Exploiting Hollywood 1980

It was pleasant to chat with a mature woman like Annette Bening. Ronald had no pressure and could relax and enjoy the typical American family life atmosphere.

After the party, Ronald drove his Ferrari to take Bening home.

This woman, who was two years older than Ronald, was very good at observing words and expressions. She did not make any requests, but just focused on chatting with Ronald and flattered him without leaving any trace.

Ronald, who had just been tortured by Gene Hackman's uncomfortable chat style, felt very good. This actress was different from the Hollywood actresses Ronald had met before. She seemed more demure, not aggressive, and her ambitions were immediately revealed. She was a good chat partner.

During the conversation, Annette Bening learned about Ronald's family background, was very empathetic and said a lot of good things about Aunt Karen. She also touched Ronald's face with the back of her hand, showing a look of pity.

Ronald, who had never been so well cared for by a woman of the same age, was very surprised. He usually takes care of the feelings of his close women, but when Bening, who is like a sister, takes care of him, he feels a little comfortable that he has never felt before.

"You haven't talked about your experience yet? How did you become an actor on Broadway? Have you been in the drama club since high school?"

Ronald also wanted to know more about Bening's experience. This kind of conversation with a woman is the more formal way for men and women to get along for the first time in America.

"Not really. I am different from most actresses in New York and Los Angeles. I was born and raised in the South. I like drama, but it took me a long time to find a role on the stage."

Bening's experience is indeed very complicated. Her position on Broadway is completely earned by herself.

She was born in a small town in Kansas in the South, and moved to San Diego, California with her father, an insurance salesman, in middle school. She is the youngest of four children in the family and has received a strict Southern Episcopal education since childhood.

Such a southern girl is discriminated against by "Valley Girls" in California. Bening, who has a great talent for comedy, performed in the school troupe's "The Sound of Music" in high school, but did not receive any drama scholarship to go to college.

Bening, who wanted to be an actor, had to work to earn money. She worked on a yacht on the West Coast, worked as a chef for the rich people who went fishing, and worked part-time as a diving instructor. She earned money while studying. It was not until 1985 that she found a full-time actor job at the Denver Theater Company in Colorado.

Her performance in "Pygmalion" in Denver was well received. In 1987, she entered Broadway and was nominated for a Tony Award for her performance in "Coastal Disturbance", the first big play in which she played the leading role.

With her accumulated experience, she naturally attracted the attention of Hollywood and starred in "Into the Wild".

"So, you are still a Dixie girl?" Ronald joked.

"Yes, my life in Kansas when I was a child shaped me. I found opportunities in the theater industry and also toured in the South. Yankee Old..." Bening called Ronald Yankee Old in return because he was an orthodox New Yorker.

Bening put one hand on Ronald's waist, and there was a mixture of admiration and appreciation in his eyes.

Ronald touched Bening's hand in return, then turned to look at her. Bening also generously let him look at her aggressively, shook his hand hard, and then took it back.

For a moment, Ronald felt that he and Bening were both attracted to each other.

The two had similar experiences, and they had a lot of resonance when they talked about it. Soon they arrived at the small apartment that Bening rented in Los Angeles.

"My home is here, thank you for sending me back." Annette Bening did not take out the key to invite Ronald in.

"Won't you invite me in to sit down?" Ronald said to Annette Bening who said goodbye to him at the door.

"Next time, I don't have much to prepare. Next time I will buy some seafood and vegetables, and let you taste the dishes I learned when I was a chef on the ship." Bening laughed and rejected Ronald's idea, and then kissed him on the mouth.

"Well... OK, let's talk again when I get back from New York." Ronald, with the scent of Bening's perfume, pulled her back and hugged her again, then got into the car and left.

This actress is very capable and even cooks for Ronald herself, which makes Ronald feel moved. This is the style of a mature and independent woman.

...

"Annette's first movie is "Into the Wild", which is a comedy. Her agent said that she is more like playing a non-comedy drama role, so she is looking for opportunities everywhere."

