Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1242 Coca-Cola’s big advertising move

"My dear American citizens, just a few hours ago, America and its allies began to attack Kuwait from the air and ground, and are still continuing their actions..."

At nine o'clock in the evening, the commander-in-chief began his televised speech in the Oval Office.

CUU started a 24-hour non-stop frontline news update. Ronald lay in bed and watched it with gusto. The latest news was available every hour, and various experts were interviewed, speculating on how this battle would be fought. How much equipment and soldiers does the Iraqi Guard have, what is their combat effectiveness, etc.

This kind of thing is very addictive for men. In the end, Diane, who couldn't bear it anymore, ordered him to either go to other rooms to watch it or go to bed immediately. Ronald then reluctantly turned off the TV.

Early the next morning, Ronald started watching the live broadcast again, and the morning passed in a flash. He was surprised to find that the live battlefield attracted too much curiosity. He immediately jumped up and took the car to the company.

But the company was not much better. This war was the first major war after the Vietnam War, but there were only planes dropping bombs in the sky and no brutal battles on the ground, so everyone became military enthusiasts.

Michel Cannold was of French descent and was not so interested in the war. He handed a compiled form to Ronald.

"Is this the wrong unit price?"

Ronald saw that it was the revenue statistics of the "Firebird" movie copies purchased by the Ministry of National Defense. The number in the unit price column seemed to be wrong. The cost of ten copies was about the same.

"No, the other party was not satisfied with the price we gave. They insisted on changing it to this price. I asked someone to purchase some metal boxes made of stainless steel. They are super strong and can withstand rough loading and unloading without any problems. It can prevent moisture from entering, and it is a very reliable supplier they recommended." Michelle smiled and winked at Ronald.

"Oh, that's not bad." Ronald looked at the name of the company that sold him the metal box and knew that it was related to the Ministry of National Defense. What if the copy flying to all over the world gets damaged on the transport plane? There are so many US troops stationed on the island. What if the copies get moldy? It makes sense to get some special equipment, right?

Everyone makes some money, there is nothing unreasonable. It would be great if the US military had more purchase orders in the future.

The general release of "Firebird" began in the third week of January at about the same time that the film was being screened at U.S. military barracks.

The Monday immediately following this weekend is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday adopted under the previous administration. Ronald Sr. did not want to designate this date as a federal holiday, but both houses of the House of Representatives and the Senate passed the bill with more than two-thirds of the votes at that time, which also invalidated the veto power of the President.

No matter what white people's attitude is towards this holiday, Hollywood welcomes it very much. In the weak period after the New Year holiday, there is a reason for more people to spend time in movie theaters.

Firebird was screened in more than a thousand theaters across the United States during its first weekend, grossing just over six million at the box office. This is a very good result, ranking closely behind Home Alone, Penny Marshall's new film "Speechless", and Kindergarten Cop, ranking fourth, and ahead of Dances with Wolves, which has been in theaters for ten weeks.

Of course, if the number of viewers in the military camp is included, the box office performance may reach the top three.

This result makes everyone at Daydream Pictures very satisfied. Although the box office dropped a lot in the second week, it is already very impressive for a movie like this that purely relies on current events to make money in the theaters for a month. A considerable achievement.

On Tuesday, Cinema Scores also gave a B audience score one day later than usual. This score basically indicates that the film's domestic box office will reach four to six times the first weekend score. Everyone in the company is very happy. Excluding the Martin Luther King Jr. Day box office, "Firebird" is also expected to receive at least 25 million to 35 million at the domestic box office.

Considering that Nicolas Cage's salary is not high, and Brooke Shields is the first film to return to the mainstream big screen production, the production cost of 10 million has been guaranteed to be paid back in the box office market. The next revenue from overseas distribution and video tapes will be pure profit.

The results of the Cinema Scores questionnaire are also very interesting. When answering the question of what is the biggest reason to see this movie, the top three answers are Helicopter Battle, Brooke Shields, and Nicolas Cage.

In addition to the current Operation Desert Storm, many boys are not satisfied with watching the green live TV scenes and want to watch real helicopter battles in the cinema. Many older male viewers want to go to the cinema to see Brooke Shields, an old friend.

Among the responses from female viewers, Cage’s factor ranked first. They all said in their answers that they like to watch Nicolas Cage's performance. Although his B-level exploitation movies are not very exciting, the roles he plays are very popular with female audiences.

This also surprised Ronald. Cage has never played the leading role in any heavyweight commercial production, but he has a certain reputation among female audiences. This is a rare potential. Maybe he will become a superstar in the future?

