Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 877 Trends of Hot Topics

"Thank you, Jonathan, thank you very much for letting the heroine come to me for an afternoon audition." Ronald called Jonathan Demme, a senior at the Roger Coleman Film Academy, and thanked him for being able to put him on the screen. Michelle Pfeiffer, the heroine of the movie "Married into a Gangster," took a few hours off her filming schedule to audition for Ronald's "Working Girl."

"It's nothing, it's just a small mutual help between the directors." Demi's approach to directing is different from Ronald's, but they both like each other's skills. "Married into a Gangster" is being filmed in New York, and Ronald can only stay in New York for a short period of time to participate in the New York Film Critics Association awards selection. For everyone's convenience, he readily agreed.

"Thank you very much. My recent schedule is too tight, so I can only turn to you for help, but don't worry, the audition will not take too long. I will ask someone to arrange the venue and transportation. After the audition, let the heroine go back."

"By the way, you are very busy with film critics and trade union awards in various places." Jonathan Demi entered the industry ten years earlier than Ronald, so of course he knows what Ronald is busy with now.

"Hey, to be honest, my chances are very small. I mainly fight for the supporting actress and supporting actor. Their performances are really good. It would be a pity if they are not nominated. Besides, if they are nominated or lucky to win If so, my box office will be much better."

"Ha, where did you find so many good actors? I watched 'Moonlight' and thought the supporting actors were very good. Many supporting actors have original performances." Jonathan Demme said of Ronald's Video quality is more interesting.

"Hahaha, I found them on Broadway. They all want to enter Hollywood, and their acting skills are very good."

"I heard that you give them a chance..."

Ronald's itinerary is gradually becoming tense, and all the small awards must be present in person, so that the judges with voting rights will feel that you value them, and their chances of voting for you in the Oscar nomination ballot There will be many more.

In this way, the audition of Tess, the most important heroine of "Working Girl", was also fragmented.

Of course, apart from Ronald's reason, there is another reason, that is, there are far more female stars who have become famous than male stars.Because most female characters have far fewer roles than male characters.

Therefore, the female stars they are looking for who can play Tess are either filming or preparing to join the group.

In addition to Michelle Pfeiffer, who is currently filming a Jonathan Demme film, Mel Streep, another actor Julia Taylor thinks is suitable, is filming a classic film in Australia.Even if the audition is suitable, it may not be able to catch up with the start.

This discouraged both Ronald and Julia Taylor, and Goldberg called frequently to find out.

Ronald is also a well-known director now, and has a certain degree of dominance in the itinerary.Moreover, these things are related to winning awards that Hollywood will not interfere with.Ronald has not been under too much pressure for the time being.

However, a courtesy visit was still necessary. Ronald took his agent Richard and casting director Julia Taylor to the Fox Building where "Die Hard" was being filmed.

President Goldberg is waiting for him in his office.

"Hi, Ronald, I didn't expect to see you here. Goldberg's secretary said he has a VIP guest, so it can't be you."

The female director Penny Marshall, who had just met at the Los Angeles Film Critics Association, was also sitting in the lounge outside the president's office.

"Penny, you go first, we are all directors, there is no VIP, you come before us..." Ronald had seen the tough side of this female director, which scared ex-husband Bob Reiner terribly. Dare to meet him, and denounce him as Mr. Danger.Ronald was also afraid that she would spread the word that he disrespected other directors, so he quickly greeted Goldberg's female secretary and asked Penny to advance.

"Hahaha, I'm just joking. I don't have anything important to do here this time. The casting has been confirmed, but I heard that you haven't chosen the heroine yet?" Fortunately, Penny has a good impression of Ronald and likes him. feminist film.

"Okay, then I'll take the lead, thank you."

The door was opened by the secretary, and Goldberg stood up to guide Ronald and his party.After learning about the arrangement of his audition tour for the leading actress, Goldberg responded positively, "Very good, you can just let go of the awards, anyway, after the nominations come out, you will have more time to focus on The project is on."

After chatting and watching for nearly 10 minutes, Ronald took the opportunity to leave when Goldberg picked up the cold coffee, and Penny Marshall was coming later.

After leaving the office, Ronald ran to the "Die Hard" crew above to see if director John McTiernan had made any messy decisions recently.

After Joel Silver learned his lesson, he kept a close eye on the crew. Except for McTiernan who often changed the script temporarily on the spot, the shooting schedule was not delayed much, although this was an extra three times the overtime salary, In exchange for the time he was delayed changing the script.

A problem that can be solved with money within the budget is not a big problem.Ronald patted his partner on the shoulder, begging him to keep watching the director who was about to make trouble when no one was watching.

In order not to disturb anyone in the crew, Ronald, Richard, and Julia Taylor went down the stairs and changed elevators on the floor of the president's office.

