Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 514 Stay away from the Rat Gang

"Ronald, are you back in Los Angeles? Come to my house and I need to find you."

Weintraub, the producer of "Kids of Dragon", called this day and asked Ronald to come to his house for a talk.

Weintraub also lived with his wife, Jane Morgan, and bought a small house for his young wife, Susan Eakins, in which he sometimes lived, essentially living a double family life.

"Did you go to Crazy Shirley Maclean's birthday party?"

Weintraub invited Ronald this time mainly to remind him.

"I have to warn you, don't have too much contact with this person, otherwise you will also be rejected by the Hollywood mainstream."

"I was her boyfriend on the day of the Oscars, and then I went to her birthday party." Ronald felt that Weintraub was making a fuss.

"I've been around them long enough that there's some history you might not know. You know Hollywood's 'Rat Pack'?"

It turns out that the Rat Gang is a small gang of Hollywood actors and singers from the age of Humphrey Bogart.After Bogart died, the leader of the Rat Gang became Frank Sinatra.At the same time, there are Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and others.

They are notorious, known as womanizers, and alcoholics.Because Sinatra performed in Las Vegas all year round, he also had a deep relationship with gambling.

Shirley Maclean was a long-term female member of the Rat Gang and had a close relationship with them.

"I'm Frank Sinatra's concert manager, but I never hang out with them. If you get the name of the Rat Gang, your reputation in Hollywood will be bad." Weintraub pointed at Luo. Nader said.

"I only go to a party once in a while, and if that's the case, then I won't go anymore."

Weintraub nodded, "I'm not alarmist. They compete to drink and pick up girls in Las Vegas and Hollywood all the year round. Many beautiful Hollywood actresses are passed on to each other. Although their power is great, but in Hollywood There are many enemies."

"It's not that exaggerated, is it?"

"I'm just reminding you that the Rat Gang has been based in Las Vegas for a long time. In particular, Macklin, a woman who has been with them for a long time, now believes in aliens and mysticism. If you don't believe in these things, you'd better talk to They keep their distance."

"I see. Just to go to her birthday party and meet some New York movie people."

"That's good, our movie has already received a PG rating from the MPAA. Columbia said it's tentatively scheduled to premiere nationwide on June 22..."

The two chatted about the release of "The Dragon's Mighty Boy", and Ronald left.

"Rick, is there something wrong with the Rat Gang? Weintraub specifically told me not to get too close to McLean." Ronald still felt something was wrong after returning home, so he called his agent Nisita.

"The Rat Gang, they have long been based in Las Vegas, and Frank Sinatra had a deep connection with the gangs there very early on.

These people make money and women, and their reputation is not very good.As for Macklin, she used to help the Rat Gang find fresh women to fill their harem. "

"what?"

"They've been out of the Hollywood spotlight for a long time though, so maybe Weintraub knows something new? He's a slick guy, and you heard him right."

Ronald, who hung up the phone, finally understood.No wonder Shirley Maclean kept introducing him to beautiful women in the film industry.Does this mean that he regards himself as a new rat gang?

No matter what, Diane must stay away from her!

Diane was still very carefree when she received the call, "I know, what are you afraid of, I can't sleep on the red sofa because of the role. Besides, the final version was finally cut on the Street of Rage, and I haven't lost yet. Next month I have to go to Los Angeles for a marketing event for the movie, and I'll be in touch then."

Diane is still clean, but another beauty, Natasha Kinski, came to find Ronald uninvited.She called and asked Ronald to introduce her and Konchalovsky to the top of Cannon Pictures, hoping to find a distributor to represent their new film "Maria's Lovers."

On this day, Ronald was in the office of Cannon Pictures, having a meeting with the three leading actors of "Breakdance", and Minahan to discuss the arrangement of marketing activities before and after the release.

"We are scheduled to premiere on May [-]th, and there are more than a thousand theaters nationwide. We will meet the audience at the premiere theater in Los Angeles that day. Then we will go to Chicago and New York. In big cities for fan meetings, Ronald and I went to the Cannes film festival in the country of hair."

Minahan took out the schedule and handed it over.

Ronald himself asked to participate in Minahan's overseas film sales process, and would go to Cannes with him from time to time.

The three leading actors chattered there. They all came from poor backgrounds, and they have never been to many of the cities on the list.

"Why are you unhappy?" Ronald looked at the black man among the three, and Boogaloo was a little listless.

"Hey, I'm disappointed. MJ's Pepsi ad with 'Billie Jean' music didn't include me and Falcon's choreography credits."

"No way? Did you make a mistake?" Lucinda Dicky asked kindly.

"Not only is it not in the commercial, but even in his latest TV music video, my name is not there. His improved moonwalk, you can tell it's mine at a glance, and the way of exerting force in the east coast' crazy legs" It's completely different. There is also Falcon's popular mechanical dance, which was also taken away by him."

"What's going on here? Didn't you sign the contract? You can go to the trade union to complain." Ronald saw that Bugaloo Prawn also encountered the same problems he encountered when he first entered the industry.