On the plane to New York, agent Richard reasoned with Ronald about what Annette Bening wants now.

This actress is not a fledgling girl. She was nominated for the Tony Award and at the critical moment of entering Hollywood, she was separated from her husband and divorced. She is a woman who knows what she wants very well.

Such an actress knows the rules of the industry very well, and she has a good personality. Ronald will not have any problems getting along with her.

"By the way, her father is of German Jewish descent, and her mother is of the Anglican Church of England, and she also works part-time in the choir." Richard saw Bening's family background information again.

"I just said that her Jewish nose features are not obvious."

"Gentlemen, we are about to land. The local time of landing in New York is 3:20 pm.

The temperature is 62 degrees Fahrenheit and your car is waiting at the airport. "At this time, the flight attendant came over to remind them that New York was coming soon.

This time the two of them were going to visit the author of the third adapted screenplay that was likely to be purchased, Robert Harlin.

His "Steel Magnolias" is now playing on Broadway, while another cast is touring the country.

Robert Harlin is a middle-aged white man who looks like a typical Southern Dixie. He was born in small town Alabama, went to college in Louisiana, and finally got his law degree in New Orleans.

Later, because of his love for drama, he gave up the bar exam and went to New York to work as a playwright. In 1985, after his sister Susan died of complications from diabetes, he spent ten days writing the story "Steel Magnolias" based on Susan.

After he adapted the story into a Hollywood drama script, he got the chance to release it in 1987. Once it was released, the Broadway play received a lot of praise. Broadway audiences who are used to watching big city stories like this kind of drama about family affection in a small southern town very much.

Harlem, who became famous in one battle, also got the opportunity to enter Hollywood.

Of course, the one who got there first was Ray Stark, the Off-Broadway producer of "Steel Magnolias." This dual Broadway and Hollywood producer has a very successful production history.

Ray Stark was the quintessential Manhattan Jew. Like many Jews in the entertainment industry, he first started out as a literary agent. Later, he seized the opportunity to produce the box-office hit movie "The World of Suzie Wong." Guan Nanshi who played Suzie Wong (nan), is the first Chinese-American sex idol in Hollywood.

After that, Stark focused on adapting the famous Broadway play into a Hollywood movie, for which he served as a producer. Among the films that have been nominated for multiple Oscars are "The Goodbye" starring Barbra Streisand and "The Goodbye Girl" starring Martha Manson.

The veteran producer saw the potential of Robert Harlin's script at a glance. According to the additional clauses in the sale of the drama script, he invested $350,000 to buy the production rights to the film adaptation.

However, Ray Stark was also affected by the Wall Street stock market crash. He could not use the gimmick of a successful Broadway play to attract investment everywhere as before. My own wealth is not enough to support the cost of such a large-scale production.

So after Ronald expressed his interest in this script, both producer Stark and screenwriter Harlin felt a little overjoyed.

"I noticed that your last movie 'Moonlight' and the yet-to-be-released 'Working Girl' both used Broadway actors on a large scale." After shaking hands with Ronald and the others, Ray Stark sat down The first question talks about Ronald's preference for Broadway.

"Of course, for some scripts and some roles, it is very suitable to use Broadway actors." Ronald looked at the two people, wondering what they thought.

"My successful experience is the same. If you find the protagonists who perform well on Broadway, match them with a good script, and invite a good director, you can make a good Oscar-level movie." Ray Stark smiled and spent his money speak out.

"Haha...Hollywood has undergone profound changes in the past ten years. Nowadays, marketing with celebrity appearances can gain advantages in financing and publicity."

Ronald told screenwriter Robert Harlin that although he had sold the production rights, when it comes to projects, the power is not necessarily distributed as written in the contract.

Ray Stark, an old man, also used the successful experience before the 1970s to fool Harlem. In today's big productions, if stars are not in the lead, it will be difficult for you to make back your money at the box office.

"That's hard to say. To win an Oscar, you have to have superb acting skills as an endorsement." Ray Stark's expression was not very good and he began to retort.

