Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

"Isn't his income from The Godfather III not enough?" Diane also knew about some of Coppola's bad debts, including the unpaid bills from the filming of "The Godfather."

"His Apocalypse Now and Old Love and New Love were all invested with his own money, which really hurt the finances too much. In The Godfather Part III, he could only get the director and screenwriter's salary, plus some, you know... ...Income." Ronald admired Coppola's courage. If he had invested all the money, he would have done some small production at most.

"Hey, if it weren't for him..." Diane sighed all of a sudden.

Ronald knew what Diane meant. Although Diane made three Coppola movies in a row and did not become popular, the favor was quite big. He quickly said: "It's not that I won't help. I'm helping him contact the investment and distribution of the new film. Coppola's performance fluctuates too much. I can't afford to invest alone..."

The once most powerful director in Hollywood is now in dire straits. Ronald can only help if he can. Not many people are optimistic about his new film. The subject matter is too fantasy. In the past few years, movies with this classic horror theme have been box-office hits continuously. I failed a lot.

Fortunately, the president of Columbia whom Ronald found, Frank Price, was also a classical producer. After he read the early script, he saw that Coppola was directing it, so he was very interested.

But Coppola's reputation is no longer enough to support the financing of a large-investment movie. So Frank Price forced him to find a popular star to star, otherwise he would not invest.

Of course, Ronald said some nice words to his face, but behind the scenes, Frank Price insisted on supervision. Coppola can only produce high-quality films when he is under heavy pressure and supervision from producers in aspects such as production and casting, but is given full creative freedom.

……

It’s the third Monday in February, and this weekend is Grand Commander’s Day, a federal holiday established to commemorate all the Grand Commanders in history. The opening weekend of "Silence of the Lambs" coincided with this schedule, and it performed well and took in 14 million at the box office. If converted to a normal weekend, it would be about 10 million.

For a thriller that was shown in 1,500 theaters, this is a very good opening result. The equivalent of a normal single-library score would be over nine thousand US dollars.

Although there are still sporadic protests from sexual minority groups in various places, it has had a certain impact on the box office. But the quality of The Silence of the Lambs is very good, and the word-of-mouth effect is very obvious. Sunday's box office exceeded Saturday's. Despite the impact of the T&T weekend, this result still makes the distributor, Samsung Pictures, very happy.

At the same time, director Jonathan Demme and the two leading actors went to Berlin to participate in the first international film festival after the merger of Germany and Germany. East Germany formally merged with West Germany last October, and the first post-unification election was held in December. Former Prime Minister Cole received a higher vote share and became the first democratically elected Prime Minister to take office since 1933.

This Berlin Film Festival was very grand, and the breadth and number of participating films also set a record. One potential reason is that the new parliament will discuss whether to move the capital from Bonn back to Berlin. After all, the temporary capital of West Germany has existed in Bonn for many years. Whether it is necessary in Dublin is still waiting for a parliamentary vote in the summer.

Therefore, the Berlin government really wants to increase the momentum and add some influence to the vote. Therefore, many Hollywood films were specially invited to participate, and quotas for a large number of Eastern European films were also increased, as well as films that tried to introduce Arab culture, in an attempt to create an image of Germany returning to the European family and leading the reconciliation between the United States, Europe and Afghanistan.

However, things are unpredictable, and this large-scale expansion backfired.

A large number of Eastern European countries did not say anything after seeing East Germany merge into West Germany. Therefore, they all clearly felt that the alliance's control was rapidly weakening. Although the alliance army's cluster in East Germany has not yet withdrawn from the country, it is still stationed in Germany. But people in these countries in Eastern Europe have become impatient and are ready to take action.

Wherever artists are, they are the most pioneering group of people. Filmmakers from these countries have ignored the original government quota controls and sent their films directly to Western European film festivals without domestic selection.

In the eyes of these people, the artistic standards of the French and Italians in movies are obviously much higher than those of the Germans. So the ones they choose to send are Cannes Film Festival and Venice Film Festival. Only two poor films from the entire Eastern Europe were sent to the Berlin Film Festival for competition.

This caught the organizing committee off guard, and they urgently contacted Ronald and included "Dances with Wolves", which was originally sent for the screening, into the main competition unit.

At this time, there are five Hollywood films participating in the main competition, and seven films are participating in the investment. This caused extreme dissatisfaction among European participating filmmakers, who threatened to boycott the Berlin Film Festival. The organizing committee was so worried that they greeted Ronald again and said that it seemed that the Golden Bear Award would not be awarded to Hollywood movies.

