Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Chapter 1027 Reversal of Approval Rate

Ronald was slowly editing the film in the editing room when he received a call from Douglas Jr.

"Yes, many of the top executives of the TV station are Jewish, and many are supporters of the Donkey Party. Their overlap is very high. George Jr.'s team called all the TV stations, but they were refused to provide any footage related to Dukaski."

"Why doesn't their team even have a person who collects information on opponents?" Ronald felt that there was something wrong with Old George's campaign team.

"It is said that Jeb is in charge of the matter..." Douglas Jr. stopped, and he asked again, "Do you have any relationship with the TV station? This matter is also very important to us. Dukaski's attitude towards income tax is very bad..."

"Hmph..." Ronald didn't want to expose his relationship with Old George in the film and television industry. Such a candidate who supports tax cuts is not a big deal among the wealthy producers, but he has another layer of identity, the director. It will be too unique in the film and television industry where the donkey party supporters are everywhere.

"As long as I can help get a copy of the tape, just one copy. Now George Jr. is in charge of this..."

Ronald scratched his head. He didn't know many people on the TV station, only Helen's father, Gerald Slater, and the people from the production department who went to Australia with ABC to film "Great Money".

The former was Jewish, and he didn't want to ask him rashly; the latter was not familiar enough to discuss such things.

"Wait for me to discuss with someone..."

Ronald still decided to ask Nisita, he is of Italian descent, there is no taboo in this regard.

When Nisita heard Ronald say that she wanted to ask him something, the others didn't want to tell anyone, so she guessed that it was something related to ethnicity. Ronald didn't directly say that he wanted it, but took it as a fact and asked him why he couldn't get a video of the show that was broadcast publicly on TV.

"They're not going to let this tape out on the market, it's very damaging, and they prefer Dukakis, a Greek candidate who is a minority."

Ronald heard the implication of Nisita's words. When a minority came to power, many things had to rely on the Jews who were also a minority and occupied most of the power positions in the media industry. And old George himself was the boss of a powerful department like the CIA, and he was from a blue-blooded old white family, so he didn't talk so well to Jews.

He thought for a while and continued to ask: "So, if someone got the videotape and wanted to broadcast it on the TV station, would they also find a way to prohibit it?"

"No, first, we have the First Amendment. Second, the advertising department of the TV station is managed by another group of people. As long as there is money to be made, no one cares. This is their KPI."

"It seems that I have to learn more about the operation of the TV station... Someone told me that changing a popular movie into a TV series,

Very promising. When Ronald knew the answer he wanted to know, he naturally changed the topic.

"Of course, are you interested? I often receive such invitations, but most Hollywood film directors don't care much about TV adaptations. If you are interested, I can ask them to come and have a chat with you."

When Nisita heard what Ronald said, he felt that he must have been entrusted by someone to find out the TV station's attitude towards Dukakis riding a tank. Compared with this, making money is still important. TV shows have been hit especially hard by the writers' strike than movies. The ratings of many TV series with evergreen ratings are declining rapidly, and it is time to launch new dramas on a large scale.

"Here, I'm still a student. Cameron Crowe's fast-paced Richmond High School TV series failed. You'd better do my research first. If there is a suitable candidate, let's chat together."

Ronald changed the topic casually, and the two chatted deeply, and found out that it might be a big gold mine. That's when Nisita's office began to really explore the possibility of adapting her film for TV.

"Tuk-tuk..."

"Come in……"

Just as the two of them finished their coffee and ate a lot of salami, an administrative manager knocked on the door and came in.

"Mr. Nisita, here is the location map of your new office. Mr. Ovitz asked all partners to decide the decoration style of the new office...this is your share..."

"Thank you..." Nisita frowned as she opened the newly renovated office floor plan. Ovitz's office actually occupies a large half of the top floor, and he can only find a corner office on the downstairs floor, which is not as large as those of the Jewish partners.

"Is it your new office?" Ronald leaned over to take a look. In the middle of the new building was a central circular atrium, and the styles of the wings on the left and right sides were completely different.

One of the curved wings is dominated by expanses of glass and travertine, while the other is masonry with regular, unadorned windows. The atrium is topped by a low conical glass pyramid, making it a large, sun-filled public space,

"This design is good, who is the designer?" Ronald felt a familiar feeling when he saw the new office building.

"It's Chinese-American designer Iowing Pei. He rarely designs such a small office building. Mr. Ovitz begged him for a long time, and Pei himself is a passionate Hollywood fan..."

"Hey..." Ronald used his brain, his new house in Beverly Park is also a small building, isn't it? I don't know if I.M. Pei will accept the design form of this kind of house.

"He is an architect who designs large buildings." Nisita knew that Ronald had the idea of ​​demolishing the two small buildings of the new house and redesigning it. "But his house is in the Upper East Side of New York, next to Marilyn Monroe's old house. You can try your luck. Maybe he likes you, a Chinese culture lover, and a famous Hollywood director, and makes an exception to help you design a private house..."

"Hey...", Ronald said to himself, that's what I thought.

In the evening, Ronald practiced yoga on the carpet of the hotel. With his eyes closed, he was still recalling some details of the Dukakis news that he saw.

The news footage, while breathing carefully, the picture was very clear, and the sound clearly reappeared in Ronald's mind.

"Hee hee..." Ronald's heart skipped a beat. He obviously felt that he heard the laughter of the bystanders in the camera, and several people seemed to be talking softly outside the camera.

After a while, Ronald jumped up, picked up the phone and called Douglas Jr., "Hey, Doug, I thought of it!"

