Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"God bless you, your brother didn't sue that poor Don Marsh, he's just an ordinary news anchor in St. Louis..."

"My mother Barbara scolded him, this time it was my father who personally vetoed his nonsense, hehehe..."

One month after "The Assumption of the Dragon" was released, George and his wife, who lost the election, finally had time to deal with the rogue actor Steve Siegel and the distributor Warner Brothers, who they (especially Barbara) thought ruined their business before the election.

Barbara instructed her youngest son to preside over the lawsuit against the film company for using their news images as film clips without permission.

But George Jr. was a fund director who had made achievements in Hollywood investment. He knew that such a thing would make Hollywood collectively launch a more fierce attack on George, who was about to step down, so he persuaded his mother not to sue.

He also consulted Ronald's opinion for Barbara's reference. Ronald proposed to adjust the scope and direction of the lawsuit...

There are mainly two key points. The first is that the use of news clips in the film is within the scope of fair use tacitly accepted by the industry. If you want to sue, it is best to seize the news film of Qianlong Shengtian, which was not broadcast to ordinary audiences in the mass media, so as to bite the scope that does not meet the fair use.

The second is not to target Hollywood, but to target the Navy News Office that provided the news film that should not be released to the studio. Hollywood and the media are very eager to defend the First Amendment, which is their lifeline. If you sue for this, it is equivalent to pushing all Hollywood studios into a hostile situation.

But Barbara hesitated. Her husband's defeat this time was largely related to the betrayal of the military. Now pointing the finger at the Navy is not necessarily a good choice for a general who has one or two months left in his term and has already formed a handover team.

So Barbara found another vent, that is, an innocent local news station host who dubbed the news film.

Of course, Ronald persuaded her to stop this attempt in the end. George Sr. personally rejected his youngest son Jeb's approach, called Ronald to express his gratitude, and invited him to visit the White House as an official guest before he left office.

Barbara also warmly invited Ronald to go and play once when she was still the hostess. The last time Ronald went, he was not the guest of honor. This time he would be able to go to the White House and become an official and recorded guest of the White House Press Office, which would go down in history.

After Ronald agreed, he put down the phone and informed George Sr. They talked about a lot of things, and Jeb was still immature. It was clear that the Navy had embarrassed George Sr. in this matter. From several signs, it can be seen that the military is determined to teach anyone who advocates cutting military spending a lesson.

First, the male protagonist Steve Siegel has always been famous for his iconic ponytail, but he cut it off in this movie, which complies with the Navy's regulations that hair length should not exceed four inches.

Second, the radio conversation of the FA18 fighter jet flying over the battleship Missouri in the movie was actually the real radio conversation of two F14 fighter jets intercepting and shooting down two Libyan MiG-23 fighter jets in 1989 (the real-world Top Gun battle example).

George Sr. was of course very clear about this. He began to adjust the personnel of the national security team and the economic team before leaving office. This kind of personnel adjustment is usually not made by the president before leaving office.

This adjustment is meaningless because the president-elect is from another party and he will have to change people when he comes. It is clear that it is some public humiliation of internal traitors.

However, it is said that George Sr.'s psychology has been severely hit, and he has signs of suspected moderate depression. George Jr. said that Barbara called him a few days ago and told him that his father cried every night and was in a very bad mood.

Only when he met some old friends did George Sr. return to his normal state as the president, so George Jr. also hoped that Ronald could visit the White House and bring some good memories to his father's last years in the White House.

After agreeing to go through it, Ronald went back to edit "Sugar Coated Trap". There was a lot of material for this movie, and when it was three hours, a bottleneck appeared. If he cut further, he would have difficulty choosing which part to cut.

For this reason, Ronald specially invited Walter Murch to help. Hearing that his editing disciple Ronald encountered technical difficulties and received a reward equivalent to three times the market price, Murch happily came to Los Angeles to help Ronald solve his problems.

