Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Don't run away, Ronald, you have to do me this favor." Spike said hurriedly when he saw Ronald tidying up the room at home.

After helping Ronald complete the shooting of two chewing gum commercials, Spike Lee came to ask for debt, hoping that Ronald would help him improve his script.

"Thanksgiving is coming soon. The original origin of this holiday is to know how to be grateful, Ronald. I know you are signed as a screenwriter in the MGM movie. You have to help me. I have to apply for various African-American They need funding from equal rights organizations to complete the film."

"Spike, I'd love to help you, but I have to go back to Staten Island for Thanksgiving. My cousin Donna was admitted to Stuyvesant High School. She got a 620 out of a possible 700, which shows that she's the best among all high schools in New York State. She ranks in the top 12% of eighth-grade students in terms of IQ. I have to congratulate her, and I also have to prepare for transferring schools and moving, so I really don’t have time.”

"Hey, Man, when Dickinson and I went to shoot a commercial for you, we didn't shirk it. When we worked hard to please that white executive for you, don't forget it." Spike Lee yelled angrily. Ronald.

"Didn't that give you twice the average salary?" Ronald thought to himself, but he just complained in his heart.

"Okay, I surrender, take it." Ronald reached out and took Spike Lee's movie script. "

"Qiao's Courtyard?" Ronald read out the name of the script. It seemed wrong, "Qiao's Big Bed?" Why did you change the name of the script again? What does it mean?

"No, it's Joe's barber shop in a compound in the Big Bed neighborhood. Ronald, you don't understand the slang and abbreviations of our black people. This is a ghetto in Brooklyn. The official name is Bedford-School." Vincent. We all call him Big Bed.

My story is about various stories that happened in a barber shop named Joe in this neighborhood. It reflects the history of how black people maintain their traditions under a mixed culture and fight against Italian gangs, Jehovah's Witnesses, crazy people, underground Mark Six lottery, and other organizations. "

"Is this subtitle what I understand it to mean? Let's cut off our heads?" Ronald looked at the cover and was really excited.

"Have you changed this draft into a gangster vendetta movie? The barber picks up a machete and fights with Italian gangsters. The gimmick is very good. I think you can even go to the producers of low-budget exploitation films. They will like it. of."

Ronald felt that Spike Lee had finally figured it out. Reflecting black culture on the screen was a noble goal. If he mixed this goal into the gun battles, vendettas, religion and gangster plots that the public loved to watch, he would not be both applauded and praised. It was a hit.

"Wade, you have a great sense of humor, Ronald." Spike laughed loudly. "Look clearly, this is us shaving our heads, not cutting our heads. It's about a barber's partner who was suddenly shot dead. In order to keep his barber shop, he fought with all kinds of people, but in the end he failed shamefully. "

"Okay." Ronald immediately downgraded the movie in his mind. It turned out to be a reasonable movie.

After quickly reading the script for ten minutes, Ronald had an idea in his mind and said to Spike, "I counted the number of scenes, and it's not enough 90 minutes. How long do you plan to make the film?"

"You can shoot as long as you can. I still have a lot of plots that I haven't written yet, but I don't have enough money anymore. I'm going to apply for funding this time. I hope I can support it until the end of filming."

Ronald picked up the yellow pencil and roughly wrote out the scenes in the script on paper. Then I did some statistics and found that almost all of them were indoor dialogue scenes, with only a few outdoor and action scenes. Spike still tried his best to design the script in the direction of simplifying shooting and reducing costs.

"I don't have anything to suggest about the script. There are some plots that I don't quite understand. Maybe the living conditions in that neighborhood are really bad, so much so that barbershops have to compete with each other in a cut-throat manner.

I didn’t quite understand the expressions of many black people in it, and I didn’t fully understand the subtext of the characters in the dialogue.

But from a producer's point of view, your script is a typical low-budget movie, and it should be possible to make it with the budget you got last time.

I don't quite understand why you're still raising money. "

"How did you shoot? We have compressed the budget to the minimum. The actors are free, and the staff are all helped by classmates. By the way, you have made low-budget exploitation films in Hollywood, please help me See if there are any ways to save money.”

"Where's your budget execution table? Let me take a look."

Spike took out a piece of paper and handed it to Ronald.

Taking a look at it, Ronald only saw a simple expenditure statistics, in which the most money was for film and equipment rental.

Ronald estimated that the barber shop where Spike shot the scene was also kindly sponsored by fellow villagers, and he did not apply for police permission for street shooting. It was a completely guerrilla-style shooting method. Ordinarily it should be very cheap.

"Why does the film cost so much? Spike. Your early film expenses can be used to shoot a 60-minute feature film."

"How is this possible? I have been very frugal and just bought 5 cheap expired films, which are just enough to cut out 10 minutes of feature length." Spike shouted that he was wronged and searched for a long time in his notebook to buy the films. Develop the prints and show them to Ronald with photographer Dickinson’s recordings.

