Exploiting Hollywood 1980

After saying that, Cameron fainted again.

Everyone hurried forward, and Ronald helped open Cameron's collar and touched his forehead, which was frighteningly hot. But the pulse on his neck was beating fairly steadily.

Upon seeing this, Roberto helped contact a private hospital run by an American. However, the ambulance system in Rome was very inefficient and often sent patients to hospitals with more rebates. He suggested driving himself to the hospital.

Ronald and Roberto carried Cameron into Roberto's car. Gale helped support his head, and the group took Cameron to the hospital.

The doctors at the hospital are all American-trained and can speak English. After asking some questions, doing some blood tests, and giving him some antibiotics and glucose, Cameron woke up in the hospital bed a few hours later.

The doctor determined that Cameron was fine and was just a little weak due to insufficient nutritional intake. The direct cause of illness may be food poisoning from eating spoiled food in the trash can.

Because he had no job, his visa had expired, and he had no savings. A young man in excellent health almost got into serious trouble in Italy because of a minor problem.

On the third day, the hospital informed Ronald that Cameron's director's union's medical insurance was at the lowest level, and he had exhausted the insurance limit after being in the hospital for two days. If he stayed in the hospital any longer, he would have to pay for it out of pocket.

After looking at the price of hospitalization at their own expense, Ronald and Gail had to pick Cameron up. With Roberto's help, they found a clean and cheap family hotel to stay in.

Roberto's girlfriend Nicoletta can speak English. The two of them are very kind-hearted and know that Cameron has just recovered and needs to eat some easy-to-digest and nutritious food.

Nicoletta made a large pot of roburita soup, a traditional Italian delicacy cooked with overnight bread, pasta, and meat sauce, and sent it to them.

Gail took a spoon and fed it to Cameron. After being raised for two days, Cameron finally regained some of his strength.

"What happened? Why didn't you edit the film and went to stay in a hotel? We went to the address that the producer Assonitis had registered in America. It was not his office, but in Rome. A state-owned film studio?”

Seeing that Cameron was recovering well, Ronald and Gale began to ask their friends what happened.

"Hey hey, I met a liar."

Cameron also told his two friends intermittently about his experience.

Turns out "Piranha 2" producer Assonitis is a liar. They rely on America to shoot some exploitation films, and then sell the films to some small theaters in Europe using the American theater release as a gimmick.

Because he previously exploited members of the Directors Guild and asked him to change the director's signature to his own after making a movie, the Directors Guild has banned any films with his signature as director from being released in America.

In order to get around this restriction, he found the unknown Jim Cameron as the signed director. After Cameron shot all the exteriors and special effects shots in Jamaica, he shot the interior scenes in Los Angeles.

Assonitis refused to allow Cameron to enter the studio on the grounds that the samples he shot did not meet the requirements.

Cameron couldn't argue with a crew that all spoke Italian. He could only watch as his filming results were stolen by Assonitis and taken back to Rome for post-editing.

Cameron, who wanted to make a splash with "Piranha 2", had already spent the special effects director and the first salary he received after taking over as director in Jamaica to make a realistic piranha model for the movie with his own money. After the filming of the film was completed, He already lives on savings and income from odd jobs.

In order to prevent the movie he was first assigned to become a bad movie, he finally had to take all the cash at home, plus a little money borrowed from Ronald, bought a one-way plane ticket and came to Rome, Italy. .

Cameron found producer Assonitis after many rounds, but was blocked from the editing room. Unwilling to be reconciled, he opened the door to the editing room with a bank card, sneaked into the editing room in the middle of the night every day, and secretly modified his work.

Unexpectedly, the producer Assonitis found out and changed the changes he made during the day.

Cameron doesn't speak the language, doesn't know anyone, has exhausted his savings, and has an expired visa. He can only survive in cheap hotels by picking up leftover food from other guests.

If he hadn't been ill and had no choice but to call Gale for help, he would probably have done some odd jobs in Italy, earned enough money to fly back, and secretly buried this shameful history in his memory.

He didn't want his friends and family to see him being deceived and living on the street because of the movie he loved.

Gale, who knew the whole story, felt that the measures taken by Cameron were unwise. America is a country based on law. If you encounter this kind of thing, of course you should find a lawyer to sue the other party.

