Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1059 Final cut right

The continuing success of the films he produced and directed, and he was also nominated for an Oscar for Best Director two years in a row.The "Dirty Dancing" that has been selling well in the video market all the year round has made Ronald a rare rich man in the circle.

According to estimates by some industry lawyers and accountants, Ronald earned at least $3000 million a year from the video tapes of the film alone (actually far more, because they undercounted overseas distribution and two soundtracks. disc income).

And his vision for choosing scripts is also superb, so many people come to Ronald not only to ask him to invest, but also to use his investment name to persuade other investors: Look, This is the script of the movie that Ronald is fancying...

Before Mike McDavoy came, Ronald had already been surrounded by people from several projects, and every day someone took the script to seek insight.

Of course, the scripts of these people had to be selected by David Simkins and evaluated by Michel Cannold on the market potential before being sent to Ronald.

In the middle, there are a few exceptions.They could bypass Daydream's screening mechanism and deliver the script directly to Ronald's desk.

"This story is good, very philosophical, but it's the same Chinese script as the 'Wedding Banquet' you wrote before the 'When Harry Met Sally' script you changed for me last summer?"

It was Ang Lee who brought the outline of the script. He went back to his hometown for the Spring Festival. He came to Ronald with two scripts as soon as he returned to America.

Ronald frowned. Making movies is all about making money.Although I trust Ang Lee's artistic level (the graduation works are very good), but if he is given an exception, more people will make an exception for me through relationships in the future.

"That's right. When I went home for the Chinese New Year this year, the news bureau there was soliciting Chinese scripts from all over the world. I heard that if you win an award, you can get a bonus of 40..." Ang Lee said a little excitedly.

"Dollar?"

"Taiwan dollars..." Ang Lee knew that this amount of money was too little, and he actually didn't rely on the money to make movies. Find the rest of the money, then the 'China Film' over there will also underwrite the distribution there..."

Ronald understood what Ang Lee meant.He is still afraid of making English-language movies, and wants to make Chinese-language movies first.For this movie, he wanted to win an award-winning spot, and then get the investment and distribution contract there, and then come to Ronald to seek the remaining investment and distribution in America.

"Well, how much do you need to make this movie?" Ronald thought about it. In fact, this kind of Chinese-language movie still has a fixed audience in America. Chinatown in major cities, plus some art institutes Wire.Because whether it is this pusher or last year's wedding banquet, the story has an exotic appeal to the audience.

Many American audiences actually like to see the customs and customs of other parts of the world. Traveling is too expensive, and watching movies is also a cheap way to increase bragging and talking with friends.

"Uh, I don't know..." Ang Lee's script hasn't been finished yet, and he hasn't made a feature film for theater release yet, so he's still smudged about it.

"In this way, if you can win an award and have a distribution contract in your hometown, I will give you a supplementary budget of 50 US dollars. As a low-cost feature film, it is basically enough.

Daydream will then be in charge of distribution and video distribution in America.You can ask your colleagues from Daydream to be your producer, or you can find it yourself, and we will agree on a share ratio when the time comes..."

Ang Lee is happy to leave, and now he just waits to perfect the two scripts as much as possible, and then ask someone to cooperate with the translation into English.As long as there is Ronald's promise to return to his hometown to compete, he will naturally have one more guarantee than other contestants.

The people there are still quite recognized, and even worship big Hollywood directors.In particular, the "News Bureau" that hosts the competition for manuscripts can write a summary report even if this kind of script wins an award.The award-winning script has also been affirmed by famous Hollywood producers and directors... Isn't that a great achievement of the literary and art department?
Even if some local contestants are not convinced, you can use Ronald's name to convince them: He is valued by big Hollywood directors, you are better than him, aren't you?

……

"This is the revised opinion jointly given by Mr. Weintraub and I... You can refer to it. The American audience is not prepared for some settings, and needs more foreshadowing. You can also use the version released in Xiangjiang. Cut it again..."

After sending Ang Lee away, Ronald brought in Tsui Hark, the director of "Dragon Boy 3" after several previews.

Several different audience groups were internal test screenings, and the problem they responded to was the same, that is, everyone did not understand the background of this kind of martial arts that can fly out of the sky.Different from the myths about martial arts in East Asia, the "shallow" American audience is still at the stage of punching and kicking in real fights.

Although the audience has also seen Darth Vader's throat lock and teleportation on the screen, but the first two Longwei Boys are very realistic kung fu fighting, suddenly want to change the style, it seems that some more Just an introduction to the background of the story.Just like Luke Skywalker's teacher Obi-Wan explained the plot of the Force to him.

It's been years since the last movie anyway, and viewers don't necessarily remember how Daniel won the fight.Moreover, American audiences also accept the ability of ancient people to be a little weird. As long as they feel comfortable in the movie theater, it is not impossible to gain general acceptance.

In short, Weintraub is unwilling to reshoot part of the plot. It seems that his financial situation has a relatively serious problem, and he is no longer willing to increase the shooting budget by extravagance.All right? Anyway, that's it.

