Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Rick, where is Ronald now?"

Ovitz immediately picked up the phone and called Ronald's main agent Rick Nicita. He wanted to confirm whether Ronald was in Washington, DC on the day of the President's inauguration.

"He's in New York...wait, let me check...well, he's almost on his way to Park City, Utah." Nicita checked Ronald's schedule and said to Ovitz.

"What is he doing there? Listen, I want to meet with him about the Oscar nomination. Tell me his next schedule, I want to meet with him as soon as possible."

"He went to the Sundance Film Festival organized by Robert Redford. You forgot that in addition to being a director, he is also an investor and producer of independent films." Nicita raised the corner of his mouth. Now his client has reached a position where Ovitz must coordinate his position before the Oscars.

"The movie he invested in, "Heathers," is a participating film. He will stay there for two days, then go to Palm Springs to attend another film festival...a Chinese-language film...and then go to Los Angeles. If you miss him..."

"Please help me make an appointment with Ronald. I can meet him in Palm Springs." Ovitz arranged to meet in Palm Springs, where there are many quiet places to meet and talk with Ronald without disturbing anyone.

"Okay, I'll confirm the specific time with him as soon as possible."

"It would be great if I could go to the East Coast earlier. I'm going to Washington DC and can talk to Ronald there." Ovitz pretended to be regretful. His busy schedule was well known to CAA people.

"DC? There is no flight there, and you have to drive from Virginia. It's not convenient for Ronald to go there from New York. It's better for you to meet in Palm Springs."

"So, tell my secretary when you have a specific time." Ovitz put down the phone. It seems that Ronald is very likely not to be in Washington DC on the day of the inauguration ceremony. He was still not at ease, so he called Mary, the secretary who had been with him the longest, "Ronald Lee is at the Sundance Film Festival, let our people interview him..."

On the other side, Niceta also hung up the phone and called Richard.

"Ovitz wants to meet with Ronald. Are you with him? Please ask him if he is free in Palm Springs?"

"He is meeting with Director Huang from China. He has no other business arrangements..." Richard looked at the schedule, "What is he going to talk about? Is there anything I want to say to Ronald?"

"To discuss the coordination of Oscar nominations, you can talk to Ronald according to our plan and see what he thinks. Um... Ovitz also mentioned Washington DC. I don't understand what it means. You can repeat it to Ronald... Maybe he has some arrangements that we don't know about."

...

"Ronald?" Richard found Ronald who was having a meal in the restaurant. He was eating and reading a thick paperback book. Diane tilted her head beside him and wanted to get closer to read the contents of the book.

"Richard, do you want to eat something with us? No? Then a cup of Mormon Starbucks... Waiter..." Ronald saw that it was his agent and pulled out a chair for him to sit down.

"Michael Ovitz wants to meet you. Can you take time to meet him when you get to Palm Springs?" Richard took a sip of this soda drink with diet coke and coffee extract. 70% of Utah is Mormon, and this religion actually prohibits coffee!

Therefore, young people who want to drink coffee (young people who can't drink coffee in America are really miserable) can only indulge in it by adding concentrated coffee liquid to coke in disguise.

"Okay, I just wanted to have a good chat with Director Huang, you help me arrange it." Ronald still had it in his hand.

"How is this book?" Richard completed the task and came to care about what Ronald read. Since the adaptation rights of several of his works were snatched away by others, he attaches great importance to collecting bestsellers and often reads them on the road.

"Horror..." Ronald closed it and handed it to Diane "Do you want to read it?". The cover of the book said that it was the new work of Nobel Prize winner Marquez, "Love in the Time of Cholera". Seeing that Diane was interested,

he handed the book over.

"Is this book terrible?" Richard asked innocently, looking at the big words "Nobel Prize winner" on the cover.

"I mean, it's too scary to adapt it into a movie. The main plot is about the sex scene between former lovers in their sixties. Who wants to watch such a movie?"

Diane heard it and quickly put down the book in her hand. She felt that since Ronald said so, he must be right.

"Okay, I'll call Rick (Nicita) back." Richard didn't bother Ronald anymore. He stood up and turned back, "Rick said Ovitz mentioned whether you went to DC. Maybe he wanted to convey some message to you..."

...

Robert Redford's Sundance Film Festival was named after the "Sundance Kid" he played in his famous work "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid". For some reason, Redford attaches great importance to this independent film festival.

