Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 907 The audience in West Berlin loves Dirty Dancing

   "What do you think of your nomination for Oscar for Best Director?" Two Los Angeles newspapers, "Hollywood Report" and "Variety Show", have already interviewed Ronald. This time it was the turn of a reporter from The Stage, a New York film and television comedy magazine, to interview.

  Everyone asked almost similar questions. Ronald followed the pre-made announcement and showed a charming smile again, as if the other party asked a very good question that scratched his itching.

  “I feel very honored, this is a great compliment to me...Oscar judges, members of the Academy are very fair, I am very touched to be recognized by them..."

  Just like the first interview, Ronald was very cooperative and completed the process. Today, five or six media came to interview him, mainly because he was nominated for the main Oscar creative award before he turned 30. This is a very good news point.

   After dealing with the reporter, manager Richard handed over the phone receiver, "Steven called back."

   Ronald raised his eyebrows and answered the phone. Since the nominations were announced, he asked his agent to contact Spielberg's assistant, hoping to chat with him.

  Spielberg's epic film "Empire of the Sun" is a film with a special intention to win awards by taking advantage of the popularity of Chinese culture in recent years and Oscar's preference for epic films.

   But he didn't get nominated for any of the five most important awards. Best picture, best director, best actor and actress, and best screenplay all fell through.

   This is nothing short of a humiliation to a commercial director of Spielberg's level. And the small awards for best costumes for his films left Spielberg speechless. After all, viewers only noticed the six nominations for his films in the news.

  After Ronald was nominated, he was happy and noticed some problems. He hoped to chat with Spielberg to avoid misunderstandings. Richard had flown in from Los Angeles, and Nisita had been in contact with Spielberg's assistant there.

   "Ronald, it's me." Spielberg's voice came from the phone.

"Steven, what happened? I like the directorial technique of 'Empire of the Sun' very much. How could the Oscar not nominate you? This is very unfair. I and some directors I know are talking about this matter , if necessary, we can unite to speak out for you. The level of the work of the British director is not bad, but it is obviously not on the same level."

Spielberg was silent for a long time, "Forget it, Ronald. This matter has nothing to do with you, it is caused by other factors. By the way, I haven't congratulated you on getting the best director nomination yet, enjoy the first time you get Happy nomination."

   "Oh, thank you. I'm actually quite surprised this time. I wasn't nominated for the best director by the directors' union. It may be that my agency has put in a lot of hard work, plus luck."

   "CAA did some work?"

   "Yes, I don't know how they handled it, but Mr. Ovitz was really helpful..."

The two chatted for a few more words, Spielberg hung up the phone, and said to Kathleen Kennedy, the general manager of Amberlin Production Company and his former assistant, "Ronald's nomination was obtained through the help of CAA's public relations. of."

"OK, I don't think he's the person behind the scenes. He can only find a way to get into the nomination list at most, and he doesn't have the ability to cancel all the important nominations of a certain film. In fact, he can have such a strong influence on the Academy's judges Powerful, the only possibility is..."

  Spielberg raised his hand and stopped Catherine from continuing, "You contact Michael from CAA, I want to talk to him."

  Ovitz has been working hard to sign Spielberg, who has the most commercial appeal in Hollywood. However, because of the brokerage company's commission, Spielberg has been reluctant to sign a contract with Michael Ovitz, preferring to set up his own company to handle brokerage affairs.

  …

  After being nominated for an Oscar, Ronald suddenly discovered that his authority in the crew seemed to have suddenly increased a lot.

  Especially the lead actress, Melanie Griffiths. She's already flirting with Wall Street banker Liam Dalton, who drives her every time.

  Seeing Ronald, Griffiths always wants to tell Ronald his analysis of Tess, hoping to get his advice.

   "In the Pygmalion movie, the transformation of a girl starts with her hairstyle. From the outside to the inside, Tess will believe in her abilities. She is no longer a secretary, but a Wall Street broker."

   "Very good", Ronald saw that Melanie Griffith's analysis of characters was very appropriate. The difficulty of this performance is not only to convince the actors themselves, but also to convince the audience who watched the movie for the first time. What better way to make the audience aware of a heroine's transformation than an ugly duckling transformation?

"Thanks, I've watched the Pygmalion video many times. I think Tess's state of mind is like this... She neither fully believes that she can pretend to be an investment manager like her boss Catherine, nor is she reconciled to having her good ideas stolen by Catherine for myself..."

   Melanie Griffiths went on to start analyzing the character's mental state.

   "Stop...stop..." Ronald hurriedly asked her to stop, and stop using this method of analysis to dissect the psychology of Tess' character in the script.

