Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Ronald finally returned home in New York, he fell asleep for a day, and left all the strange experiences of this trip to Europe behind him.

  Early the next morning, he received another call from Nisita, "Ronald, Spielberg has something to do with you."

   "What is he looking for from me?" Ronald felt strange, but still called Spielberg. "Steven, is there anything I can do for you?"

   "Aha, Ronald, I have something I want to ask you."

   "Hey?" Ronald thought, has he gotten to the point where even Spielberg wants to ask for advice?

   "If you find it inconvenient to say it, you don't have to say it..."

   "Ask." Ronald felt more and more strange.

   "I heard that your Dirty Dancing made a lot of money on the video tape, can you tell me if this rumor is true?" Spielberg expressed envy in his voice on the other end of the phone.

   "Big money doesn't count. What I win is that the sales volume is stable, and tens of thousands of boxes can be sold every quarter." Ronald said a general figure.

   "Is that true? Do you have any secrets? Why is your pricing different from others?" Spielberg became more interested when he spoke.

  “There’s no secret. If there is, it’s what you said, price the videotapes cheaper. Now a box of videotapes usually sells for eighty or ninety dollars. I set it at less than forty dollars, so everyone thinks it’s more cost-effective.”

"Aren't you afraid of piracy? Videotape piracy is much easier than film copying." When Spielberg's "ET Alien" was released, he encountered the largest piracy group in American history. I have lingering fears, so I have always refused to release the video tape of my own movie.

   "My dear Steven, haven't you heard of Macrovision anti-theft technology?" Ronald laughed, how much this director hates piracy. Since the lawsuit between Sony and Universal was pronounced in the Supreme Court, new video recorders have been added with Macrovision anti-counterfeiting chips.

   As a result, Spielberg didn't release videotapes because of the movies, and he didn't know how to deal with this industry. Although this cannot 100% prevent pirates and some viewers who bought the VCR before the verdict from being transcribed, it is nothing compared to the amazing profits of the video tape.

   "I have to be cautious, copyright protection is the lifeline of our directors." Spielberg does not think that one technology can prevent the proliferation of piracy, he is going to take a multi-pronged approach and add some anti-theft technology. However, since Ronald also said that the low price is the secret to the success of his video tapes, it seems that there is nothing wrong. The debate within Ambowlin could have a result.

   Ronald, who put down the phone, called Cannold, who was daydreaming. They might need to adjust the price of the video tape. I have made a fortune in the video tape business for more than half a year, but it was finally spread.

   It is estimated that other major studios will lower the retail price of video tapes to obtain higher sales. After discussing with everyone, we decided to lower the retail price to just over 30 dollars and make preparations first.

  After experiencing this strange trip to Europe, Ronald wanted to spend more time with his family. In addition to work and entertainment, you should also go home and enjoy the company of your family.

   Immediately, he went back to Staten Island and spent two days with Aunt Karen, and the two chatted about many things. Recharged Ronald's spirit.

   After sorting out his mood, Ronald was also at home on Staten Island, finishing the end of the script. He called and invited Nora Ephron, and Carrie Fisher, who participated in the script writing as a script doctor, to have a script discussion weekend and finalize the script as soon as possible.

  …

   "Oh, how did you come up with this ending? I think it echoes all the previous details, and it's also very powerful. I cried."

  Nora Ephron was very excited when she saw the ending written by Ronald. In the end, Harry missed Sally very much on New Year's Eve. He couldn't get the renter, so he had to put on his running shoes and ran to the New Year's Eve event that Sally attended.

   Just when Sally felt lonely and left early, she arrived at the scene. Sally hated Harry for always staying in the friend stage like this. Every time he wanted to move forward, he backed away, trying to cut off the relationship completely, and he appeared in front of him again. The two can't keep this ambiguous relationship going.

  And Harry said something that touched Sally very much. He didn't come to hang Sally. Instead, he already wanted to understand that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. Harry, who wanted to understand, didn't want to waste a moment, and wanted to start life with Sally as soon as possible.

  Finally, there are interviews with elderly couples throughout the film. This time it was Harry and Sally's turn to be interviewed. In the sweet narration of the two, the whole play ends.

