Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Chapter 1276 The Second Face-to-Face Confrontation with Ovitz

"The key issue is to make all the voting members of the Academy remember this movie by the end of the year. Michael, I don't care what method you use. You can act freely within the budget approved for you, but I want to see the effect."

"I can't guarantee this, Ronald. Movies are like fashion trends. They are gone. Maybe someone will remember them ten years later, but if it is so easy to recover the moment when the limelight has just passed, then those fashion brands don't have to launch new products every year."

Feeling the serious situation, Ronald found Michael Gray and approved him hundreds of thousands of operating funds. But Gray didn't dare to guarantee it. If there was a code to rush for awards, it would have been discovered and monopolized by the seven Hollywood studios long ago.

"Okay, I understand. You still have to find a way to operate it. As for whether it will work at that time, it depends on luck and God's favor."

Ronald couldn't force the public relations expert too much. After the cooperation with Working Girl, he knew that this person was very capable. When dealing with talents, one can only boldly delegate authority and not use results to measure the other party's work performance, so as to get good results.

Especially for things like movie public relations, it is not a kind of production and manufacturing, and it cannot be measured by KPI.

On the other hand, Ronald is also speeding up the acquisition and renovation of cinemas. The main problem now is that the renovation takes too long. The facilities of cinemas have special requirements, which are different from the contractors of general commercial centers.

Doug's own contractors did not have much experience and lacked the ability to expand quickly. So he began to look for a suitable outsourcing company. As long as it can be done quickly and well, it is worth paying a little more.

Coincidentally, this time Ronald came to New York specifically for the Coca-Cola matter to meet Darcy Maguire. When he was living in the house on Fifth Avenue, he happened to meet the right person.

…

A cute polar bear looked up at the sky on the ice. A late polar bear joined them, and colorful aurora appeared in the sky. It turned out that they were here to see the beautiful aurora.

Ronald's special effects director, Van Fleet, finally made the advertisement of polar bears drinking Coke with the help of Cameron's special effects team in "Terminator 2".

"New York? I am also the most cost-effective in the country. I am a natural businessman... I am not bragging. The public skating rink in New York was repaired by the former Mayor Koch for five years without any progress. I only spent one-tenth of his money and repaired it in a few months..."

"Okay, okay, I'll let my business partner come to talk to you. Oh, it's really timely to meet you..."

"I started doing business at the age of fifteen and went to Wharton Business School. They can't take an extra coin from me!"

After shaking his hand, Ronald had already made an agreement with him. The developer believes in the tradition of old-school American businessmen who shake hands vigorously, and squeezes hard. Unexpectedly, Ronald had expected it and also increased his strength. The foundation laid by the high school wrestling team, he immediately squeezed the opponent's hand until it turned pale...

The developer of this commercial and high-end apartment complex has recently suffered a major setback. Atlantic City, which is very close to New York, has always been a destination for white-collar workers to go to for entertainment. However, after the Taj Mahal Hotel, which he built at a cost of one billion US dollars, opened last year, it has not been able to attract enough tourists for entertainment.

"Ah, Ronald, long time no see. Originally, this was the content of the attorney-client confidentiality agreement, but now the news is everywhere. You must have seen it. The two are getting divorced and are negotiating alimony. But his hotel is facing bankruptcy..."

In the elevator, Ronald met the developer's wife, who was standing there with a divorce lawyer and arguing with the developer opposite.

Seeing that the developer was still indignant, Ronald calmed him down with one sentence, "I have some business in renovating cinemas. I heard that you are the most cost-effective developer in New York..."

"Don't think about paying me less!"

Just like the lines Ronald arranged in the movie, in a declining market, it is often only the one who does the best that can survive.

More than 600 million of the funds for hotel development were raised by him through the issuance of junk bonds. But now that interest rates have risen and money supply has tightened, the repayment of this interest alone can bankrupt his business.

In the early 1990s, America experienced a small economic recession. For white-collar workers, the first item that can be cut is this kind of expenditure. In addition, Las Vegas is much cheaper and has much better competition, so even fewer people go to Atlantic City.

