Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"I hope you can bring more female movies. After all, in this industry, no one can make your kind of female-centric movies..."

Dan Steele, the president of Columbia and Tristar Pictures, managed to flatter Ronald in his office.

The more legendary the story of "The Pear Blossom" single-handedly winning Best Actress for Jodie Foster, the worse off she is. After all, losing the company's money to give an actress the pinnacle of her career is a joke in producer circles.

Not only did the TV station refuse to buy the copyright to broadcast many controversial scenes and plots in this movie, but it also suffered from cold in overseas markets and video tape markets. Europeans don't understand why flirting in a pool bar can lead to rape, and Asians don't understand why such a "bad girl" who actively seduces men has lawyers to defend them.

"I didn't have an idea of ​​wanting to make a female movie, but this movie that I think can sell well happens to be a female-centered character..."

Ronald felt that this concept-first approach was absurd. Daydream really needed to cooperate with more studios and use their distribution channels, but selecting films with such a concept would definitely be useless.

"You are too modest. There are few directors in Hollywood who don't treat actresses as vases and decorations. In your working girl, Harrison Ford has become..."

Ronald stopped the other party from continuing to speak with a smile. It would be bad if such words reached the ears of the person concerned, so he changed the subject, "I wonder what kind of women's movies you see?"

"My criteria are very simple, women are the protagonists, female directors, or female screenwriters..." Dan Steele is very straightforward, she hopes to change the status quo of the male power center in Hollywood.

"That's easy to handle. We also lack scripts now. If you have a suitable script here, we can consider joining forces and lead the filming by Daydream..."

"Columbia-Samsung can do distribution and part of the shooting costs..." Dan Steele was also a cheerful person. After shaking hands with Ronald and making an agreement, he asked the secretary to bring in two big boxes of scripts for Ronald to choose from. .

...

"Snow White's story is down in the media, but it's just getting started in Hollywood..."

Ovitz sat in his office and dictated his plans to his secretary, which was his habit, never using a tape recorder to record his thoughts so as not to leak the secret. I usually only ask the secretary to write it down in an office with good confidentiality, and then put it in my own office.

He helped the same-sex gang headed by David Geffen temporarily suppress the media reports, but the media is not so easy to completely suppress, no one knows if there will be any accidents, the media has begun to be interested in it again.

In the industry, everyone began to find the cause of the problem. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Technology, which formed an Academy Awards judging committee, began investigating why the rebroadcast elicited such a strong negative reaction from the media and Ye Shun also that two Best Actor winners, two Best Actress winners, and two Best Director awards The winners all signed the joint protest letter.

Ovitz hopes to be able to influence this investigation, let him become a critic of producer Alan Carr, let him take all the blame, so that no one will blame Geffen and others.

The main members of these gangs with the same surname are star makeup artists and hair stylists (the proportion of these two professions is very high), if they come out to make trouble, it will affect the careers of Hollywood stars, and then affect CAA's revenue. This is a question he has to consider.

For this reason, he hopes to add an influential director to the investigation committee... Among the directors he signed, who is the most popular and influential?

...

When he received an invitation to Ovitz's private dinner, Ronald was sharing a script he had brought back from Columbia with David Simkins, director of script creation at Daydream.

The writers had signed off on script rights in order to get Columbia's project off the ground, and Ronald didn't seem to have the slightest legal problem.

If he wanted, he could completely change the script he was looking forward to, leaving the dramatic conflict behind, and then change the era of the script, the background of the protagonist, and the details of the story, wash the script, and turn it into his own project with no flaws in legal copyright.

Of course, there is no need for Daydream to do this now, they are already good partners that many well-known screenwriters are willing to cooperate with. Several Daydream productions or collaboration projects have given Ronald a good reputation as a respected creator.

"I think the idea of ​​this script is very good..." David Simkins took out one he had seen and recommended to Ronald.

"Huh?" Ronald frowned when he saw the screenwriter's name on the cover. He turned to the title page, read the full name of the screenwriter, and sure enough confirmed that it was the person he knew in the early years.

