Exploiting Hollywood 1980

In the new building of 20th Century Fox, scenes of "Die Hard" are still being filmed.

Some places that were originally to be renovated were suspended, and the messy construction sites were preserved, waiting for the filming of the movie to be completed before renovating.

The company's legal department was the most affected, because their office was at the filming location, so they could sneak up to see the filming scene.

"There is no problem with this version of the contract, you can sign it."

After reading the new version of the contract sent by the legal department, Ronald's business lawyer, Mickey Kanter, a well-known lawyer in the Los Angeles entertainment circle, whispered in his ear, saying that he had helped him eliminate all the mines buried in the contract by Fox.

Fox's president Goldberg gave Ronald a top salary that a commercial director could get to direct "Working Girl". However, the price was that Ronald's Daydream could only symbolically sign the production company, and did not have much dividends.

After Ronald's agent and company executives argued, Daydream finally obtained a corresponding small investment amount and enjoyed the priority right to share. Fox's legal department has buried a lot of director's obligations in the contract in advance, and they are linked to the final share.

For example, whether the film can get an Oscar nomination, box office performance, and the marketing activities that Ronald must attend as a director, etc.

However, these elites in the legal department are all named partners of famous big law firms in Los Angeles, the boss of Kennedy Jr. when he was a lawyer, and the apprentice of Mickey Kanter.

These tricks certainly did not escape his keen eyes.

After arguing with reason, Fox's legal department had to make concessions on many contract terms. Today, when Ronald flies back from New York, he can come to sign the contract.

"Cheers!" Goldberg took out champagne to celebrate this small victory. Recently, under his management, many projects have been smoothly promoted. Many projects have found popular stars to play the leading roles. In addition to Ronald's film, there is also a project by female director Penny Marshall that is about to start production.

"Can your casting be faster? We don't know if we can release the casting news of "Working Girl" in time for the Christmas holiday?" Goldberg's real expertise lies in public relations and marketing.

"I can't promise anything, but I'm going to meet a female lead candidate with my casting director later."

"Ah, you always reassure the producer and act on your words, Ronald. That's why Hollywood likes you so much...hahaha..." Goldberg drank the champagne with satisfaction.

The crowd ended the brief signing ceremony. The photos taken by the photographer will appear in the latest news column in newspapers such as Hollywood Reporter tomorrow as a small news announcement for the launch of the project.

"Ronald..." At the elevator entrance, lawyer Mickey Kanter stopped Ronald, "Can we talk?"

"Of course..." Ronald and he walked to the window on the side and separated from the others.

"Can I ask why you gave in on the terms of box office share and then won back on the video share? Are you more optimistic about the video share? Did the sales figures of the video of Top Gun give you confidence?"

As a senior lawyer in Hollywood, Mickey Kanter is very concerned about the trends in the industry. Ronald did not care about the box office dividends this time, which made him feel that another change in the pattern of profit distribution seemed to be just around the corner.

Considering the recent frequent contacts between several major unions and the Producers Association, Mickey Kanter wanted to know what Ronald, a director known for his high return on investment, thought.

"In fact, no one can predict the box office of a movie, Mickey." Ronald spread his hands, "In this industry, no one actually knows how to make money."

Seeing that Mickey Kanter didn't believe himself, Ronald added, "But I know that the collection of videotapes is much simpler than the box office of movies. My accountant told me that the room for manipulation is much smaller than the box office. And unlike the box office, you don't have to wait another year after the movie is over to get the money from the cinema. You see, the movie Dirty Dancing is about to be over, and I haven't received a penny of money."

"Great business observation, great." Mickey Kanter admired Ronald's business sense. A young director can be successful in art while also having business thinking. It is rare for a person to have genius in two fields at the same time.

"Has Dirty Dancing made over 100 million? My girls love to watch it."

"Not quite. I expect it will take until the end of January next year to make it." Ronald smiled. Dirty Dancing's box office performance in North America has exceeded everyone's expectations. It has already exceeded 80 million and is about to exceed 90 million. If you add some rental fees for overseas copies, the book profit has far exceeded 100 million.

But as Ronald just said, the box office revenue has always been a very tricky thing. I guess the cinema will drag its feet and will not pay the box office dividends until the end of next year, when the law stipulates that it can sue.

