Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"What do you think about your Oscar nomination for Best Director?" Two Los Angeles newspapers, "Hollywood Report" and "Variety", have already interviewed Ronald. This time it was the reporter's turn from New York's film and television comedy magazine "Stage" to interview.

Everyone asked almost similar questions. Ronald followed the announcement he had made in advance and showed a charming smile again, as if the other person asked a good question that really tickled him.

"I feel honored. This is a great compliment for me... The Oscar judges and members of the Academy are very fair. I am very touched to be recognized by them..."

Just like the first interview, Ronald cooperated very well to complete the process. Today, five or six media came to interview him, mainly because he was nominated for the Oscar's major creative award before he turned 30. This is a very good news point.

After dealing with the reporter, the agent Richard handed over the phone receiver and said, "Steven called back."

Ronald raised his eyebrows and took the phone. Since the nomination was announced, he asked his agent to contact Spielberg's assistant, hoping to have a chat with him.

The epic film "Empire of the Sun" carefully crafted by Spielberg is a film with special intention to compete for awards, taking advantage of the popularity of Chinese culture in recent years and the Oscar's preference for epic films.

But he was not nominated for any of the five most important awards. Best picture, best director, best actor and actress, and best screenplay all came up short.

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This is nothing short of a humiliation for a commercial director of Spielberg's level. And the minor awards his film won in the Best Costume category left Spielberg speechless. After all, audiences only noticed in the news that his film had received six nominations.

After Ronald got the nomination, he was overjoyed and noticed some problems. He wanted to talk to Spielberg to avoid misunderstandings. Richard flew over from Los Angeles, and Niceta stayed in contact with Spielberg's assistant.

"Ronald, it's me." Spielberg's voice came from the phone.

"Steven, what happened? I like the directing skills of 'Empire of the Sun' very much. How could the Oscars not give you a nomination? This is very unfair. Some directors I know well are talking about this." , if necessary, we can unite to speak for you. The quality of the British director's work is not bad, but it is obviously not on the same level."

Spielberg was silent for a long time, "Forget it, Ronald. This matter has nothing to do with you and is caused by other factors.

By the way, I haven't congratulated you on your nomination for Best Director yet. Enjoy your first nomination. "

"Oh, thank you. I'm actually surprised this time. I wasn't even nominated for Best Director by the Directors Guild. Maybe it's because of the great efforts of my agency and good luck."

"Caa did some work?"

"Yes, I don't know how they handled it specifically, but Mr. Ovitz really helped a lot..."

The two chatted for a while, and Spielberg hung up the phone and said to Kathleen Kennedy, the general manager of Amblin Productions and his former assistant, who was beside him, "Ronald's nomination was obtained by CAA's help with public relations. of."

"Okay, I don't think he is the person behind the scenes. The most he can do is find a way to get into the nomination list, but he does not have the ability to cancel all important nominations for a certain movie. In fact, he can have such a strong influence on the Academy's judges The only possibility is..."

Spielberg raised his hand to stop Catherine from continuing, "Please contact Michael from CAA. I want to talk to him."

Ovitz has been working hard to sign Spielberg, who has the most commercial appeal in Hollywood. However, Spielberg has been reluctant to sign a contract with Michael Ovitz because of the brokerage company's commission, preferring to set up his own company to handle brokerage matters.

…

After being nominated for an Oscar, Ronald suddenly found that his authority in the crew seemed to have suddenly increased a lot.

Especially lead actress Melanie Griffiths. She had become romantically involved with Wall Street banker Liam Dalton, whom she drove every time she was dropped off.

After seeing Ronald, Griffiths always wanted to tell Ronald his analysis of Tess, hoping to get his advice.

"In the movie Pygmalion, a girl's transformation begins with her hairstyle. Only from the outside to the inside can Tess believe in her abilities. She is no longer a secretary, but can act as a broker on Wall Street."

"Very good", Ronald said Melanie Griffith's character analysis was quite appropriate. The difficulty of this performance is not only to convince the actors themselves, but also to convince the audience who are watching the movie for the first time. What better way to make the audience aware of the heroine's transformation than an ugly duckling-like appearance rebirth?

"Thank you. I have watched the Pygmalion video tape many times. I think Tess's state of mind is like this... She neither fully believes that she can pretend to be an investment manager like her boss Catherine, nor is she willing to let her good ideas be used by Catherine. Take it as your own..."

Melanie Griffiths continues by analyzing the character's psychological state.

"Stop...stop..." Ronald quickly asked her to stop and stop using this analytical method to dissect the psychology of Tess's character in the script.

"What, am I thinking wrong?"

