Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Latest website: Winona Ryder has agreed to finish filming her current movie with Cher and go to Rome to report and film Coppola's The Godfather Part III, the sequel that millions of fans are eagerly waiting for.

Ronald contacted Patrick Schwytz, Demi Moore, and the actor who played the assassin, and waited for them to adjust their schedule to go to New York to reshoot the assassination scene.

The news is still occupied by the sudden incident of the Berlin Wall. After the East German residents accidentally broke through that night, the people on the West German side began to take action on their own, using picks and shovels on the long wall. , bulldozers, etc., dug out gaps one by one. Various informal channels began to open.

Progressive young people from all over the world began to spontaneously gather in West Berlin to join this action.

The East German government and border guards once wanted to repair the wall to deal with this woodpecker-like behavior. However, they found that this task was impossible to complete in the face of an increasing number of people.

Time passed in such a mess, and a week before Christmas, Ronald finally gathered three actors and flew to Manhattan, New York, to start reshooting the special effects part of "Ghost".

"Huh..." The climate in New York has become very cold. The leading actors huddled in the trailer and waited until the filming was over before going down. Because the two male and female protagonists in the play are still wearing thin spring and summer clothes, they have to look very comfortable and relaxed, as if they are shopping on a summer night.

Fortunately, several actors are very professional, so this kind of thing is not too difficult for them. Demi Moore's super control over her body makes her not shiver at all.

It’s just that Patrick Schwytz is pitiful because there are several close-ups of him talking. Under the current temperature, white mist will appear when he exhales. As a last resort, he had to hold a few ice cubes in his mouth before shooting to prevent White mist entered the shot while speaking, destroying the continuity of the shot and the logic of the story.

"Cut!"

After filming many times in a row, Schwitz and Demi Moore moved strictly according to the positioning tape every time. The three special effects supervisors also did a lot of coordination work on set. They gave the final nod, indicating that there were enough qualified shots and could speed up the process and re-do the scene where the male protagonist Sam, played by Patrick Schwytz, had an out-of-body experience and saw his girlfriend holding his body and helplessly calling for help.

The ghost will pass through the bodies of the two of them who are holding Sam's girlfriend Molly several times. This kind of shot is all shot twice. The position is exactly the same, which can save a lot of post-production alignment work.

"Thank you, thank you..." After the reshoots were completed, Ronald shook hands with the reconvened photography team, lighting team, makeup team, etc., thanking them for putting down what they were doing and regrouping. Although these people took He received the extra salary stipulated by the union, but because of Ronald's reputation, he would come to help.

"Thank you, Demi, thank you, Patrick..." Finally, Ronald and the two leading actors thanked each other.

"It's okay. I have nothing to do in Los Angeles. Will you spend Christmas in New York?" Demi Moore said with a smile. She was very willing to come and shoot for a few days. There are subsidies, business jet transportation, and most importantly, you can get closer to Ronald.

"I'll stay for two days, but I'll still spend Christmas with Diane..." Ronald replied with a smile. After getting married, of course, he would focus on his own small family.

"Hehe..." Demi Moore smiled interestingly. She also wanted to spend Christmas with her family. Everyone enjoys family life.

Ronald was in New York this time and met another old friend.

Ang LEE and his wife came to visit Ronald. This was a very rare initiative for this Chinese student at NYU back then.

Helen Slater helped pour the coffee, leaving Ronald to chat with him privately, while she took Ang's wife to talk about other things.

"This coffee tastes really good..." Ang Lee really didn't know how to talk to the boss about this kind of thing.

"We are old acquaintances. If you have anything to say, you can just say it." Seeing how uncomfortable he looked, Ronald knew that something was wrong with his old friend.

"I think I will go to my hometown this time to participate in next year's New Year's script competition, and if I win, I will make it as my first film..."

Ang Lee was a little embarrassed to tell her why. He prepared two scripts and sent them both to the script competition sponsored by the Information Bureau. Double Insurance had two chances to win. As long as he entered the top three, his family could pay for half of the filming costs.

Ang Lee is confident because he recently found a partner named James Summers. Shamus is a Jew who set up an independent production company on his own and wants to enter Hollywood.

He had also been a screenwriter before, but Ang Lee was not very confident in his screenwriting skills, so he asked him to help him write. James Summers' screenwriting skills are actually average, but he is familiar with the structure of various three-act plays, which can just make up for Ang Lee's structural weaknesses. After his revision, the two scripts became more compact and had the formula of a commercial film that can sell well, without losing the delicate feeling of Chinese Americans.

"Have you decided?" Ronald asked after reading the two scripts and looking at Ang Lee.

In my daydream, Ang Lee actually performed well and helped Helen make many changes based on female psychology in her previous films.

However, Ronald knew that this person, like himself, was not willing to be a screenwriter doctor in the company. Sooner or later, he would take the step of becoming a director. It would always be unstable, very labor-intensive, but always Very attractive jobs.

"I want to understand. I have lived in New York for ten years. My life experience is neither purely Chinese nor American..."

"Hahaha, then you can take pictures here..."

Ronald had promised him long ago that as long as Ang Lee had a script approved by Daydream, he would invest in him to shoot a small-budget movie to practice.

But this time, Ang Lee wants to change the shooting location to his hometown. In this way, daydreaming will not be able to provide him with various conveniences.

"I understand. With my English, it is difficult to gain recognition from the staff in Hollywood..."

Ronald sighed inwardly, understanding what Ang Lee didn't mean. Although Hollywood is open, it is open to all kinds of technical talents. Techniques and methods from various countries will be introduced and learned very quickly as long as they can help the box office.

But the director is the soul of the film crew, and the crew must operate according to his orders. In this kind of position, there is still a kind of racial discrimination in Hollywood.

