Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Does this really work?"

Jonathan Demme faces so many cards that his hand cramps when signing autographs. He called Ronald to complain and massaged his palms himself.

"I think it is useful. We have a big problem with schedule, so we can only rely on this method to remind the judges that this movie is extraordinary..."

Ronald also had a lot of cards to sign as a producer. Fortunately, he had several intern agents sent by Richard and Niceta to help him imitate his signature.

Big stars send out a large number of greeting cards every Christmas, Thanksgiving, and other important holidays. This kind of job of finding people to sign is an important job for agents.

"Well, for Oscar..." Jonathan Demme had to go back and continue signing autographs. The public relations company will wrap the cards and video tapes in exquisite packaging, and then deliver them to thousands of judges through FedEx purple boxes.

"Well, I'd better sign slowly by myself..." Diane also wanted to sign the video of "other people's money". Ronaldo was nominated for Best Supporting Actress and two Best Actor Oscars for this movie.

Diane was afraid that the name signed by her agent would be seen, so she insisted on writing it in her own handwriting, which seemed a little sincere.

Ronald smiled, everyone in Hollywood has a paranoid interest in the statuette, and they are willing to pay anything for it. After ordinary judges get the videotape, what they like most is definitely the gift that comes with it, not your signature.

Influential judges, or judges of special significance to Ronald, had other ways of showing their sincerity. But if Diane is willing to make a gesture, let her sign everything to avoid regretting if she doesn't get it.

Bah, you can't think like that.

…

When it came time to prepare for the nomination battle, Ronald came to New York again. There are a lot of judges here, as important as in Los Angeles. To make those key players feel important, Ronald held an insider's party at his home in Staten Island.

All the guests gathered at Manhattan's South Pier, boarded a luxury yacht, then cruised on the water to Staten Island, and then took a special train to Ronald's home.

Michael Douglas, Melanie Griffith, Cher, and Tom Cruise, who made a temporary visit to New York, were all invited by Ronald as guests.

Needless to say, Akito, everyone is a client of a group of agents under CAA, such as Nicita, Richard, and Kevin Hoover. They are also stars who have worked with Ronald or have a good relationship with him. They are approaching the Oscar nomination battle. , who here has not experienced many battles, and knows the meaning of Ronald's canvassing without having to say it explicitly.

"Aha, you are really interesting here..."

"what do you mean?"

"Is that airport, your airport, going to be built soon? I'm going to build one too. I already have a junior pilot's license, and I'm going to continue studying until I can fly a jet..."

The person speaking was Tom Cruise. He was very polite to famous directors in the industry. Ronald had mentored him back then and they got along even better. This time he came with Nicole Kidman to further deepen the relationship between the two. He also brought a large box of cakes he ordered to please Aunt Karen. He also made an exception and ate a piece of his aunt's baked biscuits, praising her. Plus, I want to order some every year as a more advanced gift than cakes and give them to my closest friends.

After these two breaks, Aunt Karen was so happy that she and her husband went to discuss officially starting a biscuit business.

"Ah, that's difficult. Nowadays, the airport parking fees for airplanes are very exorbitant. You have to have your own tarmac. This involves a lot of environmental assessment and dealing with the government. If you are interested, I can introduce my lawyer to you. . Of course, you can also buy a few toys and put them here before you apply..."

"Honey!" Nicole Kidman saw an old-fashioned calendar advertisement in Ronald's house. It was a gift from the landscaping team to add a little old-fashioned style to Ronald's home. She looked at the beautiful woman wearing a cheongsam and found it very novel, so she came over to report to Tom.

"You two have fun, I'll go over there and have a look..."

Ronald and Tom Cruise were allied with each other on the agent matter, and they formed a small group to resist Ovitz's possible methods. And Tom Cruise was also disgusted with Ovitz's tricks. He wanted to make a breakthrough in acting, but Ovitz always asked him to make a show for other CAA clients.

For example, Paul Newman turned out to be a star-like actor, but his acting skills were criticized. But he received critical acclaim for reprising his old role from decades earlier. Dustin Hoffman also stepped on Tom Cruise's difficult to see, but very difficult acting skills and once again became the emperor.

Tom Cruise will make a movie that is expected to win awards, and he will also make two commercial movies for Ovitz. Both he and Ronald have a sense of who Ovitz really is, so this is the most important ally.

…

"I understand, you have found paradise in America, with police and law protecting you..."

In the room where The Godfather sat, Michael Douglas also began to recite the lines from the opening scene of The Godfather.

It's hard for an actor to come here and not be eager to try out Marlon Brando's line.

Michael Douglas's voice is also a bit hoarse, and I have to say it is similar to Brando's famous "I don't care" voice.

"No, no, that line was said by the elderly godfather. His voice is not as strong as yours. It is in a weak state..." Tom Cruise corrected beside him and couldn't wait to sit on the chair. , pretending to be petting a cat.

"That bastard who tortured your daughter will be punished..."

"Here..." Ronald threw a plush cat toy over. Everyone wanted to try it anyway, so he simply put a cat toy here.

"Oh...hahaha..." Everyone laughed. After all, we are all in the Hollywood circle. The Godfather is also a commercially and critically acclaimed movie in the industry. Everyone is very happy to have the opportunity to try it. Ronald also took the initiative to take photos of them as a souvenir.

Men's friendship is so simple, but female celebrities are much more complicated.

Cher and Melanie Griffiths, both in words and in words, are comparing themselves with each other. One bragged about how sweet she is with her twice-married husband, while the other talked about her passionate life with band guitarist Richie Sambora.

If middle-aged female celebrities compete with each other, they can make several twists and turns in a sentence, which is far more fun than young actors calling each other Bitchi.

