Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 970
Tsui Hark was the same, thin, with messy hair.

Ronald took him and Corey Yeun to an expensive restaurant to welcome them.

Tsui Hark also studied in America, and his English is better than Ang Lee's.Being able to talk to Ronald directly, plus Ronald can understand a little Cantonese, the three of them put aside the translation and chatted directly at the dinner table about the progress of the new film.

The script that Corey Yeun came up with is called "Twin Swords of the Dragon and Phoenix".

The background of the story is set in San Francisco and Xiangjiang in the 1980s.San Francisco film star Kate Thompson (Kate Thompson) has not filmed for a while because of her divorce from her producer husband.

During her break, she developed a strong interest in the Chinese martial arts in San Francisco. After learning some Wing Chun techniques with a master who served as a stand-in in "Longwei Boy", she made rapid progress and liked this kind of martial arts very much. Fighting is quite feminine martial art.

Kate Thompson decided to go to Hong Kong, the source of Wing Chun, to further her studies.And looking for opportunities to develop in the Hong Kong film industry, I heard that there is a film production center in East Asia.His agent also reminded him that Xiangjiang has an action star named Veyron who just needs white women to participate in his new play.

When she arrived in Xiangjiang, Kate met a Chinese martial arts master, Lin Feilong.He heard that Kate wanted to learn authentic Wing Chun, so he took her to meet his grandmother, Bai Guizhen, a martial arts teacher who had practiced Wing Chun for many years.

Seeing Kate's excellent physical fitness, Bai Guizhen is also willing to learn, and the professor has no secrets.Even Wing Chun's trick "Dragon and Phoenix Swords" was also taught to Kate.After a few months, Kate was playing in style and had no problem making an action movie.

At this time, Veyron's new film is facing some difficulties.The film's investor is a mafia boss, who intervened indiscriminately in the script and filming, and Veyron was under pressure as a result.After Kate joined the filming team, the mob boss took a fancy to Kate's beauty and tried to forcefully intervene in her life.

As Kate's friend, Lin Feilong served as her bodyguard in the crew.In the end, the gang boss couldn't help but behaved rudely to Kate.In the end, Lin Feilong used Wing Chun taught by his grandmother to face the investor and his younger brothers.Kate fought side by side with him, and the two used dragon and phoenix swords to knock down the black boss' younger brother.

At this time, Boss Hei took out his pistol. Seeing that it was about to escalate into an international accident, the superstar Veyron, who also served as the producer, couldn't help but shot, and knocked Boss Hei to the ground with a folding stool.

At this moment, the consulate counselor, who received Kate's alarm call, arrived with O Ji and CID to bring the black boss to justice.

The movie was about to fail without an investor. At this time, Kate’s agent rushed to Hong Kong. There was a big director in Hollywood who wanted to make an action movie. After seeing the script that Kate sent to his agent, he appreciated it and decided to invest in shooting in San Francisco. this movie.

Lin Feilong, Kate, Veyron and others went to San Francisco together. The filming was a great success, and Lin Feilong and Kate finally got married.

"Hiss..." Ronald scratched his head.The completion of this script is not very good, and the plots in many places are empty.For example, in the fighting scene, write that the hero and heroine fight here for 5 minutes...

And he can also see that many characters in it have borrowed Jackie Chan and some other real characters as prototypes.The whole script looks like a peculiar Xiangjiang B-movie.

Seeing that the two Xiangjiang friends were looking at him eagerly, hoping for an answer from him, Ronald put away the script and cleared his throat.

"The story of the script is not bad. It is a good practice to shoot in Hong Kong and San Francisco. However, Hollywood has different requirements for the script. The fighting scenes need to be refined, and the story itself needs to be revised. Kate's character is still a bit problematic. .I can help you find a script doctor.

How do you divide the labor now?The screenwriter is responsible for this? "

The two glanced at each other, and finally Corey Yuen pointed to Tsui Hark "he is the screenwriter".The final English script was written by Tsui Hark.

"Ah...Okay, I'll arrange for you to meet. He is also of Chinese descent, so we can chat." Ronald put the script on, and then looked at Corey Yuen, "Then you are the director?"

"Yes... yes..." Corey Yuen was excited, where in Xiangjiang would he have the opportunity to direct a multi-million dollar movie.The biggest star there, Jackie Chan, was the sequel to Plan A, which had a budget of only $380 million.Who would have thought that he would have the opportunity to take over such a big production.

"Well, find a time, and I'll arrange for you to meet with the casting director. Kate has to choose a very beautiful actress."

"Here, Director Luo? In our film, Kate has a lot of martial arts. You can't just look at her appearance, but also know how to fight."

