Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"My God, is your trailer free enough?"

Ronald took Polly Pratt and the production manager from Fox to Melanie's trailer to talk to him. As soon as they entered the door, they smelled a sour smell. They all frowned and looked around for the source of the smell.

Looking around, Ronald found that this woman's trailer was really messy. It seemed that no one had cleaned it for a month, and there was all kinds of garbage in it.

"Sorry, I have been focusing on the movie recently, so here..." Melanie and the manager hurriedly cleaned up the table and sofa, threw all kinds of takeout, vegetable salad boxes, empty Coke bottles, and other garbage on it into the garbage bag, and sorted out a place to sit.

Ronald pretended not to see the two empty whiskey bottles that Melanie secretly hid. Melanie did not delay the filming afterwards. Her personal life was undergoing a sudden change. Anyway, it was fine as long as it did not delay the filming.

"Listen, Melanie. You performed very well in the movie, but we know how good you are, and we know how bad your performance is after you become addicted to alcohol and drugs."

Ronald glanced at Melanie, not knowing whether her current shame was acting, and continued, "I told you that the production company deducted $100,000 from your salary for reshooting. But later, your performance satisfied Fox again, and Mr. Goldberg was also amazed by the sample you sent later. They decided to treat you better, and the cost of the reshoot of the wedding scene was paid by the crew's funds."

"Oh...I...thank you..." Melanie Griffith was not a successful actor, and $100,000 was a lot of money for her.

"Here is a check," Ronald gestured to the production manager, who handed over a check, which was issued in the name of a bonus. Melanie's manager took it, and she was also happy for the client.

"Also, I have already booked you at the best drug rehabilitation center in Los Angeles. There is a four-week short-term treatment waiting for you."

"Ronald..." Melanie Griffith didn't expect Ronald to send her to a drug rehabilitation center. This made her stunned. I heard that such places are not very good, almost like a mental hospital.

"Don't worry, this is a great place. You will be taken care of by someone there. It is a top-notch place. I also have actor and producer friends there... I can't tell you their names... They successfully quit drinking there.

Life there is very comfortable, just like living in a serviced apartment for a month. Except there are no excitement and parties every night, you can even take it as a vacation. There are also many Hollywood celebrities who go there. You will know when you get there.

】

I have paid for you. If you want to go, just call them."

Without waiting for her answer, Ronald looked at Griffith's manager Phyllis Carlisle, "I just think that Melanie is a talented actress. She may have a great career. If you care about her, please help me persuade her to clean up her body thoroughly. After all, the body of an actor is their most important prop. An addicted actor probably only has five years to create a role..."

Phyllis whispered to Melanie, and she was convinced and agreed to go to the addiction treatment center.

Melanie Griffith, who was taken to a California reservation by her mother when she was not very old and lived with wild animals, was rarely cared for like this.

Except for her ex-husband, Don Johnson, who took advantage of her and lived with her when she was very young, the star of the TV series Miami Vice, Hollywood men just want to take advantage of her and have a piece of irresponsible... Not to mention that some people don't even want to take advantage.

Melanie felt the warmth of being cared for, but she didn't know how to express it, so she turned her head away from Ronald.

Ronald gave the contact information of the drug rehabilitation center to the manager, and left the trailer like a trash can with Polly Pratt. He let out a long breath, and the smell in it was just like vomit.

"It seems that you value her very much? I rarely see directors fight for actors like this, especially since she almost ruined your business." Polly asked Ronald.

"Today's actors are not like the big studios in the past, where someone builds their image, selects suitable roles for them, and even customizes scripts for them. Some only look at the salary and their own income. Actresses rarely have long-term plans. I don't want them to have to take those bad movies for money in the future.

So I am quite generous to the actors in my movies. With money, they will not only consider the salary when choosing movies, but also make long-term considerations."

Ronald is good to the actors. "Dirty Dancing" also gave the leading actors an extraordinary dividend. The heroine Jennifer Grey can afford all kinds of expensive clothes and jewelry in the short term, and has enough room to slowly choose the script.

