Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"415-xxx-xxxx..." Ronald returned to Los Angeles and dialed the order number that director Adrian Lane had called him during the last Flash Dance preview.

"Hey, do you sell... uh, wait a minute," Ronald forgot the name of the new clip tape. "Yes, the tape called n-vis-o?"

"Ah, yes, are you using it for movie editing? Twenty dollars a roll, you send us a check deposit, and then we'll send it to you when we're done, and you'll pay the balance." A woman's voice on the phone said .

"Hey? Don't you have any in stock? I'm in a hurry to use it here."

"Sorry, this tape is handmade, and if you buy ten rolls, we also include a special machine to hold this tape in place, which works great. You know this tape is very narrow, and the usual clip tape covers about Eighteen frames of film, we only need one and a half frames..."

This woman started selling the benefits of "n-vis-o" tape.

"Hey, listen, I bought this thing when I knew it was easy to use, so don't give me another sales talk, I'm in a hurry to use it, can you hurry up?"

"Thirty yuan a roll for urgency..."

"Okay, okay, give me an address, first ten rolls, I'll use it to edit the movie."

Ronald hung up the phone angrily, "It's just a robbery. If I hadn't seen this clip tape, I would not have been blackmailed by this kind of blackmail.

In the editing room, facing Ronald was Katherine Bigelow. She came to Los Angeles from New York to promote her film, "The Loveless," and stopped by to see old friends.

Poor Bigelow had already made his debut feature film in 1981, and only let it go on a few occasions, and it has been ignored by filmmakers.

This time at the Los Angeles International Film Festival, she and the male lead Willem Dafoe (willem dafoe), carrying a heavy copy to try their luck.

Both of them made their film debuts, but no one cares about them. Bigelow goes without saying that Dafoe's scenes in "Heaven's Gate" were all cut off by Fat Boy Cimino, and the film in which he played the leading role was never released, causing him to be laughed at in front of his friends.

"This kind of clip tape, if only I knew when I was filming loveless,

I don't have to spend another sum of money to go to the lab, and re-attract a response copy based on the results of the editing. This money could have been used to participate in international film festivals, maybe some international film companies will take a fancy to it. "

Catherine Bigelow was a little late when she heard about the very cost-effective clip tape that Ronald had ordered.

"Although it's not cheap, it's still a lot better than attracting a whole movie. If you add the revisions after the preview, you'll save a lot of money."

"Sit," Ronald pointed to the sofa, and asked the editor to get two cups of coffee.

"This is your new film?" Willem Dafoe asked, pointing to the "Girls just want to have fun" mv on the monitor?

"This? This is the mv I shot, and I'm going to use it as an episode in the movie. I gave them the director, and they authorized me to use it for free." Ronald simply turned the knob to the playback position and let two friends see his own work.

"Well... the rhythm of your mv is very interesting. It's so dense that it doesn't hinder the audience's understanding." Bigelow thought it was very interesting.

Ronald spread his hands, "There are only more than three minutes, and there is a storyline, so this is the only way to do it. I've watched it too much and feel that the content is a bit too dense, but there's nothing I can do."

Ronald took the coffee and handed it to the two of them, "By the way, did you come to see me today?"

Bigelow and Dafoe looked at each other and asked, "Our film stock has been lying in the warehouse for two years. I heard that you are also working on an independent production project, and you don't want to find a major studio for distribution, so I want to ask Do you have any way to allow us to sell it to theaters."

"Hey, if there is a way, I won't be editing here slowly." Ronald sighed, "Atlantic is also a very small company, and all their resources can only guarantee the release of one movie, and I am still there. When their new movie 'Valley Girl' comes out, if that movie fails, I'll have to find another distributor to sell it.

So I'm also trying to find a way to participate in film festivals in Europe. Do you have any access here? ' Ronald asked rhetorically.

"The opportunity is not big. Several big film festivals lack the opportunity to participate in the exhibition. We can only go to Brussels and try our luck in small film festivals such as Spain."

