Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Hi, are you the stunt pilot in Top Gun?"

Kevin Costner boarded Ronald's private plane, and they went to Tokyo with the crew to attend the premiere of "The Bodyguard" and the release ceremony of the soundtrack.

"That's me..." Bozo still looked very cool, wearing sunglasses and just answered lightly.

"You are so awesome, can I go into the cockpit to take a look?"

"Sure, come with me." Bozo got Ronald's permission with his eyes, and then took Costner in to take a look.

"This plane is really comfortable, oh, I like it..." Whitney Houston, who boarded the plane later, was also very happy. She was wearing black and touched it here and there. The leather seat felt very good, "It's a pity that the color is not bright enough..."

"Wait for yours to arrive and you will have a satisfactory color." Ronald knew that the aesthetics of black people were different from those of white people, and they preferred the color with high color saturation.

"Yeah, baby, yeah..." After a few rhythms in black music, Whitney Houston felt very comfortable immediately.

Both big stars knew that Bodyguard had great box office potential, and they began to plan their own private jet plans. Only the latest Gulfstream model that could fly intercontinental flights would be prestigious.

Ronald was still the same. After the plane entered a stable flight, he covered himself with the blanket that the stewardess had prepared long ago and went to sleep. Only Costner and Whitney Houston were discussing their experience of buying a plane.

The two became friends during the filming of "Bodyguard". Coupled with Ronald's business operation, this movie, which was not of the top quality, gained a high degree of recognition in the overseas market with the blessing of Whitney's theme song and the scenery of the location chosen by Costner.

The plot is not complicated, the action scenes are exciting, and there are handsome men and beautiful women. The final theme song is very infectious, giving people a feeling that the whole movie exists to set off this scene.

Compared with A-level productions where you can't guess the plot if you don't understand the lines, overseas distributors actually like movies like Bodyguard more. Even the videotape distribution is well received.

…

“Your new phone, listen here, talk here…”

“I’ve been doing this for years.”

Ronald saw the screen again in his dream. An old man in a red car rental company uniform was explaining to a handsome guy how to use a mobile phone with a big “Erickson” logo on it…

Hey, isn’t this the Q in 007 and the actor of James Bond that I dreamed of last time?

This time he dreamed of the 007 movie again. Ronald quickly discovered a significant difference, that is, there were significantly more product placements. In addition to the phone called Erickson, there was also Bond’s car, which changed from Aston Martin to BMW. After opening the door, there was a voice prompt with a clear German accent.

The movie I dreamed of last time had a lot of B-level textures, which were swept away here. The setting, lighting, and lens use were all big production standards.

Ronald sighed. It seems that the last 007 movie probably had a good box office. Is this reviving the 007 series? But to be honest, the actor who plays 007, Pierce Brosnan, does have a kind of unhurried British demeanor. In the fierce fighting scenes, his hairstyle is also meticulous...

"Then there is the car remote control function that I am very proud of. Press twice, one, two,... and then move your finger on the touchpad very slowly..."

The old actor who plays Q used Ericsson's mobile phone to start the BMW sedan. The car started the engine with a sound, then rushed forward and stopped. The two trademarks were given a close-up, and Ronald laughed when he saw it. It seems that the box office is really good and the impact is great. This level of sponsorship must make a lot of money. It seems that this is a good idea for making 007 series movies.

"It is very difficult to drive with this remote control. It requires..." Q was still demonstrating, but when he reversed, he hit the shed behind with a bang.

"Let's see how she responds to my touch..." Pierce Brosnan, who plays 007, took the mobile phone remote control, accelerated sharply, and the BMW sedan rushed out quickly.

With a series of squeaking sounds of tires rubbing against the ground, the BMW turned around outside, then quickly turned around and drove towards Bond and Q. The camera cut to a view from inside the car, as if it was an unmanned car, and drove towards Bond and Q.

Finally, at the critical moment, it stopped in front of Bond and Q's feet. Ronald understood that this was a shot shot from a borrowed position. In fact, the car and the actors were quite far apart, and the perspective illusion made the audience feel as if they were on a straight driving route.

"Oh, this BMW car is just like this even if it is used in a commercial, and 007 is the protagonist of your commercial..." Ronald suddenly felt that a new window had been opened. It seemed that 007 did have a lot of places to attract investment.

"I work at Xinhua News Agency..."

"I don't remember inviting you..."

"I have to be honest, I sneaked in..."

