Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 126 Fat Boy Director Cimino's Madness

   Kathryn Bigelow, is a tall woman, a full 6 feet tall (1.82 meters), with fluttering blonde hair.

   She wore a white shirt, suit and trousers, with a director's viewfinder hanging around her neck, giving her a heroic look.

   "This is Willem Dafoe, and I asked him to prepare my new film." Catherine introduced Ronald to the scheduled male lead of her new film.

"Hello, hello." Ronald shook hands with the two of them. "To be honest, I think you're more of an actor than a director." Ronald felt that Katherine Bigelow's face was in the light It presents a sense of three-dimensionality and is a good material for being a movie star.

   "I'm better at directing." Catherine Bigelow hates others to ignore her directing talent and only see her beauty.

   "Sorry, I didn't mean that." Ronald saw that the blonde beauty in front of him also had the spirit of an independent woman, and liked to be praised for her professional ability.

"Ronnie, you don't know. Catherine not only got her master's degree in Columbia, but she also teaches there, teaching screenwriting." Little Douglas came over and gave Ronald a formal introduction to Catherine's background. "Last year, she also made a movie Short films, some Hollywood directors appreciate her.”

   "You are already a teacher at Columbia University?" Ronald looked at Katherine, the blonde beauty still looked more like a college student.

   "I'm 29 years old, so there's nothing strange about being a temporary substitute lecturer." Catherine Bigelow shook her hair.

   "29? Are you sure it's not 19?" Ronald said.

   "Hahaha, your friend is much more interesting than you, Doug." Catherine was very happy to be complimented.

   "I would also like to see your short film if I have the chance." Ronald felt that little Douglas was very interested in Catherine, and probably invested a lot in Catherine, "What's the story of your new film?"

   "It's a story about a gang member riding a motorcycle who helps a young girl in a southern town to avenge the murder of her father."

   I didn’t expect the plot of a beautiful woman to make a movie, so retro and rich in male hormones.

   "William is the male lead I ordered, and now we're looking for a movie investment."

   Ronald looked at Douglas Jr. It was one thing to give out thousands of dollars to finance a short film, but to make a feature film was far more than he could sponsor.

   "Sounds really good, kind of like a Roger Coleman movie. Have you got the money?"

   "No no, I'm not making an exploitative film, I want to make a film with profound humanistic meaning" Catherine Bigelow began to talk about her aesthetic design for the film and the conflict in the plot.

   Ronald was a little distracted. If it was made into an exploitative film, some people might invest in it. If a profound humanistic spirit is added, the financing prospects are not very good. Might as well talk about how many exciting scenes, violent shootouts, motorcycle chase scenes.

   But the male protagonist she was looking for is really unique. The actor, Willem Dafoe, has the face of a natural villain. Two gray eyes, with a hooked nose all the time, and when he smiles, he shows a set of teeth that are not very neat. He looks like a sinister and vicious gang boss.

   "So what are your ideas for financing?" Ronald pulled his thoughts back and asked Catherine where the funding for the filming came from.

   "I'll keep trying until Luck comes to me." Catherine understands the hardships of a new director's first film financing.

   "Tell me, how did you find a suitable male lead like William?" Ronald switched the subject to Willem Dafoe.

  William is usually kind, but his smile spoils the atmosphere a bit, "I just came out of the Heaven's Gate crew, and Catherine just happened to find me to talk about a new movie. I read the script and agreed."

   "Heaven's Gate" isn't the last Oscar's best director, Michael Cimino's new film made by United Arts Investment?

  Ronald remembers seeing the news that the crew was starting up in April. It’s already October and the filming hasn’t finished yet?

   "This film took so long? What theme is it about?"

"It's about the Johnson County War of the last century," explained Willem Dafoe, "It's a war between local farmers and new immigrants, and the director wants to show a forgotten history in America." ."

   "That's great, I'll be able to see your performance on the big screen soon." Ronald said politely.

   "Hahaha", Willem Dafoe and Catherine Bigelow laughed together, "No, William's role has been canceled, he was kicked out of the crew."

   "Huh?" Ronald felt something was wrong, "Why do you seem happy?"

   "You don't know, Cimino is a lunatic. I'm very happy to finally be able to get out of that crazy crew and get paid." Willem Dafoe took a sip, and a few people sat down to continue chatting.

Shaking his glass, Willem Dafoe seems to be organizing his own language. "Cimino's demands for detail have gone crazy. Every morning we leave the hotel at 4 am and drive 2 hours to the location to practice. Equestrian and rollerblading."

   "And he himself, at this time of the day, with the female production director, and the female protagonist Isabella Huppert, in the room, in the dark. The crew all said that they had to have a Coke in the morning to get up."

