Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 680 The Price of Fame

   Ronald had one last talk at the airport with Michael J. Fox before he left for London. The two have a good relationship and talk more casually.

   "Are you interested in that movie based on Spielberg?"

   "My schedule is now first assigned to Light of Day. If you direct it, of course I am very interested." Fox smoked cigarettes one after another, without star consciousness. After you finish pumping, press it off on your sole, and then light another one to continue.

"Um……"

   Ronald understood what Fox meant. The premise of his participation in that movie was to direct it himself.

   In Hollywood, a studio can give the green light to a movie if the three main people nod to it.

   Generally speaking, these three people are the hero, heroine, and director. If one of them is a star, then the schedule can be quickly arranged.

  If there are two stars, then more than ordinary funds will be given, and then they will be stationed in the best schedule.

   If three were stars…

   Well, then they will fight, and we will push one out first.

  Fox's star status, with the blessing of "Back to the Future", has now faintly surpassed other members of the Boys Gang and became the number one male star among teenagers. Tom Cruise's popularity only caught up quickly after the release of "Top Gun".

   In Hollywood, a project with stars and a project without stars are completely different things. If there are no stars, then there will be a one-year or two-year evaluation process waiting for you. If a star is willing to appear, the studio executives will quickly agree to prevent the star from changing his mind and go to other projects in other studios.

   Now this movie is a bit caught in a chain, as long as Ronald lets go, Fox can join in immediately, and the shooting team will be formed according to this core, and the best candidates will be found quickly and efficiently. However, Ronald was worried that the selection of the heroine was not good enough, which would affect the overall effect.

   I didn’t dream of a film, and I couldn’t assess whether it would be a big hit.

   "Okay, when I get back from London, let the agent sign the contract." Ronald decided to take a risk. Not all movies can only be made in dreams, right?

  Fox laughed, "If I hadn't been a director, I wouldn't want to do this kind of light comedy anymore. People always think of me as a comedy star, and I want to change my image in the audience."

"In fact, that movie still has some traces of light comedy, but it is much more serious than your previous comedy. At least the content of the business war in it is very real. I have confirmed with my entrepreneur friends. In theory, it uses that kind of anti-takeover. The way is possible."

  Ronald did research on the script for The Secret of MySucce$$. In addition to asking the assistant to go to Wall Street to find someone to interview, he also asked Douglas Hansen, a young man. Aside from the dramatic parts of the movie, the overall story structure is very solid.

  In the end, when the financial predator wanted to acquire the company where the protagonist works, the protagonist used the financial statements provided by the heroine to introduce financing from bankers, and reversely acquired the other party's company. This is a big reversal before the ending, and it will be very interesting if the filming is reasonable.

   "Are you going to the royal premiere this time?" Fox finished talking and asked Ronald about the next arrangement.

   "Yes, Prince Charles and the Princess are expected to attend. I heard that the second prince will also come, and he will have a royal wedding soon."

  "Hey", Fox stubbed out another cigarette, "I'll tell you a secret, the reporters from Fleet Street in London will grab the stars who went to America and ask them what they think of the royal family. You just have to say good things."

   "So it is." Ronald nodded. The British media has been somewhat unhappy since the last time the crown prince and his wife visited the White House, when it was revealed that the glamorous princess was dancing with Hollywood stars in **** evening gowns.

   They will surely catch themselves and ask some questions to get back on their feet. My own PR consultant and Paramount's PR manager also gave them a 20-minute training before departure. A lot of praise for the friendship between Britain and the United States, such as the commander-in-chief and the prime minister's lady, and for example, everyone speaks the same language.

  When necessary, show a few British accents that Ronald is good at, which will greatly arouse the goodwill of the other media. Hollywood people will imitate British accents, always to the satisfaction of their fallen cousins.

   "Also, don't drink too much water or coffee when attending the premiere of the royal family." Fox added with a smile.

   "Why?" Ronald looked surprised.

"You don't know, at the premiere of the royal family, in order to show closeness to the people, the creators will sit in a row with members of the royal family. If you drink too much water, let the crown prince and princess next to you stand up and give you your seat, let you go out to the bathroom, and then When you come back from the bathroom, do it again, this was seen by the reporter and was going to be scribbled."

"Hahaha".

  Ronald finished his coffee, got his receipt, said goodbye to Michael J. Fox, and went to find his crew's plane.

  Fox put on sunglasses and boarded a plane to the "Denglong Youshu" location in Illinois.

   After "Back to the Future", Fox wanted to change his position in light comedy and switch to a full-length drama. So he directed a movie about a rock band called "Light of Day."

