Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Bannon was overjoyed when he saw that Ronald was willing to release the film. There is no need for this small-budget movie of three million US dollars to be distributed by the seven major studios. As long as he can sell it back to his original price, he can use the success of this movie to form a new movie project.

With his connections in Hollywood, what he needs is nothing more than the success of a model project so that more people will believe in him and invest in him.

Bannon was determined to finalize the release of the film, and proposed on the spot that he wanted Ronald to go with him to the crew that had already started filming.

"Did you forget something?" Ronald smiled and crossed his fingers with his hands together.

Bannon smoothed his hair. The on-the-spot reaction he had experienced on Wall Street meant that although he didn't understand what Ronald was referring to, he still pretended to understand and asked:

"How do you want me to handle that?"

"How do you want to deal with it? My grievances with your partner Tom Mount are well known, and you want to use my publishing ability..."

"I have only raised two-thirds of the three million production cost. Mount will continue to invest another one million with his own money. If you..." Bannon heard that it turned out to be a personal grudge and immediately took advantage of it. Making money.

Ronald knew there were a lot of problems with the production costs and didn't want to be ripped off. Daydream only provides distribution capabilities. It just so happens that its "Dirty Dancing" cannot fill this year's summer schedule. Many theaters originally wanted to provide more choices.

However, this movie only has a production budget of 3 million, so it seems unlikely that any stars will star in it, and we have to find another way to distribute it.

So he relaxed his body, leaned back on his seat, and said indifferently: "You can only get a lollipop from me, Mr. Bannon. Either a publishing contract, or you continue to cooperate with Mount. ”

Bannon touched the stubble on his chin and began to make calculations.

Although Tom Mount has connections and vision in Hollywood, he is only a springboard for his own entry into the entertainment industry and his larger plans later.

Compared with his one million investment, the distribution channels promised by Ronald are more important.

With the issuance channel, he can go to Wall Street to raise funds. If this is not possible, he can still raise some money by pledging the issuance contract to the bank.

And Mount's so-called connections have rapidly depreciated in the five years since he left Universal. The last time he went to Japan to look for money, even the people there didn't give him much face. Even if he had to find a partner in the industry, Ronald, who was in full swing now, wouldn't it be better.

As long as you cooperate with him once, if there is a good project in the future, Ronald can guarantee the issuance or investment, and he will be endorsed by his old friends on Wall Street.

I heard that the young director was the matchmaker for the deputy commander's son's screen fund. If you do this yourself, you will save at least a few years of time.

Thinking of this, Bannon made up his mind.

“I have the production rights for Boy Rent Girl. As long as I return his investment and I use some tricks, I can let him go easily.

Mount has been on the set recently, taking classes with the main creators. He said he wanted to teach them some Hollywood filming methods, but I think he is just talking nonsense. As long as we reach an agreement, I can immediately stop him from talking about embarrassing things. if. "

"I'll let the lawyer and my general manager Eddie talk to you, and we can start drafting a cooperation agreement." Ronald also wanted to see how the aloof Mount, who could decide his own destiny back then, now decides his own destiny. What an expression.

Both parties actually have a consensus on the movie. It is a small-budget movie that can fill the gap, so all the terms were negotiated smoothly.

The next day, Bannon drove Ronald himself to where the crew was rehearsing and ended their partnership with Tom Mount in person.

Bannon is very good at doing things. He knows that this deal also includes the content of kicking Mount away in person and letting Ronald vent his anger. So I got everything ready, just waiting for Ronald to happily collect the interest for so many years of being frustrated.

When he arrived at the set, Ronald met director Steve Rush under the introduction of Bannon.

Rush, like Ronald, has filmed a lot of V music videos. This is his first opportunity to direct a theatrical film.

The director of photography surprised Ronald even more. It was Ronald's partner when he first became a director, the "fast-paced" director of photography Matthew Leonetti.

Ronald was happy to see his old friends and chatted with them.

Matthew is still filming some TV movies and small-budget theatrical movies. Since becoming famous for his fast pace, he has continued to work and is more respected than when he was just a fledgling.

"Let me show you our new toy, Ronald. It would have made fast-paced filming so much easier if we had had this back then."

Matthew saw that Ronald was still the same, without any pretensions, and chatting with him about technical details, just like before. He also put down his thoughts and chatted with Ronald, who already liked new technologies, about the new recordings he had obtained. equipment.

"This is a new recorder that complies with Dolby Laboratories specifications. It is very useful for playing background music at the scene. It can be directly mixed with the film shot and mixed into Dolby-standard stereo sound on the post-mixing equipment. We were recording for the scene at the time. It took a lot of thinking about the noise issue. ”

Ronald took a look and saw a Japanese brand on it. This brand of tape recorder can be connected directly to the tape recorder and no longer needs to be recorded by the on-site microphone, which can save a lot of time in the post-production period of shooting.

