Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Secretary, I'm grateful." Ronald said sincerely on the phone to Secretary of the Navy John Lyman.

This time I was able to get the support of the Navy, thanks to little George in Texas, who asked his mother Barbara to call Secretary Lyman's mother Constance and tell a commonplace about the lack of patriotism among today's young people.

Later, after Minister Lehmann received a concerned call from his mother, he once again inquired about Ronald's filming process of "Top Gun" and expressed satisfaction with Ronald's casting and filming progress.

"Hahaha, do your best, young man. In fact, I also have a deep relationship with Hollywood. Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco is my cousin. Well, we have been friends for years. When I went to California, you You want to introduce me to some female stars in Hollywood.”

"Of course no problem", Ronald hung up the phone.

This time, a lot of connections were used to nip problems in the bud. George Jr. also called Navy Liaison Officer Matthew directly through his father's secretary and asked him to make a strong statement.

Everyone in the Navy expressed their support for Ronald, and directly nipped the plan of replacing Mancuso in the bud.

Of course, all this doesn't come without a price.

"Richard, how are the arrangements for entertaining Minister Lyman?"

"You'd better leave this matter alone. I'll arrange it. You don't know anything about it from beginning to end." Richard was very cautious and did not discuss any details with Ronald.

"Thank you," Ronald patted his agent on the shoulder. Among his agents, Richard was the most loyal.

"What did Mr. Eisner say?" Richard asked.

"He wanted me to go to Disney to be a director, and he said I could choose the script. But my cooperation with Paramount is quite pleasant now. Mr. Tanin and I have an old relationship, and I just recommended a ready-made movie to him."

When Ronald called Little George for help, he also heard a piece of news.

George Jr. complained about Eisner's sluggishness. After the $200 million from the second phase of the Screen Fund was given to Eisner, he made no move. As a director of the fund, George Jr. was questioned by some investors.

Ronald took advantage of the two-pack preparation time for the crew's transition to call Eisner to deliver a message to little George. Eisner took him very seriously and made a special appointment with him to have a private chat in a high-end Japanese restaurant.

The chef served sushi and eel rice and exited the box, leaving the two of them to chat.

Eisner's power has been greatly reduced compared to when he was at Paramount. He respects potential directors very much and meets with them in person whenever possible. He didn't know how to use chopsticks, so he simply rolled up a napkin, folded it in half, inserted the chopsticks into it, made a big pair of tweezers, picked up the eel and swallowed it in one bite.

"Ronald, I know you are a screenwriter. If you have any new scripts, or if there are any good filmmakers who want to make a production with box office potential, be sure to come to me." Eisner's current attitude towards Ronald Much more equal.

He explained that Disney currently does not have a good reputation in the field of live-action films. It has only made a few medium-invested youth films before. They are not approached for big projects, and Eisner is not sure about small projects.

"Mr. Eisner, you actually have a very good movie in your hands." Ronald picked up a piece of eel with his chopsticks. The sauce had a strong flavor. He thought of Walter Murch.

"Walt, I know him," Eisner pondered for a moment, "I understand that you recommended the 'Return to Oz,' but that movie was established during the Ron Miller period. Do you understand what I mean? ?”

Of course Ronald understands. Walter Murch's movie "Return to Oz" was developed by the former head of Disney, but he was almost fired. Now that Eisner is in charge, it is inappropriate for him to succeed or fail in this project, so he is left alone.

Now Murch's film is in a strange situation where no one is paying attention. Funds for subsequent special effects production have not been secured, and early marketing work has not been carried out.

"Walt's film still needs clay stop-motion animation, and if you're willing to support it, then this movie is in your hands to bring it back to life."

"Huh? Interesting idea." Eisner wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. In fact, he didn't care much about this movie that was approved by the former CEO.

"Walter Murch was a good friend of George Lucas. When he was fired by Ron Miller, I asked George for help. George personally flew to Britain to intervene and vouch for Murch, allowing him to stand up to Ron Miller. Miller's pressure to finish the movie." Ronald told the story of the situation, but Eisner didn't know the inside story.

Ronald liked the taste of eel very much and ate a big piece of it.

"Cheers", Eisner clinked glasses with Ronald. He was very interested in the news revealed by Ronald. George Lucas was preparing a big production. Legend has it that the special effects were further than Star Wars. The Seven The studios are chasing it. With this news, Eisner felt a little more confident.

The next day, Walter Murch came over in person to thank him, and Eisner gave him a special amount of money for production and marketing.

Clay animation is to put dolls made of clay into certain poses, take pictures step by step, and put twenty-four photos together into a one-second animation. With Eisner's personal intervention, the progress of "Return to Oz" will be greatly accelerated.

