Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Ronald is in the office of Mrs. Graham, the owner of the Washington Post, in Washington, DC. From here you can overlook the office building and printing plant of the Washington Post. During the time of the former President Jimmy, the Washington Post also encountered a serious strike crisis. But since the current old Ronald came to power, the economy has developed and such large-scale strikes have become rare.

"After the ultimatum is issued, the President will send a special commissioner to mediate. This is the largest strike during his tenure since the airport air traffic controllers went on strike during his first term. The President hopes to make a good start and leave a good impression on his American people." Mrs. Graham told Ronald some of her own personal experience. Dealing with strikes requires patience and courage, just like a hunter waiting for the right time to hunt.

"So, what should be done to end the strike as soon as possible?"

"Now your focus is on those screenwriters who are dissatisfied with the union, threaten to withdraw, and file charges with the National Labor Relations Board. As long as their proposal to abolish the union rules that prohibit them from returning to work during the strike is invalid and passed, Hollywood's dilemma will be resolved."

Ronald thought for a while. The key to this matter is to make the union leadership that can organize pickets ineffective. Things have come to this point, and everyone is actually tempted. The key resistance to mediation comes from the negotiating representative Walton and those public TV stations.

"But this should not be something you consider, Ronald. You should think more about how to convince me to lend you the office building of the Post to make a movie. Last time they wanted to borrow it to make a movie about our reporters exposing the Watergate incident, I didn't agree." Mrs. Graham deliberately acted arrogantly, asking Ronald to convince her before she would lend the office of the best newspaper in America.

"Haha... our movies are different..." Ronald smiled, "There will be no short people in our movies, only handsome men and beautiful women. I will also be on site to supervise and choose the best time of the day when the sun shines through the windows to shoot. In this way, the Post will look like the real 'conscience of America' in the hearts of the people."

Mrs. Graham was talking about "All the President's Men", a movie starring Dustin Hoffman and Robert Redford. Due to the plot requirements, the whole show is dark and obscure, and the Wall Street Journal office where the scene is set is like a prison.

Ronald is going to shoot the romantic love drama "Ces Are", of course, shooting the Post in the best image. The scene inside the Post is a scene where the male protagonist played by Robert Downey Jr. comes to apply for a job. He and Ryan O'Neal, two handsome guys, can make all young people who aspire to be Post reporters feel that this is a place worth coming to.

"Hahaha..." Mrs. Graham was very comfortable with the compliment. This young man is very clear about his own ideas. Dustin Hoffman's face as a Post reporter would scare away new talent.

The crew of "Ces Are" finished filming in Maryland (where the cost is relatively cheap) and returned to DC to shoot the last two scenes. Their filming in Maryland went smoothly, so much so that Ronald did not receive any requests for his intervention during this period.

Emil Adolino was very dedicated during this period, and his mustache looked a little tired. When Ronald told him that he had already arranged to borrow the Post's office, he clenched his fist to encourage himself.

Seeing this director gradually become confident, Ronald was also very happy and hugged him to celebrate.

"Also, I have also settled the Smithsonian National Museum of American History. They agreed to borrow it for half a day to shoot the auction scene for us."

"Hahaha..." Director Emil Adolino was even happier now. Many American children have visited here when they were young. The character of Sybil Shepherd in the play is the curator of a museum called the First Lady Museum in this national museum.

The museum houses wax figures of all the first ladies, as well as personal belongings donated by them. The most famous one is a pair of earrings from Eleanor Roosevelt.

Ronald contacted the current first lady, Nancy, who was considering making a wax figure for the museum and donating some personal belongings. Ronald asked her and her husband to give a speech in Hollywood after retirement. So the request to rent the museum was quickly resolved with Nancy's "care".

The crew had a good time filming in Maryland, and the news made them very happy and cheered. Being able to film in a real historical building is a very good encouragement for the actors.

"Mary, how do you feel?" Ronald asked Mary Stuart Masterson, who played the daughter and was the youngest actor in the show.

