Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Cynthia Rhodes is an old acquaintance of Ronald. She played a bar dancer in "Flashdance" and later got the leading role in "Dancing with the Dragon", but was almost fired because she rejected the courtship of Stallone's brother, Frank Stallone.

Ronald rescued her at that time. This time Ronald met with her agent and made it clear that he wanted Cynthia's help.

"This is a small production. I want you to play the second female role Penny. I don't want to hide it from you. This role is not very dazzling. It is a foil for the heroine Baby, and there are some controversial plots. But there will be a lot of dance scenes and a lot of appearance time."

Ronald briefly talked about the plot of Penny in the script. She was Johnny's dance partner since childhood. Later, she was with the waiter in the resort. She was abandoned after accidentally getting pregnant and had no money to ask a secret doctor for an abortion.

This led to the plot that the heroine Baby borrowed money from her father to help her, and later replaced Penny and became a dance partner with Johnny and learned dance.

After Cynthia Rhodes left the crew of "Dancing with the Dragon", there were some rumors in the circle that she was difficult to work with. There is no doubt that it was the Stallone brothers who spread it.

After that, she couldn't get any good roles. In a few years, she only filmed one movie, a few episodes of TV series, and appeared as a dancer in some V.

Ronald found this actress who was very good at Latin dance based on the role in his dream and personally invited her to participate.

Ronald invested almost his entire fortune in this movie "Dirty Dancing". He didn't want to take risks and tried to restore all the leading actors.

Cynthia Rhodes was of course very happy to have a chance to participate in a theater movie, even if it was a small production. During the filming of "Flashdance", Ronald was very considerate to them in the crew and was a good director. She was overjoyed.

"Why did you choose me?" Cynthia, who participated in the routine audition and was finally selected to play the second female role, asked Ronald a question.

"You are the best dancer, and you have a childish temperament of a poor girl, as if a man treats you well, all other shortcomings can be forgiven." Ronald brought over the screenwriter Eleanor's evaluation of Cynthia.

"Oh..." Cynthia Rhodes covered her face. She did have problems in this regard, and always felt that she could not have a successful acting career. She was also a little afraid of inappropriate words and deeds towards male actors. Maybe she was really not suitable for Hollywood, or she would go back to Nashville to be a dance teacher, which would be more suitable for her personality.

"I found a very good choreographer Ortega, he and his assistant Miranda will choreograph for you, and you and the male lead Patrick Schweitzer will train intensively for a few weeks."

The schedule was very tight, and the main shooting work had to be completed before the leaves fell on the autumn location.

After getting the main role lineup at the speed of light, Ronald began to interview directors to see if there was any director who could replace him besides Adrian Lane.

"What do you think this movie will be like after it is made?" Ronald and screenwriter Eleanor asked a candidate found by CAA.

Long silence...

Ronald couldn't hear the answer, and couldn't help but raise his head from reading the script and look at the other party. Why didn't he speak?

A middle-aged man with a mustache, his face flushed, and he couldn't say a word.

"Emile, don't be nervous, I just want to ask about your understanding of the script. You can talk about any ideas you have."

Ronald saw the other party's red face and blue veins, and he didn't know that the other party was too nervous and was so stagnant that he couldn't speak.

This director named Emil Adolino was recommended by CAA. Nicita said on the phone that the other party had won the Oscar for Best Documentary, and the documentary he shot was about teaching children to dance.

With a budget of only 4.5 million, Ronald had given up hiring a famous director. This Emil had experience in shooting dance, his ability was recognized by the Oscars, and he was cheap enough. The only weakness is that he has never made a feature film that was released in theaters.

But it is better to meet in person than to hear about it. Ronald showed his original form in an interview, and he had no confidence at all.

"Then can you talk about it? What do you think of the character?" Screenwriter Eleanor is also a good person. Seeing that the other party was so nervous, she also wanted to help him out.

"I..." The shy director uttered a word, and then was so nervous that he couldn't speak.

"Ah..." Ronald sighed lightly. No matter how capable this person is, he can't be used. How can he guide actors on the set when he is so easily nervous? It seems that he should do it himself. It's a little hard, and the work of the other crews depends on the phone to understand the situation.

"Ronald, can you give me a chance? I... I'm not so nervous usually."

Seeing Ronald close the notebook and leave. Emil suddenly spoke as if his veins were opened.

Ronald opened his notebook again, "Please go ahead."

"Because I have made public...my...certain orientation, I can't get any work in Hollywood...I can only shoot TV films of the New York City Ballet's...live performances. This is the first theatrical film job I have received in three years..."

Emile stuttered as he told his story again.

When Ronald heard the name of the New York City Symphony Orchestra, many memories were brought back.

He looked at Emil and said, "I know that your dance circle is more tolerant of these things, but you'd better not publicly express your orientation in the crew, and don't cause trouble. If you want a job, just be my assistant director. If you can accept it, let the agent find me to sign a contract."

"I can, I can sign a contract now." Emil, who had been out of work for a long time, heard that Ronald was willing to hire him, regardless of the fact that the position was not a director but an assistant director, and he agreed immediately. After all, it was an opportunity to return to Hollywood.

