Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 323 Where does the money for your movie come from?

   "Helen Slater, a girl from New York, became the luckiest one among the thousands of girls who auditioned. She defeated Brooke Shields, who had previously been very vocal, and was selected to play 'Supergirl'.

  Warner Bros. has announced that it has signed with her Supergirl, and the first film will be filmed in Britain on another day. "

   "The Hollywood Reporter" had a very short project initiation message that published the news that Helen had been cast as a superwoman.

   "I'm so happy," Helen said, wrapping her arms around Ronald's neck, and it really helped to put on a Supergirl uniform to audition.

   She was notified and asked the photographer to take a set of uniform photos for her under the lighting environment, and use the costumes and props as a reference to order real movie costumes.

   "When are you shooting?" Ronald asked Helen.

"Warner Bros wanted us to go to the UK to shoot some shots with the 'Superman Part III' filming at Pinewood Studios outside London, UK. The official shooting will take next year. match the role."

   "Okay. In fact, this role is very suitable for you, and the requirements for acting are not high..."

   "How come? I still have to play with Jane Fonda, Peter O'Toole and the others. They have high requirements for acting. Gerald has already found a good acting trainer for me."

   Ronald smiled, Gerald was still very concerned about the daughter he had with his ex-wife. He invited a famous Shakespeare drama coach to train Helen's lines and acting skills.

  Although Ronald didn't think the movie needed such a line effort, he didn't intend to interfere. It's healthier than the so-called "method school" actor studio.

   "Have other roles been selected?" Ronald asked about other roles for "Supergirl".

   "They're going to have Jane Fonda as my mother, Dolly Parton as the witch in the comics, and Peter O'Toole as my mentor. But that's not settled yet, and it may change."

   "Yes, the filming is very uncertain, and sometimes the schedule changes will make the actors who originally promised not available." Ronald recalled that in his dream, except for Peter O'Toole, everyone else had changed actors.

   "There is also a Hollywood TV actress named Demi Moore. She came to play Supergirl's best friend Lucy Lane, and I heard that she was also the candidate for Supergirl."

"This world is really small. I used her audition photos before as an advertisement for my portrait photography business..." Ronald couldn't help but sigh that a girl like Demi, who is very good at finding opportunities, finally entered the showbiz .

  Helen's classmates who were high in performing arts were also very envious of her, and began to call her constantly to invite Helen to attend a party.

"I never knew I was so popular in high school. They all liked that Erica Kimper and chose her to be the queen of the prom." Helen received another invitation call and complained to Ronald. Say.

   "Oh, I don't know, has she acted in any movies?"

   "She played CoCo in the TV drama version of 'Famous Around the World'."

   "Isn't that the role played by Erin Kara in the movie version?" Ronald remembered the role of play, dance, and singing triathlon. Erin Kara's current career center has turned to a singer, and she sings "Famous in the World" on variety shows every day. No wonder she has to act in the TV series.

   Ronald is very happy, every time she goes on TV, she is increasing her income from writing lyrics, and it will be another check next quarter.

   "Aren't you going to their party?"

   "Oh, it's not interesting. I might as well pick out a new jazz record. I'm going to take a Shakespeare drama class later, how about you?"

   "I'm going to meet two producers." Ronald got up to drive.

   "When we see Ronald, we must praise him. You know Americans like to be praised." Two fat men were talking about Ronald in the hotel suite.

   "Why didn't you see that he had such a good directing talent?"

   "Hi Ronald. Long time no see!"

  Minahan and Yoram, two Israeli producers, got up and hugged Ronald and his agent Richard.

   "Your fast pace is amazing, our movie cost more than yours, and it turned out to be a fraction of your box office." Minahan began to compliment Ronald.

   The film he was talking about was Cannon Films' "The Last American Virgin," which has been released. The total revenue in America is less than $6 million, and the cost of filming and music rights is not as high.

