Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Home Alone", the producer 20th Century Fox is optimistic about a Chicago-born child actor named John Mulaney. He is a children's comedy sketch actor on television and is very popular with the audience.

John Mulaney's parents are high-level white-collar workers. His mother is a law professor at Northwestern University, and his father is a partner in a well-known law firm. Their income is about the same as that of Elizabeth Sue's parents back then, so their son's acting career was based on the idea of ​​giving full play to the child's specialties and hobbies.

If you have the talent, you can further treat it as a profession. If you don't have the talent, you can always turn to other more respectable professions.

In order to complete the task assigned by Tom Sherak, this matter was made dirty. The staff of 20th Century Fox thought of a way and found an expert on children's entertainment affairs and the parents of John Mulaney's legal expert to discuss in detail all the details of the child actor's contract terms.

"This is the Coogan bill. 15% of the income of child actors will be put into an escrow account, and parents are not allowed to touch it. This is to prevent parents from squandering their children's acting income and having nothing when they grow up..."

"This is very appropriate..." Two legal experts expressed great appreciation for this.

"This is a working time restriction clause. At John's age, he can only work 6 hours a day and no more than 2 hours of overtime."

"This is also very good..."

"These are some laws in America and California. If you leave America, such as Canada, the enforceability of this clause will not be protected by the U.S. courts, but the Screen Actors Guild can also protect your children."

"In most cases, for projects shot overseas, the Screen Actors Guild will generally find time to conduct random inspections before and during filming. If your child is required to work extra hours, you can send a written complaint to the Screen Actors Guild..."

"Child actors must receive education on set to ensure that they do not neglect their studies due to work. However, for actors who are not well-known, parents may need to subsidize the tuition of private teachers themselves, unless you can find a school in Canada for John to attend temporarily... "

"Sets must adhere to a series of standards to ensure the health and safety of child actors, including providing appropriate rest areas and medical facilities. If you are concerned, you can monitor yourself or hire professional protection personnel..."

"The director is not allowed to make any verbal comments to child actors...for some dangerous scenes, or scenes that are not suitable for children, they must be switched to clear explanations by child actors, and part of the script content in the movie that exceeds PG-13 cannot be used. Show it directly to child actors... If you are worried, you can ask a professional child actor coach..."

"Chip, do you think you still want John to star in this movie? I always feel that these terms only provide the minimum protection for child actors, and if the movie is shot in Canada, who of us will accompany him?"

"I also think that Hollywood is actually very messy. John would be better off going to a TV station in Chicago and acting in sketches..."

…

"John Mulaney's parents have backed down. They are both lawyers and think the worst about this kind of thing. Now you can let Macaulay Culkin audition." Fox's Children Affairs expert, back with good news for Tom Sherak.

"Don't be so hasty. There's no harm in letting that Culkin's parents worry for a while. We just need to inform Bonnie Bedelia that her nephew has another chance to audition." Tom Sherak was cunning and wanted to do this. The operation of this kind of thing is very sophisticated.

"This is not the son of a lawyer. His father is a poor actor. In addition to him, the couple has six children. They all hope that one of them can become a movie star and escape the misery. They are much more familiar with the operations of Hollywood. , it will be good for us to let them worry for a while.

In addition, the Coogan account with them must be carefully handled and operated by professional lawyers. I don’t want a scandal to happen and he becomes the second Jackie Coogan. "

This Jackie Coogan is the origin of the Coogan Act. The little boy in Chaplin's "The Kid" earned $4 million in 1936, all of which was squandered by his mother and stepfather. Even if he won the lawsuit, he would not be able to get the money back.

"Ronald, we thought about it and decided to ask Macaulay Culkin to come back and audition again. This movie is still suitable for children like him. John Hughes and you have the right vision, but we still have to be cold." After a while, his parents were fully prepared. These two have seven children and their characters are not very good. "

Tom Sherak made arrangements and quickly reported to Ronald.

"Is it such an exaggeration? Are there parents who treat their genius son badly? Well, you are a professional, so I am right to listen to you on this matter."

Ronald put down the phone and asked his wife, Diane, "Did you have that Coogan account when you were a kid?"

"Yes, I can freely run from New York to Los Angeles because of this money." Diane smiled, got dressed, and came over to hug Ronald. "If it weren't for this money, I wouldn't have met him. your turn."

