Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 842 Busy Ronald
"This is Rachel I was talking to you about, Boss. She did the job of production executive on 'The Babysitter' last time, very meticulous."

Ronald's script assistant, David Simkins, introduced Ronald to a slim young woman.

Simkins hopes to develop in the direction of a producer, and Ronald also needs a subordinate who can act as a producer, who can serve as his substitute and supervise the filming progress of the crew in each crew.

This time, Ronald gave him a chance to be the producer of Daydream in "Ecstasy", which was co-produced by Daydream and Roger Corman's company in Los Angeles.Follow the old man Coleman to learn more skills.

But at the same time the funds were raised, there was also a new musical "Hairspray" written and directed by John Waters.In order to save costs, Director Waters proposed to shoot in Baltimore, Maryland, where the story took place.

There was no union power there, and Director Waters was a native of Baltimore.There are plenty of familiar relationships there, and access to quite a few free extras from his previous high school.

Ronald wasn't too worried about whether Director Waters would mess with the budget.This guy has always been a director of super low-budget movies, and "Hairspray" was the dream story he'd always wanted to make.

In this case, the director will regard high-quality shooting as the highest pursuit.As for falsely reporting some costs during filming, Ronald can tolerate it without going too far.The entire movie had a budget of only $250 million anyway.

Still, Waters is a lone ranger.He did all the chores by himself in those super crude movies that were made for hundreds of thousands of dollars.And the actors who made movies with him even put on their own makeup and brought their own costumes...

In such a formal film project, Ronald certainly cannot allow this kind of thing to exist.Therefore, he asked Simkins to recommend a careful candidate who knew all the chores in filming to be the producer of the "Hairspray" crew.

Simkins recommended Rachel Talalay, the production director he had met on "The Babysitter."

"Rachel, I think David has already told you the main content of this job, which is actually similar to what you did when you were in Toronto." Ronald went up to explain the job to Rachel Talalay .

"Is there anything I should pay special attention to?" Rachel wrote down the chores that Ronald explained. This time, although she is named as a producer, she is actually working similarly to the production director, helping the crew to solve all the problems. The problem.It doesn't have the right to interfere with the director's shooting like a real producer.

"It's nothing, you're mainly accumulating experience. After one or two films, you should be able to actually take on the role of producer. Just like what David is about to do." Ronald smiled to Rachel who was a little nervous Said.

"OK!", Rachel immediately relaxed a little.

“This is my call, if you see something wrong with the director on the first day of shooting in Baltimore, just report it to me directly. If everything goes well, then you don’t have to worry about the shooting situation.

After all, John Waters has far more experience than you. "

"He is indeed very experienced. Now I can only help him with some chores, such as arranging the bus." Rachel felt that Ronald was right.

"What bus?"

"Oh, didn't Director Waters tell you? In order to save money, he decided to let the main members of the crew take the bus to Baltimore."

"Oh, what... It's not necessary, it's not necessary, it's changed to a plane. At most, you can take the economy class." When Ronald heard this, he thought that this Waters was too cheap, and what he was shooting now was not Those $25 rubbish, but a "big production" with a production cost of $250 million.

Ronald and Rachel rushed to the starting point of the big bus, and the two buses were preparing to leave.One was full of actors and the other was some crew.

"Oh, Ronald, you're an angel. Just thinking I've managed to do a big production and have to be in this bus makes me want to strangle that bastard John."

A bald, fat actor inside was very excited. He got out of the car and thanked Ronald, hugging him tightly.

"This is our main actor, Divine." Rachel hurried up and introduced to Ronald.

"Ah, okay, don't worry, if you have any problems in Baltimore, you can tell Rachel." Ronald was a little strange, the voice and figure of this Divine were a little strange.He is a typical obese patient, his upper body is fat like a woman.

"What role does he play?" Ronald asked Rachel in a low voice. He didn't pay attention to the cast list and wanted to say something to encourage morale, but he couldn't say it.

"He played Edna, the main character's mother."

"Oh, good. Edna is a very important role. Director Waters can find you to play. His vision is very good."

"Hahaha... John and I have known each other for a long time, and I'm in every crap he's ever made." Divine grinned so much that he was finally able to make a normal movie.

"No, it's not right!" Ronald finally found out what was wrong with Divine.This is obviously a middle-aged woman's role, why did you find a man to play it?
"Hahaha", Divine smiled smugly when she saw Ronald's appearance, "Isn't it right?" She took out a wig from her bag and put it on her bald head .He tidied up proudly and took two poses.

"Um, Boss, he's a Drag Queen." Rachel hurriedly whispered in Ronald's ear.She thought the boss already knew about director Waters' eccentricities, and this Divine appeared in every one of his movies.

"Ah, ah... Sure enough, sure enough, this is really much more pleasing to the eye."

