Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 961 Chapter 1 Is there real friendship between men and women?
"Okay, okay, I get it, still need a young 'virgin' star, right?"

Ronald stayed in New York for two days, and with the help of Nisita, together with Michele Cannold, the production director of Daydream, intensively sent out invitations to major studios, trying to make "Steel Magnolia "The distribution rights to the script were sold to them.

Whether it is Paramount, Universal, or Disney, they are all very interested in this movie.But they all put forward a request, asking Ronald to direct.

Ronald, who is good at female subjects, has a record of many blockbuster movies. As long as he nods to direct, the estimated investment of only 500 million yuan and the joining of many acting female stars will not be a problem.

However, Ronald hasn't dreamed up any details of the film yet, so he's a little hesitant about directing it himself.In addition, screenwriter Harlin repeatedly pointed out that this play actually reflects the southern part of America, the small town's way of life is completely different from the big city stories Ronald is familiar with.

The female films that Ronald has filmed, whether it is Baby in the 60s, Loretta, a middle-aged Italian woman, or Tess, who has just passed the age of 30 and stepped into the right path of life, are all New York girls.

They strive for independence, liberation.Unlike many of the conservative Southern women in "Steel Magnolias."Those Dixie girls, whose highest purpose in life is to marry a husband and have children for him, take care of the family, and even risk their diabetes to worsen to have children.

So Ronald tentatively proposed that the asset be the producer and be responsible for a part of the investment quota.

Now those big studios that had promised with all their mouths began to put forward conditions that did not exist in the first place.

Ronald thought that the script was excellent, and he asked Olympia Dukakis, Shirley Maclean and other acquaintances to participate in the role, and they would definitely agree to it.

But the studio was very down-to-earth, and the distribution department evaluated several of Ronald's proposed Oscar winners and, through Cinema Score, found their box-office appeal data.

Unfortunately, even Dukakis, who just won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, is not enough to get the target audience (especially those Southern housewives) into the theater for them.

Hollywood has divided actresses into three categories from a very early age, virgins, sluts, and mothers.This is based on their age classification, not completely according to their appearance.

Actresses who have just debuted can play young girls who are in love. At this time, they can fall in love with popular male stars.Except for the protagonist, he doesn't pretend to speak to other male characters.The most typical is Grace Kelly in the western film "High Noon".She's only in love with the sheriff played by Gary Cooper.

When female stars start to age and play teenage girls is no longer convincing, the studios will give them some "slut" type roles.In a movie, the role of these female stars is not to stick to one end, but to deal with several men, and they can have love and romantic relationships with multiple men.

When Grace Kelly got older and entered "High Society", she was surrounded by ex-boyfriends, fiancés, and fresh boys who wanted to have sex with her characters.

If Grace Kelly hadn't married the Prince of Monaco and quit Hollywood, then when she reached middle age, a third acting career would gradually open up to her, that is, playing mother or grandmother roles instead of occupying the center of the stage.

And this "Steel Mulan" happens to be a very special script. The six female characters, except for the girl who escaped from marriage by a foreigner, is responsible for eliciting the story. Among the other five female characters, there are four "mother" types. A "virgin" type.

Although the acting skills of those mother-type actors, after years of precipitation, are now as mellow as old red wine.But to be honest, most moviegoers who go to the cinema are still attracted by virgin or slut type "young female stars".

Four mother-type Oscar-winning actresses do not have the appeal of a young and glamorous star.

Even if this female play-based script is very popular on Broadway, but in Hollywood now, the film depends on the appeal of young female stars, and the chances of recovering the cost at the box office are high.

Ronald didn't want to go against the laws of the market, so he agreed to find a suitable young and sexy female star to play the heroine Shelby.Universal, Paramount, and Disney all mentioned the same name: Michelle Pfeiffer.

No matter what happens to Pfeiffer's Oscar career, she's the young female star most likely to captivate moviegoers right now.Many young viewers will collect her posters.

Other major studios that are suitable as distributors, MGM's production volume has been drastically reduced, and Columbia has been blacklisted by screenwriters, only [-]th Century Fox, and many of their recent investment film projects have not yet been released , How much money is left to invest in new projects is also a problem.

But this is Ronald’s idea. In fact, Columbia and Fox are very appreciative of Ronald’s project’s profitability and the response of film critics. At this moment when the screenwriter’s union is still going on strike, there is a well-formed script and a director’s investment guaranteed by the box office. , the willingness of these two studios to participate is no less than that of the others.

It happened that Ronald's good friend Cameron Crowe called his agent and said that he had something important to talk to.Ronald asked him what was going on, Crowe said it was inconvenient to say on the phone, and invited him to meet him when he returned to Los Angeles.

Ronald didn't know what was going on. During the strike period, Crowe secretly helped him change the script under pressure, which helped a lot. Ronald couldn't refuse, so he went back to have an interview with him.

However, when Ronald was leasing a business jet, he ran into trouble. All the business jets that could be rented in the past two days were fully booked.

