Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Eric only lied a little bit and lied to your aunt." Soon McPike sent Ronald the background information of the investigation.

"Which point?" Ronald took the envelope, which contained a lot of information about Eric, from his high school graduation certificate to his resume as a chef. "

"He is not a veteran of the Marine Corps. He only spent a period of time in the reserves. He probably exaggerated deliberately in order to pursue your aunt. In addition, his wife unfortunately passed away due to illness a few years ago. The nurses in the hospital said that he took good care of his sick wife. Thoughtful and a good man.”

"That doesn't matter." Ronald put the information away. It turned out to be a little lie for love.

"That's it. If you have any business in the future, just ask Lindsay to call me."

Ronald shook hands with him and returned to the Hilton hotel room.

"Sorry, Walter, he's an acquaintance of mine. I asked him to do something. Where did we just talk?"

Walter Murch's "Back to Oz" opened the week before, but didn't do well at the box office. His directorial debut did not go well, and he was a little frustrated. He took a promotional trip to New York and found Ronald, and the two talked about the business of a new version of editing tape.

"You happened to say that you want to sell our editing tape to major studios."

"Ah, yes. I have already contacted Columbia through Weintraub. They like your little invention very much. Paramount asked Tanin to help and showed it to the major contracted directors, and they also liked it. like.

This time when I return to Los Angeles, I also want to meet Disney’s Eisner. By the way, does he support your new film enough? "

"It's actually pretty good, but after it was released, many viewers said their children were frightened, so the reputation isn't very good."

Walter Murch's "Return to Oz" adopts many of the horror plots of the original work, and also makes them very realistic, maybe too realistic.

"I'm going to be back in the editing business for a while. It's likely that the movie didn't make any money for Disney, and maybe my directing career will be pushed back. I've been working on this movie for several years and I haven't taken on any new business. I have three children and a family, and now is not the time for me to be willful.”

Murch's thoughts now turned to reality. His first shot as a director was not a hit, and his family burden would not allow him to waste another two years preparing for his next film. Several children are about to enter high school, which is the time to spend money.

"It doesn't matter, our editing tape business will bring you stable profit dividends." Ronald's factory is equivalent to giving Murch a stable income.

"From what I saw when I went to the factory on Staten Island, you don't seem to be making much money from this factory?" The reason why Walter Murch had not opened his own factory before was because he had calculated the ratio of investment and output. Not too much. He was still a little worried about Ronald putting this factory into production.

“I don’t expect to be more profitable than the original leg warmer factory, but I can provide new jobs for some workers who originally moved to the island because they trusted me. They couldn’t move to Southern California because of their ethnicity.

And we were able to get in touch with the studio's upper-level relationships. Anyway, their purchasing budget is so large, and the price of the original supplier 3M is only slightly cheaper than ours, so they don't care about this small business. "

Murch's invention uses only a fraction of the tape per cutting port. Although the retail price is more expensive than 3M's, the overall cost is actually cheaper.

In addition to studios, Ronald also supplied supplies to Hollywood camera rental stores through his relationship with Roger Corman, which was equivalent to turning the retail business of low-cost movies into a wholesaler for Corman.

With stable shipments, Ronald's factory is not afraid of losing money when it opens. Besides, we can also try exporting to Japan and Asia through Weintraub's relationship.

"So, I hope I can ask you to edit my next movie?" Ronald heard that Murch was going back to be a film and sound editor, and he also tried to win over this big shot. After all, he was Recognized experts in the industry.

"No, I don't think you need me to edit your movie." Murch shook his head and expressed his thoughts.

"Why?" Ronald was a little surprised. Could it be that his movie was not in the eyes of Mo Qi? Doesn't he like it?

“I’ve seen all your movies, including the latest ‘Top Gun’ preview, and your movies don’t need any editors.

Because when you shoot, you have an idea for the final edit. In other words, you have already made the final film in your mind before shooting. So in the end what you need is not an editing expert, but a few editing assistants to help you realize your ideas. "

"Those big directors you've worked with, like Coppola, Fred Zinnemann, are there any differences in their editing?"

