Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Exploiting Hollywood 1980 Main Text Volume Chapter 159 Buying a New Big House "This month, the ground opposite the cave door does not belong to us. Because there is not enough space, we borrowed the public green space opposite as a scenery, although the land is not Mr. Li, but the spring breeze, autumn rain, and the changing scenery of the four seasons belong to you." Lao Wang, the garden designer, introduced the scenery of the completed garden to Ronald.

The filming of "When Harry Met Sally" has come to an end, and Ronald got good news again. His mini garden is finally completed. Today he and Xiao Yan came to check out the beautiful scenery.

Xiao Yan got good grades at Stanton Community College. When he graduates, it's up to him to choose whether to continue studying in college, go to Ronald's factory, or go to Daydream for an internship. In fact, he can do without working. His father, Lao Yan Technology, owns a share of the factory, so his life is not a problem.

"It's quite beautiful here. The scenery in the south of the Yangtze River is gentler, but the colors of the fallen leaves are not as bright as in North America. Plus, the air is very transparent. It will definitely be beautiful to shoot with an Arri or Panavision camera."

Xiao Yan was still interested in film photography. He ran to the courtyard where the wedding scene in the opening of The Godfather movie was located, and started gesturing with the director's viewfinder. "That's the angle for singing and dancing at a wedding..."

Ronald smiled. It seemed that Xiao Yan had inherited his father's legacy and fell in love with film and photography equipment.

"The design concept here is to change the scene with each step. We walked forward for more than ten meters, and after turning the corner, we saw the hill opposite. There are big trees on that hill, and it's another kind of scenery."

Ronald nodded. Wouldn't it be enviable to hold a party in such a house?

"Thank you Mr. Li. Our young men can stand upright when they go back. Many of them can buy all the furniture and get married." Lao Wang was very happy when he got the balance check that Ronald happily paid. "Mr. Li, we work here very efficiently, right? If there are other garden construction projects, we can just take on a few more."

"There will be a chance. My house is completed and there will be a party soon. Then someone may think it's good and place an order with you."

The final payment for the garden is a small amount of money, because Ronald’s dividend has arrived again in the third quarter of this year.

Video sales of "Dirty Dancing" continue to grow steadily. This movie is really unique. The long-term video sales are almost a horizontal line and very stable. On the other hand, the sales of the two original albums have passed their peak and are gradually declining.

Although Dirty Dancing's revenue for Ronaldo fell by 50% in the third quarter, other movie videos are quickly making up for this gap. Those B-level movies had a reputation for being released in theaters, so the sales revenue of each video tape was very good.

Movies don't make much money at the box office and have a long billing period, so video tapes are a very useful supplement. Fast sales and fast remittances. Relying on theater screenings to gain word-of-mouth, and then using video tapes to obtain a large amount of cash flow may become a common method in Hollywood in the future.

Coupled with the dividends from many previous film directors, Ronald's income has exceeded 20 million. Where to invest has become the main issue for him to consider next.

Coca-Cola stock is still a good investment target, but after the third quarter of this year, the stock price has only had little fluctuation. In addition, Buffy has begun strategic acquisitions and is constantly buying stocks every month. Neither he nor Coca-Cola wanted a transaction to be discovered in advance, and someone would drive up the stock price, causing the purchase cost to rise.

Ronald also felt that he had enough Coca-Cola stocks and wanted to buy another asset. But he really didn't know what to buy, and he even bought millions of shares in Buffy's company. The stock price of this company is quite strange. One share costs more than 4,000 US dollars, and he can't buy a few lots.

"Richard, how many people do you think will come to my party? Will it be lively?" Ronald showed agent Richard around his house and garden. He really liked that small garden and introduced it to people every time they came. I especially like to see their surprise when they can see completely different views after just a few steps.

"Oh, this is really unexpected..." Richard opened his mouth wide and saw the hill on the opposite side, which made Ronald very happy.

"What, Ronald, your party may not have many people from Hollywood. There are only a few actors in New York, and it's in Staten Island. Now the strike has just ended, and it happens to be the time when everyone is competing to make movies, so... …”

Richard wiped the sweat with a handkerchief. His acting ability was not good enough. The surprised expression just now seemed too strong. But now he has to report the bad news and if he doesn't praise Ronald's beloved thing, then he and Nico may be afraid. The use of Sita is even more...