Ronald looked closely and found that it was Robert Cohen, a famous divorce lawyer he hired to draft a prenuptial agreement before getting married.

"Ah, so that's the case..." Ronald really didn't pay attention to the recent New York gossip. He found his own New York Daily News and found that the divorce lawsuit between the two was very high-profile. Both sides were criticizing each other in the media...

"Darcy, what do you think of this advertisement?"

The camera turned to the front, and all the polar bears took out a bottle of Coca-Cola in a glass bottle and drank it together. Finally, the camera zoomed in on the face of a polar bear, and after doing the iconic Coca-Cola swallowing and burping movements, it was fixed on the bear's happy smile.

"Bob, what's going on?"

"I say...", remembering that this is also a contractor, and he has experience in building large buildings like the Taj Mahal, plus he needs money now... Ronald approached and talked to Lawyer Cohen and his clients after they left.

"Hey, isn't this a real person wearing a mask?" Darcy Maguire was surprised. In this ad, the white polar bears have smooth fur on their bodies, and they look very real.

"Hey, let me tell you, this is the special effects team of Terminator 2. You have seen it. They can even make liquid metal robots, which are so difficult, so these are no problem."

Ronald boasted himself and promoted his company's special effects team by taking advantage of the fame of Terminator 2. If Darcy Maguire's advertising company has such animation business in the future, they can also undertake it.

"I think it's very novel, and the audience, especially the children, will definitely like it." Maguire looked at the polar bear smiling happily on the TV screen, and she wanted to buy a plush toy to take home.

Ronald was secretly glad. This advertisement is actually a bit ahead of the current computer special effects capabilities. When it was finally formed, a lot of editing adjustments were made, and the front shots of a group of polar bears were sped up. More shots were placed on the back and close-ups of a bear.

Because the special effects of multiple polar bears were too difficult, Van Fleet and the special effects team of Digital Space had to lower the number of polygons of each polar bear to facilitate rendering. As a result, the bear's face was out of shape and looked like a white-haired fox.

"Our team also made a plush toy model of a polar bear..." Ronald took out a polar bear toy. It was a waste of talent for a movie prop master to make such a children's toy. The white fur was very smooth, and there was a cute vortex when it was blown up in one breath...

"Let's go. If we go to Atlanta, Ovitz will definitely surrender." With this toy bear, Darcy Maguire felt that he had a sure win.

...

"It's just for that taste..."

At the headquarters of Coca-Cola, CEO Keogh was also unambiguous. The Ovitz and Ronald teams were invited to the largest conference room on the top floor for a live pitch.

Ovitz found many potential directors and filmed some commercials featuring big-name stars.

CAA is not only a movie star agency, but also represents many singers and sports stars, so the star lineup of the commercials on that side is really dazzling.

First is Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls, the last commercial during his contract with Coca-Cola.

The flying man made his iconic dunk, but he no longer held a Spalding basketball, but a glass bottle of Coca-Cola. He was not dunking the basket, but a big moon.

He took the Coke from the moon, and made the iconic gurgling sound of drinking the Coke, and finally sighed with satisfaction.

"Very good, but our contract with him has expired, and this SOB will not renew the contract with us, and has switched to our mortal enemy..."

Keogh looked at the commercial with an unhappy look on his face. Why is Ovitz talking about something else? Jordan informed Coca-Cola that he would no longer endorse carbonated drinks because it was not good for basketball players.

But he turned around and endorsed Gatorade, an electrolyte sports drink under Pepsi. It's not like Coca-Cola doesn't have similar drinks. Two years ago, they launched the same competing product, Powerade.

"It's not impossible to fight for it. Besides, their opponent in the finals, Magic Johnson, the star player of the Lakers, has the same appeal to young people as Jordan. We can ask him to come..."

Ovitz was also looking for a suitable target for his sports agency business.

"Tsk..." Ronald sighed secretly. It's true that sports stars and Coke are the best match.

But when it comes to Jordan, he won the championship for the first time this summer, but he beat the New York Knicks and the Los Angeles Lakers, the home teams of the two cities where Ronald has lived for a long time.

