Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 687

Rumors soon spread in circles that Frank Price and Sidney Simberg had a boxing match at Universal Pictures.It is said that Price is like George Foreman who is good at punching, and Simberg is like Ali who is good at controlling distance with jab.

When the two were inseparable, it was the young director who was personally supported by Sinberg back then. The director of "Dragon Mighty Kid", the martial arts master Ronald Lee, ended up separating the two with a karate trick, avoiding the situation. A "jungle war" that hurt both sides.

Of course, there is also a saying that Ronald ended up supporting Frank Price, who bought out his debut screenplay for $35, and blocked Simberg's heavy punch.Because Simberg wants to throw the blame for the failure of a certain movie to Price, the benefactor who made his debut.

"Ronald, what do you think of the recent rumors that Universal Pictures has been disturbing? How much truth is there?"

"I think people who fabricate rumors are very imaginative. You can try to write a script. If it is interesting, you can consider voting for my company. I have always wanted to make a film that reflects the filming of the film, just like the director Tru The same is true of 'Day as Night' filmed by Eph.

If it opened with Rocky Balboa (Stalone in 'Rocky'), two of the most famous boxers of our time on screen, and Jack LaMotta (Robert De Niro in 'Angry') Bull'), that must have been a lot of fun. "

"Hahaha……"

Using humor to defuse the reporters who came over after smelling the smell, Ronald said goodbye to them with a smile, and got into Little Bard's car.

As soon as he got in the car, Ronald's face collapsed.

Frank Price's prediction soon came true. He formally resigned to his boss the next day, with a buffer period for resignation and a lucrative hush money known as a golden parachute.

However, because he publicly scolded Jews around the world, and the evaluation of "Howard Duck" by internal film critics was also very low, it really needs an unlucky person to take the blame. This time Price's resignation is in the eyes of insiders , still pretty ugly.

He has only been given a three-month grace period to resign, and his successor will be announced in September.And there was no customary way of giving Price a distribution guarantee with a personal studio.Even Tom Mount, the little tycoon of Universal Pictures who was forced to leave by his wife, got this clause.

And soon, a temporary candidate for all his work took his place and began to take over Frank Price's work at Universal.

"When it comes to finding scripts with potential, as well as directors and screenwriters with potential, Frank Price is a rare talent in Hollywood. Nowadays, there are only a few high-level executives like him who read scripts in person." The car is waiting for me Nisita was preparing to accompany her to meet the acting president-elect.

"But... hey..." Ronald shook his head, "He doesn't understand office politics."

"Yeah, his ability to fight politically is too bad, even worse than the cheerleading girls in public high schools."

Twice, people made excuses to take the blame, respectively in Columbia and Universal.

Price's discerning eye for blockbuster movies is truly extraordinary. He saw "ET" at Columbia, "Back to the Future" at Universal, and "Out of Africa," which won seven Oscars this year. ".

But he was kicked out immediately because he was not good at claiming credit and passing the buck.

Maybe he is better at being an independent producer than the president of a big factory.Only in this way can he better utilize his expertise in selecting scripts.

"Hello, Director Ronald, Mr. Tom Pollack is waiting for you inside."

The successor Tom Pollack, who has not yet been formally appointed, did not immediately occupy Price's office, but chose another smaller one for temporary use.The surname Pollack is the same as the director of "Out of Africa" ​​Sidney Pollack, so Ronald knew that he was also Jewish.

After drinking two cups of coffee at the door, Ronald had already started counting the patterns on the office carpet boredly before being welcomed in by the secretary belatedly.

"Thank you." Ronald and Nisita exchanged glances. It seemed that the waiting time was also a signal.

"Hello, welcome, Ronald. Please take a seat."

Tom Pollack didn't come up to hug and shake hands, but asked Ronald to sit down across the desk and said.

"Hi, Mr. Pollack. Everyone was impressed with your Star Wars negotiating skills."

Ronald did his homework before coming here. This Pollack has two famous names in Hollywood. One is that he worked as a lawyer for George Lucas for many years. He exclusively owned the peripheral copyright of "Star Wars" back then, and The sequel copyright contract was negotiated between him and Twentieth Century Fox.

