Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Helen Slater, a girl from New York, became the luckiest one among thousands of girls who auditioned. She defeated Brooke Shields, who was highly favored before, and was selected to play 'Supergirl'.

Warner Bros. announced that it had signed a contract with her for Supergirl, and the first movie will be filmed in Britain on a date to be determined."

There is a very short project information in "The Hollywood Reporter", which published the news that Helen was selected to play Supergirl.

"I'm so happy." Helen said while hugging Ronald's neck. Wearing the Supergirl uniform for the audition really worked.

She received a notice to ask the photographer to take a set of uniform photos for her under the lighting environment, so that the costumes and props can be used as references to customize the real movie costumes.

"When will you start shooting?" Ronald asked Helen.

"Warner wants us to go to the UK to shoot some scenes for the 'Superman III' which is currently being filmed at Pinewood Studios outside London, UK. The official filming will start next year. They said I still need to go to the gym to grow some muscles to match the role."

"Okay. In fact, this role is very suitable for you. It doesn't require high acting skills..."

"How could it be? I will also be acting with Jane Fonda and Peter O'Toole, which requires high acting skills. Gerald has already found an acting training teacher for me."

Ronald smiled. Gerald was still very concerned about this daughter born to his ex-wife. He invited a famous Shakespeare drama coach to train Helen's dialogue ability and acting skills.

Although Ronald felt that the movie might not need such dialogue skills, he did not intend to interfere. It was healthier than the so-called "method" actor studio.

"Have other roles been selected?" Ronald asked about other candidates for "Superwoman".

"They are going to ask Jane Fonda to play my mother, Dolly Parton to play the witch in the comics, and Peter O'Toole to play my mentor. But it's not finalized yet and may change."

"Yes, filming is very uncertain, and sometimes schedule changes will make the original actors unavailable." Ronald remembered that in his dream, except for Peter O'Toole, everyone else seemed to have changed actors.

"There is also a Hollywood TV actor named Demi Moore. She will play Supergirl's best friend Lucy Lane. I heard that she was also a candidate for Supergirl."

"This world is really small. I used her audition photos as an advertisement for my portrait photography business..." Ronald couldn't help but sigh that a girl like Demi who is very good at finding opportunities finally entered the entertainment industry.

Helen's classmates who majored in performing arts also envied her and began to call her constantly to invite Helen to a party.

"I never knew I was so popular in high school. They all liked that Erica Gimpel and chose her as the queen of the graduation ball." Helen received another invitation call and complained to Ronald.

"Oh, I don't know. Has she acted in any movies?"

"She acted as Coco in the TV version of 'Famous'."

"Isn't that the role played by Irene Cara in the movie version?" Ronald remembered this all-around character who was good at drama, dance and singing. Irene Cara's career has now shifted to being a singer. She sings "Famous" on variety shows every day. No wonder she doesn't act in the TV version.

Ronald was very happy. Every time she appeared on TV, she increased her income from writing lyrics. There would be another check next quarter.

"Aren't you going to their party?"

"Oh, it's meaningless. I might as well go pick out some new jazz records. I have to take a Shakespeare drama class later. What about you?"

"I'll go meet the two producers." Ronald got up and drove.

"When we meet Ronald later, we must praise him. You know Americans like to be praised." The two fat men were talking about Ronald in the hotel suite.

"Why didn't I see that he had such a great talent for directing?"

"Hi, Ronald. Long time no see!"

The two Israeli producers, Minahan and Yoram, stood up and hugged Ronald and his agent Richard.

"Your fast pace is amazing. Our movie cost more than yours, but the box office is only a fraction of yours." Minahan began to compliment Ronald.

The movie he was talking about was Cannon Pictures' "The Last American Virgin", which has been taken off the screen. The total revenue in America was less than 6 million US dollars, which was not as high as the cost of filming and music copyright.

"It's hard to say about movies. I don't know what I did right." Ronald was modest. "I heard that your copies sold well abroad?"

