Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

"Ronald, I need your help. You have a lot of contacts in major TV stations. Can you help me chat with NBC again, or find a new broadcast platform for the new film?"

Steve Bannon approached Ronald because he participated in the investment, and the TV series pilot "Seinfeld Chronicles" produced by Castle Rock Company.

NBC conducted an internal trial broadcast of "Seinfeld Chronicles", and the audience feedback was very unsatisfactory, so NBC executives officially notified Bannon that NBC would not buy this TV series.

"I don't know, you put the videotape and evaluation summary here, and I won't give you an answer until I watch it."

This is not perfunctory.Ronald and Bannon are very close, and there is not much conflict of interest between the two of them. Bannon is responsible for finding money from Wall Street, and Ronald is responsible for creating ideas, so the words are also very straightforward.

"Let me watch it with you here. This pilot episode is actually quite funny. The feedback from the pilot episode was not good, mainly because NBC did not find a suitable audience for the pilot episode." De agreed to think about it, so he just watched it with him here.

The pilot episode was short at 23 minutes.

The name of the lead actor and creator is Jerry Seinfeld.The male lead of the show will also use the actor's real name.

The plot of the pilot episode was simple and fun.Seinfeld, a Jewish man in New York, was in a coffee shop one day discussing relationships with old friends, neighbors, and a waitress.

Laura, a girl Seinfeld had met in Michigan, was coming to New York, but he wasn't sure if Laura was seeing him as a potential date or just as a friend.

Several friends discussed there, what kind of signals did Laura give out in her speech and actions?It is that he is interested in Seinfeld, and the two have the possibility of developing a romantic relationship; what kind of signal does it give, that Laura just regards Seinfeld as a normal friend?
As a result, Laura, whom Seinfeld picked up at the airport, gave an ambiguous signal every time she communicated with Seinfeld.It can be understood as either the first or the second.

Later, Laura asked to spend the night at Seinfeld's apartment.And at Seinfeld's apartment, Laura took off her shoes, ordered a glass of wine, and turned off the lights.

Just when Seinfeld was feeling better and taking his shoes off, Laura got a call, apparently about a relationship.Then Laura told Seinfeld that she should never get engaged, which made Seinfeld understand that Laura was not a good match for him.

The end of the episode is a tragedy.Although Seinfeld has no possibility of developing with Laura, he has promised Laura in advance that he will accompany her to visit various attractions in Manhattan, and has signed up for a 5-hour sightseeing cruise.

"It's funny, and the casting of actors and actresses is also very good, but I feel that this TV series is a bit too deep."

Ronald laughed non-stop while watching the pilot episode. This TV series is very suitable for the tastes of intellectuals and urban youth.

But the TV series is aimed at a national audience, and those Oklahoma moms and dads may not be able to appreciate some of the humor and jokes of New Yorkers, Jews, and idle urban white-collar workers.

"But you can't deny that he is very funny, especially this actor named Jason Alexander, who looks like a sinister face... It makes people want to laugh."

Bannon's understanding of film and television dramas is still stuck in those naive ideas about good guys, bad guys, boyfriends, girlfriends, etc.But who knows?Maybe TV dramas are a little naive compared to movies.

After all, TV shows have two disadvantages compared to movies on the big screen.First, its screen is very small, generally speaking, it can only display some close-ups and close-ups.If the actor's performance and image don't impress the audience, then they may not see what the story is about.

Second, because watching TV is not like watching a movie, where you sit with a group of strangers in a large, dark room.There is nothing else to do except watch a movie.It is natural to force the audience to only watch the big screen.

When people watch TV, they can have many choices, such as changing channels, chatting, drinking Coke, or eating pizza.So at this time, some exaggerated and dramatic performances are needed, so that the audience can keep up with the progress of the plot after returning from distraction.

What Bannon said is not wrong. Jason Alexander is indeed as he said, with a fat head and a slightly bald head. This appearance is likely to be a supporting role for a character actor in the movie.But it is very convenient to take a close-up of him in the TV series, and with that smile, the audience can understand that he is a bad friend.

"I can't tell, Steve. I can't promise anything, but I'll go talk to the NBC people..." Ronald also thought he could try, anyway, it wouldn't waste any favors.

"That's what I'm asking you to do, and I'm not asking for any extra care, Ronald." A smile spread across Bannon's fat face, "But you have to worry about that Brandon Tatikov. He's The biggest problem with our rejection from NBC was.

