Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The owner of this shop is Director Wu, who won the grand prize at the Tokyo Film Festival with "Old Well" and promoted a new generation of filmmakers such as Yiou Zhang and Kaige. He invited Ronald to the northwest to have dinner with him. Ronald was surprised to see him in Los Angeles.

"Director Luo? Were you at the Oscars just now?"

Director Wu did not talk about his own affairs, but asked Ronald if he was at the Oscars just now. There was some disappointment in his words...

"I did just come out of the awards ceremony and wanted to find a videotape of the best foreign language film "Cinema Paradiso". Is this your shop?" Ronald did not ask more questions and naturally talked about the film he wanted to find.

"I have it, but no one rents the movie. I put it in the attic at the back and watch it by myself. I'll go get it for you..."

Director Wu was still very honest and went to the back to look for it.

"Hey..." Ronald didn't stop him, so he had to pull the clerk in front of him. His daughter asked, "Why did your father come to Los Angeles?"

"I came here to study in college, and he...he was my companion..."

Director Wu's daughter is called Yanyan, and she told Ronald about her father's experience...

He is no longer the director of the Xiying Studio, but just a father who accompanied his children to study. He opened a video rental store in Los Angeles based on his own expertise, and there are many regular customers who are fans of movies who come to find movie videos that ordinary video owners will not buy.

In addition, he has a good cooking skill and sells dumplings himself. In addition to Chinese, there are also many white and black people who buy here.

In short, if it weren't for acquaintances, no one would know that this quick-handed and warm-hearted video rental store owner was once a director.

Only during the Golden Globe Awards and the Oscar Awards ceremony, he would be in a daze for a long time. Yanyan also took a special leave to come back and help her father run the store. She knew that these days were the most uncomfortable time for her father.

"Here, a videotape of the Cinema Paradiso. It's a very good original. I've only watched it twice." Director Wu took out a videotape from the back, put it in a paper box, and handed it to Ronald.

"Old Wu, I'm lucky to meet you here. I've been working on a big project, and I can't find the right person to help me. Can you help me? Help me temporarily for a while, so that the project can start and not delay your big business..." Ronald smiled and joked.

"You are a big director in Hollywood, and you still need my help?" Director Wu didn't believe it. He thought Ronald might be pitying himself and giving him a bowl of rice. He is a dignified Northwest man. If the sky falls, I will support him. Now he comes to accompany his studies, so he has one less bite to eat?

"It really has to be you..."

Ronald made up a reason without panic.

It turned out that when Ronald was editing a classic Hollywood movie, he found that the old film copy was seriously damaged. He couldn't bear that such a classic would not be appreciated by anyone, so he wanted to use his own funds to cooperate with Scorsese to restore some historical classics.

They wanted to use the special effects team of "Ghost" and the latest developments in their computer graphics to see if they could use them to repair the scratches, mold and other problems of old films. This business not only did valuable work for the film industry, but it might also be a profitable business.

After all, these old movies only affected the quality and sound quality, not the plot and performance. At that time, making videotapes to sell, or selling to TV stations, or even just accepting orders from the seven major studios for restoration, would be profitable...

Of course, many studios still have some negatives in their internal reserves, and the versions reprinted from negatives are of the highest quality. However, many second-tier movies and some copies of movies that were burned in Hollywood events have no negatives.

In the 1970s, many movies were recycled as garbage and melted into metallic silver because the film contained silver nitrate.

Many lost movies can only be slowly restored from some surviving positive copies.

Ronald's staff found a good source, which is the library of universities and the army. Generally speaking, the films shown at that time would have copies left in universities and the military, and these two places definitely had relatively few broadcasts and relatively good preservation conditions, and they all received government funding.

During these collections, Ronald also found some Chinese-language films before the 1950s. At that time, the exchanges between China and the United States in the film industry were more than imagined. And some of these copies have been lost in China.

"How about helping me keep an eye on and rescue these old movies?" Ronald said to Director Wu with a smile.

