Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Ding dong..."

"Ronald, it's nice to see you, please come in." The person who opened the door for Ronald was Cher's little boyfriend who made bagels.

"Hello...uh..." Ronald was speechless for a moment. He forgot the name of this Italian pastry chef who was 18 years younger than Cher.

"Rob Camiletti", the other person was still a little unhappy, "please come in."

Ronald didn't quite remember the Italian surname. He followed the other person into the small apartment. "Where's Xue'er?"

"She's on the phone with her agent." Rob motioned for Ronald to sit on the sofa in the living room, and then went into the room to call Cher.

Since Cher received the salary for "Moonlight", she also paid off the hotel room fee, and then found a "small apartment" to rent in New York. Of course, although the apartment is very shabby compared to Cher's status in the music industry, it is still very large and in a better location than ordinary people's residences.

"Ronald, Ronnie, I'm so happy to see you. How is the box office of Dirty Dancing? I bought your movie soundtrack album, which gave me some inspiration."

Cher came out of the next room and hugged Ronald. She was still wearing a weird see-through outfit. Ronald saw several pairs of men's shoes in the shoe cabinet at the door.

"This boyfriend moved in so quickly?" Ronald secretly wondered if Xueer was here for real this time?

Sitting in Xue'er's warm apartment, Ronald explained the reason for his visit.

Because it involves her personal feud with David Letterman, Cher’s opinion must be sought in person for this hype.

David Letterman arranged two scenarios. The first one is to put the main hype on the personal grudge between himself and Cher. In fact, the two people only had a verbal conflict last time, and there was no substantive conflict. This time the two of them appear on the show, whether they continue the feeling of conflict from last time or get back together, it is a very good choice.

The second plan involves the grudge between the two people and just treats the matter as if it never happened. Instead, she invited Cher's ex-husband, Sonny Bono, to appear on the show with her.

The two have never performed on the same stage since their breakup. Many American viewers still miss the song "I Got You Babe" that the ex-couple used to sing every time they hosted a show.

"David Letterman promised that in addition to the normal appearance fee, you can pull up your band and sing a complete song from your new album at the opening of the show. It is equivalent to a free promotion of the new album."

Ronald finished explaining the plan and then put forward the conditions.

"Then what does this bastard get?" Cher was obviously tempted. The sales of her new album were sluggish, and the opportunity to sing live on Letterman's show was of great commercial value.

"He has you as a star on the show and all kinds of gimmicks, which can obviously increase the ratings."

Ronald smiled and said, "This is a win-win opportunity. If I were you, I would definitely agree. The only question is which option to choose."

"As for me, I got my movie heroine, in front of a national audience, as a publicity stunt inviting everyone to go see the movie. You're going to say yes, right?"

Xueer listened and said nothing, looked at her boyfriend Rob, and then looked at Ronald, smiling and saying nothing.

"Rob?" Ronald looked at the Italian man making bagels.

"Why don't we choose the first option? Cher's every move now is followed by paparazzi reporters. If she and Sonny appear on a show, there will be a lot of reports." Rob Camiletti suggested Choose the first option.

"Good sign." Ronald relaxed a little. It was obvious that Rob wanted Cher to be exposed on the show.

But when I came here, I originally wanted to persuade Xueer to accept the second plan to reunite with her ex-husband again. The stunt of the two of them teaming up again on TV is obviously more popular than the late-night host David Letterman being scolded.

"The people of America still want to see you and Sonny reunited, Cher. Sonny Bono has been invited by David Letterman. He said that as long as you nod, Sonny is not a problem. He needs this kind of exposure now.

As for the scale of the conversation, topics, and what not to say, Letterman can all follow your ideas. "

"But the paparazzi never let go of Cher now. If you hype up her and Sonny's affairs again, I think there will be a lot of messy gossip news in the media. This will be a very bad harm to Cher. "

Boyfriend Rob Camiletti continues to give his opinion.

Ronald leaned back and smiled, not believing it.

