Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Exploiting Hollywood 1980 Text Volume Chapter 89 Novel Adaptation Gains Popularity The next person to report to Ronald was his script assistant, David Simkins. If you want Daydream to start making movies like an assembly line, you need to throw materials at the head of the assembly line - a script that can be filmed. Shou

Although the script is tight now, David Simkins still got a lot of scripts. He had previously worked as a development manager at New World Pictures, so he knew where to buy such low-cost movie scripts - the circulation warehouses of other film studios and the offices of screenwriters' agents.

He was shot by a CEO-level person and dropped the script, which was lying quietly in the circulation warehouse. Circulation means that we will no longer shoot, but if you can attract investment from other people, we can sell it to them.

Ronald looked at the outline posted on the cover of the basic scripts and summarized by Simkins. These scripts were all well written, otherwise they would not have been picked up by the studio in the first place.

The reason why it was not put into production may involve star schedules, budget issues, director issues, or even political struggles in the office. Some scripts have been forgotten since they were placed in them, and have even been dormant for more than twenty years. Daydream took a fancy to it, and there was no big problem with the bidding.

The only drawback is that the studios that buy the rights charge too high a price, with the cheapest ones costing more than $100,000. This is also because if the studio wants to retain the copyright of the script, it must renew the contract within a few years, otherwise the original author can resell it to other willing investors under union terms.

Other scripts were obtained through less well-known screenwriting agents. They originally wanted their clients to sell some scripts and get a share of the agent's fees. The scripts were piled into a pile again. Their quality is not as high as that selected by the studio, and the quality is mixed.

And even well-written scripts may be suspected of plagiarism. There are so many movies in the history of Hollywood, as well as movies from Europe, Asia and other places, no one can say that they have seen even a small part of them. If those screenwriters plagiarize one or two movie scripts that are not well-known in America, the studio will face a very troublesome intellectual property lawsuit. Shou

"Not as much as I thought?" Ronald asked David Simkins. The movie scripts he collected during this period only filled two wooden boxes.

"There are no signs of the Writers Guild strike ending yet, so scripts are very scarce now. Especially for scripts that have been put into circulation, if we want to buy them now, we have to pay double or even triple the price compared to last year." Mjins shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands.

"Damn strike..." Ronald picked out some kung fu movies and scripts suitable for female audiences and put them on his desk. "Let's start with these two types of films. You can help me make an estimate.

Those that can be shot with a budget of less than three million are put on the special list. "

"What are the big studios doing now? What scripts are they going to make now?" Ronald remembered and asked Simkins, who had gone to the Seven Warehouses to exchange.

"Everyone is snapping up adaptation rights now. Those people are either not members of the Screenwriters Guild, or when they wrote, they were aiming for movie adaptations and included a lot of script writing methods. This can bypass strike restrictions. This is the case for adaptation rights in recent years. Prices hit new highs.”

"Well, it's a shame we didn't grab a few copies before the strike."

The two talked about the copyrights that major studios are competing for. Now, any copy can sell for more than 300,000 yuan. Shou

The price of scripts in Hollywood went through a cycle after Ronald entered the industry. When he first came in, it happened to be a time when the presidents of major studios were changing, and his own debut film was also sold for a good price.

After three years of relatively stable management, the period of large-scale script buying passed. Before 1986, it was no longer a question of the price, but a question of whether the studio would buy it.

Things must go to extremes, and in recent years, the prices of scripts, which have always been sluggish, have begun to rise slowly again. After the strike, they suddenly reached sky-high prices. As long as the works are on the bestseller list, the starting price will be 300,000 yuan.

Among them, one work in particular has been hotly contested. One is "The Bohevanities", the debut novel by Thomas Woolf, hailed as a genius by book critics.

This work aims at the fierce conflicts of racial conflicts in contemporary New York. It tells the story of a white man and his mistress who mistakenly entered the black area of ​​​​the South Bronx and encountered two black men who robbed them. During the fight, the mistress accidentally hit and killed one of them, and was finally raped by the media. Revealing the stories that become hot topics.

Because the book reviews are really good, it is even said to be the most talented writer in America. Therefore, the competition was particularly fierce. The final winner, Warner Bros., paid US$750,000, plus the condition of a small share after the release, to succeed.

Ronald took the copy Simkins gave him and started reading it on the way home. It was indeed very interesting. Ronald finished reading it in one go, and it was already time for dinner. Shou

As he watched, he remembered that a similar incident had occurred on the New York subway a few years ago. A woman on the subway shot two young black men to death with a pistol on suspicion that some black men in the Bronx were trying to rob her.

In the end, the public sympathized more with this woman who commuted to and from get off work every day and risked being robbed by black people while riding the subway. She ended up being acquitted.

