Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"What do you think of Michelle Pfeiffer's idea?"

"It's ridiculous... I think she's just a little too into the role. Michelle has this problem. Otherwise, why would she cheat with an ugly guy like Malkovich?"

Ronald also has to talk to his agent Richard about this kind of thing. Otherwise, why do we say that agents are the strongest allies of Hollywood stars? These secrets are actually privileges protected by law. Only when everyone's little secrets in the closet can they be safely let agents handle them to avoid an unmanageable situation.

"Well, I just asked you what you think. If you are interested, I can help you handle it. This kind of thing is not uncommon in Hollywood, and there is a complete set of handling procedures. Well... I won't say anything..."

Richard now spends more time in New York. David Letterman's affairs have a little biography. His competitor Jay Leno's agent is too strong and proposed to occupy the producer position of the Tonight Show, which aroused some suspicion from NBC executives. Now NBC has taken the initiative to talk to Letterman about the renewal of his new contract. This is a gesture...

However, Richard has always been very clear about who his most important clients are. Once the situation over there stabilized, he began to run to Ronald frequently again.

"Never mind all that, AngLee's film won the Best Actor Award at the Golden Horse Awards. You can consider arranging for your assistant to sign him and go to Berlin to compete immediately. There is a lot of hope..."

"I have already talked to him. We only provide some basic agent services. It depends on whether he is interested in suitable movies. We will not force him to consider any movie he doesn't like."

"This is the right way..."

Ronald was very happy. The Chinese-language films shot by AngLee are very popular in European film festivals. Even if they are only released through the art theaters in China, they can make a profit. Such directors are most afraid of agents like Ovitz, who give them some commercial films that are not suitable at all. The box office in America will not be successful, and they will not play their advantages in art. It is a complete lose-lose situation.

There must be different ways to deal with directors from different backgrounds. Such directors who come to America from overseas to develop actually lack the understanding of the basic principles of this society. Only the themes that interest them can achieve commercial success. If we force ourselves to make some commercial films, we may not give some of the things that the general public needs, or vice versa, we may give some of the things that the general public does not feel.

"Congratulations, congratulations!"

At night, Ronald invited the AngLee family, who had returned with honors, to dinner at the best Chinese restaurant in Manhattan. His wife, who supported him in his persistence in the film and television industry, had a hard time because of health problems. Fortunately, AngLee's film director career was finally successful, and he was nominated for the Best Film and Best Director at the Golden Horse Awards, and the leading actor Lang Xiong won the Best Actor Award.

This result, like Director Yang and Director Guan who also returned from America, dominated the main awards of this year's Golden Horse Awards.

Director Yang's "A Brighter Summer Day" won the Best Film, and Director Guan's "Ruan Lingyu" won the Best Actress Award. The returnees clearly had the upper hand. Only the Best Director award was not won by any of the above, but was awarded to Director Wang, a screenwriter who changed his career in Hong Kong.

Ronald was very happy. The influence of the directors who returned from overseas in America increased, which in turn would increase the attention of these movies in America. The box office would also be relatively good when these movies were shown in the cinemas where Chinese people gathered.

"Are there any commercial film directors in your hometown?" Ronald asked AngLee after a good meal.

When they gathered, the content of their conversation could not be separated from movies. These movies were not traditional commercial works. "A Brighter Summer Day" was also a long work, telling the story of cruel teenagers. But compared with Coppola's "The Brats", which was quite commercial, it still seemed to reflect the director's intentions more.

"Ruan Lingyu" was the story of a movie star who suffered a tragedy at that time. It was interspersed with many documentary-style actors discussing how to perform the images of the film industry at that time. It still used black and white to separate the two eras, which was more obscure.

As for "Days of Being Wild", which won the Best Director Award, it seemed to be a commercial film, but the plot did not have the twists and turns of Hollywood commercial films. It was essentially a product of a director's author film.

Importing American movies, such non-commercial films can only make money in Chinatown cinemas by relying on the name of awards. Ronald still wants the type of kung fu movies in Hong Kong, which can be understood by black, white, or Latino people without knowing Chinese...

