Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Ronald finally returned home to New York. He slept hard all day, forgetting all the strange experiences of this European trip.

Early the next morning, he received another call from Niceta, "Ronald, Spielberg has something to do with you."

"What did he want from me?" Ronald felt strange and dialed Spielberg's number. "Steven, is there anything I can do for you?"

"Aha, Ronald, I have something to ask you."

"Huh?" Ronald thought to himself, has he reached a position where even Spielberg has to ask for advice?

"If you feel it's inconvenient to say it, you don't have to say it..."

"You ask." Ronald felt even more strange.

"I heard that you made a lot of money from your Dirty Dancing video. Can you tell me if this rumor is true?" Spielberg's voice on the other end of the phone showed envy.

"Big money doesn't count. What I win is that the sales volume is stable, and tens of thousands of boxes can be sold every quarter." Ronald gave a general figure.

"Is that true? What's your secret? Why is your pricing so different from others?" Spielberg became more interested as he spoke.

"There is no secret. If there is one, as you said, price the video tapes cheaper. Nowadays, a box of video tapes mostly costs eighty or ninety US dollars. I set the price at less than forty, so everyone thinks it is more cost-effective."

"Aren't you afraid of piracy? Video tape piracy is much easier than movie copying." When Spielberg's "ET" was released, he encountered the largest piracy group in the history of America. He still has no idea about this kind of thing. I have a lot of ambition, so I have always refused to release the video tapes of my movies.

"My dear Steven, haven't you heard of MA anti-theft technology?" Ronald smiled, how much this director hates piracy. Since the lawsuit between Sony and Universal was pronounced in the Supreme Court, new video recorders have been equipped with MA anti-counterfeiting chips. If you want to rip the video yourself, the video will flicker and become unwatchable.

As a result, Spielberg didn't release videotapes for his movies, so he didn't know how to deal with it in the industry. Although this cannot 100% prevent pirates and some viewers who bought the video recorder before the sentencing, it is nothing compared to the astonishing profits of the video tape.

"I have to be cautious. Copyright protection is the lifeline of our directors." Spielberg does not believe that one technology can prevent the spread of piracy.

He plans to take a multi-pronged approach and add some anti-theft technology. But since Ronald also said that low pricing is the secret to the success of his video tapes, it seems that he is not wrong. The internal debate within Amblin can come to an end.

Ronald put down the phone and called Cannold, who was daydreaming. They might need to adjust the price of the video tape. After more than half a year of silently making a fortune in the video tape business, the news finally got out.

It is estimated that other major studios will lower the retail price of video tapes to obtain higher sales. After everyone discussed it, we decided to lower the retail price to just over thirty dollars and make preparations first.

After this unique trip to Europe, Ronald wanted to spend more time with his family. Besides work and entertainment, you should also go home more often and enjoy the company of your family.

He immediately went back to Staten Island and spent two days with Aunt Karen. The two talked about many things. Recharged Ronald's spirit.

After sorting out his mood, Ronald also finished writing the end of the script at home in Staten Island. He called and invited Nora Ephron, and together with Carrie Fisher, who participated in the creation of the script as a script doctor, they organized a weekend of script discussion sessions to finalize the script as soon as possible.

…

"Oh, how did you come up with this ending? I think it echoes all the previous details, and it's also very powerful. I almost cried."

Nora Ephron was very excited when she saw the ending written by Ronald. In the end, Harry missed Sally so much on New Year's Eve that he couldn't call the renter, so he had to put on his running shoes and run to the New Year's Eve event that Sally attended.

Just when Sally felt lonely and left early, she arrived at the scene. Sally hated Harry for always staying in the friend stage like this. Every time he wanted to move forward, he would retreat. When she wanted to completely cut off the relationship, he appeared in front of her again. The two of them can no longer maintain this ambiguous relationship.

And Harry said something that moved Sally very much. He didn't come to hang Sally up. But he has already figured out that he wants to spend the rest of his life with her. Harry, who wanted to understand, didn't want to waste a moment and wanted to start a life with Sally as soon as possible.

