Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"You will definitely get better, don't worry. Ms. Elizabeth Taylor donated to the UCLA Research Institute. The research here is the most advanced experimental drugs in the world. As one of the major donors, I can also obtain it. Priority use……"

"Oh, Ronald, I understand my situation. But thank you anyway. I just want him to stay with me..."

Emil Adolino was lying on the hospital bed at UCLA Medical Center. His face was thin and his eyes were a bit big, but there was still a smile on his face.

"Don't think too much. Medical science is making rapid progress now. You have to get well soon and make me a sequel to Sisters Are Crazy..."

"Ha, I will, I like working with Whoopi very much...ahem..."

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu... Emil always said that you are a good person, Ronald."

The companion of Emile Adolino could no longer stand the situation and burst into tears.

"I will come to see you..." Ronald was not very satisfied with this partner's behavior. His crying was fake, and at this time, he also wanted to use Emile's friendship with him to find a relationship. .

He ignored the bastard, just said goodbye to Emil with a smile, and walked out of the ward to the resting area far away.

"Coffee?" Michelle Cannold brought a cup of instant coffee and handed it to Ronald.

"Thank you... I... thank you." Ronald's voice was choked. Cannold felt something was wrong. When he saw Ronald sitting there, his eyes were red. He couldn't help crying either.

In the past, I had only heard that a certain Hollywood star was sick and died, but firstly I had never seen them seriously ill, and secondly, I had no deep relationship with him. When the misfortune fell on Emile Adolino, two days The boss of the dream was silently holding back tears in the lounge of the medical center.

Emile Adolino is an old man who joined Daydream when it was first formed, in the first movie "Dirty Dancing". At that time, he was Ronald's assistant director on the set and often worked on the set with Michelle Cannold.

"Hey...how could this happen? You see, Magic Johnson is still alive and kicking, and he is still playing in the Olympics?"

"This is really unfair. Emir is so kind..."

"Why……"

"Why……"

Apart from being sad that an old friend was unfortunately terminally ill, the directorial crisis that Daydream encountered was a minor matter. Emile Adolino is the director who is most capable of making commercial films besides Ronald. His documentary about the New York City Ballet and Gypsy had already been approved, but now he didn’t know who to find to finish it.

"By the way, I think Emil's friend is not a good person. To prevent him from running away and leaving Emil alone, have you notified his family?" Ronald drank a cup of hot coffee and felt better. "No," he recalled the scene in the ward and asked Cannold again.

"Both his parents have passed away, and he is the only child in the family..."

"Why……"

The two sighed again, and had no choice but to spend a lot of money to find professional nursing staff from the hospital to take care of Emil Adolino.

"Mr. Li, Mr. Cannold?"

A Chinese doctor wearing big glasses came to see Ronald and Michelle.

"Doctor He..." Ronald stretched out his hand to shake his hand, but then retracted.

"It doesn't matter, it's not transmitted through contact. If you feel uncomfortable, you can wash your hands over there..." Dr. He had seen many such relatives and didn't take it seriously.

"I'm sorry, how is the patient's condition now?" Ronald washed his hands before shaking hands with Dr. He.

"We can only use AZT to control the reverse transcription process now, but Mr. Emil Adolino has too much... in his body. Whether we can get good results depends on luck..."

"Can't we just clear out all...?"

"I'm sorry, this... is very special and cannot be completely eliminated. We are still looking for the reason. This is also the significance of Ms. Taylor's fund. We only have very little federal and state government funding and can only rely on Taylor. Madam and a knowledgeable and caring socialite like you.”

"If there is a breakthrough, I hope it can be used on Emil as soon as possible."

"Do not worry……"

…

"How's the situation?" Seeing Ronald in the bathroom as soon as he came back, Diane came over and knocked on the door worriedly.

"The doctor said that if there is an effect, it will take about six to twelve months. If there is no effect, it will be very soon." Ronald answered while washing his hands. Seeing Emil Adolino's appearance, he now felt a shadow in his heart. Although Dr. He said no, it was better to be safe.

"Oh, poor Emil..."