Because this contract helped Lucas become the richest man in Hollywood, Pollack has always been very professional and did not disclose the name of his negotiating opponent at Fox.

Sure enough, when he heard Ronald mentioning his most proud deeds, a smile appeared on Tom Pollack's face, and he gradually let go of his guard, and no longer had a businesslike attitude.

"It's a mess here now, and I was brought in to deal with this mess because of my relationship with George. George was in a bad mood, but he still told me that you are a very nice young man who knows how to respect older people. This industry is really like a roller coaster, anyone who left a name in this industry was once held at the top..."

Tom Pollack told Ronald some old gossip, nothing more than saying that everyone has bad days, and Ronald understands the importance of luck in the film industry and will not look down on people because of temporary success or failure , will be a good long-term partner.

And now that Universal is on the cusp, Simberg's position may not be guaranteed. What is needed most now is to survive the failure period of "Howard the Duck", and now Ronald's new film is on the same page with Price, who has resigned. too close a relationship...

Ronald didn't speak, just looked at the other person's face and kept nodding.

On the one hand, Tom Pollack was too good at talking, and he couldn't get in his mouth for a while.On the other hand, it is related to the other party's second "famous" place in the industry...

He is a squint!
One of his two eyes squinted very badly. When he was still, his two eyes seemed to look at two separate objects on the left and right.So while he's looking at you with one good eye, he's looking a foot away from you with the other.

The feeling of this kind of communication is quite strange, Ronald always feels that he is not talking to himself.A few times, he couldn't help but have the idea of ​​playing a prank, and he also looked to the side of the other person and spoke a foot away.

Good family upbringing prevents such strange thoughts.But Ronald had to spare a little energy to suppress this kind of thinking. If he really did it accidentally, he would definitely offend the other party completely.

"So my client Ronald, when can we resume the preparatory work, the casting and the formation of the technical team are imminent." Nisita helped Ronald ask them the most important question of this visit.

"Ronald, I just took over, but I read the script for this movie right away, and Frank is not the only one in Hollywood who reads scripts. It has a serious problem in my opinion."

"What's the problem?" Ronald heard that it was a serious problem, and quickly took out his notebook.The opponent's vision of reading the script is no worse than Frank Price from a historical point of view.

"You've been studying for a long time, what do you think of this script?" Tom Pollack squinted at Nisita's face beside Ronald, but he was talking to Ronald.

"I think it's a very good script. It has both the reality of business warfare and the style of Hollywood's old-fashioned neurotic comedy. Today's young people from small towns come to big cities to work hard, and they will encounter all the problems of the protagonist. I think the audience is quite wide. And it’s all happening around urban audiences, and in the past ten years, no movie has dealt with these things...”

Ronald attaches great importance to the other party's opinion, and put his own thoughts on the most important ones.

"You're right, and that's what makes this movie great, and that's what I love about it. But that's also where I said the big problem is. Drama and comedy are played very differently in the movie, and you're going to use that Which style is the main one?
In those scenes, how much light comedy?How much drama style is it? "

Tom Pollack looked at Ronald with the other eye, and the original eye moved to the other side, as if looking at the door again.

"However, in my opinion, this stylistic deviation is not a big problem. Just like Helen Slater's 'The Wicked Husband' before, it actually uses a drama style to perform comedy story."

"You're right, but I'm new to the job, and I need time to figure it all out. In my opinion, is it about finding another writer to get a general grasp of the style? I can talk to whoever you want. And you said Helen, she still needs to see how the audience feedback of her previous "A Household Husband" is not as good as Michael J. Fox's male protagonist, whose acting style is very similar to his in "Back to the Future", and has already been received by the audience test."

Tom Pollack looked at Ronald again with his old eye.

This movement of constantly changing eyes and staring at him, I don't know if it is the habit of the other party, or a deliberate psychological tactic, which makes Ronald feel irritable.

