Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Helen found out the misunderstandings she has always made, and paying too much attention to her performance will make the audience keenly discover the traces of your "acting".

She was so happy that she practiced with Ronald that night.

The two kept looking at each other, flirting with each other, and then repeating what the other party just said, paying attention to the feeling between the lines.

Sure enough, if you pay attention to the other person, your body will give a better response. The other party picks up the body's reflection and gives the reflection. Under the virtuous circle, the two of them feel better than usual. a lot of.

However, long-term acting skills and habits require professional training to correct them. After two days of fun with Ronald, Helen Slater couldn't help but signed up for a new acting training class, and went to practice acting with his best friend Helen Hunt.

Ronald has returned to being single, and most of these days are still allocated to John Patrick Shanley, the screenwriter of the dream movie "The Bride and the Wolf".

Shanley, a New Yorker, came to Los Angeles this time to discuss filming with Ronald.

He's a handsome, well-dressed guy in his thirties, with the blue eyes that are common among Irish people, and a little melancholy.

As soon as the two chatted, they realized that their background experiences were very similar.

Like Ronald, Shanley came from the poor class. He grew up in the black Bronx, not far from Bard Jr.'s original house.

Shanley's mother was a telephone operator and his father was a worker in a meatpacking plant. Growing up in an environment of gangsters since childhood, Shangli knows some street smarts very well.

He once served in the Marine Corps and went to college through the Private Bill after being discharged. It is Ronald's alumnus and a graduate of New York University.

But he's better than Ronald.

Finally, graduate with an honours degree in theatre.

Shanley had been writing Broadway plays before that. He was lucky. In 1982, the script was picked up by the performance companies of Off-Broadway (a performance venue outside Broadway, usually a venue for newcomers), and he began his career as a screenwriter.

But after that, his luck became more general. His plays have been circling off-Broadway, and none of them have been loved by the critics and have the opportunity to be promoted to Broadway performances.

Shang Li is starting to transform, and slowly began to try to write movie scripts, thinking of the Hollywood circuit to try his luck.

A similar growth experience made Ronald and Shanley hit it off at first sight. The two found an Irish restaurant, drank beer, started eating potato stew, and chatted about the filming of the script.

"You're Irish, why don't you write a story about an Irish family and an Italian story?"

Ronald and Shanley had three rounds of wine, and when the two had finished their drinks, they began to chat about some core topics.

As the author of the first movie screenplay, most screenwriters write stories about themselves. So Ronald had to ask the other party how he found his inspiration for a script that didn't write about his own affairs.

In this business, all kinds of deceit and betrayal are happening all the time. Ronald didn't want to see a writer claiming that Shanley stole his script idea after he started filming.

"Hahaha, that's actually very interesting. I grew up living in an Irish neighborhood, and my classmates were either Irish, Italian, or black. Our neighborhood is just down the road from an Italian neighborhood.

My parents and I live here. The neighbors are typical Irish families, an older father, and a mother many years younger, a small family of children.

And the Italians on the other side of the road are more interesting than us.

First of all, they are very good at cooking, and the whole family together, like every Italian mother, will make a lot of delicious food. And they often live with their grandparents, and the whole family eats together, which is very lively. "

"Hahaha, Italians are indeed more extended families." Ronald recalled that the big director Coppola had invited him to his house for dinner, and it was indeed a large group of people around for dinner.

"Yes, I think their mothers know a lot. It's easy to tell the difference between Italian and Irish children. For Italian children, their clothes are ironed very well by their mother or grandmother. In our Irish family, the clothes are I often see unwashed spirits stains." Shanley said more and more vigorously, and winked at Ronald.

Ronald let go of his worries, and it is very possible that he came up with his own creative process and ideas in this way.

"That's why I've always been yearning for a big family of Italian descent. I always go to my classmates' houses after school. They call me half Irish and half Italian." It was a great pleasure for the winner director to discuss the creation.

"By the time I majored in theatre, I wanted to write a film that reflected Italians. The food I longed for as a child, the warmth of a big family, tactful clothes, and a little superstition, I wanted to put it into the story. .

But the more sweet memories I hold in my heart, the harder it is to write them out. I didn't finish the first draft until a few years ago. But my agent pitched to a lot of studios and got rejected.

Because now in Hollywood, when people hear Italians, they are gangster movies (The Godfather), dance movies (Saturday Night Fever), participating in gangsters and dancing, and it becomes a stereotype of Italian descent.

I'm not saying that the characters I've written aren't stereotyped, but none of the studios want to take the risk, they don't like to risk disappointing the audience by making a movie that reflects the life of an Italian-American family.

They felt that a film that reflected Italian-American life without seeing Chicago typewriters splashing water on the streets, or a handsome guy like Travolta doing a lively dance would be a fraud. "

Ronald nodded, the studio's operation is normal. Regardless of the quality of your script, the marketing department doesn't know how to advertise such a script.