Ronald laughed, and the two of them went out and walked to the nearby Beverly Cinema to watch a movie.

Over the weekend, Ronald received tickets from Orion Pictures for their key production project this year, "Great Fireball."

Orion is in a much better financial position than Cannon Pictures, and can still produce a dozen mid-level productions worth around 20 million per year.

In addition to today's biopic of rock and roll country music pioneer Jerry Lee Lewis, there is also Mel Streep's black comedy She-Devil, and another film based on "She-Devil" will be released at the end of the year. Dangerous Liaisons” stage play, the film adaptation of “Valmont,” and the Yankovic comedy “Weird Al.”

As a producer, Ronald has collaborated with them on "Silence of the Lambs" and "Dances with Wolves". So this face must be given.

I heard that "Big Fire" was a hit at the box office, but the reviews were very good. Orion also wanted Ronald to put in a good word for the movie for the sake of cooperation. Expect good returns on overseas distribution and on video.

Diane was eating grapes flown from Japan. They tasted very good and she naughtily threw one to Ronald.

"Aww..." Ronald smiled and ate. The two of them arrived at the cinema and sat down to enjoy it slowly.

"Shit! What kind of plot is this? How can the MPAA let this kind of movie be rated PG-13?"

Halfway through the show, some angry viewers left the show with their teenage children. However, their children still looked back and were fascinated by the delicate face of the heroine on the screen.

"Hmm..." Ronald looked at the black-haired actress wearing a playful hat on the screen. The actress looked very innocent. Although she was over 18 years old, it was convincing to say she was underage.

Ronald felt that the PG-13 rating was a bit outrageous, and the movie should have been rated R. It's not that the movie has any erotic elements or that the violence is excessive, but the plot itself makes people feel uncomfortable and is not suitable for teenagers to watch.

This movie tells the story of Jerry Lee Lewis, the pioneer of rock and roll, who married his 13-year-old cousin, Mera Gale, and was later disliked by the audience and treated as a criminal (of course in some states in America, Marriage at this age is actually legal), his career declined, and he ended up drinking, but he still loved playing and singing live...

It is said that biopics will always have some shortcomings of the protagonist, but this shortcoming is too controversial. How could audiences in big cities buy into this kind of plot?

But as far as the MPAA rules are concerned, this movie has no violence, foul language, or erotic scenes. If it follows the rules, it is PG-13.

This is probably why the reviews of this movie did not include more criticism involving this plot. The key is that there is a rating system in newspapers and TV, so it is difficult to say it out loud.

The heroine of the movie is Winona Ryder, the star of "Heather Sisters" jointly produced by Ronald and Roger Corman. Playing his husband Jerry Lee Lewis is Meg Ryan's husband, Dennis Quaid.

Due to drug abuse, Dennis Quaid and his brother lost the casting battle for "Rain Man" to Tom Cruise and Dustin Hoffman. There will be no big-budget roles for him in the future. Only Orion Pictures dares to use him to star in medium-sized productions worth 20 million. He wanted to use this movie to make a comeback.

What now? He probably rolled over and fell into the ditch again.

"Even if it weren't for the controversial plot of the movie, this movie is very ugly..." Ronald commented to Diane who had already started to take a nap. The movie is almost over.

"Oh, ah..." Diane woke up with a louder movement. She didn't like the plot of this movie very much. She had a pregnant mother and saw a young character being violently raped by Jerry Lee Lewis after being pregnant. On the other hand, she was very cold.

"Ronald, is that you?" A middle-aged blond woman next to her saw the faces of the young couple next to her and recognized Ronald through the bright lights in the screening room after the subtitles rose.

"It's me, you are...ah, PJ! Hello, hello, long time no see..."

Ronald was very happy to see PJ Soles, the heroine of his first movie "Rock of Ages". The two were friends from humble beginnings. Ronald was working as a second-unit director at that time, and they got along very happily.

"Why are you watching this kind of movie alone?...Ah..." Ronald realized that Dennis Quaid was PJ Soles' ex-husband.

"Let me take a look. I heard that Dennis valued this movie very much..." PJ is a very kind person. Although Dennis Quaid dumped her, he didn't say bad words.

"This is my wife Diane, Diane Lane. This is PJ, my first leading lady."

Diane stepped forward and hugged PJ too.

