Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Hi, Kevin." Early the next morning, as notified by Goldberg, "Working Girl" screenwriter Kevin Wade came to visit Ronald at his apartment on Fifth Avenue. \u003c/p\u003e

He had also discussed the script in depth with another director, Mike Nichols, and it was every screenwriter's dream to have the opportunity to put his play on the screen. But Nichols' negotiations with Fox are now at an impasse. Reality sapped his enthusiasm bit by bit. \u003c/p\u003e

Now that another famous director was also interested in the script, Kevin Wade felt energized again. \u003c/p\u003e

"Hello, Ronald, uh, I mean Mr. Li. I like your film works very much." Ronald is younger than Kevin Wade imagined. He is a little worried that this director is not as good as Mike. Nichols is known for making high-concept commercial films, and his script is a sophisticated drama. \u003c/p\u003e

"Call me Ronald. I'm guessing, Kevin, do you have any experience on Broadway?" Ronald smiled and asked the other party to sit down, then picked up the breakfast menu in the building, "I haven't had breakfast yet, you If you don't mind, would you like to eat some with me? The omelette and bacon here are very good."\u003c/p\u003e

"Just coffee, yes, I did write a stage play script, which was shown Off-Broadway in 1981, and then was adapted into a screenplay in 1985. Of course, the box office cannot compare with your movie. \u003c /p\u003e

In addition, I previously worked as a screenwriter for Mark Rapaport, an independent film producer in New York, and wrote two film scripts for him. ”\u003c/p\u003e

Kevin Wade is over 40 years old, but he is still a little nervous in front of Ronald. This time his script will definitely become a big production. What a screenwriter needs most in the industry is a movie that the audience will be familiar with. \u003c/p\u003e

"No wonder, your script always reminds me of Broadway, with its compact plot. How did you come up with this story? I always feel that this story was written with a profound insight into the female secretaries who work on Wall Street. "Ronald still admires screenwriter Wade. \u003c/p\u003e

"You may not know that I lived on Staten Island before I went to Hollywood. I take a boat to Manhattan every week. On the boat, I saw many female secretaries who work in Manhattan and rent houses on Staten Island. . They do feel distressed about expensive high heels as you wrote, so they wear sneakers to work and change them when they get to the office."\u003c/p\u003e

"Aha, that's it." Kyle Wade suddenly realized that no wonder Ronald would be interested in his script. He recalled the scene at that time, and then slowly told the source of his inspiration:\u003c/p\u003e

"At that time,

I had just written a successful screenplay and finally no longer had to skip the subway ticket. I spent a lot of time riding my bike around New York at the time...I was working as a bartender and there was an abandoned road behind the bar and I would get on in the village and go down to Battery Park. \u003c/p\u003e

There I would see the Staten Island Ferry coming up and working girls in sneakers getting off the boat and then stopping to put on high heels... I was like writing a story about a low-level working girl who was struggling on Wall Street... ”\u003c/p\u003e

It turns out that Kevin Wade's inspiration also came from the detail of the secretary changing shoes. He immediately thought that the protagonist of the new script should be a young working girl who works in New York but is not familiar with the world of people here - because of her mother's illness, she did not go to college and was not born in an upper-city family. I used the money I saved from working as a secretary to attend night school and complete a business course. \u003c/p\u003e

Wade finished writing the script and pitched it to several places, but the producers felt it should be a TV series, not a movie. \u003c/p\u003e

Until this year, his script was recommended to Mike Nichols by 20th Century Fox. \u003c/p\u003e

After talking with Wade, Nichols prepared to undergo major surgery on the script, and then used this to ask for more casting rights and co-production conditions from his company. For this reason, he shelved the script with 20th Century Fox, and now it's finally in Ronald's hands. \u003c/p\u003e

"To be honest, how far do you think this script is from being able to be made into a movie?" Kevin Wade actually doesn't have many other requirements. His core demands are two points:\u003c/p\u003e

First, start filming as soon as possible so that he can become famous. Second, he was guaranteed to be the only screenwriter to sign the script. \u003c/p\u003e