"It's not fair. Why don't you let your agent negotiate with them? No, you can find the actors' union or the choreographer. The choreographer's union should be affiliated with the truck drivers' union. They have great energy."

Boogaloo Shrimp shook his head, "My agent persuaded me to get monetary compensation. There is no clause in our contract that must be signed. He said that it would be troublesome to go to court."

"But it's a pity that you lost your signature, otherwise you can enter the industry immediately and become a professional choreographer for movies."

Bugaloo Prawn didn't speak, and he opened his mouth after a long time, "He is the idol and hero of our black people. I didn't expect that he doesn't even have this kind of tolerance."

"I'm afraid that because of the idol status of the black hero, it is impossible to expose the fact that his break dancing movements are not original." Ronald rubbed his chin. I am afraid that this is the real reason why MJ is unwilling to let them sign.

"It's okay, the 'Breakdance' you starred in will be released soon, and it will be as popular as ever." Ronald comforted the black boy.

"Don't talk about me, how are you preparing? Lucinda, have you learned to backspin?" Boogallo was young after all, and when Ronald said it, he immediately regained his good mood.

"Of course," Lucinda showed them a standard backspin on the office floor.

"Oh," Ronald took the lead in applauding her, "This trick is used at the audience meeting, isn't it to make the audience scream."

"Of course, I'm also a professional dancer." Lucinda glanced at Shabadu. If she had time to practice, she would dance no worse than him.

"However, I may only be able to roadshow until the end of July, if Breakdance is still in theaters. Then I will go to see my good friend's performance at the Olympics."

Lucinda Dickey was talking about her best friend, who made the American gymnastics team for the Olympics. "This time the Souville Alliance is very strong. They did not boycott the Olympics. My friend needs me to encourage her."

"Ronald," Minahan came over to invite him over, "What happened to your friend Miss Kinski's movie? Did she invest in it herself? How's the quality?"

"I heard that her friend invested in it, but I haven't watched it either. But the director is Andrei Konchalovsky of the Sowell Union."

"Oh? It's him?" Minahan said that he was familiar with his name, "When can I invite them to chat?"

"I'll call her, but I don't know the quality of the film, you have to measure it yourself."

Natasha Kinski moved very quickly. To be honest, it was very difficult to accept the investment of her friend.She came to Los Angeles with Konchalovski to find Ronald.

Ronald took them, and the copy they brought from the plane, to Minahan to try it out.

"What do you think?" Minahan asked the two main creators to go out first after watching. He first asked Ronald for his opinion.

"The filming is very good, the audio-visual language is very good, and Andre is indeed a master. But the plot of this movie is not like the type that can be popular in America."

"That is to say, it is possible to gain favor in Europe?" Minahan opened his mind.

"Well, it's possible." Ronald thought for a while.

Don't tell me, this idea is indeed possible.The quality of the film itself is not bad. American audiences don't like this kind of tangled and humanistic story, but if it is put in Europe, especially those film festivals, maybe the judges' eyes just happen to like this kind of green hat story?

"It's too late for Cannes. I'll try the Venice Film Festival later, and I happen to have a good relationship with their selectors. I think if I can be selected, I can pay to buy the film."

"Think about it for yourself," Ronald knew nothing about awards.

"I'm very busy recently, and I'm also busy releasing Ronald's blockbuster film and going to the Cannes Film Festival. I've seen your film. It's difficult to release it in America, but there is a market in Europe. If you want, I will You can pay to buy the copyright, at least you won’t lose money.”

After Minahan went out, he immediately shared his thoughts with the two creators.

Konchalovsky is already very satisfied. Coming from the alliance, it is a surprise to be able to make the first feature film in such a short period of time, and it may even be sent to Europe for release.

Natasha Kinski has some doubts. She still wants to release it in America, so that her friends can get a share of the income and earn a little, so that the favor she owes can be repaid.

She said on the spot that she would still think about it for a while.

"Okay, you can find me as soon as possible within a week."

Natasha Kinski had been discussing with her agent for a long time, but she was still unwilling to sell the film rights like this.A few days later, she called Minahan again.

"I still want to follow the usual distribution model, because I want to be able to go to theaters in America."

"Think about it for yourself. That's our proposal." Minahan was not there, and his cousin Yoram answered the phone. He didn't believe that there were distributors here who would watch this kind of movie.

Natasha Kinski realized that she didn't have any advantage in negotiating. She had no choice but to find Ronald to clear the relationship.

In order to be busy with the release of Ronald's movie, Minahan has ignored his "Maria's lovers" these days.

In just a few days, she saw Ronald's influence again. She dug out the audition photos taken by Ronald for herself from the suitcase and looked at them for a long time.

"It's not a loss to me anyway," Kinski pulled out Ronald's phone and called.

"Ronald, I want to invite you to have dinner together. We haven't seen each other for a long time. I didn't expect you to have realized your dream and become a Hollywood director..."

"Is this Miss Kinski?" A strange man was on the other end of the phone. "This is Richard, Ronald's manager. He is going to the premiere roadshow of 'Breakdancing'. All calls have been forwarded to Here, if you have anything, you can leave a message."

"I...I want to congratulate him on the release of his new film..."

(End of this chapter)