"Fortunately, there are many female stars with superb acting skills in Hollywood now, and many of them also have Broadway theater experience." Ronald continued to instill his own ideas in Harlem. Movies are not shot with a camera on the Broadway stage. Only by being familiar with the theater where the movie is shot can the essence of the play be better performed.

"What you said makes sense." Robert Harlin had a good impression of Ronald. Many of the female characters in the movies he made were very good. I also wanted the character based on Susan and the character based on my mother to portray the background of a southern family. This would also satisfy my original intention of writing the script - to let their stories be interpreted on the screen. , remembered by the audience.

】

"I suggest that it's not a bad thing to just use actors from the Broadway tour." Ray Stark was unconvinced. "When I filmed The Goodbye Girl, Martha was just an ordinary actress."

Martha Manson is also an ordinary actor now.

Of course, Ronald didn't say this, although the actress Martha, who is married to the famous Broadway screenwriter Neil Simon, relied on her husband to adapt the two movies "The Goodbye Girl" and "Chapter 2" to win the film. She was later nominated, but she neither won an award nor became a female star with box office appeal.

In the same movie, Richard Dreyfuss, who played the leading actor and was already famous in Lucas's "American Graffiti", won the Oscar for Best Actor.

It can be seen that if you are already famous, blessed by a good script, and then win an award, this is the general rule in Hollywood. There are not many leading actresses who can make a comeback in Hollywood with their Broadway drama skills.

Everyone temporarily put aside the casting and began to discuss other cooperation issues. Soon, everyone reached a lot of consensus outside of the casting.

But in general, the difficulty and key of this movie lies in the casting of female characters. In addition to playing the daughter with diabetes and the mother who donated a kidney for her daughter, there are also the mother's hairstylist, best friend, and the former mayor's wife, as well as a runaway woman from another place who led the whole story.

If the Broadway team is used, then their pay will definitely not be high, and Ray Stark can occupy a relatively large share of the investment and have the highest voice in the crew.

But Ronald certainly didn't want to. In his opinion, this movie must have many famous actresses to play the role in order to make this kind of warm small town story into a movie that the audience is willing to pay for tickets to watch. Otherwise, it is better to just shoot it into a videotape.

Besides, if the investment is increased and famous actresses are selected to play, Ronald's investment can account for the majority, and the entire crew will work hard in the direction they want.

However, if the six main female roles are all played by celebrities, the investment of the entire movie will have to exceed 10 million. Ronald's own daydream cannot be fully invested. He must pull the distributor to sign a distribution agreement before he can find other investors.

In this way, the main characters, Ronald and Ray Stark, who can get the famous female star to agree to play, has become the most important bargaining chip.

Ronald has his own ideas. After initially determining the image of cooperation with the producer and screenwriter, he left Ray Stark's company and went back to the big house on Fifth Avenue to rest.

"Mr. Li? A Mr. Robert Haring is here to see you."

The concierge called, and Ronald hurried to greet the screenwriter.

Unexpectedly, Harlin came up to talk to Ronald alone that night, which seemed to be a good sign.

"What to drink? I have everything here," Ronald welcomed the Dixie screenwriter in, opened the refrigerator door and asked him, "Ginger ale, Coke, or some whiskey?"

This loft on Fifth Avenue has very good service. When Ronald is not there, the service staff often comes to clean and replenish the refrigerator.

"Whiskey? Do you have Tennessee?" Harlin frowned when he heard about Coke.

Ronald took a bottle of Tennessee Legend, a small-scale whiskey that tastes and has better quality than Jack Daniels, which is sold in supermarkets all over the United States. He poured a glass and handed it to Harlin.

Harlin held the whiskey in both hands, took a sip, and then said with a sad face, "I listened to your ideas today and felt that you are the right way to make this script into a movie that people will remember for a long time."

When Ronald heard what Harlin said, he felt much more relieved. He had done his homework very well. Robert Harlin's greatest wish was to make Susan's story remembered by people.

"Lei's idea is not wrong, but it's already 1988, and the situation in Hollywood has changed dramatically. His last successful Broadway adaptation was in 1979." Ronald took the opportunity to put some eye drops.