"He was very paranoid about the details. Because a street that was built was not wide enough, he ordered the antique wooden buildings that cost more than 2 million dollars on both sides of the street to be demolished and rebuilt. I just said that if the width is not enough, we can Just demolish one side of the house, and Cimino fired me on the spot."

"I spent months learning the rules of cockfighting in the middle of the United States 100 years ago, and I really had a lot of cockfights with the zookeeper on the set. I don't know how much of my poor cockfighting shots can be left by him. "

   Ronald became more and more schadenfreude until he heard that Cimino was demolished and rebuilt because the setting did not meet the requirements. United Arts is really rich. The $2 million set fee alone is enough for him and Catherine Bigelow to make a feature film for one person. There is still a lot left.

   "Is the production company just letting him waste like this?" Douglas Jr. was also someone who had a concept of $2 million, and asked the question in Ronald's mind.

   "Because he's the best director at the Oscars?" Ronald guessed.

   "No, not even the best director at the Oscars." Catherine Bigelow stayed in Los Angeles some time ago, had a lot of parties with many people in the industry, and knew some inside stories.

   "I met Milos Forman, the director of "Flying Over the Cuckoo's Nest" in Hollywood. His new film is also released by United Arts.

Since the top executives of United Arts left last year and founded the new company Orion, the new management appointed by Pan American wanted to prove their ability, so they hired Michael Cimino to direct a new film and wanted to make this film into 007 , Rocky's model of box office success.

   So they gave Cimino a lot of power, and Cimino was a successful game of power player who, in the game with the new management, won the heroine's decision-making power, and more and more additional budget.

   In addition, the production manager on the scene is his little fan girl, and everything follows him. I heard that Heaven's Gate's budget has increased from $4 million at the beginning to more than $30 million. United Arts is running out of cash, and Milos Forman's next film has not been funded by United Arts and is looking for a new studio. "

   "A strong new Oscar best director, a weak manager who has just been promoted, will become this crazy crew only if he has to make achievements."

"The crew has gone crazy now. The day before I left, Cimino filmed a scene where people were whipped with a whip. It was shot repeatedly for a full day. It has been filming for 7 months, and more than half of the plot has not been filmed. I think the actors are also very tired. No more rebellion," added Willem Dafoe.

   Over $30 million? Plus interest, rounded up to the nearest 40 million? Ronald understands Catherine and William's mentality a bit. Many people in the industry don't like Fat Cimino, waiting to see his jokes.

"If it goes on like this, the crew is going to get out of control, right?" Ronald has no experience with this kind of big production, but he shouldn't sit and watch this kind of thing happen if he wants to come to United Arts, "Why don't they fire Cimino and change the What about a director who finishes shooting?"

   Little Douglas also nodded. He was raised by his family since he was a child. If this happened in other businesses, he should have stopped his losses and changed coaches.

   "Who says they don't have this idea, the problem is that they can't find any famous directors who are willing to pick up this mess."

"Milos Forman told me that Lianyi once contacted him to rescue the scene, but he watched Cimino's sample footage, all of which were lengthy scenes and shot dozens or twenty times. Even if he took over, he wouldn't be able to. Using previous footage, his original words were 'this **** only Cimino knows how to edit'."

   Katherine Bigelow said.

   "If you are allowed to go, would you like it?"

   "Of course I do. The big deal is to do it all over again. I'm very fast. I only made the short film that Doug funded for 5 days."

"I heard they were convincing the legendary British director, 'Lawrence of Arabia' director David Lean to take over at the cost of United Arts investing in David Lean's next film, 'Captain Bligh and Mr Christian'. That The movie Mr. Lean has been planned for three years."

   Several people sighed about "Heaven's Gate", especially the two young aspiring directors, who were calculating how many films they could make with $30 million.

   "The chief commander signed an executive order to allow the deposed Persian king Pahlavi to enter the country to treat his illness." A person changed TV channels and accidentally jumped to CBS News, which was broadcasting new news about Persia.

   "When will Persia go back to normal and oil prices go back to normal?" Someone began to complain loudly.

   Several people looked at Amir, an alumnus of Katherine Bigelow, a Persian student.

"I don't know either. I heard that the new regime's Grand Ayatollah has threatened to send the former King Pahlavi back to his country for trial, otherwise he will launch... I am very worried about the safety of my family, and I hope that the Grand Commander of America Fulfill his wishes."

   "America's high commander will not accept such a threat." Ronald shook his head secretly.

   I held a meeting with the client until 1:30 in the morning yesterday, which delayed the update in the afternoon. My apologies to the readers. Will make up today.

   (end of this chapter)