Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 956 Why do you want to be a director yourself?

   Ronald didn't remember why this name was so familiar for a while. Several high-level daydreams continued to discuss business.

Daydream has made a lot of money from "dirty dancing", but most of these are Ronald's property. Several young executives only pay dividends every time because of Ronald's generosity. When paying the bill, I also took a fat check.

  Making a movie is a very high-risk investment, and several people also limited their goals to these three novels. For such a big production, it would be good if Daydream could make one in a year. The bulk of the company's business is still low-cost B-movies and videotapes.

   "We may be able to develop a new genre film direction, a modern revival of gangster suspense films." Michelle Cannold made a suggestion to Ronald.

   “This kind of movie doesn’t require much shooting cost, and it’s easy to choose a suitable plot from old movies and remake it. Warner Bros. made a lot of this kind of movie in the 1930s and 1940s.”

  Ronald understood what he meant. The current videotapes are not the same as the shooting mode of cinema movies. Limited by the size of the TV, movies made specifically for the video market often require that kind of classical story mode.

  After the rise of television, not many studios are willing to shoot this model. Who can watch it in a movie theater when they can watch it on TV?

  The rapid rise of the video tape market has given an opportunity for the revival of ancient genres. Ronald chatted and felt that, to a certain extent, distribution channels determine the prosperity and decline of film genres.

  What is needed now is a high-volume, fast and low-cost manufacturing type film. Quality is not the most important thing, but speed and stability are important.

  The result of the discussion between several people is to buy more old movies and foreign movie copyrights, and record them into video tapes for sale while the screenwriters are still on strike. One is a romantic movie that women love to watch, and the other is a kung fu movie, which is the investment direction determined by Daydream. Everyone began to work hard in these two directions.

  Jackie Chan's kung fu movies are very good targets, because many jokes and big action scenes in his movies can be understood without words, which is a good pastime for American audiences. And love stories are mainly looking for China, Spain, and Italy. Latinos have special advantages in making such movies.

  Ronald thinks it's good, and he will make a note to call Xiangjiang's friends in the future. They must be very interested in selling the movie to Hollywood.

   "Look, some of the movies released in theaters last year did not perform well at the box office, but the video tape rental market was unexpectedly booming. I think the seven major studios will react one day. We have to seize the opportunity."

Cannold took out a few prepared videotapes to verify the strategic direction they discussed, "This is 'NoWayOut' released by Orion, and they got a four-star evaluation from Roger Ebert. , but the box office is only in the early 30 million. Compared with the remuneration of several big stars, the stars have not paid back.

  However, the videotapes that Orion sold to HBO have entered the top five on the videotape rental list. If we remove the stars, it can be shot for less than 5 million, and the sales in the videotape market will not be much worse. "

"Michelle is right. I watched this movie. It is actually a plagiarized plot of Paramount's 'Big Clock' in 1948. We can do it well with a small remake copyright fee." David Simkins is worthy of being a script reviewer, he saw the prototype of the movie at a glance. Proof of the resurgence of the espionage, thriller, gangster genre.

"This type of film, in fact, was mainly filmed by TV stations after the 1950s. However, due to the classification requirements of wireless TV, many ice creams in the plot were canceled. Just now in the video tape market, we can add those ice creams back. .” General Manager Eddie concluded.

   "That's great. In the future, we can also contact medium-sized studios like Orion. We can also help them produce and sell videotapes on behalf of them."

   Ronald felt that he had found another business direction, picked up the video tape box and watched it repeatedly. The heroine of the Spy Navy Soul is Sean Yang, a crazy woman who passed her audition. The leading actor is Kevin Costner, a former carpenter who made his debut.

  He has always been in the state of being a star, and the western film "Sivarra's Great Showdown" he made before did not achieve box office success. Perhaps more suitable for the video tape market.

