Exploiting Hollywood 1980

After signing the contract, the two producers continued to live in Ronald's new home, and the three began to discuss how to fill in the script to meet the shooting level.

"In short, there must be a beautiful air force instructor who will date our male protagonist." Bruckheimer first proposed the romantic part.

"Of course, what kind of beauty do you want to play?" Don Simpson deliberately tested Ronald's thoughts.

"I want to find an older actress with mature female charm to play the role." Ronald thought of the long legs wearing retro stockings and voluptuous skirt in the dream, which was the back of a mature beauty.

"Oh, why?" Don Simpson obviously felt sympathy for each other.

"Our audience is mainly teenagers. Which high school boy hasn't secretly admired that beautiful female teacher? When we make movies, isn't it to realize their dreams that are difficult to realize in real life?"

"What about the female audience?" Don Simpson asked again.

"So I chose Tom Cruise. He is very handsome, and he is often in a tense state of mind, as if he is going to explode for his girlfriend and fight bad guys at the next moment. I think female viewers must have fantasized about having someone in high school. Such a handsome hero comes to save himself."

"Damn it, did you often use this mentality to succeed when you were in high school?"

Seeing Ronald speaking so clearly, Don Simpson suspected that the young director must have had many beautiful friends in high school.

"No, I'm on a boring wrestling team, not as good as those on the football team."

"Very good. Now I regret that I didn't make the decision to let you direct 'Flashdance'. I rarely see directors who have enough understanding of the audience's psychology."

The more the two talked, the more speculative they became. Don Simpson was also a person who often daydreamed. He has a unique understanding of his audience's tastes.

"We have to have a beautiful woman, a fighter jet, and a dog fight so that the male audience can come to see it. We also have to have Tom Cruise and a bunch of handsome guys and have them shirtless so that there are a lot of female audiences to come and watch it. ”

"Topless?" Ronald thought of the beach volleyball scene.

"Yes, this is what you should consider. Think of some plot arrangements to show off their toned bodies. The more, the better. Many people don't understand that women are now also an important audience in the American market. Nowadays, women only care about family. The era of soap operas is over and they want to be entertained, you know?”

"Okay," Ronald jotted down the point of showing off his male body.

"Do you know why we thought of you in the first place? It was the Saab fighter commercial you shot." Bruckheimer continued.

"Saab car, right?" Ronald wanted to retort, but he kept silent when he thought that the Saab fighter jet also put his image in the company's promotional video.

"Yes, there are few people who can shoot fighter jets so seductively. After watching it, I felt that the director must be you." Don Simpson was still as excited as ever. He used his hands to simulate the planes shot by Ronald. scene.

"This is actually a helpless choice," Ronald said about the scene when he went to Stockholm to shoot. "The speed of modern jet fighters is too fast. Even with the farthest telephoto lens, at supersonic speed, it is only one It disappeared from the screen in less than a second. It’s possible that the audience didn’t even find the plane.”

"So I focused on shooting the aircraft moving forward on the ground, turning, and the engine before taking off. I used these powerful images to make up for the shortcomings of high-speed flight shots."

Ronald also simulated an airplane with his hands, passed it quickly in front of the two producers, and spoke some truth.

"Yes, modern aircraft are too fast and can reach supersonic speeds at every turn. This is why we must get assistance from the military. Otherwise, without air combat footage, it will be impossible to make a blockbuster movie anyway."

The three of them filled in some plot points into the plot. The protagonist is a naval fighter pilot. Because of his excellent flying skills, he was selected to be trained in the Navy's combat skills school, known as the "Top Gun" school.

After some training, the protagonist gradually becomes the elite who scores first. During a simulated combat, his plane was caught in the exhaust of an imaginary enemy and fell into a spiral. The weapons officer in the back seat was killed during the ejection.

After psychological reorganization, the protagonist cheered up again, and finally in a real air combat confrontation, he shot down a MiG fighter plane patrolling the Caribbean Sea, safeguarding the safety of the aircraft carrier and his comrades.

Ronald typed up the filled-in story on his computer and printed out a copy. After it was bound at the copy shop, the script was sent to the Pentagon to request assistance.

At the same time, Tom Cruise was still making noises. In short, Paula Wagner said that we could talk. Cruise was very interested and looked forward to talking with the producer and Ronald, but he just refused to say anything.

Ronald privately learned through Niceta that Paula Wagner wanted to get a million-dollar salary for Cruise, trying to enter the million-dollar club. If successful, Tom's future movie invitations will all be based on one million yuan. It was a great boost to his career.

Of course, Ronald would not harm her, so he also pretended to call Tom and made an appointment to discuss it together when he came back from London to reshoot the remaining scenes of "Legend".

In this way, everyone waited at Ronald's aunt's house on Staten Island for the Pentagon's results. The two producers ate all Aunt Karen's food, drank all Ronald's stock of red wine, and then howled in the building.

Because Ronald didn't allow them to do little things at home, Don Simpson couldn't stand it for a day and clamored to go back to the free world of Los Angeles. There was no other way, so he and his partner Bruckheimer had to go to the town hotel to open another room to satisfy their hobby.

Aunt Karen couldn't stand these two hippies. While she was waiting for Simpson to go to the hotel, she discussed with Ronald the use of the proceeds from the transfer of the factory of more than 600,000 US dollars.

Aunt Karen's current focus in life has shifted from being busy with her daughter and career to fighting for a better living standard for the Vietnam veterans and widows of Staten Island.

Ronald called the accountant Lawrence, and after discussing with his aunt, the two decided to stick to the old method of buying Coca-Cola shares with their money, and then living on dividends every quarter, and then still having enough money to help veterans and widows who were unfortunate in life.