Finally, there are interviews with elderly couples throughout the film. This time it was Harry and Sally's turn to be interviewed. In the sweet narration between the two, the whole play ends.

"Yeah, how did you come up with it?" Carrie Fisher was also surprised. She originally thought that Ronald's screenwriting level was no more than this, but after seeing this coherent ending, she immediately understood that it was the work of a master.

All the foreshadowings ahead point to Harry and Sally going their separate ways. But just when the audience was worried that the two would not be able to "live happily ever after" together, Ronald reasonably gave a reversal.

And that special ending is combined with the main line of another pseudo-documentary. It's very much like the pen that was Hollywood's golden pen back then, the handwriting of Billy Wilder.

"Did you ask Mr. Wilder for advice?" Everyone is a professional screenwriter, and they all smelled something extraordinary from this twists and turns ending.

"Just like the way you wrote it..." Ronald smiled.

This script actually includes many details about the personal lives of Nora Ephron and the original director, Rob Reiner. For example, Ephron likes to be picky when ordering food, and Laina divorced his wife. All the details were transformed into the script.

Carrie Fisher also added some of her own life, such as Harry and Jess, Sally and Mary, two pairs of friends who like to talk on the phone before going to bed.

"Oh?" Carrie Fisher and Nora Ephron exchanged glances. They knew that Ronald meant that he also drew this ending from his own experience.

Ronald is not married yet, who is he regretting missing out on? The two screenwriters' gossipy hearts began to burn brightly.

"I think this script would be more suitable for a simple and meaningful title, just 'When Harry Met Sally'. What do you think?" Ronald also hopes to complete his unfinished business in the movie.

"Sounds great", "This is a good name", Fisher and Ephron became more curious about Ronald's experience during his trip to Europe.

"That's it, I'll leave the rest to you to continue to improve. Fill in the details as soon as possible and come up with a completed draft of the entire script. Then we can start filming."

Now that the most difficult ending has been overcome, the two women said there is no problem and they will come up with a complete script as soon as possible.

Both of them are professional screenwriters. Since her last performance in Star Wars, Carrie Fisher has gradually lost control of her figure and is gradually moving behind the scenes. And Ephron is a screenwriter who worked his way up from the bottom of Hollywood. Moreover, both of them are women, so Ronald himself may not be able to write better than the two of them.

…

"ET Alien video tapes are available at major video rental stores and Wal-Mart supermarkets."

Spielberg's video tape is finally on the market.

Ronald went to Blockbuster to buy a box and had to queue for twenty minutes to buy it. The advertising bombardment of major TV stations and the initial small-scale launch made it difficult for many customers to buy a box of video tapes.

This movie, released more than five years ago, is still very popular with audiences. Many parents want to buy a box of the family-friendly content, with children as protagonists and adventures with aliens, and put it at home. It is also a very honorable thing for children to invite their children to play at home.

"Steven suddenly set the price at $24.95," Ronald called Daydream's Michelle Cannold. Discuss countermeasures.

"Yeah, let alone buying, I can't even rent here." Cannold also lamented. As soon as "et Alien" was launched, it immediately won the weekend's video sales champion and Blockbuster rental champion. Ronald's "Dirty Dancing" was immediately pushed to the back.

"He also used special packaging and anti-counterfeiting marks, which really cost a lot." Ronald held the "ET Alien" video tape in his hand. The tape protection flap on it was not the usual black plastic, but It specially uses a piece of green plastic, which is very conspicuous at first glance.

In a row of black video tapes, the green color stands out so much that the audience cannot miss it.

There is also a Universal Pictures sticker on the textured surface of the carton packaging. It says laser anti-counterfeiting. Much like the anti-counterfeiting mark on a credit card, it reflects colorful light when illuminated by light.

"ET is back, this stupid alien is making the children of America happy again..."

Many newspapers are reporting on "ET Alien"'s phenomenal video debut results. A movie that has been around for so many years actually shocked Hollywood by winning both rental and sales titles as soon as it was released.

