Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 797 The Secret Premiere of Success

Diane's father, Burt, called Ronald to express his thanks after learning about the incident.

"Thank you, Ronald!

Diane stopped listening to me a long time ago. I made an agreement with her before, not to take on roles that affect her image before she becomes a star.For example, strippers, call girls, etc. We had an agreement at the time, but now I can't control her. "

"Hi..." Ronald scratched his head, this was such a mess.It seemed that he really prevented Diane from taking those shots because of Burt's request.

"Actually, let Diane decide some things by herself, otherwise she will hate you, or mine." Ronald thought for a while and replied, "This time, the producer actually made a bad movie, in order to improve some At the box office, I deliberately deceived Diane, so I came forward to stop it."

"That's right... I don't understand Hollywood at all now, please help her... Diane is a good actor."

Burt's old experience drawn from history and experience has been greatly impacted after entering the 80s.

It is no longer an iron law that a famous director can make a popular actor.He won many opportunities for Diane to cooperate with famous directors, such as several films with Francis Coppola.Not only did Diane fail to enter the front line, but because of this, he turned down two blockbuster movies that looked like exploitative plots... "Good Boys Are Crazy" and "Mermaid".

Not playing negative or childish roles is no longer an iron rule for female stars to want to be popular.These two Diane rejected call girls and animated mermaid characters were starred by Rebecca De Morney and Darryl Hannah respectively, but now they are more famous in Hollywood than when they were young Diane Lane is taller.

Luck may have replaced regularity as the biggest factor for success in the 80s, when the audience structure was changing rapidly.

Putting this matter aside for now, Ronald has more things to deal with. The soundtrack for Dirty Dancing has been produced and is ready to be sent to the factory for pressed records.

But Weintraub had left the record industry, and the record company he introduced offered expensive offers.Jimmy Reiner, who was in charge of record production, came to Ronald to complain.

"The price is too expensive. Compared with the market price, it has not been lowered at all. MGM doesn't take Weintraub seriously now. Columbia Pictures, which he used to cooperate with, still has some contacts in Columbia Records, but now they have a relationship with Wentraub. Traub also didn't cooperate, so it doesn't make sense to give face to the outgoing president of MGM. We didn't get the internal price."

"Why is the quotation for me so expensive? Is it the same price they cooperated with the record company?" Ronald took the cost form given by Jimmy Reiner, and felt that something was wrong.

If it is produced at this unit price, the gross profit is really too low.These gross profits have to be distributed to the retail channels. With such a small estimated sales volume, it is fine to not lose money.

"Maybe it's not because they bully us as newcomers, or because we have no connections. The record factory doesn't care about these, and takes orders as soon as they come.

The problem is that the production volume of record companies is large and stable, and the cost of single production can be kept very low.With our production volume, larger factories will not accept it, and it will be finished in half a day after the start of work, which is not enough for the cost of changing the mold. ’ Jimmy Renner explained.

"Still wait, let me find contacts. Even if we don't make money this time, we still need to learn some knowledge about publishing soundtracks for movies." Ronald made up his mind, and said that if the movie can be a hit, he is very optimistic that there will be many people I will buy the record and go back to learn this hot dance.

“We could actually get into the record factory line if someone would help. A lot of hit records have long cuts between productions, and the time in between can be used to jump in line and make our records.”

"Okay, anyway, I'm going to meet MJ soon to see if his manager, Dario, can help."

"Do you know him? Well, he has a lot of contacts. It would be best if he is willing to help. When can we make a decision?" Jimmy Reiner became interested. This boss, regardless of being a director, also knows many big names in the record industry. ah.

"Don't worry, I'm going to attend the premiere of Universal's new film 'Secret of Success' first, and I want to see the rough cut of my other film MJ, and I just want to make a request at that time."

Let Jimmy Reiner rest easy, MJ is now busy with the release of a new album, it is not easy to find him.Or take the rough cut sample of "Boy Rent Girl" and finish talking with him at once.