"This is the kind of situation I said, when making Italian steak or Hungarian borscht, you must use a low heat to reduce the sauce. Most of the films you shot before were commercial productions, with intense dramatic conflicts and clear three-act plots. This time, this movie has to reduce the sauce slowly... Look here..."

Walter Murch was very happy that Ronald was finally no longer a pure commercial film director. This movie has some European director style. Some details are just the tip of the iceberg, revealing a deep tendency to express real society.

If the film was to be shot in depth, it could probably be four hours long, but Ronald just touched on some parts and left a lingering aftertaste, which gave him a strong feeling of helping Coppola edit The Godfather or Apocalypse Now.

Ronald's movies are no longer movies that closely revolve around the core plot, but each subplot has the potential to be extended and made into another movie. Many plots can be understood this way or that way...

This kind of extensibility and ambiguity of performance is obviously a manifestation of the director's creative ability. Of course, this also brings about the difficulty of editing. How to choose various details without damaging the rich connotation of the film will further test the editing level.

"Oh, this demonstration is really interesting..." Ronald felt that Walter Murch was teaching him a lesson again. He cut off a second here and a dozen frames there, slowly grinding, slowly The soaking is like a sauce for cooking, slowly becoming just the right rich flavor.

The only disadvantage is that it takes a long time to adjust. Ronald feels that his creative ideas are also opened up by this editing method.

…

"Jean Claude...Cindy..."

At the same time, the new film produced by Ronald, "Street Fighter" has also completed its preview and is rushing to be released during the Christmas period.

The film was released two weeks in advance, with small-scale screenings in Los Angeles and New York, hoping to attract enough fans of the game to boost critical acclaim from its first audiences.

This year is a small year for the artistic achievements of Hollywood films, but the box office achievements are not small. Last year's phenomenon of many films rushing to be released at the end of the year has not happened again. Instead, two films in a row exceeded the $30 million mark in the first weekend, giving a rare boost to the box office at the end of the year.

One is the earliest released "Bra Stokers Dracu". Coppola finally found the overlap between his artistic orientation and the audience. It was released in 2,400 theaters in the first week and grossed 30 million box office results.

Since entering the 1980s, he has been wearing the hat of box office poison for many years, and there is a tendency to take it off.

Film critics also specifically mentioned the unique visual style of this movie, especially the combination of lightning and thunder with a strong impressionistic style, which made audiences who like Gothic style extremely happy. Director Tim Burton, who previously directed two Batman movies, has really cultivated a group of movie lovers of this style. Therefore, this movie set a record for the first weekend box office of a movie opening in November in history.

The other one is "Home Alone 2 - Lost in New York", which will be released a week later. Poor Kevin accidentally got separated from his family at the airport on a special flight because he didn't want to go to Miami with his family to spend a Christmas without a Christmas tree and snow. , a person went to New York to spend Christmas, and met the two stupid thieves from the first part.

After helping the store owner defeat two stupid thieves who were trying to rob the toy store, Kevin's family also rushed to New York. Knowing that Kevin liked Christmas trees, the family found Kevin effortlessly under the largest Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center.

This sequel movie immediately broke the short-lived record of "400 Years of Mystery". With only 2,200 theaters, it broke the box office record for a movie opening in November with 31 million.

With such a box office king dominating the screen, the box office of "The Bodyguard" released at the same time seems to be relatively average. The box office of more than 10 million yuan is good or bad.

Fortunately, "400 Years Old" didn't have enough stamina. Only "Home Alone 2"'s second-week box office remained strong at 28 million, giving Ronaldo's "Street Fighter" a little room for potential.

"Street Fighter, the first movie adapted from a game, is loved by fans. Supermodels helped dazzle everyone at the premiere..."

Fortunately, real money was invested in marketing funds, and all the guest models and protagonists were present. The premiere in Los Angeles became a big gathering for comics and cospy lovers.

Outside the premiere venue, Daydream also applied for a special area for them to show themselves. At one time, seven or eight Chun-Li, and three or four Long and Ken, all posed there, showing off the premiere The momentum is very hot.