"Jean-Claude, Duff, can you wait for me, I'm here to see Mr. Mike McDavoy of Orion, he must have been waiting for me for a while... Okay, thank you, Claudia, please You and the two gentlemen have a chat first, their movie has finished editing and is ready to be released..."

Ronald first went to say hello to Jean-Claude Van Damme and Lundgren who had already arrived, and then introduced Claudia Wells to them.It is useful for a beautiful woman to be a publicity manager. The two strong men recognized her and immediately started introducing their new film "Biochemical Man".

The daydream that the business is getting more and more busy, many small projects have been delegated to several important directors.Ronald only needs to receive some important customers, and he likes to arrange all these people in one day and solve them all at once.

Orion's Mike McDavoy revealed his purpose after the greeting.Orion has a lot of big productions to be released this year, and the cash flow is a little tight.

For example, the rock star Jerry Lee Lewis biopic "Fireball" starring Dennis Quaid and Winona Ryder, and "The Devil" starring Mel Streep are both around 2000 million production budget.

In addition, the film "Valmont" directed by Milos Forman, which is also adapted from the "Dangerous Liaisons" stage play, has a production cost of 300 million.

The concentrated release of these blockbuster films has mobilized a lot of Orion's own funds in terms of publicity and distribution, resulting in insufficient investment in new films.So Mike McDavoy came to ask Ronald if he was interested in investing in their project.

"I'm really interested in...", Ronald knows Orion's good films are just as famous as their bad ones.This is the result of the director responsibility system. Give the director all the artistic decision-making power, and it is possible to produce a masterpiece that is several grades higher than the average level, or a film that is so bad that it cannot be added.

I have dream references, and I have accumulated a lot of intuition about market reactions over the past ten years.As long as you can pick a suitable film project, you can still make money without losing money, and maybe you can get a few Oscar nominations.After all, in the past ten years, they have won two best pictures and more than a dozen major awards.

"Mr. John Kruger hopes to cooperate with you very much. He said that for our big projects next year, you can choose whatever you want, and each movie can give you the most generous investment terms..." Mike McDavoy wrote several scripts The outline was placed on the table, spread out word by word.

"It's really an honor, thank you Mr. Kruger for me." Ronald picked it up and looked at it.

This John Kruger is the boss of Metropolis Media, a communication company. A few years ago, he sold his TV network business to the Australian Rupert, the big boss of Twentieth Century Fox.

He later took part of the money to buy a 6% stake in Orion.Afterwards, Orion ushered in an explosive year. Powerful films such as "Platoon", "Hannah and Her Sisters", and "Robocop" were well-received and popular, attracting another rich man, Shaodong from the cinema chain. Sam Redstone's competition.The other party also bought a 6% stake.

This aroused Kruger's competitive psychology, and he continued to increase capital in a short period of time. Finally, his equity rose to 26%, driving away Lei Shidong and becoming Orion's largest shareholder.

Kruger is a bit of a movie fan mentality, and he has released many big productions, but there is no winner like the field platoon back then.He felt that he didn't continue to be lucky because he didn't find the right director.Therefore, the green light was given to Mike McDavoy's proposal, and he was willing to offer the most generous investment terms and borrow Ronald's vision.

Ronald looked at each of them carefully.Orion's style is really art first, without any consideration for business.

"Hot Spot," for example, is the project of longtime drug addict Hollywood veteran Dennis Hope.He was the director and actor of "Easy Rider," the beginning of the New Hollywood.After his comeback, he was also nominated for Oscar for Best Supporting Actor and Best Screenplay. He is a veritable all-rounder.

But the plot of "Hot Spot" is typical old-school noir, a genre that doesn't have much of an audience these days.

There's another "State of Grace," with an even more innovative script.It tells the story of an undercover police detective who is now working under the gang leader's childhood friend and falls in love with his friend's sister. In the end, his friend is killed and he succeeds in revenge at the funeral.

The "innovation" of this movie is that he actually copied the plots of many popular TV series "SWAT 4587".Many Hollywood movies are always remade into TV series, but such reverse remakes are rare.

Ronald read it for a long time, but he didn't feel anything. He was going to leave the outline of the script first, and then to see if he could dream at night, he turned to the last script, which he had come into contact with before.

"Dances with Wolves, is your Orion releasing it now?"

"Oops, I'm sorry, there are still some problems with the contract of this movie. My secretary was careless and got in." Mike McDavoy took the script back, "Why, Kevin (Costner) also found Have you ever been?"

"Actually, I looked for him. I'm a little interested in that novel, but the author is his friend..."

Ronald thought to himself, it seems that Western films are still as unpopular as film noirs. A male star like Kevin Costner can only be relegated to the second-tier Orion to cooperate in the end. Done!
"Actually, I like this script very much. I think it is different from all the western films in the past. This film does not take the cowboy as the core perspective, but presents an epic picture scroll with the magnificent Indians and their living places. ..."

Mike McDavoy felt that Ronald had a special interest in "Dances with Wolves", so he made a specific explanation.