All the executives and audience who came to watch the internal trial screening liked this TV series and gave it a high score.Only that Brandon Tartikov said a lot of far-fetched objections.But you are Hollywood's authority on audience preferences, and no one knows it better than you.As long as you express your objective feelings, I don't think anyone can disagree with your intuition. "

The Brandon Tatikov that Bannon mentioned is the president of NBC.He is only 40 years old this year and is a golden boy in management.Since he switched from ABC to NBC, he has built this company with the lowest ratings among the three major TV stations into the No. [-] TV station with the highest ratings and credibility.

Its portfolio includes family dramas headed by "Family Ties," new cop dramas headed by "Hill Street Blues," and late-night talk shows headed by Johnny Carson and David Letterman.

If such a business genius takes the lead in opposing the purchase of this TV series, then there must be good reasons.

So Ronald didn't quite believe what Bannon said. He picked up the phone and dialed the production company of the Seinfeld Chronicles, the partner of Castle Rock. Leigh" partner Bob Reiner on both films.

"Hi, Ronald. How is the box office of When Harry Met Sally?" Bob Reiner answered the phone and asked Ronald about the box office of the movie. It turned out that he didn't like good movies, but now the movie reviews are very good , he regretted it a little, and admired Ronald's foresight to change the ending of the movie to the happy ending that he has now.

"It's not bad. We won more than 900 theaters on the weekend of the first week of large-scale screenings. They were very satisfied with the results of the small-scale screenings in the first two weeks. As long as it is a movie that both of us watch, It must be a good box office."

Ronald gave Bob Reiner a lot of face, saying that the movie was the favorite of both of them, with only a small difference of opinion on the ending.And he only mentioned the box office, which is where both companies can share profits, and didn't mention the praise of film critics-which cannot be shared with Reiner.

"That's right, Bannon found me here, about Seinfeld's TV series. I want to ask, what is your attitude towards this TV series? How do you see it yourself?"

"Huh, it's a well-made show, but it's not marketable. We'll probably ditch it and go all out on an Ann Gillian comedy."

Sure enough, Rob Reiner, as one of Castle Rock's partners, told Ronald the truth.

When this TV series was piloted internally by NBC executives, it was actually welcomed by almost all executives.And the density of laughter is high.

But Brandon Tartikov is a very mature manager. He never chooses TV series according to the taste of executives, but insists on using the feedback of pilot families as the main indicator.

When NBC aired the pilot episode of the show, it invited 400 families to participate, and these people signed a pilot agreement to see some pilot episodes that other ordinary TV users could not see.

In exchange, they have to submit detailed viewing reports, and answer calls from audience surveyors. When necessary, they will be invited to the TV station for a pilot feedback meeting, where everyone discusses why they like or hate a certain episode.

In those 400 homes, "Seinfeld" is said to have had one of the most horrific pilot responses in TV history.

The top two reasons to hate Seinfeld are: "No audience group is eager to watch the show again" and "No character is particularly popular".

Rob Reiner's company produces TV dramas. The production of TV dramas is in the promotion stage. Generally, there are only the scripts of the first few episodes, and the first episode that is filmed and released for the TV station to test.

So for a company like Castle Rock, they have a lot of shows that are picked by everyone at the same time every year.This one doesn't work, they have another one that might stand out.

The TV series starring Ann Gillian mentioned by Reiner has received an order for 13 episodes of the first season of NBC. They have already decided internally to give up Seinfeld.

"Thanks, man, I see now."

Ronald put down the phone.Unlike Reiner, Bannon is a broker between Wall Street funds and Hollywood production companies.He obtained targeted investment in "Seinfeld Chronicle" from several Wall Street funds and anonymous individual investors.

Therefore, if the TV series starring Seinfeld is not ordered by the TV station, he will be very passive.Those on Wall Street may think that he lacks real competitiveness and cannot grab the investment power of those TV dramas that are sought after by TV stations.

Ronald himself didn't know much about the production of TV series, and he was almost caught in by Bannon, a Wall Street scammer.

"Honey, I'll go first." Early the next morning, just after dawn, Ronald was kissing Helen Slater in the departure hall of the airport.

"Well, every time you come, I'm in a good mood, but I can't spend too long with you..." Helen smiled and wiped the lipstick on Ronald's mouth.She and Ronald met for a short period of time, and she could still resist arguing with him about acting skills. After more than a week, there would definitely be friction.

Even if Ronald gave way to her in a gentlemanly manner, after more than two weeks, Ronald's good temper couldn't help it.It's best to get together for a short period of time like this, and it can also leave the best part of each other's memories.

