Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Okay, okay, I get it. We still need a young 'virgin' star, right?"

Ronald stayed in New York for two days. With the help of Niceta, he and Michelle Cannold, the production director of Daydream, intensively sent invitations to major studios, trying to sell them the distribution rights of the script of "Steel Magnolias".

Whether it is Paramount, Universal, or Disney, they are all very interested in this movie. But they all made a request that Ronald should direct it.

Ronald, who is good at female themes and has a history of many hit movies, as long as he nods to direct, the estimated investment of only 15 million and the participation of many acting female stars are not a problem.

However, Ronald has not dreamed of any details of this movie yet, so he is still a little hesitant about whether to direct it himself. In addition, the screenwriter Harlem repeatedly pointed out that this play actually reflects the lifestyle of the small town in the southern United States, which is completely different from the big city stories Ronald is familiar with.

The female films Ronald has shot, whether it is Baby in the 1960s, or Loretta, a middle-aged Italian woman, or Tess, who has just turned 30 and entered the right path of life, are all New York girls.

They strive to seek independence and liberation. They are completely different from the many conservative Southern women in "Steel Magnolias". Those Dixie girls regard marrying a husband, giving birth to children for him, and taking care of the family as the highest goal in life, and even risking the worsening of diabetes to have children.

So Ronald tentatively proposed that the assets serve as producers and be responsible for part of the investment amount.

Now those big studios that promised to do so began to propose conditions that did not exist in the first place.

Ronald believed that the script was excellent, and if he asked Olympia Dukakis, Shirley MacLaine and other acquaintances to participate in the film, they would definitely agree to it.

But the studio was very practical. The distribution department evaluated several Oscar winners proposed by Ronald and found their box office appeal data through EA SRE.

Unfortunately, even Dukakis, who had just won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, was not enough to attract the target audience (especially those southern housewives) to the theater for them.

Hollywood has divided actresses into three categories since a long time ago: virgin, slut, and mother. This is based on their age classification, not entirely on their appearance.

Newly debuted actresses can play young girls who are just beginning to fall in love. At this time, they can be allowed to fall in love with popular male stars. Except for the protagonist, they will not say a word to other male characters. The most typical example is Grace Kelly in the western film "High Noon". She was only focused on falling in love with the sheriff played by Gary Cooper.

When the female stars gradually get older and it is no longer convincing to play the role of a girl, the studio will give them some "slut" type roles. In a movie, the roles of these female stars are no longer faithful to one man, but they are dealing with several men and can have love and romantic relationships with multiple men.

When Grace Kelly got older and entered the "high society", she was surrounded by three male stars who wanted to have sex with her character: her ex-boyfriend, her fiancé, and the fresh boy.

If Grace Kelly had not married the Prince of Monaco and retired from Hollywood, then when she reached middle age, the third acting career would gradually open up to her, that is, playing roles such as mothers or grandmothers, and not occupying the center of the stage.

And this "Steel Magnolias" happened to be a very special script. Among the six female characters, except for the girl who escaped from marriage from a foreigner, who was responsible for introducing the story, there were four "mother" types and only one "virgin" type among the other five female characters.

Although the acting skills of those mother-type actors have been precipitated over the years and are now as mellow as old red wine. But to be honest, most of the audiences who go to the cinema to watch movies are still attracted by the "young female stars" of the virgin or slut type.

Four Oscar-winning mother-type actresses are not as appealing as a young and beautiful star.

Even if this female-oriented play is very popular on Broadway, in Hollywood now, movies have to rely on the appeal of young female stars to have a high chance of recovering costs at the box office.

Ronald did not want to go against the market rules, so he agreed to find a suitable young and sexy female star to play the heroine Shelby. Universal, Paramount, and Disney all mentioned the same name: Michelle Pfeiffer.

Regardless of Pfeiffer's Oscar career, she is indeed the young female star who can attract moviegoers the most. Many young audiences will collect her posters.

Other major studios that are suitable as distributors, MGM's production volume has been sharply reduced, and Columbia has been blacklisted by screenwriters. Only 20th Century Fox is left. Many of their recent film projects have not yet been released, and how much money they have to invest in new projects is also a problem.

However, this is Ronald's idea. In fact, Columbia and Fox are very satisfied with Ronald's project's money-making and critical response. At a time when the writers' union is still on strike, with a finished script and director investment with box office guarantees, the willingness of these two studios to participate is no less than that of the other studios.

Ronald's good friend Cameron Crowe called his agent and said he had something important to discuss with him. Ronald asked him what it was, and Crowe said it was inconvenient to talk over the phone, and invited him to meet him when he returned to Los Angeles.

Ronald didn't know what it was, but Crowe secretly helped him to revise the script during the strike, which was a great help. Ronald couldn't refuse, so he went back to talk to him.

However, Ronald encountered trouble when renting a business jet. All the business jets that could be rented in the past two days were booked out.

