Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Sibil Shepherd will take a break at the end of this season of "Blue Moonlight" because of her pregnancy. The producers have a plan for this and have arranged the corresponding plot. They let Sibil shoot some scenes in those two episodes first, and then temporarily not be in the detective agency in the plot.

However, the premature birth of the twins caught the producers by surprise.

The producers only knew that she was pregnant, but did not know that it was twins. There was not much preparation for the sudden premature birth in time.

Therefore, after Shepherd's public relations representative released the news in the media first, the producers had no choice but to follow up and released a statement of blessing from the entire crew to the heroine after the public relations draft drafted by Shepherd was modified as the draft.

This sudden attack method allowed the audience to contact the hot topics of discussion issued by Shepherd at the first time. Her loving husband, a pair of healthy children, the blessings of the producers, and other news.

However, Sybil Shepherd did not tell the producers the whole truth. The sudden birth forced the crew to stop filming immediately. Such discussions became inappropriate amid the one-sided blessing calls from the audience to the TV station.

The producers were helpless and had to dilute the previously filmed scenes of Sybil to each episode in three months, and then let other actors fill in the plot. Her appearance time also became very small, and she and Bruce Willis basically had no scenes together.

Bruce Willis had to give up and quickly filmed the next three months of stories while waiting for Ronald and Silver to call him to make a movie.

This is fatal to the ratings of the TV series. You don’t know how many viewers will continue to watch this TV series that lacks the appearance of the heroine.

After all, sending blessings to female stars is one thing, and it is another thing for the TV series to be bad. Even ABC, where "Blue Moonlight" is located, has popular dramas such as "Growing Pains" to support the ratings.

Glen Gordon Cullen, the executive producer of "Blue Moonlight", was very annoyed by this. He is facing an old TV series whose ratings have begun to decline.

In the last episode of the third season last year, "Maddie" played by Sybil Shepherd and "David" played by Bruce Willis finally became a couple after three seasons of mutual attraction and opposition.

But the audience was not satisfied with this plot. They came to see the plot of Maddie and David bickering and caring about each other. If the two really wanted to be together, the biggest attraction of the TV series would be missing.

So Glen Gordon Cullen has begun to direct the writers' room and slowly change the story line. He plans to separate Maddie and David again at one-third of this season and restore the setting of being a happy enemy.

But Sybil's leave means that he will have to stick to the previous plot line and will no longer be able to change the plot based on audience feedback.

In such a TV series that relies entirely on the chemical reaction between the two characters to attract the audience, it is very fatal to make the audience dissatisfied with the plot, and the heroine only appears for a few minutes in each episode.

Glenn Gordon Cullen was so angry that he submitted his resignation and asked the company to find someone else or rewrite the role of Terry, the new character of this season. Let the female star Brooke Adams, who plays the role of a single mother, be written as the new lover of David played by Willis. ….ABC certainly has doubts about this adjustment. In their view, the reason why "Blue Moonlight" can succeed is entirely because of the right choice of two roles. Sybil Shepherd is already 37 years old, but her gestures still give the feeling of an urban young woman in her thirties.

Paired with Bruce Willis, who is just in his early thirties but looks old, they have a very couple feeling.

Glenn Gordon Cullen sneered at this. The producer of the detective TV series "The Legend of Remington Steele" starring Pierce Brosnan before said frankly that his grasp of detective dramas is the reason why the ratings ranked ninth in the country.

He gave ABC a choice, either keep Sybil Shepherd or keep him. Anyway, one of them has to be fired.

…

Ronald learned about another round of quarrels in the TV crew through Demi Moore’s tip-off. He came to Joel Silver to finalize the main members of the crew.

“Bruce Willis finally agreed to join. It’s a chance given by God.” Joel Silver had a mysterious trust in Ronald’s vision. No matter who this man chose as the protagonist, he could make them famous.

In the recent “Dirty Dancing”, Patrick Schweitzer has become extremely popular and was recently invited to the White House to receive the first lady’s face-to-face commendation.

The heroine Jennifer Grey also has a lot of film offers. If she hadn’t been injured in her neck in the car accident of her boyfriend Matthew Brodick, she would definitely be the object of competition for multiple projects.

Audiences all over the United States fell in love with the good Jewish girl Baby, even with the typical Jewish big nose that destroyed the balance of facial features, the audience tolerated it. She was voted into the top ten most popular teenage actresses in America.

"But we can't let him think that we can't live without him, Ronald." Joel Silver is a veteran producer and has a lot of experience in how to handle overconfident characters.

"What do you think?" Ronald was well prepared for the difficulties and arguments that producers like him would face when facing stars, and now was a good opportunity to learn from Silver.

