Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1380 What do the elderly need most?
"Hey, do you know The Crying Game and Love Is War? Yeah, you don't know how they got so many nominations? Okay..."

Ronald kept calling his friends in the industry at home. Everyone was puzzled as to why the Oscars suddenly began to favor British-themed films.

The current President and the current British Prime Minister Major do not have the kind of personal relationship that goes beyond the leaders that old President Ronald and Lady Margaret had, and Hollywood did not flatter them back then. Why has the wind suddenly changed now?

"Hey, do you know the Crying Game and Love Is Forever?" Ronald made more than 20 calls and had to drink a can of Coke to moisten his throat. "What, you know... ahem..."

Suddenly, the person on the phone said that he knew about these two movies, which made Ronald, who was overjoyed, choke, "Sonny, how did you know? How did they market it?"

"What are you talking about, Ronald? Your whole family came to my place for vacation, and didn't I show you a movie called The Crying Game?" The person on the phone was Sonny Bono, the former mayor of Palm Springs. He was puzzled as to why Ronald had started to forget things at such a young age.

"Oh yeah? Which one is it? Why don't I have any impression of it?"

Ronald put down the phone and tried hard to recall, but he really couldn't remember anything.

"Isn't it the movie that premiered in Palm Springs? The two of us slept in the theater from beginning to end..." Diane remembered it and gave me a lot of facial masks, bath salts, and skin care products, which are a good match for taking a hot spring bath in Palm Springs.

"Shxt... is that the one?" Ronald finally had some impression. Is this the movie he thought was stupid? Held a premiere in a place where there were not many moviegoers, and gave away a lot of gifts and coupons... Wait..."

Ronald suddenly remembered that before going to bed in the cinema, he felt a bit like the public relations he did for the awards.
When I thought about what the new president of the college, Robert Remy, said, “Old people,” my thoughts suddenly opened up.

"Fuck, is this a Weinstein movie? This guy is worse than me..."

Ronald immediately understood that this was an upgraded version of his PR formula from last year. Last year, he sent videotapes to the judges, which gave him a better chance of watching the movies he submitted for the awards.

But this year, everyone has learned this trick. Giving away videotapes is like giving away no videotapes. The elderly judges received so many videotapes at once, and they were just like in previous years. None of them left a deep impression.

But going to their favorite vacation spot for screenings is a completely different thing. How can a pile of videotapes at home be as memorable as watching a movie in a theater while on vacation?

"Ang, I remember you told me that you watched a movie while on vacation in Hawaii. Do you remember which one it was? How can I ask the heavens for love? Great, thank you. It's okay. I just want to ask you something. This movie has received many Oscar nominations... The Wedding Banquet? I'm afraid it's impossible for the Wedding Banquet. It's rare for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film and the three major European film festivals to award the same movie..."

"You can check whether these two films were led by Weinstein's Miramax, and then how they managed the distribution and financing, who was the main guarantee bank, who was the domestic distributor..."

After Ronald finished giving the instructions, he poured himself a cup of coffee and drank it slowly.

Weinstein is really amazing. He is a genius at exploiting loopholes. Most producers followed suit and increased their investment in the videotape offensive he launched last year. Only he understood the logic behind it and changed his appearance. He screened the videotape at the vacation resorts of the elderly judges and did face-to-face public relations.

In terms of the cost of doing this, it is definitely much more expensive than sending videotapes by express delivery, but the effect is definitely really good.

"This man is truly a genius. He understands the needs of the elderly so well..."

Richard beside him was also surprised. He had just learned from a friend that both films were produced under the leadership of Weinstein, but because of financing reasons, he gave away the main creative positions and only retained a position as a producer and the company in the opening credits.

In other words, if the movie is a box office success, he will not get the top priority in profit sharing, but if the movie wins an award, it is inevitable that he will go on stage to receive the award.

"Yes, so many people voted for his movie..." Ronald, Richard, Michael Gray and others held another small meeting and talked for a long time. He wanted to thoroughly understand the extent of influence this method would have on the Oscar judges.

……

"Oh, Ronald, I haven't seen you for a long time..."

Realizing that he knew too little about these elderly judges, Ronald went to Beverly Hills to meet with Gregory Peck, a star with whom he had worked many times.

After finishing the Sino-US co-production "Hi, Frank", Peck retired from theatrical movies. His body could no longer support such high-intensity film shooting, and he could only take on sporadic work in TV movies and TV series to satisfy his acting addiction.

Peck himself was very satisfied that he could end his screen career with a film like "Hi, Frank" that reflects on veterans. Although the Oscars did not give him any recognition, many veterans and elderly people thanked him a lot during the several screenings he attended, which made him feel the strong resonance that the role brought to the audience again.