"I think it's ok. I've seen a few of your previous movies, and I've talked with Jonathan Demme, who directed you, and Brian De Palma. You're a talented actor who relies on intuition. When the time comes, Just go with your gut and don't get too caught up in this character analysis."

Ronald and the previous directors who have worked with Melanie Griffith have all inquired about the acting methods that she is good at. Every one of her moves is often unexpected, and she has an inspiration for improvisation that can make her opponents The actors' performances also got better.

Ronald didn't want Griffiths to lose his aura and switch to the method where all reactions were designed. It's a huge waste of acting talent.

"Am I? Am I really a genius?" One of the five Oscar nominees for Best Director said that he is a genius. In short, he is not wrong. Melanie Griffiths was shaken by Ronald's compliment, and she sat aside blankly to think about her thoughts.

"Joan," Ronald sees on the other side, Joan Cusack, who plays the supporting character Sheen. She was communicating with a Wall Street elite in a suit. It was another investment manager recommended by Bannon, named Richard Burke, who was courting Joan Cusack.

No matter how many beautiful girlfriends bankers have, Hollywood beauties always seem to have a different aura, and dating them seems to improve their social status.

"Dick, the director wants to talk to me," Joan Cusack skillfully instructed Dick, who was a little bald, to do things.

Joan Cusack now wears secretary-like exaggerated hair and makeup. Fortunately, her own beauty has not been damaged much by this exaggerated appearance.

"Director, I am pretending to be a secretary every day and go to Dick's office to act as a secretary. Haha, not many people there can tell me apart from a real secretary."

"Hi, Joan. I think you are experiencing life well." Ronald felt that her temperament was slowly developing towards that of a real secretary.

"I feel like I need to live more as a secretary to play her better. So I'm thinking about it..." Joan Cusack had a crazy idea. She felt that her salary was too high. , the money that is far beyond what a Wall Street secretary can earn, you should adjust your salary to the level of a secretary, so that you can act out the feeling of a secretary.

"Stop...stop..." Ronald quickly stopped Joan Cusack. Just the opposite of Griffiths, this guy's problem is too much intuition and too little analysis. The role of Xin is an exaggerated supporting role. It is necessary to amplify some of the characteristics of the secretary profession to the boundary, so that the audience can remember it, thus highlighting Tess's uniqueness among secretaries.

"How much do you know about Sheen's character?" Ronald asked.

"She is Tess's best friend and likes exaggerated makeup and hairstyles..." Joan Cusack said something. During this time, she mainly imitated the secretary in words and deeds, rather than using rational analysis.

"Tess is an ambitious secretary, but Xin doesn't want to go to such trouble. Like most secretaries, she doesn't want to continue learning advanced business and financial knowledge. She just wants to do her job well and then find a reliable boyfriend to marry.

But her and Tess's personalities complement each other. They both like each other's ideas, and they also place their previous dreams on this friend who has not given up hope. "

"Director, the actor is really lucky to have such guidance from you." Joan Cusack felt that the analysis was profound, and she naturally flattered Ronald.

"You'll know if you make more movies. It's different from drama. This business still depends on luck." Ronald smiled at her and asked her to go back and think more about how to design actions and lines to express Xin's temperament.

Actors are unlike other positions. The final performance on the screen is formed by the convergence of many factors. Such as directing, photography, makeup, hair, lighting, and even final editing. It is not certain whether a performance clip that has been greatly praised by film critics is mainly due to the actor's good acting skills.

For example, "The Last Emperor" won nine awards in this year's Oscar nominations, ranking first among all movies. Obviously the performances of the leading actor John Lone and the leading actress Joan were very good, but for this reason, they did not receive nominations for Best Actor and Best Actress.

In particular, the leading actor John Lone has not only won film critic awards and been recognized by the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama Series, but this is not the first time that he has been praised by film critics. He previously played a prehistoric primitive man in "The Iceman" and a new generation godfather in Chinatown in "Year of the Dragon", both of which were highly praised.

However, during the selection process, most members of the Academy of Film Technology and Arts rejected John Lone's acting skills and did not vote for him, citing the self-deceptive reason that the actor's performance was the credit of director Bertolucci.

Playing the last emperor from youth to old age, regardless of whether his acting skills can win an award in the end, Ronald believes that John Lone's acting skills are nominated and it is a deserved honor. Moreover, he has won many film critic awards for his outstanding performances in two previous films, but he was not nominated for an Oscar. This debt of gratitude will usually be corrected by the Oscar jury in the subsequent voting.

Therefore, it is very strange that John Lone did not get a nomination.