"The Eastern philosopher, Confucius once said," Silver leaned back and sat on the chair, then stretched out his right hand and drew a half circle, "If you have the ability to do it, you must show a certain attitude at this time." Act like you can't do it; if you can't do it, act like you can definitely do it..."

"That's what SunTzu said," Ronald muttered quietly, but this strategy might be a good idea in this situation.

When Bruce Willis contacted him because of this, he asked him to take care of both TV series and movies. Naturally, Willis and his agent knew that Ronald and Silver needed him.

In addition to the 5 million salary proposed by the new president of Fox, he also proposed various superstar benefits. For example, it requires a luxurious RV, a place for girlfriend Demi Moore to rest, his designated assistant, hairstylist, makeup artist, and a separate dressing room... Of course, all of this is paid for by the film studio.

And all of this is because Willis's agent felt that the producers had no other candidates besides him. ….What Ronald and Silver have to do now is to make various noises to make them feel that besides Willis, there is not no second choice here.

"I sent an invitation to Harrison Ford and asked him to come to the party and talk about future cooperation." Ronald touched his chin. He brought back many classical books from the East and quickly understood this kind of thing. . Anyway, Harrison Ford is not willing to act in the original script, so what I discussed with him could also be other cooperation opportunities.

"Bgo, I'm going to meet Leonard Goldberg, the new president of Twentieth Century Fox. He's an old man in television. He understands this kind of thing." Joel Silver's reaction to Ronald was very satisfy.

"What kind of news are you going to make? I think the best candidate for this movie is Bruce Willis. Don't make it self-defeating." Ronald was a little worried. "The key to this movie is to make the audience think that the hero John ·McLean is just like them, and he also has many unsatisfactory places in his life..."

"I understand, I understand, so I won't let the suitability of the casting go..." Silver already agreed with Ronald's reason for casting, "I plan to use his salary to create a stir in Hollywood. Some discussions can also help warm up our movie..."

"Hahaha... You are really..." Ronald admired this move very much. He could eat two things for one fish. While lowering the price, he could also speculate for free.

And the point of this hype is exactly what Roger Ailes, George Sr.’s campaign consultant, said, people like it best if they hit the gossip topic directly...

"It's not bad." Silver showed a "better" smile and sat back on the sofa.

"I'm going to find eaSre and do an audience awareness survey for Willis, so that we can go downhill when the time comes."

"Good idea!" Silver jumped up from the sofa after hearing Ronald's idea, "Shxt", he was so excited that he knocked his thigh down again, rubbing it while praising, "This is a good idea, It fits perfectly with our plan to stir up gossip.”

"Tomorrow we will meet the director candidate. His last film was said by Roger Ebert to make the audience care about the protagonist from beginning to end, which exactly meets your requirements for a film." Joel Silver also decided The time was set for the meeting between the director candidate and Ronald.

…

"Oh, he's just a clown. He gave me a 1.5, and he pretended to say that I can direct Pierce Brosnan. He criticized the story content of my movie. This kind of film critic hates me the most."

The director candidate, John McTiernan, who was in his thirties, heard Ronald asking about film critics. He didn't show any respect to Roger Ebert and scolded him.

His first movie was called "Nomadland," an action movie starring Pierce Brosnan. The box office was very poor, only 2.3 million US dollars.

But the second one was Fox's blockbuster action science fiction film this summer, "Predator," which took in more than $50 million at the box office.

Therefore, Silver has great trust in a director who has proven himself at the box office and can create characters that make the audience care about him. He was the second best candidate after Ronald, and was also the first to recommend it to Ronald. …. “Oh, he and I have a bit of history too… Without talking about this boring guy, what do you think of the movie? Especially John, who is the key to this movie…” M..

"I like this script very much. It has a sense of humor. Unlike Stallone's action movies, the terrorists in the villains are all disgusting, obscene idiots."

John McTiernan gave a lot of his thoughts on the script, and most of it was the same as Ronald's interpretation, and the same as in the dream.

"I wanted to find a character like Cary Grant, gentle on the outside but calm on the inside, someone who could defeat the terrorists when they hijacked the building's headquarters... Like the character in my first movie, Pierce. Like Brosnan..."

"Ahem..." Joel Silver gestured beside him, indicating that he didn't know John McTiernan had so many ideas. In fact, the de facto executive director does not have much say in the casting matter. It is decided by the two producers and the president of 20th Century Fox.

"Aha..." Ronald was about to retort, but he remembered the Eastern wisdom maxims Silver said yesterday. John McTiernan actually has no power, but instead acts like he has the power. People always tend to approve, as if they make decisions themselves, rather than those given by their boss.