In addition to his collaboration with Teacher Zhao, most of the time the two of them didn't say any lines that they understood each other, and they relied on facial expressions and body language to communicate and connect with each other, and this kind of performance also made him feel very satisfied.

So he still had a good impression of Ronald, but after the filming, he returned to his usual loneliness. This time Ronald had nothing to do and came to visit, which made him very happy.

"I recently filmed a TV movie. Veronica's daughter Celia also played my daughter in the movie. My screen wife is Lauren Bacall. The last time we played a couple was thirty years ago. Hahaha, did you watch the TV station broadcast it? I'm really satisfied with my performance."

This movie, called "Portrait", tells the story of him and Lauren Bacall, an elderly couple living in a nursing home, who went home to ask their daughter to paint two portraits for them. However, the daughter found out that they were going to sell the old house, and she was very sad to lose the house of her childhood memories. In the end, she found that her parents were very satisfied with her portraits, and the family deepened their feelings. This is a warm story.

If it had been a few decades earlier, it would have certainly been a box office hit in theaters, but now this kind of subject matter can only be filmed and shown on TV.

"I'm sorry, I've been busy with a lot of things recently. The Oscar nomination disrupted my plans. I haven't watched TV these two days..."

Ronald was a little annoyed that he didn't have a capable assistant team and he didn't even know about this kind of thing, which seemed a bit rude.

"Ha, don't apologize, Ronald. I know very well that this is no longer the Hollywood of the past. Not to mention you, I also recorded it on videotape and mailed it to my own children and friends. The TV station only played it once. Here, this is the one for you..." As he said that, Gregory Peck asked his wife Veronica to find a videotape.

"Hey, what's happening now? Good acting and good stars require a lot of effort to find their movies and TV performances. All you can see are..." Ronald took the videotape and sighed. If he wanted to find a copy of a golden age, he would have to spend a lot of effort.

Moreover, in order to save trouble, many of today's videotapes are not ripped from the original copies. What's even more annoying is that in order to allow small TVs to show larger close-ups, many videotapes are made by cutting off the left and right sides and then simulating the left and right sweep of the camera to produce wide-screen movie tapes.

Many times, the director's ingenious editing is completely destroyed by this dubbing technology. The most typical example is the 2.39:1 anamorphic widescreen of "Lawrence of Arabia", which makes the videotape simply unwatchable.

"Let's not talk about those unhappy things. What brought you to me today?" Gregory Peck and Ronald were having a pleasant chat, but his wife came over to remind him tactfully. Peck slapped his thigh, saying that he had talked a lot and felt much better. Now it was Ronald's turn to speak.

"Actually, I came here for a reason. I met a company that specializes in going to holiday resorts and high-end retirement homes to hold special screenings, so I wanted to ask, what does Mr. Pike think of this kind of thing?"

Ronald told Pike about the special screenings Miramax had done, wanting to know what he really thought. Do they really like this kind of thing?

"Oh, very cheap move, very cheap..." Gregory Peck expressed his strong opinion upon hearing it. He had just made a movie about retirement homes, so he certainly knew what it was like to win the sympathy of elderly stars there.

"Oh, I'm not condemning him. In fact, I admire him for coming up with this idea. I want to know if those stars really like to do this, or if we can have a better way to bring them the latest happenings in Hollywood."

Ronald quickly explained that he was not condemning this behavior. If you are willing to watch the special screening, then many studios will definitely do so in the future. I will definitely bring a copy to show it specifically for the elderly stars.

"Actually, you don't have to say good things for them. I've seen this kind of bad trick before..." Gregory Peck was the president of the Academy in the 1970s and he also reformed the Oscar judging system. He certainly knew that some people would try to please the elderly judges in order to win awards.

But in fact, the elderly judges also like and hate this kind of thing. They really want to have the opportunity to participate in the latest movies after retirement, even if it is just to make comments and be reported anonymously by reporters. But they also hate this utilitarian behavior. After this year's award season is over, it will be forgotten and will not be remembered until the same time next year.

"Let me ask you, do you know what the biggest worry of a star is?" Gregory Peck was very pleased that Ronald came, so he decided to teach him a lesson.

"Uh? Forgotten by the audience?" Ronald thought for a long time and squeezed out a sentence.

"Almost. To be more precise, we are afraid that we will no longer be relevant... no longer related to Hollywood, the studios, and the glamorous film industry. There will be no news about you in the newspapers, no one will invite you to the premiere, and you will only be interviewed when your good friend wins an honorary award or dies, or until your own funeral..."

Ronald probably understood the core demands of these old judges, which was to find something related to the current Hollywood and reappear in front of the audience and the media. Although they didn't like excessive media coverage, they felt uncomfortable with only one chance to be noticed throughout the year.