The film critics' statements also confirmed Ronald's guess. Although they gave negative reviews to such a relatively tacky movie, many film critics, including Roger Ebert, had some feelings for Nicolas Cage. Kind words.

For example, "New York Times" film critic Vincent Canby compared Cage to the famous supporting actors of the old Hollywood era and the king of B-movies, William Gargan. Praise for Cage's performance in a B-level exploitation film that makes him instantly recognizable.

Canby also praised Brooke Shields, saying that her performance was fresh and natural, and that she had gotten rid of the chronic problem of deliberately acting like a little girl that she had not overcome for many years, and believed that she had the opportunity to challenge larger roles.

Of course, the most praised one is the supporting actor, Tommy Lee Jones, who plays the instructor. Canby praised his every performance, every expression, and every movement as accurate.

The entire film review also talked about some problems, such as Cage's performance being a bit overdone, the connection with other actors being flawed, or Brooke sometimes showing off her intelligence too much. However, these are clear criticisms but actually praises, and the audience will only love it more after watching it.

The film critic's praise of the film made Ronald think that the company was carrying out special public relations for him. For example, two Chicago film critics, Albert and Sisko, both gave the movie one and a half stars, without any special recommendation. It's just a standard popcorn movie, suitable for viewers who like "Top Gun".

Luo asked Michael Gray carefully and found out that Daydream didn't even give Vincent Canby any special gift. It was Vincent Canby's personal love that made him write such a novel. Reviews criticizing Big Help.

Ronald felt strange and called Canby to express his gratitude. But the other party said something he couldn't even think of.

Brooke Shields and Ronald are both award-winning filmmakers from New York. Over the years, New York's film industry has been declining. Not to mention that it cannot compete with Hollywood, even survival has become a problem.

If you graduate from the University of Southern California, as long as you don't mind earning the minimum wage, you will still have the opportunity to participate in the filming of commercials, music videos, or video films.

However, students who graduated from New York University Tisch College and Columbia University's film department have no chance to enter the industry, let alone become directors.

This situation has become more and more obvious in recent years. Many film students also lack understanding of the industry, because only television stations in New York have a demand for these graduates.

TV dramas and movies have completely different requirements for talent. If you shoot a few more TV dramas, no matter how talented you are, you will never look back in that mechanical shooting method. There will never be a return to the big screen.

Therefore, Canby, like several film critics in the New York Post, seized the opportunity to praise directors and actors born in New York, hoping that they could become idols of young people in New York who want to work in the film industry and remain in their hearts. A little flame...

"Hey, I didn't expect that the current New York film industry has fallen to the point where it can't even get investment for a Roger Corman-style movie."

Ronald put down the phone and shook his head and sighed. Without low-cost production for them to practice their skills, the learning channels for film directors are almost cut off. Only those who truly love film and persevere can find the opportunity to direct films independently. Kathryn Bigelow and Spike Lee may be the rare directors who have emerged from the New York film industry in recent years.

"Hi, Marty..." - "Ronald, it's great to see you."

Speaking of things in the New York film industry, Ronald's benefactor, Martin Scorsese, happened to come to the house. The two are discussing a Coca-Cola advertising project.

Now Coca-Cola has made up its mind to gradually abandon the creative production of large advertising companies, and instead only hires production companies to shoot advertisements. But one thing they haven't figured out yet is whether Ovitz is the one to take on the job, or whether it would be better to directly negotiate with the agents of big-name directors and stars.

One school of thought is to invite celebrities to shoot advertisements. What they want is not current celebrities, but preferably celebrities whose works will become popular soon, enter a period of rise, and have a huge increase in popularity. People like Ovitz know this kind of thing best.

The other group thinks that grabbing a popular star is too risky. There's no need to spend a huge additional price (paying Ovitz's consulting fee) to select the right candidate. As long as you find those whose artistic level has been proven to be qualified and whose star quality has been proven to be attractive, just hire them to shoot advertisements.

One person may not become famous immediately, but if you find a few more people to shoot for, for example, if you find ten or twenty celebrities to shoot commercials, there will always be one or two who will become popular next year, right?

"So, Marty, what you need to do is show your hands casually and let Coca-Cola see that the master's handiwork is beyond the reach of those small directors who have just debuted and shot a few Madonna MVs. Film directors are very knowledgeable about images and The control power of emotions is far beyond their imagination.”

"Ah, hahaha, so I just shoot a random one?" Scorsese was very happy to be praised by Ronald. He agreed to shoot a Coca-Cola commercial, and was more impressed by Ronald's sincerity and salary. However, some people praised him so much, as if a master shooting commercials is like a university professor teaching elementary school students.

