Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Latest website: Roberto Benigni was originally a comedy news host on Italian-language TV in New York, partnering with Isabella Rossellini. Later in Italy, he helped Ronald and Gale Hurd find Cameron who had a fever in the hotel.

Ronald had no contact with him for a long time, mainly because his English was very bad and he often couldn't speak complete sentences. And Ronald's Italian is much worse than his English.

This time they both became judges of the West Berlin Film Festival. The two of them chatted randomly on the phone for several minutes, but they still didn't understand what the other party wanted to say. Fortunately, his wife Nicoletta Braschi happened to be home, and the two agreed to meet and chat in West Berlin (with his wife acting as a translator, of course).

…

Several important films of Daydream are moving forward as planned. The filming of Dances with Wolves was completed, and Kevin Costner returned to Los Angeles and became an apprentice again in the editing room and recording studio.

Peter Buffy and his mentor John Barry taught Costner many of the basics of film scoring. Editor Neil Travers slowly taught Costner more basic editing techniques.

The editor of the TV series "Roots" at that time admired Costner's talent very much and reported to Daydream that Costner worked well with him.

In the actor-turned-director's debut, Costner's attitude is very reassuring. As long as the star can be humble and consult professionals, his sense of responsibility and talent will enable him to ensure high-quality completion of the film.

As for "The Silence of the Lambs," Jonathan Demme doesn't have Ronald to worry about at all. He is already familiar with all aspects of film production. As long as Demi still has self-respect for movies, she doesn't have to worry about the artistry of the movie. Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster both rushed to the Virginia location to begin filming.

Ronald was prepared to only go to the set for a symbolic visit, to fulfill his nominal duties as a producer. The mission of visiting the team was very low on the list of importance in Ronald's itinerary. The most important thing for him in the New Year was still in New York.

Before the New Year's holiday, Ronald ran to 450 West 33rd Street in Manhattan, New York. It is also called the West Side of Manhattan. The building is next to the famous Pennsylvania Station. The bottom of the building actually spans the train tracks, and the North River is below. Tunnels and the New York Western Railroad.

The transportation here is convenient, but the noise is not small. The property is very spacious and the rent is not expensive, but after all, the conditions are very different from the commercial center not far away. So the tenants are institutions without money.

Take, for example, Ronald's latest business, the headquarters and editorial offices of the New York Daily News.

"This will be the office of the editorial department in the future. This is the management department. This is the communications department responsible for contacting several reporter stations. The offices opposite are reserved for WPIX-TV and radio stations..."

Ronald's former manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers, Ed Bastian, who helped Ronald complete the acquisition of the Daily News, was showing Ronald around the new newspaper offices. He will also become general manager of the new New York Daily News, as well as the group's affiliated local stations.

The entire Daily News editorial team has been retained. James Wells, one of the original editors, was promoted to editor-in-chief. The newspaper will continue to maintain a moderate, center-right stance, and has reporters' seats in police stations in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan, and other places to report on public security cases and breaking news that readers care about at any time.

Most office buildings in New York have no special design, just a boxy box with a glass curtain wall. This design is best for offices surrounded by several corners.

The office is divided into several functional areas. One corner is the planning room of the TV station. WPIX-TV is a local TV station that mainly produces local news, TV series and a small amount of its own programs.

But after Ronald's acquisition, Daydream's production power can be practiced here, starting from a small TV station, training its own production team and filling some time slots.

Another corner is the chief newsroom, which is the heart of the daily news. News reports from various reporters must be verified here, checked from different sources, and then signed by the team of editor-in-chief James Wells before they can be published in tomorrow's newspaper.

The newspaper cannot run out of print, so it is still working in the original "Daily News Newspaper Building" on East 42nd Street. After the last issue was published in 1989, the whole thing was moved to a new office building.

Ronald's acquisition, of course, did not include the most valuable real estate part of the Daily News. He just bought a well-run newspaper.

Many people believe that New York has four major newspapers, which is more than necessary. The mayoral election and general election every four years will give the media that year more advertising business. But in the rest of the election years, newspapers actually lost money.

Therefore, after the property was no longer needed, Ed Bastian's acquisition team bought the newspaper at a very cheap price without spending much effort.

