Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Ronald, I'm Billy, Chris is next to me, we're the Top Gun cut, do you remember us?"

"Of course, how could I forget? Have you watched the finished film? We may be successful this time, and it is expected to be the top three in the annual box office."

Ronald suddenly got a call from two of Top Gun's editors, and he grinned and chatted with them about the box office situation.

The fourth week saw another anomaly at the box office. Paramount added more than 400 theaters nationwide this week and released more than 700 new reprints.

The weekend box office suddenly jumped 20%, breaking the 10 million mark once again.

Two abnormal box office rebounds, Hollywood has not seen such a strong film in many years. The king's posture has appeared, and various evaluations, analysis, and aftermath have been called. Everyone is analyzing why "Top Gun" is so powerful.

Some people think that Ronald is good at using hits and movies to market each other. Starting with "Night of the Comet", each movie has a nice interlude that simultaneously hit the top ten when the movie was released.

This time, "Take My Breath", even topped the list in one fell swoop, and stayed there for a long time. Fans and fans will interact with each other. Watching the movie and thinking that the song is good will boost sales, and many singles who have watched the show are attracted to the cinema.

Others see it as a fast-cut narrative rhythm led by Ronald. The film critic also found Ronald's MVs and commercials, and pointed out that "Top Gun" was the first Hollywood blockbuster to learn the editing rhythm of MVs and commercials.

The first generation of post-baby boomer teen audiences are coming of age, and many more are still watching daily music TV and commercials on all public television stations.

To fit a complete bridge or story within ten seconds to three minutes, it is necessary to reconstruct the grammatical content of the film with faster editing speed and shorter shots.

He described Ronald as the first director of the 1980s to understand the dramatic changes in teens. And it is predicted that in the future, Hollywood's fast narrative rhythm, which omits a lot of transitional bridges, will gradually become a popular trend.

Others feel that no matter what kind of film Ronald makes, there is a sense of authenticity. The fighter-fighting footage is very much like that. And when he shoots karate, it gives people the feeling of a professional karate master.

The deep understanding and presentation of the content involved in the industry is exactly what makes Ronald's films attractive.

Of course, Ronald didn't think it was true. Especially the third statement, those instructor pilots at Miramar Base still have a lot of criticisms about their aerial combat footage.

"Of course we did, Ronald. We called you this time to talk to you about something." Billy and Chris, the two editors, got to the point.

"Oh, please speak." Ronald packed up

"Last weekend, Paramount's top management sent a project manager to let us call up all the 'Top Gun' flight stunt shots and look at them carefully. Even some of the junk movies you didn't use, they also looked for them. Come on, stitch it together again according to the editing log, and take it away."

"I remember that I didn't shoot any extra shots, basically the shots that worked,

I've used it all in the movie. The rest either have no impact or are flawed and cannot be used. Even the Navy-approved Sidewinder missile launch lens, I have used it several times. "

"Yeah, that's what we said. But the manager didn't care about that, he took all the work copies. We thought it was unusual, so I gave you a call."

"Okay, thanks. Did that person say what it was going to be used for?"

"We asked, but he didn't answer. But he asked us a lot of questions about how long the original film was, and the editing log was checked one by one. After working with us all day, he checked all the films before leaving. ."

"Okay, thank you, I have written down this favor."

Ronald hung up the phone and immediately called Nisita, "Call that bastard Ned Tanin, what does he want? Take the rest of my footage and go for a sequel?"

"I know, I'm going to protest." Nisita switched the phone to another ear, "However, in theory, you do not have the ownership of the film lenses. Even if these lens films are not used in the feature film, the property rights belong to Paramount. Yes. They are the production companies, so in theory if they do that, we can only blame them morally. It's best not to go outside the circle."

"fcuk! Impossible. I almost missed the shot for the aerial combat stunts. If they want a sequel, just figure it out, don't get any tips from me. Fuck, Ned really Shameless."

"It's good that I don't take advantage of him. I will work with several caa agents to put pressure on Paramount. This is really disappointing."

The gold dollar storm brought by Minahan Golan has greatly affected Hollywood. In the past, the president of the Seventh National Congress could not do such a thing to a popular director. But now the salary is going up and down. If you don't make some tricks, the next year's financial report will be a loss, and the seat will be lost, so you can't care about the future.

Ronald even felt that in this day and age, being a high-level executive of one of the seven major studios, although he has a high position and can determine the fate of many people, is also constrained by stars and famous directors.

This is not a good job. If you don't work for a few years, you can leave the company and start your own production company to get a guaranteed distribution contract. It is estimated that people like Ned Tanning and Tom Pollack are not willing to to sit in that seat.

"Sorry, let's continue."

Ronald answered the phone and walked into the West Hollywood offices of Daydream.

Sitting there were two middle-aged women, Eleanor Bergstein, the screenwriter of "Dancing Hot", and Linda Gottlieb, the producer she was looking for.

There was also a middle-aged man, Michelle Cannold, the production director of Weston Films, a videotape producer and distributor, whom Linda went to find.

"It's okay. We saw the script that Linda brought and wanted to do it, it's a very unusual movie, it tells the whole story from a girl's point of view, it's a female version of 'breakdance'. "

Michelle Cannold continued the topic just now, Weston wants to buy the production rights and start shooting this "Dancing Hot".

Weston is a small company in Connecticut. Before 1986, they mainly made video tapes for the seven major studios, and they were the seven outsourcers.

Plus they make some X-rated movies that don't show in theaters, but go straight to video rental stores.