"Can fight? No need to know how to fight. This is an action movie. The heroine just needs to be good-looking and make gestures like that." Ronald didn't understand why this kind of movie had a female star playing Kate to fight.

"You might as well go and see two movies in Hollywood in the past few years, one is 'Excalibur', starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Brigitte Nelson. The other is 'Crocodile Dundee', in which Comparing the cultural landscapes of America and foreign countries is very ingenious, and you should make more revisions in this direction.

Then these fighting actions also need to be written in detail. We have a star insurance system in Hollywood. If there is no proper description, no company will be willing to insure. "

"This... We in Xiangjiang made a temporary decision. Tomorrow we will shoot a martial arts show, and today we can arrange it with a few martial arts directors and martial arts masters. It's not a literary play, we have to write a plot first."

"This...we in Hong Kong make action films, and the literary and opera directors are in charge of love and romance. The martial arts are all directed by martial arts instructors. I asked Tsui Hark to come together, because I wanted to divide the work with him to direct the literary dramas, and I came to the martial arts. "

"Hahaha..." Ronald rushed over to laugh, "This is not acceptable. All Hollywood practitioners here must be supervised by the trade union. According to the regulations of the directors' union, there can only be one director for a film, and it is impossible to divide the director. What kind of literary and martial arts..."

"This..." Corey Yuen was very disappointed when he heard that, so everything was done according to the rules, and Ronald, who didn't know how long it would take to modify the script, was satisfied.With this effort, all three films in Xiangjiang were finished.

Tsui Hark, who once studied in America, understands the rules better, "Director Luo, it's not that we don't respect the rules of Hollywood, it's just that our technicians, dragon and tiger warriors, are used to our working methods. "

Tsui Hark filmed a movie "Dao Ma Dan" co-starred by three female stars in Xiangjiang. It cost a lot of money, but it failed at the box office. For a while, no investors were willing to ask him to make a movie.I had no choice but to help several other shareholders in the company do some unsigned behind-the-scenes work behind the scenes.

Therefore, this time he was persuaded by Corey Yuen to film this $500 million "big production" that Xiangjiang people had never filmed.

He wanted to persuade again, but Ronald raised his hand to stop it. "Well, you are also tired today. I have booked you a Hilton executive suite, so you can take a good rest. Get rid of the jet lag, and we will continue our chat tomorrow. You also have time to think about it and think maturely."

Corey Yuen went back to talk to Xiangjiang's martial arts masters about the progress, and then fell asleep. Tsui Hark was very interested and proposed to visit the studio of Daydream.

Ronald asked his assistant to take him to see Daydream's equipment showroom.There were lightning lights, camera stabilizers, and all sorts of tape, a portable toilet to hang on the back of the trailer, and some expensive wire.

"These steel wires are all in line with the guidelines of the Hollywood Stunt Union. The quality of our production is very good, and they can be used repeatedly for more than [-] times without any fatigue or loss of strength."

The assistant saw that he was very concerned about the steel wire, so he came up to introduce him.

"How much is such a one-meter wire?" Tsui Hark touched it, and it felt really good.

"Seventeen and a half dollars a foot..."

"How much?" Tsui Hark sighed in his heart. The quality is good, but the price is also really expensive.In Xiangjiang, this kind of wire can be bought for ten Hong Kong dollars per foot.

He looked at the prices of other equipment and had an idea.

"Corey, wake up." As soon as Tsui Hark returned to the hotel, he knocked on Corey Yuen's door.

"It's not that simple. The cost here in Hollywood is very expensive. A group performer costs more than 200 million US dollars a day, 500 million US dollars. It's not a big production here. When I was studying abroad, it was not so expensive. Now the price is negotiated." Three times, it has risen sharply."

"It's so expensive? It's not like our Xiangjiang, it's good to have a lunch box for the extras."

The two of them now understand that what Ronald said was a shooting budget of 500 million US dollars, which was calculated based on the cost of shooting in Hollywood. Of course, this money is very valuable in Xiangjiang, so it is best to negotiate the budget. In Xiangjiang, this is the only way to be rich.

The next day, regardless of fatigue, the two came to Ronald's office to ask for a meeting.Tell them what they have discussed.

"This?" When Ronald heard the plan of the two, he felt a little bit down.This is not to dare to shoot serious productions in Hollywood.The film industry in Xiangjiang was operated as a B-level film from the beginning.

The shooting speed is fast, the script is not standardized, and the actors and directors play a lot on the spot.Let them change their minds, and they may really not be able to shoot.Unless you stay in Hollywood for an internship for a period of time, you can follow a crew to make movies in the Hollywood way.

"If you want to shoot like this, then it's a B-grade movie. My company can't invest too much, and you have to find a suitable Hong Kong investor."

