Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 820 with Roger Coleman

"Ronald Lee, in this year's 'Dancing Hot,' can be said to have established himself as a musical revivalist. The musical king of the '80s, he took over from Fred Asdai. Err, Gene Kelly, and others have given a new lease of life to this once brilliant genre with new-age directing techniques and a smooth commercial narrative rhythm.”

  Traveling on a Gulfstream plane would have no impact on rest, and Ronald was able to go to the office early the next morning.

   accumulated a weekend of newspapers, all on the desk. Ronald picked it up and took a look, and the assistants carefully labelled the reports about "Spicy Dancing". It's basically a compliment of Ronald and the two leading actors.

  The box office statistics for the weekend are also out, almost no drop compared to the first week. "Dancing Hot" dominated America's August scene.

   Next is the Labor Day weekend in America. If the box office is at a high level for three consecutive weekends, then it can dominate the box office for another two weeks. Competitive new films like Michael Douglas' "Fatal Attraction" won't hit theaters until mid-September.

  Sometimes, it is released in the traditional off-season at the box office. If the quality of the movie is excellent, it will have the advantage of being a big fish in a small pond.

  Ronald finished flipping through the newspaper, wrote a note on it, and asked his assistant to help him cut out these reports and put them away. After a long time of fun at the desk alone, I started the day's work.

"Cassandra, I've read the script carefully, and I'll confirm with you again, can't your budget be reduced? I see in your script, in addition to the fire destroying the old house, in fact, many scenes can be compared economical way to deal with it.”

   Back in Los Angeles, Ronald was supported by the dream on the plane, and his confidence in "Ecstasy" began to rise. After intoxicating himself with the accolades in the newspapers, Ronald called Cassandra Peterson, who was still in New York, to confirm her wishes.

"Of course, there are no theaters willing to show those old-fashioned B-movies now. I talked to several producers, and they all answered me like this, the audience's taste has been raised, and they must be given a few in the film. a big scene.

  Minahan Golan's tricks have been spurned by the market. Look at his Superman IV..."

   "Okay, I understand what you mean. You want to make a theatrical movie, and you don't want to make a B-level movie that can only be made into a videotape and end up in a videotape rental store."

   Ronald touched his chin. I am still thinking about the problem with the old way of thinking.

  The reason why Roger Coleman has been able to traverse Hollywood for decades with a super low-cost (less than 500,000) budget. A big reason is that there isn't a movie of that kind of impressive visual spectacle on the market. Now the movies that Lucas, Spielberg, and Cameron are making have taken the quality of the movie up a few notches.

  The audience will really laugh when they go to the cinema to watch those movies that are fake at first glance.

   Cassandra Peterson, on the other hand, did the "big" (over $10 million budget) "Lost City of Gold" for Minahan's Cannonball. Although judging from the final film, maybe they only spent three yuan and fifty cents on the special effects.

  But Cassandra Peterson is, after all, the villain who dominates the theater market and debuts "blockbusters" in more than 1,500 theaters. She is so diligent in promoting the film, it is definitely impossible to accept the ending of making it directly into a videotape.

"Or, can you get a movie under a $2 million production budget into the distribution market? I heard one of your films, 'Love Is Not For Sale', has a low budget." Cassandra Peterson Misunderstands Lo Nader's phone means that if it can enter the theater, the low cost is not a bad thing.

"No, that movie is to fill the gap in the theater. Obviously, I can't find a blockbuster in a short period of time to occupy the slot after next year's New Year, and bring your movie by the way." Ronald thought for a while , or to work with people.

"Listen, Cassandra, I'm going to talk to some other producers over the next two days. I love your script and have confidence in your performance in 'The Lost City of Gold.' So you Don't look for other producers for now, I see... I'll give you an answer by the end of the week."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you...I really don't know how to thank you..." Cassandra Peterson stomped her feet happily on the phone, "Do I want to go back right away? When you talk to other people, don't you Want me to be there?"

   "Don't expect too much, it's still a matter of whether it's successful or not. It's good for you to come back, but it's better for you to join after I find the right person."

Obviously, Cassandra Peterson, who has fallen into the pond from a height and has not even fallen into the pond, has fallen into the old man of Minahan Golan. It is impossible for Cassandra Peterson to fight with Cannon Films. cooperated.

   This also leaves Ronald with only one possible partner, the former boss and guide Roger Coleman.

   Made an appointment with Roger's secretary to go to his Concorde for an interview tomorrow, and Ronald was intercepted by script assistant David Simkins.

