Exploiting Hollywood 1980

These fans have ordinary jobs, and many of them are housewives, but they are willing to spend their limited pocket money to go to the cinema to watch "Dirty Dancing" over and over again.

Ronald and their leader Casey agreed not to rush to complete the feat of 100 clubs. "Dirty Dancing" will be shown for a long time, at least until the end of the year, and then it will be turned into a long-term show, and the ticket price will be cheaper at that time.

"In short, I don't want you to watch it just to break the record or to fulfill your wish. Let's make an agreement that every time you watch it, you want to see the story of Johnny and Baby in your heart, not for this record. If you can do it, I will come to congratulate you."

"Oh yeah!"

The people in the women's fan club cheered happily, "You must bring Patrick Schwitz when the time comes."

"Hahaha..." Ronald scratched his head, these fans are really cute.

"I want to do something for you, Cathy. I've never had this experience in my previous filming. No one told me that she would like a movie so much that she would watch dozens or even hundreds of them."

"Really? Can we make a request?" Several fans were so happy. It was not easy for the director to make such a promise.

"As long as it's not to let Schwitz dance with all of you..." Ronald remembered that after the movie was released, the male lead Schwitz was asked to dance with everyone in various places and to say that line. He had to half-jokingly ask these loyal fans to give up this request.

"No, no, that's not it." The head of the fan club, Kathy, said with a smile, "We watched the movie and we all liked the dancing in it. We also formed a dance club and danced in the classroom of the elementary school in town every week.

However, the soundtrack of the movie was sold out as soon as it came out. It is hard to find even in Nashville, the music city. We hope you can allocate a batch to us."

"Just this little thing?" Ronald was surprised that they didn't make more requests. "Well, our new album is being produced overtime day and night in the factory. When the first batch comes out, I will ask them to send you 50 copies first, and then add the posters of Patrick Schweitzer and Jennifer Grey."

Ronald snapped his fingers and called the employees of Daydream to finalize the matter.

...

After saying goodbye to these lovely southern girls, Ronald did not continue the southern fan meeting tour with Cynthia Rhodes, but flew back to Los Angeles.

"Here is the list of people who want to meet you," Niceta returned to Los Angeles in advance and handed Ronald a bunch of invitations. What Hollywood lacks most is money. Now it is clear that Ronald will make a lot of money. He is the next person in the circle who can invest in and produce movies by himself. The stars all want to strengthen their relationship with him.

"Rick, please help me screen which people I need to meet first, and then I will go to meet them." Ronald looked at the thick list and whistled.

"In fact, you don't have to meet them. It's their turn to meet you. Why don't you find a company for you and hold a few parties to entertain many people at one time. If you are interested, you can chat for a few minutes. If you are not interested, just perfunctorily. With your current status, you can learn from Spielberg's style."

Rick Nicita looked at Ronald and knew that he had not yet transformed from a famous director to a powerful film company boss.

"Oh yeah? Can I?" Ronald let out a breath and threw the list on the table, "Then please help me choose."

"Of course," Nicita smiled and put away the list, "David has something to find you, and he has squeezed a lot of scripts there."

Nicita was the first to talk to Ronald about something, and he nodded to David Simkins behind him.

"Ronald, these are the scripts we received recently." Script assistant David Simkins had five large iron boxes brought in, all filled with scripts. "Dirty Dancing" was shot at a low cost, and it was also an independently released film by Ronald's Daydream Films.

This gave endless hope to those who wanted to make their own scripts into movies. So scripts are now rapidly gathering towards Daydream, with a scale and speed ten times the original.

Ronald opened the iron box and took two of them at random. The covers were obviously dusty and had been turned over and curled.

"It's those old scripts again. Please help me choose them first, and I'll take the time to take a closer look." Ronald knew that every time he made a successful movie, a large number of unsuccessful screenwriters would send their "heart-wrenching" masterpieces to try their luck. I hope this director can recognize the goods.

There are good things in it, and I don't know why they were buried in the studio's warehouse and were not filmed. But most of them are garbage, rejected by multiple studios. The biggest possibility is that there are problems with the script itself, or it is not suitable for filming (some scenes are too expensive).

"Okay, boss."