Let the actors get into the car and drive to the airport.Ronald also told Rachel in the back car, "When you arrive in Baltimore, for the first few days, you have to call back to the company every day to report the shooting situation, you know?

Simkins said that you don't need to call, and you stop the daily report. "

Ronald felt a burst of cold sweat. The director John Waters actually used a Drag Queen to play the heroine's mother. He didn't know what messed up would happen.

"Well, well, don't worry, boss, I will report every day until you approve of my work." Rachel thought it was her own approval of the actor to go to the bus, which made the boss feel that there was a problem with her work ability. Check every day.

"John, John, look, Ronald is a generous boss, let us fly to Baltimore."

At the airport, Rachel took Ronald's credit card and went to buy tickets for everyone on the spot. Divine got a plane with Director John Waters.He happily hugged Waters who was waiting at the airport, making him speechless.

"Hey, Ronald, I just want to save some money on the shoot." Waters managed to break free from Divine's arms and explained his thoughts to Ronald.

"It's okay, these costs still have to be spent. If you take the bus, the fatigue of the actors will take a long time to adjust."

"It's okay, these are guys I've worked with many times. Besides, I can get free housing at the high school in Baltimore."

Ronald put his heart back a little more. It seems that Director Waters still wants to make the movie well, after all, it is his personal semi-autobiographical work.

"Hi, Sonny. My agent has contacted you, right? Unfortunately, Cher did not agree to appear on Letterman's show this time."

Ronald went back and talked to a middle-aged man with a mustache next to the director.

This is Cher's ex-husband, Sonny Bono.This time, he also got a role in the crew.Because of his fame, only the director and him can enjoy the treatment of flying to the shooting location.

"It's okay, I'm already very grateful." Sonny looked like a soft-spoken man, "I'm actually not doing it for myself this time, it's because of me and Cher's daughter, Chastity. Guardia is in a performing arts high school, and my daughter is very talented in singing, so I want Xueer to help us bring our daughter to debut."

"Oh, I don't know..." Ronald thought to himself, I didn't know that your brother had such an idea. If I knew it, I would have played this card when I persuaded Xueer to be on the show.

"It's okay, Cher and I have a rocky relationship, but she's a good mother." Sonny Bono said kind words about his ex-wife, "If you have the chance, I mean if, I hope you can give my daughter Chester Ti has a chance in the acting circle. She majored in singing and acting at the same time in the performing arts college, and your theme song of "Famous Around the World" is her favorite."

"Aha, majoring in singing and acting at the same time, it's the same as the character CoCo played by Erin Cara, who sang the theme song of 'Fame', your daughter has talent, opportunity, opportunity..."

Ronald was busy all morning before he sent everyone in the crew away.

"What time is my appointment with Joel Silver this afternoon?"

Daydream's secretary, Ms. Zhang, took out the appointment book and was in his office at three o'clock in the afternoon. We would go there after we had lunch, so we had time.

"Okay, let's order Burger King casually. Speaking of burgers, they are indeed better, although the stock is not as good as McDonald's."

"Dow Jones, continuing yesterday's decline..."

Arrived at Joel Silver's office, he was watching the financial news.

"Ronald, are you here?" Silver muted the TV. "Now we have two options. The first is to find another male star to replace Bruce Willis. The second is to postpone the shooting until next year, Bruce." In the summer, when TV dramas are off season, you can spare time to shoot."

"What do we have in place?" Ronald nodded. TV stars tended to be available in late spring to summer.TV shows in America are usually New Year's Eve, and every summer, there will be several months of rest.

Michael J. Fox is like this now. Every summer, he takes a TV drama break and comes out to shoot two movies.

"The best candidate is Harrison Ford. I talked to his agent. He is also trying to figure out a way to make a transition, and he is currently looking at new scripts from various parties."

"Hmm..." Ronald pondered for a moment, Harrison Ford was actually a good candidate.His temperament is similar to that of Bruce Willis, a kind of bad image of ordinary people.Han Solo in "Star Wars" and Dr. Indiana Jones in "Raiders of the Lost Ark" are the kind of heroes who can fail.

But his shortcoming is also here.The images of these two characters are too deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.If John McLean, the leading actor in this movie, is played by him, will the audience recognize him?
"Let's get in touch first. We're actually not sure that Harrison will agree. And he's a big star, which will help the film's marketing." Joel Silver seemed to agree with the casting.

"Let's get in touch first." Ronald was a little worried. This kind of popular star will definitely fight for power in the crew. How will he shoot and who will he listen to?will be a problem.

"Huh..." Ronald, who returned home, took out the quick-frozen food in the refrigerator and started to make a quick dinner for himself.

Tomorrow I'm going to talk to Roger Coleman about the work on "Ecstasy".

Ronald turned on the TV and ate the tuna sandwich he had just made.You don't need to cut the sides when you eat it yourself.