But starting this year, fire cannot be contained in paper. Weston's profitability was so good that they started to acquire other production companies and distribution channels. This has aroused the vigilance of the Seventh Congress. Since the video tape market is so profitable, why should we outsource it instead of doing it ourselves?

So starting this year, Weston has been unable to get the list of outsourced video production and sales of Hollywood blockbusters. They started making their own films, and Michelle Cannold was their production director and had experience making two B-movies.

"What you said is very interesting, but I originally wanted to buy the production rights of the entire movie and cast it myself. Weston is a lover."

After speaking, Ronald glanced at the screenwriter Eleanor.

The producer, Linda, attached great importance to the film, because Ronald went to London for the premiere, so she took this opportunity to persuade Linda to meet Weston's people, and the two hit it off, Weston said Five million dollars could be invested to make the film.

But as Michelle said, whether it was the screenwriter Eleanor or the producer Michelle Cannold, the first director they thought of was Ronald.

No way, they came back and contacted Ronald again, hoping he could direct this little production.

"It's not that I don't want to make this movie, I'm very optimistic about it. But the movies I'm making now have a budget of tens of millions. Unless my company makes this kind of small production, I have no reason not to direct it. Movies with stars in them."

"Yes, this is what we came to you to talk about." Michelle Cannold is a very honest person, all his production experience is X-rated video tapes, if you want to make such a Jewish girl's story well , it is best to find someone with experience to operate the knife.

"So how did you think about it?" Ronald also learned that he should listen to the other side first when he encounters something.

"That's what we thought, ahem..." Michelle Cannold cleared her throat, "We Weston can give up a share of the investment, and your Daydream Pictures will be responsible for the production, and we will use Investing and releasing to join the partnership. This is the second film we've made on our own at Weston, and the first film that isn't X-rated, and we want to have a theatrical release."

"Well, I agree in principle to participate in the production, and the director will look for it according to your ideas. I can check the art, and then help you find suitable teenage actors to audition."

Thinking that he did not get all the production rights, Ronald is not very interested. Since he has a little investment share, he can do as much as possible.

"Okay, I'm glad you joined the project. Let's go back and discuss it with the top of Weston."

"You'd better hurry up. I'm going to Dongying soon to attend the premiere of Top Gun there. I don't want to have a branch outside the festival."

This kind of thing suffered a loss, and Ronald wanted to understand. He told the general manager Eddie the bottom line of the conditions for signing the contract, and let him take full control of the negotiation. When the time comes, he will participate more in this "spicy dance". , It is also the first time for Daydream to get involved in the production and distribution of theatrical films, so as to accumulate experience for the future.

"Ronald, is there no chance for you to direct?" the screenwriter Eleanor asked quietly.

"I said, why didn't you wait for me to come back? If I invest myself, maybe I'm still interested in directing."

"Linda is my best friend, and we both went on a double date when we were young. So she begged me, saying the name of the movie was worth a million dollars, and I agreed to go to Weston. ."

"Okay, then I'll let the agent intervene and introduce you to a few suitable directors. As long as I fully communicate with the director on production, I can still grasp the overall temperament."

Ronald thought to himself that he had dreamed of several wonderful dance clips anyway, and he drew the storyboard for this part himself, so the director must have been able to execute it well.

...

"Ronald, are you not a director? Then I don't want to act anymore." Michael J. Fox heard that Universal had changed directors and called Ronald.

"It doesn't have to be like that. I resigned from the director for other reasons. You don't have to resign because of me, if you like the movie."

"I really liked the script, but I wanted to work with you once. Not because of creative differences, right? Is there a conflict between Universal's new president and you..." Fox said on the phone.

"Not really, I can trust you, Michael," Ronald asked.

"Of course, what's the secret?" Fox's curiosity was hung.

"Have you heard the rumors about that global high-level boxing match?"

"What? Is that true?"

"Almost, I happened to witness everything by the side, so it's not convenient to continue the project led by Frank Price. Actually, it has nothing to do with you."

"What about your girlfriend Helen? If you want her to be the protagonist, I'll let the agent let her go. If you don't want to be the director, I'll resign. When they come to beg me, I'll bring her for you. ."

"You're too polite, let's not interfere too much with the new director's choice. Besides, Helen..."

"What's up with her?"

"It's nothing. When I was a director, I didn't like being interfered with in casting, so I didn't want to do this to others. That's what Confucius said." Ronald didn't say anything. Helen was much taller than Fox. To really play male and female protagonists, it is impossible to say that you have to make various adjustments like McGillis and Tom Cruise.

"That's it, don't forget me when you have a chance in the future, we always have to collaborate on a movie."

...

"Fuck, Ronald, this sly guy, can't find the aerial combat footage that Top Gun can use for a second. He edited it all into the movie." Ned Tanin cursed loudly after listening to the report. , the sequel failed.

"What does Michael J. Fox mean?" Tom Pollack asked the "Secret of Success" production director, squinting. "He still wants to work with Ronald?"

"He said that he originally came to the crew for Ronald. Unless we find a replacement who is at the same level as Ronald, he will consider withdrawing from the project."

"Well... it seems that without Ronald, this project really can't be made."

"You have to do him a favor. I remember the heroine as one of Ronald's girlfriends?"

"But Helen is too tall to play with Fox."

"What do you think?"

"Ronald submitted a casting call for the opening scene, how about we get his wish?"

"Okay, you go and communicate with Nisita, we didn't mean to offend Ronald."

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