"Don't look at the story of the script is very simple, but this kind of perspective is very rare. And the audience of the movie has great potential, no matter if you live in a big city or a small town, regardless of your political orientation or gender, you will be interested in this subject matter .”

Simkins thought the story of Ronald's rejection of the script was too simple. This is not like the films he made before, there are always some points connected with history or current trends, it is a pure comedy.

"As you can see, the sales of ET videotapes have broken records recently. Although the special anti-theft technology is used and the price is five dollars more expensive, the sales results are really great, and there are piles of them in Wal-Mart. Put it on the ground, it is very popular..."

Simkins was influenced by Ronald, and now the first criterion for evaluating a script is to look at the market potential. In addition, his own wife just gave birth to a second child, and seeing this kind of story is really very loving.

"It's not because of this, this screenwriter and I have a 'history'..." Ronald smiled. She used to grab her own project back then, but after many years, the two are no longer on the same platform. It doesn't matter if you can make money for yourself.

"Ronald...hi, David..." Richard knocked on the door and came in, bringing Ovitz's invitation. After Simkins withdrew, Richard handed over a formal letter of invitation.

Ovitz is a guy who does have the ability to make PR-seekers feel great if he needs to.

"Ronald...we are really happy that you can come, my home is also illuminated because of your arrival..." Standing in the Japanese-style courtyard of his mansion, Ovitz was wearing a blue suit and tie The fight was very formal, and I specially came with my wife to welcome Ronald's arrival.

"You are too polite, Mr. Ovitz." Ronald knew that Ovitz was a fan of Japanese culture, but he didn't know that he was already so obsessed. The courtyard style and the way of speaking at home are already very Japanese.

"It's not worth mentioning. I invited you here to make up for you. Many people think that I manipulated the Oscars. I wish I had this ability. However, in the future Oscar selection, as long as you have a movie If you have reached the level of being nominated, I will definitely mobilize the resources of the whole company to support you..."

Formal welcome, humble wording, reviewing the history of acquaintance with Ronald, if Ronald knew of his overturning skills, it is hard not to think that Ovitz has changed course after this praise of "Rain Man", Next time, we must praise Ronald and give CAA's contracted clients an extra Oscar for Best Director.

This statement is actually reasonable. After all, after a director has won an Oscar once, winning another award does not increase his personal popularity or attraction to stars much. It is a much more cost-effective deal to mobilize resources and allow more CAA customers to obtain statuettes.

Under Ovitz, there are already Sydney Pollack, Barry Levinson, Francis Coppola and other Oscar best directors. If Spielberg can be signed, let Ronald and Martin Scorsese If Adams won the award, then CAA's hegemony can still be maintained steadily for ten years.

"I don't blame you, Mr. Ovitz. This is a fair game. As you said before, the Oscar awards cannot be manipulated. I may just be out of luck." Ronald did not express any thoughts of his own. , He has already discussed with Nisita and others, and before officially turning his face, he still needs to use Ovitz's influence.

If this kind of powerful figure in Hollywood can't be killed at once, it will be very troublesome to be turned over by him. would result in an extremely powerful counterattack. So the principle is, if you want to turn your face, you have to do it in one go, so as to ensure that he will never have the ability to turn back in the future.

Ovitz entertained Ronald with a Japanese chef, an authentic sushi banquet.

He is also very satisfied with Ronald's reaction. The dream of a director is nothing more than two, winning an Oscar and making the movie he wants to make.

With Martin Scorsese, he's done with financing his "The Last Temptation of Christ." And Ronald doesn't have too many financial troubles, but his desire for the Academy Award is only higher.

Ovitz coaxed Ronald to be happy all night, and praised his "Longwei Boy" series of films for showing the characteristics of Dongying culture very well. Dongying's current manufacturing industry is strong, and their advanced culture Not unrelated, America must learn so.

Speaking of the rise, Ovitz also took Ronald to see his various collections.

