Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

During the Labor Day weekend, the box office of "The Last Day" rose instead of falling, and once again exceeded [-] million. It's extremely unusual for a movie that's been out for two months. This was very embarrassing for the film critics who had previously said bad things about the film in their reviews and gave it low ratings.

  They started looking for compensation. When they were commenting on other movies in their columns, they once again wrote two paragraphs of comments about "The Love between Humans and Ghosts", in order to regain their dignity as experts in disguise.

  The most exaggerated thing is the Washington Post, which once again published a film review on "Ghosts".

  When the film was first released, film critic Desen Howie said, "The Ghost Story is an old-fashioned fantasy story full of emotion, and the film moves through different genres as freely as a ghost passes through a castle wall." The main genre of movies is thriller, which uses slapstick and interesting ghost special effects to ease the audience's emotions when it gets too intense."

  You can't say that he just wrote this kind of yin and yang movie review in a negative and satirical way. At most, it's a kind of "good ridicule".

  But the new review, written by Rita Campelli, a female film critic who admires Ronald, has completely different wording.

  "There is no misunderstanding about Paramount's The Ghost Story, which is a conventional commercial film full of formulas.

  But the weird thing is, when I watched it, he wasn't as bad as it sounded. In fact, he ended the summer's misfortune of junk sequels and gave me surprisingly good entertainment to go with the heavy air-conditioning of the new Palms theaters.

  Only in one of the worst years of film acting would Schwitz or Moore have a chance of winning an Oscar, but they're very capable actors, good enough to pull off this puzzle plot without hindering your viewing experience.

  The best performance comes from Goldberg, who injects spiritual power into an otherwise far-fetched divination role. Since her unforgettable performance in "The Color Purple," she's been stuck in male-dominated formulaic work. But the film, while still a commercial film, may bode well for her future. "

  Even the duo of Chicago's Ebert and Sisko reviewed half a year's worth of films on a TV film review program, saying good things about "The Last Day" and admitting that their initial film reviews tended to be underestimated.

  ……

  "Hahahaha, these bastards..."

  Ronald watched these new movie reviews in the hotel and laughed heartily. It is not easy for commercial productions to be nominated at the Oscars. Now these film critics have turned collectively. It seems that when registering for the Oscars this year, you have to try for the best picture and best director. This is what you said...

  Of course, Whoopi Goldberg's acting skills are obvious to all, and both ordinary audiences and film critics have praised her. Paramount and Ronald agreed to reserve the best supporting actress slot and mainly recommend her.

  Diane next to her looked quite envious. Oscar, even for a supporting actress, is very impressive.

  Besides the Oscars, the most famous film award in America is the Golden Globe Award. But the Golden Globe is a well-known award that can be bought. Less than a hundred judges decide the winner. This has happened many times before.

  Don’t these female celebrities know that winning the Golden Globe Award is not recognition from the industry, nor will it make their peers admire them? Of course not, they knew it clearly.

  But after all, this is an award at a nationally broadcast awards ceremony, and those viewers don't know that. Therefore, you can see that at the Golden Globe Awards, those celebrities who won the award, especially female celebrities, were often so excited that they were hysterical and could not even speak well in their acceptance speeches.

  There are also those who are waiting for the winners to be announced, nervously drinking one cocktail after another, and finally getting on stage drunk.

  Not to mention the Oscars, in addition to wearing designer haute couture, they also have to work out in advance, diet for a few days in the end, and squeeze themselves into small-sized clothes. Ronald and Diane looked at each other and smiled, recalling the night when Diane won the Golden Globe Award.

  "Viewers, welcome to NBC, I am the host..." The two looked at each other sweetly, but were interrupted by the evening news on TV.

  The situation in Kuwait has reached a deadlock. Iraq officially announced its annexation of Kuwait, which was very rare under the post-war United Nations order. UN Secretary-General de Cuellar personally went to Baghdad to mediate, but without any results.

  The horrors caused by the war were shown in the Western media, and major TV stations were reporting on the refugees. There are many Indian, Filipino, and Palestinian workers in Kuwait. In the past few weeks, hundreds of thousands of foreigners working in Kuwait have fled overland to Jordan.

  People in Europe and the United States are generally very sad when they see this tragic situation on TV and demand the government to take measures. In response to the call of the people, Mr. Eighty Percent, the commander-in-chief, Mr. George, personally went to Helsinki, Finland, where he held a summit with the commander-in-chief of the Soviet Union, Mr. Mikhail, to discuss the situation.

  Yes, now the top leader of the alliance is no longer called the Secretary-General, but is called the Commander-in-Chief. In March of this year, the Supreme Suvel passed an amendment, and the alliance officially adopted the grand commander system. Mikhail has already taken office as the first grand commander of the alliance.