"I think some details need more improvement."\u003c/p\u003e

"Oh, I don't know what aspects it is." Kevin Wade was a little disappointed. These directors used the script to be improved as an excuse to let themselves or their friends add additional signatures to the script. He wanted to hear what Ronald thought. \u003c/p\u003e

"First of all, the merger and acquisition story, I think is a bit too simplified. What we filmed is a real business war film, and we need this merger and acquisition story to have the final twist, so that people who really work on Wall Street can't find the obvious Flaw."\u003c/p\u003e

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"Well, this is indeed my weakness. Before I became a screenwriter, I was a bartender... I read the Wall Street Journal for a long time. The story of Japan's Sony Corporation acquiring Columbia Records last year gave me inspiration. I thought if US-funded Colombia wanted to resist the acquisition, what could it do? At that time, there was a report in the Wall Street Journal saying that legislation was needed to protect American media companies from being acquired by Japanese capital, which gave me inspiration..."\u003c/p \u003e

Wade had to admit that he really couldn't read those companies' annual reports. He relied on reading newspaper reports to use his imagination. \u003c/p\u003e

"It doesn't matter. I know many investment managers on Wall Street. I can find a consultant for you. If you have any professional questions, just ask him. Of course, it is up to you to grasp the specific plot."\u003c/p\u003e

"Huh? I thought you would find a screenwriter who can write about business wars to rewrite it..." Kevin Wade didn't expect that Ronald didn't use the common excuses in Hollywood to change his script to another person, but a rare Hire a consultant and let yourself complete the short version. It's rare to see such a director. \u003c/p\u003e

Ronald smiled and shook his head, "This is very difficult. I am also a screenwriter myself. Your script is very tight. If you change it to another person, you will lose the rhythm of the script."\u003c/p\u003e

"Is there anything else that needs improvement?" Kevin Wade took out a pen and paper and started recording. This is a director who really understands the script, and I am very lucky to have met him. The balance in his heart has shifted slightly from Nichols. \u003c/p\u003e

Although Mike Nichols is an Oscar winner for Best Director, and Ronald is just a commercial film director, respect is something that a screenwriter can hardly get from a director. \u003c/p\u003e

"Also, I think Tess's direct boss, the manager of the investment company, could be replaced by a woman?" Ronald put forward another opinion of his own. \u003c/p\u003e

"Dingdong...Sir, your breakfast has arrived."\u003c/p\u003e

"I'll open the door." Ronald stood up first to open the door and asked the waiter to push the dining cart in. He also handed a $20 tip to the waiter, and then said to Wade, "Come on, try it. Don’t you really need some coffee here?”\u003c/p\u003e

"Thank you." Kevin Wade took the slice of bread from Ronald, put two slices of bacon on the plate, picked up the knife and fork and started eating. \u003c/p\u003e

Wade frowned, but he decided to tell his true thoughts and chatted with Ronald. It felt like talking about creation with other screenwriters in a cafe. Although deep down, Wade knew that he and the other party were not equal, but this equal and casual attitude made him very useful. \u003c/p\u003e

"I set up a male boss because of some female power considerations..." Wade finished his breakfast in a hurry, took a sip of coffee, and organized his words. \u003c/p\u003e

"What you said is very interesting, please continue..." Ronald made a gesture. \u003c/p\u003e

"In America, women are always assigned the role of raising children at home. Although their abilities and talents are not necessarily worse than their male colleagues.\u003c/p\u003e

And Tess is a girl from a lower-middle-class background. Her family cannot afford college tuition, so she has to work part-time to attend night school. \u003c/p\u003e

..."\u003c/p\u003e

"So, you want Tess to be a spokesperson for class and gender? Focus the dramatic conflict on how she breaks through herself and finds her dreams in America?"\u003c/p\u003e

"Yes, that's what I think. The audience will like such a motivated and good girl."\u003c/p\u003e

"That's why I think it might be a better idea to change her boss to a woman."\u003c/p\u003e

