Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Burt, this is Ronald. I was at Jane Fonda's house in Los Angeles, and I met Diane." Ronald dialed Burt's phone, "She is with me now, don't worry... Well, but Diane said that she has already declared her independence in the newspaper and does not want you to arrange her acting life in the future."

Bert breathed a long sigh of relief on the phone. He saw the letter left by his daughter and knew that she went to Los Angeles with Atkins, a bad boy, and was very worried.

Although relieved, Bert felt very sad. He always treats Diane like a friend, and discusses everything with his daughter. In addition to a few principles, Diane also has a lot of decision-making power.

However, her daughter's acting career encountered a slight setback. She was provoked by a bad boy and ran away from home.

"She left me a letter, saying that she was going to Hollywood to start her own business. She also said that my principles for selecting films were outdated and that I had to decide my own future... Didn't I ask for her opinion every time I accepted a film? Or did I? Did I force her on how to interpret the character?”

Ronald wanted to laugh a little when he heard his old father Bert's complaints. The way father and daughter get along is very funny. He turns on the speakerphone and lets Diane listen to Bert's thoughts.

Jane Fonda, who brought Ronald and Diane in to make a phone call, also heard what Bert said and couldn't help but sigh secretly. Like the father and daughter, his relationship with his father, Henry Fonda, has always oscillated between love and hate.

Henry Fonda taught Jane since she was a child that in order to be liked by men, she must be a perfect girl. When Jane was still very young, her mother became insane and committed suicide because her father Henry divorced her and married another woman. Brother Peter Fonda also picked up a pistol to take revenge, but it discharged and injured his thigh.

This intensified Jane Fonda's obsession. She believes that a woman must please a man and become the perfect woman in his eyes in order to keep her marriage. For her first husband Roger Vadim, Jane Fonda did not hesitate to dye her hair blond and strive to be a sexy woman. She also starred in Vadim's "Barbara", a kind of erotic exploitation. piece.

But this did not tie up her husband's heart. Her ex-husband Vadim still frequently cheated on her. After divorcing him, Jane Fonda met her current husband Tom Hayden again. In order to please her husband, a left-wing activist, she traveled to Vietnam, took photos with North Vietnamese soldiers, and called for peace.

The photos were sent back to China, which almost ruined her acting career, and she was targeted by some politicians who wanted to drive her out of the entertainment industry. Fortunately, public opinion changed, and everyone's calls for peace towards Jane Fonda were only mixed.

But because of this turmoil, her father Henry Fonda was very sad about Jane's unpatriotic behavior and refused to associate with her for several years.

Thinking of this,

Jane Fonda picked up the receiver and took the initiative to talk to Bert.

"Hi, Bert. I'm Jane Fonda. We've never met, but I've heard a lot about you from your partner, John Cassavetes... Diane is safe in Los Angeles, Ron. Nader takes good care of her, and she can stay at my house temporarily in Los Angeles..."

At this time, Michael Ovitz came here after hearing the news and found it.

Ronald left the room with him, found a deserted corner, and told Ovitz the whole story, telling Ovitz that the producer Zinnemann wanted to sign Diane Lane, and how he stopped him of the process.

"I'm afraid we have to adjust the time and sequence. I will contact Disney first tomorrow morning. Otherwise, given Zinnemann's relationship with Disney President Ron Miller, it would be bad if he meets Ron Miller first."

"So exaggerated? I just stopped him from signing Diane without an agent present."

"You don't understand, this is the power structure of Hollywood." Ovitz didn't want to say more. He just asked Ronald to prepare and start an intensive attack with him tomorrow to meet with the top executives of major studios.

"Diane, if you want, you can stay here with me first, see more things in the entertainment industry, and then decide how your acting career should go." After Jane Fonda and Bert talked on the phone, she said to Diane Lane En said.

"Thank you, Jane. I have money and can stay in a hotel. I will stay in Hollywood for a week and then return to New York." Diane declined Jane Fonda's kindness, but her idea of ​​​​going to Hollywood alone was extinguished after this time. Atkins is not a reliable person, and Hollywood has many traps. She planned to play in Los Angeles for a while and then return to New York.

But after returning to New York, Diane Lane didn't want to live with her father anymore. Anyway, she has a lot of savings because she made two movies. Her savings are all in her own account, so she can move out and pay the rent by herself.

Jane Fonda liked Diane's independent personality very much. She remembered that she and her father Henry Fonda had not spoken to each other for many years, and now she had to buy a script to invite the old man to make a movie in order to reconcile with her father.

"That's fine, I will go to the set on Golden Pond soon to resume filming. You can make your own arrangements. But you must let Bert know your whereabouts. Girls should be independent, but don't fail to communicate with their parents. No matter what, they They all love you, and you love them.”

Diane nodded, still having a question in his mind, "I have another question. Mr. Tim Zinnemann wanted to sign a contract with her just now, but Ronald stopped him and said he would wait for my agent to arrive. This is Good thing or bad thing?”

Jane Fonda didn't want to ruin other people's affairs, so she thought about it and answered from a different angle, "To sign a contract with Zinnemann, you need a good agent and a good lawyer."

