Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1346 Jonathan Demme, the Documentary Filmmaker
"This is a good price. I can agree to it."

Ronald signed the contract, and through David Simkins, Daydream filled the loopholes in the script. The signature of the movie script will be changed to "Based on the Story of Jeffrey Powers", so that his family will not sue after the movie is released, claiming how much of the story is adapted from the real experience of their deceased relatives and demanding compensation.

After solving the script problem, Ronald contacted Mike McDavoy of TriStar Pictures. As you can imagine, this movie is very controversial, and only a senior executive of a veteran studio like him who pays attention to the artistic quality and social influence of movies is most likely to take over the distribution.

Mike Medavoy was very excited when he heard the news, and he immediately came to discuss with Ronald.

"Why are you suddenly interested in this subject?"

"Emile, you know..." Ronald recounted the whole story, "It just so happened that no one wanted this script, so I bought it out at a low price."

“Oh, Shxt, in the past two years, Hollywood has become a slaughterhouse for this stuff…” Mike McDavoy As a senior executive of a large company, the union would send a message when many people in the industry died.

"Ah?" Ronald didn't usually read this kind of news. What he didn't expect was that just last year and the first half of this year, several heavyweights had died...

Anthony Perkins, who played the killer in Hitchcock's "Psycho", Freddie Mercury, the lead singer of Queen, and Robert Reed, a famous TV star in the 1960s...

"I have to remind you that this script is still very controversial, so you have to be prepared." Mike Medavoy is a veteran producer after all. He agrees with Ronald's approach of using movies to influence social perceptions, but he also reminds Ronald to be prepared.

"I still made some adjustments. I will have someone revise the script. I won't comment on the right or wrong of the matter, but will just state some scientific facts. This way both sides can find their own arguments to support..." Ronald also felt that this matter was a bit hot, but he had to finish it for his friend. Besides, being controversial is also a marketing tool...

"One more thing. This has recently become an important issue in the presidential election. Both sides are debating it. If you can..."

"That's impossible. I'm currently busy with the Sugar Coated Trap project. How can I possibly finish filming, editing and releasing it before the election at the end of the year?" Ronald waved his hand.

"Just listen to me, I mean it should be released before the end of next year..." Mike McDavoy explained.

It turns out that an important issue in this year's election, although not directly related to this, is also deeply related to whether the army should accept soldiers with different sexual orientations.

Conservatives believe that these people are prone to..., so they allow them to spread, and perhaps in a few decades, America will no longer have soldiers capable of fighting.

Liberals, on the other hand, think this is all slander. Magic Johnson has proven that liking women can also be... They believe that the "custom" of discrimination and bullying against people of different sexual orientations should be investigated in the military.

This is a big issue, and both sides are using it to call for votes. Many voters who have a strong stance on this issue are so-called one-issue voters. As long as this one issue satisfies their preferences, any other policy is not a problem.

Now the governor of the Democratic Party is saying that he will be recognized by the military if he is elected, while the current president of the Elephant Party is opposed. The Democratic Party and the Elephant Party, the big cities on the east and west coasts, and the small towns in the central and southern parts of the country, the weak religious beliefs and the pious ones, seem to have formed a very sharp division in America.

This also makes it unlikely that this issue will only be a showdown in this year's election. It will become an important issue in many subsequent elections. And the new president, about a year after taking office, has to fulfill the promises he made during the campaign.

Both the predecessor, President Jimmy, and the predecessor, President Ronald Sr., encountered economic changes within about a year of taking office, but one's economy continued to be depressed and inflation was alarming, while the other fulfilled his promise, allowing the economy to recover and inflation to be controlled... We all see what the results were.

"Sure, that's a good idea..."

"Then it's settled. I'll leave next year's prize-winning schedule to you..."

"I may not be the director..." Ronald touched his nose. As a producer and boss, directing such a controversial film is a very good investment. But as a director, it is impossible for a film with such a topic to be nominated.