Ronald stopped for coffee and chatted with Kevin Wade. \u003c/p\u003e

"You see, in addition to female secretaries like Tess, there are actually some women who have reached high-level positions in Wall Street companies. They come from good families, are well-educated, are likely to study abroad, and their spouses are all Those kids from wealthy families who graduated from Ivy League schools.\u003c/p\u003e

But what they are not as good as Tess is their talent and their continuous efforts to strive upward! ”\u003c/p\u003e

Ronald talked about his thoughts. Although it is a film that reflects the struggle of women in the workplace, perhaps the best way is to set up a opposite of Tess and make another woman who has a family background and a love life that Tess dreams of. , to be her secretary’s boss. In this way, the audience can immediately feel what Tess will look like after her inner dream is realized. Then the plot of her desperate attempt to contact Jack Traynor by pretending to be a manager will be more reasonable and have more dramatic conflicts. \u003c/p\u003e

"You make sense, but is this the whole reason?" Kevin Wade thought for a while, and what Ronald said was reasonable. Maybe there were some things. Movies and stage plays had different requirements for scripts. Having such a female character who is a mirror image of Tess is probably the best choice for the movie. \u003c/p\u003e

"I'll tell you the truth, because it's convenient to set up a plot of two women competing for a husband. Tess and his boss, let's call her Catherine for now, are both in love with Jack Traynor. Catherine also wants to catch him Traynor, a blue chip stock, allows him to propose to himself, which is beneficial in the commercial film market. The target audience of our film is urban people, and they will want to see such a plot in the film."\u003c/ p\u003e

"You're right." Kevin Wade covered his head and thought for a long time. He felt that Ronald was right. After all, movies are not novels. A scheming middle-aged male boss is indeed not as good as two beautiful female stars who are jealous and compete with each other for career development. \u003c/p\u003e

"Then we'll call him Catherine. What do you think of Tess's name? Do you need to change it?" Kevin Wade suddenly asked a question. \u003c/p\u003e

"Huh?" Ronald was suspicious, as this sentence seemed to have a deeper meaning. "Tess...Tess."\u003c/p\u003e

Ronald picked up the coffee and took another sip as a cover-up. My mind was spinning rapidly. Why did Kevin Wade give the heroine the role of Tess? He must have some deep meaning, otherwise he wouldn't give himself a small test at the most critical moment. \u003c/p\u003e

Now I am at the stage where I need Kevin Wade to vote for me, rather than hoping to bring back Mike Nichols. If you could tell him what he was thinking, it would undoubtedly greatly increase the weight on the scale in favor of you. \u003c/p\u003e

Tess, this name is still very familiar. When Ronald was working as a portrait photographer in Los Angeles, he took portraits of German actress Natasha Kinski. Natasha Kinski became a star because she starred in the film adaptation of the famous novel "Tess" directed by Polanski.\u003c/p\u003e

The name Teresa is usually nicknamed Terri, or Tracy, and less often abbreviated to Tess. Kevin Wade named it this way, undoubtedly wanting to borrow some background from the film "Tess of the D'Urbervilles". \u003c/p\u003e

Thinking of this, Ronald smiled and said, "You can't change it. If you change it, then he won't be Tess in the Promised Land. In nineteenth-century Britain, no matter how hard Tess worked or had talent, she couldn't rise to the next level. In twentieth-century New York, everyone can achieve their dreams through hard work..."\u003c/p\u003e

"Hahaha..." Kevin Wade laughed. Ronald was indeed not the kind of director who only made exploitation films. He was quite familiar with the essence of these classical literature and classical dramas, and saw through the fact that he named the protagonist Moss. The deep meaning of silk. \u003c/p\u003e

"Did I pass the test?" Ronald laughed. \u003c/p\u003e

"One hundred percent", Wade did not deny the trick he had played, "Then did I pass your test? You just asked me how I came up with the inspiration for writing such a script..."\u003c/p\u003e

It turned out that Ronald also hid a small hook in his previous question. He felt that the script of "Working Girl" was really good. In fact, he had already investigated Kevin Wade's background information through his agent. \u003c/p\u003e

