Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1291 Another blockbuster with potential for Oscars
"Does this really work?"

Jonathan Demme was facing a pile of cards, and his hands were cramping from signing so many cards. He called Ronald to complain while massaging his palms.

"I think it is useful. We have a big problem with the release date, so we can only rely on this method to remind the judges of the extraordinary nature of this film..."

As a producer, Ronald also had a lot of cards to sign. Fortunately, he had several trainee agents sent by Richard and Niceta to help him imitate his name and sign.

Big stars send out a large number of greeting cards every year on Christmas, Thanksgiving and other important holidays. This kind of work of getting people to sign is an important job for an agent.

"Well, for the Oscars..." Jonathan Demme had to go back and continue signing. The PR company would wrap the cards and videotapes in beautiful packaging, and then send them to thousands of judges via a purple FedEx box.

"Well, I'll just sign it myself..." Diane also wanted to sign the videotape of "Other People's Money", for which Ronald applied for the Best Supporting Actress and two Best Actor Oscars.

Diane was afraid that her agent's signature would be seen, so she insisted on writing it herself to appear more sincere.

Ronald smiled. Everyone in Hollywood has a paranoid love for the little golden man, and they are willing to pay anything for it. After ordinary judges get the videotape, their favorite thing is definitely the gift that comes with it, not your autograph.

Those influential judges, or those who were particularly important to Ronald, had other ways to show their sincerity. But if Diane was willing to show some appreciation, she would sign them all, so that she wouldn't regret it if she didn't get it.

Bah, bah, can't think like that.

……

When it was time to prepare for the nomination, Ronald once again came to New York. There were many judges here, and it was no less important than Los Angeles. In order to make those key figures feel important, Ronald held an insider party at his home in Staten Island.

All the guests gathered at the South Pier in Manhattan, boarded a luxury yacht, cruised on the water to Staten Island, and then took a special train to Ronald's home.

Michael Douglas, Melanie Griffith, Cher, and Tom Cruise, who was visiting New York temporarily, were all invited by Ronald to be his guests.

There is no need to explain in detail. They are all clients of a group of agents under CAA, such as Niceta, Richard, Kevin Hooven, etc. They are also stars who have worked with Ronald or have a good relationship with him. As the Oscar nomination battle is approaching, everyone here is battle-hardened and they all know what Ronald's canvassing means without saying it.

"Ahaha, you're really interesting here..."

"what do you mean?"

"That airport, your airport, is it going to start construction soon? I'm planning to build one too. I already have a beginner's pilot's license, and I plan to continue learning until I can fly a jet..."

The speaker was Tom Cruise, who was very polite to famous directors in the industry. Ronald had promoted him in the past, and they got along well. This time he came with Nicole Kidman to further deepen their relationship. He also brought a large box of custom-made cakes to please Aunt Karen, and made an exception to eat a piece of Aunt Karen's baked cookies, praising them highly and saying that he would order some every year as a more advanced gift than cakes to give to his closest friends.

These two moves made Aunt Karen very happy, and she went to discuss with her husband about officially starting a cookie business.

"Ah, that's difficult. Airport parking fees are very high nowadays. You need to have your own parking apron, which involves a lot of environmental assessments and dealing with the government. If you are interested, I can introduce my lawyer to you. Of course, before your application is approved, you can also buy a few toys and put them here..."

"Honey!" Nicole Kidman saw an old-fashioned calendar advertisement in Ronald's house. It was given by the gardening team to add a little old-fashioned style to Ronald's home. She looked at the beautiful woman wearing a cheongsam on it and felt very novel, so she came to Tom to report it.

"Have fun, you two. I'll go over there and take a look..."

Ronald and Tom Cruise were in the same boat on agent affairs, and they formed a small group to resist Ovitz's possible means. Tom Cruise was also disgusted by Ovitz's tricks. He wanted to make a breakthrough in acting, but Ovitz always asked him to promote other CAA clients.

For example, Paul Newman was also a star actor, but his acting skills were criticized. However, he received praise for re-playing the old age of the role he played decades ago. Dustin Hoffman also won the title of actor again by stepping on Tom Cruise's difficult but difficult acting skills.

Tom Cruise is making a movie that is expected to win awards, and he is also going to shoot two commercial movies for Ovitz. He and Ronald both know the true face of Ovitz, so this is the most important ally.

……

"I understand that you have found paradise in America, where the police and laws protect you..."

Michael Douglas was in the room where the Godfather had sat, and he began to recite the lines from the opening scene of the Godfather.

It's hard to find an actor who wouldn't be eager to try out Marlon Brando's lines here.

Michael Douglas' voice is also a bit hoarse, and it has to be said that it has some similarities with Brando's famous "I don't care" voice.

"No, No, that line was said by the elderly Godfather. His voice is not as strong as yours. It's in a weak state..." Tom Cruise corrected on the side, and couldn't wait to sit on the chair, posing as if he was petting a cat.

"The bastard who tortured your daughter will be punished..."

"Here..." Ronald threw a plush cat toy over. Since everyone who came here wanted to try it anyway, he might as well put a cat toy here.

"Oh...hahaha..." Everyone laughed. They were all from the Hollywood circle, and The Godfather was a commercial and critical success. Everyone was very happy to have the opportunity to try it. Ronald even took the initiative to take photos of them as a souvenir.

Men’s friendship is so simple, but that of female stars is much more complicated.

Cher and Melanie Griffiths were comparing themselves to each other. One was showing off her sweetness with her twice-married husband, while the other was talking about her passionate life with band guitarist Richie Sambora.

If middle-aged female stars start competing with each other, they can use several detours in their sentences, which is much more interesting than young actors calling each other bitches.