Nominated Marcello Mastroianni, the Italian star's film "Dark Eyes", an Italian-Soviet co-production based on Chekhov's story, is an obscure and eccentric work that no critics gave it a thumbs up Good reviews.

What's even more strange is that this "Dark Eyes" only had one nomination for Best Actor, which shows that the judges did not favor this film very much, and this lonely nomination was more like a make-up.

John Lone is the hero of a sumptuous biopic that spans some of the most important chapters in 20th century history, including World War II and its aftermath.

Since the main characters in the movie are all Chinese-American, it is really difficult for the public to understand that a movie that has won all major awards but lacks any nominations for acting awards.

Of course, for insiders, it is a semi-open secret that the actor judges who are responsible for voting on nominations do not want a yellow-skinned actor to be recognized. And because it is elected by vote, it is difficult to obtain evidence for this kind of discrimination and cannot publicly accuse it.

The Oscar, the award that represents the highest achievement in Hollywood, does have many uncertain factors interfering with it. It is not like the Golden Globe Award, which can greatly increase the probability of winning the award with a few operations.

After the nominations were announced, the nominated films began to have more screenings in theaters. Audiences were driven by curiosity about this nomination and began to go into theaters to find out what it was like to be a non-staff judge.

Michael Gray, who was in charge of film marketing, began to exert efforts in major media to get more regional newspapers to reprint Ronald's interviews. More posters began to appear on the doorsteps of theater ticket offices across the country.

"Ronald, it's time. A trip to West Berlin will allow 'Moonlight' to appear in more entertainment news headlines for free in the media. The quality of the films participating in the competition section of this year's West Berlin International Film Festival It’s very ordinary, except for the sultry moonlight, there is only one movie in Hollywood that broadcasts news.” Art director Polly Platt was urging Ronald to attend the West Berlin Film Festival.

"Okay, I'll try to stay there as little as possible for a few days. I'll leave everything to you here." Ronald was reassured by Pratt's ability to coordinate. This strong woman is not only very suitable for the position of producer, but also And I also know a lot about the preparatory work for the director. Ronald offered her a co-producer position and then offered her a job at Daydream.

"No, no, you have to stay longer. The West Berlin Film Festival has the shortest history among the three major film festivals in Europe. It was established during the Cold War to set an example. You should communicate with them more. If you can win a Golden Bear It will be good for your Oscar if you get the award back."

"I heard that there is almost no chance of winning the award after being nominated for the first time. Do you mean I still have a chance?" Ronald felt strange that Polly Platt was more interested in her than him.

"Oscars are a very stingy award. My ex-husband Peter Bogdanovich was nominated for Best Director at a very young age, but he never got it again." Polly Platt made an I Am Not Cursing your gesture, "So, don't pass up an opportunity. Oscar nominations are hard for anyone."

Ronald, who Platt said was a little nervous, boarded the flight to West Berlin. This city is actually an enclave within East Germany. As Platt said, it is a showcase for Western prosperity to Eastern Europe. The West German government actually spent a lot of money to make this city a showcase for Western prosperity. sparkling with light.

Berlin-Tempelhof Airport is a commercial and military airport in West Berlin. The city of West Berlin was also surrounded by East German territory. This is the frontier of the Cold War, completely different from the warm and peaceful New York. Gray reinforced concrete buildings can be seen everywhere.

When you come out of the airport, you can see the towering TV tower in East Berlin. This is also part of the competition and showoff between the two camps.

The weather was still very cold, so the organizing committee sent a woman to be Ronald's translator.

The woman named Hannah spoke very good English without a German accent. She particularly liked Ronald's movie "Dirty Dancing," having seen it three times. On the way to the hotel, I kept discussing the plot of the movie with Ronald.

According to Hannah, West Berliners like "Dirty Dancing" very much, just like Ronald's "Break Dancing" caused a break dancing craze in Germany a few years ago, this time the mambo dance in "Dirty Dancing" , also became popular among West Berliners.

Ronald felt a little different when he heard the admiration expressed by such a fan for him. Directors rarely have such fans to praise them. Occasionally meeting one in a foreign country feels quite good.

"Thank you, you are overly complimentary."

"I'm not exaggerating the impact of your movie here, I'm telling the truth." Hannah is a typical German, and she regards politeness as a question, "Not only do we like to watch it, but audiences in the East also like to watch it. We have a Cinemas, showing your movie all day long, are your most loyal audience for 'Dirty Dancing'. You can make more than half of the people cry every time."

"Huh?" Ronald felt so strange. "Dirty Dancing" is a romantic comedy with beautiful and sexy dances. How could he cry while watching it?

"If you don't believe it, I can take you there tonight. There are really many people crying..."