused and had to call his old friend, director Adrian Lane. He directed Mickey Rourke's "Nine and a Half Weeks," which was a commercial success and launched Rourke into stardom.

Now let him transform into a police detective role, wouldn't it just pull him out of the pornographic film track and give him a chance to reach a higher level?

"There was something wrong with his brain. Maybe he was boxing too much. He also acted in an X-rated movie, 'Angel Heart,' and I did 'Nine and a Half Weeks,' which was R-rated. "

"X-rated? Who still acts in X-rated movies nowadays?" Ronald was relieved now. It was indeed not Mickey Rourke who looked down on himself, but that he looked down on everyone.

"Isn't he an old acquaintance of yours and mine, Alan Parker? This 'realist' director who specializes in filming the dark side of society?"

"So it's him," Ronald thought. No wonder. Only this British director who was at odds with himself would make a movie like this that was destined to have no box office and exposed the dark side of America. The question is, you must have a lot of dark sides in Britain.

"I advise you to give up on Mickey Rourke. He is now confused and becomes a screenwriter. He wants to write a movie about boxers, 'The Man with the Iron Fist.' Let me tell you, if he finishes filming 'Nine and a Half Weeks to Love You' ’, and ‘Angel Heart,’ and then got beaten to death right there in the ring, and maybe he became a more successful legend than James Dean.”

"Huh..." Ronald put down the phone, thinking that this old friend was very mean to Mickey Rourke, and he seemed to be very angry. He also looked very unconvinced by his fellow Briton Alan Parker. In the Hollywood film circle, they are both role models for British directors. It depends on who can get an Oscar nomination first.

"Joel, there is no chance. My friend Adrian said that Mickey Rourke has a brain problem and now he is a screenwriter..."

Ronald called Joel Silver to break the bad news.

"Ah, it was such a dark weekend. We lost three leading actor candidates. Do we really have to postpone it to next year?"

"If I can't find a suitable casting, I would rather wait for Bruce Willis. You know, in the circle of casting directors in New York, there is a saying that if there is no suitable actor, then the best The choice is not to shoot.”

"Shxt!" Joel Silver cursed, he didn't like this sentence.

"The Commander-in-Chief made a speech at the White House. He stated that he would consider raising tax rates and reducing the amount and period of tax exemptions on investment income in order to reduce the runaway federal deficit." Ronald turned up the volume of the news broadcast from the TV .

"I would consider raising taxes to reduce the deficit...what? Unintelligible..."

Ronald looked at the TV. The high-spirited commander-in-chief, wearing a brown suit and a red tie, pretended not to be able to hear the reporter's question and avoided the issue of tax increase. He pointed to the propeller of a helicopter parked on the South Lawn to indicate the noise was too loud.

"Sorry, I couldn't hear your question clearly."

The commander turned around and boarded the Marine One helicopter to prepare for a vacation at Camp David. He and first lady Nancy waved from the porthole to the cameras below. Marine One's rotors began to accelerate and took off.

"The acting is really good." Ronald chuckled.

…

Life goes on. Unlike independent producers like Joel Silver who are affiliated with major studios, Ronald is from Daydream Productions, not a leather company like Silver Pictures.

His daydreams have their own distribution channels and their own production plans. Although the low-cost shooting plan of less than one million US dollars has been delegated to Eddie and Michelle Cannold, big projects like "Ecstasy", a joint venture with Roger Corman, still require He asked personally.

Today is Monday, which happens to be the time when Ronald goes to Coleman's place to hold a simple startup ceremony. The heroine, Cassandra Peterson, has been waiting for this opportunity to be the heroine for a long time.

"Hey, where's Roger?"

At nine-thirty in the morning, Ronald and Cassandra were nowhere to be found in Coleman's Concorde Company conference room where the start-up ceremony was supposed to be held.

"I don't know, Roger is never late." Ronald asked a female secretary about Coleman's whereabouts.

Roger Corman is a real iron man. When he made twenty or thirty movies a year, he and his wife Julie were the two people in charge, and there was no mistake.

"I called him, but he didn't answer." The female secretary couldn't find anyone either.

"Where does he usually go at this time?"

"He is usually in the office. Roger will come to the office at six o'clock in the morning, look at his stock investments, make a few phone calls, and then he will not go to the studio to watch the filming until after noon."

"Have you gotten in touch with Julie?" Ronald thought of Roger's wife, Julie Coleman.

"nor."

"It's strange, nothing will happen." Ronald turned around and pretended to be calm, talking to the heroine Cassandra, "Maybe they are Roger's children, his four children, they just happened to be It’s time to graduate from high school and go to college. You know how noisy boys that age can be.”

"Hey...it's okay. In fact, the actual shooting will not start today. I just used to shoot movies for companies like Cannon, and I have never had such a formal opening ceremony." Kassandra took out a bottle of mineral water and drank it Two mouthfuls.

"It is estimated that the ceremony cannot be held today, so we will go first. I will definitely make up for you a beautiful ceremony, and arrange for some reporters to come then." Ronald waited for another half an hour, but no one answered the phone.

He asked Coleman's secretary to keep in touch with him, got in his car, and was going home to read the script.

"Zi..." When the driver, Little Bud, saw Ronald picking up the car phone, he started pressing the button to close the fender.

