Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1408 Two Directors Join Forces to Make a Cameo
"Oh, God, Steven, you look...Are you OK?"

Ronald was at the airport sending Xiao Yan to the mainland to install a new subtitle machine. He happened to see Spielberg who arrived at about the same time.

"Oh, Ronald. I'm fine...making two movies at once is really exhausting."

Although he said he was fine, it was clear that the director was in a bad state. His beard was much longer than normal, he was thinner, and had a gloomy temperament.

"Oh, Ronald, our life in Poland was like hell. Steven cried every day." Next to him was his second wife Kate Capshaw, who went to Poland with Spielberg to film. Capshaw turned around and whispered to Ronald, hoping that this good friend of the director's husband could help Spielberg relieve his psychological problems.

"You don't know, during the filming, all the Jewish and German actors in Krakow collapsed. I had never seen Steven like this before. In the end, it was Robin Williams who called him every day to tell him jokes to keep him in the mood to make it through the 90-day filming."

"Can we go home now?" Spielberg said to his wife Capshaw, rarely without his signature smile.

"Steven, I was just talking to Kate. I wonder if you can play a cameo role. It will only take half a day to shoot. I see you just came back from Poland. Are you too tired?"

"Guest appearance? You don't know, I'm not good at acting, and you're right, I was really tired in Krakow, both physically and mentally..." Spielberg made a bitter face and forced a smile. This director who is good at making movies for children seems to rarely encounter such pressure.

"Oh, then you have to come and play with me. It's not difficult. The role is you, a famous film director. Being bullied by a big star..."

"Oh, like Captain Hook? Hahaha..." Spielberg recalled the time when Julia Roberts threw a shoe at him on the set, and he returned to his old smile, which made Kate Capshaw next to him very happy.

"Honey, why don't you give it a try? These two movies took up too much of your energy. You need a chance to relax. Being directed by someone might be a good opportunity."

"You think so? Okay, let me know when you've set a time. But I can only shoot for half a day. I need to spend some time with my kids during this time."

Spielberg's second marriage brought him a love for family life. He felt a little uncomfortable because he had been away filming and had less time to spend with his children.

……

"I have good news for you. I have found Spielberg to guest-star as the director. You can start filming now. The first scene should be his guest-starring part..."

Ronald immediately called "Mortal Kombat" director Paul W. S. Anderson. The casting for the movie had just ended and the preparatory martial arts action training camp was still in progress, but the opportunity to ask Spielberg to make a cameo appearance was a rare opportunity, so Ronald asked him to finish shooting this scene first.

"Oh, God, is this true? I'm so excited now..." Paul W. S. Anderson was thrilled to get Spielberg to make a cameo appearance in his first directorial debut in Hollywood.

"Don't get too excited, I'll be there too. Just shoot according to Steven's own image." After spending some time with him, Ronald knew that Paul W. S. Anderson was a British director who loved Hollywood directors. He would definitely try his best to make the best of this opportunity, so he gave him some encouragement to relieve his stress.

Two days later, a filming scene was set up in Universal's studio. Universal was happy to provide some opportunities for Spielberg to relax, and also hoped to further cooperate with Ronald, so even Sidney Sheinberg, the big boss of the parent company Universal Group, came.

"Mr. Simberg, how come I see you here by chance?" Ronald of course had to step forward and say hello.

"It's no coincidence. I came here specifically to find you. Want to find a place to chat?"

"certainly……"

The two found a corner and started chatting while drinking instant coffee.

Sidney Sheinberg's hair has turned gray. When Ronald first met him, he was a handsome middle-aged man, but now he is a mature business leader.

Although he is already the big boss of Universal Group, he still personally takes care of Spielberg's projects. This is a friendship between the two that began with "Jaws".

"Jurassic Park" has basically taken shape after Spielberg filmed it in Poland for three hours every day. After the preview, Shinberg was very sure that this would be another classic he and Spielberg would work on.

This movie is also a typical Lucas-Spielberg-style commercial blockbuster, a movie aimed at teenagers, with a tortuous but simple plot, and it mainly relies on visual miracles to entertain the audience rather than plot lines.

If this kind of movie wants to make money, the most important thing is to sell it to as many places around the world as possible, rather than focusing on the domestic market. This kind of typical summer blockbuster mainly promotes it intensively, releases it simultaneously, and occupies as many screenings and theaters as possible during this time period.

This is also the first Hollywood blockbuster to be released almost simultaneously in major markets around the world. Unlike the previous Hollywood movies that would be released in other markets several months after their release, Universal's approach this time is to shorten the time difference between different markets as much as possible.