He tried to do it himself. There were only twenty staff members in the entire film festival. Creators were all equal. No matter how famous they were, they sat together to discuss the pure art of filmmaking.

"Ronald, the film 'Heathers' that you brought this year is very unique. It's a never-before-seen youth film." Robert Redford was very satisfied with Ronald who came to the film festival in person. Such a small independent film festival needs such an influential person.

"Any hope of winning?" Ronald half-joked.

"This is a matter for the judges to decide, but this year there is also a "Sex·Lies·Video" that also received good reviews from the judges. "Redford told the truth to avoid giving Ronald incorrect expectations and being unhappy if he didn't get it.

"Is it Harvey Weinstein's new movie? I heard him say he was filming it when I went to Cannes last time."

"Yes, it's that one, and it's a very unique movie. It's completely different from the type of movies that Hollywood likes to make the most."

Ronald rubbed his nose. This means that the movies I make are all genre movies. If you don’t make money by making genre films, how can you have the money to invest in such films?

While the two were talking, a reckless man with a thick neck rushed over and said hello to Ronald.

"Hi, Ronald, it's great to see you here. Do you have any new films to send to Cannes this year? No? What a shame. We should vigorously promote Hollywood films in Cannes. It's not just the Chinese who can do that. Make a special movie."

"Yeah...yeah..." Ronald said perfunctorily. He recognized the man as Miramax's Harvey Weinstein. This guy doesn't have much money, but he makes a lot of noise. This movie is probably about him risking his fortune, so I am very nervous whether Ronald will compete with him for awards at the film festival.

He was delighted to hear that Ronald had no films sent to Cannes this year. He quickly invited Ronald and Redford to attend the independent producer salon organized by him.

This year, it's not just producers from all walks of life who haven't secured investment from major studios who are gathering in Park City. Even the author Ronald was reading, García Márquez, was in Park City for the film festival.

…

"No, I will not put it on the screen. Not even in Hollywood. No one should think about it until I die."

Harvey Weinstein respected Marquez very much and wanted to get the rights to adapt the other man's masterpiece "One Hundred Years of Solitude". But unexpectedly, Marquez vetoed it without saying a word.

"But, seven of your films have been adapted into movies?" Harvey wondered, was he not sincere enough? "This is director Ronald. He also likes movie adaptations of famous works. People in our circle know that he is searching everywhere. I think if you are willing to adapt, Ronald will be very interested... Is it right?"

"I think we should respect the author's opinion..." Ronald ignored this. Marquez was too pretentious. Why not adapt it? Isn’t there already seven of them?

"It's so difficult to meet a straightforward person like you in Hollywood..." Unexpectedly, Marquez was very fond of Ronald's answer, "People here said when they saw me, I wanted to adapt One Hundred Years of Solitude , I don’t know what they have the ability to adapt this movie well, is it possible for people who have no feelings for America to make it?

This movie is not good..."

"Yeah, if you don't have feelings for Latin America, who would make a movie like this where it's obvious that you're going to lose money?" Ronald smiled but said nothing. This Colombian writer's masterpiece is very difficult to adapt. The plot may be interesting, but when it is made into a movie, the audience will definitely not buy it. Just the same names made all the audience faint.

“What about ‘Love in the Time of Cholera’? ” Harvey still refused to give up and asked about Marquez’s second most famous film.

"Pfft..." Diane heard the name of this book and remembered Ronald's comments about the sixty-year-old couple's sex scene, and couldn't help laughing.

"Hey... I saw the banner opposite, a poster of John Cassavetes. I remember he often came to my house to play when I was a kid." Diane knew she had made a mistake and quickly made up an excuse. At Sundance this year, there was a tribute review of the films of New York filmmaker John Cassavetes.

Diane's father, Bert, was John Cassavetes' partner at the time, and he also held Diane as a baby. The two were best friends when they broke into the New York independent film industry, and they also opened an acting training company together.

"It turns out it's a retrospective of Cassavetes. Excuse me. I want to accompany Diane to remember my old friend. Cassavetes is also my idol in making movies." Ronald took advantage of the situation and stood up, holding Diane's lower back. , the two of them walked to the screening room, where one of John Cassavetes' masterpieces, "Gloria", was about to be screened.

"No wonder Ronald understands the hearts of us Americans so well. John Cassavetes used our American methods to make movies. He worked as an actor for a while, saved some money, and continued to make movies. We Americans are all like this. What matters is art, not box office..."