When Ronald returned home, Diane asked about the situation. It was one thing to comfort Emile Adolino in the hospital. In fact, everyone knew that without a major technological breakthrough, he would have been waiting...

Ronald's hands were washed red and he came out only after wiping them dry. He and Diane hugged each other and sat on the sofa together, feeling that nothing in the world was normal.

"I'll call Ms. Taylor..." After a long time, Ronald came back to his senses and wanted to call Elizabeth Taylor to express his gratitude.

"Ms. Taylor, this is Ronald, thank you very much." Because Emil Adolino's transfer to Los Angeles, as well as various preferential treatment from UCLA Medical Center, were all contacted by Elizabeth Taylor. Her foundation is the largest funder of research projects there.

"Thank you, Ronald. Your latest donation is the largest individual donation we have received recently." Elizabeth Taylor was also very straightforward. The reason why the medical center was willing to accept him and asked their research project leader, Dr. He, to come out to meet Ronald and promise to arrange the best treatment in person was because he wanted to set an example in Hollywood. I look forward to other big names. The Lord comes to donate money.

"There will be more..." Ronald has prepared to separate part of the income from "Nuns Are Crazy" and the dividends due to Emil Adolino as an Emil fund to ensure He is in the best care. Ronald will also increase his efforts to donate to UCLA research institutes.

"Ronnie, you are really much wiser than the previous commander-in-chief, old Ronald, that fool. If you run for the commander-in-chief of America in the future, we will all vote for you."

Elizabeth Taylor's biggest dissatisfaction with her predecessor, her former Hollywood counterpart, was that he allowed the spread of disease while in office and failed to provide federal funding for research on it. What caused the last company? It was the people from the country who did it first.

"Haha, I'm just kidding. I'm not an actor..." Ronald laughed and let the matter go. He also asked Elizabeth Taylor if there was anything he could do to better assist her in her meaningful work.

"The best thing is for you to make a movie, Ronald. Do you know? The loosening of discrimination against Jews in America has a lot to do with To Kill a Mockingbird. Movies, it turns out, are not just commercial operations. It is a powerful weapon to lead the public trend.”

"I will find a way, and I will need your strong support when the time comes. You know, many people in Hollywood are discriminatory...especially people with minority orientations..."

"Ronnie, don't worry, go ahead and make preparations. If you need me, just tell me. If anyone dares to say something bad about your project, let's see how we old ladies will deal with him..."

Elizabeth Taylor now considers anyone who supports her "just cause" to be her confidant. What's more, Ronald is a handsome guy who not only donates money but also has the idea of ​​making a movie to arouse the public. If anyone dares to ignore him, she will definitely gather a group of old Hollywood stars to show them what to do. It's called star influence.

…

"For Emil..."

Ronald mentioned this matter to Daydream's script supervisor, David Simkins, who simply put aside other matters and tried his best to find a script about this theme first.

He was also one of the earliest employees of Daydream and had a deep friendship with Emil. At that time, there were only a few people in the office, and we discussed the script together many times late into the night.

There are many scripts with this kind of specialized theme in Hollywood, especially because this theme is highly discriminated against, and the public still has a subtle hostility to the unfortunate due to prejudice and rumors.

Only Magic Johnson, a well-known playboy in Los Angeles, also suffered from the same disease, which solved the public's doubts about what kind of people can get the disease. So to a certain extent, this basketball player's misfortune is actually a turning point that has been accepted by the public.

Precisely because of society's poor perception, no one in Hollywood is willing to touch this type of script. All scripts with such themes were rejected by seven major studios. It happened that Daydream wanted to collect, but he quickly collected a large number of them.

Ronald was at the rehearsal site of "Sugar-coated Trap". During his break, he was still reading the outlines of recommended scripts compiled by David Simkins for him... The content of one of the scripts made him think the story was very good.

The protagonist, Andrew Beckett, is a senior partner at the largest corporate law firm in Philadelphia. His illness was discovered by the law firm. Although he covered it up with makeup and pretended to be injured playing squash, he did not escape the suspicion of the top management.

