Exploiting Hollywood 1980

“Uh…”

Ronald was unhappy. The first award had made “Working Girl” lose both nominations. But he had to pretend to applaud as if nothing had happened. There was no host for this year’s awards ceremony. He didn’t know if the camera would pan over for the sake of connection. If he was photographed with a bitter face, it would make history.

"

It's strange that there is no host for the awards ceremony. The presenters are not allowed to introduce themselves. This is not in accordance with etiquette. Especially for the Best Sound Design and Best Sound Editing awards, the most famous Hollywood male star still alive, Jimmy Stewart, and Kim Novak, who starred with him in "Vertigo".

So, in order to introduce the two presenters, Jane Fonda, who has a high seat, has to be invited.

"Her skirt is beautiful, I want to wear it in the future..." Diane whispered in Ronald's ear when she saw Jane Fonda's conservative and sexy dress. There are no buttons in the middle of the golden top, and the bottom is a black mesh skirt. A contradictory feeling makes men admire and women jealous.

Ronald turned his head to look at Diane, and the Hollywood rumor Jane Fonda is separated from her husband and is now dating an Italian football player in Los Angeles who plays for the Hollywood Kickers. Why do you want to wear this kind of clothes?

"I'm wearing it for you alone..." Diane saw what Ronald was thinking and whispered in his ear.

An itchy feeling came over Ronald, and he felt that his whole body was in high spirits, and he quickly increased the intensity of his applause... Wow, wow, wow.

Two respected guests presented two small awards. Then it was the turn of the best makeup.

TriStar Pictures unexpectedly did not release "The Return of the Bitch" and spent a huge amount of money to let the male and female protagonists Robert Downey Jr. and Sybil Shepherd be the award presenters.

Ronald didn't care about this small award for which he was not nominated. He turned his head around and found a man sitting in a very Dane Steele, the female president of TriStar Pictures, greeted her from behind.

Columbia and TriStar Pictures, which Dane Steele was in charge of, almost stopped operating this year. Apart from the distribution of several films of Ronald, who had to be entertained by her, she had almost no more projects to be responsible for.

So, she didn't have any good seats this time. Seeing the goodwill from Ronald, Dane Steele nodded to him happily and raised her hands to applaud, indicating that she felt his greetings.

Because there was no host, even the song and dance performance in the middle was announced by the voice-over. An actress dressed as a classic cartoon character went on stage to sing and gave a speech about returning to the Oscars.

"Oh my God..." Ronald felt that his toes were about to fall to the ground in embarrassment A hole was dug. He had to look around to hide his embarrassment. There were many senior executives from the studio sitting around him. Except for the smiling face of Disney President Eisner, everyone else had angry faces... What is this? The limelight has been given to you, the Disney cartoon character?

"Hehehe..." Ronald heard a strange laugh coming from the stage. The actress seemed very nervous, her voice trembled, and she broke her voice in many places. Moreover, the real person wearing Snow White's outfit, plus the cartoon makeup, was not cute at all, but a little scary.

"Uh..." Diane, who was leaning on Ronald, also had goose bumps all over her body. Such a performance was simply a disaster.

"Snow White, are you very touched and excited? It will get better and better soon. Come and meet your blind date - Rob Lowe! "

"Uh, it's going to get worse...", Ronald covered his face. The producer of this award show, Allen Carr, is like living in forty years ago. It's scary enough to bring out a real-life Snow White, and they also brought in Rob Lowe, a former playboy from the "Hollywood Boys", to date her.

Since Emilio Estevez's illegitimate child scandal, the Boys have become a historical term. Rob Lowe hasn't seen any influential works since then, and has been left far behind by Tom Cruise, who debuted with him.

Ronald looked at Eisner of Disney again, and now even he was embarrassed. Snow White is an important image of Disney, how could she be put together with Rob Lowe, a playboy with a chaotic relationship between men and women?