Moreover, like other Japanese consumer electronics, this recorder is small and can be clamped on the camera, which is very useful for special occasions.

Ronald was attracted by the new technology and began to play with a professional tape recorder. Japan’s miniaturization technology is unparalleled in the world, and the various buttons feel very good, and it feels like they can maintain the feel of a new machine even if they are pressed tens of thousands of times.

"Click, click", Ronald was having a great time.

Seeing this, Bannon nodded to him and almost went to find Tom Mount.

Seeing this, Matthew simply asked Ronald to take the recorder in his hand and play with it. "This thing is very sensitive. I think some reporters in the White House also use this thing to record professional interviews."

Ronald said goodbye to Matthew, knowing that in one day he would be the distributor of the film.

Bannon asked the staff in advance, and Tom Mount was in a conference room at the back, driving everyone else away to use his own office.

He led the way. Having been on Wall Street for so many years, he already knew how to use his partners' braids to force them to agree to his demands.

Everyone knows that Tom Mount is lustful, and his connections in the industry rely heavily on his wife's family connections. As long as he does it properly, it is not difficult to get him out.

The key is that Bannon took a look at Ronald behind him and asked how to make Mount get out of the way so that the person behind him would be satisfied. This was the focus of this transaction.

Ronald was playing with this new toy along the way, and this time he just wanted to test the effect. If it was good, he could use it in his next movie.

A professional recorder has more than a dozen buttons. Ronald found the specially made orange recording button, pressed it and put it in his jacket pocket. Japanese product design is based on convenience, and human-computer interaction never disappoints.

The two of them arrived at the door of the conference room one after another.

There were no lights on inside, and there was only very weak light in the glass window on the door.

"No, Mr. Mount, I have to read the script with other actors."

A young woman's voice came from inside.

"Don't be ignorant of praise. Do you think that once you get the role, I don't have the right to fire you?"

Ronald frowned. It was Tom Mount's voice. Is this guy still so lustful after all these years? Want to cause trouble on set?

"Lie down obediently. Who do you think you are? A big star?"

Bannon looked back at Ronald. This was just the right time for Mount to take the opportunity to harass the actress, which was the best excuse. Moreover, he was caught red-handed by his enemy Ronald.

Ronald nodded to Bannon, and it fell into his hands.

The two of them were going up to open the door, one behind the other.

Suddenly, it seemed like Mount was starting to get tough. There was a thud, like the sound of a person's head hitting the table.

"Ah...ah...help..."

The actress didn't deliver it obediently as Mount expected. He also threatened to report sexual harassment to the Screen Actors Guild.

Humph, even if you don’t look at who is the senior executive of the Screen Actors Guild, it was him who contributed money to support the success of the campaign when he was at Universal.

"Let go...let me go..."

"Pah..." It seemed like the actress had been slapped again.

When Ronald heard something was wrong, he stepped forward and kicked him.

"boom!"

The door made a loud sound and bounced against the wall. Ronald kicked the door lock and broke it.

"ah……"

When Bannon, who came in behind, turned on the light and shook Mount into a trance, the actress who was pinned under him broke free from Mount's hands, slipped out from under him, and fled to Rona. Behind De and Bannon.

"Pfft..." Looking at Mount, who had taken off his trousers and only had a pair of shorts, Ronald sneered.

"Long time no see, Tom."

"You? Ronald." Mount quickly grabbed the pants that fell on the ground and lifted them up.

"Bannon, what's going on?"

"I'm here to inform you that you need to get out. It is illegal to force an actress anywhere. Besides, our heroine is not yet sixteen years old."

Bannon stepped forward and pushed Mount away, pointing his finger at Mount's nose and asking him to be more honest.

At this time, the heroine hiding behind Ronald, a girl named Amanda Peterson, covered her beaten face before she dared to poke her head out from behind.

"Hmph, are you going to kick me out? Are you getting together with Ronald, a bastard? What benefits can he give you? More investment than me, or better connections in the industry than me."

"Shut up. What kind of bullshit connections do you have? You can't get investment in America or Japan. Look at Ronald, the Screen Fund is all about his face. This movie has been in preparation for so long, and you can't even get a distributor." I can’t figure it out, whether it’s Universal or the Columbia you brag about..."

"Your coercion of a minor is a criminal case. We call the police." Ronald did not bother with them and directly asked Bannon to call the police.

Bannon and Mount both turned to look at Ronald. This kid was so vicious that he was going to beat Mount to death in one fell swoop.

Bannon reacted quickly, knowing that this was not the time to hesitate. He knew that there was a recording in Ronald's pocket and the evidence was strong. He immediately picked up the phone on the table and dialed 911.

"Hello, this is West Hollywood..., I have a 15-year-old female here, suspected of being attacked."

