Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 174 The Curse of the Oscars

"That's Martin Sheen's oldest son, Emilio Estevez, but his footage was cut in the end." Hours later, at Walter Murzy's home At the dinner table, he answered Ronald's questions.

"Why are their surnames different?" Ronald took a sip of the coffee handed over by Mrs. Walter Angie, "Thank you, Mrs. Murch."

"Call me Angie, Ronald. Walter told me the last time he came back from Los Angeles. Finally, someone understands his editing theory. We have been talking about your coming these two days."

"Thank you for the dinner, Angie. It was the best meal I had in the West. I brought presents for the kids."

"I'm glad you can get used to British food." Angie took over Ronald's Polaroid camera, leg warmers, building blocks and other gifts suitable for boys and girls of different ages, and thanked Ronald for his thoughtfulness.

Angie was a Briton, married to California with Walter Murch, and she was a nurse and took good care of the family.So she went back to take care of the four children, and Ronald stayed in the living room and Walter continued to chat.

"Martin Sheen is Latino. When he entered the industry, he didn't want to affect his acting career because of his ethnicity and beliefs, so he used an Anglo-Saxon surname-Sheen, but his eldest son Emilio didn't want to inherit it. This stage name is a Latin origin name."

"Then he has a lot of backbone?"

"Martin told me while dubbing his monologue for the film that he himself had been uncomfortable with the pressure to give up his Latino last name, so he appreciated his son's decision."

"It turned out to be like this", since Ronald learned about the racial quotas in movies last time, he understands the idea that actors of ethnic minorities do not want to be classified. Emilio seems to be very confident in his acting skills and is not afraid of Latinos Affect your stardom.

"Since you won the Oscar, the current studio has asked you to be in charge of editing and sound mixing, right? I see that you are very busy these days." Ronald thought that Mercy had a lot of work orders now, and he was afraid that there would be no more time to teach yourself.

"On the contrary, I'm very busy, but it's all mixing, recording and other piecemeal work. There is no sound design work that manages the entire film."

"Why is that? Didn't the Oscars recognize your achievement? How come no one asked you to be in charge of the whole movie?"

"It's the Oscars curse."

……

"Jane, don't worry, all studio bids will be faxed directly to this office, we can just wait here." Ovitz was in CAA's president's office, trying to make Jane Fonda not so nervous.

"I have experience, Michael. After I won the Best Actress Award in 1971, I was cursed by the Oscar for 3 years. Two consecutive films only got 20 box office. Although the box office of Huaguo Syndrome was not bad this time, But that was just a coincidence of the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, and I was very worried about Golden Pond, and the box office results of the next movie after that."

"That's why I insist that all studios have only one chance to bid, Jane. Don't let them think you are a premium star." Ovitz said his own considerations to Jane Fonda.

"The so-called Oscar curse, I personally think, is actually because after winning an Oscar, the market will give the winner an exorbitant price.

Often only those laymen would pay this kind of price to invite the new actor and actress.And laymen don't know how to produce, and their judgments are questionable, which often leads to films that award-winning actors will take on to perform poorly at the box office. "

"Think about the movies you threw away in those years, Jane. First, A Doll's House, and then Godard, the hairy Chinese. Everything is fine, and they are not projects that are favored by major studios. So this time we must make sure that the major producers The studio is really optimistic that your performance in the movie will bring box office, so it invests in the project, not the kind of gambling that only you are the selling point of the whole movie.

I definitely don't mean to lower your salary, we just don't need them to bid against each other to reduce other production budgets, as long as they can respect your status as an actress and choose one of the highest prices quoted. "

"So do you estimate how much they can pay for the script, project, director, and my participation?"

"It's hard to say. From my communication with them, they are willing to pay an unprecedented high price for you, but it's hard to say what they are willing to bid for the script and director. In their eyes, only you have star status, and this The only Bankable asset in the project.”

The so-called Bankable refers to the high-quality assets recognized by the bank, the guarantee of box office hits, and the collateral that can be used for loans.The managers of the bank's loan department have no idea about film shooting. They will only approve the filming financing loan if they agree to participate in the film project as a package in their eyes.

There are many kinds of packages, such as a director who has made consecutive blockbuster movies, a leading male star, or a gold medal producer with a string of successful resumes.Jane Fonda is one of the few female stars who can rival male stars and is regarded as a package by the bank.

"It's started," said the secretary beside him, pointing to the fax machine.

"Squeak...cheep..." The fax machine began to ring with difficulty, and quotations were faxed one after another from the five major studios.

"You are professional, Ovitz. We hope that no matter who it is, my IPC film industry has the right to participate in the investment. We will put Jane's salary back into the film production, participate in the investment together, and at the same time enjoy the corresponding share of the total box office. into."

Jane Fonda's producer said on the sidelines.

After years of experience, Jane Fonda has long understood the various ways of playing in Hollywood.This time, I took the drought and flood guarantee guarantee contract, and immediately turned back and invested in the movie to pursue greater benefits.

