Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 307 Roger Coleman Treats

The news that Universal decided to release "Fast Pace" urgently on the East Coast was sent to the office of Ronald's agent CAA as soon as possible.

"Where's Ronald?" Nisita asked Richard, and Universal couldn't find him, telling him the good news.

"He told me that a friend invited him to dinner. During this period of time, I told him to travel and inform me that there might be good news."

"Well done. We have to consider renting a long-term apartment for this client. A director who sold 3000 to [-] million for his debut work can't live in a motel all the time."

Nisita explained to Richard, "Go to the hotel and wait for him to come back, and tell him the good news as soon as possible. Tomorrow Ned Tanin will talk to him. This old slippery man also needs Ronald's support now." gone."

Ronald was invited to dinner by his former boss, Roger Coleman, and his wife Julie.Ronald walked into this restaurant with a distinctive decoration. It was opened by Greek immigrants, and it mainly serves Greek dishes. It is just around Hollywood. The business was good during dinner, and it was already full of people.

"I received a call from your new secretary, saying that when you invited me to dinner, you thought someone was playing a prank on me, Mr. Coleman." Ronald was brought to the dining table by the waiter, and when he saw the Colemans, Let's start with a joke.

"Hahaha." Julie Coleman was amused and laughed, Roger's stinginess had reached a certain level.

"Did you know? Ronald. Roger was invited by Joe Dante to make a guest appearance in "Broken Three Times". A penny-back old pick."

"Hahaha", Roger Coleman didn't feel offended when Dante invited him to play this kind of role, but he found it very interesting. He liked the experience of this guest role very much.

Ronald was seated with the help of the waiter.Greek cuisine is famous for its various olive oils, low-fat foods, and wines. The three of them tasted the delicacies slowly and began to chat.

"Henry Fonda passed away two days ago." Coleman said the biggest recent news in the industry.

"I asked Jane, his father left a will, no funeral, cremated and buried in the church."

"Hey, Peter and I collaborated on a lot of exploitation films back then. Peter didn't like to cooperate with big studios and insisted on making independent films, but the last film he directed and produced by his father failed at the box office. He doesn't make any more, and the current film market is really not in a good mood."

"That's why Ronald's success is so rare, isn't it? Peter's movie still hired Brooke Shields as the protagonist, and it didn't sell well." Julie interjected, interrupting Coleman's nostalgia.

"Yeah. Congratulations, Ronald. You know what? Every director who debuts with me, after they make their first successful film independently, I treat them to dinner and congratulate them."

"Thank you," Ronald raised his glass full of white wine.

"Actually, I also feel the same as Peter. The interior of a big studio is too complicated. My film was involved in high-level personnel and almost failed to be released."

Ronald told Coleman everything he knew.

"I now think that the second film will not cooperate with a major studio and produce independently. At least this way I can stick to my own shooting ideas and not be influenced by office politics."

"Then you may only be able to make films for a small studio like me. The film market is like this. Last year's annual box office did not reach 5000 million U.S. dollars. It is not a big studio that would not dare to invest in a big production."

"I don't mind. A small production of 50 million US dollars is completely fine, as long as it can be released to make money. I want to start writing scripts after I am busy during this time. I will also have some savings by then, so I can invest some myself."

Roger and Julie looked at each other, "Then we'll wait to read your script."

Unexpectedly, inviting Ronald to dinner would have unexpected benefits.

Ronald's filming this time will definitely become famous in the circle. As long as he presents the script and expresses his willingness to direct, someone will definitely be willing to distribute and invest.As long as I provide the shooting team and distribution channels, I can enjoy the benefits.

"Actually, I invited you here this time. I also hope that when you direct a movie in the future, you can invite Roger to be a guest star. One of his current hobbies is acting. He has appeared in many movies of his former disciples and friends." Julie put down her glass , Said to Ronald.

"Really? Roger also likes acting?"

"Of course, Coppola made me a cameo as a senator in his second Godfather."

"I'll remember it." Ronald looked at Roger Coleman's appearance, and it was indeed very suitable for playing roles such as a teacher, politician, and boss.

"Your 'fast paced' movie right now, there's a lot of buzz and my two older kids love it."

"Yes, I'm also surprised, and I feel like I don't know what I did right."

Ronald is telling the truth. The sudden popularity of the movie surprised many actors who participated in it, and they became celebrities all of a sudden.

Fortunately, he is the director, he did not appear on the screen, nor was he interviewed, and fans do not know him.

"Several leading actors called me to thank me. They seemed to be popular all of a sudden. When they went out, they would be surrounded by people and asked for their autographs.

