Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 717 Do you have other scripts besides this one?
With the script of "Dirty Dancing" and the production display board, Ronald, agent Nisita, and assistant David Simkins went to Disney to meet with the deputy director in charge of production, Katzenberg.

Simkins first took out four display boards, and then took out the aluminum alloy brackets to support the four display board shelves.He took out the first display board and put it on the stand.Looking back, there are portraits of the two protagonists, with their bodies in mambo poses.

Ronald and Katzenberg exchanged pleasantries and hugs, and the two chatted for a while about Eisner.

Seeing that Simkins had installed four panels, Ronald took out the script and handed it to Katzenberg and a female executive he brought.

Katzenberg turned over the outline of the script.

The female executives first saw the hand-painted mambo poses of the male and female protagonists on the exhibition board, pushed their glasses, and then looked down at the script.

"This is the dream of every teenage girl in America..."

Ronald has a sentence that introduces the core of the whole "Dirty Dancing".

The time of the executives of the seven major studios is precious, and if they can get their interest at the beginning, things will be easier after that.

"Set during the Kennedy years, teenage girls from middle-class families were mobilized to join the 'Peace Corps'..."

Following the four display boards, Ronald began to introduce the selling points of the movie.

The more he said, the more something went wrong, and the reaction of the two audience members was not as he expected.

Katzenberg frowned. He didn't look at the exhibition board or Ronald. Instead, he held the script and began to struggle with the cover, turning up the pages one by one, and then putting them down again.

The female executive was engrossed in looking at the portraits of the two protagonists dancing Mambo on the display board, her eyes were focused, as if recalling some memories of her youth, and she did not pay attention to what Ronald was talking about.

An experienced producer who sells his own movie project, in this situation, stops to figure out what's going on.

However, Ronald didn't have a lot of production experience, so he still introduced all the content according to the prepared script.

"Ronald, have you ever thought about it? The target market for this film may not be very wide. There are not many teenagers in the first place, and this film is filmed exclusively from the perspective of women. I am afraid it will be difficult for me to arrange a schedule.

The same movie, if it is aimed at teenagers of both sexes, it is expected to double the box office of this movie, so we will definitely give priority to that movie. "

"This..." Ronald choked on Katzenberg's frankness, "but I am very confident in the quality of this movie."

"Of course, we also have great confidence in you. Will you be the director?"

"I want to try the role of producer. This film will first seek other directors to direct."

"Hi... cough..." Katzenberg turned around with difficulty, "We have a lot of confidence in you, but if you are not directing, we have to look at this project from a business point of view, right? "

"Please say..." Ronald gestured for Katzenberg to continue.

"For the same movie, we all have to invest in the budget for publicity and distribution. Now the cost of film publicity and distribution is getting more and more expensive, which is close to or exceeds the production cost of the movie.

If we have two choices at the same time, one movie is for young men aged 16-21 who watch movies more frequently, and the other is for young women of the same age who watch movies on average each year significantly less , which one would you choose? "

"Well...and then?" Ronald felt that what the other party said made sense, but his posture and body shape always made Ronald uncomfortable.

The actor's training made Ronald more sensitive to other people's body language than before.

Katzenberg seemed to be hiding something.

“If you were the director, then we would be very interested in considering distribution. If you were looking for another director to do it, we would want to invest in a film that has a better chance of making money until he proves himself.

Do you have any other scripts besides this one? "

"Other scripts?" Ronald turned his head to see the assistant David Simkins who hesitated to speak, but was eager to try.

"There is a script written by my assistant David. It is a nanny's adventures while watching the children. If you are interested, we can discuss it."

Ronald simply asked David to come up with his own script and handed it to Katzenberg.

"Hmm..." Katzenberg took it and flipped it over.

He turned over faster and faster, and then handed it to the female executive next to him.

"If it was this movie, we would be very interested in releasing it and investing in it. Have you decided on who will direct it?"

"Are you so interested?"

"Yes, this is the script you fancy. And his target audience is teenage males, which is the easiest part of the movie audience to find now. The plot is suitable, the director is not difficult, and no star is required, It is very suitable for our Touchstone’s idea of ​​a small and medium-budget youth live-action movie, and I have no reason to object.”

Katzenberg said with a smile.

"Uh... that's fine." Ronald didn't know that this "Adventures of the Nanny" would be more in line with Touchstone's taste.

Now that you're all here, let's talk about the project approval of this movie.

"Several of your positions are very accurate. The daily life of teenagers is closely related, which is convenient for them to integrate into the plot. And in ordinary life, adventures appear. To be honest, the quality of your assistant's script is good.

I'm sure in your hands, this would be a decent teen movie.Do you have the right director right now? "

The "Nanny Adventures", several participants had a smooth chat, and Katzenberg simply asked Ronald if he had a director recommendation.

"The selection process hasn't started yet, but I can ask." Ronald said honestly.Several of his friends from New York University have not yet had the talent to direct this kind of film.

Spike Lee is obsessed with making films with black themes.Catherine Bigelow is interested in feminist films, and she has little interest in commercial films that purely satisfy teenage fantasies.Of course, if the script and investment are ready, they may also be willing to make commercial films first to become famous.

"If you haven't decided on a candidate, I have a list here, which is a list of potential director candidates compiled by Disney in the past few years. We have been constantly adding in these years."

Katzenberg took out a piece of paper that had been folded and opened repeatedly from his notebook, and handed it to Ronald.

"Ha, I know this list." Ronald has long known this list of Disney directors. They are all elites in the industry who have worked in screenwriting, editing, art direction, etc. If they want to, they are most likely to change careers into the director's list.

His own teacher on editing, Walter Murch, is the new director Disney discovered from this list.

"Hmm... I'm familiar with two of them here, why don't you invite them to chat?"

Ronald found two familiar names on the list.

One is Cameron Crowe, the writer of "Fast-paced Richmond High."The other is Chris Columbus, the writer of several teen films that Spielberg has produced.

"Then it's up to you to contact them. If they are willing, we can discuss the establishment of the project in detail." Katzenberg stood up and was about to end the meeting.

Ronald glanced at Nisita, saw him nod, and agreed to the arrangement.The other party's time is precious, and I am already very satisfied with being able to achieve the vision this time.

Standing up to leave, the last female executive shook hands with Ronald and said, "I like the script of Dirty Dancing very much, please make sure to film it."

"I will."

Ronald frowned and walked out of the office.

David Simkins was very happy, he started dancing in the corridor, and kept yelling Yes.
"Go and call your wife, but it's not time to celebrate yet. After signing the publishing contract, you can almost open the champagne." Nisita congratulated Simkins.

After sending him away, Nisita came back and walked with Ronald to the Mercedes, and they opened the door and sat in the back.

"I feel that they have some inconvenient opinions on 'Dirty Dancing', and it seems that they don't really want to release this movie."

"Why? I also have a feeling. I can't tell what's wrong. Why do you think so?"

"Years of agent experience. Next time we go to meet with other studios, we can test them out like this."

"You really think so? Okay." Ronald heard Nisita say the reason for his guess, "I'm going to attend the premiere of Jim Cameron's new film soon, and I can ask the distributor of Alien 2, People from Twentieth Century Fox, they are not our main sales targets, just to test it out, is your guess right?"

(End of this chapter)