Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Chapter 976 The answer is still No

As the closing ceremony approached, more Hollywood stars came. In addition to Robert Redford who was waiting for the award, there were also big names who came to support various movies.

The Luo Lishi mentioned by Gong Li also came, and Ronald asked her. The movie that the investor asked Yimou to imitate was indeed "Delta Force" filmed by Cannon, a poor version of Stallone's "First Blood" A B-grade imitation.

Ronald felt a little pity for Yimou now. His ability is not limited to making movies that imitate B-movies. Then he asked Gong Li to tell him that as long as Yimou is interested, he can come to Hollywood. If he is afraid of language and cultural barriers, he can also try Xiangjiang.

Gong Li is very happy. Yimou will have many more opportunities if he has such a friend in Hollywood. She has a cheerful personality and said that this time there is a Chinese film participating in the main competition at Cannes, and another British film participating in the Directors' Fortnight, which also has a Chinese actress, but from the other side of the strait.

Ronald just wanted to get to know more Chinese filmmakers, so he asked her to come forward and invite the two of them to talk about it.

The mainland director is called Chen Kaige, and he has a big beard. This time he brought a film about a rural teacher in the southwest called "King of Children".

The Chinese actress, Sylvia Chang Ai-chia, starred in the movie "Sweet and Sour", which tells the story of Chinese immigrants, their struggle and helplessness in a foreign land in Britain, and the plight of culturally incompatible immigrants.

Chinese are relatively marginalized in Cannes, and even film directors and stars have limited financial resources. Ronald's treat was at Le Jardin de Bambou, the only high-end restaurant serving Chinese food in Cannes. This is a Vietnamese restaurant, but since there are fewer types of Vietnamese food, there is also a lot of Chinese food mixed in.

Kaige is a director who has a strong desire to communicate. His movie Kid King received average reviews from the press, so the award may not be high this time. He really wanted to be recognized by Hollywood and the European mainstream film industry. After knowing that Red Sorghum won the Golden Bear Award, he insisted on sending The King of Children to Cannes, because the quality of the Cannes Film Festival is higher than that of West Berlin.

Sylvia Chang went to school and lived in America. She speaks excellent English. She is more relaxed and helps Kaige translate. She had been filming in Hong Kong before. Because she went to school in America since she was a child and her English was perfect, she was spotted by British director Mike Newell and starred in this film.

Kaige talked eloquently and talked about a lot of film theories that even Ronald didn't understand. Ronald smiled and said nothing. Later, Kaige also discovered it and said to Sylvia Chang with a smile, "Foreigners are laughing at us for being behind."

"If you are interested, you might as well come to Hollywood and give it a try. It's useless to talk too much. Just make one and see if the audience likes it." Ronald said in Chinese with a smile.

"Uh..." Kaige looked at Gong Li who was laughing.

It's a bit embarrassing. Who knew that this foreigner could speak Chinese so well that he would laugh at him. Fortunately, his girlfriend is going to America soon. When she has a film, she will go to him and let him see that men in the capital can also make movies.

However, Sylvia Chang understood Ronald's subtext and asked Ronald if he was willing to invest in Chinese movies in Hollywood.

"Of course, if you have any story scripts related to America, you can send them to me for review. I have a small company in Hollywood. When I come across scripts with commercial potential, investment is not a problem."

The three Chinese-American filmmakers received the business cards from Ronald and put them away carefully. Who knew that coming to Cannes would help them develop connections in Hollywood.

…

The Cannes Film Festival is more importantly a trading market for daydreams. Many small producers come with copies and try to sell them for a good price here.

Some of them couldn't even pay the rent for screenings, so they had to bring remastered videotapes to sell them. They probably invested all their savings in the filming of their first movie, and then they wanted to be noticed by a distributor who really understands movies, buy it, and then go back and make a second movie after recouping their investment.

However, Ronald had watched a lot of movies recommended by Daydream colleagues and felt they had potential, but they were all lackluster. The value orientation here was completely different from that of Hollywood, and it was not in line with the taste of the American market.

But after all, Western Europe is still a developed country, and movie tickets here are very expensive. If it can be released in the country by distributors, those prices can already make some movies in less developed areas make a fortune.

With both hands empty, I was destined to only sell but not buy this time. "Fighting" sold more copies at Cannes than it did at the domestic box office. Distribution manager Michelle Cannold was so happy that she wanted to sign a few more films with lead actor Jean-Claude Van Damme.

