Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 770 Christmas Charity Gala
The crew was on vacation, and Ronald wanted to continue preparing for the shooting in Toronto, but almost everyone was under the control of the union, and everyone went back for Christmas, and there were no staff or actors to accompany him.

Ronald also slipped back to Tottville, on the southern tip of Staten Island, to spend Christmas with Aunt Karen and Donna.

Filming outside all the year round, busy with publicity and marketing, Ronald has not had a quiet meal with his family for a long time.

Donna began to think about where she would go after graduation. The current physics is not as lively as it was 20 years ago. Donna has the idea of ​​working in other industries, such as finance or computer industry, which also require a high level of mathematical knowledge.

Of course Ronald is very much in favor of it, and now my aunt doesn't need her to work to earn money, the most important thing is to choose a career according to her own interests.

"Ring ring ring ring..."

I was chatting with my family about some daily chores, and the phone call came to Ronald's house again.

"Can't you let me have a good Christmas with my family?" Ronald was not very happy.

It was Nisita who called, urging him to attend MGM's new movie release ceremony and attend some charity events.

"Ronald, it's not fair to me for you to say that. I didn't spend Christmas with Paula either. MGM invited you to some activities to accumulate some resources for the movie you are shooting now. If you don't want to When 'Moonlight' is released, more celebrities and stars will come to join us..."

"Okay, okay, I'll go."

After calling Little Bud, Ronald returned to Manhattan.

Last year, MGM filmed a scene on the Great Wall and made a co-production film, which reflected an elderly Chinese returning to the city where he grew up in his childhood, the collision of cultures between the two countries, and the memories of childhood memories of the elderly.It did not do well at the box office after it was released there.

Come try your luck here in America this year.

The English name of the movie is called "The Great Wall (A Great Wall)". Ronald attended the promotional reception of the movie in Manhattan.

Now the two countries on both sides of the Pacific Ocean have strong reasons and motivations to get closer, and the people on both sides are also full of curiosity and goodwill towards the other's people.

Therefore, all walks of life in Hollywood are also full of curiosity about the movies shot on that land.

Before the big studios and big directors like Spielberg and Bertolucci started getting permission to shoot in the heartlands of the two biggest cities this year, there was a small indie that crept in last year. got there.

The director and starring role are an old man who spent his childhood in the capital there, named Wang Zhengfang.In addition, I found a student Li Qinqin at the Film Academy to be the heroine.A song and dance troupe in a southern province found a young man, Wang Xiao, to be the male number two.

It was screened in China in [-], and because the plot reflected the daily life in the capital, it did not arouse any enthusiasm for movie viewing and failed at the box office.

Wang Zhengfang found someone to put English subtitles on the copy, and this year it was screened in America.

This time, he found the secret to success.

The people of America are rich, and this "Great Wall (A Great Wall)" ranked No.18 in the first weekend of its release. Although the box office is not high, it is more than enough to make up for the ultra-low cost of filming and printing there.

The famous film critic of the Chicago Sun Times, Roger Ebert, gave this movie three stars, and specifically recommended: the greatest pleasure of watching this movie is to see the different interpretations and mentalities of the people of the two countries on life in the two countries .

With this great response, MGM did quite a bit of marketing for the film.

The first was to participate in the Sundance Film Festival led by Robert Redford, but did not get the award from the jury.But it was hot enough across the Pacific that Redford gave it a special jury award.This award, which is not included in the normal competition, is a special establishment. It is not so much for the movie, but for the title of the first movie shot on the Great Wall.

With this title, the "Great Wall" continued to participate in film festivals in various parts of America, and public relations with film critics' associations in major cities.

However, despite the blessing of the place where the story took place, the film itself was shot in Chinese, which is not very popular.In all, it won only one Best Foreign Language Film award from the Kansas City Film Critics Association.

I went around all the way, and finally came to New York at the end of [-] to participate in the selection of the New York Film Critics Association.

Ronald watched this movie. As a reincarnated Chinese, he is also very curious about what the other side of the Pacific Ocean looks like now. Coupled with his ability to speak Chinese, it is very interesting to watch the city scenery on the screen.

Ronald was fascinated by the various courtyard houses, old-fashioned buildings, Soviet-style buildings, and the unique skyline composed of tall poplar trees.

"How is it? Is this movie good? We also feel that there is a wave of Chinese enthusiasm in American society, and more and more Chinese are studying here, so we introduced it."

A senior manager in charge of distribution at MGM was very grateful for Ronald's participation in the screening and took the initiative to say hello.