"Hey, okay, if this mini garden was in Hollywood, a lot of people might be willing to come." Ronald was still very interested in promoting Chinese culture. If more people like to watch Chinese movies and appreciate Chinese art, they will make even greater profits by introducing Chinese movies in the future.

"By the way, is there anything good about the house in Hollywood that I asked you to look at?" Now that he thought about the garden, Ronald thought that he might as well build one in Los Angeles. Wouldn't it be very unique? The big directors and producers in Hollywood are all a bit eccentric, and they may become famous for their love of Chinese culture in the future.

"It just so happens that there are two houses in the most popular new community in Hollywood right now that would be perfect for you." Richard immediately took out the photo of the house from his briefcase.

"Is this Beverly Hills?" Ronald looked at the big trees in the photo and was confused. Ever since he visited Billy Wilder's home, he didn't like the kind of isolated house, and all kinds of service staff were expensive. The only benefit was to stay away from gossip reporters and fans. Like his apartment in New York, as long as the property company is good, it can also satisfy the focus on privacy on Fifth Avenue.

"The downtown area at the foot of Beverly Hills." Richard took out the map and pointed it to Ronald. It turned out that this area had recently changed its land use and was used to build a series of luxury houses to sell to Hollywood stars.

The developer also gave this place a nice name "Beverly Park".

"Aren't these the two most core plots?" Ronald looked at the map and wondered. Last time I heard that these two good plots had been sold, weren't they?

"Now Hollywood stars are having a hard time. If they spend more than two million dollars on real estate, they may go bankrupt. So a big male star gave up the reserved property. So the developer is willing to sell it to you at a discount. Anyway, the deposit is non-refundable."

"Hey, I really like this house. You tell them and I'll buy it." Ronald was very satisfied. The house was not far from his own apartments on the boutique shopping street. The community was surrounded by natural trees, and the two houses were in the center.

Even if a helicopter was hired to take pictures secretly, it might not be able to capture the scene inside the house. As for the telephoto lens often used by paparazzi, the location of the house could not be seen at all.

"Which one do you want? I'll go and decide for you." Richard immediately showed a professional smile. He was still useful to Ronald, wasn't he?

"Let's buy two sets together..." Ronald thought, since he wanted to live in a quiet place in the middle of the city, why not two sets together? Live in one and keep the other one for viewing. This way, he wouldn't be afraid of living in troublesome neighbors.

...

Sure enough, few Hollywood stars came to Ronald's party. Billy Crystal, who directed When Harry Met Sally, screenwriter Nora Ephron, and one of the producers Rob Reiner, only the female directors who had just finished filming Steel Magnolias came to support.

Diane also returned to New York and laughed with Shirley MacLaine. When Ronald came over, her eyes were curved with laughter.

"How was the filming?" Ronald actually asked if the director Herbert Ross bullied them.

"No... With Rob watching him, he didn't say those vicious criticisms to Julia and Dolly.

"Saying that an actress can't act..." Ronald didn't know whether this was criticism or praise. Many female stars can't act, but it doesn't prevent them from getting the highest salary.

"Is Herbert getting married soon?" Ronald remembered that Herbert Ross was about to marry Jacqueline Kennedy's sister.

"Don't mention it, we were not invited. "Several actresses were very unhappy and said a lot of bad things about director Ross to Ronald. America was invited to the wedding, which was a sign of good friendship. They all thought that they would be invited because of the filming of the movie.

Who knew that Herbert Ross was short of money, and the salary of "Steel Magnolias" could not afford too many guests. His new wife's side was full of celebrities, so he had to reduce his guest list.

"Don't be angry, I was not invited either." Ronald was actually a little dissatisfied. "But if you want to attend the wedding, you may have a chance recently. I see Rob and the female photographer..."

"Haha, are they a perfect match?" Dolly Parton said what everyone was thinking. The two of them stuck together every day on the set, and the heat radiated could almost replace a headlight.

"What are you talking about?" Rob Reiner was chatting with Olympia Dukakis with his girlfriend. Hearing the laughter, he came over to say hello to everyone.

"We are guessing when you will hold the wedding. "Sally Field always has an obsession with weddings."

"Also, will we be invited?"

"Dear...", Reiner's photographer girlfriend turned around and looked at him.

