Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 947 Do you want to become one of us?

  Catherine Bigelow's film "Sticky Fingers," starring Helen Slater, has started filming in New York.

   This is a film invested by women (including Ronald's money of course), starring women, and directed by women, and of course it is fully reflected in the announcement.

  The guests and reporters who came here are mainly women. Ronald saw a large group of female insiders at the scene.

  However, because tonight's protagonist is Helen, Ronald only got to know a few familiar stars, such as Jamie Lee Curtis, the star of the horror movie "Moonlight, Panic". The female director, Martha Coolidge, had a conversation with the female producer Gail Hurd.

"You really like to shoot female subjects, and you are willing to support women." Gail looked at Ronald and sighed in his heart. If Hollywood producers were as friendly as Ronald 50% to women, his own achievements Definitely bigger than it is now.

   "How's Jim's new movie going?" Ronald asked.

   "Finding with his diving equipment at the Cherokee Nuclear Power Plant." Gale only answered professionally, "Don't ask me anything else, I don't want to spoil the fun."

  Ronald stopped discussing Cameron's personal affairs with her, and asked her whether the strike would affect her.

  Gail said that female producers like them are already discriminated against. Now that the copyright of adapted novels is popular, they can only turn to second-rate scripts.

  Martha Coolidge, the female director who debuted with Ronald back then, has no chance to make any blockbuster films now, so she can only sincerely ask Ronald to consider their women if they have the opportunity.

  Ronald said that as long as it is a low-cost production of less than two million U.S. dollars, they are very welcome to contact them.

  Jamie Lee Curtis walked with a gray-haired but good-looking woman and introduced him to Ronald. "This is my mother. She has heard of your name and likes your Dirty Dancing. She wants to come and see you and express her love."

   "Ms. Leigh needs no introduction", of course Ronald recognized the famous Janet Leigh (Janet Leigh). Their mother and daughter look very similar, both have long faces, and the mother is more beautiful than the daughter.

   "I like your Dirty Dancing very much. I bought the video and watched it several times. Jamie said that he was invited, so I will also watch it."

   "I'm very honored. You are the girl of my dreams. When I was in college in New York, I watched your movies many times." Ronald was also very surprised that this man came to New York.

   "Oh, hahaha... I don't know if you like to watch my movie? Psycho?" Speaking of Janet Leigh, the audience's deepest impression of her is the bathroom murder scene in Hitchcock's classic.

   "No, I prefer Orson Welles' Gone with the Hell..." Ronald replied that Wells' movies have more depth, and decades later, the number of broadcasts on TV far exceeds that of Psycho. Of course, this is also related to Hitchcock's daughter's too tight view on copyright.

   "Oh? He's a genius. I also like that movie very much. It's a pity that the announcement was not done well."

  Ronald said hello to Rich Lake, the chubby girl in "Hairspray", who is now doing odd jobs in Daydream Company, helping with some of Ronald's documents. Because of her stature, it was difficult for her to accept new roles in the film industry, and she had the idea of ​​moving behind the scenes.

   "Why didn't you go to the interview with Helen?" Rich Lake also did some work in the publicity work of Daydream, and knew that Ronald invested in the project because of Helen.

   "That's the stage for their female creators..." Ronald smiled, looking at Helen Slater, who was being interviewed with director Catherine Bigelow and best friend Helen Hunt.

  She wore a home-style dress, a red sweater cardigan with a white skirt inside. Ronald frowned. Helen didn't change her habit of not wearing custom-made dresses to attend important occasions.

   "Do you think stories from a female perspective can find an appreciative audience..." A young reporter from the Washington Post was asking Helen and Bigelow a question.

   "I think there are many young women in the movie audience. They like this movie. We don't worry about box office issues..." Helen Slater was very dissatisfied with the tone of the reporter's question, and began to confront her.

   "Hey, relax a little...be respectful to ladies...", Ronald went up and patted the reporter. In the film critics in Los Angeles and New York, Daydream has already taken care of it, but the box office of this movie does not seem to be very good, and all the people sent are young and inexperienced.

   "All female..." Helen Slater gave Ronald a look, indicating that the announcement strategy should highlight the all-female creative team.

  Ronald walked away with a smile. Helen still attaches great importance to this movie. You can tell from her nervous and excited appearance.

   "Thank you, Ronald, I know if it wasn't for your help, and Gerald's help alone, this movie might not have come out so easily."

   "Oh, hi, Alice..." Ronald turned his head and found that the speaker was Helen's mother, the environmental protection and anti-nuclear lawyer. "Let's stop interfering here, go and sit in the back."