"Just pick one, these are all ideas proposed by Coca-Cola. When the commercials we shot with people hired by Ovitz are played, even fools will know how valuable the Italian director is."

"Hey, I'll just pick two, but I heard that they also have to measure the promotional effect of the advertisement." Scorsese still has some doubts. After all, he is a famous director. If the effect of the film is not as good as that of his junior, no? A bit embarrassing?

"Hey, when did you drink Coca-Cola because you saw their commercials? Isn't it just because of the taste?" Ronald also smiled. The short-term impact of commercials on a brand like Coca-Cola is actually not big, even if the commercials are filmed That's great, but it's hard to see results in the short term.

As long as Coca-Cola no longer launches "innovations" like New Coke, domestic sales will still steadily surpass Pepsi. The so-called effect is more about the feelings of the executives. Directors like Scorsese or Coppola must have made the film feel much better.

"This is what I'll do." Scorsese took an idea in his hand and asked Ronald, "What are you going to shoot?"

"I won't be filming for the time being. You know, Ovitz and I are a bit...it's easy for him to target me if I film by myself." Ronald explained. This is of course one of the reasons, but more importantly, he is a bit uninterested. He took too many pictures when he first debuted.

"Actually, there is another reason, that is, I want you to make more films, so that the audience can fall in love with the master's work. The current movie box office has not had a big breakthrough for a long time. I am actually worried about whether people in the future will still come in. Movie theater and then watch a movie for an hour and a half to two hours in a dark place.”

Ronald told Scorsese what it was like to be a riding crop in the era of automobiles, and he resonated with it. Scorsese is also a loyal fan of old Hollywood. He is also very sad that today's movies are increasingly lacking the skills of the previous masters.

"Recently, I also heard about something. It's difficult for new directors in New York to get into the industry. I wonder what can be done to help them? I still want to see a few more film masters coming out of New York in the future." Then. Ronald talked about the embarrassment of the New York Film Critics Circle again.

"You are right. If you can give those students from New York University and Columbia some opportunities, they will definitely produce talents. In fact, you should help them and give them a chance to succeed." Scorsese knew that Ronald was rich , immediately issued a request to him.

"Actually, I'm already doing it. I recently funded a Chinese director named Ang Lee, who is also a graduate of New York University."

"This is good, but it may not be enough. I think you need to preach more. Now that you are more famous among those students than me, you should give them some lectures so that they can also feel how Hollywood dreams are made. Something happened."

"Me? I haven't even graduated from college." Ronald declined with a smile. The youngest son of the Tisch family had strong opinions on him, and he didn't want to go to the opponent's home court to give a lecture.

"That's pretty good, it's a good story." Scorsese knew this and stopped trying to persuade him, "What are Coca-Cola's requirements for casting?"

"According to your preferences, I will let Daydream fully cooperate. It can be any Hollywood star or newcomer you like."

……

Soon, Coca-Cola began auditioning for the largest commercial in its history. In addition to already-famous actors, there are also many handsome men and beauties who dream of coming to Hollywood and becoming famous overnight, and they are also among the applicants for these creative advertising shoots that Ronald is responsible for.

The people who auditioned were lined up in several circles around the office, extending to the sidewalk.

"Hey, handsome guy, are you here to apply too?" A blonde beauty with an amazing figure said to a handsome guy wearing corduroy pants next to her.

"Hey, yes." The handsome guy was still rehearsing how he should introduce himself when he arrived. He looked at the beauty's face and suddenly changed into a smiling face, "Hi, honey, how are you today?"

"Tsk..." The blonde beauty has long been immune to this kind of flirting, "I think you seem to be of Italian descent. I heard that this place is the home of Italian directors, so you are going to take advantage."

"That's right, we Italians are the best at making movies. I said, do you want to go home with me after the audition? We can do it together..."

"You?" The blonde beauty touched the Italian actor's chest, which had some muscles.

"Cameron, Cameron..." Just as he was about to agree, a girl came from behind and stopped the blonde beauty.

"I've been looking for you for a long time. Do you want to go to the invitation from the San Fernando Valley?"

"Hey, I still want to hold on." The beauty dug into her pocket, and there were only a few coins in it. "What if I get selected? If it doesn't work this time, I'll think about it again."

"Hi, stallion?" The beauty turned her head and found that the Italian stallion had disappeared. It seemed that it was his turn and he had already entered the queue.

"Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lane...it's your turn. Come with me. Don't speak loudly when you get inside. You will be asked to enter the audition room for an interview." A staff member came out and took the blonde The beauty also called in.

"God bless." Cameron Diaz pulled up his collar, raised his head and walked in with a catwalk.

(End of this chapter)