"Miranda is smarter than any other role I've played. You know, I usually play street-smart urchins, pregnant and barefoot." Masterson was very satisfied with the role. She was no longer the rebellious tomboy she used to be, but a rich and talented girl who went to Yale University.

"I heard you acted really well, Emil always praised you to me."

"Hehehe, the high school I went to was a lot like Yale University. It was also like a pressure cooker." Masterson and Deyi, although they didn't go to Yale, they also have experience in that kind of fiercely competitive situation.

"Uh...", Ronald thought, if you had gone, you wouldn't have said that. Yale is a relatively free place. It doesn't have the same unified values ​​as Harvard, and it doesn't have as much pressure as MIT. It is a school where you can work hard and be flat.

"Oh oh oh...Mom is here..."

Ronald saw the leading actress, Sybil Shepherd, whose two eight-month-old twins were on the set every day when she was filming. Two nannies were specially hired to take care of her, one to look after the other. Of course, it was all Ronald's daydream that paid for it.

In order to make her different from the image in the TV series "Blue Moonlight Detective Agency", the crew specially hired a top hairstylist to shorten Sybil's hairstyle by a few inches and make it more conservative.

The costume designer also specially customized several sets of Chinese and Italian fashions for him, mainly in black. This is a main color that Sybil Shepherd has never tried before. When paired with his conservative hairstyle, it is unexpectedly dignified and sexy.

"Where's Robert?", Ronald asked the hero.

"He's been late a lot lately, but he's still very energetic when shooting." Masterson came over and told Ronald.

"Talented actors often have their own preparation methods..." Ronald saw that Masterson did not complain deliberately, but was a relatively naive girl.

"oh……"

On the second day, when it was time to officially shoot, Robert Downey Jr. was indeed late. As a result, Sybil Shepherd went back to be with the twins first. Even though he was called out, he still looked unwilling. The child was so cute and I didn't want to leave them for a moment.

"Every unit is ready..." Director Emil Adolino gave the order, and Sybil Shepard, as the director of the First Lady Museum, walked out slowly... surprising everyone present. This actress, who is approaching forty, is still so charming.

Even Robert Downey Jr. was stunned and visibly stunned. But this is obviously more in line with the character's setting, and he remembered things from his previous life.

"Cut..." Emil Adolino communicated with director of photography William Fleck, "This print has passed."

"Wow, wow, wow..." Amidst everyone's applause, Ronald came over to chat with the director of photography, Frick.

"What technique did you use? Why does the light seem to sparkle when it hits Sybil?"

Ronald was a photographer, and he knew very well that it was not the sudden burst of charm of Sybil Shepard, but some innovations in the lighting arrangement that he had never seen before, which created an enhanced Rembert on Sybil's face. Lang style lighting.

This lighting method first invented by classical oil painters is usually a close-up of the protagonist's face to highlight a dramatic effect and focus the audience's attention on the protagonist's eyes.

But William Freke's technique is stronger than ordinary Rembrandt light, as if her eyes were black gems in the water, gentle and demure.

"This is a little invention of mine. When I was shooting a L'Oréal commercial for Sybil a few years ago, the manufacturer kept asking me to give clearer eye highlights. The way I came up with it, I only used a little Improved light path and some reflective arrangements... haha... what do you think?"

William Flake was a cool technology geek. His proud invention was discovered by Ronald, and he happily explained it to Ronald.

"After you finish filming this movie, you can go to My Daydream with your personal lawyer to find Eddie, the general manager. We Daydream work with many people, such as editor Walter Murch, your invention patent If you license it to us, you can get royalties and sales dividends.”

Ronald liked this kind of little invention very much. Daydream collected a lot of these little things that could add color to the movie, and became a relatively famous special effects equipment sales and rental company in Hollywood.

"Hey? Do you think anyone will buy it?" William Flake didn't know that such a small invention could be patented and sold for money.

"No problem. If you don't know how to do it, go consult a lawyer. These expenses can be reimbursed as long as you sign a contract with Daydream to authorize production." Ronald took out a business card with his company's phone number and handed it over give him.