"Well, you're right..." Ronald nodded frequently, thinking to himself, how do I know if such an unpopular movie will be a hit? Didn't I dream of an excellent big scene scene?Presumably even if he doesn't make much money, he will be favored by Oscar.

I am now interested in the Oscars!

"Then what caused the failure to negotiate?" Ronald asked, judging from what he said, it seems that Orion is also quite optimistic?With the support of a rich man like Kruger, it is a matter of paying.

"Kevin (Costner) wants the final cut..." Mike McDavoy said an answer that Ronald didn't expect.

It turned out that Kevin Costner not only directed and acted on his own, he also wanted to get the final cut rights that only single-digit well-known directors in Hollywood have.

"Did I hear it wrong, or...is this his directorial debut?" Ronald thinks that male stars can really do whatever they want?These people have the affirmation of the audience, and they are more vicious in terms of conditions than themselves, a director who has always made money.

"If you can convince him and vouch for him, we can also find a workaround..." Mike McDavoy said slowly.

The so-called final cut right is actually not that rigid.Many new directors do not have the right to make decisions about editing. After the initial cut is cut, the senior management of the studio will read it and then give their opinions. Generally speaking, new directors only follow suit. Those with strong communication and professional skills You can try to argue.

A director with a successful history, or a big-name male star like Kevin Costner, or Clint Eastwood trying to direct, will get the power to assemble the final version.In other words, they can decide most of the editing shots under the film duration specified by the studio.

There are only a few shots that involve grading, and the studio interferes.But studios have a cage for them, too.That's the duration of a genre film.Nine and 10 minutes for general genre films, 120 minutes for films with unique content, and two and a half hours for particularly good epic films.

In this way, the director can play on his own in the designated arena, and will not deviate too far from the mainstream commercial theaters.

In the last category, only directors like Ronald, Spielberg, and George Lucas who have almost lost money can decide both editing and duration.Of course, Ronald has not exercised this power much, because he himself is also a believer in the logic of commercial films.

In "Dances with Wolves", Kevin Costner wanted all the power when he came up. Ronald guessed that he was either overconfident, or he wanted to make an epic blockbuster. more than half an hour.

"Well, let's have a chat with Kevin...", Ronald and Mike McDavoy confirmed that he was interested in "Dancing with Wolves".

"Okay, let's make an appointment to meet again. Kevin will value your opinion..." Mike McDavoy was so happy. This movie is a direction that no one has explored, and it is suitable for Orion to shoot.

Moreover, Kevin Costner's debut film is "Night of the Comet" filmed by Ronald. He will pay attention to Ronald's opinion, and maybe let Ronald's director by the way, wouldn't it be the best of both worlds?

……

In the end, Ronald was going to bring in two muscular men who were buzzing around Claudia Wells' skirts with big talk.The edited version of "Cybionic Man" they brought today is about to be shown to Ronald and the top executives of Daydream.

"Huh? Is this movie a cyborg?" Ronald couldn't help but be skeptical after watching the trial screening.

When the movie Minahan Golan was approved, it was obviously a science fiction movie, right?A half-human, half-mechanical cyborg fights against all kinds of cosmic age monsters, escorts medicine to save mankind, and BiuBiu's laser release is the selling point.

Although in the end, because Cannon was on the verge of bankruptcy and had no money to complete the special effects, Ronald bought it cheaply. After Jean-Claude Van Damme edited it, he decided whether to go to theaters or directly to the video tape market based on the effect.

But cutting it like this was beyond Ronald's imagination.The whole movie is no longer a sci-fi movie, only the monsters and the desert setting are a bit sci-fi, the whole...how should I say the whole thing?Turned into a martial arts movie!

"Ronald..." Claudia Wells is at home in her new role, and her beauty is a big plus in real life, too.The two action stars are competing to show affection, and she should say a few kind words to Ronald.

"Well... the plot of your movie has almost been changed, isn't it still called a biochemical man?" Ronald thought about it. In fact, Jean-Claude Van Damme's editing level has improved quite well. He can edit this semi-finished product. It's rare to be like this.

Except for too many slow-motion close-ups of himself and Lundgren, there are no major problems.And this kind of abuse of slow motion, it seems that the directors of Tsui Hark and Xiangjiang have led him badly...

"We are also planning to change our name, Corey helped us think of a name, called Tian Lei Di Huo..."

Jean-Claude Van Damme hastily offered a new title.

"This is a Chinese idiom. When translated into English, audiences don't understand it. Let's change it to an easy-to-understand one, or call it Biochemical Warrior, no... peak warrior..."

"Okay, that's a good name..." The flattery words of the two action stars kept flying over.

"Damn it, I'm not Claudia..." Ronald said in his heart that these two idiots don't know how to say something nice when picking up girls, so straightforward... Forget it, they are only at this level, usually There are a lot of female fans who like them, and they probably don't need any words to impress them.

Ronald decided that the movie would be screened in the Hollywood theaters he was familiar with, just below the freezing period before the summer vacation, and the movie theater was not very picky about the quality of the movie.It just happened to be launched to fill the schedule before Longwei Boy 3.

(End of this chapter)