Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Kevin Costner was very excited and wanted to restore his original idea (although he himself didn't know how it would be edited), but he didn't have time to supervise the editing himself. So he asked Ronald for help.

Ronald firmly refused. Not to mention that he didn't have time, even Walter Murch, who was familiar with him, couldn't edit the extended version of the movie for him. This was not a factor of time or money, but in the eyes of Ronald and Murch, this "Dances with Wolves" had been tested by the market, and the audience was very satisfied with the current version.

And even if it was to be modified, it should be in the direction of reducing the length, not increasing the content. However, the ears of the new best director of the Oscars would not listen to these opinions.

Costner still asked Ronald to find a trustworthy person to supervise the editing of the new version. After all, Ronald also had a high share of the overseas revenue of this movie.

Speaking of business, Ronald agreed. Anyway, the videotape can be released in two parts, and a longer one does not affect the audience's viewing experience.

When Ronald arrived at Daydream to look for someone to supervise the editing, he happened to see the fat white guy Joss Whedon he met last time.

"Hi, Joss, how is your script revision going?"

"I have submitted it to Director Simkins." The fat guy smiled shyly.

"Let me ask you again, do you still not want to direct it yourself?"

"I still want to learn more about the process of filming a movie. I am afraid that my script will be ruined."

"Oh? Your idea is very good. I happen to have a job editing an extended version of Dances with Wolves. Are you interested in learning? You can learn editing knowledge..."

"Ah, there is such a good thing?" Fat Joss Whedon rubbed his hands and agreed excitedly.

"If you don't direct, we will arrange your Buffy the Vampire Slayer to other directors. Think about it yourself and tell our production department director Mr. Cannold when the time comes. Do a good job!"

After Joss Whedon revised the script of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" several times, it met the requirements of the production department. After Ronald flipped through it, he thought it was very good. However, this story doesn't seem to be the same as the one I dreamed of, just a few characters are the same.

But maybe this is a good thing. Because only successful movies can be made into a series of movies or adapted into a TV series. In any case, this movie must be a box office success.

However, the director of Daydream is still in a hiatus. "Firebird" shot by Emil Adolino has a good box office and is expected to reach about 70 million. Continuing such a medium-sized production is a bit detrimental to his career.

Ronald doesn't want him to continue to waste time in such movies, and is helping him run new projects. AngLee and others are also busy with their own movies. There is no suitable candidate, so Ronald has to hire someone from outside and ask Roger Corman for a suitable candidate.

...

"I don't have time to deal with it, so let the editor Neil Travers deal with it. He is the Oscar-winning editor, and I think there is nothing wrong with his decision."

Ronald found Kevin Costner in Oliver Stone's office. Discuss with him the overseas distribution of "Dances with Wolves". Oliver Stone was on a long phone call, and the two of them just happened to talk about the extended version.

Kevin is really busy. After filming "Dances with Wolves" last year, he also took on "Robin Hood" to earn money to support his family. Dances with Wolves emptied his savings, but fortunately the result was satisfactory.

"Robin Hood" is a purely commercial production, and Costner, Alan Rickman, Morgan Freeman and other acting stars were invited to participate. The main point is a star effect to attract audiences to the cinema to watch a standard Hollywood commercial production.

However, the production company picked up the big prize. After all, before the Oscars, they didn't know that Costner would win so many awards. Now it is equivalent to using a salary of 5 million to invite a star of 15 million, which is a big profit anyway.

But Costner is pursuing after all, and he has not won the Oscar for Best Actor. So now he is getting along well with Oliver Stone, and I hope that the next movie they work on can impact the Best Actor.

"Oliver..."

Finally, Oliver Stone finished the call...

"Ah, Ronald, you're here...Please take a seat."

Oliver Stone's face was not very good. His new film "JFK" is about the murderer Lee Oswald who confessed quickly after JFK was killed and was killed soon after. His killer Jack Ruby claimed to be a supporter of JFK, but he also died of illness in prison...

Three years later, a prosecutor Jim Garrison rediscovered the strangeness of JFK's shooting and speculated on the official misjudgment of the year...

