Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 395 New Clip Tape

   "415-xxx-xxxx..." Ronald returned to Los Angeles and dialed the order number that director Adrian Lane gave him during the last Flash Dance preview.

   "Hey, do you sell... um, you wait", Ronald forgot the name of the new clip tape, "Yes, the tape called N-vis-o?"

"Ah, yes, are you using it for movie editing? Twenty dollars a roll, you send us a check deposit, and then we'll send it to you when we're done, and you'll pay the balance." A woman's voice on the phone said .

   "Hey? Don't you have any in stock? I'm in a hurry to use it here."

"Sorry, this tape is handmade, and if you buy ten rolls, we also include a special machine to hold this tape in place, which works great. You know this tape is very narrow, and the usual clip tape covers about Eighteen frames of film, we only need one and a half frames..."

   This woman started selling the benefits of "N-vis-o" tape.

   "Hey, listen, I bought this thing when I knew it was easy to use, so don't give me another sales pitch, I'm in a hurry to use it, can you hurry up?"

   "Thirty yuan a roll for urgent."

   "Okay, okay, give me an address, first ten rolls, I'll use it to edit the movie."

  Ronald hung up the phone angrily, "It's a robbery. If I hadn't seen this editing tape, I would not have been blackmailed by this kind of blackmail.

   Standing in the editing room, facing Ronald was Katherine Bigelow. She came to Los Angeles from New York to promote her film, "The Loveless," and stopped by to see old friends.

  Poor Bigelow had already completed his debut feature film in 1981, only letting it go on a few occasions, and it has been ignored by filmmakers.

  This time at the Los Angeles International Film Festival, she and the male lead Willem Dafoe (Willem Dafoe), carrying a heavy copy to try their luck. .

   Both of them made their film debuts, but no one cares about them. Bigelow goes without saying that Dafoe's scenes in "Heaven's Gate" were all cut off by Fat Boy Cimino, and the film with the male lead has never been released, causing him to be laughed at in front of his friends.

"This kind of editing tape, if only I knew when I was filming No Love, I wouldn't have to spend a fortune to go to a lab to re-print a response copy based on the results of the editing, which could have been used to participate in international films. Festival, maybe some international film companies will take a fancy to it.”

  Katherine Bigelow was a little late to hear about the very cost-effective clip tape Ronald ordered.

   "Although it's not cheap, it's still a lot better than attracting a whole movie. If you add revisions after the preview, you'll save a lot of money."

  "Sit", Ronald pointed to the sofa, and asked the editor to get two cups of coffee.

   "This is your new film?" Willem Dafoe asked, pointing to the MV of "Girls just want to have some fun" on the monitor?

"This? This is the MV I shot, and I'm going to use it as an interlude in the movie. I gave them the director, and they authorized me to use it for free." Ronald simply turned the **** to the playback position and let two friends see his own. work.

   "Well... the rhythm of your MV is very interesting, so dense, it doesn't hinder the audience's understanding." Bigelow thought it was very interesting.

  Ronald spread his hands, "There are only more than three minutes, and there is still a storyline, so this is the only way to do it. I have seen it a lot and feel that the content is too dense, but there is nothing I can do."

  Ronald took the coffee and handed it to the two of them, "By the way, did you come to see me today?"

Bigelow and Dafoe looked at each other and asked, "Our film stock has been lying in the warehouse for two years. I heard that you are also working on an independent production project, and you are not looking for a major studio to release it, so I want to ask Do you have any way to allow us to sell it to theaters."

"Hey, if there is a way, I won't be editing here slowly." Ronald sighed, "Atlantic is also a very small company, all their resources can only guarantee the release of one movie, and I am still there. When their new movie 'Valley Girl' comes out, if that movie fails, I'll have to find another distributor to sell it.

   So I'm also trying to find a way to participate in the film festival in Europe. Do you have any connections here? ' Ronald asked rhetorically.

   "The chances are not great. Several big film festivals lack the opportunity to participate in the exhibition. We can only try our luck in Brussels and small film festivals such as Spain."