This made Ronald scold the Caotai team. The Germans who claim to be rigorous are really not very good at art.

This made Ronald no longer interested in going to Berlin during the award ceremony. He called Jonathan Demi directly and said that he had other matters and entrusted him with all matters in Berlin.

Demi also regretted that Ronald could not go. He said that he met a group of filmmakers who represented Hong Kong in the competition. They sent a film "The Great Eunuch Li Lianying". Many mainland actors said they wanted to see Hollywood's special treatment of China. Friendly legendary director Luo. There was also a leading actor who talked a lot about Director Luo and Bo Yuntian, and even brought him some poria cakes, a delicacy from the capital. Fortunately, this delicacy won't go bad and can wait for Demi to bring it back.

……

The other things Ronald said were clips of "other people's money." After taking a break, he officially started the editing work. After only a few days of cutting, I encountered a difficult problem.

When filming the shareholders' meeting, a young actor sitting below was stealing the scene and he asked him to leave the filming scene. The actor, William de Acutis, died suddenly.

"Again...complications caused by the virus?" Ronald clicked his tongue. The person who came to discuss with him was a male staff member of the Hollywood Makeup Artists Guild, hoping that he could write a few eulogies for William de Acutis.

This actor does not have any masterpieces. Apart from playing a supporting role in the movie this time, he only played a supporting role in "Love You for Nine and a Half Weeks" a few years ago and has also written some scripts.

"No wonder he stole the scene on the set..." Ronald is most annoyed by people who think that they know how to film better than the director because they have written a few scripts that no one wants.

"What, are you dissatisfied with our group of people?" The visitor looked displeased and asked Ronald directly what he thought of sexual minorities. If he is satisfied, he should inform his comrades in the industry and spread the word.

Among the makeup artists in Hollywood, there are indeed many people with different orientations. Ronald is currently suffering from their attack on Silence of the Lambs and doesn't want any more trouble.

"Everyone in Hollywood knows that I have great respect for you minority groups and have no discrimination at all. In fact, I have worked with many of them."

Ronald quickly lit a cigarette for this somewhat "enchanting" staff member, and then said, "Have you seen Boy Longwei?"

"I've seen it." The other party took the cigarette, lit it on Ronald's lighter, and took a deep breath. This kind of treatment from a famous director still made people feel good. He sat back down relaxedly.

"Then you know James Crabbe, right? The director of photography, he is also..., I worked with him on two Longway Boys, but because of his unfortunate death, I finally found someone else to direct the third one. Hey, he is really a Great partner and a great person.”

"Oh, my God, I know James's... male partner. He is a really good person. He also introduced me to work. It turns out that you didn't direct the third part because of his sudden death. No wonder you didn't direct the third part. The standard of the third part is much lower than the first two.”     “Hey, who says it’s not the case? We added a separate subtitle to pay tribute to him at the beginning of the third part.” Ronald smiled and poured him another glass of whiskey. .

"Guess what? I have an idea. We could add a tribute to Willem de Acutis. You know, movies are being released on video tapes now, so the image of your friend will be available forever. It stays in the minds of the audience.”

"Oh, you are really, I... I didn't expect you to be so kind to a minority group like us... You are such a good person." The other party pretended to hug Ronald.

"Hey, hey, don't do it." Ronald yelled in his heart, then indicated that the big table between the two of them was inconvenient, and gave up hugging him. "If you need anything else about his funeral, just ask."

"I have nothing more to say. Your proposal is more important than writing a few eulogies for him. On behalf of all of us in Hollywood, I would like to thank you for your understanding of our group. Alas..."

This man was easily agitated, and when he got to the emotional point, he shed several tears.

"By the way, I actually don't know much about you. Zhou Tianna was interviewed recently. Is what she said true?"

Seeing that the other party was in a good mood, Ronald simply asked him what he thought of Zhou Tina's public relations.

"This Bichi, who doesn't know her in the circle, is here to take advantage of our tragedy, hey..." The staff told Ronald the opinions of their circle.

It is true that Zhou Tianna is heterosexual, but the Chinese guy she cheated on is a man of both genders. So what she did was tantamount to putting the tragic experience of their minority group on the head of a heterosexual herself.

Now their groups are trying their best to use this virus to gain sympathy and become a group of people who are not discriminated against. This woman came to interfere, but the attitude towards her in the circle was not good.

