Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Your performance was very natural and very good." Ronald said to Helen Slater.

"It's just a little too short. We shot for two afternoons and 15 seconds were gone."

Helen pressed the rewind button on the VCR and took the videotape of her commercial.

"Here is another version, the one where you sing Carpenter's song, but your father thought it was inappropriate to buy the copyright of the cover song for an advertisement, so he finally used the jazz version you sang."

Ronald handed over another videotape, "I'll give you this copy as a souvenir." Then he picked up a book on the table and continued to read.

Helen Slater called Ronald after Thanksgiving. Her mother also wanted to see the copy of the commercial in which her daughter acted, and made an appointment to come to Ronald's house today to get it.

She took the Carpenter version of the videotape, happily put it into the VCR again, and enjoyed it.

After playing her performance several times, Helen was very satisfied. Seeing Ronald lowering his head to read a book and not watching his commercial, he felt a little lost for some reason. The director didn't seem to care much about this film and television debut, but was more interested in the black-covered, soft-covered book in his hand.

His performance looked perfect. The young director must have edited every day, so he didn't feel the good performance after watching it too many times. Or is his book too attractive?

"What book are you reading?" Helen Slater looked at Ronald with big blue glasses.

"Endless Love, a Thanksgiving gift for my cousin Donna, but she said Aunt Karen wouldn't let her read this kind of thing, so she asked me not to tell Aunt Karen that I gave it to her. I'll keep it for now, and she'll take it to read when she goes to Stuyvesant High School next year."

Ronald lowered his head and read the book while answering Helen. Endless Love has some very explicit descriptions and unorthodox plots. No wonder Aunt Karen didn't like it. Ronald began to flip through the book quickly and read it in a skipping manner.

"Your cousin is really amazing to be admitted to Stuyvesant."

"Yeah, that's a pure IQ test, Donna is pretty good."

Ronald remembered that the day after Thanksgiving, he and Aunt Karen and Donna went to visit Stuyvesant.

Donna's score has exceeded the admission line of Stuyvesant High School in previous years by nearly 40 points, and she will definitely be admitted. So the three of them went to the high school to visit Donna's future school first.

This is a high school that does not ask anything except IQ tests (math, reading, logic). Jews have always occupied the majority of students, but they saw many Chinese in the school, and heard that the proportion of Chinese admissions has been rising rapidly recently. There are basically no Latinos and blacks.

The school also offers more than 50 college preparatory courses, and you can get college credits in high school. In addition to increasing the probability of admission to Ivy League universities, it can also deduct the hours in college, which can save a lot of tuition.

In addition to mathematics, science, and English, students also have to learn three foreign languages, art, music, and other courses.

In addition to academic courses, there are also skill courses such as gymnastics, fencing, equestrianism, health management, and speech. It is basically a public school that cultivates social elite talents according to the curriculum of private preparatory high schools, and New York State residents can attend for free.

In short, Aunt Karen and Donna are very satisfied, and Ronald is also very happy.

"Your performance is perfect. I actually like this version of Carpenter's song more." Ronald finally finished flipping and looked at Helen who was rewinding. "Did Gerald give you a new role?"

"No, Daddy said that I have to wait until I take more acting classes." Helen already has her own acting career plan, "No more, I'm going to my mother's."

"I'll take you." Ronald got up and picked up his coat.

After seeing Helen off, Ronald went to the casting studio, where he took photos every Saturday and returned the old script he had received last time. Julia Taylor from the studio saw him reading the old script last time, so she promised that he could take one home every time and return it next time.

"Ronnie, you're here. We're going to be busy soon. There's another youth film that needs a nationwide casting. Be prepared. There will be a lot of young girls coming to take pictures." Julia Taylor saw him and immediately assigned him a task.

"Is it like the last time with The Blue Coral Lagoon?" Ronald asked.

"The casting range is even wider than that time. This time, we may need to target ordinary people with no acting experience." Julia Taylor said.

"What movie is it that's so grand? Romeo and Juliet?" Ronald couldn't think of any movie that needed to audition teenagers nationwide.

"It's about the same. It's an adapted romance." Julia Taylor replied, "Because the producer Casablanca Records is the first time to get involved in filming a movie, this is also part of the film's marketing plan."

"So will they really look for ordinary people with no acting experience and outstanding looks?" Ronald felt a little incredible. It was already very difficult for him to direct Helen Slater. It would be really difficult to find someone without experience.