WPIX-TV is also a small television station limited to New York City. It mainly attracts viewers with cheap news obtained from the police department and baseball broadcasts. Won it without any competition.

There was only WPIX-FM station, and Ed Bastian’s team went through a lot of trouble. This is the most profitable part of the Daily News Group. It plays serious music and reports on Manhattan traffic conditions, attracting a lot of advertisers.

The third corner is the site of the radio station. The one with the best conditions among the three corners has some radio equipment. In addition to the radio reporter team that connects to the traffic conditions on location, it is also connected to the police station, weather station, Associated Press and other reporters. Station, if there is any major news, it can be sent to the newspaper through the private line first.

The last corner, the one with the windows facing the Hudson River and the best view, is reserved for a senior executive of the Daily News Group.

"This will be your office, Chairman..." Ed Bastian pointed to the largest office in the corner and said to Ronald.

Ronald walked in and sat down in his seat. The view here was indeed good. The Hudson River is sparkling, and the desk faces the large front desk of the entire office area.

"Ha, you brought this here too?"

"Yeah, they didn't appreciate it if they stayed on the ground floor of the Daily News building, so I moved them all here through negotiation..."

Ed Bastian smiled and walked to the door with Ronald, where daily staff and visitors would get on and off the elevator.

I saw two huge equipment placed in front of the front desk, next to the elevator. One is a globe, which can also rotate. The other is a meteorological instrument, which is paired with the globe.

These two instruments have appeared in Hollywood movies before, including the first big-selling comic book adaptation movie "Superman"

The "Daily Planet" where Clark Kent and Lois Lane worked was based on the prototype of the "New York Daily News". The appearance of the Daily Planet was shot in the Daily News building. These two big guys also appeared at the front desk of the Daily Planet in the movie.

Ronald is very satisfied that there are still some Hollywood elements in the offices of his new industry. Looking at the empty office, it will soon become lively.

"Rich Lake will be coming over soon, do you want to talk to her?" Ed Bastian said to Ronald again.

Rich Lake was Ronald's former fat assistant. She originally made her debut in the low-budget film "Hairspray," a daydream. After his debut, he was unable to find a career in the film industry due to his body shape, so he worked as Ronald's personal assistant for a while.

When she worked as an assistant, Ronald was quite satisfied. The files were always organized clearly, the schedule was never wrong, and most importantly, the coffee always tasted good...

But Rich Lake refused to give up her dream of stardom, and she still wanted to enter Hollywood as always. For this reason, she started to lose weight. Because the effect of exercise was not satisfactory, she also started taking weight loss pills...

After Ronald found out, he was still very concerned about this assistant. While asking her to stop taking diet pills, he also found a transitional career for her, becoming a program host at the new WPIX-TV.

Anyway, small TV stations don’t have high requirements for the quality of TV programs. Rich Lake is a little fatter, but it won't have any impact on his role as a host. Oprah Winfrey, the host of the show that is now loved by black audiences, is a big fat person. She lost 67 pounds last year and her personal appearance has improved a lot.

However, the ratings of the show did not increase much because of her weight loss success. On the contrary, some viewers expressed dissatisfaction. So starting this year, her weight began to increase visibly again...

"Is she going to work today too? I'm a little free, so I can meet her..." Ronald nodded in agreement. He could give some encouragement to the fat girl Lake...

"Okay, I'll call him..."

Ed Bastian ran next door and called his general manager's office. Ronald saw that his office was half the size of his own, and there were all kinds of documents in it, taking up a lot of space.

There is also a large wooden board on the other side, with some work plans of various media nailed on it. There is also a large table in the middle space, which serves as a conference room.

"Richie is on her way over. She said she wanted to thank you in person..." Ed Bastian came over to reply to Ronald, and they could just have lunch.

"The one I want to thank is actually you..." Ronald walked to the door of the office, looked at the metal nameplate of Ed Bastian on the door, and pulled it off with a click.

"I won't come to the office too many times in the future. From now on, you can use my office and the original office will be used as a conference room." Ronald walked to the door of his office again and took off his name tag with a click. .

"This... is not good..." Ed Bastian has always worked in large companies, and large companies are always hierarchical. Even if the chairman doesn't come often, the office must be bigger than the general manager's.

"There's nothing wrong with it. I'll just wait for you to run the business well. When we expand the office area, we can rent out the upper floors. Then I can leave as much room as you want."

