Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Early the next morning, very early in the morning, Ronald's own TV station sent two reporters over, and NBC sent an broadcast truck to do live reporting with Ronald's TV station for the first time.

After waiting for a long time, when it was almost lunch time, Ronald thought that the candidate and his wife would just go to the city hall to show off like ordinary politicians, when a minibus drove into the Lightning Light Factory. workers in the community, smiling brightly, and the fat and white candidate actually came down to say hello to them.

"The candidate for the leadership and his wife are conducting campaign activities outdoors. He greets everyone in every house and distributes his campaign video..." Rich Lake, the host of Ronald's Fat Girl, held a The microphone began to introduce the situation at the scene.

Ronald, the driver Bud, and the bodyguard Daniel were on the roof of Ronald's aunt's house, using high-power binoculars to look at the houses in their factory workers' community in the distance.

"Shxt, he really shook hands with black people..."

Little Bud cursed in shock. The camera over there was still facing Rich Lake, but in the blink of an eye, the candidate had already shaken hands with a black child.

"What's your name, boy?"

"My name is Jamal Washington."

"Dx, that's my sister's child, Dx... I didn't expect that my nephew could shake hands with the future commander-in-chief of America..."

Little Bud was shocked again and kept yelling and cursing to vent his excitement. He even danced. If it hadn't been a long detour, he would have run over to take a photo with the candidate and his wife.

"Then we'll have to wait until he makes the choice..." Ronald also held the telescope and looked at it enthusiastically. He has experienced many elections, but he has never seen a candidate who actually came to workers' communities and communicated face-to-face with the people at close range.

"How do you feel about becoming the commander-in-chief?" Little Jamal got excited and asked the wrong question.

"Hahaha..." This kind mistake certainly aroused everyone's laughter, especially his wife, who was wearing a red dress and the outdated bangs hairstyle of southern housewives. She was so happy that she couldn't close her mouth.

"I don't know, I haven't won yet, but I hope I have a chance to feel good..."

"Hehehe..." Little Bud's nephew could only giggle. For many years, the black community has never seen a leader who is so friendly with them from the bottom of his heart. It is the kind of friendship that is equal, the kind that really faces friends, rather than just hugging black people in front of the camera. The children put on a show, and then the camera moves away and immediately drops their "friendliness" of running away.

"Will you tell people to vote for me?" the candidate immediately turned to his charm and asked "small supporters". Especially at this time, the camera is pointed at me and the microphone is stretched out in front of me.

"Hey hey hey", little Jamal still just giggled.

"Tell people you've seen me and I look good, okay?"

The candidate responded quickly and immediately ended the conversation with this silly kid who could only giggle with a sentence that made everyone feel good.

The candidates knocked on the door of every home, then walked through the door covered with mosquito screens and chatted with each family. Those people were also very relaxed, like a family, and told the candidates a lot about their expectations, hopes, and worries.

The most mentioned thing is the ongoing economic downturn this year. Many people are worried that their wages will not keep up with inflation. They are also worried that the unemployment problem that has occurred in some areas will one day spread to Staten Island. .

…

"I want you to send a message to this community. What kind of place do you want to live in, what kind of future do you want, just like in Back to the Future, and are you willing to live under the leadership of that kind of leader?"

At night, Ronald watched with relish the television footage of the candidate's trip to Staten Island.

His TV station was branded with the NBC logo for the first time, and Rich Lake became the live news host for the first time after their TV station's syndicated program was broadcast nationwide.

"This guy is really charming. He compared old George to the villain Biff in Back to the Future, which made everyone at the scene laugh."

The speaker was the station manager, Ed Bastian. Today, he followed the TV program crew during their reporting trip to Staten Island. This small and broken island does not have the power to broadcast live satellite broadcasts. It was he who negotiated with NBC and negotiated this cooperation with them through David Letterman's departure from NBC.

After visiting several communities, the young candidate went to the town hall in the southern part of the island, where he delivered a keynote speech to supporters. After the entire program was edited, it lasted two and a half minutes. It was the first live broadcast of a nationally broadcast program on their TV station. The quality of the completion was very good.

Afterwards, CBS and ABC also called and expressed their desire to cooperate. In the future, they plan to use Ronald TV's broadcast signal for local news in remote places outside of Manhattan, New York. Their interviewing and camera capabilities are much better than other local small TV stations.

