Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 549 Your girlfriend came to audition too?

Spielberg called Zemeckis, Ronald, and the top crew to watch the dailies.This is the first time he's seen "Back to the Future" film.

Stoltz feels heavy on screen.Halfway through, Spielberg took off his glasses, wiped them with the hem of his cotton T-shirt, and said, "Stop it."

Zemeckis squinted his eyes to see what decision Spielberg made next.

"Robert, Ronald is right, this way, you will lose most of the box office."

Frustrated, Zemeckis whispered something in Spielberg's ear, and the two discussed quietly about changing the leading actor.

Not convinced by Zemeckis, Spielberg made a decision on the spot, replacing Eric Stoltz with Michael J. Fox.

"I couldn't find Michael J. Fox, his manager and 'Family Ties' producer Gary Goldberg, to wear a pair of pants to keep me from talking directly to Fox," Zemeckis said dejectedly.

"Family Ties," in which Fox played the eldest son Alex Keaton, unexpectedly became the audience's favorite character, producer Goldberg did not want Fox to be in two boats, has released words, No one from the "Back to the Future" team was allowed to have contact with him.

"Find him." Spielberg said lightly, "as soon as possible."

Seeing Zemeckis' distressed look, Ronald went to comfort him, "I know John Candy, he and Fox are both Canadians, and we can send messages through him..."

"Thanks...", Zemeckis said gratefully.

"I've seen the script you brought with Tocandi. I heard that Universal is making a big sci-fi production. Is it your director?" Michael J. Fox called Ronald the next day.

"It's not me, it's Robert Zemeckis. Listen, they were going to cast you in the lead, but Mr. Goldberg stopped him. He said the script was so good that you'd be blaming him for not letting it go." You acted, so I simply don't let you see it."

"Hey, I think he's right. I really wanted to play the part of Marty McFly. I originally had a deal with Goldberg to only do the film during the summer 'Family Ties' filming break. This year I've done a 'Wolf,' and used up my quota, but I really want to do 'Back to the Future.'"

"Then I'll contact Mr. Spielberg and Zemeckis and let them have a showdown with Goldberg." Ronald confirmed Fox's willingness to play, and told the crew.

"This is robbery!" Goldberg, who is Jewish, was furious in front of several crew members who came to negotiate Fox's schedule.

"Come on, Gary. We can share Fox time," Spielberg bargained.

"How to share? 'Family Ties' he's the top-grossing character, and he's here five days a week."

"We could shoot his scenes at night and only do two days a week during the day," Zemeckis said of the way they figured out to share Fox's schedule.

"You can't prolong the shooting every night and prevent him from coming back the next day. If there is less than one hour of overtime work every day for 'family bonds', it must be satisfied first."

"make a deal."

Both parties met each other's time requirements. Anyway, most of Marty's scenes in "Back to the Future" were indoors and at night. As long as Zemeckis went home and re-planned the shooting, it would be fine to accommodate Fox's schedule.

Both parties tacitly did not mention the issue of Fox's rest. Anyway, he is an actor, and he asked to star in "Back to the Future", so let him work in two shifts.

……

"Uh... can I add an apple box?"

After the two sides negotiated the schedule, Ronald came to see Fox and Helen Slater's re-audition.

There is a full four-inch height difference between Michael J. Fox and Helen. When they stand together, Helen is half a head taller than him. For close-ups, the height needs to be adjusted so that Fox can barely fit together when he stands on the apple box.

"Marty and Jennifer have a lot of long-distance motion shots." Zemeckis reminded that since Stoltz has switched to Fox, his girlfriend Jennifer Parker will also switch from Helen to Claudia Wells.

Ronald slapped himself. Isn't this just asking for trouble.Whether Zemeckis's movie is good or not has nothing to do with him, and it also caused the loss of Helen's role.I have to find another way.

"Ronald," Spielberg saw, beckoning him to come out and chat.

"I owe you once this time, thanks to your reminder, otherwise Amberlin will lose more money." Spielberg patted Ronald on the shoulder.

"The quality of Zemeckis's shots is not bad, so it won't, it won't lose money."

"Don't say that, we all know that if it wasn't for you, Zemeckis would have continued filming, and I would have proposed a replacement after seeing the sample."

Spielberg pointed out that "Back to the Future" is a high-concept movie. It doesn't win with the storyline, but relies on the imagination of time and space travel, and the various prophets brought by the protagonist Marty. Foresight, to attract the audience.

