Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 790 Boys Rent Girls

"Hey, okay, I'll take the radio to my room later." Little Bud spent a long time with his girlfriend during this vacation, and when he saw Ronald, he also smiled when he spoke.

"When will you propose to Lucy?" Ronald knew that his extended family was very close to Lucy, and Lucy was very satisfied with this boyfriend who could have a serious job.

"Quickly, I'm asking a real estate agent to find a suitable rental house in the surrounding area. I plan to take Lucy over, and we will settle down near your apartment. Lucy has learned some typing work, so I'm looking for a word processor here. It's not difficult to work as a secretary, but the rent of the surrounding houses is a bit expensive."

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it." Ronald was very happy when he heard that Little Bud and his fiancee were motivated like this, and he planned to rent a small apartment for them at his own expense.Anyway, I can't do without this driver and assistant who knows everything.

Little Bard is very different from the jumping-off personality when I first met him.During his years in the Marine Corps, he became less talkative and got into the habit of saving money.

Ronald didn't ask him about his experience, anyway, every time his mother saw him, he would repeat it for a long time. Fortunately, Ronald saved little Bud back then and let him complete his high school education in the Marine Corps.

Ronald picked up the phone, found his agent Richard, and asked him to look for an apartment not far away.

"Ring ring ring ring..."

Another phone in the apartment rang in the living room, and Ronald motioned for Bud Jr. to answer it.This call is mainly my work call in Daydream, and only people from Daydream Films can make it.

"Just stay closer to me, yes, for Little Bard and his girlfriend." Ronald explained to Richard.

Then, he said to Bud who also answered the phone, "I have made an appointment, the real estate economics partnered by CAA will call you, and we will go to see the house together. CAA often finds cheap and good houses for actors who have just entered the industry. , have long-term partners."

"Ronald, I don't know how to thank you." Bud was very happy to be separated from his girlfriend.

"It's a trivial matter, our parents are brothers, and so are we." Ronald waved his hand to let him ignore it, "Who asked me just now?"

"Oh, it's Ed, your general manager. He said there was a man named Bannon who claimed to be your friend and said he wanted to talk to you about a movie project." Bud replied, the phone he answered in the living room just now .

Ronald frowned. Now that he is famous, some people know that he is the boss behind Daydream, and many people claim to be their friends.Daydream will communicate with Ronald to rule out liars and those who come to try their luck.

"Bannon? Don't know. Let him go."

Ronald didn't expect to have such a friend, "I still have to go to CAA, you can call Ed back and explain."

After speaking, Ronald drove his Ferrari to the office of CAA.

Tom Cruise thought about it for two days, and felt that Ronald's method of playing the mentally handicapped character would make him more likely to win the Oscars. It made sense, so he sent his thoughts to Michael Ovitz, the president of CAA. conveyed.

Ovitz tried his best to persuade him to consider the role of the younger brother with normal intelligence, and said that if Cruise played the mentally retarded, it would damage the star's image.And Dustin Hoffman often plays some abnormal roles, so that the audience is easier to accept.

In short, Ovitz's point of view is that whether the character is mentally handicapped has little to do with winning the award.

After learning that Ronald was the mastermind behind pushing Cruise to grab the role, Ovitz invited Ronald and Tom Cruise to CAA for an interview.

Outside Ovitz's huge office, his secretary quickly stood up to guide Ronald and Cruise. The two walked through the aisle, and the secretary knocked on the door to usher them in.

"Aha, my favorite director client and my favorite male star client are here."

Michael Ovitz is very low-key in the outside world and never accepts interviews, but in the kingdom of CAA, he is undoubtedly the king.

Ronald hadn't seen the king for a long time. He was able to sign the contract when his virgin script was his favorite. At that time, Ovitz was full of passion and followed his words and deeds.

CAA has developed very fast in the past few years. It has successively signed many actors and directors. Besides screenwriters, Ovitz's scripts are first, and the strategy of project packaging has also been a great success.

The top three movies at the box office for several years can be said to be his producer in essence.From the script, to the director, to the actors, all are handled by CAA.It's just that on the title credits, Ovitz couldn't sign because of legal relations.

Movies such as "Ghostbusters" have made CAA a lot of money, and Ovitz has gradually become bigger and bigger, which can be seen from the growth of his office area.Now his redecorated office occupies almost a quarter of the first floor, much larger than the other partners.

"I don't know why you feel that way, Ronald."