  高峰会晤之后，两国大统领联合发表了声明，声称伊拉克必须按照联合国安理会第660、661、662、664和665号决议撤离科威特。

  Ronald looked at Old George's high-spirited look and sighed. The world was changing so fast. The two hegemonic countries actually united to issue a statement asking the regional hegemons to get out of Kuwait...

  "Tom Fogarty, a member of the popular rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, died in hospital today. He died of... viral syndrome," his manager said in a statement. When I had back surgery in the [-]s, I got infected from the blood transfusion..."

  A picture of a hippie-looking man appeared on the television, and the station played their most famous song, "Who Can Make the Rain Stop."

  Then, the TV station also went to interview Tom Fogarty’s brother, John. Because his brother Tom betrayed him, John conspired with producer Saul Zaenz to sell the copyright of the CCR band's songs to the Jewish producer.

  As a result, the songwriter and the soul of the CCR band, John Fogarty, made tens of millions of dollars and was defrauded by Saul Zaenz. Now even John Fogerty has to pay royalties to Zaenz if he wants to sing his own songs.

  The network added an image to John Fogerty's phone voice. Ronald recognized this as the uncle who had taught him how to play guitar in a San Francisco bar.

  "I have forgiven Tom for his betrayal of me and CCR. But now I can no longer reconcile with him, and I can no longer chat with him face to face."

  "Hey..." Ronald saw Saul Zaenz's face on the TV again. This guy is a powerful person.

  He not only defrauded CCR of all the money it earned by relying on its popularity that was comparable to that of the Beatles in the [-]s. He also moved to Hollywood, where he became a producer and produced two Oscar-winning films, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in [-] and Mozart in [-].

  Looking at Saul Zaenz, who looks like a philosopher with a white beard on the TV, no one would have imagined that he is a ruthless man who will do anything to deceive and kidnap, but everyone must still respect him. Although I don't often make movies in Hollywood, my shots are high-quality.

  "Do you still hate Saul Zaenz?" The TV host also took the opportunity to ask the question, which must have high ratings.

  "Hey, look at the current advertising. They abuse the copyright of CCR songs, gas stations, candies, and Saul Zaenz doesn't choose. It's too overwhelming. I'm very sad." John Fogerty is still He is very upset about the misuse of his songs.

  “I remember the rain kept falling;

  Mysterious clouds pour over the ground.”

  Coincidentally, right after the news, the TV station released an advertisement that abused CCR. The song "Who Can Make the Rain Stop" is paired with an advertisement for rainproof paint.

  "Pfft..." Ronald couldn't help laughing, maybe Saul Zaenz, a Jew, was deliberately disgusting John Fogarty.

  "John, I'm sorry for your loss...I want to help you stop the abuse of CCR classic songs, Ronald Lee, who was taught guitar chords by you"

  Ronald quickly wrote a letter and asked Richard to find a way to bring it to the rock star the next day.

  Soon, John Fogarty called him. “Ronald, hey boy, I love your movies.”

  "I like your song, we're even."

  "Ahahahaha..."

  Although this John Fogerty supported the Donkey Party and mocked the former commander-in-chief, Ronald Sr., some of his actions were actually more in favor of the values ​​of the Elephant Party.

  For example, he doesn't like extravagance, wears a plaid shirt all year round, is enthusiastic, and doesn't have a big temper.

  Another example is that when he was in the band, he prohibited any team member from drinking during rehearsals, let alone illegal drugs. And he was very serious when rehearsing, and he was very strict with his brother Tom and other team members.

  This is also an important reason why the other three team members betrayed him and fell in favor of the unscrupulous Jew Saul Zaenz.

  John Fogerty was quite emotional when he saw that the kid he was playing with in the bar was now a successful director in Hollywood. He asked Ronald how he planned to help him.

  Ronald said that this matter must be taken slowly, and the confusing property rights issues must be clarified first to see how much leverage Saul Zaenz, a liar, has in his hands. Then think of ways to help John Fogarty's situation, speak out in the media, and gain the sympathy of fans...

  "Whether this happens or not, I am very grateful to you..." John Fogerty was moved.

  "I'm a fan of yours too, Mr. Fogerty. That rainproof paint commercial was really terrible. I can't stand that my favorite CCR song is being abused like this. I think there must be many fans who feel the same way as me. .”

  I hung up the phone with a smile. CCR's songs are all classics. And many teenagers at that time grew up listening to their songs and those of the Beatles. If we can form a good relationship and use his songs in future movies, that would be convenient.

  It is also said that the Jews have a special philosophy of doing business. Although CCR's songs were sold to many advertisers at a low price by Saul Zaenz, it is not easy to hear CCR's interludes in Hollywood movies.

  This old liar is very careful about using his peers. Often they reject the offer without even looking at it.