"Our records can be sent to retail stores everywhere right away. After the RCA contract was signed, the first batch of goods produced used different covers. By the weekend, the problem of out-of-stock in various places can be solved. We will try to sell them for two weeks before MJ's new album 'Bad'."

Jimmy Rainer came third, and RCA advanced funds to produce the records to show its sincerity. As for the marketing link, the demand in various places was very strong, and as long as the records were shipped, they could be sold immediately. The effect of movies and records pulling each other was very obvious. RCA did not make more budget.

When the money comes back, RCA will split the money with Daydream.

"The repayment is still too slow." Ronald took out his checkbook and wrote a check for legal fees to Los Angeles barrister Mickey Kanter.

Daydream's funds have been spent on marketing, and now they are adding fan meetings and other activities in various places, and touring road shows in various states in America. On the other hand, Ronald is still talking to the lab about printing additional copies. Nowadays, multiplex theaters are optimistic about the box office potential of "Dirty Dancing" and hope to introduce more copies and play them on a loop.

The money Douglas Jr. invested in the later period was like a drop in the bucket, and it would dry up in less than a week.

Moreover, according to the share ratio between the two, Ronald would also have to invest millions of dollars, otherwise the two would have to sit down and have lawyers and accountants recalculate their share ratio.

There is only one way now, which is to use future box office revenue and record revenue to obtain mortgage loans from financial institutions, and then tide over the current depletion of cash.

Fortunately, the box office performance of "Dirty Dancing" is obvious to all, and the record is expected to achieve good sales next week, so it is not a big problem to borrow millions for emergency purposes.

Another person who came to chat with Ronald one-on-one was Steve Bannon, the producer of "Love Is Not For Sale".

"With my connections on Wall Street, I can earn at least this amount of interest." Bannon took the calculator on Ronald's desk and typed a number on it.

"If that's the case, I might as well go to the boss of the Screen Fund. You know, I have a good relationship with their directors.

Ronald pushed the calculator back.

"Okay, it can be as cheap as this amount, but you have to borrow at least 10 million." Bannon typed in another number.

"Ten million? Is my collateral worth such a high value?" Ronald looked at the interest, which was quite satisfactory. It was just a limit of 10 million. It seemed that the box office distribution contract and the record contract were not worth so much money.

"I personally vouch for you. I don't believe your movie is worth so much money. Since the release of Love Is Not For Sale, I have gone to the cinema to watch a movie every other day to observe the audience's emotions and reactions. Your 'Dirty Dancing' After it is released, I can responsibly say that your box office will be at least double that of my movie.”

Bannon shook his thick neck from side to side, his tie and shirt restraining him tightly. When he talked about his confidence in Ronald, he got a little excited and loosened his tie.

"What do you want?" Ronald was quite satisfied with the interest. Bannon took the initiative to help, so he had to see what the cost would be.

"Can you take me with you in your next movie?" Bannon threw aside the tie he was playing with and whispered to Ronald.

"I can't guarantee that you can participate in the movies I direct, but I will be open to your investment in the next movies I am interested in producing."

"It's a pleasure to deal with you." Bannon stretched out his thick hand and shook Ronald's hand. "Let the accountants and lawyers complete the rest of the contract work."

The last person to come in was Michelle Cannold, Daydream’s distribution director.

"Tonight, our box office will be over $10 million."

Cannold came up with the good news.

"Tonight? Are you sure? Today is the fifth day, right?" Ronald was a little surprised. He originally expected to hit the first 10 million box office by the weekend of the second week, but he didn't expect it to be possible several days in advance. ?

"Yes, the Deep South and the Midwest have seen an unexpected increase in box office. I've added a few more fan meeting stops in Alabama, Georgia and other states. Those small-town female audiences, really Love this movie very much.”

"Yeah, yeah..." Ronald stroked his beard. The biggest surprise of "Dirty Dancing" was that it gained a large number of die-hard audiences in the conservative Deep South.

"So our video tape production has to be accelerated." Michelle Cannold took the opportunity to push forward a video tape release plan.

"This?" Ronald looked at the summary. The plan inside was good, but the cost was also very expensive. He almost had to invest most of the loan he had just finalized with Bannon.

"We have to hurry up. In the second month of the release, pirates will take a fancy to the movie's box office and start trying to bribe the movie projectionists in the town.

Moreover, from the second to the third month, many small town cinemas began to rent copies to their peers, and loopholes began to appear in their management. Generally, movie piracy occurred during this period.

