Exploiting Hollywood 1980

“The Screen Actors Guild has declared a strike, and three movies filming in New York have been shut down because their lead actors didn’t show up.”

Ronald looked at the cover title of "Backstage" magazine on the newsstand, bought it, rolled it up with "Variety" and "Hollywood Reporter", and took it back to his apartment.

Rather than being resolved at the last minute, as Brooke Shields' mother, Terri, had hoped, the strike erupted. Each TV station began to report the news that happened in their own country, and the language was relatively restrained.

Newspapers and magazines are not so cautious, and all kinds of gossip and interviews are everywhere. Perhaps because it is far away from Hollywood, the studio's control over the media is not in place. Three big-budget movies here in New York were suspended and others were picked out.

The worst thing was "Rid Famous", a movie starring two beauties, Jacqueline Bisset and Candice Bergen. It happened to be shot the day before the strike started, and the next day The two beauties did not appear on the set. The famous director Robert Mulligan resigned on the spot.

I heard that Jacqueline Bisset also invested in the film, and she was willing to lose her own money in order to go on strike.

Fortunately, I didn't join the Screen Actors Guild because I didn't want to be an actor. Ronald was secretly thankful, watching Good Morning America and eating a sandwich with scrambled eggs he bought from McDonald's.

Dining with him was agent Eddie Cohen. The two were going to meet up with Calvin Klein first to contact Brooke Shields to discuss the advertising shoot.

"Are these people really crazy? Are they willing to pay themselves in order to go on strike?"

"That's not the case, Ronald." Eddie put down his knife and fork and took a sip of water. "The strike is temporary. Jacqueline's so-called investment only accounts for a small proportion. The bulk of the money loss is still made by the system." Studio.”

"But isn't this irresponsible for the filming? How much money will the crew lose if it is shut down for a day? Besides, the strike is still far away, and we don't know when it will end."

"It's not your own money anyway. If you don't abide by the union's regulations, the only result will be to quit the union or be expelled from the union. Even a star cannot bear such consequences. The actor's insurance, the calculation and acquisition of subsequent remuneration, all belong to the union. Helping to take care of it.

There will be great restrictions on the hiring of actors who are not members of the union. For a movie, it will increase the trouble of future artistic career. There may be only one person in Hollywood who can do this. "

"Who is it?" Ronald asked curiously, wanting to get to know this awesome man.

"Who else? George Lucas.

He was dissatisfied with the Directors Guild's rule that the credits must be placed at the beginning of the film. He insisted that the opening credits of Star Wars should not have credits, so he quit the Directors Guild. But that's because he has the copyright to Star Wars and is confident. "

Gee, powerful people can do whatever they want in Hollywood. Ronald thought as he and Eddie drove to Calvin Klein's studio.

…

"I'm afraid Brooke Shields' mother is not so easy to give in. I asked friends in the industry. Terry is known for being greedy and protecting her daughters like a hen." Calvin Klein sat on a chair and faced Ronald Said Eddie.

Calvin's studio maintains his consistent style, which is mainly simple. The large floor-to-ceiling windows, interior decoration and furniture made of steel bars and wooden boards look very modern and Bauhaus style.

The only problem is that it's not comfortable to sit on. Ronald adjusted his sitting position. It really didn't feel as good as the sofa at home.

"Yes, but I got inside information that the strike will last for at least a month, so Terry will have to face reality. She will panic. She will reduce the price of her daughter's film salary, which gives us an opportunity to take advantage of this opportunity. Later, he persuaded her to shoot some commercials for her daughter.

I'm afraid if Brooke Shields' advertising remuneration is reduced to your psychological expectations, this is the only chance. After filming Endless Love, her net worth will probably go up all the way. "

Calvin pondered for a moment, "You are right, Ronald. In the beginning, there will be a large number of actors who lower their prices to accept advertisements, but as time goes by, the advertising companies will react. The ones who are really attractive are the original ones. Those few are suitable for filming commercials. At that time, Brooke Shields's net worth will recover or even increase."

"We're all going to greet her and her mother later. Terry cares about being respected," Eddie added.

"Good morning, Ms. Shields. Good morning, Brooke." Ronald stood at the door, welcoming Brooke Shields and her mother.

"Hello, we meet again." Terry recognized Ronald, "Are you still going to direct the commercial?" It seemed that Ronald didn't have enough of a role.

"Yes, I am Ronald. If you agree with Brooke to shoot the Kelvin Jeans commercial, I will be the director of the commercial." For fear that Terry would forget his name, Ronald quickly introduced himself to him again, " I also directed the Hershey's chewels commercial."

"Hello Terry." Calvin Klein came over to greet Terry and Brooke, and they performed the fashion industry's kissing ceremony.

Ronald looked at his hands. Should he change his habit of shaking hands in the future?

An hour later, the two parties had no objections to the creativeness and shooting schedule of the advertisement, but Terry refused to lower the price. She and Calvin were still discussing Brooke Shields' worth alone in the room.

Ronald and Brooke were waiting outside. Brooke Shields picked up various fashion magazines on the table, flipped through them and put them down again, as if the girl had grown taller recently. The two long legs sat with their knees together like a lady according to mother's teachings.

None of the chairs at Calvin were suitable for tall people. Brooke could never find a comfortable position. After changing it a few times, she still returned to her old position. Today she wore a white silk shirt, beige pants mixed with linen, and flat sandals, which were very tastefully matched.