He picked up the water glass on the table and took a sip. Cher is a model of a maverick woman. She can live with a boyfriend who is 18 years your junior, an ordinary bagel baker, and what happened to being on a show with her ex-husband?

Still hurt? Don’t you know who is hurting whom? David Letterman was so scolded by him that he blushed. With this kind of offensive power in the media, in all of America, it is estimated that only that female comedian who speaks without thinking, Joan Rivers, can compete with her.

"Rob, go and help me see if the reservations for the restaurant we are going to tonight are confirmed."

Xueer also smiled. She sent her little boyfriend away first, and then spoke to Ronald.

"Ronnie, you've seen it too. I enjoy this relationship. Before, I met some celebrities. Tom (Cruise), Val (Kilmer), David (Geffen). Only when Rob met me, he was just an ordinary restaurant waiter.

He knew I was a celebrity, but he still left me his phone number, hoping to date me. I also gave him my phone number, and he made me feel very comfortable. That's why I let him live in my house.

He is still young and doesn't know how to face the media and the malice of the outside world. Now he has some psychological defense reflexes.

The media gave him a nickname, called Bagel Boy, and his name was not even in the reports."

"Are you serious?" Ronald saw Cher defending and paying attention to her boyfriend's fragile psychology, and found that Cher seemed to be really serious about this relationship.

"I'm serious about every relationship. I think it's better not to bring my ex-husband Sonny into this, otherwise the media will bring up the past between us, and when Rob is mentioned, some people will just call him Bagel Boy.

We are both in the entertainment industry and understand that this is not about personal grudges. But Rob doesn't understand this, and I don't want to embarrass him too much..."

"Our seats have been booked, no problem." The boyfriend made a phone call and came back soon.

"Rob," Cher took his hand very considerately, and the two of them pressed their palms together tightly, "Ronald agreed to use the first option."

"Smart choice..."

Rob Camiletti still had a boy's expression of protecting his girlfriend. Although it was silly, Ronald inexplicably felt that it was a bit warm. Forget it, it was Cher's own choice anyway.

"Okay, I'll let Letterman's team arrange it. I have something to go back to Los Angeles, so let's do it this way for now."

"Ronald!" Rob Camiletti jumped up from the sofa...

"Huh?" Ronald looked back and looked into his eyes, his eyes shining. I don't know you that well, so why are you calling me by my name?

"Mr. Lee. Sir," Rob's momentum immediately subsided, "I am also an actor, making bagels is just my side job, I want to know, do you have a role that suits me?"

"Send your resume and audition photos to my company. They will take care of it." Ronald and Cher hugged and said goodbye.

...

"Robertson, the candidate of the Elephant Party who proposed to run for election, was accused of fraud. Several veterans of the same combat unit of the 1st Marine Division, who he claimed to be from, stood up and accused Robertson of never having been on the battlefield, and never really facing the fire and charge of the opponent.

Robertson's real task was to prepare drinks and snacks for the superiors every day in the office in the rear..."

At the Los Angeles airport, Ronald, who had just returned, was watching the live broadcast in the business jet lounge.

Roger Ailes's arrangement finally worked. Barbara quickly found Robertson's comrades-in-arms through the CIA. Their testimonies contradicted Robertson's claims.

"The current vice president has officially announced that he will run for the next president. He announced it to reporters in DC today.

The vice president announced that he will continue the current president's economic, diplomatic and military policies. But in domestic affairs, he will be more gentle to the people..."

Ronald smiled. This carefully chosen time made the vice president seem to be the only natural candidate for the Elephant Party.

Among the applauding crowd behind him, Ronald also found Schwarzenegger and his wife from the Kennedy family. This is a formal appearance to support the Elephant Party.

"How can a person go so far? How did he become what he is now?"

Behind the news is the campaign advertisement tailored by Ronald for George Sr.

On the screen, George Sr. and Barbara, under the gaze of the Supreme Court, held the Bible in their hands and began to swear to become the vice president of the United States of America.

"Maybe it should start from more than 40 years ago when George became the youngest fighter pilot in the Navy..."

