Exploiting Hollywood 1980

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The final shot of "The Terminator" is beautiful. After the dailies were developed, Ronald was invited to watch in Cameron's editing room.

"I think you will be a very professional candidate as a director of photography. Now the director of photography in America does not necessarily have to be an operator or a coolie. As long as you have a good aesthetic feeling and some understanding of the camera, you can To be a good director of photography." Cameron sincerely praised.

"Ronald is going to be a big director." Gale corrected next to him, and Cameron didn't pay much attention to these sometimes. Ask a director who has made several blockbuster movies to be a director of photography, and people who are not familiar will think he is demeaning.

"We're old friends, and Jim's actually right. If I hadn't had the opportunity to write a script and be a director, I might have developed into photography."

"Card!" Cameron pressed down on Ronald's shot, then quickly picked out the motor sound and wind sound in the sound material, and fixed the synchronization with tape.

"Why do you still use this old-fashioned editing tape?" Ronald asked curiously. "I have a new tape here, which works well and doesn't eat up a half-frame of film with one editing stump."

Ronald recommends Walter Murkey's new type of editing tape, which covers less than a third of a frame of film per cutout, keeping the rhythm and breathing of the film intact. It can be said that the director and editor fell in love with it as soon as they saw it.

"I've heard it was invented by Walter Murkey. But he's not in America lately, and I can't get in touch with him." Cameron, a tech enthusiast, found a dealer himself.

"Let me call his house." Ronald called to San Francisco and asked Mrs. Mersie to buy it. However, he was told that Merzy was still filming "Return to Oz" in the UK and that there was not much stock left.

Having said a few good words, Ronald bought the last two volumes of Mrs. Merzy's stock, and asked Cameron to send a check to the other party. Murkey refused to open a factory because of the small amount of use. I hope his shooting in London goes well.

It's soon the weekend of the second week of June again.

Ronald looks from the bottom up in the box office column of The Hollywood Reporter.

"The Streets of Rage" starring Diane and "Once Upon a Time in America" ​​both plummeted to over a million at the box office. Seeing that they were not released within a month, they were faced with the embarrassment of being forced to release.

For "Break Dance" directed by Ronald, MGM's lineup was squeezed by the release of three new films, and the theaters were gradually reduced. The weekend box office had fallen below 2 million, and only 1.6 million remained.

However, the report sent by Cannonball showed that the second-tier theaters in the newly released big cities and the township theaters in small towns continued to surge at the box office. Everything is very good, the descent is very slow.

In total, the box office of "Break Dance" has not decreased but increased, and it has returned to more than 4 million. The total box office is close to 40 million.

On the up is "Breakdance" rival, "Hot Kid" released by Orion. This movie with high momentum before its release, Orion won 1,400 theaters, and began to focus on advertising in major media.

"Five and a half million", Ronald looked at the box office numbers and let go of the pressure.

"Hot Street Boy" is known as a real "breakdance" movie. Various advertisements attack "breakdance", but in the end, it has not yet achieved a box office of 7.8 million in the first week of a thousand theaters. . The average box office of a single museum is only half of its own.

No matter how much the film critics led by Roger Ebert boast, it is impossible to compare himself with himself at the box office.

Further up, "Star Trek: Finding Spock" has plummeted to nine million at the box office. "Magic Palace" still maintains a box office record of more than 12 million, and it is indeed a big production jointly made by Spielberg and Lucas.

"Huh", Ronald saw "The Magician" along the way, and there were actually two movies on it. Actually, the weekend box office is higher than Spielberg's work?

The eyes want to move up with the fingers,

It's two new movies!

The second place has something to do with Spielberg!

It was Chris Columbus, whom Ronald knew, who wrote the teenage fantasy horror film "Gremlins", shot by Spielberg's Amberlin and distributed by Warner Bros.

Ronald looked at the details. The director of this film is one of the leaders of his directing career, Joe Dante. And the heroine is the brunette beauty Phoebe Cates discovered by herself.

"Joe Dante, then forget it, otherwise shouldn't I invite myself to make this movie?" Ronald knocked on his head. The actor, screenwriter, and producer are all acquaintances of his own. How could Spielberg Don't remember yourself?

Maybe it’s because of lack of connections, Ronald thought. No wonder these big-name directors and stars live together in a few wealthy neighborhoods in Los Angeles. Just the contacts who often attend parties can help them find out a lot. information.

Unlike I often go to New York, I live in an apartment instead of a single house in Los Angeles, and I don't try to be as close to Beverly Hills as possible, so I am far from the circle. Ronald made up his mind that after getting his share of "breakdance", he would consider moving into a better independent house, or at least have a party.

"Little Monsters" was released in 1,500 theaters in its first week, and earned 12.5 million.

Ronald's fingers go up, what movie could be worse than it?

