Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Scenes of "Die Hard" are still being filmed in the new building of 20th Century Fox. \u003c/p\u003e

Some areas that were originally scheduled for interior decoration were suspended, and the messy construction sites were retained until the filming of the movie was completed before decoration began. \u003c/p\u003e

The one most affected is the company's legal department. Their office is just one floor below the shooting location and is often disturbed by noise and dust. But the employees liked it very much because they could sneak up and see the filming scene. \u003c/p\u003e

"There is no problem with this version of the contract. You can sign it."\u003c/p\u003e

After reading the new version of the contract sent by the legal department, Ronald's business lawyer, Mickey Kanter, a well-known barrister in the Los Angeles entertainment industry, whispered in his ear, saying that he had helped him rule out Fox's burial. All mines in the contract. \u003c/p\u003e

Goldberg, the president of Fox, gave Ronald the top salary a commercial director could get to direct "Working Girl." But the price is that Ronald's Daydream can only sign his name to the production company in a symbolic way, and does not receive much dividends. \u003c/p\u003e

After the arguments of Ronald's agent and company executives, Daydream finally obtained a commensurate small investment amount and enjoyed priority sharing rights. Fox's legal department has pre-buried a lot of director obligations in the contract, and they are tied to the final share. \u003c/p\u003e

For example, whether the movie can be nominated for an Oscar, its box office performance, and the marketing activities that Ronald must attend as a director, etc. \u003c/p\u003e

But these elites in the legal department are all named partners of famous large law firms in Los Angeles, Kennedy Jr.'s boss when he was a lawyer, and disciples and grandsons of Mickey Kanter. \u003c/p\u003e

Of course, these little tricks cannot escape his discerning eye. \u003c/p\u003e

After arguing with each other, Fox's legal department had to compromise on many contract terms. Today, when Ronald flies back from New York, he can come over and sign a contract. \u003c/p\u003e

"Cheers!" Goldberg took out the champagne to celebrate this small victory. Recently, under his governance, many projects have been successfully promoted. Many projects have found popular stars. In addition to Ronald's project, there are also projects by female director Penny Marshall that are about to be produced. \u003c/p\u003e

"Can your casting be done faster? We don't know if we can make it in time for the Christmas holiday.

Release the casting news for ‘Working Girl’? "What Goldberg is really good at is public relations and marketing.\u003c/p\u003e

"I can't guarantee anything, but I will go with my casting director to meet with a candidate for the heroine later."\u003c/p\u003e

"Ah, you always put the producers at ease and walk the walk, Ronald. That's why Hollywood likes you so much... Hahaha..." Goldberg drank the champagne with satisfaction. \u003c/p\u003e

Everyone ended the brief signing ceremony, and the photos taken by the photographer will appear in the latest news column in newspapers such as Hollywood Reporter tomorrow as a small news announcement about the launch of the project. \u003c/p\u003e

"Ronald..." At the elevator entrance, lawyer Mickey Kanter stopped Ronald, "Can we talk?"\u003c/p\u003e

"Of course..." Ronald and he walked to the window on the side, separated from the others. \u003c/p\u003e

"Can I ask, why did you compromise on the box office share terms and then win back on the video share? Are you more optimistic about the video share? Is it because Top Gun's video sales figures gave you confidence?"\u003c/p\u003e

As a senior lawyer in Hollywood, Mickey Kanter is very concerned about the trends of the industry. Ronald, uncharacteristically, did not care about the box office dividends this time, which made him feel that another change in the pattern of profit distribution was just around the corner. . \u003c/p\u003e

Thinking of the recent frequent contacts between several major labor unions and the Producers Guild, Mickey Kanter wanted to know the thoughts of Ronald, a director known for his high return on investment. \u003c/p\u003e

"Actually, no one can predict the box office of a movie, Mickey." Ronald spread his hands, "In fact, no one in this industry knows what to do (to make money)." \u003c/p\u003e