"There are some, but very few. The market for commercial films there is not good, and the tuition is too high. By the way, there is a director named Zhu who is very good at making commercial films. The most popular local films in the past few years are all made by him..."

"Which producer? I'll go find Xiao Qiu to get it and see. Come on, Mrs. Lee is also a vegetable eater. If you have any problems in New York, you can ask Ang's agent to help you solve them. CAA's services are comprehensive. You are a scientist, so let them help you with some chores..."

...

Ronald found Xiao Qiu from Times International and asked him to look for all those Golden Horse movies. Their production "Raise the Red Lantern" was successfully nominated among the best foreign language films submitted by dozens of countries. Xiaoqiu is now responsive to Ronald's requests...

"The Murder of a Teenager on Guling Street also applied for this year's Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, but it was not nominated... Actually, it is still a matter of subject matter..."

Xiao Qiu quickly obtained a copy of the movie and showed it to Ronald and Daydream's distribution manager in person. He briefed Ronald on several movies.

In addition to the Golden Horse, The Murder of the Boy on Kuling Street also participated in many film festivals such as Tokyo and Asia Pacific. What they follow is the story of the Confucian cultural circle. Some of the core elements of this movie have indeed left this cultural circle, and the audience has problems understanding it.

Days of Being Wild went to the Nantes Film Festival in France. I heard that Cannes film selectors have noticed him and his next film is preparing to enter the Cannes Film Festival. "Ruan Lingyu" will also go to Berlin this time, and will also come to Chicago to participate in the film festival.

In short, the films at this year’s Golden Horse Awards appear to be quite international.

Ronald skipped and watched some. He felt that these movies had little commercial potential, so he pinned his hopes on the last commercial movie recommended by AngLee.

This "Seven Wolves" movie directed by Zhu is a very strange movie. The whole movie is a typical B-level commercial movie.

First of all, the leading actors are all singers, Wang Jie, Zhang Yusheng, Tai Zhengxiao, Yao Kejie, Tuo Zonghua... all of them have no acting experience. Several of the heroines are newcomers and very beautiful, but their pay is very low.

Secondly, the theme song is very nice. A song called "Never Look Back", performed by several singers with unique voice conditions, is very similar to MJ's star chorus song "Weare the World".

The advantage of this is that the fans of these singers are all naturally moviegoers, and they are the kind of viewers who can buy tickets to watch again and again...

Ronald was originally very familiar with this kind of operation. Isn't it necessary to take advantage of commercial low-cost B-level exploitation films like this? This made me develop a "love for talent" attitude toward Director Zhu.

As a result, as the plot continued, Ronald's brows became more and more frowned. When there was a romantic scene between a man and a woman in the second act, he couldn't bear it anymore and started snapping:

"This is fucking plagiarism, blatant plagiarism, and it's all on my head..."

The bizarre plot of "Seven Wolves" is completely copied from several Hollywood blockbuster youth films from the 1980s.

There is a heroine in the middle, Ye Quanzhen, whose background and scenes are plagiarized from "Flash Dance", including the infamous chair dance.

The love scene between him and the leading actor Wang Jie was copied from Leigh Thompson and her husband's love story "Wonderful"

The backstories and street fights of several male protagonists are plagiarized from "The Kid" starring Tom Cruise, Diane and others.

Another male lead, Zhang Yusheng, plagiarized "Adventures of the Babysitter" starring Elizabeth Sue. His entrance scene is another plagiarism of the railway scene at the beginning of "It's Wonderful."

Not counting these, the dance scene in the middle is plagiarizing Ronald's "break dance". Even the heroine's clothes, leg warmers, and dance choreography are copied exactly.

The most outrageous thing is that in the middle of the movie, it starts to plagiarize the movie "Streets of Rage" in which Ronald and Diane settle down... The original realistic plot is suddenly inserted into comic-style scenes, motorcycle battles, and the final male protagonist. The scene with the gangster brother, fighting for a woman with punches in front of everyone, was also copied one by one according to the scenes (all the scenes copied were bad).

"This is too much. There are so many movies in Hollywood, why are they just copying the ones I participated in? Haven't you fucking seen other people's movies?" Ronald was furious and wanted to call his lawyer on the spot. Report!

