Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1262 The Joy Luck Club and the history of blood and tears of Chinese workers

"Why is it you, Bozo?"

On the plane flying to New York, Ronald unexpectedly discovered that the pilot who flew the F-14A Tomcat fighter jet over the tower during the filming of "Top Gun" was Lloyd Abel (call sign Bozo). ). The two met again.

"I have to save some tuition for my daughter to go to college. The salary of a cargo plane pilot is not high. If I have the opportunity, I will guest star as a business jet pilot. This time they said it was you, and I asked to come." Bozo didn't hide it either.

Bozzo retired not long after filming Top Gun. Perhaps because of his personality, he did not go to civil aviation to fly a passenger plane and found a job as a cargo plane pilot.

"Ah, it's really an accident. I'm so happy to see you. How is the stunt team back then?"

When Ronald negotiated to borrow Sony's business jet this time, he was told that Jon Peters, the vice president of Columbia Pictures, wanted to use it, so he could not lend it to him.

This business partner of Peter Guber did not get the president position he wanted because the two senior vice presidents introduced by Ronald went to Sony Columbia. I wonder if it was because he had a firm foothold, so he was stuck this time. Look at Ronald.

Ronald couldn't do anything like complaining to Sony's chairman Dahe for such a trivial matter, so he found a commercial flight leasing company and temporarily borrowed an older version of the Gulfstream III.

The cabin of the plane was a little cramped compared to the latest models, but it was nice to see old friends.

"Scott is still flying. I heard that he will participate in the selection of astronauts..."

Only one of the members of the stunt team from that year continues to serve in the Navy. Bozo and Ronald caught up with each other and went to the cab.

"Oh, business jets really make people feel uncomfortable...not as comfortable as civil aviation." Yang Yanzi is used to flying in large civil aviation aircraft, and feels uncomfortable when a small plane takes off.

"You'll be fine once you get used to it."

Ronald covered himself with a blanket and slept as usual.

"Tonight, I declare to you America's policy and our attitude toward terrorists will not change. Terrorism is not a political statement. Those who want to use terrorism to make a statement, your good days are over."

Ronald dreamed of a large hall with hundreds of tables covered with white tablecloths. Many people were listening to the speaker's speech in the splendid hall.

Looks like the Kremlin?

Ronald knew that such shots usually refer to the Kremlin, no matter what the core of that alliance is like internally.

In his speech in Moscow tonight, the President directly declared war on terrorism.

But the question remains unanswered, what are the consequences of such a bold declaration.

The camera immediately switched to an airplane, and the voices of news commentaries from various TV stations alternated.

Ronald recognized that the commander playing the role was Harrison Ford, but the plot was very strange. The commanders of the United States and the Soviet Union actually cooperated to jointly fight against a Central Asian terrorist. Why does it seem like Mei and Su are partners in the movie?

However, it’s no surprise that Hollywood has always been very creative.

"Air Force One, ready to take off, thank you for your warm hospitality, Moscow." The pilot pushed the control column, and a special plane rose from the ground... typical lens language.

"Ahhh..." Suddenly the scene changed. It seemed like there was an accident on the plane, and many people suddenly fell forward. There were also gunshots.

"Ah..."

Ronald was awakened by Yang Yanzi's cry. The plane they were on also became unstable and bumped violently.

"What happened?" Ronald rubbed his eyes.

"We encountered turbulence and may feel some turbulence. Please keep your seat belts fastened until we fly out of this area. Don't worry, I will bring you to New York safely..."

When Bozo's voice came through the loudspeaker, Ronald felt relieved, tightened the blanket and continued to sleep.

"Ahhh..." The air flow was strong again, and Yang Yanzi screamed loudly again.

"Stop screaming. The pilot used to fly naval fighter jets to take off and land on aircraft carriers. What are you afraid of?"

"It feels so safe to fly on your plane..." After the plane landed, Yang Yanzi ran to specially invite the pilot Bozo to take a photo with her. He stabilized the plane in just a few clicks, and he barely felt any bumps when landing. It was impossible to remember that he was a pilot who landed a fighter jet on an aircraft carrier.

Ronald also smiled, took photos with them, and exchanged contact information with Bozo. Speaking of which, I can indeed buy a business jet. It will be much more convenient to have my own business jet when I daydream about business expansion.

Just ordering a new Gulfstream requires waiting in line for at least a year or two. Ronald wondered if there were any second-hand ones that he could buy, and then he would dig Bozo over to fly the plane for himself.

……

This trip to New York has a lot of itinerary, but fortunately Yang Yanzi arranged it properly.

More than half of the filming of Ang Lee's promoter has been completed, and Helen Slater's scene has been filmed. Ronald went to pick up Helen and check on the progress of the filming.