"I introduce my lawyer to you, and you must seek justice from Assonitis. The director has wanted to sign your name. If he changes your film too much, complain to the Directors Guild, cancel the signature, and let his The movie can't be shown in America and he'll give in."

Gale Hurd immediately thought of a solution.

Ronald also felt that Cameron should find an agent so that he would not encounter a liar producer and know nothing about it. In order to collect commissions, agents must figure out these things, otherwise they will be fired.

"You should find an agent, Jim. Although they will take away part of your income, they will save a lot of things.

Also, if you encounter such difficulties in the future, you must remember our two friends. If you hadn't been smart enough to call Gale this time, who knows what would have happened? "

However, Roberto and his girlfriend Nicoletta, who are Italian party members, understand Cameron very well.

"Don't be like this, Jim is an artist. Artists often only want to create entertainment for the people. It is difficult for us to fight against those film capitalists who only want to make money."

Nicoletta translated a passage Roberto said in Italian into English.

"I understand, thank you." Cameron held Gale's hand and thanked several friends. This time not only did two good friends fly to Rome, Italy to find him, but they also gained the friendship of Roberto, a foreign artist.

Cameron's body is recovering rapidly, and he still spends some time every day drawing something with a pencil in bed.

Ronald saw that he was gradually getting better and was preparing for his return trip. He received a call from his agent Richard across the ocean, telling him about the marketing of "Fast-paced Richmond High School". He went back to discuss.

He booked a flight that day to say goodbye to Cameron, Gale, and Roberto.

He has to go back to Los Angeles first, where the "fast-paced Richmond High School" has already begun to prepare some marketing promotions. Coppola was said to have made progress with Warner Bros., but Coppola gave in and agreed to invite teenage stars to star in the movie.

"This is a scene I dreamed about when I was ill." Cameron handed Ronald a pencil sketch, which was the result of his drawings in the past few days. "I am going to write this dream into a script. "

"What is this?" Ronald took over the sketch. It showed a robot with a skull-like head. One hand was holding a long knife, and the other hand was holding a machine gun and shooting in the distance.

"This is the scene I dreamed about in my dream the day you found me. He was so clear, a silver-white metal robot walking toward me with a machine gun in one hand."

Cameron excitedly described his dream to Ronald.

"He has the power to destroy heaven and earth. I dreamed that he appeared from the flames, and when he was close to me, a long knife appeared in his other hand.

He came over and pointed a knife at me and said, you must photograph me and let me appear in this world. "

Ronald looked at the sketch. The skeleton robot on it was very realistic. He glanced at Cameron and thought, "Isn't this guy also a time traveler? Can he dream about future movies when he dreams?"

"What did you name him?" Ronald asked, pointing to the skull on the painting.

"The\u0026or". Cameron got up from the bed and said excitedly, "I already have an idea in my mind. This is a future science fiction story, where robots and humans fight for the earth.

Like George Lucas's Star Wars, The Terminator will be an epic science fiction movie. I'll have the script written by then, and you can help me read it and make some comments. "

"Okay, I'll take a look after you recover. If this robot can be photographed, it will definitely be a sensation." Ronald knew that Cameron's stunt modeling skills had become increasingly mature, so he thought of such a full-metal robot. When it appears on the screen, I really want to see it first.

After saying goodbye to Cameron, Gayle, and Roberto, Ronald left Rome, Italy first. It was another ten hours of flight. After Ronald called a taxi at the airport and returned to the hotel, he fell asleep for the whole day. Only then did the fatigue of the journey and jet lag begin to reverse.

"Bang bang bang" There was a knock on the door in the hotel room. Ronald rubbed his eyes, got out of bed and opened the door.

His agent Richard walked in, "Are you back? Ronald? The long-distance phone call between me and you has come to light. David Letterman plans to invite Brooke Shields to appear on his late show, which happens to be a promotion. Great opportunity at 'fast-paced Richmond High School'."

"Oh, I just came back from Italy and I'm jet-lagged. Is this a good thing? What's wrong?"

"Brooke Shields' mother asked for too high an appearance fee. Letterman wanted to contact Brooke Shields directly through your relationship. Can you ask her to lower the price? Letterman's show just started airing not long ago, and he can't get much money now, so he Thought of you."

"I?"

"Yes, you are very influential to Brooke, and she also comes to me to find you. The key is that if Brooke can be on TV, it will be a very powerful promotion for your movie."

"Huh?" Ronald suddenly became more energetic, "That's right."