Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"This is Ronald's home. I'm busy now and can't answer the phone. Please leave a message after the beep." Ronald installed the newly bought answering machine, put a tape on it, and then recorded his own welcome message.

"Call me." Ronald picked up the new phone, dialed Richard, and asked him to make a call to test the machine.

After the telephone company was split up by antitrust, users no longer needed to rent the old telephones of the telephone company. Various new telephones began to be sold in electronic stores everywhere. When Ronald bought the answering machine, he also changed to a Panasonic phone, which was very light and the buttons felt good.

"Beep, beep, beep..." The ringtone was no longer a harsh electric ringtone, but a crisp electronic sound. Ronald did not answer it. After the ringtone rang twice, there was a beep, and Ronald's pre-recorded welcome message began to play.

"This is Ronald's home. I'm busy now and can't answer the phone. Please leave a message after the beep."

"I'm Richard."

"It's me. Very good." Ronald said a few words to him and then put down the phone.

Seeing that Ronald had finished playing with the new toys, Niceta reminded him, "Let's go to Jerry Weintraub's house. Don't delay the business."

"It doesn't matter. I've been rehearsing what to say these days." Ronald took a few storyboards of key plots he had drawn and went to the appointment with Niceta with confidence.

Arriving at the mansion in Beverly Hills, Ronald rang the doorbell.

"Hi, are you Ronald?" A girl in a narrow bikini opened the door. She had long golden hair, fair skin, a well-proportioned figure, and her thighs looked very strong.

"It's me. Is Jerry there?"

She opened the door completely and let Ronald and Niceta in.

"Jerry is taking a shower. He said you'd be back later. I didn't expect him to come so early."

Ronald saw that the girl had a close relationship with Jerry Weintraub, and walked in without looking away.

"Who's here?" Jerry Weintraub's voice came from the bathroom inside.

"It's Ronald and his agent." The girl walked into Jerry's master bedroom and approached the bathroom door to tell Jerry.

"Ah... um..." Jerry, who came out of the bathroom wrapped in a bath towel, hugged the girl and they kissed passionately.

Ronald and Niceta heard the voice, looked at each other, and were a little embarrassed. Instead of entering the master bedroom, they retreated to the living room outside. This Hollywood tycoon does things at the wrong time.

"Boom..." The roar of the engine of a Porsche sports car came from outside the door.

"Oh, Shxt!" Jerry Weintraub yelled, pushing the bikini girl away, "Hurry, where are my pants?"

The bikini girl was not very nervous, perhaps because she was used to this kind of drama in Beverly Hills, "Is it your wife? What should I say?"

"Just say you are here to swim, yes, you say you are Ronald's girlfriend, and you are bored listening to us talking, so you go to the swimming pool behind to swim."

"Hahaha..." The girl was amused by him, "Are you so afraid of your wife?"

"Don't joke, it's too late."

Jerry Weintraub put on his clothes in a few seconds, and then wiped his hair with a towel while pulling the girl to the swimming pool outside the living room. This is the outdoor swimming pool he spent a lot of money to renovate. Natural stones are arranged on both sides, and the heated swimming pool allows people to enter the water right from the door of the living room and then lead to the garden.

"Ronald, if you want to talk about Wendy, it's her, your girlfriend." Jerry grabbed the clothes that the girl took off in the master bedroom and threw them on the carpet by the swimming pool.

"Wendy, Ronald. Ronald, Wendy." Jerry introduced the two, then coughed twice, dried his few hair, rushed into the bathroom, took a bathrobe, and threw it to Wendy.

The bikini girl named Wendy smiled brightly, and the bathrobe was placed on the carpet. Then she swam out of the water.

"Jerry, are you there?"

The voice of Jane Morgan, the wife of Weintraub and the famous singer, came from outside.

"Oh, are you talking about business, Jerry?" Jane Morgan saw Ronald and Niceta standing up from the sofa and greeting her.

"I just happened to pass by my house, so I came back to change my clothes. I'm going to see Barbara later. After her husband was elected as the vice president, he rarely comes to Los Angeles. I haven't seen her for a long time."

"Okay, dear. I'm talking to the talented director Ronald. You can go and do your own thing."

"Oh, who is that girl?" Jane Morgan saw Wendy cutting through the waves in the swimming pool.

"That's Wendy, my girlfriend. It was too boring to listen to Mr. Weintraub and I talking about the script, so I asked Jerry's permission and went swimming."

"Does your girlfriend carry a swimsuit wherever she goes?" Jane Morgan saw Wendy resting by the pool, wearing a fiery red bikini that could hardly cover her figure. Then she turned around and asked Ronald.

"Wendy is a model. Her agent told her to swim every day to keep in shape." Ronald said calmly.

"Wendy, this is Mr. Weintraub's wife, the famous singer Jane Morgan."

"Hello, Jane." Wendy obediently waved to Jane Morgan.

"It's fun." Jane Morgan's suspicions were somewhat dispelled, and she went upstairs to change her clothes.

"Come quickly, come and talk to me about your plans for the script."

"Mr. Weintraub, this is what I think. I plan to shoot this movie mainly in Venice, Los Angeles..."

