Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Ronald and his agent Niceta came to Universal Pictures to sign a director contract.

Universal Studios was originally the studio and location base built by Universal Pictures. Now it has become an amusement park. When Ronald was filming "Rock of Ages," he went on a date here with Marla, an extra student at Van Nuys High School.

Returning to the old place, Ronald has become the director of a theatrical feature film, and the school girl with a good figure no longer knows where she went. Are you still working in the film industry, or are you marrying someone and becoming a housewife?

Ronald cleared these nostalgic emotions from his mind. Today was a landmark day in his life. It should be looking to the future, not looking back to the past.

The director and contract had been reviewed by CAA and Ronald's personal lawyer, and the terms were finalized after a few back and forths.

Ronald was on a director-for-hire contract. Universal hired him to shoot "fast-paced Richmond High" because he was still a newcomer and hadn't been able to get the kind of film deals that established directors enjoyed.

Just like Amy Heckerling, who lost in the "fast-paced" director competition, she signed a directing contract because of the president's appreciation. It was only agreed that Heckerling would produce one film for Universal, and there was no restriction on the specific script. It would be up to her to negotiate with Universal.

If the first film does well at the box office, the contract for the other two films can be automatically renewed. Ronald was indeed a little envious when he heard about it. Why was Heikelin able to get such a good offer even though it was her first film?

Ronald's contract terms are stricter. Since the tragedy of "Heaven's Gate", when Michael Cimino single-handedly bankrupted United Artists, one of the top eight studios, and it was acquired by MGM, major studios have become more demanding on directors' contract terms.

Ronald must abide by the agreement to complete filming within seven weeks after the start of filming. If the schedule falls significantly behind schedule, Universal's producers have the power to fire him. If the daily samples he shoots fail to pass the producer's review and are asked to reshoot, he also has the power to fire him.

Of course, judging from Ronald's level of further study at the "Roger Corman Film University", this possibility is close to zero.

Those who have the power to fire people are the two producers who signed a contract with him today, Art Lson and Irvg Azoff.

Art Linson, one of the two, started his career as a producer. At the previous Oscars, he was the producer of the movie "Melvin and Howard" which defeated Ronald's "Famous" and won the best original screenplay. .

But Lin Sen was not willing to be a producer. His dream in life was to be a director. For this reason, he gave up making other popular movies. He took up the director's chair and directed a comedy movie "Freak Reporter" by Bill Murray. .

The big production was a box office failure and was panned by film critics. He had to return to his career as a producer, overseeing several small productions for Universal.

Another producer, Irving Azoff, actually had little interest in being a film producer. He is an executive of MCA Records Group and the manager of the popular band Eagles.

But he belongs to Sheinberg's faction in the MCA group, so he was sent to balance the power of the crew. Moreover, youth films require a lot of rock music for soundtracks, so it would be most convenient for him to handle copyright matters. So Azoff also came on board as the producer.

A low-budget youth comedy with a budget of 3 million, just for fun.

"Ronald V. Lee", Ronald signed his signature on the dotted line at the bottom of the contract. This means that he has officially become a "fast-paced" director.

"Congratulations." The two producers stood up and shook hands with him.

"Our time is limited. We will be there when filming starts, and we will not have time to go to the set every day. At that time, there will be an executive producer designated by Universal to represent us on the set."

"When can I see him?" Ronald asked. He wanted to communicate with the executive producer (Le Produbsp;) early to reach a consensus.

"Soon, she will be involved in the casting phase, and you will be able to meet in a few days."

Ronald and his agent Niceta walked out of the office. On their way to the parking lot, Ronald said with emotion, "This is the first big opportunity in my life for me. For Universal, it is indeed a small opportunity that cannot be given to me." It’s a small production. I thought at least one of Tom Mount and Mr. Sheinberg would be present to sign the contract.”

"Don't think so, Ronald. You will sign a contract with them one day. I am very optimistic about you." Niceta is becoming more and more satisfied with this unintentional client. Not only did he get in touch with Sheinberg, but he also met Spielberg.

"Actually, it's not that Mr. Shenberg doesn't value you. He was involved in something today. Columbia has proposed new terms regarding the transfer of Spielberg's ET."

\u0026's script was not completely abandoned by Columbia, but was put into the warehouse of the Turnaround Deal.

The inclusion of the script in the circulation agreement indicates that Columbia has no intention of producing the film in the near future. But if other film studios want to film, they must obtain permission from Columbia and purchase the rights to film the script from here.

Originally, Niceta came forward to negotiate an agreement with Columbia to purchase the ET script for US$1 million, but for some reason, president Frank Price vetoed this price and insisted on asking for a higher price.

