America 1982

Investigating this BT TV station that appeared out of nowhere is not difficult for Jamie Crosby, a veteran in the industry.

Moreover, this industry is basically transparent. As long as you are willing, the general situation of any TV station can be known.

It took him more than half an hour to flip through the survey information about BT TV to the last page. The last page showed that BT TV's latest activity was to cooperate with Marvel Animation Production Company, a subsidiary of New World Pictures, to prepare for the launch of A cartoon designed to appeal to a black teenage male audience.

Information shows that this cartoon is adapted from a Marvel Comics comic "Black Panther: Jungle Run" that had very poor sales in the 1970s.

In addition to this cartoon, the information also shows that this TV station has a large number of TV programs that have been produced or are in advanced stages, including "Nigger Boss", which is similar to the black version of the Godfather, and a film about the desperate risks of black single mothers in order to raise their children. The entrepreneurial crime comedy "Single Mom" ​​is trying to win the away broadcast rights of the Los Angeles Rams football team, as well as a series of variety reality shows similar to FOX's style, but with lower ethical standards.

Looking at the list of BT TV's self-produced variety shows, Jamie Crosby, who has been working in the television industry for many years, couldn't help but exclaimed "Wow".

"Daddy America" ​​is a family-hunting show that helps black single mothers who want to find a stable meal ticket to find husbands who have disappeared after she was on the show.

"Almighty Gun Modifier" is a popular science program that teaches you how to live a frugal life. For example, from the perspective of saving money, buy the cheapest gun, and then use various modification methods to make it more powerful and more powerful. Practical and more effective.

"Mothers of My Children" is an emotional reality show that mainly tells the luxurious life of a rich man and his many wives or mistresses.

"The Most Powerful Pregnancy Makeup King" is a reality show that claims to focus on pregnant women. The women participating in the show are all single pregnant women. They will use the help of the show team to cover up their pregnant bellies and chat with Kaizi. Make a date, trick the other person into going to bed and register for marriage, and successfully help the baby in your belly find a long-term meal ticket for you, you can get a bonus of up to 100,000 yuan from the show.

Big Brother is Watching, a show that satisfies voyeuristic desires and allows viewers to play god to those who participate in it.

In "Who Wants to Marry a Rich Man", fifteen gold-worshiping women compete for a diamond king. They can use any means except not to hurt them by force. In short, the purpose is to destroy the image of other women in the minds of men and make them He had the last laugh, put on the wedding dress and handed it to the other party.

In "Wife Swap Game", two families exchange hostesses with each other. The two women have to be in a completely strange family, being called mom by a child they have never met before, and called darling by a man they have never met before. And start a new life as a family with these unfamiliar faces.

In Jamie Crosby's view, these programs are obviously designed to attract lower-class black audiences, and the purpose is roughly the same as FOX. Now the three major TV networks in the United States are laying out cable TV, treating paid subscriptions as a new trend, and increasingly The more exciting programs are put on paid channels, allowing viewers to pay to watch them.

But in fact, a large number of lower-class groups such as blacks and Latinos still watch free TV networks because they find it unacceptable to pay for a subscription to watch TV.

Before FOX started broadcasting, it conducted a large-scale survey, and the data obtained was that the number of black people watching free TV was 44% more than that of non-black groups, and most of them were black people at the bottom.

This is also the reason why FOX continues to launch programs such as "America's Most Wanted" and "Temptation" that are more powerful than the free programs of the three major TV stations. If it were not backed by the Republican Party and had just relied on the Republican Party to overcome some obstacles to entering the television industry, It is not convenient to go against the ruling party. FOX has long criticized the various racial abuses of the Republican government to attract and show favor to more black people.

"Tommy Hawke, Tommy Hawke..." Jamie looked at the name of Tommy, the boss behind BT TV station, and fell into deep thought.

A young man who graduated from Stanford with a major in computer science and became famous in the software industry, instead of joining a rising industry, came to start a business in the already bloody TV industry.

And there are so many self-made programs in stock before they even start broadcasting?

You know, even large TV networks will not take such high risks. They will choose to contact six to eight advertisers after establishing the project to determine which advertisers are willing to pay to help them bear the cost. They do not need to spend their own money. After receiving the money, we officially entered the production process.

"Who is this guy?"

Moreover, apart from self-produced programs, this information shows that there is nothing known about BT TV's TV network. It only says that BT TV has no record of holding the backbone of any independent TV station's TV network.

When Jamie saw this, he specifically asked the secretary if he had written it wrong. How could such a big deal miss such an important issue? If a TV network wants to gain a foothold, it must have its own TV station.

For example, FOX directly purchased six TV stations as flagship TV stations with the help of other partner TV stations. This allowed viewers in most parts of the United States to watch FOX's programs.

