Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Why did she still say that the person she cheated on was a man?!"

On the morning of the premiere the next day, Ronald was woken up from his bed again. His plan to ask Zhou Tianna for PR suffered a setback.

Zhou Tianna was already very thin and sick, but she was fully prepared and remained energetic for the interview. She described herself as an unfortunate woman. She was clean and self-disciplined, but her husband Zhou Yinghua was devoted to his career and spent less time with her, so she cheated on him in the end because no one loved her.

And her misfortune was that she only cheated once and got caught. There were many people around her who were messing around every day and nothing happened. How could God be unfair to her.

This interview was published this morning, and it was inconsistent with the agreed PR strategy. Ronald got up in a rage and scolded the reporter for writing nonsense in the bathroom outside the bedroom, and Zhou Tianna for taking money but not doing the job.

"It is difficult for us to blame a person with a terminal illness. Those reporters were also moved by her tears and strength." Michael Gray knew what was going on. Tianna Zhou is using this rare opportunity to make plans for her posthumous reputation. And reporters certainly prefer such a tragic story, tears often sell more newspapers than smiles.

"Ah..." This matter made Ronald crazy. Even if he had money and made preparations, American reporters had no obligation to follow the wishes of a producer. What to write was decided by reporters and editorial departments.

There was no good remedy, so he had to continue to increase the stakes on Jodie Foster, find more media to interview this Oscar-winning actress, and try to package her as the first protagonist of "The Silence of the Lambs" to dilute the negative impact of the demonstrators on the movie.

...

"Oppose smearing... Oppose discrimination..."

The premiere of "The Silence of the Lambs" in Los Angeles was temporarily moved by Ronald and TriStar Pictures to the Cypress Audien Century Plaza Cinema in an attempt to make a feint to the east and attack the west.

The demonstration site applied for by the demonstrators was in the Beverly Cinema. Only a few dozen people who got the news came here, and the LAPD applied by the film company built railings to isolate irrelevant people.

These protesters had no way to summon a large army, so they could only rely on the people who came to speak there, and the momentum was much smaller. The interview with the movie star was moved to the inside of the theater, which also prevented the voices of the protesters from being recorded in the videotape.

This temporary measure was unexpectedly effective, but it did not solve the fundamental problem. Because the previews in 100 theaters in New York and Los Angeles were about to begin, it was impossible to ban them from coming every time. These people were very persistent in doing things, and it was only a matter of time before they were on the news.

However, it was also a good thing to suppress the demonstrations outside the premiere. In the small screening room where Jodie Foster and director Jonathan Demme were interviewed, Ronald did not think too much and pondered with his coffee.

"Judy, let me confirm, is this your first movie after winning the Oscar for Best Actress for The Untold Story last time?"

"Ah, yes, it's the first one after the Oscar." Jodie Foster's face was moisturized and glowing. She adjusted her pants to make herself look like a professional woman, and then began to accept the interview.

Although she worked with Dennis Hope in Catchfire after "The Silence of the Lambs", the box office of that movie was terrible. Director Dennis Hope was so angry about Jodie Foster's various strange requests on the set and in the editing room that he did not sign his name in the credits and used the pseudonym Aaron Smith, which the director would use whenever he did not want to sign his name.

However, there was no response to the movie, so just pretend you don't know. Now "The Silence of the Lambs" has a very good reputation, leaving the audience with the impression that she has the strength to be nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress in two consecutive movies.

Ronald shook his head and smiled bitterly when he heard this answer. Jodie Foster is a woman who is very ambitious for her career. He couldn't control himself at the time and was deceived by her superb acting skills, but now he doesn't understand that he has become a tool for her to promote herself.

However, the situation is forced, and it is a win-win situation. Ronald stopped listening to the interview, walked away quietly, and ran to chat with a couple next to him.

"Lee, Howard..."

The couple who came to attend the premiere were Lea Thompson and Howard Deutch. They received Ronald's invitation and came to attend the premiere despite the fact that Lea Thompson was about to give birth in less than a month.

It is very important for a movie actress to get pregnant and have a child. Many people do not have the resources to support it. It is common for their position in the industry to drop a level after giving birth.

After Lea Thompson finished filming Back to the Future Part II and Part III, although she received a high salary, the box office and response of these two sequels, especially the third one, were not good. However, her psychological expectations were adjusted well. For the sake of her own and her husband's career, she also wanted to meet Ronald.

Howard Deutch did not make any career progress after leaving John Hughes. He only directed a few episodes of TV series in two years. To be honest, he was a little embarrassed to see Ronald, who was on par with Hughes back then, now has become an important producer.

