Exploiting Hollywood 1980

The test screening of "Dragon Boy 2" went smoothly. Those audiences selected by the theater had long guessed that they were going to watch the sequel to "The Dragon King", so they were all movie fans who came to watch the preview.

Ronald sat in the back and counted the spots where the audience clapped excitedly. It is consistent with several points of my own design.

Especially the role of Tam Ling Tomita, although not as beautiful as Elizabeth Shue, is in line with the recent fashion of Asian beauties in America. In addition, her character Kumiko is more assertive than Ali in the first film. In the end, she was slapped by the villain Chang Shan for Daniel.

The emotional scenes between the two made the audience more enjoyable to watch. The final trick, the "rattle"-style continuous hit, is more philosophical than the crane kick in the first part, and the movements are more professional and beautiful than the crane kick.

The main reason is that Ralph Mazio's own kung fu is very poor, and he can't stand firmly when the crane kicks. "Rattle", on the other hand, has both feet on the ground, and with the camera's framing and editing, he can defend Chang Shan's attack with one hand, and naturally hit the opponent's weakness with the other hand.

After the test screening, Ronald observed outside the bathroom again. Many boys began to practice hitting each other.

"Ha...Hi..."

Watching the two boys who looked like junior high school students playing rough and tumble and muttering, "Rattle!" Ronald was basically convinced.

"Stable!"

The box office of the sequel movie was already more stable than that of the first movie, and Ronald and Weintraub laughed.

"I have decided to accept Mr. Kerkorian's invitation to serve as president and CEO of the newly independent United Artists."

Weintraub finally got the management rights from United Artists after the good test screenings of the sequel of The Dragon King.

"Congratulations!" Ronald stepped forward to hug.

"Of course, your exploitative...commercial films can still cooperate with my Weintraub Pictures and be distributed by Columbia." Weintraub is ready to restore the tradition of art films at United Artists and put his own controlling stake in Weintraub Film Industry became an independent production company.

"I haven't found a suitable script yet. We'll discuss it in detail when we have an idea." Ronald said in a stern way. He also wanted to be a production company, so there was no need to cooperate with Weintraub's company. And he has his own touchstone, Paramount, a company helmed by two old friends rushing to release his next film.

The new management of Twentieth Century Fox and Universal also expressed their willingness to cooperate with CAA.

Ronald has no intention of striking while the iron is hot. When his Top Gun and The Last of Us 2 are released and achieve high box office, his bargaining chips will be much higher. During this time, I still asked my script assistant David Simkins to submit more good scripts and start preparations in advance.

"I will invite Barbara and George Sr. They usually hold a family gathering in their hometown at Christmas. But during the following holidays, they will come to Los Angeles to spend time with their grandchildren. Will you come with me then?"

Weintraub once again played the deputy leader's family card. If Ronald wanted to get closer to the second family, this would be an opportunity to tie him into his company's warship.

"No, I have to go back to Staten Island, New York, to spend time with my aunt and cousin. I haven't seen them for a long time. If I don't go back for Christmas this time, she will be very unhappy and won't give me more cookies to bake. "

Christmas in America is a time for family reunions. Weintraub patted Ronald on the shoulder. This kind of request to go home could not be forced.

…

"Donna!"

"Hey, Ronnie!"

Donna, who came back from IT for Christmas in a car, hugged Ronald and kissed him passionately.

After attending IT for one year, Donna's whole person became a bit rustic. Her hair was casually tied in a bun and her clothes were casually dressed. It was completely different from the carefully dressed up look when she went to school.

"Don't mention it, IT time is very tight. Study, socialize, and sleep. Most people can only do two of the three S's."

Ronald quickly helped move the luggage, and the two walked into the new house on Staten Island.

Little Bud, his mother, and three sisters all came over to help.

The two families, who were both veterans' widows, have become increasingly close. Little Bud's sisters all found jobs in the new lightning lamp factory, carefully assembling the accessories shipped there. Then when someone rents it, I help out with some help.

"Donna, you go and rest for a while. My biscuits will be ready soon." Aunt Karen saw her daughter coming back and happily pushed her to go to bed after driving for several hours.

The two families had a reunion dinner the night before Christmas Eve. Little Bud will go home tomorrow to spend Christmas Eve with his family.

"My classmates don't know you are my cousin. They all like your movies." Donna happily told Ronald a lot about her college experiences. IT is indeed a top-notch school, with many smart people in it. The evaluation of Ronald's movies is better than some film critics said.

They particularly like "Longwei Boy". Maybe there are many academic nerds who have had similar experiences in high school.

"Ding dong..." The doorbell rang.

Little Bud's mother went to open the door, and a courier in purple clothes delivered a large box of small cakes.

"It's a Christmas gift from Tom." Ronald signed with a smile.

And half of it was given to Little Bud and his family.

"Oh, this is the most delicious cake I have ever eaten. It was sent by the big star Tom Cruise."

Lucy, whom Bud liked, was also invited to dinner. She ate a small cake specially sent by Tom Cruise, feeling a little emotional.

Bud hugged her, knowing that Lucy still missed her acting career.

After seeing Bud and his family off, Ronald waved as the taillights of a SUV lit up in the dark. This kind of dinner for the lower class, the conversation of Bud's sisters was a bit far from the successful Ronald, and he still missed the past.

"Ronnie, let me tell you something."

Donna dragged Ronald into the house.

"What's wrong?"

"Diane wants to come to our house for Christmas tomorrow."

"That's great. Where's her father Bert? Will he come too?"

"No, she's coming alone. Her father has a new girlfriend."