Ronald didn't want to meet the two Israeli brothers. He discussed it with his agents Richard and Niceta and declined their invitation.

But Niceta's words caught Ronald's attention. The two brothers got a big investment in Europe and were ready to shoot a blockbuster worth tens of millions.

All the movies shot in America lose money, but they can still attract such a large investment, which makes Ronald very interested in talking to them, so he agreed to this meeting. Richard even flew over to accompany the meeting.

"Ah, yes. Ronald, why don't you help us direct a movie, or a youth movie, so that we can join forces and win the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director.

The box office of these two movies made me understand that I haven't grasped the taste of the American people, so the box office failed."

Minahan Golan gushes about his movie.

"Why are your movies so successful? Ronald. Have you mastered some secret?"

"Success is a poor teacher. If I fail, I can talk about the lessons. But with box office success, I really don't know where I am right?"

"Oh? Then can you talk about why our 'Last American Virgin' failed?"

Minahan himself is a director. Although he is not named as the director of this movie, he went to the filming site many times to guide, and most of the final editing was his handiwork. He really couldn't figure it out.

Teen movies, nudity, abortion, all kinds of pick-up scenes. It is said that Cannon Pictures' movies have more of these blockbuster elements than Ronald's "fast-paced" movie. There are more than a dozen actresses in the movie alone, which is much more than Ronald's movie.

But young American audiences just don’t like watching it. My investment in distribution far exceeds that of Universal, but the single-theater box office is being squeezed by the 'fast pace'. Now others still have a box office of two to three million per week, and my movies have been invited to theaters.

"If you tell me how you found the money to shoot in Europe, I'll tell you why your movie doesn't do well in North America." Ronald said with a smirk on his face.

"I don't care about this matter. It's all about Ram to discuss."

Yoram is like a smaller version of Minahan, except that his head is one size smaller than his cousin's, and his whole body is also fat.

"We mainly rely on the pre-sales of this movie and European bank funds." Yoram didn't speak much, mainly listening to others.

But what he said was very important knowledge to Ronald. “Excuse me, what’s going on with the pre-sale?”

"Pre-sale is when the movie has not yet started shooting, in Europe and Asia, we sell the rights to local screenings, and we use the pre-sale money to shoot the movie. We will deliver it after the filming is completed."

“How do I pre-sell a movie?”

"You must have a successful precedent, and the movie must have stars recognized by foreigners, or some connections." Yoram still didn't say much.

“What happened to the bank funds?”

Ronald also wanted to find out more about the secret behind Cannon Pictures's repeated losses and its ability to attract large investments.

"Ronald, this is our core business secret. If you want to know more about pre-sales, I can help you. You will understand when you go to the country with us next time at the Cannes Film Festival. ”

"That's right, Ronald, come with us to Cannes next year. It's a paradise for film directors, and the beaches are full of..." Minahan happily described the courtesy he received in Cannes.

"It's your turn, Ronald. What's wrong with our movie?"

"I can't say that my opinion is definitely correct, but I think the movies you make are all about American stories as seen by foreigners, rather than domestic stories as seen by Americans."

"What do you mean?" Minahan stared blankly, a little confused.

"I've seen a few of your films, like the one that was shown in Montreal, 'Apple,' which tells the story of a hippie."

"Yes, hippies save the world..."

"Minahan, I guess you haven't been exposed to the hippie lifestyle."

"how do you know?"

"I grew up in America, and I've seen a lot of hippies in my life. And as an Israeli, you only know about hippies on TV or in magazines."

Seeing that Minahan listened attentively, Ronald expressed his opinion.

"In fact, the core concept of hippies is freedom. I can smell who is a hippie on the road. They always drive second-hand shabby cars, have long hair, wear flowers, play guitars and sing, but those are just appearances. Their true spirit lies in freedom.

