Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 289 There Is Worse Than Me

Rick Nisita signed Francis Coppola.

The news immediately caused a sensation in CAA and agent circles.It is true that he is of Italian descent, but Coppola is not the kind of director who can be signed just because of his ethnicity.

The reason why Nisita was able to defeat competitors such as Limato and sign Coppola was that he helped Coppola facilitate the release contract of the new film "Urchin" and Warner Bros.

A Warner president who has just taken over and urgently needs to establish his own professional authority.A major director who desperately needs to make a blockbuster movie and save his reputation and his finances.

A successful broker is one who can grasp the real needs of both parties, and be able to communicate the needs of both parties with the right person.With this signing, Nisita successfully promoted himself to the top five in the CAA Power Rankings.

"Coppola is famous for sticking to his own opinion stubbornly, disregarding the opinions of the producers, and often exceeding the budget and exceeding the deadline. But often under the circumstances of huge financial pressure, he can make blockbuster films that explode at the box office and critics.

Last time "Old Love, New Love", the financial pressure was not strong enough, so Francis willfully played according to his own ideas. If he doesn't make a good film this time, he will face losing his house and vineyard.His wife will not let him go, Italian men listen to their mothers and wives. "

Nisita was in the office, having a meeting with Tom Cruise's agent, Paula Wagner.

"Tom made me a list of directors he'd like to work with. Coppola was first on the list." Paula carefully straightened Nisita's tie knot, kissed him, and sat back. in the seat next to him.

A film project of a famous director can fill in many actors to refresh their resumes, and this time "Urchin" happens to be a group play.

Nisita was very happy, and suddenly became the target of all CAA colleagues.

"I'd give Tom a fast track to the audition, but Coppola is Coppola."

A director who can shoot "The Godfather" is very authoritative in art, and Nisita can't guarantee that his own people can get the roles they want, everything depends on Coppola's intentions.

"It would be great if someone Coppola trusted in art could help Tom." Paula knew that although Tom worked very hard, his education level was not high, his reading comprehension was worrying, and he might not be able to accurately understand the role.

Coppola is also a person who is particularly persistent in casting. He chose Marlon Brando and Al Pacino for the godfather back then, and he would rather risk his own being fired to insist on their roles.

"So when Ronald comes, treat him better. I recommend him as a trainee for Coppola. If Coppola agrees, he will participate in all the casting process."

"Oh, really?"

"Dangdang", after knocking on the door, a young man with a beard and sunglasses walked in.

"Ronald, long time no see, black tea or coffee?" Paula Wagner stepped forward to hug him.

"Black tea, thank you." Ronald took off his sunglasses and walked to the table.

"What's wrong with you? Didn't sleep well?" Nisita noticed that Ronald's eyes were red and bloodshot.

"Yeah, I read the copy again. There are many unsatisfactory things in it, and I think too much." Ronald supported the table, sat down slowly, and grinned.

"I couldn't sleep and got up to exercise, and my muscles were sore." He offered to explain.

"Pay attention to restraint, you still have a job here." Nisita looked at the uncomfortable position on the inner thigh of Ronald, and shook her head inwardly.

"Hey, good." Ronald adjusted his sitting posture, avoiding the sore part, "What kind of work?"

"The last time you commented on 'The Fantastic Stains', it reached the ears of Paramount executives. After negotiating with director Lou Adler, they agreed to meet with you to see his first cut. See See if there is a way to remedy it and cut out the ending."

"Here's the script," Nisita put a bound script on the table and slid it over.

Ronald caught it with one hand, "Okay, I will watch it, when will I meet with the director?"

"The sooner the better, I greeted Coppola for you. He is busy with the financing of the new film, and he will interview you and several other candidates next week. He will choose a trainee and learn from the group throughout the process, from the audition start."

"Then I'll watch it now, please contact Director Lou Adler for me." Ronald picked up the script and read it.

The next day Ronald met with Lou Adler, the director of "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Fantastic Stains."Lou Adler actually has some connections with Ronald. During the filming of "Fame", Ronald wanted to add the part of "Rocky Horror Show" that he supervised.

They saw the director's cut in Paramount's screening room.

The movie tells the story of a girl who is a supermarket saleswoman who counterattacks and becomes the lead singer of a punk band.

Small Town Girl Corinna starring Diane Lane.Corinna's mother died unfortunately, and she worked alone to support herself and her sister.He was interviewed by a reporter in a supermarket and complained about the economic downturn under the energy crisis in Persia, but was fired by the supermarket owner.

Corinna, who was desperate, unexpectedly found that her interviewed remarks were broadcast by the local TV station, which aroused the attention of the public.So she, her sister, and her cousin (Laura Dern) formed a garage punk band "Magic Stains", hoping to make money by performing.

Because of Corinna's media exposure, the band was picked up by a local concert organizer, warming up for the opening of a concert by an outdated rock band.

Unexpectedly, the music level of the three of them was extremely poor. Neither the younger sister nor the cousin could play musical instruments very well, and Corinna sang out of tune by herself.

The organizer wanted to replace them, but Corinna saw that it was not good, so all three sisters were dyed with skunk hairstyles, and then continued to express their views on the economy and the situation to the media.Hope to continue to attract media attention.

