Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 336 One Dollar Transaction

   "Bell bell bell..." Ronald rang the doorbell.

   "Hi, Ronnie." Jim Cameron opened the door and hugged his friend warmly.

   "Hi, Jim, Hi, Gail." Ronald saw Gail behind and greeted her quickly, "Did you move in with Jim?"

   "Huh, I actually moved in with Gal," Jim explained.

   Since taking care of Cameron in Italy for a period of time, Gale Hurd has returned to Los Angeles, and the two have seen eye to eye.

  Because Cameron and his wife's divorce procedures still take a lot of time to process, the two are still living together as boyfriends and girlfriends.

  Cameron didn't have much money, so Gail re-rented an apartment where the two had lived for several months.

   Ronald handed over the red wine he bought as a late gift. Under the guidance of Gale, I visited the two's den.

   I have to say that Gale is a professional woman, and the house is a bit messy, but Cameron is also an informal person, and the two seem to match well.

   "Are you still writing with pen and paper?" Ronald saw a table in the corner of the bedroom, on which was a handwritten script with a lot of scribbled words.

   "Do you mind if I take a look?"

   "Of course, this is the story of the robot you saw in Rome, Italy, as the protagonist."

  Jim handed over a typewriter draft of the script and motioned for Ronald to take a look.

  The script is not thick, only about forty or fifty pages. Ronald opened it and saw that it was not a standard Hollywood script format, but a literary script, with no shooting indoors or outdoor markings. There is no labeling of the camera, just a story.

   "Thank you." Ronald took the coffee from Gale and simply sat down and read the script. A few people can't be reversible when they meet, don't care about stereotypes.

The story of    is that the future human beings are ruled by the computer "Skynet", and the human resistance army has been fighting against Skynet and his subordinate robots. In order to completely wipe out the rebels, Skynet sent two robots back to the present with a time machine, trying to find the mother of the rebel leader and destroy him before he was born.

The Human Rebellion also used the time machine to send back two warriors. One died during the teleportation, and the remaining one dealt with the two robots sent by Skynet: one was a liquid metal robot that would mimic a human being, and the other was a human being. Soldiers are responsible for killing.

   The last human warrior impregnates the future leader's mother and sacrifices himself in a duel with two robots.

   "Oh, this script is very imaginative." Ronald turned to the last page, above which were the portraits of two humanoid robots. One is powerful and has a shotgun in his hand; the other is handsome and can change into someone else's appearance to confuse each other.

   This story looks a bit like Spielberg's script, and many plots will not be able to see whether they are good or bad until they are actually filmed.

  The core of the story is still an imaginative exploitative film. If Coleman came to shoot, it would almost be done with a budget of 500,000.

   "Tell the truth, brother." Cameron could see that Ronald was a little insincere.

"I don't know. The final level of special effects for this kind of movie can be the lower limit of Coleman's movie, and the upper limit can be Spielberg or Lucas movie. But if you come to direct, I will be optimistic. ."

As soon as the words came out, Ronald felt that something was wrong. It seemed that the movie plots of the two great directors, Steven and George, were actually similar to Coleman-style exploitative films, but they invested more in special effects and shooting. is better.

   "Hahaha, Roger used to say that Lucas just used more money to make his movies." Gale had heard a similar statement.

   "So you got the investment?"

   "No, we're still pitching the idea to the studios so Jim can direct."

   "It's really not easy. I wrote a new sci-fi movie and it was rejected by many studios."

   "Oh, science fiction, can I see it?" Cameron was interested.

   Ronald took out his script and handed it to Jim.

   "Is Jim still writing with pen and paper?" Ronald asked Gale.

   "Yes, he felt that the typewriter limited the creative process of writing and editing, and sometimes I helped him type."

   "I'll give you a computer, I used it before, as well as WordStar software, and a printer. It's very convenient to write scripts."

   "Of course, you are rich now." Cameron joked while reading the script.

   Ronald shook his head, "I made some money and improved my life, but that money is still far from making a movie."

   "You want to invest your own money to make a movie?" Gale said strangely, no one in Hollywood does this, even Roger Coleman is using the theater pre-sale money to make a movie.

"I didn't want to invest my own money to make a movie, but I couldn't find anyone willing to invest, so I had to approach Mr. Coleman. He was only willing to invest 500,000 yuan. I figured it wouldn't be enough. I could only think about myself. Invest a little."