"I was scared by you just now. I thought you were going to hire him as a director. I don't want to hand my script to this person who is nervous even in an interview." After Emil left, the screenwriter Eleanor patted Ronald on the chest, expressing a fear.

"I didn't expect him to be so nervous. They are all people who have won the Oscar for Best Documentary. I don't want to joke with my investment. But my agent said that the ballet TV film he shot is very good and he is good at shooting dance scenes, so I also want him to help me."

"Oh, that's okay."

The last main crew member is the director of photography. Through CAA, Ronald found Jeff Zu, a photographer who had shot many low-budget movies and TV series.

He had seen the film clips shot by Jeff Zu, who was good at dark-toned photography. It can be seen that he learned the shooting methods of Francis Coppola, and many of the images have Coppola's characteristics.

Ronald felt a bit like returning to the situation when he shot his first movie, and he found professionals who were good and cheap. The only difference was that this time he paid for it with real money from his own pocket.

"Great, you can go to Virginia now, work with the art director, and start designing shots. He will tell you the tone and temperament needed for the movie."

Ronald signed Jeff Zu, sent him to the location, and issued a check to prepay his travel expenses.

The money was spent faster than expected, so Ronald went to Philadelphia to make up for it.

"Swimming" was about to start shooting, and he went to fulfill his obligations as a producer.

"Cheese!"

At the brief opening ceremony, Ronald took a photo with all the crew members on the ground floor of Wanamaker Department Store in Philadelphia, and then watched them start shooting the first scene in the department store.

Director Michael Gottlieb began to ask the lighting technician to start lighting.

Ronald happened to chat with Kim Cattrall for a while.

Cattrall spent half a day modeling for Dai Young and half a day working out with a fitness trainer in the past few weeks.

She lost a lot of fat, and her whole person showed a model-like temperament. Regular exercise seemed to make her skin better.

"A model made of six wood, in various poses." Kim Cattrall glanced at Ronald.

"Not bad," Ronald pretended not to understand Cattrall's hint, and was still assured of the professionalism of the crew.

Wanamaker Department Store in Philadelphia was contacted by Wilson Goode, the first black mayor of Philadelphia. As the first black mayor who won the election in a big city in 1984, he had great ambitions.

Goode wanted to use this film to attract more Hollywood crews to come to Philadelphia to shoot movies, to make up for the large number of closures and unemployment caused by the impact of Japan on traditional manufacturing industries.

This Wanamaker Department Store is one of the oldest department stores in America. Its architectural style is very similar to those old houses in New York, with high ceilings and narrow corridors. Compared with the newly built shopping centers that integrate shopping and entertainment, its concept is outdated. For example, there is no movie theater in the mall.

Two hours later, the lighting of the first shot was ready. Ronald was relieved to see that director Michael Gottlieb was very strict and in place.

Although 20th Century Fox has chaotic management, it would be difficult to explain if it became a joke.

"A!" The director called for the start of the camera.

Today's filming is about the young man played by Andrew McCarthy who can't do anything and finally finds a job in the department store to decorate the street window.

He found the model in the window, which was the wooden model he carefully built. He was very happy to spend the night shift with his favorite model.

Kim Carrotel plays an ancient Egyptian beauty who possesses the model and becomes a real person at night, talking to the handsome guy.

The director of photography of the crew gave Ronald a new toy. This is a device designed and manufactured by Arri, which can separate a part of the light from behind the camera lens and connect it to another monitor through the lens group.

In this way, the director can see a blurry black and white picture, and does not have to rely entirely on the judgment of the director of photography to decide whether to reshoot.

This monitor is next to the camera. Ronald put on a baseball cap and put his eyes close to the viewfinder. He only saw a very flickering picture, and the face of the person was either white or black.

This monitor can only transfer a small part of the light, so the tolerance is very poor. Ronald can't see Cattrall's facial expression clearly at all. He can only roughly see the effect through their body movements.

For example, whether the actors have walked to the right place, whether the performance is completed within the viewfinder, and whether the composition conforms to the pre-designed design, just a rough look.

"Hmm?"

Ronald looked at it for a while. Although he could only see the body movements, he already felt something was wrong. He let go of the monitor and looked directly at the two protagonists of the show with his naked eyes.

The more he looked, the more something was wrong, and he almost helped the director to stop it.

What the hell is this director doing?

I don’t know what Michael Gottlieb told the actors. The whole performance was very exaggerated, like the kind of Shakespeare play that high school students rehearse. It's like acting at first glance, rather than the acting method that ordinary movies require of actors, try to be as close to life as possible.

"Cut!" Michael Gottlieb also stopped. It seemed that he also discovered something was wrong...

Ronald nodded, this director is still reliable.

"Your acting is not exaggerated enough. You need to exaggerate a little more. Don't be afraid of going too far. Just be afraid that you are not enough."

"no……"

Ronald frowned. What kind of thing would be captured in this way?

He opened his mouth, but held back, not letting the questioning voice slip out of his throat. The director's authority cannot be denied on the set, otherwise he will not be able to get the actors to cooperate on the set in the future.

Even though he knew that the filming was terrible and the new one ended, Ronald had to pretend to be good and applaud with everyone.