"Thursday's Dow Jones Index continued to fall by 57.61 points, and the decline narrowed to 2.39%. Compared with the highest point of this year, it has fallen by 12%. Analysts said that this indicates that the stock market has reached a phased bottom, and fund managers It means that the bull market is still going on, and the market outlook is expected to rebound."

"Well, I sold my stock to make a movie last year, but I still missed the big bull market with a 50% rise." Ronald thought while eating, but fortunately, the movie "Dirty Dancing" was very profitable.Wait for the box office to be recovered and the video tapes to be sold, and then look at the stock market to see if there is investment potential.

……

"Ronald," Roger Corman welcomed his students with open arms.

"Roger," Ronald stepped forward to hug him, "Isn't this the first time we've worked together on a film since Rock High?"

"Well, yes. It's been eight years."

Roger Coleman couldn't help lamenting how fast time passed, and he even sold his New World Company.

"Cassandra Peterson is a very good actress, and her script has great potential." Coleman liked the joint venture project recommended by Ronald, "This is exactly the kind of horror movie I like best , with this sense of humor."

"Yes, it's the kind of movie you are best at. How about it, do you want to direct yourself?" Ronald asked the former boss.

"Hahaha, I do have itchy hands." Coleman laughed loudly, "But let's wait until later. Now my energy is devoted to production, and I have to guarantee about ten films a year. Small and medium-sized productions have already taken up the cost of recovering their costs. All the time."

“This time I went to James Signorelli, who has directed a few episodes of Saturday Night Live and also directed the sequel to the blockbuster Police Academy, and he just happened to be in the right place.”

"I have no doubts about your vision." Ronald agreed after looking at the director's materials that Coleman had found.Coleman's vision of picking a director may not be stronger than him in Hollywood.

The two finalized the cooperation in a few words.The rest of the work was handed over to Coleman's wife, Julie, and Ronald's producer, David Simkins, to connect.

Roger Coleman still decided to shoot this movie in Hollywood, Los Angeles. He has a deep knowledge of dealing with unions and is also very trustworthy in the industry. He can find all kinds of staff who are of a good standard but only earn the minimum wage.

"Your Dirty Dancing is very profitable." Roger Corman is very sensitive to the box office of this kind of movie.

"It's not bad, I hope to get good box office results overseas." Ronald replied, "I'm also planning to release the video tape. I hope this time I can make a little more money so that I can continue to invest in other movies."

"You are very good. Producers who entered Hollywood at the same time as me have invested in real estate after success." Roger Coleman has been in this industry for a long time. People like him who continue to invest in the film industry are not failed companies. Bankruptcy means quitting after making a lot of money.

"However, you also have to invest in some other industries. This industry is now more and more profitable."

"Hahaha, in fact, I also invested in a little real estate." Ronald said with a smile.

"There is also the stock market. The stock market is also a good investment target. I think the recent stock market correction has been severe, and it is time to buy the bottom."

"Ah, is it? You also invest in the stock market? Then I have to think about it."

……

Unexpectedly, Roger Coleman was also investing in the stock market.Ronald remembered that Joel Silver was also watching the Money Channel yesterday.This year's stock market has really gone up quite fiercely, and I missed a big bull market.

After returning home, Ronald turned on the TV and tuned to the financial channel.

"Chairman of the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Kerkorian, today announced a bond offering totaling $3500 million to finance MGM's new business venture..."

Ronald ordered Domino's pizza delivery today and listened as he ate.Kerkorian’s financing was not smooth, and it only raised 3500 million US dollars, and the interest was not low.

"The North Atlantic's most powerful hurricane of the year hit coastal cities in Britain and France, killing dozens.

In Britain, more than 1500 million trees are expected to be broken, and the power company's lines are severely damaged. Financial centers including the London Stock Education Institute and the London Futures Exchange announced today that they will be closed due to power outages. "

"It's so powerful?" Ronald looked at the scene of the hurricane in the news, the scene from London, the outdoor host was blown by the wind and couldn't complete his speech.

"On the New York Stock Exchange today, the Dow continued to fall and closed at 2246.74 points, with a record high in trading volume."

"Fell again?" Ronald picked up the phone, dialed Donna who worked in New York Fund, and asked about the situation. Is it possible to buy the bottom?
"Hello? Donna, I'm Ronald. The stock market fell again today? Can I copy..."

"Ronnie, I'm very busy now. The London exchange is closed today. Mr. Simmons has some procedural transactions that have not been confirmed by the London exchange. Our employees are all on the phone...I don't have time to chat now, let's talk about it next week ..."

"Oh... yes, I love you. Goodbye!" Ronald was very comforted when he heard that Donna, who had returned to work in Long Island, was in a state of affairs now.

"I love you too, Ronnie, your BMW has helped me a lot, so that I can end my internship early and return to the company to participate in the company's main business of program trading... Let alone, I still have a dozen calls to make, bye !"

(End of this chapter)