"You are very old-fashioned gentleman in doing this. You remind me of Roger (Coleman)", Polly Pratt faintly heard Melanie's suspected sobbing in the trailer. She looked at Ronald and liked the principle of this young man.

"My ex-husband Peter (Bogdanovich) abandoned me and my children for Sybil Shepherd. I was alone at home without a new job and almost didn't make it. You know, Hollywood doesn't have much sympathy for abandoned women like us..."

Polly Pratt talked about the past, and she was also very touched today. Not only did Hollywood not sympathize with her, but some people also thought that she was negligent in dressing up and did not know how to please her husband Peter, and she deserved to be robbed of her husband by Sybil.

"Among so many friends, only Roger (Coleman) called me and asked me to go to his company to work at any time. Although the salary is not much, he is the only one who gave me work and was willing to pay me, and the only one who did not make fun of me. I will always be grateful to him."

"Hahaha, I have been to China, and people there have a saying that true friends will pay for your heating fuel when you are cold."

"Your business ability is also very similar to his. For big projects funded by others, you try to achieve artistic perfection as much as possible. For projects funded by yourself, you make low-cost movies. Of course, Roger does not have your artistic ability. He just imports some very good foreign art films."

"Hahaha..." Ronald laughed. He is indeed a bit like Roger Corman. For movies funded by himself, not losing money is the first priority.

"Then are you willing to agree to come to Daydream to help me? I don't just want to make low-cost movies, but it's hard to find reliable producers. Most people just want to empty the shooting budget and put it in their own pockets.

And the diligent manager with a financial background does not have the artistic taste required for shooting movies."

Ronald took the opportunity to invite Polly Pratt. After working with her for a few weeks, Polly was experienced and had the ability to control the quality of the movie. She was the best candidate for producer.

"Wait until you get a good script, then come to me. Too cheap, such as "Hairspray" cheap projects, I won't take...hahaha."

Ronald took Polly to the World Trade Center. This time everyone shot many scenes in the World Trade Center, but there was no chance to go to the revolving restaurant and high-end clubs above. After the shooting was wrapped up, Ronald took this opportunity to let the staff come up to enjoy the treatment of Wall Street elites.

Kevin Wade, the original screenwriter. And Cameron Crowe, the screenwriter who revised and ghostwrote in the later stage, because the filming of the movie was over, the ban of the Screenwriters Guild was no longer in effect, and Ronald also sent a car to pick them up and went to the restaurant on the upper floor.

There are several restaurants here, one of which is a high-end dinner. Ronald reserved the place during the noon hour and prepared a relatively cheap buffet lunch. He also brought a lot of biscuits and red wine to make the hard-working employees happy.

After eating and drinking, Ronald drove the bus again and took people to the former top brand in New York, Club 54. Since disco gradually became unpopular here, the owner was sent to prison by New York's trusted Attorney General Rudy for tax evasion, suspected unlicensed alcohol sales, money laundering and other crimes, and there are not as many people coming here as before.

Most of the stars in the upper class went to a group of small-scale, less conspicuous clubs that opened in Midtown. However, the reputation here is still there after all, and there are still some remnants of the past luxurious moments, which makes the crew members who came to the party very happy.

Ronald didn't like the messy environment, so he went into the private room with the two screenwriters. He thought Kevin Wade and Cameron Crowe were both talented screenwriters, so he tried to recruit them.

Kevin Wade was a fledgling film screenwriter, and he was very happy when a big director expressed his appreciation. He said that as long as Ronald called him, he would give priority to cooperate with him.

Ronald heard that the other party was very happy that his debut work became a big production. Maybe he misunderstood that this was the norm in Hollywood. He might not look down on projects that were not from the seven majors. But it was a good thing to want to cooperate.

As for Cameron Crowe, he was more realistic. He had experienced ups and downs and knew how rare opportunities were. Ronald's small production asked him to revise the script, and he was willing to do so.

However, after this revision of the play, Crowe became interested in film directing again. He really wanted to try directing a movie himself to make up for the regret of his previous failure as a TV director.

"Since you want to be a director, I will pay attention to giving you a chance. So, you will work with me tomorrow. As a director, you have to be familiar with all the work."