"You are very capable and can be my company's representative in China."

The movie jumped to the scene where Bond entered a banquet hosted by a media tycoon, Carver. Ronald saw a Chinese face and had such a conversation with Carver, who looked like a villain.

"What's going on? You can actually film such a plot?" Ronald himself was not sure. Hua Guo even had trouble filming a panda, but he could actually have such a plot?

He vaguely remembered that this actress seemed to have appeared in Jackie's movie, and she was very good at kung fu. Could it be that the future 007 Bond girl will be of Chinese descent? Moreover, that news agency is generally considered to be one of the cover identities of Chinese agents in Western society.

"Huh? It's not impossible..." Ronald thought for a while. This plot is very interesting. Will it mean that there will be more openness in the field of literature and art in the future?

At the same time, Bond went upstairs and said something to a lady with her back to the camera. "I've been wondering what it would be like to see you again..."

Then the noble lady turned around, she was graceful and luxurious, and a large diamond necklace around her neck also showed her identity as the wife of the media tycoon Carver.

"Pa..." She slapped Bond on the face.

"Well, now I know what it feels like," Bond joked to himself.

"HolyShxt, what is going on? In the 007 movie, the Bond girl is actually married?" Ronald didn't understand. In fact, there are many taboos in Hollywood filming, especially 007, which represents Britain to some extent. Cultural movies cannot feature plots.

For example, Bond can have many girlfriends, but he cannot be openly married. Bond villains can be bad, but they can't directly name a country. This movie is such a breakthrough, and it also involves that country. Is the world after the end of the Cold War really a unified society?

The scenes in the dream were constantly fast-forwarding, and Ronald could not remember much of it, but some particularly strange places still left a deep impression on him. For example, Mrs. Carver's Bond girl actually reunited with Bond later, and then was killed by someone sent by her husband. For example, the Chinese Bond girl is actually better than Bond, and for a while it was unclear who was the protagonist.

The keyboard is all in Chinese, similar to the scene in the Xiangjiang action movie where you ride a motorcycle to the second floor, there is a Chinese villain, and a fighter pilot flying a MiG aircraft. Ronald couldn't help but feel that the scale was very large, and the world view in the future seemed to be undergoing rapid changes and integration...

"Ronald...Ronald..."

Ronald spent the final battle in this daze, and then was woken up by Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston.

"Ah? Are we already there?"

"Yes, I envy you for your good sleep. During my concerts, I sometimes have to use medicine to help me fall asleep." Whitney Houston looked at Ronald with a smile.

"I have my secret, which is to watch a movie, video tape, TV station, anything in advance. Watch it immersedly, consume a lot of emotions, and you will fall asleep immediately..." Ronald thanked him. The two of them then looked around for black tea to wake up.

This time Richard did not accompany him and stayed in the country to help with the preparations for the TV station. The temporary visitor was Kevin Hooven. This guy joined Ronald's group and is now the Tom Cruise couple. One of his agents was very attentive to Ronald, but he didn’t know Ronald’s habit of sleeping on transoceanic planes, so he didn’t bring him black tea immediately.

"It is very expensive to park the plane at Tokyo Narita Airport. This is one of the busiest airports in the world. The parking fee is very expensive. If you are not ready to take off at any time, I can fly to Osaka or Nagoya for such a parking fee. You can charge a lot less.”

As he was about to get off the plane, Ronald was stopped by pilot Bozo. Land in Tokyo is expensive, and airport expansion is faced with many obstacles. So far, only half of the expansion needs can be met. Therefore, the cost of parking a private jet in Tokyo is several times higher than in America, which is vast and sparsely populated.

"This is robbery..." Ronald looked at the charges on the receipt. The price was almost enough for him to build an airstrip in his hometown of Staten Island...

"So, Nagoya or Osaka?" Bozo asked. Many private jets will encounter this problem, and everyone tries to stop as little as possible.

"No, I know a place. It's free." Ronald picked up the contact card old George gave him and dialed the number of the liaison officer at the US military base in Japan.

"Welcome you and two famous stars to Tokyo. We have only one request. Can you please come and show us a movie called Bodyguard?"

The base's liaison officer made a request, and they could open the base to Ronald's special plane for free, and they could park it as long as they wanted. It would take more than half a year to wait for the copy of Bodyguard to arrive in the military camp. Being able to screen it basically simultaneously with the domestic version is a huge boost to the morale of the soldiers.