"I heard that this movie won No. 18 at the box office?" Ronald was actually quite surprised that this movie could be released in America.This kind of foreign language films, with subtitles, is becoming more and more disliked by young people in America.

Unlike the 70s, when America was on the defensive in the Cold War, the 80s was an era of regaining the upper hand.

Maybe there is Ronald's "Top Gun" to fuel the flames. Young people always think that America is the best country in the world, and there is no need to understand how people in other parts of the world live.

"Now it does not participate in the box office rankings. This movie is mainly screened in Chinatown movie theaters in major cities across the United States. The Chinese there have not seen images of their hometowns for decades, so they are very enthusiastic about watching the movie.

In addition, there are various art theaters, where there are some college students and foreign film lovers who like to watch foreign language films.

We plan to send the film to the California Independent Film Festival in March next year, where all the entries are independent films..."

"Oh, you are really good." Ronald had the idea of ​​doing the same thing with Director Huang's "Human-ghost Love" in his heart. He first praised the other party's operation, and then asked him for advice.

This senior manager is also very willing to communicate with Ronald, and he can also serve as his marketing director and be responsible for the marketing of the film when the "Moonlight" he is currently filming is released.

The two chatted very speculatively, and talked about many details of the movie's announcement.Ronald also said a lot about his views on the performance of this movie.A foreign film must have a selling point that attracts the audience in order to gain word of mouth.

Generally speaking, this movie lacks stars, and there is no particularly interesting story. Only Chinese audiences are interested in the daily life reflected in the movie.

'Besides, there is a problem with their casting. Some Asian actors have never been there, and they have been born in America since they were born and grew up. "Ronald chatted excitedly and said some of his own judgments.

"Oh yeah? Why? Tell me, those people were born and raised in America?" The marketing manager was still not quite convinced.

"First of all, the lead actor and director Wang Zhengfang was born there, and he has lived here for decades. Li Qinqin is definitely from the capital, and Wang Xiao is from the south. As for that Kelvin Han Yee, it looks like he grew up on the west coast."

"Oh, that's right. I have their background information, how did you do it?"

"The director's eyes", Ronald pointed to his own eyes, of course he wouldn't say that he was a human being in two lifetimes, and if he saw a lot, he would be able to tell the difference naturally.

Perhaps it is a matter of food and language. There are some subtle differences in the distribution of facial muscles among Chinese who grew up in the two places.On the other side, the people in the two big cities in the north and the south have very different temperaments, and they can be distinguished at a glance.

"I really admire it. It seems that being a director really requires a lot of talent... Hahaha."

"By the way, my name is Michael Gray. It's a pleasure talking to you about movies, Ronald. How's your new movie going?"

"I have finished filming the scenes in New York. By the way, my movie will be released in the second half of next year. Will you be in charge of the marketing of the movie?"

Could it be that Ronald met a marketing manager who was easy to talk to and had a unique understanding of distribution.

"Of course, if you want, I am very willing." Michael Gray achieved his goal. He took two glasses of cocktails, clinked glasses with Ronald, and wanted to continue chatting.

"Ronald, we have to go." Nisita stepped up to intervene, and Ronald was on his way to another Christmas benefit dinner.

There were quite a few social celebrities and celebrities from various industries there. Ronald's fame gradually spread beyond the Hollywood circle. This kind of charity dinner is a very good opportunity.

"Well, we will keep in touch in the future. Rick is my boss, and I have to follow his arrangements. You can call him. We always run around when we make movies, and he can find me there."

"This is my phone number. If you need to find Ronald, just call me. I'm his butler."

Next, Ronald moved to the St. Regis Hotel.It was originally a social place for the rich in New York, and there are independent designer suites for Tiffany, Dior, and other brands.

In the hall of the dinner party, everyone sat down at round tables. Ronald came late and joined the Wall Street bankers at the table.

The lights were not bright enough, and only a few people at the adjacent round tables could be seen, so Ronald chatted with the bankers.The bankers are very social people, and they had a good chat with Ronald when they met for the first time.

"I said, my kid is very obsessed with fighter jets, can you get me a signed photo of Tom Cruise." This is a family with small fans.

"Fighter dogfights are very exciting. We need more people like this. Here we also pay special attention to the spirit of winning, and we must always win." This is what I like Ronald's movies.

"How about revealing it in private. Which movies in Hollywood can make money? There are a lot of funds investing in Hollywood now, and we don't want to miss this good opportunity." This is to make money.

"About this, you may not believe it. I don't know either. No one in Hollywood seems to know. The box office of a movie is a matter of metaphysics." Ronald shrugged, saying that he didn't know either.

"Is there really no secret? I heard that celebrities are the guarantee of the box office. Is it true?"