"We decided to get married next year..." Reiner looked at everyone and said with a smile, "Everyone is invited. ”

This is a rare big happy event. It is not the first time for both of them to get married, so they are only willing to invite some friends to hold a small-scale wedding.

The actresses are very happy. Dolly Parton even hummed the wedding march.

"Wedding is a happy thing..." Ronald was also infected by this joy...

"Well..." Diane hugged Ronald's arm, pulling tighter and tighter, a little yearning, a little worried, and lowered her head.

"Ronald..."

"Aha, Ms. Hayes, let me help you..."

An old man came in at the door, walking a little slowly. Ronald hurried forward to support him. This is Helen Hayes, who spoke at the Elephant Party National Convention last time, a rare cross-border award winner in the American entertainment industry, a Hollywood and Broadway dual-roaming star.

"When you asked your agent to invite me, you didn't expect me to come, right?" Hayes is very old, but still has a sense of humor.

"It's my honor..." Ronald helped her sit down.

"Everyone sit down, everyone sit down. When I was young, I didn’t like having old people at parties. We couldn’t get along with them. I didn’t expect that now that I’m an old person, I feel really good with young people.”

Several middle-aged female stars were downgraded to young people after Hayes said that.

Although she was still very humorous and naturally became a star among stars, Hayes was old and lacked energy after all. Ronald helped her to the next room to rest.

"Ronald, do you want to name a hospital after yourself?" Hayes grabbed Ronald's arm in the room, no longer looking exhausted.

"What, hospital? Name it for me?" Ronald didn't know why Hayes asked this. "Actually, I'm not old enough to name a charity yet."

"Hey..." Helen Hayes motioned Ronald to sit down, "Not now, after I die, the hospital I named needs a sponsor..."

It turned out that after Hayes retired, her biggest obsession was this hospital that tricked her into naming the hospital to get donations when she was young. She has seen many sick children here, who have recovered and become healthy and useful people because of good deeds.

Recently, the money from Hollywood, Hayes's largest source of donations, suddenly dropped off a cliff, forcing her to come to Ronald to beg for alms in person. She told Ronald some stories about the hospital and showed him some photos of the children who had been cured.

Ronald was also very moved. This old actor was really a role model.

"I often feel tired recently. I can no longer organize charity fundraising parties like before. My best friend is Lillian Gish, who is older than me. I can entrust the hospital to her.

After thinking about it, you are the best candidate. You are young, caring, and committed. I want you to take over the hospital after I die. At that time, the hospital can be named after you or the name of the memorial person you designate." Hayes looked at Ronald, looking forward to her reply. Her good friends who could be entrusted have passed away one after another in recent years, and her relationship with her son was also very tense...

"I promise you that I will take care of this Helen Hayes Memorial Hospital. Don't worry, Ms. Hayes, I will find a way to keep the hospital going and the name of Hayes Memorial Hospital going."

"I'm serious..." Helen Hayes achieved her goal, and she felt tired and leaned on the sofa to rest.

"By the way, Ms. Hayes, where are the copyrights of your old films?" Although Ronald agreed to take care of it, a public hospital was not something that one person could afford. He thought of a way.

"Many early movies are left at Columbia. I have some copyrights for several of them. What? But now they are all black-and-white movies that no one watches." Helen Hayes replied.

"If you want, I can find a way to distribute your movie tapes. Many fans just don't know where to buy them. They actually like the movies you acted in."

The old lady fell asleep with hope.

Ronald came out and discussed with Richard to contact Columbia Pictures to see if they were willing to re-distribute the old black-and-white videotapes of the golden age. If this business can be successful, the profits obtained can be used as a long-term source of funds for the Helen Hayes Memorial Hospital.

"Why..." Rob Reiner's father Carl, an old acquaintance of Helen Hayes, came to ask Ronald about the situation.

"There are very few charitable donations recently. Ms. Hayes is a little anxious. I will try to find a long-term source of funds for her hospital..." Ronald told Rob Reiner his thoughts. Rob Reiner was very happy to hear it and agreed to re-release the masterpieces of the golden age. It is probably difficult for modern audiences to imagine the heights that Hollywood once reached. M..

"Why is there no one donating now?" Ronald asked Reiner puzzled.

"You are filming in New York. You don't know that several successful people in Hollywood are facing bankruptcy..."