Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Latest website: "Aren't you going to sleep? Is this script so good?"

Diane was wearing silk pajamas, sprayed on the perfume sold by Cher Company, and came to Ronald with her waist and hips swaying.

"Well, it's really good. It's a work that reflects reality..." Ronald kept turning over the script on the table in the living room with his uninjured left hand, twisting his body a little uncomfortable. He adjusted his sitting posture.

The weird name of this script "3000" actually does not refer to the era commonly used in science fiction films, but means three thousand dollars. The script tells the story of Edward Lewis, a tycoon engaged in corporate mergers and acquisitions in Los Angeles, who accidentally met a street girl Vivian Ward on the street one day.

Vivian Ward is a red-haired beauty from the South. Her biggest wish is to visit Disneyland. But she was addicted to drugs and had no money to save.

The two reached an agreement, Edward Lewis paid her three thousand dollars to hire her for a week, and Vivian Ward would not touch drugs during this period.

The two get along well with each other, and their personalities complement each other. But at the end of the week, life shows its cruel side to two less than moral people.

The money Edward Lewis used for mergers and acquisitions was mainly raised from the issuance of junk bonds on Wall Street. It happened to meet the interest rate hike and the stock market crash, and he faced business failure and bankruptcy. Feeling irritated, she discovered that Vivian was still secretly using drugs. Unable to bear it, she drove her to the bus stop going to Disneyland, and then kicked her out of the car.

At the end, Edward's sports car drove away. Vivian trimmed her hair, sat down and waited for the bus to the paradise, and smiled.

"Hey..." Ronald sighed and closed the script. This screenwriter is called J.F. Lawton, and I have to say he is quite talented. This is a story about the demise of America's dream. He did not reveal the fate of the two people in the script, but anyone who understands American society can read the subtext.

Taking advantage of loopholes in the rules, financing with junk bonds, acquiring industries, and then splitting them up and selling them off, many billionaires were created in the 1980s. But as the 1990s approached, most of these people were swallowed up by the dog-eat-dog forces of the financial industry.

There are such victims in Hollywood, and Israeli Minahan Golan is one. The interest on junk bonds is very high, new bonds cannot be issued, and this tycoon Edward happens to be acquiring the largest shipyard on the West Coast. His ending may be even more tragic than Minahan's, and it is impossible for him to escape unscathed.

And Vivian Ward is a representative of another type of person. With the fervent urbanization in the 1980s, a large number of young people from small towns came to big cities to pursue their dreams. But if they are not good enough, the rent and living costs will swallow up their dreams. If they get involved in drugs again, many people will be forced to take the road of betraying themselves like Vivian.

The two poor people got close to each other spiritually by chance at a certain moment, but were immediately separated by the cold wave of reality. The most tragic thing is that neither of them knew that they had embarked on the road of no return, and in the hallucination of reality, they still thought that they might jump out of the whirlpool...

Diane was very happy to see Ronald's eyes staring at her waist and hips, and slowly sat in Ronald's arms.

"Oh..." The warm body temperature of the man's body made Diane feel very comfortable. "Does your hand still hurt?" She gently touched Ronald's bandage.

"As long as you turn a little this way, I won't feel any pain..."

…

Ronald's injury still reduced his energy. An hour later, before ten o'clock in the evening, he fell asleep on the sofa. Diane brought a blanket from the bedroom, covered him gently, then picked up the script and started reading it.

Early the next morning, when the two were having breakfast, Diane still couldn't stop reading the script.

"Ring ring ring ring..." The phone rang. Diane picked it up and handed it to Ronald.

"Ah, Detective...what, have you found the suspect? Oh, that's great. Have you found the attacker who attacked the jogging lady and the man on the bicycle? Do you want me to go back and identify him? That's no problem, but you You have to wait a few days, OK. Is that lady okay? What..."

"What's wrong with you, Ronnie?" Diane saw a sudden change in Ronald's expression. His whole face turned very pale, and he was still sweating. He hurriedly took the orange juice and let him take a sip.

"That lady may not be able to be saved. The detective said that even if she is saved, she may be in a vegetative state... I'm very scared..." Ronald was shaking a little while holding Diane. If I hadn't been so vigilant at the time, I might have..."

The two hugged each other and chatted for a while. Ronald alternated eating a sandwich and drinking orange juice with one hand before slowly returning to normal. Fortunately, I hired a bodyguard. I don't want this kind of thing to happen again.

"Why are you still reading this script?" Ronald realized that Diane was still holding the "3000" script in her hand.