We must distribute a large number of video tapes to video rental stores before the risk of piracy. "

"Okay, let's do it." Ronald looked at the back and saw Cannold's estimated sales and rental income, and immediately signed the proposal to confirm it.

If you spend all your money on "Dirty Dancing" now, you may get back several times the return next year.

"However, can the production cost be reduced?" Ronald asked, pointing to the unit price of a single video tape. "I know some of the details of the 'Top Gun' video releases, and their cost seems to be lower than ours."

"That's different. Top Gun is sponsored by Pepsi, and they're $6 cheaper per set." Cannold pointed to the average cost figure and said to Ronald.

"Oh, I forgot about this." Ronald patted his head, "It would be great if we also had videos sponsored by companies with deep pockets like this. I would be willing to shoot commercials for them. But this is a rare thing."

Cannold was about to ask Ronald when he was given the answer, looking frustrated.

"Actually, we need a company that can give us a cheaper production cost, but..."

"Oh, how much cheaper can it be?" Ronald was interested. If the loan was spent on production, there would be no production budget for the new movie, and there was basically no savings in his personal account. It was always good to save a little.

"It's much cheaper, but they are a company in Hong Kong."

"What's wrong with Hong Kong?" Ronald asked.

"Piracy is rampant there."

"Oh," Ronald thought about it and decided to forget it. If the manufacturer insisted on piracy, the pirated videotapes might be launched together with the legitimate ones, or only lag behind for a short period of time, which would eat up the sales of the legitimate ones in large quantities, and it would be too late to regret.

"In fact, their production capacity is good, the quality is very consistent, and it's cheap." Manager Liu also brought a large number of videotapes they made. I think the colors are very accurate. If it's not pirated, it's very appropriate to give it to them.

Cannold asked his assistant to bring in a box of videotapes from outside. The covers were all written in Chinese. The one on the top was still starring Ronald's acquaintance Jackie, and the name was very strange Sparta X.

"Put it here, let me see it." Ronald knew that the other party was also tempted by such a low cost. If the sales were good, or if the European video tape market was opened, then the American market would have been taken up by then, so it didn't matter if there were more pirated copies in Asia.

The last to come in were Ronald's most trusted agent Richard and Niceta.

Niceta had already found a public relations company and booked a party time for Ronald. Richard took a bunch of important people's information and wanted to go through it with Ronald.

The working hours passed quickly. After Ronald and the two agents finished discussing, it was almost evening.

"Ah, ah, ah..." Ronald yawned and stretched, "These past few days have been hard. Shuttled between the east and west coasts, and the marketing roadshow is really tiring."

"Maybe, you should consider renting a private plane. It saves time compared to civil aviation, and you can rest on the plane."

Niceta closed the notebook and made a suggestion.

"Don't mention it. I'm in a cash crisis now. I've been spending money all year. If I don't see the money coming back, I won't be able to afford to fly first class."

"Uh..." Richard hesitated.

"What?" Ronald saw his little move.

"When you were short of money before, didn't you take advertising production? It can be filmed in one or two days. Now your reputation is still rising, and the price offered by manufacturers is increasing."

"Someone asked me to shoot an advertisement?" Ronald laughed, "That's a good thing. Which company is it?"

"P\u0026G..."

"Pass", Ronald interrupted immediately. During the filming of Dirty Dancing, Procter \u0026 Gamble withdrew the product placement of Cleary Anti-Acne Cream because of the abortion plot, which made Ronald very passive. This time it was obvious that the other party intended to extend an olive branch, but Ronald was not interested in reconciling with them.

At worst, he would save some money, or borrow a little more, or go back to New York to eat with his aunt, hehe. Ronald no longer wanted to compromise his own ideas.

"Okay, I'll see what I can do. Let's spread the word that you're willing to take the advertisement and see what the result is."

"Very good," Ronald rubbed his eyes. His work is always too much to do, but let's stop here today."

Taking a few boxes of videotapes sent by the Hong Kong company, Ronald picked a few of Jackie's movies to watch for entertainment.

...

"Spartan X" Ronald looked at the English title on the cover of the videotape,

What kind of movie is this? The name doesn't reveal much about the content.