Ovitz was very outspoken about his dislike for the idea of ​​Cruise playing a retard.

"He's a star, a big star! It's a crime against all the women in America to cast such a pretty boy as a fool. Besides, Tom is too young to play Dustin's brother."

"But, Mr. Ovitz, Tom played the idiot, and he was a beautiful idiot. Don't you think that would be interesting? And it would help him get an Oscar nomination. As for the age, let's just change the script and let Tom play It would be nice if the fool was the younger one."

Ronald insisted that if Cruise is to be nominated for an Oscar, it would be better to play a role that is completely different from his image.

"God, he's a star, and a star is someone who's in every movie and has the same qualities. We're talking about Tom, probably the most beautiful star in Hollywood since Paul Newman."

Ronald agrees with this taxonomy.

The existence of a movie star is the kind of person who makes the audience want to watch his movie when they hear his name.

If stars act like ordinary actors, performing roles with different personalities, so that people can't see that the actor is acting, then why should the audience be attracted by stars to buy tickets?
Many stars, such as Harrison Ford, no matter what he plays, there is always a taste of cynicism.And the earlier James Stewart, although his acting skills were superb, his role also had a strong characteristic of a small-town hero typical of America.

It's hard for Ronald to refute this statement. Cruise's agent team also hopes that he will continue to go deeper under the image of a beautiful boy full of male impulses.

"But what we are discussing is winning awards. As for the problem of mental retardation affecting Tom's image, I also have a solution. How about we change the character of Raymond from mental retardation to autism. Autism is normal, even Talent beyond ordinary people.

I also heard that there is another kind of autism, in addition to having difficulty communicating with others, there are also amazing talents in other aspects.For example, if you are good at mathematics, you can calculate how many toothpicks are in the box in one second. "

Ronald clings to what Cruise wants most - winning the award:
"Tom's image is fixed on a handsome guy with mainstream American values. If he doesn't break through this shackle, then what is the Oscar?"

"What do you mean?" Ovitz knew that Tom Cruise wanted to win an Oscar when he entered the industry. The first thing he did when he signed with CAA was to make a list of big-name directors he wanted to work with.

"What I mean is that this kind of role contains actors with their own star qualities. If they want to win an Oscar, they must break through their inherent image."

Ronald stretched out his hand and counted them one by one.

"Bogart, Humphrey Bogart, has played hard-boiled tough guys all his life, but he took the role of best actor, but he played an incompetent, snarky boatman in the 'African Queen', with no initiative at all. No, I was still eaten to death by the missionary played by Katharine Hepburn. Let him do whatever he wants. Only in order to win the favor of the old maid can he muster up the courage to do something serious.

Henry Fonda, who played a left-wing hero all his life, was wronged and misunderstood, but he was able to endure humiliation and lead the people to resist exploitation.But he won the role of actor, and he was the old and weak father in the golden pond.

Faced with her daughter's emancipatory and progressive values, she embraces conservative family values ​​instead.Break through the shackles that have always been. "

"Ronald, you're overgeneralizing. What about John Wayne? His film 'True Grit' won the Best Actor award, didn't he still win the award with the image of a typical western hero?"

Ovitz waved his hand. He has done this trick of positioning a star and balancing commercial value and commentary awards countless times, and he knows how to refute Ronald's point of view.

He began to talk endlessly about his understanding of winning awards, how to choose an actor at different career stages, how to plan his career is the best, and so on.

Ovitz is strong, eloquent, and speaks very fast. It sounds logical and confusing.

Ronald clearly felt that the balance in Tom Cruise's heart had moved to the side of playing the normal brother.

"Steven (Spielberg) and Sidney (Pollack) are very optimistic about your acting skills, and you will play well in this movie. Coupled with the operation of our CAA, we will get A nomination is very likely."

"What do you think, Ronald, what Mr. Ovitz said is also reasonable. John Wayne did not break through his star image, and he also won the best actor. Maybe breaking the image is not necessarily necessary."

Hearing what Cruise said, Ronald knew that his heart had been inclined to play the normal brother Charlie.

"If you insist..." Ronald shrugged, saying that he had no intention of continuing the debate.

Then he muttered in a low voice at a volume that he could only hear, "True Grit, John Wayne played a one-eyed dragon."

Paula Wagner, who could already tell she was pregnant, whispered to Cruise beside her, and the two came to an agreement.