On the third day, Jerry Bruckheimer suddenly broke into his aunt's house and said, "Ronald, the Navy has officially rejected our application."

"Why?" Ronald frowned and took the reply letter that was sent back, signed to the Department of Foreign Relations of the Navy.

"After consideration, the Navy believes that the film cannot truly reflect the training and life of the Navy. While expressing its gratitude to you, we regret to inform you that the Navy cannot cooperate to complete the filming of this film."

Ronald frowned, this rejection was something he didn't expect. When we shoot movies about the Navy, we are helping the Navy build the image of heroic pilots. Why should the other side refuse?

The two producers were shocked. Don Simpson screamed and kicked the railing of Ronald's house to vent his anger. Bruckheimer, on the other hand, was more calm, "Ronald, you stay here and continue to revise the script and prepare for filming. We will go back to Los Angeles. There are some old friends at Paramount and Hollywood, and we are going to build relationships." "

"I think I might be able to write a letter to the vice commander. He was also a naval pilot when he was young." Ronald thought of Barbara's hospitality. I believe she would do him a favor, right?

"Let's work separately." In fact, the two producers didn't believe that Ronald's letter would have any effect. It was better than nothing.

"Dear Vice Commander,

I have taken the liberty of writing to you in the hope of your assistance.

I'm currently working on a film that will reflect the training and life of a Navy pilot and keeping our nation safe at sea. The current tentative title is ‘Top Gun’, and there are some shots of modern aerial combat.

From my professional point of view as a film director, if this film can get the help of the Navy, it will be more realistic. We have enough reasons to believe that this movie can bring back the love of the American people for the military, especially the navy..."

Barbara saw the letter from Ronald at the Vice Commander's residence. This is what she asked the Secret Service to add to the list of contacts of special concern. All calls and letters from Ronald will be immediately put into the pile of files that need to be processed urgently.

"How do we need to handle this matter? Should we inform the deputy president?" The secretary came in and saw the letter in Barbara's hand, opened the notebook, and was about to record the next arrangements.

Barbara is different from the first lady. She is the internal voice of this big family. She takes care of many matters that the deputy commander does not have time to deal with.

"No, don't tell my husband about this yet. The most important thing for him right now is to prepare for the TV debate with Geraldine Ferraro, the candidate for deputy leadership of the Donkey Party. You are not allowed to interrupt his and his staff's preparations with anything. "

Barbara pressed down Ronald's letter.

This time, the first televised debate of the commander-in-chief did not perform well. Audiences across the United States are looking forward to their husband's deputy commander-in-chief debate. If you want to run for office in four years and live in a bigger house, this debate is the best time. Maybe voters will realize that they might have been better off choosing another Elephant Party candidate four years ago.

At this time, don't bother him with such irrelevant things. Barbara put the letter away and told her secretary, "Before the debate is over, all administrative work should be sent to me."

"Hello, I'm Ronald Lee. I'm calling to ask what I did yesterday.

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Have you received the letter sent to the deputy commander? "

Ronald didn't receive any feedback at home. He called to ask. The staff at the official residence just said that they had received the letter. Since there were too many letters sent by people across the country, the Vice President would read them all, but would only select some responses. , asking him to wait patiently.

"You can't believe what these politicians say!" Ronald said angrily. Still in the business field, people in high positions are more likely to mean what they say. Politicians were saying just a few days ago that they could come to us if they had any problems, but now they treat themselves like passers-by.

Ronald was angry and had no choice but to hang out with his old friend Douglas. The two went to a wrestling club for another fight, then took a shower and enjoyed a massage from a personal trainer.

It was like they were on the high school wrestling team. After the fight, they sat together watching TV, drinking wine and eating meat, and talked about film investment.

"I can't rely entirely on the projects of big companies. They can invest 15 million to 20 million per movie, but the projects are subject to many limitations and are likely to be stranded."

Ronald drank the whiskey that Douglas Jr. had found. "My earnings from breakdancing are not bad. In addition to buying most of the Coca-Cola and McDonald's stocks, the rest are invested in Daydream Pictures.

We will equip Staten Island with equipment, and then find some good students from New York University to shoot some exploitation films by ourselves and release them in the second round of theaters. This way, at least there will be a way out."

"Great, you are finally going to start making your own movies." Douglas Jr. was very happy. "Do you have any ideas?"

"I was invited by Madonna to direct her MV. I want to start with MV and commercials, shoot them first, train technical talents, and then find the right script and director, and then I can start shooting low-cost movies. This road will be taken sooner or later, so it is better to open it first."

"The first question is for the Deputy Commander," the live broadcast of the second round of the Presidential election debate came from the TV.

"These politicians are all liars, don't watch them." Ronald was about to switch to NBC, and the weekend was Miami Vice, where the male protagonist drove a huge and arrogant Ferrari on the streets of Miami.

...

"Honey, how was my performance yesterday?" The deputy commander ended the debate and took Air Force Two back to Washington, DC.

In the official residence, Barbara was waiting for him in the study.

"You performed very well."

"Really? Are you satisfied with my answer to the question about the woman's work?"

"Honey, I was just looking at the handsome guy on TV."

"Hahaha..." The deputy commander kissed his wife who had been married for nearly 40 years.

"Here are the issues you need to deal with first," Barbara took out a stack of letters and documents, and the letter sent by Ronald was the first one. "Because you were busy with the most important TV debate, I temporarily withheld other matters. Now that you are done, it's time to help the children deal with some problems."

"Okay, let's deal with these issues." The deputy commander took out his glasses and put them on, and began to open the first letter on the desk.

"The bureaucrats in the Navy are still the same as always, I'll talk to Lehman about this matter." He picked up the phone and said, "Please connect me to the Minister of the Navy."

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