If you just fill your own TV network with partner TV stations...

"I think as a young talent, this Tommy Hawke is unlikely to be a fool, because it is equivalent to a bunch of leeches lying on him and sucking blood like crazy."

…

When someone speculates behind his back whether he is a fool, Tommy is being called to see him.

It was a young black director, Spike Lee, who we had a close relationship with.

Youth is only for other directors. In fact, Spike Lee is five years older than Tommy.

However, in front of the money, Spike Lee could only bow his head and silently accept the words of Tommy, a potential investor who was younger than him, praising him for being young and promising. Although he understood that the other party had no ill intentions, Spike Lee always felt that he was young and promising. This compliment, coming from Tommy's mouth, was full of irony.

Tommy Hawke, who is younger than himself, lives in a mansion in the North District of Beverly Hills and is worth hundreds of millions. However, he, who is five years older than him and praised by him as young and promising, has spent a mere three million dollars on a new movie. Budget, come to your door for help.

In fact, Tommy's praise of Spike Lee did not have any ironic meaning. In his opinion, this young black director is actually considered to be young and promising. As early as the age of 22, he had just graduated from college and started his own business. His own film company has a weird name, called Forty Acres and a Mule.

The so-called forty acres of land and a mule is a military order during the American Civil War. William Sherman, the commander-in-chief of the Army of the Northern United States, said that for those black slaves who escaped to the north to gain freedom, if they were willing to join the army and fight, then their families Forty acres of land can be obtained, and those who are disabled and lose their labor force on the battlefield can also get an additional retired mule for their families to cultivate the land.

Spike Lee used this company name to remind himself that he should never forget the experiences of black people on the road to movies.

With a company name like this, it’s crazy that he can get investment in Hollywood, where white people gather. Most of the time, he even shoots promotional advertisements for various brands to maintain the livelihood of his company and ensure that the company will not close down.

In fact, his first movie, "Guaranteed Victory", which was released in June 1986, was very impressive at the box office, as high as 7 million.

For major Hollywood productions, this box office figure is equivalent to a bad movie, but what you need to know is that the total cost of this movie is only 175,000 yuan, and Spike Lee spent several years shooting commercials to save up. budget, and then shot the film in twelve days.

This black heroine uses the slogan "I have tools growing on my body, and I decide who I want to sleep with." It promotes feminism throughout the whole story. Feminist movies rely on political correctness, bold stories and beautiful compositions. , has received a lot of praise. All film critics who have watched the film feel that Spike Lee will definitely become a well-known film director in the future and gain a place in Hollywood.

In reality, major Hollywood film companies, after seeing the exaggerated revenue-to-expenditure ratio at the box office of "Sure Winner", rushed to spend real money and actively sought cooperation from Spike Lee.

The black boy wearing glasses was flattered, and then he seriously introduced the ideas for his carefully prepared second movie to the producers of the Hollywood film company who came to visit.

After hearing this, the film companies never contacted him again.

It's not that the movie budget figures scare them away. In fact, the budget of the new movie is not high, only 6 million, which is considered a small production in Hollywood. What's more, with Spike and Lee Joo-ok in front, the film companies are very willing to make big bets with small profits. Once, the other party could win a box office of 7 million with a cost of 170,000. If the cost was increased to 6 million, wouldn't there be a chance that the box office would exceed at least 50 million?

What really scared away the film company was the script that Tommy had in hand at this time.

The name is "Do What You Want", and there is a line of small words at the back: Inspired by the racially motivated murders in Howard Beach, created in memory of my dead black brother, Michael Griffini.

Tommy was no stranger to the Howard Beach incident, a vicious incident that occurred in 1986.

Late at night, four young black men living in Brooklyn said they were going to drive to Queens to settle their paychecks, but their car broke down on the road.

The young man who was driving stayed behind, and the three companions, led by the deceased, went to the Howard Beach community to find a public phone and wanted to call a towing company to help tow the vehicle.

It's just that Howard Beach is a white community. From the moment they entered the white people's territory, the three black people have been humiliated by white drunkards, prostitutes and other people wandering the streets, telling them to get out of their own territory. They searched for a phone but failed. In front of a pizza shop, I met a group of white young men holding baseball bats and car wrenches in their hands, and grinning at them.

The two companions were knocked to the ground and their lives were unknown. Michael, the deceased, was badly bruised, but he struggled to escape. However, when being chased by white youths, he panicked and rushed onto a main road, where he was hit by a speeding car and died on the spot.

After the incident, the black people said that they just dropped anchor and called the white community. The white people said that no one went to collect wages late at night, and knives were found on the black people. These four black people were simply planning to come to Howard Beach to rob the white people.