"Hey, we are also miserable in making movies. Independent producers may not be able to sell for two years. It may take a year or two to communicate back and forth with the big studios and five or six vice presidents. It's better to make TV dramas." Luo Nader is also full of complaints.

   Seeing that Ronald has nowhere to go, Catherine Bigelow can only say goodbye. There are not many buyers at the Los Angeles International Film Festival who are interested in domestic films. They mainly come to buy foreign films. The quality of domestically produced films can be imagined if there is no way to go to participate in this foreign film-based exhibition.

   "By the way, this is the poster of my movie. If you have a chance, please help me introduce some distributors. We are willing to accept any conditions."

   Katherine Bigelow took out a poster and handed it to Ronald before leaving, and then gave him some business cards. Now what she wants is not to recover the cost of shooting, but to not let her efforts go to waste. As long as she can sell it and show it in theaters, there will always be more opportunities for new films.

   Instead of the current situation, if a movie is made and it is not sold, in fact, in the eyes of the producer, it is worse than not making a movie. If you haven't made a movie, you may still be raw jade. If you can't sell it after you've made a movie, then it's very likely that the level is not good.

   Willem Dafoe is even more so. No one saw him in the two films. When the agent handed over the audition photo, he was embarrassed to write his resume on the back. Otherwise, when others opened their mouths, they would ask why the film was not released.

"OK, I will." Ronald sent the two away, and opened the poster. Willem Dafoe was wearing a leather jacket with nothing inside. There was an evil spirit mixed with a handsome look. .

   "The poster is pretty good, but I don't know if the movie will work."

   "Bell bell bell..."

  Ronald picked up the phone, "I'm Ronald."

   "Hi Ronald, I'm Walter, are you going to buy my clip tape?"

"Walter? Hi, Mr. Murzy. What, is this editing tape your business?" Ronald recognized as his own editing instructor, Oscar nominee for best editing and sound design, Walter Murzy .

"Yeah, it's a little invention of mine. I heard from the assistant that someone ordered it. I saw it was you. What? You've made another movie? It's really enviable. My 'Return to Oz' is still there. Rolling around in planning hell."

  Walter Murkey was spotted by Disney President Ron Miller and invited him to participate in Disney’s Young Director Program, but the script he submitted was repeatedly called back and rewritten by several executives, which was also very painful.

"Walter, if possible, don't try indie, I've been through all this and it's been so painful to have to do everything myself. I just discovered how fast-paced the last movie was and how lighthearted I was ."

Ronald joked with the teacher, although Walter is in pain now, but when he gets the green light from Ron Miller, the filming will be similar to the emperor, and there are professional people to help with all kinds of things. , just shoot yourself.

   "I didn't expect you to want it. Well, I still have ten rolls of tape at home. I'll send it to you first, and you can pay my normal price." Walter saw that his apprentice wanted the tape, and of course he gave it to him first.

"Oh, really? That's great. I'll give you the expedited price. After all, it's a movie project, and you can pay for it. You did it anyway, so I'll send you a check for the full amount. Send it out, I'm waiting to use it."

   "No problem, I'll send it to you first. I have to purchase raw materials for this thing, and then make it by hand. It's very troublesome, so I'll give you the stock first."

   "Handmade? This thing should be used a lot, right? Why not make it with a machine?" Ronald was a little puzzled.

   "I'm an artist and a craftsman, I don't understand that. Now anyway, the supply is in short supply, so I don't advertise, I rely on word-of-mouth publicity. I don't have the money to buy a lot of goods, and they are all made to order."

   "Is that so? If... Forget it, let's talk about it later. Thank you Walter."

  Ronald originally thought about cooperating with Walter to open a small factory to make tape. However, I also thought that this thing is only used in the film industry, and it is not used for TV production. It seems that there is no need to use industrial production, and not many people buy it.

  After two days, Ronald finally got his new clipping tape, with a new type of device to stick the tape.

  This kind of tape not only covers a few frames of film when it is dipped, but it feels like there is no feeling when playing. It also greatly reduces the manual work of editing, at least when the sound and picture are aligned, there is no need to glue several feet of film.

   (end of this chapter)