  ……

  Ronald brought a copy of "Silence of the Lambs" and Jonathan Demme, and the first person he came to meet was the president of Orion, the original executive producer of the film, and now the vice president of TriStar Pictures, Mike Mai Davoi.

  "I said, Lao Mai, you can't go out on the road like this." Ronald spoke in the Xujiahui dialect in his office. Medavoy insisted that he was unable to help.

  "I know, I know, but the internal fighting in Colombia is very fierce now. I just came here and I don't have much leverage..." Medavoy explained to Ronald with a smile.

  Peter Guber has a strong desire for power. He and Frank Price, the president of Columbia and also recommended by Ronald, were squeezed into the small place of TriStar Pictures. There was no room for them to interfere in Colombia's affairs.

  "Didn't I bring you the capital to make a comeback? You also watched The Silence of the Lambs. This level is not achieved every year." Ronald also replied with a smile.

  It was fair to say that Frank Price, an honest man, was being bullied. He didn't believe it, but a Jew like Medavoy, who used a hot knife to cut butter and had both sides polished, didn't believe it.

  "You promised Jonathan to give you the greatest support back then. Although it was not your fault that things ended later, but there is a chance for you to repair your damaged reputation. What's wrong with that?" Ronald pulled up Jonathan Demi. The banner speaks for itself.

  "It's not that I'm unwilling, but now all I can mobilize is the distribution power of Samsung Pictures. Our resources are limited. If you are willing to come to Samsung Pictures to distribute this film, of course I am very willing."

  "Okay, tell me a number." Ronald leaned forward slightly, waiting for Mike Medavoy to bid.

  "I'll arrange it after the summer vacation next year..."

  "Forget it, let's go find Mr. Eisner from Disney..." Ronald stood up and was about to leave.

  After the summer vacation is over, it is the biggest garbage period of the year. When Medavoy said this, he was completely insincere.

  "I'm sincere, but the schedule of Tristar Pictures is really not good. The best schedules are all in the hands of the Columbia label. We only have one schedule after the summer and a period after the New Year holiday, with four movies Schedule."

  Mike Medavoy also wants to rely on this movie to make a comeback and establish his own team in Colombia. But the cards in hand are indeed limited now. Peter Guber is a man who is very good at wielding power. He has taken precautions long ago and did not give any chance to the two potential competitors of TriStar Pictures.

  Samsung Pictures only gets two off-season slots throughout the year. If Samsung Pictures' distribution results are not good, KPIs can be used to restrict the two of them. If the box office is good...hey, how much better can those two broken schedules be?
  But Mike Medavoy is not an ordinary person. Under such difficult circumstances, he still managed to get several potential works. One is a biopic of Jim Morrison, the soul of The Doors, starring Val Kilmer and Meg Ryan. The other movie is also a comic book adaptation, "The Punisher" that follows Batman.

  The "Silence of the Lambs" brought by Ronald is certainly of better quality than these two films. In his opinion, there is still potential for winning prizes. If it is placed in a period after the New Year holiday, although the box office will be better than the worst period after the summer period, the potential for winning prizes will be limited.

  "How many theaters can you give me?" Ronald said that he was bluffing when he went to Disney's Eisner. Because Disney’s internal integration is good, next year’s movies have already been allocated. If Ronald wants to stab him, he can show off his face. However, the number of theaters obtained and the marketing promotion will definitely not give it the best treatment.

  If it's only showing in [-] to [-] theaters, it might as well be daydreaming about it.

  "There are about [-] theaters..." Mike Medavoy said that this number of theaters will probably be available in the second half of the year.

  "That's too bad. I'd rather choose the first half of next year." Ronald heard that TriStar Pictures was going to release four movies in the first half of the year, and he knew that most of the resources that Medavoy had in hand would be in the first half of the year. The post-New Year period of the month.

  "If you are willing to come, I can gather more than [-] families."

  Mike Medavoy gritted his teeth and decided to rush out the "Los Angeles Story" movie in the second half of the year.

  "Fifteen hundred, plus some theaters that I can handle myself, together we can probably do more than [-]..." Ronald felt that we could still squeeze out some resources, "In addition, you originally How about the public relations resources prepared in Orion?"

  "That's it..." Mike Medavoy was very tight in Orion and had no budget. Although Samsung Pictures was suppressed, the Japanese people still had enough money and accumulated resources.

  Having finalized the release of "Silence of the Lambs," Daydream breathed a sigh of relief.

  There is still a lot of pressure for a small company to release two medium-production films in a row. It just so happens that the second part can be done with professionals from Samsung Pictures, and I can learn a lot of experience.

  Therefore, Daydream began to go all out to prepare for the release of "Dances with Wolves".

  Many employees in the distribution department packed up their luggage and went to theaters across the country, state by state, to finalize exhibition contracts, just like they did in the pioneering days of Hollywood.

  (End of this chapter)