   "Ronald, here's a script for you by name. I think what he said makes a lot of sense, so I cut the line to show you."

   "Oh, why?" Ronald raised his eyebrows in surprise. He waved his assistant to make David a cup of coffee.

   "This letter was sent by the screenwriter and producer together with the script, and the reasons listed in it, I don't think I can refuse."

   "Really? Couldn't say no?" Ronald took the script, and on the cardboard cover was the script's name, "White Lipstick, and under it was the screenwriter's name, John Waters.

   "What does this mean? I don't understand the meaning of the name well." Ronald opened the cover and found an open letter inside.

   "Dear Ronald, my name is John Waters, the writer of this 'White Lipstick', and I'm writing to you because you're the only person in this age who knows how to make musicals.

   This 'white lipstick' is also about dancers in 1962..."

   "Interesting..." Ronald looked at David Simkins, which is basically the same time period as "Dancing Hot."

   "I checked the registration time of the Screenwriters Guild, and his script was written long before our movie was released." Simkins replied that this John Waters was not a follower.

   Ronald nodded and continued reading.

   "Tracy is a fat white girl who likes black cabaret shows. She overcame prejudice against her size in a local Baltimore TV teen dance talent show and won the championship.

   And her friend broke through racism and fell in love with a black young man..."

   "Oh oh..." Ronald's interest increased greatly after reading this. In the 1960s, in addition to the overall competition between President Kennedy and the Union, another major event was the affirmative movement launched by progressive youth at that time, which challenged the segregation of blacks and the inability to go to school.

   This way of embedding the plot of the musical into the background at that time is very similar to Eleanor's "Dancing Hot". There is also discrimination against Jews and women's struggle for their own physical freedom as a backdrop.

   Ronald did not speak, and silently turned over the script. Similar to "Spicy Dance", the script of this movie also hides the turbulent times of the times and hides it behind the plot. There is no intentional highlighting of the plot that these older audiences miss, but it is subtly presented through the story.

   The final climactic ending of the script. The protagonist, Tracy, was sent to a detention center for participating in a mixed school protest. Another mean girl wins the TV draft.

   At a critical moment, the governor pardoned Tracy. She rushed to the station, and the host announced that for the first time in Baltimore history, black and white people were on the same show. It ends with a big dance.

   "What do you think?" Ronald said to David Simkins, closing the script.

"I think it's a good fit for our company's next film. I looked up this John Waters, he's always known for making low-budget films. A lot of his films before were made for tens of thousands of dollars. The quality is B-level films are very good, and the box office is also good.

   is very suitable for our current lack of production budget. The filming cycle of this kind of film is very short. In the off-season after the New Year's holiday next year, it can be launched to the theater, so that our distribution business will not be idle. "

   "Your idea is very good!" Ronald admired Simkins' idea. This kind of employee who takes the initiative to stand at the height of the company instead of only looking at the interests of his own department is very popular.

   "Then I invite him to interview?"

   "As soon as possible, I'm going to talk to Concorde's Roger Coleman tomorrow about another film collaboration, preferably with John Waters today."

  …

  John Waters came to Ronald's West Hollywood office in the afternoon. He was born in 1946, very thin, with a mustache, a funny look.

   Waters himself is a native of Baltimore. The script for this "white lipstick" was adapted from his own experience. The TV dance talent show in the movie, and the 1963 breakthrough in Baltimore's 1963 break that blacks and whites were not allowed to go to school, were all things that happened to him when he was in middle school.

   This is also the script that he spent a long time and slowly polishing.

   "What's your budget requirement for the movie?" Ronald looked at the other party. The script actually didn't have much of a scene, but mainly indoor scenes and dance scenes.

   "This is my brainchild, so I want to try to photograph him as I think it is." John Waters said.

   "Tell me about your plans." Ronald began to feel bad. What he wanted to shoot was essentially a question of how much to spend.

   "I thought about the Baltimore location shoot, including the campus scene, and the Baltimore street scene."

   "It's more economical to shoot on location." Ronald nodded. There is no Screen Actors Guild in Baltimore. Where can Waters save money?

"I want a little more budget, I've done super low-budget movies with a budget of less than $100,000 before, this is my dream movie, and I want to make it as good as possible. Ronald , you will understand me, right?"

John Waters looked pitifully at Ronald, and if Ronald didn't give the green light, he might have to use some second-hand recycled film that other crews didn't finish to make some ultra-low-cost movies for direct video release. .