   "Movies are hard to say, and I don't know what I did right." Ronald humbly said, "I heard that your copies abroad are selling well?"

   Ronald did not want to see the two Israeli brothers, and he had discussed with his agents Richard and Nisita and declined their invitation.

   But Nisita's words caught Ronald's attention. The two brothers have received a lot of investment in Europe and are ready to start shooting tens of millions of blockbusters.

  The film department filmed in America lost money, and it was possible to get such a large investment, so Ronald was very interested in chatting with them, so he agreed to this meeting. Richard also specially flew over to accompany the meeting.

   "Ah, yes. Ronald, why don't you help us direct a movie, or a youth movie, so that we can join forces, and the Oscar for Best Picture and the Oscar for Best Director are not a problem.

   The box office of these two films made me understand a little bit. I haven’t grasped the taste of the American people, so the box office failed. "

   Minahan Golan gushed about his own movies.

   "Why do your movies sell so well? Ronald. Do you have a secret?"

   "Success is a poor teacher. If I fail, I can teach you a lesson. But with box office success, I really don't know where I am right?"

   "Oh? Then can you talk about why our 'Last American Virgin' failed?"

  Minahan himself is a director. Although he is not named as the director of this film, he has gone to the shooting site many times to direct, and most of the final editing is his handwriting. He really does not understand.

   Teen movies, **** scenes, abortions, all kinds of girl-picking scenes. It is said that Cannon Films' films have more "fast-paced" elements than Ronald's. There are more than a dozen actresses in the film, which is much more than Ronald's.

   But America's teenage audience just doesn't like it. His distribution investment is also far more than Universal, but the box office of a single venue is under the 'fast pace'.

   "If you tell me how you got the money to shoot in Europe, I'll tell you why your movie doesn't sell in North America." Ronald smiled wickedly.

   "I don't care about this, it's all about Yoram."

   Yoram is like a small Minahan, except that his head is one size smaller than his cousin, and he is also fat.

   "We mainly rely on the film's pre-sale and European bank funds." Yoram didn't speak much, mainly listening to others.

   But what he said was very important knowledge to Ronald. "What about the pre-sale?"

   "Pre-sale is when the film has not yet started shooting, in Europe and Asia, we sell the right of local release, and we use the pre-sale money to shoot the film. After the filming is completed, we will deliver it."

   "How can I pre-sell the movie?"

   "You have to have a successful precedent, and the movie has to have stars recognized by foreigners, or some connections." Yoram still didn't say much.

   "What about the bank funds?"

  Ronald also wanted to learn more about the secrets of Cannonball Pictures' repeated losses and big investments.

"Ronald, this is our core business secret. If you want to know more about the pre-sale, I can help you. Next time you go to the Cannes Film Festival, you will understand when you go to the hair country with us. ."

   "That's right, Ronald, go to Cannes with us next year. It's a movie director's paradise, and the beach is full of..." Minahan described the courtesy he received in Cannes with a beaming expression.

   "It's your turn, Ronald. What's wrong with our movie?"

   "I can't say I'm absolutely right, but I think the movies you make are all about the stories of America in the eyes of foreigners, not the stories of America in the eyes of Americans."

   "What do you mean?" Minahan stared at the bull's eye, a little confused.

   "I've seen a few of your films, such as the 'Apple' shown in Montreal, which tells a story about a hippie."

   "Yes, hippies save the world..."

   "Meinahan, I guess you haven't been exposed to the hippie lifestyle."

"how do you know?"

   "I grew up in America, and I've seen a lot of hippies in my life. And you're Israeli, you know hippies are on TV, or in magazines."

   Seeing that Meinahan listened carefully, Ronald gave his opinion.

"Actually, the core idea of ​​hippies is freedom. I can smell hippies on the road. They always drive second-hand broken cars, have long hair, wear flowers, play guitars and sing songs, but they are all appearances. Their true spirit lies in freedom.

