Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 309 Shuttle Roadshow

  The plane landed at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in the morning. The light of the rising sun was soft, and the faces of the group of people who walked out of the airport glowed.

  This airport is shared by the two cities of Dallas and Fort Worth, so the name is also a combination of the two. Fort Worth is the sixth largest city in Texas, there are many military bases, and a large number of people work for the armed forces.

   Universal’s accompanying publicist was a beautiful blonde. She was very capable. She had already booked the Sheraton Hotel in Dallas. Universal sent a van at the local distribution office to pick up the crew from the road show to the hotel.

"The executive suite is reserved for interviews, and everyone else lives in standard rooms. We only stay in the local area for less than a day, so everyone should take time to rest. In the morning, they will be interviewed by the starting newspaper media, fifteen to two per newspaper. ten minutes."

  The marketing roadshow of the movie is like this. After arriving at a place, the newspapers and media in the surrounding cities will come to interview, just like a wheel battle. It was the first time that the two heroines had undergone such a test, and the PR beauty went to tell them some common sense in interviews.

   "If you come across a question you don't like, try to answer it as much as possible and cooperate with the reporter's interview task. They will appreciate you for your clever way of bypassing the question, but if you refuse to answer the question, they will escalate the next question."

"Of course, if it is a personal question that is not within the scope of the film, you have the right to refuse to answer it. I will always be by your side during the interview. If you have any questions, you can raise your hand and ask me for a mineral water, so that I have Opportunity to talk to you and discuss."

  The accident of Jennifer Jason Leigh's father, Vic Morrow, is not over yet. The two children who died together, one Vietnamese and one Chinese, were both illegally employed, and the two families are suing director John Landis.

  The beauty in public relations estimated that there would be a small local reporter who did not have long eyes to ask Jennifer related questions, so I chatted with her alone, how to refuse such a malicious question.

   "Ronald, I'm sorry. These two are rookies in dealing with reporters. I have to ask them more." The PR beauty finished her lessons for the two heroines and came over to greet Ronald.

   "It's okay, I understand it very well. After all, audiences like to see the actors in front of the screen, and interviewing them will help our movies attract more audiences in Texas and southern America."

   "Oh, that's great. You don't know how hard it was for me to meet a reasonable director. Many people even fell out with the stars of the same crew because of the length of the interview."

   Ronald smiled and accepted all the flattering photos of the beauty.

   "You'll be interviewed in the morning by the Dallas Observer, which is a film and arts outlet. The director is always covered. In the afternoon, Bobbie Wygant of NBC Five will interview you.

She is a well-known talk show host in the Southwest. She is good at interviewing celebrities. Generally, celebrities are willing to appear on her show before the release of a new movie. In addition to being very influential in the Southwest, her show will also be broadcast nationwide in syndicates. .

   She is also a film critic and one of the founders of the Radio and Television Film Critics Association.

   But her main interview objects are two girls, your interview can only be on the local Dallas channel, and the two heroines can only be on her national syndicate broadcast. "

   Ronald nodded and agreed. During the shooting, the director was the center of the crew. But when it comes to publicity, it's the actors who are in the spotlight. I can only be left in the scraps and accept some marginal media visits.

  Accepted an exclusive interview with the Dallas Observer in the morning, and ate a little lunch provided by Sheraton. Ronald took a short rest before going to see the famous Southwest talk show host and film critic Barbie Wygant.

  Her team is setting up cameras and lighting for the interview in the executive suite. Barbie is sitting there wearing a red top and putting on makeup.

   She is a little old lady of about fifty-five years old, with short hair and two red earrings, she looks very kind.

"Don't be fooled by her looks. Barbie is known for hiding needles in cotton wool, and she's good at cutting into interviews with a gracious angle at first, but if you have something newsworthy to her, she doesn't mind when you're off guard. Give you a gentle knife."

  The PR beauty is in the inner room, doing science on Barbie Wygant to the two actors.

   Ronald listened for a while, walked to the suite outside, and looked at the little old lady curiously.