"A lot of you Wall Street bankers see it that way, but I gotta say, it's not like the stars haven't made movies that fail at the box office."

"Hey, indeed, there are movies made by big stars that no one watches." The bankers resonated with Ronald's statement very much.

"You know, we have a hapless guy there who, for some reason, invested in a single film starring Al Pacino, who became popular because of 'Scarface', and directed by Hugh Heard, who won the Oscar for best picture Sen, what happened?

The blockbuster 'Revolution', which cost $3000 million, didn't even reach $50 at the box office.No one has ever seen this unlucky guy. "

"Larry? Someone said he jumped off a building. That's the way we are in this business. We call countless clients every day. If you don't get a project done, no one answers your calls. If you lose money Big money, and your business card will be thrown from the card holder on the table.

At that point, we better hope we've earned enough commissions to retire.Otherwise, the only option is to go to Kansas to shovel horse manure. "

"Hahaha..." Ronald clinked glasses with them. These bankers spoke interestingly and nicely. It was quite pleasant for Ronald to chat with smart people like them.

"Ah... let go..."

Ronald was about to continue chatting with them when suddenly a woman at a nearby table exclaimed.

It was a beautiful model in a short dress with an open back and a bow tie, dressed like a waiter.In fact, the organizers invited them to fill in the space. When they saw that there were vacancies, they sat down and chatted with everyone, so as not to be left alone.

For many graphic models who are not yet famous, this is a good job, pays well, and gets to know some successful people.

That model was a bit different from the others, it didn't have the very skinny look of a print model, it looked like 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 meters), and it looked like it was close to 110 pounds, which is thin for an average person.It is unusually plump in the model.

And there is a mole on the corner of her mouth, which is rare in the modeling industry.Most models are not required to have too many personal characteristics. After all, they are models, and what they want to sell is fashion, and the model is more of a mobile hanger.

"Cindy?"

Ronald recognized the blond, red-lipped girl as the model he'd recommended for the opening New York street scene in "Secrets of Success," Cindy Crawford.He called out to her relief.

Cindy can't help it either, the salty pig's hand on this occasion is an inevitable show.Usually they just get rid of it and pass away.

But today, this person is a designer from Europe. Relying on his power in the modeling circle, he is groping Cindy's buttocks non-stop.

Cindy Crawford wanted to avoid him, she didn't want to get in that way.But the designer saw that she wanted to leave, so he hugged her horizontally, locked her up, and forced her to sit in his arms.

"Ronald?"

Cindy saw clearly that it was Ronald who was very gracious. When she introduced herself to the film crew, she didn't forcefully ask for something in return.Cindy immediately agreed.Then he stood up, and before the designer could react, he quickly walked over to Ronald.

The designer wore a ponytail. Seeing that someone here knew the female model, and the model walked over obediently, he immediately felt that his self-esteem had been victimized.

"Who is that? Why is the model so afraid of him?"

The guests next to him didn't like this person, "That's the famous Hollywood director, Ronald Lee."

"Film director? What's the point? Models are ultimately going to be in the fashion industry. What's the use of Isabella Rossellini having a boyfriend to help her film, and finally come back to shoot commercials for Lancôme."

Ronald stood up, took Cindy Crawford's hand, and guided her to his table, where the banker made room for her.

"Thank you, thank you, you are the knights of America, you saved me from the monsters from Europe..." Cindy Crawford was very good at talking, and thanked Ronald and several bankers.

But her hand, has been holding Ronald's hand.

"Hahaha..." The bankers were not as rough as the designers. They surrounded the beautiful models and mainly communicated with words.

Ronald felt that Cindy Crawford's hand was holding his hand tightly all the time. He glanced at Cindy a few times, and all of them received enthusiastic and low-key responses.

After a while, Ronald saw Nisita standing in the corner signaling to himself again, so he offered to leave.

The bankers exchanged business cards with Ronald again, and Cindy Crawford also stood up, took Ronald's hand, and wanted to go out with him.

The designer sitting over there was very dissatisfied when he saw that the prey in his hand was about to leave. He stared at Ronald viciously and stood up to stop him.

Ronald felt something in his heart, glanced over there, and smiled contemptuously.This kind of European guy just doesn't know the current affairs, and he does it on this occasion, just like an arrogant narcissist.

Seemingly irritated by Ronald's contempt, the designer wanted to come over and reason with Ronald with his fists.However, the location of the hotel's dinner party was small, so he tried and failed to squeeze in.

Seeing that Ronald had already started to move out, he was furious, and made a middle finger gesture to this side.

