Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1339 The Boy Who Comes Back

The next morning, very early in the morning, Ronald's own TV station sent two reporters over, and NBC sent a broadcast vehicle to do live coverage together with Ronald's TV station for the first time.

After waiting for a long time, it was almost lunchtime. Ronald thought that the candidate and his wife would just go to the city hall like ordinary politicians to show off. At this time, a minibus drove into the workers' community of the lightning lamp factory, and the smiling, fat and white candidate actually got out to greet them.

"The President's candidate and his wife are campaigning outdoors. He's greeting everyone at every door and distributing his campaign videotapes..." Ronald's chubby host Richie Lake took the microphone and began to introduce the situation on the scene.

Ronald, his driver Little Bud, and his bodyguard Daniel were on the roof of Ronald's aunt's house, looking at the houses in their factory workers' community in the distance through high-powered binoculars.

"Shxt, he actually shook hands with black people..."

Little Bud cursed out loud in shock. The camera was still on Richie Lake, but who knew that in a split second, the candidate had already shaken hands with a black kid.

"What's your name, boy?"

"My name is Jamal Washington."

"Dxme, that's my sister's child, Dxme... I didn't expect that my nephew could shake hands with the future president of America..."

Little Bud was shocked again, and kept yelling and cursing to vent his excitement. He even danced with joy. If it weren't for the fact that he had to take a long detour and was too far away, he would have run over to take a photo with the candidate and his wife.

"We'll have to wait until he's elected..." Ronald also watched intently with his telescope. He had been through many elections, but he had never seen a candidate who actually went to the working class community and interacted with the people face to face.

"How do you feel about being the president?" Little Jamal got so excited that he asked the wrong question.

"Hahaha..." This well-intentioned mistake, of course, caused a burst of laughter from everyone, especially his wife, who was wearing a red dress and had an outdated bangs hairstyle like that of a southern housewife. She was so happy that she couldn't stop laughing.

"I don't know, I haven't won yet, but I hope to have a chance to feel good..."

"Hehehe..." Little Bud's nephew could only smile foolishly. For many years, the black community had never seen such a leader who was so friendly to them from the bottom of his heart. It was the kind of friendship that was equal, the kind of friendship that was truly shown to friends, not the kind of "friendship" that only showed off by holding black children in front of the camera and then letting them go and running away when the camera was turned away.

"Will you tell others to vote for me?" The candidate immediately turned on the "little supporter" and made a request. Especially at this time, the camera was pointed at him and the microphone was extended to his face.

"Hehehe", little Jamal could only smile foolishly.

"Tell people you've seen me and I look good, okay?"

The candidate responded quickly and immediately ended the conversation with the silly kid who could only giggle with a sentence that made everyone feel good.

The candidate knocked on the door of each house, then walked through the mosquito-proof screen door and chatted with each family. Those people were also very relaxed, and told the candidate a lot of their expectations, hopes, and worries as if chatting about family matters.

The most frequently mentioned issue is the continued economic downturn since this year. Many people are worried that their wages will not keep up with inflation, and they are also worried that the unemployment problem that has already occurred in some areas will one day spread to Staten Island.

……

"I want you to send a message to this community, what kind of place do you want to live in, what kind of future do you want, just like in Back to the Future, what kind of leader would you like to live under?"

In the evening, Ronald watched with gusto the television broadcasts of the candidates' trip to Staten Island.

His TV station was marked with the NBC logo for the first time, and Richie Lake became the live news anchor for the first time after their TV program was syndicated and broadcast nationwide.

"This guy is really charming. He compared Old George to the villain Biff in Back to the Future, which made everyone laugh."

The person who spoke was the manager of the TV station, Ed Bastian. Today, he followed the TV crew's visit to Staten Island. This small island didn't have the power to broadcast live via satellite. He negotiated with NBC and reached this cooperation with them through the fact that David Letterman was leaving NBC.

After visiting several communities, the young candidate went to the town hall in the southern part of the island, where he gave a keynote speech to supporters. The entire program, after editing, lasted two and a half minutes, and the quality of the program was very good, as it was the first live broadcast of the program to be broadcast nationwide by their station.

Afterwards, CBS and ABC also called to express their desire for cooperation. In the future, they plan to use Ronald TV's broadcast signal for local news in remote areas outside Manhattan, New York. Their interview and camera capabilities are much better than other small local TV stations.