"This possibility is very small, but it has happened in the history of movies, and many girls have become successful overnight."

"So which one is it? Jane Austen, or Dickens?" Ronald was curious.

"Neither, it's the latest best-selling romance, Endless Love." Julia Taylor replied.

"Is it this one?" Ronald waved the book in his hand, "This can't even be called a romance, the author is very controversial, it's more like a social situation."

In Endless Love, in addition to minors eating forbidden fruit, there are also very controversial plots such as arson, teenagers committing serious crimes and being sentenced to a mental hospital, a mother seducing her daughter's lover, etc. Ronald doesn't believe that this book can be adapted into a pure love movie.

"Sometimes adaptations are like this. Only the name and protagonist settings are borrowed, and the rest can be rewritten. But I can't say for sure. It depends on how the people at Casablanca Records decide." Julia Taylor has not seen the script yet , not sure either.

"Casablanca Records has prepared a budget of 8 million, and they have obtained a quota of 100 million US dollars from PolyGram for filming. So they are definitely going to make this movie a big one. I heard that they invited Martin Sco Seth’s regular screenwriter, Paul Schrader, will direct the film.”

Julia Taylor told Ronald about the background of the producer, "If the casting of this movie can be successful, we will be indispensable for all subsequent movies invested in Casablanca."

"Don't worry, I will work hard. I have completed all four courses in the first semester well. Christmas is coming soon, so I can devote more time to this matter."

"Very good, this is another youth exploitation film, and there are expected to be a lot of nudity scenes. You are a well-known signed screenwriter. If you have time, please help us check out the audition candidates. The intuition of peers is the most accurate. "

Ronald was interested in being invited to direct the film as a screenwriter by Scorsese, and he was ready to take this path. Paul Schrader is the screenwriter of Scorsese's critically acclaimed film "Taxi Driver" and the screenwriter of Scorsese's new film now in post-editing.

Ronald planned to ask Scorsese if he had the opportunity to truly become a film screenwriter and move from screenwriter to director.

…

"Mr. Paul Schrader, I am Keith Barish, the producer of Casablanca. Our invitation is very sincere. How to spend the budget of 8 million US dollars and how to determine the male and female protagonists in the national auditions are all up to you. to decide.”

Keith Barish was the driving force behind Casablanca Records' entry into the film industry. I saw that the two musical films "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease" invested by Robert Stigwood were huge hits, which also led to his RSO record company selling tens of millions of records.

In particular, the Bee Gees' Saturday Night Fever soundtrack album ranked number one for 28 consecutive weeks from January 1978 to July. Five singles from the album topped the singles chart. The entire album sold 16 platinum copies and sold 16 million copies.

The film also sparked a resurgence of disco popularity and made a large number of disco singers such as Donna Summer famous.

Casablanca, like other record companies, was very jealous, thinking they had found the code to wealth, and joined the film industry one after another. This is the real reason why Hollywood started investing in musicals again in 1979.

Even Gene Kelly, the Hollywood dance king of the 1940s and 1950s who had been away from acting for many years, was called back by the film company and recently announced that he would start filming his first musical film in many years.

"Keith, can I call you Keith?" Paul Schrader, who has written several blockbuster films such as Bodyguard, is now so popular that studios are begging him to direct.

"You know, I just finished the post-production of my movie American Gigolo, which is waiting for release in February next year. I also have to participate in the promotion of the movie, so why don't we talk about your new movie then."

If it is a hit after its release, Paul Schrader's net worth will not be what it is now. Although producer Keith Barish is new to the film industry, he is well aware of these directors' calculations, and they are no different from negotiating contract renewals for singers.

"Mr. Schrader, this is our first Casablanca movie, and we will take it very seriously. This is also an important reason why I am here to ask you to cooperate. We believe in your artistic expression..."

Paul Schrader has actually watched "Endless Love" before. Although it is very controversial and critical of American society, in his opinion, it is not powerful enough. At least it's a lot worse than "American Gigolo," which he directed and will be released soon.

So no matter what Keith said, he wouldn't let go. We still need to wait for news from Universal. They have already contacted the bankrupt RKO Film Department to discuss buying the remake rights of the classic movie "People".

He still knows how to choose between Global's 12 million investment and the fledgling Casablanca's 8 million investment.

"Well, Mr. Schrader, we will keep giving you the latest news and come back to visit you when the updated version of the script comes out."