"Have you ever seen such a politician before? My aunt said that when Ronald Sr. was campaigning, he had never seen him meet and chat with ordinary people on such a large scale. Only very lucky people could write to him. Get a reply postcard.”

Ronald clicked his tongue in amazement. Is this really the case for driving a bus and cruising across the states? That requires superhuman energy and strong communication skills.

"No, I heard from people in their team that the candidate couple actually traveled by plane. After arriving at the airport, they changed to a car to go to the destination, and then changed to a bus outside the community. Otherwise, no matter how powerful the ironman is, he will not be able to withstand it. Live a bus tour like this,” Ed Bastian explained.

"That's pretty awesome...not simple, not simple..." Ronald nodded repeatedly.

The interview segment broadcast by NBC on their television station has ended, and what follows is a longer version of the special program on their own television station, which is exclusively broadcast in Staten Island, and small towns in eastern and northern New York State. Candidates will begin bus tours tomorrow to Saratoga Springs, Schenectady and other places.

"What do you think of your husband, Mr. Candidate's approach of communicating directly with the people?"

The camera panned to their team's minibus, with Rich Lake sitting on the seat opposite the candidate's wife facing the camera.

"It's not uncommon for people to talk to him and say things that they and others don't want to say, and there was a lot of that when he was running for governor in Arkansas...

I think, at least part of the reason is that he is not a seemingly perfect candidate. He has his own problems, so when he hears the people's problems, he will not deliberately ignore them or act condescendingly. Say something nice, and he will really listen to what their problems are..."

When the candidate's wife talks about her husband, her eyes show more appreciation than love.

"The candidate of the Donkey Party is now under intense attack from the opposite team. He has issues with evading military service during the Vietnam War, he has had extramarital affairs with multiple women, and has been unfaithful to his wife. There is also the issue of his tenure as governor of Arkansas. The multiple issues surrounding his wife’s law firm’s use of power for personal gain..."

Rich Lake finally summarized the problems encountered by current candidates, but this seems to be unable to stop his rapid rise in the polls.

From the third place at the beginning of the year to the withdrawal of Perot, who currently has the highest opinion polls, the election has become a traditional two-party game.

His performance was so good today that Ronald was more inclined to help the candidate by conveying a request of his through Donna's channel.

"What does NBC think about David now?"

Ronald turned around and asked about Richard. During this time, he and Ed Bastian were also helping David Letterman find a home.

The show that was supposed to take over Johnny Carson had a slight turnaround, but because the CEO who was friendly with Ronald retired due to an accident involving his son, the hope became slim. Jay Leno's agent is so powerful that he has openly interfered with the production and guest invitations of The Tonight Show.

Originally, the candidate and former governor wanted to appear on an NBC talk show again to show off his saxophone skills. After all, he was the governor of a small, remote state in the south-central part of the country. If his photo was used in a poll, less than 40% of the people would recognize who he was. Not as high as Tom Cruise's recognition rate.

The pleasant experience of playing saxophone on the talk show last time made him want to do it again, but he was rejected by the new host of The Tonight Show, Jay Leno. So I begged Ronald, hoping to get my wish again.

But Ronald knew that his influence on The Tonight Show was approaching zero as Johnny Carson slowly retired. Maybe just The Late Show with David Letterman, and maybe a favor.

"However, now that NBC knows that we are helping David find a home, they still have the luxury of keeping David and not letting him go to other TV stations to compete in the ring, so now they are a bit obedient to his demands."

When Ronald heard this, he knew what was going on. As long as he conveyed it through Donna, saying that he had already agreed with David Letterman, he could just go to him directly. David Letterman, who must have been trying to increase his bargaining chip to change jobs at this time, would not be able to do anything at all. I will not refuse this candidate the opportunity to appear on the show.

As for the matter itself, it's very sensitive at the moment, so it's better not to come forward, lest there be any clues.

"As the Donkey Party candidate's first thousand-mile campaign unfolded in New York State, New Hampshire, and other places, his support rate rose rapidly. He has abandoned the support of the current leader and is moving towards the former Perot Moving forward from the highs he has reached...he is known as The Comeback Kid."

In the next few days, the candidates traveled through several states in the Northeast, constantly visiting various locations to communicate directly with the people. With videos like this on national television and word-of-mouth from people he interacted with, his support in Northeastern New England grew rapidly and alarmingly.

David Letterman also became unusually serious. He chatted with him on the show in a decent manner and even invited him to play "Heartbreak Hotel" with the live band. The candidate wearing sunglasses was very stylish and made the band feel as happy as playing with a jazz master.