On Staten Island, the scenes inside the protagonist's room have been filmed, and the crew is now shooting some scenes outside.

When Ronald came, he happened to be filming an outdoor scene. He, Helen, Yang Yanzi and others watched from outside the cordon.

"Action!"

Lang Xiong and Wang Lai, two old Chinese actors, are very capable in their performances. Let alone Ronald, even Helen, who doesn't know much Chinese, felt that they had a deep foundation in the performance. Yang Yanzi's eyes lit up.

"I don't have any relatives there anymore, only a few nephews are still there, why should I go back to work as a money-splitting boy? I was still very young when I left forty years ago. Anyway, my level is not up to par. I can't get anything fake, and I can't say anything. Come out, it’s just not right.”

Wang Lai was sitting on a chair and Lang Xiong was massaging her.

"The capital has changed, and so has the way you speak. Mrs. Chen, I feel a sense of intimacy when I hear you speak..."

"Oh, is it?"

The two characters were brought together by their respective children in America. In short, I want to get rid of the big burden of the elderly. If they can live together, they don't have to live at home with parents whose habits and culture are inappropriate.

"Cut!"

A child's voice came from the scene, calling Cut.

This moment stunned everyone, wondering what happened.

The child was stunned when everyone stared at him. Scenes like this start to scare children. It's the director's prerogative to call him "Cut" on the set. What about the wasted film?

Ronald took a look and saw that he was still a Chinese child. This may be because someone didn't explain it clearly, and the children didn't understand. Maybe they just yelled like the director. So I walked over and touched the child's head, "Why are you called Cut?"

"I...", the child came back to his senses a little, "I saw there was an airplane in the sky, weren't you recording at the same time? The noise was too loud and entered the radio. I had to start over, so I called..."

"Oh? Hahaha, you are still knowledgeable..."

"I'm just telling you, I didn't do anything wrong, daddy?" The child seemed to have come back to his senses, ran to hold Ang Lee's thigh, and cried out. "So he's your son..." Ronald laughed. As expected, like father, like son.

"It's my eldest son Ah Mao. The young actor can't be found. It looks like his skin is a bit white, and his hair is dyed blond and he can pass for a mixed race."

"Let's do it again... Aunt Wang, Uncle Lang, I want a feeling that is completely unspoken. Chinese people will not express their emotions like foreigners." Ang Lee went up to make a request to the two veteran actors.

"He is making rapid progress and is a genius..." Helen whispered to Ronald. "At the beginning, Wang Lai was very unhappy. Later, he took the initiative to ask her how to act and what effect he wanted, and she became happy. . It’s quite interesting for Chinese people to communicate.”

"Very good, does he dare to guide you?"

"I didn't dare to do it at first, but then I did. The Chinese will respect their predecessors and the connections that bring investors... hahaha."

Helen also said that Ang Lee did not arrange too many scenes for her in the beginning. Later, James Schamus couldn't stand it and took the initiative to remind Ang Lee that there would be no second movie in Hollywood with Ronald's designated heroine arranged in this way.

In order to add more scenes to Helen, I also re-wrote many lines in the plot, and added many layers to Helen's role as the daughter-in-law... and also added many close-ups.

"It really should be added. You are the guarantee that this film will be a hit in the American market. Without you, I really doubt how many American audiences would watch a Chinese story."

"Hee hee hee..." Helen liked to hear this kind of compliment the most. She was so happy that she leaned her head on Ronald and almost laughed out loud, but was stopped again.

That night, the Promoter crew packed up Helen Slater's scenes and held a banquet. I specially found a restaurant in Manhattan's Chinatown to cook it.

Ronald saw that many Chinese workers in the American theater and film circles came to participate. One by one, these people came to toast Ang Lee and congratulate him for being able to shoot a Chinese-dominated theater movie in Hollywood.

"Congratulations, this is really the common dream of our group."

A young man with black-rimmed glasses and artist's long hair also came to congratulate Ang Lee.

"Wayne, let me introduce you to my noble man, Ronald." Seeing that it was his friend Wayne Wang, Ang Lee came over to introduce him to Ronald.

"This is Wang Ying. Her English name is Wayne. She is also a Chinese director and comes from Hong Kong."

"Hello, nice to meet you. Yanzi... Yanzi, come here, this is another director." Ronald shook hands with him and immediately introduced him to his assistant Yang Yanzi.

"Ah, hello Wayne. I'm Yanzi. Do you have any shooting plans recently?"

Yang Yanzi was charming and came over immediately to chat with Wang Ying. It didn't make him feel neglected at all. This is a big gathering of Chinese filmmakers, and there are all kinds of talents there. With a financial backer like Ronald, it seems that some good projects will start to work.

