Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Richard sent Ronald back to the hotel and drove away.

Ronald always felt that this was a bit unreliable. As a young screenwriter who was still wet behind his ears, even if he wrote a good script, he would not be able to write a script that would immediately have the influence to alarm the Oscar-winning actress.

The film and television industry is very particular about connections and qualifications, and many producers don't know why one movie will be a hit while another similar movie won't. Most people still judge your future value based on your past success history.

Unless his screenplay is nominated for an Oscar, that's still possible.

But as a little screenwriter whom no one knows, there is no need for Ovitz to brag.

Ronald didn't think there was anything in him that Ovitz could covet, so he simply called a friend and asked.

First, he called Eddie Cohen, his advertising agent in New York.

"Have you ever heard a joke, Ronald?"

"What joke?"

“How to marry the daughter of a Standard Oil director?”

"You just need to tell the director of Mobil Oil that you want to marry her daughter, and say that you are the vice president of the World Bank. Then say that your father-in-law is the director of Mobil Oil and apply for the position of vice president of the World Bank."

Ronald laughed, "You mean, Ovitz is the young man who is looking for a job? Take my script and tell Jane Fonda that the studio liked the script and asked her to star, and then tell the studio Jane Fonda wants to film the script and ask them for investment? "

"Absolutely? Maybe Ovitz has better connections and a deeper insight into this industry, but I don't know." Eddie answered.

"Is it possible that Ovitz took a fancy to my script, then pitched it to Jane Fonda, and then waited for Jane Fonda to nod before pitching it to the studio? As he said to me, the screenwriter Priority strategy?" Ronald asked again.

"Ronnie. So which answer do you want me to tell you?"

"Hahahaha..." Ronald ended the call with a laugh.

I am also concerned and confused. If the script has a chance to be starred by a movie star, sometimes I can't think calmly.

Phone calls to Michelle Pfeiffer always go unanswered. She simply called her agent Limato directly and told his secretary that she had come to Hollywood to discuss the script with CAA.

After waiting for a long time, Limato finally called back and said that Pfeiffer was meeting with Lux's people in the past two days. The two parties might soon negotiate a contract. If Ronald could wait until the day after tomorrow, he would be free to meet.

Ronald had nothing to do in the afternoon and evening, so he called Gail, the assistant to the president of New World, and asked her to meet in the evening to catch up on old times. Then he called Jim Cameron, and the three of them ordered a few cocktails and bottles of beer in the hotel lounge, and chatted while drinking.

Cameron's follow-up exploitation film "Battle of the Stars", which features special effects photography and model photography, has been edited and is waiting to be released in September.

"This is a piece of rubbish, following the Star Wars trend. Most of the so-called 2 million budget was given to the two big-name protagonists for the film's salary. Very little money was spent on special effects. I even stole a few McDonald's dinner plates to make the spaceship. interior decoration.”

Cameron is still quick to talk and complains a lot about Roger Corman's stingy tactics.

"So the movie doesn't work well?"

"My job is to make this piece of garbage less glaring." Cameron held the mouth of the beer bottle with three fingers and poured the remaining beer into his mouth. "The final effect should be pretty good, not that bad. I thought about it. Many ways.”

"Let's talk about your fame all over the world. I saw that the movie has been released in the cinema?" Gale turned the topic to Ronald.

"Yes, the box office is average. The production cost is 8 million yuan, and it is a small-scale release. I heard from the producer that the box office in North America is less than 20 million. The cost of copy rental is probably not recovered."

"It seems like everyone is starting to calculate the total box office now, rather than the cost of copy rentals?" Gale was next to Roger Corman and was very sensitive to these business matters.

"I heard from people at the TV station that film review programs are now broadcast live on TV. Audiences don't understand the meaning of copy rental fees, so they directly quote the total weekly box office, which makes the director and producer very nervous, fearing that the numbers will not be good. It affected subsequent box office attendance.”

"Yes, many people now watch that PBS movie review show, Bald and Glasses." Ronald replied.

"Hahaha, can you give them nicknames?"

After chatting about some past events, Ronald told his two friends about the time when his script was recommended to Jane Fonda.

"That's the thing. I always feel that something is wrong with this matter, but I can't find the problem, so I ask you to help me think about it. Am I worrying too much?"

"It's hard to say, but it might be true." Gale took a sip of his cocktail. "In Hollywood, it's the male stars who really make the big money. If two or three movies in a row are blockbusters, the studio can often Ask for the sky-high price of $2 million."

"The remuneration for female stars is much less. Even if you are like Jane Fonda and have two consecutive blockbuster movies and are nominated for an Oscar, you can only get a maximum remuneration of 1 million. In short, there is gender discrimination in Hollywood. ”

"Relatively speaking, among the male and female stars that you see in the media with similar exposure, female stars are more accessible. They have higher requirements for scripts. When they see a script they like, they pay for it. It’s not impossible to talk to the screenwriter.”

"If it's Ryan O'Neal or Sylvester Stallone, I think there's probably something wrong with this matter. As for Jane, there's still some hope." Gail is relatively familiar with the inside story of Hollywood, "and Jane Fonda may remember that you belittled The Deer Hunter on TV and helped her get the Oscar for Best Actress, so she might promote you."