"Is that so?" Ronald heard a lot of inside stories about minority groups that he couldn't possibly know. These people are miserable. Recently, many people with their orientation have died in the Hollywood circle. It's all the sequelae caused by the virus. . Because they were discriminated against, some family members of the deceased, in order to avoid being judged, changed the common causes of death from viral complications to some normal diseases.

People within these groups unite to turn bad things into good things, and use the sympathy of the people to gain general sympathy in society and assert their equal status.

Therefore, they actually don't like interviews like Zhou Tianna's telling that even a heterosexual person can be infected.

"I want to express my sincere condolences to you. I don't know where I can donate?" Ronald thought. Although this group of people were pushed in the front row by the Jews, they were not their dogs. The Jews can use it, why can’t I?

"Oh, you are so kind. We are so happy to have a friend like you. If you want to do something kind for our community, Elizabeth Taylor is the best. She really loves us. These people are the same as you...hey..."

"Hey, how could I have forgotten her?" Ronald yelled at this. He was a very high-profile supporter of minority groups and comfort to those infected with the virus.

Elizabeth Taylor's close friend in the industry, the male star Rock Hudson, died of illness in 1985. He was actually the first celebrity to die from this disease that Americans witnessed.

Therefore, Yupo also co-founded a foundation specializing in virus research. Many fundraisers have been held in the past.

Ronald sent away the union members and immediately contacted Elizabeth Taylor by phone and expressed his intention to donate 100,000 yuan to her foundation.

Ms. Taylor wanted to continue holding fundraisers because of Zhou Tina's incident to arouse society's attention. The previous commander-in-chief had low scientific literacy and was indifferent to this. The current commander-in-chief has complied with public opinion and instructed Dr. Fucci from the National Institute of Allergy to take charge of federally funded virus research projects.

Ronald's donation made her very happy, and Taylor also asked Ronald to continue to donate some props from the movie and sell them at auction, and the proceeds will continue to support research.

"That's no problem, but I have a small request. I wonder if Ms. Taylor can condescend to pass a message for me." Ronald immediately pleaded.

"What are you talking about? Just say it." Elizabeth Taylor still liked Ronald quite a lot.

"I would like to tell the minority groups that our Silence of the Lambs is indeed not directed at them. On the contrary, among our main creative staff, there are people with the same orientation as them. For sensitive reasons, I cannot say more. "

"Ha, you are really a gentleman. I know a lot about female stars who like women." Elizabeth Taylor did not expose it. She promised to spread the word and reassured Ronald that she would publicize it well.

"Ha..." Ronald was very happy that the difficult problem was solved. He looked at the wine glasses and ashtrays on the table, and then called the assistant, "Please ask the cleaning staff to clean it up."

"These cups must be thoroughly disinfected." Ronald looked at the black cleaning lady with a disgusted expression on her face. "Forget it, just throw it away. Go and help me replace some identical cups and ashtrays."

……

Elizabeth Taylor's message worked well, and Silence of the Lambs has not been subject to further protests since. It has to be said that those minority groups still have a clear distinction between love and hate.

Ronald showed kindness to them, gave them face and donated money, which was noticed by them, and they even specially organized people to come over to support the screening of Silence of the Lambs. It was like rectifying Ronald's name in their small circle. He was one of their own.

"Inspector Claire, when are you going to see The Silence of the Lambs? Our marketing department has prepared a special press conference and will introduce you to the audience as the prototype of Starling in the movie."

It's the weekend again, and Ronald is very happy to see that the box office of "Silence of the Lambs" has dropped very little. However, the FBI's Detective Claire did not come to Los Angeles to participate in the promotion. Originally, Daydream had followed the "working girl" marketing strategy and found female detective officers from various places to support the film, telling the story that women can also work in male-dominated industries. Made achievements in the disciplinary department.

"I'm a little busy with my case and I don't have time to go there recently. Please forgive me." Detective Claire's voice sounded a little tired. The serial killer who committed crimes in Michigan and Wisconsin may appear in Milwaukee recently to commit new crimes. The FBI has to rush there to form a joint case investigation team with local forces. This case has now spanned three states. If the criminal cannot be caught soon, it will become a real version of Buffalo Bill.

The actions of this serial killer were also very horrific. Not only did he punch holes in the victims' brains and pour hydrochloric acid into them, but there were also signs of cannibalism at some crime scenes, which was like Hannibal's actions.

Although Silence of the Lambs is scary, if such a serial killer appeared in real life, it would be a hundred times scarier than the movie.