Seeing that Mickey Kanter didn't believe him, Ronald added, "But I know that the return of video tapes is far easier than the box office of a movie. My accountant told me that there is room for manipulation in this. Far less than the box office. And like the box office, you don’t have to wait another year after the release to get the refund from the theater. You see, the Dirty Dancing movie is almost out now, and I haven’t gotten a single point yet. Where’s the money back?”\u003c/p\u003e

"Great business observation, great." Mickey Kanter admired Ronald's business sense. A young director can be artistically successful while also having a business mind. One person has two talents at the same time. Geniuses in the field are rare. \u003c/p\u003e

"Has the box office of Dirty Dancing exceeded 100 million? Several girls in my family like to watch it very much."\u003c/p\u003e

"It's still a little bit short. I don't expect to have a breakthrough until the end of January next year." Ronald smiled. Dirty Dancing's box office performance in North America exceeded everyone's expectations. It has exceeded 80 million and is about to exceed 80 million. Ninety million. If some copy rental fees for overseas distribution are included, the book profit has far exceeded 100 million. \u003c/p\u003e

But as Ronald said just now, the return of box office dividends has always been a very difficult matter. The theater must be dragging its feet and wait until the end of next year before the legal deadline for lawsuits is reached before the box office dividends are paid in full. \u003c/p\u003e

But the money-making power of Dirty Dancing doesn’t lie solely at the box office. \u003c/p\u003e

The film's soundtrack album, "Dirty Dancing," has quietly been No. 1 on the sales charts for many weeks. The sales of Michael Jackson's new album have always been suppressed. It was not until recently that MJ personally called Ronald to say hello that the sales figures were even better than those reported. \u003c/p\u003e

But even so, the sales in America have made RCA very happy. Next year it is expected to exceed 10 million copies, bringing huge wealth to the record company and Ronald himself. At the end of the year, there is another huge check, which will cause Ronald to pay a huge income tax. \u003c/p\u003e

While the iron is still hot, the second soundtrack album "More Dirty Dancing" produced by RCA and Daydream has also been completed recently. 10 interludes that have no chance of being included in the first album, but have appeared in the movie, and 5 new interludes selected by RCA to match the film's style will be released soon at the end of February next year. \u003c/p\u003e

In comparison, Ronald's "Dirty Dancing" video, which Coca-Cola carefully produced and which Coca-Cola subsidized at $6 per copy, is expected to rank third in revenue for a movie that cost less than $5 million. look like. \u003c/p\u003e

Fortunately, the videotape, which will be sold around next year's Super Bowl, is a short-term business, with quick payback. Ronald will receive his first payment before next year's Oscars party. \u003c/p\u003e

Even recently, the leaders and Congress want to cancel the preferential personal income tax. Investment in the stock market cannot be deferred and exempted. How to deal with the tax on so much money needs to be carefully considered. If you really can't afford to buy a house, forget it. \u003c/p\u003e

Ronald, who has recently become energetic after counting money and works 10 hours a day without feeling sleepy, is waiting for the income from records and video tapes to arrive, so he can rush to buy a house in Los Angeles and decorate the landscaped garden on Staten Island. The project is in progress. \u003c/p\u003e

[Recommended, the Changyuan app for chasing books is really useful. Download it here. You can try it soon. 】\u003c/p\u003e

"Mickey, do you want to come up with me and take a look? Die Hard is being filmed there. It's a good movie." Ronald, who was happy, saw Julia Taylor, who was coming with him, and was already waving to him in front of the elevator. So an invitation was also extended to Mickey Kanter. \u003c/p\u003e

"Why not? This is a movie you produced?"\u003c/p\u003e

"Yes, First Blood takes place in the building, you know what I mean?" Ronald and guests like Skilled and Mickey went upstairs to visit the crew. \u003c/p\u003e

……\u003c/p\u003e

"Alan, what are you doing here?"\u003c/p\u003e

When he arrived at the filming floor, Ronald saw Alan Rickman at a glance. He had a big, bad-looking beard and was chatting with the crew. \u003c/p\u003e

"Hello Ronald, I'm practicing my American accent with them." Rickman came over to say hello to Ronald. He just had nothing to do right now, making fun with these small-town staff and chatting with them. When they chat, imitate their accent. \u003c/p\u003e

