Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Do you know any scripts in Hollywood now that are set on Wall Street? There are elements of workplace and love." Ronald asked David Simkins, his script assistant, who was sitting opposite.

"I don't know. I haven't seen any similar scripts. Submit it to our daydreams, you know? Rachel?" David Simkins has just returned from Baltimore, where he was the executive producer of "Hairspray" All the shooting process. I happened to be escorting the developed film to Los Angeles, and I happened to meet Ronald, who was flying back from New York, at Daydream Company early in the morning.

"I haven't heard of it either, boss. This kind of script relies on the chemical reaction between the right actors to make people believe it. It also needs to set up scenes or actually shoot the scenes on Wall Street. The costumes are also very expensive. This kind of script They won’t submit articles to small companies like ours. They usually go to the top seven to try their luck.”

Rachel Talalay is the capable female production director that David Simkins met in "Adventures in Babysitting". This time he also hired her as the production director of "Hairspray". Ronald heard from David that Rachel was very capable and could serve as an independent producer in the future.

"Yes, Ronald. The structure of this kind of script and professional financial knowledge are not something that a fledgling screenwriter can challenge. He is probably a veteran. He must have an agent to help him send it to a big studio. Why, listen. Have you heard anything about it?" David Simkins agrees with Rachel Talalay's idea.

"I heard someone talking about it in New York. I didn't hear the title, so I asked you." Ronald made up an excuse for the dream, "How was the filming of Hairspray?"

"The dailies have been shipped back, and the sound and picture have been synchronized. Director John Waters said that editing will start in two weeks." David Simkins replied.

Ronald laughed. John Waters had been shooting ultra-low-budget movies and was a veteran. After filming is completed, he is very clear about the industry rules that the director cannot start editing immediately. This movie doesn’t require any effort to focus on editing.

"Are you going to see the samples?"

"Okay, let's go take a look." Ronald went to the editing room with the two of them.

"Is this the divine one? I didn't expect that wearing a wig and playing a fat mother would be quite similar."

Ronald randomly selected a few reels of film to watch. The mother of the protagonist, the fat girl Tracy, was the famous drag

Played by queen. She pretends to be a woman, and she looks a bit like that. We have all seen that fat, kind-hearted mother in life. She is usually nagging and gossiping, but she always takes good care of her children. He will also comfort you when you are mentally frustrated.

"Hehehe, Sonny Bono's performance is pretty good too." Rona picked another film, which happened to be about the very mean girl villain heroine Amber. Her father is Cher's ex-husband, played by Sonny Bono. He played a snob very vividly.

"Very good, Rachel, your work is very good." Ronald looked at a few reels of film and didn't see any confusion in the scenes and props. This kind of plot with many group performances and large scenes can achieve a trace of There is no chaos, and the ability of Rachel Talalay, the production director in charge of the scene, is evident.

"Thank you", Rachel was recognized and felt very happy.

"You guys should take a long vacation first. The filming of 'Ecstasy' co-produced by Roger Corman and I will start soon. This time you can be an independent producer." Ronald's person Not much, Michelle Cannold's team looks better at distribution, and here's a capable strong woman who can fix a lot of things.

"Where's David?" Rachel Talalay didn't expect to be able to take charge of her own business right away. This speed exceeded the average promotion speed in the industry.

"David will also help me preside over the selection of scripts. He will also be named as the executive producer. However, you are still responsible for the on-site affairs. Please discuss with the people at Coleman Company."

…

"The script you are talking about contains love and betrayal, as well as financial operations involving Wall Street?"

After reporting on his work, David Simkins suddenly remembered something.

"I think it's like a modern version of a classical drama that happened on Wall Street." There weren't many scenes in the movie that Ronald dreamed about, but the woman sitting in front of the window was very beautiful, and she said something about mergers and acquisitions. Such professional terms must be such a movie.