Marquez was still praising Ronald endlessly, which made Harvey Weinstein uncomfortable. After all, he had been flattering him for so long, but he could not win as much respect as Ronald's nonchalant attitude.

"The movie was shot in our apartment at the time..." Diane said to Ronald.

"Then let's go take a look..." Ronald looked at the plot on the poster. A gangster accountant was visited by gangsters seeking revenge. They asked his son to take shelter in the house of Glory, a female killer in the neighborhood. In the end, the female killer The two of them broke through the siege and became best friends. Glory killed all the gang killers and depended on each other with her child from now on.

"Director Ronald? I am a reporter from "Star Weekly". Can I interview you here? "A reporter came over to interview Ronald while Diane was going to buy tickets.

"Huh? When did I become an object of interest to you readers?" Ronald knew that Star Weekly was a tabloid and always reported on celebrity scandals.

"Our audience loved your Dirty Dancing. In last month's vote, it ranked first as the audience's favorite video."

"Okay, I'm here to watch the movie. The interview shouldn't be too long." Ronald had no objection to the media that ranked movies based on box office.

"Okay, director Ronald, are you satisfied with Working Girl's current box office performance? Are you confident about getting an Oscar nomination?"

"I am very satisfied. Our guests in every place are all successful secretaries, so the audience is very satisfied... As for the Oscars, I am confident that my film will be liked by them, but I respect the votes of the judges. As a result, whether I was nominated or not..."

"Okay, let me ask Director Ronald, what works by other directors do you like?"

"I like the films of Lucas, Spielberg, and Scorsese. As for previous directors, I prefer John Ford and Frank Capra."

"It's a personal question, right? Who do you support in the leadership vote, Ronald? Which is your favorite NFL football team?"

"I voted. I hope our country will elect a leader who can lead the people to move forward." Ronald dealt with this kind of problem easily. "As for which team I like, when I was a kid, I played for the San Francisco 49ers. Fans, now support their hometown Giants.”

"Did you go to Washington to attend the inauguration ceremony of the new commander-in-chief? Will you support the Super Bowl that is about to start?

Which team do you support? Will you go to the site to support? ” The reporter’s eyes flashed with curiosity.

"Like everyone else, I watched the inauguration ceremony on TV..." Ronald smiled awkwardly. "As for the Super Bowl, I might still watch it at home. The two teams I support are forced to recruit due to strikes. We were eliminated from the playoffs very early because we were playing as temporary players. I am dissatisfied with this kind of strike that ignores the audience..."

Ronald said jokingly, thinking that your questions were really broad, and then stopped the reporter from continuing the interview with a gesture, "That's it, my movie is about to start."

"Thank you, Ronald. Thank you for accepting our interview." When the reporter got the answer he wanted, he hurried to the hotel, "Hey, where is the fax machine? I have an important document to fax to Los Angeles. ...Hmm , CAA Building, owned by Mr. Michael Ovitz..."

…

After staying in Park City for two days, "Sid Sisters" received unprecedented praise from the audience. But critics didn't like the movie very much. They generally believe that the bright ending that Ronald asked the director to modify destroyed the overall artistic conception of the film. It would be better to follow the original work, be cruel to the end, and let the heroine be killed by a bomb.

Ronald shrugged off such layman talk. With the original ending like this, can the MPAA give it an R rating? Can it be released in America? Originally a movie that reflects the cruel youth life, it must have some bright ending. Otherwise, if the teenagers who go to the movie are completely disappointed, how can they recommend it to their friends?

Diane did not return to Los Angeles with him. She brought various posters from the film festival paying tribute to Cassavetes who unfortunately passed away, as well as videotapes of his films at the retrospective, and wanted to go home to be with her father, Bert. Diane hopes to bring back the respect of his father's old friend from the audience and industry insiders, and to share rare warm moments with his father in adulthood.

Ronald's business jet took Diane back to New York, and he took a commercial flight directly to Palm Springs International Airport.

In Palm Springs in winter, the plane is full of wealthy people from all over the world who are vacationing. There are ski resorts and hot springs here...but starting this year, Palm Springs' specialties include singer Mayor Sonny Bono and the newly opened Palm Springs International Film Festival.

"Director Huang!"

"Director Luo!"

At the airport, Ronald happened to meet Director Huang, whom Xu Jiahui knew. This time she was also invited by Daydream to bring her old film "Man, Ghost, Love" from two years ago to participate in the screening of the first "Palm Springs International Film Festival".

