Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 213 R-rated films and teenage actors

In the next few days, Ronald relied on non-stop arrangement and combination to basically determine the role of the most important heroine, Stacey, cut off many of her minor details, and only left and other characters. interactive part.

  Stacey is Brad's younger sister and a student at Richmond High School.

  Stacey works part-time at Perry's Pizza Express in Richmond Mall, where the main menu is New York-style pizza with chicken wings.

  The clerks are all wearing red and white arrow-patterned dresses, with white apron, and red hairpins on their hair to look very clean.

   Stacey's good friend, Linda Barrett, who works with her, is an outgoing and beautiful girl. She has an out-of-town boyfriend who is older than her, so she knows a lot of dating secrets than Stacey.

  Linda persuades Stacey to ask for a phone number from a handsome dining guest. Handsome, a 26-year-old audio salesman, offered to ask Stacey out.

   The next day, Stacey told Linda that she only felt uncomfortable, and Linda reassured her that she would feel better and better in the future.

   Handsome guy stopped dating Stacey after that. Stacey mistakenly thought she wasn't attractive enough to play tricks like those cheerleading girls.

  Linda was teaching in the cafeteria and attracted the whistle of the male football team opposite. Linda reassured her that the handsome guy was just a salesman, not to marry him.

  Stacey and her classmates date Mark Ratner, who works part-time as a ticket inspector at the Richmond Mall movie theater. Mark is for the shy boy who secretly likes Stacey. Mark went to Stacey's house on a date, and after kissing Stacey, he was very nervous and anxious and left Stacey's house.

  Stacey and Mark's friend, Mike Damon, a poor boy, said how he felt about Mark. Mike Damon makes a living as a scalper by reselling concert tickets and is very talkative. Stacey mistakenly thought that Mike Damon liked her, and invited him to the house.

  The two had a relationship, it turned out that Mike was just bragging, and he ended up quickly.

   Who knew that a month later, Stacey found out that she was pregnant and forced Mike Damon to pay half of the money for the operation...

   Ronald wrote Stacey's plot and faxed it to Cameron Crowe.

   It’s already cold in New York in late November. With a low of 40 degrees Fahrenheit (4-5 degrees Celsius) and drizzle and strong winds, Ronald wrapped his clothes tightly, got out of the car in three steps and jumped up the steps of the apartment.

   The janitor's daughter is in high school, the same age as the screenplay Stacey. The janitor introduced Ronald to his daughter. Knowing that Ronald was a screenwriter, the little girl asked him with a smile when he could see his film released.

   "The movie 'Famous in the World' I wrote has been released for a long time, haven't you seen it?"

   Ronald greeted the little girl with a smile.

   "It was R-rated, my dad didn't have time to show me, and it was released later." The little girl also felt a little regretful.

   "Well, in the future you can go to Staten Island to watch, there are always old movies."

   Ronald clambered up the stairs and stopped suddenly, feeling as if he had forgotten something important.

   For a while, I couldn't remember what I forgot, and Ronald continued to start the screenwriting project. The plot cards fill the first row from left to right, and the second row from right to left. All the plots are like a long snake, winding and swaying, and finally more than twenty pictures beyond the red line drawn by Ronald.

The    is still long, Ronald starts the game of permutation and combination again, removes a few cards to see the overall effect, then removes a few more cards, puts the original ones back, and keeps experimenting.

   "Ring, bell, bell..." The phone rang, and it was my cousin Donna.

   "Ronnie, guess what happened?"

"what?"

   "The fat director you hate, his new film was released two days ago."

   "Huh? Heaven's Gate finally released?"

  Ronald is a little nauseous and hasn't heard from Michael Cimino for a long time. That "Heaven's Gate" was finally cut.

   "Don't you want to go and see?" Donna said on the phone.

   "Catherine Bigelow's friend said that the story of the movie was dull. Would you go see it yourself?"

   "It's R-rated, I can't see it myself. I'd better go to my mother." Donna hung up the phone.

  R-rated? This movie can still be rated R, I am afraid that the audience is less. Ronald gloated.

   "Wait, R-rated?"

  Ronald came to his senses. This is the important thing that I couldn't remember just now.