"Hey, this is really meaningful..." Director Wu couldn't refuse this time, so he agreed. Ronald would give him a consulting contract and let him find and study the production years, directors and starring actors of those discourse films.

"This is still you, Director Luo, who is helping Chinese-language films..." Director Wu began to sigh.

"Gurgle... um..." Ronald was embarrassed...

Just now, the award ceremony lasted for several hours, and Ronald didn't eat anything. Now he said something in Director Wu's store, which made his stomach protest.

"You haven't eaten yet? I'll make dumplings for you..." Director Wu happily went to work.

Not long after, a large plate of steaming beef dumplings was served. Ronald had just taken a few bites when Little Bud ran over from the car outside.

"Ronald, Diane called and said she has abdominal pain. The bodyguard has taken her to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center."

Ronald had already contacted Cedars-Sinai Medical Center around Beverly Hills, and once Diane was about to give birth, she would go there. This high-end medical center has good privacy protection, has high-level obstetricians, and is close to home.

However, Ronald calculated that the due date was more than a week away, but he didn't expect it to happen today. For a while, he was a little dazed...

"Brother, this is your first time to be a father, right? When I had Yanyan, I was as happy as you and didn't know what to do."

"Ah, ah, what should I do?" Ronald didn't know how to express his feelings and began to ask meaningless questions.

"Okay, my big brother is so happy, I'll go with you..." Director Wu smiled and put away the bowl, and pulled Ronald into the car.

When they arrived at the medical center, Ronald learned that Diane had been pushed into the delivery room, and he was waiting in the lounge outside the door. He didn't know what to do, so he sat down and stood up all of a sudden.

"Relax, I think your sister-in-law is a lucky person, and the mother and child will be safe..." Although Director Wu looks big and strong, he is actually a very delicate person.

Ronald has lost his sense of time. It feels like several hours have passed, but when he looks at his watch, it's only five minutes. Every time someone in a doctor's uniform passes by, he has to stand up to see if there is any news.

Finally, a female doctor came to find Ronald, "You must be Mr. Li, your wife is about to start labor, come with me..."

"Can I go to accompany her?" Ronald felt that in his subconscious, it seemed that his husband was waiting outside.

"Of course, we are one of the first hospitals to adopt family members accompanying delivery..."

"Ronnie..." Diane, who was lying on the bed, felt much more at ease when she saw Ronald come in.

"Diane," Ronald stepped forward and brushed her hair wet with sweat. "Relax, I'm here..."

"Don't relax, let's continue to practice breathing rhythm, slow... slow... Ph!" The doctor came over and continued to explain the key points of breathing to Diane.

...

Finally, the next morning, Diane finally gave birth to a baby boy weighing more than six pounds. The baby cried loudly.

Little Bud also came in to take a look. Director Wu, who had been with Ronald all night, also took a look and said that the baby was strong and had a bright future.

"Ah, thank you, Director Wu..." Ronald looked at the baby's eyes, which were not fully open yet and looked ugly. He wondered how Director Wu could tell. The baby was taken for examination. Ronald asked Little Bud to call his family to report the news. Aunt Karen and Donna knew about Diane's hospitalization last night.

On the third day, Aunt Karen, Donna, and Little Douglas had already arrived at Ronald's home in Los Angeles. The whole family was very happy. This was the first child of this generation in the family.

"Well, Aunt Wang, should I cook some red eggs for Director Wu according to Chinese customs?" Ronald now gave the maid Aunt Wang a lot of salary. She was very skilled in taking care of children and taking care of mothers. Aunt Karen also admired her quick hands and feet.

"Hey, I didn't expect you to know this, but now many Chinese people don't like it."

"I also learned about it from Xujiahui, hahaha..." Ronald now has to smile no matter what he says.

The moment he held his son in the hospital that day, he seemed to be laughing so hard that he couldn't close his mouth. It seemed that his relationship with the world had also deepened. He felt like a big tree, deeply rooted.

No wonder the TV series and TV shows that reflect the history of black people in America are called "roots". It seems that this feeling of looking at the descendants is a common emotion.

