Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The lights in the theater came on again, and the audience looked at each other, then began to talk in low voices, which eventually merged into a continuous background noise.

Ronald and Antonia discussed it for a while, then got up and went to the back to see what was going on. At the door of the projection room, director Alan Parker's face was frighteningly livid. In the shadow, his face looked like an amphibian, and he was angry and uttered swear words that were never repeated.

Producer David Da Silva was wiping sweat with a handkerchief. After wiping the sweat on his forehead, he turned the handkerchief over and wiped the sweat on his neck. As a result, sweat came out of his forehead again, like a sponge full of water, which would ooze out when squeezed.

"This is unacceptable. We only made 2 copies of 70 copies in total, and one copy was damaged during the first screening. You have to pay for it." Alan Parker grabbed the person in charge of the theater and began to chatter about how expensive 70 copies were.

Ronald glanced inside from the gap in the crowd. A man was sitting on the ground, covering his forehead with a towel in his hand. Blood was still oozing out, which was scary.

The man was the projectionist. Perhaps he was careless or had not received adequate training. After loading the copy onto the film barrel on top of the projector, he forgot to lock it.

After the high-speed motor was turned on, the center of gravity shifted, causing the film to be torn apart. The entire reel of film flew out and hit the wall. The axis of the film winder's center of gravity also flew out, hitting the wall alone and rebounding, injuring the projectionist's forehead.

"Now is not the time to pursue responsibility. There are nearly 1,000 viewers and guests outside. Let's think about how to show it." Ronald grabbed producer David da Silva and said in his ear.

"Yes, yes, can the film be connected? We need to continue the show." David da Silva reacted. If the premiere could not be shown, it would really be on the headlines of the newspaper tomorrow.

This kind of headline is not what movie marketing needs.

The person in charge of the cinema discussed with his men for a few words, first carried the injured projectionist out, and then replaced another projectionist to start connecting the film on the spot.

Ronald shook his head and walked back. The aisle was surrounded by audiences who came to watch the excitement.

"It's really unlucky. There was an accident at the premiere of the movie." Ronald whispered.

"No, this is a good omen." The speaker was Bert, who was also watching the fun.

"Huh?" Ronald looked up and saw Diane Lane and Bert, so he chatted with them for a few words.

"In Hollywood, a screening accident at the premiere is generally considered a great omen." Bert has been a teacher in acting training classes for many years and is quite familiar with Hollywood stories.

"The first one was Clark Gable's "It Happened One Night". There was a screening accident at the premiere. As a result, not only was the box office a big hit, but the film also won the Oscar Grand Slam. It won the five most important awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress, and Best Screenplay."

"Then there was "Gone with the Wind". It is said that there was also a screening accident at the premiere. It still holds the record for the largest number of viewers and has won four of the five major Oscars. Ronald, I heard that you are also listed as the screenwriter. I think you also have a chance to win an award."

The three of them returned to their seats with a smile.

"It was a screening accident. I guess we can start again soon." Ronald whispered to Antonia. The two held hands and waited in their seats.

Ten minutes later, the lights dimmed again. After MGM's Lion's Roar, the next film was short because of the splicing. Ronald felt that the picture jumped and skipped the subtitles of Alan Parker's work.

After the movie opened, a subtitle of "selection audition" appeared, and then the shots of the protagonists accepting the admission interview were connected.

Ronald felt that Alan Parker did not tell a complete story, nor was it a group portrait play, but interspersed with clips of various characters according to time.

The movie cut a lot of shots of Ronald's sports student participating in the art school admission interview, leaving only a dozen seconds. But it was also a complete joke, and many viewers laughed out loud.

Then there were the subtitles of "first year", "second year"... "graduation", which divided the movie into different parts in chronological order. It's a bit like a visual "Facebook", which interspersed the life clips of art school students from admission to graduation.

Ronald participated in the shooting of the entire movie, but not in the post-production. He never expected that Alan Parker would cut the whole movie into such a way that there was no complete story. Will the audience like this mosaic-style movie?

It's hard to say. According to Ronald's secret observation, at least a few song and dance segments were very exciting and the audience couldn't take their eyes off. But when the plots that exposed the dark side of society were switched, some audience members went to the bathroom one after another.

After the 2-hour and 20-minute movie was over, without Barbara Streisand taking the lead, the audience also spontaneously began to applaud and politely continued for several minutes. Ronald didn't know for a moment whether the audience applauded for the exciting plot or because the long movie was finally over.

Ronald and Antonia agreed to run to the bathroom to line up and listen to the audience's immediate feedback. Ronald was in the men's bathroom and Antonia went to the women's bathroom.

Ronald observed that most of the male audience were discussing the body of the ballet dancers, the wonderful dances, and a few nice interludes.