…

Old George's campaign momentum suffered a setback, and their campaign team began to think of ways to publish negative information about various Donkey Party candidates. I guess they are under a lot of pressure...

Ronald is under a lot of pressure...

The box office of "Ultimate Soldier" was very weak. The production cost of 23 million was only exchanged for five weeks of theaters and a domestic box office of just over 30 million.

Although as long as the overseas distribution and video revenue are included, profitability is not a problem. But this time point cannot be achieved this year. Overseas distribution and video are both slowly recovering. This movie may become the biggest failure of Daydream Pictures this year.

The two leading actors have been working hard on the screen and off the screen since last year, pretending to clash at press conferences and premieres. This exposure has brought a surge in the number of moviegoers in the first weekend.

However, the problem is that not all the fans of science fiction and action movies are attracted. Some of them are fans of Jean-Claude Van Damme, and some are fans of Lundgren. As a result, they saw that there were not many shots of the two fighting in the movie, and the reputation fell sharply.

This kind of science fiction plus action fighting and gun movies still have a strong appeal in the overseas market, but in China, the audience's taste has been spoiled by Cameron's Terminator 2.

The plot was well laid out, but at the climax, the Terminator-like battle that the audience expected did not happen. Disappointment spread among the audience.

Ronald's own films can maintain quality and audience expectations through carefully polished scripts and the participation of big stars.

However, those films led by Daydream, which are medium-sized investments and exploitation films, are now facing a serious crisis.

Michelle Cannold and David Simkins both sat in Ronald's house for a meeting. As soon as the boss returned to Los Angeles, he saw the unsatisfactory box office figures and had a serious expression during the meeting.

The essence of Daydream is this kind of fast-produced medium-sized production. If there is a large-scale box office slump, then either the number of productions will be reduced or the production budget will be reduced, otherwise there will be a cash flow crisis.

Ronald made it clear to them that Daydream is not a production company dedicated to art like Orion, nor is it a production company like Carloco that is gambling and relies on big productions and big projects.

In essence, Daydream is a Roger Corman-style lawsuit that relies on faster turnover and more money-making small productions. If medium-sized productions cannot make back their investment as expected, the company's return to Roger Corman-style production methods will be a foreseeable result.

This is not a good thing for the company's senior executives. They have to find a way to ensure that medium-sized productions will not lose money.

"Don't be sad, at most we can participate in more large productions with large studios and shoot more small productions on our own..." Ronald saw that morale was a little low and wanted to encourage everyone.

He would not give less money, but if they really wanted the power to decide on large productions, Ronald was unwilling to give his subordinates full power. This kind of thing that allows executives to take the boss's money and enjoy power is really not a good way of doing business.

"Take a break, I've found someone..." Ronald arranged for a barbecue chef to come to his house to cook, and also invited some entertainment teams to add some fun to the senior management meeting. Anyway, it is a very good way to relieve stress for the partners and children they brought with them. Maybe once they relax, they can come up with a solution?

"Children, here is the latest Street Fighter II. You can choose the villain in the last four levels. Here are the coins. Come... Don't grab them, don't grab them..."

Capcom's new version of Street Fighter has been delivered to Ronald's home. The older children and young employees of the company like it very much. They are scrambling for the latest arcade machine that can choose the villain in the last four levels. No one is interested in the old arcade machine that can only choose eight people.

"Boss, I have an idea."

David Simkins came over. Such a popular game gave him new inspiration. Now, whether in Japan or America, the most popular arcade machine is this Street Fighter.

As soon as the battle mechanism was introduced, it immediately became popular in various bars. Many people wanted to defeat their companions on it and win the favor of beautiful women. Arcade machines became another game to show their abilities after billiards. Sometimes, the fighting in the game console will also be upgraded to real-life fighting between gamers.

"This kind of movie is not cheap..." Ronald calculated silently. Apart from other things, the salary of the twelve fighting masters is not low, plus the special effects of the tricks such as Adugen and Oyster Sauce Root, this is definitely a much more terrible investment than "Ultimate Soldier".

"But, boss, this game company has made so much money, so why don't they want to invest in filming a movie? We can take the initiative to persuade them, they pay the money, and we will produce it, so that we can avoid risks."

"That's not my money", Ronald thought, I also have shares in Capcom. But it is true that if the adapted movie can go through, it will indeed have another way to make a steady profit in film production.