Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Spielberg wants to talk to you. Call his agent."

Nicita came out of the office and got a message from Ronald.

"I'll call him. You'll be in charge of 'Swagger'. Many executives and producers of the crew want to divide power. Richard and Simkins have no experience. Only you can handle it. Anyway, just set the rules when filming starts and let others not interfere with the heroine I choose."

Nicita made an OK gesture. The production department of 20th Century Fox is in a very chaotic state. Ronald was assigned the position of the heroine. Someone needs to watch over him and not let others bully him. Now only Nicita can do it.

"Hello? This is Ronald. I want to talk to Mr. Spielberg." Although Ronald does not have the same status as Spielberg now, many people want him to see their scripts every day.

In order to block these harassments, they want to find someone, call them, and then ask them to call back. When you meet a director like Spielberg who is even more famous than Ronald, you have to call my agent first, then I call your agent, and then you call my agent.

"Ronald? This is Steven."

Spielberg finally got through to Ronald, "I want to thank you for giving Chris Columbus a chance to direct. I originally planned to let Ann Bolin choose a script for him to try to direct, but I didn't expect you and Disney to find him directly. He was able to get the director's job by himself, and I am also very pleased with his progress."

"Don't mention that, we are old friends." Ronald smiled. Spielberg treated Columbus as a screenwriter and used him for years without giving him further opportunities. Now that he has become a director through his own way, Spielberg is here to talk cheap.

These Jews have this habit. As long as you are scared by them for the first time, they will continue to exploit you. As long as you hold up when you deal with them for the first time, they will be more likely to abide by the rules.

"I didn't know you were also interested in helping Chris. I'm the first to do it. Columbus is very good. Even without me, he would have gotten the chance to be the touchstone himself. Now he has started to make a lot of preparations. A few days after getting the script, he drew the storyboards of the main scenes..."

"Haha... Yes, Chris is an excellent person," Spielberg laughed, "Also, is there any response from them about my filming there?"

"I have received a long-distance call from my partner in Xujiahui. It's not easy to make a transatlantic call there. I have to wait in line for two hours. I called back. The call quality was also very poor. We yelled for half an hour before we confirmed what we wanted to say. It's more convenient to send a telegram."

Ronald complained a little about the work he did to help Spielberg and Xujiahui Studio.

The main focus of the northern studio this year is on filming "The Last Emperor" by Italian director Bertolucci. It is said that even a deputy minister of the same clan as the emperor (he was also an actor) played a major supporting role - a teacher who managed the last emperor in the war criminal management center.

The studio in Xujiahui also wanted to improve its status by inviting Spielberg to shoot a movie.

After consultation with relevant institutions, the Bund, Xujiahui, and several garden houses designed by the famous architect Wu Daqian can be opened to Spielberg. The location in Chedun and Songjiang can also be opened to him unconditionally.

Various old cars are still in stock in the warehouse of the film studio. Just ask Hollywood prop masters to check and modify them in advance.

"Remember the names of two people," Ronald gave Spielberg the contact information of Xiao Yan, the son of Yan Zhongfang, his de facto partner in the flash business. The other one is the deputy director Huang who really wants to be an independent director.

"When you get there, you can find them. Xiao Yan's English is good and can serve as a translator. Deputy Director Huang is familiar with the things on the set. If there are any technical problems, you can ask her to solve them."

"Huang, Yan, ok," Spielberg wrote down the names of the two.

"When you arrive at Xujiahui Studios, just mention their names. They will help you transfer them here. It's a rare opportunity to learn from them in your crew."

After talking with Spielberg, Ronald came out to continue the meeting with several people.

"Touchstone is more rigorous. The shooting schedule of "The Nanny" is very long, and they have to assess Chris Columbus' work at every node.

The heroine is the key to the success or failure of this movie. The two female producers of Touchstone mean to start a wide range of casting now."

Among the two agents, Richard was thrown into the crew of "The Nanny" by Ronald. There were two former Paramount golden partners, Eisner and Katzenberg, in charge, and all the subordinates did not dare to act rashly.

All kinds of production work were gradually advancing according to the due progress.

"Have you mentioned Elizabeth Shue?"

"Yes, they think she's suitable, but she still needs to go through the standard audition process. They also want to find famous child stars such as Tatum O'Neal and Jodie Foster, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus is also a potential choice."

