Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"This is one of the three pairs of earrings worn by Marilyn Monroe in 'Some Like It Hot'. They are made of rhinestones..."

Up for auction at a charity auction for screenwriters in Los Angeles is a pair of Marilyn Monroe earrings. Although shiny and beautiful, it is not worth the money. This was donated by a collector named Kent Warner. He used to work in the prop department of MGM and had many "liberated" movie props on his hands.

"One thousand and fifty, are there any more bids? Two thousand? Two thousand five? Three thousand? Three thousand two times, three thousand three times. It belongs to No. 68 Ronald Lee. Thank him for his contribution to the screenwriters of the Writers Guild. contribute."

Ronald stood up and greeted everyone. On such occasions, they are all small items that everyone brings to make up the numbers. The commemorative value is higher than the real value.

Ronald handed the number plate to Helen Slater who was standing next to him. This pair of earrings has some commemorative meaning and is not expensive. It just suits Helen's personality of advocating environmental protection and recycling items. She was very happy to have the opportunity to wear Monroe's earrings.

"Next to be auctioned is a relic of Miss Marilyn Monroe. A pair of Salvatore Ferragamo brand stiletto heels she wore. The starting bid is three thousand dollars."

Ronald will not sell this. Second-hand jewelry and earrings have the souvenir value of classic movies and are acceptable. These shoes are not the right size...

But these stiletto heels are really beautiful. The scarlet satin upper is inlaid with hundreds of artificial gemstones and rhinestones, which are sparkling. You can imagine how sexy Monroe looked wearing it.

"Five thousand dollars, okay, five thousand, six thousand, eight thousand..."

Ronald doesn’t want it, but there are still many people who want it. Soon the price was raised to 20,000, and it is still growing.

"Thirty-five thousand dollars...belonging to Mr. Hugh Hefner."

Ronald smiled, this was the action of the founder of Playboy. There were rumors in Hollywood that he was obsessed with Monroe, whose nude photo was used on the cover of the first issue of Playboy. Whenever there was an auction of Monroe's belongings, he was always there.

His needs are different from others. As long as they are clothes, shoes and items that were used personally by Monroe, he collects them all. But I didn’t buy any jewelry or other relics.

"Let us thank Mr. Hugh Hefner and Ms. Anna Strasbourg..." the auctioneer said, and both the buyer and the seller stood up to pay tribute. "Next is Elizabeth Taylor's costume from the movie 'A Little Night Music'..."

Ronald felt sick. This Anna was the legacy of Lee Strasberg from the Actors Studio. Lee Strasberg was the executor of Monroe's will during his lifetime, but he kept all the things that Monroe left to relatives and friends in the will as his own. Now every time there is an auction of Hollywood star items like this, They would take out a few items to earn money and favors.

Ronald thought about the past when Lee Strasberg held random training classes, taught emotional memory techniques, and made the actors cry. Perhaps Monroe, who was pursuing acting skills, also became depressed because of this unnatural method.

On the contrary, this couple, relying on Monroe's fame to make such bad money, really set a very bad example for future acting teachers.

"Ronnie, it's time for your painting..." Helen reminded Ronald, who was lost in thought.

"Oh..." Ronald put the eight Andy Warhol paintings he bought this time, including some that were not about Monroe, as auction items and submitted them to this auction. I bought a pair of them for 3,000 yuan at that time, so it would be best to get my money back and sell them this time.

"Three thousand dollars, do you want three thousand dollars..."

The auctioneer on the stage began to lengthen his tone, change various tricks, and sell to the people present. But everyone is not stupid. How can this kind of printed matter be compared with what other painters create with brushes?

"Okay, the gentleman behind you wants to bid three thousand, three thousand. Is there anything higher?"

The auctioneer saw that the auction was about to fail, and everyone looked unhappy, so he pointed back vaguely, as if there was really someone bidding there. This heated up the atmosphere at the scene and also sent a signal to other buyers that this thing was not junk.

"Three thousand, three thousand, is there anyone with a higher bid?" The auctioneer's face didn't look good. What kind of garbage is this? I made a virtual bid, but why are there no bidders? He looked at Ronald, you'd better buy it yourself.

Ronald didn't understand this, so he treated it as if he couldn't see it. Anyway, there was someone who was being taken advantage of and paid, so it would be best if he paid without losing money.

"Three thousand and five..." Helen had seen many charity auctions in New York and knew what this was about. She smiled and held up the sign, bought it and gave it to Ronald as a gift. Anyway, he also gave himself a pair of earrings of about the same price.

"Why did you buy it? If you want it, I'll give it to you." Ronald felt in his heart that this was not a waste of money. In addition to the auction price, there is also a handling fee.

"Hehe... you don't understand either..." Helen smiled and told Ronald the inside story.

"Hey, I really fell into David Geffen's trap."

"It's so beautiful..." Back at the hotel, Ronald put the necklace Monroe once wore on Helen. The most important thing about accessories like jewelry is not the material or the design, but that it must match the temperament of the owner.