"It's too late. He is now going to shoot blockbusters with a production budget of more than 20 million." Ronald replied. Cannon gave "Bionicle" the treatment of the year's key production, and daydreamed about asking Jean-Claude Van Damme and Lundgren to make a movie again. The opportunity would only come after this movie became a hit on the street.

Minahan’s approach of “sci-fi” + “action” + “comics” should be a hit... right?

On the second day, Cannes welcomed several Hollywood big names. One is actor Michael Douglas. He came to raise investment for the new film "Talk" by director Oliver Stone, who made him the best actor.

After making several well-received movies, Stone became more and more interested in social topics. This movie is an adaptation of a stage play (to escape the writers' strike), which is about a late-night large-scale radio show host who is particularly daring to address controversial issues. Make bold remarks and your listening rate will increase step by step. When he was about to go to the national syndicated radio station at the end, he was shot dead by an extreme fan.

This film criticizes American society and has no commercial value. It is difficult to obtain financing in Hollywood, so Stone came to China in the hope that European investors would like it. Michael Douglas specially came to endorse him to increase the attraction of the project. force.

Another big shot is George Lucas, who has been dormant for several years.

After his divorce and the failure of "Howard the Duck" at the box office, he basically retreated to his Lucas Manor and studied film stunts with the magicians from Industrial Light and Magic.

In his opinion, Howard the Duck failed at the box office because the stunts were not good enough, so he invested a lot of money in computer-generated special effects methods. From last year to this year, he was working hard on "Willow", a movie he produced and directed by Ron Howard, who is close to him.

The filming of the film was completed very early last year, but the special effects production seems to have been very long and has only just been completed now. Lucas selected Cannes as the premiere location for the film, followed by a release in America shortly after.

As a Hollywood person who came early, Ronald held a welcome dinner in the evening. A group of Hollywood directors and stars were waiting for them at the Palme d'Or restaurant, the top restaurant in Cannes.

These people are not used to Ronald's Chinese welcome, but after a tiring journey, eating the best food here, and being accompanied by beautiful celebrities, everyone is still very satisfied with Ronald's arrangement.

"Can the current industrial light and magic technology produce the effects in the comics?" Ronald found an opportunity and sincerely asked George Lucas for advice. His Industrial Light and Magic represents the most advanced magic capabilities in Hollywood. Whether they can produce the effect of flying into the sky and escaping from the ground in comics depends on whether they can do it.

If it doesn't work out, I'm afraid I'll have to do it the old-school way, wearing some tights and hanging on a wire.

"Why don't you come and see for yourself tomorrow? Hahaha." Lucas has now adopted a son and a daughter. He is happily living the happy life of a single father at the Lucas Ranch. He looks much better than when he first got divorced. , it seems that he really likes children, except this time when Ron Howard, who is half a disciple, came to the platform, he would not leave home easily.

Ronald was very interested in the development of science and technology and the advancement of special effects, so he agreed on the spot. Everyone was full of wine and food, and began to go back to rest.

"Ronald, can we talk somewhere else?" Michael Douglas took Ronald's arm at the door.

"certainly……"

Douglas, Oliver Stone, and a Dutch banker moved with Ronald to the quiet executive lounge of the hotel, where a few people could chat easily.

Ronald asked Stone about the Tom Cruise Vietnam War movie. Stone said that he originally planned to shoot on location in Vietnam, but relations between the two countries have not yet been normalized, so he had to go to the Philippines, where "Platoon" was filmed.

This time I gained experience and decided to go there in the fall, which coincides with Tom Cruise's schedule.

Fortunately, Oliver Stone wrote his own scripts. This "Born on the Fourth of July" was already written by him and was originally going to be made after the filming of Platoon. So it is not affected by the strike.

Stone also asked Ronald about the arrangements for his new project, which resulted in several Hollywood big shots complaining about the Writers Guild strike.

We really had no choice, even Douglas didn't have any filming, so we had to go out and look for opportunities for international cooperation.

After talking to this point, the banker became interested. He also talked to Ronald and asked whether his new project could accept investment from Credit Lyonnais, which he represented. As long as it is directed by Ronald, or has a movie starring Tom Cruise or Michael Douglas, he is willing to invest.

"Your English is very good." Ronald took the banker's business card.