"Very good, I want this exaggerated effect, Jin. The next performance will be more exaggerated."

Kim Cattrall agreed, and silently rolled her eyes at Ronald as she walked over.

"What did you think about it? Why do you pursue this kind of exaggerated performance effect?" Ronald found a break and chatted alone with Michael Gottlieb in the trailer.

The other person was older than him, so Ronald tried his best to use a tone of discussion and consultation so as not to hurt the other person's self-esteem.

"You must think I'm fooling around, right?" Michael Gottlieb explained with a smile.

"This script is originally a weird story. Even teenagers, who would still believe in a story like a child about a wooden model turning into a real person at night?

This requires a method, which is to act like a comic, like "The Wizard of Oz". If young audiences accept this exaggerated acting method, they will not feel that the plot is bluffing, and start to really get involved in the plot. "

"It seems that you have your own considerations." Ronald nodded. As long as the other party is not blindly guiding, he just doesn't know whether the effect will be as he thought.

Watching the on-site filming, he always felt like watching Minahan Golan filming "Sahara". Not all live-action movies made in a comic style will be accepted by the audience.

"However, if you direct like this, the film critics will scold you." Ronald didn't know how the audience would react. Film critics would definitely say bad things. This kind of performance is suitable for cartoons rather than live-action movies.

"I can't control so much, as long as there is a box office." Michael Gottlieb is very clear-headed, and getting the box office first is the first priority.

"The director has his own ideas. You should cooperate with his guidance." In the hotel room, Ronald could not help but explain to Kim Cattrall, asking her not to blame herself just because the filming was not conventional. Acting without trying hard.

Cattrall has gotten better and better through exercise. He has a thirty-year-old body with no fat on his waist and abdomen.

"I will cherish the opportunity." Kim Cattrall made up her mind, no matter what, first grab all the close-ups.

"Do you think he is really sure, or is he just random?" Ronald asked.

"I don't know, but what Michael Gottlieb says is consistent every time." Cattrall assumed a yoga pose, wrapped his arms tightly around Ronald, and kissed Ronald.

"Okay..." Ronald stroked Cattrall's playful blond hair again and motioned for her to turn her back.

"Nisita will keep an eye on me here for a few more days. If you have any problems, just tell him. He is experienced and knows how to deal with it. Director Michael Gottlieb is not my person. Even if you have any problems, you can Don't confront him.

"Michael Gottlieb has his own idea, but it's different from the usual teen romantic comedy approach. Why don't you go to Philadelphia and see for yourself." Ronald returned to Los Angeles and met with Fox's executive producers Joseph Farrow talked with him about his work inspecting the Philadelphia crew.

As the nominal producer of the movie, I have the responsibility to ensure that the movie is on time and within budget. Ronald left his most capable person, Niceta, there for a while, plus what he saw with his own eyes.

Gottlieb did a good job in this regard. He is also a director who pays close attention to artistic details. He has a good balance between schedule, performance, budget, etc.

In terms of overall artistic grasp, Ronald is not a real producer like Spielberg after all, and has the final responsibility for art and box office. In addition, Gottlieb is Joseph Farrow's man, so he can only do remind.

In fact, Joseph Farrow didn't want to be responsible either. To him, this project is more like a tool to compete for power and distribute wealth.

"Relax, is it professional? Is it on schedule? Is the cost overrun? If these three answers are good, then there is no need for us to intervene. In the current movie market, not every movie is as super as Top Gun. A blockbuster.

Come, have a drink. Has the box office of Top Gun exceeded 100 million? "Joseph Farrow poured Ronald a glass of whiskey and the two drank.

"In fact, it is close to 120 million, and the thirteenth week is not over yet."

"It looks like this one will be put on hold until next year."

"I hope so." Ronald also wanted his movie to be like Spielberg's "ET Aliens", which was screened from 1986 to 1987 and still hung at the box office.

"Have another drink, don't worry, Gottlieb has his considerations."

"Maybe I'm overthinking it, cheers."

Ronald drank the twelve-year-old good wine. "Arrogant" means that no one is responsible for the quality of the movie. If it can be a good box office, you need to be very lucky.

"I have studied all your movies, and I found a common point, that is, there is a best-selling song on the charts. This year, the interludes of your two movies have ranked first on the charts. So I have to learn from it, and this time I found a band and tailored a theme song for them."

Joseph Farrow took out a photo of a band and handed it to Ronald.

"Isn't this it?" Ronald has seen this band.

"Yes, Starship. Their lead singer, Grace Slick, a 47-year-old woman, is about to leave the band, and the price is cheap."

"Uh, is this really okay?" Ronald thought.

A youth romantic love film, let a female singer who is nearly 50 years old sing?

With the chaos in Fox, it seems that no one takes this project seriously.

Ronald felt that he had done his best. If the executives of the studio were all so greedy, what else could he do?

So what? Take the check paid after the project started, and subsidize the depletion of the living expenses checking account due to the lack of dividends from the sale of stocks.

Let's get busy with my own project.

－－－－－－－Digression－－－－－－－

Today is two-in-one, there is no second chapter.