   "Huh..." Ronald remembered that he had met the writer named Michael Blake when he was drinking beer at Kevin Costner's house. He had no money, didn't sell any scripts, and slept in the living room of Costner's house.

  At that time, Costner told him not to write the script, and to write a novel to make a name first. Could it be this...

"I remember, give me a call..." Ronald took the phone excitedly and dialed the number of agent Richard, "I want to talk to Kevin Costner, please contact him for me .”

   "Why, you have a new project, and you want to cooperate with him?" Richard became interested. He and Nisita rely on Ronald for most of the business.

   "He may know a best-selling author, I'll ask him about the copyright...Damn it, wouldn't Kevin have already bought it?"

   "He happened to come to Los Angeles to promote his new baseball movie 'Million Dollar Bull Durham', and he will come to see you after seeing the media." After a while, Richard called Ronald back.

  …

   "Yes, that's the friend you saw back then who lived in my house." Kevin Costner was wearing a jacket, white socks and boat shoes, exactly like the minor league baseball pitcher in the movie.

   "Aren't you?" Ronald asked Costner, holding his glass.

"Yes, I bought the option. Originally, Michael wrote a movie script. Because no producer was willing to buy it, I encouraged him to write a novel first. Now that the novel has entered the bestseller list, no one has bought it... I had to buy the adaptation option first."

  Kevin Costner told the story of "Dances with Wolves". Old friend Michael Black is a friend who debuted at about the same time as him and played together. After Kevin had acted in "Night of the Comet" and gradually became a star, Michael still couldn't find anyone willing to buy his movie.

  The novel's best-selling shows that the problem is not Blake's writing level, but such a classic western film, no one is willing to invest in it now.

   "I can consider investing. In fact, my creative director suggested that I consider it." Ronald stated his intention.

"Of course, of course I would. Working with you is the happiest filming experience I've had in Hollywood. You don't know how troublesome it is to work with Sean Young. If she doesn't feel right, she will stop..." Costner said to Rona De is very grateful, after all, the other party gave him a chance to debut.

   "But Michael has a condition, that is, all the plots in his novel must be filmed, and part of the plot cannot be adapted. I have already agreed to him."

  Kevin Costner was also very happy to see that Ronald was willing to invest. After all, if this script is to be fully filmed, it must have a budget of more than 10 million.

   "Shot all of them?" Ronald confirmed. After all, he flipped through this novel, and the stories in it are not small, and it might not be able to hold them all in two and a half hours. This is the type of film that distributors are least willing to see.

   "Yes, and the Indian part must be spoken in the language of the Indian tribe. I plan to go to the Indian reservation for real shooting."

  Ronald touched his chin, this sounded like a celebrity's delusion. Indian language dialogue, so who will watch the audience in America? And he spoke in a tone as if he already had an overall plan for the movie.

   "Who are you going to direct the movie?" Ronald asked him.

   "Your faithful..." Kevin Costner pointed to his nose.

   "Hmm...I don't know, Kevin. You might want to consider a small production to practice your skills. It's your first time as a director to challenge such a movie..."

"I've thought a lot, Ronald. When I've been making movies these years, I've been paying attention to observing the director's working method. You told me before that when making a movie, you first give a main shot, and then shoot over the shoulder. The shots were shot forwards and backwards, and some close-up reaction shots were added at the end."

  Seeing that Costner has fallen into passion, he began to talk about his design of certain lenses. Ronald knew that it would be difficult to persuade the other party to give up this unrealistic fantasy this time.

"I didn't expect you to have such a big idea, courage and ambition. My company alone can't handle the distribution of such a large production. If you can find seven major studios to give you the green light, I hope to buy a shoot I can invest in futures according to my share, so that after the overall plan is confirmed, I can invest according to my share."

   After thinking about it, Ronald decided to lock in an investment quota with a small amount of money first. No one in the seven major studios is crazy enough to let Costner make his debut to make such an epic production. At that time, when he hits a wall, I will slowly persuade him to give up his unrealistic fantasies.

