Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"This is Bonnie who plays the heroine," Joel Silver introduced Ronald to the film's heroine candidate in a conference room in Fox's new office building.

"Hello, Bonnie!" Ronald stood up and shook her hand.

Ronald was a little surprised by the appearance and temperament of this actor who was personally recommended by Bruce Willis. Bonnie, who was born in 1948, is already 39 years old, but she gives the impression that she is only in her early 30s.

She doesn't look much different in person than in the audition photos. The wrinkles on the face are very restrained and just right, without the feeling of surgical plastic surgery.

Standing there, in addition to the self-confidence of a strong woman, she also has a bit of restraint of Japanese women. This makes her valued by the president, Mr. Takagi, and the story of her exceptional promotion to deputy general manager is very fitting.

"Bedelia is also from New York..." Joel Silver introduced Bonnie Bedelia's background to Ronald. This candidate needed Ronald's approval. Although Ronald would not normally deny a leading man recommendation, director John McTiernan endorsed the choice.

Speaking of which, Bonnie Bedelia's life experience is somewhat similar to Ronald's. Her real name is Caulkin and Bedelia is her middle name. Bonnie is a native of Manhattan. Her mother unfortunately passed away when she was 14 years old, and her father also passed away due to illness not long after. She lived in an apartment with her two brothers and one sister, without an adult guardian.

Bonnie previously studied at ballet school on the George Blanchine Scholarship from the New York City Ballet. After the accident, she concentrated on developing as an actress because this career could provide more money and allow her younger siblings to support her.

"I'm sorry. I was busy with other things in New York before, and now I have the opportunity to meet you. If you need anything from us, you can tell me directly." Ronald looked at Bonnie, and her experience made her People think of the experience of losing their parents when they were teenagers, and combining it with the experience of their former girlfriend Antonia who received a ballet scholarship and worked hard to become a ballet dancer from a poor family.

Ronald was full of respect for such hard-working and striving women. Of course, he didn't ask any questions about Bonnie playing this role, but looked at what she needed.

"Oh?", Bonnie Bedelia was also shocked. Ronald and the rumors in Hollywood are a bit different. Don't they all say that he is very strict about casting. If the actor and the character are compatible, he will do everything possible. Picky?

"If you can... I have a small request." Bonnie became independent very early and knew many people. Of course she could see that Ronald's words were sincere, "My two sons Yuri and Jonah, they My father and I divorced,

Now I am taking care of them in New York. I miss them very much. If possible, can I have a weekend every two weeks for me to reunite with them. "

"Oh, they look like they have inherited many of your advantages." Ronald took the photo Bonnie handed over and looked at it. On it, she and her two sons seemed to be in an amusement park, with a bright smile.

"Are they in New York?" Ronald thought for a while, "Or should I have someone pick them up and come here to meet you. I will take care of the air tickets and hotel rooms. During the Christmas holiday, the crew will be on vacation, and you will be right here. Have fun with them.”

"Haha..." Bonnie really laughed. She didn't expect the upgraded treatment, so she quickly thanked her.

…

"I didn't know she was your type," Joel Silver teased Ronald after sending Bonnie away. Even in his late forties, the mother of two children wanted to have sex with her.

"Purely for the sake of the movie." Ronald didn't want to share his personal experience with Silver, so he found an excuse. "Don't you think Bonnie's own situation is very similar to the character in the movie? The mother is better than the father. Her career developed better, and her children came to Los Angeles from New York to spend Christmas, and she eventually divorced her father. This helped her control her emotions when performing."

"Yes, yes, it helps with the performance..." Joel Silver had an expression on his face that said whatever he said would be what he said.

Ronald smiled and did not explain, but speaking of it, subconsciously, he seemed to feel that Bonnie Bedelia might be his ideal girlfriend if she were younger.

Or to put it another way, if his girlfriend could have such a temperament and personality at this age, Ronald would definitely be very happy.

"So, how was the chemistry between Alan Rickman and Bruce Willis during rehearsals?" Ronald changed the topic.

"Rickman's performance is exciting. Director John McTiernan believes that such a smart and graceful villain will make the audience feel very fresh..."

"Zi...ZiZi...ZiZi..."

Silver's words were interrupted by the sound of an electric drill making holes. The annoying noise made Ronald feel very irritated. Silver opened and closed his mouth, but could not hear the sound.

"What did you say?" Ronald yelled too.

"Ah..." Halfway through shouting, the sound of the electric drill suddenly disappeared. Halfway through Ronald's shouting, he realized that Silver was also yelling what he was talking about. The two people's voices sounded scary in the empty conference room.

"What's going on?" Ronald asked.

"The interior renovations of the Fox Building are ongoing intermittently. People from the legal department have already moved in, but the upper two floors are still being renovated."

"What happened to them? They have no money?" Ronald felt that there was something wrong with Twentieth Century Fox if even this small amount of money was not allocated.

