Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Oh, Ronald, you are such a gentleman." Kim Cattrall's two powerful long legs were now resting on the bed tiredly.

"Why do you say that?" Ronald was a little confused. Could it be that the rounds of attacks he launched on this beauty on this big bed made her feel that her beauty was respected? That’s why you say that?

Cattrall chuckled. She felt that she was only thirty years old when she truly felt the benefits of being a woman. Just wear good clothes and show your charm to men. This is how a female star should behave.

"Do your homework well." Ronald was not disgusted with this kind of self-motivated actress, and told her not to forget to read the script and figure out the characters while working out and modeling.

Cattrall lived up to the opportunity given by Ronald, and she put in a lot of effort to work out every day. I tried my best to get closer to the puppet in appearance. Being able to be a real "heroine" with a lot of roles in such a movie.

…

Ronald asked Bud to go to the airport to pick up "Dirty Dancing" artistic director Ryan Weaver and location designer David Chapman.

This film does not have the participation of the seven major studios, and it has to be distributed by itself, which is equivalent to being "independent" from the Hollywood system. All things have to be gathered to Ronald and let him make decisions. Without his own team to handle it, Ronald had no choice but to decide these trivial and troublesome details on his own.

"Mountain Lake House in Virginia is a few hours' drive south of the Catskills. Look, do these locations look very similar to resorts in the Catskills? They are all decorated in the style of Jewish resorts in the 1950s and 1960s. "

Ronald looked at the location photos they had brought, and the photos from the two places looked very similar.

"Mountain Lake Villa is too far away from New York. It was opened as a Jewish-only resort very late. Since the 1970s, it has been popular to go abroad for vacation. Their passenger flow is not much and they have been greatly affected, so we can use it cheaper Rent it at the price.”

"So that's it, can't we continue to negotiate the price?" Ronald looked at the price quoted by the other party and found that it was still too high.

"We've figured it out for you. You can take one day off a week, and there are no SAG supervisors in Virginia. Then for the rest of the indoor scenes, we can find another location to shoot."

Lineweaver pulled out another stack of photos.

"This is a place we found through North Carolina when we were choosing a location. Do you think these cabins are houses where poor boys who are suitable as backup dancers live?"

Ronald looked at the photos. The house was small and dilapidated. It's a bit like my old house on Staten Island. The two rooms are transparent from the front to the back, giving you an unobstructed view.

"Yes, it does look like a poor man's house. How did you find such a similar place?"

"It's all down to David Chapman, who found a Boy Scout camp."

"Oh?" Ronald looked at the location designer Chapman.

“This is an abandoned Boy Scout camp that hosted hundreds of Boy Scouts at a time when Boy Scout summer camps were popular.

But the Boy Scout summer camp has declined in recent years, and not many people come here. The facilities were starting to get dilapidated, so we were able to rent them for free and renovate them. The appearance matched the description of the dilapidated house where the backup dancers lived in the script. "

Ronald looked at the photo and saw that it was indeed ideal. This location designer is very good, he can translate the feeling in the text into the appearance of the location, and he is also very good at finding places.

"However, there are many scenes in the script that connect the resort and the place where the backup dancers live. You have to do a good job of recording the scene, otherwise shooting in two places will cause a lot of confusion."

Looking at the details in the photos, the types of plants, and the style of the architecture, there are still some slight differences.

"No problem, I will do this specifically next time to make sure it's done properly." David Chapman is a very experienced industry veteran. This kind of thing happens a lot.

If Ronald can give himself enough time in advance, he can definitely make it invisible to the audience.

"This is what poor film crews without money are like. If there was enough budget, I would definitely shoot all the scenes at Mountain Lake Villa." Ronald began to joke.

"You can't say that, director. I have seen many film crews, and there are not many directors like you who spend all their money on the final effect of the film." David Chapman took it seriously and immediately began to refute.

It's more interesting to work for a crew like this than a crew that lets truck drivers drive and move wood and keep accounts.

It's obvious that the director wanted to make the film a masterpiece. And his value is to allow the director's limited budget to present the best effect.

"Yes, let's work together. I don't have any more budget now. After it is released, if the box office is satisfactory, I will give you a replacement bonus."

Ronald is having some trouble with his current production budget. Purchasing music copyrights cost a lot more than I expected.

It turns out that studios are responsible for negotiating with record companies. And people like Weintraub are already in the music industry, so they don’t need to spend any energy on this part.

But it's different now. You have to deal with everything yourself. Danny Goldberg, the music director whom Ronald approached, took the tape given by the screenwriter Eleanor and checked the current copyright owner song by song.