Such a subject, like his other masterpieces, is of course full of controversy. But this time it was different from usual. FBI and CIA contacted him directly and told him about the relationship. Some plots were not allowed to be filmed.

"Hat? Can they do this? Where is the First Amendment?" Ronald frowned when he heard it. This was the principle set by the miracle case.

In fact, at the beginning, Hollywood movies were not regarded as the same media form as newspapers and radio stations, but were judged as a commercial product. Therefore, he does not enjoy the protection of the First Amendment, and the PAA was later established to conduct content review, which is the famous Hays Code.

By 1952, a distributor who introduced the European film "Miracle" was banned because of the controversial content of the film. He successfully challenged the previous bill, thus establishing the principle that movies also enjoy the protection of the First Amendment.

This is the fundamental reason why Hollywood can still exist after the film market shrank in the 1950s. More pillows and pistols appeared in the film, continuing the prosperity of the film industry for 30 years. Now someone wants to intervene, how can this not make people unhappy?

"They said that this is the provision of the Archives Confidentiality Act. Many of my research results do not meet the conditions for declassification, so if I shoot the real reason for JFK's assassination, I am afraid I will also get JFK's fate..."

"Ah? You know the reason for JFK's assassination? FBI and CIA want to ban you from shooting it?" Ronald immediately figured out Stone's hint.

"Yes, if you want to know, I can tell you, but you will also be subject to their supervision."

"Forget it, I don't want Ronald Lee's name to appear in the FBI's file cabinet." Ronald heard from the older generation of people in the circle that when Hollywood caught unpatriotic people, those who were included in the gray list would generally leave monitoring files in the FBI. If they showed any signs of colluding with foreign enemies, the scandals in the files would be exposed.

So, Ronald weighed it and decided that freedom was more important than curiosity about the truth of JFK's assassination. Anyway, Stone didn't say it, and he probably guessed it himself...

"Are you Ronald Lee?" A female assistant stood next to Oliver Stone. When she heard what Ronald said, she shouted in surprise.

"I am, why, don't I look like her?" Ronald saw that she looked like Chinese, but he couldn't confirm it, so he didn't ask rashly.

"Ah, yes, my name is Yang Yanzi, and I'm your fan. The movie Pusher that started shooting in New York two months ago has spread all over our Chinese community. Many elderly people have been telling each other that there haven't been movies about Chinese stories in years."

"Ah, hahaha, AngLee is a good director, and he finds very good actors."

"Yeah, especially the one who plays the daughter-in-law, she's so beautiful, and she adds to the prestige of Chinese people..."

"Ahahaha..."

This Yang Yanzi is very enthusiastic, and she can chat and make the person she's talking to happy. Oliver Stone saw that the two were chatting so happily, so he joked, "Janet, are you going to leave me and fall in love with this handsome guy?"

"Go ahead, I'm willing to work for him. After so many years, he's the first successful person in Hollywood who's willing to invest in filming Chinese stories. Unlike you, you always shoot stories about Vietnam."

"Are you a Chinese born in America?" Ronald thought this person was quite interesting, and said something in Chinese.

"I'm from New York, graduated from Brown University, and got a BA from Columbia. But my Mandarin is not very good, but Cantonese is OK."

"Then let's speak English..."

Ronald talked to her about the role she played in Stone's project, and he liked her more and more. It just so happened that his assistant, the fat girl Richie Lake, had changed careers and became a TV host. He just needed a capable assistant.

It just so happened that this person could help a big director like Oliver Stone as a production assistant, and she was capable at work. More importantly, she was both Chinese and a New Yorker, with a clean background.

Ignoring Oliver Stone's joking protest, Ronald immediately decided to hire this capable lady.

"This is my current work schedule, please help me organize my schedule."

Ronald took her back to the office, then handed her his work materials and asked Yang Yanzi to sort out a work schedule.

In less than a quarter of an hour, Yang Yanzi arranged things in an orderly manner. Moreover, the ability of this business student is obviously more than that.

"Ronald, I have an idea. You have made a lot of good investments in Chinese films recently. You are the promoter of Director Huang's 'Hi, Frank, Anglee', and you also asked Director Wu to collect classic films of discourse.

