Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1390 Title Girl
"Are you sure? Animals are harder to photograph than children..."

Ronald's home welcomed another guest, Amy Heckerling, who had competed with him for the director position and later made a hit movie "Look Who's Talking" for Daydream.

"Look Who's Talking" stars John Travolta and Kirsty Alley, with Bruce Willis dubbing the baby. The film was unexpectedly well received by the audience, grossing 140 million yuan at the domestic box office, which helped ease Travolta's career, which was on the verge of collapse.

The following year, Amy Heckerling took advantage of the momentum to launch the second film. Although she recalled the original cast, the box office was disappointing, with less than 50 million.

This disappointed both Daydream and TriStar Pictures, which was responsible for the distribution of the film, and the third sequel was shelved indefinitely.

But more than two years later, Amy Heckerling came up with another script and found the third installment in the Daydream Pitch series.

The script received a negative review from Daydream Pictures, but TriStar Pictures, the distributor of the first two films, was more optimistic about it. When everyone had different opinions, they brought it to Ronald for a decision. This was the reason for the face-to-face interview.

Amy Heckerling smiled and replied, "This is a request from TriStar Pictures. This is just a custom-made work. You may have noticed that I am not the screenwriter..."

Ronald nodded, this was the unspoken understanding among independent filmmakers. You took the initiative to propose making a sequel, and I just put my name here and granted the copyright to deal with it.

"I'll make a phone call..."

Ronald picked up the phone and called Mike McDavoy of TriStar Pictures. The script was very unexpected. The baby scenes in the first two parts were deleted, and the third part told the story of two dogs instead. Adults also dubbed the characters who could not speak to express the inner monologue.

"Mike, this is Ronald, why did you approve this project?"

"This is a great opportunity, Ronald. Haven't you noticed that Columbia has been releasing fewer films since the second half of last year?"

Mike McDavoy's words made Ronald understand immediately. He wanted to take the opportunity to attack Columbia CEO Peter Guber. Frank Price, the former CEO of TriStar Pictures, was no longer in charge, and Mike McDavoy was completely in charge of the film project.

Peter Guber's distribution performance at Columbia Pictures was not very good, and was completely suppressed by TriStar Pictures in the past two years. Just as people from Sony were complaining about this, Mike McDavoy wanted to go further.

"But you didn't read the script, did you? And Frank Price didn't read it, did he?"

"Yeah, what's the problem? The first two films were very successful."

"Mike, wake up, this movie..."

"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry, I've had a lot of distractions lately."

After listening to what Ronald said, Mike McDavoy knew that he had made a mistake. Using dogs as the protagonists, and making them cute and well-behaved, was popular 30 years ago, and even a dog star named Rin Tin Tin was born. But since then, this method has been difficult to resonate with the audience. The audience generally prefers animal movies in the form of animation. After all, it is difficult for a real dog to make such rich expressions and movements.

"Why don't you come over when you have time? Amy can..."

After Ronald and Mike Medavoy had their discussion, they went back to discuss the results with Amy Heckerling.

"Daydream will not be deeply involved in this film, and TriStar Pictures will not distribute it..." Ronald stretched out his hand to interrupt Amy Heckerling who was about to argue, "But I will let Columbia Pictures come and talk to you..."

Amy Heckerling understood immediately, "This is unexpectedly good news... Harold Ramis said that his new film has received great support from Columbia..."

"Who?" Ronald was stunned.

"Oh, yes, it's my ex-boyfriend." Amy Heckerling turned around and took out her wallet, from which she pulled out a photo of her, her daughter, and another man.

"Oh, your daughter Molly's father... huh?"

"Forehead……"

Both of them realized something was wrong and changed the subject after a moment of embarrassment.

Ronald knew that Amy Heckerling's daughter Molly was born in 1985, so she named the heroine of "Look Who's Talking" after her daughter.

But her husband at that time was another Israeli, Neil Israel. Ronald had seen her before at the premiere. But now looking at this recent photo, you can tell without a DNA test...

"What movie is Harold Ramis showing?" Ronald knew that it was better not to talk about this kind of thing, so he quickly changed the subject.

"Oh, it's Groundhog Love, it has an interesting structure... Columbia put a lot of effort into marketing it, and it made 1200 million in the first weekend."

Amy Heckerling narrates the film's plot, about a bitter, complaining weather forecaster who is stuck on the same day. Every day, no matter what he does, he wakes up back to 6 a.m. on that day.