When Ronald heard Murch's comment, he didn't know whether it was good or bad. But he was quite right in saying that he had indeed dreamed about part of the finished film. He thought for a while and asked other big directors what the samples they sent to the editing room were like.

"Perhaps because of the subject of your shooting, your shots are usually shot only a few times, and different acting methods are not encouraged in the performance. Some famous directors pay more attention to performance, and they will shoot the same scene in several ways. In this case, it is a good challenge for editing.

I have had the experience of splicing different numbers of good parts together through editing many times. And your movie doesn't require such brain-racking thinking at all, it just needs to be put together according to the script and shots.

I am not saying this to mean that your director is not wonderful, but every director has his own method. And the subject matter of your movie happens to not pay much attention to the actors' performances. "

"Well", Ronald was not unhappy after being criticized by Murch. He knew that what Murch was telling the truth was that acting guidance was indeed a shortcoming in his directing skills.

"What's the situation at Disney now? Is there any progress on Eisner's live-action film plan? You know, the people from the Screen Fund are calling me again." Ronald asked about Eisner's situation again, and George Jr. gave He called again. Screen Fund had not invested in a movie yet.

"Eisner's adult film strategy was actually inherited from the original chairman Ron Miller. So now it is also resisted by Roy Disney, who is trying to find a way." Walter Murch's film also did not win He has access to a lot of marketing resources and knows the decline of live-action movies at Disney.

"This is a troublesome thing." Ronald made up his mind to meet Eisner as soon as possible after returning. There has to be some movement when you introduce the investment fund of the eldest son of the deputy commander, otherwise it will be deceiving the second family.

"What are your plans for a new movie?" Walter, in turn, was concerned about Ronald's next movie. This apprentice is very good to him. That "Top Gun" movie is about to soar into the sky. Now is his critical moment.

"My biggest possibility is to shoot the sequel to The Kid, but I read Weintraub's script and I don't think it's too challenging. What I want to do most now is to take a break. I have a feeling of being exhausted. Feel."

Murch knew that Ronald's accumulation was limited, and many directors would hit a bottleneck after shooting the first few movies. The reason is that all the previous accumulation was used in film shooting.

Of course, you can also shoot one film after another, but in that case, there will be no infinite possibility of getting to the next level.

"Movies are a very old art form. At this time, you need to watch more old classic movies."

Ronald took over the list of more than a dozen films proposed by Murch, all of which were old films that he felt were very inspiring for his editing career.

"Thank you, ask your wife and children for me."

After sending Murch away, Ronald lay on the bed for a while. What Murch gives is a way to solve the feeling of exhaustion, which is to find inspiration in the classics. And his agent Niceta gave another method, to change his girlfriend.

Many directors need a new muse every few years to inspire their creative passion and inspiration.

Brooke Shields and herself were separated from each other and became increasingly estranged. According to Hollywood standards, they were no longer a couple. Diane, on the other hand, is more like a good friend with benefits.

Maybe I should really give it a try and meet some new actresses and models.

Ronald put on his coat and got ready to go to the party.

Demi Moore called yesterday to invite herself to the premiere party of "St. Elmo's Fire" in New York.

In addition, since he returned home to New York, Ronald declined to go to Chicago to attend the third preview and rested at home for a few days.

"There doesn't seem to be a party venue here?" Ronald came to Demi Moore's newly rented high-end apartment, looked around and said.

"I will make my home here, isn't it great?" Demi smiled and showed Ronald around her "mansion".

This is a high-rise apartment developed by a young and promising New York real estate developer and named after himself. Demi rented a room in the highest loft. There are two large bedrooms, a special room for shoes, and a large balcony.

"It's very good." Ronald also thought it was very good to have such a house in Manhattan, even if it was rented, "Is the rent expensive?"