"Uh, Director Luo..." Xiao Qiu from Times International didn't expect that he got things wrong. I didn't know what to do, I stood there feeling very embarrassed.

"Brother Luo, don't be angry with this guy..." Xiao Yan has now gone to work on Wang Ying's crew. He came to see Ronald today and also stepped forward to persuade Ronald to calm down. Being able to plagiarize is different from our original directors..."

"No, it's common for movies to plagiarize some plots and scenes, and I won't be angry. But how can anyone look at me for plagiarizing? Just forget it. If it's copied like this, the damn Chinese audience will think that I'm just a copycat. This level?”

"Calm down, calm down, Brother Luo. Their level is very low. Let's look at other movies. There is another one here... called Seven Wolves 2..." Xiao Yan didn't know if he was deliberately angry with Xiao Qiu. The name of another commercially successful film was read from the adjacent film box.

"Ah... I'm so angry. This one is even more hateful. How did it get copied?"

Ronald became even angrier when he saw it. The second part follows the story of the first part, telling the story of several protagonists entering adulthood after finishing school life.

As a result, Director Zhu copied Ronald's "Working Girl", even the ferry scenes between Staten Island and Manhattan. In the final showdown with the gangster brother, the protagonist was asked to wear a forehead band, completely plagiarizing the showdown scene from "The Dragon King".

"I'm so angry..." Ronald kicked the copy on the ground twice and left angrily after seeing his carefully shot movie being copied so badly.

"Uncle, will there be any problem?" Xiao Qiu hurriedly called his uncle across the ocean. Director Zhu of this movie had offended Ronald this time. Would he give Ronald the impression that all the filmmakers there are bad?

"This kind of thing is just a moment of anger. What should he do? Can he come to the court here to sue? Isn't this telling everyone that Director Zhu copied his movie? If I were him, I would rather others not know that the bad movie was copied from me..."

The old ones are still the best. There is actually a tradition for commercial film directors in Hong Kong and the island to copy Hollywood movies in such a crude way. Anyway, local audiences haven't seen the original version, and they applauded and sold well at the box office. Can they only envy these people for being "smart"?

"That's not good, right? We have to give him a response. Ronald's status in Hollywood is not low. If you do this, you will have a bad impression in the future and you won't be able to work with him..." After all, Xiao Qiu was in America, and he knew that he might not pursue it, but he still thought of you as a scumbag.

"So, when the time comes, we will find a way to invite him to the Golden Horse Awards. Then let Director Zhu apologize in person, drink three glasses of wine, and say that he is his loyal fan and has admired him for a long time, because he has seen too many of his movies, and it comes out naturally when he shoots..."

"Alas, uncle's vision is still behind..." Xiao Qiu put down the phone and smiled bitterly. He didn't expect his uncle to say such a thing. But inviting him to the awards may be a good idea. Elizabeth Taylor came to the Golden Horse Awards that year, which brought a good promotion opportunity to the officials who hosted the event that year...

...

"Hahaha, a fight, okay,..."

Ronald was angry, but he didn't take it to heart. Two days later, the Berlin Film Festival opened. Ronald Company produced the film "Ultimate Soldier" starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and Lundgren, and also went to Berlin to participate in the film festival and sell copies.

At the project's press conference, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Lundgren had a physical conflict. The two of them took professional karate stances and exchanged flying kicks in the air, and were pulled apart by bodyguards and staff.

However, the news media did not know that this was a pre-arranged publicity move. For a while, the leading actors were at odds, and they almost staged a Mortal Kombat for the order of roles and publicity, as well as the issue of the heroine's favor. The news dominated the coverage of the Berlin Film Festival, even the news of the participating films was suppressed.

This news was passed back to China. Before the film was released, there were already many free page reports.

Also attending the Berlin Film Festival, Ovitz's packaged project, "The Hitman", starring his former bodyguard Steve Seagal, was suppressed and made no sound at all. Even the photo of Erika Eleniak, the blonde beauty and sexy lifeguard in the hit TV series "The Beach", joining the festival, failed to compete with the two muscular men Lundgren and Jean-Claude Van Damme and did not appear on the main pages.