Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Night of the Comet" was sent to the MPAA for rating and was given an R rating.

Ronald felt a little unhappy. He had been very careful in shooting the film. There were no nude scenes, no violent scenes, and no excessive foul language. The whole film was lighthearted and in line with the mainstream values ​​of America. Why was it rated R? How many viewers were lost?

"There were a few foul words, the girl's dialogue contained words such as bra, the girl and her stepmother slapped each other, and the fight between the zombies and the girl, and the girl had a gun and blew up the heads of two zombies. These were the main reasons why the MPAA gave it an R rating."

The manager in charge of review at Atlantic Distribution explained to Ronald the terms of the explanation part of the MPAA's reply.

"What kind of reason is that?" Ronald was very unconvinced. "Lucas and Spielberg shot 'Raiders of the Lost Ark', which has so many fighting scenes, much more than mine that ran away after two or three punches, right? And the scary parts, those skeletons are much scarier than a zombie like me, right?"

"Sorry, Ronald. This is beyond my ability. In fact, big studios will have this kind of preferential treatment. The seven major studios are the main agencies of the MPAA, so their movies can get certain preferential treatment. I have tried my best to fight for it..

After 'Raiders of the Lost Ark' came out, it was also criticized by many media for being too indulgent in the PG standard."

"But they still got PG, hey." Ronald saw the reply letter of his R rating, fortunately he didn't go too far and give himself an X rating, otherwise no mainstream theaters would be willing to show it. R rating is R rating, I should have shot more exciting scenes earlier.

"In fact, there is still a lot of room between R rating and PG, and one more rating should be added." Ronald muttered a few words, but still accepted this fact.

"Our distribution capacity is limited, and there won't be too many marketing activities. There are only a few newspaper interviews, and theater posters and materials. For the rest, you need to be exposed and interviewed more, so that you can attract more attention from the TV media."

"I know that this month and next month, I will attend the premieres of three movies and visit three crews. I have already made arrangements. They will let me get some coverage." Ronald had already agreed with the president of Atlantic to use his own resources to promote the movie.

"And the MV of the theme song Girls Jt ;to Have Fun" was played. We also coordinated with Portrait Records. Just one week before our movie was released, their MV started playing on MTV. "

"Have you ever thought about doing some advertising on MTV?" Ronald asked. He often saw that many young people liked to watch MTV, including his cousin Donna.

"I will contact them, but the advertising fee is not cheap. We can only put it on a little before the release. It mainly depends on the effect of the MV of the theme song. ”

The three films that will be premiered soon are Coppola’s “The Untamed”, whose works have always attracted many reporters’ attention. Then there is “Flashdance”, which is distributed by Paramount and will not lack reporters.

The last one is “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi”, and CAA helped to get the invitation to the premiere. This is a big event, and reporters are indispensable.

Ronald used the votes for various Oscars in exchange for the premiere invitation and a few interviews from the media. Richard from CAA helped him to arrange it, and he didn’t even fill out the ballot himself.

The three films that are being filmed are also opportunities they found. Generally, during the filming period of large studios, some gossip news will be released, and reporters will be invited to interview at the filming location. Ronald also took advantage of the opportunity to show his face during the interview and say a few words.

For example, “I also met the young director Ronald Lee on the set. His new film, “Night of the Comet” with science fiction and zombie themes, is worth looking forward to. ”

The first one is “Dancing with the Dragon” directed by Stallone and starring John Travolta, which will be filmed soon. As a screenwriter who has revised the first draft, Ronald can go and take a look, and he can also find Cynthia Rhodes, who somehow got the female lead, and visit her on the set as an excuse.

The second one is “Football”. After Paramount fired the original producer Shirley Lansing, the progress was accelerated a lot. Director Herbert Ross also gave up Warren Beatty’s mermaid project and came back to direct this film. Ronald can also visit the set as a screenwriter.

The last one is the unnamed project that Diane Lane took over. It is said that a large set has been built in Los Angeles, and the streets of Chicago have been copied to the studio. When the media interviews the director and producer Walter Hill, Ronald can go to say a few words in the name of looking at the set.

Ronald made a plan in the CAA office and asked his agent Richard to record the time and remind himself to attend.

“I think I am becoming more and more like your personal assistant, Ronald. "Richard said.