Time soon came for the Universal release, and the premiere of "Secrets of Success," starring Michael J. Fox and Helen Slater.

"Helen, why don't you come to the premiere? This is a movie where you are the leading role, and Universal put a lot of effort into promoting it, and Universal booked the 'Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Theater' in Beverly Hills for the premiere .Why don't you come? I didn't know until Michael (J. Fox) called me."

If Helen doesn't attend, in order to avoid the embarrassment of not having a leading actor to attend the premiere, Universal will ask Fox, who is busy filming a TV series, to come to the rescue.

"Well, I was in New York with Helen (Hunter) and several other like-minded actors. We had a great time chatting about acting skills and drama. Is this kind of distribution and marketing thing really so important?"

"Hey..." Ronald felt that Helen Slater was a little childish and cute.

"Universal has high expectations for this movie, and the premiere ceremony has also chosen the best movie theater near Beverly Hills. Many movie stars will come to attend because they are close to home. Don't you always expect to have the opportunity to interact with established movies Celebrities exchange acting skills? Isn't this a good opportunity?"

Ronald knew Helen's hobbies, so he deliberately said that.

"Huh? You're right. I'm going to buy a ticket right now. Anyway, I happen to miss you a little bit."

"Don't worry about it, I'll let someone take care of the air ticket and hotel."

Helen's environment on Broadway in New York during this period can be described as a fish in water.

There are plenty of actors who have no chance but like to talk big.Helen had acted in blockbuster movies like "A Wicked Husband", and she stood out from the crowd among those people. Everyone surrounded her to praise her, and chatting about dramas was so fun that they almost didn't even want to come to the premiere.

Although it is not stipulated in the contract that Helen must attend the premiere, actors who can actively cooperate with the announcement will definitely be valued by the studio.And being able to socialize with some big-name stars, is there any better opportunity for a young actress who wants to produce her own film?

Helen was still the same, she didn't like to wear branded or designer gowns, so she casually wore a leather jacket and overalls and came to the premiere.

However, natural beauty is an advantage, so casual wear also has a masculine style.

Ronald has always attached great importance to such marketing occasions. He wore a navy-style jacket with double-plated copper buttons and light-colored trousers. It matched Helen's blue-collar attire in a wonderful way.

Universal specially spent a lot of money to rent the movie theater owned by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, which is very close to the mansion area of ​​Beverly Hills, where stars often come to watch movies.This time, many veteran stars in the mansion were invited.

Cameron and Gail also came to show up as Ronald's friends, and chatted with Ronald for a while. The two of them have no idea of ​​​​putting into the production of a new film right now, but want to go further in special effects.Especially the computer-generated special effects that have recently begun to emerge.

Ronald chatted with Cameron for a while, but he didn't quite understand what he said. He had to wait for him to figure out some clues and see the real thing to understand more.

Ronald also met many familiar faces, including many big-name celebrities who lived nearby and dropped by to attend.

In particular, Bruce Springsteen, a popular rock star, also brought his wife, Julie Phillips, to join in the fun by driving two convertible sports cars.

As soon as Springsteen got out of the car, he was surrounded by fans, frantically asking for autographs.

Julie Phillips is also a movie actor, although not as famous as her husband, there are fans who want her autograph.

Ronald and Helen were pushed aside by the flow of people, observing the situation.

"The popularity of rock stars is higher." Helen was also comparing the popularity of famous celebrity couples.

"Not necessarily. Julie Phillips' achievements in the film industry are not comparable to Springsteen's influence in the rock circle." Ronald replied.

"Ronald!" There were two beauties alighting from the sports car behind. The one named Ronald was Bruce's younger sister, Pamela Springsteen.She made a guest appearance in Ronald's first directorial work "Fast Pace" and dated Sean Penn, but she was impressed by Ronald.

"Pamela, this is?" Ronald looked at a black-haired beauty who arrived with her, looking familiar.