Ovitz quickly followed up with the second round of negotiations. Price refused to lower the price no matter what. Instead, because of Ovitz's intervention, he raised the price again and proposed to add 10% of the final net profit of the ET film as a condition for Columbia's transfer agreement.

Ovitz didn't know whether Price was deliberately making things difficult for Sheinberg or smelled something wrong. He had no choice but to start a difficult negotiation. Sheinberg also went to deal with this matter personally.

"In the end, it will probably be 5% of the net profit share. Columbia President Frank Price surprised us. He is not just good at reading scripts." Niceta joked. "I don't know why Price discovered the potential of ET."

In the evening, Ronald found Cameron and Gail. The three of them celebrated for Ronald in the restaurant. He was the first to realize his dream and become a film director.

"What other reason can there be? It's nothing more than that Price saw a few Jews together and suspected that they were plotting to secretly steal the script that could sell well." Cameron blurted out when he heard Ronald talk about ET.

"Don't say that. I remember that Gail seems to be Jewish." Ronald spoke to ease his cheeks.

"My father is Jewish, but my mother is Catholic, and I was basically raised according to Catholic customs." Gail didn't care about these and answered.

"Remember Jenny, the script supervisor of "Rock High School"? I remember her last name is Rosenberg, and after filming Rock High School, she seemed to have a good future." Ronald remembered an acquaintance, Jenny started her career with a high starting point.

"Yes, in this industry, Jews have a large network of connections, and it is indeed an advantage to enter the industry." Gail did not deny the status of Jews in the film and television industry.

"First, congratulations to Ronald for realizing his dream." Gail and Cameron raised their glasses, and the three of them drank it all.

"Sheinberg, Spielberg, Ovitz, they are all Jewish. And Frank Price is a pure Anglo-Saxon descendant, his ancestors can be traced back to the passengers on the Mayflower.

So seeing that all three Jews are involved in this project, it is normal for Price to be suspicious. If Spielberg keeps the script of ET, he may not start the project immediately. Let him go to Universal and leave a 5% net profit sharing agreement, so he can make money anyway.

It seems that Frank Price is still very experienced."

After listening to Ronald's story, Gail used the inherited wisdom of the daughter of a Jewish investor to analyze the ins and outs of the incident for the two men. "

"Rosenberg, Sheinberg, Spielberg, Jewish names are very distinctive." Ronald said.

"Yes, many Jews in America are actually descendants of Eastern European Slavs, who immigrated before and after World War II. Of course, some changed their names to Anglo-Saxon names. For example, my ancestor's original surname was Hurwitz, and he changed it to Hurd after immigrating to America.

"Vitz" is also a common Jewish surname ending. For example, Horowitz was changed to Holtz. Heckelwitz was changed to Hecklin. "

Ronald's heart moved. It seems that Amy Hecklin is also Jewish. After these people occupied the high positions in the studio, they promoted Jewish directors and actors. As long as they are Jewish, they can get better opportunities or move forward faster than their peers.

"Ding Ding Ding...", James Cameron knocked on the wine glass with a metal spoon, "I also have news to announce. I got the position of special effects director and will start shooting soon."

"Congratulations!" Ronald came back to his thoughts, raised his wine glass and gestured to Cameron with Gail.

"What movie is it?"

"It's the sequel to "Piranha" directed by Joe Dante. The budget of this project is 500,000 US dollars. No TV station is willing to buy the TV broadcast rights, and no distributor is willing to pay the advance payment. Roger Corman is unwilling to invest.

It happened that an Italian producer, Ovidio Assonitis, came. He wanted to enter the American film market and invested this money. My special effects work in War of the Stars caught his attention.

I just signed the contract and will go to Jamaica to scout the location.

The script is very interesting, and there are shots of piranhas jumping out of the water and attacking humans. It is much more difficult than the way "Piranha" copied "Jaws" and hid the danger under the water, but it is also more visually impactful. "

Cameron has also made a big step forward in his career.

"What about you, Gail, do you have good news too?" Ronald looked at Gail with a smile, guessing that her career was also progressing well.

"Yes, Roger asked me to be the executive producer (Le Produbsp;) of several movies. I can become a producer myself after accumulating some experience."

"Congratulations. ”

Gail had been working as a production assistant on the set before, and now he is an executive producer. In the film industry, to become a producer, one must start as a production assistant, then an executive producer, responsible for the daily management of the set, and then take on the role of producer.

But in any case, adding a "person" after the word "producer" makes a significant difference in power and title, marking the beginning of a formal producer's career.

The trio who talked about their ideals on the set of "Rock High School" have now initially realized their ideals. A lot of things have happened in less than three years, but they are all moving forward slowly and firmly.

Ronald mentioned the talk of ideals on the set, and the three of them raised their glasses together to congratulate each other.