"A high-concept sci-fi film, if you put on the deep acting skills of a feature film, it will be a disaster. You may have saved my Amberlin and the distributor Universal millions, and also saved Zemeckis' reputation. disaster."

"But he may not thank me," Ronald thought to himself.

"I know that Helen Slater is your woman. This incident happened because of our mistake. I will recommend her the heroine of another movie. This does not count as my debt to you. She likes What kind of role?"

Ronald was overjoyed, "Well, she likes roles that require acting skills. She studied with a group of London Shakespeare actors in London before, but her acting skills have yet to be tested."

"I see. Can Helen sing?"

"Yes, her father has always raised her. She is a good jazz pianist and jazz singer."

"Neil Simon, a famous Broadway and Hollywood screenwriter, is preparing his new film. The heroine is a singer. I will call him and recommend Helen."

The two walked back, and everyone in the crew began to call the actors, recalling them to announce their decision to change the leading actor.

Eric Stoltz, on the other hand, was put on the sidelines and notified his agent when he was done.The damage to Stoltz's actor's reputation is inevitable when something like this happens.But for the sake of better box office results, this kind of thing is always considered last.

"Hi, I'm the crew of 'Back to the Future', I have something important to talk to about Lee Thompson." Ronald was also assigned a call quota, and he called Thompson's agent.

"Uh, it's not convenient for Miss Thompson to answer the phone." The manager didn't know what he was thinking.

"The crew has made a major decision. If you don't contact her, you will be at your own risk." Ronald decided to scare the agent who didn't know the situation.

"Hee hee hee..." Helen listened to Ronald talking on the phone, put her hands on Ronald's shoulders and smiled.She learned that she had an audition for a new leading lady, and she wasn't that disappointed about losing a Vase role.

"Hey, who is looking for me? I'm Li." After a while, Li Thompson called impatiently.Taking advantage of the crew's vacation, she sneaked to Germany to meet her lover. When she heard about the major decision of the crew, she was frightened to death, so she quickly called to ask for clarification.

"It's me, Ronald. I don't care where you are, hurry back to Los Angeles, the crew has a major decision."

"Is it about me?" Li Thompson was even more frightened when she heard that it was Ronald. Could it be that her acting skills were not good enough and she was going to be fired from the crew?
"Don't think about it. Since you are notified, it has nothing to do with you. Come back quickly."

"Hi, Honey, I just came back, where are you going?" His boyfriend, Dennis Quaid, hugged Lee Thompson from behind, "Don't go, I'm already in a hurry here."

Thompson, who was upset by Quaid, slapped him open, "Don't make trouble, Honey, there is a big problem with the crew, I'm afraid I will be fired if I arrive late." Lee Thompson vaguely guessed that it was about the male lead

She immediately put the clothes in the suitcase randomly, then turned around and was about to leave to go to the airport to buy a ticket.

Before going out, I saw her boyfriend with a steadfast expression, and came back and kissed him in his arms, "Don't be like this, I really have something urgent, I'll make it up to you when you come back, bye."

"Oh, everyone is like this." Dennis Quaid lay down on the bed in frustration, reached out his hand and took out a small bag of "good things" from his bag. "Ah Choo...Ah..."

The next day Ronald took Helen, and came to the crew of "The Slugger's Wife" written by Neil Simon.Neil Simon is one of the rare amphibious screenwriters. His screenplays have won the Tony Award, the highest honor for drama, as well as the Oscar Award for film, and the Emmy Award nomination for Best Screenplay in TV.

This happened to be Helen Slater's favorite kind of work that required acting skills. She was studying drama in New York some time ago, and she might be appreciated by Neil Simon.

"Ronald, why are you here?"

Outside the audition room, Ronald accidentally sees Tom Cruise.

"I accompanied a friend to audition for the leading actress."

"It can't be such a coincidence, can it? I also accompanied Rebecca to the audition." Tom was stunned.

"No way?" Ronald looked at Cruise. Could it be that his girlfriend Rebecca De Mornay is also Helen's competitor?
"Uh, let them compete, we're just here to watch. You know that actresses always need a man by their side to feel at ease."

"Ah, yes." Ronald thought it was a coincidence.

"Remember, you were outside the audition room calling my name, otherwise I wouldn't have gotten my first role, and I wouldn't have met Paula."

"That's your own talent and hard work, Tom. I remember you knocked out all your dentures on purpose when you played 'The Outer World' for realism."

Now Cruise has already found the best dentist, and his teeth are very white.