"It's okay. I'll call Donna. I found a signed photo of Harrison Ford for her." Ronald looked at the time. It was already noon in New York. It was a time when the transaction volume was relatively small. The employees could have some lunch. , make personal calls.

"Hello, I'm Donna Parker, please leave a message after the beep."

"It's me, Ronnie. I got you a gift. It's a signed photo of Dr. Indiana Jones. Do you want me to send it to your office or home?"

Seeing that it was a phone message, Ronald explained the matter and then hung up the phone.

Ronald thought for a while and called his agent Rick Niceta to discuss with him whether there were other male actors.

"Hello, I'm Rick Niceta, please leave a message after the beep."

"Why aren't you here?" Ronald put down the phone.

Well, let’s talk about financial support for the new film to my financing partner, former Wall Street banker Bannon.

"Hello... Steve?"

This time the call was picked up.

"Mr. Bannon is not here. Please leave your name and phone number. He will get back to you when he is free."

The anxious female secretary wrote down Ronald's name and quickly hung up the phone.

"Why are you so rude?" Ronald hung up the phone.

"Bud, let's find a Chinese restaurant for dinner. Is Lucy free? Call her too."

"She is waiting for lunch in the office. She made the sandwiches in the morning. Let's go by ourselves." Little Bud smiled when he talked about his girlfriend, and Ronald saw two rows of white teeth in the rearview mirror.

"Call her, we haven't seen each other for a long time."

"Okay." Little Bud turned the steering wheel and went to the computer company where Lucy worked.

"Lucy, Lucy?"

When he arrived at the computer company where Lucy worked, little Bud found everyone standing at the front desk, watching the news around a TV.

"Lucy?" Little Bud spotted his girlfriend.

"Bud?" Lucy turned back, came over and hugged little Bud tightly, her body still trembling slightly.

"What's wrong?"

"The stock market crashed! It dropped more today than it did during the Great Depression? Are we in America going to be doomed?"

"Due to a large volume of deliveries in the overnight securities futures market being unable to proceed, a total of 95 stocks in the S\u0026P 500 Index were delayed from opening this morning.

After the market opened, the stock market began to plummet. Today was Wall Street's biggest single-day drop since Black Friday of the Great Depression.

Of the 2,257 stocks listed on the New York Stock Exchange, 195 had their opening postponed or canceled because overnight futures could not be delivered.

Due to the large number of sell orders flooding into the market, the New York Stock Exchange's computer system was unable to operate normally. Starting at 10 o'clock in the morning Eastern Time, for about an hour, trading was jammed and normal delivery was impossible. "

The cuu channel has 24-hour rolling news, and the host's face is not as calm as usual. The big news one after another makes them nervous and panicked when reading, and the female host's voice is trembling.

There were scrolling subtitles at the bottom of the screen, and each stock code on the stock exchange was followed by a red drop percentage.

There are many stocks that fell by 20%, 30%, or even more.

"Oh my gosh, Coca-Cola has dropped so much. I'm going to run out of money for my child's college tuition." A middle-aged man who looked like a manager in Lucy's company turned pale with fear.

"Fortunately, I sold it and didn't buy it back." Ronald crossed himself secretly.

No wonder everyone was gone this morning.

Fortunately, I didn't hold a position, so I didn't receive a call from the stockbroker and personal accountant Lawrence.

Look at these people who have invested in the stock market. They are all sweating like rain, and their shirts are soaked through in autumn, like dry pickles.

And those who are engaged in the stock business on Wall Street are even worse off. Roger Coleman and Bannon must have suffered heavy losses.

"No, Donna." Ronald was also frightened and sweating, and quickly ran out to the car, but was locked out of the car.

"Bud, Bud!" Ronald anxiously asked Bud to come over and open the door. After getting in the car, he called Donna.

"Hello, Donna." Donna's voice came from the phone.

"I'm Ronnie, are you okay? What happened to the stock market today, I'm scared to death."

"Fortunately, our losses are limited. Many hedge funds that used leverage to place long bets in the stock market, some jumped off the building today." Donna's voice was fairly steady.

"I'm still busy with things here. Let's talk about it after the market closes."

"Ring ring ring ring..."

As soon as I put down the phone, Niceta called.

"Are you okay?" Ronald and him both shouted at the same time.

"I'm fine. We had an emergency meeting in the morning. Many Hollywood stars suffered heavy losses on their investments. I hope it won't fall like this again tomorrow. I heard that during the Great Depression, many stars in Hollywood sold their houses to pay off their debts. "

"It's fine, it's okay. It's scary. Fortunately, I sold the stock last year."

"Yes, yes. Fortunately, neither you nor Tom have heavy positions. I heard that Stallone suffered heavy losses. His financial analysts helped him buy a lot of hedge fund products."

Ronald called his female friends again.

Diane Lane listened to her own advice and deposited all her money in the bank, but there was no loss. Helen Slater herself had little money, but from what she said, it seemed that her new families had suffered a lot in the stock market crash after her parents divorced.

In the evening, Ronald talked on the phone with his friends in the circle. Everyone is worried about the future of themselves, Hollywood, and the country.

Today, the Dow Jones Index in New York plummeted 22%, creating the largest single-day decline in history, surpassing the Great Depression.