Exploiting Hollywood 1980

This search is difficult, there are no clues, and we have to go to Europe. Ronald paid McPike $100,000 in advance and asked him to search full-time for two months. He would see if there were any clues and then decide how to proceed.

Richard followed Ronald more closely, saying that he had a lot of things to do recently, and he still needed someone familiar with the situation to help him at any time. CAA has a wide range of connections and can be used whenever there is something.

Ronald didn't think much about it. He really needed someone to consult and help him deal with things.

"Roger Corman is coming to New York tomorrow. Will you pick him up?" Richard took over immediately and arranged Ronald's affairs.

"I'm busy. You can pick him up for me. We'll meet on Broadway in the evening."

"Where are you going? Do you want me to help you?" Richard quickly came up.

"I'm going to see Douglas Jr., you've met him. The presidential candidate's team is in New York. Let's talk about the action committee. If you are interested, come." Ronald was a little surprised. Is Richard also interested in politics?

"No, no, I'll pick up Mr. Coleman for you... When will you return to Los Angeles? Miss Basinger happened to ask about you before I came." Richard began to mention the news that the beauties wanted to see Ronald intentionally or unintentionally.

For example, Annette Bening also went to Paris to shoot another movie that also changed "Dangerous Liaisons". If Ronald went to Europe, she was eager for him to visit the set. Kim Basinger is now doing her best to publicize her new work and invited him to come to her house to watch the videotape when he went to Los Angeles.

Ronald was in a hurry to see George Jr. and didn't have any extra thoughts on this. He just said he would see it when the time came.

"Hey, Rick (Nicita), Ronald is not very interested in the two beauties. When he heard me say to go to Europe, he didn't refute it. It is likely that he has already started looking for the ballerina. We also need to speed up here. It is best to find the woman named Antonia before Ronald and do some background checks." Richard quickly called Nicita.

"Don't be nervous. I have used the agent who represents our ballet business. He can contact the male principal of the New York City Ballet and should know something." Niceta comforted Richard, who only had one important client. He hung up the phone and sighed. Every time a client encounters emotional problems, the agent is the most nervous. Some time ago, his wife Paula did countless precautions to prevent Tom Cruise's wife Mimi Rogers. Now it's his turn.

...

"We will continue the current economic policy. Liberalism is the foundation of America..." As the manager of the campaign team, George Jr. spoke on the stage and to the guests of this undisclosed donation meeting. He kept repeating the same point, "My dad was elected without raising taxes."

"What's wrong with George Jr.? He seems to be in a bad mood?" Ronald asked Douglas Jr. next to him.

"Recently, George Sr.'s support rate has dropped sharply, and the poll gap with Dukakis has opened up more than 5%." Douglas Jr. has been busy using the election to integrate and get to know more Manhattan political and business relations to pave the way for his family's business, so he knows these things very well.

"How could it be? The current president has such an outstanding performance in governing, how could George fall behind?"

"The video will be played soon, take a look." Douglas said, and the TV screen at the scene showed George reciting "A Thousand Little Lights" with his mouth open at the conference.

"Tsk, he really has no charm at all." Ronald understood that what matters in the election for the president now is the impression of voters. When George was the vice president, he didn't get much attention from TV cameras. Some newspapers reported in depth, and voters who pay attention to politics still have a good impression of his mediation in places like Suville and Persia.

But after winning the primary election, he appeared on TV more and more frequently, and more ordinary voters paid attention to his personal image for the first time. George's image is very boring, and Dukakis, who is also boring, at least speaks with some governor's temperament.

"Hey, if you ask me, George is better than him in front of the camera. At least he is enthusiastic enough." Ronald sighed as he looked at George, who was selling hard on the stage.

"Then write a check. Put more ads and appear less on the news. It will improve your image." Douglas smiled. Ronald also took out his checkbook and wrote one on the spot.

"Thank you, thank you for supporting my father..." After the speech, George stood aside and shook hands with every generous guest.

"Your Daydream's advertisement for the Vice President's family was very effective. We are relying on him to deal with Dukakis's offensive now." Finally, all the guests left, and Ronald and Douglas Jr., who stayed, were invited by Roger Ailes, the campaign consultant brought by George Jr., to a meeting to discuss campaign strategies.