"It's really strange, why is expired film still so expensive?" Ronald looked at the number and felt a little strange, "Wait for me to make a call."

"Hello, is this Gail? ... I'm Ronald, I'm fine in New York, how are you, are you still so busy? ... Are you free now? ... I just happen to have some questions to ask you, ... Well, about the price of film, why is it so expensive? ... Roger has a special channel? ... OK, OK, what about the printing fee? ... I understand, thank you."

"It's like this, Spike. I asked my former boss, the administrative secretary of Roger Corman of New World Productions, and it's true that their film prices are very low, so they can shoot a movie like Rock High School with $300,000."

It turns out that Roger Corman has his own secret to saving money, and others can't imitate it.

First of all, Corman didn't buy new movie film, nor did he buy expired film that had been stored for a year, which could still be shot, but the performance was reduced, as Spike bought. He shot a kind of leftover film.

Each film has two sizes: 4 minutes and 11 minutes. But when shooting a movie, it is impossible to use exactly 11 minutes every time. If

When each roll of film is finished and sent to the laboratory, there will be some unexposed films. The laboratory will connect these films, put them in sealed jars, and sell them to amateurs.

Roger Corman has a good relationship with Warner and Fox, the two major studios, and can buy the remaining films at a price of 10% to 20% of the original price. Because he shoots a large amount of films every year, many studios are willing to sell him a large number of remaining films.

The second is the cost of printing. Roger Corman has a large amount of printing and has high requirements for quality. The laboratory makes money mainly by running the machine, not changing the solution, and printing as many films as possible.

But the requirements of large studios are very high. Each roll of film must meet the requirements of quality control, and the solution must be changed after a certain degree of development. Moreover, the daily business volume is also high and low. Many times, the solution that can be used for printing can only be discarded because there is no film. The machines and labor are also dozing there.

Roger Corman's advantage is that he does not demand quality, and the color of each film can be different. There is no rush for time. Therefore, the laboratory often arranges for his film to be printed. Whenever there is excess liquid and there is enough time, a film of Corman's will be inserted for printing. Anyway, it will be finished in three to five days.

In this way, the laboratory saves costs and can give Roger a very good discount.

Adding the two together, the largest film and printing expenses in Roger Corman's shooting costs are almost only one-fifth of others.

In order to get this discount, low quality requirements, good relations with large studios, and huge film production are indispensable. This is only Roger Corman in Hollywood.

"So, Spike, it's not that I don't want to help you. It's just that this is an advantage that only Coleman has. Even if I order film from him, he will definitely increase the price to about the same as what you buy in New York."

"I understand you, Ronald. Jews are always so shrewd. But if it weren't for you, I don't know why he has such a low cost. I thought there was something wrong with my directing skills and I couldn't achieve such a low film ratio. There were too many reshoots."

Spike Lee continued, "I want you to be the producer of my graduation work. I need your help in many cost-saving things in shooting."

"Okay, no problem, but as I said, you have to wait until I finish Thanksgiving."

"That's settled."

After seeing Spike Lee off, Ronald continued to tidy up the room. He would let his cousin Donna live in the inner bedroom of this apartment, and Aunt Karen would often come to Manhattan to take care of her daughter and look after the leg warmers business. Ronald transformed the outer studio into a living room, and the middle bedroom was his own.

The photography business gradually shifted to the casting studio. Ronald no longer accepted the business of private photo shoots in the apartment. His accountant Lawrence told him that it was easy to be reported to the IRS for tax evasion.

In this way, this apartment is mainly for living, and the allocation is similar to the shotgun house on Staten Island.

Fortunately, Stuyvesant High School, which Donna was admitted to, is in the East Village, which is very convenient for Donna to attend classes.

Theresa and David’s art high school in Manhattan has achieved some results in selling leg warmers, and they also need a place to store some goods. In this way, Ronald’s apartment has completely changed its use, from a photography studio to a warehouse for home and small business.

Taking the dismantled photography lighting and other equipment, Ronald drove to the casting studio. He and the person in charge, Julia Taylor, agreed to put the photography equipment in the studio for the audition photos.

After saying Happy Thanksgiving to each other, Julia reminded him, "Did you bring Thanksgiving gifts to your family?"

"I brought some food to my aunt, but I forgot to buy something for my cousin." Ronald scratched his ear, "What do you think eighth grade girls like, Julia?"

"Oh, I'm also worried about what to buy for my daughter, you can decide for yourself."

"Donna is a primary school bully, how about buying her a book to cheer her up?" Ronald came to a Random House and flipped through the bestsellers.

"Endless Love?"

Ronald looked at the introduction sign next to him, which read: New York Times bestseller selection, shortlisted for the National Book Award.

After flipping through it, it seemed to be about teenage love. Little girls should like romance, right?

"Please wrap it up for me, I want it as a gift."