The funniest was Ray Walston, who played the teacher. He called me and said he was very happy.Walking on the street now, some people finally stopped calling him Uncle Martian, and now everyone called him Mr. Hand. "

"There are also a lot of film critics saying good things about you. You can ask your agent to collect them for you. It will be very interesting to watch in the future." Julie added beside her.

"Speaking of film critics, what's up with that Roger Ebert in Chicago? Why is he so upset with me?"

Ronald thought of the syndicated TV movie review program "Bald and Glasses"... No, the evaluation of himself by "Sisko and Albert" was a little annoying.

On their weekly film review show hosted by the pair, Sisko the bald gave himself two and a half out of four stars for his "fast pace," saying the film had some controversial plot points, but the protagonists Sean Penn and Faye Bill Cates' performance is out of the ordinary, and as the director's first work, it is also worthy of encouragement.It's half a star to give a recommendation.

But Spectacular Albert was critical of his own creation.I think the movie is vulgar and the style is not high. In the whole film, only Jennifer Jason Lee's performance shows her star potential, and she can only give one star.

"Don't worry about the critics' criticisms, I never care about them." Roger advised him not to be angry.

"The professions that Albert and the others are engaged in are parasitic on the film industry. The original film review was a way of film marketing, and now audiences are increasingly relying on weekly box office rankings and friends' recommendations to choose films. The film review industry is growing. Gradually losing his original influence."

"The two are from Chicago. Sisco is the Chicago Tribune, which is a higher-level newspaper with a larger circulation. Most of the readers are white-collar workers. Albert is the Chicago Sun-Times, a subway tabloid. The readership is not high, just those Destroy the conservative underclass in the disco movement."

Roger knew something, and he was always scolded by film critics himself.

“These people have been unhappy with the Roe v. Wade decision and want to overturn the Supreme Court decision. So it’s only natural that he’s upset about the abortion in your movie.”

Julie knew better, "The feminist organizations in Los Angeles really like your film, they think the protagonist Stacy's actions are brave and smart, and they think she is the benchmark for female characters in related teen movies to deal with similar plots. "

"Yes, don't be intimidated by them. These people have failed to make movies, so they have to become film critics. Like Roger Ebert himself, he used to make exploitation films, or the kind that relies on exposing vulgar and vulgar tastes. Kind of." Roger Coleman exposed Albert's old background.

"Ah? Is that so? Is this the envy of the losers towards the winners?" Ronald thought to himself.

"That's right, he used to be in the low-budget movie business, everyone in Hollywood who made exploitation films knew him. In the early 70s, he tried to return to Hollywood as a screenwriter.

As a result, his film "Beyond the Valley of the Dolls" was rated X and suffered a major box office failure, so he had to go back to write film reviews. "

"I didn't expect there to be such black history." Ronald listened with relish.

"He later wrote a couple of films, all of which were X-rated, failed at the box office and critically, probably because of that, so he has a bias against directors who make low-budget films. He just likes to brag about the big studios production."

"Who is this?" Ronald bowed his head and ate a piece of roast lamb.The mutton in the Greek restaurant tastes very good. Drizzle some lemon juice and pair it with white wine. After entering the mouth, it melts into one in the mouth. The taste is layered and delicious.

Back at the hotel, Richard was already waiting for him at the front desk.

"Why are you here? What's the matter?" Ronald saw that Richard seemed to have been waiting for a long time.

"You are finally back. Universal asked you to discuss the 'fast-paced release in the Central and East Coast tomorrow morning. They will urgently arrange several media meetings, including Dallas, Chicago, and New York."

"Oh, Yes!" Ronald received another surprise good news, he clenched his fists and shouted Yes several times at the front desk of the hotel! , Attracting several guests to look over.

"Let's find you a high-end serviced apartment. You live here all the time. It will be very troublesome if you can't find anything."

"Okay, you can arrange it for me."

Early the next morning, Ronald came to Universal's headquarters to discuss arrangements for an emergency roadshow.The schedule is very tight, and there is often only a dozen hours of stay in a city. After receiving a joint interview with the media at the hotel, I will fly to the next stop.

Jennifer Jason Leigh, Phoebe Cates, will be with him through the process.

"Ronald, good boy. I knew you would be successful. It was worth the reshoot budget I approved for you. In the end, Brooke Shields' cameo was very good."

Ned Tanin came over to congratulate Ronald and asked someone from the marketing department to take a photo of himself and Ronald.

"Please believe that Universal will fully support your film marketing."

"Thank you, Mr. Tanin." Ronald answered indifferently.

"Fast-paced is sure to be a hit at the East Coast box office."

"Thank you, and good luck to you too!" Ronald stabbed back, repeating what Tanin said when he announced the reduction in the scale of the screening.

Word had spread of Tom Mount's resignation, and Tanin's compromise on the crucial vote proved to be a big mistake.He does need some luck.

(End of this chapter)