Reborn America, this is my time

Chapter 247 Twenty-Five Boys!
"That's what happened. When we asked Gary to send the edited "Alien" to the Film Association for filing and classification, those people said that our film was filled with a lot of bloody and horrific scenes and wanted us to make changes according to their requirements. .”

"This situation is actually very common. Normally, we are willing to delete some scenes that the public thinks are inappropriate from the film. But the problem is, this time, the revision form they issued has no sincerity at all! These beasts A total of 75 modification points are listed! This is equivalent to requiring us to re-edit the movie! More importantly, if we make the modifications according to their requirements, the entire movie will become extremely fragmented! It will be impossible to watch at all !”

"So, we found it strange and went to the Film Association."

"To be honest, on the way there, I told George that we might be being targeted."

"After we went to the Film Association to communicate with them, we found out that things were even more outrageous."

"Because when we expressed how it was possible for a horror movie to delete all the horror elements, those guys firmly said that the horror elements in the movie "Alien" must be deleted!"

"Even if I took out my "Jaws" and said that the previous standards were not like this, people in the association still said that the current standards are like this!"

"Because "Alien" is already a well-known movie in the United States!"

"When the whole of America knows that "Alien" will be released together with "Starry Sky" this summer, for the healthy growth of children, we must edit "Alien" to be accessible to people of all ages. A G-rated movie!”

"MFxxk!"

"What kind of idiot theory is this?"

"I get angry when I think about this now!"

"Aren't these sons of bitches just provoking?"

"Not only that, those idiots also said that if we don't make changes according to their requirements, they will give the movie "Alien" an X rating! No one under 17 years old will be allowed to enter!"

"Not even if I! Steven Spielberg! And him! George Lucas! We are the producers of this movie! They will only accept revisions as a solution!"

"When I heard this, I was furious!"

"Who do these guys think they are? Do they think their power is inherent? Without us, would these sons of bitches have the power they have now?"

"If they dare to threaten us today, we can tell them to get out tomorrow!"

"So at that time, I went straight to the office of Jack Valenti, the president of the Film Association. I wanted Jack to get rid of these guys whose brains were caught in the door!"

"Then……"

"As George and I broke into Jack Valenti's office, we had some physical contact with those people, and perhaps because my fist sensed their shamelessness, it swung around on its own, giving Give those sons of bitches an intimate kiss!"

"Some tables, chairs and benches next to George also flew up, please ask them to sit down!"

"About a dozen people, right? We sent them all to the hospital!"

"The worst one can't get out of bed for a month!"

When Ethan took a chartered flight and arrived at George Lucas's home in Los Angeles, what he saw was Steven Spielberg with his hands wrapped in gauze and George Lucas with a cane.

And when he asked doubtful questions and wanted to know how the two of them ended up like this, Spielberg, who was still lying on the sofa sickly, immediately ejected and started giving advice and scolding Fang Qiu.

Excitement wrapped in saliva, resentment ignited anger, and in the bursts of roars, Ethan also got a rough idea of ​​what happened, and then he frowned.

Did the Film Association force them to modify horror films into popular films?Otherwise, it will be marked as dirty?

Isn’t this special code targeted?

When the scary aliens turn into Teletubbies, who will go to the cinema to watch movies?
When the guy that suddenly pops out of the human body is not an alien, but Macabaka...

hiss--

Oh grass!

This picture seems even scarier!

cough cough-

Although Spielberg said this very tactfully, saying that those in the Film Association looked down on him and Lucas, Ethan knew with his feet that this matter must have something to do with his enemies, and In other words, they did it!
"Warner? Steve Ross?"

"MGM? Kirk Kerkorian?"

"Disney? Ron Miller?"

Ethan announced the name of his enemy as if he were naming a dish, and then he cast a probing but affirmative look at Spielberg, "They did it, right?"

This question made Spielberg, who was still shaking his fists before, smile lightly and sit back on the sofa.