After trying everything possible, the protagonist finally began to open his heart and love others, bringing good mood to many people in the town and changing the world with love. Finally, after spending a loving night with the heroine, the next day finally arrived.

"Why would Amy change to this script?"

Diane also saw the script for the third part later and made an incomprehensible sound.

"I'm not surprised at all. She was a person who valued profit over art back then."

"Humph, I never liked her." When Diane heard that Amy Heckerling had done something against Ronald, she immediately started speaking ill of her.

"Tell me, is her daughter really born to her lover? Doesn't her ex-husband know?" After hearing about the photo, Diane became even more certain that this was a bad guy.

"The husband is often the last to know about this kind of thing."

……

In the evening, Mike McDavoy came to visit Ronald as expected, and he apologized on his own initiative right away.

"I'm dealing with a divorce lately, so I haven't looked at many projects carefully..."

"Well, Mike, I feel so--"

"It's okay. I should have seen her problem earlier."

Mike McDavoy's wife, Patricia Duff, is a Georgetown graduate political fundraiser. She was a Protestant before marrying him, and in order to keep Mike McDavoy, then president of Orion, she even went through a conversion ceremony to Judaism.

Unexpectedly, a few years later, through Mike Medavoy's connections in the film industry and Jewish gatherings, she met the Jewish financier Perelman.

Perelman was obsessed with the young blonde, and the two of them openly appeared together on some occasions, which made Mike McDavoy very miserable and he had to file for divorce.

And according to the law, Mike Medavoy has to pay her child support.

Most people in the industry don't dare to talk about this kind of thing, but there are still many people who laugh at him behind his back. Mike McDavoy couldn't tell his friends about this matter, and he couldn't hold it in any longer.

Ronald, as a big shot in the industry and also his partner, would not laugh at him for such things, but Madavoy did give a lot of details.

Perelman met Patricia Duff in Paris. At that time, Medavoy was busy with projects at TriStar and fighting with Peter Guber in front of Sony's bosses. He did not accompany her to Paris.

Perelman was on vacation with his wife, Cohen, and arranged a dinner with their friends, Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith, both spokespeople for Revlon, which Perelman had acquired.

Because Duff knew Don Johnson, he was introduced to Perelman by chance in the restaurant. The two fell in love at first sight, met frequently after returning from Paris, and began to see each other's divorce lawyers.

"Is that the Perelman who bought Marvel?"

"Yes, that's him..."

"Come on, Mike, isn't this a good thing for you? That guy is an extremely stingy person. I suspect Shakespeare wrote The Merchant of Venice after reading him."

"I just feel so ashamed..."

Mike McDavoy still couldn't stand being publicly humiliated. The old man was almost crying. Ronald didn't mention it and invited him to dinner at home.

Ronald talked to him about the pandas that were coming soon and his past as an insurance salesman in Xujiahui, and Medavoy felt much better.

After dinner, the guests and hosts drank some light wine and chatted in the study. After Medavoy sobered up, he was still the very shrewd and capable film producer.

The two talked about how to get Columbia to willingly swallow "Look Who's Talking 3". The general principle is that such things cannot be promoted by oneself, otherwise the very sensitive Gubel will definitely feel that it is wrong, and why TriStar Pictures gave up.

It would be best to let Gubel ask for it actively, so that he won't become suspicious about it.

The two discussed some methods, and Medavoy stood up to add more wine and found the portrait of Diane taken by Ronald.

"Oh, which photographer took this portrait of your wife? It's very high quality. Is it Bruce Weber?" Bruce Weber is a famous fashion photographer who has taken portraits of many supermodels and movie stars.

"No, I took this photo. Didn't you know that I was a portrait photographer before I started making movies?"

"Good fellow, even if you're not a director, you're still a first-rate portrait and fashion photographer. Your talent can't be hidden anywhere..." Madavoy praised. He is indeed a great director, and all the subjects he shoots are classic Hollywood icons of the past.

"This one... is it a bit similar?" Medavoy saw the last one, the white outfit with purple ribbons that Diane took a photo of.

"I took this photo randomly. I think it looks a bit like a movie I've seen, but I can't remember what it is."

"Hey, it's not a movie, Ronald. It's the Statue of Liberty in the opening credits of Columbia Pictures..."

"Hey?"

Ronald thought about it and it was a bit like that. The opening credits of Columbia featured a beautiful woman wearing ancient Greek clothing, but with a bit of the Statue of Liberty's posture.

No wonder I felt it looked familiar but couldn't remember where it was right away.

"Hey, isn't this the topic I was discussing with Gubel?"