"Actually, have you ever thought that we might be able to tell the story from another aspect?" Ronald began to think of reasons while convincing the other party.

"What storyline? I'm very interested..." John McTiernan didn't dare to neglect Ronald. He was a man with a very keen sense of commercial movies.

"We all agree that the key to this movie is that the audience recognizes that the protagonist is a member of their group and an ordinary person." Ronald observed John McTiernan's eyes and saw that he agreed with this, so he continued. Go down.

"A New York police detective came to the free and open Los Angeles. His wife's salary was much higher than his. She didn't use his surname, but her maiden name as her working name. Ordinary viewers must also often encounter troubles in the workplace. , and finally McLean used his experience and wisdom to defeat the terrorists and win back his wife's love..."

"You're right, it seems we should find an actor who looks like an ordinary person..." John McTiernan mused. This kind of producer who is a successful director will think about problems from the director's point of view.

"We might be able to find someone who looks ordinary but has a sense of humor, the kind of guy in the company you can go have a beer with after get off work."

"It's important to have a sense of humor. What's more important is that the appearance should not be that of a wise gentleman, but should have a blue-collar temperament." John McTiernan was inspired and began to express his own views, "Well, like this Where can I find actors?”

"Actually, I hope you can give us some inspiration..." Ronald shrugged sincerely, and then gave Silver a look.

"Yes, John, you have a very deep understanding of action movies. Who do you think is more suitable? In fact, the requirements for acting are not high. It is best to have someone who has played similar roles, or who has performed in his true colors." Silver understood. …."I think about it, it seems that there is really no such actor in the film industry, but the young Frank Sinatra is quite suitable."

"Let's use this template to find, young Frank Sinatra." Ronald felt that this guidance was in the right direction.

"I don't usually watch TV. Are there any suitable TV actors recently?"

"Ha, one thing comes to mind. What do you think of Blue Moonlight's character, Bruce Willis? He has a very friendly smile and a low-level blue-collar temperament."

"He..."

"What? What's wrong with him?" John McTiernan felt that he had finally found a suitable one, but there was no problem.

"We contacted him before, but he couldn't do both TV and movies."

"Didn't you read the news? The heroine of that TV series, Sybil Shepherd, has given birth and needs to take a break. It's not a good time." John McTiernan said immediately.

"Really? How about we..."

"I'll have 20th Century Fox contact him right away," Silver responded.

…

"Ronald, I don't know who released this news. It's obviously aimed at Bruce. You have to help him."

Demi Moore held her boyfriend Bruce Willis' arm and entertained Ronald for dinner at her big house in Beverly Hills. This was the Chinese chef she specially invited as the hostess.

"This chef is very authentic, and the food is the same as what I had in China." Ronald took a bite of the fried vegetables, which tasted very good.

Joel Silver's trick worked quickly. The gossip media The Hollywood Reporter released the news that Bruce Willis is expected to join the new film created by Ronald and Silver.

In particular, as a newcomer in the film industry, Bruce Willis received a salary of 5 million that only veteran movie stars Dustin Hoffman, Robert Redford, Warren Beatty and others could receive.

Such a star in the television industry was actually on an equal footing with other movie stars. The Hollywood Reporter article had a subtle insinuation that Willis was not qualified. This has also caused a lot of controversy in the circle of film actors.

It doesn't matter that your TV dramas are bad at acting and have high pay. When you first enter Hollywood, you have to compete for movie actors' jobs. Our salary is over 1 million, and we all have to work hard for many years. How come you have only made one movie that has a mediocre box office? People who are interested in movies can reach the sky in one step.

There were constant questions from the industry and the media, and Bruce Willis felt the pressure, fearing that he would lose his position as the protagonist. At this time, Demi Moore took the initiative to ask Cameron Crowe, the screenwriter of "St. Elmo's Fire" in which she played, and Ronald's good friend, to invite him to her home for a private reception to clear the relationship.

"Ronald, my agent, may have said something to you that I didn't mean. Before I filmed the TV series, I had been acting as a sidekick, so my agent wanted to get treatment for me. As an actor, in fact, as long as I have a dedicated Just a makeup artist and a hairstylist.”

Bruce Willis also defended himself. Under the stock market crisis, the number of films shot has shrunk significantly, and he has not heard of any new projects. He is eager to get this role. …. "You will get all the treatment you deserve. This is the rule of the film industry." Ronald shook his hand, indicating that this is not a problem. "Movies and TV series are different. There is a script first, and there are few major changes during the filming process. It is different from the practice of TV series to modify the big story line based on audience feedback."

"Of course, I respect the director. I have seen John McTiernan's "Predator", which is great."