  "Fast-paced Richmond High School" has a few **** scenes and some foul language, which are all proper R-rating factors.

   Now that I think about it, Stacey's choice of actors turned out to be a very important issue. How do actors in youth films deal with casting?

  What are the specific trade union regulations? Ronald himself was not a member of the Screen Actors Guild and had no handbook to look up. The handling of the filming site by the crew may not be completely in accordance with the manual.

   Originally, these shooting matters had nothing to do with the screenwriter. But Ronald decided to claim himself as a director. If you are a director and encounter this kind of casting problem, how should you solve it?

Ronald called Eddie, his advertising agent. Some time ago, Ronald took the time to shoot a commercial for plastic wrap. Eddie continued to contact him for some commercials for daily necessities. some money.

   "In the advertising industry, there are indeed time regulations. Children of different ages have limited working hours per day. Especially in places with strong unions in New York and Los Angeles, there will be staff to supervise.

  I don’t know much about the film industry, but I think it should be about the same. Why don't you ask the little girl actor who lives in your house? "

   "Diane? She's still filming in Canada and can't be reached."

   "That's right, many film crews are now filming in Canada, especially teen films, which can bypass the ubiquitous union supervision."

   hung up the phone, Ronald felt that he still needed to ask someone who knew the industry.

  Do you want to ask Brooke Shields mother Terry about the shooting regulations? Her daughter has made two films, "Blue Reef," and is now filming "Endless Love."

   hung up the phone and went to Brooke Shields' house, Terry answered the call.

   "Oh, Ronald. Do you want to know the shooting regulations for actors in youth films? In fact, it is a limited time for shooting every day, no earlier than seven in the morning, no later than 9:30 in the evening.

  There is a limit to the total length of shooting per day, which varies according to age, and there must be tutoring courses for tutors. "

   "What if we're not shooting in America? Will the rules be relaxed?"

   "Theoretically, you need to follow the rules wherever you go to shoot, Ronald." Terry replied in an official tone, but he had already told Ronald the answer.

   "Mom, which Ronald? Is it the director of the CK commercial? Why don't you ask him to go to the ice rink together." Brooke Shields heard Terry's call and asked.

  Terry held the microphone with one hand and said to his daughter, "Borgy, your date today is Leif Garrett."

  Leif Garrett is a child star and teenage singer who used to be very popular. He and Brooke Shields appeared in the headlines of entertainment news at the same time in '78.

   Now that Leif Garrett has come back after training, he has a great momentum for a while, and Terry has the idea of ​​letting Brooke appear with him again.

   "Okay, I see." Brooke Xiaosi waved her hand.

  Terry picked up the receiver again, "Ronald, do you have any questions?"

   "I was wondering, what are the Screen Actors Guild's rules for taking shots like the blue coral reef?" Ronald asked.

   "Why do you want to know this?"

   "I'm adapting a youth novel into a script, and there is a character in it that looks a bit like Brooke's part in the blue coral reef, so I want to ask someone who has actual shooting experience." Ronald explained.

   "This kind of play cannot be shot frontally, otherwise it will be rated X.

   The upper body is wider, but for the image of Bo Ji, I always ask to use a stand-in. After all, Hollywood is not the kind of art film in Europe..."

   After thanking Terry, Ronald hung up.

   After thinking about it, he called Roger Coleman, the leader.

   It happened that Coleman was at the company and answered his call.

   "Mr. Coleman, I found a problem when I was writing the script..."

  Roger Coleman told him that the usual Hollywood practice is to find an older actor to play.

   "For example, in the 1939 classic "The Wizard of Oz," when Judy Garland was filmed, it was an adult actor who came to play Dorothy.

   This is not only because of the restrictions of the trade union rules, but also because of the unstable performance of the young actors. Child star talent like Shirley Temple is rare.

  Most of the young actors, when filming, sometimes suddenly fell into depression and could not complete the filming. For cost reasons, Hollywood still adopts the method of playing the small with the big on a large scale. "

   "Thank you, Mr. Coleman." Ronald knew how to make teen movies.

   It seems that we have to find a young actress to play Stacey. Ronald jots it down in his notebook.

   (end of this chapter)