I asked Douglas Jr. to help me find out that these two days were the time when the Democratic Party's presidential candidate held a primary election in New York. Political groups and action committees across the country rushed to the most important fundraising site in the East to see the results of the competition.

Unlike the Democratic Party's candidate primary election, which was basically decided on Super Tuesday last month, the current vice president, George Sr., could get a ticket to run in next year's general election as long as he completed the process. The Democratic Party's Super Tuesday was a very fierce competition.

Olympia Dukakis' cousin, who cheered for her in front of hundreds of millions of voters at the Oscars, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, took advantage of the popularity of the new Oscar for Best Supporting Actress and quickly gained popularity among candidates. He won nine of the twenty states in the primaries on Super Tuesday.

But Dukakis is of Greek descent, with thick eyebrows, a hooked nose, and a sinister look, which is really bad for his appearance.

In contrast, Tennessee Senator Al Gore has a handsome appearance and is very popular among female voters. He won the primaries in six states, especially Kentucky, Tennessee, and Oklahoma in the South, which only recognized Dixie.

And Jesse Jackson, a black civil rights leader, continued to forge ahead despite multiple scandals, and also won the support of five states such as Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, which are poor and have a high proportion of black people.

In this tense situation, even Colorado Senator Gary Hart, who had previously been involved in a big scandal and went on a sea trip with beauty pageant winner Donna Rice, wanted to run again after withdrawing from the election, and sent people from his campaign office to New York to inquire about the situation.

Political teams from various parties have rented all the business jets on the market, and are now waiting for the results of the New York primary election at several airports in New York.

Ronald had no choice and didn't want to bother George Jr. for a small matter, so he booked a commercial flight ticket and returned to Los Angeles.

"Do you think Senator Joe from Delaware would be interested in voting for him if he returns to participate in the primary election?"

At the airport, Ronald, wearing sunglasses, was stopped by a group of volunteers in blue T-shirts and asked to do a survey.

Looking at their display boards and the badges they wore, Ronald saw that it was Senator Joe who withdrew from the primary election last year. Now that Hart also wants to make a comeback, he is also eager to make a move, so he asked people from the campaign office to come to New York to test the wind first.

"Who?" Ronald asked back.

"Joe, the senator from Delaware, participated in the presidential primary last year, but was forced to withdraw because of rumors fabricated by his competitors."

"Who?" Ronald asked again. The tone of sarcasm was obvious. In a small state like Delaware, who could remember who the senator was?

The volunteer stepped away unhappily.

A tall and thin woman next to him chuckled. She seemed to appreciate Ronald's humor and nodded to him.

"Madam, can I take up a moment of your time? You are right..." The volunteer harassed her again.

"Is it the senator who plagiarized the speech of Neil Kinnock, the leader of the British Labour Party, word for word?" The woman's ability to mock was no less than Ronald's.

"Those were all rumors spread by the Dukakis camp. Our candidates noted the source of the original manuscript after each speech."

"So he plagiarized every speech?" The woman's ability to mock was undiminished.

"Puff..." This time it was Ronald's turn to laugh out loud.

On the plane, Ronald found that he and the tall and thin woman were sitting in the front and back rows. After he put away his luggage, he helped her stuff it.

"Nora, Nora Ephron," the woman stretched out her hand and shook Ronald's hand, then thanked him for his gentlemanly manner.

"Ronald, Ronald Lee."

"You are not that..." Nora Ephron was surprised for a moment, looking at Ronald who took off his sunglasses, and recognized the famous young director in Hollywood. She quickly exchanged seats with other passengers and sat next to Ronald.

"I have a new script here, are you interested in talking about it?"

After the plane took off, it changed to level flight, and the noise became much smaller. When the flight attendant started to distribute snacks, Nora Ephron poked Ronald and whispered.

"I am also a member of the Writers Guild. Aren't you afraid that I will report you?" Ronald deliberately joked.

"Ha, I didn't discuss the project with you, just treat it as a chat between two artists. By the way,...your name is Sally, right? I want a piece of bread, but the strawberry jam should not be placed in the middle of the plate, but on the side, the butter should be heated, but the package should not be opened, and then a bottle of Coke, sugar-free, not the new flavor, but sugar-free diet Coke..."

Nora Ephron's requirements for food are very detailed, and every detail is explained clearly to the stewardess named Sally.

"Okay", the stewardess almost fainted with these requirements.

"Can you repeat it?"

"Um...you want our airline's special small bread, strawberry jam on the edge of the plate, warm butter, don't open it...and a can of Diet Coke."

"Great, um...and a vegetable salad, don't put the salad dressing in the vegetables, put it separately. I'll make it myself, and olive oil..."

Ronald, who clearly saw the stewardess rolling her eyes and asking him, hurriedly said, "I want Coke and a large meal."

"Is this how you usually order food? It seems that you know what you want." Ronald looked at the stewardess who was still mumbling about Nora Ephron's request and walked away, and asked the other party in a low voice.