"You say that, is Wall Street coming out soon? It premiered over the weekend. The structure of the story is an adaptation of John Bunyan's novel 'The Pilgrim's Progress', a seventeenth-century Christian writer, in a modern context. The story of a young man who was seduced by the devil, dazzled by the desire to make a lot of money easily and fell."

"Ah? It's been filmed and it's going to be released?" Ronald let out a disappointed sigh. This is the first time this has happened and I missed the movie in my dream.

"Who took the photo? What company?" Ronald asked Simkins with the last bit of hope. If the shot is not good, you can change it and take it again...

"Directed by Oliver Stone, invested and distributed by 20th Century Fox, Stone's Platoon team member Charlie Sheen plays the protagonist who is seduced, Michael Douglas plays the villain who seduces him, Daryl Hannah Playing the role of the villain’s wife, who has an evil affair with the protagonist.”

"You know it very well, don't you?" Ronald seemed to remember that Michael Douglas did film in New York for a while. With Oliver Stone, who just won the Oscar for Best Director, and Douglas, who is now very popular, with a young handsome man and a beautiful woman, it is impossible for him to remake the film.

It's a pity, it's a pity...

"Of course, this is a movie script with a complete classical dramatic structure that has been rarely seen in Hollywood in recent years." David Simkins didn't see Ronald's uncomfortable expression, and enthusiastically copied the movie The excellent structure of the script was analyzed in detail.

Overall, this is a film script that is in line with the nature of a Christian evangelistic novel. If a righteous person fails to fully abide by the moral code, he will be tempted by an evil person to commit original sin.

And evil people will win the war against the young man who is immoral in some way because his moral bottom line is lower.

If you want to defeat the greedy demons on Wall Street, you must maintain your own moral perfection...

"You understand so deeply, remember to recommend it to me next time..." Ronald couldn't help but make a sarcastic comment.

"Huh?" Simkins was a little confused.

"Sorry, I rarely see such good scripts recently, so I'm a little jealous. You have done a good job." Ronald touched his chin. This was the first time that he was a step late in a dream movie, and he was a little angry. Shun.

"However, the woman's back looks like a professional woman, not Daryl Hannah who plays the role of the flower wife in Wall Street. Daryl Hannah's temperament is more like a sexy stunner who needs protection. , it seems like she can’t play a strong woman.”

…

Putting aside these feelings of not being able to tell others, Ronald finished handling the company's affairs, and the most important thing in Los Angeles was to prepare for the premiere of "Moonlight".

After being persuaded by marketing expert Michael Gray, Ronald also began to work with more directors.

Gray believes that this year is a small year for the best film and best director. Except for Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun" and "The Last Emperor" which recently received unexpected praise from film critics, there are no particularly strong movies in Hollywood.

It is very likely that films with high artistic quality will not be nominated for more than 5 films. In this way, under the commercial package of Ronald's "Moonlight", a film with some artistic depth and reflecting some less important social issues has a chance to be nominated for best director.

Ronald discussed his idea of ​​seeking a Best Director nomination with his agent Niceta.

Niceta was in the office. After listening to Ronald's thoughts, without saying a word, she took out the Oscar yearbook of the past ten years from the filing cabinet, and then looked at the nominated movies one by one.

Finally, Niceta closed the yearbook and happily said to Ronald, "Indeed, there is a bit of a chance this year. Last year, Oliver Stone's "The Field" won the first place, and the nominee was Wu who made "Hannah and the Sisters." Dee Allen, David Lynch in 'Blue Velvet' and James Ivory in 'A Room with a View'.

Any one of them has the potential to win an award this year. Not even Coppola's Peggy Sue Got Married was nominated. "

"Then you think there is hope? Will your CAA cooperate?" Seeing Niceta's attitude, Ronald seemed to have a little wildfire in his heart, slowly burning.

"I can't say it's certain, but it's definitely worth trying. Absolutely..." Niceta's fingers flicked on the table a few times quickly.