Ronald explained that Hollywood is a long-arm jurisdiction. If your company casts and shoots films overseas and has more than 50% of the shares, it must abide by various union regulations and file with the American Film Association.

Otherwise, if you want to use Xiangjiang's shooting method, and don't file the script with the Producers Association in advance, it will be regarded as an overseas film and you will have to import it.The taxation, marketing, and distribution channels of the two are not the same.

The two friends who are Xiangjiang seem to have been poured a bucket of cold water, which is really unexpected.No wonder the two speakers of Golden Harvest would rather invest in Hollywood projects or do overseas releases than come to Hollywood for filming. It seems that they have suffered a lot.

Ronald looked at the two of them, thinking that if nothing was settled this time, then the cooperation with Xiangjiang would be cut off in the future.In order to open up a new production base and introduce Xiangjiang's talents and knowledge, I have to complete this project, even if I lose money, I have to set a model.

Just can't pay too much.

"In this way, although my company cannot cast Xiangjiang movies, I can invest in your company in my own name. After you make a film, sell me the distribution rights in America, Japan, and Europe. In this way, we can It's a win-win." Ronald thought for a while, and decided to invest 150 million US dollars to shoot the two.

"Overseas distribution..." The two looked at each other without speaking.Films released overseas by Golden Harvest have always been shirked for various reasons and do not settle overseas profits for satellite companies.If you ask the two gentlemen, you will lose money...they have no ability to check the accounts.

Ronald continued to offer conditions.

"I personally invested 150 million US dollars, and you also provide talents and equipment accordingly. I put two high-end cameras at Brother Long, and you can borrow them. The equipment and film are all provided according to high standards.

You can handle the release in Hong Kong by yourself. If the box office makes money, we will share the profits.For overseas distribution, I will pay you a copy fee in America, and then I will share with you for settlement after the release.

For distribution in other places, we will go to Cannes and Tokyo next year to participate in film festivals, and we will negotiate prices based on market conditions.But don't get your hopes up too much, there are all buyout fees, and it's only tens of thousands of dollars for a country. "

"With such conditions, what do you think? If there is anything you are not satisfied with, we can still talk about it."

"All satisfied, Luo Sheng, you are so generous." Corey Yuen and Tsui Hark were about to cry when they heard this condition.Xiangjiang filmmakers, except Jackie Chan's Dongying box office, where have other people seen what the overseas box office profits look like?
"But I have conditions." Ronald continued.

The two looked at Ronald with wide eyes.

"First, I personally have the right to produce the film, and the subsequent episodes and all script adaptation rights will belong to me.

Second, in this movie, you guys need to do more tightrope scenes. Our American audience likes this. "

"No problem..." Corey Yuen gritted his teeth and agreed, and took more pictures of hanging wires. Those old people who practice martial arts, such as the head of Liu's class, must laugh at themselves for not shooting kung fu, but dancing.

But for the sake of money, what can't be photographed?You haven't made a movie with this much budget, old man, have you?
Smiling on both sides, Ronald asked a lawyer to draft the contract and handed it to them.

Seeing that Corey Yuen was about to sign, Tsui Hark secretly pulled him down.

Ronald also immediately said, "Don't be so anxious, go back and discuss it with your lawyer first, if there are any terms that are unclear, we can discuss it later."

"It's okay, Luo Sheng is familiar with Brother Long, and he is also a great benefactor of our Xiangjiang martial arts. He will not lie to me. I completely believe in Luo Sheng's character, so I sign now."

During the conversation, Corey Yuen and Tsui Hark signed their names.They all have small film companies or studios under their names, which happen to be used to take on this job.

"Hahaha... good..., it's a pleasure to cooperate with you." Ronald was very happy when he saw that the other party had signed.Instruct them to accompany them to visit Los Angeles at the same time, and give each of them some tourist souvenirs and Sony electronic products as gifts.

"Hey..." Ronald was very happy looking at the contract, and locked it in the drawer.According to the contract, I have priority for Corey Yuen and Tsui Hark's next five films each.As long as they are filming in Hollywood, they must first find themselves to cooperate, and they can only find others if they do not agree to invest.

From now on, who else can make Hollywood Hong Kong-style action movies besides myself?Moreover, the copyright of this "Dragon and Phoenix Twin Swords" videotape also belongs to him. As long as he has [-]% of the level of Jean-Claude Van Damme's "Boxing King", isn't this investment a big gain?

"Hey..." After leaving the office and going to visit Warner Bros., Corey Yuen and Tsui Hark both snickered in the back seat of the car.Director Luo really doesn't know how much Xiangjiang saves money in making movies. With an investment of 150 million, they can make this movie well without any investment themselves, and maybe they can also make a copy and sell it to a distributor.