   "What, am I thinking wrong?"

"I think it's ok. I've seen your previous films, and I've talked with Jonathan Demme, who directed you, and director Brian De Palma. You are a talented actor who acts by instinct. When the time comes, follow Just act on your gut and don't get too caught up in this kind of character analysis."

Ronald and the previous directors who worked with Melanie Griffiths have all inquired about the performance methods she is good at. Every one of her is often unexpected. There is an inspiration for improvisation, which can make the opponent The performance of the actors has also improved.

  Ronald didn't want Griffiths to lose his aura and switch to a method where all reactions were designed. This is a great waste of acting talent.

   "Am I? Am I really a genius?" One of the five Oscar nominees for best director said that he is a genius. In short, he can't be wrong. Melanie Griffiths was shaken by Ronald's compliment, and she sat aside blankly to think about her thoughts.

   "Joan," Ronald sees on the other side Joan Cusack, who plays the supporting role of Sheen. She was communicating with a Wall Street elite in suits and ties. It was another investment manager recommended by Bannon, Richard Burke, courting Joan Cusack.

  No matter how many beautiful girlfriends bankers have had, Hollywood beauties always seem to have a different aura, and dating them can also improve their social status.

   "Dick, the director wants to talk to me", Joan Cusack skillfully instructs Dick, who is a little bald, to do things.

  Joan Cusack now shows people with the exaggerated hairstyle and makeup of the secretary. Fortunately, her own beauty has not been damaged by this exaggerated appearance.

   "Director, I'm pretending to be a secretary every day now, and I go to Dick's office to act as a secretary, hehe, not many people there can tell me apart from a real secretary."

   "Hi, Joan. I think you have a good experience of life." Ronald felt that her temperament was slowly developing in the direction of a real secretary.

"I feel like I have to live more as a secretary to play her better. So I'm thinking, is it..." Joan Cusack had a crazy idea, she felt that she was paid too much, The money that is far beyond what a Wall Street secretary can earn should adjust his salary to the secretary's level, so that he can act out the feeling of that secretary.

   "Stop...stop...", Ronald quickly stopped Joan Cusack. Contrary to Griffiths, this guy's problem is too much intuition and too little analysis. The role of Xin is an exaggerated supporting role. It is necessary to magnify some of the characteristics of the secretary's profession on the boundary, so that the audience can remember it, so as to contrast Tess's uniqueness in the secretary.

   "How much do you know about the character Sheen?" Ronald asked.

   "She is Tess' good friend, and she likes exaggerated makeup and hairstyle..." Joan Cusack said something. During this time, she mainly imitated the secretary in words and deeds, rather than using rational analysis.

   "Tess is an ambitious secretary, but Xin doesn't want to be so troublesome. Like most secretaries, she doesn't want to continue to learn advanced business and financial knowledge. She just wants to do her job well and find a reliable boyfriend to marry.

  But she and Tess have complementary personalities. Both of them like each other's ideas very much, and they pin their previous dreams on this friend who has not given up hope. "

   "Director, the actor is really lucky to have such advice from you." Joan Cusack felt that the analysis was profound, and naturally flattered Ronald.

   "You'll know if you shoot more movies. It's not the same as drama. This business still depends on luck." Ronald smiled at her and asked her to go back and think about how to design actions and lines to express Xin's temperament.

  Actors are not like other positions. The final performance on the screen is formed by the aggregation of many factors. Such as directing, photography, makeup, hairstyle, lighting, and even the final editing. It is not certain whether a performance segment that is highly praised by film critics is mainly due to the actor's good acting skills.

  For example, in this year's Oscar nominations, he won nine awards, ranking first among all the "Last Emperor" movies. Obviously, the leading actor John Lone and the heroine Joan Chen performed very well, but for this reason, they were not nominated for Best Actor and Queen.

  Especially the leading actor John Lone, not only won the film critic award, and the recognition of the Golden Globe Award for best actor in a drama, but it is not the first time he has been praised by film critics. "Iceman", who played a prehistoric primitive man before, and "Year of the Dragon", who played a new generation of godfathers in Chinatown, were both highly praised.

   But during the selection process, most members of the Academy of Film Technology and Art rejected John Lone's acting skills and did not vote for him on the grounds that the actor's performance was the credit of director Bertolucci.

  Playing the last emperor from youth to old age, regardless of whether his acting skills can win the final award, Ronald believes that John Lone's acting skills are nominated, which is a well-deserved honor. Moreover, he has won many film critics awards for his outstanding performance in two films before, but he was not nominated for an Oscar. This kind of debt of gratitude is generally corrected by the Oscar jury in the subsequent votes.