Being able to renew Ronald's contract will bind his influence in CAA and even Hollywood in the next few years. As long as he and his wife Paula continue to attract the most promising directors and the most promising male stars in Hollywood, the influence of this couple in the future can be foreseen.

"I will mobilize all my connections and attack at the Directors Guild and the Film Critics Association in major cities. I will also go to see Mr. Michael Ovitz later and ask for more assistance." Niceta made a decision immediately .

Generally speaking, for a director to be nominated for an Oscar, he needs to have been in the industry for more than ten years before the directors responsible for the nomination will recognize you. But this year, no one expected this situation. If you have an opportunity in front of you, you should strive for it with all your strength.

"All your personal relationships must also be mobilized. Ronald, a director who has been nominated for an Academy Award, and a director who has not been nominated for an Academy Award, actually belong to two species in the eyes of film critics and some producers. .”

"Oh?" Ronald didn't expect his agent to value this nomination so much.

"You know, many producers don't actually understand what makes a movie a hit. And those film critics... hehe... they don't necessarily understand whether a movie is good or bad. As long as you are nominated for Best Director, those mediocre people, After seeing your honor, I can no longer speak ill of your movie without any bottom line..."

It turned out that there was such a relationship, and Ronald understood a little bit. Being nominated for an Oscar for Best Director is like being a certified brand product. If someone wants to say something bad about you again, they have to think carefully before saying anything.

Maybe even if you have good reason to point out many faults in your movie, readers may not necessarily accept it. He has been nominated for an Oscar. Does the Oscar understand it or do you?

"So, is there really a chance?" Ronald originally thought that if it didn't work, he would just do it as a practice. I heard that Niceta also thinks that this year is a rare opportunity, so she will start to devote herself to it.

"Really, I will ask Paula to make some contacts. Although she is no longer your agent, this is too important to your career, and we must go all out."

"I really don't know too many directors who have the right to vote." Ronald counted on his fingers for a long time.

Spielberg also has his own films to compete for, Lucas is no longer a member of the Directors Guild, and there is a bit of a rift with the Academy over Star Wars not being nominated for an award. Although Roger Corman is also a director, he only makes low-budget horror films, and he may not even have the right to vote in the Academy.

Among the directors with whom I have a very good relationship, only Chris Columbus and James Cameron have voting rights.

Directors are really a species that doesn’t see each other very often. The people Ronald knew well and often collaborated with were all photographers, art directors, or screenwriters. After all, there is only one director for a movie, and everyone does not need to cooperate with each other in their work. It all depends on personal relationships or mutual support in the circle to build relationships.

With an idea in mind, Ronald called Cameron and visited him with gifts.

"Gail, this is a gift for you." Ronald took out a high-value shopping coupon for Eve Saint Laurent women's clothing and gave it to the hostess.

"This is for you, Jim." The gift to Cameron is a voucher for a set of customized modifications to Harley motorcycles. The Japanese have many professional accessories. After replacement, the rough temperament, durability and durability of Harley are maintained. The quality will be much better.

Ronald personally presented an invitation to the premiere of "Moonlight", and Ronald directly told James his intention.

"Jim, I need your help. I'm running this year's Oscar nominations..."

"It's funny, if you ask me, you should have been nominated a long time ago. Those old fashioned directors of the Directors Guild still use the standards of thirty years ago to judge the selection of best directors, and look down on commercially successful movies. You know, in the past In Hollywood, only commercially successful films were eligible to be nominated for awards. At that time, if a film did not do well at the box office, it would be ridiculed if it was nominated."

"Thanks, brother." Ronald hugged Cameron happily.

In fact, this trend has become more and more obvious since the 1980s. Ever since Jane Fonda's "Homecoming" invented this method of rushing to be released in limited theaters at the end of the year to meet the Oscar selection requirements and win Oscar nominations, more and more movies have begun to learn this method. An effective way to win prizes.