   Ronald told Gal about his problems. Accompanied by CAA's agent, he went to several major studios, but he didn't get a positive response.

  Gail laughed and looked at Ronald, "You didn't find a producer, did the agent accompany you to sell the script?"

   "Yeah, how do you know?" Ronald replied.

   "Then it's not surprising that you get this reaction.

For an independent production project like   , the most important thing is to find a producer, so that his interests will align with yours, and try to promote the project, not for his own interests. "

   "What do you mean?" Ronald seemed to feel that he had touched a bit of the truth.

   "Your agent is from CAA, right? Their agent just wants to cram other agents into the project.

   And the executives of the studio thought about not taking risks, relying on the original successful formula to replicate the success, preferring to make a little less money, just add a successful movie to the credit book.

   Their interests are not aligned with the director, and they are not considered for the artist. "

   "That's true, I fired my old manager, and now the project is handed over to Gail as a film producer," Cameron chimed in while watching "Night of the Comet."

   "Oh?" Ronald looked at Cameron and then at Gail Hurd, thinking that was true.

  A new movie is always an adventure, and no one knows if it will make money. How can you fight without a buddy standing in a trench?

   So Ronald asked,

   "How did you and Jim work together? Can I ask you to be a producer too? Would you like to read my script too, are you interested?"

"My energy and time are now on the Terminator project. If you want to invite me, you have to wait in line." Gail replied that she is also a newcomer in the industry and does not have enough resources and contacts, so she only sells Cameron The script occupied her main energy.

  Gail still didn't understand Ronald, "You don't know how lucky you are, Ronald. He made a blockbuster movie when he debuted.

   Jim's current situation is very embarrassing. Big studios are reluctant to invest in making science fiction films. Some people in small studios want to steal his ideas, or buy his scripts and find someone to shoot them themselves. "

   "Hey, I understand..." Ronald recalled the situation where his fast-paced script was almost taken away, "Then what can you do to protect Jim's interests?"

"Jim wanted to be the director, so I signed a contract with him and he sold me the 'Terminator' script for a dollar, and I also stipulated in the contract that only Jim could be the director. "

   Ronald knew that the two were boyfriend and girlfriend, and Cameron had not completed the divorce, so the two could not share the property rights of the movie as husband and wife.

  Gail is willing to take over the role of producer, but she needs a guarantee to prevent Cameron from crossing the river and tearing down the bridge after getting the filming funds, so she will buy the copyright of the film and serve as the producer of the film.

   And Cameron was also afraid that after Gale got the investment, he would be kicked out and replaced by a famous director, so he added a clause in the transfer contract, on the condition that Cameron must be the director and cannot be replaced by someone else.

   In this way, the two have formed a close combination of interests. If you want to make a movie and make a lot of money, you can only succeed if the two work closely together. If either one breaches the contract, it will cause great problems, and the movie will not be made.

   As expected of an American couple, their interests must be guaranteed. It seems that Gal's father was Jewish too...

   "Your script is very interesting. Putting zombie elements in the background of sci-fi apocalypse is a fusion of sci-fi films and zombie films."

   Cameron had a good review of Ronald's script.

   "I'm trying to reduce the budget now. Some scenes have to be deleted. If you have time, you can help me see if you can make some special effects scenes and makeup with a low budget."

   Ronald made his own demands, and Cameron could pay some if he wanted to. Jim and Gail are busy selling the script, must have been without income for months, and maybe they are still eating past savings.

"You know, this is also our problem. I've seen several producers who have doubts about the investment in the film. Why don't you help Jim to see if you can cut some scenes from the script structure? After all, you have already I've made a movie, Jim's Piranha II is not really..."

   "I won't admit to directing that bad movie." Cameron muttered.

   "Piranha II" has finished the post-production. According to the requirements of the director's union, Cameron must watch it once. When he comes back, he wants to remove his name from the subtitles.

   "Okay, then let's swap and read each other's script. Then see how we can reduce the shooting budget."

  Gail drafted two contracts, Ronald and Jim agreed to read each other's scripts, then criticize each other on an objective standpoint, and write a report on how to reduce the budget of each other's film shooting without affecting the final screen effect.

   (end of this chapter)