Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Okay, so many revisions?" Ronald was in the Mercedes, answering a call from Matthew, the Navy's liaison officer, "Okay, I'm attending my agent's wedding now, and I'll discuss it with you in detail after it's over, okay?"

"Are you ready? We're going in to pick up Paula." Rick Nicita, wearing a suit and holding flowers, came to the outside of Paula Wagner's apartment, staring at Ronald anxiously.

Ronald, embarrassed, quickly hung up the phone, "Okay, let's go."

"Let's go in." Nicita tidied up her clothes and the bouquet in her hand.

Ronald and Richard, as Nicita's best men, accompanied him to knock on Paula's door.

"Here we go," Paula's girlfriends opened the door and surrounded Paula in a bridal gown.

Nicita smiled at her, and walked down the stairs hand in hand amid the rice scattered by the crowd.

Nicita divorced his first wife last year, and Paula became single again, so this Italian customary wedding was held in the form of "elopement". The groom came directly to pick up the bride, and the two went to the church together.

The two paid a huge price for love. Not only did they say goodbye to their past marriages, but also publicly announcing their relationship at CAA meant that Niceta was not trusted by Ovitz and it would be difficult for her to become a final partner. And Paula also found it difficult to recruit new stars.

However, several of their most important clients came to congratulate them.

In the church, Tom Cruise, director Francis Coppola, and others came to watch the ceremony. Even if they did not continue to upgrade, the two agents could live comfortably with their current clients.

"Amen, you can kiss the bride."

Catholic priests also picked up some customs in America. Niceta and Paula put rings on each other and kissed each other.

"Bravo!" Coppola led the cheering. The wedding of the two was Italian style according to Niceta's ethnicity. Coppola handed over the scissors, cut Niceta's tie into pieces, and distributed them to unmarried male guests as a blessing.

The two agents and their spouses got into a convertible, dragged the cans hanging behind the car, and drove away with a clang, leaving the guests to start the banquet.

"Your Cotton Club has a great marketing momentum, Francis." Ronald pulled Coppola and talked about his new film that was about to be released.

The newspapers were full of reports that Director Coppola encouraged actors to improvise, and Richard Gere and Diane Lane didn't know what they would shoot in the afternoon in the morning.

Some tabloids also said that Richard Gere was extremely difficult to deal with on the set. Not only did he not get along with the heroine Diane, but he also had difficulty getting along with the supporting actress of the male supporting actor. Coppola wanted to replace him several times.

Ronald didn't know whether this was a deliberate hype or a real conflict broke out between the actors.

"Oh, the critics' special session gave the film a very good review. They all said that this is my best performance since "Apocalypse Now". We will also go to Europe, mainly to promote the film in the United States. You know, the Chinese have always given my films a good review."

"Yes, yes," Ronald agreed, but he felt a little uneasy. Coppola did not talk about the prospects of the release in America, but was determined to sell copies in the United States. It seems that the "Cotton Club", which cost more than 50 million, has a worrying box office prospect in China.

"If the box office is really a failure, Diane will have three big productions that have failed in a row. The future in Hollywood is worrying." Ronald thought of Diane Lane again.

People's hearts always think of specific people at specific times.

Helen seems to have walked out of the psychological shadow brought by the failure of "Supergirl" to be released. She is still happy in the crew and does not put much pressure on Ronald.

Brooke Shields is concentrating on being a college student in Princeton. Ronald is busy in Hollywood and has less and less interactions with her. However, Brooke is very open-minded about her declining fame. Perhaps being forgotten by the public is what she wants now.

Diane, who has no one to help her in her acting career, is expected to be miserable after being struck out. Ronald feels that he should help this girl if he has the chance.

"Is it too selfish to think so? After all, it is difficult for a director to enjoy an ordinary love life like ordinary people. I have no choice. I am running for the art of film." Ronald comforted himself.

The agent could not enjoy a real honeymoon trip. Nicita and Paula enjoyed a day of leisure life in Avila Hot Springs outside Los Angeles, and returned to the battlefield of Hollywood the next day.

Paula accompanied Tom Cruise to continue learning to fly while taking acting classes.

Nicita accompanied Ronald, met with the two producers, and met with the Navy's liaison officer Matthew to discuss the Navy's comments on the script of "Top Gun".

The Navy gave a lot of comments on the script, which were densely written on more than a dozen pages. The comments are mainly divided into two categories.

The first category is about the Navy's military secrets and sensitive plots.

Military secrets, such as the early models of the F-14A, were prone to engine problems when attacking at high angles of attack, and there were several incidents where the aircraft entered a horizontal spin and crashed. The script wanted to include this, but the Navy was worried that the Suvil Alliance would use this weakness to develop targeted tactics, and strongly asked Ronald to make changes.

