Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1366: The Oscars Arms Race

"Shirley Lansing has officially become the president of Paramount. I'm going to go to her to get what I deserve..."

"You should have gotten it a long time ago..."

Diane kissed Ronald, and he was going to find Shirley Lansing to get the compensation he had promised her for supporting her to the position, as well as the filming rights for "Forrest Gump".

After taking office, Shirley Lansing was interviewed by many media outlets, and was hailed as a symbol of the "Year of the Woman" in the election (more than a dozen female politicians were elected to important federal positions), in which women are also taking over the business world.

She suddenly caught a ride and began to become a new sought-after figure in Hollywood. While constantly giving interviews, she also made various inspections within Paramount, and all the projects currently underway were re-evaluated by her.

On the way to Shirley Lansing's house, Ronald took a special look at an interview with this second female leader of a major studio in as many years (she was also the first, having served as president of 20th Century Fox in the early 1980s).

Because she has managed two major studios, the media still respects her very much. This achievement can only be achieved by a few leaders, such as Michael Eisner, who has achieved success at Paramount and Disney.

The reason for this interview was that former CEO Brandon Tartikoff publicly resigned a few weeks ago.

"I've been offered this type of position several times, but I've always turned it down. This time there were a few factors. The first was Stanley. We worked together for 10 years. For the past two years I was on my own, and I missed that partnership."

Ronald looked at the Los Angeles Times and saw that the Stanley mentioned by Shirley Lansing was her long-time partner Stanley Jaffe, who is now the president of Paramount Communications, the parent company of Paramount.

Brandon Tartikoff, who was fired, previously worked at NBC and it was he who gave Ronald more opportunities for "Seinfeld". After he resigned from NBC, he only stayed at Paramount for a year before losing the political struggle with Stanley Jaffe and was driven out of Paramount.

But this quick dismissal also made Paramount Communications look bad, and its stock price dropped by several dollars, because Tartikoff's predecessor, Frank Mancuso (the one who greenlit Top Gun), was also eliminated in the political struggle.

Therefore, Wall Street expressed doubts about whether Chairman Martin Davis could control the overall situation. And Shirley Lansing was able to stand out because she was one of the few executives who could work with Stanley Jaffe.

……

"Shirley...congratulations...look who's on the cover of Variety? Huh? The Year of the Woman has come to Hollywood, the new Tartikoff..."

Ronald was invited to Shirley Lansing's office by the secretary, and he waved the "Variety" magazine to Shirley Lansing. The photo of her in the magazine looked a bit like Katherine's outfit in "Working Girl", all in red, with high shoulder pads, a strong woman in a male-dominated industry.

"Oh, Ronald, Ronnie, when you say this, I believe it is sincere. I have heard too many insincere compliments in the past two days, especially after the interview. Please take a seat... But my position is not to replace Brandon Tartikoff..."

Shirley Lansing was indeed very happy. She hugged Ronald and personally brought him a cup of coffee.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm overwhelmed with joy after your appointment was officially announced. Everyone knows that I like to shoot female themes. Will there be any special channels for me here in the future? Can you give priority to my project?" Ronald was a little confused. Aren't they all CEOs?
"You have my promise that I will personally read the script for any of your projects. And Tom (Cruise)'s... It's not like that. My CEO is in the film business department. It's a newly created title... They don't want to see any political struggles anymore, at least in the next two years."

"So that's how it is. Now you and Kerry McClurg are in charge of your own business?" Ronald really liked the taste of this coffee. It was much better than Diane's, and he really won Jaffe's favor.

"Yeah, I don't do TV shows, he doesn't do movies, neither of us steps on each other's toes, we both report directly to Stanley Jaffe."

"That's a good thing. When people talk about Paramount, they always think of its film business first..."

"Do you really think so?" Shirley Lansing was actually a little dissatisfied. She was a good CEO, but her power was greatly reduced compared to her predecessor. She tapped her hands on the table a few times and glanced at Ronald's coffee, thinking that I made it for nothing.

"Of course, Kerry McClurg's Law & Order and Miami PD are very popular TV shows. But when it comes to exposure, Paramount's movies are much better..."

