Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"I hope you can bring more films about women. After all, no one in this industry can make films like yours that center on female characters..."

Dane Steele, the president of Columbia and TriStar Pictures, was in the office trying to flatter Ronald in a subtle way.

The more legendary the story of Jodie Foster single-handedly winning the Best Actress title in "Pear Blossom" becomes, the worse her situation becomes. After all, losing the company's money to help an actress build the pinnacle of her career is a joke in the producer circle.

Not only did the TV stations refuse to buy the rights to broadcast the film's many controversial scenes and plots, but it was also languished in overseas markets and the video tape market. Europeans don't understand why flirting in a pool bar can lead to rape, while Asians don't understand why such "bad girls" who actively seduce men have lawyers to defend themselves.

"I didn't have any intention of making a film about women. It's just that the film that I think will be a hit has a woman as the central character..."

Ronald felt that this idea-first approach was ridiculous. Daydream really needed to cooperate with more studios and use their distribution channels, but using this idea to select films would definitely be useless.

"You are too modest. There are very few directors in Hollywood who don't treat actresses as vases and decorations, and in your Working Girl, Harrison Ford became..."

Ronald smiled and stopped the other party from continuing. It would be bad for such words to reach the ears of the person involved, so he changed the topic, "I wonder what women's movies are like in your eyes?"

"My standards are very simple, female protagonists, female directors, or female screenwriters..." Dane Steele is very straightforward. This is how she hopes to change the status quo of the male power center in Hollywood.

"That's easy to handle. We are also short of scripts now. If you have a suitable script here, we can consider joining forces and having Daydream take the lead in filming..."

"Columbia-Tristar can handle distribution and part of the shooting costs..." Dane Steele was also a cheerful person. After shaking hands with Ronald and reaching an agreement, he asked his secretary to bring two large boxes of scripts for Ronald to choose from. .

…

"The Snow White incident has been suppressed in the media, but it has just begun in Hollywood..."

Ovitz sat in his office and dictated his plans to his secretary. This was his habit and he never used a tape recorder to record his thoughts to avoid leaking secrets. Usually I just ask the secretary to write it down in an office with good confidentiality, and then put it in my own office.

He helped the gay gang headed by David Geffen temporarily suppress media reports, but the media is not so easy to suppress completely. No one knows whether there will be another accident and the media will start to be interested in this again.

In the industry, everyone is beginning to find the cause of the problem. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Technology formed an Academy Awards jury to begin an investigation into why the broadcast caused such a strong negative reaction from the media that two Best Actor winners, two Best Actress queens, and two Best Director The winners all signed a joint protest letter.

Ovitz hoped to influence the investigation and turn it into a criticism of producer Alan Carr, so that he would take all the blame so that no one would blame Geffen and the others.

The main members of these gangs with the same surname are makeup artists and hairstylists for celebrities (a high proportion of these two professions). If they come out to cause trouble, it will affect the careers of Hollywood stars, and in turn affect CAA's revenue. This was something he had to consider.

For this reason, he hopes to insert an influential director into the investigation committee... Among the directors he has signed, who is the most popular and influential?

…

When he received Ovitz's private dinner invitation, Ronald was reviewing the script brought back from Columbia with David Simkins, Daydream's creative director of scripts.

The screenwriters all signed away any rights attached to the script in order to get the Columbia project approved, and Ronald seemed to have no legal problems at all.

If he is willing, he can completely change the script he is optimistic about, leaving behind the dramatic conflicts, and then change the era of the script, the background of the protagonist, and the details of the story, clean up the script, and turn it into his own project with no flaws in terms of legal copyright.

Of course, there is no need for Daydream to do this now. They are already good partners that many well-known screenwriters are willing to cooperate with. Several projects that Daydream produced or collaborated on gave Ronald a good reputation as a respectable creator.

"I think the idea of ​​this script is very good..." David Simkins recommended one to Ronald that he had read and found interesting.

"Huh?" Ronald frowned when he saw the screenwriter's name on the cover. He turned to the title page and looked at the screenwriter's full name, and he confirmed that it was the person he had known in his early years.