"Frances Afmann" is a typical Low Countries surname.

"My first job was at Bank of Rotterdam. At that time, First Bank of Chicago owned 20% of our shares. I learned the operation of international finance in Chicago. Now Bank of Rotterdam is acquired by Credit Lyonnais, and I am mainly responsible for investment in the entertainment industry. "

Frans Afmann introduced himself warmly. Credit Lyonnais has been developing rapidly in international business since the early 1980s. In China, in the Netherlands, and in Portugal, a large number of deposits and good loan projects have been absorbed.

Their investment tastes are particularly fond of Hollywood, and they have invested in the second blockbuster movie Superman and Rambo. Frans Afman's investment philosophy is to focus on big stars and big directors, and would rather have a lower return on investment, but also grab the second or third round of investment in such low-risk large-scale productions (such as dividends The round will be later).

"Are you only interested in movies starring big stars?" Ronald asked, looking at Afman.

"This is our investment principle, but if it is a project invested by you and Director Stone, no matter what type of movie it is, I will be interested in betting." Frans Afman smiled broadly. After all, these two people , is a famous director who has rarely failed in Hollywood in recent years. As long as they watch good movies, there's usually no problem.

"Hahaha, drink to us." Stone and Douglas heard Frans Afman say this and knew that their small-scale script "Talk" had been funded.

Unlike most Wall Street capital, Credit Lyonnais does not blindly seek to maximize returns. They are also willing to repay the director by investing in their small-cost productions that are destined to lose money, but they also want to make them, for the opportunity to get more credits in big projects.

After all, he is a foreigner from America. If he wants to squeeze into a big production, he has to pay a lot of money for admission.

Ronald is also eager for someone to invest, solve about 20% of the budget, and get a low-level share. Such investment is actually not easy to find on Wall Street after the interest rates continue to rise and the stock market crash.

During the film festival, Cannes has the highest density of beautiful women in China and even in Europe. Several Hollywood big shots have no shortage of beauties coming over to strike up a conversation. Frans Afman even had a passionate fight with a Chinese beauty, and they were already close to each other.

"Ronald", Michael Douglas, like Ronald, would not be tempted by these vulgar fans. He watched the other two men chatting animatedly with the beautiful women and whispered in Ronald's ear, "My father Let me leave you with a message."

"What?" Ronald turned around suddenly. His father was Kirk Douglas. What did he have to do with him?

"He learned from Michael Ovitz that you were in Cannes and that he was a little afraid of traveling long distances, so he said something to me and let me say it to you personally."

"Let me state in advance that I don't understand what he is doing at all. I am just taking the lead." Michael Douglas actually wasn't too close to Kirk because of his mother and father's divorce. He, a new generation of Jews, does not understand the ideas of those conservative old men. Just because of the benefits of being a Jew, he does not complain in public.

Ronald made a gesture to indicate that he could speak.

"He asked me to ask you if you feel satisfied with family life. Young people can enjoy the company of beautiful women, but when they reach age, they must marry mature women. If he is willing, he is willing to call the bride himself In your hand."

Ronald's brows furrowed. Mature women, reaching their age, combined... This hint is very full. But they are too busy, right? They also have to take care of their own marriage? Is America still a society with religious freedom?

These Jews have too much power in the media and finance industries, and they always want to control this industry, which is much more powerful than revenue and profit, in their own hands. Isn't this just opportunistic and trying to take advantage of the giant America? Does it suck blood?

"Same thing. In fact, my father often said when I was nearly thirty years old that he would not give up until I married Diandra at the age of thirty-three. Hahaha."

Michael Douglas thought his father was simply a matchmaker, introducing Ronald to the daughter of an old friend or something like that. He didn't think that a successful young man like Ronald, who was less than thirty, could tie himself to marriage at this time.

"So what's your reply?" Douglas finished laughing and patted Ronald on the shoulder.

"The answer is still No." Ronald said with a smile.

"That's right, my friend, when I was your age before I got married, I always chased beautiful women and was chased by beautiful women..." Douglas was very happy that Ronald was not as boring as his rigid and conservative father, "Actually, it can be done after marriage... hahaha"

"So you will tell Kirk my reply, right?" Ronald also took a sip of wine with satisfaction. It doesn't matter if these people stop thinking about it. Anyway, there are not many beautiful Jewish female stars in Hollywood, so it doesn't matter. loss.