   "Yeah, how did you figure it out?" Carrie Fisher was also surprised. She originally thought that Ronald's screenwriting skills were no more than that, but after seeing this cohesive ending, she immediately understood that it was a master's handwriting.

   All the foreshadowings in front all point to the fact that Harry and Sally will part ways. But just when the audience was worried that the two would not be able to "live happily ever after", Ronald gave a reversal reasonably.

   And that special ending merged with the main line of another pseudo-documentary. It is very similar to the golden pen of Hollywood, Billy Wilder's handwriting.

   "Did you ask Mr. Wilder for advice?" Everyone is a professional screenwriter, and they all smell extraordinary from this twists and turns ending.

   "Just like the way you wrote...", Ronald smiled.

  This script actually includes a lot of personal life details of Nora Ephron and the original director Rob Reiner. For example, Ephron likes to be picky when ordering food, and Rainer and his wife are divorcing. All kinds of details have been changed into the script.

   And Carrie Fisher also added some of her own life, such as Harry and Jess, Sally and Mary, two pairs of friends who like to talk on the phone before going to bed.

   "Oh?" Carrie Fisher and Nora Ephron exchanged glances, and they knew that Ronald meant that he also drew materials from his own experience to write this ending.

   Ronald is not married yet, who is he regretting missing out with? The gossip hearts of the two screenwriters began to burn.

   "I think this script is more suitable for a plain and meaningful name, it is called 'When Harry Met Sally', what do you think?" Ronald also hopes to complete his unfinished things in the movie.

   "Sounds great", "This name is very good", Fisher and Ephron became more curious about Ronald's encounter with Europe this time.

   "That's it, the rest of the parts, I will leave it to you to continue to improve. Fill in the details as soon as possible, and come up with the finished draft of the entire script. We can start shooting."

  Now that the most difficult ending has been overcome, the two women said that there is no problem, and they will come up with a complete script as soon as possible.

   Both of them are professional screenwriters. Since Carrie Fisher played Star Wars for the last time, she has gradually lost control of her figure and is gradually turning behind the scenes. And Ephron is a screenwriter who has worked hard all the way from the bottom of Hollywood. Moreover, the two are women, and Ronald may not be able to write better than the two of them.

  …

   "ET alien videotapes are available in major video rental stores, as well as Wal-Mart supermarkets."

  Spielberg's videotape is finally on the market.

   Ronald went to Blockbuster to buy a box, but he had to wait in line for 20 minutes to get it. The advertising bombardment of major TV stations and the initial small-scale listing made it difficult for many customers to find a video tape.

   This movie, which was released more than five years ago, is still very popular with the audience. The content of the family carnival, the children are the protagonists and the adventures of aliens. Many parents want to buy a box to keep at home. It is also a very honorable thing for children to invite children to play at home.

   "Steven set the price at $24.95 all of a sudden," Ronald called Daydreaming's Michelle Cannold. Discuss countermeasures.

   "Yeah, let alone buying here, I can't even rent it." Kannold also lamented. As soon as "ET Aliens" went on the market, it immediately won the weekend videotape sales champion and Blockbuster rental champion. Ronald's "Dirty Dancing" was immediately pushed back.

"He also used special packaging and anti-counterfeiting marks, really paid for it." Ronald was holding the "ET Alien" videotape in his hand. The tape on it was not the usual black plastic, but A piece of green plastic is specially used, which is very conspicuous at a glance.

  In a row of black videotapes, the green stands out so much that the audience can never miss it.

   On the textured surface of the carton packaging, there is also a Universal Pictures sticker. The words laser anti-counterfeiting are written on it. Much like the anti-counterfeiting mark on a credit card, it can reflect colorful light when illuminated under the light.

   "ET is back, the dorky alien, making America's kids happy again..."

  Many newspapers are reporting the phenomenon-level videotape debut results of "ET Aliens". A movie that has been in the past for so many years actually won the double title of rental and sales as soon as it was released, which really shocked Hollywood.