"Don't look at the script. The story is very simple, but this kind of perspective is very rare. Moreover, the audience of the movie has great potential. Whether they live in a big city or a small town, and regardless of their political affiliation or gender, they will be interested in this subject matter. ”

Simkins thought Ronald found the script too simple. This is unlike his previous films, which always have some connection points with history or current trends. It is completely a pure comedy.

"You have also seen that the sales of ET alien video tapes have broken records recently. Although they use special anti-theft technology and are five dollars more expensive, the sales results are really great. There are piles of them in Wal-Mart. It’s placed on the ground, and it’s selling like hot cakes…”

Simkins was influenced by Ronald, and now the first criterion for evaluating scripts is market potential. In addition, his own wife had just given birth to a second child, and it was really very loving to see this kind of story.

"It's not because of this. This screenwriter and I have a 'history'..." Ronald smiled. Back then, she wanted to steal her project, but after many years, the two of them are no longer on the same platform. It doesn't matter if you can make money for yourself.

"Ronald... Hi, David..." Richard knocked on the door and came in, bringing Ovitz's invitation. After Simkins withdrew, Richard handed over a formal invitation letter.

Ovitz does have a knack for making people who want PR feel great if he needs to.

"Ronald... we are really happy that you can come. My home has been lit up because of your arrival..." Standing in the Japanese-style courtyard of his mansion, Ovitz was wearing a blue suit and tie. It was very formal, and he and his wife specially came to welcome Ronald's arrival.

"You're too kind, Mr. Ovitz." Ronald knew that Ovitz was a fan of Japanese culture, but he didn't know that he was already so obsessed. The style of the courtyard at home and the way of speaking are already very Japanese.

"This is not worth mentioning. I invited you here just to make it up to you. Many people think that I manipulated the Oscars. It would be great if I had this ability. However, in the subsequent Oscar selections, as long as you have a movie Once you reach the level of being nominated, I will definitely mobilize the resources of the entire company to support you..."

The formal greeting, the humble words, and the review of the history of acquaintance with Ronald. If Ronald hadn't known about his unpredictable skills, it would be hard not to think that Ovitz changed his tune after winning "Rain Man" this time. Next time, I must praise Ronald and give CAA’s contract clients an extra Oscar-winning director.

This is actually reasonable. After all, after a director has won an Oscar, winning it again will not increase his personal reputation or his appeal to stars much. And mobilizing resources to allow more CAA customers to receive statuettes is a much more cost-effective deal.

Under Ovitz, there are already Oscar-winning directors such as Sydney Pollack, Barry Levinson, and Francis Coppola. If Spielberg can be signed, Ronald and Martin Scorsese can If Si wins the award, then CAA's hegemony can still be maintained for another ten years.

"I don't blame you, Mr. Ovitz. This is a fair game. You also said before that the Oscars cannot be manipulated. I may just lack a little luck." Ronald did not reveal any of his thoughts. , he has already discussed with Niceta and others to use Ovitz's influence before officially falling out.

If such a powerful man in Hollywood cannot be beaten to death at once, it will be very troublesome for him to turn him over. Will result in an extremely powerful counterattack. Therefore, the principle is that if you want to turn over, you must do it right at once to ensure that he will never be able to turn over again in the future.

Ovitz used a Japanese chef to entertain Ronald with an authentic sushi feast.

He was also very satisfied with Ronald's reaction. The director's dream was nothing more than two things: winning an Oscar and making the movie he wanted to make.

With Martin Scorsese, he did it with the financing of his "The Last Temptation of Christ." Ronald does not have too many financial worries, but his desire for the Academy Award is only higher.

Ovitz spent the whole night making Ronald happy, praising his "Dragon Boy" series of movies for really showing the characteristics of Japanese culture. Japan's current manufacturing industry is strong, and their advanced culture It doesn't matter, America must learn this.

Speaking of rising, Ovitz also took Ronald to see his various collections.