This is the whole incident. It sounds like a small matter like the death of a black man. If those white people were replaced by black people, there would be absolutely no ripples at all.

The most sensational point is that a group of white people killed a black man.

Subsequently, a black march broke out in New York, and countless black civil rights activists popped up like mushrooms after the rain. They traveled thousands of miles to demonstrate at the scene of the incident, hoping to increase their influence and get the white murderers to be sentenced to death.

White people were not to be outdone. Many white people rushed to New York from all over the country to support the murderers. They held slogans such as "Niggas go home," "White supremacy," and "Return slavery to the United States" to confront the demonstrators.

Several conflicts broke out between the two sides.

There were even exchanges of fire between white gangs and black gangs in New York after the incident, and several lives were lost on both sides. However, the police investigation indicated that it had nothing to do with the case, and tried to downplay the racial conflict and did not allow the incident to continue to revolve around racial discrimination.

The reason why Tommy knew about the news that happened in New York was not because he cared about black people, but also because his father Colin mentioned it on the phone.

Dad once mentioned on the phone that Wilson, his favorite outstanding employee, went to New York to participate in demonstrations, and Tommy only learned about it.

Mr. Wilson had a relative who owned a local convenience store. The relative frantically called his relatives and friends from all over the country, inviting them to go to New York to express support, calling on white people to be innocent and killing black people as just self-defense.

As a model of Rhode Island's lower-class white people, Mr. Wilson would naturally not refuse such a thing. What kind of world is this? Is it illegal to kill a nigger? Back then, my ancestors killed niggas in Rhode Island until they were almost extinct, comparable to endangered animals, and they never served a day in jail.

Although Dad and other workers had no plans to go to New York, they all agreed with Wilson's views, so they decided to take the initiative to bear Wilson's travel expenses to express their support for white New Yorkers.

This matter has not yet reached its conclusion, but currently, among the white murderers, some have had their ages changed and were acquitted as minors, some have been diagnosed with mental illness, and even the prosecution was dismissed because witnesses refused to cooperate. The court rejected it.

The families of the black victims are still struggling to appeal.

Nowadays, both the federal government and the New York government are frantically trying to downplay the impact of this incident, but the black director in front of him wants to make it into a movie. No wonder those film companies have backed down.

If the government won't cause trouble for a black director, won't it also cause trouble for those film companies?

"Mr. Hawke, I know about your past. You have been promoting female employment and equal rights in science and technology. Even now, you are still paying attention to the black community and want to provide them with favorite programs. You even helped Vanessa Williams. Miss Si, you are a true friend, I mean it." Spike Lee saw Tommy finish turning over the script and was speechless for a long time. He thought that Tommy had the same concerns as those film companies, so he said in a comforting tone:

"It doesn't matter if you reject me. I can understand your difficulty, because we all know that many people hope that this tragedy and the deceased will be completely forgotten."

He and Tommy had met once before. BT TV wanted to invite him to help direct the pilot episode of "Nigger Boss". The two parties even sat down together to discuss the script and characters. It was just because he wanted to make a movie more, so Turned down cooperation opportunities.

However, although the cooperation was not successful, Tommy left a deep impression on him. He was an approachable white young man, and from Vanessa's mouth, Spike Lee knew that it was Tommy who gave her another chance.

"Why would I reject you? Spike? I'm just still thinking about this story." Tommy came back to his senses and looked at the director in front of him:

"You know? I have talked to people before about my original intention of joining the television industry, which is to let the American people see the truth and not let the truth be buried in countless lies."

After he finished speaking, he handed the script back to Spike Lee with both hands.

Spike Lee said with some excitement: "Sir, the income from my previous movie, plus the investment from some small investors, is currently only 3.1 million, which is still less than the total budget of the movie of 6 million..."

"What is a budget?" Tommy took out a cigar from the mahogany cigar box on the table and handed it to Spike: "I don't understand movies, and I don't ask for anything in return. I only have two small requests."

"Of course, sir." Spike took the cigar excitedly and stared at Tommy in disbelief.

"First, my TV station wants the rights to broadcast it. Second, make it real enough to show the American people what happened to black people on that day." Tommy said with a serious face:

"We cannot allow the American people to continue to live a lie. They have the right to know the truth."

Sorry, I broke my promise. I originally said there would be no interruption of updates this month...

There is something going on at home. Last month it was my son and this month it is my daughter. Because she was busy taking care of her son last month and neglected to discipline her, her grades plummeted and she was suspended from school. Her mother was so angry that she took Suxiao Jiuxin Pills and made me My blood pressure reached 179, and I was still taking antihypertensive drugs... Really, why is there such a stage in life as middle age...

Will continue to update tomorrow...