The screen starts from the oath and turns into a black and white photo of George Sr. in the cockpit of a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier.

"Or maybe it started on this day in 1944 when George was awarded the Medal of Distinguished Flying for his heroic actions in the battle with the Japanese Navy."

The screen changed to the scene of George Sr. being rescued from the sea, and then superimposed back to the scene of George and his wife taking the oath.

"Anyway, he started a business, brought his family to Texas and started a successful business, then ran for Congress and continued to serve the American public. Then he was the ambassador to the United Nations, then the ambassador to China, and then the director of the CIA.

The more you know about George Sr., the more you will find that in this century, no one is more suitable and more prepared to serve as the president than George Sr...."

"Well done, well done." Ronald looked at the campaign advertisement shot by Emil Adolino and was very satisfied.

This documentary-style storytelling, without any special effects or tricks, just shows George Sr.'s resume in a very ordinary way. It is perfect for Emil to shoot this style of advertisement.

"Ronald, you're finally back."

Ronald turned around and saw Joel Silver who came to pick him up.

"Has Schwarzenegger's agent contacted you? He has officially rejected us." Ronald pointed at the TV and said to Joel Silver. The action movie actor they favored would rather make a comedy than continue to make action movies.

"Let's go with Bruce Willis. I've been talking to the new boss of Fox for a long time. We have to give Willis an unprecedented high price, so that he will agree to take care of both ends."

"How much can you give? We definitely can't afford Stallone's tens of millions."

"Five million is promising. The new president of Fox also came from the TV station. He is very interested in inviting a TV star to star in the movie. Let's talk while walking."

Joel Silver hurriedly pulled Ronald into the limousine.

Ronald was in the back seat of the car, reading Silver's plan, and then raised his eyes to look at him.

The other party nodded, and the two understood.

This set of small tricks in the budget are very familiar to both of them. Joel Silver is very good at this trick of inflating costs. If the salary of the male lead is raised to 5 million, then some other expenses will not seem too high to match his price.

Ronald doesn't care about this kind of thing. A larger budget will give the movie more room to maneuver. This script has great potential. If it can be a big hit at the box office, this little money is actually nothing.

"What's the problem now?" Ronald heard that he was about to go to 20th Century Fox to meet Leonard Goldberg, the president.

"Mr. Goldberg likes to see TV stars succeed in the film industry. His philosophy is to make TV stations and film production companies into an integrated media group.

In this way, the resources on both sides can be interconnected. Michael J. Fox's "Back to the Future" made everyone see that comedy stars can cross over to TV and movies and succeed.

What we need now is to allow action stars to cross over."

Ronald understood Leonard Goldberg's strategy. When he was in New York, he talked to Bannon about it. Wall Street's valuation of a company depends largely on how you can tell a story to make investors feel that you can really do:

A integrate resources

B reduce costs

Or you can do both AB. Only in this way will the stock be sought after. The value of the president and CEO, to a large extent, lies in the communication with the investment community. The story you tell must be so big that they can believe it.

If they don't believe you, then the valuation of listed companies will be underestimated, and their lives will be difficult.

For example, Kerkorian almost fooled Ronald. Since losing Ronald as president, the prospects of World Media Distribution Group in the Chinese market have begun to dim.

No one can make the capital market believe that Hollywood in America can enter the film market there and occupy a certain share.

There are Hollywood stars who are friendly with the other side of the Pacific Ocean, such as Gregory Peck, who is friendly with China, and the famous Italian left-wing director Bertolucci. But they are all left-wing stars and don't have much commercial appeal.

The only commercial film producer who can have a good relationship with China and can show his film in China. Ronald is the only one who can take care of both. He can select movies that the people there like to watch and gain official friendship.

The two bonds issued by Kerkorian on Wall Street were both coldly received by banks. The first bond only raised $95 million, and the other financing made by World Media Distribution Company, a joint venture of the three major studios, is estimated to be less than 50 million.

Therefore, the same goes for Leonard Goldberg of 20th Century Fox. As long as they can convince him that Bruce Willis' casting can convince Wall Street that they can make TV stars act in movies and sell well, paying a mere 5 million in salary is very cheap.