Ronald praised, but he was actually a little dissatisfied. He also watched Dukakis' campaign ads, which simply highlighted that he had made economic achievements as much as the President during his tenure as Governor of Massachusetts, and that the economic growth rate of Massachusetts was higher than the President's national average.

George Sr., on his side, relied on his fundraising ability that was more than double that of the other party, and increased investment in advertising to top it up. But after investing so much money, his support rate was still slowly widening the gap with Dukakis.

"So, can we ask that director to shoot another version for us? This version has been broadcast for half a year, and the effect is not as good as before." George Jr. and Roger Ailes formed an alliance to fight against his brother Jeb and another campaign consultant.

"He is already shooting his own movie, so he won't be free recently." The ad that introduced George Sr.'s experience was shot by Emil, and now he is busy with the post-production of "The Reincarnation of the Handsome Man".

"Forget it, if the fundamental problem is not solved, shooting another ad may not be useful." Roger Ailes likes to speak bluntly, and he knows that this is not a problem that can be solved by advertising.

"It's a pity that Laura and I performed very well in it. I still want to try whether I have the talent to be an actor."

George Jr. didn't take the temporary lag in the polls too seriously. He was still thinking of taking advantage of this opportunity to shoot another ad to suppress his brother Jeb.

"Do you think George Sr. will lose?" After sending George Jr. who got the fundraising, Ronald asked Doug Jr., and the situation seemed to be not good now.

"We still need to observe the effect of this round of fundraising, whether it can stop or even narrow the gap in the polls between the two. You also know that the president of America is not determined by the support rate of the whole people, but by the electoral votes of each state. Even if he is behind, George still has a chance of winning, as long as the polls do not continue to decline."

...

"Roger!" Ronald rushed to the hotel where Coleman was staying from the fundraising meeting, and saw Roger Corman at the scene at a glance.

The two old friends hugged and greeted each other. The first film "The Ecstasy" produced and distributed by Ronald and Roger Corman in a joint venture is about to premiere in New York.

The film has been completed for a long time, but it has been postponed to the summer because of Coleman's financial problems.

The strike of the Writers Guild has ended, and major studios are rushing to shoot and post-produce a batch of films, hoping to catch up with the production black hole caused by the strike for more than half a year. So Ronald and Coleman discussed and took advantage of the end of the writers' strike to release it urgently.

Because it is a gap period now, many movies have not been completed in time, and there are not many movies showing in theaters now. Die Hard is still firmly in the top three, although it has never won the first place at the box office. Tom Cruise's "Cocktail" and black movie star Eddie Murphy's "Coming to America", which were released at the same time, have already shown signs of fatigue at the box office.

Among the factors that affect the box office of a movie, the temporary income is not very important. What is important is how many weeks you can be shown in the theater. Now it seems that Die Hard will be one of the final winners.

"Haha, Ronald."

The heroine Cassandra Peterson jumped out from the side wearing the costume of the female character in the play. Peterson, with a magnificent figure in front of her chest, turned into a black witch's costume, and the visual effect was amazing under the light.

"Oh, you are dressed... very beautifully today." Ronald smiled and shook hands with a certain distance. This actress is really interesting. She dresses very dignified and elegant in her daily life, but I really like the role of Elvira. Once she puts on the witch's costume, her whole temperament is different.

"I heard that the premiere in Los Angeles was great!" Ronald congratulated Cassandra in advance on this low-budget work, which seems to be an inevitable commercial success. This kind of black thriller comedy movie is also very popular in the video market.

"Ah, haha, yes, can we have a celebration party?" Cassandra is not young anymore, and she is no longer so obsessed with whether she can make further progress in the Hollywood actress rankings.

She wants two things most now. The first is commercial success, to get some income and make her life freer. The second is to continue to make more Elvira movies. She really likes this role.

"Of course there will be a celebration party, but I think Ronald is more interested in when you will come up with the script for the sequel." Roger Corman understands the producer's mood when he gets a commercially successful movie: When will you make a sequel?

