Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The days of waiting were tense and boring. Ronald called back to the university, canceled all his summer elective courses, and stayed in Los Angeles to wait for the verdict of fate.

Soon, Niceta found him again. He concentrated on finding out information in Universal for a day or two, but found nothing. Except for Tom Mount, no one seemed to have heard about what would happen in two weeks.

But Niceta brought another good news that day.

"Remember Patricia Birch, the choreographer of the original Grease musical and movie? Paramount and Stewart decided that she would take over the directing work of Grease 2. She thought of you first and hoped that you would do the script revision work."

Huh?

Ronald recalled this petite woman who was nearly 50 years old in his mind. At that time, when the name of "Grease 2" was still "Sons of Grease", in order to learn the script writing of musicals, he had visited her and received her selfless help, and learned how to organically nest songs and dances with other plots.

"Okay, I'd like to meet her." Although Ronald had made up his mind to become a director this time and had no interest in screenwriting, he still had to repay Birch's help and took an hour or two to meet her and talk about the script.

"Hi, Ronald. Nice to see you again. Let's work together. You'll be responsible for the script revision and the lyrics of the songs, and I'll choreograph the dances and select the music. Let's do a great job."

Patricia Birch was very energetic and no longer felt the suffocation she felt at home.

The Zucker brothers had the success of "Unprecedented Flying All Over the Sky" and decided to take a break for a while and declined to direct Grease 2. Paramount looked for many directors, and finally used the original choreographer Birch who had a deep understanding of musicals.

Speaking of which, she was also a director for the first time, just like herself.

Patricia Birch's voice was still as loud as ever. She told Ronald that she had read all the versions of the script and decided to abandon the version that was randomly changed during the Hutton period and use the original Ronald script.

After Hutton rejected the script, Ronald signed a supplementary agreement, not allowing Hutton's crew to use his own script. But since Burch liked it, there was no problem for him to let her use it.

"If Paramount buys the script back, then it will pay for all the revisions of the script, including the two versions I revised. You can delete and revise my script."

"But you signed a supplementary agreement that later generations cannot use your plots and dialogues. If possible, I want you to sign to give up this right." Burch said.

Ronald glanced at Niceta.

"Paramount will pay for your script development costs." Niceta added.

"No problem for me, you ask them to give the document to Rick, I will sign it."

"Great," Birch was very happy, "Mr. Sternwood and I both like your two scripts very much. He even plans to shoot Grease 2 first and then modify it, and then use your earlier version of "Sons of Grease", which is later in time and tells the anti-war version in the 1960s, as the script reserve for Grease 3.

Come on, Ronald, let's do a big job."

"I can sell the script to Paramount, but I have my own directing project..." Ronald explained.

"Are you really not considering it? Paramount and Mr. Stewart will invest a total of 12 million dollars. And your project is only 3 million. I have participated in the filming of many movies. Insufficient budget means that you have to compromise in many places.

The costumes must be second-hand goods used by others, and the sets must be selected from those that have not been dismantled after filming by other crews. There are also various salary benefits.

The last time I communicated with you, I felt that you knew a lot about script writing. After reading your script, I found that you also have a good grasp of the script of the musical.

You come to help me polish the script, and I will give you the treatment of an assistant director. Then when it comes to Grease 3 or Grease 4, you can be the director independently.

That is a big production with a cost of more than 10 million. How about it, Ronald?"

Ronald was very happy that Burch gave him this opportunity, but he was determined to be a director. "Thank you very much for your invitation, Patricia, but please understand the persistence of a young person."

In addition, the script of Grease 2 has neither the male and female protagonists of the previous part to join, nor the original musical to polish the script and accumulate word of mouth. It is hard to say whether it can be successful at the box office. It's nothing like "Fast and Furious Richmond High", which released a commemorative video 15 years after its release.

Ronald insisted on his choice and apologized to Burch.

"Okay, Ronald. I know it's hard for you to refuse this directing opportunity. I originally wanted you to help me.

Now John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John have both refused to act in the sequel, so I have to start from scratch to select the right actors.

By the way, how about your ex-girlfriend? Her name is Antonia, she danced very well in Grease 1, let her try the heroine Stephanie? I've seen her performance in Fame, she can act, and she is very suitable for this role."

"She went to the New York City Ballet to realize her ballet dream, and she may be touring somewhere now." Ronald said with a smile, but Antonia came from a poor family in Little Italy, and her background is somewhat similar to Stephanie's. In the script, he also arranged for her to work at a gas station.