Ronald spread out several storyboards and began to describe his plan. He wrote a script of more than 120 pages, with many complicated scenes. Ronald planned to use a warm tone to shoot the exterior scenes, giving a warm scene to a skinny little boy without a father.

"Well, very good. Do you have anyone in mind to play Master Miyagi?"

"I think we definitely need a Japanese actor, because his spoken English is not good in the script, so we might consider looking for an actor from Japan."

"Well, who are you going to use as the male lead?"

"I haven't decided yet," Ronald said. "Coppola has directed two teen movies, and I think all the actors in them can be considered."

Although Ralph Mazzio has a similar temperament to the male protagonist in the script and was also the original candidate for the film in Dreamland, Niceta analyzed with him that Weintraub may need a star to support the distribution department's resource allocation. , so Weintraub likely already has a plan. Ronald just vaguely mentioned the name of the "naughty boy from this world".

Weintraub, clearly distracted, asked a few questions, which Ronald answered.

Seeing that Weintraub had no other questions, Ronald stepped forward and asked, "Jerry, are you satisfied with my idea? Can I direct this movie?"

"Are you blackmailing me?" Weintraub raised his eyebrows diagonally upward and asked Ronald quietly but firmly.

"Ahem", Niceta wanted to come out and smooth things over.

"Don't interrupt, let Ronald speak for himself. Do you want to use Wendy's incident to blackmail me into giving you the directorship?" Weintraub also stared at Ronald with his eyes, "Don't be afraid to say To be honest, it’s normal for you to have such thoughts. Is this what you think?”

"No, Jerry. I think I'm the best person to direct this movie. I have experience directing teen movies and know how to make them work. I also wrote the script. You said I have never directed such a through-line." It’s always a drama with a complete story, but I wrote the script, and I think I certainly know how to make it well.”

"Besides," Ronald glanced at Wendy in the swimming pool and lowered his voice, "Even if you don't choose me, I will keep this secret for you."

"Very good, that's it for today. We'll make an appointment to talk at another time. I'll make an appointment with Columbia Frank Price later. We'll go to his place another day."

Jerry Weintraub was relieved, but it seemed he was also stressed. Jane Morgan was not only his wife, but also the first famous client that launched his career. Jane Morgan divorced her ex-husband because of him, and because she was not Jewish, she suffered a lot from Weintraub's mother. It took three years before she took over the famous singer as her daughter-in-law.

If he had a falling out with Jane Morgan because he was caught eating, Weintraub would not be able to accept such a thing regardless of his past history or their relationship.

Ronald snapped his fingers to Wendy, signaling her to come out quickly and leave with him first.

Wendy climbed out of the pool, soaked to the skin.

Ronald and the other two men swallowed simultaneously.

Wendy knew it well, smiled sweetly, then put on a towel and bathrobe, then went to the dressing room and changed into her own clothes.

"Mr. Weintraub, Mrs. Morgan," Ronald greeted Jane Morgan who was changing into party clothes upstairs, stretched out his arm for Wendy to hang on, and walked out with Niceta.

"Why, you like that girl too?" Jane Morgan came down from upstairs and said holding Jerry Weintraub's arm.

"How is that possible? That's Ronald's woman. He is the screenwriter of my new movie and he also wants to try to convince me to let him be the director."

"What, are you going to give him this chance?" Jane Morgan tested her husband with a half-smile.

"No, it's not that he's not capable enough, but I need a star director for my new film. I'm going to hire John G. Avelson, the director of 'Rocky'."

"Hey, to be honest, that girl is indeed beautiful. If you want to have sex with him, that's not impossible."

Jerry Weintraub's whole body tensed up and his scalp was numb. He quickly recalled his performance and found that there seemed to be nothing wrong with him.

"Don't be ridiculous, Jane."

"Seriously, if you ever want to have sex with that pretty girl again, just sign me a check for a million dollars and I won't stop you from messing around in your house."

"Haha, Jane." Jerry knew that he had passed the test for the time being. "You look so beautiful. When are you going to see Barbara?"

"She's coming to Los Angeles soon. This time it's about her son. Hey, I heard that little George started drinking again."

Jerry Weintraub hugged Jane Morgan, with whom they had no children. Just adopted three girls.

"Listen, Jerry. If you really fall in love with another woman and have a new love, I won't stop you, but you must confess it to me."

Jerry Weintraub kissed his wife deeply. In the entertainment industry, it is one thing to have fun, but love is another matter. Jane Morgan attaches great importance to the love between the two.

"Where do I put you down?" Ronald asked the beautiful Wendy sitting next to him.

"Just put me down in front. I still want to do yoga."

Wendy walked out of the car with a smile and blew a kiss to them before leaving.

"Hey..." Nicita let out a long sigh, "Fortunately you didn't threaten Weintraub."

"I saw your gesture," Ronald said, "I didn't want to threaten him. Anyway, he doesn't have to hire me. If I annoy him, he can withdraw his investment at any time, or change a screenwriter to change the face. I will lose more than I gain."

"Not only that," Nicita said, "Jerry Weintraub has many friends in Hollywood and in politics. Jane Morgan is very popular with many conservatives in the Elephant Party. It's best not to use any special means against him."