Bannon chose the reason for calling the police as violent attack, so there is still some room for maneuver. Whether Mount can escape the fate of being ruined depends on this young Amanda Peterson.

West Hollywood is a place with high property value, sufficient tax revenue, and sufficient PD manpower.

Soon, a West Hollywood detective came to the scene with two men.

After understanding the situation, he made a brief inquiry to Amanda Peterson on the spot, and then politely invited Tom Mount to get in the car and go back for investigation.

"I want to call my lawyer." Mount was still shouting. How could this unspoken rule that everyone in Hollywood abides by be so serious?

Ronald was very satisfied that Bannon quickly stood on his side. He turned around and understood the situation with Amanda Peterson, who was slapped and hit her head hard.

After a brief conversation, Ronald already knew that Amanda was from Colorado and had auditioned for the American film version of the musical "Annie" when she was a child. Unfortunately, she was not selected in the end and only played a supporting role.

Since then, she has entered the entertainment industry and has been auditioning in Hollywood, hoping to become famous overnight by playing a role. This time, the heroine is her third time to participate in such a low-budget movie.

She is familiar with the road, so her parents are not always with her. Unexpectedly, Tom Mount, who is the producer, is going to force it in the office.

Ronald heard that her parents were not there, so he called Paula Wagner, the wife of his agent Niceta, to come and deal with the problem for Amanda Peterson.

Because Paula is pregnant, she admires Amanda Peterson's rebellious spirit. She also found a lawyer, accompanied Amanda to the hospital for a check-up, and then went to the PD to explain the reason for the matter.

Ronald took Paula and handed her the tape. Let her deal with it according to the situation.

Because Mount was caught for the crime, things became simpler. Soon, Bannon terminated the cooperation with him on the grounds of suspected criminal offense.

Then he signed a cooperation agreement with Ronald's Daydream.

The three million shooting funds became two million again. The shooting was about to be postponed.

Ronald looked at the shooting budget and said to Bannon, who came over and wanted to make an effort to get Ronald to invest, "Look at this report. The cost of shooting in Los Angeles is very high. Especially the salary expenses of the actors. Did Mount ask you to shoot here?

Isn't this originally a story about Arizona? And the scene of the cemetery of the Navy and Air Force, why don't you go to Arizona to shoot? I have been to this cemetery for shooting v, and it is difficult to restore the scene."

"Mount said that shooting in Hollywood is very convenient for all kinds of group actors, and setting up scenes is much cheaper than shooting on the spot." Bannon asked in surprise.

Bannon, who has been working on Wall Street, has actually never participated in filming. He has always used Mount's words as a professional reference.

"Will Wall Street bankers be deceived by Hollywood producers?" Ronald picked up a red pencil with a smile and began to cross the budget column.

"That's all old news. Today's daylight film and lighter cameras are fully adaptable to real-life shooting. So it's cheaper to shoot on location. How can the scenery that takes so many planes be cheaper than shooting on location?"

Bannon's face turned red. Wall Street bankers were cheated. This is a manifestation of lack of professional ethics. They have always been the only ones who cheat others.

"And here," Ronald also crossed out the cost of the extras, which was as high as hundreds of thousands. "You go to Arizona to shoot. There is no union interference there. If your movie is not registered with the union, they can't even control whether you pay the extras."

Bannon became even more angry. Isn't it said that Hollywood has many extras, so it's cheap?

"If you don't believe it, you can go and look at the financial statements of large companies. The minimum wage of the actors' union has increased by about 7% each year in the past two years. More and more projects have been shot in Canada."

"I want to kill Mount, that bastard." Simply calculating the cost that Ronald crossed out with a red pencil, Bannon easily concluded that the two million US dollars of investment he found himself was more than enough to cope with the filming of the movie.

"Here you go," Ronald returned the shooting plan to Bannon, "You discuss the shooting plan with the director. Matthew, the director of photography, is my old friend. If you are unsure, you can go to him."

Ronald recognized Matthew's level. When he was shooting at a fast pace, he used a special lighting method to save himself a lot of shooting time.

This time he met his old friend again, and simply persuaded him to work for Daydream, at least Daydream's projects in the future, give priority. For those low-budget movies, Matthew's level is enough, and his character and price are trustworthy.

Bannon went to discuss a new shooting plan with director Rush. This time, he would not file with the actors' union and make a non-union project.

Ronald occupied the original Mount's office and began to arrange the work.

He is an insider and knows what is the necessary cost and what is nonsense to cheat the boss's money. He quickly got things in order.

It was almost noon, and Paula and Amanda's newly hired criminal lawyer came to the office together to tell Ronald the latest progress.

"Mount is finished. His wife knows about this and wants to divorce him. He has no place to hang out in Hollywood in the future."

Paula Wagner picked Ronald's favorite and said.