   "Huh..." Ronald scratched his head, this promise is not easy to give, "How much money do you expect to need?"

  The cost of musical films is much higher than that of romantic films like "Love is not for sale". Ronald has already prepared for the other party to ask for more than 5 million. After all, it takes so much money to shoot "Spicy Dance" by himself.

"two…"

   "Twenty million? Are you **** joking?" When Ronald heard the first two words, he became popular. I haven't made more than ten million in musicals.

   "No, it's two million." Waters quickly clarified.

"Two million? Are you sure you can shoot it?" Ronald counted the big scenes of the group dance. The plot is a dance talent show. Every time there are dozens of experienced dancers dancing in groups, and the dance is 60 The swing dance of the 1990s is not a "break dance" that just grabs a few street dancers and dances.

   "No big problem. I have a group of actors who have worked with me for many years. We have worked together for more than ten years. We have a tacit understanding and their salary is not expensive."

"Very well, you create a budget, and then get the storyboards for the main scenes. I'll have a meeting with other colleagues to discuss it. You don't have to go to other producers until this weekend, I think this It's not hard to make a promise, right?"

   "Of course", John Waters stood up happily and prepared to say goodbye when he heard the drama.

   "Also, let me ask, what does the name of your script 'white lipstick' mean?"

"Lipstick is red, and white is a very strange color. Just like in Baltimore at that time, black people could not enter the TV station and participate in the draft with white people. This strange phenomenon, everyone has seen, but no one has the courage to say it, only A brave and optimistic girl like Tracy can speak up and fight for change." Waters began to talk about the metaphor of the name.

   "No wonder you can't find an investment." Ronald shook his head, but because he was good at making musicals, he wrote a letter and was seen by David Simkins. Otherwise, no one would want to read this kind of unknown name.

   "This won't work, you have to change your name, and someone else can understand the name of the plot at a glance."

   "But..." Waters was very proud of the puns and metaphors in the title, and he thought about it for a long time.

"Don't be, if you don't change, we can't give the green light. You can't spend a big budget on marketing for a low-budget movie, you have to let the audience understand the story you want to tell. It's like 'Dirty Dancing... "

   "Okay, I understand, I'll change it when I go back..."

  …

   Daydream's office is rented from an ordinary house, not furnished, and the walls are not well insulated. Ronald couldn't try to dream a movie by practicing yoga breathing.

   He drove home, took a hot shower, closed the windows, drew the curtains, turned off the lights, started sitting on the yoga mat, and started emptying his mind.

   "Shake Shake... Baby... Shake Shake..."

   A burst of rhythmic swing dance music came. Ronald seemed to see a very fat girl in front of the TV, learning the dance moves on TV with his girlfriend.

   "This shot is pretty good." Ronald couldn't help but sighed that such dance moves were obviously well trained. Although the heroine was very fat, her dance moves were very flexible.

   "Um... what is this?"

Ronald saw a few more pictures of the group dance, and he found that, just like he likes to shoot the legs of beautiful women, this John Waters has a special love for women's buttocks, several shots, Tracy's buttocks Just a close-up swaying to the camera, the screen is occupied by this huge buttocks.

   Then there is the ending scene where Ronald sees Tracy dyed blond and fat, but at the invitation of the boy he loves, performs a kind of cockroach dance on the TV show.

   "Well...very good." Ronald felt that being able to make fat girls so cute was also very attractive to those audiences who were not so standard. Fat girls can also find handsome guys who love them.

   Soon the picture that yoga breathing can provide is over. Ronald fell to the floor and fell asleep.

  …

   "Ronald!" The next day, Roger Coleman was waiting for Ronald in the office and found him walking into the office with his head tilted, "What's wrong with your neck?"

   "I fell asleep at night..." Ronald touched his neck. He slept on the floor last night and was sprained.

   "Are you okay?"

   "It's okay, I made an appointment with a chiropractor."

   "Well, you said you brought a collaborative project to talk to me about?" Roger Coleman looked at Ronald who was sitting down.

   "Actually two..."

   Ronald took the two scripts out of his briefcase, put them on the table and pushed them over.

   "Well, I know this Cassandra Peterson and acted in a lot of movies." Roger Coleman first read the script outline of "Ecstasy".

   "The budget for this film is more than 7 million. I would like to ask if you are interested in cooperating. That musical is cheaper. If you think 7 million is too expensive, we can start cooperation with this one."

