Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 21 Silence is golden

The man went on to say: "The second group of directors is not a high-level artistic creation, but just shooting some scenes. Why does it have to be Joe? Jerry said that there are still some small problems with the assistant's shooting, but New World Productions' director Movie, which one is okay? It's just some shots from the second set. I don't understand why it doesn't work."

   He may not know that this assistant is Ronald who is present.

   There was a moment of silence, which is certainly a viable solution to the problem, but... Roger Coleman is not a philanthropist. Jerry Zucker was obviously playing him, and he couldn't let him go with a frivolous remark.

   Ronald did not expect that it would be his turn to drop a big cake so quickly. I was overjoyed: "Yes, that's right, my level is good, let me be the director of the second group, then I can join the director's union. Even the lowest-level assistant director can fool people with a membership card and shoot. Audition photos."

   But he had a serious expression, his lips were closed, and he didn't say a word.

Roger Coleman coughed: "The essence of this matter is a matter of integrity. Jerry signed a contract and must perform it. Don't you sign a $3.5 million shooting contract with Paramount, and Warner will pay 7 million tomorrow. The budget asks you to shoot, and you give up Paramount and go to Warner?"

Jerry Zucker **** for tat: "It's not about more money and less money, it's about the rules of the industry. We spent 5 years on this film, and it took us 5 years to slowly polish it to what we are now. Your request, actually broke Our only chance in 5 years and it's against the rules of the industry. It's a dream for the three of us, stay out of the way, Roger."

   He picked up the coffee and took a sip: "It's not unreasonable for us. In addition to refunding the advance salary you gave me, I can also be responsible for the salary of the second group of directors for the remaining days."

  Roger Coleman pondered for a moment: "But you've already shot two-thirds of the workload, and I can't find someone to replace your work." After speaking, he glanced at Ronald indifferently.

  Roger Coleman specifically emphasized the two-thirds number, which was an implicit reminder to Ronald not to jump out of bad things. Even if Ronald takes over the shooting now, the directors' union will not send him an invitation to join the club, because the number of shots is not enough, and the second group of directors still have to sign Jerry Zucker.

   Ronald understood the hint, so he maintained a straight sitting posture, bowed his head slightly, looked serious, and said nothing. But it was like a roller coaster in my heart: "No way, there must be a way to bypass this regulation."

"No one stipulates that a crew can only have one second crew, right?" Sure enough, Jerry Zucker jumped out, and he needed to add more fire and let Ronald take over before he could get out, "Just take the remaining 5 days The shooting volume, as a separate two-group shooting task, then the person who takes over will complete the entire shooting volume.”

  Jerry Zucker also hinted at Ronald, as long as there are two second-team directors, he can get the opportunity to join the director's union. It would be best if Ronald could volunteer himself. Everyone looked at Ronald again.

  Ronald remains silent. This kind of thing cannot be recommended... Besides, the boss, Roger Coleman, is not the only one who chooses...

  Silence has a powerful force, like a huge black hole. Everyone wants to say something to fill this black hole and free themselves from the gravitational force of the black hole.

  Roger Coleman also took a sip of coffee, knowing in his heart that he had no cards in his hand to stop Jerry Zack from running away. There is no card to force Joe Dante to give up on the scene to help his good friend Director Allen and go to the second set. But he didn't want to admit defeat so soon.

  He decided to make a final struggle:

   "Usually, a person who has been a signed director will not go back to be the director of the second group, but considering the current situation of the crew, we need someone who is familiar with the crew and has experience..."

  This time, everyone looked at co-director Joe Dante in unison.

   Long, embarrassing silence...

  Ronald's heart was beating so fast that he could hear the thumping sound in his chest. His throat started to dry, then itchy, and he couldn't help coughing, but he still tried his best to suppress and maintain this expressionless silence.

   Because he knew that the key to whether he could get the membership card of the Directors Guild was these few minutes. He must show the core competitiveness that once suffered from "aphasia" - pretending to be dumb.