However, the earning power of Dirty Dancing is not just at the box office.

The soundtrack album of the movie, "Dirty Dancing", has quietly occupied the top spot on the sales charts for many weeks. It has been suppressing Michael Jackson's new album in terms of sales until recently when MJ personally called Ronald to say hello and gave in to the reported sales figures.

However, even so, the sales in America have made RCA very happy. The sales volume is expected to exceed 10 million copies next year, bringing huge wealth to the record company and Ronald himself. At the end of the year, there will be another huge check, which will make Ronald pay a huge income tax.

Strike while the iron is hot, the second soundtrack album "More Dirty Dancing" produced by RCA and Daydream has also been completed recently. 10 interludes that did not have the opportunity to be included in the first album but appeared in the movie, as well as 5 new interludes selected by RCA to match the style of the movie, will be available at the end of February next year.

In contrast, Ronald's carefully produced "Dirty Dancing" videotapes, which Coca-Cola subsidized $6 per copy, are expected to rank only third in the revenue brought by this movie that cost less than $5 million.

Fortunately, the videotapes that will be sold around the Super Bowl next year are short-term businesses with quick returns. Ronald will receive the first payment before the Oscars next year.

Recently, the President and Congress want to cancel the personal income tax benefits. Investment in the stock market cannot be deferred and exempted. How to deal with so much tax needs to be carefully considered. If it doesn't work, just buy a house.

Ronald, who has been counting money recently and doesn't feel sleepy even if he works 10 hours a day, is waiting for the income from records and videotapes to arrive, so that he can speed up the progress of buying a house in Los Angeles and decorating the landscaped garden on Staten Island.

"Mickey, do you want to go up with me? They are filming Die Hard there. It's a good movie." Ronald was happy to see Julia Taylor, who was already waving at him in front of the elevator, so he also invited Mickey Kanter.

"Why not? Is this the movie you produced?"

"Yes, a first blood movie that takes place in the building. You know what I mean?" Ronald and Mickey, who are skilled at going upstairs with guests like him, went to visit the crew.

...

"Alan, what are you doing here?"

When he arrived at the filming floor, Ronald saw Alan Rickman at a glance. He had a big beard that looked bad and was chatting with the crew members.

"Ronald, hello, I'm practicing my American accent with them." Rickman came over to greet Ronald. He just had nothing to do, so he was just joking around with these staff members from small towns, and when he chatted with them, he imitated their accents.

The theater actor who came from London's West End was always honing his skills.

"Where's Joel (Silver)?" Ronald saw that not only the supporting actor Rickman, but also many staff members were chatting and playing in the crew as if they had nothing to do, and he immediately felt that Joel Silver's producer was a bit irresponsible.

"Ronald, Ronald... you fucking... you're finally here, it's good to be here..."

As he was talking, Joel Silver came over from a distance, "Let's talk in my lounge."

"This is my lawyer, Mr. Mickey Kanter, you know him. This is my casting director Julia Taylor, a New Yorker."

Ronald couldn't show such an anxious look, and introduced everyone to Joel Silver as usual.

"Mitch, Julia, we are all family, I have something urgent to do..."

Joel Silver knew the regulars in Hollywood, and took Ronald to his lounge next to him.

"What's wrong? Where is director John McTiernan?" Ronald entered the room and asked Joel Silver, who was sweating anxiously.

"I didn't investigate carefully before. McTiernan is a 'live director'. Fortunately, you can come. We have to solve this matter..." Joel Silver took a script and handed it to Ronald.

Ronald opened it and saw that the script was much thicker than when the filming started. There were many blue, pink, yellow, orange... various color inserts on it.

The rules of Hollywood are that the script is locked after the filming starts. Once it needs to be modified, it must be copied with different color paper and then replace the original white paper. Every time a modification is made, a new color is used so that the actors and crew members can see it at a glance and everyone keeps in sync.

The colorful papers Ronald saw showed that Director McTiernan was constantly revising the script on the spot after the filming started. Fortunately, Joel Silver's on-site management was excellent. Otherwise, if the rules were not followed, it was likely that everyone would get the wrong version of the script, and there must have been a lot of problems.