   Suddenly, Barbie, who felt being watched, opened her eyes, "You must be director Ronald Lee. Directors always have a special look and are good at observing objects."

   "Am I disturbing you, Ms. Whitegant." Ronald nodded and admitted that he was the director.

   "No, it doesn't matter, you can just stand behind the camera." Barbie looked Ronald up and down, "As a director, you are very young."

   "Yes, I started early and did a lot of chores on the set. I was also one of the screenwriters of this movie."

   "I'm ready here." The lighting engineer said to Barbie Wygant, the lighting was ready, and the two beauties in the room came out and sat on the two chairs opposite Barbie. Get ready for an interview.

   "Jennifer, you look so beautiful in the movie, congratulations on playing such an unforgettable role as Stacey." Barbie Wygant asked Jennifer Jason Lee first.

   "Did you get selected by director Ronald Lee at first sight? Or did he have other options?"

   "Well, my mother actually knew Amy Heckling, the film's associate producer, and she invited me to audition.

   I heard that the crew was contacting Brooke Shields at the time. I had to pray that I would be selected. Fortunately, the director’s call came two days later. "

   "Oh, so you defeated Brooke Shields to get this role? In your eyes, what kind of person is the director?"

   "Ronald is a very talented director, he is the kind of legendary 'actor's director'. Very patient and meticulous with us, always giving us enough time to find ourselves."

   "You're at Perry's Pizza, and you're very real in the oven-baked pizza scene. I rarely see that kind of real performance in a movie. How did you do that?"

   "Before filming, I worked as a part-time waiter at Perry's Pizza for a month, and when Ronald came to see me before filming, I was already a qualified pizza clerk."

   "Phoebe, you have beautiful hair, how did you get into this business?" Barbie Wygant asked Phoebe Cates next to her. "

   "I was a model, and one day I was drinking juice in a bar, and someone came and handed me my business card and asked if I wanted to make a movie.

   No, he didn't know I was an actor and a model and thought I was just a little **** the side of the road. "

   Phoebe's thick black hair also looks great in the light, and the cameraman loves to give her more shots.

   "We know you have some really beautiful shots in the movie, did you have any difficulties with those shots?"

  Phoebe knew that she would be asked intensively about the scene of the swimming pool, she cleared her throat, "The director is very gentleman and very patient. In fact, these scenes themselves are not the problem, but what he wants to express."

   "Sure, it's a fantasy of one of the characters, right?"

"Yeah, compared to the **** of the last film, this one actually made me lighthearted and happy. The director Ronald was really a gentleman, and I saw myself on the screen, It also feels beautiful."

  …

The    interview was over quickly, and Barbie said to the cameraman, "It's my turn now?"

  The cameraman moved the machine across from Barbie Wygant, "It's time to start."

  The lighting for the TV show is relatively simple, and now the cameraman is shooting the picture of Barbie asking questions.

   "Jennifer, you look so beautiful in the movie, congratulations on playing such an unforgettable role as Stacey." Barbie repeated her question again, this time the camera was on her.

   "Okay, we can take the next game."

   Ronald begins to sit in a chair and receive makeup.

   "Director Ronald, I'm glad you could be interviewed on our show, and welcome to Dallas." Barbie began to ask questions.

   "Thanks, I love it here. Thank you for having me on your show."

   "I noticed that the valley accent of the girls in the Southern California public high school in the movie has become popular among high school students in Dallas. Did you do this on purpose? Are you worried that people in other places won't understand it?"

   "Actually, I want to show a little real life image of a Southern California high school student. In order not to be misunderstood by people in other places, I have weakened the valley accent a lot, but kept a little bit of character.

  The real valley girls, they will say every declarative sentence in the tone of a question, and every sentence is a rising tone. I was also surprised when I first heard it.

  Cameron Crowe did a great job, and our script was basically taking some characters and plots from his novels. "

   "So there are still a lot of characters and plots that haven't been filmed? It sounds like it could be made into a TV series."