The ending is more dramatic and conflicting than reality. In the end, the jury in the court was deadlocked at 6 to 6 on whether the protagonist was guilty or not, so they had to declare the trial void and set a new date for a retrial. All six of the jurors who voted not guilty were white, and the six who voted not guilty were all black.

This event also attracted a lot of attention at the time. The type of racial discrimination that really gets the attention of the media in America is towards black people. A few years ago, Chinese-American Chen Guoren was beaten to death, but it did not cause such a big stir in the media.

Although the story was good, Ronald looked at the total purchase cost of more than one million. For such a large production, it would be better to attract seven large investments. Add a little more, and daydreams can be enough to make a movie.

Little Bud came to pick him up for a meal, and he suggested going to Denino's Pizza Tavern on Staten Island to eat some of the famous local delicacies.

This is a rare delicacy on Staten Island. It is praised by many Manhattanites as the best pizza in New York. There are no takeaways and chain stores, and wealthy people in Manhattan can only come here by boat to enjoy it. Shou

The pizza tastes great, but it's only eight inches in size and very thin. Ronald had to order two more portions before he and Little Bud could finish their meal.

"I heard from my mom and sister that the pizza here is delicious, but I didn't expect it to be so small..."

"Hahaha, let's buy a few more, and you can take them back to your family." Ronald waved to the waiter and ordered ten more pizzas to take back.

"My mother and sister will be very happy." Little Bud held a large pile of pizza boxes and placed them in the trunk of the car. "They will all go to church tomorrow. I heard that the new church sponsored by Aunt Karen has confirmed its commitment. Builders, then we can go to our own church.”

"Do you go to the same church as my aunt?" Ronald asked. He knew that black pastors in general were more "violent" in their sermons. Many of them talked as if they were singing, and they also made many self-deprecating remarks about their race's IQ. The pastor's style was different from that of the pastors of churches attended by white people.

"It turns out not to be. Now they are all working in your factory on Staten Island, so it is convenient for everyone to go there regardless of their ethnicity." Little Bud smiled, and he told Ronald that in fact they didn't like the original church very much either. His preaching style, he spoke as if he was poor.

Ronald in particular opened his eyes, and several of his sisters also learned more about the world because of their work. That former secretary who retired from Wall Street, Theresa Kate, told the black people a lot about how to be self-reliant. Some black people really listened to the advice and went to night classes at Staten Island Community College. After graduation, they were promoted and made more money. Shou

After opening their eyes and attending night school, these people no longer tolerate the sermons that always say that their ethnicity is not enough to lead them.

The population of southern Staten Island is mainly white, with a small number of blacks, not many Latinos, and some Chinese who moved from Manhattan. The workers were of all races and lived very close to each other. On weekends, going to the church where Aunt Karen and other veterans’ survivors often went, gradually became a social occasion.

After Aunt Karen told them that she would donate money to establish a new church, they all expressed their intention to go to the same church as her.

"The food there is delicious, especially the biscuits. My sisters' children only like to go to that church." Little Bud said this, which made Ronald also interested, and the next day happened to be Sunday. Let’s go and have a look too.

"Are so many people coming?" Ronald looked at the believers who lined up to greet him after the sermon in the church was completed. They are all more or less related to several of Ronald's factories, including a movie lighting factory, a tape factory, and several small factories for camera accessories.

When they saw their parents coming, they all came up to shake his hands and say a word or two of thanks.

"This is their home." Aunt Karen knows many people, and she will go to the small factory to visit when she has nothing to do. Shou

Ronald shook hands with dozens of families and felt great. This small place is like its own little kingdom. Most people rely on themselves to make money, and they all live very close to each other, which is very interesting.

"The new church is located over there..." Aunt Karen pointed to a leveled place opposite and said to Ronald. It was also the land of Douglas Jr.'s grandfather. After he saw the church design, he simply donated some money as part of the reconstruction plan of the original church to replace it with a new one that is larger and has more modern facilities.

In order to fit in with the colonial style of Staten Island for more than two hundred years, the appearance of the new church was slightly modified, using the same white neoclassical architectural style as the real monuments on the island.

Seeing that the Hansen family and his own family were beginning to be closely connected, Ronald felt great. America is a federal country, and by cooperating with Hansen, a local snake with a long history, everyone's relationship can be better shared. In the future, the garden management office will not cause trouble for itself, and it will not happen.

After his church appearance, Ronald went to inspect the garden of the house where "The Godfather" was filmed. Compared with the church, this is his real private "territory".

A large group of people with Chinese faces are working on site. Engineer Wang came over to introduce Ronald.

The garden began to be rebuilt in a Soviet-style garden in a foreign land thousands of miles away according to the construction methods used by wealthy families in the south of the Yangtze River for hundreds of years. All building materials, including special green bricks and green tiles, were specially shipped from China. Shou

Many construction methods are also Chinese-style, so Engineer Wang hired some Chinese and Chinese construction teams from China. Looking at the garden that was slowly being built in an open space, Ronald laughed out loud.