   After a long time, no one answered Roger Coleman. Everyone seemed to dare not speak or change their sitting positions, for fear that people would mistakenly think that they had something to say, and even their muscles began to stiffen.

   In the end, Joe Dante, who was under the pressure of everyone's eyes, broke the silence and said:

"I think Alan's body is still very weak, and it is risky for me to leave him at this time, and it is not in line with the obligations between friends. The samples shot yesterday have fully demonstrated Ronald's directing ability and Artistic talent. I think setting up a new second-team filming crew, with him in charge, can completely complete the second-team shooting…”

  Bingo!

   Before Joe Dante could finish, Jerry Zucker stood up to shake Ronald's hand, "So we'll be all right."

   Ronald politely waited for Joe Dante, shaking his hand first to thank him, then to his boss Roger Coleman, and finally to Jerry Zucker.

  Jerry, already in ecstasy, pulled out his checkbook, wrote $600, signed it, and handed it to Roger Coleman. The trio walked away happily.

The Colemans walked up to Ronald, and Roger reached out and shook his hand: "You ask Gail to get the contact information of the second group of photographers, and I will let Gail put your information in 'Rock High School'. Director employment form, sent to the director's union."

   "Okay, Mr. Coleman, thank you very much."

  Roger waved his hand and was ready to leave.

   The proprietress, Julie Coleman, did not leave immediately. She also shook hands with Ronald and chatted: "How is your college application, Ronald?"

"I applied to two public universities in New York State because I'm a New Yorker." Ronald liked the professional woman's demeanor, "but I'd like to apply to a few more film schools, and working in the New World makes I fell in love with movies, so I wanted to try it."

   "Have you decided yet? The application deadline seems to be approaching."

   "I know very little about it, and I'd appreciate it if you could give me some pointers, Mrs. Coleman."

   "Just call me Julie", Julie Coleman sat down again and gave Ronald an analysis of the film major in college.

"The University of California is close to Hollywood, and the film department is relatively strong. There are UCLA (University of Los Angeles) and USC (University of Southern California), which are very good. New York is close to Broadway, where the training of stage actors is very strong, and the film major is slightly NYU (New York University) and Columbia University both have good majors. However, there are not many film practitioners in New York, so the job market for undergraduates is not as good as Los Angeles.”

   "Are there any scholarships to attend these schools?" Ronald asked.

   "There are some very few scholarships, mainly for students from other countries outside the United States."; the proprietress Julie smiled, he heard Gale talk about Ronald's situation, and knew that the boy in front of him was not rich.

"If you major in film, you need to prepare some other expenses. In addition to tuition, book fees, and miscellaneous fees, the graduation project of film majors is to make a short film. But the school does not have this money and must raise it by itself. Or find sponsors."

  hh..., at least $20,000 in filming fees, which is more expensive than tuition. Ronald has a headache.

"But don't worry, with your artistic talent, it's not difficult to find some lucrative jobs in New York. New York is the largest advertising center in the world, and there are dozens of commercials on Madison Street every day to shoot, and you have a director's union card. , you can try to shoot commercials for them.”

   Ronald was grateful and thanked the proprietress Julie for his guidance.

   "If you need a letter of recommendation, you can come to Roger, or to me."

   After saying that, they put on the arm of her husband Roger, and the two walked out.

  The proprietress Julie knows her husband Roger's habits, and she is not happy when the cost of filming goes up. What's more, two things come together today, losing the cheap labor of Jerry Zucker, and losing the extremely potential and future cheap labor Ronald Lee. But she also knew that, apart from being a bit stingy, her husband Roger was a rare and kind person in the film industry, and he did not embarrass Ronald, but gave him a chance.

   And she was very optimistic about Ronald Lee's future, so she came over and gave Ronald a lot of valuable advice. "This kid will make some grades in the future." Julie and Roger whispered.

   Ronald stood alone outside Roger Coleman's office, suddenly wanting to laugh. This kind of junior membership may not be a big deal in the eyes of people in the circle, but if he shows it to customers who take audition photos, the fee can be greatly increased.

   (end of this chapter)