The next day, Ronald took Cameron Crowe to Carly Simon's house first.

She is a famous pop singer and a composer who Ronald commissioned to create the theme song and soundtrack.

"I have finished the first version of the recording, Ronald. The script you gave me gave me a great challenge. I have been thinking about the theme of the Wall Street hymn you mentioned."

Carly Simon's studio is at home, and the things are also very messy. She opened several drawers to look for the tapes.

"Generally speaking, we need to let the composer know the plot in advance, and then let them understand where this piece of music will be used." Ronald explained to Crowe next to him, who was constantly recording with a notebook.

"Of course, you can also find some ready-made music like most people, or wait until the filming is completed before finding a composer to compose the music, but the tacit understanding between the music and the film images is not as good as the early stage..."

Ronald has this experience since "Top Gun". Large productions generally require multiple parallel efforts, so that the quality of the creation is guaranteed.

"Ha, here it is." Carly Simon found the tape and handed it to Ronald. It said "River Run" on it.

"Is this the name of the song?" Ronald asked.

"I guess so. This is my husband Jim, who guides me to read books that can inspire me. The book he recommended, 'Finnegans Wake', is the book that inspired me. The first word in the text is 'river'."

As she spoke, Carly Simon put the tape into a professional recorder, and a melody like a hymn slowly came. Ronald was suddenly attracted by the beautiful melody.

"This must be the song in the dream, very exciting and very touching..."

After a few seconds of the prelude of the choir boys, Carly Simon's powerful voice cut in, making Ronald and Crowe sit up straight.

"Let the rivers run

Let all dreamers wake up this country

Come, New Jerusalem

The silver city rises

The morning illuminates the streets leading to them

The whistle calls them forward with songs

..."

"What do you remember?" Ronald was excited by the music all over his body, and he whispered to Cameron Crowe.

"I feel like I'm sitting on the ferry on Staten Island, facing the Statue of Liberty and the World Trade Center."

"Do you have a sense of mission, as if God is calling you?"

"Now that you mention it, it's true..." Kro felt like he was called by fate, maybe he was born to be a film director, but maybe not as successful as Ronald...

"How about this, this is the melody I thought of when Jim and I went to Martha's Vineyard for a weekend trip, and then it flowed out like water. I temporarily named it Wall Street Hymn." Carly Simon saw that the two seemed to like it very much.

"Yes, I think the choir's prelude is very good. Your voice has a kind of impact that only ancient people have. I like it very much. It makes my hair stand up."

"I like it too. The climax makes me want to cry..."

"I am so happy when you say that. I just thought of the feeling of hymns. When I was composing, my mind was full of images of the Staten Island Ferry. The yellow ship crossed the river, and the hymns I sang when I was a child suddenly flowed into my heart."

"Very good, I like it very much. You make a version with the official soundtrack of the orchestra, and I will take it to the editing room."

"I am very happy, really, Ronald. My record company also listened to it. They don't like this song very much and don't want to include it in my new album. I told them that this is the song I am most satisfied with in ten years."

With the demo, Ronald said goodbye and went to see Walter Murch with Kro.

"This one? What's the name? It fits the long aerial shot at the beginning and the end." Murch also listened to this interlude. He is a dual-talented person in image and sound editing and is in charge of Ronald's post-editing production.

"No name, how about using the first sentence as the name?"

"Let the river run? Very good."

Murch took the tape and wrote "Let the river run" on it. "Your vacation time will probably be very busy this time, the Oscars are coming soon."

"Yeah, I have to go canvassing, my agency has been urging me for a long time." Ronald looked at Crowe, and the two were about to return to Los Angeles. Crowe continued to follow Ronald to see all the work of film directors.

"Good luck, although privately, I would rather you be nominated. The nomination has proved your ability level. If you win the award, there may be an Oscar curse, and you will have to go through a few years of bad luck." Walter Murch first said the bad luck, and then knocked on the wood. He didn't want Ronald to have too high expectations.

"I understand, this kind of award is generally not given to me for the first time." Ronald smiled.