Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Ronald turned on the TV and received a call from his aunt. Ingrid Bergman had passed away.

"Ingrid Bergman died in London. After a long battle with illness, the famous movie star passed away on her 67th birthday, accompanied by her ex-husband, La Schmidt.

She won the Oscar for Best Actress twice for "Gaslight" and "Anatomical". In her personal life, her extramarital affair with Italian director Roberto Rossellini shocked American society.

But her performance with Humphrey Bogart in "Casablanca" may be the scene that people talk about when they recall her."

"Ronnie, have you seen the news?"

Helen also called and she also saw the news of Bergman's death.

Americans love "Casablanca" the most. The TV station has begun to review Bergman's voice, and the video of her being interviewed and filming "Casablanca" has also been found and replayed.

"When I played 'Casablanca', I had no idea that this movie would become a classic," said the elderly Bergman on TV, who was being interviewed by Dick Cavett, the host of the three major talk shows.

"I asked them whether I should love my husband or Humphrey Bogart, and they (director and screenwriter) said that it had not been decided yet, so I should play the middle route. When I watched my performance in the movie later, I had no expression on my face because I didn't know which role I should love."

"It was a very sudden news." Ronald also sighed. This big star with a charming demeanor was at the third golden age of actresses, when a lot of grandma roles came to her, but unexpectedly...

"I called her daughter Aunt Pia and said that Bergman's body would be buried in her hometown in Stockholm. They planned to hold a memorial service and would invite us to attend."

Pia is already an American, and her sister Isabella has also lived in New York for many years. The memorial service was held according to American customs.

There was not much sadness, but the relatives and friends of the deceased talked about the details of their relationship with Bergman, and some people's speeches were very humorous. The audience smiled and diluted the sadness a lot.

Bergman's official funeral will be held in Stockholm later.

At the memorial service, Ronald also saw Bergman's other daughter Isabella Rossini, and they chatted for a while.

Isabella decided to debut as a model. Although she is already 30 years old, this daughter who looks most like Bergman is still very beautiful. She has her mother's legacy in the fashion industry, and many brands and photographers are vying to work with her.

"I wish you good luck." Ronald wished her good luck. In any case, being a model at this age is indeed a bit of a gamble. "Is Marty okay? He didn't look very well last time."

"He should be fine." Isabella said goodbye to Ronald and Helen, and turned back to Pia's house.

"Did I say anything I shouldn't say?" Ronald asked Helen beside him.

"She seems to have separated from her husband." Helen heard some gossip.

No wonder Scorsese also... Ronald thought.

The beauty wanted to be an actress, but her famous director husband was busy in his own movies and didn't let his wife play any roles. The last time Isabella acted in a movie, it was an Italian-language movie that her Italian colleague Roberto asked her to make a cameo appearance in.

However, in America, where privacy is valued, it is difficult for outsiders to know the real reason for the breakup unless the parties involved speak up.

It was late when Ronald returned home, and he saw his cousin Donna still looking at the starry sky with a telescope.

"Did you see Halley's Comet?"

"No, but I saw the two split comets." Seeing that it was her cousin who came back, Donna made way for him to look at the telescope.

"Is it this big broom?" Ronald looked through the telescope and saw a big comet in the field of view, with a bright head, a short and thick curved tail, and a big star.

"Yes, you may not believe it, Ronnie. That bright comet tail is sweeping across the Earth. But we can't feel it at all. Those are made up of very rarefied gas and dust, which only glow when reflecting sunlight..."

"Earthlings can't feel it? Interesting." Ronald thought it was a good thing that Donna went to a key high school. A lot of knowledge was almost incomprehensible to her cousin.

The next day, CAA's agent Richard came to Ronald again.

"Universal sold the TV broadcast rights of 'Fast Pace' for two million. The box office of the movie has exceeded 25 million. The TV station was eager to get it and quickly agreed to the price.

The TV version you edited has passed the TV station's review. They are very satisfied with your editing. The dirty words and nudity have been replaced by dialogues and directly given a G rating.

According to the latest Directors Guild labor agreement, if the TV broadcast is more than ten times and the video tape is sold, you will get "residual". You will receive a check from the Directors Guild every quarter for this part of the money.

Ronald nodded, "What's the matter with video tape sales? I don't think anyone sells movie video tapes. Department stores and supermarkets only have Jane Fonda's fitness videos. "

"Universal is suing Sony, the Japanese video recorder manufacturer. They believe that videotapes will destroy the film industry like television did in the past.

Mr. Spielberg has formally rejected Universal's request to sell ET VHS videotapes, although VHS and Sony's BetaMax, which Universal is suing, are not the same type of videotapes, they are in competition. "

"I don't understand. Isn't it possible to make a lot of money by selling video tapes? Why did Spielberg refuse?" Ronald dreamed of watching video tapes. It seems that video tapes will become the main way to watch movies in the future. Why refuse?