"Hehe... He deserved it." Ronald laughed happily.

"However, regarding the criminal case, I suggest Amanda Peterson to reconsider it. She said she wants to hear your opinion."

"How should I think about it?" Ronald asked, "Isn't this a public prosecution case?"

"Yes, but the other party's lawyer is very strong. Although Mount has no future in Hollywood, he is a rich man after all... Well, before he loses all his property to the divorce lawyer."

"Tell me about it," Ronald became happier and happier as he listened. Hollywood divorce lawyers are all vampires. After a few years of litigation, it is common for half of the property to fall into the lawyer's pocket instead of being distributed to the ex-wife.

"This kind of case has always been difficult to establish in Hollywood. The other party's lawyer will question Miss Peterson's character, and her various past events will be dug up by the other party's lawyer to attack her character. Considering that Miss Peterson is an actress, this is actually not very good for her future." The lawyer explained.

"Amanda is not yet sixteen, so this will not be a public trial."

"Of course, but the court may not be in the court. The other party is a senior executive in Hollywood, and they will definitely use the tabloids to spread the heat and slander Amanda as someone who seduced Mount for the role..."

"I still have the tape." Ronald remembered the tape he gave to Paula.

"Uh... It's not very clear because it's through my pocket. The lawyer has heard it. In fact, it's easy for the other party to raise doubts."

"Hmm..." Ronald immediately had an opinion about Japan's new toy. Why is it not clear?

"We still have to consider this matter from Miss Peterson's perspective. Mount is willing to file a civil settlement..."

"You can ask her what she means."

Ronald felt a little sorry that Mount could not be sent to prison. "But speaking of tabloids, it seems..."

"The former president of Universal is suspected of..."

"The Mounts filed for divorce, how much will the former vice president of Universal lose?"

"Many actors and models have come forward to accuse Tom Mount of his true face..."

Soon, the news that Mount joined PD was revealed by the news received by many newspapers. His name is on the public record, and the detective and his subordinates involved in the case also confirmed to the media that Mount was indeed suspected of being violent towards the actors.

His previous sexual exploitation of many actors, models, directors, etc. was also released.

"Ronald, several old guys called me and asked if you did Mount's thing." Agent Niceta took a pile of newspapers, put them on the table, and said to Ronald.

"I just happened to talk to Bannon about the film distribution. Who knew he was so blatantly violating the heroine."

"In fact, this kind of thing is not uncommon in Hollywood, but Mount is really too much. Amanda Peterson is not yet an adult. This is no longer the era of the 1950s when producers can do whatever they want and female stars have to sit on the red sofa to appear in the play."

"Yeah," Ronald thought to himself, everyone signed the contract through the agent, right? This Mount really lost the face of Hollywood producers. Can he still force it?

But he was not a capable person to begin with. He relied on his wife's father to be a senior executive of CA, the parent company of Bad Ball, and he was in a high position before he was 40.

"Forget about it, he deserves it. I have an agreement with Ovitz that you will basically withdraw from the Rain Man project, and he will compensate you with other resources. For Dirty Dancing, he will use his connections to get critics to speak well of you.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times and Sisko of the Chicago Tribune have already agreed that they will speak well of you in newspapers and TV shows. All you have to do is sponsor their Chicago Film Critics Association meeting next year.

The sponsorship quota is actually quite tight, and Ovitz specifically reserved one for you."

Ronald shook his head. These days, film critics are more arrogant than directors.

…

"What? What did you say? You want to cancel the distribution contract with Mount Pictures?"

Tom Mount was angry after receiving his wife's request for divorce. Columbia's distribution manager came to tell him that the distribution contract for three films signed between Mount Pictures and Columbia was also canceled because of his scandal.

"Yes, our cooperation has a moral clause. Your behavior will make the audience dislike the movies produced by your company. Who asked you to name your own film company after you?"

Tom Mount was hit hard and threw everything off the table.

"Wendy, Wendy, come and clean it up." Mount calmed down and pressed the intercom to let the secretary come in to clean it up.

"Mr. Mount, this is my resignation." Secretary Wendy cleaned up the things on the ground, then came in and handed a resignation letter to Mount.

Working for a suspected... suspect is not good for your future.

"You betrayed me too? Get out of here."

Mount felt that all his career was ruined by Ronald.

"Mr. Mount, your lawyer's fee should be paid." The criminal lawyer in charge of his case came in and handed him a receipt.

Looking at the huge lawyer's fee on it, Mount couldn't help it anymore and shouted.

"With so much money, why don't you rob it?"

"If you don't pay, I will ask a special lawyer to collect it." The criminal lawyer has seen many such clients. He straightened his clothes, picked up his briefcase and walked out.

"Get out, all of you." Mount threw the things the secretary had picked up to the ground again.

"Ronald, you bastard."