"The person who spoke at the scene was filming his own video. That's right... it wasn't from the TV station, but a live audience was filming with a Sony home video recorder. You ask Little George to find it. Aren't there people from the tank factory there? Find out who is filming the scene now."

"The ones who showed up at the tank test site must be senior executives and relatives of the M1 Abrams Tank Manufacturing Group. You guys must be able to find someone..." Little Douglas immediately told little George about Ronald's discovery.

"You are so fucking right. I will remember your and Ronald's help in this matter." Little George felt that this information was very important, and immediately went to find his father's supporters in the military industrial enterprise, and began to thoroughly investigate who shot the video at the scene.

Soon, according to the map, the campaign team found the executive of the tank factory who was filming at the scene. In his videotape, there is a shot of Dukakis on the tank.

However, this person's photography skills are too poor, and there are only ten seconds of available images before and after, and the others are either out of focus or not keeping up with the movement of the tank. In the end, the campaign team managed to cut only one photo and a shot of less than ten seconds.

Still, that's certainly enough.

Soon, an urgently produced new advertisement attacking Dukakis began to be broadcast on a large scale across the country.

The people on George Sr.'s campaign team have some compositional skills, and they cut out a still photo of Dukakis. On it he was wearing the steel helmet that was one size bigger, and there was his own name on it. Standing on the tank a little comically, waving to everyone.

As long as you choose carefully, in fact, ordinary people who do not have the ability to manage posture and expression can hardly avoid being cut out of one or two ugly photos.

Then, George Sr.’s campaign team added subtitles and voice-overs on it, counting Dukakis’s stance on the military-industrial complex and the army every election and voting since he entered politics.

A voice-over with a low voice, somewhat similar to Old George, said:

"Michael Dukakis is against almost every defense system we develop.

He opposed new aircraft carriers. He opposes anti-satellite weapons.

He opposed the deployment of four missile systems, including the Pershing-2.

Dukakis opposes stealth bombers and ground emergency warning systems for nuclear tests.

He even criticized our rescue mission to Grenada and the strike on Libya.

And now he...

Wants to be our Commander in Chief.

America cannot afford this risk! "

boom……

The reaction caused by this advertisement was indeed as expected by the people in the news departments of the major TV stations. Gave Dukakis a heavy blow.

Six million veterans, especially those before the Vietnam War, still have a sense of honor in the war they fought in. They hate this kind of politicians who use the banner of peace to slander the reputation of veterans who participated in World War II.

There are also their relatives, family members, and almost the same number of families of employees of military industrial groups. Unprecedentedly united.

For them, Dukakis is either denying the justice of their early military service, or depriving them of their jobs, both of which are unbearable, minefields of the highest level.

So, soon, this part of the people, with a ratio of more than 90%, overwhelmingly supported Old George, regardless of their own political inclinations.

The general election in America is like this. How can those illusory policy debates compare to the medical insurance, pensions, and respectful eyes cast by the veterans? Where can it compete with the high-paying positions of the million-dollar military industry group?

In the next less than a week, Dukakis' approval ratings plummeted, while George Sr.'s approval ratings skyrocketed. The approval ratings of the two also showed a one-on-one crossover.

"Roger Ailes said that in a large-scale election like the Grand Commander and the Senator, as long as there is a 'death cross' in the approval rating and it is so close to the polling day, it is basically difficult to overtake it again. As long as George is more aggressive and doesn't make low-level mistakes, he can lead to the finish line..."

Douglas Jr. called again and congratulated Ronald.

"Hahaha, at least for the next four years, we can enjoy tax incentives again." Ronald is also very happy, "However, in fact, we should be more grateful to the current commander-in-chief. The tax reform bill he passed Congress is the source of our benefits."

Ronald was very emotional. Hollywood's industry has rebounded in the past ten years, thanks to the current chief executive's preferential tax policies for high-income individuals. During Jimmy's period in the 1970s, a Hollywood star had to pay taxes on more than half of his salary. Except for some benefits brought about by fan worship, the star actually didn't get any monetary returns.

Many celebrities are very famous, but they can only buy houses in new communities. Just like Jack Nicholson, he could only buy Mulholland Road, which was still a newly developed area at the time, and be accompanied by Marlon Brando, who was also not very financially stable.

"Hey, our commander-in-chief is also because of the 22nd Amendment...you know, his current approval rate is nearly 30 percentage points higher than that of Old George."

"Hey..." Ronald also felt that no matter if they were supporters of the Donkey Party or the Elephant Party, they probably liked old Ronald quite a lot. I am afraid that in the future it will be difficult to have a general who is loved by the people like him.

During the Persian Gate weapons scandal, his approval rating dropped slightly two months later, and now that the general election is approaching, the approval rating of the current general has returned to above 72%.

And he also stood up for the old George, saying that he is his best successor. I am afraid that a large part of the people's love for him will be transferred to Old George.

In this way, Ronald was editing films every day, and stopped by to see the new house in Beverly Park. The more you look at it, the more awkward it becomes. In a house built for two families, there must be many inconveniences for one person to live in.

Ronald started looking for Richard to help him check Pei's address in New York. It’s just that that place is one of the best neighborhoods on the Upper East Side. In addition to Mr. and Mrs. Pei and Marilyn Monroe, there are also former Hollywood actresses and the former residence of Joan Crawford.

Although the house here is not as grand as Ronald's new home, it is full of celebrities with a long history and engaged in respectable careers. Monroe was also able to move in because of the relationship with an important person, while Joan Crawford was married to Alfred Steele, the chairman of Pepsi, and took over the stock after her husband died before she could move in.

If he rushed to visit like this, even though Ronald is a famous Hollywood director, he might be rejected politely.