"Wow, when is the baby?" Ronald now likes everything about children and waved to Diane. When Diane saw that an old acquaintance was also pregnant, her maternal instinct suddenly overwhelmed her, and the two of them soon began discussing parenting tips.

"Are we all lucky? When Li recovers, you will have time to come back to the world, right? It's a pity that the box office of That Wonderful Movie was really good. I watched the video at home two days ago. It was really a good movie."

Ronald took the initiative to extend an olive branch. Now Daydream needs more directors. Howard Deutch's level is still very good within the framework of a certain type of film.

"Yeah, that's a good movie." Seeing Ronald being so kind, Howard Deutch suddenly seemed to have found a soulmate and started chatting with him. How great would it be if I had turned to Ronald instead of Howard Hughes?

"Honey, I'm a little tired. How about we go find a place to sit?" Leigh Thompson was a good wife. Seeing that her husband was taking up Ronald's time for too long, she immediately came over and interrupted with the excuse that she needed a rest.

"Be careful..." Ronald saw that she was also wearing flat shoes, but her full-term belly was still shocking. Then he turned to Howard, "You stay with Li first...don't forget to contact the people in my company then. I'm looking forward to cooperating with you..."

"What a gentleman with a very good manner..." Leigh Thompson also lamented that there are very few producers in Hollywood who can proactively offer cooperation like this. Most people treat second-tier directors with repeated requests to review scripts, and they also make clever requests.

"Ronald..." A tall Jew stood beside him very gracefully, waiting patiently for Howard Deutch and his wife to leave before coming up to talk to Ronald.

"Mr. Sheinberg, I didn't expect you to come. Thank you so much. This is my wife Diane..." When Ronald saw it was the spokesperson of Universal's parent company CA, Sidney Sheinberg.

This was his benefactor back then. When he was filming his first feature film, "Fast-paced Richmond High", he still relied on Spielberg to move him to the filming set. After the other party spoke, he became the director. Location.

"Ha, I'm here to thank you. If it weren't for your help, I wouldn't have been able to get the big red envelope from Panasonic's acquisition so easily."

Sheinberg was like this. He was always very amiable in front of the artists he valued, and talked about them as friends.

"Don't mention this...your help to me when I first became a director is what I will never forget."

"Others don't know, don't I know? Ovitz is self-righteous. If you hadn't taken action, the merger and acquisition case would have gone wrong in the Committee on Foreign Investment." Sheinberg is one of the few CA executives who knows the inside story. In this merger and acquisition case, he earned a total of nearly 100 million US dollars from a five-year contract extension at a sky-high price, the bonuses he received, the sale of shares in CA and its TV stations, and the options granted to the new Panasonic company. assets.

"Haha, Hollywood needs money, and there are people willing to invest. We can't just watch the East Coast politicians do bad things." Ronald was not humble when he saw this, and shook hands with Sheinberg vigorously. The two looked at each other and smiled. .

Shenberg will also serve as an executive of the new company, and he will also personally intervene in some particularly important projects, so he and Ronald have a lot in common. But now is not the time to talk in detail. Today, the first step of showing goodwill and establishing a relationship has been successfully completed.

It seems that Ronald, like Spielberg, is unwilling to tie the production company's distribution contract to one company, so that the new Panasonic Universal will have the opportunity to cooperate with him.

Ronald was also very smart. He understood what Sheinberg had not said clearly, and they met to have the opportunity to continue discussing "paths to promote the development of the Hollywood film and television industry."

In this case, give away the remaining half of the benefits...

"I heard that your new film is a little troublesome? Sexual minorities don't seem to be satisfied with the portrayal of the characters?"

"Huh?" Ronald raised his eyebrows. What does this mean?

"My friend is Abraham Foxman, the president of the Anti-Defamation League in America. He feels that those groups have gone too far on this matter. If you are willing, he would like to take the initiative to go to and with you on your behalf. They talked about how this movie should not be considered discriminatory."

"Huh?" Ronald felt a little strange that someone actually came to defend him. However, due to Sheinberg's recommendation and what he needed, Ronald agreed to meet with the chairman.

The two said goodbye. Ronald looked over there. Jodie Foster had finished the interview, and it was the turn of the second-ranked star, Anthony Hopkins.

"Let's go to the screening room first," Ronald said to Foster. Jodie Foster's acting skills were outstanding, and she chatted with Diane about various topics along the way. In Diane's understanding, Foster is still a female star who likes women, and she also has the idea of ​​having her own offspring through modern technology.