"I'll try to contact her." Burch refused to give up.

"The difficulty of musicals lies in finding the right actors. Many people think that the dance of musicals is the first priority, but this is totally wrong. Being able to perform in front of the camera is the real standard for casting musicals.

You wrote the role of Stephanie very well. Her character is contradictory. As the leader of the Pink Ladies, she has a status in the school social circle, but in reality she is just a poor child working at a gas station.

She likes the motorcyclist who came to save her on a motorcycle wearing a helmet, and she also likes Michael who helps her complete her Shakespeare homework, but she doesn't know that they are actually the same person.

This kind of tangled and hesitant emotion is difficult to play well. I need an actress who can look beautiful in the camera even when she is embarrassed."

She is also beautiful when she is embarrassed. Ronald thought of Michelle Pfeiffer. When he wrote the script, he had just broken up with her. Did he subconsciously add some of Pfeiffer's appearance and personality to the role of Stephanie when he wrote the role of Stephanie?

"Do you have any suitable candidates in mind?" Burch keenly noticed that Ronald smiled a little at the corner of his mouth, as if he thought of someone.

"No, no, casting can't be done in one go. I can recommend you a casting studio in New York. They are very professional."

"Eon, don't lie to me Ronald. Your expression just now is exactly the same as when you talked about Antonia. Is she also your ex-girlfriend?"

Burch held Ronald's hand, "Whether Grease 2 can be successful depends largely on the casting of the male and female protagonists. Are you willing to let your script fail? Tell me who she is..."

Ronald was made to laugh and cry by Burch, so he had to take out his notebook, find the phone number of his agent Ed Limato, and write it down on a piece of paper and hand it to Patricia Burch.

"Do you know William Morris's agent Limato? He has a client named Michelle Pfeiffer, who has starred in the Lux soap commercial..."

"Her dancing is not as good as Antonia. It was because of this that she lost the role of a famous ballet student. But her acting skills are not good... Forget it, you can see for yourself. I shouldn't say too much." Ronald shook his head. This was actually none of his business.

"Also, it's best not to tell Limato that you got the news from me. I don't want to have anything to do with his clients anymore."

"Hi, Ronald, it's me, Ed. Ed Limato." Who knew that that night, Limato found Ronald's hotel room number and called him.

"Hi, Ed, long time no see," Ronald thought to himself, is Burch so careless?

"I appreciate your recommendation of Pfeiffer. In fact, she hasn't had any movie opportunities recently. Grease 2 is the best audition opportunity she has had in the past six months."

"You're probably wrong, Ed. It has nothing to do with me." Ronald answered casually while sitting on the sofa drinking black tea.

"Don't treat me like a fool, Ronald. I've been in this business for more than 20 years.

Grease 2 is being rebooted, Patricia Burch is the director, I submitted an audition application for Pfeiffer, I called several times but got no response, today Burch called Pfeiffer personally to audition, and said that Stephanie's character in the new version of the script is similar to her.

I asked around, and the new version of the script was written by you..."

"Well, I told Burch Pfeiffer. But whether she can be selected depends on her." These agents are really omnipresent, and they restored things to almost the same state in a few seconds.

"Ronald. We are friends, and Pfeiffer is like my child. I...I am very grateful for your care for her, but I...I can't..."

"What do you want to say?" Ronald listened to him hesitating.

"Although you were once a couple, I will not encourage her to do immoral things for the sake of casting. You know, she just got married to her boyfriend and is on her honeymoon."

"Oh, that's good. Congratulations to her." Ronald thought to himself, is Pfeiffer in such a hurry to get married? It seems that she really wants someone to accompany her.

"Wait a minute, what do you mean by immoral?" Ronald said to Limato, "How is it immoral for me to recommend her for an audition?"

"You just said, 'Whether she can be selected depends on herself?' Are you hinting at something...?" Limato asked cautiously on the other end of the phone.

Limato is a rare old-school agent. Although he will not stop his actresses from exchanging something for roles, he will not actively seek such opportunities for his clients. He treats every client as a family member and hopes that they are satisfied in their careers and lives.

"Fxckyou, why do you think so?" Ronald laughed. He is not a producer or director who holds the power of casting.

Oh... Maybe Limato misunderstood and thought that he was also a screenwriter and had a good relationship with director Burch, so he really had some influence on casting.

"Listen, I'm not in Grease 2. Burch just bought the rights to use my script. She did invite me to join the crew, but I didn't agree. I have another film to direct.

