Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"What do you think about your Oscar nomination for Best Director?" Two Los Angeles newspapers, "Hollywood Report" and "Variety", have already interviewed Ronald. This time it was the reporter's turn from New York's film and television comedy magazine "Stage" to interview.

Everyone asked almost similar questions. Ronald followed the announcement he had made in advance and showed a charming smile again, as if the other person asked a good question that really tickled him.

"I feel honored. This is a great compliment for me... The Oscar judges and members of the Academy are very fair. I am very touched to be recognized by them..."

Just like with the first interview, Ronald was very cooperative and completed the process. Today, five or six media came to interview him, mainly because he was nominated for the Oscar's major creative award before he turned thirty. This is a very good news point.

After dealing with the reporter, the agent Richard handed over the phone receiver and said, "Steven called back."

Ronald raised his eyebrows and took the phone. Since the nomination was announced, he asked his agent to contact Spielberg's assistant, hoping to have a chat with him.

The epic film "Empire of the Sun" carefully crafted by Spielberg is a film with special intention to compete for awards, taking advantage of the popularity of Chinese culture in recent years and the Oscar's preference for epic films.

But he was not nominated for any of the five most important awards. Best picture, best director, best actor and actress, and best screenplay all came up short.

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This is nothing short of a humiliation for a commercial director of Spielberg's level. And the minor awards his film won in the Best Costume category left Spielberg speechless. After all, audiences only noticed in the news that his film had received six nominations.

After Ronald got the nomination, he was overjoyed and noticed some problems. He wanted to talk to Spielberg to avoid misunderstandings. Richard flew over from Los Angeles, and Niceta stayed in contact with Spielberg's assistant.

"Ronald, it's me." Spielberg's voice came from the phone.

"Steven, what happened? I like the directing techniques of 'Empire of the Sun' very much. How could the Oscars not give you a nomination? This is very unfair. Some directors I know well are talking about this." , if necessary, we can unite to speak for you. The quality of the British director’s work is not bad, but it is obviously not on the same level.”

Spielberg was silent for a long time, "Forget it, Ronald. This matter has nothing to do with you, it is caused by other factors. By the way, I haven't congratulated you on getting the best director nomination. Enjoy your first time." The joy of being nominated.”

"Oh, thank you. I'm actually surprised this time. I wasn't even nominated for Best Director by the Directors Guild. Maybe it's because of the great efforts of my agency and good luck."

"Caa did some work?"

"Yes, I don't know how they handled it specifically, but Mr. Ovitz really helped a lot..."

The two chatted for a while, and Spielberg hung up the phone and said to Kathleen Kennedy, the general manager of Amblin Productions and his former assistant, who was beside him, "Ronald's nomination was obtained by CAA's help with public relations. of."

"Okay, I don't think he is the person behind the scenes. The most he can do is find a way to get into the nomination list, but he does not have the ability to cancel all important nominations for a certain movie. In fact, he can have such a strong influence on the Academy's judges The only possibility is..."

Spielberg raised his hand to stop Catherine from continuing, "Please contact Michael from CAA. I want to talk to him."

Ovitz has been working hard to sign Spielberg, who has the most commercial appeal in Hollywood. However, Spielberg has been unwilling to sign a contract with Michael Ovitz because of the brokerage company's commission, preferring to set up his own company to handle brokerage matters.

…

After being nominated for an Oscar, Ronald suddenly found that his authority in the crew seemed to have suddenly increased a lot.

Especially lead actress Melanie Griffiths. She had become romantically involved with Wall Street banker Liam Dalton, whom she drove every time she was dropped off.

After seeing Ronald, Griffiths always wanted to tell Ronald his analysis of Tess, hoping to get his advice.

"In the movie Pygmalion, a girl's transformation begins with her hairstyle. Only from the outside to the inside can Tess believe in her abilities. She is no longer a secretary, but can act as a Wall Street broker."

"Very good", Ronald said Melanie Griffith's character analysis was quite appropriate. The difficulty of this performance is not only to convince the actors themselves, but also to convince the audience who are watching the movie for the first time. What better way to make the audience aware of the heroine's transformation than an ugly duckling-like appearance rebirth?

"Thank you. I have watched the Pygmalion videotape many times. I think Tess's inner state is like this... She neither fully believes that she can pretend to be an investment manager like her boss Catherine, nor is she willing to let her good ideas be used by Catherine. Take it as your own..."

Melanie Griffiths continues by analyzing the character's psychological state.

"Stop...stop..." Ronald quickly asked her to stop and stop using this analytical method to dissect the psychology of Tess's character in the script.