"We didn't raise her in Jewish traditions, and Helen spent Christmas like a normal American kid, and I think it's good for her. I don't want her to be forced to live a different life just because she's doing a movie. Own…"

  Helen's mother, Alice, suddenly said something to Ronald about raising Helen as a child.

   "I don't quite understand..." Ronald didn't know what he meant.

   "You are too busy, I rarely have the opportunity to see you. This is just a little selfishness as a mother. We don't want our children to live in a way we don't like..."

   "Mom, let's go in and watch a movie..." Helen came over at this time, put her arms around her mother, and smiled at Ronald.

   Ronald, who was a little confused, followed in. The audience who came to the premiere of the film were mainly women, accounting for more than 80%.

  The opening scene is a shot of Helen and another heroine walking on the road. Her two long legs are very conspicuous in the shot. Ronald turned his head and looked over. Helen is really suitable for the movie.

The whole movie is actually a pretty old-fashioned comedy, two girls playing the violin, found a bag of cash in the rented room, a full $900,000, they resisted the temptation, paid the bills, invested For his own music career, he bought two expensive antique violins, and also bought a lot of beautiful clothes and shoes.

  Finally, the dealer’s landlord came back to ask for money. Two terrified girls ran away from the window, and the dealer’s landlord was shot dead by the police who arrived.

  The tone of the whole movie is similar to Helen's movie "A Wicked Husband" two years ago. It is a comedy with a slower pace and a certain plot. Of course, the level of comedy directed by Catherine Bigelow is much worse than that of Jerry Zucker.

  The whole movie is quite satisfactory, except for the accident that too much slow motion is used in a few scenes in the third act at the end, there is no major flaw. But the laughter is not very dense, and the frequency of the audience's laughter and applause is a bit lower than expected.

  In the plot, there are many troubles that girls often encounter, and the portrayal is more realistic than the current Hollywood movies. It seems that the all-female creative team still has something to read.

  The audience liked Helen Slater's performance, but Ronald felt that the audience didn't appreciate her acting skills, but liked her clothes and high heels in the movie. The female audience praised loudly the close-ups that came after each pair of beautiful shoes were put on their feet.

  Maybe what they really like is the feeling of having a windfall that sticks to their fingers and has to be spent in shopping malls.

   "What do you think the box office will be? I'm so nervous, almost as nervous as I was when I first filmed Supergirl..."

  Back to the apartment on Fifth Avenue, Helen was lying on Ronald's body, still excitedly talking about her feelings after the release of the first movie she led.

"I am so happy today. My mother Alice also thinks that I have done a good job. My father, Gerald, also came before and chatted with my mother. Unfortunately, he had something to do and left first, so he didn't see me. New film."

   Ronald changed his position to make Helen lie more comfortably, and gently combed her blond hair with his hands. Helen has remained blond since filming Supergirl. "Oh? Gerald is here too? What is he going to do first?"

   "I heard that an important person from Hollywood is coming, and I went to a meeting with him." Feeling very comfortable, Helen also rubbed Ronald's arm with her hand.

   "What did he say to your mother? Alice said something to me today, I don't quite understand. Said that you were not raised according to the Jewish tradition when you were a child, Christmas, but Hanukkah or something."

   "She is a liberal Jew. I hope that I will grow up like my classmates at school. Don't be special because of my Jewish identity. Our family also buys Christmas trees every year."

   "How much do you think the box office of the movie will be?" Helen still had no idea about the movie.

   “The professionals of Daydream, which is expected to be released in four to six weeks, roughly equals the production cost.”

   "Well... I am also worried that the box office will not be good... If investors can not lose money, then there is a chance to make more movies with similar themes. There are too few female-themed movies in Hollywood."

   "Don't worry, there are still videotapes released. In the videotape rental shop, there are many people who can slowly choose their favorite genre."

Michelle Cannold is not very optimistic about the box office of this movie, but the subject matter is very special, it is the kind that is more interesting and reasonable than daytime soap operas, but without big stars, it is impossible to attract enough women The type of film that audiences go to the cinema to see.

  For this type of film, after TV appeared and housewives watched soap operas at home, few producers were willing to bet on filming. But those housewives and professional women are now gradually getting into the habit of going to video rental stores to pick up videotapes, revived this kind of female-themed "chicken movies" in disguise.

  …

  Early the next morning, Ronald was still asleep, and Helen woke up early, picked up the film review newspaper delivered at the door, and read it alone.

   “You can tell at a glance whether it’s a boy’s movie or a girl’s movie. Shopping, dieting, which rag is for washing dishes and which is for cleaning tables. Girls’ movies always have a lot of space that focuses on the closet.

   And the boys movies are mostly about guns, cars, and… well, about guns, did I already mention guns? You're stupid for watching boy movies.

