Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Why did Dances with Wolves get this nickname?" Ronald was in a bad mood.

Hollywood is most afraid of being nicknamed. Sometimes, a thing that is not important at first may become a nickname that will follow you for the rest of your life.

Look at Michael Cimino, who made "Heaven's Gate". His career has been blamed for bringing down the United Artists Pictures founded by Chaplin. How can anyone dare to ask him to shoot a big-budget movie in the future?

I can only make a living by working as a script doctor for people, or by making low-cost movies for tycoon investors who want to make a splash in Hollywood. Even if you have the title of Oscar for Best Director to protect you, it is of no use.

Now, by coincidence, Orion is really facing a financial crisis. If his "Valmont" fails to make a comeback, financial crisis will happen next year.

If "Dances with Wolves" is really labeled as Kevin Gate, it might coincide with the crisis of Orion. Instead of scrutinizing which directors' films drained Orion's money, people would find a scapegoat to blame.

And “Kevin’s Gate”, which happens to be homophonic with “Heaven’s Gate”, doesn’t it just fit in?

Both were big investments, the last films before something went wrong for a studio that had long supported artists. Isn't this a coincidence? By then this nickname will definitely spread like wildfire.

Ronald was a little irritated. This kind of thing must not happen in "Dances with Wolves", otherwise it would definitely ruin the reputation of Daydream Pictures.

"We have to go to Kevin's place and hang out with the two crews of Silence of the Lambs..." Ronald finally reached a consensus with Mike Medavoy to make more preparations to prevent such a once-in-a-decade servant. The street fell on its own head.

Rumors must spread the fastest, and the most important thing now is to go to the set to calm people's hearts.

Diane was reluctant to leave, but Ronald went to deal with serious matters. She helped pack the suitcase and stuffed black tea and thermos cups inside. Ronald got on the plane with Diane's warmth in his arms.

…

"Let's take a look at the progress of the filming..." Ronald and Mike Medavoy appeared together in a nature reserve in South Dakota. After arriving at the crew, they discovered that they were filming the migration of bison herds and the Sioux Indians. Shot of man hunting.

"Ah, you are here. Are you going to see Kevin? Or should you wait for him at the base camp first?" Rachel Talalay was waiting for Ronald and Ronald at the crew's camp.

"Where are they? What progress have been made today?" Ronald picked up the shooting schedule on the table and looked at it.

"Hua Hua Hua..." Ronald flipped through the schedule, and found only one page of today's shooting schedule. "Where are the others? Is this schedule incomplete?"

"Are they all here?" Rachel Talalay came over and took the schedule handed over by Ronald and turned it over, "That's right, it's the complete schedule..."

"Are you sure?" Ronald looked at Rachel Talalay with a look of disbelief. She was specially sent by himself to keep an eye on the filming progress of the crew. This is the work performance you gave. ?

Ronald clenched his fingers into a fist and then released them. He quickly took out the thermos cup filled with black tea and took a sip, "Keep calm!"

But Mike Medavoy, who took over the progress chart and browsed it next to him, was not so calm. He was nearly 50 years old and had high blood pressure. He was suddenly stimulated and his vision went dark and he sat on a chair.

"Are you okay?" Ronald looked at Mike Medavoy's pale face and stepped forward to ask.

"I always get airsick when flying, and sometimes the onset is delayed..." Medavoy knew that he must not reveal anything at this time, so he quickly explained. Then he took out a small box from his chest pocket, poured a pill out of it, and swallowed it raw.

The main culprit that caused the two of them to be excited was the shooting schedule. On today's schedule, surprisingly, there was only one shooting arrangement.

Mike Medavoy also had a producer on set, also female, who went to the set with Costner. Talalay was waiting for Ronald's arrival in the camp.

Medavoy took pills and felt better. He asked Talalay to pour him a glass of hot water to dissolve the nutritional supplements he took every day. He took this opportunity to close the door with Ronald. Come and talk.

"Michael Cimino got the female producer on Heaven's Gate back then..."

Halfway through his words, Ronald already understood what he meant. I also experienced the Heaven's Gate scandal back then. Michael Cimino sleeps with the heroine Isabelle Huppert and the female producer every morning. When they wake up in the morning, the three of them get themselves high first, and then go to the scene to decide. Shooting?

Because the producer was obsessed with him, the whole crew went off the rails. He could film a close-up shot of a supporting character cracking a whip for three days. In unnecessary links, time and film are wasted, which is also a waste of money.

He also complained that the streets of the small town where the props were set were too narrow, so he demolished all the wooden houses in the set and rebuilt them, which cost the crew a lot of money.

At that time, he was also a newly promoted executive of United Artists Pictures. In order to achieve results, he lacked production experience. Another executive wanted to resign and leave, so he didn't care much about this kind of thing.

The two chatted for a while and both felt that they were too similar. This nickname of "Kevin's Gate" seems to be not unfounded.