Even Jean-Claude Van Damme, who attended the premiere, specially changed into camouflage clothes, wore a blue beret, and many actors, took photos with fans, and signed autographs on their bodies. Everyone had a great time. .

"The premiere of Street Fighter in Los Angeles has become a grand event for game fans..."

Ronald watched the local news happily at home. Unexpectedly, this premiere was not only included in the entertainment news, but also in the social news. The LAPD did not know that the land that Daydream applied for was for Cospy, so it did not have enough police personnel.

Daydream didn't know that there were so many enthusiastic game fans and movie fans, and there were also arcade game enthusiasts among the passers-by. Seeing this situation, they immediately blocked the road, forcing the LAPD to increase their strength, and then Traffic was diverted and off-site activities ended early.

Because the activity content applied for did not match the actual number of people present, Daydream also received a ticket from the LAPD. However, it was only a few thousand dollars in exchange for national television media coverage. When Ronald signed to pay the fine at home, he called it a bargain.

"When it premieres in New York next week, you need to apply fully. The NYPD is much tougher than the LAPD." Ronald did not forget to tell Michelle Cannold.

"No problem, we have learned our lesson. The New York event will be held indoors. We have rented the largest indoor cinema. The Street Fighter Cospy group we found at the San Diego Comic-Con will be indoors, so there will be no traffic jams. We have enough media power in New York, and indoor events can ensure that the four major newspapers in New York will report on this event the next day..."

Cannold was well prepared.

"Very good, I will arrive in New York on Saturday morning, attend the premiere, and then go to the White House to attend the invited event."

"The old President George and the incoming President William held their first meeting after the election in the White House. The meeting was held in the Oval Office to discuss the power transition between the two presidents. William's friend Vince Foster also participated in the meeting. He will take over the organization and management of the travel arrangements for the incoming President and his entourage. This includes coordinating transportation, accommodation, security measures and itinerary..."

The TV station broadcast the scene of the old George and William shaking hands in the Oval Office. This is a reserved program after the election results of the president are released and the White House has a new owner, symbolizing the smooth transfer of the highest power in the United States.

No matter how the two attacked each other in the election, they should show respect for traditions and customs at this time. The election is over, now is the time for unity.

"From today, the CIA's intelligence briefings and the National Security Advisor's briefings will also be open to the president-elect. America has officially entered the handover period..."

"Old George is really a little haggard. Little George said he was depressed. It may be true..." Ronald looked at the picture on TV and said to Diane who was packing with him.

"Isn't it? I remember when he was elected four years ago, he was very graceful. Why do he have so many more wrinkles on his face now?"

Diane was also invited to attend the White House dinner. This may be the last time the current first couple holds a formal White House dinner. I heard that many old friends who have worked for the White House in the past twelve years will attend.

"President George, Mexican President Carlos Salinas, and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney signed the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in Mexico City, marking the conclusion of this important trade agreement... The signed agreement will then need to be approved by the legislature or parliamentary branch of each country before it can finally take effect..."

Another day passed, and George was still seizing the last moment to make a series of decisions, striving to complete more of the things he originally wanted to complete in the second four years.

This "North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA)" is an important agreement he plans to promote. In 1988, when he took office, he signed a free trade agreement with Canada. When negotiating a similar agreement with Mexico in 1990, Canada was afraid that the conditions given to Mexico by America were too good, so it also strongly requested to participate in it and become a three-party agreement...

After two years of negotiations, George didn't want to wait any longer. In the last two months of his term, he made exchanges and compromises, striving to sign this agreement during his term and become his political legacy.

"Aha, welcome, Ronald, Diane."

When Ronald and Diane arrived at the door of the West Wing of the White House in their best clothes, they found that George Jr. was already waiting for them there.

"George...", Ronald went forward to greet them.

"My father is meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev, and he will have a phone call with President Boris in a while, but he specifically asked me to come and greet you, he has something to talk to you privately..."