"Oh, Shxt! Why do I get so many shits when I'm making movies?"

As soon as he walked to the elevator hall, Ronald found Penny Marshall lighting a cigarette there, smoking heavily against the ventilation window.

"What's the matter, Penny? Are you all right?"

Ronald went over to say hello.

"Oh, Ronald, it seems that the boast I just made to you must be taken back. I have encountered a big problem this time. Robert, a coward, actually quit a week before the rehearsal. He didn't even have the courage to directly Tell me to my face, this one has no balls."

"Robert De Niro?" Julia Taylor went to take Penny Marshall's arm.

The circle of casting directors knows that Robert De Niro is such an actor. He often regrets repeatedly before agreeing to act. He is an actor who is very afraid of his poor performance.

Sometimes this tension helps the performance, and other times it makes the performance worse.To make matters worse, De Niro himself couldn't tell the difference.

Ronald also stayed to chat with Penny Marshall. Richard, who was next to him, had already whispered to Ronald the specific background of this woman. Not only did she come from acting in TV dramas, but she also knew how to write screenwriters and directors. What's more interesting is that her brothers and sisters all work in the film industry.

"What are you going to do, Penny?" Seeing that Penny was just restless and not panicked, Ronald asked directly.

"I probably managed to get some extension time, and I have to reorganize the casting, the male lead has changed, the female lead has to re-audit, watch the chemistry. Fuck it, to match this dead Italian, don't mind, I am Italian He is a descendant, and I hired a dozen actresses to play him.

After all, to be able to play a grown man who falls in love with a child who is only 13 years old at heart, this kind of actress is not easy to find. "

"That's not true, it's really annoying." Ronald also scratched his head, less than a month before the start, suddenly the male lead couldn't play, isn't this a joke?I secretly made a note in my heart to add De Niro to my blacklist.

"I don't even know where to choose a suitable one. This movie is a story about a child who suddenly grows up. Adult actors need to be able to play the innocence of a child... Maybe I should go to London to try."

Ronald looked into Julia Taylor's eyes, knew what she was thinking, and said, "Why don't you ask Ms. Julia Taylor, she's the best casting director I've ever worked with, but you can't Grab it...hahaha."

"Really? Do you have a suitable candidate? I won't compete with you, Ronald. I just want her to recommend some leading actors. She will be the casting director for my new film."

Julia Taylor's style is to only recommend one actor, and then if the director is not satisfied, he will recommend a second one.Seeing this, she immediately named someone...

"Do you remember the 'Mermaid' from a few years ago? Tom Hanks, who played the lead actor, is very suitable. Although he played the pier in New York, between him and the mermaid, it seems that he The one who believes in fairy tales more."

"Ha..." Of course Ronald remembered that Diane Lane didn't act in a movie because of her father's meddling.Diane gave up the role that catapulted Darryl Hannah to fame for the mediocre "Streets of Rage."

"Ha, I should have thought of him, the big deal is to change the male protagonist's age to be younger..."

Penny Marshall also remembers seeing a Tom Hanks performance.

"What do you think, Ronald?"

"I think he is very good. In fact, I also invited him to audition for my first movie. If it wasn't for the schedule problem, I think I would choose him." Ronald said honestly.

"Ahem..." Ronald suddenly felt that Richard was kicking his leg lightly.

He covered it up with a cough, and leaned back, only to hear Richard whisper two words behind his back, "The heroine, Diane."

"I just don't know if I'm being presumptuous. I may have an actress here, who may be suitable for what you said, the feeling of falling in love with a man with a pure heart like a child."

"Who?"

"Diane Lane."

"Ha, it's her." Julia Taylor echoed with a smile, "I heard that the mermaid wanted to invite her. At that time, she had just finished filming the urchin outside the world, and she was indeed more suitable for this kind of rich-hearted woman. role. Maybe she does fit better with Tom Hanks."

"You know what? I'm going to have to thank you all when I'm done. Now I'm going to have my assistant call the actor right away. I'll have my assistant call you to sign, Julia."

……

"Thank you, Richard." After returning to the CAA office, Ronald specially thanked his agent Richard.If he hadn't been familiar with Hollywood's situation, and then knew his own situation, Diane might have missed another opportunity today.

Although Richard was not Diane's agent, Ronald decided to reward the loyal agent himself.According to Diane's share of the agent's share after successfully getting the role, Ronald will ask Daydream to write him a check for consulting work.

"That action movie, who financed him?" Ronald turned to Nisita and asked about the details of the new Steve Segel movie that offended him at the "Empire of the Sun" premiere.

"It was invested and distributed by Warner Bros., but..." Nisita hesitated.