"Hey hey..." Ronald asked the waiter in embarrassment for a hot towel and wiped his mouth...

"Let's go..." Ronald and the bodyguard, agent, driver, and some publicity personnel from the crew boarded the Gulfstream business jet again.

The plane took off and flew towards the west coast where the sun had not yet risen.Ronald asked the stewardess for a blanket to cover him and fell asleep.Both the crew and manager Richard knew that he worked all night (but they have different definitions of work...), and everyone sat far away from Ronald's position, allowing him to have a good rest environment .

On the plane, Ronald always slept very soundly. In the dark space in front of him, a ray of light suddenly appeared.

"Anyway, I just want you to know that I will do everything I can to make the responsible party responsible for changing their responsibility, or at least be as responsible..."

This time it was not a big screen that appeared in Ronald's dream, but a small TV.

The 4:3 TV screen is very small, and only the back of a man in a red jacket can be seen on the camera, facing the door of an apartment, and the profile of a blonde beauty in a gray fleece inside the door.The two talked through the door, which seemed to be the relationship between strange neighbors.

"Oh, she's so beautiful." Ronald recognized at a glance that the blonde beauty in the gray fleece was Helen Slater.Inside the fleece was a T-shirt. Helen's blond hair was cut short and scattered on both sides of her ears. Her complexion was pale and rosy, and her two big eyes were shining.

The camera turned to the over-the-shoulder shot on the other side. The man in the red shirt is Seinfeld, the hero in Seinfeld.Like Ronald, he seemed to be attracted by Helen's astonishing beauty, and he didn't know what to say, so he said a stupid thing.

"thank you very much!"

……

"It turns out that Helen will be filming TV dramas later on. Her acting skills are more suitable for TV dramas."

Ronald looked at Helen on the TV, she was a little older than now, but the charm of that young woman also moved his heart very much.

……

When the camera turns, it is still the same place, still at the door

"People from the insurance company, let you do a damage assessment for the car." The man in the red shirt

"I've already made a damage assessment, and the total is 875 dollars." The shot is a little farther than the previous shot, and it is a middle shot of Helen's upper body.She was wearing a dark shirt this time, the buttons were slightly unbuttoned to reveal a red T-shirt inside, and a pair of jeans, her brows were slightly wrinkled, as if confused by the man knocking on his door again.

"870 five dollars?" Seinfeld was heartbroken, he refused to admit that he hit Helen's car.But he was reluctant to have such an opportunity to deal with beautiful women.He pulled out his checkbook and said, "Let me tell you, I'm going to write you a check for $875 on behalf of the person who hit your car right now, and then I'll go to the person who hit your car and ask him to pay me."

Helen stroked her blond hair with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Who should the check be written to?" Seinfeld took the opportunity to want to know the name of the character played by Helen.

"Becky..." Helen spelled out the character's name.

Tear, Seinfeld tore off the check, handed it to Helen, and asked, "What do you do on weekends?"

Karen grabbed the check and said, "You're really shameless... You hit my car, and you didn't admit it, and now you're still asking me out?"

"I didn't do it!"

"Ah!" Helen's character sneezed, her acting skills seem to have improved a lot compared to her current one.

"You're so pretty!" Seinfeld still looked like he was in the pilot episode, looking like he wanted to pick up girls but was also cheap.

……

"This TV show has been on for so many seasons?"

Ronald called out in his sleep.

"Ah, oh..." Ronald, who woke up, took a cup of black tea handed over by the stewardess and drank it.Everyone in the cabin is familiar with it, and they already understand the eccentricity of their boss who likes to dream when he is flying, and he has told the flight attendant in advance what to do.

While drinking black tea, Ronald wrapped the blanket tightly, chewing the goji berries in the black tea.

Judging from the pilot episode, this TV series is about Seinfeld as a Jewish white-collar worker in New York, how he shamelessly demeans various things with his friends, and at the same time tells how he sees all kinds of beauties and wants to pick up girls things.

Helen Slater in the series is obviously more mature and feminine than she is now.If every episode or two has a new female cameo and Seinfeld wooing, then the show must have been renewed for many seasons.

Moreover, after many seasons, it is still possible to invite an actress of Helen Slater's level of beauty. This TV series must have a good ratings.

The more Ronald thought about it, the more he felt right. This TV series may be beyond everyone's expectations, and it is an unpopular dark horse.

He waved to Richard, "Go and see if the satellite phone on the plane can be used now? I want to make a call to the president of NBC. This is my credit card..."

There is only one update tonight, what was missing yesterday will be made up tomorrow.