Lucas, who had not made a sound since Ethan arrived, used his crutches, as if to attract Ethan's attention, but more like a silent affirmation.

The silence between the two made Ethan snort and lean back on the sofa.

He casually put his feet on the coffee table. At this moment, his face was full of smiles.

In fact, on the way here, Ethan had already asked Gary Kurtz, the president of Destiny Pictures, who came to report the cause and outcome of the incident.

Although the guy's words were vague, only indicating that Spielberg and Lucas had a conflict with some staff members of the American Film Association, and he didn't know the specifics, but how could Ethan not guess the answer?

And when the words "Alien", Film Association, and Contradiction appear together, it only proves that his enemies have already taken action.Think about it for a moment, if Ethan were Warner, MGM, or Disney, when he discovered that his enemies were expanding their territory in his own territory, no matter how well-educated he was, he would take revenge crazily.

“So what’s going on in Hollywood right now?”

"Those three families have been formally united by me?"

"I haven't paid attention to the entertainment industry for a long time after I knocked Steve Ross out."

Ethan put his hands on his abdomen and asked in a calm tone.

This question made the two people beside him smile. After making eye contact, Lucas, who was already tied to Destiny Game, spoke, "Ethan, although the three of them did not issue a cooperation statement, all of us know , simply taking action by one company will not allow the Film Association to take a clear-cut stand."

"As for the situation of the three of them..."

"Under your attack, Warner suffered a net loss of more than 7000 million yuan last year. Their "Superman" did not meet box office expectations at all. It has only received more than 3000 million yuan at the box office after being released for two months. The electronic arcade is even worse. , according to our understanding, "Superman" has only sold more than [-] units so far."

"MGM's losses have also exceeded 5000 million. They officially canceled their acquisition of Columbia Pictures last month. Since their acquisition agreement included a termination fee, they need to compensate Columbia Pictures shareholders. Our 750 million US dollars is still in cash.”

"Disney's situation is not good either. After Roy Disney publicly stated that he had your support, many of Disney's external shareholders contacted Roy Disney and wanted to know the progress of the matter. This behavior will cause countless issues to arise at their shareholder meeting this year. Even if Ron Miller can suppress those voices with his staunch allies, this kind of thing is like a spring, right? He is suppressing it more and more now. The harder it is, the stronger the rebound will be."

"Oh, that means they want to eat me alive now?" Ethan asked with a smile.

However, although it was a question, he did not mean to wait for a response and continued: "This is really good news! Because the more miserable my opponent's life is, the happier I will be!"

The unabashed thoughts stunned the two people on the side for a moment, and then they smiled.

The two of them may feel that the current situation is very serious, but for Ethan...

Warner, MGM, Disney unite?
So what?

It's nothing more than a chicken and a dog!

If I can hit you once, I can hit you a second time!
"Okay, since you know that the deletion order for "Alien" was issued by those guys out of retaliation, why didn't you tell me directly? Instead, go to the Film Association to reason with them?"

Ethan was a little confused on this matter.

His words made Spielberg a little embarrassed. He rubbed his nose with his index finger, and Lucas said: "Oh Ethan, under normal circumstances, we do need to communicate with you, because Warner, MGM and Disney are all competing against each other." I came here because of you, but this matter is rather special, so we decided to do it ourselves."

"The current president of the Motion Picture Association, Jack Valenti, was promoted to the position by Universal Chairman Sidney Sheinberg. With him, Universal can influence everything in the Motion Picture Association."

"So we felt that even if Warner, MGM and Disney put pressure on the Motion Picture Association at the same time, with Steven here, it should be very simple to change the film's rating."

"But I didn't expect..."

At this point, Lucas stopped and looked at Spielberg.

The guy who felt the stare sighed and took over the conversation.

"But I didn't expect that Jack Valenti wouldn't meet me at all..."