The film also casts the lead singer of a popular rock band, Joan Jett, to play Fox's sister, a far more talented rocker than Fox, who is trapped in his hometown because he has to help his younger brother. inside.

   When the Fox film is finished, Ronald can pull up a new crew to shoot the "Secret of Success" directed by Universal President Frank Price. Filming ended just before the start of the new season of the "Family Bonds" TV series.

   Ronald hurried to the gate and found that Tom Cruise had arrived early. He was surrounded by a large crowd of fans asking for autographs and group photos.

  Tom Cruise has been flying all over the country recently, cooperating with the marketing of "Top Gun". The smile on the obviously tired face is still very good, and he is very patient to meet the fans' requests.

   Ronald nodded and greeted him, then quietly bypassed him, got on the plane, and found his first-class seat. This was specially arranged by Ned Tanning, the president of Paramount.

   "Hey, aren't you the beautiful instructor in Top Gun? Hehe..." A man's voice recalled from behind.

   "Oh Shxt! I'm not, I'm not!"

   "Stop pretending to be serious. I think you're just like Charlie, a..."

"what……"

   Ronald, who was dozing, suddenly heard a woman's scream from the back of the cabin, and then a female star with blond curly hair rushed over from the economy class at the back.

After she saw where Ronald was, she sat down, put her arms around Ronald's arm, and buried her face in his arms, like a child who had done something ashamed Same.

   "What's the matter with you?" Ronald stroked McGillis's hair gently. This beauty has been very fragile recently, like a frightened deer. She doesn't speak and just wants to bury her head.

   "Kelly, that Bichi, must have slept with that director and producer." A voice came from behind, the voice of the man who had formally pestered McGillis just now.

   "Hey, I said bro, she's doing a job, don't say that." Ronald stood up, opened the curtains that divided the cabin, walked to the back and said to the man.

   "Hey, what the **** are you onions? Isn't that what actresses do?"

   The person who spoke was a young man who looked like a college student who went to the UK for an exchange student, and cursed in a dirty manner.

   "I ask you to show some respect. Whether it's an actor or a director, it's all a job." Ronald saw that the passengers around him didn't like this young man very much, and the quality of the passengers on the transoceanic route was still relatively high.

   So Ronald grabbed his hand pushing his chest and told him to stop slandering the actress.

   "Hey, you don't want to be pretentious... ahhh! Let it go."

  Ronald saw that he was still talking weird. He used a grappling technique he had learned from a wrestling master in China. He grabbed the opponent's wrist and twisted it, asking him to beg for mercy on the spot. Ronald then nodded apologetically to the surrounding passengers and went back to his seat in front.

   "Don't be mad at this bastard."

   McGillis saw it from behind, and instead came to comfort Ronald. Women always have a good impression of men who are willing to vent their anger for themselves. After the two sat down, McGillis couldn't hide his smile.

   "Want to chat? Flying across oceans is a long time."

   Ronald hooked McGillis into his arms and gently patted her on the shoulder to comfort him.

"Oh, Ronnie, you make me feel good. I'm nothing, I just didn't think this movie would make me so famous, I always thought it was just a big video, popcorn, and now I don't care. People call me Charlie wherever I go...

   And I'm not usually a person who dresses up sexy. I used to be a part-time waitress in a restaurant for acting on Broadway. I didn't expect this to happen. The scripts my agent has received now are all **** girl roles, and I don't want to play any of them. "

   McGillis rambled about his troubles.

A star is a very strange creature. Before an actor evolves into a star, she is an ordinary actor like all other actors who are waiting to become famous. Every day, she either attends an acting training class, or goes to the crew to audition and then go home. wait for news.

But sometimes, some actors have better luck than others, they get a chance, and all of a sudden, bang, a movie goes viral, the whole world knows her, and she's a superstar overnight. .

   From now on, no matter where they go, enthusiastic fans will look for them to sign autographs and take photos. Her reputation suddenly skyrocketed, and many crews would take the initiative to send roles that she didn't even dare to think about and send them desperately to her agent.

   But this can also cause trouble. When she was an actress in the past, she had infinite possibilities and could play any role. Like the Amish widow in "The Witness" that McGillis played before taking on "Top Gun," or the college student in the previous movie, or the Shakespeare play that used to be on Broadway.

   But after she evolves into a star, the audience can no longer accept her unsexy appearance. As soon as they see her, the audience will think of Charlie's charming, **** teacher in hair-style stockings, twirling to the pulpit.

There will also be no producers and directors in Hollywood. When faced with other types of female characters, they will think of her. Instead, **** teachers, **** doctors, **** lawyers, and **** beauty characters of various professions will be the first. One thinks of McGillis.

