Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The vicious queen was not so vicious in prison. She had a good chat with the public relations, calculated for a long time, and finally gave Ronald a one-day shooting permit, including the shooting on the top floor and the helicopter aerial photography permit.

"So easy to talk to?" Ronald looked at Pat Kingsley with a little disbelief.

"She was hit by the hatred of the rich..." Kingsley, wearing glasses, took out the copy of Mrs. Helmsley's court documents and the news report brief, and explained to Ronald.

This vicious queen, what did you do that was particularly harmful to the world? Not really, her so-called tax evasion is actually done by many wealthy people, but they are not as arrogant as her and talk nonsense to the assistant.

Among her charges, the tax evasion part is actually relatively light, and the more serious one is the combination of forgery of documents and fraud against the government.

Her biggest sin is meanness. After the old President George took office, it was a period of economic contraction. Economic stagnation has greatly damaged the living standards of the lower-class people. In the eight years before Ronald was in office, although the economy was booming, the gap between the rich and the poor was widening.

Her assistants, gardeners, lawyers, and maids (all fired by her) repeated all the harsh words she said in court. The jury had already made up their minds to sentence her according to the highest sentence. The media was hyping these contents, which also put pressure on the judges from the public and did not dare to cancel the jury's verdict.

However, the sentence in the first instance obviously exceeded the appropriate range, leaving room for appeal in the second instance. By then, she had already been in prison for some time. With this flaw in the appeal, it is very likely that she will be sentenced lightly in the second instance.

Of course, the premise of doing this is that the evil queen can no longer say any vicious words to mock the poor. On the contrary, she should try to make some friendly gestures, and it is best to do something that makes the public feel better, so that her image can be reversed through the media, so that she can be foolproof in the second instance.

"Want to thank her in the movie subtitles? This is impossible..." Ronald saw the evil queen's proposal, and there were conditions. She wanted a line of thank you subtitles.

"So what's your counter-offer?" Pat Kingsley certainly understood that this kind of thing would bring trouble upon himself.

"I can only thank the Empire State Building. Tell her if she wants it or not. If not, I'll build the scene myself..."

...

"Nowadays, the rich are unwilling to appear in the media. Many wealthy people in the financial circle did not make their fortunes in such a sunny way, so no one wants to become Rudy's spoils..."

Little Douglas, who was sitting opposite Ronald, happened to come to see Ronald with Donna, and talked about the unfortunate vicious queen.

The Rudy he was talking about was the Southern District Attorney who failed in the last election for mayor of New York. In his hands, he sent several billionaires from Wall Street and Italian family members to serve their sentences.

In the past few years, the public's favorability towards him has increased, and they have become more and more hateful of those rich people who greedily use illegal means to get rich. In the movie "Wall Street", the banker played by Michael Douglas who said "greed is a good thing" and the villain was recognized by the public, which seems to be a thing of the past century.

Everyone is rich, so they all feel a little chilled by the change in social trends. From the incident of the vicious queen, the three of them are also thinking about how to prevent it. Doing charity, funding scientific research, or doing things that make people appreciate your benefits, when there is a problem, it is a perfect umbrella for protection.

"Well, you have to donate some money to charity, preferably the kind of thing that spends little money and has a relatively large impact." Douglas concluded.

"Please help me think about it..." Ronald handed this image project to his cousin Donna.

"Are our seats in Staten Island stable?" Ronald asked Doug about the election of the House of Representatives. At the end of the year, the election of the House of Representatives will be held at the same time as the election of the President.

Some things, for rich people like Ronald, are the same umbrella as doing good deeds, that is, these elected politicians, as long as these people still need their votes in Staten Island, then they still have a high value of use.

"There is no problem with the election, but some people are still clamoring for the redistricting, to separate our Staten Island and South Manhattan..."

The so-called some people are the current New York Mayor Dinkins. After this black man came to power, he did nothing but make racial reconciliation and turn Manhattan into a colorful platter of all races.

People of different races have very different incomes and crime rates. The result of forcibly combining them is the rapid deterioration of public security. The real estate prices of those new public housing estates in New York City have also fallen rapidly.