"Don't you know? In my brother's MV, the audience who was invited to the stage to sing rock with him..."

"Oh", Ronald remembered, the little girl in the MV is now following the Springsteen family to find opportunities.

"Hi, my name is Courteney, Courteney Cox..."

"Hello, let's go in." Ronald quickly invited them in to watch a movie.

Helen put her arms around Ronald's arm and said happily in his ear, "It's a wise decision for you to invite me to the premiere, so many acting masters of the golden age. That's Tamar Hoff Well, that's..."

Helen ordered a lot to come to the scene, wearing the names of classical old men and old ladies.For them, the premiere is a very solemn occasion, and the clothes are as modest as possible.

Ronald didn't know all these old stars as well as Helen did, but he just felt familiar.Many of these old stars came to the premiere because of Michael J. Fox's face.Many stars go to TV dramas once they are past their prime, and right now Fox is the hottest TV star.

"Look, that's Carl Reiner."

"Who?" Ronald saw a bald old man with a neat suit, a red tie and light-colored trousers, so similar to himself.

"Carl Reiner, haven't you seen him on 'The Dick Van Dyke Show,' 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show'?"

Helen mentioned two TV shows that were popular in the United States in the 70s. The latter was a spin-off of the former, and both strangely put the real names of the leading actors in the titles of the TV shows, which was a special marketing method in the 70s.

"I'll go chat with him." Helen saw the acting idol in her heart, so she went to chat with the old man first.

"Ronald, I'm here."

Ronald was stopped by Bannon who had finally pushed through Springsteen's fans.

Bannon came back from Arizona with the negatives of the film. He had just developed the sample for editing, and then roughly cut a version, and ran to find Ronald.He was anxious to use copies to get Michael Jackson's approval.

The song "Can't Buy Me Love" was a great marketing tool for the movie, as the audience would think of the Beatles song when they heard the name of the movie.This saves a lot of marketing costs.

In addition to the fact that the name is easier to spread, and the name of the song is used as the name of the movie, then the plot of the movie will be understood by the audience who heard it immediately, which saves a lot of trouble.

Bannon understood the huge opportunities inside. After finding Ronald, he began to chatter about how well the film was made, how the performances of the two leading actors fit together, and what strategies should be adopted to discuss with MJ.

"You're too nervous. MJ has already promised to watch the demo. When he is so busy releasing new albums, he can spare time to watch our movie. Doesn't that explain something?" Ronald laughed.

"You're right, you're amazing, you're the best. It's God's will that I meet you in Tokyo, we're destined for something big..."

"Wait... I just have something to ask you." Ronald waved his hand to stop Bannon from bragging.He watched Helen chatting happily with the old gentleman named Carl Reiner, laughing from time to time, and took the time to ask Bannon's cousin Donna about her wish.

"Job opportunities on Wall Street? Your cousin? Is she Yale or Harvard? Oh, MIT." Bannon was a little surprised when he heard Ronald's question. Can perform well.

But why isn't she working in Hollywood and going to Wall Street?It was so tense there, everyone's strings were stretched too tight.I don't think Wall Street is for a girl out of college, and if I had a daughter, I wouldn't want him to go to Wall Street. "

"Why?" Ronald turned around and asked in surprise.

"Let me put it this way," Bannon gestured with his hand, "Every one of us on Wall Street has a place for a note on the desk, and it says that it is the person you need to answer when the secretary answers the phone. .

Every day there will be a dozen more notes in that place.Of course, you don't have time to answer everyone, and you always choose from top to bottom that you think is the most urgent.Likewise, a note with your name and phone number on someone else's desk.

If you have made a big project recently, you are the one who is the first to reply.If you don't make a project, your call will be put on the back burner.

If for three to six weeks you didn't come up with a project that caught the attention of the rest of Wall Street, your name was left at the bottom of the stack of notes, waiting to be cleared by the secretary.

