Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 146 Procrastination Tactics
"These candidates are not good. Which one has the beauty of Brooke Shields and her popularity? I use you to find the right candidate. Until now, there is not even a single person who can match her."

Peter Guber was a little angry, and his reprimanded tone made Julia Taylor of the casting studio and Franco Zeffirelli, the director of "Endless Love", look a little embarrassed.

Weeks after the premiere of "Fame," Shields' mom, Terry, is delaying not only Calvin Klein's jeans ad, but also the "Endless Love" crew.

In the early stage, the casting studio has recommended many young actors, and Brooke Shields seems to have softened her attitude, showing that she can accept the script and enter the bargaining stage.Therefore, the casting of the heroine of the movie has also slowed down.

But after Brooke Shields appeared on the cover of "Vogue", Terry's attitude became tougher again, and he raised the offer price to 120 million US dollars.Guber, who lacks contacts in the fashion industry, was a little upset by the sudden attack.

The film was originally scheduled to start in July, but due to the delay of Brooke Shields' mother, the heroine could not be confirmed for a long time.And the focus of this kind of teenage romance is whether the male and female protagonists have a chemical reaction together, so the male protagonist has not been decided yet.

"Use your brains and think about who else we can invite?" Gu Beier knew in his heart that the so-called audition was just a gimmick, and the probability of being able to choose a movie heroine from people with no acting experience was not high. , in Hollywood, which pays attention to return on investment, it is more realistic to look for existing film and television actors.

The photos on the table are Kelly Preston, who was selected in the last audition, and Debra Winger, Carrie Fisher and others who were promoted after several auditions.

"Carrie Fisher is pretty good, both beautiful and well-known. Lucas' Star Wars fifth part 'The Empire Strikes Back' will be released soon..." Gubel said, pointing to the photo of Princess Leia.

"She's got a contract, Blues Brothers, and the last time she auditioned, she looked too grown-up to be a teenage girl." Julia Taylor voted no.

Gu Beier curled his lips. In fact, it doesn't matter how old he is if he can catch up with Princess Leia's popularity. "It's better to send her an audition notice."

"Where is Deborah Winger? In this TV series Wonder Woman, the actress who debuted as the heroine's apprentice, Wonder Girl, is actually very skilled in acting." Director Zeffirelli suggested that he always has an inexplicable affection for black-haired actors .

"She's not pretty enough. In the upcoming movie 'Urban Cowboy', she starred opposite John Travolta. She was almost returned by producer Robert Evans because she wasn't pretty enough." Guber voted against it this time.

Robert Evans is a legendary producer in Hollywood. He has produced acclaimed and well-received films such as The Devil's Child, Chinatown, and Love Story. His vision represents a certain degree of authority.

"Send her an audition invitation," Zeffirelli insisted.

"Okay, is there any other candidates?" Gubel sent an invitation to all the casting personnel present, asking them to name any candidate who can be the heroine or the hero in memory.

For a while, the noisy voices in the conference room came to mind.

"How about Roseanne Arquette? Typical blonde girl."

"What about Linda Blair? She can play tender, a bit like Sally Field, the newly released Oscar-winning actress."

"In that case, the leading actor should follow the template of Dustin Hoffman, the new best actor. He played the temperament in "The Graduate" when he was young, which is very suitable for the leading actor."

"Kristy McNichol is good, she just played two teenage girls who bet on who will lose their virginity at summer camp first with Tatum O'Neal in 'Little Cutie', similar to 'Endless Love'."

……

"Don't you have any candidates?" Julia Taylor quietly asked Ronald who was thinking.

"Do you still remember the girl who auditioned for the role of Hillary in 'Famous' last time? It's called Michelle Fay or something." Ronald is still not very good at pronouncing this kind of juxtaposition of two consonants, I don't know Which one is not pronounced.

"Which one is it?" Julia lost her memory.

"Marian should remember that I went to look for her audition photos. She is blond, beautiful, and comes from a wealthy family. Last time, she was rejected because she was not good at ballet."

Ronald turned back to the archives to find the audition material for the girl who looked like a cat.

"It's her, Michelle Pfeiffer." Ronald walked to the conference table and spread the girl's photo on the table. "I remember the pronunciation of her name."

"This girl has the temperament of a rich girl." Zeffirelli admires this kind of girl with a classical appearance, and is suitable for acting in Shakespeare's classical plays.

"That's great, send her agent an audition notice." Gubel also nodded, "Ronald, where did you find the candidate? I remember her. I saw her in ABC's police drama 'BAD Cats' before." , I didn’t expect that a change of dress would be very suitable for the appearance of a rich girl on the east coast.”

"The last time I auditioned for the photo of 'Fame', the real person is actually more beautiful. She participated in the beauty pageant of Miss California."