"Hollywood is now very afraid of video tapes. The Japanese have made it very easy to copy video tapes. With just two video recorders, you can copy them at home. Who would go to the cinema to watch movies?"

"Yeah," Ronald thought, "What about our movie?"

"Mr. Sheinberg has decided not to release the tape, no matter what format it is in. The lawsuit between Universal and Sony has reached the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, and all of Hollywood is watching the outcome of this case, and his decision will become precedent in the future.

Universal is not going against Hollywood as a whole. "

"Then will we win?" Ronald felt a little uneasy when he heard that it would become a precedent.

The impact of the television invasion on Hollywood is still lingering. At that time, a large number of creative talents were unemployed and the market was shrinking. If I really have to be recorded by a video camera again, I'm afraid I will have fewer and fewer opportunities to make films in the future.

"We are still relatively optimistic now. Universal and other major studios sued Sony in the Central District Court of California in 1976. At that time, we were defeated by the judge on First Amendment grounds. The court ruled that it was not illegal for ordinary customers to use video recorders. .

However, after appealing to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, a very favorable result was achieved. If users pirate and rip video tapes, Hollywood does not need to bear the burden of proof, but companies such as Sony that sell video recorders will automatically bear joint liability.

Now the Japanese are appealing again, hoping to reopen the hearing. However, Hollywood is generally optimistic about the prospects of the case. "

"Then I'm relieved. It's a good thing that we don't release the video. At least we can sell more tickets at the box office."

…

"FBI busts movie piracy ring!"

A few days later, the headlines of The Hollywood Reporter released a shocking news.

"Alien" was pirated, and Universal was unwilling to release the official video tape, but pirates helped him buy hundreds of thousands of pirated video tapes.

This was the first time a movie in Hollywood suffered serious losses due to pirated video tapes, and it also hurt Ronald's "fast-paced" box office.

The cause of the matter is simple. "ET" continues to be popular. In many small town movie theaters, copies have not been available for a long time. The residents of the small towns have complained a lot. Any movie theater that can borrow a copy of ET can become a small town hero.

Piracy gangs noticed a shortage of copies of the film in small towns and bribed a Tennessee movie projectionist to steal a copy and give it to pirates.

Based on this copy, the pirates successfully produced a video master tape. Then they copied a large number of video tapes in VHS and Beta formats and sold them all over the country through the stolen goods network.

\u0026 It’s so popular that many regular stores have also stocked it for sale. Even though the pirated video tapes were sold as genuine ones, with a price tag of ninety dollars, many people still bought them.

This time, though, the projectionist and the pirate factory in the Bronx, New York, were captured. However, a large number of pirated video tapes have been circulated, and new pirated versions have been copied on this basis, which has flooded the country.

"How much is the estimated loss this time?" Ronald called his agent and asked about the loss this piracy had caused to ET Box Office.

"The estimated value of the case is more than 20 million." Richard replied. "If you add in the fact that the pirated video tape was copied again and the box office lost because you didn't go to the cinema to watch it, the total loss is estimated to be 30 to 40 million."

"What's the impact on us?"

"Universal has ordered rectification of its print management, and 'Fast Pace' will no longer produce new prints. Theaters on the East Coast and Central China will have to wait until the West Coast is released before they can get the prints."

"This is really a disaster." Ronald lamented.

\u0026The theft of copies of Alien has outraged Global executives. The film was expected to break box office records for Star Wars: A New Hope by the end of the year, but now it has to be postponed until next year.

Distribution agencies in various places began to strengthen the management of copies because this piracy was caused by paying projectionists to steal film copies and make copies.

It wasn't much use, but it did succeed in slowing down the rotation of a copy between local movie theaters. It also caused resistance from major studios such as Universal to printing more copies.

The order for the last batch of reprints of "Fast Pace" was cancelled, and instead the old copies were transferred to central and southern states after they were released in theaters on the West Coast, which had been released for two weeks.

"Now, even my box office revenue will be reduced by several million." Ronald complained.

"It's all those pirates' fault," my aunt agreed.

"Actually, Universal also has a responsibility. If they were willing to sell genuine video tapes, there wouldn't be so many pirated copies." Donna had just chosen economics and came to express her opinion.

"Forget it, this is not something I can control. Besides, the box office has far exceeded my expectations." Ronald ignored these troubles and began to pack his clothes, preparing to meet Helen and go to Flushing Park Stadium to watch Vincent Van Patten, the leading actor from "Rock of Ages", an old friend, appears.

The actor/tennis player made it to the third round as expected and met the world's number one "bad boy" John McEnroe, whom he had defeated before.