Ronald put the videotape into the machine, and after a burst of blue and pink anti-piracy titles, the movie officially began.

"This anti-piracy technology is pretty good, better than the last time I saw it." Ronald felt that if they were doing piracy, their anti-piracy technology should also be first-class.

The opening scene was a shot of Jackie and one of his brothers getting up. Because the Italians were fighting and blocking the stairs, the two decided to take a shortcut.

Jackie flipped over from the balcony and jumped down, and stood on the ground.

"Oh, Shxt," Ronald stood up. How was this shot taken?

He quickly grabbed the remote control and rewound the tape.

"Hey, there seems to be no editing point." Ronald muttered, "Is this a real jump?"

He pressed the play button.

"Ah..."

The fruit shop owner put away the awning, and another actor named Yuen Biao followed him and jumped down from the second floor and sat on the ground.

"Is this also a real shot?" Ronald exclaimed.

Such a dangerous action of somersaulting directly from the second floor and sitting on the ground might cause injury or even disability.

"Is he willing to jump? No way, how can someone be so stupid? There must be some special method." Ronald watched the movie and found that it was full of such action scenes, which were very beautiful.

However, what impressed him most was the opening shot of the actor who flipped down from the second floor, was caught by the awning and bounced up, and flipped to the first floor.

Encountering such a technical problem, Ronald's director addiction was aroused again, and he wanted to know how this was shot.

After thinking for a long time, Ronald looked at his watch. It was morning there, so he decided to call.

…

"Brother Long, there is a ghost guy looking for you. He speaks English. He said he is calling from Los Angeles."

"Ghost? Who's calling me?" Jackie had already gotten up early and finished exercising. After taking a shower, she was getting ready to eat.

"Hello? This Jackie", Jackie asked word by word in his slightly accented English.

"Ronald, this is Ronald..."

"Sister Jiao, come and listen to me. This ghost guy talks so fast that I can't understand him."

"Hello", the beautiful woman called Jiaojie came over to answer the phone and was about to ask in English.

Ronald switched to Mandarin here, "I am a friend of Brother Long, my name is Ronald, Ronald Lee. If you say Ronaldinho is looking for him, he will know."

"Oh, Ronaldinho." Jackie picked up the phone, "How are you in Los Angeles? When will the new movie be released in Hong Kong? We are having a good time together."

"I'm here to ask you a question about film shooting..." Ronald said on the phone.

"Don't take it seriously, let's learn from each other." Jackie was very happy. She made an exaggerated face at Sister Jiao and whispered to her: "This ghost guy Ronaldinho said he wanted to ask me about a movie. He was the director of Top Gun last year. director, the one you watched.”

"I just watched your 1984 movie "Food Truck". How was the scene where you jumped from the second floor and got bounced by the awning taken?"

"How to shoot? Just shoot directly." Jackie stopped to play tricks with Sister Jiao and replied to Ronald on the phone. He felt it was a bit strange. This action was quite difficult. He did it five or six times before he found the feeling and took the smoothest one.

But how difficult would you say this lens is? That's not the case at all, just put the camera there and shoot. Not as difficult as the fencing shot at the back.

"Shoot it directly? Did you really jump down and take one shot to the end?"

"Every one of them is really dancing. All the scenes in my movies are real." Brother Long began to show off to Sister Jiao again.

"Then the actor at the back, Yuen Biao, did he really jump off the second line and fall to the ground?"

"Of course, we have other martial arts skills. You can jump from higher floors."

"Okay, I'm convinced." Ronald chatted with him for a while and hung up the phone, "These are really a group of people who don't want their lives."

"Gui Xiaoluo convinced me..." Jackie danced happily and somersaulted in front of Sister Jiao.

…

"Ronald, I received a reply early this morning. Coca-Cola wants to work with you. Just like the commercial you shot for Pepsi last year, you also shot a Diet Coke commercial for Coca-Cola, which they used for their main TV commercials.

Their bid was pretty good, a little higher than Pepsi.

In addition, if you are willing to shoot a 60-second commercial, they can also follow the cooperation method with Pepsi and insert advertisements in front of the "Dirty Dancing" video tape. They are also willing to subsidize you $6 per video tape. "

Early the next morning, agent Richard called Ronald to announce the good news.

"You know what? Richard, you made me happy today. I agreed, and you asked them to find someone to talk to?"