"We have to go to the filming site to see the real situation..." Mike Medavoy thanked Talalay and took out a plastic bag. After tearing it open, he dissolved the powder inside with hot water and took it. Go on, "This is a nutritional supplement specially prepared by me. It is very good for my body."

"I guess this shot must be quite difficult, right? Otherwise, why would you only shoot one shot every day?" Ronald also calmed down, he still believed in Talalay.

"The bison herd is different from the ordinary herd. Once it starts running, it is difficult to stop. It often takes a professional bison herdsman to run back for more than ten miles."

"Oh, that's right. It sounds like it's more difficult to shoot than a train shot." Ronald heard this and felt that it was understandable, although one shot a day was still a bit outrageous. But it doesn't mean that he is as lawless as Cimino.

"Costner is a new director. His artistic taste is very good, so his requirements are higher. This shot of the buffalo herd galloping was probably shot this week, and the speed will be increased next."

The three of them rode in a pickup truck and headed into the wilderness of the nature reserve where the crew was located. Talalay explained to them the reason for the slow shooting.

It’s not that Talalay wasn’t in a hurry and didn’t think of ways to speed up the progress, but some of the scenes in this movie were indeed very difficult to shoot.

Roger Corman is the most powerful master of shooting train scenes. Martin Scorsese's first feature film "Boxcar Bertha" was shot under the guidance of Corman. I was fully prepared and spent a week focusing on shooting all the car-picking scenes.

Like the herd of bison, the train also moves together and has to travel quite a distance, making it a difficult subject to shoot at most one or two shots in a morning.

After all, the train is still a predictable object. After receiving the signal, the train driver can immediately brake and reverse. But there are hundreds of bison herds, and there is no fixed head cow to listen to orders. Once they start running, they have to wait until they are willing to stop before they can go back. And not too fast.

This herd of bison was raised by a wealthy man in order to revive the natural ecological group of American bison. This species has been effectively declared extinct in the wild. If you are too impatient when shooting, the bison herd will run too much and they will quickly lose weight, which may also lead to death.

The rich man definitely doesn't want the crew to overuse it, so he has to take care of the precious wild animals and take his time.

"Ronald, you came just in time..." Kevin Costner has just finished today's shooting. Under the setting sun, a herd of bison is jogging on the ground. The professional cattle herders behind are nervously surrounding them. Holding on, for fear of accidentally arousing their brute force.

"I heard that filming was difficult?"

"Yes, we can only shoot one shot of this kind a day, which is very troublesome. Fortunately, we will finish shooting this section soon..." Costner was riding a horse. He also rode a bareback horse like an Indian today, controlling Very skilled.

As for Costner, he was very unambiguous about the film and did all the shots himself. Ronald looked at the situation on the crew, and Costner could say that he was following orders. This has something to do with the fact that he does not need a substitute and rides such a risky bareback horse by himself.

Many of the people at the scene were old partners in western films with him. They all admired Costner's ruthlessness. Westerns are not romantic films about romance. People are convinced by a director and starring actor who can ride a bareback horse and lead by example.

Ronald went with him around the set and found that he was not messing around like Michael Cimino. From the execution and morale of the entire crew, it can be seen that Costner has done a lot of work.

Moreover, the genre of Western films has actually come to an end. After Costner made his debut, he made several Western films and sports films, all with big scenes. He learned from watching the work of those directors that his scheduling skills are quite strong. Moreover, Costner is a generous person and has accumulated a lot of connections on the crew. It can be said that perhaps half of the remaining Western talents are concentrated on the crew of Dances with Wolves.

Apart from anything else, this kind of scene where multiple riders chase bison together is not something that ordinary people can handle.

After watching the scene, Ronald and Mike Medavoy continued to watch the demos in the evening. Although the shooting progress is slow, the pictures are very good. Kevin Costner has enough taste for what is good, but how to shoot these tasteful pictures, he needs more time and film to slowly polish.

…

Who knows, Ronald and Mike Medavoy, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, were very annoyed by Costner's words when he came to the door in the evening.

"The crew can still continue filming until next week, and we still need some funds to complete this masterpiece."

"No, why do you want money again?" Talalay was also caught off guard by the sudden attack, "I've seen the budget, and there won't be any big problems after the filming."

"Hey, you know, I also do it for the art of film." Costner's meaning is very clear, what I said is all fake. In this inaccessible South Dakota nature reserve, in addition to the crew, there are some real Indians invited to perform as extras.

This is not Hollywood, there are people working in various agencies, and a producer can really exercise her power. Here, most of the crew are Costner's people, and those Indians also have a good impression of the plot of the movie, and no one will tell Talalay the real situation.

Here she is, somewhat deceived without even realizing it.

Kevin Costner's trick has been used by many people in Hollywood. Just coax and lie, start shooting first. According to my own quality requirements, it is obvious that the current budget cannot complete the shooting, but I will shoot first.

When you run out of money, you ask the producer for more. Anyway, the quality of the film in this part is very good. You can't just stop filming, right? That way the upfront investment will be in vain. If you want to finish filming and release the movie to recover the cost, you have to bite the bullet and invest more. You would rather dilute your investment shares to finish the movie.