"I know, but you have to insist. The last round of interviews will be for the opening dance scene."

Here at Touchstone, all kinds of work are very formal and rigorous. If Ronald wants Elizabeth Su to be elected, he can't do it directly in the dark like "showing off his air".

And this movie is obviously a movie with a heroine as the main character. In this era when female protagonists are scarce, many child stars and young actresses are bound to be coveted.

During the audition, there is supervision by the Screen Actors Guild, so the risk of operating behind the scenes is actually much greater than the "showing off" that no one is optimistic about.

But Ronald also has a way.

Ronald specially designated the opening scene of the dream, in which Elizabeth Sue is full of fire, enthusiasm and charm. Anyway, she is a gymnast, so she is most likely to perform well in a dance that requires strong coordination and impress the judges.

As long as appropriate evaluation criteria are chosen, the final result can basically be predicted.

Having said that, choosing Elizabeth Shue for this movie is obviously the most suitable. Screenwriter David Simkins said that when he wrote the script, he was influenced by Ronald "The Dragon King".

The heroine is obviously a beautiful girl with tomboy characteristics. She often dares to resist the injustice of boys. Simkins intentionally or unintentionally used Elizabeth Shue as a template for many of the heroine's traits, incorporating many of her previous performances.

When Ronald was meeting with Chris Columbus and David Simkins, he was also guiding his thoughts and ideas to them. It seems that Chris Columbus's ideas have been subtly closer to his own. The possibility of choosing Su is still very high.

Niceta, Richard, and David Simkins coordinated work on both films. Niceta sent the two of them out of the office, turned around and closed the door, then came back to talk to Ronald about other things.

"I've arranged it all. I've made a deal with Kim Cattrall's agent that you'll give her the leading lady position of 'swaggering'. She spent two months before filming, and two months after filming, I'll be with you all the time. When the movie starts marketing next year, your relationship will be over.

During this period, she cannot announce your relationship with her to the public, nor can she deliberately let anyone take any shots of you and her together. If she wants to take the opportunity to let the public know that she is your girlfriend or lover, she will face huge liquidated damages.

Her agent knows the rules. If she violates the rules, not to mention liquidated damages, she will not be able to get any roles that last more than 10 seconds in Hollywood in the future. "

"Wait, wait... I didn't mean to ask her to be my underground lover, right? Why did you come up with a contract?" Ronald was confused, and Niceta was too considerate.

"Didn't you propose to Fox that the heroine is your sphere of influence? This is how things like this are done.

What, you think she's not good enough? Is it because you are older? I've seen Cattrall in person and she looks just like her audition photos, a hot British beauty. "

"Well, I'm just not used to such clear-cut arrangements..."

"It doesn't matter, this is your right. If you don't like it, you don't have to perform it. The contract does not stipulate that you must call her."

Niceta knew that with Ronald's appearance, wealth, and power in Hollywood, there would be no need for such an exchange, and there would be actresses who would come to him. But how many of those actresses are sincere? A middle-aged man like him knows the benefits of this kind of clear terms.

"How's your own 'Dirty Dancing' going?" Niceta didn't dwell on the matter too much and asked about the progress of Ronald's own investment and distribution movie.

"Art director Stephen Lineweaver found an exclusive Jewish resort, Mountain Lake Villa, in Virginia. It is far away from New York, there are not many tourists, and the business is not good. So we can afford the rent, short-term rental Come down and shoot.

But the Jews hated it. They saw that we needed this location, so they refused to lower the price. No matter how much we say that this movie will be their best advertisement after it is released, it is useless.

The production budget I had set aside was that I could only rent it for two weeks at most, which was not enough time for shooting. "

"Have you ever thought about what to do?" Niceta asked.

"I have thought about diverting part of the budget reserved for distribution and shooting the movie first. But reason tells me that after making a plan, I must follow it, rather than just ignore it when the artist's enthusiasm rises..."

"How many days will you be filming there?"

"Fifteen working days, it takes three weeks."

"Haha..." Niceta smiled, "In fact, as long as you don't announce to the media that it is your movie, there will be no union people to supervise it in a place like Virginia. After all, it is not Hollywood or New York, where the concentration of union personnel is the highest. place."

"What do you mean?" Ronald became interested.

Niceta's lips made a gesture, but she didn't say anything. But Ronald had seen what he meant.

"work overtime……!"