   And your movie, bring together hippies, let them follow the command of a leader, and sacrifice themselves to accomplish great things. how can that be? In the eyes of North American audiences, this is not hippie at all. "

   "So I said, your movie might be suitable for foreign audiences to see America's stories, and those stories fit what they imagined America to be, but North American audiences don't think that's their story."

   Ronald raised his glass to signal that he was done.

   Minahan stared, and did not speak for a long time. Suddenly he hit the table with his fist, "Ah...I see."

   "Ronald, will you direct us the next movie? Youth, beauty, and love are just the elements you are good at."

   "Cough cough..." Richard suddenly choked on the wine next to him and coughed.

   "I'm sorry, Minahan. I still need a break, and I don't want to make teen exploits anymore. You know I turned down Atlantic Distribution the other day to make their film."

   A song called "Valley Girl" recently climbed to the top of the pop charts and made a big impact.

  CBS TV station also criticized this kind of valley accent and made a special report. Criticizing the emphasis and ungrammatical expression of this kind of speech will have a great impact on American language expression and reading comprehension in the future.

  Atlantic found Ronald and wanted to invite the director who started the trend of "Valley Girl" to make another movie called "Valley Girl". He wrote the script and was paid 200,000 yuan. The casting and editing were all decided by Ronald.

   "Well, you deserve this privilege, and America's top-selling director deserves this privilege. It's my fault for not taking the opportunity to ask you to direct a Cannonball movie."

   Meinahan made several exaggerated gestures of remorse.

"When will you make a new movie next? What subject matter will you make? Don't forget me and Yoram, Cannon Films will always welcome you. Our financing ability and tolerance for talented directors are all incomparable to the seven Hollywood giants. Yes, you are a fool not to cooperate with us."

   "I don't know, I haven't got inspiration yet, maybe it's a sci-fi movie?" Ronald felt that the two brothers were really fighting, and no failure could make them lose their confidence in forever progress. Having such blind confidence is sometimes a good thing.

   "Their money, Hollywood says it was given by a Belgian bank, was laundered in Europe."

   On the way to take Ronald home, Richard said.

   "What about the facts?"

"I don't know, but the cousin of Meinahan today, he's really talking about a good financing path. The funds, including Supergirl, were also raised from pre-sales in Europe and Asia. Now Hollywood's seven major Studios, too, are starting to learn this way.

  If they can really find pre-sale funds from Cannes, then I am afraid that the so-called dollar laundering is just a rumor. "

   "It's time for you to go back to Hollywood, Ronald." At the door of Aunt Ronald's house, Richard began to urge Ronald back to Los Angeles.

   "The box office of the movie has exceeded 33 million, and it will continue to be a long-term screening. There are many people in Hollywood who want to work with you. If you don't appear in front of them for a long time, Hollywood is very forgetful."

   "I know, I'll go back when I finish some things." Ronald patted Richard on the shoulder.

   "Ronnie, hold me here."

   Donna saw Ronald came back, took one end of the telescope, let Ronald hold it down, and then put away the lens barrel.

   "Why don't you watch comets?"

   "Haley's Comet has been discovered, I can't get on the news." Donna shrugged.

   "Why do so many people see Halley's Comet?"

   "Because comets are very hot now, it is said that the extinction of the dinosaurs was caused by a comet hitting the earth."

   "So scary? What if humans were wiped out by a comet?"

   "No, the probability of hitting the earth is very low, and many small celestial bodies are blocked by the moon."

   "What would happen if you were a survivor if it hit the earth and caused a large number of human extinctions?" Ronald thought it was a good theme for a disaster movie, so he asked Donna.

   "Huh? I'll probably collect my books, and then keep the human technology fire."

   "Haha, what about yourself? What do you want to do?"

"It's okay, I might go to the Library of Congress and get all the good books there." Donna thought for a moment and said, "And then I'll get some pretty clothes that I can't usually afford, toys I can't play with, and a motorcycle. open."

   (end of this chapter)