Although Bruce Willis did not go to school much, he has seen a lot in the TV circle. He heard Ronald knocking him and immediately hinted that he would never act like a big shot this time, asking for the script to be changed for him, and other star bad habits.

"Bruce is an actor who respects the director very much. This time, the producer of Blue Moonlight, Glen Gordon Cullen, Bruce is on his side." Demi Moore also chimed in.

"Oh, what was their final result?"

"ABC's top management still chose Sybil from the two choices. Sybil didn't appear in the new episode, only a recording. The ratings dropped sharply, so ABC chose her instead of him."

Bruce Willis and Sybil Shepherd actually had a deep conflict, but he couldn't kick Sybil out for the sake of the producer. He also felt that this TV series couldn't be separated from either of them.

"Ronald, I like your movies very much. Look here. I bought your Top Gun videotape. Demi and I watch it every night."

Bruce Willis didn't know how to ask for help. He started to praise Ronald in a cowboy-like manner, but he couldn't say anything good to flatter him, so he had to flatter him awkwardly.

"Ronnie..." Demi Moore was watching anxiously from the side, and when Bruce turned around to play the videotape, she pinched Ronald's butt.

"Ah..." Ronald almost screamed.

"What's wrong?" Willis asked back.

"Ahem, actually, this matter is not without a chance." Ronald slowly pretended to put his hands on his hips, and then rubbed his butt.

"You have to know that Leonard Goldberg, the new president of 20th Century Fox, is the president of the TV station. His strategy is to use the same stars in TV series and movies. Silver will go to see him, and he will probably speak for you."

"Aha, I said that now TV actors are the ones who impress the audience the most. What do you think, Demi, am I the most famous action actor in America?" Bruce Willis made a bodybuilding move.

"Don't do this move during the audition, it reminds people of Stallone."

"Hey, okay, I will never do it." Bruce Willis put down his arms, "I'll go get you a cup of coffee, Demi bought it, she knows where to buy good things."

In order to flatter Ronald, Willis made coffee himself for the first time.

"Ronnie, can you let me play the leading role?" Demi Moore was still not giving up, "Look, Sybil Shepherd can play roles that don't look like her. She's 37, a mother of three children, and she can still play a woman in her 20s."

"That's not up to me, Demi," Ronald could have decided, but he said no, "This movie needs chemistry. Bruce is likely to get the role. It depends on whether he and you are compatible on the screen." .... "Here you go, Ronald," Willis brought the coffee back and sprinkled some on the table.

Demi Moore frowned.

She turned around and asked her boyfriend, "Bruce, do you think I can play the leading role in this movie? I want to appear on the screen with you?"

"How can that be? That's a mother of two school-age children, and you're still a young girl. Honey, you want to be my woman, don't you now?"

"Hmph..." Demi slapped her boyfriend on the butt.

"Hmm..." Then she was hugged and kissed by Bruce Willis.

"Isn't Demi charming?"

"Get ready. Mr. Goldberg, the president of Fox, I, Silver, and director John McTiernan may jointly interview you."

...

The joint interview was very successful. Goldberg, the president of Fox, was eager to adopt a new strategy to integrate Fox's TV network and film department. The most important step is to prove that there is no big gap between TV actors and movie actors. TV stars can seamlessly switch to acting in movies without affecting the box office because of their performance style.

Such a large company with TV and movies can integrate resources and promote each other to form a reasonable. He did not allow anyone to question his decision to give Bruce Willis 5 million box office for the top actor in the movie.

At this time, Ronald took out the survey he commissioned eaSre to do. Although Bruce Willis's fame did not have a positive effect on whether to go to the movie, it did not have a negative impact. With this survey, Goldberg was able to explain it.

Director John McTiernan was also very satisfied with Bruce Willis. The role he thought of was very suitable for the script. As for whether he could act in a movie, that was not important. He could learn it after two months of training.

"Next is the actor for the male supporting role, the terrorist leader Hans Gruber. This is also very important. How powerful the hero is depends on the villain to contrast. We are not looking for the traditional stupid villain this time.

We need to find a high IQ, disguise the robbery as the release of terrorists, and take away the real target, the large bearer bonds, without the police knowing."

John McTiernan was eager to find the key role and began to prepare.

"What do you think?" Ronald asked for advice first.

"He must not look like a terrorist. It is best to be an actor in Shakespeare's plays. The audience will think he is a good person at first glance, like a university teacher, and even a little charming. Women will fall in love with him without knowing his background..." John McTiernan began to describe.

"Well... If you say so, I know a Broadway actor who plays the role of "Dangerous Liaisons". Why don't you go with me to see his performance?

.

Moscow fitter Guosha reminds you: Remember to collect after reading