Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The man continued, "Directing the second unit is not a profound artistic creation, but just shooting some shots. Why must Joe be in charge? Jerry said that this assistant still had some minor problems, but which movie produced by New World Productions does not have problems? These are just some shots of the second unit. I don't understand why it doesn't work."

He may not know that this assistant is Ronald who is present.

Everyone was silent for a while. This is certainly a feasible way to solve the problem, but... Roger Corman is not a charity. Jerry Zucker obviously fooled him. He couldn't let him go with a light word.

Ronald didn't expect that it would be his turn to get a big cake so soon. He was ecstatic in his heart: "Yes, that's right, I'm good enough, let me be the second unit director, then I can join the Directors Guild. Even the lowest-level director assistant can use the membership card to fool people and take audition photos."

But his expression was serious, his lips were tightly closed, and he didn't say a word.

Roger Corman coughed: "The essence of this matter is a question of integrity. Jerry signed the contract and must fulfill it. Did you sign a $3.5 million filming contract with Paramount, and Warner gave you a budget of 7 million tomorrow? Will you give up Paramount and go to Warner?"

Jerry Zucker responded: "This is not a question of how much money, but industry rules. We spent 5 years on this movie and slowly polished it into what it is now. Your request actually destroyed our only chance in 5 years, which is not in line with industry rules. This is the dream of the three of us, don't stand in the way, Roger."

He picked up the coffee and took a sip: "We are not unreasonable. In addition to returning the advance salary you gave me, I can also be responsible for the salary of the second group of directors for the remaining days."

Roger Corman pondered for a moment: "But you have already filmed two-thirds of the workload, and I can't find anyone to replace your work." After saying that, he glanced at Ronald vaguely.

Roger Corman deliberately emphasized the number of two-thirds, which was a subtle reminder to Ronald not to jump out and do bad things. Even if Ronald took over the filming now, the Directors Guild would not send him an invitation to join the Guild, because the number of shots shot was not enough, and the director of the second group still had to sign Jerry Zucker.

Ronald understood the hint, so he sat upright, lowered his head slightly, looked serious, and said nothing. But his heart was like a roller coaster: "No way, there must be a way to get around this rule."

"No one stipulates that there can only be one second group in a crew, right?" Sure enough, Jerry Zucker jumped out. He needed to add fuel to the fire and let Ronald take over so that he could get out of it. "As long as the remaining 5 days of shooting are regarded as a separate second group shooting task, then the person who takes over will be considered to have completed all the shooting."

Jerry Zucker also hinted to Ronald that as long as two second groups are set up, there will be two second group directors, and he will have the opportunity to join the Directors Guild. It would be best if Ronald could recommend himself. Everyone looked at Ronald again.

Ronald remained silent. He couldn't recommend himself for such a thing... Besides, his boss Roger Corman wasn't the only one who had the choice...

Silence had a powerful force, like a huge black hole. Everyone wanted to say something to fill it and free themselves from the gravity of the black hole.

Roger Corman also drank a sip of coffee. He knew that he didn't have any cards in his hand to stop Jerry Zucker from running away. He also didn't have any cards to force Joe Dante to give up helping his good friend Allen direct on the scene and go to the second unit. But he didn't want to give up so quickly.

He decided to struggle one last time:

"Normally, people who have been credited directors will not go back to be second unit directors, but considering the current situation of the crew, we need someone who is familiar with the crew and has experience..."

This time, everyone looked at co-director Joe Dante.

A long, awkward silence...

Ronald's heart beat so fast that he could hear the thumping sound in his chest. His throat began to dry, then itchy, and he couldn't help coughing, but he still tried his best to suppress it and maintain this expressionless silence.

Because he knew that whether he could get the membership card of the Directors Guild depended on these few minutes. He had to show his core competitiveness of having suffered from "aphasia" - pretending to be dumb.

After a long time, no one responded to Roger Corman's words. Everyone seemed to be afraid to speak, afraid to change their sitting positions, for fear that people would mistakenly think that they had something to say, and even their muscles began to stiffen.

