Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Ronald sent Jeremy Thomas away, and in the evening he went to meet Minahan Golan.

Minahan chose the largest cinema and the largest screening room in his newly acquired Carnival Cinema Chain, and started the London premiere of the opera film "Othello" directed by Franco Zeffirelli.

His cannon was not influential enough, and he was unable to invite members of the royal family to attend the premiere ceremony, but the influence of the two main creative staff in the upper class was enough to make up for some of the shortcomings. The audience at the premiere were all gentlemen and ladies in casual dresses.

"Ronald, this is Placido Domingo, who plays the male lead Othello, and this is Katia Ricciarelli, who plays Desdemona."

Ronald hugged the two male and female protagonists in their gorgeous costumes and kissed each other on the cheek.

Domingo is a Spanish opera tenor, and Ricciarelli is from the Italian La Scala Opera House, and has worked with Domingo on stage for many years.

"Hello, nice to see you," Ronald greeted the two opera singers, and couldn't help but think of Pavarotti, the Italian opera tenor who presented him with the award at the Oscars. These tenors and sopranos all look very strong.

"I wish your movie a success."

"Ronald!" This time it was director Zeffirelli who came to hug him. The two old friends hadn't seen each other for a long time, and Zeffirelli was still very enthusiastic.

"Did Menahan give you enough money? He promised me at the time that he would give you full creative freedom, so I called you. If he cheated, I would make trouble for him." Ronald joked.

"Don't say it, Ronald. Menahan is the greatest producer I have ever met. No producer has ever been able to fully trust my artistic judgment. After I finished filming Othello, I even felt that I would never be able to make such a good movie in the future."

The two walked inside arm in arm.

"I heard you and Brooke are together? I saw at that time that she was very dependent on you." Zeffirelli left Hollywood and was out of touch with the news. The last time he saw news about Ronald was in the gossip in the newspaper.

"She is concentrating on her studies and may not return to the entertainment industry in the future."

"That's a pity."

The filming of this "Othello" is very strange. It is filmed in the way of opera. In addition to replacing the stage scenery with more realistic real scenes, the entire movie's shots, lighting, and even rhythm are all in the style of opera.

It is equivalent to putting the entire "Othello" staged in the opera house on the screen. Ronald has never seen this shooting method in Hollywood.

However, Ronald's own expectations were beyond his own expectations. When watching this opera movie adapted from Shakespeare's play and listening to the arias of Domingo and Ricciarelli, his emotions became very excited.

When Iago was trying to sow discord between Othello and his wife Desdemona, Ronald was also emotionally angry and hated the actor.

At the end, when Othello suspected his wife of cheating and killed her, Ronald felt very uncomfortable and realized the great tragic power brought by jealousy.

In the end, Iago was exposed, Othello knocked him to the ground, and then looked at his wife's body and committed suicide. Ronald couldn't hold back his tears.

"Oh, I didn't expect this movie to be so powerful. I cried." Ronald took out a handkerchief and wiped his eyes. After the lights came on, he stood up and hugged director Zeffirelli.

"Masterpiece, perfect, no wonder you like it so much, it's an exquisite work of art."

"It seems that you are also a person of temperament." Zeffirelli was moved to tears again by his own movie.

"People with sensitive natures like opera as an art form, and people who are naturally dull will not be moved no matter how hard they try to learn. I know that an artistic genius like you will definitely understand me. Woo woo..."

"Ha ha ha, Franco, please go up and say a few words to the audience." Minahan came over and invited the director to the stage.

"This is a businessman without sensitive nerves." Ronald laughed. Minahan didn't seem to be moved by the plot at all.

"Ronald, I plan to release this movie on a small scale in America, and then send it mainly to Europe and Asia. Zeffirelli, as a famous opera director, is very famous in those two places."

Ronald glanced at Minahan, and then at Zeffirelli who was very excited on the stage.

"Ah, it seems that Minahan also knows that this kind of slow-paced, although exquisite, but lacking visual impact of the movie, is no longer liked by mainstream audiences. He found director Zeffirelli just like finding people like John Cassavetes and Jean-Luc Godard, in order to raise his status when selling films at film festivals.

Use these outdated famous directors' movies to raise the price of other exploitation films he shot. Let those outdated movie buyers know that they are the "big guys" in Hollywood."

But isn't Zeffirelli also using this madman? Perhaps only this kind of madman can give him enough budget and artistic freedom without interference.

"Wow, wow, wow..." Ronald also clapped with everyone.

"Ronald, I'm about to start filming the third episode of Dragon and the third episode of Vietnam. Our Ninja series is also about to start filming the American Ninja series. Now is the time when Cannon Pictures is booming. Would you like to consider filming Stallone's next movie?"

"He and I really can't be on the same set." Ronald shook his head and refused. "You're shooting so many movies at the same time?"

"That's not too many. I have to deal with the script of Superman 4 myself. This year, we're going to shoot at least 25 movies. We also need to acquire more theaters. In the second half of the year, our Cannon TV Network will be established in America. It will also be a national syndicated limited television network."