And your movie gathers hippies, lets them obey the command of a leader, and sacrifice themselves to accomplish a great cause. How can this be? In the eyes of North American audiences, this is not hippy at all. "

"So I say, your movie may be suitable for foreign audiences to watch American stories. Those stories match their imagination of America, but North American audiences don't feel that it is their story."

Ronald raised his glass to signal that he was finished.

Minahan stared and said nothing for a long time. Suddenly he hit the table with his fist, "Ah...I understand."

"Ronald, will you direct our next movie? Youth, beauty, and love are exactly the elements you are good at."

"Ahem..." Richard suddenly choked on his wine and coughed.

"I'm sorry, Minahan. I need some rest, and I don't want to make any more teen exploitation films these days. You know I turned down an invitation from Atlantic Distribution to do their movie a few days ago."

Recently, a song called "Valley Girl" climbed to the top of the pop music charts and caused a great impact.

CBS TV station also criticized this valley accent and made a special report. Criticizing this kind of emphasis and grammatical expression will have a great impact on Americans' language expression and reading comprehension ability in the future.

Atlantic approached Ronald and wanted to hire the director who started the "Valley Girl" accent trend to make another movie called "Valley Girl". He wrote the script and was paid 200,000 yuan. The casting and editing decisions were all made by Ronald.

"Well, you should enjoy this privilege. American blockbuster directors should enjoy this privilege. It's all my fault that I was stupid and didn't seize the opportunity to invite you to direct Cannon's movie."

Minahan made several exaggerated regretful gestures.

"When will you make a new movie next? What subject will it be? Don't forget me and Yoram. Cannon Pictures will always welcome you. Our financing ability and tolerance for talented directors are incomparable to the seven major Hollywood companies. You would be a fool if you didn't cooperate with us."

"I don't know. I don't have any inspiration yet. Maybe a science fiction movie?" Ronald felt that the two brothers were really very motivated. No failure could erase their confidence in always moving forward. Having such blind self-confidence is sometimes a good thing.

"It is said in Hollywood that their money was given by Belgian banks. It was all funds laundered in Europe."

Richard said on the way to send Ronald home.

"What's the truth?"

"I don't know, but what Minahan's cousin said today is indeed a good financing path. Including the funds for Supergirl, they were also raised from pre-sales in Europe and Asia. Now the seven major studios in Hollywood have also begun to learn this method.

If they can really find pre-sale funds from Cannes, then I'm afraid the so-called dollar laundering is just a rumor."

"You should go back to Hollywood, Ronald." At the door of Ronald's aunt's house, Richard began to urge Ronald to return to Los Angeles.

"The box office of the movie has exceeded 33 million. If it continues, it will be a long-term screening. Now there are many people in Hollywood who want to cooperate with you. If you don't appear in front of them for a long time, Hollywood will be very forgetful."

"I know, I'll go back after I finish some things." Ronald patted Richard's shoulder.

"Ronnie, help me hold here."

Donna saw Ronald coming back, holding one end of the telescope, asked Ronald to hold it, and then put away the tube.

"Why don't you look at the comet?"

"Halley's Comet has been discovered, and I can't be in the newspaper news." Donna shrugged.

"Why do so many people want to watch Halley's Comet?"

"Because comets are very popular now. Legend has it that the extinction of dinosaurs was caused by a comet hitting the earth."

"So scary? What if humans are extinct by a comet?"

"No, the probability of hitting the earth is very low. Many small celestial bodies are blocked by the moon."

"If it hits the earth and causes the extinction of a large number of humans, what will happen if you are a survivor?" Ronald thought this was a good disaster film theme, so he asked Donna.

"Hmm? I will probably collect my books and preserve the technological spark of mankind."

"Haha, what about you? What do you want to do?"

"Nothing, I might go to the Library of Congress and take back all the good books there." Donna thought for a while and said, "Then take some beautiful clothes that I can't afford to buy normally, toys that I can't play with, and get a motorcycle to drive."