Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Bo, John, it's settled. The difference between me and those Hollywood producers is that I'm only interested in making movies, not playing golf, tennis, or fishing. Look at my figure. , not like playing tennis, hahaha.”

Minahan sent an old couple and a young couple out of the office and saw Ronald walking out of the elevator.

"Hi, Ronald, let me introduce you, this is Bo Derek, this is her husband, John, and this is Ronald."

"Bo, long time no see." Ronald greeted the sexy actress and her husband, who was thirty years older than her, watched them walk out of the office, and then said, "Minahan, do you have time to chat?"

"I'm negotiating with the couple to invest in a new movie directed by John and starring Bo. Guess what the name is? It's called 'Bolero', hahahaha..."

Ronald immediately understood that Bo Derek played a girl in the hit movie "Perfect", and when she went to bed with the male protagonist, she had to play "Bolero" music to cheer her up. This is a well-known meme, and she directly used it as the title of the new film to gain her own popularity. .

"I have something to ask you, Minahan. My new film has changed its domestic distributor, and we need to sign a new overseas distribution agreement. From New World to Atlantic, other terms remain unchanged."

Ronald saw Minahan's secretary taking out a big box for him, as if he was about to go out, and quickly stated his intention.

"I agree in principle, Ronald. I have never doubted your directorial ability and aesthetics. I have to catch a plane right away. Brooke Shields is filming in the Negev Desert in Israel. I have to watch it. What do you want? Just talk to Yoram.”

As he spoke, Minahan took the box handed by his secretary and left.

"But the new contract requires your signature." Ronald tried to make Minahan wait.

"Let Yoram sign it. He can imitate my signature. It doesn't matter. We brothers are family. I won't tell you more. I have to catch a plane. Bo and John wasted a lot of my time."

Minahan patted Ronald on the shoulder and walked into the elevator, "Don't forget, when I come back, you will go to Cannes with me and help me choose some good movies. Goodbye!"

"Yoram, this is my new contract. It is no different from the original one, except that the publisher was changed from New World to Atlantic." Ronald had no choice but to find Minahan's cousin Yoram to talk.

"Ronald, what's wrong? Don't you like New World? Minahan once worked as the assistant to Mr. Roger Coleman, the boss of New World. He is a very easy-going person. Why do you want to change publishers?" Yoram More carefully, I picked up the contract and read it.

"Didn't you read the newspaper? Coleman sold New World to three lawyers, and their new CEO had objections to my 'Night of the Comet,' so I found a publishing company that could appreciate and respect my creativity."

Ronald thought to himself that the two brothers had very little information. I'm afraid it's not that you two don't play golf or tennis, but that other Hollywood producers disdain these two Israeli brother producers. I didn’t even know about the news that Shinsegae was being sold and Remy was appointed as CEO.

"Oh, okay. We are busy with the sequel to the Ninja movie and the filming plan for the sequel to Chuck Bronson's Rampage." Yoram signed Minahan's name on the contract and handed it to Rona. De, "My accountant will write you a check."

Ronald thanked Yoram. Although these two brothers are not very accepted by the mainstream of Hollywood, they are indeed very efficient in making movies. Several movies went from preparation to shooting very fast. Maybe it is true, as they said, that the two brothers People only care about movies, not the false fame in the vanity fair.

Having decided on one big thing, Ronald started to worry about another thing.

Nicolas Cage has been confirmed not to star in "Night of the Comet". He was selected to star in the new film "The Order" together with Sean Penn, and then joined Alan Parker's ambitious follow-up to "Famous". Become a "birdman".

His own "Night of the Comet" schedule was pushed back by Atlantic. Cage was very lucky. The two films were connected later, and Alan Parker was famous for his slow work and meticulous work. If we had to wait for him, I might not be available until the second half of the year.

Ronald and Cage's agent Limato discussed whether they could combine "Night of the Comet" and "The Order of Love". Limato flatly refused. He considered it from Cage's point of view. He had just received a film contract from a major studio, and what he needed was to cooperate with the director and devote himself fully.

Ronald also thought about finding the actor in the dream, but in the dream he showed that his acting skills were not very good, so he was not required to act. Secondly, the actor has obvious Latino features.

Ronald felt that it would be better to find a mainstream white actor, who would gain greater recognition from the audience.

He arrived at Niceta's office and put forward his request, "Please find a typical American actor among the male actors signed by CAA who is cheap, has a dashing appearance, and preferably has certain acting skills and has acted in theatrical movies."

"Oh, this is an impossible triangle, Ronald." Niceta looked at the basic requirements written by Ronald, "If you are handsome and have acting skills, you are not cheap. If you are cheap, if you are good-looking, you have no acting skills. Yes. If his acting skills are cheap, then his looks are average.”

