Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Although "Working Girl" only won the Best Original Song Award at the Oscars, Ronald was very disappointed. But in the eyes of some people, this is already a huge success. For example, Dane Steele, the president of Columbia and TriStar Pictures.

She is the second president of the seven major studios with real power after Hollywood's Shirley Lansing briefly took charge of 20th Century Fox. She likes to play the feminist card very much. Since she became the executive vice president of Paramount, she has liked to work with female directors, actors, and producers. Ronald's "Working Girl" which reflects the career of women in the workplace is also highly praised.

Seeing that the domestic box office has exceeded 70 million US dollars and is still going up. Dane Steele is very envious. Her biggest problem is that her vision as a producer is not good. "The Catcher in the Rye", which is also a female film, only received 32 million US dollars, which lost money and earned a Best Actress for Jodie Foster.

But this is not good for Dane Steele herself, and she is not Foster's agent. It would be best if it could make money, promote feminism, and promote female directors and actors. That would be the best.

Dane Steele has decided to give full support to Ronald's new film "When Harry Met Sally". It would be better to ask Ronald to select and recommend some suitable female films. Otherwise, if this continues, her career may come to an abrupt end.

Ronald agreed to meet with Dane Steele to discuss cooperation. There are also advantages to not winning an Oscar, so that others will not refuse to cooperate with you because they are afraid of asking too high a price or too many requirements after winning the trophy.

Having a record of continuous profit in Hollywood is the key to opening the door to cooperation.

"Let's go to Blockbuster and see. There are so many nominated films for the Oscars. I don't know how many of them have been released on videotapes. I haven't seen many of them yet." Diane, like most actors with voting rights, has not seen half of the films after the Oscars, and votes are based on some impressions and other people's word of mouth.

"Okay, we can watch one tonight..." Ronald and Diane walked to the nearby Blockbuster video rental store together. This is the largest Blockbuster near Hollywood. It has a lot of inventory. In addition to Hollywood movies, there are also many movies from Hong Kong and other parts of the world. It is very popular with nearby residents (most of whom are also film practitioners).

"Yo, man..."

Ronald, who was waiting for the traffic light across the street from Blockbuster, was suddenly startled by a black man wearing a coat and sunglasses who jumped in front of him.

"What are you doing?" Ronald was nervous. The black man was tall, with long arms and legs, a little taller than Ronald, like a college basketball player. He wore basketball shoes that matched the color of the coat.

The coat didn't fit well, revealing a long calf. In addition, the sunglasses covered his face, and his chest seemed to be bulging with something hidden. Ronald suddenly remembered the past when he was robbed by a black man in Los Angeles.

He blocked Diane behind him, put his hand against the other person, and kept his distance. He was so nervous that his hair stood up. If he took out a small pistol...

"Hey, man... I don't mean any harm. Do you want a pirated movie? It's much cheaper than Blockbuster..."

It turned out that he was selling pirated videotapes. Ronald was relieved. The other person faced him and quietly opened his coat. There were many hand-sewn pockets inside, and many popular videotapes were hidden inside. Once opened, they were all facing Ronald, and he could see them all at a glance.

"No, I have a Blockbuster membership..." Ronald smiled and refused. He was a director, how could he buy pirated copies.

"Hey, man, why do you want to buy expensive things? I copied this with a good machine. The effect is great, exactly the same as the original..." The other person didn't let Ronald go, and took out a few videotapes for Ronald to watch, including ET the Alien, Top Gun, and Love You for 9 and a Half Weeks.

"I really just want to rent a tape to watch tonight..."

"Brother, your girl is pretty good, do you want to see something exciting? I have a Hollywood star's short film here, new stuff, do you want it? I'll give you a discount...very exciting..."

Ronald was afraid that if he continued to argue, there would be trouble, so he quickly took out twenty dollars and handed it to the other party. He accepted the "star short film" and a tape of Love You 9 and a Half Weeks, and left quickly with Diane.