"Ronnie, Kelly." Tom Cruise was long in coming, and it took a lot of time for him to get rid of those fans. Paula taught him very well, never said anything bad to fans, and always looked polite. .

   After Cruise arrived for a short time, he soon began to prepare for takeoff. The evening sun was shining through the window, which was a bit dazzling. Ronald closed the windows and put McGillis to sleep after the plane entered high altitude and level flight.

   He gently asked the flight attendant to bring a blanket to cover McGillis, then turned on the reading light in his seat, took out Eleanor's script, and read it slowly.

   This play called "Dirty Dancing" is very interesting. It is about a middle-aged (that is, Eleanor's prototype) Jewish woman recalling an experience when she was young.

   In the 1950s and 1960s, Jews were still discriminated against by mainstream Puritans like blacks and other ethnic groups. They do not go to the Caribbean Sea or the places where the Puritans frequented the outer islands of New York, but to Virginia and other places, some specially built resorts for Jews to take vacations.

   Anyway, the majority of Jewish people have higher incomes, and more people are engaged in doctors, lawyers, accountants, and performing arts.

   In these Jewish resorts, Jewish operators will bring in black jazz bands, as well as some magicians and talk show actors to entertain customers.

   Another popular form of entertainment is to hire a group of professional dancers to act as customers’ dance partners, to dance together on vacation, and to teach young people to dance ballroom dancing by the way.

The protagonist of this memory, a little girl named Baby, was in a resort area, fell in love with an Irish-born dancer, and finally learned a dance with him that was not recognized by the mainstream, Dirty Dacing. While learning to dance together, I fell in love with each other and became Baby's first love.

  The script was written very smoothly, and it is indeed a script that has been rewritten countless times and constantly polished according to my own experience. However, after reading it in one breath, Ronald was still a little worried.

   This movie also has the same problem with the "disappearing Sound of Music audience" as "The Secret of Success".

   Originally, the image of the Jewish people in the movie is very inconsistent with this movie. It is always stereotyped as a group of greedy, ruthless, and murderous people who only care about profit. It is rare to see such a delicate description of the first love of a Jewish girl.

   Plus, this is a memory story. That is to say, the filming is a story from more than 20 years ago. How many teenagers are there now who go to the cinema a lot and like this old Kennedy-era tale?

   If it is aimed at middle-aged housewives today, will these middle-aged people really go to a movie theater that they haven’t been to for many years because of a girl’s dream?

   Finally, this is a movie with a lot of song and dance. Since his debut, musical films have been declining in Hollywood. After John Travolta and Olivia Newton John's "Grease," no musical film has been a huge success.

  Although Ronald likes this story very much, it is a mixture of unmarried pregnancies, interracial couples, discrimination against Jews, and a true love story, as well as the scenes of hot dance depicted by many authors Eleanor.

   But the prospect of the market made him a little bit stagnant. For a while, he couldn't decide whether he should invest or not.

   "Hey...ah...let's go back and talk about it." Ronald yawned. After reading the script for two hours, his eyes were a little sore. He closed the script and closed his eyes and fell asleep.

  …

   "Can you keep a secret? You are a guest here. I saw the boss's son dancing with you. This is where the dancers live. You can't come. If the boss knows you're coming, I will be miserable."

   A young man in a white T-shirt, holding three big watermelons in his hands, said to a girl in an old-fashioned sweater and skirt.

  The girl didn't speak, she reached out and took a big watermelon, and the two walked towards a big house in front.

   "What movie is this dreaming about again?" Ronald fell asleep comfortably and changed his posture, as if he was also holding a big watermelon in his arms.

   "This old-fashioned girl has a Jewish nose, but it's not too obvious. Wait, isn't this the girl Michael J. Fox dated... Jennifer Grey?"

   Ronald recognized the actress.

   "Boom... dong dong... dong dong dong..."

   The fast and ardent drum beats brought Ronald back to his thoughts.

   The boy in the white T-shirt held two big watermelons and pushed open the door with his butt.

   "Dong Dong Dong Dong..." The sound suddenly became louder as the door opened.

   Four drum beats, a hoarse black voice, singing the old-fashioned pop song "Do you love me?"

   "Doyouloveme?

  Icanreallymove!

  Doyouloveme?

  I’minthegroove.”

   Short, rhyming lyrics, like an early black rock rhythm.

  After the door was pushed open, Ronald suddenly felt the smell of male and female hormones blowing towards him.

The light inside    is an ambiguous red, and men and women hug each other and dance provocative dance moves.