Now New York happens to gather all the Chinese practitioners from both sides of the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong. Why not call them to a meeting and establish the Hollywood Discourse Film Practitioners Association? I have seen business reports. Chinese films, especially Hong Kong martial arts and gun battle films, have good returns in the video market and some Chinese and black communities. If these resources can be integrated, it will have a strong complementary effect on the business of Daydream."

"What complementary effect?" Ronald asked.

"In the past few years, Daydream has become Hollywood's leading medium-sized independent producer since Dirty Dancing. But its biggest weakness is that it does not have its own key market.

The distribution market in America has been monopolized by monopoly production companies, so the lifeblood of small and medium-sized studios has been grasped by them. If the annual production volume is too much, the distribution will be blocked, and if it is too little, it will be under-operated and unable to support its own publicity and distribution channels.

So, this is an opportunity. Let Daydream open up a small but stable small market in the Chinese-language film market, which will be exclusively occupied by Daydream. In this way, with this as the foundation, it can attack and defend, and the future production business will have much more room for maneuver."

"Very good, write a report for me."

A few days later, Yang Yanzi's report was handed to Ronald. At the same time, she did not delay the work of her assistant.

The biggest problem that foreign films encounter in the American market is the language barrier. Because American audiences are notoriously arrogant, unwilling to learn foreign languages, and unwilling to read subtitles.

The main reason why Nordic films had a place in America before the 1970s was that Swedish films at that time were famous for their direct nude scenes.

But after the subsequent boom in the videotape market, this advantage was directly lost. The import volume of foreign films had a relatively obvious decline in the 1980s.

But in the same period, the number of videotapes produced in Hong Kong increased very rapidly. This is because those movies mainly win with action scenes and the plots are relatively simple. Many black people also like to watch lively scenes, and Hong Kong action movies are particularly popular in the black community.

In addition, the plots of action movies are very formulaic, and even if you don’t understand the lines, it doesn’t affect your understanding of the plot. Who is the good guy and who is the bad guy is clear at a glance. What the audience appreciates most is also those exciting action plots.

This market is beyond the reach of the seven major studios. They can't invest in this seemingly "low-level" market.

And this kind of movie is especially cultivated with Daydream. Relying on these action movies accumulated over the years as the basic business, a small team can be supported. Relying on these movies, video retailers, Chinatown, black areas, and some second-run theaters can be attracted to re-screen old movies.

With the distribution channel, it can in turn provide a channel for the release of niche discourse movies such as "Pushers" and "Hi, Frank". Anyway, because of the exchange rate, relying on this small distribution theater system, the box office share can already support Chinese-language films that don't have much investment.

This is like a flywheel. With the start of Hong Kong's action movies, it can turn faster and faster and enter a virtuous circle.

"Very good, you will be my assistant for a while and help me sort out the resources needed to accomplish this. When the time is right, we will do this. At that time, you can be the person in charge of the new business, or do things independently and let Daydream invest in your new company."

Ronald understood that such a top student could not stay as an assistant for a long time. She wanted to enter Hollywood, and it must be because she loved this industry and wanted to make a career here.

"Thank you, I'll book you a ticket to New York first." Yang Yanzi's dream was to be a producer herself, and she was very happy to hear that. It would be much more fun to work for such a boss.

"Hehehe... He has a business jet to use... You have to get more familiar with his living habits..." Diane said with a smile. She was also quite satisfied with Ronald, the new assistant. She was not beautiful and seemed to be a few years older than Ronald.

"Hahaha, Yanzi is not here to be my assistant. I just want her to get more familiar with the business so that she can work independently." Ronald said with a smile.

In order to join the company, he asked Yang Yanzi to fill in a resume. She first worked at CA Universal and was familiar with the prices of old Hollywood films. She saw the opportunity and was the one who sold Roman Holiday to China for screening. It was just because of her ethnicity that there was no room for advancement at Universal.

In addition, she still loved the film industry, so she went to work as a production assistant for Oliver Stone. This is a very good talent. It was just that I did not discriminate against Chinese people. I allowed her to see an opportunity for career development, so she decided to come and work for me.