Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The apartment Ronald rented was introduced by Universal. It has two bedrooms and one living room, and is equipped with modern appliances. The landlord is a collaborator of Universal, and for film workers like Ronald, the rent can be reduced by half, which is high quality and low price.

Ronald installed the computer given by his cousin and Diane and connected it to the monitor. Then apply for a printer from the crew and start working for Spielberg. But there is no rush in this matter. I can do it by myself at night in the future. The top priority now is to prepare for my own movie.

The next day, Ronald put on a new look, with a neither long nor short hairstyle, and paired it with classic Ray-Ban aviator sunglasses, looking very handsome. The deliberately unshaven beard makes his age appear to be at least 5 years older in the eyes of others.

This is a way Ronald deliberately designed to give himself more authority as a director. People who don't know you will always judge a person's experience and professionalism based on their age. A beard will make you look more mature.

When I arrived at the office, there was a bronze nameplate reading "Fast-paced Richmond High School" hanging on the door. Ronald wiped it with his hand, feeling satisfied.

Open the office with the key, sit down at your own wooden desk, and wait for the arrival of producer Art Linson and associate producer Amy Heckerling.

Lin Sen and Heikelin arrived at the office almost at the same time. They didn't expect that Ronald was already working at his desk in advance. He also made a large cup of black tea and placed it on the table, steaming at all.

"Good morning, Art, Amy." Ronald looked up and I did a time breakdown. Our main task now is to determine the director of photography, art director, and casting director.

Ronald pointed to the whiteboard on the wall behind him, on which magnets were used to hold three cards, respectively writing the positions of three important candidates.

Heikelin, who was preempted, looked at the whiteboard and quickly reacted, "There is also music selection. The earlier we start, the more time we can have for copyright negotiations."

"Very good. I saw the playlist you left on the table. This will be your responsibility, Amy. We will take your playlist and have a meeting with Mr. Azoff to determine the difficulty of purchasing the copyright, and then authorize one person Go negotiate."

Ronald immediately praised Heckerling's work, then wrote a card about music copyright negotiations and stuck it on the wall with a magnet.

Ronald was not familiar with rock, pop, etc. He had been listening to the music of veterans' radio stations for several years, and he had the same taste as the Vietnam War veterans. They were all songs from the 1960s. The selected tapes that were recently given to me by my cousin Donna have improved my taste a bit.

"Director of photography and art director, Warner has drawn up a list of candidates. Mr. Lin Sen and I will interview them together to select the right candidate as soon as possible. Do you have any suggestions, Amy?"

Ronald put on a businesslike attitude and asked Heckerling for her opinion. She is an associate producer, and according to principle, unlike the director, she has the power to participate in interviews and decisions on these matters. Since she chose to show herself in the soundtrack, other aspects need to be given up.

Heikelin thought about it and still felt that these choices were not important. "I have no objection. After all, you are the director."

"Casting director?" Ronald proposed the most important person arrangement in the early stage.

"I have some candidates here, all from the American Film Institute (AFI)." Heckerling said.

The American Film Institute is where Heckerling studied and worked after graduating from New York University. Her connections in Los Angeles all came from this.

"Their standards are very good. They recruit actors from the small productions of the film school. We can't afford too high casting costs for our movies, so we can let them try."

Heckerling was obviously nervous about the casting power. During filming, the director's main job is to guide and inspire the actors' performances. If she can have certain casting power and let her own people be the protagonists, then her power base in the crew will undoubtedly increase.

"Mr. Linson, are there any suitable candidates here at Universal?" Ronald asked producer Art Linson without comment.

Hearing this, Linson smiled, "Of course, my old partner on the set of 'Melvin and Howard', Don Phillips, he has been working for Universal.

"Let the three of us make an appointment with him?" Ronald asked the two of them for their opinions, and then wrote on the whiteboard hanging on the wall.

Then he wrote Don Phillips' name on the casting director's card.

Amy Heckerling looked at Lin Sen and said no more.