"Thank you, Jane. I'll go find Ronald."

"We're going to Disney tomorrow, then Orion, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros., Paramount, Columbia, and Universal. In roughly this order. Small studios first, then medium-sized studios, and finally It’s the biggest.”

Michael Ovitz and Ronald were leaning on a small table in the hallway outside, conferring before going to the studio to pitch a package deal for "My Brother's Keeper."

Ronald nodded. During the first negotiation, as a screenwriter, you must be present. Ovitz's strategy was to sell the script first, then spread the news that Jane Fonda was willing to participate, and finally introduce interested directors. The remaining positions could be filled with one CAA client.

"The smallest package is the trio of screenwriter + starring + director. We will not consider anything below this bottom line." Ovitz explained his idea to Ronald in a low voice, hoping that he would act according to his wishes.

"Why are United Artists and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer excluded?" Ronald took out the small notebook he carried with him and wrote down the names of the seven studios they were planning to promote in shorthand. He found that two studios were missing and one was added. between Orion.

"MGM is going through turmoil. Ever since Kirk Kerkorian bought MGM and turned it from being the biggest studio in Hollywood, it's actually become an entertainment company with a casino business. Corporation. You know what? They even sold Dorothy's ruby ​​slippers from 'The Wizard of Oz.'"

Ovitz was also a movie fan before joining the entertainment industry, and he was still very sad about MGM's decline.

"The movie you are famous for as a screenwriter may become the last theatrical movie produced by this former boss."

"What? MGM is going to go bankrupt?" Ronald thought to himself. No wonder MGM didn't even lock in the theater schedule in advance when it was produced, and the scale of the release was also very small. If it weren't for the small theaters in New York and Los Angeles, The large-scale release has achieved good results, and it may be released directly.

"Kirkorian will divest MGM's production business and then sell it. The MGM brand will remain on the roof of his MGM Hotel in Las Vegas forever."

"It's a good decision in terms of business, but MGM is..."

"And then there's United Artists, who got screwed by Michael Cimino of 'Heaven's Gate.'"

"Really? What's going on?" Ronald loved hearing this gossip.

"They held an internal screening last month and heard that the entire film was more than five hours long. The new executives who replaced the two senior executives who were fired went crazy. They forced Cimino to cut the entire film to three. Hours or less, is scheduled to be released in November.”

"So now they have no money to invest in new projects, and all the executives are waiting for the final gamble to see whether there will be an 'Apocalypse Now'-style miracle or a 'Cleopatra'-style farce."

Ronald understood Ovitz's metaphor. Coppola's "Apocalypse Now" also had a drawn-out shoot that ended up going over budget by three times. But the quality of the film is very good. It won the Palme d'Or at Cannes after its release and the box office in North America was also very good. It allowed Coppola to recover from the brink of bankruptcy and become the number one director in Hollywood again.

"Cleopatra" spent Fox's last coin that year, and the entire studio stopped paying employees for four months. If it weren't for the two leading actors off-screen, Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, The scandal made the audience curious and bought tickets to watch the movie where the two fell in love. Fox had already declared bankruptcy because of this movie.

"Of course the worst thing is the "Queen Kelly" tragedy." Ovitz felt that Ronald didn't know this old story from 1932, and explained:

"This 9-hour masterpiece directed by director Eric von Stroheim was finally shelved by the production company and not released. The queen of silent films, starring Gloria Swanson, was silent until Billy · Wilder asked her to star in the talkie "Sunset Boulevard" and she became known to the audience again."

"Eric von Stroheim is the butler in Sunset Boulevard, right? I've seen it. I didn't expect him to be the director." Ronald nodded, thinking, it would be best if United Artists just let Fat Boy do it. Go this way. The movies made by Cimino may seem boring, but if you ask him to cut off some parts to shorten the length, you really can't cut it with scissors. No matter what part is cut, the plot will be incomplete.

"Then why do we need to meet Orion? How is this company?" Ronald counted and found that in addition to the eight major studios, Ovitz also named Orion's name.

"In fact, Orion Pictures was founded by United Artists executives who were fired in 1977. They are also a company that respects artists very much and basically does not interfere in the creation of directors and actors. They only control the final film."

"I know Orion. My film Sunset Bridge was Orion's first movie." Diane Lane just jumped out of the room and saw Ovitz and Ronald chatting about the name of the company they knew. , so he interjected.

"Diane, have you finished talking to Jane? Do you live with her? Have you told Bert?" Ronald asked several questions in succession.

Diane Lane suddenly became very good-looking, "I will find a hotel to stay in by myself, and after a week in Los Angeles, I will return to New York to prepare to take the equivalency test and go to high school next year."

"This is good."

"I heard that you are going to meet with the studio. Ronald, do you have a new script that you would like to discuss cooperation with?"

Ronald stood up and introduced Ovitz and Diane Lane, "This is Mr. Ovitz. He is the president of CAA, the most powerful agency in Hollywood. This is Diane..."

"Of course I know Miss Diane Lane." Ovitz happily stood up and hugged Diane and said hello, "Miss Lane, do you have an agent now?"

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