The most disgusting thing is that in Midtown Manhattan, Times Square, which was once a must-see for tourists, has now become a place for fireflies to seek out guests. It is simply like moving the neighborhood in the movie "Pretty Woman" to this most famous tourist attraction.

In addition to the beautiful women who surprise multinational tourists (especially Japanese tourists), there are also increasingly rampant black and Latino thieves. The new gangs that grew out of these public housing estates are not as disciplined as the old Italian, Irish, or Chinese gangs, and they attack tourists without any regard, causing the entire city's tourism industry to decline rapidly.

However, Dinkins has the support of blacks and Latinos. He entered Manhattan from the Bronx in the north and his "business" was booming. These people had to swear to vote for him.

In order to consolidate his vote base, Dinkins has always wanted to split Staten Island and South Manhattan, so that the stable vote base of the Democratic Party would be dismantled and become the vote base of the Democratic Party.

Several people agreed to continue to support their own Congressman Susan and let her resist the proposal of redistricting.

"How is the election of the president now?" Compared with the mayoral election next year, the election of the president at the end of the year is more imminent.

"There is no competitor in the party, and the governor of the Democratic Party is not good either. There are not many presidents sitting in the White House who have failed to be re-elected in history. In addition, he won the Cold War and the Gulf War. I don't think anyone can challenge him. We can just go to support him when the New York primary election comes." Doug said that this is not a problem.

"When the governor comes to New York State again, I will donate money to his PAC." When the two left, Donna whispered to Ronald behind. Don't offend these politicians, unless you know there is no room for easing.

"When I return to Los Angeles, I need to trouble you to go there for something..." Ronald continued to call Diane. He lives in Los Angeles for more than half of his time, and he must not forget to support the politicians there.

The congressman near Beverly Hills and the candidate for the by-election for the Senate both asked Diane to come forward to support and donate money. As a female actress, it is normal to support a female competitor, right?

...

"How does the evil queen bargain?"

On the plane back to Los Angeles, Ronald asked Pat Kingsley.

"You can just thank the Empire State Building, but you only have half a day..." Kingsley adjusted his glasses. This evil queen really doesn't want to suffer any loss. No wonder those assistants and maids who can't get the oil were ruthlessly fired by her.

"Ha, it seems that she urgently needs public relations exposure. If I can take advantage of her, am I also a successful businessman?" Ronald said with a smile. Mrs. Helmsley, the vicious queen, was not the kind of woman who gained wealth through marriage. Before she married her current husband, she was a business woman who started a hotel chain from scratch.

"You can say that, but you also took advantage of her situation." Pat Kingsley also laughed. This Ronald was indeed different from other Hollywood clients. He was happy because he took advantage of other entrepreneurs in business, instead of being carried away by dating a popular female star. No wonder he could achieve success.

"Thank you very much, Pat, I have to... you know..." Ronald made a gesture of putting his hands on his head. The staff around him knew that he liked to sleep on the plane.

"Please, we will talk to you about your image problem after we arrive in Los Angeles."

Pat Kingsley also took a job in New York this time. It was a business given to her by Ed Bastian, the president of Ronald's TV, radio and newspaper business.

On the surface, it was to give her the crisis public relations work order for this business to use his professional talents to help the New York Daily News Group gain a better reputation. In fact, it was to give her crisis public relations company an annual consulting fee, and find a way to create a good reputation for her boss Ronald among the people.

After she understood Ronald's plan, she also made a plan. In general, it was to create all kinds of seemingly accidental encounters. Ronald helped some poor people who the public could empathize with, and at the same time did not actively promote it in the newspaper, but treated it as an urban legend, and finally was discovered and reported by the media.

Her first idea was to find some actors in the movies directed or produced by Ronald in the past, and start from here to create some stories that the public likes to hear and hear.

"Huh...ah..."

Pat Kingsley made a plan for the first case, turned around and saw that Ronald had fallen asleep sweetly under the smooth takeoff of the pilot Bono of the special plane.

...

"So the taxes you mentioned are just deferred, not huh?"

Ronald saw familiar characters appear on the screen again in his sleep.

"It's Weintraub. This guy plays a very stylish businessman..." Ronald recognized that the person who asked the lawyer about the details of tax avoidance was his friend, the producer of The Karate Kid, Jerry Weintraub.