   This is Sticky Fingers is a funny comedy, especially for a female audience, nice high heels and earrings, little wardrobe footage in a boy movie..."

  It seems that the Washington Post film critic reporter who came yesterday still likes this movie very much. Helen happily put away the newspaper.

   "Are you awake, Ronald? Just now your agent Richard sent a movie review, and I read it first. Do you want to read it?" Helen handed out the newspaper.

   "Of course I want to see..." Ronald reached out and hugged Helen. Her nose didn't look like a Jew, and her big eyes didn't look like a Jew. If you say something about a Jew, it's probably because of religion, and there may be no connection in blood.

   Ronald looked at Helen's alluring green eyes, and quickly kissed it, um, it smelled good. This is a relatively fresh grass-scented perfume, very environmentally friendly...

"Um…"

  Helen managed to get out of Ronald's enthusiasm, "Richard said he has something to do with you, and asked you to call him back, and I will call Helen (Hunter)."

   Didn't continue the good things from last night, Ronald smiled, went to the bedroom to pick up another phone, and called his manager Richard.

   "Ronald, Ovitz is in New York too, and he wants to invite you to the synagogue in Brooklyn."

"Can't you just say I'm not free?" Ronald was not too impressed with Ovitz looking for him, but Richard said it was an important matter. Ovitz attached great importance to it and called him several times in succession. .

   "Okay, okay, I'll just go see him." Ronald got up and waved to Helen who was on the phone with his best friend, changed his clothes and set off.

  Brooklyn United Synagogue is a very old building, just opposite the library. It is not only a religious place, but the fifth floor has also been leased to a German international school as a classroom.

  Ronald saw a lot of blond Germanic teenagers attending classes here, coming in and out, and couldn't help but feel an interesting contrast.

   Arrived inside the clubhouse, a private room that seems to be used by Jewish rabbis, where Michael Ovitz is waiting for him.

   "Hello, Ronald, nice to meet you here." Ovitz wore a ridiculous little round hat, which Ronald rarely saw. This kind of small hat can only cover a small part of the top of the head, and the wearer may fix it with pins or the like, so it will not fall off no matter how you shake your head.

   "It was designed by architect Arnold Brenner and completed in 1929. It is the largest Reform synagogue in New York." Ovitz introduced the reason for the building to him.

   "Reform Judaism?" Ronald heard a new term.

"Yes, it is also called liberalism, or progressiveism, but whatever it is called, it is a development after Judaism entered America. Do you know? The biggest difference between this and traditional Judaism is that we reformists no longer think that the Old Testament It is the only classic and cannot be changed."

   "Oh?" Ronald was perfunctory, he was not really interested in these things. Unlike the German International School on the fifth floor, which is full of secular atmosphere, it has a religious feeling. "

"Yes, we are not sticking to the Jewish people as the chosen people of God, and we are no longer emphasizing the principles and core beliefs of the race, but paying more attention to personal spiritual experience and community participation. You see, we even rented a floor in Germany. School."

   "Ah, yes, I saw the students."

   "I'm glad you have a preliminary understanding of us, so, are you willing to be one of us?"

   "What?" Ronald didn't expect Ovitz to say this. Is this to invite himself to join this Reform Judaism and become a member of the Jewish people? "

"Yes, we welcome people who become part of our community through marriage, especially artistic geniuses like you. Don't be surprised, I spoke to Gerald yesterday and know that you and Helen have a very good relationship. You give back She invested in movies.

  If you want, I will be happy to be your referrer...The ceremony is actually very simple..."

   "Wait a minute, Mr. Ovitz."

   Ronald fully understood why Ovitz would say something to himself on the set of Rain Man. Why would Helen's father not attend her daughter's movie premiere? Helen's mother would tell herself that she didn't want her daughter to live a lifestyle she didn't like.

   "I think you made a mistake, I am a Christian Quaker." Ronald quickly stopped.

"I've talked to many of your friends. You basically don't go to church. Even if you go to church, you can transfer after studying the Jewish scriptures..." Ovitz frowned, thinking that this is the same as what he found out The news doesn't seem to match.

"It's not just me. In fact, my father's family has been a major patron of the Quakers in Pennsylvania and Massachusetts. I've also recently donated to the new Quaker church on Staten Island." Ronald Quickly deny it, this is really funny.

   "Oh, my fault, I think there may be something wrong in the middle. I'm sorry that I said something that misunderstood you, in fact if..." Ovitz couldn't help but apologize, which is very embarrassing.

  “My friends must have misunderstood that I don’t go to church in Los Angeles. In fact, my main church is here in Staten Island.”

  (end of this chapter)