Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1332 Eastern Hints
"Tell me, why would Oliver Stone make a movie about the assassination of JFK? I worked for President Lyndon Johnson, and he was the smartest man I ever knew. Stone's movie is a complete shady scam. I don't know why they would insult a president who was probably the most influential leader."

MPAA Chairman Jack Valenti was very happy to see Ronald visiting, and he took out brandy and smuggled Cuban cigars to share with him. He and Ronald had been to the other side of the Pacific Ocean together, and he had a good impression of this young man. So he did not hesitate to complain to him about the movie "JFK".

"Don't ask me, this is invested by the Chinese and released by Warner Bros. I don't know why they released such a movie, but obviously many people will believe some conspiracy theories about the assassination of JFK after watching it."

Ronald took the opportunity to say a few bad things about Warner Bros. Jack Valenti has been in this position for more than 13 years. During his tenure, Hollywood implemented the rating system and added PG-. Many studios rely on the MPAA's rating system, so he has great power.

In addition, before working in Hollywood, Valenti was actually Lyndon Johnson's press officer. The portrayal of Johnson, who was then deputy president, in the assassination of JFK was derogatory, which made his former aide very dissatisfied. It has been almost a year, and he still talks about it to everyone he meets.

"Forgive an old man's nagging, Ronald. I owe my achievements today to Lyndon Johnson. I would not be able to live with myself if I stood by and let a film producer tarnish his memory." Jack Valenti laughed at himself, "You are great. I see the spirit of old Hollywood in you. Nowadays, those people can't make a movie without cursing America. John Ford went to Midway Island in person to shoot a documentary... Forget it, I'm nagging again. What do you want to talk to me about today?"

"You mentioned old Hollywood. I'm here to restore some of the old Hollywood style..." Ronald pretended to be mysterious and handed him the copy of the instruction. "Back then, you could watch new Hollywood movies at the Grand Theater on the Bund. Gone with the Wind was released only a week later than in mainland China..."

"You mean?" Jack Valenti couldn't read Chinese, but he could tell it was Chinese. He also understood Ronald's hint of the possibility of opening up the market on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean, and his voice became excited. If he could accomplish this, he would become the greatest chairman in the history of MPAA!

"Let's go over there..." Jack Valenti jumped up immediately after hearing Ronald's translation of the instructions and asked his secretary to book a plane ticket. "Pack your suitcases and let's go!"

"Just take my plane. Just stop over in Hawaii..." Ronald laughed. With this expert in government negotiations on board, this trip seemed to be fruitful.

……

"I'm still not satisfied with the setting in the script that Mitch's boss, played by Tom Cruise, is a woman. Meryl Streep will weaken the emotional intensity between Tom and his wife. Let the audience mistakenly believe that Mitch and his female boss have emotions beyond the work relationship. The betrayal and understanding between Mitch and his wife in this script is the focus of many female audiences. Don't let her dilute this point."

"But Meryl Streep will add to the realism of the film. Her acting skills are impeccable. Besides, female audiences might like to see Tom please women on the screen?" Paula Wagner discussed the script setting of "Sugar Coated Trap" with Ronald on the plane.

It was Tom Cruise who took the initiative to propose the idea of ​​creating a female lead role and inviting Meryl Streep to star in it, and Paula also had to defend his idea.

"Let me talk to Tom..." Ronald motioned for her to connect to Tom Cruise.

"Tom, I want to replace Streep. Think of a male actor you want to work with..."

"Why? I like Merrill's movies..." Tom Cruise was stunned for a moment and objected.

"I like Merrill as an actor, but haven't you had enough of working with Dustin Hoffman and Paul Newman and winning them Best Actor awards?"

"Uh... you're right, let me think..." Tom Cruise was speechless. Sometimes being evenly matched is not the best screen partner, only when one party is good at playing the supporting role can the main character's acting skills be magnified...

"Think about it slowly and tell me when I come back from there."

Ronald put down the phone. Tom Cruise's acting skills are actually pretty good. After so many years of training and working with many famous directors, he has his moments of enlightenment. But compared to a talented and well-trained actress like Meryl Streep, there is still a visible gap.