"I actually already have a rough outline, but this time, I also want to invest in the production of the sequel..." Cassandra Peterson straightened her chest and expressed her thoughts. It is normal for a popular (second-rate) star to want to invest the money earned from the first movie into the second sequel and play the role of producer?

"We welcome it very much," Ronald and Coleman looked at each other, and it was as expected when they communicated by phone in advance.

Cassandra is not a very talented actress, and she has missed the rising period. Elvira in this movie may be her most famous role. In other words, from now on until she retires, Elvira may be the name that the audience will call her when they recognize her on the street.

However, as an unknown second-rate actress, it is also a happy thing for the audience to remember the character's name.

Being deeply bound to the role and having no more room for advancement means that Cassandra will not give up the copyright of this movie. After all, this may be the story that brings her the most financial returns.

For the sequel, Cassandra Peterson has the right to decide whether to shoot and when to shoot. She must be very cautious about this series of stories.

Ronald and Coleman felt that it was unlikely that they would bind Cassandra without paying some price. Regardless of the agreement signed in advance, Cassandra's profit ratio had to be increased now. Otherwise, there were so many entertainment lawyers around Hollywood waiting to go to court to overturn the unequal agreement and get high attorney fees.

Instead of being stingy and finally having Cassandra contact other studios and then taking the distribution ratio deliberately raised by others, it is better to be generous and give Cassandra enough benefits. In this way, everyone can still make money, and the story of the witch Elvira can be filmed one by one.

After the collapse of the big studio system in the 1950s, actors are their own masters. At this time, in order to eliminate interference and steadily shoot movies that the audience wants to watch, the most important thing is sharing.

What Ronald and Coleman need to do is to build a platform so that successful actors can continue to make money. Only in this way will they cooperate with themselves for a long time.

To be honest, actresses like Cassandra have a ceiling for acting and roles, and they have passed the golden rising period of actresses. Big studios are actually unwilling to support them. Jumping over with projects is the favorite operation of those people.

"Then it's a deal, hahaha..." Cassandra Peterson heard the conditions offered here. The two sequels were better than the best result she had imagined. She was so happy that she laughed like the witch Elvira in the movie, attracting the attention of everyone in the hotel.

Sure enough, Ronald's optimism was justified. The weekend movie box office proved this.

The first weekend box office of "The Rapture" reached 18 million US dollars, ranking sixth. Die Hard, with its old figure in the 15th week, staggered over four new films (including "A Fish Called Wanda", which was very popular in the film critics circle), and ranked second with 22 million.

The first place was Ronald's old acquaintance, Sigourney Weaver, who played the evil manager in Working Girl, and the movie about the story of gorilla research experts - "Gorillas in the Mist".

With such a good result, "The Rapture" is expected to break through the domestic box office of 50 million. Coupled with the steady flow of videotapes, this is another successful film project.

Ronald returned to Los Angeles with satisfaction. He had seen the original film of Emil Adolino. Although there were not many amazing things about this "The Reincarnation of the Young Man", it was done quite well as a director's debut commercial feature film.

However, Ronald also saw that Adolino was able to shoot the confirmed script very steadily, and all the performances were there. But on the other hand, he did not shoot what was not expected. In short, he is a very qualified commercial film director, but don't expect him to have a breakthrough of divine strokes.

"I always feel that this movie lacks some highlights." Adolino is not completely unconscious. In the editing room, he accompanied Ronald to watch some samples and also expressed his feelings.

"This is the charm of the film's post-production. Once you've finished editing and added good interludes and music, it's not a film at all."

"Come to think of it, I also think the film lacks a powerful climax. If there is a good theme song, it will improve the quality of the film a lot."

"What song do you want to match?" Ronald knew that Adolino intended to imitate the interlude he had paired for "Working Girl" and wanted to find a famous singer to sing the theme song.

"I want an adult lyric singer to give this film an old-fashioned interlude, because this is an old-fashioned story."

"Well, adult lyric..." Ronald knew that the new pop style like MJ is popular now, and adult lyric ballads are not sung by many people now. Should we find the most famous singer of this style, Barbra Streisand?

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