"But what? I'm not trying to mess with him. I just think why would someone invest in a B-grade action movie at this point in time. Could it be that this low-budget action movie is starting to be loved by audiences again?"

"Okay," Nisita moved closer, as if he was afraid of being overheard, "Actually, this project is run by Michael Ovitz himself. Except that he is not named, he is the actual producer of the project, and it can be sold in the end. Get the biggest share."

"I remember that there is a law that your agent cannot directly act as a producer, right?"

"That's why, in essence, he is not a producer in name."

Well, Ronald leaned back, and the ability of Jews to exploit loopholes in the law is indeed second to none.If it was a project arranged by Ovitz himself, he really couldn't mess it up. Of course, Ronald is not the kind of person who doesn't care at all after being offended for no reason.

"Is this movie really worth investing in? Or is Ovitz trying to repay the aikido coach's play?" Ronald couldn't understand why Ovitz would invest in such a movie.Now action movies are getting bigger and bigger budgets, can such a small production make money?

"If you're interested, you can go and see the crew? They're going to be starting up soon. Ovitz must be happy to have you there."

"If you have a chance, you can go and see." Ronald rubbed his chin, facing this Steve Segel, who had served as the bodyguard of two big names, Stallone and Ovitz, he had to find a good-looking bodyguard to support the scene just do.

"What about movies about children? I think there are more and more movies about children. Is it my illusion?" Ronald asked about children's movies again.

"No, your instincts have always been great, and I did some research and found out that major studios are now looking for screenplays about young children, even babies."

Nisita took a document to Ronald, "Look, movies with children as the protagonists have always been the box office winners. They have the power of a family carnival. A small audience needs to be accompanied by at least one of their parents. But because of this Movies are hard to make, and Hollywood has always thought it was Spielberg's monopoly."

Ronald nodded, the power of "ET aliens" is still unmatched by anyone.

"However, after the appearance of this film, this prejudice was overturned, and Spielberg is no longer a patent monopoly who can make blockbuster children's films..."

"What movie?" Ronald took a movie poster. On it, three men surrounded a naked baby boy, and he was urinating on the clothes of the man in the middle.

"Three dads and one baby", Ronald saw the title and recognized the middle-aged actor who was peeing as the famous TV actor Tom Selleck.

"Leonard Nimoy", Ronald looked up to the director's name, "This is the one I know..."

"Yes, that's the alien Spock in Interstellar Voyage..." Nisita laughed. Everyone who just saw the name of the film director had this reaction.

Although Leonard Nimoy has directed several "Star Voyage" films, it is the first time he has directed a film with a different theme, and it is recognized as a very difficult children's film.

"This movie has already broken through 2500 million at the box office just two weeks after it was released." Nisita said softly again.

"Hey..." Ronald frowned, "Combined with the upcoming Christmas schedule, it's easy for this movie to break through [-] million. It's still a good family carnival..."

"This Leonard Nimoy, hasn't he filmed children's subjects before?" Ronald knocked on the table.

"It has nothing to do with him. The reason why people don't think Leonard Nimoy is the second children's movie genius to hit the box office is a very simple reason. This movie was bought a few years ago. It is a remake of the copyright of the film of the same name Hair Country.

The movie also had a good box office hit in Hair Country. "

"Hmm..." Ronald understood. This means that the two films, with different languages, different actors, and different directors, were successful at the box office. Excluding all factors, it was because the scripts were well written.

Sure enough, in this industry, no one knows what (element) is reliable.

"Also, if you've seen this movie, you'll find that it's actually not an orthodox children's film, and it's not as difficult to shoot as those of Spielberg's." Nisita took out from the desk drawer A videotape of the original hair country was published and passed it over.

"I don't understand French, let's watch the English remake first." Ronald picked up the videotape and put it in his bag.

I see……

After coming out of the movie theater, Ronald understood what Nisita meant.

Baby movies are really different from children’s movies. Babies’ expressions are very simple. As long as they are edited, these expressions can be expanded into completely different meanings through the up and down shots.In fact, the difficulty of shooting baby actors is much smaller than that of teenagers.

And Penny Marshall's new film "Growing Up (Big)", the main part of the plot is to let adult actors play the child's mentality.Child actors only have dozens of shots before and after.

Her ex-husband Bob Reiner's "Princess Bride" also has a similar structure. From the framework of a grandfather telling a story to a child, it actually performs an anti-traditional core of the story of a princess and a prince.

These are opportunistic so-called children's films, which attract children to watch, but do not rely on the performances of child actors.

Hollywood, a business machine, has found various ways to avoid the trivial and avoid the monopoly supply of children's film wizards like Spielberg.

Ronald figured it out, so he called a daydream assistant and asked him to try to collect movie scripts from both directions, opportunistic movies that tell stories from a child's perspective, or baby movies.

(End of this chapter)