"Please help me. I don't have the money to hire an assistant now. I have invested all the money I can in the film project. I will take it back after the movie is released and give you a bonus. Or can you help me find a new project? Both screenwriters and directors are fine." Ronald laughed. Richard still only has one client, and he is the worst among his three agents.

"Okay, don't forget it. I'll give you another bouquet of flowers for Helen. We're going to visit Pinewood Studios at the same time as we're in the London office. Supergirl is about to start filming." Richard took out a small notebook and reported the situation to Ronald.

"By the way, someone named Jim Cameron asked you to call back. He just called the CAA office and said no one answered the phone at your home."

"Okay, I'll call him back." Ronald picked up the phone in the CAA office and called Cameron.

"Ronald, when will the Israeli agent you mentioned be able to come back?" Gail saw Ronald answer the phone and immediately rushed to the apartment where she and Cameron lived. She was moved. She made him a cup of coffee and asked immediately.

"Uh, he's filming Brooke Shields' movie in Israel now. It may take another month or two. Why, are you so anxious? How about I call him?"

"Forget it. A funding gap of three million cannot be solved by a single phone call." Cameron said.

"What's wrong with you? Did something happen at Orion?"

"Well, it's the situation we fear the most. According to the news from Orion, someone has changed the script of Jim and started to sell it to major studios. If we don't find the other party for financing immediately, we may be preempted by the plagiarist."

"I remember you have been talking for several months, right? Haven't you found someone who knows the goods yet?" Ronald also empathized with his friend's financing difficulties. Finding money is the most difficult thing these days.

Gail and Jim also sighed.

"Where is the main problem?" Ronald took a sip of coffee. Since the script of "Terminator" was favored by Orion and signed a distribution contract, it shouldn't be so difficult to find other investments.

"There are two main difficulties. The first is that the producer has no confidence in the final presentation of its special effects. We took the sketches and models to the producer, but they seemed unable to imagine the mechanical Superman on the screen.

The second is..."

Gail stopped talking here and looked at Cameron.

"It's okay. The second main reason is that they don't trust me as a new director." Cameron knew that Gail was afraid that his self-esteem would be hurt.

"But Orion has already trusted you as a director, so the main problem is still the first one, right? If you can find a way to make them believe in your robot Terminator image, then you can open up the situation, right?"

Ronald helped his two friends analyze the situation.

"It can indeed be said that, Ronald, you are very good at finding the key points of the problem." Gail gave him a thumbs up.

"As Confucius said, we must grasp the main contradiction."

"Huh..." Ronald suddenly remembered something, "Can you show me your sketch?"

"Of course," Cameron took out a Terminator sketch and handed it to Ronald.

The liquid metal robot that can simulate the appearance of other people has been deleted from the script by Cameron. Ronald saw another killing robot, Terminator 800.

The spirited short hair, the strong upper body wearing a leather jacket, leather pants and boots at the feet, and a shotgun in his hand. The entire Terminator is probably the image of a tall and mighty man, with the most prominent features of his sunglasses and square chin.

"Do you know how my girlfriend Helen got her first female lead?" Ronald had an idea...

"This is a good idea, we can try it." Gail listened to Ronald's idea and agreed very much, "We really need a real Terminator to give them a preconceived impression."

"What candidates do you have?" Ronald asked.

"Hedale Fil, they are very rich. It used to be a shell company for British actors to avoid taxes, but now they have more money and want to invest in movies. We went to meet their senior executives, but he happened to be on a business trip last time."

"Ah, I mean are there any candidate actors who can play the Terminator? That image must be tall and mighty to be convincing. Jim is tall, but a little thin. You have to find a suitable person to play him, so that the senior executives can see him and deepen their impression..."

"...No, why are you looking at me?"

"Ronald, just think of it as doing me a favor and playing the Terminator and going to Hedale for financing. I think you are the most suitable to play the image of the Terminator." Cameron's eyes were bright, and he held Ronald's hand and wouldn't let go.

"But I can't act."

"Ronald, do me a favor, actually you don't need any acting skills, you just need to wear sunglasses and pretend to be cool, all the sales will be done by me." Gail was also very satisfied, and came up to touch Ronald's biceps.

"Well, okay, but I really can't act, I can only stand or sit to show my image."

"I'll find him a leather jacket and leather pants, and call his old partner to do the special effects makeup, and we'll try the makeup again."