Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1347 The Hidden Story of Philadelphia

“This is a script God has given me, and I’m happy with it.”

After reading the script, Jonathan Demme couldn't help but admire it. All aspects of this movie are actually just right. It neither supports nor opposes those minority groups, but only gives some humanitarian care to those unfortunate people.

Compared with the documentary of Demy's friend, it is obviously a commercial film that can have a greater impact on the general public.

"But there is a problem..." Ronald felt that he could not let Jonathan Demme down by bringing up his concerns that this film would not be favored by the Oscar judges and might even have a negative impact that would affect the evaluation of the director's future works.

"Hahaha, Ronald, do you know what is placed in the most conspicuous position on the bookshelf in the study at home?" Jonathan Demme asked with a smile.

"I do not know……"

"It's my Oscar for Best Director. For me, there's no hesitation in choosing between winning two Best Director awards and a film that can change the public's perception..."

"Well, I will give you my full support. This movie is for our friends... and for the chance that there won't be such tragedies in the future..."

"For my friends..."

The two shook hands and the matter was settled.

"Columbia won't be the distributor, so a subsidiary like TriStar Pictures is just the right fit. Our friend Mike Medavoy also happens to like the script. We can probably raise a budget of 20 million, and if you need any stars, you can add more."

"Very good. There are no expensive scenes in the script. But my company also wants to participate in the production..."

"Of course, there is no problem with that..."

Ronald understood that Jonathan Demme's main reason for participating in the production was not for the income, but he wanted to be one of the producers of this film as an explanation to his friend.

"If this movie can be successful, your documentary will probably not be a problem to distribute and sell it to TV stations..." Ronald added that if his friend's unfinished documentary work could be turned into a documentary to go with this movie, someone would probably buy it.

"Anything related to this project must be done with caution. I'm worried that if it is exposed too early, there will be a lot of resistance..."

"Understood. I will handle this in the most cautious way possible."

……

Ronald unexpectedly confirmed the director of the film project called "The Philadelphia Story" and went to Washington, DC, where there were many filming locations for the film, which he needed to arrange himself.

Diane, Demi Moore, Madonna, Tom Hanks and others got off the plane in New York first to attend the premiere of "A League of Their Own" in New York.

"The most famous hotel near the National Mall is this Washington Hotel. It only takes a few minutes to walk to the National Mall and the White House. You can include the Washington Monument and the Capitol in your shot. If I were you, I would choose this place for the shot of the FBI agents holding a meeting..."

"It's great here, George. If you were from Hollywood, I'd probably put you at the top of my list of professionals I'd like to work with..."

This time in Washington, DC, the person who helped Ronald with the location scouting was a non-staff member, the eldest son of the current president, the manager of the Texas baseball team, and a shareholder of an anonymous Hollywood investment company... George Jr.

"Hahaha, you always make me happy..." Little George was also very happy. In fact, he suffered a loss in business and could not compete with his younger brother Jeb in helping his mother. Only with Ronald, whether it was investing or helping a good friend, he felt that he was very valuable.

Maybe it was really like what Ronald said. If he wasn't the son of a great commander, he would definitely be a good hand in Hollywood. After all, he was also very popular with the audience for handling the affairs of the baseball team...

"I'm not saying this to sound nice. Many people in Hollywood don't understand that the film production process is not as glamorous as it is on the screen. Just like this location scouting, I guarantee that many people will add their own understanding of the film, insisting on talking about the symbolic meaning of the White House and the roof of Capitol Hill, and then try to get me to give them an empty shot... Like all other jobs, common sense is the most valuable, and George, my friend, you are a person of common sense, I won't lie to you about this..."

"Do you think so too? I am considering whether to officially enter politics..."

"I would think that serving the people is the most worthwhile job for you. To be honest, I'm not going to tell you that you are more attractive than your brother, and even more attractive than your father..."

George was so pleased with Ronald's praise that he used his influence to help Ronald secure the filming rights for this luxury hotel in Washington, D.C. He also asked the hotel manager to upgrade Ronald's room to a penthouse suite for free, saying that Ronald needed to scout the location and it was also a free advertisement for the hotel.

"Why is his approval rating so high all of a sudden?" Ronald invited George Jr. to have a drink, and suddenly found that the approval rating of the Democratic Party candidate shown on TV had reached 55%...