"What star short film?" Ronald thought of this videotape when he returned to the long-term hotel room. The length of the tape that can be seen in the transparent window is very short, and it seems that there is only less than half an hour of content.

After putting it in the VCR, Ronald turned on the TV. He had never seen this kind of shoddy underground workshop videotape. If this kind of thing can be sold, he can use some professionals to produce a batch for the videotape market, which can supplement the production line of Daydream.

"What is this..." Ronald was shocked when he saw it. It was just a live videotape shot by a Sony home video recorder on the side.

A very handsome white man appeared on the TV screen. He walked in front of the camera and adjusted his position.

"Isn't this Rob Lowe?" Diane also recognized that the person on the TV was a member of the Kid Gang who filmed "The Untamed" together.

"Today is the night of the Donkey Party National Convention. I am at the Hilton Hotel. Behind me are Parsons and Siebert, two beauties..."

"Uh..." Rob Lowe took this video when he went to the Donkey Party convention last year when he was campaigning for Dukakis. Ronald found the remote control and pressed fast forward. The content behind was very explicit, and the fixed camera position made it ugly.

At the end, the two women took advantage of Rob Lowe's sleep and quickly went through his wallet, took away a stack of money, and finally took away the video tape.

The video tape stopped abruptly here, and the TV turned into large snowflakes. Ronald and Diane looked at each other in confusion. How could this kind of video tape be circulated and still be peddled by pirate dealers?

"Richard, I have something here, come and take a look..." Ronald called Richard.

"You have this too? I watched another one in the office today..." Richard knew about this earlier than the two of them. He took out another videotape from his briefcase and showed it to Ronald.

This section is a different scene. Rob Lowe seems to be in the country... In addition to another beautiful woman, there is also the back of another man.

"Today, several videos of Rob Lowe have appeared on the pirated market across the country. The incident occurred in Atlanta, Georgia. It is said that Fox TV 5 there bought the copyright from the victim woman and will play a recording... …“

"What's this?" Ronald suddenly felt that the popularity of Sony's home video recorders would also bring some troubles that he didn't have before. "I was forced to buy them by a pirate seller. Why do you have these video tapes?" of?"

"Rick gave it to me. He and Paula went to deal with Tom Cruise's matter. They need to carefully check Cruise's schedule and the shooting time of this video to completely rule out the possibility of being involved in the video of Lao Guo. The man is Tom..."

Among the several male actors in the Kid Gang, only Rob Lowe maintained a personal friendship with Tom Cruise. The two also participated in a four-person date organized by others and were photographed together.

The final result of the investigation was that Tom Cruise was filming "Rain Man" during that time, so Niceta and Paula went to clarify with various media who came to inquire, in order to completely nip this matter in the bud.

In the evening, Fox 5 in the south finally couldn't resist the temptation of ratings and released a part of the video tape they purchased.

Because the remaining part was too disgusting to be shown on TV, the reporters from these TV stations used the trick of grafting on the story to put Rob Lowe in 1984 with Jodie Foster and Natasha Kings Key's stills of "New Hampshire Hotel" were used as illustrations.

Above, the current actress and Nastassja Kinski, wearing white bathrobes, hugging the overly beautiful Rob Lowe on the left and right, were shown on the screen for more than half a minute.

Fortunately, Paula Wagner worked very efficiently, otherwise the photo of Rob Lowe and Tom Cruise might not have escaped being used as a background photo by the TV station to explain the Atlanta segment.

"Rob Lowe refused to be interviewed. His agent said that this was shameless hype and extortion. The two ladies at the scene were actually suspected of larceny and stole Mr. Lowe's property..."

As soon as this big scandal came out, no one paid attention to Snow White at the Oscars. All TV stations and newspapers are pursuing this biggest gossip news.

Just when Rob Lowe was autistic and refused all interviews, and his agent stated that he would pursue the legal responsibility of the two girls, another bombshell exploded.

"One of the two girls was only sixteen years old when the video was taken last year..."

In Georgia, where the Donkey Party convention is held in Atlanta, the minimum age of consent for both men and women is fourteen. So what Rob Lowe did the night he gave Dukakis the platform at the convention itself did not violate local law.