Moreover, Ronald also promised to give them a share of overseas distribution, so why not pay more for such cooperation in the future?Director Luo also signed a five-film intention for each person. If this movie is a hit, they can do it five more times in the future.

The two stayed in Los Angeles for a week, during which they also auditioned some Hollywood actresses and stuntmen.A Polish-born martial artist named Cynthia Rosrock fit the bill.Able to perform martial arts moves and has a good figure.

She is a Taekwondo national exhibition champion, and was also elected as the best female athlete of the year by "Black Belt" magazine that year.

What's more comfortable is that before she joined the Screen Actors Guild of America, she played a supporting role in a Lunar New Year movie "Rich Train" in Xiangjiang, and she also has a Chinese name called Luo Fuluo.

Hearing that this kind of theater movie was looking for her to be the heroine, Luo Fuluo happily agreed.Ronald nodded after seeing himself, and the project of "Dragon and Phoenix Twin Swords" was basically confirmed.

"Then what, go back to Xiangjiang and say hello to Jackie for me. I'm going to buy a film company soon, and I have the property rights of his films in America. I want to release other video tapes of his films in the future. Please ask him for help. If you're interested, let's find time for an interview." Ronald came over to bid farewell to the two Xiangjiang filmmakers, and let the two keep an eye on the future.

……

At the same time, Ronald's acquisition of 21st Century Pictures is also in progress.

Apparently there are other people besides them who also want to reorganize the company that filed for bankruptcy, and they have also filed an application like the court.However, because Ronald's valuation of Xiangjiang's old kung fu movies is different from other people's, his reserve price is higher than others.

However, in terms of business, Ronald entrusted a team led by Mitch Kanter to take full responsibility for the negotiations.

"Ronald, I feel that our competitor, EMI, doesn't seem to be in a hurry. It doesn't have to be 21st Century Films. We can wait.

Their new president is Italian, and perhaps he would have preferred to buy the also struggling De Laurentiis Productions.If they go and buy De Laurentiis instead, we can delay for a few more days and get the creditors to take a big discount on the 21st century debt. "

Miss Lindsay Dole was about to go back to accompany her son, so she came to Ronald's office, and after reporting on the negotiation situation, she shared some of her intuitive feelings.

"Is that so? Then we'll just wait, I'm not in a hurry." Ronald still had great trust in Lindsay's level and loyalty.

Ronald is not in a hurry, someone is in a hurry.

Soon, an old acquaintance rushed into Ronald's office.

"Ronald, Ronald, you bad boy, do you want to steal what belongs to me?" Minahan Golan came over and supported the desk with his hands, glaring.

"What's wrong with you? Minahan? Is there something to talk about? How did I steal your stuff? By the way, you Cannon will release my movie Boxing World in Cannes. It should be you who stole my money. "

"Hey, a cannon is a cannon, I am me..." Minahan sat down slumped, "I need 21st Century Pictures, don't compete with me, Ronald."

"You sit first, I'll pour you a glass of brandy." Ronald got up and closed the office door, then poured Minahan a glass of wine.

"Drink some, calm down first, and tell me what's going on?"

It turns out that this company is being acquired by EMI Films for one purpose, to give it to Minahan Golan in exchange for him to resign obediently and hand over all the power of the cannon to his cousin Yoram and the new boss Italian Giancarlo Paretti.

"So, this is part of your golden parachute?" Ronald held back a laugh.Minahan was eventually fired by Cannon and his cousin.When a person of this level resigns, in order to silence him, the original film company always prepares a big gift package, such as funding his own independent production company, cash rewards, and a long distribution contract to continue to support him in the future. movie.

Minahan bowed his head and admitted that he was very sad.Cannon pinned his movie dream, but unexpectedly, he was stabbed in the back by his cousin, the best distribution manager brought out by him, and kicked out with outsiders.

"I said, there is no conflict, right?" Ronald handed Minahan a box of biscuits, and he picked it up and ate it.Under Minahan's anger, he had a particularly good appetite.

"There are many companies like 21st Century Pictures in Hollywood now. Many companies are facing financial difficulties. You can ask your cousin to buy another one for you." Ronald knew that this was an independent production company. Part of it, part of Minahan's resignation spree.

"Don't mention that bastard, poof..." Minahan spat on the floor.

"I said, why are you..." Ronald laughed angrily at Minahan's childish behavior, "Eat slowly, these are the biscuits my aunt baked for me."

Ronald took the cookie box back, "Tell me, why is the 21st century so important to you?"

"..." Minahan was angry that the biscuit was snatched back by Ronald, and he didn't say a word.

"If you don't tell me, I won't consider giving up the 21st century to you."

"Well..." Minahan muttered a few words, "It's all because of an exit clause."

(End of this chapter)