Both of them are mothers, and have reached the age where they will no longer be able to play beautiful roles and will have to transform themselves into mothers. A sense of panic hangs over their heads, but as time goes on, they gradually lose their competitive mentality and start speaking well of Ronald.

"I talked to Sigourney (Weaver) and if it weren't for directors like Ronald and Cameron, we wouldn't have any good roles. It's almost like being a mother, and once you take it, there's no turning back."

"Ah, are you okay? Your new movie with Michael Douglas is another epic movie. I think you may be nominated again..."

"Well, they decided to release it after the New Year, so if they want to be nominated, it will be in the next year."

"Shining Through", starring Melanie Griffith and Michael Douglas, is a film about a German-American woman who was hired by an OSS intelligence officer to sneak into Germany during World War II and steal top-secret information about the V1 rocket.

This movie is a typical ambitious movie, with stars, a commercial plot, and a World War II spy theme that critics like. However, the movie has been postponed to the beginning of next year, which shows that there are problems with the film.

Cher was not much better off. Last year, she produced her own film, Mermaids, which she fired the director of. The film was a box office failure. Hollywood also labeled Cher as someone who could not act without Ronald.

What's even more infuriating is that Winona Ryder, who played her daughter, was not affected by the movie at all and became a new generation of female star loved by the audience. Cher was so angry that she had to temporarily leave Hollywood and start focusing on her singing career.

This was the case, and as soon as Ronald came in, both of them tried their best to praise Ronald without showing it.

What kind of director Ronald is to actors? They didn't know how lucky they were back then. After leaving him, they never met such an easy-to-work-with director again.

"This is an invitation. Disney specifically asked me to give it to you. Their new movie will be screened at the New York Film Festival. Since 30% of the footage is not finished, they need some celebrities to show up. Will you come and show up?"

Ronald also brought in this group of stars to help Katzenberg recruit people for Disney. Katzenberg's projects at Disney were all profitable, though of medium investment. Their collaboration on "Dances with Wolves" also established a good relationship between the two.

This time, "Beauty and the Beast" is another important business of Disney, the revival of traditional animation. Because the production cycle of the film was delayed, Disney was afraid that the popularity was not enough, so it screened an unfinished version at the New York Film Festival.

This shows two things. First, Disney is very confident in the quality of the film and is not afraid of the unfinished parts and the use of pencil drawings causing dissatisfaction among the audience. Second, they also hope that many stars will come to support the film, which is a new marketing attempt for their cartoons.

It just so happened that Ronald needed to strengthen cooperation with Disney this time, so he played matchmaker and let the slightly outdated female star and Disney cartoons get exposure opportunities... Of course, they both thought they were taking advantage of each other...

……

"Oh, I also grew up watching Disney cartoons when I was a kid. This is a dream come true for me. When I was very young, I dreamed of being invited by Disney to attend their movie premieres."

"Yeah, I love Disney cartoons. I was so excited when Snow White was re-released a few years ago. I was not in America when it was re-released last time, so I missed it..."

When female celebrities were interviewed by the media, they never mentioned anything about watching cartoons with their children. They themselves are still very young, so isn't it normal for them to watch Disney cartoons?
"I like Disney movies. To some extent, animated movies are more imaginative than live-action movies. Yes...if you fall from a high altitude, you can break into a pancake, hahaha..."

Ronald is much better as a director. He makes no secret of the fact that he wants to buy his child a complete set of Disney cartoons when he grows up.

Of course, he also wanted to see the power of Katzenberg and the latest computer-aided animation system he talked about, but these reporters couldn't understand it.

This was the first product Lucas made after selling Pixar Animation. They developed a computer-aided animation design system CAPS for Disney.

The system can scan pencil drawings, add color, and add line work for the shadows of animated characters, which was one of the problems that slowed down the production of animation. Disney tried this system in last year's small production "The Rescuers: An Australian Adventure" and the results were so good that they officially abandoned the 30-year-old photocopier-based workflow.

After the movie started, Ronald really noticed a big difference. The colors of this animated movie were much more saturated and richer than the original. The movements of the animated characters were also much more lifelike than the original.

Although 30 percent of the content was represented by pencil storyboards and black-and-white test screens, the audience was still fascinated by it.

"Oh oh..."

In the middle of the show, when the Beast began to dance with Beauty in the hall, the audience exclaimed in amazement.

Ronald was so surprised that he stood up from his chair, and the audience behind him quickly patted him to sit down.

In this shot, not only are the movements of the beast and the beauty very realistic, but there is no incoordination when they twirl and waltz. What is even more surprising is that the camera push-pull effect is achieved in this shot.

Animated films don't have cameras. They are hand-drawn animations, but with the help of computers, they can produce effects that can only be produced by cameras. In addition, the two characters rotate back and forth. In such a complex situation, there is no wrong angle between the background and the characters.

The theme song of "Beauty and the Beast" at this time made this plot even more sublime, and many female and child audiences had stars in their eyes.

After the screening, the audience stood up and applauded. Although it was not a complete movie, this kind of scene was really unforgettable. Everyone insisted on applauding and insisted that Disney's senior management come out to talk about when they could see the full version.

The applause lasted for ten minutes. Finally, Katzenberg, who came from the VIP lounge after hearing the news, interrupted the interview and assured the audience that the film would be released in two months and all the audience today would receive free movie tickets.

"How did you feel about it?" Ronald came out after the screening and Katzenberg asked him his opinion.

"Hasn't there ever been an animated film nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars? I think this year we're going to make history..."

Ronald spoke highly of the film, saying that all elements were well done, and there were such beautiful songs to accompany the film. The children who entered the cinema would definitely dance when they saw the dance scene.

"Hahaha, I take that as a compliment. Ronald, you really have a great sense of humor..."

(End of this chapter)