Her remarks and appearance attracted the attention of the national media, and after being broadcast on TV, she became a well-known spokesperson for rebellion in the country, attracting thousands of low-level girls who were as dissatisfied with reality as she was to watch the show.

The Magic Stains were able to go on to open up other bands' national tours.In the end, I made enough money to support myself and my sister's family.

The movie has no ending and no closing credits.Ronald looked at the director and almost laughed out loud.

This director has a much larger budget than himself, but the filming is also much worse than himself.

The whole film is full of messy plot and scheduling.In some shots, it is obvious that the lighting is inconsistent, there are many gaps, and the actors' performances are not consistent at all.

If Roger Coleman were to take the shot, it would cost between $50 and $[-] at most, and the shot was even better than him.

Ronald finally let go of his long-term anxiety and let out a sigh of relief.

Sometimes I don’t need to keep comparing myself with top directors. Looking at the works of other “normal level” directors, my own films are not so bad.

"Lu, I don't understand, you did a good job, why is there no ending?"

"Ah, Ronald. Do you support my filming concept?"

"I... still support it." Ronald didn't know what the director's philosophy was, but such a noisy exploitation film was in line with his own filmmaking principles, except that it was a waste of money.

"I'm very distressed. My screenwriter doesn't want to be signed in the movie and wants to change her name to a pseudonym."

"Why?" Ronald thought to himself, could it be that the filming was too bad?
"She thinks the film needs a 'normal' ending, the Magic Stains are poor, the lead singer is out of tune, the musicians can't play more than six chords, the music isn't popular enough, the band can't be successful."

"So in the end, they go back to the town and return to life? You just need to take a few shots and explain the ending of each character." Ronald himself did the same.

"But I didn't take those shots." The director said hesitantly.

"It doesn't matter, you just need to take a still picture and explain it with subtitles."

"Mr. Eisner, the president of Paramount, let me watch the movies you participated in 'High School of Rock' and 'Fame', Ronald." The director took off his glasses and wiped them with a handkerchief. That's fine, I think you should support me."

"Of course I support you." Ronald didn't quite know what the director meant.

"Finally the Magic Stains should be on the charts." The director turned to stare at Ronald, wanting to see his first reaction.

"Is...is this possible?" It's a bit of an exaggeration for an out-of-tune band to hit the charts.

"Anything can happen in music. The Ramones in rock high school, they're so hot right now, they're singing out of tune."

"You are the boss, and you are familiar with the music industry. If you think about it carefully, it's not impossible." Ronald thought for a while, and it was true that Ramones' skills were not very good, but he was popular.

"I just said you will understand me, Ronald." The director put his arms around his shoulders.

"But we have a problem now. I didn't think about it when I was filming. It was only when I was editing that I thought of giving them a famous ending."

"If you don't have footage, we can call Diane and Laura back to make up for it."

Ronald felt that the director was hesitating, as if he was embarrassed to say something.

"Yes, yes, can you help me think of an ending?" The director looked at Ronald sincerely, "The biggest problem now is that Diane and Laura have grown a lot, if If you make up shots, it will obviously not match the previous picture.”

"Pfft..." Ronald couldn't help but spit out.

"Sorry, I choked on my tea. Ahem..."

Unexpectedly, the root of the problem is here. It has been more than a year since the filming of this movie. Diane has obviously grown a lot taller than when filming, and Laura Dern has grown more than ten centimeters.Viewers can definitely tell the difference.

No wonder the director, Lou Adler, can't finish the editing all the time. Maybe he's too embarrassed to talk about his low-level mistakes, and he doesn't want to follow the scriptwriter's wishes, so it ends here.

In addition, he is the owner of the record company and has many things to do, so it has been delayed until now...

"Otherwise, we postponed the end of the story for two years, let their three-member girl band become famous, made a music video music video, appeared on MTV, and then used this MV as the ending, wouldn't it be more natural?"

Ronald still thought of a way for the director. With the efforts of so many actors and staff, it would be a pity if it could not be released due to the director's mistakes.

"This is a way..."

Ronald strikes while the iron is hot, "If you are still worried about their height, we can mainly use upward shooting. Originally, upward shooting would make the actors look tall, so it is not easy to distinguish.

Then have Laura and another girl sit down and play the bass, leaving only Diane standing up and playing the guitar while singing, so the height is more in line with the original picture.

Let’s replay some scenes of their albums, receiving awards, interspersed and edited into MTV to become a montage, and the audience’s attention will be distracted, so they will not notice the sudden change of the actor’s height. "

Director Lou Adler nodded non-stop, as expected of a genius Eisner favored, "Don't bother with one thing, why don't you, Ronald, write and direct this ending scene." He exhausted his enthusiasm for movies, let's go back to the record industry.

"I have other things recently..."

"I hired you to reshoot at my own expense, only one day, [-] US dollars. Then you edited the ending for me." The director returned to the style of the record company boss and directly threw money at Ronald.

"I really have other business, Mr. Adler."

"Sixty thousand."

"I still have to prepare for an interview with director Coppola..."

"Sixty thousand, plus I owe you a favor."

"Well, just to salvage the movie."

"Very well, I'll go and sign with your agent."

(End of this chapter)