Of course, this is also an expression of her and the producer's confidence in Ronald's script and the director's level of control, otherwise they can get paid and leave.

"Fox 280 million, Orion 290 million, Warner Bros. 300 million..." Ron Meyer collected the faxes one by one and reported the quotations of each company.

Jane Fonda went back to discuss with the producer in a low voice, and the price was unsatisfactory.

"Paramount 320 million..." Without waiting for the last few fax lines to be sent, the secretary hastily tore off the quotation page from the fax machine and handed it to Ovitz.

"Where's Columbia's offer?" Ovitz was also a little anxious, don't make any problems at a critical moment.

"Squeak..." The fax machine started spitting out blank paper again.There were so many faxes this time, the secretary cut off the long roll of paper that was flowing to the floor.Then stand in front of the fax machine, and when the fax has enough content, bring it over for everyone to see.

"Are these all revisions to the script?" Jane Fonda took the fax from Ovitz, flipped through it roughly, and exchanged glances with the producer.

"Yes, Mr. Price, the president of Columbia, was the first script editor and reviewer of CBS TV. His professional opinions are very valuable." Ron Meyer, one of CAA's partners, added beside him.

"The quotation is coming..." The secretary quickly handed the last fax to Ovitz, and Ovitz motioned her to send it directly to Jane Fonda.

"The total project purchase cost is 365 million, including Jane Fonda's guaranteed pay of 200 million Pay or Play, script purchase 35..." Jane and the producer quickly browsed, "Columbia will invest another 635 million in production costs, and the total production budget 1000-1200 million."

"These 200 million are the quota for your IPC company, Jane." Ovitz pointed to the last line of handwritten numbers. With a pen, behind the printed number 1000 million, the words up to 1200 million were handwritten.

"We're calling Mr. Frank Price, President of Columbia." Ovitz directed the secretary to answer the phone.

"I'll notify the unsuccessful ones." Ron Meyer took the initiative to inform the bad news.

"Mr. Price," Ovitz said hello first, "Congratulations on getting 'My Brother's Protector'

"Hahaha...it should be congratulations to all of us." Frank Price's laughter came from the speaker, "Is Jane there? I left an investment quota of 200 million US dollars for your IPC."

"I see, Frank. Thank you for your generosity." Jane Fonda decided to invest after discussing with the producer, "IPC will invest 200 million."

"This way Columbia has more confidence. Listen, Michael, now that the project is ready to be officially signed, we are going to book it for the summer of '82. If you have no objections, we can start the project promotion plan."

"No problem, I got a strike waiver, and I'm going to shoot 'Golden Pond' right away. After two months, when the camera is shut down, we can set the shooting schedule."

"That's just right, we can take advantage of this time to make some revisions and refinements to the script."

"I've seen Frank's comments, let Ronald revise the draft properly. Who do you choose for the leading actor?"

"This is the question I want to ask you too, Jane. The interaction between the male and female protagonists determines the success of this movie..."

"Let Richard call Ronald and let him know that his script has been sold, but keep quiet and wait for our publicity to start."

While listening to the phone, Ovitz turned his head and whispered to the secretary.

……

"So that's what the curse of the Oscars means. If you win an award, you won't get any good projects." Ronald nodded.

"Yes, Ronald. I'm telling you, if you care about making good movies in your career, not fame, you'd better not win an Oscar, just get an Oscar nomination." Walter Murch Said.

"why?"

"Oscar nominations can already prove that you are the top in the industry, and employers will appreciate you. But Oscars represent another meaning. Employers are always worried about whether your price is inflated or whether your temper is getting worse. , Have you grown so self-inflated that you don't listen to the boss's opinion?"

"So that's the case? But I don't think you have any signs of self-aggrandizement?"

"I don't care about that. Sometimes things don't need to happen in reality, but what people think about you. Perception will replace reality."

"Then what are your plans now?" Ronald couldn't help worrying about Walter Murray.

"It usually takes three years to get an Oscar. But I plan to use these three years to transition to a director. I wrote a script about the adventures of an archaeologist in Egypt. I hope that Warner, who now has this script The frat asked me to direct.

The script was originally written for Diorama, but after Apocalypse Now, Francis ran out of cash to make the film, so he sold him to Warner Bros.It's been a few months since they bought it and they haven't contacted me. I hope the script doesn't end up in Warner's script library. "

"Why, didn't they buy it for filming?" Ronald was curious.Walter Murch is not a rookie screenwriter like himself, but a veteran in the industry who has already won an Oscar for the best sound effect. The studio usually only buys him because of his strength.

"It's not the 70s anymore. At that time, as long as the producer believed in the director and the money was in place, he could shoot. Now the major studios are more cautious about shooting projects. The studios will hoard a lot of scripts, but not many start shooting. .”

After chatting for a while, Ronald said goodbye and went back to Motel 6.The price here is cheap, it's clean, and the service is good.

"Mr. Li? Someone called you this afternoon and left you a message." Seeing Ronald, the front desk turned around and took a folded note and handed it to Ronald.

(End of this chapter)