Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Herbert Ross, that's probably the best person we could find to direct 'Steel Magnolias,' besides you of course."

CAA's search operation was very effective. Within two days, Niceta came up with the most suitable candidate, veteran director Herbert Ross. Recommended to Ronald as a director.

"Oh, him..." Ronald nodded. This man actually had something to do with Ronald. He replaced Ronald as director in the earlier musical film "Body of Energy", which was a box-office success.

Helen Slater's previous film "The Secret of Success" with Michael J. Fox was also directed by the veteran director.

Why is he suitable for this "Steel Mulan"? Of course, there are two reasons. The first is that the two movies mentioned before are both related to southern towns. One is about Yankees going to live in southern towns, and the other is about Dixie coming to New York. He is very interested in southern stories. The characters and narrative are all appropriately experienced.

The second reason is that Herbert Ross was born on Broadway. He started out as a stage actor, then went to London's West End to perform in Shakespeare plays, and then turned into a director. After becoming successful, he entered Hollywood.

"Steel Magnolias" was originally a Broadway-changing work. The script by screenwriter Robert Harlin was very compact and conformed to the Trinity Law of stage plays.

The so-called three unities mean that the time, place and characters of the story must be compact. The entire drama can only have one story clue, it cannot take place more than one day, that is, 24 hours, and it must take place in one location.

This was originally a rule set up for the convenience of stage sets and makeup, and does not conform to the artistic rules of movies. Imagine if "Gone with the Wind" was performed on a theater stage, then after the end of the first act, the background would change from a rural manor in the South to the post-war metropolis of Atlanta. The heroine Scarlett Hao also had to immediately change from a girl's dress to a dress made of curtains.

The rest between each act is only a few minutes. How can it be possible to accomplish so much? Even if actors rush to the scene like a war, they will inevitably make many mistakes.

As for the expressive ability of movies, through editing, different places, different times, and even the time and space of the protagonist more than ten years ago can be put together through a flashback, allowing the audience to enjoy greater artistic enjoyment.

It is precisely because of this that the story of "Steel Mulan" is also concentrated in the same small town, mainly taking place in the heroine's home and the hair salon next door.

This in turn makes it difficult for the director. The audience has developed an appetite for other types of movies and is constantly looking forward to the story opening up new locations and new characters. The original story of "Steel Mulan" is limited to adaptations.

New scenes and characters cannot be introduced, which is a great test of the director's processing ability.

This type of movie often relies on the grasp of dramatic conflicts, character performances, and story trends to immerse the audience in it and forget that every scene is taking place in the same place. In fact, this kind of movie does not follow the rules of movie shooting, which is a bit thankless. It is just because Broadway is already famous, so it has a great advantage in marketing.

Ronald also has concerns about this. He is not very good at this type of small-plot movies. With a director who is good at this type of film to take charge of the film, Ronald will only focus on investment and overall casting, which is also a good choice.

…

"Ronald, we haven't seen each other for a long time..."

Herbert Ross was a typical Jew, wearing large tortoiseshell glasses and speaking with an indelible Brooklyn flavor. As the saying goes you can take the boy out of Brooklyn, but you can't take Brooklyn out of the boy.

This time Herbert Ross was able to condescend (at least he felt so) to participate in Ronald's young-led project because Michael Ovitz, the president of CAA, personally visited. He said it very sincerely. Ronald had gained the trust of screenwriter Robert Harlin, so he was able to get the general production rights from producer Ray Stark. He would not let go, and it would be impossible for everyone to take it away. His directorial position.

Herbert Ross himself also had a production company and had strong connections on Broadway. The reason why he did not have time to snatch this movie that was most suitable for him was due to personal reasons. At the end of last year, after his wife of thirty years passed away unfortunately, he was busy embarking on his second, true love journey (his own words).

His new fiancée comes from a prominent family. It is the sister of former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy, the "princess" Caroline Lee Radziwill. This princess is not just a nickname, but a serious noble title. Caroline received it from her second husband, Stanislaw Radziwill, a former prince of the Polish royal family.

Originally, Herbert Ross would not be so anxious to become a director, but this new fiancée is too dazzling. The reason why Jacqueline Kennedy often made headlines in newspapers and magazines with her outfits was because her sister, Caroline, helped her sister select and match costume jewelry.

