Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Tell me, why did Oliver Stone make a movie like JFK? I used to work for President Lyndon Johnson, who was the smartest person I knew. Stone's movie is a complete cheap scam. I don't know why they insulted a president who might be the most capable leader."

MPAA Chairman Jack Valenti was very happy to see Ronald's visit, and took out brandy and smuggled Cuban cigars to share with him. He and Ronald had been to the other side of the Pacific together, and he had a good impression of the young man. So he didn't shy away and complained to him about the movie "JFK".

"Don't ask me, this is invested by the Chinese and released by Warner Bros. I don't know why they released such a movie, but obviously many people will believe some conspiracy theories about JFK's assassination after watching it."

Ronald took the opportunity to say a few bad words about Warner Bros. Jack Valenti has been in this position for more than 25 years. During his tenure, Hollywood implemented a rating system and added PG13. Many studios had to rely on the MPAA rating system, so he had great power.

In addition, before working in Hollywood, Valenti was actually Lyndon Johnson's press officer. The description of Johnson, who was then the deputy commander, in the assassination of JFK was derogatory, which made his former staff very dissatisfied. It has been almost a year, and he still talks about it to everyone he meets.

"Forgive an old man's nagging, Ronald. I owe my achievements today to Lyndon Johnson. If I stand aside and let a filmmaker tarnish his memory, I will not be able to bear it." Jack Valenti laughed at himself, "You are very good. I see the spirit of old Hollywood in you. It seems that those people can't make movies without scolding America now. John Ford went to Midway Island to shoot a documentary in person... Forget it, I'm nagging again. What do you want to talk to me about today?"

"You mentioned old Hollywood, I just want to restore some of the old Hollywood style..." Ronald pretended to be mysterious and handed him a copy of the instruction, "Back then, you could watch new Hollywood movies at the Grandview on the Bund at the same time. Gone with the Wind was released only a week later than the mainland..."

"You mean?" Jack Valenti couldn't read Chinese, but he could tell it was Chinese. He also understood Ronald's hint that there was a possibility of opening up the market on the west coast of the Pacific, and his voice became excited. If he could do this, he would become the greatest chairman in the history of MPAA!

"Let's go over there..." Jack Valenti jumped up immediately after hearing Ronald's translation of the instructions, and asked his secretary to book a plane ticket. "Pack your suitcases and let's go!"

"Take my plane, just stop in Hawaii..." Ronald laughed. With this expert in government negotiations, this trip seems to be fruitful.

...

"I'm still not satisfied with the setting that Tom Cruise's boss is a woman in the script. Meryl Streep will weaken the emotional intensity between Tom and his wife. Let the audience mistakenly believe that Mitch and his female boss have emotions beyond the work relationship. The betrayal and understanding between Mitch and his wife in this script is the focus of many female audiences. Don't let her dilute this."

"But Meryl Streep will increase the realism of the movie. Her acting skills are impeccable. Besides, female audiences may like to see Tom please women on the screen?" Paula Wagner discussed the script setting of "Sugar Coated Trap" with Ronald on the plane.

Tom Cruise took the initiative to propose the idea of ​​setting up a female role and inviting Meryl Streep to star in it, and Paula also wanted to defend his idea.

"Let me talk to Tom..." Ronald motioned her to connect Tom Cruise.

"Tom, I want to replace Streep, think of a male actor you want to work with..."

"Why? I like Meryl's play..." Tom Cruise was stunned and objected.

"I also like Meryl as an actor, but haven't you had enough experience of working with Dustin Hoffman and Paul Newman and sending them to the throne of the best actor?"

"Uh... you're right, let me think..." Tom Cruise was speechless. Sometimes being evenly matched is not the best screen partner. Only when one party is good at playing the supporting role can the acting skills of the protagonist be magnified...

"Think about it slowly, and tell me when I come back from there."

Ronald put down the phone. Tom Cruise's acting skills are actually pretty good. After so many years of training and working with many famous directors, he also has moments of enlightenment. But there is still a visible gap compared to a talented and well-trained actress like Meryl Streep.