   At the same time, there are videotapes on the market, as well as Disney's old film "Cinderella". More than thirty-five years of classics are the focus of Disney's distribution strategy. Unexpectedly, the number of pre-sales is less than half of that of "ET Alien", which was rushed to the market.

   There is also a special green video tape protection port, which makes this video tape a topic beyond the film and television circle. Everyone still remembers how ET even broke the box office record back then, and they only have fond memories of this movie.

  For a while, the sales of videotapes increased rapidly, breaking the sales speed records of Ronald's "Top Gun" and "Dirty Dancing".

  On the first weekend alone, the rental records of video chain stores across the country exceeded two million, and it is still growing rapidly.

   "Why are they selling like crazy?" In the second week, Ronald was surprised by the news.

   "The number of rentals of ET videotapes has exceeded 6 million. The sales figure has not been disclosed by An Bolin and Universal, but according to the estimates of the market research company, it is not much different from the number of rentals.

  Seeing that a big player like Universal has also discovered a huge business opportunity, Ronald knew that the time to quietly make a fortune in the video tape market was over.

   But what is gratifying is that the sales of his cash cow "Dirty Dancing" have not declined, and have remained stable. The long-term sales of this video tape have been very good, and if it is sold quietly like this, it is estimated that no one who is interested will not find out.

   "The reason why ET aliens are still popular..."

  Roger Ebert, and Sisko, also talked about the ET videotape phenomenon in the weekly film review program.

"I watched it again last night, and I wanted to quote Rolling Stone's comment that Spielberg is this 'space-age' Jean Renoir." Ge has grasped the greatest aesthetic common denominator of the whole people, and he likes it from the age of six to eighty.

"The word space age is very important. In addition to the superb performance of the child actors, the special effects of this movie are also a product of the space age. Five years later, we watched the video tape on TV, and the special effects of ET are still amazing. .Especially the shot of Elliott riding a bicycle across the moon with ET, my kids are very excited every time they watch it.”

   When Ronald saw this, his heart moved.

   Indeed, after more than five years, Hollywood's special effects images have not improved much. Now it is not beyond the level of ET aliens.

  ET's videotapes can sell so well, and it must be a very important reason why children can watch this special effect spectacle at home.

  Green video tapes, laser anti-counterfeiting, and aliens flying over the moon, children will naturally like it when they see such things.

  Perhaps, this kind of visual spectacle that surpasses the imagination of ordinary people and can only be seen on the screen is the most important reason why ET lasts forever.

  Ronald tapped his fingers on the table. Things that cannot be seen on TV are the biggest reason for those people to go to the cinema.

   What can’t be seen can be model special effects, actors’ delicate performances, or computer special effects promoted by Spielberg and George Lucas.

  Maybe, after Moore's Law plays its role two or three times, the rules that determine the box office of movies will change a lot? Whoever can obtain Hollywood's special effects production ability will have the monopoly ability.

  Ronald thought of "The Abyss" that his friend James Cameron was preparing. After all, he himself does not understand technology, so it may be the right time to visit a class and ask the Hollywood director who has the most research on special effects besides Lucas.

   "Why are you here?" Cameron didn't expect Ronald to visit the class again. Knowing that Ronald came here for the development of special effects, he was also very happy, "The containment of the nuclear power plant has been filled with enough water, and tomorrow I will dive down by myself to see the effect of the underwater camera."

   "Eh... it won't be dangerous?" Ronald is very comfortable with flying, but he is always afraid of underwater things. Maybe it was his grandfather who died in a plane crash in the Atlantic that year.

"Haha, I go diving in the Atlantic Ocean every year. This still water is nothing, there is no danger, unless you go up too fast and you will have diving sickness. Would you like to go down with me? I will watch you." Cameron said there is no danger, he has taken the senior diving instructor certificate.

   "Ah, no, I have a fear of diving, (Divingphobia.

   "Haha, it's okay, it's safe for me to take you down, the underwater world is fascinating."

   "I know, with you here, I'm unlikely to have an accident, but why take the risk?" Ronald declined again.

   "Well, your loss..." Cameron didn't expect Ronald to have something to be afraid of.

  Not tonight