"Why, am I thinking wrong?"

"I think it's OK. I've seen your previous films and talked to your director Jonathan Demme and director Brian De Palma. You are a talented actor who relies on intuition to perform. Just act according to your intuition when the time comes. Don't be too bound by this kind of character analysis."

Ronald and the previous directors who worked with Melanie Griffith had asked about her acting style. Each of her lines was often unexpected. She had an inspiration for improvisation, which could make the opponent's performance better.

Ronald didn't want Griffith to lose her spirit and switch to a method where all reactions were designed. This is a great waste of acting talent.

"Am I? Am I really a genius?" One of the five nominees for the Oscar for Best Director said that he was a genius, anyway, it wouldn't be wrong. Melanie Griffith was shaken by Ronald's praise, and sat aside blankly to think about her own things.

"Joan," Ronald saw Joan Cusack, who played the supporting role of Sheen, on the other side. She was communicating with a Wall Street elite in a suit. That was another investment manager recommended by Bannon, Richard Burke, who was courting Joan Cusack.

No matter how many beautiful girlfriends bankers have had, Hollywood beauties always seem to have a different aura, and dating them can also improve their social status.

"Dick, the director wants to talk to me," Joan Cusack skillfully instructed Dick, who was a little bald, to do things.

Joan Cusack now shows off her exaggerated hairstyle and makeup like a secretary, but fortunately her beauty is not much damaged by this exaggerated appearance.

"Director, I'm pretending to be a secretary every day and go to Dick's office to play a secretary. Haha, not many people there can tell me apart from a real secretary."

"Hi, Joan. I think you're experiencing life well." Ronald felt that her temperament was slowly developing in the direction of a real secretary.

"I feel that I have to live more as a secretary to play her better. So I'm thinking, is it..." Joan Cusack had a crazy idea. She felt that her pay was too high, far beyond the money a Wall Street secretary could earn, and she should adjust her salary to the level of a secretary so that she could act out the feeling of a secretary.

"Stop... stop..." Ronald quickly stopped Joan Cusack. Just the opposite of Griffith, this character's problem is that she has too much intuition and too little analysis. The role of Sheen is an exaggerated supporting role. It is necessary to magnify the characteristics of the secretary profession to the edge so that the audience can remember it and contrast Tess's uniqueness among secretaries.

"How much do you know about the role of Sheen?" Ronald asked.

"She is Tess's good friend and likes exaggerated makeup and hairstyle..." Joan Cusack said something. During this period, she mainly imitated the secretary in words and deeds instead of using rational analysis.

"Tess is an ambitious secretary, but Sheen doesn't want to be so troublesome. Like most secretaries, she doesn't want to continue to learn advanced business and financial knowledge. She just wants to do her job well and then find a reliable boyfriend to marry.

But her and Tess's personalities complement each other. Both of them like each other's ideas, and they also pin their previous dreams on this good friend who has not given up hope."

"Director, the actor is lucky to get such advice from you." Joan Cusack felt that the analysis was profound and naturally flattered Ronald.

"You will know after you shoot more movies. It's different from drama. It depends on luck." Ronald smiled at her and asked her to think more about how to design actions and lines to show Xin's temperament.

Actors are not like other positions. The performance presented on the screen is formed by many factors. For example, director, photography, makeup, hairstyle, lighting, and even the final editing. It is not certain whether a performance clip praised by film critics is mainly due to the actor's good acting skills.

For example, in this year's Oscar nomination, "The Last Emperor" won nine awards and ranked first among all movies. Obviously, the performances of the male lead John Lone and the female lead Joan were very outstanding, but for this reason, they did not get the nominations for the best actor and actress.

Especially the male lead John Lone, not only has the recognition of film critic awards and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a Drama, but it is not the first time that he has been praised by film critics. Previously, "Iceman", who played a prehistoric primitive man, and "Year of the Dragon", the new generation godfather of Chinatown, were both highly praised.

However, when the selection process was underway, most members of the Academy of Film Technology and Art denied John Lone's acting skills and did not vote for him, citing the self-deceiving reason that the actor's performance was the work of director Bertolucci.

Ronald believed that John Lone's acting skills deserved the honor of being nominated, regardless of whether his acting skills could win the award in the end, since he played the last emperor from youth to old age. Moreover, he had won many critic awards for his outstanding performances in two previous films, but was not nominated for an Oscar. This kind of debt of favor is usually corrected by the Oscar jury in the subsequent votes.

Therefore, it is very strange that John Lone did not get the nomination.

