Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Rick Nicita signed Francis Ford Coppola.

This news caused a sensation in CAA and the agent circle. It is true that he is of Italian descent, but Coppola is not the kind of director who can be signed by relying on the same ethnicity.

The reason why Nicita was able to defeat competitors such as Limato and sign Coppola was that he helped Coppola to promote the distribution contract of his new film "The Untamed" with Warner Bros.

A Warner president who had just taken office and urgently needed to establish his professional authority. A big director who urgently needed to make a hit movie to save his reputation and financial situation.

A successful agent is one who can grasp the real needs of both parties and has the relationship to communicate the needs of both parties to the right person. With this signing, Nicita successfully promoted himself to the top five in the CAA power rankings.

"Coppola is known for his stubborn insistence on his own opinions, ignoring the opinions of the producers, and often exceeding the budget and deadline. However, he is often able to produce blockbusters with great box office and critical acclaim under great financial pressure.

Last time, the financial pressure of "Old Love and New Love" was not great enough, so Francis played it willfully according to his own ideas. This time, if he doesn't shoot well, he will face the loss of his house and vineyard. His wife will not let him go. Italian men listen to their mothers and wives."

Nicita was in the office, meeting with Tom Cruise's agent Paula Wagner.

"Tom made a list for me with directors he wanted to work with. Coppola was the first on the list." Paula carefully straightened Nicita's tie knot, then kissed him and sat back in her seat next to him.

A famous director's film project can squeeze in many actors to refresh their resumes, and this time "The Urchin" happened to be a group play.

Nicita was very happy and suddenly became the object of all CAA colleagues to please.

"I will let Tom audition quickly, but Coppola is Coppola after all."

The director who can make "The Godfather" is very authoritative in art. Niceta cannot guarantee that her people can get the roles they want as they wish. Everything depends on Coppola's intention.

"It would be great if there is someone who Coppola trusts in art and can help Tom." Paula knows that although Tom works very hard, he is not well educated and his reading comprehension ability is worrying. He may not be able to understand the role accurately.

Coppola is also a person who is particularly persistent in casting. When he chose Marlon Brando and Al Pacino for The Godfather, he would rather risk being fired than insist on them.

"So when Ronald comes later, you should be nice to him. I recommend him to Coppola as an apprentice. If Coppola agrees, he will participate in all the casting processes."

"Oh, really?"

"Dangdang", after the knock on the door, a young man wearing sunglasses and a full beard walked in.

"Ronald, long time no see, black tea or coffee?" Paula Wagner came forward and hugged him.

"Black tea, thank you." Ronald took off his sunglasses and walked to the table.

"What's wrong with you? Didn't sleep well?" Nicita noticed that Ronald's eyes were red and bloodshot.

"Yeah, I read the copy again, and there are many unsatisfactory parts in it. I think too much." Ronald held the table, sat down slowly, and grinned.

"I couldn't sleep and got up to exercise, and my muscles were sore." He took the initiative to explain.

"Pay attention to moderation, you still have a job here." Nicita looked at the uncomfortable position on the inside of Ronald's thigh and shook her head secretly in her heart.

"Okay." Ronald adjusted his sitting position to avoid the sore part, "What is the job?"

"The last time you commented on "The Magic Stains", it reached the ears of Paramount's senior management. After consulting with director Lou Adler, they agreed to meet with you to look at his first cut together to see if there is any way to remedy it and cut out the ending."

"Here is the script," Niceta put a bound script on the table and slid it over.

Ronald took it with one hand, "Okay, I'll take a look. When will I meet the director?"

"The sooner the better. I'll say hello to Coppola for you. After he finishes financing the new film, he will interview you and several other candidates next week to select an intern who will follow the group throughout the process, starting with the audition."

"Then I'll take a look now. Please help me contact director Lou Adler." Ronald took the script and read it.

The next day, Ronald met Lou Adler, the director of "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Magic Stains". Lou Adler actually had some connections with Ronald. During the filming of "Famous", Ronald wanted to add the "Rocky Horror Show" segment, which was produced by him.

They watched the director's cut in the screening room of Paramount.

The movie tells the story of a supermarket saleswoman who turned into the lead singer of a punk band.

The small town girl Corinna is played by Diane Lane. Corinna's mother unfortunately passed away, and she worked alone to support herself and her sister. She was interviewed by a reporter in the supermarket and complained about the economic downturn under the Persian energy crisis, but was fired by the supermarket owner.

Corinna, who was desperate, unexpectedly found that her remarks in the interview were broadcast by the local TV station, which attracted the attention of the public. So she, her sister, and her cousin (Laura Dern) formed a garage punk band "Magic Stains" to make money by performing.

Because of Corinna's media exposure, the band was spotted by a local concert promoter and opened for a concert by a washed-up rock band.

Unexpectedly, the musical standards of the three of them were extremely poor. Neither her sister nor her cousin knew how to play instruments, and Corinna herself sang out of tune.

The organizer wanted to replace them, but Corinna saw something bad and had all three sisters get skunk hairstyles, and then continued to express her views on the economy and the situation to the media. Hope it continues to attract media attention.

