Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 994 Long Wei boy's counterattack

  The provisional agreement that allows members of the Screenwriters Guild to temporarily work for Hollywood crews has received overwhelming approval from the Screenwriters Guild. After all, compared with ideals and illusory promises, bringing bread to the table at home is the most urgent need of every screenwriter.

Ronald's Daydream, also with medium-sized producers such as Cannon and Orion, as well as Spielberg's Amblin Entertainment, Rob Reiner's Castle Rock, etc. are attached to the director's name of 150 Like a small production company, it signed a tentative settlement agreement.

   "Why do I feel that the seven major studios are not afraid of that antitrust lawsuit?" Ronald asked his lawyer Mitch Kanter after signing the agreement.

   "In America, the original intention of filing a lawsuit is not necessarily to win the case." Kanter explained to Ronald.

  There are two types of antitrust lawsuits in America. One is the public prosecution investigation initiated by the Ministry of Justice and the Trade Commission. Based on the Sheldon Act, it opposes the collusion of large companies or the abuse of monopoly to obtain improper benefits.

  This anti-monopoly is very strict. Once convicted, it will result in fines, bans, and even splits. Just like when Paramount was forced to split up its theater business.

  The other is the private lawsuit brought by some people in the screenwriters union. This kind of antitrust is mainly based on the Clayton Act, which mainly opposes behaviors that lead to monopoly or substantially reduce competition. For example, several major studios and the three major public TV stations have now formed an alliance and refuse to agree to a new labor agreement.

  This law is more lenient. If you lose the case, you will only be compensated to the plaintiff with three times the damages and attorney fees.

  But if this case is officially scheduled for trial, it will definitely attract media attention. Maybe it will attract the attention of the Trade Commission and the Ministry of Justice. If you meet another minister with political ambitions, you can launch a public prosecution investigation.

  So the reason why the Screenwriters Union filed the lawsuit was also to act as a threatening gesture. I hope that these diehard members will stop resisting the agreement. Otherwise, the Screenwriters Union may undergo changes at the top and at the same time attract public power to intervene, which is not good.

  …

   Regardless of whether the screenwriters who write scripts for TV have improved their lives, but the screenwriters who work for Hollywood and Ronald's daydream are laughing and laughing.

  Robert Haring can finally appear in the crew as a screenwriter. Several screenwriter doctors urgently hired by Ronald also began to work with him to make urgent changes to the lines and scenes in places that were not suitable for filming.

  Diane Lane's special accent training is almost finished, so she came to report the results to Ronald.

   "Where did you get the pickup?" Ronald asked amusedly when he saw Diane driving an old pickup truck parked in front of his high-end apartment.

"I said Brother Ronnie, that pickup truck is really a good car, it's perfect for fishing!" Diane spoke with a smell of big corn stubble, and walked like a girl from a small southern town. If you don't know her, you will really think that she and Dolly Parton are fellow villagers from the same place.

   "Hahaha, your special training is very good." Ronald was happy. Diane is talented in acting. After a few weeks of training, she has already grasped the characteristics of southerners very well.

"I want to reward you, what do you want to eat?" Ronald knew that this movie was shot at 1.85:1, and Diane's character was wrapped in a conservative skirt from beginning to end, and the management of her body was not so strict. After taking so long to prepare, something delicious is always attractive to an actress.

   "We have to celebrate tonight. The barbecue is delicious. I'll bring that bottle of bourbon later." Diane continued to immerse herself in the state of being a southerner.

   "Do you really want to eat barbecue?" Ronald didn't care.

   "Hahaha, no, no, if I eat barbecue, this month's training plan will be in vain. Now I go to practice yoga and aerobics every day."

   "Since you are exercising, don't be afraid to eat barbecue. If you want to eat, we will eat it. Then do more 'exercise' and burn off the calories." Ronald put an emphasis on the word exercise.

   "You promise?" Diane laughed out loud, his eyes lit up, "Hahaha, okay, let's go eat some delicious food. I heard that the nearest Dongying restaurant is good."

   I didn’t eat the barbecue, but the expensive Japanese Wagyu, which was transported by air from Dongying, and the American Wagyu crossed with those Wagyu and local cattle, are not a class of enjoyment at all.

   "Mr. Lee, a Mr. Horowitz wants to see you."

   While Ronald and Diane were enjoying their food, a waiter in a white shirt and black tie came over to give Ronald a message.