Seeing that the two of them had no objections, Ronald stood up and said, "Since there are no other opinions, let's proceed as follows. I will meet with the director of photography and art director. Mr. Linsen will contact the casting director, Mr. Phillips. Amy Discuss music rights negotiations with Mr. Azoff, see you tomorrow morning.”

After saying that, Ronald put on his baseball cap, said hello, and went out.

Ronald inquired with Julia Taylor, his old employer in New York, who found out that Phillips had also worked and studied with founder Marion Dollotti at a casting studio in New York. Julia called him, and Don would cooperate with him in the casting, at least not deliberately favoring Heckerling.

Soon, the choice of casting director was determined to be Don Phillips.

After the casting directors were selected, casting notices immediately began to be sent to major agencies in Hollywood and New York through Universal Company. With such a large demand for young actors, after "famous", few movies can reach this level. kind of scale.

And what's even better than "Famous" is that this "fast-paced" has no requirements for the actors' singing or ballet. Suddenly, all the agents were looking for Ronald and Don Phillips.

The first person to call was, of course, Niceta from CAA.

He asked Ronald to give CAA enough places, and it would be best for CAA to hire all the main actors.

"I can't do this, Rick. Heikelin is still on the set against me. I at least need to ensure that the actor and the character's temperament are in tune with each other and that he is a suitable candidate. If you have any clients here, you can forward the information, except Lapke's client, let him go to Heikelin to hand over the information.

Under the same circumstances, I would certainly give priority to CAA's clients.

Would Tom Cruise be willing to star? Of course I welcome it. "

After a while, Paula Wagner called and said, "Ronald, I'm very grateful for your invitation to Tom. He has taken over Embassy Pictures' 'Lost Virginity', a medium-sized production with an investment of 7 million. He is the lead Actor."

"Did you and Tom convey my message?"

"Ronald, fast pace is a group show..."

"Youth Comedy"

"It's a youth comedy. There are three male leads and one supporting role. Which one do you want Tom to play?"

"As long as he comes, you can choose first." Ronald hopes that Tom Cruise will participate. Handsome guys always attract a lot of box office.

"He is the leading actor in Lost Virginity, and he plays a part in every scene."

"Okay, tell him that I have contacted him and let him make his own decision, or I will talk to him myself." Ronald felt that he still wanted to fight for it.

"Well, Ronald, you're a tough guy."

Tom Cruise called Ronald in the evening and personally said sorry to Ronald and turned down the play. He read the script of Lost Virginity and felt that it was very suitable for his acting style, and he had already agreed to it.

"The actor who played the sergeant with me in 'Lights Out' is very suitable for a teen comedy. Do you want to try it? He is also a client of CAA." Tom also recommended a candidate on the phone.

"who?"

"Sean Penn."

Ronald knew about him, and he almost chose him as the leading actor in "Endless Love" at that time, but he was rejected because his height did not match Brooke Shields.

After checking the route with Niceta, Sean Penn was not one of Lapke's clients, so he asked Niceta to send the information and invited him to come for an interview.

A potential ally.

The second person to learn the news was WMA's Italian manager Ed Limato.

"Hi, Ronald, congratulations. You just turned 21 as a theatrical film director."

"Thank you, would you like to recommend actors to me too?"

"Yes, but I mainly want to thank you on behalf of Pfeiffer. She has passed the second round of interviews. Director Patricia Burch admires her very much. Every time she is in the back row or in the corner, it is Burch who takes care of her. She picked it out."

"Why?" Ronald became curious. It was said that Birch would give her a good audition position and even interview her alone for the candidate he recommended.

"Pfeiffer knew you were a screenwriter, and she guessed that you were recommending her. She felt both grateful and embarrassed, so she hid in the corner of the back row."

Perhaps it was this quality of remaining beautiful despite embarrassment that caught the attention of director Birch. Ronald laughed, "I didn't call Birch. Everything was her decision. Stop fanning the flames, Ed."

"Okay, I understand, you don't want others to use your name. I'm here to recommend a strong foreign aid to you."