   "Dances with Wolves" is a good novel. But a good novel doesn't necessarily translate into a good movie. After all, movies and novels are two completely different carriers, and often the better the novel, the worse the adaptation.

  First-rate movies are often adapted from third-rate novels, only retaining the characters and the frame of the story, so that they can be modified according to the rules of filming without offending novel readers. There are not many die-hard readers anyway.

   As for at least more than 10 million yuan, including Costner's salary, the budget would exceed 15 million yuan. Let this novice who has never been a producer try it out and see what kind of torture he will suffer.

  Anyway, this kind of thing is either said to him by himself, or people from the seven major studios said to him. Coming out of your own mouth will hurt feelings, it is definitely not as good as coming out of other people's mouths, and then I will come to persuade him.

  …

   On Dances with Wolves, we have to endure Costner's delusions for the time being. The other two novels came to fruition very quickly.

   "I'm sorry, I didn't find out the key behind it. The Silence of the Lambs, the adaptation rights have been sold before the publisher publishes it."

  David Simkins comes over and apologizes to Ronald.

   "What's going on here?" Ronald was surprised. Selling the property rights before publishing was strictly speaking a violation of a series of rules of the screenwriters' union.

"That's right. When the author Thomas Harris sold the copyright of the first 'Red Dragon' to De Laurentiis, he signed a special packaging contract. The sequel must also be written by De Laurentiis. Studio shot…”

  Simkins recounted all the information he had heard from the visiting author.

  De Laurentiis, a Naples native, made a lot of deceitful clauses in the contract. For example, if the film adaptation of the second series of novels is not produced by his company, he must be paid back half a million dollars in compensation.

  Thomas Harris at the time heard that his novel might be put on the screen, so he signed a contract regardless of too much. At that time, the first Red Dragon might not be able to be filmed, and it was a surprise that someone spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to buy the adaptation rights.

  Who knew that the first novel became a hit and was very popular with readers. The adaptation of the second part is also very popular and is sought after by many producers. Hollywood is full of poor filmmakers who want to be famous.

   But after the box office failure of the first film, Laurentiis no longer wanted to make a second film. However, the contract is still valid. If the author Harris wants to sell it to a producer who is really capable of producing it, he must first compensate De Laurentiis for 500,000.

   Obviously he didn't want to be taken advantage of. At this time, Gene Hackman, a famous acting actor, found him and was willing to pay half a million yuan to buy the copyright.

  The author Harris saw that someone was willing to pay, so of course he agreed.

   But apparently there are no idiots in Hollywood, Gene Hackman pays, and there are a few special terms. That is, after the film project is approved, first, he must be used as the senior official of the FBI.

  Second, the actor who plays Hannibal must be confirmed by Hackman nodding.

   Third, Hackman himself wants to direct.

  The author Harris felt that this configuration was good, and he didn’t need to pay for it himself, so he agreed. Now Ronald's Daydream Company thinks that it will be the first to come to discuss the adaptation, and the terms that have been determined cannot be changed.

  Originally filming requires a lot of money, and it is not impossible for everyone to invest in a joint venture and share risks. But when Simkins found Hackman's agent, he was rejected again.

   Gene Hackman wanted to use this film as a springboard for transforming into a director, letting everyone know that he is not only outstanding in acting, but also a potential director. Therefore, if a director like Ronald wants to invest, he is quite wary.

   "This..." Ronald felt that luck was really bad. Why is he an actor now, and he thinks he can transform into a director? It's really that easy, why are there so few directors transformed from actors.

  Besides, when an actor has a short schedule, he can rest after filming his own scenes. The director also has to coordinate the shooting of the entire film, deal with various emergencies, and finally shape the film in the editing room, and finally fight wits with the producer to keep the edited version, and also work hard for the publicity.

   Wouldn't it be nice for you to be a quiet star?

