Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 601

"Thank you for your help, Mr. Minister, I am grateful." Ronald sincerely thanked Secretary of the Navy John Lehman on the phone.

This time I was able to get the support of the Navy, thanks to George Jr. in Texas, who asked his mother Barbara to call Minister Lehman's mother Constance, and talked about the cliché about the lack of patriotism among young people today.

After Minister Lehmann received a call from his mother, he asked Ronald about the process of filming "Top Gun" again, and expressed his satisfaction with Ronald's casting and filming progress.

"Hahaha, work hard, young man. In fact, I also have a deep relationship with Hollywood. Princess Grace Kelly of Monaco is my cousin. Well, we have forgotten our friendship. When I went to California, you You can introduce me to some Hollywood female stars."

"Of course no problem," Ronald hung up the phone.

This time, in order to prevent problems before they happen, a lot of connections were used.George Jr. also called the Navy Liaison Officer Matthew directly through his father's secretary and asked him to make a tough statement.

Everyone in the navy expressed their support for Ronald, and directly eliminated Mancuso's plan to replace him in the bud.

Of course, doing all this doesn't come without a price.

"Richard, how is the arrangement for entertaining Minister Lehman?"

"You'd better leave this matter alone, I will arrange it, and you don't know it from the beginning to the end." Richard was very cautious and did not discuss any details with Ronald.

"Thank you." Ronald patted his agent on the shoulder. Among his agents, Richard was the most loyal.

"What about Mr. Eisner?" Richard asked.

"He wanted me to go to Disney as a director, and said that I could choose the script. But I am happy with the cooperation with Paramount now. Mr. Tanin and I have an old relationship, and I just recommended him a ready-made movie."

When Ronald called George Jr. for help, he also heard a message.

George Jr. complained about Eisner's sluggishness.After the [-] million U.S. dollars from the second phase of the Screen Fund was given to Eisner, he remained silent for a long time.As a director of the fund, George Jr. was questioned by some investors.

Ronald took advantage of the two-pack preparation time of the crew's transition and called Eisner to help George Jr. deliver the message.Eisner attached great importance to him, and specially asked him out to have a private chat in a high-end Japanese restaurant.

The chef served sushi and eel rice, and exited the box, leaving the two of them to chat.

Eisner's power has been greatly reduced compared to when he was at Paramount. He respects potential directors very much and meets them in person whenever he has the opportunity.He didn't know how to use chopsticks, so he simply rolled up the napkin and folded it in half, then inserted the chopsticks to make a big pair of tweezers, picked up the eel and swallowed it in one gulp.

"Ronald, I know you are a screenwriter. If you have any new scripts, or if there are any good filmmakers who want to make a production with box office potential, you must remember to find me." Eisner's current attitude towards Ronald A lot of equality.

He explained that Disney doesn't have a good reputation in the field of live-action movies. Before that, they only made a few middle-budget youth movies. They didn't look for them for big projects, and Eisner was not sure about small projects.

"Mr. Eisner, in fact, there is a very good movie in your hands." Ronald picked up a piece of eel with chopsticks, and the sauce tasted very strong.He thought of Walter Murch.

"Walter, I know him," Eisner mused for a moment, "I understand you're recommending 'Return to Oz,' but that movie was established during Ron Miller's time. Do you know what I mean? ?”

Of course Ronald understood.Walter Murch's movie "Return to Oz" was initiated by the former head of Disney and almost fired by him.Now that Eisner is in charge, for him, the success or failure of this project is inappropriate, so it was left aside.

Now Murch's film has fallen into a strange situation where no one pays attention. The follow-up special effects production funds are not in place, and the early marketing work has not been launched.

"Walter's movie still needs to be done in clay stop motion, and if you're willing to support it, then this movie is in your hands to bring it back to life."

"Huh? Interesting idea." Eisner wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. In fact, he didn't care much about the movie that the former CEO had decided on.

"Walter Murch is a good friend of George Lucas. When he was fired by Ron Miller, I asked George for help. George himself flew to Britain to intervene, vouch for Murch, and let him stand against Ron Miller. Miller's pressure to finish the film." Ronald told the situation at the time, but Eisner didn't know the inside story.

Ronald liked the taste of the eel so much that he ate another large piece hard.

"Cheers", Eisner clinked glasses with Ronald. He was very interested in the news that Ronald revealed. George Lucas is preparing a big production. The studios are all chasing.With this news, Eisner felt a little more confident.

The next day, Walter Murch came over to thank him in person, and Eisner gave him a special grant for production and marketing.

Clay animation is to use clay dolls to pose in certain poses, take frame-by-frame photography, and combine 24 photos into a one-second animation.With Eisner's personal intervention, the progress of "Return to Oz" will be greatly advanced.