"What do you think of this script?" Diane asked.

"It's a good script, but it's not suitable for the current market." Ronald didn't pay attention and said his true thoughts.

This kind of script that exposes the dark side of society and has some exquisite designs might have been nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay in the 1967s. The script, which explores the relationship between men and women under extreme conditions, is also a strong contender for the acting award.

But now, the film industry has begun to attract a large number of young audiences again. If you want to be famous, you must change it to a bright ending.

"Oh..." Diane listened to Ronald's analysis and began to read the script again.

"You're not...this script is not suitable for you..." Ronald suddenly understood that this was the script that Diane had chosen and wanted to be nominated for an Oscar? He reached out to get the script back.

"Why..." Diane put the script into her arms and turned her back to protect it, preventing Ronald from taking it away.

"Huh? This is a story about a street girl. You can't act it..." Ronald was a little anxious. Is he really interested in it? Not to mention that even if Diane acted in this script, it would be difficult to win an award now. So what if she did?

This kind of movie must have some sex scenes, and it also ruins the image. If she performs well and is well received by film critics, Diane will be stereotyped as this type of actor in the future, and the audience will think of her masterpiece when they talk about it in the future. How bad is this...

"Why don't you let me act? Do you want someone else to act?" Diane's eyes widened. An actress would not flinch when faced with this.

"No...", Ronald was so anxious that he broke out in sweat, "I'm not... what... by the way... didn't your father say he won't let you play this kind of role?"

"What are you afraid of? Haven't I acted in the TV series Lone Dove?" Diane ignored Ronald and continued to follow the script.

"That's different. It's a western, and it's mainly an emotional drama..." Ronald tried to explain that the scale of the TV series was very small. Although the character was also a bar girl, many viewers didn't notice it. I thought Diane was playing the girlfriend of Robert Duvall's character.

"I don't care, I'll go find Paula..."

"No..." Ronald tried to grab the script by scratching his itch, but his injured hand couldn't break through the defense of Diane's arms.

"Forget it, let's settle things with Niceta and let his wife find a way to dispel Diane's idea..."

It’s time to get some good scripts for Diane and Helen to act. Although many directors’ girlfriends are not very lucky, there are always a few that are different.

Ronald understood that in the final analysis, Diane was an actress, not one of those beautiful girls who broke into the industry because of fame and fortune.

…

"Ding dong..." The doorbell rang, and Diane took the script and went to the intercom to open the door. She really liked this role and wanted to play it. Ronald's status is getting higher and higher, and the gap between herself and him is getting wider and wider. Moreover, after so many years, Ronald has not publicly confirmed his relationship with her, which makes Diane feel very insecure.

What if I could act in this script and get an Oscar, even a nomination? Or become a first-line female star, and her relative status with Ronald will be more equal in the future.

"Kevin, it's you..." Diane heard Kevin Costner's voice on the intercom. After confirming with Ronald, she let him up.

"I saw the ABC morning news this morning. It seems that the thug who attacked you has been caught?" Kevin Costner made a special trip to visit the injured Ronald.

"Yeah, yes, the NYPD called me. They arrested twenty suspects, and I don't know if any of them include those who attacked me. They invited me to New York for identification. The most pity is that poor lady.

I heard the detective say she was identified as a secretary working for Salomon Brothers. Her skull was shattered and she lost three-quarters of her blood. Probably won't make it through.

As soon as I heard this, I was very scared. If I had done something wrong at that time, maybe that person was me, or..."

After listening to the phone call in the morning, Ronald was so frightened that he felt psychologically shadowed. When I saw Costner, the first friend in the industry who came to see me, I wanted to think of him as a psychiatrist...

"Ronnie...ahem..." Diane saw that he was still talking. Costner obviously had something else to do, so he reminded him.

"Ah..." Ronald realized that he couldn't talk about Helen in front of Diane, and immediately shut up, "Kevin, I'm glad you came to see me, what else do you want to do with your visit?" Then he glanced at Diane secretly, as if he owed him something in his heart.

"Forget it, let her act if she wants to. I asked Paula to negotiate and change the script of that movie. Replace all the inappropriate sex scenes and dark plots... Just keep the parts that can show your acting skills. Already..."

Costner was, of course, here to discuss "Dances with Wolves." After discussing with screenwriter friend Michael Black, he was willing to make some concessions for Ronald.

They wanted Ronald to find a more professional director and Costner to step back and concentrate on being the leading actor. They are also willing to let Ronald's people join the crew to become on-site production directors and control the budget.