"This is the benefit of not considering face. His bus tour took several days to travel thousands of miles across the eastern and south-central states. In fact, all the communities were arranged. He went from the airport to the community to shoot some footage, and then went back to the airport to rush to the next attraction. So... you know, we Americans like this..."

George Jr. seemed to have studied the governor's propaganda methods carefully, and his speech was very reasonable. However, his father was "busy with state affairs" and did not like the hypocrisy of directly communicating with the public, so he just routinely expressed his approval of things that 80% of the public supported, such as increasing federal funding to study the treatment of...diseases.

Unlike the last election, when Barbara asked Ronald to shoot a campaign ad, this time they were full of confidence. George Jr. said that not only was Roger Ailes, the campaign consultant who went to the streets, fired, but he himself also had a hard time getting a say in Barbara. Throughout the campaign, Barbara only followed Jeb's ideas... because his brother Jeb was the son that Barbara had chosen to inherit the family business.

According to George Jr., even though the governor's approval rating is high now, they will soon launch attack ads against him, just like they put all kinds of accusations on Dukakis in the last election to lower his approval rating...

Moreover, as the president this time, there are many Democratic Party candidates, and there are some dark secrets about his wife when she was young. If even a little bit of them were released, it would be very difficult for him to deal with them.

In addition to the comparison between the governor evading military service and President George H.W. serving the country as a torpedo plane pilot, Jeb Jr. also plans to start a story about the governor's wife, who has low IQ and failed the New York State bar exam twice, and had to go to Arkansas to join the governor. She actually obtained her bar qualification in Arkansas, where the exam difficulty is much lower than in New York.

Ronald was not optimistic about this approach. The governor's wife had long ago put away her professional style, combed her hair into a big fringe, and wore outdated clothes. She was simply a role model for southern women. Calling her stupid was not helping those conservative voters who believed that women should stay at home to take care of children to win votes.
But it's rare for a president seeking reelection in the White House to fail, and now is not the time for him to have a say. Ronald sent George away and looked at the scenery below from the top floor suite. This sugar-coated trap is a bit like a tourism promotion for America, and many iconic attractions will appear in the movie.

In the evening, Ronald ate in the room, and the night view was also a possibility to consider.

"The actresses of A League of Their Own, along with Tom Hanks, attended the premiere in New York. The New York audience gave the film a very high evaluation, as it is a female-themed film that they like. It is expected that after Working Girl, another film will be favored by New York women.

On baseball league night, while men discuss the game, now it’s the turn of women to give their own commentary…”

The TV was showing the news of the New York premiere, with Diane, Demi Moore, Madonna, Rosie O'Donnell and others appearing in front of the camera one after another. This year, there is a clear trend of female films rising in Hollywood. Thelma & Louise has pushed the wave of independent female films that Ronald and Cameron have insisted on to the top, and many projects have emerged at once.

"Yes, it was a pleasure to make this movie. I got along well with Diane, Demi, Madonna, and Rosie..."

The camera showed the content of Brooke Shields' interview. Rosie O'Donnell came to see if she would mention her. After getting what she wished for, she was very happy and hugged Brooke and asked the reporter to take more photos.

"Tell me, tell me, was my Tom Cruise's first Hollywood movie shot with you? What was he like then, was he cute?" Rosie O'Donnell is worthy of being Cruise's number one fan girl, and she knows all the movies he made his debut in.

"Ah, that was a long time ago... He hadn't had his teeth fixed yet..." Brooke Shields thought about the past and glanced at Diane, who happened to look over at her. They both smiled, and all that was in the past.

"Next up is supermodel Cindy Crawford. Cindy, your new Diet Pepsi commercial has created a buzz. Want to talk about it?"

"I just came to watch the movie. There aren't many movies with female protagonists, but I like them very much. I want to make more of them in the future..."

"Will you also make a movie, Cindy?" Reporters surrounded her...

"What are you doing there?" Ronald asked Cindy Crawford, who had just finished a shower and was wearing a new version of haute couture clothing, pointing at the TV.

"I'm going to support a female film..." Cindy Crawford came from New York to comfort Ronald. The Pepsi advertisement received a very good response. Not only did it help her win the first place in the competition for supermodels, but it also attracted many invitations to endorse jeans brands. The endorsement fee for such mass-market products is often much more expensive than that of high-end brands.

"What are you doing..." Ronald looked at her and thought she seemed to have quite ambitions.