"Have you ever seen a politician like this before? My aunt said that even when Ronald Sr. was running for election, he never met and chatted with ordinary people on such a large scale. Only very lucky people would receive a reply postcard if they wrote to him."

Ronald was amazed. Is it really possible to drive a bus and tour the states like this? That would require superhuman energy and strong communication skills.

"Not really. I heard from someone on their team that the candidate couple actually traveled by plane. After arriving at the airport, they took a car to their destination, and then changed to a bus outside the community. Otherwise, even the strongest iron man couldn't withstand such a bus trip," explained Ed Bastian.

"That's also impressive... Not simple, not simple..." Ronald nodded repeatedly.

NBC's interview segment has ended, and next is their own longer version of the special program, which is specially broadcast in Staten Island and small towns in eastern and northern New York State. The candidates will start a bus tour in Saratoga Springs, Schenectady and other places tomorrow.

"What do you think of your husband, Mr. Candidate, communicating directly with the public?"

The camera turned to their team's minibus, where Richie Lake was sitting in his seat, opposite the candidate's wife facing the camera.

"It's not uncommon for people to talk to him and say things that they and no one else would say, and that was a lot of it when he was running for governor in Arkansas...

I think, at least in part, it’s because he’s not a seemingly perfect candidate. He has his own problems, so when he hears people’s problems, he won’t ignore them on purpose, nor will he say something nice in a condescending manner. He will really listen to where their problems are…”

When the candidate's wife talked about her husband, there was more admiration than love in her eyes.

"Mr. Donald Trump's candidate is now under fierce attack from the opposing team. He evaded military service during the Vietnam War, had extramarital affairs with multiple women, and was unfaithful to his wife. And he also had multiple law firms that abused their power to take care of his wife while he was governor of Arkansas..."

Rich Lake finally summarized the problems faced by the current candidates, but this did not seem to stop his rapid rise in polls.

From third place at the beginning of the year to Perot, who is now ranked highest in the polls, withdrew from the race, the election has become a traditional two-party game.

His performance today was so outstanding that Ronald was more inclined to help the candidate, who conveyed his request through Donna.

"What does NBC think about David's situation now?"

Ronald turned and asked Richard, saying that he and Ed Bastian had also been helping David Letterman find a new home during this period.

The show that was supposed to take over Johnny Carson's show has become hopeless because the president who was friendly with Ronald retired due to his son's accident. Jay Leno's agent is so powerful that he has openly interfered with the production and guest invitations of the Tonight Show.

Originally, the candidate and former governor wanted to appear on NBC's talk show again to show off his saxophone skills. After all, he was the governor of a remote small state in the south-central region. When a poll was conducted with his photo, less than 40% of the public could recognize him. Even lower than Tom Cruise's recognition rate.

The pleasant experience of playing the saxophone on a talk show last time made him want to do it again, but he was rejected by the new host Jay Leno of The Tonight Show. So he came to Ronald, hoping to get his wish again.

But Ronald knew that his influence on the Tonight Show was approaching zero as Johnny Carson slowly retired. Perhaps only David Letterman's Late Show could help.

"However, now that NBC knows that we are helping David find his next home, they still have the luxury of keeping David and not letting him go to other TV stations to compete in the competition, so now they are a bit obedient to his requests."

As soon as Ronald heard this, he knew what was going on. He just needed to convey through Donna that he had already made an agreement with David Letterman and go directly to him. David Letterman, who was trying to increase his bargaining chips by switching jobs, would not refuse the opportunity for this candidate to be on his show.

As for this matter itself, it is very sensitive right now, so it is better for me not to come forward to avoid leaving any handle behind.

"As the Donkey Party candidate's first thousand-mile campaign began in New York, New Hampshire, and other places, his support rate rose rapidly. It has surpassed the support of the incumbent president and is heading towards the high point previously reached by Perot... He is called the Comeback Kid."

In the following days, the candidate traveled to several states in the Northeast, constantly visiting various locations to communicate directly with the public. Such videos were broadcast on national television networks, and coupled with word-of-mouth spread by the people who had communicated with him, his support in the Northeast New England region grew rapidly and dramatically.

David Letterman was unusually serious, chatting with him in a proper manner on the show, and even invited him to play "Heartbreak Hotel" with a live band. The candidate with sunglasses was very stylish, and the band was as happy as if they were playing with a jazz master.