"This is the earliest prototype of Sony's Walkman... At that time, Chairman Akio Morita asked me to give their design advice. You see, there is only one headphone jack here. Later, the version sold in the market has two headphone jacks. That's what I came up with."

"Oh, that's really interesting..." Ronald saw that what Ovitz said seemed to be true, and he didn't know if Akio Morita really asked his opinion, but he sent a prototype to see it is true.

"This is Jasper Johns' 1955 masterpiece 'White Flag'. I am very careful, never mention it in front of outsiders, and only put it in the warehouse for appreciation. Only when a good friend like you comes, I will show it off... ..."

Ovitz took him to see the famous collection of paintings again, which is different from Andy Warhol's hanging outside. This is really valuable. There are different versions of painters in history, and they are very popular among collectors. , and the historical transaction price exceeded tens of millions of dollars.

"Oh?" Ronald let out an admiration, his collection, in front of the real good things, is like a pile of waste paper.

"Every visitor who sees my collection, I have to say one more thing, although you will not gossip around. This painting was secretly sold to me by a real estate agent in Dongying, and I cannot publicly own this painting Secret, otherwise their goodwill will be in question.

Of course, if you tell others that I have this painting, I will deny it, hahaha..."

Ronald couldn't help but look sideways. Ovitz bought such a painting casually to provide cash flow for Dongying's real estate company. And he didn't show off casually, just put it in the warehouse silently.

How much is this guy worth? He looks much richer than himself.

After showing some strength to Ronald, Ovitz finally made a request to invite him to participate in the investigation committee of the academy, and communicate with Ovitz about any progress and influence.

Ronald happily accepted the invitation. Anyway, if he wanted to win an award, he had to establish his own network of relationships. It is not acceptable to rely on CAA, after all, they are not their top priority.

If they are nominated for an Oscar next time, if they want to sign Spielberg, or if Sydney Pollack wants to get the statuette again, his ethnic identity may be put in the second tier again.

"I hope to hear good news from you..." Ovitz also sent Ronald to the door in the end, which was a grand etiquette he rarely used.

"Stay here, Mr. Ovitz, it's good news for us..." Ronald knew that he might not be Ovitz's only insider. Anyway, it would be beneficial for all practitioners to settle this kind of shit as soon as possible. Hollywood It is better not to strike again.

...

"CAA's commission income last year has exceeded 200 million." Nisita answered Ronald's question when he accompanied Ronald to meet the chairman of the academy.

"Is there already so much? No wonder..." Ronald groaned, he was still not as rich as Ovitz.

The number of clients of CAA last year has exceeded 1,000. Their brokers also exceed hundreds of people. The big directors are paid 5 million a time, and the male stars are even higher. As for potential new customers, the salary for one appearance is also 100,000.

CAA has become a monster in Hollywood, raising the production cost of many film projects, and many people dare not speak out.

With a revenue of 200 million yuan, Ovitz alone owns more than half of the shares. In addition to most of the commissions shared by the broker, most of the dividend income from the packaged projects went into his pocket.

With an income of 100 million a year, it is really easy to buy a few famous paintings like this.

It’s just that his taste is so-so. The “white flag” is actually a dirty white flag painted on canvas with paint, colored drawing, and carbon strips. The color of the flag has been removed, leaving only white.

Ronald didn't know how much artistic talent was different between this kind of painting and a clumsy art class assignment with an urchin.

"That's all we've agreed, and it won't take much of your time, Ronald."

The Academy's investigative committee is headed by producer and former Directors Guild of America president Gilbert Cates. After he welcomed Ronald to the committee, he took him to talk alone for a while.

Cates said that he felt that this performance was purely due to the poor director level of producer Andy Carr, who lacked the artistic accomplishment of a normal film director.

It would be a mistake to have such a long, corny cabaret show at an awards show.

This would never have been the case had he, and an active director like Ronald, produced the Oscars.

"It's true..."

Ronald knew in his heart that this man also wanted to calm down as soon as possible. Then he also took the position of producer of the Oscars next year, which is a good thing for both fame and fortune.

Please remember the first domain name of this book: . :