He couldn't help but blurted out, "Okay, Mr. Pollack. You might as well find another screenwriter to try, but the time to start the film is just around the corner. If the shooting plan needs to be changed..."

"Just call me Tom, Ronald. There is no change in the shooting plan, just need to dispel some doubts from the upper management, and let me, who is new here, do a reconfirmation. As long as we agree on the performance style of the script, we can do it right away." Start shooting."

"Please take the two gentlemen out." Tom Pollack was very efficient. After communicating with Ronald, he immediately rang the bell and called the secretary to ask them to go out.

"I'm very sorry, there seem to be a hundred things that I need to deal with here, and I have to speed up. Let's arrange a time to talk about the script as soon as possible..."

"Huh..." Finally getting rid of Pollack's squinting eyes, Ronald sat in the Mercedes-Benz, took out a bottle of Coke from the refrigerator, and took a big sip, "This person is really strange, I talked to him It seems that time is always led by him by the nose."

"You're not just being led by the nose, Ronald." Nisita sighed.

"What?" Ronald was puzzled.

"Think about it, what did you promise him? What did he promise you?"

"You mean, he's tricking us on purpose? Hang us with some ambiguous answers, and then keep procrastinating?"

Ronald was not an idiot either, but he was agitated by those strange squinting eyes, and he didn't see through the other party's real intention at once. "

"It's okay, today's situation is actually within our expectations. In this case, let's wait and see. If Tom Pollack didn't take the initiative to contact us, then he must be trying to find someone else to take over your project.

Besides, it was time to consider that Barry Morrow script. said Nisita to Ronald.

"That one-act movie script? Didn't you say Sidney Pollack was going to direct it?" Ronald took a big sip of Coke.

"Sidney gave up and moved on to his own production company."

"So you came to me?" Ronald took a sip of Coke dissatisfied.

"Come on, Ronald. In Hollywood these days, Spielberg and Sidney Pollack are always going to have priority. They've always been going to get those screenplays that have an Oscar chance. It's okay. shameful."

"Okay, let's take a look first." Ronald put his hands behind his head and lay down on the leather seat.

Ordinarily, I should be very satisfied. There are only two Jewish directors in Hollywood who can read those "hopeful" scripts before him.Most of the other big directors write their own scripts, or they have the ability to organize a screenwriting team.

However, why is it a little uncomfortable?

……

"Ronnie, have you decided not to direct that 'Secret of Success'?"

After a few days, Tom Pollack did not call himself to discuss the progress as Nisita had expected.It seems that the other party wants to use this procrastination method to make himself give up the script shooting in order not to arouse his disgust.

"I have a little disagreement with the new producer on the creative direction." Ronald said an official breakup answer, and then put his arms around Helen Slater's neck, and the two kissed.

Helen is still the same as in "The Wicked Husband", her blond hair is slightly longer than before, exceeding the ears and not reaching the shoulders.In addition to being beautiful, it adds a little playfulness.

"If... I mean if..., if you don't become the director, won't you object to me acting as the heroine?"

"Hmm... no, who said that I'm going to object to you acting as the heroine?" Ronald felt that something was wrong, and quickly denied it.

"Don't lie to me, you just dislike my bad acting skills. But I think I am quite suitable for this movie. Like "A Wicked Husband", I also use the method of acting in a drama to act in a comedy. I think I can have to……"

Helen turned her back as she spoke, she seemed a little sad.

"Actually, you don't have to think too much about your acting skills. This role suits your true nature." Ronald said with a smile. Anyway, in "Secret of Success", the heroine is a superficial manager of the finance department. But I also think that others respect me not because of my beauty but because of my professionalism, which is really similar to Helen.

"Really?" Helen turned happy, "Then I asked my agent to contact the audition? Hehehe."

"I don't mind at all. If you go to act, I don't have as many worries as myself as a director."

Ronald put his arms around Helen, and the two of them lay on the bed laughing.

"Hey, silly girl." Ronald was hugged tightly by Helen, and he sighed inwardly.If you don't become a director yourself, your biggest competitive advantage is gone.

(End of this chapter)