Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 717 Do you have any other scripts besides this one?

  With the script of "Dancing Hot" and the production board, Ronald, together with his agent Nisita and assistant David Simkins, went to the Disney Company to meet with Katzenberg, the deputy director in charge of production.

  Simkins first took out four display panels, and then took out an aluminum alloy bracket to support the four display panel shelves. He took out the first display board and placed it on the stand. Looking back, there are portraits of the two protagonists, with their bodies in mambo poses.

   Ronald and Katzenberg hugged and chatted for a while about Eisner.

   Ronald saw that Simkins had installed four panels, so he took out the script and handed it to Katzenberg and a female executive he brought.

   Katzenberg flipped through the outline of the script.

  The female executives first saw the hand-painted Mambo dance poses of the hero and heroine on the exhibition board, pushed their glasses, and then lowered their heads to read the script.

   "It's a dream in the hearts of all teenage women in America..."

   Ronald has a sentence that introduces the core of the whole "spicy dance".

  The time of the executives of the seven major studios is precious, and if they can get their interest at the beginning, things will be easier after that.

   "The story takes place during the time of President Kennedy, girls from middle-class families were mobilized to join the 'Peace Corps'..."

  Ronald began to introduce the selling point of the film according to the four panels.

   The more he said, the more wrong he was, and the reaction of the two audiences was not as he expected.

  Katzenberg's brows furrowed. He didn't look at the exhibition board or Ronald. Instead, he hugged the script, held the cover in his hand, and began to fight, turning the pages one by one, and then putting them down again.

  The female executive was attentively looking at the portraits of the two protagonists dancing mambo on the exhibition board, her eyes were engrossed, as if recalling some memories of her youth, and she did not pay attention to what Ronald was saying.

   An experienced producer who sells his own film project will stop and figure out the situation when it comes to this situation.

   However, Ronald didn’t have much experience in producing, so he still introduced all the content according to the prepared script.

   "Ronald, have you ever thought about it? I'm afraid the target market for this movie will not be very broad, and the number of teenagers is not very large. This movie is still shot from a female perspective. I'm afraid it is difficult to arrange the schedule.

   The same movie, if it is directed towards teens and boys, is expected to double at the box office, so we will definitely give priority to that movie. "

   "This..." Ronald choked at Katzenberg's frankness, "but I have confidence in the quality of this film."

   "Of course, we also have confidence in you. Will you be the director?"

   "I would like to try the role of a producer. This film will seek other directors to direct it first."

"Hey...cough..." Katzenberg turned a stance with difficulty, "We have a lot of confidence in you, but if you weren't directing, we'd have to look at this project from a business perspective, right? "

   "Please say..." Ronald gestured for Katzenberg to continue.

   "For the same movie, we all have to invest in the budget for the announcement and distribution. Now the cost of movie announcement and distribution is getting more and more expensive, and it has approached or exceeded the production cost of the movie.

If we have two choices at the same time, one movie is for young men aged 16-21 who watch movies more frequently, and the other is for young women of the same age who watch significantly fewer movies per year on average , which one would you choose? "

   "Well... Then what?" Ronald felt that what the other party said made sense, but his posture and body shape always made Ronald uncomfortable.

  The training of actors has made Ronald more sensitive to other people's body language than in the past.

  Katzenberg seems to have something to hide.

   "If you're the director, then we'd be very interested in considering it for distribution. If you're going to get another director to do it, we'd like to invest in a movie that has a better chance of hitting the jackpot before he proves himself.

   Do you have any other scripts besides this one? "

   "Other scripts?" Ronald looked back and saw his assistant David Simkins, who was hesitant to speak, but eager to try.

   "There is a script written by my assistant David. It's an adventure when a nanny was watching the children. If you are interested, we can also discuss it."

   Ronald simply asked David to take out his own script and hand it to Katzenberg.

   "Hmm..." Katzenberg took it and turned it over.

   He turned faster and faster, and then handed it to the female executive next to him.

   "If it was this movie, we would be very interested in releasing it and investing in it. Did you decide who to direct?"

   "Are you so interested?"

"Yes, this is the script you fancy. And his target audience is teenage males, which is the easiest part of the movie audience to find now. The plot is suitable, the director is not difficult, and there is no need for stars to act. The idea of ​​a small- and medium-budget teen live-action film is a good fit for our touchstone, and I have no reason to object."

   Katzenberg said with a smile.

   "Uh... that's fine." Ronald didn't know that this "Nanny Adventure" would be more in line with the touchstone's taste.

   Now that you have come, let’s talk about the project of this movie.

   "Your positioning is very accurate. The daily life of teenagers is closely related to facilitate their integration into the plot. In ordinary life, adventures appear. To be honest, your assistant's script is of good quality.

   I believe in your hands, this will be a good quality teen movie. Do you have the right director candidate now? "

   In this "Nanny Adventure", several participants had a smooth chat, and Katzenberg simply asked Ronald if he had a director recommendation.

   "The selection hasn't started yet, but I can ask." Ronald said honestly. Several of his NYU friends don't yet have the talent to direct such films.

  Spike Lee is obsessed with making black-themed movies. Catherine Bigelow's interest is in feminist films, and she has little interest in commercial films that purely satisfy teenage fantasies. Of course, if the script and investment are prepared, they may also be willing to make commercial films to become famous first.

   "If you don't have a confirmed candidate, I have a list here, which are potential director candidates compiled by Disney in the past few years. We are constantly adding them in recent years."

   Katzenberg took out a sheet of paper that was repeatedly folded and opened from the notebook and handed it to Ronald.

"Ha, I know this list." Ronald has long known that this list of Disney directors is all elites in the industry who have engaged in screenwriting, editing, art direction, etc. If they are willing, they are most likely to change careers. List of directors.

   His own teacher in editing, Walter Murch, is the new director Disney unearthed from this list.

   "Well... there are two I am familiar with here, why don't you invite them to chat?"

   Ronald found two familiar names in the list.

   One is "Fast-Paced Richmond High School" screenwriter, Cameron Crowe. The other is Chris Columbus, the writer of several teen films that Spielberg has produced.

   "Then it's up to you to contact them. If they are willing, we can talk about the project in detail." Katzenberg stood up and was about to end the meeting.

   Ronald glanced at Nisita, saw him nodding, and agreed to this arrangement. The other party's time is precious, and I am very satisfied that I can achieve the image this time.

   got up and said goodbye, and the last female executive, when shaking hands with Ronald, said again, "I really like the script of Hot Body Dance, please make sure to film it."

"I will."

   Ronald frowned and walked out of the office.

  David Simkins was so happy that he started dancing in the corridor and kept calling Yes.

   "Go and give your wife a call, but it's not time to celebrate, and when the release contract is signed, you can almost pop the champagne." Nisita congratulated Simkins.

After    sent him away, Nisita came back and walked to the Mercedes with Ronald. The two opened the door and sat in the back.

   "I feel that they have some inconvenient opinions on 'Spicy Dancing', and they don't seem to want to shoot and distribute this film."

   "Why? I also feel a little bit, I can't tell what's wrong, why do you think so?"

   "Years of manager experience. Next time we go to meet other studios, we can test them out like this."

"Do you really think so? Okay." Ronald listened to Nisita's explanation of the reason for his speculation, "I'm going to the premiere of Jim Cameron's new film soon, and then you can ask the distributor of Alien 2, People from Twentieth Century Fox, they are not our main sales target, just to test whether your guess is correct."

   (end of this chapter)