How does such a person, who makes money as a bartender and persists in his dream, know anything about Wall Street mergers and acquisitions? Ronald was a little suspicious that Wade plagiarized a script that detailed Wall Street mergers and acquisitions, then added some romantic elements and rewrote it into what it is now. \u003c/p\u003e

If this is really the case, although there is no problem with copyright registration now, after the filming is released, someone will definitely jump out and say that their movie is plagiarized. The inevitable legal prosecution and subsequent reputational damage are troublesome. \u003c/p\u003e

"Of course you pass it 100%," Ronald said. "In fact, this plot can be used in Tess's final twist. She, not her boss Catherine, came up with this idea to prevent mergers and acquisitions, and clarified it to the big boss of the multinational company. The answer. In the end, we relied on this to turn Tess around and defeat Catherine who stole her idea."\u003c/p\u003e

"Damn, that's a great idea, I'm jealous you came up with it." Kevin Wade quickly jotted in his notebook, "You're not going to have Jack Traynor end up siding with Tess instead of Doesn't that betray Tess in my script? Do you want Jack and Tess to get married? Isn't that too tacky?"\u003c/p\u003e

Kevin Wade thought that if this was reversed, then Jack Traynor, the handsome boy between the two women, could actually stand firmly on Tess's side and have a happy ending. \u003c/p\u003e

"Audiences like happy endings, Kevin, and of course, you have the final say on the script."\u003c/p\u003e

"Well... let's do what you want." Kevin Wade nodded, and with such respect, he was satisfied. After all, Ronald is a commercial film director, and it is normal to pursue box office. \u003c/p\u003e

"Then let's do this for now. My new movie 'Moonlight' will premiere this weekend. You will come, right?" Ronald stood up and said goodbye to Kevin Wade, and invited him to attend the premiere by the way, "Then The film's screenwriter, John Stanley Shanley, was also a Broadway screenwriter."\u003c/p\u003e

"I will definitely be there." Kevin Wade accepted the invitation from Ronald. He became interested when he heard it and wanted to see if Ronald's ability to adapt Broadway plays into movies would satisfy him. satisfy. \u003c/p\u003e

"Hi, Theresa, long time no see." After seeing Wade off, Ronald waited for his partner in the leg warmer business, Theresa Kate. She has gained a lot of weight now and feels very happy. Her husband David loves her very much, and their son is already in kindergarten. \u003c/p\u003e

"Ronald, I'm so glad to see you." Since Teresa's leg warmer company was sold to Jane Fonda, she only visited retail stores in Manhattan and lived a very leisurely life. \u003c/p\u003e

"Why did you specially invite me here? I was planning to visit you at your aunt's house when you go to Staten Island." The two of them exchanged greetings, and Teresa even showed Ronald a photo of her son to admire. Finally, he asked Ronald about the reason for inviting him here. \u003c/p\u003e

"I'm going to make a movie based on your time as a secretary in Manhattan, and I'm asking you to be a consultant on the movie."\u003c/p\u003e

"Oh?...What do you want me to do?" Teresa was very happy that she actually had the opportunity to participate in the movie. It’s still a movie based on myself. \u003c/p\u003e

Ronald briefly introduced the plot of the movie, "I'm worried that those Hollywood actors won't be able to play Wall Street secretaries. You are very smart and capable. So I want you to serve as a consultant to help the actress. It is best to lead They know all aspects of being a Wall Street secretary. I will find an opportunity for the actress who plays Tess to go to a Wall Street financial company for an internship, and you can help introduce them to some of the rules and regulations on Wall Street."\u003c/p\u003e

After saying that, Ronald looked at Teresa. He hoped to have an insider to increase the credibility of the film. There was no more suitable candidate than Teresa. \u003c/p\u003e

"So, Tess finally defeated her boss and became the manager, right?" Theresa did not agree immediately, but asked about Tess's ending. \u003c/p\u003e

