Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The Oscars are so influential that nominations are broadcast live on TV.

This year's nomination announcement ceremony was held at the Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. The president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Technology, Karl Malden, and last year's Best Supporting Actress winner, Geena Davis, hosted the ceremony.

"..." Karl Malden, the gray-haired old man, the newly elected president of the Academy, gave a long opening speech at the beginning of last year's Oscars ceremony, which was very annoying. Maybe he was still not satisfied with his appearance at the awards ceremony, and now he even took over the job of announcing the nominations.

"Brenda Fricker, My Left Foot...

Anjelica Huston, Enemy, a Love Story...

Lena Olin, Enemy, a Love Story...

Julia Roberts, Steel Magnolias..."

"Hey..." Diane held Ronald's hand tightly. Four nominees have already reached Steel Magnolias, and there is still one nomination. Will it be her?

Diane's father, Bert, had always dreamed of training his daughter to become an Oscar-winning actress. After the Golden Globe Awards, Ronald invited his father-in-law to dinner and stayed at home for two days. Bert was so excited that he praised Diane's performance every day and smiled from ear to ear, as if his dream had come true.

"Tsk..." Ronald paused in his heart. It's basically impossible.

"Enemies, a Love Story" won two big hits, which means two obvious things. The competition for the best supporting actress this year is not so fierce, and "Steel Magnolias" did not get the favor of the judges. It is almost impossible for two big hits to appear at the same time.

"Diane..."

"Hey..." Diane sat up straight and increased the strength of her hands a little.

"Dianne Wiest... Parenthood..."

"Hey..." Diane, who was tense just now, suddenly deflated and fell on Ronald.

"Are you disappointed?" Ronald slowly stroked Diane to calm her down.

"Hmm..." Diane leaned on Ronald tightly, not letting him see her tears that were about to flow.

"It's okay, we'll slowly pick out the scripts, there will always be a time for nominations..."

"Hmm..." Diane felt the child in her belly also expressing his opinion, and a feeling of being a mother spread. With a good husband and a child soon, it seemed that the Oscar nomination was not that important.

"It's just right that I won't go, otherwise I will look ugly in clothes with a big belly..." Diane pretended not to care, got up and asked the maid to prepare some coffee for Ronald.

"Don't be discouraged, let's go play games..." Ronald's home also has many arcade games sent by Capcom, and the "Street Fighter" based on the image of the heroine in "Streets of Rage" played by Diane is also among them.

"Haha... Haha..." Every time the game starts, the strange laughter of the female star who looks like Diane after being captured by the bad guys will make Diane laugh.

"Happy?" Cody, controlled by Ronald, was beaten to death by the bad guys in a few seconds. It made Diane laugh again. This arcade game performed very well after entering the American market. On average, each arcade machine had a weekly coin-input of $180, which was equivalent to more than a hundred people playing every day.

Capcom's Kenzo Tsujimoto said on the phone that this game was the best performance since the company was founded, and nearly 10,000 arcade machines were sold in America alone. Diane could make a little money just from the image licensing fee.

"Ronnie, you're so nice..." Diane's mood improved. She felt that compared to the Oscars and her acting career, Ronald and her unborn child were the most important things in her life.

...

"What the hell is going on? Why are the movies I directed all rejected by the Oscars?"

Ronald was not satisfied. He went to Daydream in the afternoon to discuss this matter with his agent Richard, Niceta, and public relations consultant Michael Gray, and couldn't help cursing.

Several people bowed their heads and didn't speak. They really didn't do a good job on this matter.

Ronald's own "When Harry Met Sally" was only nominated for the best original screenplay. Director, Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Actor and Best Actress nominations, none of them...

That's fine, romantic comedies have never been favored by Oscar judges.

But Ronald was the producer of "Steel Magnolias", and only Julia Roberts was nominated.

This is a bit hard to understand. The screenwriter of this movie is the original Broadway playwright, Robert Haring. His plays have won many critics awards, and it is also the most popular southern sisterhood among Americans. It is very annoying that there is no nomination.

Sally Field and Shirley MacLaine are both winners of the Best Actress Award. Ronald negotiated with TriStar Pictures and applied for the Best Actress but was not nominated.

Herbert Ross did not get the Best Director either. The Academy would rather give a nomination to the directorial debut of a British actor Kenneth Branagh, the over-filmed "Henry V", than to their favorite southern sisterhood and Jewish director.

As for the Best Picture, even Kevin Costner's baseball-themed fantasy movie "Field of Dreams" was nominated. When did the Oscars like baseball-themed movies?

"Say something, don't be silent just because I lost my temper..." Ronald took a sip of coffee and apologized to his colleagues in disguise.

"There are no big loopholes in our public relations work. Now that nominations are so rare, someone must be targeting you on purpose..." Michael Gray is not Ronald's full-time employee, and he speaks more freely.

As soon as this reason came out, the two agents and the senior executives of Daydream were relieved, and then they started chatting with each other.

"Then why are there two nominations? Why aren't they targeted?" Ronald had already vaguely agreed with this conclusion in his heart, but he still couldn't accept the fact that he was not nominated because of his own reasons.

"Look, Ronald, the two nominated people are all supported by other backgrounds..."

It was Niceta who gave Ronald a reasonable explanation. Nominations are based on the votes of various special unions...

Nora Ephron, the screenwriter of "When Harry Met Sally", is not only a famous Jew, but also a rare female screenwriter in the New York film industry. The Jewish and female members in the screenwriter circle, and members with New York backgrounds, will give her a little face.

Julia Roberts' boyfriend Kiefer Sutherland is a representative of Canadians in Hollywood. The last time the Canadian Film Association celebrated its anniversary, he and his father Donald Sutherland presented the Oscar trophy on behalf of all Canadian entertainers in Hollywood.