The West End-trained theater actor is honing his craft all the time. \u003c/p\u003e

"Where's Joel (Silver)?" Ronald saw that not only the supporting actor Rickman, but also many staff members were chatting and playing on the set as if they had nothing to do, and he suddenly felt that Joel Silver's The producer acted a bit irresponsibly. \u003c/p\u003e

"Ronald, Ronald...fuck you...you are finally here, just come..."\u003c/p\u003e

Just as he was talking, Joel Silver came over from a distance and said, "Go to my lounge to talk."\u003c/p\u003e

"This is my lawyer, Mr. Mickey Kantor, whom you know. This is my casting director, Julia Taylor, from New York."\u003c/p\u003e

Ronald couldn't show such eagerness, so he introduced everyone to Joel Silver as normal. \u003c/p\u003e

"Mickey, Julia, everyone is on their own, I have something urgent..."\u003c/p\u003e

Joel Silver knew the regulars in Hollywood, so he took Ronald to the lounge next to him. \u003c/p\u003e

"What's wrong? Where's director John McTiernan?" Ronald entered the room, looked at Joel Silver who was sweating with anxiety, and asked. \u003c/p\u003e

"I didn't investigate carefully before. McTiernan is a 'live director'. Fortunately you can come, we need to solve this matter..." Joel Silver took a script and handed it to Ronald come over. \u003c/p\u003e

Ronald opened it and saw that the script was much thicker than when he turned it on. There were many blue, pink, yellow, orange... inserts in various colors. \u003c/p\u003e

According to Hollywood rules, the script is locked after it is turned on. Once it is modified, it must be copied on different colored paper and then replaced with the original white paper. Every time a revision is made, a new color is used so that the cast and crew can see it clearly and everyone is in sync. \u003c/p\u003e

The colorful papers that Ronald saw showed that Director McTiernan continued to revise the script on the spot after the filming started. Fortunately, Joel Silver's on-site management was excellent. Otherwise, if he didn't follow the rules, everyone would probably be angry. The version of the script will be wrong, and there must have been a lot of problems. \u003c/p\u003e

"How's the progress?"\u003c/p\u003e

"The progress is okay, but the overtime hours every day are very long. Just like now, the crew is waiting for that bastard McTiernan. Halfway through the filming, he felt that the original plot was unreasonable, so he had to revise it. This happens every day things, our crew will inevitably go over budget."\u003c/p\u003e

"If you overspend, just overspend. What do you want me to do?" Ronald was also mentally prepared for this kind of thing. Not all directors were trained by Roger Corman. Many people have new inspirations while taking pictures, and it wouldn’t be right if you don’t let them take pictures. \u003c/p\u003e

This is why, every time he works with a new director, Ronald will relax 20% of the budget, and this part of the money will be used as a reserve in case the director is halfway through filming and various unforeseen circumstances arise. \u003c/p\u003e

"You have to tell me, will these modifications improve the quality of the film? Or are they purely to satisfy the director himself?"\u003c/p\u003e

Joel Silver had nothing to hide from Ronald, and the two were ultimately responsible for the film project and were both in the same boat. At this time, it would be most reliable to listen to the thoughts of Ronald, who is also the director. \u003c/p\u003e

"Actually, it's okay... I haven't seen the sample film. Judging from the revision of the script, John McTiernan didn't mess around. But his inspiration is really not very good? I saw that many plots were filmed halfway through. Rewritten?"\u003c/p\u003e

Ronald picked up the shooting diary. In many of the shooting records, the director rewrote the scenes and lines and reshot the scene halfway through the shooting. If it weren't for the skill of Joel Silver's assistants, these confusing shot numbers would have killed the editor during post-editing. \u003c/p\u003e

"That's okay. I have to give the assistant girls more overtime pay. I order delicious food to reward them every day. I often take apart all the script copies, replace them and rebind them every night. It's very common to work overtime until midnight. ”\u003c/p\u003e