It happened that the banker with children was using a disposable Polaroid to take pictures of celebrities at the dinner party. Seeing this, he pressed the shutter on the designer.Then he quickly shook the photo, and it was quickly developed, and the designer's indecent gesture was just caught.

After receiving the photo handed over by the other party, Ronald thanked him, then called Nisita, and handed the photo to him.

"Help me deal with it."

"Okay, I helped you book a suite at the Four Seasons Hotel. Cindy knows how to do it. She hasn't paid back your help. If you have other opportunities to appear in the photo, you might as well help her. It's okay if you don't have the opportunity."

Ronald nodded to show that he knew, and took the hand of the beautiful woman Cindy, and left the St. Regis Hotel, got into the car of Little Bard, and drove to the Four Seasons Hotel.

The embarrassing designer, who was drinking, was surrounded by two hotel waiters, one on the left and one on the right, and then a manager showed him an ugly photo of himself, "Sir, you don't have our invitation card, please go out .”

"I'm here with the fashion magazine guys..."

Before he could protest loudly, he was carried out by two waiters, carried outside the hotel door, and then pushed outside.

"Damn..." The designer, who had drunk a little too much, was pushed and staggered to the ground, unable to get up for a while.

……

"Your coat." Once inside the hotel suite, Cindy Crawford returned Ronald's coat.

It was cold outside just now, Ronald put a short windbreaker on Crawford to cover the skin exposed by her backless dress.

Cindy's style still maintains the style of a pretty town girl born in a small town in Illinois. She yearns for big cities, but she is not stage-frightened by big scenes and knows how to distinguish men.

She took off her high heels and walked slowly on the carpet with bare feet.

"I don't mind women wearing high heels," Ronald said humorously.

"Hahaha..." Cindy was very happy, "My agent also said that I may not be suitable for the film and television industry, and there are not many male actors who can cooperate."

"Your conditions are very good, and you have a unique temperament. I think even if you don't want to be an actor, someone will come to you in the future."

Ronald looked at Cindy's figure. After rigorous training, she is tall and straight, and her figure is not like ordinary models. She is very predictable.

There is also that beauty mole, which is also a rare asset for film and television heroines, and the audience will never forget it when they see it.

What's more unique is that Cindy has a special sense of relaxation when dealing with the stage, and she is not nervous at all.Whether walking on the catwalk, taking photos as a model, or doing odd jobs at dinner parties, there is an attitude of not taking it seriously.

This unique temperament is also very suitable for acting, at least relax this level, many beautiful girls can't pass it.

"Really? Actually, when I filmed The Secret of Success, the director scolded us several times. I thought I had no talent." Cindy didn't quite believe it.

"Really, I have the vision of a director." Ronald laughed, "If you become famous in the modeling industry...",
Seeing Cindy Crawford frowning slightly, Ronald adjusted his wording, "After you become famous in the modeling industry, there will be many invitations like this, and you will know when the time comes."

It is also a routine operation in America to become famous and switch to film and television.

"I haven't thanked you yet," Cindy finally approached Ronald, stretched out her hands around Ronald's neck, stood on tiptoe with her bare feet, and kissed his lips. "Well, it feels pretty good."

Ronald looked at the beauty in his arms, he was very knowledgeable, and he was slightly taken aback by this beauty with long hair and red lips. When he came back to his senses, it seemed that the other party was waiting for his further action. "Actually, you don't have to."

"Why don't you do this? I like you, Ronald. We are models, and we are always bullied. We just think that one day, a knight will come back to save us. Today, you are the knight. Satisfy me when I was in high school fantasies."

Cindy had the pungent taste of a girl from the central region. As soon as she finished speaking, she jumped up, wrapped her legs around Ronald, and hung on his body.

"Hmm..." Ronald bowed his head and gave a long kiss. The beauty in his arms seemed to be trembling with excitement because of the sudden enthusiasm, and his feet continued to exert force.

Ronald had no choice but to quickly carry her into the bedroom...

"Um……"

After a long time, Cindy was so content, her legs were still tightly wrapped around Ronald, as if that wasn't enough.

"By the way, why haven't I seen you in a magazine yet?" Ronald hugged Cindy and whispered in her ear.

"There are quite a few, but there are no covers. I still lack some exposure, and ordinary readers don't know much about me, so...but I think I will be on the cover of fashion magazines or sports magazines sooner or later..."

"Well...does being on a late-night talk show help?" Ronald thought of his friend David Letterman.He's always welcome little famous beauties on his show.

"Really? Can you help me?" Cindy clamped her legs together excitedly.

"Let me see what I can do..."

"Ow...I love you so much, Ronald. Come on..."

(End of this chapter)