"This was the earliest prototype of Sony's Walkman... At that time, Chairman Akio Morita asked me to give me advice on their design. You see, there is only one headphone hole here, but the version sold later on the market had two headphone holes. That’s what I came up with.”

"Oh, that's really interesting..." Ronald saw that what Ovitz said was very true. He didn't know if Akio Morita had really asked him for his opinion, but it seemed like he had given him a prototype. it is true.

"This is Jasper Johns' 1955 masterpiece 'White Flag'. I am very careful not to mention it in front of outsiders, and only keep it in the warehouse for appreciation. Only good friends like you come, and I will show it off... …”

Ovitz then took him to see a collection of famous paintings. This was different from the Andy Warhol paintings hanging outside. These were truly valuable. Historically, the painter had different versions, and they were highly sought after by collectors. , the historical transaction price exceeds 10 million US dollars.

"Oh?" Ronald exclaimed in admiration. His collection was like a pile of waste paper in front of the really good things.

"Every guest who sees my collection, I have to say one more thing, although you will not go around talking about it. This painting was secretly sold to me by a real estate agent in Japan. I cannot own this painting publicly. Secret, otherwise their goodwill will be in question.

Of course, if you tell others that I own this painting, I will deny it, hahaha..."

Ronald couldn't help but look sideways. Ovitz bought such a painting casually and provided cash flow for the real estate company in Japan. And he didn't show off casually, just quietly put it in the warehouse.

How much is this guy's net worth? He looks much richer than himself.

After showing some strength to Ronald, Ovitz finally made a request, asking him to participate in the Academy's investigation committee and to inform Ovitz of any progress and influence.

Ronald happily accepted the invitation. Anyway, if he wanted to win the award, he had to build a network that truly belonged to him. Relying on CAA would not work, after all, he was not their top priority.

If he was nominated for an Oscar next time, if they wanted to sign Spielberg, or if Sydney Pollack wanted to get the little golden man again, his ethnic identity would probably be put in the second tier again.

"I hope to get good news from you..." Ovitz finally sent Ronald to the door, which was a grand etiquette he rarely used.

"Stay, Mr. Ovitz, this is good news for all of us..." Ronald knew that he might not be Ovitz's only insider. Anyway, it would be beneficial for all practitioners to settle this mess as soon as possible. It would be better if Hollywood did not have another strike.

...

"CAA's commission income last year exceeded 200 million." Niceta answered Ronald's question when she accompanied Ronald to meet the president of the academy.

"Is it so much already? No wonder..." Ronald sighed. He was still not as rich as Ovitz.

CAA's number of clients last year exceeded 1,000. Their agents also exceeded hundreds. Big directors are paid 5 million per film, and male stars are even higher. And potential new clients are paid 100,000 for one appearance.

CAA has become a monster in Hollywood, increasing the production costs of many film projects, and many people dare not speak out.

With a revenue of 200 million, Ovitz alone has more than half of the shares. In addition to most of the commissions divided by the agents, most of the dividend income from the packaged projects went into his pocket.

With an income of 100 million in a year, it is indeed no problem to buy a few famous paintings.

His taste was just average. The "white flag" was actually a dirty white national flag painted on canvas with paint, color, and charcoal strips. The colors of the national flag were removed, leaving only white.

Ronald didn't know how much artistic talent there was between this kind of painting and a rude art class assignment.

"Let's just say it's settled. It won't take up much of your time, Ronald."

The Academy's investigation committee was led by producer and former Directors Guild of America president Gilbert Cates. After welcoming Ronald to join the committee, he pulled him aside for a private talk.

Cates said he felt that the performance was purely due to the poor directing level of producer Andy Carr, who lacked the artistic accomplishment of a normal film director.

It was a mistake to arrange such a long and clichéd song and dance performance at the awards ceremony.

If he and active directors like Ronald were to produce the Oscars, this situation would never happen.

"That's exactly what happened..."

Ronald knew in his heart that he also wanted to settle the matter as soon as possible. Then he also took the position of producer of next year's Oscars ceremony, which is a good thing that can bring both fame and fortune.