   "It's a crime to interrupt enjoying a meal with a lady..." Ronald held Diane's hand, not paying much attention to the public relations consultant Horowitz.

The two were about to continue eating the rest of the steak sweetly, when they saw Horowitz coming from the side and said, "Ronald, the governor and Johnny Carson are over there, Come over and sit down together?"

   "You really spoil the fun..." Ronald wiped his mouth, he could have gone back to exercise with Diane, he turned back and asked Diane, "Do you want to meet Mr. Carson?"

   "Okay, last time I was on his show on my 18th birthday, and he called me by the wrong name." Diane was in a good mood, and it was good to meet the host with the most viewers on the TV station.

Ronald nodded to public advisor Horowitz and went with Diane to the far side of the restaurant, where there was a booth near the corner with only Johnny Carson, Frey, the producer of his Tonight Show. De Cordova, and the tall Mr. Governor of Arkansas.

   "Ronald, is that right? My wife, my seven-year-old daughter and I all watched your Dirty Dancing video, and they would be delighted to be here."

  The governor smiled sincerely, stood up and shook hands with Ronald. His handshake was strong and confident, but not the kind of strength that showed his superiority. The dark blue suit and plaid tie are interesting and playful. The Governor's other hand was immediately placed on Ronald's elbow in a gesture of intimacy.

   "It's a pleasure meeting you. I saw your speech at the conference, and even though the audience booed, I actually think it's quite reasonable."

"Haha, this incident made me very uncomfortable. I think the half hour I was at the conference was the most difficult time in my life. But it is also good, at least let many people know about me, such as you..." The governor put his arm down When it reached Ronald's arms and shoulders, he patted twice.

"It's not wrong to say that, Johnny, Mr. Cordoba." Ronald felt that the governor had no airs, and he spoke very familiarly with himself, as if the two had gone to high school together and played on the same team. The kind of close buddy relationship like football.

   This was the first time Ronald saw such a charismatic politician, and he couldn't help being surprised.

   "Hello, Miss Lane..."

   "Hi, Mr. Governor..."

   Diane also shook hands with the governor, and he also held Diane's elbow with his left hand. It seems that this is his gesture of intimacy and interest in you.

   Ronald frowned, the level of intimacy was a bit too much.

  As if sensing Ronald's displeasure, the governor immediately put down his hand, then pulled away the chair and let Diane sit down.

   "You should talk to Ronald, Johnny. It's not a bad thing to have a political guest on your show."

  The governor conveniently brought Ronald into his conversation with Johnny Carson.

   "Hi, Diane, see you again?" Johnny Carson was a little embarrassed, he didn't want to talk about it. Politicians not appearing on their own programs is the most important criterion for maintaining their neutral attitude and winning more viewers. The show's ratings are now falling because of the writers' strike.

   Carson, who could have reached a temporary agreement and resumed the employment of screenwriters, was forced to find a lot of college graduates and direct them to produce jokes every day because of NBC's boycott of the agreement. He has been rolling in **** for several months, and he doesn't want to make any more troubles. He is criticized by the outside world for losing his neutral position.

   "Mr. Carson, do you still remember me?" Diane looked surprised, "I spent my birthday on your show last time...".

  The guests continued to chat awkwardly, but Ronald didn't want to talk to them, and he was still holding Diane's hand under the table, rubbing it in her palm... The beautiful woman smiled and looked back.

   "Johnny, I think the Governor's affinity and sense of camera are very good, do you want to try it?" The producer Cordova began to fall to that side. Horowitz was good with PR, he was inclined to say yes, and now Carson, strangely, faced competition from a much younger David Letterman.

  Letterman started writing jokes for Carson, young and more energetic, many viewers who didn’t watch the Tonight Show, went to watch Letterman’s Late Show, which was broadcast immediately after Carson’s show.

  Johnny Carson's own writing ability has degraded badly. The college student team is not familiar with his style, so the jokes are getting less and less funny.

   And now that the Governor happens to be a national hot spot, Carson can't compete with other shows in using his jokes. Now the governor has offered to be on his own TV. Whether it is funny or not, as long as he is on the show, it will greatly increase the ratings.

"I understand that TV audiences are completely different from live audiences. I have also experienced the feeling of being on stage, the lights are down, and the faces of the audience cannot be seen clearly, only their voices can be heard, and I am too scared to speak. time." Carson felt sympathetically for the governor's problems, a trap often called "quicksand" in the television industry.

