Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 289 There are worse than me

  Rick Nisita signs Francis Coppola.

   This news suddenly caused a sensation in the CAA and brokerage circles. It's true that he's Italian, but Coppola isn't the kind of director who can be signed on the basis of his ethnicity.

  The reason why Nisita was able to beat Limato and other competitors and sign Coppola was that he helped Coppola facilitate the release of the new film "The Outer Boy" and Warner Bros.

   A Warner president who just took office and urgently needs to establish his own professional authority. A great director desperately in need of a blockbuster movie to save his reputation and finances.

  A successful broker is one who can grasp the real needs of both parties, and can have a relationship with the right person to communicate the needs of both parties. With this signing, Nisita successfully raised himself to the top five in the CAA Power Rankings.

   "Coppola is known for stubbornly sticking to his own opinions, ignoring the opinions of the producers, and often exceeding budgets and deadlines. But often under huge financial pressures, he is able to shoot block-office and critically acclaimed masterpieces.

  Last time, the "old love and new love" was because the financial pressure was not big enough, so Francis willfully play according to his own ideas. This time, if he doesn't shoot well, he will face losing his house and vineyard. His wife will not let him go, Italian men listen to their mothers and wives. "

  Nisita is in the office, having a meeting with Paula Wagner, Tom Cruise's agent.

"Tom gave me a list of directors he wanted to work with. Coppola was number one on the list." Paula carefully straightened Nisita's tie knot, then kissed him and sat back down on the seat next to you.

  A film project of a famous director can be stuffed into many actors to refresh their resumes, and this time, "The Worldly Urchin" happens to be a group show.

  Nisita was very happy and suddenly became the object of all CAA colleagues to please.

   "I'll get Tom into the audition fast, but Coppola is Coppola after all."

  The director who can shoot the "Godfather" is very authoritative in art, and Nisita can't guarantee that his people can get the roles they want, everything depends on Coppola's meaning.

"If there is someone Coppola trusts in art, it would be great to help Tom." Paula knows that although Tom works very hard, his education level is not high, his reading comprehension ability is worrying, and he may not be able to accurately Understand roles.

  Coppola is also a person who is very persistent in casting roles. Back then, he chose Marlon Brando and Al Pacino for the godfather, and would rather risk his own dismissal to insist on them appearing.

   "So treat Ronald when he arrives. I recommend him as a trainee for Coppola, and if Coppola agrees, he'll go through all the casting process."

"Oh, really?"

   "Dangdang", after the knock on the door, a young man with a beard and sunglasses walked in.

   "Ronald, long time no see, black tea or coffee?" Paula Wagner stepped forward to hug him.

   "Black tea, thank you." Ronald took off his sunglasses and walked to the table.

   "What's wrong with you? Didn't sleep well?" Nisita noticed that Ronald's eyes were red and bloodshot.

   "Yeah, I read the copy again, there are a lot of unsatisfactory parts, and I think too much." Ronald held the table, sat down slowly, and grinned.

   "I can't sleep and get up to exercise, and my muscles are sore." He took the initiative to explain.

   "Be careful, you still have a job here." Nisita looked at Ronald's inner thigh and shook his head secretly.

   "Hey, good." Ronald adjusted his sitting position, avoiding the sore part, "What's the job?"

"Last time your comment on 'The Magic Stain' reached the ears of Paramount executives. After they negotiated with director Lou Adler, they agreed to meet with you to see his first cut together, see To see if there is a way to fix it, cut out the ending."

   "This is the script," Nisita put a bound script on the table and slid over.

   Ronald caught it with one hand, "Okay, I'll watch it, when will I meet the director?"

"The sooner the better, I said hello to Coppola for you. He has finished financing the new film, and he will interview you and several other candidates next week, choose a trainee, and learn from the group, from audition. start."

   "Then I'll watch it now. Help me contact Director Lou Adler." Ronald took the script and read it.

   The next day Ronald met with Lou Adler, director of "Ladies and Gentlemen, The Magical Stain". Lou Adler actually has some connections with Ronald. In the filming of "Famous in the World", Ronald wanted to come out and add the "Rocky Horror Show" that he supervised the production of.

   They watched the director's cut in the Paramount screening room.

  The movie tells the story of a supermarket saleswoman who turned into the lead singer of a punk band.

   Town Girl Corinna starring Diane Lane. Corinna's mother tragically passed away, and she worked alone to support herself and her sister. I was interviewed by a reporter in a supermarket, complaining about the economic downturn under the Persian energy crisis, and was fired by the supermarket owner.

   Corinna, who was desperate, unexpectedly found that her remarks during the interview were broadcast on a local TV station, which attracted the attention of the public. So she and her sister and cousin (Laura Dern) formed a garage punk band, Magic Stain, to make money by performing.

  Because of Corinna's media exposure, the band was spotted by a local concert organizer, who warmed up for an out-of-date rock band's concert.

   I didn’t expect the three of them to have extremely poor musical standards. Neither my sister nor my cousin could play instruments very well. Corinna sang out of tune by herself.

   The organizer wanted to replace them, but Corinna looked bad, so she had all three sisters dyed with skunk hairstyles, and then continued to express her views on the economy and the situation to the media. Hope to continue to attract media attention.

