Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Ronald was familiar with this name. It was the vice president who sent them away after he and Ovitz of CAA went to Disney to sell the script. I remember that Wilhite was mainly responsible for live-action film affairs at Disney.

Walter Merzi talked on the phone for a long time.

Ronald walked out of the editing room, added some hot water to the thermos, and drank it silently. It seems that the Oscar curse is not always so effective. As long as you don't get carried away and do things in a down-to-earth manner, there will still be people in the industry who recognize you.

"Let's go, let's go eat something together. I have something to talk to you about." After a long time, Walter Merzi finished the call and patted Ronald on the shoulder who was sitting and drinking tea.

"Disney will invite me to direct a movie. I will consider writing a new script and then investing in film production. I can't teach you more editing knowledge in the zoetrope anymore." In the Zoetrope Cafe outside the Sentinel Building, Walter Merzi made it clear to Ronald about the content of the call from Disney just now.

"I'm sorry. You came here to learn the editing process. I also made preparations for you to take advantage of the opportunity to organize the film and learn the editing process of Apocalypse Now from beginning to end. However, directing a movie has been my wish for many years, and this opportunity is rare."

"This should be something worth celebrating, Walter, I am already very grateful." Ronald quickly adjusted his mentality and congratulated Walter Merzi.

"I will go back and discuss with Angie about my decision to resign from Zoetrope and devote myself to Disney movies. I will come to Zoetrope again tomorrow, and you should come too. I will teach you the most important principles of editing, and you can slowly understand the rest through practice."

"Ah? What? Isn't the blinking timing you told me today the most important secret of editing?"

"No, it's just a trick, or a technique at best. There is no secret in editing. Anyone with a pair of scissors and a piece of tape can edit. The important thing is which part to cut and which part to leave."

Walter Merzi took a sip of Italian coffee, as if reminiscing.

"When Angie and I got married, we lived in the countryside of her hometown of Britain for a while. At that time, many of her relatives and friends heard that I was in the film industry, and they all thought that Angie was lucky and would have a good life in the future."

"But they didn't understand what editing meant. In the American industry, editing is called Editg, which means editing, but in Britain, people are used to saying Cuttg, which means cutting the film."

"So they asked me if it was just like an 8mm home camera, cutting out the bad parts and keeping the good ones. I was young and hot-tempered at the time, and I was very disgusted with this kind of simplification of my work, so I told them a lot that editing is actually a very advanced job that requires a lot of experience and skills."

"But I have always remembered this conversation, and the longer it is, the more I feel that Angie's relatives are right. The simplest way is to cut out the bad parts and connect the good parts. What we need to understand is what is considered a bad part, what is considered a good part, and how to connect the good parts."

Ronald chewed on the sentence "There is no secret in editing" again and again, and felt that it made sense. In many industries, the core principles that really work are just one or two tricks, and the key is personal understanding and application.

So I look forward to tomorrow's teaching even more. However, Walter said that he would combine film to teach, and it is not clear now.

"What movie did Disney invite you to make, Walter? If it is convenient to disclose it." Ronald asked during the coffee time after the meal.

"It doesn't matter, because the movie has not been decided yet, it is just based on the script I wrote. I have long wanted to make a sequel to a masterpiece from decades ago, to see if they are willing to invest in the script I wrote."

"Masterpiece in film history? Disney? Are you going to make an animation?" Ronald was surprised?

"No. It is a movie that combines real people with model special effects." Walter smiled, "But your guess is not far off, it is indeed a fairy tale adaptation."

"Is it Snow White? Cinderella? Sleeping Beauty?" Ronald guessed several classic Disney animations in a row, which are more convenient to adapt into live-action movies, and Dumbo, which cannot be filmed in real people, is not mentioned.

"It's The Wizard of Oz"

"Isn't that an MGM movie?"

"Yes, but Disney has the rights to the sequel to The Wizard of Oz."

...

In the president's office of Disney, President Ron Miller, who was not seen when Ronald came to promote the script of "My Brother's Keeper" last time, was discussing with his deputy Wilhite.

Ron Miller, the current president of Disney, who was scorned by Walt Disney's nephew, Roy Disney Jr. as "Disney's son-in-law, a former football star, a layman who knows nothing, and a failed movie actor", was drinking whiskey comfortably.

"So Walter Merz's idea is good, although he is relatively low on our list, but John Milius only wants to make his dark war film. We at Disney can't invest in such a natural R-rated film. At most, we will put it in PG."

"The Wizard of Oz series of novels has a large number of readers, and the 1939 MGM movie is still missed by many audiences. It's time to make a sequel." Vice President Wilhite echoed.