It turns out that the trigger for Spielberg and Lucas' quarrel with the Motion Picture Association was not the hostility of the Motion Picture Association's staff, but the avoidance of President Jack Valenti.

When the two rushed into the office of the president of the Film Association, trying to get the other party to expel all the self-conscious idiots, what they saw was an empty room.

This fact made Spielberg smell something unusual.

Because before going to the Film Association, he had already called the Film Association.

He knew Jack Valenti was in the Association.

But after they left, Jack Valenti slipped away?
Then wouldn't he become a clown?
After the guys who followed him said that he, Spielberg, was actually the guy who felt so good about himself, Spielberg, who understood that he had been tricked, started to conflict with those people.

But that's normal, right?

When a person discovers that the guy who once looked down upon him is now crawling on his head to shit?

Anyone would be angry.

What's more important is that when those guys don't rely on their strength to get to the top, but on the strength of others, it's hard for Spielberg, who has two movies with a box office of over [-] million, to be able to endure it.

After the brothers explained all these nonsense, Ethan, who was leaning on the sofa, also frowned.

He understood what Lucas and Spielberg meant, and Ethan actually thought the same thing.

When "Alien" is distributed by Universal, Lucas and Fox are making "Star Wars" sequels, and Roy Disney can change the direction of the wind within the Disney Group, even if the Motion Picture Association is under pressure from Warner, MGM and Disney to threaten He, he can also solve problems easily.

But now, Universal can't put in the effort?
Then this matter...

It's a bit of a hassle.

"What's going on now?" Ethan asked in a deep voice, "What's going on with Jack Valenti?"

Spielberg didn't want to answer the question, and Lucas shrugged.

"What else could it be? Betrayal."

"But this is normal. He is not a loyal person to begin with."

"In other words, he is only loyal to money..."

Jack Valenti participated in World War II. After he was discharged from the army, he returned to his hometown of Houston, received a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Houston, and then went to Harvard to study for an MBA.

His first job was as an advertising planner, serving the old-school capitalist ConocoPhillips in Texas, who was once part of the old Rockefeller Standard Oil.

Due to Jack Valenti's good abilities, under the recommendation of ConocoPhillips, he met the then Senate Majority Leader, the future Mi Zhenzong, and officially entered the official career, and served as his counterpart during the reign of Mi Zhenzong. Press officer, and after Le Zhong's assassination, he witnessed Zhenzong's inauguration on Air Force One, and was also the other party's first special assistant.

On the surface, Jack Valenti has risen to the top in one step, but he has not forgotten who has the final say in this country. No matter how long he stays in Washington, he will only be a secretary, and at most he will become a Congressman on Capitol Hill in the future. And if he hangs out with capitalists, he will get even more.

So, when Universal invited him to come to the American Film Association to preside over the overall situation, he decisively resigned from his job in Washington and became the chairman of the American Film Association and the political spokesperson of the Hollywood giants.

After taking office, he worked diligently for the capitalists.

He came up with America's first movie rating rules so that the bosses behind them could better promote their movies to the public. As for some "missed fish" scenes in some movies?

This responsibility falls to the censors.

Later, when Philips and Sony produced video tapes, he went to Capitol Hill on behalf of the interests of Hollywood giants and asked lawmakers to restrict the sales of projectors by Philips and Sony. He said that the emergence of home video tapes would increase piracy and disrupt the film industry. Towards death.

But when his boss Universal and Philips reached a cooperation on optical disc players, he immediately changed his mind and said that the emergence of optical discs was the greatest progress in human entertainment.In short, it’s all about money.

He cheers for whoever gives him power.

Everyone in the circle knew that Jack Valenti was a retainer of Universal. When Spielberg, the prince of Universal, found out that the movie he produced was targeted by the association, his instinctive reaction was to find the other party to solve the problem. However, no one could Unexpectedly, one of his own dogs bit his owner.

This is what makes Spielberg the most angry.

He felt offended.