   "Let me see", Roger Coleman opened the script for "White Lipstick" again. He is a veteran producer. After basically flipping through these scripts, he knew whether he could shoot.

   "How? Is this script very old and new world?" Ronald asked Coleman, pointing to "white lipstick".

  "It's very similar", Coleman laughed, this kind of money-saving filming method is really like Old New World Pictures.

   "So let's start with this movie?" Ronald asked.

   "No, I'm more interested in 'Ecstasy Celestial Master'."

  Contrary to Ronald's expectations, Coleman wanted a movie with a budget of 7 million.

   "Why?" Ronald didn't think it was Coleman's style.

   "As you know, my distribution channels used to rely mainly on drive-in theaters and mill theaters transformed from old movie theaters."

  Roger Coleman is also helpless. He has the opportunity to make low-cost movies to make money. He will not invest high funds to make blockbusters.

"In the past five years, especially the last three years, real estate has developed very fast due to low interest rates. Many open spaces for drive-in movie theaters and the renovation of plots where old movie theaters are located, two of my original main distribution channels, have begun to wither rapidly. already."

   "Oh..." Ronald said in his heart that it seemed to be the case. He was driving in Los Angeles, and it had been a long time since he saw the drive-in theaters that used to be everywhere.

   "If we want to release it in theaters, we have to increase the budget, otherwise it is impossible to tie the box office in the theaters."

   "Isn't there any more?"

"Video tapes?" Coleman laughed. "The market for video tapes released directly without theatrical release is limited. You can only make some hundreds of thousands of dollars to train directors. Now it's not like when you entered the industry, the chance for new directors is more and more. less and less."

  Ronald also shook his head. If he made a video, one could only sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars. The quality of these two scripts is actually far more than this market potential. But to sell more, it must be matched with marketing.

   His own daydreams, and Coleman's Concorde, couldn't have spent a million dollars on marketing for a videotape movie that cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The sales of videotapes must be released in theaters to gain word of mouth.

   So Coleman's choice is logical, and now he can only shoot some 5 million to 8 million productions, release them on unpopular schedules that are not acceptable for blockbusters with a production budget of 20 million US dollars, and then use video tapes to recover the cost.

  Compared to a fat girl, the story of participating in a TV audition in 1963 is still a humorous horror film like "Ecstasy", which is in line with Roger Coleman's consistent taste. With a budget of 7 million, it is also more capable of competing in theaters and blockbusters.

   "Okay, then we'll collaborate on this movie. Then we'll make a joint release..."

   "Happy cooperation."

   Ronald and the former boss shook hands vigorously, indicating an agreement was reached. Coleman's reputation has remained unchanged for decades. The two don't need to sign a contract and shake hands to trust the other side will honor the agreement.

   "Julie really likes your hot dance...I've watched it three or four times." Coleman talked about family matters.

   "I'll send her a videotape."

  …

  Since Coleman chose "Ecstasy" for cooperation, then "White Lipstick" had to find another partner for Ronald.

   He is determined to make these two films, which will be marketed as Daydream films next year. A healthy company cannot make movies by itself.

   Call Cassandra Peterson first and tell her the good news. Cassandra was overjoyed on the phone, saying that the selection of directors and actors would begin immediately.

   "No, it's up to the company to decide. You can only propose candidates, Cassandra." Ronald corrected him with a smile.

   "Of course, of course, everyone needs casting. But the heroine?"

   "Of course, that's yours."

   Then John Waters.

   Ronald called and told him that the company had greenlit the project and was still looking for investors.

   "So as long as we find financing, we can start shooting?"

"Yes, Waters. I already have a few candidates, and you come to the talks too." Ronald has a few candidates in mind, and Steve Bannon still wants to invest in a daydream project, Jr. Douglas' pocket money is unknown.

   "By the way, have you thought of your name?"

   "After thinking about it, it's called Hairspray"

   "Then what the **** does it mean?" Ronald heard it, why is it another inexplicable name?

   "This is the sponsor of that talent show, and the final winner is Miss Hairspray. And in 1963, hairspray represented liberation, progress..."

   "Okay, okay, let's call this name first, and then think about whether there is a better one."

"This name is very good. When the middle-aged audience hears it, they will remember the memories of the previous years. At that time, the trendy release was to spray a lot of hairspray, comb the hair high, and fix it in the strong wind. Immovable hairstyle."

   "Whatever..." Ronald didn't like the name very much either, but it's a tentative name anyway, and we'll talk about it later.

   (end of this chapter)