It was hard to get through this awkward ten-minute performance, and everyone applauded happily. It was finally over.

"Hey, make way..." A small male star with a proud face walked past Ronald who was sitting on the side of the aisle and rudely pushed him away, "I'm going to go up to present the award..."

Ronald was offended, but he didn't show it, just squeezed to the side. Because he saw an acquaintance behind him, who was gesturing to Ronald and apologizing for the young man's behavior.

It was Canadian actor Donald Sutherland, who came to apologize for his son Kiefer.

"Ronald... Sorry, we have to rush over..."

"It's okay, good luck to you"

Next, the Australian singer and movie star, Olivia Newton-John, who hadn't been seen for a long time, came on stage to introduce the guest of the next award.

Ronald understood, no wonder the Sutherland father and son were the award presenters. This award is an honorary award, given to the Canadian Film Association, which is the most friendly in Hollywood and celebrates its 50th anniversary.

The two Canadian father and son actors are the most suitable candidates to present the awards. Donald Sutherland is a boss actor, and his son Kiefer is a rising star. They just replaced the group of members of the Boyz Gang that just danced awkwardly with Rob Lowe, and are now the hottest young male stars in Hollywood.

After the two finished presenting the awards, Ronald looked at Billy Crystal who came on stage. This guy was invited by the organizing committee to be the host to introduce the award presenters.

He introduced two tap dance masters in Hollywood, Sammy Davis Jr. and Gregory Hines. Both of them are black and are members of the Rat Gang, the predecessor of the Boyz Gang. To be honest, their demeanor is much better than that of the Boyz Gang. After all, they are real actors with skills.

"The winner of the Oscar for Best Original Song is... Carly Simon, Working Girl!"

With the announcement of Sammy Davis Jr., Carly Simon jumped up from her chair.

She really didn't expect that she could win an award today. Although Ronald liked the song "Let a River Flow" from the episode of "Working Girl" very much and used it as the first theme song of the movie, the record company was not very interested in it and refused to put the song in Carly Simon's new album.

"Ah, hahaha..." Carly Simon laughed three times holding the little golden man, and let you look down on the song I wrote and composed myself.

"First of all, I want to thank Ronald, he is the guardian angel of everyone in the crew!"

"Finally, there is an award winner who can talk..." Ronald felt very good. Last time at the Oscars, Cher won the Best Actress Award, and even thanked her hairstylist, but didn't thank herself. This time, Carly Simon is a frequent visitor to the Grammys, and she is no problem with such a big scene. Artists from New York can handle such a big scene.

"...Finally, I want to thank my children. If you are watching TV, your mother is feeling very proud now!"

Ronald stood up and applauded happily. Such award winners add points to the movie. He looked at the crew of Mississippi Burning and the crew of Rain Man. He was the first to open the film in the Price crew... maybe it was a good sign.

However, the good sign soon disappeared. After a few small awards, Bruce Willis and Demi Moore came on stage to present the Best Cinematography.

They also made a little joke. Demi Moore said that in order to recognize the best photography, they would play a video of the worst photography, and Bruce added that the photographer was himself.

It turned out that they put the home video of Demi feeding her daughter Rumer at the Oscars. Bruce Willis's photography skills are really poor. Not to mention the problems of blurry focus and wrong scene, half of the dozens of seconds of video he shot was only the back of Demi's head...

The Best Cinematography was awarded to Peter Bazo, the photographer of "Mississippi Burning", a British man. This man is bald and has a small mustache. The film images he shoots are very bold. In addition to this award-winning film, he is also the director of photography for "Love You 9 1/2 Weeks" shot by Adrian Ryan.

But he was very shy in person. He took the little golden statue from Demi and whispered "Thank you everyone" before shyly going down.

Ronald found it funny and applauded to congratulate him. But he soon felt the eyes from the other end. Director Alan Parker and actor Gene Hackman both cast malicious eyes.

Ronald understood what they meant, and now it was one to one.