"That's fine. I haven't seen her for a long time." Ronald smiled, "But why didn't she call me herself?"

"She said she was sorry for you and wanted me to see your attitude. If you are willing, she will come again."

"Sorry for me?" Ronald frowned, "What did she do to apologize to me?"

"You can ask her tomorrow. Anyway, she is my best friend. You can't stop her from coming."

"Uh, okay." Ronald felt a little strange about what Donna said. What could Diane Lane do to apologize to me?

On Christmas Eve, Diane Lane drove to the door of Aunt Karen's house in Staten Island in the afternoon.

"Diane, you haven't come to see me for a long time."

Aunt Karen liked this girl who had grown up with her eyes. Seeing Diane still hesitating at the door, she quickly led her in.

"Diane, you're here." Donna dressed up and looked heroic again. She took her childhood friend's hand and pulled her upstairs.

"Ronnie, Diane is here." Then she pushed Diane into the study where Ronald was.

"Diane," Ronald looked at Diane Lane.

Today Diane wore a floral shirt, jeans and sneakers, which were very casual. A black woolen coat covered her body to keep her out of the cold.

Diane Lane was a little reserved. She looked at Ronald and was a little afraid to talk to him.

"Have some black tea, I brought it from China." Ronald looked at Diane like this, and the bits and pieces of the past few years came to his mind again. He poured her a cup of wolfberry black tea and handed it to her, and touched her hair.

Then Ronald put his hand down again. Diane had matured and had her own ideas. He shouldn't be so selfish. After all, the two were not in an exclusive relationship.

"What new movie did you find?" Ronald picked up his cup of tea. Diane was able to come home to apologize, and she still recognized him as her brother. The relationship between the two dates back to six years ago when he just returned to New York. She was also the best friend of his cousin Donna, and they could get along well as sisters.

"No? There are no new films looking for me now." Diane was puzzled. She took off her coat and hung it on the hanger.

"Ronnie, do you have any suitable roles? Can you help Diane?" Donna said beside her.

Ronald did not answer. Diane had her own ideas, which should be a new plan for her career.

"Don't be like this, Donna. Ronald doesn't have the final say on every movie. He has recommended George Lucas's new work to me, but I was eliminated because I can't sing."

"Are you going to enter the TV industry?" Ronald heard that Diane didn't have any new movie roles. Could it be that her new boyfriend is a TV director or producer?

"No, I don't have any roles now, and my green food business has failed, and I lost a lot of money. So I'm a little afraid to come to see you."

Diane saw that Ronald was still touching her head like before, and she felt very warm in her heart, so she simply told her own story.

"Oh, God," Ronald realized that he had thought wrong, "You didn't lose all the money you made from the commercials in Japan, did you?"

"I only lost a little bit," Diane gestured with her hand, "I'll remember what you said, I'll keep this money for my life after retirement."

"That's okay. It's not easy for you to become a child star alone. You can go to Japan to shoot commercials every year. At least you won't have any problems with your life, and you can take your time to get roles. I'll keep an eye on it for you."

Ronald breathed a sigh of relief. Diane Lane had been cheated many times, and finally gained some wisdom.

"Well... um..." Diane felt that Ronald's hug was extremely warm, and she finally put her worries to rest.

It turned out that the so-called green food that Diane made was a variety of dietary fiber nutritional supplements produced by a company called United Scientific America.

His president was Jerrys Leonard, the assistant attorney general under former President Nixon, who claimed that dietary fiber nutritional supplements could prevent cancer, heart disease, arthritis, and even new diseases like Rock Hudson.

The company's monthly sales were close to 8 million US dollars. The only requirement is to become a distributor, you must first purchase a certain amount of nutritional supplements. The more you buy, the bigger the discount.

Diane bought more than $100,000 worth of goods to get the discount. With the connections she made in Hollywood and New York, she sold well. She also sold some to veteran stars on Broadway in New York through Bert's connections.

But before Christmas, the commission check from United Scientific suddenly bounced. Diane received many complaints from Bert's old friends, and she didn't get any commission for the goods she sold. The remaining half of the nutritional supplements had to be slowly sold as ordinary goods.

Diane was more responsible, and she didn't want to default on her debt, so she paid all the commissions of her father Bert's friends. This was a bit painful.

Thinking of Ronald's repeated instructions to save money to ensure her life, she felt ashamed to see Ronald for a while.

"It doesn't matter, fortunately you woke up early. This is called multi-level marketing, which is easy to explode. If you use mathematics, you will know that it cannot last long." Donna was listening nearby. It was also the first time she knew that her bestie had suffered a big loss.

"It's okay, if you can't sell it, you can sell it to me. I eat it when I exercise." Ronald tickled Diane to make her happy.

"Cruise also sent a cake. You can try it. It tastes very good. I will keep an eye on you after the New Year. Your talent is still in acting. There are not many actresses who can perform naturally like you." Ronald looked at Diane, who was stupid in other aspects of life, and smiled and scratched her nose.

"You sleep here tonight, and let Ronald accompany you to Manhattan, New York tomorrow. Girls should not do those jobs that seem to make a lot of money. There are often many traps." At the Christmas dinner, Aunt Karen also took Diane's hand to comfort her.

"Knock... knock..."

Late at night, Ronald suddenly heard someone knocking on the door.

When he opened the door, it was Diane standing at the door in pajamas.

Ronald pulled her in, "It's very cold today, go and warm up first."

The two hugged each other gently on the bed, and they could hear each other's breathing. Ronald and Diane felt peaceful and happy on Christmas Eve.