After Spielberg told Universal boss Sidney Sheinberg about the matter, the news he received made Universal even more furious, because under the acquisition of Warner boss Steve Ross, Jack Wallen Ti has completely turned to Warner, and the price paid by the other party...

It’s the letters of recommendation from prestigious schools that Jack Valenti’s children need;
It's the future job for Jack Valenti's children.

Warner boss Steve Ross promised that in the future, Jack Valenti's children will be directly hired to work at Warner Bros. in any position and on any project.

Not only that, because Steve Ross’s current wife is the daughter of an oil family, Steve Ross can also send Jack Valenti’s children into the oil industry.

In short, as long as Jack Valenti follows him, Steve Ross, he, Steve Ross, dares to ensure that his children will have enough food and clothing for life. Then, Jack Valenti, who has always been looking for money, accepted it.

"so……"

"Now he is from Warner Bros."

Having said this, Lucas also sighed and looked at Ethan.

"With Jack Valenti's betrayal, the current situation is very unfavorable for us."

"Because our biggest strength at Universal in the Motion Picture Association is Jack Valenti. Once we lose him, we will face the most severe attacks from our peers."

"Now, there are eight members of the entire motion picture association, namely Paramount, Fox, MGM, Disney, Columbia, Warner, us at Universal and a small company, Embassy Pictures."

"When we at Universal cannot influence the association, MGM, Disney, and Warner are powerful enough to fight against everything. Even if you bring in Paramount and Embassy Pictures, we will still fall behind in terms of votes."

"Because we dumped Colombia before."

"so--"

“We actually don’t know what to do with the movie ‘Alien’ now.”

"The reality before us is that this film simply would not have passed muster."

"Then--"

"Cannot be shown."

As Lucas finished speaking, Spielberg suddenly laughed at himself.

As a super star in Hollywood, a great director with two movies that have grossed over [-] million yuan, he can't even get his movies through censorship. This special code is simply ridiculous!
Especially when sitting next to him is George Lucas...

This thing is even more hilarious!

Of course, both Spielberg and Lucas understand that this is a struggle between capital, and it is not something that a small director can compete with, but... even if you are ranked first in filming, you have to be suppressed by capital?

So what’s the point of filming this scene?
"MFxxk!"

Thinking of this, Spielberg was furious and hammered the sofa.

With a muffled sound, Lucas also lowered his head.

The emotions of the two of them were actually completely captured by Ethan, but he did not speak out to comfort them. Firstly, he did not know how to comfort them, and secondly, he himself did not know how to solve this matter.

If in the past, Warner's method of stepping on people's top positions was a crooked way, and the binding of video games was to innovate, then now, this kind of censorship blockade is a conspiracy to stay together!

I won’t compare products with you!
I won’t compete with you for the market!
If I just use my industry leadership and rule-maker status, you won’t be able to send out projects!

This special code is the most disgusting!
'Codes! '

Cursing twice in his mind, Ethan turned his attention to the matter itself.

Now that Warner has made a move, he must take it.

As for the breaking point...

"So the power mechanism of the Film Association is one vote per person?"

Ethan wants to figure out how the Motion Picture Association works.

"In other words, how was the president of your film association born?"

The two understood what Ethan meant.

Lucas said: "Ethan, it is unrealistic to replace Jack Valenti, because the president of the Film Association is elected by the members themselves, that is, the film companies in the association."

"Voting to remove Jack Valenti is indeed the best way to step down, but our current number of votes is obviously not enough, and this position has no term limit. As long as the president keeps wanting to do it and the members do not vote to remove him, then there will be You can keep doing this until you die."

"..."

Ethan was speechless.

'Is this special number still an iron rice bowl? '

He scratched his head.

"Then - is there no check and balance?" Ethan asked again.

"Yes." Lucas nodded: "Actually, the Film Association and the film rating committee are not the same department. The Film Association will not directly interfere with the work of the rating committee, but..."

"Members of the rating committee are ordinary people."