After all, it is the end of the year and the nominations are very close, so the judges are even more impressed. Some judges may have forgotten about the movies released in the first half of the year, except for those that had excellent box office and critical reviews.

"What projects are you working on recently?" Cameron is a director after all, so when gathering with friends, he still cares most about the film career.

"I originally wanted to plan a story that reflected Wall Street. After all, after the stock market crash, many people were curious about those bankers... However, obviously Oliver's sense of smell is more sensitive than mine."

"Oliver really has a keen sense of smell, and he can always find the subjects that the people want to see." Cameron also agreed, "Many directors can only shoot the stories they want to shoot, and they can combine what they want to shoot and what the audience wants to see. If you are unified, you are a great director." Cameron sighed.

"What projects do you have recently?" Ronald heard that his old friend seemed to have something on his mind.

"'The Abyss' is a movie I have wanted to make since high school. It was inspired by the science fiction novels of HG Wells."

Cameron shared his thoughts. HG Wells was an early pioneer of science fiction. Many of his novels have been adapted into film and television dramas. "The Abyss" tells the story of diving in the deep sea.

I heard from Cameron that while editing "Alien 2", he watched a National Geographic documentary that told the story of how to operate a deep-diving robot on the bottom of the North Atlantic Ocean.

This documentary awakened Cameron's dream when he was young. He made a modern adaptation of Wells' novel, changing the original protagonists of a group of scientists into blue-collar workers who are more commercially attractive to audiences.

However, the studio is very hesitant about such a movie. This kind of movie requires a huge investment. The water tank built will cost a lot of money, and the special effects images generated using computer graphics do not meet the requirements. Having to develop while filming is a risk beyond the reach of most studios. Especially in the current economic situation, everyone is still conservative.

"Why are you saying this to Ronald? Can he still use his own money to make this kind of movie for you? I have long said that this movie should not be born now, or it should wait five to ten years. Only when technology matures." Gale Hurd felt angry when he heard Cameron talking about his science fiction movie again.

Cameron's talent in commercial films has been clearly demonstrated, and I don't know why he doesn't continue to make films with commercial potential. Just like Ronald, it's not too late to make a few more blockbuster movies first, and then think about the movies you want to make.

"If I have to wait for the technology to mature, then I can't shoot the Terminator now." Cameron was a little annoyed by Gale Hurd.

"Whatever, I wish you luck and can find a studio that is willing to pay 40 million without squandering it on you." Gale's voice became louder, and the couple obviously argued about this a lot recently.

"40 million?" Ronald did not expect that the cost of filming this "abyss" would be so high.

"It may not be enough. I talked in detail with the engineers from Industrial Light and Magic. They need more than a year to develop and produce at the same time."

"Well, the production cost is more than 40 million yuan. In North America, the box office needs to be about 100 million yuan to recover the cost. I don't know why you have so much confidence. It is a diving story." Gale said about the movie Full of complaints. The commercial potential of the story is not that great.

"This is my lifelong dream. I just want to make a movie about deep-sea diving." Cameron smiled, but Gale still couldn't understand his dream.

"40 million, with the current market conditions, which studio would be willing to take such a big gamble?" Ronald also scratched his head. Cameron is great, but Terminator only had 38 million domestic box office, and Alien 2 took advantage of the sequel. 85 million.

Hollywood suffered from a cash shortage after the stock market crash. The cash that a large company can use is only 50 million to 100 million. Who dares to bet on such a science fiction movie?

…

"Ronald, the Bruce Willis movie is almost ready. When will you come and see it? Twentieth Century Fox wants to hear your confirmation before letting it go to director John McTiernan."

Joel Silver found out somewhere that Ronald had returned to Los Angeles, and immediately called him. It was time to pay attention to the movie he was cooperating with.

"Okay, when?" Ronald thought that he should really care about this movie.

"Tomorrow morning, we'll meet underneath the new Twentieth Century Fox building."