"Yes, she finally got that unscrupulous female boss fired, became the manager herself, and even stole her boyfriend..."\u003c/p\u003e

"Okay, I promise you!" Theresa Kate is very happy that her dream that she could not fulfill back then may still be realized in the movie. \u003c/p\u003e

Afterwards, Ronald called Steve Bannon, his partner in making money in Japan, and asked for help. \u003c/p\u003e

Bannon heard that he was going to send Catherine and Tess to Wall Street for an internship to learn how financial elites speak and behave, so he agreed immediately. \u003c/p\u003e

"So, you will make our image more positive, right?" Bannon complained on the phone at the end. "In the movie 'Wall Street' that was just released, the banker Gekko played by Michael Douglas, how can he be so evil? Bud, played by Charlie Sheen, an upright young man who escaped the scandal but exposed the violation, was prosecuted and sentenced.\u003c/p\u003e

Even if we were really that bad, Oliver Stone wouldn't have to shoot like this, right? Moreover, the current New York Attorney General Rudy is selfless. He is preparing to chase and beat Milken. I don't think it is so easy to escape. ”\u003c/p\u003e

"Don't worry, I always get rid of bad bankers when I make movies, and in the end, the good bankers win." Ronald laughed. Hollywood is actually not afraid of portraying people in any industry in a bad light. Evil, as long as the good guys stand up and defeat the bad guys, doesn’t it still reflect the positive image of the industry? \u003c/p\u003e

But isn't that Milken the bond king who helped Minahan Golan raise 400 million? Why is he now being investigated by Rudy, the prosecutor who helped him deal with the New York Mafia? \u003c/p\u003e

"Okay, then I'm relieved. By the way, can I play a role in the movie?" Bannon said again. \u003c/p\u003e

"How about you just play a small role, playing the boss of Tess's first company?" Ronald thought it would be good to have a real banker play a small role. \u003c/p\u003e

"Okay, it's settled. I'll find you the best banker in the industry as a consultant for the film crew." After receiving the promise, Bannon hung up the phone happily. His initial involvement in Hollywood was also related to his love for movies. \u003c/p\u003e

The busy morning passed quickly, and it was time for lunch. The last person to accompany Ronald was his cousin Donna. \u003c/p\u003e

"You want to make a movie about Wall Street?" Donna tilted her head and looked at Ronald. \u003c/p\u003e

"Yes, I want to film it. Do you remember Teresa from the leg warmer shop? The script I want to film is based on a secretary like her."\u003c/p\u003e

"Oh, really? I didn't expect that." Donna looked at Ronald, "So there are many female characters?"\u003c/p\u003e

"Yes, but the protagonist is not suitable for Diane. Tess will be an ordinary-looking female secretary who has not made a breakthrough at the age of thirty. If she were five years older, maybe she would be suitable." Ronald also wanted to support him. Look like Diane, but the difference in age and appearance cannot necessarily be made up by makeup. \u003c/p\u003e

Ronald had a hard time imagining Diane Lane or Helen Slater acting ugly. They lack the experience of being frustrated by life and having no future. \u003c/p\u003e

"It's okay to play a supporting role, right?" Donna was not satisfied, "You don't object to me telling her... um...?"\u003c/p\u003e

"Of course I don't object. I originally wanted to find Paula...her new agent and let her audition. If I could eventually direct this movie."\u003c/p\u003e

"That's pretty much it..." Donna raised her glass and clinked it with Ronald with a smile. \u003c/p\u003e

"Would you like to have dinner with me tonight? I don't have anyone to eat with in New York." Ronald called the waiter to pay the bill. Helen had already started to prepare for her movie, and there was no one to hang out with in New York. \u003c/p\u003e

Donna stood up and wrinkled her nose. "I have a date tonight, you can find someone yourself."\u003c/p\u003e

"Oh, well...your poor brother will have to find someone by himself."\u003c/p\u003e

Ronald thought to himself that after all, Donna was an elite office worker. She was so beautiful and had a good job. She must be pursued by many young bankers. He wondered what kind of person her future husband would be. \u003c/p\u003e