While he was thinking about it, Ovitz put up another advertisement endorsed by a singer. Paula Abdul, who was dating Emilio Estevez before, was wearing a white dress that showed her thighs. She was singing the songs from her new album and dancing with a group of male dancers.

"Puchi..." Ronald almost laughed out loud. Ovitz probably had his old habit again, wanting to pack everything. Here he used his contracted singers to win advertising orders for Coca-Cola, and there he used Coke's orders to negotiate more customers.

But if you want to find someone, you should find a better one. Paula Abdul was a dancer for Michael and Janet Jackson, who were both spokespeople for Pepsi.

Of course, America doesn't care about origin, but Paula Abdul became seriously fat after becoming famous, and her waistline was seriously swollen. She looked even more bloated in a white dress, and it was already to the point where she needed a lot of editing and modification...

"What do you think?" Keogh was very good at what he did, and every move was sharp. He asked the two competitors to comment on each other. Let Ronald, who he liked, comment on Ovitz first.

"Celebrity endorsements are of course good, but Coca-Cola needs celebrities who are worthy of them. If not, it's better to use ordinary people." Ronald said indifferently, then waved his hand and asked Maguire to start playing the ads shot by Coppola and Scorsese.

Cameron Diaz and Matt LeBlanc, two handsome men and beautiful women, really beat the sturdy aunt Paula Abdul. Some Coca-Cola executives at the scene were swallowing their saliva.

As Ronald said, Coca-Cola actually has a long history and is well-known to everyone in the country. Using some ordinary celebrities to endorse it will not help the advertisement too much. If it is not a top star, it is better to find an ordinary person.

"It doesn't make much sense. The big-name director does not appear on the screen. Only a small part of the audience can receive the information that this advertisement is made by a famous director."

Ovitz really did not let go of Ronald's weaknesses and began to comment on him.

"What you said makes sense. Look at this..."

Ronald smiled and did not argue with Ovitz at all, and played the polar bear version.

"Oh, it's done. You're very fast. I think the effect is excellent..." Keogh praised the white polar bear as soon as he saw it on TV.

At this point in time, Coca-Cola's advertisements need a little bit of novelty. Personally, he doesn't like Ovitz's advertisements.

The dance of Paula Abdul is too obvious in imitating Janet Jackson of Pepsi, and Paula Abdul's popularity and song strength are inferior to those of the Jackson brothers. Doesn't this mean that their Coca-Cola is not as good as Pepsi?

Although there are no stars in Ronald's advertisements, the two selected characters are indeed models of American men and women. Anyone who sees them will praise them for being handsome and beautiful. If they drink more Coke, they will definitely become so beautiful.

Waiting for this animated version of the polar bear, hahahaha, Coca-Cola has always wanted to compete with Pepsi in the youth market, because the choice of young people now represents what brand of Coke they will drink in the future.

Such a cute polar bear, our Coca-Cola directly lets children start drinking!

"We also prepared this. In the future, Coca-Cola can make and sell it to consumers who buy enough Coke..." Maguire added one more code and took the plush polar bear out of his backpack.

"Hahaha, very good, very cute..."

Now not only Keo was satisfied, his face was salivating, and he wanted to touch it and take it for himself.

"This..." Ovitz was dumbfounded. He had been secretly trying to find out whether Niceta and Richard on Ronald's side had any moves to contact big stars. He never saw any moves.

Originally, he thought that it would be nothing more than finding Tom Cruise or Diane Lane. So he specially arranged for sports and singers to appear, to give Ronald an unexpected blow in terms of diversity.

Unexpectedly, it was Ovitz's own team's self-confidence that was hit.

Ronald, you don't play by the rules?

"Boss, we're done..." The female manager in Ovitz's advertising team said quietly in Ovitz's ear with a gloomy face.

"Don't talk about it here..." Ovitz looked very unhappy. How could his subordinate not know the rules... He would fire her when he got back.

Finally, he stood up, shook hands with Ronald gracefully, and congratulated them on getting the advertising order of Coca-Cola. "See you in Los Angeles later..."