"You don't know, the salad and bread of this airline are very good, but you have to strictly follow my method. The way they mix the sauce themselves is really a waste of good food."

"What story is your script about?" Ronald watched Nora Ephron make salad and bread in her own unique way with relish, and ate some of the salad Nora gave him with interest.

I have to say that Nora Ephron is a very good gourmet. The salad she made tastes much better than the one in Ronald's set meal.

"Sally, please give me some olive oil too. Thank you." Ronald did the same thing and asked the stewardess to mix it with olive oil. It tasted much better.

"It's a love story. You know, is there a true friendship between a man and a woman, not mixed with the physical attraction to each other. It's an eternal topic." Nora Ephron said.

"Ah... is your story about this proposition?"

"Yes, my protagonists are two men and women who met in college and have the opportunity to meet every few years. They are always in a state of friendship, but not love. Either the man has a lover or the woman has a partner. After more than ten years of separation and reunion, they still didn't get together in the end."

"It sounds like you believe in true friendship between men and women?" Ronald frowned and asked after listening to the general trend of the story.

"Why do you say that? This is your interpretation. In fact, I believe that there is no possibility of true friendship between young men and women. There must be physical attraction between them."

"Then why don't you let the hero and heroine get together?" Ronald asked.

"Life is not like this. The hero and heroine finally get together and live happily together. I am an example... Let's not talk about it. I think since the two of them didn't get together at the beginning, it means that they are not attractive enough to each other. In the end, they are together, which is obviously unrealistic and will destroy the characterization."

"Heh..." Ronald finished eating the bread, "You didn't sell your script?"

"Indeed, I am talking to a few friends about the newly established production company. How did you know?" Nora Ephron was very surprised.

"Hollywood audiences all like happy endings. They may not be together with their ideal partners in real life, and they come to the cinema to make up for their regrets on the screen."

"If you say so..." Nora Ephron thought, "But my friend, who is also a film director, doesn't think so. He thinks that letting the two male and female protagonists miss each other on the street is also a good ending."

"Well, I think your director friend needs to watch the old Hollywood movie, 'Sullivans Travels.'" Ronald smiled.

"Sullivans Travels, the debut work of Hollywood sexy idol Veronica Lake in the 1940s?" Nora Ephron is quite familiar with film history, she nodded, "I will talk to Rob... Haha, let's see what he says now."

Ronald smiled, it seems that Nora Ephron herself also agrees with the happy ending, but that director named Rob is giving a messy instruction.

"I say, are you interested in reading this script? I'll ask my agent to send it to you, and I'm looking for investors now." Nora Ephron didn't want to miss the opportunity.

"You can call my agent. Don't mention the script on the phone. Just say I asked you to call." Ronald took out a business card with the agent's phone number and handed it to Nora Ephron. There are many factions in CAA, and Ronald didn't want to leave a handle for others.

"Understood." Nora Ephron asked for another salad, mixed it with her own unique method, and handed it to Ronald.

"Well, it's really delicious." Ronald felt that it was worth considering the production investment in exchange for this secret recipe. Although this script doesn't sound like it will be a hit, it's good to take a look at it now that there is a shortage of scripts.

...

In Los Angeles, Ronald and Cameron Crowe found a place to meet. In the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel, drinks and food were prepared in an executive suite, waiting for the two to meet privately.

"I wrote a script, can you take a look?" Cameron Crowe came straight to the point and took out a newly bound script.

"Of course," Ronald took it and looked at it. The copper nails on the binding were just polished to prevent him from cutting his hands when turning the pages.

There were only two words written on the cover, "say anythingg", followed by an ellipsis.

"Say anythingg?" Ronald looked at the interesting name of the script and opened it to read it.

"A youth romantic love film?" Ronald blurted out after flipping through it.

"Yes, I wanted to direct this movie, so I chose the subject matter I am most familiar with." Cameron Crowe's eyes were full of hope.

For such an old friend who helped silently, Ronald was not as vain as he was for Nora Ephron.

"Now that the strike is still going on, I can let Daydream do an evaluation. If it's good, we will sign a contract. If it is less than 6 million, I will invest it myself. If it is more than 6 million, I will find a big publisher to cooperate."

"Hahaha, thank you, Ronald."

Cameron Crowe felt Ronald's kindness and he couldn't be happier. Ronald actually agreed to an investment of at least six million. For a screenwriter like himself who had never directed a movie, this condition could be said to be very loose.

Ronald is actually very happy. Nowadays, major film studios are having a script crisis. Crowe's script at least has a smooth structure and a very sunny ending. The hero and heroine come together regardless of all obstacles. Much better than the Nora Ephron one.

"Great, when do you think the strike will end and we can start operating this project?" Cameron Crowe said after laughing.

"Why……"

Ronald sighed, "I don't know either! No one in Hollywood or major TV stations knows. Have you heard? Almost all TV series will stop filming this season."