And the marketing cost has also been increased by [-]%. Murch's directorial debut will receive a normal mid-level production treatment.

"It's nothing, I've been waiting to see your movie for a long time." Ronald said it was nothing, picked up his drink and took a sip.

"Do you have any worries? I heard that the shooting of your new film is going well." Walter Murch always had a worried look on his face when he saw Ronald was worried.

To Murch, Ronald has nothing he can’t say, “Now Paramount’s high-level executives have opinions on me. Although they have the support of the navy during the filming stage, they can’t trouble me, but I’m worried that there will be unexpected things in the post-editing. Difficulties."

"That's it..." Murch was silent for a moment, "Did you know that in the golden age of Hollywood, some directors didn't shoot the main shots? It was just to fight for their own rights in editing."

"I know, without the main shot, they can't mess with your movie and turn it into another story."

"In fact, apart from this method, John Ford, who was very artistic at the time, invented some other tricks..." Murch put some tricks that were circulated privately among senior Hollywood directors and editors to prevent producers from interfering, Tell Ronald all about it.

"If you do this,...don't say they can't change your story, even if it's edited by another person, they may not be able to do it all."

"This is the metaphor you have repeatedly emphasized that editing is the audience's dream, right? When people dream, their thinking jumps. If others don't know the dream I had, they can only see a bunch of fragmented pictures..."

After discussing with Walter Murch, Ronald made up his mind to keep an extra hand.The Navy's support can only be guaranteed until the filming is completed. Editing is the final creative link of the film. If you want to maintain the initiative, you have to hold a few trump cards.

……

At the airport in Los Angeles, Ronald, the main members of the film crew, and several actors who played pilots were waiting for the flight to the Philippines.

The last cooperation unit given by the Navy is the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Enterprise.This Enterprise is the second generation aircraft carrier with this name.It once circled the earth without refueling, demonstrating the superiority of nuclear power.

In the previous military confrontations after launching, such as the Cuban crisis, the Vietnam War, the India-Pakistan War, etc., it has participated in it, and it is a veritable darling of the American Navy.

Now this aircraft carrier is deployed to cruise in the Indian Ocean. The Navy will first receive the crew to Subic Bay Air Force Base, then fly to Diego Garcia Base, and then transfer to a transport ship to join the fleet in the Indian Ocean.

Because the location of the aircraft carrier's mission is classified, the crew does not know the specific location of the Enterprise.

"Drip..."

Richard, who came to see him off, received a pager, "I'm going to make a call."

"Richard, you asked me to find the right person, and I have found it. Make sure your VIP client is happy, and her girl is the best in Los Angeles."

"Could it be Mrs. Alex? Didn't I ask you to try to keep a low profile?"

"It's not her. It's a woman named Heidi Fleiss, a nobody in the industry. She used to be Mrs. Alex's assistant. She was very young. There is no big sequelae to find her, unlike Mrs. Alex's name." The head is too loud, and it is easy to be targeted by the police and tabloids."

"Listen, the person to be served is..."

"I understand, I understand, don't ask, don't tell, the cash transaction in advance, the customer doesn't have to worry about anything, and we haven't made this call."

After Richard finished the call, he came back and gave Ronald a ready look.

"Okay, let's go..."

A group of people pushed heavy equipment and walked towards the boarding gate.

The American Navy came to Manila to pick up the crew with a transport plane, and everyone sat in the transport plane. The pilots of the navy are much more aggressive than those of civil aviation, and they take off and land very violently.

After a transfer in Subic Bay, the crew arrived at the Diego Garcia base after a long-distance flight, and everyone transferred to a transport ship. After several hours of sailing, they arrived at the mission location of the aircraft carrier formation.

On the vast sea, there is no reference, only the sunset, sea water, and a huge aircraft carrier.

The aircraft carrier was painted gray, and a helicopter took off from the transport ship and transferred the crew to the aircraft carrier.Ronald looked down from the helicopter and saw the number 65 painted white on the deck of the aircraft carrier. This was the hull number of the USS Enterprise.

After landing, a sergeant comes to receive everyone, and the main crew will have dinner with the captain and flight commander in the evening.

Ronald, Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, and several actors playing the role of pilots got off the helicopter, and saw the F-14A Tomcats parked on both sides of the aircraft carrier deck. The wings are trimmed in a triangular shape to save deck space.

There are also some soldiers wearing yellow, green, purple and other helmets and vests on the deck. They are busy, matching the metal-colored decks, fighter jets, and the setting sun to form a beautiful picture.

"It's so beautiful," Ronald sighed involuntarily.

"I'll take you to the assigned bedrooms first, which the officers and non-commissioned officers have vacated for you."

"Thank you, maybe you can find a place for my photography equipment first."

"No problem, we have prepared several cabins for you to store equipment and film the flight control room."

(End of this chapter)