"You're right, I'm here to show my support for you." Harlem took another sip of Southern whiskey, "I want to ask, can you reveal who will play the role of my mother? Who will play Susan?"

"I haven't thought about it completely yet, but what do you think of Shirley MacLaine? I have a good relationship with her. Her last successful work, the mother in "Mother and Daughter", her acting skills are definitely good enough."

"She's good, but she's not very suitable for the role of my mother in this movie." Harlem shook his head to indicate that it was not good.

"Why? What about Olympia Dukakis? The new Oscar winner for Best Supporting Actress, I'm also very familiar with her." Ronald saw that Harlem seemed to have some ideas of his own, and mentioned his own candidate.

"She is also... good, but Olympia is also a northern Yankee woman."

"Ah... ok..." Ronald thought to himself, so this is what Harlem was worried about.

Indeed, southern women and northern women have very different temperaments. Although actors can adjust, it is best for some actors to perform in both form and spirit if their temperaments match.

"I don't want to choose the cast myself, but I think the characters in my script match the temperaments of the people I grew up with. It is always a bit inappropriate for a Yankee woman to play Dixie."

"I understand," Ronald thought to himself. This idea is not wrong. It seems that he is still very persistent in the characters based on his mother and sisters.

"We can slowly choose together. This kind of thing also depends on the other party's wishes." Ronald had many choices for actresses in his mind for a while. He decided to be cautious and first find the casting director and discuss with the agent.

"Which company will you find to distribute this movie?"

Harlem recently communicated with Ray Stark and took many Hollywood courses. He knew that this kind of movie needed to find a reliable distributor. Stark's own Stark Films and Ronald's Daydream are still inexperienced in distributing such large-scale productions.

What's more, if there are seven major companies issuing it, there will be a bonus in financing.

"This kind of movie is not a high-concept script with strong commercial elements and a very dramatic plot. So we won't have many choices. It depends on which distributor is interested in our casting and the affection between mother and daughter. I’m interested in the movie.”

The film was released by Paramount at the time, but Eisner, the president at the time, had already gone to Disney. And Ronald's current best relationship is with Columbia and Samsung Pictures, which has changed its skin.

Now that the acquisition is continuing to get closer, the senior executives of Sony America are trying to persuade Colombia to show goodwill to Ronald, who has a close relationship with Chairman Dahe.

"I just don't want Columbia to distribute it..." Robert Harlin frowned in pain and choked out, "Anything else you think is OK is fine with me."

"Why? Colombia is actually very interested in this kind of movie..." Ronald also frowned. You can't decide on this guy.

"If it was Colombia, then I would vote against it. I don't want to work for Coca-Cola and make money for them."

"Huh?" This was the first time Ronald saw an American who was anti-Coca-Cola. Is he a fan of Pepsi?

"Susan is the prototype of the heroine, my sister. She drank too much Coca-Cola as a child and developed type 1 diabetes. In the end, she died of kidney failure due to this complication. The kidney transplant my mother performed on her could not save her. She, so I think you understand."

"This..." Ronald touched his chin. Even if he convinced the other party about this kind of thing, I'm afraid it would be revealed by the media...

However, is there any relationship between drinking Coke and getting diabetes?

Perhaps seeing what Ronald was thinking, Harling said, "We Southerners all like to drink Coca-Cola, and that is one of the few products we in Dixie are proud of. But there is also a high incidence of diabetes among children there who drink Coca-Cola. serious.

Susan's doctor said he had seen similar effects of drinking too much, but Coke would not allow such research to be published. I asked many lawyers and they all said it was impossible to initiate a lawsuit on this basis. No doctor would publish a study linking diabetes to cola consumption. "

Harlin put the glass down and said, "If you can satisfy my somewhat paranoid belief, I will tell Ray that I will not authorize anyone else to film except you."

"Okay, but in this case, I will need some time to sell your script to major publishers. You will also be a salesperson when necessary."

"That's no problem." Harlin agreed.