"They will be some American parents, some children, some ordinary people in society."

"Although they are the first unit to censor films, they are easy to bribe."

"If they issue a rating that is not acceptable to the producer, then the producer can appeal to the Ratings Board's Appeals Committee, where it will be reviewed."

“And ‘Alien’ was knocked back in the first unit.”

"That means we can appeal?" Ethan understood.

At the same time, I also wondered, “Then why don’t we appeal?”

"Because the members of the appeals committee are the presidents of major film companies."

Spielberg tilted his head and said: "Since this organization was established by the film company itself, how could the film company hand over power to outsiders?"

"The so-called fairness, justice and openness are all for outsiders to see, okay?"

'have to……'

Ethan was really speechless now.

In order to ensure that the power of film review can be firmly grasped by the Hollywood giants, they did not give the association too much power from the beginning!In this case, once several groups play together, the isolated company will definitely suffer a fatal blow!
There is no solution to this kind of thing!

I can't even think of a solution for Lianqiu!

And when this fact appears...

Ethan just felt like he was beeping.

The movie is shot but can’t be released?
This special code...

And just as he was scratching his head, wondering if Spielberg's boss had any professional advice, Lucas' home phone suddenly rang.

Since the other two were too lazy to move, Ethan stood up and answered the phone.

then……

Only then did he realize that the guy on the other end of the phone was actually Evelin, and she was looking for him.

Not only that, the other party also brought new news.

"Vinton found out that the project teams attacking him now are roughly the same as those who raised questions two years ago, but the new ones seem to have problems."

"Those professors and scholars seem to have received funding from Rockwell."

"What did you say?" Ethan raised his voice!

"Which company?"

"Rockwell?"

He suspected that his ears had heard wrong!
But Evelin on the other end of the phone replied firmly: "Yes, it's Rockwell."

"so--"

"I'll be right back!" Ethan decided.

After hanging up the phone, I was about to say hello and go out, but I swallowed the words again.

"Steven, George, please come with me."

Ethan looked at the two salted fish on the sofa who had lost their dreams and said: "I have something that I have to go back to deal with. The level of this matter is not lower than "Alien", so you guys go back with me and discuss it with me. The resolution of the Alien incident.”

"Okay?"

Although it was a question, his tone left no room for doubt.

Spielberg and Lucas didn't hesitate. One jumped up and the other walked with a cane.

Although they still have a lot of work in Los Angeles, those things simply don't matter!

When a movie, no matter how good it is, cannot become capital...

How to become capital and shoot what they want to shoot, that is what they want to do most!
And now, in this confrontation, if Ethan wins, then the Hollywood giants will be doomed.

When they all use the nuclear weapon of industry rules, can Ethan still break through the siege?

what--

Then Warner and the others will have no way to block Ethan!
I've run out of tricks!

And they?
oh! ——

All brothers!

　Note: ① In reality, Jack Valenti has a daughter named Courtenay Valenti, who indeed entered Warner through Steve Ross. She was initially the president of Warner's development department and managed movies. With a limited budget, he made "Electronic Love Letter", "A Little Princess" and "The Iron Giant". Later he entered the creative department and developed the last four films of "Happy Feet", "Harry Potter", "The Great Gatsby" and "Crazy Maid". "Elles" and "The Intern".Warner really spent a lot of money to grab people from Universal, but luckily they had a good vision. ②The selection system for the president of the Motion Picture Association of America is a member recommendation system, and the final review is done. The review committee that ordinary people see is useless. The final power lies with the appeals committee composed of executives from each company.In 06, a movie called "Unrated Film" talked about this matter. The director also revealed how big companies obtained the distribution rights of small companies. If small companies want to build their own distribution systems, big companies will Directly increase the movie ratings of small companies and force them to hand over the movies to themselves.The Steve Ross routine written in the article was carried out this way in reality, and even Nephi was rejected by them in this way.

　　


(End of this chapter)