  So, it's very strange that John Lone didn't get nominated.

Nominated for Marcello Mastroianni, the Italian star of "Black Eyes," an Italian-Soviet co-production based on a Chekhov story, was a quirky opus that no critics gave praise.

   What's even more strange is that this "Black Eyes" has only one nomination for best actor, which shows that the judges did not favor this film, and this lonely nomination is more like making up the number.

    And John Lone is the leading man of a lavish biopic, whose story runs through some of the most important chapters in 20th-century history, including World War II and its aftermath.

  Because the main characters in the movie are all Chinese faces, such a movie that has won all the major awards, but lacks any performance award nominations really makes it difficult for the public to understand.

  Of course, for insiders, it is also a semi-open secret that the actor judges responsible for nomination voting do not want a yellow-skinned actor to be recognized. And because it is elected by vote, it is difficult to obtain evidence of this kind of discrimination, and it is impossible to publicly accuse it.

  Oscar, the award that represents the highest achievement in Hollywood, does have many uncertain factors interfering. It is not like the Golden Globe Awards, which can greatly increase the probability of winning an award after a few operations.

  After the announcement of the nominations, the nominated films began to add more screenings in theaters. Driven by the curiosity of this nomination, the audience also began to walk into the theater, looking for the feeling of being a non-staff judge.

  Michael Gray, who was in charge of film marketing, began to make efforts in the major media to get more regional newspapers to reprint Ronald's interview. More posters began to appear at the ticket offices of theaters across the country.

"Ronald, it's time. A trip to West Berlin will allow 'Moonlight' to appear in more entertainment headlines for free in the media. The film quality of this year's West Berlin International Film Festival competition unit In general, there is only one place in Hollywood that broadcasts the news except for the moonlight." Art director Polly Pratt was urging Ronald to attend the West Berlin Film Festival.

"Well, I'll try to stay there for as few days as possible, and I'll leave everything here to you." Ronald was very relieved of Pratt's coordination ability. This strong woman is not only very suitable for the position of producer, but also And I also know a lot about the preparatory work of the director. Ronald was going to offer her a co-producer position, with the opportunity to pull her into Daydream.

"No, no, you should stay longer. The West Berlin Film Festival has the shortest history among the three major film festivals in Europe. It was established during the Cold War to set an example. You should communicate more with them. If you can win a Golden Bear It will be good for your Oscar if you get the award back."

   "I heard that there is almost no chance of winning an award for the first time. What do you mean, do I still have a chance?" Ronald was surprised that Polly Platt was more interested than himself.

"Oscar is a very stingy award. My ex-husband Peter Bogdanovich was also nominated for best director at a very young age, but he never got it again." Polly Platt made an I am not Cursing your gestures, "So, don't pass up a single chance. Oscar nominations are hard for anyone."

   Ronald, who was a little nervous by Pratt, boarded the flight to West Berlin. This city is actually an enclave in East Germany. As Pratt said, it is a showcase for Eastern Europe showing the prosperity of the West. The West German government actually spent a lot of money to make it a twinkling.

  Berlin-Tempelhof Airport is a commercial and military airport in West Berlin. The city of West Berlin was also surrounded by East German territory. This is the frontier of the Cold War, completely different from the warm and peaceful New York, where gray reinforced concrete buildings can be seen everywhere.

  Out of the airport, you can see the towering TV tower in East Berlin, which is also part of the competition and showing off of the two camps.

  The weather was still very cold, and the organizing committee sent a lady to act as Ronald's interpreter.

   This lady named Hannah speaks English very well, without a German accent. She is particularly fond of Ronald's movie Dirty Dancing and has seen it three times. On the way to the hotel, I kept discussing the plot of the movie with Ronald.

According to Hannah, people in West Berlin are very fond of "dirty dancing", just as Ronald's "break dancing" caused the break dancing craze in Germany a few years ago, this time the mambo dance in "dirty dancing" , also became popular among West Berliners.

   When Ronald heard such admiration from such a fan, he felt a little different in his heart. The director seldom has such fans to praise him, and it feels good to meet one occasionally in a foreign country.

   "Thank you, you're overrated."

"I'm not exaggerating the influence of your movie here, I'm just telling the truth." Hannah is a typical German, and she took the politeness as a question, "Not only we like to watch it, but also the audience in the east. We have a movie here. Movie theaters show your movies all day long, that's where your most loyal audience for Dirty Dancing can make more than half of them cry every time."

   "Huh?" Ronald felt so strange, "Dirty Dancing" is a romantic comedy, and there are beautiful and **** dances, why did he cry?

   "If you don't believe me, I can lead you there at night. There are really many people crying..."

  (end of this chapter)