Pfeiffer's audition for Stephanie was just something I mentioned casually. I don't want to get involved anymore. Your audition results have nothing to do with me."

"Director job, which one?" Limato ignored everything else and only heard this key piece of information, and immediately asked on the phone.

Ronald didn't say anything.

"Ronald, we are friends, right? Although Pfeiffer did not go out with you, I did not exert any bad influence on her." Limato heard that Ronald had the opportunity to direct so soon, and he was heartbroken. I am also very anxious to win opportunities for customers.

"You are a genius, Ronald. I admit that I did not discover your genius before. This may be the biggest mistake of my career. But the success of a movie requires more than just one genius. It requires the joint efforts of different geniuses, not ?"

The film market is currently in a slump, and many of Limato's clients are out of work. Many in the industry are discussing whether film will slump, with some clients considering a switch to television. There are still some people in the industry who want to re-launch 3D movies from the 1950s to save the tired box office.

"All I can say is that it's a small production, and I'm afraid it's not suitable for your customers."

"Small production, which company is it from? Warner Brothers? Fox? Paramount? Universal?"

"Uh, don't guess."

"Universal, right? Universal? I heard they're preparing a teen movie based on the novel."

"I don't want to discuss this anymore."

"Okay, let's not discuss this issue." Limato agreed to change the subject.

"Let me tell you a funny thing. Today, a beautiful young woman walked into the WA office, trying to find a broker to represent her business.

This woman named Amy Heckerling actually claimed that whoever signs a contract with her will get the first commission for free. She said that she would definitely get her first directing contract, and that as long as she signed a contract with her within 2 weeks, she would be able to pick up a client.

Do you think this is an interesting thing? If she said she got an actress contract, I think someone would try their luck, but a 27-year-old beauty said she would be a director...

Hahaha. "

"Ed, you're not very good at telling jokes." Ronald was not interested in listening to the gossip in the brokerage industry.

"That's it, don't ask Pfeiffer to audition under my banner. She wants to live a life with others and stay in Los Angeles to be her actor. I respect her choice and continue like this. Don't disturb each other's lives. "

"This is Hollywood. Everyone knows everyone. You will meet sooner or later. I will talk to you again. I was optimistic about your screenwriting ability back then. You will definitely become a good director." Limato said and hung up. Got the phone.

Ronald also hung up the receiver, turned around, poured a glass of whiskey and tasted it slowly. Things are unpredictable, and Limato is right, Hollywood is a small world. Unexpectedly, I would soon reach a position where I could decide the fate of an actor like Pfeiffer.

Should we continue to be kind to others in the future? Or use the power in your hands to do something?

Ronald sat down and drank his dry whiskey slowly, without ice.

wrong! Ronald jumped up from the sofa in surprise. Why did Limato specifically emphasize the time period of 2 weeks?

The story Limato told him was tipping him off!

It took 2 weeks to find an agent to sign a contract, beautiful woman, everything fell into place. Tom Mount's secret choice was her. It was not convenient for him to decide on the director himself, so he let the time to confirm the director drag on for two weeks.

This woman named Amy Heckerling doesn't even have an agent, but she is sure that she can get the qualification to be a director. There is no doubt that he has a strong background.

Limato was returning a favor for recommending Pfeiffer for auditions. But it was not convenient for him to directly tell him the private thoughts of the Universal President, so he hinted to himself by telling jokes.

The information I left with that bastard Tom Mount might... no, it would definitely be leaked to Heckerling, and two weeks later I would be discarded like a lemon that has been squeezed dry.

Ronald immediately called his agent Niceta to tell him the news.

"shxt, how dare this bastard Mount do this to our CAA. Does he think that being interviewed by Time Magazine means he is really a tycoon? This bastard climbed up by licking his vagina.

Looks like we're going to use our trump card early, Ronald.

I will immediately ask Mr. Ovitz to contact Paramount and get you an internal preview ticket for the new film "The Lost Ark of the Covenant" produced by Lucas and directed by Spielberg. Then we will...

We need to resolve all the historical issues with Tom Mount once and for all. "

"Okay, I believe you again, Rick. This thing is so disgusting, you guys will let me get what I want this time, right?"

After hanging up the phone, Niceta said to Paula Wagner in her arms, "If I disappoint him again this time, Ronald will definitely fire me. And my long-term efforts to win over Spielberg may also be dismissed." Total failure.

Get my clothes, Paula. I'll go see Mr. Ovitz right away. "