I asked Douglas Jr. for help. It turned out that these two days happened to be the time for the primary election of the donkey party leader candidate in New York.Political organizations and action committee members across the country rushed to the most important fundraising place in the east to see the results of the competition.

Unlike the Elephant Party’s candidate primary election, which was basically decided on Super Tuesday last month, the current deputy leader, Old George, will be able to get tickets for next year’s general election as long as he completes the process.Donkey's Super Tuesday is a very competitive situation.

Olympia Dukakis was the cousin of hundreds of millions of voters at the Oscars party. Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts took advantage of the popularity of the new Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, and his popularity among candidates rose rapidly. quick.He won nine of the twenty state primaries on Super Tuesday.

But Dukakis is of Greek descent, with bushy eyebrows, a hooked nose, and a sinister face, which is really bad.

Tennessee's senator, Al Gore, was handsome by comparison and was popular among female voters.He won the primary elections in six states, especially Kentucky, Tennessee, and Oklahoma in the south, all of which only recognize this Dixie.

And Jesse Jackson, who was born as a black civil rights leader, continued to forge ahead with multiple scandals on his back. In Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana, states that are poor and have a high proportion of blacks, they have also won the support of five states.

In such an anxious battle situation, even the Colorado senator Gary Hart, who had a big scandal before and went out to sea with Miss Beauty Pageant Donna Rice, wanted to pay for the re-election after withdrawing from the election, and also sent someone to run for office Go to New York to find out.

The multi-party political team has rented out all the business jets in the market, and is now waiting for the results of the New York primary election at several airports in New York.

Ronald had no choice, and he didn't want to bother little George with trivial matters, so he booked a commercial flight ticket and returned to Los Angeles.

"Do you think Senator Joe of Delaware would be interested in voting for him when he came back for the primary?"

At the airport, Ronald, wearing sunglasses, was stopped by a group of volunteers in blue T-shirts, asking him to do a survey.

Looking at their display boards and the badges they wore, Ronald could tell that it was Senator Joe who withdrew from the primary election last year.Now seeing that Hart also wants to come back, he is also ready to move, so let the people who are running for the office come to New York first to find out the direction of the wind.

"Who?" Ronald asked.

"Joe, Mr. Senator from Delaware, he participated in the presidential primary election last year, but was forced to withdraw because of rumors fabricated by his opponent."

"Who?" Ronald asked again.The tone of sarcasm is obvious, in a small state like Delaware, who can remember who the senator is?

The volunteer backed away disgruntled.

A tall and thin woman next to him burst out laughing. She seemed to appreciate Ronald's humor and nodded to him.

"Ma'am, can I spare a moment of your time? You are right..." The volunteer went to harass her again.

"Is that the senator who copied the speech of the leader of the British Labor Party Neil Kinnock without changing it?" The woman's ability to mock was no less than that of Ronald.

"It was all rumors spread by the Dukakis camp. Our candidates, after each speech, noted the source of the original manuscript."

"So he plagiarizes every speech he makes?" The woman's ability to sarcasm remained undiminished.

"Puchi..." Now it was Ronald's turn to laugh out loud.

On the plane, Ronald found that he and the tall and thin woman were sitting in the front and back rows.After he put away the luggage, he helped her pack the luggage.

"Nora, Nora Ephron," the woman said, reaching out to shake Ronald's hand before thanking him for his gentlemanly demeanor.

"Ronald, Ronald Lee."

"You can't be the one..." Nora Ephron was surprised, looked at Ronald who took off his sunglasses, and recognized the well-known young director in Hollywood.She quickly switched seats with other passengers and sat next to Ronald.

"I have a new script here, are you interested in talking about it?"

After the plane took off, it changed to a level flight, and the noise became much quieter. When the stewardess began to distribute snacks, Nora Ephron poked Ronald and asked in a low voice.

"I'm also a member of the Screenwriters Guild, aren't you afraid that I'll report you?" Ronald deliberately joked.

"Ha, I didn't talk to you about the shooting project approval, just treat it as a chat between two artists. By the way,...Your name is Sally? I want a piece of bread, but don't put the strawberry jam on the plate In the middle, put it on the side, warm the butter, but don't open the package, and then have a bottle of Coke, sugar-free, not a new flavor, it's a sugar-free Diet Coke..."

Nora Ephron's food requirements are very detailed, and every detail is clearly explained to the flight attendant named Sally.

"Ok", the stewardess was almost fainted by these demands.

"Can you repeat that?"

"Um...you want our airline's special buns, strawberry jam on the edge of the plate, warm butter, keep it open...and a can of Diet Coke."

"Very good, um... Let's have another vegetable salad. Don't put the salad dressing in the vegetables, serve it separately. I'll make it myself, and the olive oil too..."

Ronald, who clearly saw the stewardess rolling his eyes and asking himself, quickly said, "I want Coke and a big meal."

"Do you usually order like this? It seems that you are very clear about what you need." Ronald watched the stewardess who was still mumbling about Nora Ephron's request go away, and asked the other party in a low voice.