"I also made a request. If you think who is suitable, you can lower the requirements appropriately in terms of appearance. After all, this is a low-cost movie, and I pay attention to shooting quickly. If the acting skills are not good, there will be problems with the shooting progress."

"Okay, I'll spread the word that Ronald Lee needs a leading actor."

Nicita took note of Ronald's specific requirements, then wrote a memo, called the secretary in through the intercom, sent it to the conference room, and posted it on the large whiteboard on the wall, so that other agents in the company would notify Nicita if they found a suitable candidate.

"This is my role list, you can also help me take a look, if the CAA contracted actors are interested, they will be given priority." Ronald handed over a supporting role form, which had the role name, introduction, appearance, and the last

"No problem, leave it to me." Nicita raised her hand to open the drawer and handed an envelope to Ronald.

"This is the ticket to the show sent by singer Michael Jackson. He said thank you for the breakdancing professionals you introduced. He has practiced a new dance program. He will dance for the first time at the 25th anniversary party of Motown Records."

"March 25th," Ronald looked at the date written on the envelope, opened the envelope and shook it, and two tickets fell out, as well as a handwritten note:

"Dear Ronald, thank you for your inspiration. The dance style of Crazy Legs is very inspiring to me. I hope you can come to the show, MJ."

"Is he very popular now?" Ronald asked.

"Not bad, the radio station is promoting his new song. There are many famous singers in Motown Records, and Diana Ross will also go."

Ronald left CAA and drove to Cameron and Gail's residence. The next step is to revise the script to see if there is a way to reduce the budget and still shoot the original effect.

Jim is painting a model, and there is a small model with a full metal look on the table, which he has shaped and placed on the table.

"Is this the Terminator?" Ronald picked up the model and looked at it. The two red eyes on the metal head looked very evil.

"Yes, this is modified according to what I dreamed of in Italy." Cameron took out a sketch and showed it to Ronald. There will be several models of the Terminator, some for panoramic shots, some for medium shots, and a hand and a head for close-up shots.

"Jim, I came to ask you, is there any way to make the audience feel the occurrence of a catastrophe without showing the comet hitting the earth?" Ronald saw Cameron put down the model and asked a question that he had been thinking about for the past few days.

"In this way, if you want to show the comet hitting the earth, it is actually difficult to fully find this feeling." Cameron took a piece of paper, drew an exploding mushroom cloud, and then drew a circle on the periphery.

"The key point for this devastating explosion to make the audience feel real is to let the shock wave be felt by the audience." Cameron pointed to the circle and talked freely.

"Some fire, smoke, and debris are not difficult to achieve, but this shock wave is difficult to simulate with model special effects. The air is pushed out quickly, blowing through buildings and human bodies, destroying them in an instant. I feel that this is the most critical part of the explosion that makes people feel real."

"How much does it cost?" Ronald felt it was difficult. He couldn't use cheap methods to simulate it, so he had to pay real money.

Cameron shrugged, "I just figured it out after I experimented recently. It's difficult to reproduce this circle of shock waves with miniature models, and those miniature houses are too light, so there is no way to show the real feeling of reinforced concrete being destroyed by shock waves."

"Then what do you do? I remember there was a big explosion in Terminator."

"Only if you don't shoot the shock wave, a small explosion doesn't need the feeling of a shock wave. I want to use a small model to replace the large explosion on the truck, and then shoot the truck parts that are blown away and fall from the sky, so that the audience can feel the power of the explosion through editing." Cameron chuckled.

"But a comet hitting the earth can't be like this, it only blows up a car, the power is too small, the audience won't believe it."

"Or you can change the way you show it, the comet doesn't have to hit the earth to kill people. You can release a death ray to kill people or something." Cameron also felt that there was no good way.

"Hmm..." Ronald was also thinking about this way of dealing with it. In fact, there was no big explosion in the dream, but after the comet came, everyone turned into red ashes the next day. Only those who hid in the basement or the metal-wrapped room could survive.

Low cost must spend money on the most critical place. If the explosion is not done well, the audience will watch the show, maybe it's better not to do it.

"Don't use explosions, use death rays. Will the audience be dissatisfied with it?"

"In fact, if the explosion can't make the audience feel real, then it's better to use death rays. At least they can accept this logic." Cameron said.

"How should the death ray be shown?" Ronald muttered to himself.

"Why don't you take a look at my storyboard?" Cameron handed over a drawing with a few lines outlining lightning. Next to it was a vortex with a naked man walking out of it.

"Lightning?"

"Yes, with strong light illuminating the background rhythmically, so that the audience will feel a strong change in light, which is also a visual experience."

"How is this kind of lightning usually filmed?" Ronald asked.

"I haven't studied this. It's usually done by electricians. You can ask someone."