If you want to get a nomination, don't play against these acting masters. Any slight failure will be magnified infinitely by the camera. It's okay to play against Jack Nicholson in a drama like "A Few Good Men", and Nicholson didn't use his full strength. But this "Sugar Coated Trap" has a lot of highlights for the protagonist Mitch, and it's best to find a suitable supporting actor to set off Cruise's acting progress in recent years.

Of course, in addition to his boss, playing his wife is also a good job. Not to mention that it will definitely be remembered, just talking about playing against a handsome guy is also a rare benefit.

Ronald, needless to say, has received countless recommendation calls. He has already postponed important things for the time being, and everything will be discussed when he comes back.

…

"They only agreed to export a single movie to China Film Group and sign a purchase agreement... But this is also a huge progress... Our purpose of dividing the accounts has not been achieved..."

Three days later, Ronald and Jack Valenti came to the Grand Bright Cinema near the Bund. The dub version of Director Huang's "Hi, Frank" will premiere here.

Of course, there is no "premiere" in the Hollywood sense here, it's just that this was once the largest cinema in the Far East and opened half an hour earlier than other places. This year, China Film Group also learned from the spirit and encouraged the audience to pay attention to the movie stars of the new era again. Xujiahui Film Factory and other film studios brought out many stars in history, and built a star wall in Daguangming to introduce the stars who had once been brilliant.

Here, "star" also has to be put in quotation marks. But even so, it was only after many years that movie fans heard the title of star again.

"Don't be discouraged. What's important in developing the international market is not speed, but a trend. We have opened the window. Next time we come, maybe we can open the door a little bit..." Jack Valenti He is a cunning person who opened up the country's film market during his tenure and signed a contract for the screening of Hollywood films. Several years have passed, and now, in the country's commercial film market, Hollywood films account for the highest proportion of imported films.

"Yeah, maybe in a few years, we can sign an account sharing agreement with them..." Ronald touched his chin. Yesterday, Deputy Director Fei, who was in charge of this matter, talked about Chinese and American movies at the dinner. The great significance of cooperation can be characterized from the perspective of the relationship between the two countries and the friendship between the two peoples, and the "Hi Frank" produced by Ronald.

If you say that such specifications and characterization are all due to the leadership's instructions, Ronald would not completely believe it. There seems to be a deeper meaning behind it. After drinking two glasses of wine, Deputy Director Fei also mentioned intentionally or unintentionally that this was a useful attempt between the two countries within the general framework of economic and trade cooperation and was in line with the overall trend of bilateral relations.

"Ha, you are more optimistic than me. Let me tell you one thing. Before I came here, I talked with NBA Commissioner David Stern. In order to expand the market, they made the game tapes free in 1986. He sent it to their TV station to play. Later, he came here in person to seek cooperation. He said that the videos were free, and the TV station made him wait in the cold wind for two hours.

In contrast, we can have a banquet reception and a deputy director-level person to see us off, which is a huge compliment to us barbarians. Everything has to be done slowly..."

Jack Valenti had sent film copies to the Alliance and East Germany in his early years. He certainly felt that it would take ten years to develop this market.

"No, you people don't understand the subtle and subtle emotional expressions of Easterners..." Ronald smiled. He was deeply touched by the reserved style of Easterners. The setter of the women's volleyball team back then, who is now also a sports official, was invited to a farewell dinner to accompany Ronald, a foreign friend who invited them to have Chinese food in Los Angeles. These are all special arrangements. Is there something hidden in them? What about special signals?

In the end, "Hi Frank" as a movie was recognized as a Sino-US co-production, but there was no arrangement for splitting the accounts. Only China Film Company gave him a fixed fee that far exceeded the fixed fee for imported Hollywood movies in the past. This is already a very unusual arrangement.

Moreover, this film can be released in its entirety without additional editing, and it is definitely not because the house of a Vietnam War veteran is to be forcibly demolished by real estate developers. This plot that reflects the dark side of America can be fully explained.

The last time his "break dancing" was introduced, there was actually a deep background of Sino-US cooperation behind it. What subtext did they have this time?

Alas, the Orientals even promote the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries through visits by the table tennis team. As a film director like me, I really don’t understand the meaning behind it...

…

Ronald, who couldn't figure it out, gave it up for the time being. He asked the special plane to take Jack Valenti back first, and then strolled to Xiangjiang to visit his old friends.