If you want to get nominated, don't play against these acting masters. The slightest bit of incompatibility will be magnified by the camera. It's okay to play against Jack Nicholson in a drama like "A Few Good Men", and Nicholson didn't use his full strength. But this "Sugar Coat Trap" has a lot of highlights for the protagonist Mitch, and it would be best to find a suitable supporting actor to set off Cruise's acting progress in recent years.

Of course, in addition to being his boss, playing his wife is also a good job. Not to mention that it will definitely be remembered, just acting with a handsome guy is also a rare benefit.

Needless to say, Ronald also received countless recommendation calls, but he had already put them aside temporarily due to important matters, and everything would wait until he came back.

……

"They only agreed to export a single film to China Film Group and sign a purchase agreement... But this is also a huge progress... We still haven't achieved our goal of sharing the profits..."

Three days later, Ronald and Jack Valenti arrived at the Grand Cinema near the Bund, where Huang's dubbed version of "Hi, Frank" would premiere.

Of course, there is no "premiere" in the Hollywood sense, it's just that this was once the largest cinema in the Far East and opened half an hour earlier than other places. This year, China Film also learned from the spirit and encouraged the audience to pay attention to the movie stars of the new era. Many stars from the Xujiahui Film Studio and other film studios in history were brought out and a star wall was built in Daguangming to introduce the stars who once had a glorious life.

Here, the word "star" must be put in quotation marks. But even so, it was the first time that movie fans heard the term "star" again after many years.

"Don't lose heart. When it comes to opening up international markets, what matters is not speed, but a trend. We have already opened the window. Next time we come, maybe we can open the door a crack..." Jack Valenti is a cunning old man. During his tenure, he opened up the film market in the United States and signed a contract for the screening of Hollywood films. A few years later, in the commercial film market in the United States, Hollywood films have the highest share of imported films.

"Yeah, maybe in a few years, we can sign a profit-sharing agreement with them..." Ronald touched his chin. Deputy Director Fei, who was in charge of this matter yesterday, talked about the great significance of film cooperation between China and the United States at the dinner, and characterized the "Hi Frank" produced by Ronald from the perspective of bilateral relations and friendship between the two peoples.

Ronald was a little skeptical when he heard that such specifications and characterizations were all due to the instructions of the leaders. It seemed that there was a deeper meaning behind it. After drinking two glasses of wine, Deputy Director Fei mentioned intentionally or unintentionally that this was a beneficial attempt by the two countries under the framework of economic and trade cooperation, which was in line with the overall trend of bilateral relations.

"Ha, you are more optimistic than I am. Let me tell you something. Before I came here, I talked with NBA President David Stern. In order to expand the market, they sent game tapes to their TV stations for free in 1986. Later, he came here in person to seek cooperation. He said that all the tapes were free, and the TV station even made him wait in the cold wind for two hours.

In comparison, we were able to have a banquet to welcome them, and a deputy director-level person to see us off, which was already a great respect for barbarians like us. Everything has to be done slowly..."

Jack Valenti had sent copies of films to the Union and East Germany in his early years, and he certainly felt that it would take decades to develop this market.

"No, you guys don't understand the subtle and subtle emotional expressions of Oriental people..." Ronald smiled. He was deeply touched by the subtle style of Oriental people. The setter of the women's volleyball team, who is now a sports official, was invited to the farewell dinner to accompany Ronald, the foreign friend who invited them to have Chinese food in Los Angeles. This was a special arrangement. Was there any special hint hidden in it?
In the end, "Hi Frank" was recognized as a Sino-US co-production, but there was no arrangement for profit-sharing. Only China Film Corporation gave him a fixed fee that far exceeded that of imported Hollywood films in the past. This was already a very special arrangement.

Moreover, the fact that this film was able to be released in its entirety without any additional editing is definitely not about the Vietnam War veteran’s house being demolished by a real estate developer, a plot that reflects the dark side of America can be fully explained.

The last time his "Breakdance" was introduced, there was actually a deep background of cooperation between China and the United States behind it. What is their subtext this time?
Ah, the Orientals even promote the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries through the visit of the table tennis team. As a film director like me, I really don’t understand what the meaning behind this is…

……

Ronald, who couldn't figure it out, let it go for the time being. He asked a special plane to send Jack Valenti back first, and he strolled to Hong Kong to visit his old friend.