Her remarks and appearance attracted the attention of national media. After being broadcast on television, she became a nationally renowned spokesperson for rebellion, attracting thousands of low-class girls who were as dissatisfied with reality as she was to watch the show.

The Magic Stains continued to support other bands on their national tours. Finally, I earned enough money to support myself, my sister, and my family.

The movie has no ending and no closing credits. Ronald looked at the director and almost laughed.

This director's film budget is much larger than mine, but the results are much worse than mine.

The whole film is full of messy plots and arrangements. In some shots, it is obvious that the lighting is inconsistent, there are many gaps, and the actors' performances are not consistent at all.

If Roger Corman were to shoot it, it would only cost 300,000 to 500,000 dollars at most, and the shot would be better than his.

Ronald finally let go of his long-term anxiety and let out a sigh of relief.

Sometimes there is no need to constantly compare with top directors. If you look at the works of other "normal" directors, your own films are not so bad.

"Lou, I don't understand. You did a good job shooting. Why is there no ending?"

"Ah, Ronald. Do you support my shooting concept?"

"I... still support it." Ronald didn't know what the director's philosophy was, but such a noisy exploitation film was in line with his own principles for making films, except that it was a waste of money.

"I'm very distressed. My screenwriter doesn't want to sign her name in the movie and wants to change her name to a pseudonym."

"Why?" Ronald thought to himself, could it be that the filming was too bad?

"She believed that the movie needed a 'normal' ending. The Miracle Dirt was a poor band, the lead singer was out of tune, and the musicians couldn't play more than six chords. The music wasn't enough to spark a pop, and the band couldn't succeed."

"So the ending is that they return to the small town and return to life? You only need to shoot a few scenes and explain the ending of each character." Ronald himself did this.

"But I didn't shoot those scenes." The director said hesitantly.

"It doesn't matter, you just need to take a still picture and explain it with subtitles."

"Mr. Eisner, the president of Paramount, let me watch the movies you participated in, 'Rock and Roll High School' and 'Famous,' Ronald." The director took off his glasses and wiped them with a handkerchief. "You filmed That’s fine, I think you should support me.”

"Of course I support you." Ronald wasn't sure what the director meant.

"The Last Miracle Band should be on the charts." The director turned to stare at Ronald, trying to see his first reaction.

"Is this...is this possible?" It's a bit exaggerated to have an out-of-tune band on the charts.

"Anything can happen in music. The Ramones from Rock 'n' Roll High School, who are so hot right now, sing off-key."

"You are the boss and you are familiar with the music industry. If you think about it carefully, it's not impossible." Ronald thought for a while. It is true that Ramones' skills are not very good, but he is popular.

"I just said you would understand me, Ronald." The director hugged his shoulder hard.

"But we have a problem now. I didn't think about this when we were filming. It was only during editing that I thought of giving them an ending where they become famous in one fell swoop."

"If you don't have the footage, we can call Diane and Laura back for reshoots."

Ronald felt that the director was hesitant, as if he was embarrassed to say something.

"Yes, yes, can you help me think of an ending?" The director looked at Ronald sincerely, "The biggest problem now is that Diane and Laura have grown a lot taller. If If you reshoot, it will obviously not match the previous picture.”

"Pfft..." Ronald couldn't help but spit out.

"Sorry, I choked on my tea. Ahem..."

Unexpectedly, the root of the problem lies here. This movie was filmed more than a year ago. Diane has obviously grown a lot taller than when filming, and Laura Dern has grown more than ten centimeters. The audience can definitely tell the difference.

No wonder director Lou Adler never completes the shot. Maybe he is too embarrassed to talk about his stupid mistakes and doesn't want to follow the screenwriter's wishes and end it there.

In addition, he is the owner of a record company and has many things to do, so it has been postponed until now...

"Otherwise, we postpone the ending story for two years, let the three-person girl band become famous and hit the big time, shoot a music video, appear on MTV, and then use this MV as the ending, wouldn't it be more natural?"

Ronald still thought of a way for the director. With so many actors and staff's efforts, it would be a pity if the film could not be released due to the director's mistakes.

"This is a way..."

Ronald struck while the iron was hot, "If you are still worried about their height, we can mainly use upward shots. Originally, upward shots would make the actors appear taller, making it harder to distinguish them.

Then let Laura and another girl sit down and play the bass, leaving Diane standing and playing the guitar and singing, so that the height is more consistent with the original picture.

We will show some of their albums, award-winning shots, etc., and intersperse them into the MTV to form a montage. The audience's attention will be distracted and they will not notice the sudden change in the actors' height. "

Director Lou Adler kept nodding, worthy of being a genius favored by Eisner, "Don't bother two people with one thing, why don't you write and direct this ending shot, Ronald." This directing work exhausted his enthusiasm for movies, so he decided to return to the record industry.

"I have other things recently..."

"I will pay you to reshoot it myself, just one day, $50,000. Then you help me edit this ending." The director restored the style of the record company boss and directly threw money at Ronald.

"I really have other things, Mr. Adler."

"Sixty thousand."

"I also have to prepare for the interview with Director Coppola..."

"Sixty thousand, plus I owe you a favor. ”

“Okay, let’s do this to save the movie.”

“Very good, I’ll go sign a contract with your agent.”