"Where is the director and starring Bruce Willis?" Ronald gave Silver reassurance that this script modification was based on Ronald's experience and John McTiernan's previous filming of "The Predator" Judging from the image quality, it is still going in a good direction, but the creative process is a bit messy. \u003c/p\u003e

"McTiernan was holding back on the script, and he said there was a plot twist that was difficult to handle, and Bruce was 'taking a break' with his girlfriend." Joel Silver gave him a wink. \u003c/p\u003e

"Take me to meet them..."\u003c/p\u003e

"Okay, okay..." Joel Silver finally got Ronald, a busy man, back to the shooting scene just to let him play his role. \u003c/p\u003e

"John, I heard there's a twist issue?" Ronald entered the director's lounge. He tried his best to act like a fellow director discussing with McTiernan, and not show the negative emotions brought about by his producer duties. . \u003c/p\u003e

"Ronald, you are here, look at this. I just discovered today that the plot in which the villain Hans Krupp discovers that MacLean is the one who is against them lacks drama..."\u003c/p\u003e

"The end of the second act, entering the third act, huh?"\u003c/p\u003e

Ronald listened to McTiernan's story, but the problem still arose before entering the finale of the final act. \u003c/p\u003e

The polite villain finally discovered that McClain was the hero who was against him. On an unfinished floor, he suddenly encountered McLean, played by Bruce Willis. \u003c/p\u003e

Two heroes and villains who have never met suddenly meet here. How to separate them again, then go back to regroup, and finally face off again on the rooftop is a big problem in the plot. \u003c/p\u003e

The showdown between the hero and the villain is always left to the end. So this encounter was just the first time the two faced each other, and each found that the other was the opponent in their destiny. \u003c/p\u003e

But this plot needs to be dramatic, to arouse the audience's tension, and to have the second act end here, and all the contradictions can no longer be alleviated. \u003c/p\u003e

John McLean and Hans Krupp must realize that neither can fulfill their destiny unless they kill the other. \u003c/p\u003e

This fate, for McClain, is to save his wife and his colleagues in the company, become a hero, and find a way to reconcile with his wife. For Hans, it was to kill McClain and take away the large unregistered national debt. \u003c/p\u003e

"Why the hell didn't you think of that before?" Ronald cursed secretly, sat down and read the plot written by McTiernan. \u003c/p\u003e

Artists all work differently. I heard that Francis Coppola also had the habit of changing plots on set. Some more extreme directors can even make changes while filming based on the actors' performances after filming starts. It is also common to turn supporting characters into protagonists. \u003c/p\u003e

For example, fellow casting director Julia Taylor, her former long-term collaborator Woody Allen, often does this, forgetting the main plot while filming, and finally completes the story in the hands of the editor. \u003c/p\u003e

When Hans Krupp saw John McClain, he had to recognize him as the man who was against him. But the conflict cannot break out at this moment and postpone the final battle to the end of the third act. \u003c/p\u003e

Ronald read for a long time, and everything McTiernan wrote was centered around this theme. \u003c/p\u003e

Perhaps it was the first time he saw this storyline, or perhaps it was a hint of the direction of the plot in his dream. Ronald had a flash of inspiration and said to McTiernan, "You know Alan Rickman can imitate an American accent now." Is it done?"\u003c/p\u003e

"Oh?" John McTiernan still didn't know what Ronald meant. \u003c/p\u003e

"The kidnapper speaks with a German accent, but Mike has never seen him before. I don't know what he looks like. What if he can change to an American accent?" Ronald thought to himself that this man's qualifications were not good enough, and he had already hinted so clearly. . \u003c/p\u003e

"You mean, you can let Hans Krupp speak with an American accent, pretend to be one of the hostages, and escape from MacLean?"\u003c/p\u003e

"What do you think? You have never seen each other before, right?"\u003c/p\u003e

"No, no, you have such a genius idea. I will change it right away. Once the changes are completed, we can shoot. All the clues of the second act can be gathered here, and then the two of them will naturally enter the final battle. Because MacLean has met Hans, it is natural to finally find out that he is the leader of the kidnappers..."\u003c/p\u003e