If you don't come back in the next three months, your name won't be left on the boss's desk by the secretary.Then, you're completely removed from Wall Street, so there's a lot of pressure on everyone. "

Ronald frowned.I definitely don't want Donna to enter this kind of place where the competition is fierce enough to cut throats. "Is there someone on Wall Street who sits in an office? Isn't there a position where you don't have to work so hard every day? For example, researching corporate financial statements or something."

"You must be joking. Everyone on Wall Street is a trader. What's the use of reading the report? Everyone pays attention to the news. Those who have the news make money, and the rest can only follow behind..."

"Hey..." Ronald didn't expect Wall Street to be a place like Hollywood, where everything is used for competition.

Donna was full of yearning for Wall Street, and Aunt Karen would be sad if she went to this situation.

But America is a place that respects individual freedom of choice. If she is not allowed to pursue her dreams, she will also feel frustrated, and it is Donna who is sad.

"Forget it, let me think about what to do." Ronald waved his hand.

"No, no, Ronald, wait. I remember when I left Wall Street, I heard that there was a guy out there on Long Island who used a different approach to investing in the financial markets. He didn't need more people on Wall Street. Rolling in the mud, but it is not so easy to get in, you need a background in physics, mathematics, or philosophy."

"Oh, my cousin Donna is from the physics department."

"I'll find someone to ask and write her a letter of recommendation." Bannon now has to hold onto Ronald tightly and is willing to help with anything.

"Okay, let's go in." Ronald saw the old man Carl Reiner, who was making Helen laugh, and hurried forward with Bannon.

"Ronald, I like watching your movies very much." Although Carl Reiner is over 60, he is personable and nice to speak.

"Mr. Rainer, I also like your work very much."

"Hahaha, my early stand-up comedy was hard to find, you mean my 'Dick Van Dyke Show', 'Mary Tyler Moore Show'."

"Ah, yes, I don't know much about your early work. But Americans have seen both TV shows."

The two walked and chatted while Helen listened.

Carl Reiner lived next door, and he was the big name that Universal invited to join in.The old man is very extraordinary, not only a stand-up comedian, but also a film actor, stage actor, screenwriter, and director. In the early 70s, he single-handedly created TV comedy.

At the end of the 70s, he returned to the film, and the current comedy star, Steve Martin, was discovered by him and became famous by starring in the film he directed.

Carl Reiner was born in 1984, but at this age, he is still very close to the preferences of the people. His 4000 movie "All of Me" also grossed nearly $[-] million.

This is much more sensible than the old producer in the film made by Diane, who is still obsessed with past glory.

Ronald respected this kind of old artist who has always been close to the audience's preferences, and quickly asked him the secret of making movies that young people like to watch at this age.

"I'm actually behind the times, the script is not very good, and it was Steve Martin's performance that saved the movie." Carl Reiner was more blunt, saying that the movie already felt powerless, and it was the success of the actors' performances.

This mentality of being able to face reality may be one of the secrets of his success.

Helen and Gao Xing were able to communicate with the old stars in the industry and talked a lot about acting skills.He also said that he wanted to make a movie that reflected urban women, and asked the old man for advice.

"You have to understand, my dear, I'm old." Carl Reiner was so respected by two popular directors and actors, and he seemed very happy. "It is Ronald who knows movies now. My grandson You guys are fans of his Top Gun movie. You should ask him."

"Him? All he shoots are movies that are full of male hormones..." Helen looked at Ronald with a smile, not believing that he could make movies with female protagonists.

"Eh..." Ronald shrugged, making a gesture of helplessness.

Carl Reiner looked at the two funny, and smiled even more happily, "I haven't been this happy for a long time. My sons and daughters are all in the showbiz. They rarely come to see me. I am very happy to be with you today. You two great people in Hollywood chatting."

Carl Reiner is an acting family, and his children are working hard in Hollywood and music.Rob, Anne, Lucas, among the three children, the eldest son Rob is the most promising.Is an actor and director.