But no one discusses abortion, interracial couples, coercion into adult movies, the Catholic Church’s foolishness in not letting children go to the hospital and relying on prayer to heal their illnesses, these profoundly revealing social negative scenarios. They may not even be aware of the existence of these plots.

I'm afraid Alan Parker will be disappointed. What the audience loves to watch more is the explosive singing and dancing. Instead of doing this, it would be better to remove these plots and at least rate it to a PG level, with more singing and dancing, and more box office.

The queue for the women's restroom was much longer. As Ronald waited for Antonia in the aisles, he bumped into producer David da Silva, who had also come to eavesdrop on audience feedback.

"What do you think? Ronald?" David was a little nervous and asked Ronald to ease it, hoping to get a reassuring answer.

"I think the audience likes singing and dancing..." Ronald explained his observations and thoughts to da Silva. "If the negative social plots were cut out, maybe it could still be rated PG."

"No, that's not the main reason." Da Silva explained the reason for the R rating. "Several upper-body frontal nudity and the suggestion that unprotected sex among teenagers leads to abortion are moderate issues. The rating committee really rated it as serious issue. It’s a foul language.”

"What? Swear words, there is no swear words in this movie?"

"Yeah, I don't think there are a lot of bad words, but the rating committee counted a total of 12 times Shxt, 64 times Fuxk, 13 times Ahole, and 7 times bxtch."

"Can't these be deleted or re-dubbed? If it can be rated PG, there will be many more young viewers. Aren't these the main audience for this film?"

Ronald didn't understand.

"Director Allen insists, and we don't want to be in a stalemate with him too much."

Da Silva looked a little regretful, "You don't know, Alan Parker's first cut version was a full 10 hours, and MGM ordered him to cut it to less than 2 hours, and he wanted to keep the 4-hour release version. "

"No movie theater will show this... for 4 hours, right?"

"He wanted to make it into two parts, but the publisher thought it was a fantasy. After many negotiations, Allen agreed to cut it to less than 2 hours and 30 minutes. This is his bottom line. If we still want him to cut out the foul language, Then he threatened to burn the film and would rather not show it in America."

"..."

Ronald felt that the director was a little too obsessed with exposing the dark side of America. Like Roger Corman, putting these real dark sides in the background can also have the effect of revealing, and there will be more Wouldn't it be better if more people watch your movies and receive social education?

While he was thinking, Ronald heard Antonia calling for help "Ronald, Help!"

Antonia was recognized in the bathroom and was surrounded by female audience members, shouting the name of her character Hillary and asking for her autograph.

Hillary, who had never seen such a thing before, was frightened and fled quickly. In the corridor outside the bathroom, he shouted loudly for Ronald to come to the rescue.

Ronald hurried forward, protected Antonia's surroundings, and led her to the lounge behind the front desk. All the protagonists in the lounge looked disbelieving. Before the show started, ABC was just a passerby, and there were no reporters to interview.

Two and a half hours later, they could no longer walk and would be surrounded by spectators when they went out.

"Hahaha, I told you, you will become famous overnight." Diane Lane, who also hid in the lounge, was very proud of her foresight.

"So...this movie is finally done?" Ronald thought to himself.

After comforting the frightened Antonia, Ronald went out to find producer Da Silva to ask about the protagonists' evacuation arrangements. As soon as he walked out, he was surrounded by dozens of audience members. They all sighed in disappointment when they saw that he was not the leading actor.

Among the remaining people, Gene Ray was the first to react and lock the door. But he soon started dancing to celebrate his fame. Irene Kara played the piano in the lounge. They were all young people. Soon everyone realized that he was about to become famous and they all danced to celebrate.

Ronald found producer da Silva in the small VIP lounge on the other side and told the story about the leading actors being blocked in the lounge by the audience asking for autographs.

"I'm afraid they have to sign autographs for the audience. If this is avoided, the audience will be very disappointed." The speaker was Brooke Shields' mother Terry.

Da Silva was convinced and hurried out to arrange autographs and photos. He also has a long list of leading actors to line up.

"I heard from Mom, you want to ask me to shoot a clothing advertisement. Is it the kind of woolen cover that is put on the feet in the movie?" Brooke Shields' nice and clear voice came.

"No, Miss Shields, it's Calvin Klein jeans."

"Jeans?" Brooke Shields instantly lost interest.

"It's a tight-fitting style, very fashionable."

Brooke Shields regained her interest, "Mom?"

"Okay," said mother and manager Terry, "Ronald, please send some samples to my daughter first. I want size 4."

"Okay, no problem." Ronald looked Brooke Shields up and down, a girl close to 6 feet tall, wearing a size 4? Waist size is only 26? (Equivalent to the middle ruler 1 foot 9)"

"And the woolen ankle boots." Brooke Shields did not forget the fashionable equipment in the movie.

"That's called leg warmers. I'll bring them to you." Ronald said.