Exploiting Hollywood 1980

With the advice of City Councillor Susan Molinari, Ronald asked his private lawyer Lindsay Doll to draft an application for rezoning the land rights. He only needed to wait for the approval of the meeting of the City Hall of Staten Island before he could resume work on his Jiangnan Garden.

After dealing with this matter, Ronald quickly called the travel agency and arranged to go to the resort on the east side of Long Island, New York to enjoy a few days.

"Didn't you say you were going to come by yacht?" Diane got off the travel car, put on big orange sunglasses, added a light yellow straw hat on her head, and her white pants had a bit of Monroe's temperament.

"Didn't I delay two days because of the garden?" Ronald followed, wearing a preppy-style outfit of a preppy student, a navy top, cropped pants, and boat shoes.

"The outfits for taking a boat, taking a plane, and taking a car are all different. I haven't prepared them perfectly." Diane's clothes were prepared for taking a boat, which was a bit regrettable.

"It doesn't matter, there are no reporters here," Ronald got on the convertible sports car prepared for him, the most common means of transportation here.

The easternmost part of Long Island is called Hampton, which is the first place where immigrants set foot on the land of New York State. The immigrants from England did not have any creativity and directly named it after the place name of their hometown. Later, it was expanded and divided into Eastampton and Southampton.

Ronald came to Southampton and asked Steve Bannon, who also invested a little in "Dirty Dancing", to borrow a vacation home. The house is in Sagaponack Village, which is the location of the most expensive zip code on the East Coast. There are only 700 residents in the village.

Ronald drove the sports car and headed south along Highway 27. Soon they arrived at Bannon's house, and the waiter had cleaned the room and was waiting for them.

The houses are very far apart, and you have to use a telescope to spy on the gossip of your neighbors. Ronald is quite satisfied with this place. Although there are few people, there are no less things to enjoy than Manhattan. The golf course in the town is the most expensive in the United States.

Bannon arranged everything very well, and Ronald and Diane rested for a few days with peace of mind. The next day, they were able to go fishing with Captain Red, a famous Long Islander. On the third day, they went to the bathing company on Southampton Beach to relax.

The bathing center is on a private beach and is a membership system. Ronald was able to get in because Bannon had obtained a club membership card to entertain big shots in Washington, DC.

Lunch was eaten on the beach. Ronald chatted with the people next to him. They all had the surnames of old money families such as Rockefeller, Astor, and Vanderbilt. There was nothing in common, so they had to sit down and eat separately.

"Are you Diane Lane? I like your "Raging Streets". Can you sign an autograph for me?" A young man from the Rockefeller family, who looked less than 20 years old, seemed to have different hobbies from his elders. When he saw the female star, he came up to ask for an autograph and chatted with her.

"Thank you", Diane didn't expect that the young man liked her movie. In fact, more people liked "Love at Sunset Bridge" or "The Untamed".

"Would you please have lunch with me?" Rockefeller Jr. began to show his courtesy.

"I came here with my friends..." Diane smiled and pointed at Ronald who was eating across from him. He was very brave in the quiet resort these two days and ate seafood as much as he could.

"Everyone is friends here, your friends won't be unwilling..." Rockefeller Jr. has also seen female stars here, "No, you are a director, right? I saw your TV interview for Top Gun."

"Ha... Today is really my lucky day. I met my favorite actress and director at the same time. Do you mind if I sit down?" He brought the coffee over and sat at Ronald's table.

"Are you here for vacation? How do you feel?" Rockefeller Jr. asked.

"Very good, I didn't expect to be able to watch the latest Broadway play 'Speed-the-Plow' at the same time."

"I like it very much. It was written by David Mamet and reflects Hollywood's play. You can see that I like Hollywood. The version at the Broadway Candy Box Theater is better. The protagonist Karen is played by Madonna. Do you like Madonna's performance?"

"She plays a play? God bless her. If the role is suitable, she will be very good." Ronald didn't expect Madonna to still have the dream of becoming an actor in her heart and go directly to Broadway.

"During the New Year holiday, Madonna filed a domestic violence complaint against her husband Sean Penn. Unexpectedly, Broadway gained a good actor."

"Really?" Ronald was busy making a movie and didn't know about this gossip that was spread all over the United States. It is said that Madonna also filed for divorce

"Will you buy a house here, Director Ronald?" This young man seemed to have no boundaries.

"I don't have this plan... just a vacation..." Ronald refused to discuss further.