"How is the progress?"

"The progress is okay, but the overtime hours are very long every day. Just like now, the crew is waiting for that bastard McTiernan. Halfway through the filming, he felt that the original plot was unreasonable, so he had to revise it. This kind of thing happens every day, and our crew will inevitably overspend."

"Overspend is overspend, what do you want me to do?" Ronald was also mentally prepared for this kind of thing. Not all directors have been trained by Roger Corman. Many people have new inspirations while filming, and it would be wrong for you not to let them shoot it.

This is why, every time he works with a new director, Ronald will relax the budget by 20%. This part of the money will be used as a reserve fund to prevent the director from encountering various unexpected situations halfway through the filming.

"You have to tell me, will these changes improve the quality of the film? Or are they purely to satisfy the director himself?"

Joel Silver had nothing to hide from Ronald. The two were the final responsible persons for the film project and were in the same boat. It was most reliable to listen to Ronald's thoughts as a director at this time.

"It's actually OK... I haven't seen the sample film. Judging from the script revision, John McTiernan didn't mess around. But his inspiration is really not that good? I saw that many plots were rewritten halfway through the filming?"

Ronald picked up the shooting log. Many of the shooting records on it were the director re-wrote the scenes and lines halfway through the filming, and the number of retakes. If it weren't for the ability of Joel Silver's assistants, these confusing shot numbers would have killed the editor in the post-editing process.

"That's fine. I have to give the assistants more overtime pay, order delicious food every day to reward them, and often take apart all the copies of the script and replace and rebind them every night. It's very common to work overtime until midnight."

"Where are the director and the leading actor Bruce Willis?" Ronald gave Silver a reassurance. According to Ronald's experience and the image quality of John McTiernan's previous filming of "Predator", this kind of script modification is still going in a good direction, but the creative process is a bit messy.

"McTiernan is working on the script. He said that there is a plot twist that is difficult to handle. Bruce is "resting" with his girlfriend." Joel Silver gave him a look.

"Take me to meet them..."

"Okay, okay..." Joel Silver finally got Ronald, a busy man, back to the shooting site, just to let him play a role.

"John, I heard there is a problem with the twist?" Ronald entered the director's lounge. He tried his best to act like a fellow director discussing with McTiernan, and not show the negative emotions brought by his producer responsibilities.

"Ronald, you're here. Take a look at this. I just realized today that the plot where the villain Hans Krupp discovered that McLennan was the one who was against them lacked drama..."

"The second act ends and we enter the third act, huh?"

After listening to McTiernan's story, Ronald still had problems before entering the final act.

The polite villain finally discovered that McLennan was the hero who was against him. He suddenly encountered McLennan, played by Bruce Willis, on the unfinished floor.

The two heroes and villains who had never met before suddenly met here. How to separate them again, go back to regroup, and finally fight again on the rooftop is a big problem in the direction of the plot.

The duel between the hero and the villain always has to be left to the end. So this encounter is just the first time the two people face each other, and each of them finds that the other is the opponent of their destiny.

But this plot must be dramatic, to arouse the audience's tension, and the second act must end here, and all the contradictions cannot be relieved.

John McClane and Hans Krupp, both of them must realize that unless they kill each other, they can't fulfill their destiny.

For McClane, this destiny is to rescue his wife and colleagues in the company, become a hero, and find a way to reconcile with his wife. For Hans, it is to kill McClane and take away the large amount of unregistered national debt.

"Why the hell didn't you think of it before?" Ronald cursed inwardly and sat down to read the plot written by McTiernan.

Artists have different working methods. I heard that Francis Coppola also has the habit of changing the plot on the spot. Some more extreme directors can even change the plot while shooting according to the actors' performance after the start of filming. It is also common to shoot supporting roles as protagonists.

For example, Julia Taylor, the casting director who came with her, and her long-term partner Woody Allen often did this. She forgot the main line while shooting, and finally thought of the story in the hands of the editor.

When Hans Krupp met John McClane, he had to recognize that the other party was the one who was against him. But the conflict could not break out at this moment, and the final battle could not be postponed to the end of the third act.

Ronald read for a long time, and McTiernan wrote everything around this theme.