In addition to being a fashion socialite, Caroline Lee Radziwill (soon to be Caroline Lee Roth) was a patron of high art, and Ronald purchased several paintings from David Geffen Andy Warhol had a close relationship with her and received a lot of funding.

She is also very interested in music. After her divorce from Prince Radziwill, she accompanied the Rolling Stones on their new album's global tour. The band even lived in her home when they were in America.

In addition, she is also a patron of many ballet companies, and the directors of the Paris Ballet, London Ballet, and American Ballet Company are all her guests.

It can be imagined that with such a fiancée who spent money like water, Herbert Ross was under a lot of financial pressure. Regardless of what Ovitz had in mind when he urged him to be involved in selecting the director of this film, Herbert Ross needed the job.

"Ovitz recommends you so, and I'm glad you'll consider it." Ronald shook hands with Herbert Ross. Although this person was a more suitable candidate, Ronald saw with his own eyes that he had a bad temper on the set and often insulted the staff and even the actors. He always wanted to interview this old man to see if he could complete the job.

"Hahaha, you did a good job. I didn't expect you to be so good at that time. You can rest assured this time, as long as I take over this project, I will definitely let you see a good movie."

Ronald frowned. The old man seemed not to understand the situation yet. Who was interviewing whom?

"I will give you a salary that is in line with the market price. In terms of artistic creation, of course I believe in your consistent outstanding performance. However, this movie is a southern melodrama. In terms of casting..."

Ronald's idea is very simple. In this kind of film adaptation, there is actually not much room for improvement in the shooting method. As long as he decides on an all-star cast and brings together many Oscar winners, he will naturally have a lot of marketing influence.

"Of course, the most important thing for this kind of movie is casting. You may not have much experience in this kind of movie. I have been filming Broadway adaptations of scripts since I debuted, so I have much more experience in casting. First of all, we have to start from supporting roles. Let’s set off, first decide on a few actors to play mothers, and then choose two young actresses..."

"Hahaha..." Ronald laughed loudly. Is Herbert Ross confused? Who is the boss of this project? Who do you listen to?

"I'll give you plenty of time. You can interview slowly, but I have already decided on several candidates who have won Oscars. You must interview them first." Ronald handed over a list of candidates. passed.

"Sally Field, Jane Fonda, Olympia Dukakis, Shirley MacLean..." Herbert Ross was interrupted, feeling unhappy in his heart, and picked up the book that Ronald had prescribed for him. Candidate, the anger in his heart decreased slightly.

These actors are indeed excellent in acting, and you won't have too many problems when directing them yourself.

"Two young heroines..." After reading it, Herbert Ross felt that this list was not bad. He could brag about it when the time came. They all came to participate for their own sake. Three actors It is still rare to see the combination of the two.

"You can choose slowly, but it's best for these two to occupy the same role." Ronald threw over the resumes of two more actresses. "You are familiar with..."

Above are Diane Lane and Helen Slater. One of them has worked with him on "The Secret of Success", and the other was once Coppola's favorite and was supposed to play the secondary role of the two young characters. not a problem. But in this case, doesn’t he have no power at all?

"In addition, Michelle Pfeiffer has agreed to play the leading role. You can have an in-depth discussion with her when she comes back from Paris."

Ronald said, throwing away another resume.

"Well..." Herbert Ross almost cursed. Did he think of himself as one of those young directors? Can you only follow a recipe? However, the Jews' scheming prevented him from taking action immediately. Instead, he considered where he could operate to gain more say.

"Of course, I don't mean that you must choose these characters. It's just that from a marketing point of view, this movie needs these actors to join in order to have enough audiences to enter the theater. Otherwise, a mother in a southern town had to give birth to a child due to diabetes. The story of metanephric failure, not many people are going to read it.”

Ronald explained his intention, "These actors were indeed chosen at the moment." This means a star. Even if you choose the actors yourself, you may not be able to choose a more suitable actor than this. Besides, several of them came here just for their own sake.

"Of course, these are all very good actors, and I really like the prospect of working with them. But I still have to communicate with my agent about this..." After decades of ups and downs, Herbert Ross has long known that this At this time, you cannot express dissatisfaction in person.