Everything went well at first, but for some unknown reason, the audience suddenly started to oppose you. You were nervously thinking about how to deal with it. Everything is wrong. Just wait for your partner to pull you out.

  The governor’s mistake was that he lacked a person with experience in televised speeches. When the situation was unfavorable, he would take the lead and interrupt the situation by interrupting a sentence or two.

   It's a pity that the occasion...

"Honestly, I just wanted Dukakis to look great that day...God knows, I succeeded in a special way..." The governor started to laugh at himself, and he was laughed at by everyone, turning the boring Dukakis The contrast is pretty good.

   "Puff..." Diane laughed when he heard it, and whispered in Ronald's ear, "This governor has a great sense of humor when he speaks, almost like a stand-up comedy talker."

  Ronald continued to touch Diane's palm, and a heat came through the palm. "It's funny."

   Actually, this is not funny at all, politics is an art of competing for attention. Although the governor is being criticized now, Dukakis has also taken all the limelight away from him. The National Congress of the Donkey Party was originally a good opportunity to promote one's own political views to voters across the country, now...

"Ronald, what do you think? How should I tell Mr. Governor that it is not suitable for people who are currently in public office to appear on my show." Johnny Carson didn't want to continue the discussion anymore, he had drunk enough , Im going back to continue writing jokes with those rookie screenwriters.

"Then it's better not to be on your show as the governor, and it's not bad to be a stand-up comedian." Ronald blurted out, and he didn't want to waste time. Diane's palms were a little tired, and his face was getting more and more pale more red.

   "That's a good idea, Ronald." The opposite producer and the governor agreed. I can't invite the current governor to be a guest on the show, so why not just go with a different identity?

   "Can you say stand-up comedy?" producer Cordova asked.

   "I have been playing the saxophone in the band in college..." The governor quickly changed his talent. As the governor, he told some jokes to enliven the atmosphere and make the audience happy. It is too low to perform stand-up comedy by himself.

  Johnny Carson looked embarrassed, but finally nodded in agreement, "I wanted you to defend my point." On the way out, he quietly complained to Ronald. In order to avoid suspicion, the governor had already left by another exit.

   "It's a pity that it wasn't a program recording, otherwise I could make a supplementary recording in favor of you..." Ronald smiled, said goodbye to him, and he and Diane got into the car and left.

   "Hahaha, have you seen Carson's face?" When they arrived at the apartment, Diane smiled happily and fell on Ronald's body. When she was on the show back then, Carson also called her by the wrong name, and finally cut a section to make up for it, which made her, who was still very young back then, very nervous in the audience.

   "As long as you are happy, I like it...", Ronald said with his arms around Diane.

   "Hmm... I like that you speak nice words, cowboy, are you so majestic at work?" Diane imitated the tone of a southern chick again, put one hand on Ronald's chin, and said flirtatiously.

   "Hmm..." Ronald felt as if Diane was a different person, and the different tone brought different feelings. The woman in his arms was both familiar and strange, and his desire to conquer suddenly came up.

   "Let me show you if mine is strong enough." Ronald approached Diane at once, and both of them felt an unusually high passion from this role-playing game.

"Bye, I'll go to Louisiana to watch your filming after I finish other things." On Friday, Ronald sent Diane on the plane. The filming of "Steel Magnolia" will start soon, and Diane will go to Louisiana first. That familiar environment.

   "I'll wait for you, cowboy." Diane smiled and boarded the plane, showing his naughty head on the porthole to bid farewell to Ronald.

  …

"Mr. Li, we have bought all the funds on the books into Coca-Cola shares according to your instructions. You now own about 26 million US dollars worth of Coca-Cola shares in our company's securities account, which is equivalent to the total 0.2% of the market value is weak. What do we need to do next?"

   "Very good, there is no need to operate, I just wait for the dividend." Ronald put down the phone, and with the Coke stock he bought earlier, it was already close to 0.5% of the total share capital.

   With so much money, waiting for dividends every year, you can live a good life. Ronald doesn't trade frequently, and I don't know how to trade stocks anyway, so it's best to get dividends. I heard that if you used your savings to buy Coca-Cola stock during the Great Depression, you would at least be a millionaire now.

   It can be seen that as long as the country of America is still there, there will probably be many people drinking Coca-Cola.