The house that Michael Douglas asked him to go to was a real old building in California. Once it's built, you can invite some friends over to play.

"Ronald, I have your phone number..." Little Bud said to Ronald.

"Hello, Richard? What's going on?" Not many people knew Ronald's car phone number, and it was indeed his agent who was looking for him.

"Your Australian friends are coming to America again. Crocodile Dundee and his girlfriend happen to be in New York. Do you want to meet them? They are here with the sequel this time."

"Oh? Okay," Ronald thought to himself. Paul Hogan, whom he met by chance, was filming in New York, which later turned into a box office legend in 1986. I didn’t expect that the sequel would be filmed so soon.

Ronald and the two creators of "Crocodile Dundee 2" met in an apartment on Fifth Avenue. Shou

Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski fell in love because of the show and have truly become a couple. The two behaved very intimately, and they were very emotional when they talked about their encounter on the streets of New York.

Crocodile Dundee set a box office record for an Australian film in America and around the world. Of course, Paramount immediately put a sequel on the agenda. It just so happened that Crocodile Dundee 2 had a good box office after its release in Australia recently. Hogan and Linda came to America in advance with their new film to prepare for its premiere in America next month.

"Will the second part still be shot in New York?" Ronald asked.

"It's still the same structure, half in New York and half in Australia. But this time it was filmed in New York first and then in Australia, which is exactly the opposite of the story of the first film."

"That's great. Audiences really liked this contrasting story of Australian country people in New York in the first film," Ronald said.

"The budget has increased a lot this time, so we also added a lot of big scenes. We also shot the beginning at the Statue of Liberty off the coast of New York. It is difficult to apply for a filming permit in New York, but everything is fine. We believe the sequel will It’s just as exciting as the first one.”

Hogan and Linda invited Ronald to watch a preview screening of a copy of "Crocodile Dundee 2" they had specially brought here in the evening. Shou

After watching it, Ronald felt that indeed these two couples, especially Paul Hogan, knew exactly what would tickle American audiences.

It’s still Mr. Crocodile Dundee who was raised by Australian aborigines. Americans like to see how country people from other countries use unique methods to solve problems here.

"I think it might not be worse than the box office of the first part." Ronald thought the editing was very good and compact. Unlike the first part, which was mainly a romantic story, the second part also added a plot about Crocodile Dundee outsmarting South American drug dealers. .

Just like Rambo, Crocodile Dundee remains the same character, just in a different setting. And there is a very interesting thing about the whole movie. Its plot and shots in the Australian wilderness have a subtle imitation of the texture of Westerns from the golden age of Hollywood.

It’s not that many viewers don’t like Western movies, it’s just that they are tired of the kind of plots where they ride horses, use guns, and fight Indians or Mexican bad guys. Let's change it this way and see Mr. Crocodile from Australia come to fight South American drug dealers. The same plot is very comfortable for everyone to watch, and it is also close to the content of modern life where people drink too much.

"That's impossible. Our first one probably sold over $300 million worldwide." Hogan announced proudly.

It seems that viewers from other parts of the world also want to see the life of Australian country bumpkins. Ronald thought to himself that this international box office was very good. This movie doesn’t require much understanding of the meaning of the lines, everyone can understand it just by looking at the pictures. Shou

"Right now, we only have the Eastern camp and a few places in East Asia that we haven't released yet." Hogan said, feeling a little regretful. It's never been easy to get in there.

"Really? I'll make some phone calls later and check." Ronald thought to himself. Japan, China, and some of the relationships accumulated in Germany by sending copies of Dirty Dancing might be able to make this happen. The movie literally sold all over the world.

"The film was an unexpected success, I understand that. That's why I wanted as many people as possible to see it. To see Linda and I on the screen."

Ronald expressed his understanding. If Paul Hogan now wants to transform into a Hollywood star, it depends on whether he performs well in other roles.

"It's a pity that the sales of the video tape are not good, so we try to release it in as many countries as possible." Linda Kozlowski, who plays the female reporter Sue Charlton, added.

"Not good? How come?" Ronald was surprised, "The last time I went to Blockbuster, your Crocodile Dundee was still in a good position."

"People from Paramount say that our movies are not performing well enough in the video tape market..." Paul Hogan and Linda looked at each other. Why is what Ronald said different from what Paramount said? Shou

"Really? I remember it was your movie. It was on the best-seller selection when you walked in." Ronald frowned. He couldn't remember it wrong. There have been no movies with similar themes in the past two years.

"How about we go take a look? There is a Blockbuster video rental store not far downstairs." Ronald asked the two of them.

Hogan and Linda were also confused. It happened that they came to New York in advance this time so they could see the real situation. "Then let's go take a look."