   "Yes, I think so. If American audiences are willing to see more of their stories, someone will make the rest of the novel into a TV series."

   "You know, Ronald, I'm also a film critic. What do you think of some critics' criticism of your film?"

   "Sure enough, the energy of hiding needles in cotton is coming," Ronald thought. After a few routine questions, Barbie still did not let go of the controversial film review that Albert of Spectacles recently gave to herself.

   "I don't think they're right. In fact I suspect they haven't seen my movie.

   The film does not in the slightest mean to promote high school students who start too early in the matter of men and women. You can see the main character in it, Stacey, and her experience brings her a painful experience. In the end, she returns to her love and is with Mark, who she has feelings for. Isn't this the traditional American high school sweetheart narrative?

   And the rest of the characters are talking about boyfriends and girlfriends, but in fact they are just bragging and not doing anything. Our movie is a mockery of the cult of people who have **** in high school. This is also the tone of Crowe's novel.

  Brad has been with his girlfriend for two years. Their relationship is limited to holding hands and hugging. The girlfriend has never even been to Brad's house. Brad has been rejected after repeated attempts.

  Linda made a fictional boyfriend, all the details were imagined by her, so the details always did not match.

   We just hope to truly reflect the living conditions of some California public high school students. "

   "This part is very well said." After watching the video, Barbie Wygant was very satisfied with Ronald's reaction, and the show was very effective.

   "I want to put your interview on the syndicate's nationally broadcast star interview program." Barbie offered to put Ronald's interview on his national syndicate.

   "Isn't it only on the local station in Dallas?" Ronald looked at the PR beauty.

  The PR beauty and Barbie Wygant discussed a few words, and came back and said to Ronald, "Barbie thinks you are very photogenic, and your answer is in-depth and topical, so you put it up on a whim. I suggest you agree to her."

  Ronald also watched the video carefully. Anyway, there were only a few questions in the interview, and he couldn't cut out any tricks.

   "I can see that you are very careful." Barbie said to Ronald when he saw that he had read it for himself.

   "I have to be careful. In the past, Los Angeles TV station cut my interviews indiscriminately and cut out all my praise for director Michael Cimino, making me his critic."

   "Haha, fellow LA. I promise you, we'll never do that."

   "Thank you, Barbie."

   Repeated interviews with different media until late at night. The last two heroines were exhausted. The next morning, the crew flew to Chicago, accompanied by a public relations beauty.

   "How's your father's follow-up?" Ronald asked Jennifer Jason Lee on the plane.

   "My sister got a lawyer and I decided to sue the producer and director John Landis with her."

   "The filmmaker?" Ronald felt it was inappropriate, and Spielberg was also one of the producers. If a popular director was placed in the position of the defendant, Universal and other studios would definitely intervene.

   "I don't know the inside story, but if you want to continue acting in Hollywood, it's best not to include the producer as a defendant." Ronald told Jennifer about his thoughts.

   "You're right, Ronald. I'll call my sister as soon as I get off the plane."

  I made a long-distance call back at the airport and argued with my sister. Finally, with the persuasion of her mother Barbara, Jennifer's sister finally agreed to withdraw Spielberg's name from the defendant.

"Our lawyers will contact Mr. Spielberg, which will also help to reach a settlement as soon as possible," Jennifer told Ronald. "If you hadn't reminded me, the lawyers would have tended to make the case bigger, after all, Mr. Spielberg. deeper pockets."

   "But they can also get more legal fees, which is not good for your acting career." Ronald made a point. John Landis is a dead dog, and Spielberg is Hollywood's box-office savior.

   The group checked into the Hilton Chicago. Here, all such interviews will be repeated. Jennifer and Phoebe were already drowsy as they waited to check in on the sofa in the lobby, and they hurried to catch up after finishing the formalities.

   Ronald asked for a cup of coffee at the cafe near the lobby and drank it.

   "Look at this..." The PR beauty walked over with a dignified expression and handed him two newly published local newspapers in Chicago.

   "The movie review column is not very beneficial to us."

   (end of this chapter)