Released in 1,340 theaters, the first weekend box office was 13.5 million, and the average box office of a single theater exceeded 10,000 US dollars.

"Ghostbusters!"

Another movie I know.

I also drank beer with Canadian screenwriter and star Dan Aykroyinder, and had dinner with my Canadian colleagues who worked hard in Hollywood, but I forgot about it.

It was the last film that Columbia's former president, Frank Price, agreed to before leaving for Universal.

Finally, comedy guru Bill Murray was invited to star alongside actress Sigourney Weaver.

It's a movie that CAA president Michael Ovitz did his best to make. From screenwriters, directors, to main actors, all of CAA's customers. Ovitz has long been optimistic about comedy and horror genre films, and this time he finally succeeded in "Ghostbusters".

Ronald felt pressure all of a sudden, two new films, two blockbusters in the second week, and "Longwei Kid", which will be released in two weeks, will face the attack of the last four blockbuster films.

Ronald picked up the phone and called producer Weintraub, "Jerry, did you see today's box office results? We have to do something."

Jerry took Susan Atkins to meet Ronald in the office, and it felt like a huge challenge.

Weintraub wanted to spend another 500,000 to add to the movie's marketing. Ronald started asking old friends to see if he could get another talk show or a movie interview before it was released.

The discussion has been decided, and the two will act separately.

Ronald rushed to the CAA's office, where someone was firing streamers. Many people held up champagne to celebrate the "Ghostbusters" success.

Ronald left the celebratory crowd and went straight to Nisita's office.

"Rick! Do you want to have a celebration like this too?"

"Shhh!" Nisita made a small gesture, getting up and closing the office.

"Of course I think, your 'Longwei boy' is also threatened, right?"

"Of course, you have to help me find a way to increase exposure. This movie will definitely be a box office success, but I'm worried that the current Ghostbusters, and the little monsters, are box office monsters and will be swallowed up. Our exposure."

"What do you think? Which shows do you want to be exposed on."

"Any number of talk shows? Johnny Carson, or David Letterman. I know they're all full, but is there anything you can do?"

"I have a way to get on both talk shows this weekend, maybe go to CBS News Sixty."

"Ah? What can I do, tell me quickly."

"You open up about your relationship with Brooke Shields, and then they'll all come." Nisita poured herself a glass of wine and drank it.

"what?"

"Hahaha, I lied to you."

Ronald responded that the other party was joking, "Borgy wants to graduate at Princeton, and she doesn't even take over movie invitations."

"I know, can you persuade her? Her reputation is still very strong. Isn't it a good time to go out to make movies during the summer vacation?"

"If you can kick her mother away and become her manager, I have no objection and will help." Ronald actually felt that Brooke should not give up her acting career, and she might regret it later.

"It's really too tight for me to arrange it." Nisita shook her head and rejected Ronald's idea.

"Can Barbie Wygant's show be on?" Ronald remembered the female film critic, his own "fast pace", who once appeared on her show, which was arranged by Universal at that time.

"I made a few calls."

Nisita made a few phone calls to inquire about the situation, "Barbie happened to be recording a show in Los Angeles, she might add a stopper to you, but she needs some gimmicks, it's just a medium production released in Colombia, and there are no stars to join, She wants to stop you, and she needs some reason."

"reason?"

Ronald thought and thought, thinking about all the actors in the movie.

The hero and heroine are not stars. The supporting roles are some second-generation stars, but they are not qualified. Producer Weintraub's foray into film? But Barbie Wygant's interviews have always been directed only to the creators.

"I'm alone, without Brooke, can I go on?" Ronald felt that he was still a successful director.

"It's difficult, your current film is made by Weintraub, and it's impossible for Colombia to use resources so aggressively."

"Then there is only Morita Noriyuki who plays Miyagi-sensei."

Ronald thought about it, and then called the office of Senator Daniel Inoue of Hawaii on Capitol Hill.

"Mr. Inoue is busy with his Senate proposal to introduce a new method of sterilization of milk shipped by troops stationed in Hawaii. The original pasteurization method only lasts eight days, and soldiers in Hawaii and Alaska often drink it sour. milk."

"How come the Senator can only mention this proposal?" Ronald asked in surprise, "Then can I get assistance from Mr. Inoue's office?"

"Hello, I'm Mr. Inoue's public affairs assistant, who are you?" The call was transferred to Inoue's subordinate office.

"I'm the director of a film about the history of the 442nd Infantry, Ronald Lee."

"Mr. Inoue has specially explained about you. After the movie is released, I hope you will send a copy to the Capitol Hill for the screening. Do you need his help with anything?"

"I hope Mr. Inoue will give me some help in promoting my film, so that the actor who plays the Infantry Regiment Medal of Honor recipient will be interviewed by a film critic program."

"Barbie Wygant? Her show needs an ad, right? I'll call someone at Sony."