"Actually, the house here is pretty good. If you're interested, I can speak well of you to the homeowners' committee..."

"..."Ronald felt that the kid was a little too lively.

"Mr. Li, your call is from New York." The waiter pulled the long phone cord over, took off the receiver and handed it to Ronald, just in time to help him out.

"It's me, Ronald." Ronald took the receiver and turned his back to the curious teenager.

"Ronald, are you happy living there?" The call was from Bannon.

"Steve, I'm very satisfied with this vacation. Life here is more interesting than the resorts on the West Coast that host Hollywood stars."

"Hahaha, of course, this kind of place has been a resort for the rich for hundreds of years, and the service level must be higher than that of the nouveau riche on the West Coast."

Bannon felt that this helpful Ronald was happy and had achieved his goal, "I called you because your old friend came to New York and he wanted to meet you. Find me here."

"Old friend?" Ronald wondered who Bannon was and was so cautious.

"We bought shares of his company in Tokyo. Mr. Dahe said that he had a conversation with you once and that he admired your understanding of Eastern and Western cultures."

"Oh, he came to New York?"

"I'll be staying here for a few days. I happen to be free tonight. Can you come over?"

Ronald covered the phone and asked Diane, "Bannon said someone important wants to see me, can you..."

"Let's go, I'll go back with you. I've almost spent enough time here." Diane curled her lips. Although it was a good thing to have movie fans, such a hormonal boy was really difficult to deal with.

"You really don't like it here?" Ronald asked Diane on the way back.

"My father took me here when I was a kid..." Diane looked at Route 27 outside the window and said, "It's just Eastampton on the east, where people with no money go. There's also a direct railway, and there's the easternmost city in New York. There are many people taking pictures there.”

"Really? Why don't we take the train too? It's still early."

America's passenger railway business is not doing well, and only some remain in operation as tourist attractions. Ronald and Diane took the direct train to Manhattan, and sure enough, there were many middle-class families coming for vacation.

The children screamed happily, and the parents quickly thought of ways to prevent them from running around in the car too excitedly. A family looks at photos taken with a disposable imaging camera.

"This is the life of ordinary people..." Ronald, in contrast, prefers this form of popular entertainment. As a film director, if he becomes famous, he will live in a large single-family house and be separated from ordinary people. Over time, he will fall out of favor with the public. Many directors fail to make touching films after becoming famous, and success syndrome is the main reason.

…

"Mr. Ohga..." Ronald met Sony's second-in-command, Norio Ohga, at a high-end Japanese restaurant in Manhattan.

"Ronald San, we meet again, hahaha..."

After dinner, the two drank tea and chatted in a private meeting room.

Dahe drank Japanese matcha that the waiter had mixed with tea, motioned to Ronald to try it, and then waved the waiter to leave.

"Ronald Sang, I am here this time and I want to ask you something again. This matter is top secret until it is announced. I believe in Ronald Sang's character, but the matter is very important, so I want one of yours. promise."

"Of course, I won't tell anyone before you announce it. We are just chatting among friends. In fact, I also have another identity. I bought some Sony stocks and am a de facto shareholder."

"Hahaha... That would be better..." Dahe didn't expect Ronald to say this.

"We want to acquire an American film company. I want to ask you, will the Americans recognize us as shareholders of Laiwu Film Company?"

"this……"

Ronald did not expect that Dahe had not only acquired the record company, but now he would actually acquire the film company.

In the script of "Working Girl", the Japanese company's acquisition of an American media company appears to be the screenwriter's speculation. Could it be that in reality, Japanese people also want to do this?

"Do you have any questions? I want to see you just to hear your true thoughts. There are people in the company who follow my opinions. I want to find someone who is objective and knows enough about Hollywood to listen. Listen to his advice." Dahe saw Ronald's hesitation.

"Actually, it's nothing. There's a similar plot in my new movie."

Ronald took a sip of matcha, which tasted completely different from Chinese tea. He put down the teacup, thought about it, and said to Dahe.

"Records are different from movies. Hollywood has been the pride of ordinary Americans for the past eighty years. The movies here are all related to the lives of each of us ordinary Americans. When we were children, we were taught by our parents We took them to see it. When we became adults, we went to see it with our partners. When we had children, we took them to see it.

It can be said that the most profound memories of any ordinary person's life are all involved in Hollywood movies. To a certain extent, our lives are also shaped by Hollywood movies. "

"Is that so..." Norio Ohga frowned. What Ronald said was exactly what he was worried about.