But the company's top management had already made up its mind to fire him. After he asked his assistant to file the document, the company deliberately "lost" this important legal document and quickly fired him the next day.

Andrew Beckett wanted to sue the company for wrongful termination, but he couldn't find any Philadelphia lawyers willing to represent him in his case. His opponent in the previous case, Joe Miller, also refused and immediately went to see a doctor, only to be told that such exposure would not cause illness.

After that, Andrew Beckett could only drag his weak body to represent himself. After being discovered in the library, Joe Miller, who was also checking information in the library, discovered that Beckett was being discriminated against and couldn't bear to take over. His agent.

Later, during the trial, the boss of the law firm defended the dismissal on the grounds that Beckett was not competent enough to be a lawyer because he did not understand his physical condition. It turns out that in addition to being afraid of the disease, they also discriminated against Beckett's orientation. Because the boss had previously taken a case of a client with the same illness, because that client was infected due to blood transfusion.

In the end, the case was ruled in favor of Andrew Beckett and he was awarded $5 million in damages. But by this time he was already weak and hospitalized, and he didn't have much time left. Joe Miller, who helped him win the case, finally went to the hospital to see him, overcame his fear and touched Beckett's face.

Then Beckett's same-sex partner helped him get rid of his pain. Joe Miller went to the memorial service. He watched photos and videos of Beckett's childhood with his family.

"This script is very real. Is it adapted from a true story?" After reading it, Ronald felt that many details could not be written without in-depth communication with patients or relatives. Many times, there are similarities with his own feelings.

"The script does not say that it is adapted from a true story, and the screenwriter Ron Neswannier has not mentioned this." David Simkins looked at his notebook and replied.

"I don't believe this screenwriter. Go investigate. If it is really a true story, it will be very troublesome..." Ronald ordered. It was originally a very controversial movie. If someone sued for plagiarism, it would be even more troublesome.

"Okay, I'll go."

"What script, is it your next project?"

Tom Cruise, who watched seven or eight movies by Cary Grant over the weekend, heard Ronald's words and came to ask. He is getting more and more excited now. The homework assigned by Ronald inspired him.

Cary Grant, like him, was also a popular male star in Hollywood. At that time, female audiences across the country would go to support Cary Grant's movies without watching the plot, which was similar to him.

"It's not suitable for you..." Ronald refused with a smile. If Tom Cruise played this role, it would greatly damage his commercial value. If Paula Wagner knew about it, she might take a pistol to seek revenge on him.

"Hey, you think I'm not suitable before you even watched my audition?" Tom Cruise was furious. Is his acting so bad in Ronald's mind?

"You ask Paula to come, I'll tell her... By the way, how did you like Cary Grant's movie?" Ronald ignored his complaints and checked his homework like a teacher.

"I watched it very carefully. I think it was very inspiring. Cary Grant is not an actor like Humphrey Bogart or John Wayne who relies on a certain type of role to make a living. He is excellent in all kinds of movies..."

Tom Cruise talked freely, and it seemed that he was really working hard.

"Somewhat close, I think you are very close to the real core issue..." Ronald nodded. Indeed, Cruise saw some important points. Cary Grant is an all-round player. He has appeared in comedy, romantic love, thriller suspense, and even war films.

"Just close?"

"Well, the rest can only be understood when it is actually filmed..."

Just then, Paula Wagner came over and immediately pulled Tom Cruise away after reading the outline Ronald showed him.

"I completely agree with Ronald's opinion. Don't think about it..."

Two days later, David Simkins' investigation also came out. The plot of this script is similar to the first wrongful dismissal lawsuit of this kind in the United States in many places.

Lawyer Jeffrey Powers was a lawyer who sued the famous law firm Baker McKenzie for wrongful dismissal in 1987. He died shortly after winning the case.

"Tell the screenwriter that if he doesn't admit it, the compensation he will get from the lawsuit will be deducted from his salary." Ronald also felt that adding a subtitle "based on the client" was not a big deal. It is not worth it for the screenwriter to deliberately conceal in order to highlight his ability.