Of course, what they expected from such a concession was to get Ronald's permission for the length of the film, which should be at least three hours.

To be honest, Ronald also hopes to see the great hunting scene in his dream be filmed. Without this majestic scene of the galloping buffalo, Hollywood would be missing a classic scene.

But it was not easy to film this scene. Now that the North American bison is on the verge of extinction, we have to consult with the bison breeders in the south. Shooting on location there requires a much higher budget than in Mexico.

Ronald finally decided to go along with Costner's idea, with staff and auditors deployed. Make a big scene. He made two additional requests. The first was to continue to improve the script and limit the scenes to three hours.

The plot of the original work was too rich to be captured in one movie, so Costner had to make a choice. The ending must also give people hope so that the audience will not leave the theater sad.

The second requirement is to use unknown actors as much as possible. Most of the money for this movie had to be spent on real-location shooting. Ronald has this estimate. There are horses, bison, and many extras. If we look for stars, the budget will definitely exceed the budget, and the schedules of stars are difficult to determine.

In the end, Ronald personally served as the producer, and allocated one million US dollars in advance as advance expenses for Costner to find bison, horses, actors with Indian faces, and Sioux language coaches.

This was one of Daydream's biggest investments in 1989, and Ronald specifically asked David Simkins, the writing supervisor, to be the executive producer on set. On the one hand, he wants to try to transform, on the other hand, Ronald also wants to cultivate heroes.

"Ding dong..."

After Costner left, another old friend came to see him.

"Tom..." Diane has not co-starred in a movie with Tom Cruise since filming "The Kid". The two greeted each other and brought him a cup of coffee.

"Hmm..." Cruise took a sip and found that it was instant. He knew that Diane was not very good at taking care of people. But he continued to drink without caring, and then chatted with Ronald about the accident.

Ronald was feeling expressive again, bragging about how he remained calm in the face of danger despite being frightened, and calmly used his coat to block the opponent's dagger.

"You know what? If I had made a mistake or reacted just one second slower, I could have been knocked down like that poor lady and then dragged on the ground like a wild dog and thrown into the ditch. My companions are hardly spared...

Ahem, Diane..."

Ronald started talking and saw Diane looking at him, so he quickly changed the subject, "Tom, thank you for coming to see me. It feels much better when I see my friends... Do you have anything else to do with me?"

"Hey, I'm relieved to see you're fine. What else... I have something to ask you..."

Tom Cruise rarely showed an embarrassed expression, "I want to start learning how to be a screenwriter, so I want to ask you, how should I start?"

"Huh?" Ronald was embarrassed to ask. You are a dyslexic patient and you still want to be a screenwriter?

But maybe his wife Mimi’s use of Scientology to help him treat his dyslexia has some effect?

"The most important thing is not to write out the whole thing at once. Writing a script is more like writing each scene one by one, and then assembling it like a car. I now use a tape recorder to dictate a lot of the time, and then Let the secretary organize what I said."

"Yeah, I'm using it like this now..." Tom Cruise said, taking out a small tape recorder and pressing the red recording button to record the key points that Ronald just said, "Paula will Help me organize..."

"When I finish writing the first draft, we will get together with Paula and Niceta and have a party. Then I will ask you to give me some feedback on my first script..."

Cruise seemed serious and set a time to ask Ronald to get together again when he came back.

"Of course, no problem..." Ronald noticed that Cruise did not mention his wife Mimi Rogers, but mentioned Paula Wagner, but seeing that Cruise's expression was not strange, he had to let it go. .

"Among the many male actors who were naughty boys in the world, I really didn't expect that he would have the best development..." Diane began to think of the past.

In that Coppola movie, the actor C. Thomas Hall became unknown. Ralph Marzio had a hit with The Kid, but his other films were also unsuccessful.

Matt Dillon, who was the most promising actor in Hollywood at the time, could only play the leading role in B-movies due to changes in audience aesthetics.

After Emilio Estevez and Demi Moore broke up, his ex-girlfriend took him to court and paid him two million in alimony. Now on the verge of bankruptcy.

Because of the video scandal, Rob Lowe's acting career, which was not very good, was completely shut down. Now he is still raising money to fight the video lawsuit. If convicted, he can be sentenced to up to twenty years in prison.

Only two stars, Tom Cruise and Patrick Schwytz, who were the most inconspicuous at the time, are now very popular. This is because they played the movie of Ronny Brother in front of them.

Thinking of this, Diane hugged Ronald's arm tightly and wouldn't let go. Such a man must be caught.