While listening to Gregory Peck talking about some past events, he wondered what news about these old stars was worth hyping?

Suddenly, Ronald thought of the task entrusted to him by director Akira Kurosawa. Big stars and big directors all have some representative works. Whenever they are recognized by fans, most of them will call them by the names of the characters in those classic movies.

"Speaking of which, although the TV station often broadcasts your Roman Holiday with Ms. Audrey Hepburn, I feel that there are big problems with it. Many of the clips have been re-processed, and there are also some old screening scratches..."

"Isn't it? The best screening of Roman Holiday I've seen in recent years was at the Bund Cinema. Although the audio was dubbed in Chinese, the copy on the big screen that respected the original editing still reminded me of many past events. Alas, Audrey also passed away, and her collections and jewelry were also auctioned off..."

At this point, Gregory Peck started to have health problems due to sadness and started coughing incessantly, so Ronald had to say goodbye and leave.

Audrey Hepburn died last month at her home in Switzerland due to a sudden illness. This incident was a big blow to Gregory Peck, who even recorded a eulogy to be played at Hepburn's funeral. Ronald accidentally brought up the past and apologized to Peck's wife.

"It doesn't matter. Actually, Gregory knew last fall that Audrey was dying. Unfortunately, he was not in good health and was unable to see her for the last time. Some of the jewelry that Gregory had given to Audrey were also auctioned off by his family..." Peck's wife explained the reason why Peck felt sad. He felt bad to see such personal belongings being auctioned off.

"I'll think of a way. The auction house and I have a good relationship now."

……

"Marty, what technology would be best to use to recreate those classic movies of the past?"

After returning home, Ronald also figured out the ultimate judges' public relations technique. He first called Martin Scorsese, one of the two most famous old movie collectors in Hollywood.

"Oh, Ronald, you've asked the right person. First, we need a conversion technology that uses envelope trimming technology to add black strips on the top and bottom of a 4:3 TV. This will ensure that the director's original editing is not distorted..."

Scorsese said the most important thing is not to use anamorphic technology to stretch the 1.83 or 2.39 aspect ratio of old movies into a 4:3 TV format. Black bars must be added above and below the TV. Although the visible range is smaller, this is the only way to restore the original appearance of the movie.

Real movie fans will buy expensive large-screen TVs and don’t care about the two black borders above and below.

"Also, videotapes are not a very good medium. If possible, they should be distributed using LaserDiscs. No matter how many times you watch them, they will not demagnetize and produce those nasty white stripes..."

"You make sense..." Ronald understood that repeated playback of videotapes would cause irreversible wear and tear. The most typical example was the "Basic Instinct" videotape, which had undergone several large-scale replacements. The footage of a specific time in the rental store was worn out by repeated playback until only snowflakes remained.

"In addition, LaserDisc can also record some shots that were not edited, or interviews with directors and actors, etc. It is much more convenient than videotapes..."

"I say, Marty, can you also participate in the production of the latest remastered videotapes and laserdiscs of the films that Mr. Kurosawa gave me? I really need your research on old movies to make these videotapes the best and most popular with fans. I don't think anyone is more suitable for this job than you..."

"Damn it, you're so right. I've always been jealous, you know? Mr. Kurosawa didn't look for me, but looked for you instead..."

"Hahaha, I'm going to interview you about your opinion on director Kurosawa's movies. It'll be included as a bonus feature at the back of the deluxe edition. I'll also interview Francis (Coppola), George (Lucas), and Steven (Spielberg). You can pick the one you like best first..."

"I want whatever you want. You have to interview me for every movie..."

Finally, Ronald decided on the ultimate PR campaign for those elderly directors and stars, which was to re-release their classic movies. The best version, the best remake, what could be more attractive to them than being able to stay in the hearts of fans forever?
"Michelle, can you help me check which videotape and laserdisc publishing companies on the market use envelope trimming and conversion technology? Let's contact them and try to acquire them."

Ronald found Michel Cannold and asked him to do a market survey for him. It would be best to have such a classic film publisher in his own hands.

"That's easy to find out. The cost of envelope-cut letterbox technology is several times higher than ordinary conversion. Only a few large studios and independent video departments on the market use this format for some classic movies..." Michelle Cannold replied to Ronald that day.

Independent videotape production companies rarely use this technology. Generally speaking, they use ordinary full-screen distortion (simply stretching it to 4:3) or pan and scan (cutting out the important parts of the movie screen and editing out the parts that exceed 4:3).

"There is only one independent videotape production company that actually uses envelope trimming, and that is the Criterion Collection, now a division of the educational multimedia publishing company Voyager."

"I asked my lawyer to contact them. I want to buy this company..."