"You, this is a name you will leave behind in the film and television industry... Forget it..." Mike McDavoy knew Ronald's heart knot. Although most of the stars who are still active in Hollywood now support the liberal position and oppose discrimination against those people, more than half of the judges of the Oscars are retired veteran stars, and there are indeed many old antiques among them.

If this incident leaves a mark in their hearts, Ronald's dream can only be realized after these people die.

"Then who do you think is more suitable?"

"I'm still looking. Can you recommend anyone to me?" Ronald didn't have a suitable candidate either.

"How about Jonathan Demme? He's very good at handling this kind of subject matter." Mike McDavoy reminded Ronald.

"I don't think he will touch it... maybe we have to find a new director..." Ronald smiled. Anyone who has ambitions to win an Oscar probably won't touch this movie.

……

"Ronald, Diane, Tom..."

The next day, it was the premiere of "A League of Their Own," a film that was produced and released at a breakneck speed under the editing of director Penny Marshall.

The film achieved unexpectedly good results in both internal and audience previews. For this reason, Columbia temporarily moved some theaters showing Basic Instinct, which had been showing for 16 weeks, to open the film. The number of theaters that opened the film exceeded 1,900.

In order to cooperate with the publicity, Ronald also accompanied Diane and Tom Hanks, who took a leave of absence from Seattle, to attend the premiere.

"I like this movie very much. Diane is so beautiful in it. I didn't know she was such a good baseball player... Tom's performance is also first-rate. I have every confidence in the box office success of director Penny's work. If you like baseball and you like women's freedom to choose the roles they want to play, whether they are working women or housewives, you must watch this movie..."

There are so many female stars in this movie. If Ronald doesn't take this opportunity to promote the box office, he would not be a qualified producer.

"Madonna, Madonna, what do you think of your performance in this movie? Who is the person next to you? Is he your new lover? Are you officially coming out?"

Ronald and his friends were soon overshadowed by Madonna, who arrived in a black convertible luxury car surrounded by a group of black-clad bodyguards. She was also accompanied by a woman, whose chubby face happily appeared in front of the camera at the same time as Ronald and his friends.

"What! You guys are really boring, this is my colleague, Rosie O'Donnell, who made this movie with me."

"Don't write nonsense, my dream lover is Tom Cruise with flowing blond hair..."

Rosie O'Donnell is also a master at mobilizing media publicity. With just one sentence, the photographers really started to press the shutter for her. The reporters even thought of the headlines: Madonna's same-sex lover, falling in love with Tom Cruise...

"Oh, Shit..." Ronald was also defeated by Rosie's shamelessness. This fat woman really knew how to use the opportunity to promote herself.

The photographer also took the opportunity to take a photo of the two of them. Madonna was wearing a see-through top, and her black underwear was clearly visible. She was also wearing a pair of super short denim shorts, which made her seem a lot taller.

Rosie O'Donnell wore a black coat with high shoulder pads and golden embroidery, and her hairstyle was a masculine and strong 3:7 split. If you say they are not a couple, someone will guess so.

"How come they came together?" Ronald asked Tom Hanks and his wife Rita, who arrived at the scene after them, in the cinema.

"We met at the airport. Madonna's private jet arrived right after you..."

Tom Hanks' visit this time was allowed only after Ronald personally called Nora Ephron, the director of Sleepless in Seattle.

Nora Ephron was very interested in filming and had high requirements for various details. She also gave the actors some room for improvisation in their lines. This made the crew run at a high speed, but also slowed down the progress.

Nora Ephron also seemed to have triggered her creative desire, and she kept generating new ideas on the spot. Fortunately, her efficiency really improved, and she corrected many bad ideas in just one take.

Ronald watched the samples every two or three days. The quality was visibly improving, so he did not stop the delay in producing high-quality films. Instead, he happily wrote a postcard to congratulate Ephron.

"I need a good rest next..." Tom Hanks and his wife Rita Wilson hold hands. He has filmed two movies for Ronald, A League of Their Own and Sleepless in Seattle. He must take a good rest after the filming. He didn't have many film contracts in the past two years. This year, he and Ronald have made good progress in cooperation, but he can't do without rest...