"Actually, it's not bad. It's just that 20th Century Fox's old problem is coming back. They want to bet big. What else..."

"Zi..."

The sound of the electric drill sounded again, and Ronald couldn't stand it anymore and hurriedly escaped from the conference room of the Legal Department of the Fox Building.

"Shall we go up and have a look? Fox promised to lend us this building for filming to simulate the Tall Timber Building in the movie." Joel Silver opened the fire door and the two of them walked up the stairs.

"Be careful, there are a lot of decoration materials here." Joel Silver turned on the flashlight, and the two walked up the corridor to one level. There were still a lot of building materials piled here. "Another reason is that the screenwriter is based on Fox The office building is here to write some plots. The subsequent decoration can only be carried out after we complete the filming."

The two of them continued walking up. The upper floor was the top floor. There was a road at the door that led directly to a special corner. Behind the corner was another small door. After opening it, there was a rooftop.

"At the right time, the most exciting jumping scene will be filmed here." Joel Silver led Ronald around on the rooftop. The two of them peeled off the railing on this side and looked down, and could see the glass curtain wall below.

"We have hired the best stunt team in Hollywood and will lay out the largest air cushion to allow the stuntmen to land safely."

"This is the fire hydrant. The stuntmen will wrap themselves around the water pipe and jump over the railing from here to rappel down."

"When will these stunts be filmed?" Ronald asked.

"We shot it right from the start, and then Fox could decorate it during the day. Most of our scenes were at night."

"Crazy, crazy," Ronald muttered. The style of 20th Century Fox made Ronald, who had bet on "Dirty Dancing", think it was too crazy. This is their style. In order to achieve the best results, they even decorated their own office buildings.

Moreover, the legal department has moved in and is renovating the two-story office upstairs while filming the movie. For a while, Ronald was a little confused as to who was the company that made the exploitation film, his own daydream or one of the seven. Twentieth Century Fox.

"Mr. Leonard Goldberg, thank you for your generous loan of the new Fox building to shoot this movie."

Ronald and Silver fled the renovation site and went to Fox's old offices, where they found President Leonard Goldberg and confirmed the filming schedule with him. In the end, the Japanese CEO in the movie was hiding in Goldberg's new CEO's office, and was finally found by the villain with a very high IQ.

"It doesn't matter, just try not to bother me during the filming." Leonard Goldberg laughed, "Now the legal department complains about the noise every day, and the administrative department complains about not being able to work in a state-of-the-art office, or Try to shoot according to the schedule so that I can avoid being scolded by them."

"Hahaha, thank you, let's take our leave now." Ronald felt that Goldberg was very capable, and the venue resources needed for the movie were all taken care of.

"Wait a minute, I have something to ask you." Leonard Goldberg took out a bottle of fine brandy, "I heard you like to drink some of this? I specially prepared some."

"I have to meet Bruce Willis to coordinate the shooting time with the Blue Moonlight crew." Joel Silver took the initiative to resign, knowing that Goldberg had something to say to Ronald.

"I heard that you and Cameron have a good relationship?" Goldberg poured Ronald a glass of wine, picked up the glass and turned it around, asking slowly.

"Yes, we have been good friends for a long time." Ronald waited to hear what was going on.

"From your understanding, is he a director who can handle big-budget projects?" Goldberg said.

"Are you talking about the movie 'The Abyss'?", Ronald smiled, "I heard him say that."

"Yes, it's better if you've heard of it. I'm in a dilemma now. Some of us on the management team like this movie and think it will be a visual breakthrough that will bring unprecedented success to American audiences. image.

But other managers feel that our special effects technology has not yet developed to this point, and the risk of investing huge sums of money is too high.

I'm not afraid of taking risks. That's Fox's tradition. My worry is whether Cameron has the ability to manage such a large project. According to the reports I read, this movie includes traditional special effects methods as well as the latest computer imaging. These two methods need to work well together... …”

Ronald took a sip of wine and remained silent.

This is an excellent opportunity for good friend Jim Cameron to realize his childhood dream. If he can find a convincing enough reason, the balance will tilt towards Cameron.

But if this is done, Gale Hurd will undoubtedly be very dissatisfied with himself. In front of Ronald, she unreservedly showed her dissatisfaction with Cameron's handling of the project.

Both of them are their friends, and the conflict is not actually about their personal feelings, but just a disagreement about their career plans.

Now that the core of the conflict has been transferred to Ronald, will his casual words cause the relationship between the two to continue to deteriorate?

"I want to hear your true thoughts, Ronald, this is very important to Fox." Seeing that Ronald was silent, Goldberg continued to ask.

"I don't know much about special effects. In fact, when I was filming Top Gun, Cameron helped with many model special effects."

"Oh?" Goldberg became interested.