"Call Ronaldinho... hahaha", Ronald happily asked Director Huang to get in the car, and the group went to a high-end hot spring hotel in Palm Springs. It was all arranged by Daydream Pictures.

Last year, "Human, Ghost, Love" also participated in the Rio de Janeiro International Film Festival and won the best film. The so-called export to domestic sales was actually re-released in Chinese theaters. At last year's Golden Rooster Awards, Director Huang himself won the Best Screenplay, and supporting actor Li Baotian also won the Best Supporting Actor.

"It's been a long time since I saw you, but you're still in such good spirits!" After checking in and chatting in the hotel lounge, Director Huang looked at Ronald and Helen Slater, who came here specially to get together, and showed an enigmatic smile.

"Does Director Huang have any new projects? Last time I went to Cannes, I met Director Kaige from your capital."

"Hey, I can't compare with them. Our Xujiahui Film Factory's production capacity has been reduced a lot. As a result, when I come to America this time, I have to bring old films with me, and I don't want to." Director Huang sighed.

Ronald asked quickly. It turns out that in the past two years, China's film market has been severely impacted by pirated video halls from various places. A large number of Hollywood copies flowed into the mainland through Xiangjiang. The movie's box office losses were serious.

Many young talents in film studios also imitated Hollywood's Corman-style films and made many exploitation films. Instead of selling them to the head office, they used the distribution channel of pirated Hollywood tapes and sold the original videos they shot themselves to the video halls.

Therefore, on the big screen in cinemas, the quality of production in the past two years has dropped significantly compared with previous years.

Director Huang also has this kind of trouble. No matter how good the actors and behind-the-scenes skills are as before,

It has become very difficult for technicians to make the movies they want to make. A large number of actresses go abroad, and only a top star like Director Xie can make one or two good movies.

"I admire Director Huang's talent and talent very much. If you don't have the opportunity in Xujiahui, you might as well come to Hollywood and I will invest in your movie." Ronald cherished Director Huang's talent. If such a talent does not have a movie Shooting is a waste of prime creative time.

"Me? I don't understand English. I'm afraid I won't be able to cooperate with your technology here?" Director Huang's eyes were full of eagerness to try, but she spoke out the objective difficulties first.

"It doesn't matter. I have a big production now worth more than 10 million, which is being made by a director from Xiangjiang. Movies are an international language. You can do it too, Director Huang. I asked Xiao Yan to be your assistant. He is now He speaks English very well."

Ronald said nonchalantly, "You can also consider whether to make a Sino-US joint venture movie, with Chinese characters and American characters. If the project is approved now, it can be released in both places next summer."

"Hahaha..." Of course Director Huang knew that things were not that simple. The matter of co-producing a movie has to be reported to the boss. But with Ronald's help, he really should consider writing a Chinese-American script.

"Is this Director Huang very good?" Seeing how much Ronald valued him, Helen felt curious.

"You will know after watching her "Human, Ghost, Love". In my opinion, many so-called female film masters, psychological film masters, or directors with strong personal styles in Hollywood are not as good as her..."

Helen didn't believe it, but since Ronald admired it so much, she followed him to the film festival screening.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu" Helen Slater watched the movie with the subtitles. She didn't know how much of the content she understood, but just like that, the movie made her cry.

"The protagonist Qiu Yun seems to be the portrayal of our actress." Helen held Ronald's arm. This movie was shot in a very rare way. The protagonist Qiu Yun cannot be divided between career and love. She can only be with herself. As the protagonist, a ghost who catches ghosts, Zhong Kui is able to communicate her inner anguish. In fact, it is a mutual communication between her and her own subconscious.

In the end, Zhong Kui sang Qiu Yun's best song "Zhong Kui marries his sister" and wanted to marry himself off. Being able to film a character's inner activities and make them understandable is a very extraordinary way of expression.

"Yeah, I don't know how this scene of dialogue with my inner subconscious was filmed?" Ronald watched carefully this time and discovered something extraordinary. The black background behind Zhong Kui has no reflection at all. The audience can easily understand that this is an illusory image, even though they know little about Peking Opera facial makeup.

"Hua Hua Hua..." Many of the audience at the scene were professional women on vacation. They all found it very exciting to see such a movie. If they watched this movie, they would have a lot of feelings.

"How did you shoot Zhong Kui who was completely black with no reflection at all?" Ronald waited for Director Huang to finish being interviewed by the media, and then he anxiously went up to ask about the technical details.