Both of them have children, and they are almost unable to get roles as beautiful women at the age of transitioning into mothers. A kind of panic enveloped the two of them. Later, they gradually lost their competitiveness and began to talk. Kind words Ronald.

"I talked to Sigourney (Weaver) and if it weren't for directors like Ronald and Cameron, we wouldn't be able to play any good roles. It's mother right now, and once you take it, there's no turning back."

"Ah, are you okay? My recent new movie with Michael Douglas is another epic movie. I think it might get another nomination..."

"Hey, they decided to postpone it until the next year. It will be the next time to be nominated."

"Shgthrough" starring Melanie Griffiths and Michael Douglas is a film about a German-American woman during World War II who was hired by an OSS intelligence officer to sneak into Germany and steal. The story of taking the top secret information of V1 rocket.

This movie is a typical ambitious movie, with stars, a plot of a commercial movie, and the theme of World War II espionage that critics like. However, once the movie is scheduled to be released early next year, it is conceivable that there are problems with the final film.

And Cher is not much better. Last year, she produced her own movie "Eraids", which she fired the director from, and it suffered a disastrous box office failure. Cher was also labeled by Hollywood as not being able to act without Ronald.

What's even more annoying is that Winona Ryder, who plays her daughter, was not affected by this movie at all.

She is also a new generation of female stars loved by the audience. She was so angry that Cher had to leave Hollywood for a while and start focusing on her singing career.

This being the case, both of them tried to praise Ronald as quietly as possible when he came in.

What kind of actor's director is Ronald? They didn't know how lucky they were back then. After leaving him, they had never met such a director who was so easy to work with.

"This is an invitation letter. Disney specifically asked me to give it to you. Their new movie will be screened at the New York Film Festival. Because 30% of the picture is still unfinished, some stars are needed. To support you, will you honor me..."

Another purpose of Ronald recruiting this group of celebrities is to help attract people to Disney's Katzenberg. The projects Katzenberg oversaw at Disney were all profitable, although the investment was moderate. The cooperation on "Dances with Wolves" also gave the two a good relationship.

This time "Beauty and the Beast" is another important business of Disney, a revival of traditional cartoons. Because the film's production cycle was delayed, Disney was afraid that it would not be popular enough, so it screened an unfinished version at the New York Film Festival.

This means two things,

It just so happened that Ronald needed to strengthen his cooperation with Disney this time, and by the way, he was able to connect the dots so that the slightly outdated female stars and Disney cartoons could get exposure opportunities... Of course, they both thought they were taking advantage of each other...

…

"Oh, I grew up watching Disney cartoons when I was a kid. This is an opportunity for me to realize my dream. When I was very young, I dreamed of being invited by Disney to attend their movie premieres."

"Yeah, I love Disney cartoons. When Snow White was re-released a few years ago, I was so excited to watch it. I wasn't in America when it was re-released last time, so I didn't catch it..."

When female celebrities are interviewed by the media, they never mention anything about watching it with their children. They themselves are still very young. Isn’t it normal to watch Disney cartoons?

"I like Disney movies. To some extent, animated movies are more imaginative than live-action movies. Yes... you can break into a piece of cake if you fall from a high altitude, hahaha..."

Ronald is much better as a director, and he made no secret of the fact that he wants to buy a full set of Disney cartoons for his children when they grow up.

Of course, he actually wanted to see Katzenberg and the power of the latest computer-aided animation system he talked about. But these reporters couldn't understand it.

This is what Lucas did after selling Pixar Animation

This system can scan pencil drawings, add color, and add lines to the shadows of animated characters, which used to be one of the problems that slowed down the progress of animation production. Disney tried this system in last year's small production "The Rescuers: An Australian Adventure". The effect was extraordinary, so it officially abandoned the photocopier-based workflow that had been used for 30 years.

After the movie started, Ronald really found a big difference. The colors of this animated movie are much more saturated and rich than the original ones. The movements of the animated characters are also much more like real people than the original ones.

Although 30% of the content was replaced by pencil storyboards and black and white test images, the audience was still fascinated by it.

"Oh oh..."

In the middle of the movie, when the beast began to dance with the beauty in the hall, the audience exclaimed in amazement.

Ronald was even more surprised to stand up from his chair, and the audience behind him quickly tapped him to sit down.

In this shot, not only the movements of the beast and the beauty were very real, but there was no incoordination when the two of them twirled and danced the waltz. What is even more surprising is that the camera push-pull effect is achieved in this picture.

Animated movies do not have cameras, and are completely hand-painted.

With the help of computers, the animation can actually achieve the effect that can only be achieved by camera shooting. In addition, the two characters rotate back and forth. In such a complex situation, there is no wrong angle between the background and the characters.

The theme song of "Beauty and the Beast" at this time further sublimated this plot, and many female and child audiences had little stars in their eyes.

After the screening, the audience stood up and applauded. Although it was not a complete movie, this kind of shot was really unforgettable. Everyone insisted on applauding and insisted that Disney's senior management come out to talk about when they could see the full version.

The applause lasted for ten minutes. Finally, after receiving the news from the lounge to interrupt the interview, Katzenberg, who rushed over, assured the audience that it would be released in two months, and all the audience today would be given free movie tickets.

"How do you feel?" Ronald came out after the screening, and Katzenberg asked him for his opinion.

"There has never been an animated film nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars before, right? I think this year will make history..."

Ronald spoke highly of the film, saying that all elements were well done, and there were such beautiful songs to help out. The children in the cinema would definitely jump up when they saw the dance scene.

"Hahaha, I take this as a compliment, Ronald, you really have a great sense of humor..."