Ronald turned his head and continued to communicate with the two actresses. One is Zhou Caiqin, the sister of Zhou Tina’s ex-husband who was infected with the virus. The other one was Director Huang’s friend, Lu Yan, whom Ronald had met in Xujiahui before.

"I heard that Zhou Tianna almost caused trouble and had people attack your movie?" Zhou Caiqin didn't like this former sibling with a colorful private life.

"You can't blame her entirely, there are other people who caused trouble..." Ronald laughed. "Are you all performing on Broadway recently? Why haven't you made any movies?"

"Where are there any Chinese roles?" Both actresses sighed. There are very few Asian roles in Hollywood, and most of them are taken by young and beautiful actresses. They also only have minor supporting roles.

"Hey, Director Huang wants to ask Gregory Peck to star in a movie, and he agreed. Then you will come too... There are relatively few good scripts from Chinese Americans. If I have the chance, I will invest in it. You must be honored to star in it. "

"Ah, Director Luo, if you tell me, we will definitely come to act. It's not too late to be happy."

While they were chatting, Yang Yanzi pulled Wang Ying over again.

"Ronald, Wang Ying has a good project, are you willing to invest in it?"

"What project? Let me tell you..."

"Hello, I know Chinese-American female writer Amy Tan. Her novel The Joy Luck Club in 1989 was a bestseller. I told her about the idea of ​​remaking it at that time. However, it is difficult to find investment for this kind of Chinese-American story..."

This book "The Joy Luck Club" is a story about four Chinese immigrant women in America. There was still some momentum when it was published. Ronald also asked someone to ask, but later he heard that the author Amy Tan wanted to adapt it into a script herself and was unwilling to sell the copyright.

Unexpectedly, after so long, there is still no progress on this project. Now it is mentioned again by this director named Wang Ying.

"The Joy Luck Club?" Zhou Caiqin and Lu Yan's eyes lit up. There are elderly characters in this novel.

"I can't promise anything. You go buy a copy of Joy Luck and give it to me to read. Also, Director Wang Ying..."

"You can call me Wayne. My father is a fan of John Wayne and gave me this name." Wang Ying replied immediately.

"Well, Wayne, please give me a copy of the things you have photographed before, and I can see how good you are."

"Okay, I'll get the video tape right away." Wang Ying agreed quickly. He had approached several film studios before, but others gave up as soon as they heard the Chinese story. Ronald is one of those rare producers willing to listen to his own pitch.

Although it seems that the marketing effect is not very good.

"Don't be unhappy. Director Ronald is a busy man in Hollywood and won the Oscar for Best Picture this year. He usually shoots with actors of the same level as Kevin Costner and Tom Cruise.

He has invested in the recently popular directors Amir Adolino and Amy Heckerling. Chris Columbus, the director of Home Alone, was also promoted by him. If someone is willing to give you time, it is the greatest affirmation of you. "

Yang Yanzi immediately came over to explain to Wang Ying, which made Wang Ying suddenly feel that Ronald was really the most Chinese-friendly producer in Hollywood and the number one talent. My whole body was in high spirits, and I drove to pick up my video tape without even eating.

Ronald didn't care about such trivial matters. He had a lively chat with several old Chinese actors and ate some very good dishes at a round table. A lot of people have immigrated to Xiangjiang recently, many of them went to Canada, and some came to New York, which has raised the level of Cantonese cuisine here to a whole new level.

Coupled with the short-lived parents and the unique cultural atmosphere of Chinese Americans, Ronald felt very comfortable. He was very happy to chat with them about various gossips about the Chinese film industry.

"Ronald, this is a video tape of short films and feature films directed by Wayne. This is a book about the Joy Luck Club." Yang Yanzi was very good at doing things. At the end of the dinner, when Ronald and Helen were leaving, He took advantage of every opportunity to give Ronald a bag.

"Thank you for your hard work... You are really good. I will let Daydream follow up on this movie. If you are interested, just start working on this movie as a producer."

Ronald always gives opportunities to those who have the ability. It just so happens that such talents are scarce in Daydream.

"Okay, I'll go talk to Wayne and let him make some preparations. I said I'll give him a chance to impress you in Los Angeles. If he performs well, he can get the project approved." Yang Yanzi really knows how to motivate talents.

In this way, Wang Ying's motivation is enough.

"Well..." Ronald nodded with satisfaction. In fact, the Chinese people's business skills are no worse than those of the Jews.

"By the way, there is one more thing." Ronald stopped Yang Yanzi, "I just heard Wang Lai from Xiangjiang say that there is a Chinese director named Hu Jinquan. He is running around to make a film reflecting the construction of Cross-Ami The movie about the Chinese workers on the Liga Railway is called The History of Blood and Tears of Chinese Workers. I’m very interested in finding out more about this movie.”

(End of this chapter)