"Oh..." At this time, the actor Robert Downey Jr. yelled, then tripped his right foot with his left foot and fell to the ground.

"What's wrong?" Everyone stepped forward to see him lying on the ground with a very painful expression. His manager rushed over, took off his shoes, and helped him up.

"Downey had to wear these shoes for these close-up scenes, so he got blisters on his feet..."

"Oh." After hearing the news, Ronald immediately called his assistant and helped Donnie to rest. Robert Downey Jr. is only 5 feet 7 inches. When he plays opposite the tall beauty Sybil Shepard, he has to wear shoes that increase the height in order not to reveal any flaws.

Because Sybil Shepard had bigger cards than him, he couldn't let the actress stand in the dug hole like Tom Cruise did on the set.

"You can't go on like this, Downey. You must stop immediately after filming this movie. Otherwise I will tell Sarah (Jessica Parker)." The manager helped Downey to the trailer. After closing the door, he started talking about Donnie. This man's addiction to alcohol and drugs has reached the point of addiction. If he hadn't been so clever today, the seriousness of it would have been exposed to the producer.

"It doesn't matter, I know..." Downey sniffed, "I'll talk about it after I finish filming."

"Why……"

…

After resolving some of the filming difficulties for the crew, Ronald is going back to Los Angeles.

Things got complicated after those in the Writers Guild issued an ultimatum to the union's negotiators.

The commander-in-chief appointed former friends in Hollywood as special correspondents to mediate the strike. As an important representative of small studios, Ronald was also visited by the special commissioner, who asked him to use his influence to end the strike as soon as possible.

"What can I do?" Ronald shook his head. He didn't want to get involved in this mess.

"This is Nancy's request. She was also a Hollywood star before and she doesn't want to see Hollywood shut down anymore."

"Okay...since it's the First Lady's wish..." Ronald agreed in person.

The correspondent got busy and started visiting some of the Eastern Writers Guild board members.

Ronald called his agent Niceta to find out what was going on.

"Should I make some phone calls and ask them if they can reconcile?"

"You can call the William Morris cast..." Nicita laughed, half-jokingly telling Ronald to go poach.

"You guy..." Ronald hung up the phone and called a few suitable people.

"Michael, do you think there's anything we can do?" Ronald called Michael Douglas. This is the eldest son of a Jewish leader in Hollywood. His presence is much more useful than his own, so you can just follow him.

The writers at the Writers Guild are starving to death anyway, and ending the strike is just a matter of a few more weeks or a few less weeks.

"You called at the right time. We are about to organize a charity sale to raise some temporary relief for those screenwriters who dare to resist."

Michael Douglas was not talking about die-hard unionists who dared to rebel against the Producers Alliance (he also had a production company and was a member of the alliance), but the screenwriters who stood up and rebelled against the union.

The key to breaking the situation now is the writers who threaten the union negotiators and want to quit the union and return to work at the TV station. The voices of these people gradually began to be recognized by the majority of trade union members.

As long as they keep at it, more and more voices will be gathered. Moreover, they are going to work for the three major wireless TV stations, so the TV stations will not be unhappy. Capturing these more than 20 senior screenwriters is the starting point to solve the strike.

The most important thing now is to let these people hold on for a longer time. So we need to raise some money for them so that they can continue to attack chief negotiator Walton.

On the 23rd, formal negotiations resumed under the auspices of federal mediators.

But the negotiators were still unwilling to give up their terms, which was the basis for his ability to continue to gain a foothold in the union.

On the 30th, the negotiations broke down, and the Hollywood production union threatened not to bargain further, but to abandon cooperation with screenwriters and concentrate on producing non-union scripted works.

Ronald, who has returned to Los Angeles, has begun preparations for Cameron Crowe's new film "Love to the Heart".

Just then, Michael Douglas sent an invitation. The charity sale for the Writers Guild was going to be held on the weekend. The other party asked him what exhibits he had that could be included in the auction.

“I have a few Andy Warhol paintings, but they’re just not worth much.”

"It doesn't matter, everyone is doing their best. Just take some pictures of other people's things when the time comes."