Finally, Joe Dante, who was under the pressure of everyone's eyes, broke the silence and said:

"I think Alan's body is still very weak. It is risky for me to leave him at this time, and it is not in line with the obligations between friends. The sample film shot yesterday has fully demonstrated Ronald's directing ability and artistic talent. I think setting up a new second group of filming crews, which he will be in charge of, can completely complete the second group of filming..."

Bgo!

Before Joe Dante finished speaking, Jerry Zucker stood up and wanted to shake Ronald's hand, "This way we'll all be fine."

Ronald still politely waited for Joe Dante, shook hands with him first to express his gratitude, then shook hands with the boss Roger Corman, and finally shook hands with Jerry Zucker.

Jerry was already in ecstasy, took out his checkbook, wrote $600, signed it and handed it to Roger Corman. The trio left happily.

The Colemans walked up to Ronald, and Roger stretched out his hand to shake his hand: "Ask Gail to get the contact information of the second group of photographers, and I will ask Gail to put your information into 'Rock and Roll High School' Director employment form, sent to the Directors Guild.”

"Okay, Mr. Coleman, thank you very much."

Roger waved his hand and prepared to leave.

The proprietress Julie Coleman did not leave immediately. She also shook hands with Ronald and started chatting: "How is your college application going, Ronald?"

"I applied to two public universities in New York State because I am a New Yorker." Ronald liked the demeanor of this professional woman very much. "But I also want to apply to a few film schools. Working in the new world will make me happy." I fell in love with movies, so I wanted to try it.”

"Have you decided? The application deadline seems to be approaching soon."

"I know very little about it, and I would be grateful if you could give me some advice, Mrs. Coleman."

"Just call me Julie." Julie Coleman sat down again and analyzed the situation of the film major in college for Ronald.

"The universities in California are close to Hollywood, and their film departments are relatively strong. There are UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) and USC (University of Southern California), both of which are very good. New York is close to Broadway, and they are very good at training stage actors, and their film majors are slightly better. But you can also consider it. NYU (New York University) and Columbia University have good majors, but there are not many film professionals in New York, so the job market for undergraduates is not as good as in Los Angeles.”

"Are there any scholarships to attend these schools?" Ronald asked.

"There are some very few scholarships, mainly for students from other countries outside the United States." The boss's wife Julie smiled. He had heard Gale talk about Ronald's situation and knew that the boy in front of him did not have a wealthy family.

"If you major in film, you need to prepare some other expenses. In addition to tuition, book fees, and miscellaneous fees, the graduation project of film students is to make a short film. But the school does not have this money and must raise it by itself. Or find sponsorship.”

Hiss..., the filming fee is at least more than 20,000 US dollars, which is more expensive than the tuition. Ronald had a headache.

"But don't worry, with your artistic talent, it's not difficult to find some profitable work in New York. New York is the largest advertising center in the world. There are dozens of advertisements to be shot on Madison Street every day. You got the Directors Guild card. , you can try shooting commercials for them.”

Ronald felt grateful and thanked the proprietress Julie repeatedly for her guidance.

"If you need a letter of recommendation, you can come to Roger, or you can come to me."

After saying that, she stepped on her husband Roger's arm and walked out.

The proprietress Julie knows her husband Roger's habits and is unhappy when the cost of filming a movie increases. What's more, today is two things at once, losing the cheap labor force of Jerry Zucker, and losing the great potential of the future cheap labor force of Ronald Lee. However, she also knew that apart from being a bit stingy, her husband Roger was a rare kind person in the film industry. He did not embarrass Ronald because of this, but gave him a chance.

And she was very optimistic about Ronald Lee's future, so she came over and gave Ronald a lot of very valuable advice. "This kid will do something good in the future." Julie and Roger whispered.

Standing alone outside Roger Corman's office, Ronald felt a sudden urge to laugh out loud. This kind of junior membership may not be considered a big deal in the eyes of people in the industry, but if he uses it to show it to clients who take audition photos, the fee can go up significantly.