"What do you mean?"

"It's gotten around that Tom Mount's girlfriend wants to take back the director's job."

"Uh, okay." Ronald didn't expect this kind of news to spread so quickly, because these agents were so talkative.

"Who do you have in mind?"

"I know you need to establish your own authority on the set. How about I find a way to find Francis Coppola and go to the set to give you a platform? He happens to be in Los Angeles."

Um? Ronald was surprised when he was told the central issue. It seems that I am not the only one who can do this.

"As far as I know, you don't have Coppola's agency contract." Ronald replied. Limato's statement was a bit of a boast.

"I'm not bragging. Although Francis' contract is not with me, it might be soon," Limato said. "I signed his eldest brother's son, Nicholas. We Italians all value family. As long as you If I can give him an important role, I can bring Francis here.”

"Send his information to the casting director, and I will give him a chance under the same conditions."

"What, isn't Coppola enough to impress you?"

"I first have to make sure the character fits the actor, Ed, and I'll take care of the rest." Ronald hung up the phone.

"This guy, it seems that someone else is helping him." Limato took out the audition photo marked "Nicholas Coppola" and put it in an envelope and handed it to his assistant, "Please send it to Director Ronald Lee. One serving.

There are two potential supporters.

Ronald adjusted his beard in the mirror. The beard grew too fast and often needed to be trimmed.

The next person I went out to meet was the most important supporter, the original author Cameron Crowe. As the author, if he can get him to participate in the casting meeting when he needs to support his decision, it will be 2:1. Even if Art Linson supports Heckerling, he still has room for maneuver.

Cameron Crowe lives with his girlfriend Nancy Wilson, the lead singer and one of the lyricists of the rock band "Heart". Crowe met Nancy when he was an interviewer for "Rolling Stone" magazine, and the two quickly fell in love.

Ronald told Cameron Crowe that he needed his support in casting. And the other party was also interested in filming the movie and could learn and watch the whole process in the crew.

"I can support you, but I don't want the role in my role to be chosen by an unsuitable person because of power struggle, Ronald." Cameron Crowe hesitated again and again, but still put forward his own conditions.

"Of course, this is also my idea. The fit between the role and the actor's temperament is the most important guarantee for the success of the film. I have worked in a casting studio in New York and I know these very well. Just when the conditions of all parties are balanced, you can support me."

Cameron Crowe and his girlfriend looked at each other and were about to speak.

Ronald saw their gaze and couldn't help but look at Nancy Wilson. She is a blonde sweetheart with big, photogenic eyes and white and neat teeth.

"Nancy, I think you look pretty good. Can you come to the crew to play a cameo role?"

"Me? I can't act in movies." Nancy was a little interested.

"No need to act, just be yourself. Cameron will tell you the role, a role very similar to you."

"Which role?" Cameron also became interested.

"It's the beautiful woman who laughed at Brad in the sports car next to him when he was wearing a pirate costume to deliver food."

"That's very similar to you, Nancy." Cameron said with a smile.

In the script, this role is a big beauty, driving a convertible sports car. When she saw Brad's strange pirate costume, she stopped in the parallel position of his delivery car and looked up and down. Brad thought it was a big beauty who admired him at first, and almost got it wrong.

It's not difficult for a girlfriend to play such a role. Cameron Crowe looked at Nancy and felt a little moved, so he happily agreed.

The third ally, a very solid candidate.

At the same time, Amy Heckerling was not idle either.

"I see Ronald is very busy these days, and he didn't bother me. He seems very confident that he can make a good movie."

"Have you discussed the music with Azov? This is a good achievement to show off."

"I have found someone to negotiate the copyright, but I also need my own people in the casting."

"Which role do you like? What actor? Honey."

"The heroine Stacey and her best friend Linda, these two roles, after reading the script, are the axis of the whole film. All the people and things are radiated from them."

"Give me the person you think is suitable, preferably the children of famous actors, so that I can arrange it easily."