The nominated Marcello Mastroianni, an Italian movie star, is an Italian-Soviet co-production based on Chekhov's story. This strange work is obscure and difficult to understand, and no critics have given it a good review.

What’s even more strange is that this “Black Eyes” only has one nomination for Best Actor, which shows that the judges have no favor for this movie, and this lonely nomination is more like a filler.

And John Lone is the male protagonist of a luxurious biographical film, whose story runs through some of the most important chapters in the history of the 20th century, including World War II and the history after it.

Since the main characters in the movie are all Chinese faces, it is really difficult for the public to understand that such a movie that has won all the major awards but lacks any acting award nominations.

Of course, for people in the industry, it is also a semi-open secret that the actor judges responsible for nomination voting do not want a yellow-skinned actor to be recognized. And because it is voted, it is difficult to get evidence of this discrimination and cannot be publicly accused.

The Oscar, an award representing the highest achievement in Hollywood, does have many uncertain factors that interfere. It is not like the Golden Globe Awards, where operations can greatly increase the probability of winning.

After the nominations were announced, the nominated movies began to increase more screenings in theaters. Driven by the curiosity of this nomination, the audience also began to go to the cinema to find out what it feels like to be an extra-curricular judge.

Michael Gray, who is responsible for the marketing of the film, began to exert his strength in major media, allowing more regional newspapers to reprint Ronald's interview content. More posters began to appear at the entrances of ticket offices of theaters across the country.

"Ronald, it's time. Going to West Berlin can allow "Moonlight" to appear in more entertainment news headlines for free in the media. The quality of the films participating in the competition unit of this year's West Berlin International Film Festival is very average. In addition to Moonlight, Hollywood has only one film that was broadcast on the news." Art director Polly Pratt urged Ronald to attend the West Berlin Film Festival.

"Okay, I'll try to stay there for a few days less. I'll leave everything here to you." Ronald is very confident in Pratt's ability to coordinate. This strong woman is not only very suitable for the position of producer, but also knows a lot about the preparatory work of the director in the early stage. Ronald plans to let her serve as a co-producer, and then have the opportunity to bring her to work in Daydream Company.

"No, no, you need to stay longer. The West Berlin Film Festival has the shortest history among the three major European film festivals. It was established during the Cold War to set an example. You should communicate with them more. If you can win a Golden Bear Award, it will be good for your Oscar."

"I heard that there is almost no chance of winning the first nomination. Do you think I still have a chance?" Ronald was surprised that Polly Pratt cared more about it than he did.

"The Oscar is a very stingy award. My ex-husband Peter Bogdanovich was also nominated for Best Director at a very young age, but he never got it again." Polly Pratt made a gesture that I am not cursing you, "So, don't give up any opportunity. Oscar nominations are difficult for anyone."

Ronald, who was a little nervous about what Pratt said, boarded a flight to West Berlin. This city is actually an enclave in East Germany. As Pratt said, it is a showcase of Western prosperity to Eastern Europe. The West German government actually spent a lot of money to make it sparkle.

Berlin-Tempelhof Airport is a commercial and military dual-use airport in West Berlin. The city of West Berlin is also surrounded by East German territory. This is the frontier of the Cold War, completely different from the warm and peaceful New York, with gray reinforced concrete buildings everywhere.

When you come out of the airport, you can see the towering TV tower in East Berlin, which is also part of the competition and show-off between the two camps.

The weather is still very cold, and the organizing committee sent a lady to be Ronald's translator.

This lady named Hannah speaks very good English without a German accent. She especially likes Ronald's movie "Dirty Dancing" and has seen it three times. On the way to the hotel, she kept discussing the plot of the movie with Ronald.

According to Hannah, West Berliners like "Dirty Dancing" very much, just like Ronald's "Break Dance" caused a break dance craze in Germany a few years ago, this time the mambo dance in "Dirty Dancing" has also begun to become popular among West Berliners.

Ronald felt a little different when he heard such a fan's admiration for him. Directors rarely have such fans to flatter, and occasionally meeting one in a foreign country feels pretty good.

"Thank you, you're exaggerating."

"I'm not exaggerating the impact of your movie here, I'm just stating the facts." Hannah is a typical German, who took politeness as questioning, "Not only do we love to watch it, but audiences in the east love to watch it too. We have a cinema here that shows your movies all day long, and that's where your most loyal audience for 'Dirty Dancing' is. Every time, more than half of the people cry."

"Huh?" Ronald felt it was too strange, "Dirty Dancing" is a romantic comedy with beautiful and sexy dances, how could it make people cry?

"If you don't believe me, I can take you there in the evening, and many people really cried..."