"Twenty-five?" Ronald glanced at Minahan and thought, is this guy crazy? Acquiring theaters and establishing TV networks are very expensive business behaviors. Shooting more than 20 movies a year, even if the average cost of one movie is two million, the shooting budget is 50 million.

His current pre-sale business can already cover all the shooting budgets?

Madman!

But then again, he has 300 million in cash and European banks to give him bridge loans. This madman is going to rush into the circle of Hollywood's top production companies all at once. Anyway, he wants to establish his own distribution network and even acquire American theaters. It won't be strange for him.

"I will give you full artistic decision-making power, how about that? Think about it, if you don't want to make a movie with Stallone, then we can change a star.

You don't have to worry about me interfering with you if it's a big production. Who in Hollywood doesn't know that you have the best vision now?

Even if it's the outdated director John Cassavetes, I promised him not to interfere with his artistic decisions, so I won't interfere.

His movie is two hours long, I think it's too long, so I asked him to cut it 15 minutes shorter for easier distribution. He agreed, but the final version that Cassavetes brought back the next Monday was half an hour longer, becoming a two-and-a-half-hour feature film.

He has his reasons, and this is the best way to present the movie, so I agreed to him.

I will also invest in a movie with Faye Dunaway and Mickey Rourke, they are both popular stars..."

Ronald looked at Minahan who was talking eloquently, and felt more and more that he was a madman. In the past, he was just trapped by the situation and had no way to show his crazy side.

Even the most important power of the production company, the length of the movie, was given up, which was equivalent to letting the director play around as he pleased. From the perspective of the producer, this was a very bad decision.

However, maybe this is all mutual use. A movie starring Mickey Rourke, who became popular because of "Love You 9 1/2 Weeks", can force him to sell three American Ninjas or Vietnam Pioneers, which are follow-up exploitation films. Maybe after all, the madman still makes a lot of money?

After saying goodbye to his old friend, Ronald flew back to New York alone.

"This is yours, this is for Donna," Ronald took a scarf made of high-end cashmere and gave it to Diane.

Diane Lane is in New York at this time, and "Demons in Chinatown" is about to be released. She is hiding in New York waiting for the premiere.

When this movie is released, if it can have some influence, Diane's agent will be able to receive movie scripts again, and she is looking forward to it. When she heard that Ronald was back, she came to Staten Island alone to see him.

"I have a gift for you too," Diane took a small box and handed it to Ronald.

Ronald opened it and saw that it turned out to be the latest version of Word Star software.

"Hahaha, you still know what I need." Ronald recalled that his first copy of the software WordStar, which he used to write scripts on his computer, was given to him by Diane and Donna.

"Hehe..." Diane made a lot of money from the advertising shooting in Japan. In addition, the Japanese yen has appreciated since the Plaza Accord was signed last year. Now she has earned 50% more for no reason. She can buy clothes and jewelry again, and she can hire a hairstylist, a body teacher, and an acting teacher. She can also give Ronald a small gift.

"Thank you, you are not going to make that health supplement anymore?" Ronald asked Diane. The two knew each other when she was very young, so it was not abrupt to ask some private questions.

"It's okay. I have completely stopped selling the products of the United Scientific Company of America. I also returned the remaining goods, which is considered to recover some costs. ..

But they don't seem to be scammers. There are really people who sell their products and make a lot of money. Do you know? They have now hired William Shatner, the actor who plays Captain Kirk, as a spokesperson."

Diane turned on the TV and tuned to the direct sales channel, which happened to be playing the advertisement of the United Scientific Company of America.

William Shatner's fat face is promoting the nutritional supplements of United Scientific Corporation.

"Since the history of mankind, plants have provided us with the nutrients we need and beneficial trace elements for a long time. This is an important difference between us humans and other animals.

I strongly recommend that you use the dietary supplements extracted from various plants by United Scientific Corporation from today, including pumpkin, apple, oatmeal... Vegetarianism is the healthiest lifestyle.

You can buy a lot and sell it to friends who share the same philosophy as you, and then use this healthy food to earn yourself a reasonable income and promote our concept of healthy living.

Of course, if you only buy a little for yourself, it doesn't matter. Remember to tell your friends and relatives that you feel energetic and less sick after taking this dietary supplement.

No matter how much or how little you buy, you can promote our concept of healthy living.

United Scientific Corporation, your dietary companion for the concept of healthy living."

"So Captain Kirk said that you are not required to buy a lot. Those who are rich can buy products worth thousands or tens of thousands of dollars to sell, and those who are poor can just buy a little for their own use, as long as they don't forget to promote the concept.

If I really can't sell things... Well, even if I can sell, I won't do it. I just want to get some roles again, and it's good enough to be an actor and support myself."

Diane saw Ronald frowning and his face was not very good, and hurriedly promised that she would not do these things again. If she didn't get the role, the money she earned from Japan would support her for the next year.

"No, I don't mean to blame you, that's not what I mean. But this William Shatner speaks like a producer I know in London."

Sure enough, these people all speak in the same way. No matter how much money it costs, we welcome it. We just want to promote our own ideas (culture). It seems that these scammers all speak in a similar way, and my feeling is right.