   Her remarks and dress attracted the attention of the national media. After being broadcast on TV, she became a nationally well-known rebellious spokesperson, attracting thousands of girls from the bottom who were just as dissatisfied with reality as she was to watch the show.

   "Magic Stain" was able to continue on with the rest of the band's national tour. In the end, I earned enough money to support myself and my sister's family.

  The movie has no ending and no closing subtitles. Ronald looked at the director and almost laughed.

   This director had a much larger budget than himself, but his performance was also much worse than his own.

  The whole film is full of messy plots and scheduling. In some shots, it is obvious that the lighting is inconsistent, there are many places where gangs are worn, and the actors' performances are not consistent at all.

   If Roger Coleman did it, it would be between $300,000 and $500,000 at most, and it would be better than him.

   Ronald finally let go of his long-term anxiety and let out a sigh of relief.

  Sometimes I don’t need to compare myself with top directors all the time, just look at other director’s works of “normal level”, and my own shots are not so bad.

   "Lu, I don't understand, you did a good job, why is there no ending?"

   "Ah, Ronald. Do you support my shooting philosophy?"

   "I...still support it." Ronald didn't know what the director's philosophy was, but such a noisy and exploitative film was in line with his principles of making films, except that it was a waste of money.

   "I'm very distressed, my screenwriter is reluctant to sign in the film, so she has to change her name to a pseudonym."

   "Why?" Ronald thought to himself, is it that the filming is too bad?

   "She thinks the movie needs a 'normal' ending. The Magic Stain is a poor band, the lead singer is out of tune, and the musicians don't play more than six chords. This kind of music is not enough to cause pop, and this group can't be successful."

   "So in the end they go back to the town, back to life? You just need to take a few shots and explain the ending of each character." Ronald himself did the same.

   "But I didn't shoot those scenes." The director said hesitantly.

   "It doesn't matter, you just have to take a still picture and explain it with subtitles."

"Mr. Eisner, the president of Paramount, let me see the movies 'Rock and Roll High School' you participated in, and 'Famous in the World', Ronald." The director took off his glasses and wiped them with his handkerchief, "You shoot Well, I think you should support me."

   "Of course I support you." Ronald was not quite sure what the director meant.

   "Finally, The Magic Stains should be on the charts." The director turned his head to stare at Ronald, wanting to see his first reaction.

   "This...is this possible?" It's a bit of an exaggeration that an out-of-tune band is on the charts.

   "Anything can happen in the music world. The Ramones from Rock High School, they're so hot right now, they sing out of tune."

   "You're the boss, and you're familiar with the music industry. If you think about it carefully, it's not impossible." Ronald thought about it. It's true that Ramones's skills are not very good, but people are popular.

   "I just said you would understand me, Ronald." The director put his arm around his shoulder.

   "But we have a problem now. I didn't figure this out when I was shooting, and when I edited it, I thought of giving them a hit-and-run ending."

   "If you don't have the footage, we can call Diane and Laura back to make up."

   Ronald felt that the director was hesitant, as if he was embarrassed to say something.

"Yes, yes, can you help me think of an ending?" The director looked at Ronald sincerely, "The biggest problem now is that Diane and Laura have grown a lot, if If you take a supplementary shot, it will obviously not match the previous picture."

   "Pfft..." Ronald couldn't help but spit it out.

   "Sorry, I choked on my tea. Cough..."

   I didn’t expect the root of the problem to be here. It’s been more than a year since the filming of this movie. Diane has obviously grown a lot taller than when she was filming, and Laura Dern has even more than ten centimeters. The audience can definitely see the difference.

   No wonder the director Lou Adler is always unable to finish the editing, maybe he is not too embarrassed to talk about his low-level mistakes, and he doesn't want to follow the screenwriter's wishes, so this is the end.

   In addition, he is the owner of the record company, and he has a lot of things, so it has been delayed until now...

   "Otherwise, we would postpone the ending of the story for two years, let the three girls' band become famous, make a MV for music TV, appear on MTV, and then use this MV as the ending, wouldn't it be more natural?"

  Ronald still thought of a way for the director. It would be a pity if the film could not be released because of the director's mistakes.

   "This is a way..."

  Ronald strikes while the iron is hot, "If you're still worried about their height, we can mainly use upside-down shots, which would make the actors look taller, making it harder to tell them apart.

   Then have Laura and another girl sit down and play the bass, leaving Diane to stand and sing while playing the guitar, so that the height is more consistent with the original picture.

   Let’s add a little more about their albums, awards and other scenes, interspersed and edited into MTV and turned into a montage. The audience’s attention is distracted, and they won’t notice the sudden change in the actor’s height. "

Director Lou Adler kept nodding his head, worthy of being a genius that Eisner saw in his eyes, "Don't worry about two things, why don't you come and write and direct this ending scene, Ronald." This directorial job made He's exhausted his passion for movies, so let's go back to the record business.

   "I have other things lately..."

   "I'll pay you to make up for the shoot. It's only $50,000 for one day. Then you help me edit this ending." The director restored the style of the record company boss and threw the money directly at Ronald.

   "I really have other things, Mr. Adler."

   "Sixty thousand."

   "I have to prepare for the interview with Director Coppola..."

   "Sixty thousand, plus I owe you a favor."

   "Well, let's save this movie."

   "Very well, I'll go and sign with your agent."

   (end of this chapter)