As for Herbert Ross, although he is also a Jewish resident in New York, his new wife has almost ruined his remaining reputation.

"Well, I want a summary report. I can't do this next year..." Ronald knew that he was wrong. He was dragging others down, not the other way around. He ended the meeting hastily.

Everyone filed out. Ronald stopped Nicita and Richard and closed the door. "I think it's not just that person?"

"He must have played a key role, but it's not just him..." Nicita had the answer in her mind, but there was no evidence to confirm it.

One of the big winners of this year's Oscar nominations is "Driving Miss Daisy", which received nine nominations. This was released by Warner Bros. It is a classic black-and-white racial issue, plus a rare elderly theme.

Ronald nodded. Warner Bros. and he had some problems. They might not be the ones to take the lead in attacking him, but they certainly had no burden in kicking him when he was down.

The second one was "Born on the Fourth of July", which received eight nominations. It was a Universal-distributed film, directed by Oliver Stone and starring Tom Cruise. Michael Ovitz was deeply involved in this film.

Last time, Ovitz was leaked by Dustin Hoffman who thanked him foolishly. Now he is more cautious. Although he did not appear in the spotlight like "Rain Man", many of the main creators were his clients, and he actually packaged the whole film for Universal.

The third one was "Glory", which received five nominations. It tells the story of a white officer in the Civil War who trained and commanded the "Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Regiment", which was mainly composed of free blacks who fled to the North.

It was a black-and-white racial theme again, and the white officer was played by a Jewish white man, Matthew Brodick. He was also from a Jewish acting family and had many connections in the circle.

The fourth film is the masterpiece of British production "My Left Foot", which is of high quality and has grabbed five nominations.

Some of them are related to the judges, some are against Ronald, and some are based on strength. Ronald is really a bit wronged. It can be said that his luck is very bad.

"I have to respond to them..." Ronald felt very uncomfortable, one by one...

However, the biggest lesson is that this kind of thing cannot be completely authorized to other people in the company. Even if you are richer than them, you still have to run and canvass for votes for things like awards.

The tradition of America cannot buy tickets. This kind of thing depends on the sale of favors. The rich get one vote, and the poor also get one vote. If others hold a few more parties and say a few more good words, it will be much more favor than just paying money.

"Don't forget to meet Karl Malden, you are the organizer of this year's awards ceremony." Richard reminded Ronald.

"Hey, I'm not nominated, but I still have to work hard for the awards ceremony... I really..." Ronald began to complain.

...

"It's convenient for you to be the host because you're not nominated... Don't look at me like that, young man. There are many actors who have been nominated but didn't win the Oscars in Hollywood, but the actors who should have won can be lined up from here to the Beverly Hilton Hotel..."

Karl Malden is an old man who speaks directly. When he saw Ronald was unhappy, he asked him the reason and began to "comfort" him in a tone of "young man, I've seen too much."

"Oh? Can you tell me how to get nominated or even win the award?" Ronald's tone was not good.

This old man, who seemed to have no talent, insisted on continuing the "tradition" he created last year and asked Ronald to arrange an opening speech for him. Ronald read the manuscript. According to Karl Malden's slow speaking speed, it would take more than five minutes?

The Oscars ceremony was already very long. It would be better to let Billy Crystal tell two more jokes than to have such a clichéd opening that no one was interested in.

"You don't believe it?" Karl Malden grinned, "Young man, I entered the entertainment industry in 1937 and have been working with Marlon Brando. I won the Best Supporting Actor in "A Streetcar Named Desire" in 1952, and I was nominated for "On the Waterfront" in 1955...

I have seen a lot of stories behind the Oscars every year. This time, it's obvious that someone is targeting you..."

"Oh?" Ronald became interested, "Do you have any secrets to teach me?"

"If you satisfy me at the awards ceremony, I will teach you how to win an Oscar."

"Oh?" Ronald was skeptical. This guy was an actor, and he was much more troublesome than Jack Valenti, the previous president of the Academy, who was a politician.

"First... this is still a secret... this time we will invite Akira Kurosawa from Japan, and this honorary award will be given to him, so you have to find someone of some importance to present him the award. And you have to be responsible for arranging all of Mr. Kurosawa's actions in Hollywood..."

"That's no problem..." Ronald knew that there were many fans of Kurosawa in Hollywood, and if he went to invite them, it would not be a matter of not being able to invite a heavyweight award presenter, but a matter of everyone scrambling for a spot.

"Second, I plan to add a new session this year, reviewing classic scenes in film history, and cutting them into a few minutes of clips. The Oscars and the Academy need to give these classics of the silent and black-and-white era the respect they deserve..."

"This..." Ronald felt it was a bit troublesome. Silent films, black-and-white films, narrow-frame, wide-screen, editing them together, and making people who have seen them feel that they are classics again, and people who haven't seen them don't feel bored. It's a very difficult thing, much more troublesome than Kurosawa's reception.

"Okay, I agreed. The Academy will give me copies of classic movies. I will prepare slowly in advance..."

"Hey, don't forget the scene that won me the award, the scene where I played against Brando in A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront..."

"I won't forget it..." Ronald took out his notebook and took notes.

"Also, you need to give me more time for my opening lines. I haven't used my lines for a long time..."

"Hey, this is a live TV broadcast, there is no chance of editing..." Ronald felt that this was the most annoying request, and his words were thorny. Many movie actors, even those who won awards, actually have average acting skills. They rely on editing to find the best from dozens of lines...

"You kid, hahaha..." Karl Malden heard the sarcasm, but he didn't get angry. Instead, he was very happy with this guy's sense of humor, "Your level of sarcasm is almost the same as Hitchcock back then..."