The most important markets, Britain, the United Kingdom, and other European markets, will postpone the release for a few weeks, while the Asian markets also hope to be able to release it during the summer vacation.

Unlike traditional Hollywood action films, westerns and musicals that perform strongly in overseas markets, "Jurassic Park" is a typical summer movie, and the main audience is those who drink iced cola, eat popcorn, and go to the air-conditioned movie theater holding hands with their date to enhance their emotions.

With an ups-and-downs plot, explosive visual effects, and "deep" themes that teenagers can understand, young audiences received a Hollywood-style baptism, and word-of-mouth spread attracted more audiences to watch the film in the shortest possible time.

Therefore, the entire distribution plan is to ensure that the film will be released in North America in early June, Latin America in late June, Europe in early July, and Asia in late July.

This time, MPAA went out to negotiate the distribution plan for Hollywood movies, not only in the mainland, but also in markets such as Hong Kong, ..., and Vietnam, for the first time, a simultaneous release arrangement was adopted for Hollywood movies.

It just so happened that Ronald had extensive connections in East Asia and Southeast Asia, and Simberg also hoped that he could provide some advice.

"Mr. Sheenberg, if I were your distribution manager, I would adjust the release date in East Asia earlier. The box office results here may be even crazier than in our home country." Ronald thought for a while and put forward his opinion.

"Oh, why?" Simberg obviously didn't expect Ronald's opinion to be like this, so he asked directly.

"It's very simple. Japan and Korea both have a tradition of monster movies. Special effects movies like Godzilla are a traditional culture of Japan. And such realistic monsters can be imagined to be a double blow to the audience there, combining shock and memories..."

Ronald first talked about the concepts of Japan and the peninsula. In fact, Korea also likes the setting of monsters. Not to mention the south, even the north has filmed similar themes.

"A very good point..." Shinberg nodded in agreement. If there is a similar type of film memory in the market, then upgrading this type of film will get better results. For example, the American quintessence "Western" has two consecutive "Dances with Wolves" and "Unforgiven" in the past two years, both of which are well received by the audience.

"As for Hong Kong and..., my experience during my visit there is that they are experiencing a slump in genre films. There are too many martial arts films - a genre that corresponds to the Western in East Asia - and more than 80 films of this genre are produced every year.

Plus, the producers and distributors in both places seem to be having conflicts recently, so I think this is a good opportunity.”

"That's not bad..." Simberg nodded again. This suggestion had also been made by their own branch.

“And Vietnam and Thailand…”

"The cinema facilities there are not very suitable for screening, so it can only be shown in a few theaters." This time, Simberg shook his head. "What about mainland China? What do you think?"

"Similarly, there is a lack of the latest audio equipment there, and the quota they are bringing in needs to be approved by the head office, so it may not be possible this year."

"Thank you anyway, if there's anyone out there who needs your friendship..."

"I will do my best to assist you. This is in the common interest of everyone in Hollywood." Ronald agreed quickly. If Jurassic Park could become popular in these places, it would open a door.

"Speaking of this cameo, how did you come up with such a good idea?" After talking about the business, Sheinberg asked about the director who invited Spielberg to guest star as the leading actor Johnny Cage in "Mortal Kombat".

"This is just a joke between artists...hahaha," Ronald laughed and told a few stories about big directors being disliked by stars, and Sheinberg also laughed.

"Also, I saw that Steven was in a bad mood, so I asked him to come here to relax." Ronald certainly did not say that Spielberg would make a cameo appearance, which would also be a good marketing for the movie. Anyway, Spielberg is also a game fan and he himself is interested in it.

"Hey, you don't know, I kind of regret letting Steven go to Poland to shoot..." said Sheenberg after taking a sip of coffee.

"Why? I don't understand."

Spielberg talked about some of the crew's experiences in Poland. He even flew there to help the crew relieve stress. He even encouraged Robin Williams to call Spielberg every day to tell jokes after he found out about it.

This time the filming took place in Krakow, Poland, near the real Auschwitz-Birkenau State Museum and the original site of the Pławowo concentration camp.

However, this originally normal choice encountered pressure from both the World Jewish Congress and the neo-Nazis in Eastern European countries.

The World Jewish Congress is a transnational organization whose goal is the survival of the Jewish people. Although the new secretary-general is Canadian billionaire Bronfman, the organization was originally established in Europe and many of its members now live in Europe.

Compared to the classic narrative of Hollywood, the attitude of the European film industry towards the Holocaust is completely different. For some reason, European filmmakers believe that such a horrific event as the Holocaust cannot be reproduced on the screen.