"You don't know, the salads and breads on this airline are pretty good, but take it exactly my way, the way they mix their own sauces is such a waste of good food."

"What's the story of your script?" Ronald watched with relish as Nora Ephron prepared salad and bread in her own unique way, and ate a bit of the salad Nora gave him with great interest. .

I have to say that Nora Ephron does have a very high level of food. The salad she made is much better than the one in Ronald's set meal.

"Sally, please bring me some olive oil too. Thank you." Ronald followed the same pattern and asked the stewardess to mix it with olive oil. It tasted much more delicious.

"It's a love story, you know, is there a real friendship between a man and a woman, the kind that doesn't involve physical attraction to each other. It's an eternal topic." Nora Ephron said.

"Ah... your story is about this proposition?"

"Yeah, my protagonists are two men and women who met each other in college and then meet every few years. They are always in a state of friendship but not enough love. It's not that men have it. A lover means that the woman has a partner, and after more than ten years of separation and reunion, they still haven't come together in the end."

"It sounds like you believe in true friendship between men and women?" Ronald asked, frowning after hearing the general direction of the story.

"Why do you say that? This is your interpretation. In fact, I believe that there is no real friendship between young men and women. It must be accompanied by physical attraction."

"Then why don't you let the hero and heroine come together?" Ronald asked.

"Life is not like this. The hero and heroine finally get together and live happily together. I am an example... I will not talk about it. I think that since the two of them were not together at the beginning, it means that they are not attractive enough to each other. , but together in the end, it is obviously unrealistic and will destroy the character creation."

"Heh..." Ronald finished the bread, "Your script didn't sell, did you?"

"Indeed, I'm chatting with a few friends about the newly established production company, how do you know?" Nora Ephron was very strange.

"Hollywood audiences all like happy endings. They may not get together with the person they like in life, and they come to the movie theater to make up for their regrets on the screen."

"If you say that..." Nora Ephron thoughtfully, "But my friend, he is also a film director, he doesn't think so, he thinks that the two protagonists and heroines are missed on the street. very good."

"Well, I see your director friend, need to see old Hollywood movies, 'Sullivan's Travels (Sullivan's Travels)." Ronald laughed.

"Sullivan's travels, the debut of Veronica Lake, a Hollywood sex icon in the 40s?" Nora Ephron was quite familiar with film history, she nodded, "I will tell Rob... Hehe, this Let's see what he has to say."

Ronald smiled. It seems that Nora Ephron herself is in favor of a happy ending, and it's that director named Rob who messed up the direction.

"I said, are you interested in reading this script? I asked my agent to send it to you, and I'm looking for an investor now." Nora Ephron didn't want to let go of the opportunity.

"You can call my agent, don't mention the script on the phone, just say I asked you to call." Ronald took out a business card with the agent's phone number on it and handed it to Nora Ephron. There are many factions in the CAA, and Ronald doesn't want to give others a handle.

"Understood." Nora Ephron ordered another salad and handed it to Ronald after mixing it with the exclusive recipe.

"Well, this is really delicious." Ronald felt that it was worthwhile to change this secret recipe considering the conditions of production investment.Although this script doesn't sound like it could be a blockbuster, but now that the script is scarce, it's good to have a look.

……

In Los Angeles, Ronald and Cameron Crowe found a place to meet.In the Beverly Hills Hilton, drinks and food were prepared in an executive suite, waiting for the two to meet in privacy.

"I wrote a script, can you read it?" Cameron Crowe came straight to the point and took out a newly bound script.

"Of course", Ronald took it over and took a look. The copper nails on the binding had just been polished to prevent himself from turning the pages and cutting his hands while reading.

I saw two words written on the cover, "Say Anything (love to the depths)", followed by an ellipsis.

"To the depths of love?" Ronald looked at the very interesting title of the script, opened it and read it.

"Youth romance movie?" Ronald blurted out after finishing flipping through.

"Yes, I wanted to direct this movie, so I chose the subject matter I am most familiar with." Cameron Crowe's eyes were full of hope.

For such an old friend who silently helps, Ronald is not as hypocritical as he was for Nora Ephron.

"Now that the strike is still going on, I can ask Daydream to make an assessment. If it is good, we will sign a contract. If it is less than 600 million, I will invest by myself. If it exceeds, I will find a big publisher to cooperate with."

"Hahaha, thank you, Ronald."

Cameron Crowe couldn't be happier to have felt Ronald's kindness.Ronald actually agreed to an investment of at least 600 million yuan. For a screenwriter who has never directed a movie, this condition can be said to be very loose.

Ronald was actually very happy. Now that major film studios are facing a shortage of scripts, Crowe's script has at least a smooth structure, and the ending is also very sunny. The male and female protagonists came together despite all obstacles.Much better than the Nora Ephron one.

"Great, when do you think the strike will end and we can start working on this project?" Cameron Crowe finished laughing and said something.

"Hey……"

Ronald let out a long sigh, "I don't know either! No one in Hollywood or major TV stations knows. Have you heard? Almost all TV series this season will stop filming."

(End of this chapter)