This movie also seems to be about tax avoidance, which is not common in Hollywood movies in the past. Maybe in the next few years, the public's perception will shift again, and they will have more recognition of these rich people being brought to justice?

"The dollar in the future may be only half the value of the current dollar." The camera turned to the opposite side of Weintraub, that is Gene Hackman, the tax lawyer played by the actor who sold him The Silence of the Lambs.

"Who said that?" Weintraub held a cigar in his hand and disagreed.

"After the election..." Gene Hackman tried to start talking about his understanding of politics and finance.

"Are you telling me that you know who will be sitting in the White House for the next four years? If you know, that would be very valuable information..." Weintraub interrupted the other party's nonsense without hesitation. He was acting like himself. He looked like this when I met him that year.

"Sir, what he means is that no matter who is in the White House in the next four years, you will be able to benefit from it..." The camera turned and a third person interjected. The young man who plays the role of a budding lawyer in a tailored suit is actually Tom Cruise. It's rare to see him play a character who lacks confidence like this.

"Let him say, Hey, who the hell are you? Who is this, your lawyer?" Weintraub was annoyed, how could a young man dare to interrupt his tax issues.

"This is a very sensitive issue so we will not involve outside counsel, this is our own counsel."

"Hey, did you hear that? This guy is threatening me in a subtle way. I'm a good guy, you see, and you guys are not like those guys in Chicago. As long as I'm making money, I don't care who the hell gives me tax trouble, you guys Those in Chicago have to do business with me to make money.”

Weintraub suddenly changed his face again. He faced Tom Cruise's confused face and said, "You don't know me. I'm a good man. As long as you can save me a million in taxes." , I will not break your legs..."

"Hey, let's not change the subject..." Gene Hackman quickly interrupted. This topic became more and more scary. Don't scare the fledgling Tom Cruise.

"Hey, what did I say? What did I say?" Weintraub had that movie look on his face, "Who said something illegal?"

"Maybe you didn't say it..." Tom Cruise seemed to have discovered a God-given opportunity to convince this customer.

"What the fuck didn't I say? Did I say nothing?"

"Thank you. What my colleague said is that there are no risks or legal problems when you use this to avoid taxes..." Tom Cruise still had the youthful spirit and impulsively said what he thought he could do to customers. If you are satisfied.

"Are you saying that the worst-case scenario is that it will take many years for me to pay taxes?"

"No, the worst outcome is that next year they will close the loophole in the tax law and you will no longer be able to buy it, and then you will feel like you regretted it after a meal of elephant dung..."

"Ronald, Ronald, we're here..."

"Ah? How come it's so fast?" Ronald was shaking from his sleep when he was woken up by Pat Kingsley. Everyone was waiting for him, but Pat came up and shook him awake. We can't all wait for you to dream, right?

"Hmm... um..." After Ronald picked up his luggage, he listened to Pat Kingsley's perfected plan on the plane all the way. How he helped a poor actor and started his career of career.

"Sir, sir, could you please sign Ross Perot's autograph?"

"Who?" Ronald suddenly heard an unfamiliar name. "Oh, politicians? I have a congressman that I support." Ronald looked at the photo of a personable person on the display board.

"No, we just need to sign. Mr. Perot is running as an independent, so he has to win the support of voters in all states. He is the best candidate, not tainted by any wealthy people. He is a billionaire and financed by himself. money campaign”

Ronald waved his hands and walked forward quickly. Isn't this a joke? How is it possible to run independently from the two parties?

"He is a self-made billionaire. He once went to Vietnam to bring back prisoners of war. He said he would reduce the deficit and protect the people. He would never break his promise to raise taxes during his term.

He also told all his supporters not to donate more than five dollars. Would you like to see his campaign platform?

Take one and take a look. You can make this call to express your support. Do you want to know more? In the week since the hotline was set up, more than one million support calls have been received..."

"What?" Ronald stopped and took the promotional card. Don’t donate more than five dollars, have no partisan platform, and get over a million support calls?

This momentum of enthusiastic participation from ordinary people reminded him of the enthusiasm of Ronald Sr. when he ran for election more than ten years ago.