……

The Long Beach University women's volleyball team has been training for quite some time, and the new gymnasium is also being built. Ronald was invited to watch the first friendly match against the University of Southern California women's volleyball team, which was the first game as the head coach of the former women's volleyball national team.

This was the debut of a sports team sponsored by Ronald, and as a sponsor, Ronald invited many of his personal friends to watch.

In addition to the Counselor who was invited to watch, Peter Guber, CEO of Columbia Pictures, who "happened to be free", was also invited to attend.

"This is the counselor. They are now striving for America's most-favored-nation trade status. Our trade representatives attach great importance to equality between the two sides, so this is a good opportunity to open up the Chinese film market.

If everything goes well, a Hollywood delegation will visit China to discuss how to deal with the copy profit-sharing agreement. For us, if more studios can form an alliance, then the other party will feel proud because they have more new films to choose from, and we can also have stronger bargaining chips and try to nail down the supervision and execution clauses of the profit-sharing agreement..."

Ronald talked to Peter Guber and talked about the benefits of being the first to enter the Chinese market. He also used AIA and Coca-Cola as examples.

Because after the international sanctions, they firmly refused to leave the Chinese market, and the other party was very grateful to such a friend. AIA's boss Greenberg made an exception and got a full insurance industry license, which was originally impossible for the very conservative Chinese financial industry.

Because Coca-Cola increased its investment against the trend, it also gained the opening of national retail channels to all of its beverages.

"Is anyone interested in this?" Gubel had also heard about this, but was a little hesitant about becoming one of the first studios to negotiate.

"Paramount's Shirley Lansing is very interested, but they have requirements for the content. Disney is a bit special, and they are not dissatisfied with their animations. In addition, I heard that Warner Bros. also has plans, but that is not something I know about."

After hearing this, Gubel understood. Warner Bros. and Ronald were not on good terms, and several companies that had good relations with Ronald all showed signs of being persuaded. He originally did not want to take the lead, and then take advantage of others' success. The forces in China that opposed the most-favored-nation treatment for China were actually very strong.

However, what Ronald said about the other party liking to interact with friends did make him a little moved.

"I heard from some friends that the White House is actually inclined to grant most-favored-nation treatment, but some extremists in the Democratic Party are dissatisfied. There is no need to take the lead in this matter, we can just wait and see." Ronald continued.

"Why, you're not going?" Gubel asked when he heard this.

"You know, there are all kinds of slanderous rumors against me. My output is actually not that high. I just put a lot of effort here, Mr. Counselor."

"Ronnie, we are old acquaintances. If you can introduce me to someone, what can I do for you?" Gubel made up his mind. He was under great pressure from Samsung Pictures, which was under the same group but different label. If he could open up a new large market, he would also have an explanation for his performance.

"Since we are old acquaintances, you just need to remember me this time." Ronald smiled and shook hands with Gubel.

"That's great. I have one more thing I want to ask you for help with." Gubel looked around and saw that there was no one around. He told Ronald about his idea of ​​wanting to have some more potential movies released from the Columbia label.

"I don't plan to invest much in that sequel. You know, Amy Heckerling didn't write the script, and she won't be directing it..."

"But she's going to produce it, right? Ronald, how about giving me an insider's review? What do you think of the movie?"

"I don't know, to be honest. Sequels are just like that. They have a fixed audience, but the quality may not be as good as the first one. Besides, the actors' salaries are too high to make a profit... ahem..."

"But the protagonist of this movie is a dog, right..." Gubel smiled, "Ronald..."

"Look, Peter. Heckerling and I had some issues before, so I don't mind if you want her movie. But you have to do me a favor."

"what?"

"You know, since Diane won the Oscar, she hasn't been in the lead role in many of the scripts she's been offered. She's not happy, he's not happy, and so am I, right?"

"Don't say more. I'll have someone pick out some good scripts and send them to Diane."

“But you haven’t released many films recently?”

"Tell me, what do you want me to do?"

"Diane felt that her role in the script she received was not good, and the audience might forget her after reading it. If there is something that the audience can always remember, she will be happy. If she is happy, I am happy."

Ronald took out the photo of Diane and showed it to Gubel. "Look, doesn't it look a bit like..."

"Don't say anything, Ronald. You have to do me a favor. Our Columbia opening LOGO has not been updated for decades. Now we urgently need a female star who can represent the image of the Statue of Liberty to remake it. Can you help me lobby Diane?"

"I'll see what I can do... Let me introduce you to the counselor..."