"Japanese products defeated many domestic products in the American market, and then you came to acquire many companies, but these are all side effects. Movies are different from ordinary refrigerators and cars. They are related to the common memory of the people. "

"Then what do you think we need to do to avoid arousing opposition from the American people?" Norio Ohga touched his forehead.

"Can I ask, why do you want to acquire a Hollywood film company? You also sell hardware in Japan, right? Video recorders and cameras are top-notch in the industry, and I use them both, but selling video recorders and making movies are two different things. Something?"

"Ronald San is still so sharp. Our beta format video tapes have not competed with the VHS format. Although the video recorder market in America was opened up by us and Universal..."

Norio Ohga talked about the case that Sony and Universal took to the Supreme Court. After the victory, video rental stores in America were everywhere.

However, after opening up the market, they did not get the largest share. Although beta format videotapes have better image quality and smaller size, vhs format videotapes have completely eaten up the market that was finally opened.

Only some users who have the highest requirements for image quality are still using beta format videotapes, but the disproportionate number of videotapes in the market has announced Sony's failure in this war.

Sony is like spending a lot of effort to open up the market, but only got the best chocolate sauce on the ice cream sundae. The largest amount of ice cream was occupied by the vhs format of the JVC, Panasonic, and Hitachi alliance.

Sony's chairman, Mr. Morita, was very sad about this failure. He summed up the experience, mainly because Sony did not have enough film libraries. If it could own enough classic movie copyrights, then beta format videotapes would have the most beautiful classic movies.

Recently, Sony has launched new innovations. A new product similar to the Walkman, the best-selling Walkman in America, the Watt, will be sold in large quantities. Sony has the same expectations for this product as the Walkman.

Ohga took out a very small TV and handed it to Ronald.

The Watt, which is not much bigger than the Walkman, displays a TV signal on a two-inch display screen after pressing a button. Ronald pulled out the antenna and tried it. The image and sound were very clear.

There are some interfaces on the back of the machine for cable TV signals. The most interesting thing is that there is a socket on the back of this mini TV for playing small beta videotapes.

"Just rely on this?" Ronald looked at the small TV screen, which was smaller than the TV in the 1950s. It was just wishful thinking to watch movies on it.

"Yes, Mr. Morita is very interested in this matter. He told me that the program and the machine are like the two wheels of Sony, and they must be kept running at the same time. So, I want to hear your opinion, how can we make Americans not dislike our acquisition?"

】

"This...", Ronald thought, how would I know. Working Girl used this antipathy towards you Japanese people and used a legal loophole to block the Japanese from acquiring American media.

Politicians also need to listen to the voices of the people. You Japanese people have a bad reputation in America. When the people hear that a classic Hollywood movie is going to be named after a Japanese surname, they will definitely have a lot of antipathy.

Looking at Da He staring at him, Ronald scratched his head. He still had to say a few words when he came to visit.

"I think that in many Hollywood movies, after the Japanese acquired American companies, they began to use Japanese methods to manage production and hired Japanese people as managers. Two years ago, there was a movie called "Gong Ho" that spoke well of Japanese management, but it received bad reviews after it was released. Many people think that your managers are like devils, and the last few who complete production targets should be given a shame belt, just like the Germans in World War II..."

"I know that movie. My friend at Toyota told me that the movie is a textbook and a demonstration of how not to manage American employees."

Oga Norio knew that Ronald was right as soon as he heard it. He is worthy of being a master of both East and West. It is impossible for people who are not such people to be so sensitive to the feelings of Americans.

"Also, we care about American heroes very much. Our children want to become them since childhood. If our heroes become Japanese heroes in the future, we will feel very uncomfortable."

"What do you mean?" Oga wanted to ask more details.

"Just like the movie I shot, The Karate Kid, where the protagonist Daniel learned some Japanese philosophy, but he is essentially an American hero who is not afraid of taking risks and is brave enough to try.

If you acquire Hollywood Studios and the hero you shoot is not like John Wayne, but like Toshiro Mifune, it will be very uncomfortable. We will ask, after all, Pearl... well, you know what I mean."

Ronald almost said, who won after the attack on Pearl Harbor? Since Americans won, we should shape heroes according to our philosophy and ideas.

Ohga Norio was thoughtful. After sending Ronald away, he began to draft a report to Mr. Morita.

Hollywood is a proud cultural center that represents America. Any idea of ​​only considering the matter and business for the acquisition is immature and even harmful. We must complete the acquisition in a way that tries not to touch the sensitive nerves of American politicians and the public.