Any reproduction for profit is to sell misery, and use the millions of innocent Jewish souls in World War II as bargaining chips to sell misery and make money. Whether morally or religiously, such behavior should be severely condemned.

So not only did the crew not receive any assistance from the Jews, but the filming agreement originally agreed upon with the Polish government was also disrupted. They were not allowed to enter the real concentration camp to film, and could only build some simulated buildings nearby for filming.

On the other hand, anti-Semitism in Eastern Europe still has a deep foundation. Some people spray-painted anti-Semitic slogans on the billboards opposite the entrance of the crew to protest. Some people also wore Nazi uniforms of the time to harass the actors of the crew, telling them that "Germans are very charming. They will not kill anyone who does not deserve to die."

Under such tremendous pressure, the filming was a very depressing plot. At the end, when filming the shower scene in the gas chamber, the actors all collapsed, and the Jewish actresses all burst into tears. The German actors couldn't perform normally. The whole crew no longer looked like a film shooting team, but more like a documentary shooting team.

In the last few weeks, the entire crew cried every day, and the atmosphere was no longer normal. And starting with Spielberg, almost no one could bear to go to the screening room to watch yesterday's sample film, and they just took whatever they could get.

However, perhaps because of this emotion, the shots that were taken were very good in Sheenberg's opinion. It was just that his favorite Spielberg was a little mentally unstable, so he had to slowly return to normal Hollywood life through family reunions and this brain-changing activity arranged by Ronald.

"Ha ha ha ha……"

After the two finished chatting, Spielberg burst into laughter. It happened that Paul W. S. Anderson had just finished telling him about the scenes to be filmed, which made him laugh.

Sheinberg couldn't help but glance at Ronald. Spielberg actually looked a lot more relaxed. This producer's ability to adjust is outstanding in Hollywood.

“Paul, you are such an interesting person.”

"Steven, Ronald wrote the lines for this scene himself. He said you would like it."

After the two directors communicated, Spielberg put on a baseball cap with an M (Mortal Kombat's logo) logo, sat on a large jib, and sat together with the photographer of the play-within-a-play.

His beard was still uncut and his hair was a little messy, and Ronald gave him a thumbs-up from behind the actual camera.

"We can add some more lines here," Spielberg said to Ronald, quickly writing a few words on the script. "How about you play the role of producer?"

"Me, or Mr. Sheenberg?" Ronald read the lines and thought they made sense.

"No, it's better if you come...hahahaha." Simberg put his hands on Ronald's shoulders and insisted that he make a cameo appearance.

……

"Action!"

"Hey, you should fall down here..." The actor who plays Johnny Cage is Lynden Ashby. He looks like a classic Hollywood handsome guy and has good skills. However, he has not received complete training and his fighting moves lack some power. Fortunately, today they are just shooting a fun scene.

In the movie, Johnny Cage is one of Hollywood's top action stars. However, during the filming, many people did not know how to shoot martial arts, there was no top action team to help, and the actors who were found to act opposite him were all very ordinary martial arts actors.

The last bad guy didn't know how to deal with the attack, and only fell down exaggeratedly after being reminded by Cage.

"Where did you find these people? The media also said that I don't know martial arts and was just pretending..." Lynden Ashby looked helpless, walked to the camera of the play-within-a-play, and complained to the director.

"Cut, okay, everyone, take a fifteen-minute break and re-set the scene..." Spielberg said the lines while sitting on the big jib.

"I'm not filming anymore, I'm not filming anymore." Lyndon Ashby walked away coolly, pointing a finger at Spielberg's nose and cursing.

"What do you mean you don't want to shoot anymore? This is the last take, Johnny."

"I'm not going to do another take. You might as well give me a gun and let me kill myself."

"What, what do you mean? Why don't you just shoot me..." Spielberg brought in the emotion of arguing with the actors very well.

Lyndon Ashby turned and walked out, with the camera focused on Spielberg's face still on the crane.

"Johnny, where are you going? I love you..." Spielberg shouted at Johnny Cage who was already walking away with a loud speaker.

"Okay, contact Bruce, Mel, Plan B, Plan B." Spielberg turned and looked at Ronald, who played the producer.

"Well, it's his fault that he has such a bad temper. Luckily I bought insurance after the movie..." Ronald also took out a mobile phone, "Hello, put Bruce in my phone... Hello, Bruce, I have a movie here, yes, the one that was originally scheduled to star Johnny Cage... But his schedule is not available now."

"Cut!" Paul W. S. Anderson outside the play called for a real stop. "Hahahaha..." Being able to direct two major directors made him happy and proud.