Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"That's Martin Sheen's eldest son, Emilio Estevez, but his scenes were cut in the end." A few hours later, at the dinner table in Walter Merzi's house, he answered Ronald's question.

"Why do they have different last names?" Ronald took the coffee handed to him by Walter's wife Angie and took a sip, "Thank you, Mrs. Merzi."

"Call me Angie, Ronald. Walter told me last time when he came back from Los Angeles that there was finally someone who understood his editing theory. We have been talking about your coming these two days."

"Thank you for the dinner, Angie. This is the best meal I have had in the West. I brought gifts for the children."

"I'm glad you can get used to British food." Angie took the Polaroid camera, leg warmers, building blocks and other gifts suitable for boys and girls of different ages prepared by Ronald, and was very grateful for Ronald's thoughts.

Angie is British. She followed Walter Merzi and married to California. She is a nurse and takes good care of the family. So she went back to take care of the four children, and Ronald stayed in the living room to continue chatting with Walter.

"Martin Sheen is Latino. When he entered the industry, he didn't want his ethnicity and beliefs to affect his acting career, so he used an Anglo-Saxon surname - Sheen. However, his eldest son Emilio didn't want to inherit this stage name and used his original Latino name."

"Then he is very strong-willed?"

"Martin told me when he was dubbing his monologue for the movie that he gave up his Latino surname because of pressure and felt uncomfortable all the time, so he still admired his son's decision."

"So that's it." Since Ronald learned about the racial quotas in the movie last time, he understood the idea that minority actors didn't want to be categorized. Emilio seemed very confident in his acting skills and was not afraid that Latinos would affect his star path.

"Since you won the Oscar, you have a lot of work now, right?" Ronald thought that Merzi had a lot of work orders now, and he was afraid that he would not have more time to teach him.

"On the contrary, I am very busy, but I am only doing some odd jobs like mixing and recording. I have never done any sound design work that takes charge of the entire film."

"Why is that? Didn't the Oscars recognize your achievements? Why would no one ask you to be responsible for the entire film?"

"This is the Oscar curse."

...

"Jane, don't worry. All the studios' bids will be directly sent to this office by fax. We just need to wait here." Ovitz was in the president's office of CAA, trying to make Jane Fonda less nervous.

"I have experience, Michael. After I won the Best Actress Award in 1971, I was cursed by the Oscars for three years. Two consecutive films only made 200,000 at the box office. Although the box office of China Syndrome was okay this time, it was only because of the coincidence of the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island. I am very worried about the box office performance of Golden Pond and the next movie."

"This is why I insist that all studios only have one chance to bid, Jane. Don't let them think you are a premium star." Ovitz told Jane Fonda about his considerations.

"I personally think the so-called Oscar curse is actually because the market will give the winner an overly high price after winning the Oscar.

Often only those laymen will pay such a price to invite the new best actor and actress. Laymen do not understand production, and their judgment is flawed, which often leads to the award-winning actors taking on films that have consecutive poor box office results."

"Think about the movies you failed to make over the years, Jane. First it was A Doll's House, and then All Is Well directed by the hairy man Godard. These were not projects favored by the big studios. So this time we must make sure that the big studios are really optimistic about your performance in the movie to bring in box office, and then invest in the project, rather than gambling that you are the only selling point in the whole movie.

I never put down your film "We don't want them to bid against each other and reduce other production budgets. As long as they can respect your status as a queen of the screen, we can choose the one with the highest price."

"So how much do you think they can offer for the script, project, director, and my participation?"

"It's hard to say. From what I've communicated with them, they are willing to pay you an unprecedented high price, but it's hard to say what they are willing to pay for the script and director. In their eyes, only you have star status and are the only bankable asset in this project."

The so-called bankable is a high-quality asset recognized by the bank, a guarantee of box office success, and collateral for loans. The manager of the bank's loan department has no idea about filming. Only if the bankable assets in their eyes agree to participate in the film project, will they approve the filming financing loan.

There are many kinds of bankable assets, such as directors who have made consecutive hit movies, top male stars, or gold medal agents with a series of successful resumes. Jane Fonda is one of the few female stars who can compete with male stars and is regarded as a bankable asset by the bank.

"It's started," the secretary pointed at the fax machine and said.

"Squeak...squeak..." The fax machine began to ring with difficulty, and one quotation after another was faxed in from the five major studios.

"You are a professional, Ovitz. We hope that no matter who it is, my IPC Films will have the right to participate in investment. We will reinvest Jane's salary into film production, jointly participate in investment, and at the same time enjoy a corresponding share of the total box office. Divide."

Jane Fonda's producer said from the sidelines.

After years of experience, Jane Fonda has long understood the various ways of playing Hollywood. This time I got a guarantee contract to ensure a guaranteed harvest in the event of drought and flood, and immediately started working on movies again in pursuit of greater profits.

Of course, this is also a sign that she and the producer have confidence in Ronald's script and the director's control. Otherwise, they could just get paid and leave.