His older son Rob directed last year's "Stand By Me," a box-office success and low-budget kids' film.

"My eldest daughter-in-law, uh...the former eldest daughter-in-law is Penny Marshall, who is also an actor from an acting family, has won a Golden Globe Award, and is still trying to direct a movie.

It's a pity that today's young people can't be like me. His mother Estelle and I have had a very good relationship since we got married in 1943 until now. "

The old man came alone, and the wife waited for him to go back to have supper at home, and talked a little too much when he was happy.

"Modern people are different. The diversity of beliefs and social interactions makes it difficult for them to stick to one thing." Helen said something to comfort the old man, and glanced at Ronald.

Ronald touched his nose and changed the subject, "Mr. Renner, how do you maintain the vitality of a young man?"

"Directors have their own methods. I often play tennis, and every year I sponsor and participate in a charity tennis tournament named after myself. I also attract many retired tennis stars to participate."

Ronald couldn't help feeling that this old man was a model of living and understanding. He had mixed up in Hollywood, Broadway, and TV stations, and he was the best at everything.Exercise after retirement, and you can also create a charity event named after yourself.

Helen was very happy, holding Carl Reiner's arm and chatting like she was with her grandfather.Ronald was a bit bored next to him.

Carl Reiner glanced at Ronald, knowing that the young man was a little uncomfortable seeing his girlfriend talking with him, so he told a joke: "The big challenge of retiring is how to face the things that I used to be able to do effortlessly. things.

This morning I also saw my neighbor George Burns (an eighty-year-old director who once directed Brooke Shields), going out with two hot girls.

I asked him, how can he still be so energetic at the age of 80? "

Carl Reiner was a comedian who was like George Burns, "Ahem...you know, Carl, trying to do that at 80...like..."

Then Reina mysteriously lowered his head to Ronald and Helen and said, "Have you ever played billiards with a soft rope as a cue?"

"Pfft...hahahaha..." Ronald and Helen burst out laughing.Helen took advantage of the situation to switch hands and pulled Ronald, leaning on his shoulder.

"It's nice to have a wise old man for company at the movies," thought Ronald.

"Huh, huh, huh..." The audience applauded as the movie ended.

The backbone of this movie is a Wall Street business war story, and Michael J. Fox's performance is excellent.Helen is a bit lacking, but as a vase, responsible for the beauty inside, this simple task is done very well.

Maybe because of the height difference with Fox, the last kiss scene between the two was really a bit fake. I don’t know how many pieces of wood were placed underneath and how deep the hole was dug before it could be adjusted.

But for Ronald, this is also a good thing.He bowed his head to Helen, imitating the posture on the screen, and kissed Helen deeply.Helen was lying in her arms, 180 degrees opposite to Ronald's head, and they kissed each other.

"When can we meet Michael Jackson?" Bannon found an opportunity to disrupt the atmosphere again.

Ronald had no choice but to part his lips with Helen, held her hand hand in hand, and said angrily to Bannon, "It will be arranged. How did you say this movie is about the acquisition of Wall Street? It's true. ?"

"It's true in principle. When faced with a hostile takeover, if you have those old money bankers in New York to help you, it's not difficult to acquire the other party in turn. However, considering the roles played by Fox and Helen, it is unlikely that they will get a Wall Street bank." recognized by the family.

Their attitude towards business is too naive..."

"Ahem..." Ronald indicated that he didn't really want him to express his opinion.

"Of course, this is a love story. Helen's performance is wonderful, and the business war is just a background story..."

Bannon immediately turned around and began to blow up the performances of the two protagonists in the movie.

"Listen... Mr. Bannon turned out to be a banker, and he also recognized my performance..." Helen was very happy to be recognized by people in the same profession in the real world.

Uh, Ronald turned his head and made a strange face at Bannon.

"Don't worry, I've already contacted Dario, MJ's manager, and when he is free after the production of the new album is completed, we will go to him with the copy."

(End of this chapter)