Ronald couldn't help but think of Diane Lane watching TV with her legs hooked on the arm of the sofa at his aunt's house. They are also a single-parent family with an acting girl. They are about the same age, but the father and mother have different ways of disciplining their daughters.

Bert gave Diane a lot of freedom, while Terry took charge of all the details of Brooke's life.

Perhaps Ronald's smile misunderstood Poky, and the girl said, "What do you think about my jeans commercial? I heard that you are the director."

When her mother was away, Brooke's tone of voice was also different, a little shrill. Maybe Terry also had requirements for her daughter to speak.

Ronald looked at Brooke Shields, who was trying to act like a little adult, and replied with a smile, "My job is equivalent to an executor. I mainly realize Calvin's creativity in the camera. He is in charge of the entire advertisement."

"Of course, how to express your characteristics is also the focus of my work." Ronald added, looking at Poky's expression of listening to him carefully.

"If you were the one to shoot, what would your creativity be?" Brooke Shields obviously didn't want to let Ronald go, and began to seriously discuss advertising with him.

Ronald glanced at the conference room, the door was still closed, "Purely hypothetical discussion, if it were me, I would shoot some scenes of you engaging in various sports to show that CK jeans fit the body and modify women's curves. And suitable for everyday wear.”

"I like your creativity. If I see a jeans advertisement like this, I will buy a pair." Brooke Shields talked about her favorite issues, and instantly broke through, gave up her ladylike posture, and sat over to Ronald. Point and cross one leg.

"Let me tell you, those advertisements were very uncomfortable to shoot. Some of the clothes were specially made and were different from the ones they sold in stores. I was required to maintain a posture for a long time. Fortunately, I was trained by my mother since I was a child. Those photographers They all like to take photos of me.”

The door opened with a click, and Calvin and Terry came out. Ronald turned around and saw that the two of them had no expressions. For a moment, he didn't know whether the negotiation was successful or not.

"Brush", Brooke Shields saw her mother and instantly returned to her ladylike state. She sat like a lady with her waist straight, her legs and knees together, and her feet tilted to one side.

"Ms. Shields, I will contact Brooke's agent and hope we can set a shooting schedule as soon as possible." Calvin Klein hugged Terry again, this time saying goodbye.

"Ronald, it's nice to see you again." Terry took the initiative to reach out his hand, breaking Ronald's idea of ​​embracing understanding instead.

"Nice to meet you too, Ms. Shields." The top hat man shook hands with Terry and said goodbye, and several people watched the mother and daughter leave.

"How is it?" Eddie was even more anxious than Ronald.

"She agreed, and I will find her agent to sign a contract. But the shooting schedule has not yet been decided, and Terry still has hope for endless love..."

It seems that dealing with such a celebrity mother will not be too pleasant. Ronald felt that Calvin's face was a little ugly, and it seemed that the price was not low.

…

The final exams at New York University have been completed, and Ronald thinks there is no problem. The school also offers many courses during the summer vacation, and those who hope to get credits can choose not to take classes during the holidays. Course selection for summer courses is relatively easy, and you can take elective courses from other colleges.

But Ronald was not interested. He had already made an agreement with Walter Mersey of the San Francisco Zoe Show Company to take real editing classes there in a while and work as his assistant.

That day, Martin Scorsese called Ronald and asked him to talk about his final homework.

"I didn't expect you to write a review like this, Ronnie. It's surprising to me that Hollywood generally praises Hitchcock's 'Psycho' for its groundbreaking work, but you actually think he copied Orson. Welles's 'Touch of Evil' piece."

"Actually, I prefer to use the word plagiarism. The heroine is Janet Leigh. Welles's use of her obviously gave Hitchcock a lot of inspiration. And his use of black and white film light and shadow also Inspired many of Hitchcock’s key moments.”

"I'm not trying to argue with you, Ronald. I gave your final paper an A+."

"Thank you, Professor."

"You have some original ideas. In this industry, most people follow what everyone else says, and only a few people have their own ideas. Stick to it." Scorsese encouraged Ronald.

"How's your new movie going? Professor."

"Hey, work is suspended, affected by the strike."

"What? Isn't your movie already in post-editing? Is there any footage that needs to be reshot?"

"No, I was targeted by workers' pickets."

It turned out that in addition to the two major actors' unions, strike leader Ed Asner also mobilized the American Musicians Guild to participate in the strike. An important part of the later stage of film and television production is the soundtrack. The strike by the Musicians Association has forced many film and television dramas that have completed filming and are in post-production to stop production.

They also organized more than 500 musicians and "music staff" to form workers' pickets and patrolled the soundtrack studios of major studios. If they saw someone doing the soundtrack, they would stop them. Many studios had to move the soundtrack Put the work abroad and let real musicians go abroad to score the music.

Scorsese didn't get United Artists' budget, and workers were at his house to stop the score and sound editing, so production was temporarily halted.

"This is to force the employer to submit," Ronald said.

"Yes, we can't do post-production on completed movies. Asner and his colleagues want all theaters to have no new movies to show in a month, forcing the Producers Association to make concessions."

"This guy is really a good fighter..."

"Yeah, my movie might have to be postponed for another year and it won't be able to catch up with the Oscars in 1980."

But in this case, doesn’t “Blue Coral” want to make a lot of money? Ronald thought that since there were no new movies, the theater chain had to extend the time for releasing the current movies to help.

It's a pity that "Famous" has already been released and has not reaped this wave of dividends.

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