The Cypress Odeon Century Plaza Cinema was originally one of the largest auditoriums in Los Angeles, similar to the Ziegfeld Theater where they held their premiere in New York. But Los Angeles has more land and does not have as many multinational corporate headquarters as New York.

Therefore, the theater could not continue to rely on one super hall. After they were acquired by Seplex Odeon two years ago, they were re-divided into three smaller auditoriums.

The largest hall is mainly used for premieres. The other two small halls also accept various private screenings. Fortunately, this place is close to Hollywood and has complete sound equipment. Many companies want to do previews and internal screenings, and this is the first choice.

Soon, Anthony Hopkins also finished the interview and joined them. The media's interview with him was significantly shorter than that with Jodie Foster, and there were not so many stars who asked him questions other than the movie.

This made the British actor a little unhappy, and he came to complain to Ronald, "It seems that American reporters are more interested in the gossip about female stars than the movie itself."

"That's right, but I guess after the movie is released, they will also have a strong interest in your life outside the play, especially your previous career. Did you often deal with Scotland Yard?" Ronald knew the problem and made a little joke.

Anthony Hopkins has a good sense of humor. He chuckled, "My life is relatively simple. I'm just lucky that my first big screen work was with Katharine Hepburn in Hollywood."

"You have to talk to them more about this kind of thing. The reporters here are like this. They like gossip more than art, and they have no taste for what is really important. When we go to London for the royal premiere, the reporters there may be better." Ronald thought of Zhou Tianna's focus being diverted by reporters, and he was a little unhappy.

"Hehe... I like people with a sense of humor..." Anthony Hopkins felt that Ronald was a person with the kind of dry humor of the British. The reporters on Fleet Street in London are the most gossipy in the world.

"Has it been confirmed that it will be a royal premiere in London?" As a Welshman, Anthony Hopkins is still looking forward to the royal premiere.

"I called the royal office and they said at least the prince and princess will be there. If you have any friends there, you can ask them to come along. I'm contacting the BBC for an interview. If your friends are interviewed, it will make the show look richer."

"Hehe..." Anthony Hopkins laughed happily, but to Ronald's ears, it still sounded a bit like the laugh of the serial killer Hannibal.

...

The premiere was a success. The audience here, like New York, was stunned by such a perfect thriller. They went through a process from being restless to being completely relaxed, and at the end, they were aroused to worry again.

After the screening, the protesters from those special groups did not come to continue shouting slogans.

This made Ronald a little strange. In the car, he received a call from Abraham Foxman, chairman of the Anti-Defamation League.

"Mr. Lee, Sidney (Sinberg) gave me the phone number of your agent."

"Oh, hello." Ronald didn't expect that the Anti-Defamation League would be so close.

"I think you have some understanding of my goodwill. Our Anti-Defamation League is an organization that opposes discrimination and defamation against any group of people. I would be very happy if I could meet with you in the near future to discuss any areas of cooperation."

When Abraham Foxman spoke, he had a distinct Russian accent, which made Ronald very uncomfortable.

He agreed to the other party's request and waved to Little Bud to drive.

"What does he mean by goodwill towards me?" Ronald didn't quite understand what the chairman meant by the hidden meaning in his words.

The car turned around and drove onto the other side of the lane. When passing the first intersection, Ronald suddenly saw a group of protesters gathered on the street, and the placards calling for anti-discrimination were thrown on the ground.

A man in a windbreaker was handing out something to the protesters, which looked like green paper.

"Goodwill?" Ronald suddenly became alert. The man who gave them money had a very Jewish nose.

"Honey, I have to make a few more calls." Ronald asked Diane to go to bed first and dialed a number in Washington, DC.

"Mr. Roger Ailes? This is Ronald, Ronald Lee."

"I can tell that you must have something to talk to me about. Go ahead, I'll make a cup of coffee." Roger Ailes, who had already fallen asleep, heard Ronald's call and sat back on the sofa in his pajamas.

"There is an organization called the Anti-Defamation League. Do you know?"

"Ha, they... do you know what the original name of this league was?" Roger Ailes asked himself and answered, "It's called Benebel, which means covenant in Hebrew. This organization is actually controlled by Jews to fight anti-Semitism. The so-called anti-defamation is just their cover."

"I think I need your help, Mr. Ailes." Ronald knew that this conservative advocate, reporter, host, and campaign consultant had now been squeezed out of the president's campaign team. He wrote two books, but the sales were average, and he was looking for a new job.

"I'm willing to serve you." Ailes hung up the phone happily. Ronald respected him very much and specially used a business jet to pick him up and go to Los Angeles as soon as possible. When it comes to dealing with the Jews, who knows their opponent better than him, a conservative who upholds the Puritan tradition?