"Hahaha..." Cameron laughed.

Ronald had to laugh along.

"What do you think, Jim?"

"It's very simple, just go. If they're lying to you, beat up the agent. If it's true, then ask Jane Fonda out. Don't think too much, Ronnie."

"Hahaha..."

This time Ronald laughed from the bottom of his heart.

Indeed, it's useless to think too much. He doesn't have any chips in his hand. Just wait and see tomorrow.

"So will you continue to do special effects in New World next?" Ronald asked Cameron.

"No, Roger won't invest money in special effects movies." Cameron shook his head.

"Why?" Ronald expressed his confusion, "Does he not think highly of the box office of War of the Stars?"

"No, War of the Stars is very special. Before filming, he sold the overseas copyright to the industry's new upstart Orion Pictures, which is said to be enough to cover the filming cost of 2 million."

"Now he is negotiating with HBO about selling the TV copyright, and the deal should be close to 1 million US dollars." Gail added.

"Then why doesn't Roger continue?"

Gail explained to Ronald:

"The good time has passed. Both Orion and HBO are entering new markets to enrich their film libraries. The founders of Orion are several company executives fired by United Artists. Starting with Sunset Bridge, the films they made have been well received. Now they want to enter the distribution business.

And HBO is scheduled to become a 24-hour pay TV station starting next year. It needs to order a batch of films for basic broadcasting, so that Roger will have a chance to sell at a high price. After that, it depends on strength. Only movies that have outstanding box office performance in theaters have a chance to sell overseas copyrights or TV station copyrights.

In addition to the recent strike, Roger's new film plans have all stopped."

"Alas, this unfortunate strike." Ronald also sighed. He could have gone one step further and become the first assistant director of the Endless Love crew.

"What are you going to do, Jim?"

"Me?" Ronald answered, drinking the beer he had just ordered. "I'm going to work on the special effects for John Carpenter's new film Escape from New York. His film also has a low budget, and he wants to achieve the effect of a plane crashing into the twin towers of the World Trade Center on the screen. After seeing my performance in War of the Stars, he called to invite me over."

"Congratulations, Jim. Cheers!" Ronald quickly raised his beer bottle to toast his old friend.

...

"Cheers!"

At the same time, Michael Ovitz, president of CAA, and Frank Price, president of Columbia Pictures, raised champagne to greet each other.

This was the first time Price had been so happy since he took office.

Before he came to Columbia Pictures, he worked at Universal Television Network. He had made remarkable achievements during his tenure, launching the hit science fiction TV series "Battlestar Gactica" and the criminal investigation TV series "Columbo", two trump cards.

But after taking office at Columbia Pictures, he was restricted everywhere. The middle-level managers all discriminated against him because he came from the TV industry, and his will could not be implemented in many projects.

Columbia only had enough liquidity for six months, and he urgently needed to master some resources in the film industry to organize his own film projects. As long as there was a hit movie, his authority in the new position could be established and those disobedient subordinates could be severely punished.

The financing guarantee of the film project was star actors and star directors. Both of them were in the old brokerage companies in the industry, William Morris (WMA) and International Innovation Management (ICM), and Price had little influence in them.

WMA and ICM made him suffer several losses, and his projects were ranked behind other old relationship studios, so that no movie controlled by Price himself has started shooting.

Only Michael Ovitz, who was sitting opposite, represented CAA, which was also a new player in the industry. Like himself, he urgently needed to make achievements to gain the right to speak.

"So what is the budget you offered for Jane Fonda?"

"4 million," Ovitz gestured, "There are no war scenes in this movie. The biggest explosion is a grenade, and most of the scenes are about the love story between the hero and heroine, so Jane Fonda is interested."

"Too expensive." Price shook his head.

"Jane Fonda is my client. According to the rules, I have to ask all the interested parties in the eight major studios with her." Ovitz approached Price with a glass of wine and lowered his voice, "You have to offer a higher price than your peers, then I can guarantee that you can get Jane as the heroine."

"3.5 million. It's not convenient for me to approve it if it's higher. We need to discuss it at the management meeting."

"Just 3.5 million, plus give Sean Connery a leading role in a movie invested by Columbia."

"Okay, it just so happens that 'Wrong Is Right' needs a 007-style protagonist. Deal?" Price raised his glass and asked Ovitz.

"Frank, give Jane an unprecedented salary of 2 million."

"You must be kidding, Michael." Frank Price was unhappy, "This will destroy the price tacit understanding of the Big Eight, and it will be difficult for me to do it."

"But what you want is a big news, right? Mr. Price doesn't need the garbage of Columbia, and he can also call in Oscar-winning actresses to shoot big productions. This is a win-win situation, Frank, you think about it."

"Okay," Price pondered for a moment, "but you have to make sure I get the project and don't let other studios grab it."

"Don't worry, I'm a professional. The movie 'My Brother's Keeper' is yours. I never lie."

Ovitz raised his glass to greet the president of Columbia.