"Send an audition notice to her agent." Guber turned back to order the assistant, and then asked Ronald, "Any more?"

"There is another actor candidate." Ronald slowly placed a photo of the actor on the table, covering the mouth below with his hand, only showing the part above the nose.

"This man is very handsome." The casting directors and assistants present, all female, sighed when they saw the photos.

"He has some problems with his teeth, but when he came to audition for 'Fame' last time, he corrected his crooked teeth, so he lost the chance of that buffoon Montgomery."

When Ronald was looking for Michelle Pfeiffer's photos, he also saw the photo of the young actor who had just been corrected by the dentist last time.He was very impressed with this actor, whom even his agents disliked. He came to the audition alone. Although he lost the role due to an accident, he was always full of fighting spirit and had a sunny personality.

This time the male protagonist doesn't need to have messy teeth. He may have a chance after having his teeth corrected, so he also brought his audition photos along.

He removed the hand covering his mouth, and his front teeth were in a mess, causing the women onlookers to let out a neat "hey" sigh.

"It's too different." Zeffirelli saw that the man was a good-looking person, and immediately lost interest.

"I promise, his teeth were corrected by the dentist, and the two worst ones were pulled out. He is handsome now, and he has worked hard."

"Okay, send an audition invitation to his agent as well. Anyway, there is a high probability that the male lead will still be auditioned." Gu Beier agreed.

The story of "Endless Love" is cut from the perspective of the male protagonist, but in fact the central character is the heroine Jed.The audience's attention follows the male protagonist's perspective, focusing on the beauty called Tianxian in the original work.

Whether the leading actor is very handsome is not that important.Moreover, the casting of the leading actor is within the purview of director Franco Zeffirelli. This blond, sunny boy is probably not in the director's eyes.

Zeffirelli has a history of using dark-haired, dour male leads to satisfy his personal idiosyncrasies.

"Send audition invitations to all these candidates, and also invite Brooke Shields to let her mother know that we are not the only choice for her daughter." Gubel instructed the assistant.

"But Terry kept evading it," the assistant reminded.

"You get on the phone with her, and I'll talk. It's always been the Hollywood rule that even if Marlon Brando was playing Godfather, Coppola would have to audition once."

"Hello, Ms. Terry Shields? I'm Mr. Peter Guber's assistant, about your daughter's audition..."

"Terry? I'm Guber. We're going to audition soon, and your daughter is coming too." Guber took the receiver and wanted to finalize the audition in a declarative tone.

"We will discuss the salary directly with her agent. As the manager, you can just accompany her when the time comes. ... The audition does not affect the negotiation of the film salary. It is just an investigation to see who is the most suitable for the role. ... No one The role can be finalized without audition, unless she is the producer herself, are you sure you want to invest in this movie?"

"There is no problem with the time. I will arrange the audition slot according to your request. Okay, then it's settled." Gu Beier put down the phone and clapped his hands. "Just send the audition notice according to this time. This time we are going to decide on the male and female protagonists.”

Ronald joined them, calling Michelle Pfeiffer, the manager of the boy with the messy tooth, to schedule an audition.Julia quickly compiled the feedback from the audition candidates, asked the assistant to fill in the pre-printed form with a pen, and sent a copy to everyone.

"Ronald, you are still working. Remember to take a Polaroid snapshot of each audition candidate. There are quite a lot of candidates for this audition. Paste the snapshot on the evaluation form to prevent confusion."

……

After finishing the preparations for the audition, Ronald went to the RTKD store for another round. The small-scale screenings of "Fame" worked out well enough that MGM quietly began to expand its screenings.The word-of-mouth in the movie began to show. After watching the movie, many people made a special trip to New York Performing Arts High School to see the real Fame Middle School.

When they walk to the entrance of the performing arts college, they will also find the RTKD dance supply store opposite. When they enter the store and find the protagonist of the movie, taking photos with Aunt Karen, Teresa and others, they will take out money one after another Buy a leg warmer or two as a souvenir.

Have dinner with Aunt Karen, "A student named Helen came to buy it two days ago, and she said she knew you."

"Oh yes, she is the heroine in the commercials I shot. Let me send them a few, as well as Elizabeth Sue." Ronald felt that these girls performing commercials could also be added to his group photo marketing plan , "Invite them to come and take a few group photos."

The income brought by the dance supply store to my aunt is already several times that of the waitress on Staten Island, not counting the dividends at the end of the year.Kate now trusts Ronald's business vision, so she agrees.

Ronald, who had returned to the apartment, was about to take a rest when the phone rang.

"Hi, is that Ronald Lee?"

"It's me, are you?"

"I'm Rick Nisita, the manager of CAA." A thick male voice came from the phone.

"Mr. Nisita, you finally appeared, let me find you..."

(End of this chapter)