Behind Ronald, Nisita also whispered in Ronald's ear, "You just said that Wayne played a one-eyed dragon, and it's considered a ruined image. But Tom is not as smart as you. If Tom doesn't want to Playing mentally handicapped, why don't we give up this project?"

"Go out and talk." Ronald replied in a low voice.

"I will carefully consider your opinion, Ronald. In fact, the role of Charlie is also very difficult to play. I feel that it is no less challenging than my brother's acting skills. At that time, I will exchange with Dustin during rehearsal. Give it a try. It's a good challenge for my acting."

Tom came over and chatted with Ronald about his thoughts sincerely.

Ronald looked at Cruise, who was full of enthusiasm, and thought a little in his heart, "Poor Tom, you missed this role, and I don't know how long you have to wait before you can be nominated."

It is obvious that Ovitz, the president of CAA, wants to make him a big star. The more roles he plays, the more stereotyped he will be. It will not be easy to break through in the future.I don't know if he can still be as lucky as Henry Fonda and Humphrey Bogart. Only in the twilight years of his star career can he make a breakthrough, get the best actor, and get what he wants?
"I won't direct anymore. Tom won't act mentally handicapped. I'm not sure that his acting skills will meet the standards of the Oscar judges. Besides, I haven't been nominated for best director yet, so I'm not convincing enough." Ronald Together with Nisita, after leaving Ovitz's office, I went to his office to continue chatting.

"I'll pass your opinion on to Paula. But I have your best interests at heart first. Dustin Hoffman is a big problem, and every director and actor who's ever worked with him says he's a big ass sore."

It is different from Tom Cruise who is more superstitious about Hoffman nominated Oscar winner five times, and won the best actor statuette with the Kramers.Nisita has been immersed in the industry for a long time, and knows that Hoffman is actually a troublesome partner.

He is a typical method actor. In order to get into the play, he can keep torturing the director and fellow actors on the set.When playing Kramer and his wife, in order to increase the believability, he threw a glass against the wall impromptuly, and the shards scratched the face of the actress Meryl Streep in the opposite role, almost disfiguring him.

As for doing all kinds of strange behaviors on the set for acting, for example, when I played a marathon runner, I forced myself to stay up for 72 hours.It was commonplace for Laurence Oliver, who was acting with him, to be nearly exhausted.

Ronald has never really been recognized by the film critics, nor has he won an Oscar, or even the lesser Directors Guild, or the Film Critics Association's director award.If Cruise plays the leading role, the two can still have a healthy interaction. If Dustin Hoffman plays the role, maybe something will happen on the set?
The two reached an agreement and continued to search for a more suitable screenplay for Ronald.

"Your directorial style is more like Frank Capra in the golden age. You can always excavate the touching American spirit in the roles of ordinary people. We will choose more scripts in this direction in the future.

This kind of script that relies on mental retardation to highlight dramatic conflicts..."

"It doesn't necessarily suit me, does it?" Ronald answered.

In fact, directors have their own specialties, and Ronald really prefers stories about ordinary people.Those dramatic stories that are far away from ordinary people, such as growing into a freak, mentally retarded, or mentally ill, or born criminals, he is actually not very interested and enthusiastic.

Since my friend Cruise doesn't play the role that is easy to win, there is no need to challenge myself.

Meanwhile, in Ovitz's big office, he called Dustin Hoffman.

"Dustin, I've convinced Tom that the role of brother Raymond is still yours. Also, they came up with the idea that Raymond is not really mentally handicapped, but an autistic person, said to be autistic Some people with syndrome have a particularly high IQ, what do you think, is it more difficult to act?"

"Let's think about it, what you said is true? I'll go to the Autism Patients Association to observe and observe."

Dustin Hoffman is back as the highest-grossing actor since "Tootsie."His salary in 550 was [-] million US dollars.

The salary inflation brought about by Stallone and Schwarzenegger in the past two years has allowed Dustin to ask for a higher price.

And Cruise doesn't have that much influence yet. In Top Gun, he has just stepped into the ranks of male star salary, and there is still a lot of potential to grow.

This is also the real reason why Ovitz prefers Dustin Hoffman to play this more promising award-winning mentally handicapped role, to get more money.

Coming out of CAA, Ronald remembered the countermeasures he had discussed with Nisita.

Ovitz valued Dustin Hoffman, who is of the same ethnicity, and he was sure that most of the mentally handicapped roles would be played by him.I can retreat step by step, showing my weakened interest every time, explaining the situation to Cruise when the time is right, and withdrawing from this movie that Cruise is destined to be very difficult to act in and rare to win awards.