"Hey, we are also miserable in making movies. Independent producers may not be able to sell for two years. It may take a year or two to communicate back and forth with the big studios and five or six vice presidents. It's better to make TV dramas." Luo Nader is also full of complaints.

There is no way to see Ronald. Catherine Bigelow can only say goodbye. There are not many buyers at the Los Angeles International Film Festival who are interested in domestic films. They mainly come to buy foreign films. The quality of domestically produced films can be imagined if there is no way to go to participate in this foreign film-based exhibition.

"By the way, this is the poster of my movie. If you have a chance, please help me introduce some distributors. We are willing to accept any conditions."

When Katherine Bigelow was leaving, she took out a poster and handed it to Ronald, and then gave him some business cards. Now what she wants is not to recover the cost of shooting, but to not let her efforts go to waste. As long as she can sell it and show it in theaters, there will always be more opportunities for new films.

It's not like it is now. The film is not sold. In fact, in the eyes of the producer, it is worse than not making a film. If you haven't made a movie, you may still be raw jade. If you can't sell it after you've made a movie, then it's very likely that the level is not good.

This is especially true of Willem Dafoe. No one saw him in the two films. When the agent handed over the audition photo, he was embarrassed to write his resume on the back. Otherwise, when someone opened his mouth, he would ask why the film was not released.

"Ok, I will." Ronald sent the two away and opened the poster. Willem Dafoe was wearing a leather jacket with nothing on it. There was an evil spirit mixed with a handsome look. .

"The poster is pretty good, and I don't know if the movie will work."

"Ring, bell, bell..."

Ronald answered the phone easily, "I'm Ronald."

"Hi Ronald, I'm Walter, are you going to buy my clip tape?"

"Walter? Hi, Mr. Murzy. What, is this editing tape your business?" Ronald recognized as his own editing instructor, Oscar nominee for best editing and sound design, Walter Murzy .

"Yeah, it's a little invention of mine. I heard from the assistant that someone ordered it. I saw it was you. What? You've made another movie? It's really enviable. My 'Return to Oz' is still there. Rolling around in planning hell."

Walter Murkey was spotted by Disney President Ron Miller and invited him to participate in Disney’s Young Director Program, but the script he submitted was repeatedly called back and rewritten by several executives, which was also very painful.

"Walter, if possible, don't try indie, I've been through all this and it's been so painful to have to do everything myself. I just discovered how fast-paced the last movie was and how lighthearted I was ."

Ronald joked with the teacher, although Walter is in pain now, but when he gets the green light from Ron Miller, the filming will be similar to the emperor, and there are professional people to help with all kinds of things. , just shoot yourself.

"I didn't expect it was you who wanted it. Well, I still have ten rolls of tape at home. I'll send it to you first, and you can pay me the normal price." Walter saw that his apprentice wanted the tape, and of course gave it to him first.

"Oh, really? That's great. I'll give you the expedited price. After all, it's a movie project, and you can pay for it. You did it anyway, so I'll send you a check for the full amount. Send it out, I'm waiting to use it."

"No problem, I'll send it to you first. I need to purchase raw materials for this thing, and then make it by hand. It's very troublesome, so I'll give you the stock first."

"Handmade? This thing should be used in a large amount, right? Why not make it with a machine?" Ronald was a little puzzled.

"I'm an artist and a craftsman. I don't understand that. Now anyway, the supply is in short supply. I don't advertise. I rely on word-of-mouth.

"Is that so? If... Forget it, I'll talk about it later. Thank you Walter."

Ronald thought about whether to cooperate with Walter to open a small factory to make tape. However, I also thought that this thing is only used in the film industry, and it is not used for TV production. It seems that there is no need to use industrial production, and not many people buy it.

After two days, Ronald finally got his hands on the new clipping tape, with a new mechanism for sticking the tape.

This kind of tape not only covers a few frames of film when it is smeared, but it doesn't feel as if it is played. It also greatly reduces the manual work of editing, at least when the sound and picture are aligned, there is no need to glue several feet of film.

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