Putting down the phone, Ronald was very happy. By next year, according to the current sales speed, all the products of "Dirty Dancing", including albums, videos, and box office revenue, are expected to exceed 80 million US dollars, plus other movies The income you bring can also make you a billionaire.

  He took a can of Coca-Cola from the refrigerator, turned on the TV with the remote control, and drank.

   It happened to be Johnny Carson's show in the evening. Amidst a burst of music, the governor came on stage and sat opposite Carson. He is a bit tall and big, and he feels a little oppressive to Carson. The self-confidence brought about by his career in politics also made Carson, who always had the upper hand, a bit suppressed in his aura.

  Carson asked: "Mr. Governor, how are you?" Then he took out hourglasses one by one. Put it upside down on the table and start the timer.

   "Hahaha..." The audience roared with laughter. It's not easy to take advantage of Carson.

  "The audience all over the country knew about you. What happened at that time?" Carson returned to smiling. Ginger was still old and spicy, and he regained the upper hand with just one prop.

   "I don't know, it just doesn't work. I mean, what can I tell you?" The Governor is personable, embarrassed, but eager to please the audience.

"My sole goal in going there was to make Michael Dukakis look great, and I succeeded, exceeding my wildest expectations," the governor said, repeating the day's joke, achieved with self-deprecating irony. The best way to audience favor.

  The two were getting better and better, and explained the situation at that time to the audience.

"I love your sense of humor, it reminds us of our Grand Commander, another public official known for his great sense of humor. Your term is also up in '91, and I was wondering if you Will run for the Grand Commander in the future

  ? "

   "Huh?" Ronald discovered the subtlety of this question. Does the governor have a heart?

   "Whether it is possible or not depends on my performance today..." The governor improvised another sentence with a great sense of humor, which made the audience applaud the loudest.

   "This person would be a good actor as well," Ronald thought while drinking Coke.

"I think maybe in the future I will go, but not now. Because I haven't "fulfilled my promise to this state", and my daughter Chelsea is still too young, only 7 years old. I think if I run for president, I will Very busy, it's brutal for a seven-year-old girl, I guess it will be later..."

   "Thank you for coming, Mr. Governor. But according to the rules, we cannot invite current public officials to be the guest of the show, so you must perform a show, as an entertainer and news personality..."

   "I heard that you have been playing the saxophone for a long time, and you often participate in band practice?"

  Finally, the governor got off the stage and played a piece of jazz with the live band. The level of the governor is not professional, but he is considered top among amateurs.

  Looking at the joy of the audience, Ronald found it very interesting. The governor, who was the laughing stock of national audiences a few hours ago, is now the darling again.

  Real life is even more bizarre than movies and TV dramas!

  Even if there is a screenwriter to write the script, I'm afraid they can't write such a fun and dramatic script. If you have the quick wit and sense of humor of the Governor, in fact, it would be a very good program to get rid of the script and perform on the spot.

  …

  Early the next morning, the concierge delivered the newspaper to the door as usual.

   "The governor of Arkansas went from media doghouse to media darling in just one week," the Associated Press reported the next day with exaggeration. "All it takes is a smile, some self-deprecating jokes and a song."

   "Before Carson's show, it's over! Play saxophone on Carson, new hope for donkeys"

  Newsweek, which was still mocking the governor of Arkansas last weekend, also took a 180-degree turn.

   This is the first time "Longwei Boy" returns to the national stage, counterattacking teenagers, let Gore be jealous! The New York Times even described the governor of Arkansas as a counterattack boy like Daniel in Ronald's movie "The Dragon Boy".

  I also used Al Gore, a politician from Tennessee, as a comparison. Both of them are southerners, both of them are personable, and they are deeply liked by housewives. But man, the star prefers this to lower himself like a buddy.

  A counterattack boy in the political arena.

   "The screenwriters' union is in conflict!"

  Ronald turned to the entertainment section and finally discovered the big Hollywood news.

  The three TV stations accused and several major producers did not sit around and wait for the antitrust case to cause greater repercussions. They made a move.

   "Still supporting a June 16 proposal by 21 dissident union members to file charges with the National Labor Relations Board to invalidate union rules that bar them from returning to work during the strike.

  Some dissidents threatened to resign their union memberships and return to work if the strike was not resolved by July 28. "

  Some "Trojan horses" of the trade unions, using the justifiable reason that they can't live without a job, set off a coup within the screenwriters' union.

  (end of this chapter)