  By the way, Gene Hackman is not a star, just an actor. Ronald sort of got it.

   There are many people who can be stars and actors, but in fact there is still a huge gap between the two, that is, they are beautiful.

  Although Gene Hackman's acting skills are very good, and the audience is familiar with him, he has acted in many famous blockbuster movies, such as the villain in Superman. But no audience would think he was a star and come up to him for an autograph.

  Because he looks really ordinary, with no special features. With acting skills, he can play a good guy or a bad guy. However, it can never be fixed as a type of role, so that the audience will know what kind of role he is playing as soon as they see him.

  Because of this, Hackman has no box-office appeal, and his desire to become a director may be a reaction to his frustration.

   Each has its own troubles. Some big stars desperately want to broaden their drama, and actors with a wide range of drama envy stars that they can do whatever they want. If a star wants to act in this novel, where does he need to pay for it?

  Ronald approached Nisita to understand and clear up the relationship, and found that Gene Hackman's attitude was quite tough, so he could only give up temporarily.

   "What about Steel Magnolia?" Ronald thought of a third possible bidding script. This play is not a novel, but a script written for Off-Broadway, which has already been shown on Off-Broadway.

"Robert Haring, that is, the screenwriter is open to adapting the film, but he also has conditions. He needs to interview all directors and producers who want to bid for the film script. After talking with all bidders, he will confirm the sale to who."

   "This person is big enough." Ronald replied, he hadn't been picked on for a long time.

"I also think he is a bit too much, but he treats everyone equally. I have asked, this story is based on the real story of his sister. Her sister has diabetes and the doctor said it is not suitable for childbirth. But for the sake of her husband, I still A boy was born.

  Afterwards, his sister, because of childbirth, also aggravated diabetes and caused kidney failure. His mother donated a kidney to her, but the transplant didn't work out, and his sister died a few years later.

  So this story is very important to him, and there is a reason why he is so cautious. "

   "Okay, then you contact him on my behalf, and I will find time to meet him."

   "When are you free? I want to chat with him."

   "I'm still busy with the new film?" Ronald glanced at Simkins, "I have a friend who knows Gene Hackman, and I want to find him through the relationship to see if I can accommodate him."

   "Understood, I will contact the author of Steel Mulan first."

  Ronald nodded. Among the three scripts, he is still more optimistic about the suspense and thriller The Silence of the Lambs, which is in line with the trend of the video tape era. Westerns such as Dances with Wolves, and Southern female dramas such as Steel Magnolia, need to be more careful, and the priority is lower.

   "By the way, the satirical novel you mentioned, Forrest Gump, I found very interesting. Who bought the right to adapt it in the end?"

   Ronald remembered the Winston Groom novel that several people discussed last time. The novel, the subject matter, the plot, and the protagonist's lack of intelligence are all similar to the script "My Brother's Protector" that I wrote when I first debuted.

  Ronald was a little bit unwilling that the script could not be made into a movie. So I want to know more about the adaptation of Forrest Gump.

   “Bought by Steve Tisch, Jr. Son of the founder of NYU Tisch. His father was also the president of the New York Giants.”

"Isn't that the former boss of Michelle Cannold?" Ronald smiled. He had conflicts with Little Dishi before because of "Dirty Dancing", and now he has hired Cannold to come to Bai Daydream, the earning power of Dirty Dancing is more or less guessed in the industry.

  The current "Forrest Gump" has been bought by him, and it is impossible for him to cooperate with him, a proud rich second generation. We can only take a long-term view and see if there is a chance to buy it as a whole in the future.

  Don't tell me, although this novel is written in the tone of Forrest Gump, it is full of typos and incorrect grammar. But it didn't affect reading at all. Ronald read it with gusto. The last time he saw Forrest Gump went to the moon as an astronaut, he also participated in the table tennis delegation's visit to China because of his good table tennis.

  (end of this chapter)