Ronald knew that this female CEO's favorite thing was not the movies, but the various fame and fortune that the movies brought her. When he saw that he had said the right thing, the other party's face relaxed a lot, and the wrinkles on her forehead appeared. Ronald immediately added:

"For example, no one is comparing Kerry McClurg to the new California senator..."

"Oh, hahaha... Ronnie, you really flatter me. How about some brandy and cigars? I have both. Did you smoke cigars and drink brandy when you chatted with Michael Eisner and others before?"

"Of course, this is the first time I've drunk brandy and smoked cigars with a female CEO of a major film studio..." Ronald took the initiative to cut the cigar, poured the brandy, and clinked glasses with Shirley Lansing.

"Ahem... I don't know what's so good about this thing..." Lansing choked.

"But it feels good, like I have the power of life and death over all the studio's projects..." Ronald also exhaled a puff of smoke. This is the hobby left behind by those white tycoons back then.

"I've already bought your novel from Warner Bros., keep it with me for a few months, then transfer it to another company that has nothing to do with you, and then you can start filming..."

The two drank for a while, and Shirley Lansing knew why Ronald came, so she took out the adapted script of "Forrest Gump" from the drawer and threw it to Ronald.

"How many months will it take?" Ronald said nothing. He opened the script and read it for a while. This satirical novel was adapted into a script with a strong comedy color. He was not very interested and pushed it back. "I just want the adaptation rights. As for the script, it is not too important. Let's see when it is officially transferred..."

"What? You just want to disgust Warner Bros. and Ovitz?" Shirley Lansing was no stranger to this kind of behavior; she had done it before.

"That's not the case. My aunt is the widow of a Vietnam War veteran, and she has always wanted me to make a movie. But you know, the box office potential of Vietnam War movies nowadays is not like it was a few years ago. The new audiences have no impression of the Vietnam War."

Ronald knew that Shirley Lansing's agent was also Michael Ovitz, and that Ovitz had helped negotiate the power and salary of this position. Although she seemed dissatisfied, there was no need for her to show her cards.

"OK, I'll keep it for you..." Shirley Lansing put the script into the drawer with an expression of "Really? I don't believe it."

Ronald suppressed the urge to take it from her right now and continued, "I have almost finished editing Tom's new film. Are you interested in seeing it sometime?"

"How is it? How is the effect?" As soon as Shirley Lansing heard about Tom Cruise's new movie "The Matrix", her interest increased greatly.

"I think the box office potential is good, and Tom's performance has improved a lot. Can Paramount do some PR efforts for his acting award?"

"Of course, as for your director award, I will directly ask Paramount's public relations team to fully cooperate."

……

That afternoon, Shirley Lansing kept smiling as she watched the rough cut that Ronald had sent her, which had not yet been completed with the final score and subtitles.

Although she is not very good at producing and selecting scripts, she still has a good eye. Tom Cruise's performance in this movie is indeed refreshing.

One of the biggest problems for stars who want to transform into acting talents is that they like to use all kinds of acting techniques and can't wait to shout to all the critics and judges, "Come and see, come and see how good I am at acting."

But a true master of acting knows when to put away his acting skills and not fully mobilize his performance.

In previous movies, Tom Cruise has always been able to let go but not to hold back, but in this movie he was able to show some restraint, which is really eye-opening.

"Great, great, I will increase the PR funds, Paramount this year... Well, Ronnie, will you still work with Tom on your next project?"

Shirley Lansing had just officially taken office and was in the stage of revenge. She inspected several ongoing projects at Paramount and fired all the people who had offended her ten years ago. She also used the excuse that there were no projects with commercial or award potential to drive out several of Stanley Jaffe's old contacts in Paramount's film department.

This time, Ronald brought him the movie "The Trap" starring the big star Tom Hanks, which has great potential in both box office and critical awards. With this handle, dealing with a few insiders is like having an extra baseball bat in his hand.

"Cruise? He's not really suitable for this movie. It's hard... Besides, don't you want him to continue shooting commercial productions? Tom usually shoots a movie for reviews and awards, and then shoots a commercial big production, alternating between them."

