Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"I didn't tell David or Gene about this. This is Italian territory. You know their 'business' in Times Square. I thought Joan..."

"You mean Jean's mother Joan..."

"Someone told me that she was seen soliciting customers in the nearby neighborhood. At first, I didn't care about her. But then I got accurate information that her business scope was actually selling Coke. She even sold it to the extras and staff of the crew, so I banned her from entering the crew yesterday."

"Selling Coke?" Ronald raised the Coke in his hand.

"Not that Coke, but another Coke." Alan Parker pressed his nose with his fingers and made a gesture.

";the Fxck!" Ronald suddenly realized.

No wonder Joan was wandering around the crew and didn't watch her son rehearse, and no wonder the director wanted to drive her away. If she was selling goods here, there would be hundreds of children from middle-class families in the crew.

Ronald immediately turned around to find Jean.

"Gene, tell me the truth, is your mother Joan a dealer?"

"Yeah, she's very popular. Everyone in my neighborhood in Harlem knows her. Within two days of arriving here, she made contact with the Italians and allowed her to sell goods around Harlem High School. Anyway, Harlem High School was closed, and there was no one in this area, and there were no dealers occupying it."

Ronald covered his forehead. These black people in Harlem seemed to be very proud of talking about it.

But it's no wonder. Under the influence of hippie culture, many people in the entertainment industry don't shy away from this. For black people, making money is also something to boast about.

"I have to talk to your mother."

"Okay, I'll take you to find her."

In the corner of the dilapidated playground of Harlem High School, Ronald and Gene found Joan. She was looking around at the people passing by on the path ahead, looking for potential buyers.

Joan is a slender woman with explosive curly hair and a sense of power. It can be seen that she was trained in ballet when she was young.

"Mom, this is Ronald, the one who selected me for the crew."

"Oh, it's you, Ronald. You're so nice to see Gene's dancing talent. I'm only grateful to you. I was also a ballet dancer when I was young, and then I had Gene. He's very talented, right? Look at his leg muscles. He was born to dance ballet."

Gene's mother, Joan, hugged Ronald and began to talk about her son's dancing talent.

"Gene, you go to rehearsal first. I want to talk to your mother alone."

Ronald quickly changed the subject.

"Did director Allen not allow you to sell goods around the set?"

"Yes, he has no power to do so. Anyway, if he doesn't let me sell, someone else will sell. I opened the way to the Italians with Gene as the protagonist in this movie. Do you know? They have a special liking for stars who make movies, just like John Travolta who made "Saturday Night Fever."

Ronald felt that normal reasoning was not going to work. They were two completely different people with different values. He was worrying about how to convince Joan, and suddenly heard the name of John Travolta.

"Joan, I'll take you somewhere."

Ronald and Joan walked to a shabby old-fashioned movie theater next to Harlan High School. With no money to renovate, they can only show popular movies and adult X-rated movies from a few years ago, and make money by renting cheap copies. Now they are still showing the hit musical "Grease" from two years ago.

"Do you know who he is?" Ronald deliberately pointed to the shabby "Grease" poster on the wall and asked.

"Of course, he is John Travolta." Joan replied.

"What if I say that your son Gene is the next Travolta? Do you believe it?"

"Really? But Travolta is the only male lead in Grease. My Gene is just one of the four male leads." Joan couldn't believe it for a while.

"Gene is also the protagonist. His character Leroy has sex with the two most beautiful female protagonists in the movie. He also made one of the female protagonists pregnant. This is the treatment of the protagonist." Ronald began to exaggerate the importance of the role of Leroy.

Joan opened her mouth wide: "Is this true? Can he really be the next Travolta?"

"The last movie directed by Allen won an Oscar. (Actually it was Oliver Stone, Best Adapted Screenplay)"

"Ah! I want to apologize to him. He will make my son look like Travolta. I shouldn't have contradicted him."

"I sent Gene to ballet class since he was a child. He completely inherited his father's strength and my body shape. He is the best ballet genius.

Oh, I don't know how to thank you, Ronald. It was you who discovered him. If he is the next Travolta, I will definitely let you be his agent. People from Harlem recognize old relationships the most and are the most loyal to old relationships."

"But your current behavior is ruining him." Ronald couldn't keep up with Joan's divergent thoughts and quickly turned the topic back on track.

"What? How could I ruin him? I would never hurt Gene, he's my son."

"Before Travolta starred in "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease", he was also a small actor, not much different from Gene. But do you know how much John Travolta makes for a movie now?" Ronald pointed to the poster, Travolta's hair was slicked with hairspray and asked.

"More than a million dollars." Ronald raised a finger.

Joan's eyes were focused. She looked at Travolta's poster for a while, and then at Ronald's finger.

"His advertising income is even higher. More than three million dollars." Ronald released the other two fingers, forming a three-point gesture.

"Ugh!"

Joan burped and covered her chest, as if trying to distinguish the number Ronald said, whether she had heard it wrong.

"And now director Alan Parker wants to expel you from the crew because you sold... to the crew members as a dealer. Do you really want to continue selling goods in the crew and ruin your son Gene's future?"

"No, I won't... uh. God, I won't... uh! I won't sell on the set anymore, uh... I will only sell outside Harlan High School in the future." Joan began to burp non-stop.

"Not only can you not sell on the set, you also have to watch the place and not let other dealers in."

"Director Allen, uh... I will never sell on the set in the future, uh... Don't worry, I have made an agreement with the Italians, uh... This is my territory, uh... No one else will come here to sell in the future, uh... Please don't drive my little Gene away, uh... He will be very obedient, uh..."

"Ronald, how did you do it? You have to stay in the crew. After the filming starts, there will be a lot of things on the set. We need people like you." Producer David saw that the problem of Gene's mother was perfectly solved and said to Ronald.

"David, you know, Allen won't like me to appear on the set." Ronald whispered.

"Don't say that, Hollywood is like this, as long as the movie can be completed with quality, there is no like or dislike."

"Well, how is your casting for the teacher?" Ronald changed the subject.

"No progress yet. For the role of the dance teacher, we interviewed many real dance teachers and middle-aged actors, but no one could play the role to Alan's satisfaction. They all lack the harsh taste of a dance teacher.

It is even harder to find a teacher in the acting department. Many actors are resistant to playing acting teachers. They don't want to be ridiculed by their peers, and our budget is not much."

"How about I recommend someone?"

"Who?"

"Our casting director Joanna Merlin."

"Remember the scene where Meg auditioned? I was worried that Meg would collapse due to emotional memory, but in the end she didn't complete the extraction of emotional memory. This was Joanna's help."

"I didn't I noticed it, but after so many days, I figured it out. It was Joanna's question, "Do you use MasterCard or American Express?", which interrupted Meg's emotional process with cold humor. In the end, Meg cried and laughed because of this. "

"Remember? Hillary's long monologue was actually the reason why an ignorant rich girl convinced herself to have an abortion. Joanna's words were just right, just dispelling the sad mood. "

"And she has slender limbs and a good figure, so she is convincing as a dancer. "

"But I can't dance ballet, unless you promise not to let me play any dancing scenes." Joanna listened to the producer's invitation and made a request.

"No problem, I promise you, Joanna, you just need to teach the girls to dance, or comment on their dancing during the admission interview."

Director Allen put aside his worries and turned to Ronald, "Do you have any other suggestions for the acting teacher?"

"Acting teacher... How about the black teacher who talked to you happily when you first went to the performing arts college? Let their teacher act in the movie to piss off the school director."

"Hahahaha... Let's do it, let him audition." Allen was very happy.

"And the teachers in other departments are all white actors, we just need a quota." Producer David was also happy.