Film projects split and merge, anyway, Ronald is not the first successful director to quit.Spielberg and Sidney Pollack, the two major Jewish directors before, did not stick to the end, and both quit midway.

He drove to his own Daydream Film Company. The employees here are more practical. Everyone discusses the matter. The release of "Dirty Dancing" is going on in a busy and orderly manner. Every time Ronald sees them, he feels more at ease .

"I'm a friend of Ronald's. We attended the meeting of the top entrepreneurs in Dongying together. You must pass it on. I didn't lie to you. My project is very important to Ronald. Don't delay it. Your boss' business."

A sound of arguing came from the front desk.

Ronald heard what happened at the front desk and seemed to stop a man from coming in, and the man's voice insisted that it was his friend.

"It's not that Bannon is here." Ronald opened the door of the office and stretched out his head, "What's wrong? What happened? Who is it?"

"Aha, Ronald. Nice to meet you, nothing, your front desk is very responsible, I just forgot to make an appointment for you."

"Ah, it's you..."

Ronald thought of Bannon, who was the Wall Street banker he met outside the door when the presidents of Kadokawa Publishing and Johnny's were invited to eat high-end food when he was in Tokyo.

With a big head and a thick neck, isn't he the one who was reprimanding Tom Mount, the former vice president of Universal, who had always had trouble with him?
"Hello, Mr. Bannon?"

"Call me Steve, Ronald."

Bannon behaved like every Hollywood banker, pretending to be very familiar with Ronald, and came up to call his name affectionately.

"How is your family? I'm visiting your aunt on Veteran's Day."

Ronald didn't dislike this kind of familiarity. Bankers depended on it for a living.

Moreover, their approach is not the same as Hollywood's overly enthusiastic to false. Although Ronald is not familiar with him, Bannon actually knows that his aunt is the widow of a veteran.

"How do you know my aunt?"

Entering the small office, asked the front desk to bring coffee, Ronald asked curiously.

"I did my homework." Bannon took a sip of the coffee poured out of the coffee machine without making any comments.

"Tell me, what's the matter with me?"

"It's like this. I didn't get a large amount of financing in Dongpu, but the cooperation with Tom Mount will continue. This person is a waste, and I can only rely on myself.

I found some old friends on Wall Street and finally got the money to do my first movie, and now I'm thinking..."

Speaking of which, Bannon looked into Ronald's eyes, expecting his reaction.

"Our company doesn't have any extra funds to shoot other movies." Ronald also took a sip of coffee, a cheap coffee machine, and the taste is not as good as instant coffee.

"No, I don't need your money. The money I got from Wall Street is enough to make this movie called 'Boys Rent Girls'. I came to find a distribution company. Our movie has no stars, so the distribution company wants to I need your help, I heard that you have a good relationship with Disney's Touchstone, can you recommend..."

"Boys rent girls?" Ronald heard the weird name of the script, reached out and took the script handed over by Bannon, opened it and read it quickly.

"The script is well written."

Twenty minutes later, Ronald closed the script.

It's a fun teenage romance.

The male lead is a nerdy Nerd who also happens to be called Ronald.He has a crush on Cindy, the most popular cheerleader in the school.By chance, Nerd pays to rent cheerleader Cindy as his fake girlfriend, teaching him how to be popular among girls.

After a series of coincidences, Nerd finally changed his face and became a very popular boy, and finally made a fake with Cindy.

Ronald felt that despite the immaturity of other parts, there was an idea in the script that Ronald liked very much.That's the plot of the hero's ugly duckling turning into a swan.

This kind of teenager suddenly matures and becomes more popular, which used to happen to the heroine.Like that "Fabulous" that Ronald just finished.

But this script is just the opposite. It is a boy who changes his face to make a girl fall in love with him.Presumably, there are many boys without girlfriends in America, who would like such a plot.

Thinking of this, Ronald looked up at Bannon, "You said you did your homework?"

"What?" Bannon was a little confused.

"If you really did your homework, you should know that my daydream is also getting involved in the distribution business. My new film will be released in about a thousand during the summer, if your film can satisfy me , I can also release your movie, you don’t have to ask Disney.”

"That's my negligence. I didn't do my homework well. Of course I'm very interested." When Bannon heard that it was released in a thousand theaters, he knew that Ronald had invested a huge amount of money in distribution.At least this one, his own 'Boys Rent Girls' was able to get a ride.

(End of this chapter)