"Okay?" Joel Silver looked at McTiernan writing furiously over there and said, "That's it? You are really a genius."\u003c/p\u003e

"Is Bruce Willis 'resting' ready? I have to..." Ronald walked out. McTiernan estimated that it would take another half an hour, which would be convenient for him and Julia Taylor to do things. \u003c/p\u003e

"Okay, I'll take you there. He's tired of being with his girlfriend every day. He's resting when he's not filming."\u003c/p\u003e

Joel Silver ran to Willis's lounge and knocked on the door, "I'm Silver, Bruce, are you there?"\u003c/p\u003e

"What's going on?" Bruce Willis, wearing a white vest, poked his head out from behind the door. \u003c/p\u003e

"It's Ronald here. He wants to talk to you. You know he has a new project..." Joel Silver still respects this very dedicated leading actor, although he was noisy during the break on the set. Quite a bit. \u003c/p\u003e

"Hey...Ronald. Come on, I just didn't get my turn to film, Demi, Demi..."\u003c/p\u003e

Demi Moore poked her head out from behind, her hair was still a little messy, and she was holding her clothes with her hands. \u003c/p\u003e

"Hi, Ronald!" She tried to sound as natural as possible. \u003c/p\u003e

"Ronald came to me to talk about a new play, can you believe it? I was a TV actor before, and now a big director like Ronald comes to me...huh?" Bruce Willis was very happy, Making this kind of action movie is really what I want to do, and it's much more enjoyable than a series like "Blue Moonlight" that can't be edited anymore. \u003c/p\u003e

"Demi, help me order some delicious food. Ronald and I need to talk carefully...McTiernan is always procrastinating, and it's not time to start filming. He's starving."\u003c /p\u003e

As he spoke, Bruce Willis took out a bunch of 20-dollar bills from his pocket, which looked like more than two hundred dollars, and handed it to Demi Moore. \u003c/p\u003e

"Oh..." Demi Moore was a little angry, but this is the character of this rough boyfriend. \u003c/p\u003e

"No, you are mistaken, I came to talk to Demi..." Ronald smiled and pointed at Demi Moore, watching Bruce Willis's face change. \u003c/p\u003e

"Well, haven't you always wanted to play a movie with a real protagonist? It's definitely not wrong for Ronald to come to you." Bruce Willis stood up to cover up his loss and embarrassment, "I'll buy you some pizza ." He put on his coat and went out. \u003c/p\u003e

"I want pineapple," Demi Moore added. She is on a diet and doesn't want to eat too much meat. \u003c/p\u003e

"Let the assistant go," Ronald smiled and pointed at Joel Silver. \u003c/p\u003e

"I'll go, I'll go", Joel Silver came over with a smile and took the cash from Bruce Willis' hand, "Cowboy, let's get something meaty..."\u003c/p\u003e

"Yes, pizza is only as good as meat." Bruce Willis was handed the steps and walked out with Joel Silver. \u003c/p\u003e

"Demi, this is Julia, Julia Taylor, my casting director...I'm asking you this time, do you feel like being the heroine..."\u003c/p\u003e

"Heroine? Did you direct it?" Demi Moore's eyes shone with light. Did she finally have the opportunity to beckon to her? \u003c/p\u003e

"Yes, but you will play a secretary who is close to thirty years old...it may damage the image." Ronald said the difficult part first. \u003c/p\u003e

"No problem, you won't make the heroine look ugly all the time. I understand you, Ronald." Demi Moore didn't hesitate at all. I asked the agent to contact you and you can arrange the audition. ”\u003c/p\u003e

"Very good..." Ronald looked at the casting director Julia Taylor next to him. \u003c/p\u003e

Julia Taylor nodded secretly, indicating that at least she would not be eliminated. \u003c/p\u003e

"Do you think she is suitable?" Ronald asked Taylor after walking out of the lounge. \u003c/p\u003e

"Yes, at least her character of decisively risking everything for opportunities is very similar to Tess. As for her appearance, she is a little too beautiful. Let the makeup artist look ugly..."\u003c/ p\u003e