"Are you pregnant? Oh, I just gave birth to my second baby last year..."

"Really? Let me see, it's so cute..."

Women indeed have a lot in common when talking about children. Diane knows that this is the heroine when Ronald was an assistant. She also wants to know more about Ronald and invites PJ to her home.

"Okay, my husband went to the set to do stunts, and now his mother is helping to take care of the children, so I can go too."

Ronald has a study room at home that contains information about all the films he has made since his career. He also dug out the posters of Rock and Roll High School and the video tapes later released by Roger Corman. PJ Soles was filled with emotion. .

"People nowadays don't make movies with such enthusiasm. There are a lot of formulas and a lot of calculations against each other. When Dai Yang and I made this movie, we had a really good relationship. Ronald even made a great movie for us at that time. A charming sunset scene..."

Diane was very interested and urged PJ to point out to her that the part in the videotape was taken by Ronald.

"Jim (Cameron) is my partner in this scene. Gayle (Hurd) was Coleman's assistant at that time..."

Ronald recalled the past events with emotion.

"I haven't met Dai Yang recently. Is she still acting in movies?" PJ also missed seeing her and Dai Yang wearing beautiful clothes and their scenes with handsome guy Van Patten.

"Hahaha, I recommended her to play a major supporting role in Disney's new movie. She wouldn't be as interesting as an actor as a sculptor."

"Really? Do you have her phone number? Just ask her to come..."

It happened that Dai Young's studio was near Beverly, and dozens of minutes later, the two sisters from Rock and Roll High School reunited in Ronald's new home.

PJ Soles has been acting in TV series and low-budget TV movies, while Day Young has been out of the entertainment industry for a long time and has only recently returned to the film industry. The two good sisters have not seen each other for many years and have endless things to talk about.

"Have you seen Van Patten?" PJ Soles asked Dai Young about the whereabouts of the actor.

"He recently came to Los Angeles to participate in the Tennis Masters, but his results were much worse than at his peak. He said he plans to retire next year." Dai Yang is a well-known sculptor in the Los Angeles art world and participates in this kind of social interaction. More events than PJ Soles.

Van Patten later chose professional tennis. At his peak, he defeated former world number one McEnroe and won the Tokyo Masters.

"Where's Mary Woronov?" Dai Yang thought of the actress who played the old-fashioned headmistress again.

"She was still in B-movies. After Ronald asked her to play Night of the Comet, she got a lot of film contracts in science fiction films, mainly playing female teachers and female scientists..." Regarding this kind of low-level actor Whereabouts, PJ Sowers is more clear.

"It's been almost ten years. We have to invite everyone from the crew to get together..." Ronald was very happy today. It felt good to be on an equal footing with people in the industry and talk nonsense, so he remembered Have a ten-year reunion party.

"I have a better idea. How about you and the original cast make a sequel to Rock 'n' Roll High School?"

Now PJ Sowers and Dai Yang both looked at Ronald. If there was a sequel, maybe they could become popular?

"Why not? I'll call Mr. Coleman. He still owns the rights to the sequel. Do you have any suitable script ideas?"

In short, the result of the reunion of several old friends is that a sequel and a ten-year reunion will be held.

"These grapes are really good, they taste so good. I've never tasted them before..." PJ ate a handful of grapes and praised them.

"I still have some here. I'll get you some more." Diane took a basket and put it on the table.

"This Big Fire Ball is really deadly. Did Orion really not care about the director's creation? But there are problems in the script..." Ronald talked about the movie he watched today.

"Hey, that's what Orion is like, they make 10 movies, 7 lose money, 2 are flat, as long as one of them is a hit, it's fine. I heard the Valmont one was a lot better than last year's Dangerous Liaisons , many of my friends in the industry said that last year Michelle Pfeiffer and Glenn Close were both nominated for Oscars, and this year Annette Bening and Meg Tilly, who played the same role, had better acting skills. Excellent, maybe she will win an award? "PJ Soles has been immersed in the entertainment industry for a long time, and she is well-informed.

"That would be great." Ronald felt a little strange when he heard the names of these two women. Maybe the actors who fake the show for real are performing in their true colors and are more outstanding?

"I'm also cooperating with Orion on two movies. Just don't have any financial problems with them."

"No, they are the blood of United Artists Pictures, the last production company in Hollywood that respects artists."