Of course, there are also some directors who lose their temper at the end of the game, and the quality of the finished film is not very good, or is not recognized by the producer, and there are also those who have no choice but to shoot blindly and make it into a long release.

Mike Medavoy is particularly aware of this situation. He is famous for dealing with these artists at both United Artists and Orion, and he knows that most of them are also gangsters. He had already anticipated Costner's method.

Just as Ronald looked at each other, Mike Medavoy asked the question, "How much do you want?" He had hidden a reserve budget of 3 million to 5 million.

"I still need ten million..."

"Hey..." Ronald laughed, but he was holding back a big smile.

He looked at Costner seriously and pointed at his mouth, "Look at the shape of my mouth, Kevin..."

no way……! "

"Hey, come on, Ronald, you saw my sample and you liked it very much, right? You can't let such a masterpiece not meet the audience. Western films in history, starting from John Ford, are It is the most important film genre in Hollywood, but there are few positive depictions of Indian tribes. In those western movies, the Indians are either scalpers or robbers who steal women...

This is the first film to objectively and positively depict Indians. You can't do this to him..."

"You can't do this to me, Kevin. I gave you a lot of privileges to make your dream come true. This is your first time as a director, so I gave you the privilege of sequential shooting. I also let you use Indian languages. Make film language. I came to South Dakota to shoot bison herd migration and Indian tribe hunting scenes. I gave you so much trust, and this is how you repay me?

Ten million, ten million I can make three westerns! "

Ronald became more and more angry as he spoke. He came up and pointed at Costner's chest and tapped him several times with his hand. Then he moved forward step by step, forcing Costner to retreat.

At this time, negotiations rely on the temperament of a gangster to see who can frighten whom.

"Don't be like this, don't be like this, talk about it if you have something to say...let's sit down and talk slowly..." Mike Medavoy and Talalay came up and pretended to pull away.

Costner was forced to his side of the sofa and was at a disadvantage in terms of momentum.

"I can pay part of it out of my own pocket..." He stated his bottom line.

"How much more can you pay?" Ronald laughed. Costner didn't have any particularly profitable works. In order to make this movie, he invested all of his three million US dollars in salary as an investment share. We also found distribution channels in Europe through Michael Douglas's relationship, and then used the film's distribution income in Europe as collateral to get a loan from Credit Lyonnais, plus Ronald and Orion each contributed a portion to make up for it. Collected funds for filming.

"I can use the down payment as an investment..."

"You can do it. How much will it cost?" Ronald smiled and patted Costner on the shoulder. This guy doesn't have much money now, and when it comes to money, he is suppressed by his own momentum.

"I will discuss with Mr. Mike Medavoy and we can stop filming."

"Ronald!" Costner was shocked. Do you really want to let it go?

"Unless new investment is found, and you have to pay the price..."

Costner was asked to go out first, and the two men had a quick exchange of ideas. Since the film had already been formed as a project company, Mike McDavoy would be happy to see Ronald increase his share of the investment.

However, Kevin’s Gate’s reputation must also be scrupulous, and it cannot repeat the situation where “Heaven’s Gate” was stared at and criticized in the media after its additional investment.

In the end, the two discussed a way for Ronald to find a distributor in East Asia, package the box office revenue here, and then turn it into an advance payment from the distributor, which would be used as an additional budget for the crew.

However, no one told this except Costner and a few other core personnel. When promoting it to the outside world, we still insisted on a production cost of 18 million yuan. Anyway, this part of the money can also be regarded as overseas advance receipts, and it will be changed into another account when the expenses are listed in the finance.

The two discussed it, and Ronald made a few more calls to Sony's office in New York, finally finalizing the arrangement for additional investment.

"Come in..." Costner was put into the room again.

"We can give you additional investment..."

"Yes!"

"Don't be too happy, we have conditions..."

"Please tell me..."

"The additional part must be supervised by Ms. Talalay, and all expenditures require her signature..."

Ronald and Mike Medavoy discussed regulatory measures. In short, the situation of being deceived like before cannot happen again.

"Thank you, thank you!" Kevin Costner was a little worried about whether filming would really stop.

"Besides..." Ronald glanced at Costner, who immediately stopped celebrating and then looked at Ronald, eagerly waiting for the conditions he said.

"This is the last payment. If you can't finish it on time and on budget, we will not only deduct all your salary, but also deduct your money based on the delay and budget."

"Okay, I promise..." Costner was really desperate to make this movie, and he agreed to such harsh conditions.

"Don't let us down, Kevin." Ronald used all the measures United Artists used against Michael Cimino. Costner could still get a bonus if the quality and quantity were maintained. If the film still didn't work well, Then you deserve to lose money.

"I won't..." With sweat on his back, Costner left the office and went to the group of Western brothers.

"How is it?" Everyone came up to ask.

"What are you still doing here? Let's start work immediately!"

"Oh..." The staff members were confident and immediately dispersed to prepare for filming.