"I had the entire studio covered with black velvet. As soon as my production director used cheap velvet, I refused to shoot. It took three days before he agreed to change it."

"Such a good technique, this little money is nothing." Ronald understood the value of such a small technique. Ordinary velvet will have a weak reflection, and this expression of dialogue with the inner subconscious will be destroyed. Director Huang is right to be so persistent, all the money is spent on the screen.

"When you bring the script, I will definitely give you enough budget. You can shoot whatever you want..." Ronald confirmed the booking of the new film with Director Huang again.

"I'll write a script when I get back..."

"Director Huang, can you tell me more stories about Peking Opera?" Helen liked the movie "Humans, Ghosts, and Love" very much, and kept holding Director Huang, wanting to hear more stories about her making movies.

Ronald left the interpreter to Helen, who seemed to have a keen interest in many things happening across the Pacific.

"Mr. Ovitz..." Ronald himself returned to the hotel and met with Ovitz, the boss of CAA, at the agreed time.

.

"Call me Michael, Ronald, hahaha..." Ovitz looked loyal and honest. Anyone who is not familiar with him will think that he is a very honest agent who has achieved his current status by relying on the credibility he has established with clients and studios over a long period of time.

"Rick said you want to coordinate with me on the Oscar nomination public relations?" Ronald was familiar with this person and would not be deceived by his appearance. He mentioned the substantive content immediately.

"Yes, now the Oscar nominations have reached the most critical moment. I don't want people within CAA to invest resources in killing each other... Therefore, I will have an interview with all important clients who are interested in competing for this year's Oscars."

Ovitz explained his thoughts about projects promoted by CAA and projects filmed by stars and directors signed by CAA. For these awards, it is best for everyone to have an understanding of each other's ambitions. Otherwise, resources will be allocated against one another. The gain outweighs the loss.

The awards that are more important to CAA's clients are the so-called five major ones, Best Actor and Actress, Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Picture. Ovitz understood Ronald's thoughts. Last year's nomination was a stepping stone, and this year the young director had more expectations for the Best Director.

As for other awards, the nominations for Best Screenplay are divided into two categories: original and adapted, and the competition is not fierce. "Working Girls" will not have a problem winning it. For the acting awards, Working Girls mainly competes for the nominations for Actress and Supporting Actress, which is just separated from CAA's highlight this year, "Rain Man".

Ronald was also satisfied with this arrangement. Harrison Ford's role as a male vase had a small chance of being nominated. And the heroine of Rain Man didn't have an important role, which was a win-win situation for everyone.

After talking about these, Ovitz was going back to Los Angeles. He finally confirmed with Ronald his intention to compete for the nomination, "By the way, I heard that you are going to make a big effort at the Golden Globe Awards?"

Ovitz asked before leaving.

"Yes, for the box office..." Ronald had nothing to hide about this, the Golden Globe Award was bought anyway.

"Be careful, the Golden Globe Award is easy to get, but it may come with some gifts you don't want..." Ovitz winked, shook hands with Ronald and left.

"What gifts I don't want..." Ronald felt that Ovitz always liked to keep things secret, and it was annoying not to say something clearly.

...

"Should we slow down the PR for the nomination?" Michael Gray, a public relations consultant who also came to Palm Springs, came to discuss with Ronald. After listening to Ovitz's ideas, he asked whether it was necessary to make adjustments according to Ovitz's agreement.

"What do you think?" Ronald asked him in return.

"Just do it. I don't believe he can keep his promise. Besides, what he said was not a real promise, but a statement of principle. The nominations for the acting and directing awards were voted by the union, and we did not exceed the normal scope of Oscar public relations."

"I'll do it as you say. However, we should not be too obvious in the three awards of Actress, Supporting Actress and Director." Ronald instructed.

[An app that has been running stably for many years, comparable to the old version of the book-chasing artifact, used by old bookworms

I really appreciate the movie. "

"Hmm..." Ronald understood that many of these film festival awards are for the box office. With awards, you can sell at a higher price, attract more mainstream distributors, directors and leading actors, and may also receive invitations from production companies with larger budgets-such as Robert Redford's Sundance Productions.

I hope that the next Golden Globe Awards can also give the same blessing to "Working Girl", so that more audiences can go to the cinema and enjoy the performance of the Golden Globe winner.

If you're luckier and get an Oscar nomination or even win the award, there will be more possibilities. It's not unprecedented for a film to be released in mainstream theaters a second time after the awards are announced.