   Ronald, like the actor Jennifer Gray, had a stunned expression.

   "This...how did this kind of scene come out? Why does it seem that in addition to hearing and vision, I was also inspired by rhythm and dance, which aroused the deep sense of taste and smell in my memory? The director of this film is too good."

   Pairs of dance partners were all featured in close-up close-ups. Their dance moves involve a lot of waist, hip movements. Sometimes it is slow and lyrical, sometimes the rhythm is strong.

   provokes a primitive and ambiguous desire in the audience.

  Ronald felt his whole body heat up. "Well, here's the trick that Francis Coppola invented in 'Old Love, New Love,' where the colored ambient light hits the actor's face directly, rather than the traditional Hollywood close-up of the face, Does not stain the skin.

   This directly conveys that ambiguous and warm emotion to the audience.

  The camera showed Jennifer Gray's facial reaction. She opened her mouth wide, looking overwhelmed and yearning.

  The male partner hugged the female partner's waist, lowered their upper body back, lowered their waist, and then the female partner's shoulders jumped back and forth with rhythm.

   Ronald, like Jennifer Gray, yearned for this dance.

"oh oh……"

  The dancers cheered, and the two protagonists, a man and a woman, entered the room

  Under the red light, Ronald could clearly see that what was in the camera was a small-eyed handsome man in a white shirt and black pants, and a dress, with a rubber band tied around the blonde beauty.

   "Boom, Boom..."

   As soon as the two came in, the man took a bottle of beer to quench his thirst, and the woman immediately started dancing. At a glance, these two are the kings of this group of dancers, with the best pas de deux rhythm and the most vigorous movements.

  The man did not hold the female partner at the beginning, but let the female partner play by himself.

  The female companion was not to be outdone, she lifted the skirt with a hand and waved it with the rhythm.

  Her dress is buckled at the back, and she dances very **** after the skirt is lifted.

   "Shxt!"

   Ronald recognized it. Isn't this the dancer Cynthia Rhodes who played a supporting role in "Lightning Dance" and later played "Dragon Flying Phoenix" and was harassed by Stallone's younger brother?

   Is she the protagonist of the movie? No, she should be playing the male lead's hair.

   I didn't expect her to dance so sexy! Ronald sighed that in "Lightning Dance" back then, dancing on the bar was not so sexy, it was much worse. By the way, that was to highlight Jennifer Beals and to make Cynthia Rhodes look ugly on purpose.

   Now she is at least the second female treatment, and she dances very sexy.

  The male protagonist was not to be outdone, fell backwards and was caught by his companions, and then his shoulders swayed to match Cynthia Rhodes's shoulder movements.

  As soon as the close-up is given, Ronald recognizes it too

   "This is the Patrick Schwytz who played the protagonist's eldest brother in Coppola's 'Old Boy'."

   I didn't expect his dance to be very sexy. How many women have these small eyes fascinated?

   The rhythm of the music changed, and the two of them changed their dancing positions.

   This time, Cynthia pressed her back against Schwyz's body tightly, her waist rubbing against the drum beat strongly.

  Then the heads of the two of them began to shake greatly, and Cynthia Rhodes's hair fluttered in the wind.

   "As expected of Dirty Dancing."

  This dance full of Caribbean style is fascinating.

At the climax of the dance, Cynthia Rhodes jumped lightly and finally climbed onto the head of Patrick Schwytz, who sat on the head of her male partner, and then pulled up the skirt and swayed it from side to side, just like the Broadway popular Cancan dance.

   "Huh..."

  Ronald felt that the blood was going to come up, who could stand this dance?

"Um……"

   Ronald felt that his waist was also pressed back by a woman's buttocks, as if the two were hugging each other and doing this kind of hot dance.

   "Um...uh...Ronald, don't be here."

  Ronald was awakened, looked up, and did not know when McGillis, who was in his arms in his sleep, was twisting his waist, trying to sit up from his seat and go back to his seat.

"what……"

   Leaving the other's clinging, Ronald quickly pulled the blanket over himself.

   "Hmm..." McGillis winked, satisfied with Ronald's reaction to his body.

   "Excuse me, how many hours are there in London? I'm at Heathrow Airport, is there any place I can make an international call back to Los Angeles?" Ronald asked the flight attendant who rang the bell.

   Ronald recalled the dance scene in his dream. He felt that the two danced really well. Such a dance can definitely attract those housewives to the cinema to watch movies.

   When he got to the airport, he wanted to immediately call David, the script assistant, and Eddie, the general manager of Daydream, to get the script for that movie right away.

   (end of this chapter)