"It's also thanks to my good luck that I met you and found a good agent like Paula." Tom Cruise was very emotional, and he must be lucky in this business, "She is the best for my career. I have made a very good plan for my career, actors don’t necessarily have to look for roles that can show their acting skills, the overall effect of the movie is what actors should consider.”

"Huh?" Ronald heard the complaint inside, so he pouted inside.

"Rebecca has her own considerations. She comes from an acting family, so she has a natural reaction to the play of roles since she was a child. I have talked to her several times and asked her to sign with CAA, but every time we will do it because of this. When we quarrel, she always thinks I'm too wordy."

"Hey, you're not alone." Ronald patted him. Actresses have a lot of ideas and big ideas, which is really troublesome.

The two chatted for a while, and Helen Slater came out first.

"See you later. I'll go chat with Helen first." Ronald winked at Tom.

Tom understood and waited for his girlfriend Rebecca to come out.

The two actresses can be said to be direct competitors. If they meet again for dinner or something, everyone will feel uncomfortable.

"I think Mr. Simon might cast me," Helen twittered about the audition over dinner, "and he asked me about my off-Broadway gigs and talked a lot about the 'Baseballer's Wife' role. inner grasp."

Seeing Helen so happy, Ronald felt relieved.

"I think that Helen is my biggest competitor." Rebecca De Mornay was complaining to Tom Cruise in another restaurant.

"Don't be like this, you have a lot of opportunities. After we played 'Good Boys Are Crazy', you should also plan your career. You don't just focus on acting skills, and you can get ahead in Hollywood."

"Okay, I get it." Rebecca showed a bored look on her face. Tom was good at everything, but he liked to sell his philosophy of success, and he couldn't stop talking about it.

……

"Have you heard? The leading actor of the company's 'Back to the Future' has changed." Universal's producer Ned Tanin was chatting with his subordinates.

"I heard that my friend is working as an assistant producer in that crew. I heard that it was Ronald Lee's proposal, which was approved by Spielberg. His vision is still as good as ever."

"How is our filming in Chicago? John Hughes will only say that it's good, everything is going well. I'm always a little worried." Since hearing the news that "Back to the Future" has changed the leading role, I started to worry about the "Breakfast Club" filmed in Chicago. For these directors, you can't blindly believe their own words.

"Why don't we send someone to take a look?" the subordinate acted.

"It's useless," Ned Tanin took a sip of his coffee, "directors are very professional types of work, and if you send a layman there, you can't understand whether the shooting is good or bad. If it's so simple, how can there be such a thing as 'Heaven's Gate'?" A catastrophe?"

"Why don't we ask Ronald for a trip? He is an expert and has a good relationship with Hughes, so that we can get accurate information without arousing the resentment of Director John Hughes."

"It's good, but how can I invite Ronald? I'm not like Spielberg, who was a big favor to him back then."

"I heard from my friend that the heroine was recommended by Ronald to join the crew. This time, the actor named Helen Slater lost the role because of the height matching relationship. If you can provide a heroine Chance?"

"Heroine?" Ned Tanin pondered whether it would be worthwhile to release a heroine for this matter.

"Do you remember the single adaptation project of the black singer? It's in Guber's hands. He's still worrying about directors and starring roles."

"There's yours," Tanin called Gubel with a smile.

The two chatted for a while, and Ned Tanin called Ronald again.

"Ronald, it's me, Ned."

"Hello, Mr. Tanin." Ronald was watching the TV broadcast in the apartment. The Huaguo women's volleyball team won the Dongying team [-]-[-] and successfully entered the knockout round.

"Well, I heard that Helen Slater is your man, and now I have a movie project, which is to play a modern version of Joan of Arc. The producer is Peter Gubel, he remembers you, says you In 'Endless Love' crew, helped a lot.

I remembered that Helen is the actress who plays Superwoman, this is a good opportunity, Ingrid Bergman played Joan of Arc back then and won praise from the critics. "

"Hey?" Ronald thought to himself why he has such a big influence, are the characters chasing him now?
"That's right. Gubel is still looking for a director for that movie. If you're interested, you can finish the movie with Helen."

Just when Ronald was about to refuse, his heart moved. The candidate for "Baseball Player's Wife" has not been finalized yet, so asking Helen to audition might not be a bad thing.

"Okay, but whether I will take it or not depends on reading the script."

"Of course, Helen's audition has nothing to do with your ability to be a director."

"Well, then I would like to thank you very much, Mr. Tanin."

"Call me Ned," Tanin said with a smile on the other end of the phone, "I also have something to trouble you, can you spare two days and help me go to Chicago?"

(End of this chapter)