Helen Slater has a rather indifferent temperament. When she wears these artificial ryndrite earrings, she feels like a girl who supports environmental protection. They look just as good as the original diamond earrings.

Perhaps Monroe's blessing also gave Ronald some psychological hints. He always felt that Helen was very beautiful tonight.

"Thank you... Ronald." Helen closed her eyes and accepted Ronald's kiss.

"Thank you, didn't you return the painting to me?" Ronald didn't want it at first, so he gave it to Helen as a gift. But Helen didn't like to take advantage of others, so she gave it back to Ronald.

Thinking that Helen couldn't sell it even if she took it, and it took up space. Ronald thought, I'd better find other ways to compensate her.

"How is your preparation for filming?" Ronald asked Helen. The movie "Deep Love" will start shooting soon. As the heroine, although she is already a 24-year-old woman, she is in a very happy mood, and she is talented and good. It doesn't feel out of place to play a high school student.

After all, this kind of romantic love comedy of middle school students requires slightly older actors to play. The audience is also used to it.

"Let me show you my preparations..." Helen left Ronald's arms, put on her silk pajamas, and cleared her throat. "I took some college courses this year, and I got a glimpse of the future. All I can say to you is, let's go back to the present..."

"Haha..." Ronald laughed. Cameron Crowe's script was very interesting. It was a kind of cold humor, teasing that the challenges in the future were too great, and everyone would miss their high school days.

However, this kind of humor is not difficult for experienced people to understand, so after the heroine played by Helen in the script finished speaking, the whole audience was silent, and only the male protagonist understood and laughed.

"You are very well prepared," Ronald hugged Helen in his arms again, and the touch through the silk was very good.

"Well... well... what do you think of my preparations?" Helen resisted Ronald with all her strength, and she insisted on an evaluation.

"You are indeed suitable for this kind of idol drama."

"Well... well... well," Helen refused, and hit Ronald a few times to protest, but still did not resist the other's arm, and they stuck together tightly.

…

The one million donations raised on the spot were sent to the members of the Writers Guild who initiated the rebellion.

With money, these people have weapons. As long as they agree with their plan and reconcile with the Producers Guild, they will be given relief money. If they disagree and still stubbornly support the negotiating representative Walton and fight the Producers Guild, they can ask him for money.

Soon, the screenwriters who got the money had their first income in so many months. After returning home, they saw the smiling faces of their families. The wife's frown began to relax, and the child's words that he could finally watch the TV series written by his father on TV still made many screenwriters put down their knots.

Isn't it just a profit from the scripts sold to overseas TV stations and theaters? Now I don't know if I can write a TV program that can be broadcasted overseas for more than an hour. The union has obtained the screenwriter's right to advise directors and actors, which already represents the victory of this strike.

Taking advantage of the opportunity of the screenwriters' exhaustion, Nick Kuhnt, president of the Producers Guild, immediately began shuttle diplomacy. He first met with the film screenwriters of the Western Writers Guild and won their support, which was only half the number of the Eastern Writers Guild.

Then they boarded a chartered plane and flew to New York to negotiate with the Eastern Writers Guild. The special envoy sent by the President also attended the meeting of both parties as a supervisor, supervising that both parties must negotiate in a "goodwill and good" atmosphere.

The result was very smooth. The hardliners headed by the negotiating representative Walton became the weak party within the union. The new negotiating team came from the hidden stakes of large studios represented by 20th Century Fox and Universal, whose productions were mostly domestic screenwriter teams.

After their efforts, a new negotiation plan was drawn up, and the labor-capital contract negotiations were scheduled to be held again in Los Angeles three days later.

In this way, only three wireless TV stations and Warner Brothers, a Hollywood studio, were left hoping that the strike would continue.

…

Ronald called the screenwriters he had worked with, and also helped this last, last, last negotiation to proceed smoothly. Now they are all rich people, and they all hope that the strike will end as soon as possible. The TV broadcasts and the remaining dividends from the videotapes that Ronald's movies brought them were not affected by the strike, so the strike would not hurt their quality of life.

These people do have some appeal in some circles, such as Shanley, the screenwriter of "Moonlight". After winning the Oscar, he had a lot of influence on Broadway. Under his encouragement, more than 30 screenwriters stood up to support the conclusion of the labor-management agreement.

On August 2, the negotiations finally took place. Walton, the negotiating representative of the Writers Guild, had a bitter face, but finally shook hands with Nick Kuhnt of the Producers Guild. After a whole night of marathon talks, the two sides finally gave in. In most places, the new agreement was completed in accordance with the proposal of the Producers Guild.

The dividends from overseas distribution are still only applicable to film and television projects with a length of more than one hour. The screenwriters also got a symbolic right to make suggestions on the creation. In fact, these are all minor details. The most important clause in this agreement is that screenwriters can join the crew to work before the agreement is voted on by members of both parties, and it will not be regarded as a strike that violates the union.