"Since Diane's uncle Roy passed away, we haven't made cartoons for many years. Now we are finally getting back to the roots. We also need to keep up with the times. Star Wars and Black Stallion, two live-action box office hits, should be Disney products no matter how you look at it."

After Ron Miller came to power, he began to integrate Disney's power, hoping to lead this old Hollywood manufacturer back to glory.

But among the old servants left by Walt and his brother Roy, many only obey the blood of Disney, his wife Diane's cousin Roy Jr. In order to completely control the company, Ron Miller's grasp is to shoot live-action movies.

The live-action movies he led in the early stage had good box office, and the offensive against the best-selling author also had initial results. The author, who is very well-known among young readers, has agreed to sell the next novel adaptation rights that have not yet been published to Disney.

I heard that Warner Bros. is also lobbying the same author, but Disney has always been oriented towards the youth market after all, and it is more attractive to the author than Warner Bros.'s background in making gangster movies, so Disney can get ahead of the game.

"So, has our "talent list" reached the last few?" President Ron Miller woke up from his success, drank the whiskey, and asked his vice president.

"Yes, Walter Merzi is the third from the bottom on the list. The previous ones either have no interest in cooperating with us or the film themes they proposed are not suitable for Disney."

"Put those who are unwilling to cooperate with us on the blacklist and don't allow them to come to Disney to invest in the future." The former Los Angeles Rams tight end likes to manage the film company with the attitude of professional football.

As soon as he took office as the president of Disney, he and his deputy Wilhite proposed their own "potential director list plan". After the big sales of "Star Wars" by 20th Century Fox and "Black Stallion" produced by Zoetrope, Ron Miller has always believed that this kind of movie should have been shot by Disney.

Aimed at children and young audiences, fairy tales, and wonderful imagination. He carefully studied the resumes of the directors of the two films, Lucas and Carol Ballard. The two have one thing in common, that is, before shooting these two blockbuster works, they were both novices and not valued by the industry.

So Ron Miller and Wilhite secretly drew up a list of potential Hollywood stars who had made achievements in other fields and wanted to become directors, and then called them one by one in order to contact them secretly. If both parties are willing to cooperate, and the subject matter that the other party is interested in is compatible with Disney's audience market, the cooperation process will begin.

"As long as his script is good enough, we will invest some money to test the waters." Ron Miller was immersed in his vision of bringing Disney back to a great company, "Do you have any candidates who can be added to the potential list?"

"There are Lawrence Kasdan, the screenwriter of Empire Strikes Back, Joe Dante, who started out with low-cost exploitation films, and John Landis, a comedy genius who has recently emerged."

"We will contact all of them. As long as they meet Disney's audience and values, and the story can be rated above PG, we can try the waters."

"There is another one..." Wilhite hesitated, "There is a very young screenwriter who was recently appreciated by Frank Price of Columbia, and his debut script sold 350,000."

"What's his name?"

"Ronald ·Lee, his script was also submitted to Disney, but Mr. President, you were discussing the film adaptation of the best-selling novel with producer Zinnemann that day. In addition, the film is about the Vietnam War, and it is likely to be rated R, which is not suitable for Disney, so we did not participate in the bidding. "

"Ronald Lee, I remember this name. Zinnemann told me that he is just a villain who seeks fame. I heard that he used the audition topic in the crew to deliberately make Zinnemann's girlfriend lose the female lead.

And what kind of profound Vietnam War script can a young man in his early 20s write? Frank Price is really confused. Don't pay attention to him. "

...

"So you know Jenny Rosenberg, the screenwriter of "Black Stallion"? "Walter Merzi said to Ronald. "The director of that film, Carol Ballard, is Coppola's senior. In fact, Disney wants to work with him the most. He has submitted a script about wild wolves."

"Yes, I worked as a handyman in Roger Corman's low-budget production "Rock and Roll High School". Jenny was the script supervisor of that film. She said she would participate in the adaptation of the script of "Black Stallion."

"Her last name is Rosenberg, and she is related to some Jewish power figures." Walter Merzi said, "She joined the script after it was written and revised some dialogues and details about horse racing. She has been familiar with equestrianism since she was a child."

"So that's it?" Ronald no longer envied Jenny's connections. After "Black Stallion", Jenny's screenwriting talent was not generally recognized by the industry. It was better to take new projects like this. It's better to move forward step by step.

"So, see you tomorrow?" Walter was anxious to go back and discuss the change of career with his wife.

"See you tomorrow, thank you, Walter."