Whether they are British, European or Australian directors, it is relatively easy to find projects in Hollywood. But those directors from Asia, Latin America, and other third-world countries who are of a different race from their own are not so easy to find directing jobs in Hollywood.

For example, in the director industry, Akira Kurosawa, who is world-renowned, basically cannot find a job in Hollywood. If Akira Kurosawa still has a language barrier, then the Bengali-born Indian director Satyajit Rai, who is also a very famous director, cannot find a job in Hollywood, so we have to say that there must be racial discrimination. reason.

This kind of implicit discrimination also exists in the actor industry. It is not uncommon for an actress with a foreign flair to play the leading role in a major Hollywood production because there is such a role in the script.

However, it is almost impossible for a yellow-skinned actor who speaks Japanese, Chinglish, or Indian English to get a leading role in a Hollywood production.

This is implicit racism, but it is also the reality of the Hollywood market. I would like to ask, how many teenage male viewers (also the most important group of movie viewers now) are willing to watch a foreigner with a different skin color fall in love with a white American beauty?

The special case of Bruce Lee is due to his own personal charm and the kind of neat kung fu that Americans have never seen before, which made him popular among the public. But when he was alive, there were many audiences who didn't like him. There are no white heroines in Bruce Lee's movies, even though he himself married a white wife.

Ang Lee smiled. He knew that with his English proficiency, many crew members would not be convinced even if they did not look at his appearance. In this case, filming in Hollywood will definitely be a disaster if the work team cannot be suppressed...

But it's different when I go back to my hometown. He is a graduate student at New York University and works for Daydream Films, which has been very strong in Hollywood in recent years (some films directed by Ronald were introduced and screened in his hometown, so Daydream is still somewhat famous there)

In this way, those working in the film industry in their hometown looked at Ang Lee with a halo when he returned from Hollywood.

As for the script competition organized by Director Song of the Information Bureau, Ang Lee, who has learned experience from New York University and Hollywood, has infinitely greater chances of winning.

"Okay, what you said makes sense, but I still have to invest in you. If you need it, just call me directly and don't use Daydream's account. In addition, if the movie is released in America, I will still be here Some distribution channels for Chinese movies..."

Ronald might as well give Ang Lee some more benefits. It is impossible for Hollywood to retain talents by forcing them to stay. After the success of Dirty Dancing, independent films began to take off, and anyone with the skills could find financing anywhere.

If you can't keep it, invest in him. Speaking of Daydream, there are many Chinatown movie theaters that are happy to cooperate with each other. There are also some newly-built Palm Tree movie theater chains in big cities like New York and Los Angeles, and the help of the established Hollywood movie theaters on the East Coast. Distributing this kind of foreign language movies is actually a good idea. have advantage of.

Being able to have high-quality movies to fill the distribution theaters is a win-win for Ronald and Ang Lee.

Christmas is a holiday for most people in America. Ang Lee chose to go home to celebrate a Chinese holiday with the theme of family reunion, and then come back after the Spring Festival. At that time, awards from the Information Bureau could also be judged, and he could start his dream.

Ronald went back to Stanton to spend a day with his aunt, and then chose to go back to Los Angeles to spend a full Christmas with Diane.

Two men and women who lacked a complete family since childhood now finally have a family of their own. I had a very happy Christmas.

The driver, Little Bud, also came with his fiancée Lucy to celebrate the festival. Ronald's bodyguard Dan, the Queen Mother and his wife who were responsible for taking care of Diane, and the single Richard, everyone who could come was called by Ronald I came here mainly to give Diane a warm experience.

Everyone had dinner together which was very lively and made Diane feel very happy. After eating and drinking, she and Ronald lay on the sofa and watched the annual Christmas TV station's repertoire, the old movie "It's a Wonderful Life."

The room was very warm, and the two of them felt a little drowsy after seeing the protagonist played by Jimmy Stewart return to the real world with the help of angels and being thanked by everyone.

Diane was about to go back to her room to rest, but Ronald was interrupted by a phone call.

"Who is calling at this time?"

"Mr. Li, you have to be responsible for my clients!"

The voice of Winona Ryder's agent came over the phone.

"What's responsible? You have to speak clearly..."

Ronald picked his ears. If Diane heard this, wouldn't it cause misunderstanding?

"I... I'm sorry... I was too anxious. Winona went to Rome to start filming The Godfather III. I kept in touch with her on the phone every day. Today she suddenly broke down and cried on the phone, saying that she was alone I was under a lot of mental pressure in Rome. If I couldn't fulfill the director's requirements, I would collapse if I went on.

Winona is a sensitive girl, and I was worried that something would happen to her, so I took the liberty of calling you through Mr. Niceta..."

"What is all this?" Ronald lamented that he couldn't have a good Christmas no matter what.

Speaking of which, he is also responsible for Winona Ryder. Because at the beginning, her agent did not recommend her the role of The Godfather Part III. She made a sidestep and "accidentally" told the actor herself the news when she was scouting for Cher's movie.

In this case, to a certain extent, Winona Ryder is actually his "Ronald's person" in the crew of The Godfather Part III.

Now Winona Ryder has a serious psychological problem over there. If Coppola ignores the actor's psychological and physical condition and something goes wrong, Ronald actually has the responsibility to speak out.

Of course, there are many irresponsible producers in Hollywood, but Ronald is famous, and Winona's agent is still in Los Angeles, so she has no choice but to ask him for help.

"What, are you going to solve the problem?" Diane heard some snippets and looked at Ronald's frown, a little worried.

"I will solve the problem, but I don't want to go to Rome now..." Ronald smiled and touched Diane's waist. He picked up the phone and called Richard.

"Richard, something happened to the Coppola crew. Can you go to Rome on my behalf? You're really sorry for having to work during the Christmas and New Year holidays."