……

George Sr.'s campaign momentum was frustrated, and his campaign team began to find ways to release negative information about various Donald Trump Party candidates. I guess they are under a lot of pressure...

Ronald is under a lot of pressure...

The box office performance of "Ultimate Soldier" was very lackluster. With a production budget of 23 million, it was only shown in theaters for five weeks and earned a domestic box office of just over 30 million.

Although profitability is not a problem as long as overseas distribution and video revenue are included, this cannot be achieved this year. Overseas distribution and video revenue are both slowly recovering. This movie may become the biggest failure of Daydream Pictures this year.

The two leading actors have been working hard on and off the screen since last year, pretending to clash at press conferences and premieres. This exposure resulted in a surge in the number of moviegoers in the first weekend.

However, the problem is that not all the audiences are fans of science fiction and action movies. Some of them are fans of Jean-Claude Van Damme, and some are fans of Lundgren. As a result, the reputation of the film has dropped significantly after seeing that there are not many scenes of the two of them fighting in the film.

This type of film that combines science fiction with action, fighting and guns still has a strong appeal in overseas markets, but in China, the audience's taste has been spoiled by Cameron's Terminator 2.

The plot was well laid out, but at the climax, the Terminator-like battle that the audience expected did not happen. The audience was quite disappointed.

The films produced and directed by Ronald himself can maintain the quality and audience expectations through carefully polished scripts and the participation of big stars.

However, those medium-sized investment films dominated by Daydreams and created with exploitation film ideas are now facing a serious crisis.

Michelle Cannold and David Simkins were both sitting in Ronald's house for a serious meeting. The boss had just returned to Los Angeles and saw the unsatisfactory box office figures, so he had a serious expression during the meeting.

The basis of the daydream is this kind of fast-produced medium-sized production. If there is a large-scale box office slump, then either the number of productions or the production budget will be reduced, otherwise there will be a cash flow crisis.

Ronald told them very clearly that Daydream was not a production company like Orion that was dedicated to art, nor was it a production company like Carloco that was heavily involved in gambling and relied on big productions and projects.

Essentially, Daydream is a Roger Corman-style lawsuit that relies on faster turnaround and more profitable small productions. If medium-sized productions fail to make back their investment as expected, the company's return to Roger Corman-style production methods is a foreseeable result.

This is not a good thing for the senior executives in the company. They have to find a way to make a medium-sized film that can guarantee no loss.

"Don't be so sad. At worst, we can just participate in more big productions with big studios and make more small productions on our own..." Ronald saw that the morale was a little low and wanted to encourage everyone.

He would not give less money, but if they really wanted the power to decide on big productions, Ronald was unwilling to give his subordinates full authority. This kind of thing where executives take the boss's money and enjoy the power themselves is really not a good way of doing business.

"Take a break, I've got someone here..." Ronald arranged for a barbecue chef to come to his house to cook, and also invited some entertainment teams to add some fun to the high-level meeting. Anyway, it was a good way to relieve stress for the partners and children they brought with them. Maybe once they relaxed, they could come up with a solution?

"Kids, here is the latest version of Street Fighter II. You can choose the villain in the last four levels. Here are the coins. Come here... Don't grab them, don't grab them..."

Capcom's new version of Street Fighter has been delivered to Ronald's home. The older children and younger employees of the company like it very much. They are scrambling for the latest arcade machine that allows them to choose the villain in the last four levels. No one is interested in the old version that only allows them to choose eight people.

"Boss, I have an idea."

David Simkins came over. This popular game gave him new inspiration. Now, whether in Japan or America, the most popular arcade game is Street Fighter.

Once the battle mechanism was introduced, it immediately became popular in various bars. Many people wanted to defeat their companions and win the favor of beautiful women. Arcade machines became another game to show off their abilities after billiards. Sometimes, the fighting in the game consoles would also be upgraded to real-life fighting between the gamers.

"A movie like this isn't cheap..." Ronald calculated silently. Apart from anything else, the salaries of the twelve martial arts masters were not low. Add to that the special effects of the tricks like Adu Root and Oyster Root, and this would definitely be a much more terrifying investment than "Ultimate Soldier".

"But, Boss, this game company has made so much money, so why don't they want to invest in making a movie? We can take the initiative to convince them. They pay the money and we produce it, so we can avoid the risk."

"That's not my money," Ronald thought. I also have shares in Capcom. But it is true that if the movie adaptation can be successful, it will be another way for movie production to make money without losing money.

(End of this chapter)