Jackie Chan was in Hong Kong, and he wanted to take Ronald to eat some Hong Kong specialties. But it was not convenient because Jackie would be watched by others when he went out. So he could only bring some to the Peninsula Hotel to share with Ronald.

Finally, Ronald, who still wanted to see the true face of Hong Kong, asked Xiao Qiu from Era International, who came to him on his own initiative, to be his guide. He took him to eat some roast goose and other dishes from ordinary shops, and they feasted on them.

"My uncle said that tomorrow, I will ask Director Zhu from Septwolves to come and apologize for your crime..." Xiao Qiu saw that Ronald was in a good mood, so he told him the main purpose of his visit. He had been in Hollywood for a long time and knew Ronald's power there. Jackie Chan, the top star of Hong Kong movies, also respected him so much. He knew that he had to resolve this knot, so he urged Director Zhu to fly over overnight and apologize sincerely.

"Forget it, I don't even want to talk about this." Ronald felt sick when he thought of Director Zhu who had plagiarized his and Diane's works into a messy hodgepodge.

Ronald also went to Lan Kwai Fong, a place frequented by foreigners, and listened to a rock band's concert, which was surprisingly good. After the show, he ate some street food arranged by Xiao Qiu, and thoroughly experienced the entertainment that foreigners could enjoy in Hong Kong at that time.

It had been a long time since I had acted alone like an ordinary person. Ronald felt very good and slept until noon the next day.

"Who are you? Why are you standing at my door?" Ronald, who was about to go out for some morning tea, opened the door of the hotel room and saw a simple middle-aged man standing outside respectfully. He had a simple and honest face and a slightly crooked mouth. If you weren't careful, you would mistake him for a porter.

"Hello, Director Luo, I am the sinner Zhu Yanping, please forgive me." After saying this, he who called himself Director Zhu bowed deeply, with his whole body at a 90-degree angle.

"Hi..." Ronald pulled him in when he saw this. It seemed that this man was very good at the art of apologizing.

"Director Luo, we commercial film directors have it hard. You can forgive me because you are a generous person. My sins are still not redeemable. We don't have professional screenwriters, and we don't have many movies to watch. I grew up watching your movies... No, I learned... I studied your movie tapes as if they were the Bible. I have watched some of them over and over again, and they are worn out and covered with snowflakes..."

Well, he bowed and apologized, and now he treated Ronald, a younger director than himself, as his mentor and worshipped him. Ronald felt embarrassed. If he didn't forgive him, it seemed like he was bullying this hard-working director.

"I also know a few of your directors. I invested in Ang Lee's movie, and he will be filming my next movie. It's not as exaggerated as you say..." Ronald was still angry. Besides, this kind of gesture was not a difficult performance for the director.

“You have no idea how much we envy Ang Lee at the Golden Horse Awards.

Let me tell you, the movies we have now are either made with investment from foreign countries and shown to Europeans, and the profits are in francs and marks...

Or they would invest in Hong Kong and then distribute it in theaters there. Now it is so exaggerated that you can get advance payment before the camera is even turned on and the film is not exposed.

We were the poor local commercial film directors, with no one. The photography, lighting, makeup, and props were all used to shoot those movies. These two films, Seven Wolves, were made by me alone...

Can you please forgive me, sir? Please leave a way for our local commercial films to survive..."

As he said this, Director Zhu was about to stand up and bow again.

Ronald was helpless against his unreasonable demands. It was impossible for him to make him pay compensation through a transnational lawsuit anyway, so he had to reluctantly agree to forgive his plagiarism.

"But I have a condition. You can't copy my movies in the future. My company is called Daydream, remember that. I have no control over other companies, like Warner Bros..." Ronald began to imitate Deputy Director Fei's Eastern-style hints.

"Yes, yes. I will never plagiarize you. If I want to plagiarize, I will plagiarize Warner Bros...."

"It seems you understand," Ronald said, and drove away the unreasonable Director Zhu who wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to get him to invest. How come these Orientals understood this hint so quickly? It seems that Deputy Director Fei really had a hint...

Director Zhu is really shameless. Alas, in this kind of market, perhaps only such shameless guys can survive and keep some sparks for commercial films there.

(End of this chapter)