These are all old songs from the 1950s. Record companies have gone through many mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies, and reorganizations, and the copyright situation is complicated.

Others are in the hands of the creators, and some have passed away and are being negotiated with the children of the owners.

Ronald felt that it was not worthwhile to use these trivial matters to sell face to Weintraub and others, so he asked Goldberg to come forward and be responsible for the entire copyright negotiation.

Danny Goldberg said it would take a month or two to complete the negotiations, and the rights to the songs would not be cheap because Eleanor picked the hits that were on the charts at the time.

There were money holes everywhere, and Ronald felt like half of his budget was gone before he could even finalize the cast.

Now David Chapman saved himself one-third of the venue rent, and he had no choice but to rely on his credibility to write them random bad checks.

I hope they can believe in themselves and do their best for the sake of being a hit director.

…

"I hope you can find better candidates. If this movie is a hit after it is released, I will give them bonuses..."

"Don't be ridiculous, Ronald. Dancers, just like what is written in your script, are very poor. They just rely on your salary and try their best to pay the bills at the end of the month."

The speaker was Kenny Ortega, the cheap choreographer Ronald had hired.

This was Madonna’s choreography when she was filming the “Material Girl” v. He also served as a choreographer in John Hughes films such as "Pretty in Pink" and "Spring Is Not a Day to Read".

The main reason for finding him is because he charges cheap prices. The person who works as a choreographer in a youth film is definitely not the top choreographer in the industry. Being chosen by Madonna to choreograph shows that his level is pretty good.

However, Kenny Ortega was born into a poor family. His mother was a hotel waiter and his father was a factory worker. He had seen all kinds of scammers since he was a child. When he heard the talk about bonuses, he was born with disbelief. .

"But these backup dancers are too..."

Ronald looked at the photos of the dancers that Ortega had brought and really didn't want to use them. All of them look crooked, either the men are as thin as skeletons, or the women are fat and round.

In the dream scene, there were not many close-ups. Is it this woman? Ronald looked at the photo carefully. Who would remember what a fat girl who dances well looks like in a movie? Maybe you have to see them dancing to recognize them.

"This is the first time I have seen such a fat female dancer. I have dated many dancing girls..."

Ronald also had some distrust of Ortega, so he came up to ask about the situation first.

"With your limited budget, can't you just hire them..."

"But this is too frustrating..."

The two of them talked quickly, their voices gradually getting louder, and they seemed to be starting to quarrel.

"Can I say a few words?"

Miranda Garrison, the assistant choreographer, was a very attractive woman and she verbally stopped the two men.

"Of course, please tell me." Ronald looked up and down. If it were a dancer with Miranda's looks and figure, he wouldn't say anything.

"First of all, the movie really didn't have a big budget, but if you stick to good-looking dancers, it's still possible."

"Miranda..." Ortega became anxious. Those beautiful men and women who could accept this price all wanted to get into the entertainment industry, but their dancing ability was actually a mess.

"Wait until I finish..." Miranda stopped Ortega.

"But if I hear that the dance in this movie is very important, I think they are the best choice. These people may have flaws in appearance, but they are all very good dancers that everyone in the industry has heard Talent.

You need to look good and be like a dancer. Or is he an outstanding dancer but average in appearance? Besides, these are supporting roles, don’t they just bring out the beauty of the protagonist? "

Ronald smiled, "What you said makes sense. I agreed. But I want people who are really good at dancing. You train them well. All I want is the result, which is to look like the dance partners I have danced with since childhood. You You should understand it after reading the script.”

"Like the dance partner I've been working with since childhood? That's not easy." Kenny Ortega started scratching his head.

"What, you can't do it?"

"I think about it, there may be a way. It is to separate the dance movements. Instead of these two thin guys, they have good waist movements, so I let them only practice waist movements. This fat girl has good expressions and shoulder movements..."

"Just do it your way, and I'll see the results when the time comes."

"No problem", Ortega is still very confident about training only one movement.

"When will the male protagonist Johnny and his dance partner be ready? They are the two best dancers in the plot. We have to spend more time training them."

"Ha, these two roles are not yours to decide. The Screen Actors Guild will conduct a formal casting process. All I can say is as soon as possible."

"Ronald, have you chosen the director of 'Dirty Dancing'?" screenwriter Eleanor asked him again.

"Talking to Adrian Lyne. He hasn't made a final decision yet."

"He's pretty good, but what about the male and female protagonists? Especially the male protagonist Johnny, you promised me to watch it."

"I'll call you when it's time for the audition."