"We have to convince Leonard Goldberg only one thing, that is, he is very suitable for the script of this movie, and can make Fox make money more than any other action star."

Joel Silver explained to Ronald that Ronald, a busy man, is too busy now, so he wants to catch him directly at the airport. After all, his credit with Fox's Goldberg is not as good as that of this commercial film master who has never failed.

The same words, spoken by Ronald, are much more important than his own.

...

"I need a reason, Ronald." Leonard Goldberg sat in the office. He worked overtime and stayed to see Ronald.

"You know, before the Menahan and Golan brothers went crazy, the highest salary for male stars in Hollywood was only $5 million. Now you are targeting Bruce Willis, but the box office of his first movie was just average.

You want to pay him the same as Dustin Hoffman or Harrison Ford, so why don't I go find these two actors?"

"He is an ordinary person." Ronald thought about it and answered.

"Ordinary person?" Leonard Goldberg didn't quite understand.

"Yes, only Bruce Willis can play this NYPD John McClane, we will believe that he is an ordinary person.

Whether you find Schwarzenegger or Stallone, as soon as they appear, the audience will feel that this is the protagonist of the movie, the superhero, and he will definitely beat the enemies in the movie like Rambo or the Terminator.

And the audience's impression of Willis is still the funny detective in the Blue Moonlight. We can accept that he plays an ordinary person.

The key to the success of this script is that an ordinary person becomes a hero under certain conditions. By the way, he also solved the problem that he and his wife were about to divorce because they lived in two places. The audience will resonate greatly.

After all, those things like going to Vietnam to fight, or flying planes and dogfighting with Alliance pilots, are too far away from our lives, and they are larger than life roles.

As for this movie, the key to its box office is to make the audience feel that the positive characters in the movie are as big and imperfect as they are. There were worries and difficulties, but in the end, he gritted his teeth and faced the hardships in life, and finally defeated him.

In a sense, this is an American dream. This is consistent with the image of the traditional Hollywood small-town hero, except that the cowboys in the past have now become the middle class in the big cities. "

Ronald became more and more fluent as he spoke. America is now very urbanized, and the mainstream audience is already people who grew up in the city. These people also need civilian heroes like them who come out of big cities.

Small-town heroes like Jimmy Stewart represented the American mainstream at the time.

"What you say makes sense, but how can you prove that Bruce Willis can do everything you say? After all, he is just a TV star."

Leonard Goldberg was touched by what Ronald said passionately. Indeed, only emerging directors like Ronald can grasp the current audience mentality. Those old people who rely on their past experiences cannot come up with such insights. Let alone filming it.

"It's simple, Mr. Goldberg." Ronald took out a document from his briefcase and handed it over.

"This is a sample survey of Bruce Willis's audience's attitude towards the movies he starred in. The score is very high."

"We all understand what this investigation is about," Leonard Goldberg said unmoved. He has seen many of these tricks on TV. In order to obtain higher salaries for the stars, agents will investigate and find out any results.

"This is done by Cea Sre. There is only one question in their investigation. If Willis stars in an action movie, would you like to watch it?" Ronald still handed the document forward. He was asking Cea Sre to do it for Cher. During the investigation, I also made a copy for Bruce Willis.

"You are a very experienced expert. The quality of such a survey, even with spatial operations, will have little impact on the results. In the appendix below, there is their sampling method and sampling data."

"You convinced me." Goldberg put down his reading glasses. He was very satisfied with the survey. "As long as Willis agrees, I will approve this 5 million salary."

"Ronald, I think your persuasiveness seems to be stronger than before." Joel Silver looked at Ronald, as if he had gone to New York, and his whole person became more like a top-notch person. Lied... no, a top producer.

"That's because I watched the top liar... ah, the actor's performance." Ronald thought of Kerkorian who went to Wall Street to make money, and the old George who engaged in elections. Acting skills in life require that he be able to do it. You believe what you say more than your partner does.