Perhaps it was the first time he saw this storyline, or perhaps it was the hint of the plot in the dream, Ronald had a flash of inspiration and said to McTiernan, "Do you know that Alan Rickman can now imitate the American accent?"

"Oh?" John McTiernan was still unclear about what Ronald meant.

"The kidnapper spoke with a German accent, but McLean had never seen him and didn't know what he looked like. If he could change to an American accent?" Ronald thought that this person's qualifications were a little bit lacking, and he had hinted so clearly.

"You mean, let Hans Krupp speak with an American accent, pretend to be one of the hostages, and get away from McLean?"

"What do you think? You didn't have anyone to meet the two of them before?"

"No, no, this is a genius idea, I'll change it right away, and we can shoot it after the change. All the clues of the second act can be gathered here, and then the two of them will naturally enter the final battle, because McLean has met Hans, and it is natural to find out that he is the leader of the kidnappers in the end..."

"It's done?" Joel Silver looked at McTiernan writing over there, "Is it so good? You are a genius."

"Is Bruce Willis' resting? I have to..." Ronald walked out. McTiernan estimated that he would have to change it for half an hour, which was convenient for him and Julia Taylor to do things.

"Okay, I'll take you there. He is with his girlfriend every day. If he is not filming, he is resting."

Joel Silver ran to Willis's lounge and knocked on the door. "I am Silver. Bruce, are you there?"

"What's the matter?" Bruce Willis, wearing a white vest, poked his head out from behind the door.

"It's Ronald. He wants to talk to you. You know he has a new project..." Joel Silver still respected this very dedicated leading actor, although they quarreled a little during the break on the set.

"Hey... Ronald. Come on, I just don't have a turn to film, Demi, Demi..."

Demi Moore poked her head out from behind, her hair was a little messy, and her hands were tucking her clothes.

"Hi, Ronald!" She tried to act more naturally.

"Ronald came to me to discuss a new play, can you believe it? I was a TV actor before, and now a big director like Ronald came to me... huh?" Bruce Willis was very happy. Filming this kind of action movie really suits his taste, which is much more exciting than the drama "Blue Moonlight" that is almost uneditable.

"Demi, please help me order some delicious food. Ronald and I need to talk carefully... McTiernan is always procrastinating. It's not a matter of when to start filming. I'm starving."

As he said, Bruce Willis took out a stack of $20 bills from his pocket, which was about two hundred dollars, and handed it to Demi Moore.

"Oh..." Demi Moore was a little angry, but this rough boyfriend is just like this.

"No, you're wrong, I'm here to talk to Demi..." Ronald smiled and pointed at Demi Moore, and Bruce Willis's face changed when he saw it.

"Well, haven't you always wanted to play a real leading role in a movie? Ronald must be right to find you." Bruce Willis stood up to hide his disappointment and embarrassment, "I'll go buy you some pizza." He put on his coat and went out.

"I want pineapple," Demi Moore added from behind, she was on a diet and didn't want to eat too much meat.

"Let the assistant go," Ronald smiled and pointed at Joel Silver.

"I'll go, I'll go," Joel Silver came over with a smile and took the cash from Bruce Willis, "Cowboy, let's have something meaty..."

"Right, only meat can make pizza." Bruce Willis was handed a step, and walked out with Joel Silver.

"Demi, this is Julia, Julia Taylor, my casting director... Let me ask you this time, do you feel like being the heroine..."

"Heroine? You directed it?" Demi Moore's eyes shone, is the opportunity finally waving to her?

"Yes, but you will play a secretary who is nearly 30 years old...it may damage the image." Ronald first said the difficult part.

"No problem, you won't make the heroine ugly all the time, I know you, Ronald." Demi Moore did not hesitate, I will let the agent contact you, you can arrange when to audition. "

"Very good..." Ronald looked at the casting director Julia Taylor next to him.

Julia Taylor nodded secretly, indicating that at least she would not be eliminated.

"Do you think she is suitable?" After walking out of the lounge, Ronald asked Taylor.

"Not bad, at least her character of fighting for opportunities and giving up everything is very similar to Tess. As for her appearance, she is a little too beautiful. Let the makeup artist make her ugly when the time comes..."