Of course, Ronald readily agreed to the request. Costner and Whitney Houston also offered to go to the base to meet the boys, spending more than ten minutes signing autographs for them, and taking photos with several outstanding soldiers.

Neither of the two stars expected that Ronald's path would be so extensive that it would even involve the U.S. military stationed in Japan. Apart from envy, I also want to establish a good connection with them. After all, there are US military bases in many places around the world. This is a good idea for Houston, who holds concerts around the world, and Costner, who also has appeal in overseas markets. The door of convenience.

…

"Ronald-san... you've worked so hard..." Sony's Ohga-san also came to meet them and treated them to authentic Japanese sushi. In addition, Sony's staff was very tactful. Knowing the relationship between producer Ronald and the company, they took special care of the organizer of the Japanese Film Awards and included "Bodyguard" in the nominations for the "Best Foreign Language Film Award" which is known as the "Japanese Oscars" and is about to begin.

Kevin Costner was really happy during the dinner. He has always had a special love for Japanese culture. The script of "Bodyguard" is, to some extent, an adaptation of Kurosawa Akira's "Yojimbo". He also added a plot in the movie theater to show Kurosawa's masterpiece as a tribute.

Kurosawa Akira's long-term assistant Teruyo Nogami also came this time. She brought a letter from Kurosawa Akira to Ronald. Because of the filming of "Unending", the old man Akira Kurosawa was overworked and is now recuperating in the hospital.

Ronald admired his fighting spirit of still filming movies at over 80. He opened the letter, which contained Kurosawa's handwriting. Ms. Nogami translated it for him. It was Kurosawa's words that he would entrust Ronald with the script of his "Runaway Train" and the authorization letter for a series of copyrights of his future movies in America.

Kurosawa knew that his daughter was a qualified film costume designer, but his son was really useless, so he wanted to leave something for them. Knowing that Ronald had made great contributions to promoting Japanese culture in Hollywood and had distribution channels for videotapes, he asked Ronald to help with some of the content he had copyrights for.

Although these movies are classics, most of the copyrights are in the hands of film companies, and such classic foreign language films may not be easy to sell in the videotape market. Only people like Ronald can do it. In this way, if there are some sales, then his son and daughter can also share some benefits.

"Please tell Mr. Kurosawa, I will do it..." Ronald was ready to go back and discuss with several fans of Kurosawa, Spielberg, Coppola, Scorsese, Lucas and others, and ask them to come forward to do some publicity.

"Please..." To some extent, Teruyo Nogami may be the person who understands Kurosawa's film ideas the most. She is very talkative as long as someone respects Kurosawa. Kevin Costner talked to her very enthusiastically and told a few jokes about Kurosawa's movies, which made Costner say that the trip was worthwhile.

On the other hand, Columbia Records also gave Whitney very high courtesy. Several famous Japanese idol artists also came to the dinner, just like fans, asking for Houston's autograph and taking photos, acting like an ordinary fan.

"I didn't expect that I would be more popular in Japan than in China." Whitney Houston exclaimed.

"It's like this, Japanese people respect the top figures of America more than we do in China. The last time MJ held a concert here, it was even crazier than in China... And that Tyson, forget it, he lost..."

"I want to hold a concert here..." Whitney Houston couldn't help but start dreaming of being surrounded by tens of thousands of fans on the stage, which was really intoxicating.

"Ah, Whitney is coming to Tokyo for a concert..." Those idol artists, not knowing whether they really admired her, sang two lines of the lyrics of "I will always love you", which immediately made those idol artists intoxicated...

The atmosphere was set here, and Whitney Houston immediately decided to prepare a global concert with the theme of "Bodyguard". Tommy Mottola, the president of Columbia Records, also achieved his goal and quickly asked Arista Records to start building a team and stage design for the global tour.

This movie unexpectedly made the sales of the soundtrack far exceed the new album of Whitney Houston that the record company originally promoted, and it gained global popularity. Mottola, who did it by accident, now looks at Ronald's operation at the time and has the ability to predict the future, and admires him very much.

After attending the premiere and a series of promotional activities, the Bodyguard crew flew to Europe again. The first stop will be London, where the royal premiere will be held, and Ronald will also go to inspect the Starlight Cinema Line that was originally acquired by Minahan's cousin Yoram.

During this period, EMI Cannon's financial situation had major problems again, and it was preparing to sell all its assets at a bargain price. Ronald also came to see the situation on behalf of Hollywood Cinemas.