"Okay, let's go meet Bruce Willis tomorrow."

…

"Ronnie", "Mr. Silver".

Similarly, the person who opened the door to Ronald and Joel Silver was not Bruce Willis himself, but his girlfriend, Demi Moore, who had recently moved into his home.

"Demi", Ronald was a little surprised, but he quickly adjusted.

The two hugged and said hello like friends.

"Bruce will be here soon. He stayed late last night on the set of Blue Moonlight."

"Demi, who's here?" A voice came from upstairs.

"Honey, it's Mr. Ronald and Joel Silver," Demi shouted upstairs.

"Oh, I almost forgot, just wait for me, I'll be there soon." Bruce Willis showed his head at the edge of the stairs and said hello to Ronald, and then he stuck his head out again, "Demi, I Where did you lose your pants last night?”

"Here we come." Demi gave Ronald a charming smile, as if to say, "Aren't you jealous? It turns out that I can give you all these benefits." Then she went upstairs to help her boyfriend clean up.

"What is that?" Silver looked at Ronald, and he also saw something abnormal in that smile.

"Demi also wants to play a role. She is a very ambitious actress." Ronald could only say this.

"oh……"

"Sorry, something happened to the crew last night and I stayed there very late."

After a while, Willis came downstairs while buttoning his shirt.

"It's okay, Bruce. We are here to tell you good news. Fox has agreed to give you a salary of 5 million." Joel Silver began to persuade him to agree to take care of both TV series and movies.

"I'd love to, but you're late. We had a meeting last night and the producer wanted me to play a larger role in this season of Blue Moonlight. I don't have time to act in movies."

"But this is a good opportunity for you to get into the movie. Five million US dollars is also the top salary for a Hollywood actor. If you miss this opportunity, the price of your future salary will be..." Joel Silver began to persuade.

"Believe me, no one wants to act more than me. But my contract with the TV station..."

"Can I ask what happened in the Blue Moonlight crew?" Ronald interrupted the confused Silver, patted his thigh, and signaled him to calm down first.

"Isn't it for love?" Bruce Willis glanced at Demi Moore, held her hand tightly, and kissed her.

"Huh?" Ronald didn't understand.

"The heroine Sybil Shepherd is pregnant recently. She and the chiropractor, Bruce Oppenheimer, seem to be in true love. So this season, she can't have too many scenes, and many of them have been transferred to my character."

Bruce Willis shrugged, and he also regretted this opportunity.

"For love?" Ronald grinned.

"Shepherd is already 37, this is her last chance." Demi Moore added on the side. She was also dissatisfied with Sybil Shepherd, who played the heroine in "Blue Moonlight". This woman always competes with Bruce Willis for roles, which makes Willis unable to take care of both sides.

What a trouble!

…

"What a hassle!" Joel Silver complained to Ronald in the car.

"No way, you can't condemn true love." Ronald also sighed, what kind of thing is this?

Cher and Shepard made a choice for love, but they actually suffered the most in terms of interests. Since they have no complaints and are willing to sacrifice their careers for love, others can't say anything.

America is a free society after all, and everyone has the right to make their own choices.

"Let's find other candidates. Oh!"

"Oh..." Ronald also sighed.

He turned on the car radio.

"Affected by the tax bill proposed by the House Ways and Means Committee this morning, the Dow Jones Index fell 95 points today, down 3.81% from yesterday. This is the first correction since the stock market has steadily grown by more than 60% this year.

Analysts believe that the main reason for this short and unexpected adjustment is that the House tax bill will reduce tax benefits related to financing mergers and leveraged buyouts. Another important reason is that the third-quarter international trade deficit data released today was not satisfactory.

The sharp appreciation of the yen did not reduce America's trade deficit with Japan as economists predicted.

"Hi..." Ronald turned the radio to a different station. Fortunately, he did not invest his money in the stock market.

"Do you love me? Do you love me?"

The soundtrack of Ronald's "Dirty Dancing" came from the music station. This record is printing money for himself every day.

"Hehehe..." Ronald laughed out loud.