Sensitive plots, such as the fight with Cuban MiG-21s that came to monitor the US aircraft carrier in the Caribbean. This kind of plot is of no benefit to stimulating the Eastern Bloc. The Navy dare not provoke the Soviet Union and its closest ally Cuba too much in this matter.

The second category is about character personality.

The Navy does not allow pilots to violate the law, speed while driving, and use Navy documents to escape after being caught by patrol police. This does not conform to the Navy's good social image.

The Navy also does not approve of pilots dating active female officers. Although love is not prohibited in the military, it is never encouraged for active military personnel to fall in love with each other. Such a plot of two people falling in love in the movie is not conducive to the morale of the majority of male soldiers.

Ronald thinks both opinions are ridiculous.

First of all, the engine defect of the F-14A only occurs under very specific circumstances. The probability of this problem being caught by the Alliance pilots is extremely small. Moreover, previous related accidents have been disclosed in the news. I am afraid that the weakness has been caught by the other party a long time ago.

And the sensitive plot is even more ridiculous. This is an exaggerated heroic film. Without a specific enemy, how to show the greatness of the hero? Besides, this movie will not be shown in the Eastern Bloc, so how can the Navy be afraid of the other side?

As for the second type of opinion, it is even more ridiculous. This is the characteristics of the character and the plot of character development. The Navy does not encourage dating, but the bar in the flight base, the pilots’ hunting for beauties on Wednesday and Saturday nights of rest is not made up by Ronald.

Could it be that those ladies are all foreign prostitutes?

As for speeding, this is the operation of young people in America. How can it affect the image of naval pilots?

Don Simpson and Ronald have similar views, and they quarreled with liaison officer Matthew.

"I am just a messenger. You can summarize the defense opinions and I will take them back to the Pentagon for further review." Matthew was not in a hurry and did not argue with the other party.

"I..." Ronald felt that he had hit an invisible wall.

"But the Secretary of the Navy, Mr. John Lyman, promised..."

"If I were you, I would not handle this matter through the relationship of the Minister." Matthew looked at Ronald and said sincerely.

"Why?"

"Ah," Matthew sighed, "You lack understanding of the Navy as an institution. I don't know the story of your script, so I will give some personal opinions."

Ronald made a gesture of invitation.

"The Navy is a huge machine, and it is not subject to the will of a certain commander. A civilian Navy Secretary cannot necessarily command a group of generals to do things they don't like, especially things like making movies that have nothing to do with the Navy's budget."

Matthew paused, and Ronald and the two producers nodded in understanding.

"The problem is that we don't know what the movie you make will look like. We don't trust Hollywood now. So, to solve the problem, we need someone who can be trusted by both parties to act as a middleman."

"I think you are very suitable." Ronald immediately felt that Matthew was a good candidate for the middleman.

"I can't do it. I am still in the active service of the Navy. I must obey orders. It is best to have a deep connection with the Navy and now retire from active service."

After understanding Matthew's hint, Ronald and Don Simpson discussed it and proposed the candidate proposed by the Grumman engineer.

"How about Mr. Pete Pettigrew, the former instructor of the Gun Flight School and retired Navy Captain? We think he is very suitable for this role."

Matthew smiled, "I think you can apply according to the procedures. I will forward it to the Pentagon. They also hope that a trustworthy expert will be responsible for the filming of the movie without obvious technical errors."

Let Matthew submit the defense of the script and the application for the intermediate contact expert. Ronald looked back at Niceta and suddenly felt embarrassed to bring him up the day after the wedding.

"It's okay, you don't have to feel embarrassed. I married Paula just to have a name for the two of us. We just moved our homes together. Everything else is the same as before."

"It seems that you really love each other." Ronald admired their love for breaking through all kinds of worldly obstacles. In addition to their original marriage, the union of an Italian and a Jewish would have an impact on their original families. Paula's parents did not attend the wedding.

"However, you registered your marriage in California," Ronald didn't know whether he should mention this.

"The law of equal division of property, right? We are both married, there is nothing taboo about it. Paula and I signed a prenuptial agreement, and we will both keep the income from our respective businesses."

"Oh," Ronald thought Paula also agreed to this agreement.

"Hahaha," Niceta seemed to see through Ronald's mind, "Paula has great confidence in Tom, she thinks that the money she earns may not be less than mine."

"But you, when you get married, don't forget to sign a prenuptial agreement. Don't forget about George Lucas, the director's divorce can bring huge financial losses."