The marketing expenses have also been increased by 50%. Murch's directorial debut will be treated as a normal medium-sized production.

"It's nothing. I've been waiting to see your movie." Ronald said it was nothing and took a sip of the drink.

"Are you worried? I heard that your new film was shooting smoothly." Walter Murch saw that Ronald was worried and his face was always a little worried.

Ronald had nothing to hide from Murch. "Now Paramount's senior executives have opinions about me. Although I have the support of the Navy during the shooting stage, they can't trouble me, but I'm worried that there will be unexpected difficulties in the post-editing."

"Is that so..." Murch was silent for a moment, "Do you know that in the golden age of Hollywood, some directors did not shoot the main shot? It was just to fight for their own power in editing."

"I know that if they don't shoot the main shot, they can't edit your movie randomly and turn it into another story."

"In fact, in addition to this method, John Ford, who was very artistic at the time, also invented some other tricks..." Murch told Ronald some tricks that were privately circulated among senior Hollywood directors and editors to prevent producers from interfering.

"If they do that, ... not to mention that they can't change your story, even changing someone to edit it may not be possible at all."

"Is this the metaphor that you repeatedly emphasized that editing is a dream for the audience? When people dream, their thoughts jump. If others don't know the dream I had, they can only see a bunch of fragmented pictures..."

After discussing with Walter Murch, Ronald decided to keep a few more tricks. The support of the Navy can only be guaranteed until the filming is completed. Editing is the last creative link of the film. If you want to keep the initiative, you have to hold a few trump cards.

At the Los Angeles airport, Ronald and the main members of the crew and several actors who played pilots were waiting for a flight to the Philippines.

The last cooperation unit given by the Navy was the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Enterprise. This Enterprise is the second generation of aircraft carriers with this name. It once circled the earth without refueling, demonstrating the superiority of nuclear power.

After launching, it has participated in all military confrontations, such as the Cuban Crisis, the Vietnam War, the India-Pakistan War, etc., and is a veritable darling of the American Navy.

Now the aircraft carrier is deployed to cruise in the Indian Ocean. The Navy will take the crew to Subic Bay Air Force Base first, then fly to Diego Garcia Base, and then transfer to a transport ship to join the fleet in the Indian Ocean.

Because the mission assignment location of the aircraft carrier is confidential, the crew members do not know the specific location of the Enterprise.

"Ding ding..."

Richard, who came to see him off, received a pager, "I'll go back to call."

"Richard, I've found the right person you asked me to find. I guarantee your VIP customers will be satisfied. Her girls are the best in Los Angeles."

"Will it not be Mrs. Alex? Didn't I ask you to keep a low profile?"

"It's not her. It's a woman named Heidi Fleiss, a nobody in the industry. She used to be Mrs. Alex's assistant and is very young. There are no major sequelae to finding her. Unlike Mrs. Alex, who is too famous, it is easy to be targeted by the police and tabloids."

"Listen, the person to be served is very..."

"I understand, I understand, no questions, no words, cash transactions in advance, the customer doesn't have to worry about anything, and we haven't made this call."

After Richard finished the call, he came back and gave Ronald a look that he had done it.

"Okay, let's go..."

A group of people pushed heavy equipment and walked towards the boarding gate.

The American Navy came to Manila to pick up the crew in a transport plane. Everyone sat in the transport plane. The navy pilots were much more aggressive than the civil aviation pilots, and they took off and landed very fiercely.

After a transfer in Subic Bay, the crew arrived at Diego Garcia Base after a long flight. Everyone changed to a transport ship and sailed for several hours to the mission location of the aircraft carrier formation.

There was no reference on the vast ocean, only the sunset, the sea water, and a huge aircraft carrier.

The aircraft carrier was painted gray. A helicopter took off from the transport ship and transferred the crew to the aircraft carrier. Ronald looked down from the helicopter and saw the two numbers 65 painted in white on the deck of the aircraft carrier. This was the hull number of the Enterprise.

After landing, a sergeant came to receive everyone. The main members of the crew would have dinner with the captain and the flight commander in the evening.

Ronald, Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, and several actors who played pilots got off the helicopter and saw the F-14A Tomcats parked on both sides of the aircraft carrier deck. On the deck, they all folded their wings into triangles to save deck space.

There are some soldiers wearing yellow, green, purple and other helmets and vests on the deck, busy, with the metal-colored deck, fighter jets, and sunset, forming a beautiful picture.

"It's so beautiful," Ronald couldn't help but sigh.

"I'll take you to the assigned bedroom first, which is vacated for you by officers and non-commissioned officers."

"Thank you, maybe you can find a place for my photography equipment first."

"No problem, we have prepared several cabins for you to store equipment and take pictures of the flight control room."