After the trip to London, the crew will go to Berlin to participate in the screening of the film festival, just in time to see the entry of AngLee's new film "The Wedding Banquet". AngLee had just finished editing before the competition with a traditional editing machine, and the copy was still wet before going to Berlin.

...

"Daydream One, you can take off... I wish you all the best..." The special plane carrying the crew began to fly to London again.

"You're not sleeping again?" Whitney Houston decided to start the tour, and the whole person was in an excited state, and Kevin Costner's "The Bodyguard" won the Best Foreign Language Film at the Japanese Film Awards, and he was also there to discuss with his assistant how to add marketing to add this award to the poster.

Only Ronald put on the eye mask again and pulled up the blanket, "Ah, yes, I have to dream..." After saying that, he adjusted the seat and fell asleep.

…

"Ronald, Ronald Lee, Li-san, what do you call him? Yes, Ronald-san, yes, I'm his agent Richard, I have something urgent to contact him."

At this time, in Sony's office in Tokyo, a staff member who participated in the reception of Ohga's office suddenly received an international long-distance call from Richard.

"Sorry, Ronald Sang has left on his private plane... No, his plane is parked at the US military base, and we don't have a dedicated telephone line to contact them. Satellite phone? I'm afraid it won't work, because our satellite phone standard in Japan is different from yours. Only the private planes of the president and the chairman are equipped with different satellite phone equipment. But I can help you say hello to the London office and let them find him at the airport?"

"Shxt!" Richard hung up the phone forcefully, "What should I do?"

Sitting in the office with him were Ronald's TV director Ed Bastian, Ronald's personal lawyer Lindsay Doll, and personal accountant Lawrence.

They sat in a circle, looking at Richard and looking at each other in bewilderment. Finally, Lindsay Doll, who had the longest relationship with Ronald, spoke up, "Richard, you are his agent, haven't you heard him say anything about this?"

"It seems that we have to notify his family. I'll call his aunt, Lawrence, you call his cousin, Richard, his wife Diane... If you have any news, call back to inform Lindsay, you stay here to guard the center... Also, contact that former political consultant Roger Ailes, if you have any political questions, we will need his answers..." Among the few people, Ed Bastien, the TV station director with the best crisis handling ability, spoke up and told everyone not to sit and watch, but to do what they can do first.

"Diane, this is Richard. I have something important to ask you. Yes, let's switch to the confidential line first, the red landline..."

"Donna, this is Lawrence. Are you in Long Island? Renaissance Fund, OK, I'll take note. I'll come to you. It's very important."

Several people started to make calls, and Ed Bastian took a bag of premium coffee, and without waiting for the ferry to Staten Island, he rented a helicopter and flew directly to the town of Totville, the door of Ronald's aunt Karen.

"Ding Dong..."

"Ed, why are you here?" Aunt Karen saw Ronald's colleague and opened the door to let him in.

"I want to order some baked cookies. Our company is going to do an event with NBC. I suddenly think that the best gift is private baked cookies. Many senior executives will bring their children here, and they will definitely like it..."

Ed smiled and served the coffee, and then the two went to the living room one after the other.

Ed Bastian immediately stopped Aunt Karen who was about to get the cookies, "Karen, I have something very important to ask you. I can't contact Ronald who is on the transatlantic flight now. You must tell me the truth."

"What is it?" Aunt Karen saw Ed Bastian's serious expression.

Ed Bastian asked almost word by word, "Does Ronald's father or grandfather have Chinese ancestry?" Then he looked at Aunt Karen's expression, trying to get some additional clues.

"Of course not, where did you get this strange idea?" Aunt Karen responded with a stunned expression...

"It seems that she is not talking nonsense..." Ed Bastian breathed a sigh of relief, "Someone wants to spread rumors about Ronald. I got the news from my colleagues in advance, so I came to you to verify it."

"No, of course not, puff..." Aunt Karen felt that this rumor was very low-level. Ronald looked like the typical first batch of immigrants in the thirteen states of New England.

"Very good, that's good news. I'll call Richard." Bastian quickly called back to the office. "Aunt Karen's reaction is very telling. It seems we don't have to worry about this rumor... We just need to focus on dealing with the other rumor. Richard, I think you should take the Concorde to London first and contact Ronald as soon as possible. There are some things we need his authorization and relationships that he can use..."