"Eight thousand dollars a month." Demi looked at Ronald, "I will live here by myself from now on, and Emilio will have his own place."

"Uh..." Ronald felt a little sad when he heard the price. One year's rent could be enough to pay off Bud's house loan or buy a new sports car.

Demi was also discouraged when she saw Ronald didn't respond to her hint. Ronald may have old-school moral values. He is now a real boyfriend and girlfriend with Emilio Estevez, and he doesn't like this kind of thing.

Everything has its pros and cons. Demi was able to afford such a luxurious apartment, in addition to the rave reviews of her new movie "St. Elmo's Fire", she also borrowed a lot of help from her boyfriend. Since Emilio's "The Breakfast Club", he has made two movies in a row, both critically acclaimed and box office hits. He is a hot young actor in Hollywood. He has received a lot of exposure and his own net worth has also increased.

"Let's go, the party is at The Lilight."

Ronald remembered this club as the place where Oscar-winning actress Shirley MacLean celebrated her birthday and introduced him to Natasha Kinski and Konchalovsky.

Demi got out of Ronald's car and went first to find the group of young actors and actresses who always hung out together. Ronald entered slowly.

"Tom? Why are you here?" Ronald unexpectedly saw Tom Cruise.

His hair is now growing longer and he is preparing for Scorsese's new film "The Color of Money."

"Rob Lowe and Emilio were my high school classmates in Los Angeles, and this was their successful movie, so I came to give it a spin."

Cruise's star path is not as bright as Emilio's for the time being, but he has two movies that will be released next year. "Top Gun" has the strength to be in the top ten at the box office, and "The Color of Money" is a collaboration with the famous director Scorsese and veteran actor Paul Newman.

"Are you still used to Marty's directing style? How is the preparation?"

"I'm still trying to keep up. Newman is also a good opponent. The script reading is very difficult for me."

"Hey, look who's here." Emilio saw Ronald and Cruise coming in together and showed off in front of them very proudly.

Rob Lowe did not have such a big malice towards Cruise, and pulled him to introduce the young people who came to play together.

Emilio was very disdainful of Ronald. It was not easy to have two big-selling movies to challenge this competitor.

"The fate of us actors is really not in our own hands. With a word from this director, Spielberg replaced Eric with that dwarf."

Emilio pointed to Eric Stoltz behind him, trying to arouse the actors present to share the same hatred against the enemy.

"That's right. Fortunately, we have survived the hell of waiting." Actress Ali Siti, who rejected Ronald's invitation to "Top Gun", also chimed in.

"It's not what you said. I don't have the power to replace actors from other crews. I just told Steven, the producer, my opinion. "Back to the Future" will premiere next month, and we can all go and see it."

Ronald didn't continue to argue with them, and waved to the main person Stoltz.

"Hi, Eric!" Ronald walked in and shook hands with Eric Stoltz inside, "Hi, Jennifer."

He found that Stoltz was no longer dating Cher, who was a dozen years older than him, and now his girlfriend was replaced by his acquaintance, Jennifer Jason Lee.

"Ronald, you are now besieged by actors." After receiving huge compensation in the past two years, Jennifer Jason Lee focused on finding roles that suit her and no longer made movies for money. She lived a very comfortable life.

However, Stoltz seemed to still have some knots in her heart. She ran away to other places without saying a few words to Ronald. Jennifer Jason Lee shrugged at him and went to accompany her boyfriend.

"Actually, you shouldn't be blamed for this. Movies are not dramas. There is no need to follow the script completely." A woman came up to speak for Ronald, her voice was gentle and magnetic, very pleasant to hear.

"It's nothing. I'm still far from being a first-class director in directing acting." Ronald had a good impression of this beautiful woman with outstanding temperament and took the initiative to extend his hand, "Ronald."

"Andy, Andy MacDowell."

Andy MacDowell, who played the role of Emilio in the movie, was a few years older than them and more mature in dealing with things. She was very happy to make friends with a director like Ronald.