"Then I look forward to our cooperation." Ronald was quite happy. With this kind of operation, a good movie would definitely come out. It seems that being a producer is not that difficult.

…

"I want to know, what do you think if my company also invests some money, and then CAA leads the film? For all roles, priority will be given to actors contracted by CAA."

Looking back, Herbert Ross went to Ovitz and proposed that his company would invest, and then CAA would be responsible for the actual production and co-screenwriter side, kicking Ronald out.

He thinks very well, he has experience and charisma, coupled with CAA's control ability, he will not suffer in marketing and reviews. Ovitz got a director who was more promising for Oscars and more acting opportunities for actors contracted by his company.

"It's very tempting, but I'm afraid it won't work..." Ovitz thought for a moment and immediately rejected the other party's proposal.

Now is the critical moment for the most profitable business in his career (consulting Sony's acquisition of Colombia), but he cannot make extravagant decisions at this time and openly oppose Ronald, so as to arouse the dissatisfaction of the Japanese side.

As far as he knew, Japanese people were very particular about loyalty and long-term friendship. Since Ronald was able to give direct advice to President Dahe, their relationship was not something he could separate with just a word.

"What? But?" Herbert Ross didn't expect Ovitz to reject him. Could it be that in his eyes, that boy Ronald was more valuable than himself?

"Nothing but, Herbert. Regarding the distribution of this film, the other party only recognizes Ronald. Do you understand?" Ovitz knew that Ronald was contacting TriStar Pictures, which has close relations with Columbia, for distribution. Regarding the relationship with Sony, the executives within Columbia who are aware of the merger and acquisition will definitely not be unhappy because of such a trivial matter.

"This...well...I hope we can forget this conversation..." Upon hearing this, Herbert Ross understood that there was an exchange that he didn't know about. However, he has to pay for the princess's wedding himself, and to maintain the life of a celebrity after marriage, he still needs the director's job.

"Herbert, I didn't say you can't fight for it in other ways, right?" Ovitz smiled softly. Just because he doesn't follow Rose's idea of ​​kicking Ronald out doesn't mean he can't take other measures, right?

This play was a hit on Broadway and was well received by critics. Ovitz didn't want Ronald to take this opportunity to win Oscar's favor. In this way, it is not enough to hold the other party's bargaining chip in your hands.

But he doesn't want the movie to fail commercially, so that actors under multiple banners won't be able to rise to the top.

Therefore, the best solution is to let Herbert Ross, a Jew with a bad temper, be the director and steal Ronald's limelight. It would be better if there was some news about the rift between the producer and the director during filming.

Ovitz's ability to master such delicate situations is one of his great advantages in being able to dominate Hollywood.

"But how to do it? That kid drove up and booked all the actors." Herbert Ross wanted to squeeze out Ronald. As long as Ovitz helped, he could find space by himself and use his rich experience to Ronald squeezed out slowly.

Besides, this movie seems to be a promising one. If your own company invests in it, the financial space will be much greater. As is the custom in Hollywood, if you, as a producer, make a little profit, it’s not too much.

"That may not be the case, especially the heroine, just wait and see." Ovitz did not reveal the details and asked Herbert Ross to go back and make other preparations.

Michelle Pfeiffer is the most popular female star of rival William Morris, while John Malkovich is just a bald and ugly actor, and it pays to take this opportunity to embarrass his competitor.

Besides, Ovitz had already learned about Markovich's weaknesses from his agent.

"Hello...", he sent Herbert Ross away and dialed the number of his subordinate, John Malkovich's agent.

"How is John's mental state now?"

"It was not very stable. He would be depressed for a long time every morning, and sometimes he would shed tears. However, the director happened to think that this emotional state was in line with the current plot. Count Valmont finally realized the need to sacrifice everything for love, so the filming progressed Soon. When he returns to Los Angeles after filming, I have already booked top psychological counseling for him."

"Very good..." Ovitz put down the phone and called his secretary, "Who did I have a date with for the golf weekend? Well, let's add one more guest."

"The secretary wrote down the name of a senior reporter from the Hollywood Reporter, the gossip page."