"As for computer-generated images, I don't know much about them, and I can't give you any professional advice. However, if there is anyone in Hollywood who can spend enough money to produce high-level effects that are beyond the budget, That's Cameron. His movies are the best example of that. I can't answer you for the rest, Mr. Goldberg."

Ronald decided to tell the truth, or part of the truth. It's impossible for me to deny Cameron's ability anyway, I can only pick the parts I can say.

"That's it," Goldberg laughed.

Ronald reminded him that Cameron's two successful directing experiences, "Terminator" and "Alien 2", were both films that were beyond his ability at the time. In the end, not only were they completed well, but they also At the box office, it clearly exceeded the pass mark that the budget should have reached.

Such people, regardless of whether they have a mature plan now, must work hard to make the movie.

Before filming "Terminator", Cameron had only one failed experience, "Piranha 2", and before filming "Alien 2", he had never worked on a project worth more than 10 million US dollars.

This kind of movie that is slightly beyond his ability can be completed to an extraordinary level. This person has no problem in challenging himself and personal motivation.

Goldberg doesn’t know how to make movies anyway. Instead of considering evaluation criteria such as technical route and difficulty that he has no sense of, it is better to go back to what he was best at when he was on the TV station and watch people come up.

Cameron is worth the investment and the risk.

"Thanks, Ronald."

"I hope you don't mention me to Cameron, he deserves it for his talent and hard work."

"Of course, but you gave me a little inspiration, I will remember it."

"You're too polite. I just told some facts." Ronald raised his glass.

"Hahaha, your agent is canvassing for you everywhere, and I will spread the word here. Some directors and film critics have the resources to work hard for your nomination."

"Then it's my turn to say thank you." Ronald raised his glass quickly. The promise of the president of Fox is worth a few votes... right?

"I won't keep you here anymore. There are too many things going on recently, including a new building, two new movies, and more projects to prepare. When your new movie starts shooting, will you be there? If so, I Just go show up." Goldberg pressed the intercom and asked his secretary to come in. He had more people to see.

"I will be there when the filming starts. That day we have to shoot the most difficult stunt sequence in the entire film."

"Okay, Linda, please remember, when I go to the new building on the day of start-up, don't forget to remind the production department to bring some delicious comfort food." Goldberg told the secretary, "Next, I will also Who to meet?”

"Then I'll take my leave first." Ronald stood up to leave.

"Then it's time for Mr. Michael Nichols, the director. He's not here yet."

"Well, I'll wait for him. He's busy getting married recently and doesn't have enough time."

Ronald closed the door and thought:

"Isn't Michael Nichols famous for the 1967 movie that made short Dustin Hoffman famous? And he also won an Oscar."

I don’t know what other films he will make.

"Is Nichols here?" After ten minutes, Goldberg still hadn't waited for the guest. He was a little unhappy and called his secretary Linda.

"He hasn't come yet. I called his agent, and he said he didn't know. Recently, he spent most of his time shopping for his wedding. It seems that the movie "Genius" he just finished filming, even After the test screening, the final revisions were not completed.

"Hey, he is the director who can always exceed expectations." Goldberg was also a little helpless. Michael Nichols's two recent works were both collaborations with the female star Meryl Streep. .

In 1983's "Skwood Incident", both Streep and supporting actor Cher were nominated. Although neither starring Michael Jackson nor Streep was nominated for "Heartfire" in 1986, it was indeed their relatively rare success at the box office in recent years.

In addition, Nichols is a Jew who immigrated from Germany. He is a distant cousin of Einstein and is a well-known figure among German Jews.

Goldberg also thought highly of Nichols and wanted him to direct the film. But he was good at everything, except that he didn't value his Jewish identity very much. Not only are none of the three ex-wives Jewish, they are all blond and white.

Moreover, the three children born from the three marriages were not raised according to traditional Jewish customs.

This time, the fourth fiancée is Diane Sawyer, the famous host of the ABC morning news program. It seems that she will continue to live the same old lifestyle of being Jewish in name but actually mainstream white.

"Actually..." Secretary Linda said half a sentence and then closed her mouth.

"Actually what? Who did you think of?"

"Just now..." Linda pointed to the door of the office. Although Ronald just described Cameron as always exceeding expectations, he himself was also such a person.

"Him? He is a very good director and very humble. But this is a love movie for middle-aged people, and he is too young."

"But his new film 'Moonlight' is also a love story for middle-aged people, isn't it?" The secretary's favorable impression of Ronald was greater than that of Michael Nicol, who had sparse eyebrows and almost no eyebrows and used a feminine eyebrow pencil. Sri Lanka.

"Hiss... you reminded me. Let me see how this movie goes." Goldberg put down the pen and pinched his eyebrows with his hand. Could it be that this time Ronald is seeking an Oscar nomination, his agent is not messing around? But is it really a good director? It seems that we will pay attention to the evaluation of that movie after its premiere.