"You're such a bore, I just came here to relax, handsome..."

Cindy Crawford came over and hugged Ronald's head. The smell of shower gel and pajamas was very intoxicating. Soon Ronald was lost in Cindy's seductive figure and the enchanting beauty mole.

……

"What's wrong with me? Is there something dirty on my face?" On the way back, Ronald picked up Diane and a group of other female stars, and then he had to send Tom Hanks and his wife to Seattle to shoot the unfinished Sleepless in Seattle.

He noticed that Diane kept looking at her and smiling slightly. He thought that she might have some special perfume smell that had not been washed off, so he raised his sleeve and smelled it twice.

"Brooke stayed in New York. She said she would focus on modeling and other public affairs..."

"Oh, that's good. Not everyone can climb up from the bottom of Hollywood..." Ronald felt relieved. It seemed that Diane and Brooke had communicated during the premiere in New York.

Sure enough, as soon as Diane got on the plane, she held Ronald's arm and fell asleep, hugging him tightly and sweetly.

"Roger, you can only play the cameo role of an old lawyer in a company in this movie. Gangsters and those messy businessmen are not suitable for your temperament."

Back in Los Angeles, Ronald invited Roger Corman to his home. On the one hand, he wanted to invite him to guest star in Sugar Coated Trap, and on the other hand, Corman's star on the Walk of Fame was approved by the second review.

He invited Cameron, Jonathan Demme and others to attend Roger Corman's star-installing ceremony, which made Colman smile from ear to ear.

"It doesn't matter. If you need to play any roles like senator, Supreme Court justice, etc. in the future, you have to remember me." Roger Corman also understood that he was most suitable to play this kind of sanctimonious and well-dressed "hypocrite".

As they were chatting, the servant suddenly brought in Jonathan Demme.

"Jonathan, we were just talking about you. Roger's star is coming up. You must come..."

"Of course, I will definitely attend... I came to ask you something else..."

"Well, I'll be leaving first..." Roger Coleman was about to say goodbye, but was stopped by Demi, "Roger, can you give me some advice? What should I do?"

It turns out that Jonathan Demme's "Philadelphia" encountered great resistance. He was optimistic about the Irish actor Daniel Day-Lewis from the beginning. This actor has recently starred in several influential films (Prague Love, A Room with a View, etc.) and has a high reputation in Hollywood.

He has appeared in films that require a high level of inner character expression, and is particularly good at using actions and expressions to lead the audience to feel the inner thoughts of the characters. Some people even call him the new Laurence Olivier.

It just so happened that Daniel Day-Lewis was also very thin, which was more in line with the condition of the sick protagonist, so he was Jonathan Demme's first choice.

But Daniel Day-Lewis, who had already met and had a good chat, coldly rejected the role two days later. He didn't even give a reason, but Richard learned through information channels that he would take on another work.

"Are you afraid of controversy?" Ronald was unhappy. Roger Corman made so many controversial films about social topics back then. What does this expert think?
"I have directed more than 200 films and produced even more. The only one that didn't make money was 'The Invaders', which reflected racial segregation. I can only say that this is the only directorial work I am proud of, because at that time, the big Hollywood studios did not have the courage to touch this kind of subject matter..."

Ronald and Jonathan Demme looked at each other. Well, Roger Corman was also an old hippie with a fiery heart. He actually encouraged them to pursue their ideals without worrying about losing money. This was a very rare thing.

"I've thought about it for a long time. We may have to hide him in this movie..."

In the evening, after Ronald made several phone calls and had long talks with several friends, he returned to communicate with Demi.

Although Daniel Day-Lewis is presented in Hollywood as an Irishman, his mother is actually Jewish. So whether he is Irish or Jewish is a very changeable thing.

This time he gave up Philadelphia Story and took on a film about the Irish Republican Army. So it is hard to say whether it was because of his father's ethnicity or his mother's ethnicity that made him reject Ronald's project.

Jonathan Demme was also quite frustrated. He didn't expect that there would be such strong opposition to the film before it even started shooting. "How to hide it?" he asked.

"We kept it a secret and didn't show the full script to anyone. We just said it was a movie about lawyers."

"Is this possible? At least Daniel Day-Lewis already knows it."

"Of course we can't keep important characters secret. I think we can use another method. If you want to hide a tree, hide it in the forest..."

(End of this chapter)