…

"Hahaha, Ronald, no... The chairman is such a person. When he is daydreaming, his own office is often used as a conference room..." Rich Lake arrived quickly, and the three He ordered takeout from McDonald's in the office and ate it in the office.

"Ronald is a very rare kind of manager. I admire him very much..." Ed Bastian looked at the two metal nameplates on the table and flattered him from the bottom of his heart.

It is said that leaders must have charismatic personalities, but truly charismatic leaders are very rare in American companies. Most of them are packaged by corporate public relations departments. A person like Ronald who can really think about his subordinates, and after setting a strategic direction, creates conditions for his subordinates, allocates resources, and won't get angry if there are any small problems, is the charm of being the cream of the crop.

"Ronald, can you give me some advice?" Rich Lake also felt that a boss like Ronald was rare. Now that he is a host on a TV station, he has to hold on to his thick legs and ask for advice.

On the one hand, Ronald often has fantastic ideas. On the other hand, it is also a very smart move to show his relationship with the chairman in front of the general manager.

The show hosted by Rich Lake is the most popular live show now. In Oprah's model, there is a live audience, and then each episode invites guests or discusses a certain hot issue.

The cost of this form is not high. As long as the audience has the purchasing power, advertisers will come to advertise for such live shows.

"I don't have any advice. TV shows are not like movies. You don't have many opportunities to perform, so the most important thing is to be yourself..."

Ronald said there was no advice, but he still gave a few words. He had seen Lake's program plan. The target audience for her program was teenagers, college students, or young people who had just entered society.

They are a group of young people now called Generation X. They don’t have many brothers and sisters, and they have a lot of pocket money. They do not have the ambition to change the country like the previous generation, but are keen on consumption craze.

They watch music videos on TV stations, watch Hollywood videos, and buy products promoted in advertisements. Generally speaking, the perception is very different from that of the previous generation.

For this group of people, there are no programs specially created for them on television, so Ronald also supports Lake's program positioning. This is a live show like a TV show.

The name of the show is called The Richie Lake Show, and Ronald has also contacted the guest for the first episode, who is the most impressive idol of this group of Generation X teenagers - Brooke Shields.

With a new agent, Brooke's career arrangements are much better now than when her mother was messing around like that. Brooke Shields' IQ is not low, otherwise she wouldn't be able to get into Princeton. Most of the time, she lacks father's love, so she lacks courage in life. She clearly knows what is right, but she does not dare to stray too far from the circle defined by her mother.

After this independence, Brooke quickly showed her abilities with her new agent. I attended many fashion shows and participated in many charity galas. I didn’t need to worry about my agent. I relied on my own connections and abilities to return to the celebrity news page.

The new agent is very satisfied with her, and she hit it off with the new talk show of WPIX-TV this time. Both parties are satisfied with the effect that the premiere can bring.

For this business, Ronald mainly let go. Bastian is very capable and can easily manage a small media company consisting of daily news, TV stations and radio stations.

Giving talents a stage and respect is the best management method for an industry whose business model has stabilized.

In short, this merger was tight on the outside but loose on the inside, and the owner changed hands, which hardly alarmed any outsiders. The only business that Ronald directly intervened in was the Staten Island Advance, which was dominated by Douglas Jr.'s family, and the Daily News reached a full news cooperation. From now on, Forward will be like a branch of the Daily News.

After finishing this matter, Ronald went to visit the "Silence of the Lambs" crew in Virginia. After getting off the plane, Ronald saw the heroine Jodie Foster waiting for him there.

"Why are you here? Don't you have to film today?" Ronald felt tight in his heart at such a high "courtesy"...

"No, I almost don't have to film any opposite scenes. I monologue in front of the camera every day... Today is Anthony's turn to monologue..."

"Huh?" When Ronald heard this, he knew that Jodie Foster was very dissatisfied with the director. Did Jonathan Demme deliberately neglect her and downgrade his role?

It's unlikely. Jonathan Demme is relatively speaking, a very upright gentleman in Hollywood. He often uses various methods to mobilize actors. Maybe he is using some method to stimulate Foster's acting skills.

"Really? Jonathan is my senior brother. I learned a lot from him. Let's go to the set together and have a look..."