"Boss, what name are you going to give your little master?" Wang Ma began to ask.

"Hahaha..." Diane laughed while lying on the bed.

In the hospital that day, the two discussed the name of the child. Because that day happened to be the Oscars ceremony, Director Wu suggested that they should call him Oscar...

This made Ronald very embarrassed. The tradition on the East Coast is to either find a name from the elders in the family or choose the name of a respected person. It is reasonable to name him Oscar.

But everyone in Hollywood knew that Ronald was nominated for Best Director twice but didn't win. If the child was named Oscar, it would become gossip in the industry.

It would be fine if he won an Oscar in the future, but if he didn't, it would be a joke. So Ronald didn't express his opinion and decided to discuss it later when he got home. Director Wu thought that he had touched Ronald's heart, so he called the baby Little Oscar.

Ronald and Diane were both confused. After discussing for a long time, Ronald decided to name the baby after Roger Corman, the benefactor who brought him into the industry.

Of course, this son still had to follow the tradition of Li Enfu's family, and the middle Christian name continued to inherit the name of Vaille, the hostess of his host family after he arrived in the United States.

So, in the statement they submitted to the California Department of Public Health, this child who inherited his father's dark blond hair and his mother's dark brown eyes would be called Roger V. Lee.

...

"Ronald-san..."

Akira Kurosawa, who was still living in Ronald's house, was about to return home. According to Japanese etiquette, he wrapped a coin in a red and white envelope as a gift for Dai An's son.

Originally, due to Japanese habits, they did not visit the mother and son shortly after giving birth, but Ronald refused to give up the opportunity to let the master consecrate his son, saying that the hospital's examination was all normal, and if Kurosawa could see him My own son, that is the greatest honor.

Kurosawa couldn't resist and came to visit. He was very moved when he saw little Roger sleeping soundly in his little bed. As you get older, you have a special love for new life.

"Click..." Ronald himself took a photo of Akira Kurosawa and Roger Jr. next to him, then picked up the Sony video recorder and started recording the video.

"Gudu..." Little Roger was attracted by the sound of the camera, opened his eyes, and turned to the camera.

Kurosawa happened to be very close to him. Little Roger stared at Kurosawa's face and became very quiet. After a while, he seemed to see a smiling face and burst into laughter.

"This child has a fate with movies. He knows how to read the camera at such a young age, hahaha..."

Akira Kurosawa was so amused by Little Roger that he laughed like Maitreya Buddha.

He looked at Ronald and said, "You are also lucky. Your son has a fate with movies, unlike my son..." The daughter next to him, Kazuko, translated with a wry smile to Ronald.

Kurosawa's son has no talent for movies and can only rely on his father's reputation to get around in the film industry. His daughter Kazuko, on the other hand, seems to have a talent as a film costume designer.

If anyone in the Kurosawa family could inherit the film business, it would be their daughter.

After the two looked at the children, they said goodbye to Ronald. Ronald sent them to the guest room. In the corridor, Kurosawa suddenly turned around and said to Ronald:

"Ronald Sand, I originally had the opportunity to come to Hollywood to direct, but my creative methods were really different from Hollywood, so I didn't succeed.

I don’t know if it’s my problem or Hollywood’s problem, but this script still retains my signature...

My Son Is Not a Thing, I would love for this movie to be made by a Hollywood director who understood my film philosophy, and I thought about it, George and Steven, they are so absorbed in their own worlds, could you Help me fulfill this wish? "

"Huh?" Ronald knew that Kurosawa was talking about the "Runaway Train" directed by Russian director Konchalovsky for Minahan Golan. The script is indeed signed by Akira Kurosawa.

But what does Kurosawa mean when he says this to himself now? He still wants to make a remake? Does he still have the copyright and production rights to the script?

"Okay, I will try my best to facilitate this..." Facing this eighty-year-old director who had just made a judgment about his son, Ronald decided to agree first. As for the details, we will discuss them at that time.