"As I should. After finishing this film, I should take a break..." Ronald also held Diane's hand. He also wanted to take a break.

"If you want to take a break, you shouldn't start so many projects..." Diane complained.

"Okay, honey, I promise to take a vacation with you after I finish filming this movie..."

However, Tom Hanks heard this and became interested again. He wanted to work with Ronald and the scripts were solid and the market would not be bad, so he wanted to make a movie with Ronald again.

"It's not suitable for you. This is a controversial work. My colleagues hope to find a thin actor..." Ronald explained that the protagonist of this movie is terminally ill, and thinness and fragility are important appearance requirements. Tom Hanks played the image of a fat middle-aged father in Sleepless in Seattle, which didn't fit the whole person.

"Actually, I can lose weight too... Okay, okay..." Hanks was complained about by his wife Rita again. Celebrities don't have much time for their private lives, and they all owe their partners a lot of time together.

After the premiere, the audience responded enthusiastically, expressing surprise that there was an all-female baseball league more than 40 years ago. They also expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that women are less independent now than in the past.

After the screening, they were still shouting the names of several leading actors, asking them to go up and receive congratulations.

However, when answering questions, some viewers expressed dissatisfaction with the fact that the protagonist finally returned to family life and did not continue to participate in the women's baseball league.

This is a commonplace question. Does the so-called autonomous choice of women include women's autonomous choice to return to the family and give priority to raising children and family? Conservatives believe that women can make such a choice as long as they are sincere. Progressives believe that this is a social discipline on women. As long as this culture is broken, women can still do an outstanding job that is no less than men.

"Ha, you're right, marriage is a burden to me. Look at me..." Director Penny Marshall used herself as an example and made a joke.

"Hahaha..." The audience members who brought up this topic were also amused.

"Of course, this movie is adapted from real events. I only learned about this women's baseball league after watching a documentary. The prototype of Dottie is a girl who played baseball for a year and returned to her family. This league ended because the war ended and the men returned..."

After the premiere, Ronald and Diane returned home. Because of his promise, Ronald had to really plan a vacation for the two of them. Since the film was going to be shot in the Cayman Islands, Ronald wanted to kill two birds with one stone. Diane thought that filming would definitely take up most of Ronald's energy, so she insisted on going to Hawaii or Fiji after the film was finished.

Just then, an unexpected guest called to ask if Ronald was at home as he wanted to visit.

"Jonathan, why are you here?" Ronald was a little surprised to see Jonathan Demi.

After filming The Silence of the Lambs, Jonathan Demme began making a documentary featuring his cousin, Bobby, a New Jersey pastor.

When a director becomes successful, he will definitely look for investment opportunities for the films he has not made before. However, Demy is not an ordinary director after all. He actually started to shoot documentaries as his main project in the next stage. Why would he come to Los Angeles to find me when he has been busy with this matter?

“Do you know Juan Suárez Bottas?”

"Honestly, I don't know..."

"He is a Spanish illustrator who works in Manhattan and draws illustrations for Time magazine and other publications. He is a good friend of mine."

"What's up with him?"

"He died because... Before that, he was making a documentary film about a patient mutual aid therapy group... I feel very sad. After watching the sample film he left behind, I feel very sad. These people are people who have one foot on a banana peel and one foot in the grave. You never know when they will be gone.

Anyway, I came here to ask you, is it possible to finish the documentary that he didn't finish before his death and find a distribution channel? I have asked several major production studios, and no one is willing to distribute a documentary of this subject, not even the TV stations..."

"I see..." Ronald didn't expect that Jonathan Demme also lost a friend because of this, and wanted to complete his unfinished documentary to commemorate his deceased friend.

"Is it okay? If not, I understand, Ronald..." Jonathan Demme stood up and was about to leave.

"Wait, wait, let me ask you, if a movie on this subject is made, are you interested? I happen to have a script here, and I have already contacted Samsung Pictures to distribute it. I have another project of my own. If you are interested, I can also package your documentary for them to distribute..."

(End of this chapter)