Ronald thought to himself, although this "Forrest Gump" is also a fool, this fool is only slightly more foolish than a normal person. He is completely different from the abnormal person in "Rain Man" who can be seen as abnormal at a glance.

I was just planning to strike a balance between acting and producing, but Tom Cruise actually still needs to star in commercial productions, which is more suitable for his appeal.

"Well, you decide. I always have some communication problems with his former agent..."

Shirley Lansing is referring to Cruise's current business partner, Paula Wagner. It's normal for two middle-aged beauties to dislike each other when they're competing for a young, handsome star.

"His new film A Few Good Men is about to be released. Are you interested in talking to them about it?" Ronald was talking about the Columbia commercial film directed by Bob Reiner and starring Tom Cruise, Jack Nicholson, Demi Moore and others.

"You sly little bastard, am I going to the premiere at Columbia to support Peter Guber?"

Shirley Lansing's words have become a little frivolous, and it seems that she has really been like a fish in water during her time at Paramount.

"Okay, I'll talk to him. By the way, how will your PR team publicize the Oscar nomination?"

"You cunning businessman, everyone in Hollywood knows that you are the Oscars PR expert. We will definitely use your PR service and send you the videotape, hehe..."

"I'll let Michael Gray contact you..." Ronald didn't have any award-winning movies this year, so he was happy that his public relations consultant had more business.

……

"There are so many celebrities coming tonight..."

At the premiere of A Few Good Men, Ronald observes his surroundings while waiting for Diane to be interviewed.

Gossip reporters are now chasing his wife with more enthusiasm than chasing him. After all, the last Oscar winner has received a lot of attention for this year's "A League of Pink" and has been linked to two new female senators from California.

Maybe with the momentum of the Year of the Woman, this year will also be a favorite for a series of film awards such as the Oscars and the Golden Globes?
"Ronald, will you support Diane in winning the award?" A tabloid reporter noticed that Ronald seemed to be doing nothing nearby, so he threw a hooked question at him.

"What kind of nonsense question is this? Of course I support any performance of Diane. In my eyes, she is a perfect actor." Ronald scolded the reporter, then hugged Diane and acted affectionate so that everyone could take pictures.

"Why are you distracted? Are the reporters only asking me questions and ignoring you?" Diane also hugged him and teased Ronald in his ear.

"I'm just wondering why there are so many outdated stars here. Look, that's Val Kilmer (a supporting actor in Top Gun), that's Kiefer Sutherland (Julia Roberts' ex-boyfriend), and there are those older ones whose names I can't even remember."

The Columbia premiere was held with great fanfare. In addition to the main creators, even people with whom they have some connection, such as Nicolas Cage and Val Kilmer, were invited.

"I heard that Columbia, 20th Century Fox, Universal and other companies have increased their investment this year and expanded the budgets for award-winning films. Your behavior of sending videotapes last year started an arms race..."

Richard came up and answered Ronald's questions.

"Those old actors whose names I can't even remember..." Ronald said to a female star with wrinkles on her face and a male star who was leaning on a cane beside her.

"Yes, Barbara Eden, the main character of the TV series I Dream of Jeannie, and Matt Lattanzi, the husband of Olivia Newton-John..."

"Never heard of it... Hello Barbara, I like you so much. I dreamed about Jenny. His wife didn't come, so he came here by himself?... Matt, how is Olivia doing recently? Is she still on tour? I haven't seen her for a long time. When you come to Los Angeles, you must come to see me..."

After finally dealing with these out-of-date stars with the help of Richard, Ronald finally saw Bruce Willis and Demi Moore and could take a breath.

"Bruce, Demi, what are you doing?"

"Fuck, the scripts I've been looking for lately are all about police, LAPD, NYPD. I had to switch to marine police recently to change things up. Do you have any roles that aren't police?"

"Uh..." Ronald was about to speak, but felt embarrassed after hearing what Willis said.

"Forget it, I understand. All the Hollywood cops want me to play them. This is another Die Hard movie on a ship..."

"I also have a Die Hard on the bus..."

"Forget it, I can't stand it anymore..."

(End of this chapter)