Jackie is in Xiangjiang, and he wants to take Ronald to eat some delicious Xiangjiang specialties. But it's not convenient because Jackie will be surrounded by people when she goes out. So he just brought some to the Peninsula Hotel to share with Ronald.

Finally, Ronald, who still wanted to see the true face of Xiangjiang, asked Xiao Qiu from Times International who came to his door as a guide, and let him take some roast goose from ordinary shops and have a good meal.

"My uncle said that tomorrow Director Zhu from the Seven Wolves will come to apologize to you..." Seeing that Ronald was in a good mood, Xiao Qiu explained the main purpose of his visit. I have been in Hollywood for a long time, and I know the power of Ronald there. This time, Jackie, the first brother of Xiangjiang Film, also respects him so much. He knows that this knot must be resolved, so he urges Director Zhu to fly over overnight, and he must be sincere. Apologize.

"Forget it, I don't even want to mention it." Ronald felt disgusted when he thought of Director Zhu who copied his and Diane's works in a haphazard manner.

Ronald also went to Lan Kwai Fong, a place where foreigners often go, and listened to a rock band perform live, which was surprisingly good. After the show, under Xiao Qiu's arrangement, we ate at some roadside stalls and thoroughly experienced the entertainment that a foreigner could enjoy in Xiangjiang at this time.

It’s been a long time since I acted alone like an ordinary person. Ronald felt very good and didn't wake up until midnight the next day.

"Who are you? Why are you standing at my door?" Ronald, who was about to go out to have some morning tea, opened the door of the hotel room and saw a simple middle-aged man standing respectfully outside. He has an honest face and a slightly crooked mouth. If you don't pay attention, you might mistake him for a bellman.

"Hello, Director Luo, I am the sinner Zhu Yanping, please forgive me." After saying this, he, who called himself Director Zhu, bowed deeply, his whole body showing a ninety-degree look.

"Hi..." Ronald pulled him in when he saw this. It seemed that this man knew the art of apologizing very well.

"Director Luo, it's hard for us commercial film directors. Can you forgive me? Even if there are a lot of adults, my sins can't be redeemed. We people don't have professional screenwriters, and we don't have many movies to watch. I just watch them. I grew up watching your movies...no, I studied them...I studied your movie videos as a bible, and I have watched some of them over and over again, and they are now just snowflakes..."

Well, I bowed and apologized again, and now I regard Ronald, a director who is younger than me, as my mentor and worship him. This made Ronald feel embarrassed. If he didn't forgive him, he seemed to be bullying this coolie director.

"I also know a few of your directors. I invested in AngLee's movie, and he will also shoot the movie I invested in. It's not as exaggerated as you said..." Ronald was still angry and continued. This gesture is not too difficult an acting project for the director.

"You don't even know how much we envy AngLee at the Golden Horse Awards.

Let me tell you, the movies we have now are made for Europeans with investment from China, and the profit is francs, marks...

Otherwise, it would be investment in Hong Kong and then distributed in theaters there. It’s so exaggerated now that you can pay in advance without even turning on the camera or exposing the film.

We are the only poor local commercial film directors with no one. Photography, lighting, makeup, and props were all used to shoot those movies. These two Seven Wolves were created by me alone...

Your lord has a lot, please forgive me? Please give our local commercial films a way to survive..."

As he spoke, Director Zhu stood up and bowed again.

Ronald was helpless by his nonsense. Anyway, he could not make him lose money through a cross-border lawsuit, so he had to reluctantly agree to forgive him for plagiarism.

"However, I have a condition. You can't copy my movies in the future. My company is called Daydream. You must remember it clearly. I have no control over other companies, such as Warner Brothers..." Ronald began to imitate Fei The oriental hint of deputy director.

"Yes, I will never copy your work. If I want to copy it, I will copy it from Warner Brothers..."

"It seems you understand." With that said, Ronald drove away the unruly Director Zhu who was trying to get him to invest. Why do these Orientals understand such hints so quickly? It seems that Deputy Director Fei really has hints...

This Director Zhu is really shameless. Hey, but in this kind of market, maybe only this kind of shameless guy can survive, leaving a little spark for the commercial movies there.