However, he videotaped it. Federal law stipulates that the minimum age requirement for such for-profit photography is 18 years old.

In other words, if Rob Lowe himself resold this videotape, his behavior would have violated a federal felony.

Fortunately, at the end of the video, where the two girls were taken away privately, Lao must be innocent. But the girl's brother didn't think so. It was he who discovered the video tape and sold it to the local underground production industry of pirated video tapes.

He insisted that his sister was seduced by Rob Lowe and agreed to have sex with him that night and agreed to be videotaped because she might appear with a Hollywood star.

"Don't you think the timing of this incident is too coincidental?" A few days later, Douglas Jr. also called and chatted about this gossip with Ronald.

"What do you mean? Is Rob Lowe planning to get a big role?" Ronald was puzzled.

"No, this video tape was shot last year. I have definite information. The local Fulton County District Attorney, Lewis Slaton, received a copy of this video tape in August last year..."

"Hiss...why did he..." As soon as Ronald asked, he figured it out. There are a lot of donkey party politicians in Atlanta, and this Lewis is certainly one of them. If such a scandal had occurred at the convention where Dukakis won the party nomination, it would have dealt a huge blow to his electoral success last year.

George Sr. may not need to dig out his old accounts of letting go of death row prisoners and use them in advertisements to attack him. Just this one thing can cut his approval rating in half.

"So, George Sr.'s campaign consultant, Roger Ailes, also told me that this incident looks a lot like the method they use to cover up the real big problem..." Douglas Jr. called to remind Ronald not to get involved in any big trouble.

"This... maybe..." Ronald thought to himself. If Doug Jr.'s information was accurate, the local prosecutor received the videotape last year and decided to cover it up, and now it's suddenly being shown all over the country. This kind of organizational ability and ability to manipulate the media is indeed very suspicious.

"Do you think someone wants to do something? Remember the orchestra pit theory that Roger Ailes talked about?" Douglas Jr. hung up the phone.

...

"If there are two people on the stage, one says, "I have a solution to the Middle East problem," and the other falls in the orchestra pit, who do you think will appear on the evening news?"

"You mean, this is used to deliberately cover up the scandal of Snow White?" Niceta received Ronald's call and magnified his original suspicion.

"I'm just saying there's a possibility. Let's see what happens next... If Snow White's troubles are quickly resolved, and Rob Lowe's things get bigger and bigger, we have to be alert... There aren't many people in Hollywood who have such a big influence..."

"I understand. Let's wait a few days and see..."

The two tacitly didn't mention the name of the person who was most capable of doing this conspiracy on the phone.

A few days later, both things had a breakthrough.

"The Academy of Motion Picture Technology and Arts has reached a settlement with Disney, which has withdrawn the lawsuit for alleged infringement of Snow White's image at the Oscars. The president of the Academy apologized in front of the media." NBC kept a low profile on the news.

"Fulton County District Attorney Lewis Slatton investigated the production of the videotape and said that if he was going to charge Rob Lowe (sexual exploitation of minors), the young actor could be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $100,000..."

Regarding the allegations of the videotape that he received last August, District Attorney Lewis Slatton did not say he had nothing to say, and emphasized that he would seek justice for the victim. But his past series of responses to this matter are so inconsistent that they can no longer be covered up..."

Fox TV began to report on the videotape scandal in a series of articles, following up on the latest developments every day.

"I also watched the Fox News report, and now the situation is very clear..." Ronald and Niceta began to discuss countermeasures.

As they expected, it was Michael Ovitz who did it. Niceta privately learned about CAA's recent various mobilizations of media resources. All clues pointed to CAA's president Ovitz.

And in the morning of the latest week, Ovitz invited many CAA partners including Niceta to his home to watch him practice Aikido as usual. Niceta also discovered that there were four more Andy Warhol silkscreen paintings on the wall of his living room.

A large number of the works of this late "artist" are in David Geffen's art collection warehouse...