The next award was for Best Actor. This year's Oscars broke many traditions, including the old tradition that the Best Actor of the previous year presented the Best Actress award, and the Best Actress of the previous year presented the Best Actor award. The one who presented the Best Actor award was the Best Actor of the previous year, Michael Douglas.

Ronald was surprised at first, thinking that the Best Actress award was presented in advance.

There are five candidates for Best Actor this year. In addition to Gene Hackman, the hot candidates are Dustin Hoffman of "Rain Man" and Tom Hanks of "Grown Up".

Diane certainly hoped that Hanks, who played opposite her, would win the award. She was as nervous as if she had been nominated, and she hugged Ronald's arm tightly.

Ronald was also guessing that several of the favorites this year were classic Hollywood images. Tom Hanks played a child, Dustin Hoffman played a fool, and Gene Hackman played a good man, the three roles that were most likely to win the Best Actor award.

"The winner is: Dustin Hoffman, Rain Man."

"Huh..." Ronald was actually relieved. He would rather let the Rain Man crew win the award than Gene Hackman, the old stubborn one.

The whole audience stood up and applauded him. This year's Best Actor competition was fierce. In addition to the three of them, von Sydow was a veteran actor, needless to say. Another Edward James Olmos played a responsible public school teacher in "Teaching by Example". He was very impressive and taught very bad students to become the top class in the county in SAP exams and pre-requisite courses.

Dustin Hoffman was very polite and hugged all the nominees. After he got on stage, he thanked them one by one.

"I thank the Academy for their support, Tom Hanks, my good friend Gene Hackman... I thank them for not voting for me... I didn't vote for them either..."

When Ronald heard this cold joke, he turned his head and glanced at Gene Hackman. The old man's face was ashen. Back then, he and Dustin Hoffman were both young actors in New York, and Hoffman even lived with Robert Duvall at his house. The three of them were close buddies back then, but today they are fighting over who can become Spencer Quartet. The fifth double actor after Cy, Gary Cooper, Marlon Brando and others.

"I also want to thank my agent, Michael Ovitz..."

"Huh?" Ronald suddenly looked back and stared at Hoffman's lips on the stage.

"I want to thank Ovitz for being the glue that got me back on my feet when the movie hit a wall."

"Did I hear wrongly?" Ronald looked at Diane beside him.

Diane shook her head and heard correctly. What Hoffman really thanked was his agent Michael Ovitz.

This time, not only Ronald, but also Gene Hackman over there looked shocked. He also looked over unexpectedly, and happened to make eye contact with Ronald.

The two's eyes quickly separated and found another popular actor candidate, Tom Hanks. Hanks' eyes were different from the other two's, he was shocked and a little envious.

"Huh..." Ronald let out a sigh of relief. This is breaking the rules!

Since the 1920s, when agents became an important profession in Hollywood, there has been an unwritten rule that agents can only be behind the scenes and not in front of the scenes.

At that time, trade unions in various types of work were also in their infancy, and they were fiercely attacking each other. It is common for people to expose each other in newspapers, fight each other in real life, and even hire gunmen to beat each other up. One advantage of this high-intensity game is that it quickly fixes the boundaries of various professions.

As an agent, you can secure roles for your clients. You can also secretly put pressure on the producer, and even deceive or oppress your actor clients, but you can never show your face and manipulate a project as a producer.

In other words, you must not do this openly.

Michael Ovitz's CAA has had the idea of ​​packaging projects from the beginning, starting with screenwriters and directors, and has led blockbuster projects one after another, but you can never brag in the newspaper that you led the project.

Nor can you prepare projects in the name of the producer at the Producers Guild. This is the bottom line stipulated by law and the boundary between various trade unions for decades.

Today, Dustin Hoffman thanked Ovitz so emphatically, which is equivalent to putting him in the same place as director Barry Levinson. The titular producer is Peter Guber, as well as production company United Artists, and distribution company MGM.