"Fox 2.8 million, Orion 2.9 million, Warner Bros. 3 million..." Ron Meyer collected the faxes one by one and reported each company's quotation.

Jane Fonda turned back and discussed quietly with the producer that the price was unsatisfactory.

"Paramount 3.2 million..." The secretary didn't wait for the last few lines of the fax to be sent, and hurriedly pulled the quotation page from the fax machine and handed it to Ovitz.

"Where's Colombia's offer?" Ovitz was also a little anxious. Don't go wrong at the critical moment.

"Squeak..." The fax machine began to spit out white paper again. There were so many faxes this time that the secretary cut off the long roll of paper that was flowing to the floor. Then wait in front of the fax machine, and once the fax has enough content, take it over and show it to everyone.

"Are these all revisions to the script?" Jane Fonda took the fax from Ovitz, flipped through it roughly, and exchanged glances with the producer.

"Yes, Mr. Price, the president of Columbia, was originally a script editor and reviewer for CBS TV. His professional opinions are very valuable." Ron Meyer, one of the partners of CAA, added next to him.

"The quotation is here..." The secretary quickly handed the last fax to Ovitz, and Ovitz motioned for her to give it directly to Jane Fonda.

"The total project purchase cost is 3.65 million, including Jane Fonda's guaranteed payorpy of 2 million, and the script purchase is 350,000..." Jane and the producer quickly browsed, "Colombia will invest another 6.35 million in production costs, with a total production budget of 1,000- 12 million.”

"This 2 million is the quota for your IPC company, Jane." Ovitz pointed to the last line of handwritten numbers. There was a pen, and after the printed number of 10 million, the words "12 million" were handwritten.

"We call Mr. Frank Price, the president of Columbia." Ovitz directed his secretary to answer the phone.

"I'll inform the losers." Ron Meyer took the initiative to inform the bad news.

"Mr. Price," Ovitz greeted the other party first, "Congratulations on winning 'My Brother's Protector'

"Hahaha... It should be congratulations to all of us." Frank Price's laughter came from the loudspeaker, "Is Jane here? I have left an investment quota of 2 million US dollars for your ipc."

"I saw it, Frank. Thank you for your generosity." Jane Fonda decided to invest after discussing with the producer, "ipc will invest 2 million."

"This will give Columbia more confidence. Listen, Michael, now the project is ready for formal signing. We are ready to book a schedule for the summer of 2082. If you have no objections, we can start the project promotion plan."

"No problem, I got a strike exemption and I'm going to shoot 'On Golden Pond' right away. When the camera shuts down in two months, we can set the filming schedule."

"That's just right. We can take advantage of this time to make some modifications and refinements to the script."

"I've seen your comments Frank, let Ronald revise the draft carefully. Who do you have for the leading actor?"

"This is also a question I want to ask you, Jane. The interaction between the male and female protagonists determines the success of the movie..."

"Have Richard call Ronald and let him know that his script has been sold, but keep it quiet and wait for our promotion to start."

While listening to the call, Ovitz turned his head and whispered to his secretary.

…

"So this is what the curse of the Oscars means. If you win the award, you won't be able to get good projects." Ronald nodded.

"Yes, Ronald. I'm telling you, if you care about how many good movies you make in your career and not about fame, you'd better not win an Oscar, just get an Oscar nomination." Walter Mersey said.

"Why?"

"Oscar nominations can already prove that you are the top in the industry, and employers will appreciate you. But Oscar awards have another meaning. Employers will always worry about whether your price is exaggerated and whether your temper is greater. , have you become so self-inflated that you don’t listen to your boss’s opinions?”

"So that's it? But I don't think you have any signs of self-aggrandizement?"

"I have nothing to say about this. Sometimes things don't need to actually happen, but what everyone thinks will happen to you. Perceptions will replace the facts."

"Then what are your plans now?" Ronald couldn't help but worry about Walter Mersey.

"Usually, it takes three years to be unlucky after winning an Oscar. But I plan to use these three years to transform into a director. I wrote a script about the adventures of an archaeologist in Egypt. I hope Warner now owns this script. The brother asked me to be the director.

Originally, this script was written for Zoetrope, but after Apocalypse Now, Francis had no cash to make the film, so he sold it to Warner Bros. It has been several months since they bought it, and they haven't contacted me yet. I hope the script won't be gathering dust in Warner's script library. "

"Why, didn't they buy it for filming?" Ronald was curious.

"It's not the 1970s anymore. At that time, as long as the producer believed in the director and the money was in place, they could shoot. Now the major studios are more cautious about project establishment and filming. The studios will hoard a lot of scripts, but not many of them will start filming. "

After chatting for a while, Ronald said goodbye and returned to the otel6 motel. The price here is cheap, it's clean, and the service is good.

"Mr. Li? Someone called you this afternoon and left a message for you." The front desk saw Ronald, turned around and took a folded note and handed it to Ronald.