The American legal system has the power to do so. In other words, the strike is not voluntary but compulsory. Anyone who wants to go to work will be violently stopped by the picket team.

With the temporary work agreement released, the system that allowed union members to supervise and report each other immediately became invalid. Everyone hurried back to earn money, and those who tried to persuade them would be regarded as fools. The spirit of unity and determination to fight capital to the end was also discouraged.

Soon, Johnny Carson and David Letterman's talk shows first welcomed the return of writers. The quality of the program instantly increased, and the ratings were higher than before the strike. Those writers also secretly saved a lot of jokes during the strike.

Ronald also quickly seized the opportunity to let Cameron Crowe's "Deep Love" crew start work immediately.

"You should give the order, Cameron..."

After the crew's brief opening ceremony, Ronald saw that Cameron Crowe did not move, so he had to whisper a reminder in his ear.

"Ah... yes, yes... we'll start right away..." Cameron Crowe seemed to have not recovered from the surprise of his wife coming to support him. He rarely saw the admiring look in the eyes of his rock star wife Nancy recently.

"You have to tell the director of photography what kind of picture you need, and then he will help you get it." Seeing that Cameron was a little too happy and at a loss, Ronald had to continue directing.

"I want a shot of Helen (Slater) and John (Cusack) talking at a 45-degree angle..." Crowe, who finally came to his senses, began to express his ideas.

"Huh..." Ronald breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, he was here today to support the team.

Unlike Herbert Ross, the director of "Steel Magnolias", who was overconfident and too strong on the scene. Cameron Crowe's problem is that he is not confident enough. He has been a screenwriter for several years and finally waited for the opportunity to direct his own work. With all the challenges coming, he was a little overwhelmed.

"A!"

The first command of Cameron Crowe to start shooting finally came from the loudspeaker. The low sound of the motor of the video recorder witnessed the birth of a new Hollywood director.

Ronald watched the entire shoot, and Helen really acted in her true colors. She was very good at this kind of smart and beautiful role that was well protected since childhood. Or maybe this was her true personality, which was reflected in her reaction with John Cusack.

John Cusack was from a theater background, and like his sister Joan, he was a veteran in acting. Combined with Helen's characteristics, the two performed very smoothly.

"Cut!"

Crowe looked at the director of photography and producer Polly Pratt. After getting the gesture that it was all right, he finally felt relieved.

"Let's take a break, and then shoot the scene of the hero and heroine at the school graduation ceremony."

No one listened to Crowe's order, dismantling the camera, looking at each other, not knowing what to say.

Finally, everyone's eyes were focused on Ronald.

"Hey, Cameron, come here." Ronald almost laughed out loud. Cameron Crowe didn't understand shooting. Did he think that a movie was shot from beginning to end shot by shot?

"Do you know the Hollywood method, the rule of one main shot and two over-the-shoulder shots?"

"What?" Crowe looked confused, obviously not knowing.

"This is the working method passed down from the golden age of Hollywood. One main shot explains the scene and characters, and then shoot an over-the-shoulder shot. You have just finished shooting Helen's part, and you have to turn the camera to shoot an over-the-shoulder shot of Cusack talking to her. Then there is the close-up shot of the two people, also called a reaction shot, which is used to edit to hear each other talking and the character's reaction..."

Seeing this, Ronald had to repeat the ten-minute directing crash course that Roger Corman taught him to Cameron Crowe.

"The most important rule of being a director is to find a place to sit down and rest anytime and anywhere on the set. You will walk a lot and stand for a long time. Do you see the stool with your name on it? Sit down and rest when you have time. Being a director is a very tiring job, you have to stick to it. Otherwise, you might as well go back to being a screenwriter."

"I understand", Cameron Crowe has a high level of comprehension. After listening to Ronald's crash course, he immediately shot well.

As Crowe gradually got better, Ronald walked aside and told producer Polly Pratt, "I'll leave this to you. If he has any questions, help him more. If you can't solve it, call me."

"You trust him too much. He became a director without knowing how to shoot an over-the-shoulder shot."

"That's okay. Orson Welles didn't know these things when he shot "Citizen Kane", so he was able to create a special photography style." Ronald believes that people's talents are more important than those Hollywood dogmas.

However, it seems that Polly will have to stay with the crew for a long time to help Crowe solve some technical problems that he can't handle, and help him establish his directorial authority. The idea of ​​transferring Polly Pratt to the "Steel Magnolias" crew to suppress Herbert Ross after the shooting went smoothly was ruined again.

After Herbert Ross left, he started to speak rudely to Julia Roberts and Dolly Parton again.

Diane secretly called Ronald and expressed her concern. Several actresses felt uncomfortable. If things continued like this, the crew's performance would be in trouble, and Ronald had to solve it.

The job of a producer is like that of a public middle school principal. Not only do you have to arrange a comfortable environment for students and teachers, but if someone is naughty, you have to keep them in school and give them a lecture in the principal's office.