If it is a gangster shootout film, it can be said to be the new "Godfather". If it's a dance movie, it's the new "Saturday Night Fever." But how would you recommend this movie to your friends?

The new... er... you know, it's a romantic love story about a large Italian immigrant family, a love story of parents and children at different stages of life, and a sense of humor...

"Italian, is it a gangster love story?" Often a friend can choke you to death with just one sentence.

So Ronald took over the film, bought the rights to shoot, and had to go the other way. It's marketing through celebrities.

Ronald intends to discuss with various distribution companies to see if they can sign a distribution contract. Then you can find big stars like Cher.

Among the big three of director, male lead, and female lead, Ronald, a top-selling director, has already participated. Next, as long as you find a female star of Cher's level, you can guarantee the blockbuster.

At that time, the marketing of the seven studios can say, "Go and see the love story directed by Ronald Lee and starring Cher."

"So, we can already sell it to the distributor?" Shanley heard Ronald confirm in person, and was very excited to direct the film himself.

"Uh, in fact, there is still one heroine. And..."

"what?"

"The name of the movie must be changed. The names of the bride and the wolf are too ordinary, and the audience does not have much expectations for the content of the story after watching it."

"Then what are you going to call it?"

"How about moonstruck? Like you wrote in the script, there's a big, bright moon, and when it's there, people fall in love."

"Well, very good. You're right." Shanley took a sip of beer, "Who are you going to invite, heroine?"

"What do you think? When you wrote the script, did you put any actor's image in your head and write it down?"

Ronald knows this little trick of writing a script. If a certain star is used as the target to write the script, then the character's speech and behavior will inevitably be substituted into the image of that star.

In this way, if someone else plays the role, some of her details will have to be adjusted to match the new star's performance.

"When I actually wrote it, I was thinking of Sally Field," Shanley said.

"Huh? She has no problem with her acting skills, but the first thing I thought of was Cher, what do you think?" Ronald didn't expect the script to be based on Sally Field, a double-actress.

"She's beautiful, and her black hair and black eyes fit the image of Italian. Is she Italian?" Shanley is no stranger to Cher. She debuted as a pop group with her first husband, Sonny. But after the divorce, Cher gradually tried acting. She not only acted in Oscar-nominated Best Supporting Actress movies, but also performed musicals on Broadway.

"No, she's Armenian, but she looks very Italian, doesn't she?"

"Yes, but Sally is also a good candidate, isn't she?"

"She doesn't seem to be Latin enough," Ronald thought for a while, "but I'll ask her to audition too."

...

"Shanley said he's based on a script written by Sally Field, and we're going to invite her to try it. I'm still leaning toward Cher, and Sally isn't Italian enough. Do you think there's a suitable candidate?" In the evening, Ronald went to see his agent Nisita.

"Middle-aged women, sexy, can play Italian, aren't those the usual suspects?"

Nisita heard the results of Ronald and Shanley's negotiation, and also gave Ronald an idea.

"Which suspects?"

"Apart from Field, and your favorite Cher, there are generally actors who can play middle-aged beauties, there is Sigourney Weaver, who is said to have done well in the Alien sequel. Diane Keaton, she and Al Pae Sino has worked with Godfather, understands the Italian culture, and has a good appearance and acting skills.

Katherine Turner, she is very beautiful, suitable for middle-aged people and can charm young brothers. Like her is Kim Basinger. But she is a little younger. Like her, there is Deborah Wenger, who is brunette, the problem is that she is a little younger like Basinger.

By the way, there is also Woody Allen's new film, Diane West as the second sister in "Hannah Sisters", and Barbara Hershey as the younger sister. "

"Why, can't you play the eldest sister?" Ronald asked casually.

"Mia Farrow isn't sexy enough," Nisita said.

None of the people he recommended were actually the most suitable actresses for the role of Loretta Castorini in the new screenplay Ronald bought.

But what he recommends are those who have won an Oscar, have been nominated for an Oscar, and have a high demand for nominations, and are now extremely popular and well-known.

This romantic comedy that reflects the love story of middle-aged people still needs some stars to ease the difficulty of publicity.

Ronald also fully understood, "So, you can send them a private message to ask if you are interested in making a romantic comedy with me. If you have an idea, send a part of the script. If they are interested, send seven more Great promotion."

"Well, the script from Cher's side can be given to the whole copy." Ronald added, he still hoped to maintain the original version of the people in his dream. After all, the chemical reaction is still very mysterious, and he wants to use the cooperation that has been proved to be feasible.

"Where's the hero? What do you think? Would you like to ask Tom?"

Nisita closed the notebook and asked Ronald if he wanted Tom Cruise to play Ronnie Camarelli.

"You ask Paula's opinion." Ronald also felt that if Cruise wanted to play a movie with his girlfriend, he seemed to have no reason to refuse.

The star pulls the audience, and is a couple with the heroine, and has a chemical reaction. It's just that he's a little too handsome, and it doesn't fit in with the handicapped toast Ronnie in this script.