Moreover, Dustin Hoffman's unspoken intention also showed that not only was this project led by Ovitz, but also that he won the award today and won the Best Actor statuette, becoming the fifth double Best Actor. It was also Ovitz's operation. the result of.

"Isn't it fair to treat my working girls equally?" Ronald's anger rose. He was looking for Ovitz everywhere. These agents are very good at hiding themselves and hiding from the camera. Lens, try not to let yourself appear in the image.

"Over there..." Richard from behind whispered in Ronald's ear, and then pointed to the back row of the "Rain Man" crew. Just behind Dustin's seat, Ovitz happened to be there.

He covered his face with his hands and hunched over to hide from the camera panning over. He must have discovered something wrong.

The TV station's camera failed to catch him, so it had to pan back and focus on Glenn Gross, the most popular actress, and where Hoffman's wife and family were.

Ronald's eyes did not move away, staring at Ovitz.

Ovitz just straightened up and wanted to relax his muscles, and he met Ronald at a glance. Seeing Ronald's gaze, his heart skipped a beat. Hoffman might have good intentions, but he broke the rules. How should he explain to Ronald now?

There was no other way, so Ovitz had no choice but to turn his head away. He hadn't thought of his words yet, and he couldn't look at Ronald for too long now.

"Huh?" Unexpectedly, what came over there was an even more angry and questioning look, coming from Gene Hackman. He and Hoffman were both one-time Best Actor winners, and they were old friends. This time Ovitz actually helped the client to do such a big public relations in the Hollywood Academy, helping Dustin Hoffman transcend I am simply...

"I don't, I'm not..." Ovitz mouthed a few words in vain. Now there's trouble.

Gene Hackman and Allen Parker are also clients of his CAA, and Hackman and Parker were signed by him personally, but he is not the usual manager.

Maybe this time there will be conflicts within CAA, and I can only suppress it with my own strong hand.

Ovitz had made up his mind and turned back to Ronald. He also did a lot of public relations for Best Director. It doesn't matter that Hackman is an actor, but as a director, Ronald will have a huge impact on CAA's business, so he has to find a way to appease him.

"Why is it that Hoffman suddenly attacked me like this? I usually don't even take photos. When major media take photos of me, they will take the initiative to ask to delete them. Isn't this putting me on the fire?"

Michael Ovitz was a little annoyed, but he did not specifically tell himself not to thank himself. He could only applaud slowly.

He felt another pair of eyes looking at him, and when he looked back, it was Tom Hanks. Ovitz gave him the friendliest smile.

Not bad, not bad, it's OK that Gene Hackman doesn't like him, he can't play a star. Hanks obviously has a brighter future than him, and this guy is not a CAA client yet, and showing his strong strength today will also have a good side.

As for Ronald? Ovitz looked over again, and Ronald just gave him a back of his head, and Richard from his own company was explaining something to Ronald.

"Hehe, with such dedicated employees, I am not afraid of anything. The system of multiple agents designed back then works well, and there will be loyal employees to fill the loopholes at this time. As long as I can show my eloquent debate skills and point out a few projects that are expected to win the Best Director Award to Ronald, everything will be under control..."

"I'm sorry, Nicita and I only found out about Ovitz's cards today. He usually does these things without telling us. I will protest to him tomorrow with Rick. If he doesn't give an explanation, we will threaten to resign and start our own business.

We know very well who is our breadwinner..."

Although Richard was also shocked by what happened today, it was obvious that he and Nicita had considered which side they would stand on if Ronald's interests were inconsistent with CAA.

"Richard, don't talk nonsense. Look at Diane's partner, Mr. Tom Hanks... Look at his expression."

Ronald didn't want to show his anger, but pointed to Tom Hanks to Richard. Hanks didn't know that CAA was already in internal strife. He looked envious and hoped to have a chance to talk to Ovitz of CAA to see if he could join CAA.

Every Hollywood actor wants to win an Oscar for Best Actor.