Also on the market at the same time is the video tape of Disney's old film "Cinderella." Classics spanning more than thirty-five years are the focus of Disney's distribution strategy. In fact, the number of pre-sales is less than half of the "ET Alien" that was rushed to the market.

There is also a special green video tape protection port, which makes this video tape a topic beyond the film and television circles. Everyone still remembers when ET even broke box office records, and they only have fond memories of this movie.

For a time, the sales of video tapes increased rapidly, breaking the sales speed records of Ronald's "Top Gun" and "Dirty Dancing".

In the first weekend alone, the rental record of various video chain stores across the country exceeded two million, and is still growing rapidly.

"Why are they selling like crazy?" In the second week, Ronald was surprised by the news.

"The number of rentals of et Alien video tapes has exceeded 6 million. Sales figures have not been disclosed by Amblin and Universal, but according to estimates from market research companies, they are not much different from the number of rentals.

Seeing that big players like Universal also discovered huge business opportunities, Ronald knew that the opportunity to quietly make a fortune in the video tape market was over.

However, what is gratifying is that the sales of his cash cow "Dirty Dancing" have not declined and have remained stable. The long-term sales of this video tape have been very good. It is sold quietly like this, and no one who is not interested will find out.

"The reason why et aliens are still popular..."

Roger Ebert, along with Sisko, also discussed the ET tape phenomenon on their weekly film review show.

"I watched it again last night, and I would like to quote Rolling Stone's review, Spielberg is this 'space age' Jean Renoir." Ebert felt that the film's popularity was mainly due to Spielberg Ge grasps the biggest aesthetic common denominator among the people, and everyone from six to eighty years old likes it.

"The word space age is very important. In addition to the superb performance of the child actors, the special effects of this movie are also a product of the space age. Five years later, we watch the video tape on TV, and the special effects of ET are still so amazing. . Especially the shot of Elliot riding a bicycle across the moon with his ET, my children are very excited every time they watch it."

When Ronald saw this, his heart moved.

Indeed, after more than five years, Hollywood's special effects pictures have not made much progress. Now it has not exceeded the level of et aliens.

ET's video tapes are selling so well, so children can watch this kind of special effects spectacle at home, which must be a very important reason.

Green video tapes, laser anti-counterfeiting, and aliens flying over the moon. When children see such things, they will naturally like them.

Perhaps, this kind of visual spectacle that surpasses ordinary people's imagination and can only be seen on the screen is the most important reason why et remains popular for so long.

Ronald tapped his fingers on the table. Things that couldn't be seen on TV were probably the biggest reason for those people to go to the cinema.

What cannot be seen can be model special effects, actors' delicate performances, or computer special effects that Spielberg and George Lucas vigorously promoted.

Maybe, when Moore's Law comes into play two or three more times, the rules that determine movie box office will change significantly? Whoever can obtain Hollywood's special effects production capabilities will have the ability to monopolize it.

Ronald thought of his friend James Cameron preparing for "The Abyss." After all, he himself didn't understand technology. It might be the right time to go visit a class and ask the Hollywood director who has the most research on special effects besides Lucas.

"Why are you here?" Cameron didn't expect Ronald to visit the class again. Knowing that Ronald came here for the special effects, he was also very happy, "The containment vessel of the nuclear power plant has been filled with enough water. I will dive down by myself tomorrow to see the effect of the underwater camera."

"Um...Isn't this dangerous?" Ronald was very comfortable with flying, but he was always afraid of things underwater. Perhaps it was related to his grandfather's death in a plane crash in the Atlantic Ocean.

"Haha, I go diving in the Atlantic Ocean every year. This level of still water is nothing. There is no danger, unless you rise too fast and you will get diving sickness. Do you want to go down with me and take a look? I will watch you." Cameron said there was no danger and he had an advanced diving instructor certificate.

"Ah, no, I have a fear of diving, (diving phobia)."

"Haha, it's okay. It's safe when I take you down. The underwater world is fascinating."

"I know that with you here, it's unlikely that anything will happen to me, but why take the risk?" Ronald declined again.

"Well, your loss..." Cameron didn't expect Ronald to have something to fear.