Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 170 The President of Columbia who read the script in person

"That's not an easy task," Katzenberg laughed. "It's relatively easy to make an Oscar-winning movie, a movie that sells well at the box office, but you have to make a classic movie. Movies that stand the test of time are not easy.”

   "Why? I don't quite understand, Mr. Katzenberg."

   "Anyway, there's still some time. If it's over now, my secretary will bother me with the list of calls to be returned." Katzenberg was so enthusiastic about the movie that he simply had a deeper chat with Ronald.

   "Do you know how many movies Hollywood produces in a year?"

   Ronald shook his head.

   "Nowadays, film production has shrunk significantly, but there are more than 300 films that can be screened in national theaters a year. Hollywood produces at least 10 times the number of films every year."

   "In the golden age of thirty years ago, when there was no television, this number would have doubled several times. But how many movies were released before 1950, and how many movies are still remembered today?"

  Ronald was lost in thought, and he had only watched nearly 100 old movies in Scorsese's classic film appreciation class, plus the TV Evening Theater recorded on videotape.

   And this is a classic film that has been screened for 30 years from the birth of the film to 1950, the sum of all the film production in the 50 years.

   It seems that it will be circulated for thirty years, and some people remember that this requirement is indeed very high. But I just want to direct a movie that will be remembered. Maybe I can work hard towards this goal, and with luck and a chance to dream of a movie, maybe I can achieve it?

   "Yes, Mr. Katzenberg, I know how difficult this is, but this is what I want to pursue in my life."

   "Well said, I like a young man like you." A middle-aged man opened the door and walked in.

   "Mr. Eisner." Katzenberg and Ovitz both stood up and said hello to the president of Paramount.

  Michael Eisner shook hands with Ovitz, then pulled him into his arms for a hug. "My new Jane Fonda movie is mine, how about it?"

   "As long as your bid is the highest, Jane Fonda demands a fair competition." Ovitz replied with a very professional smile.

   Ronald also stood up and looked at the most powerful person in Paramount.

  Eisner had sunken eye sockets and a square chin that looked a bit like Superman in the comics. He was wearing a yellow T-shirt with a lavender jacket over it. The lower body is dark gray trousers, and white leather shoes, and a white belt is tied around the stomach, which is very eye-catching. Only the hairline seems to be further back than Katzenberg.

  Eisner looks like he just came back from the golf course.

"You must be Ronald, the author of the script. I heard Jeffrey mention your name. Hollywood needs young people like you." Eisner actually knew Ronald's name and shook hands with him , an encouragement.

   "Michael, you and Jeffrey continue to discuss the details, I am waiting for good news."

  Eisner, like Caesar in a purple robe, came to the centurion's tent, chatted with each soldier, and then walked away.

   This style is completely different from the high-level Disney, which makes you have the illusion of dealing with friends.

   After chatting about the method and details of the bidding, Michael Ovitz took Ronald out of the gates of Paramount.

   "With the first bidder, the next negotiation is much easier."

   As expected by Ovitz, the negotiations became more and more smooth in the next few days. Every time you talk about one more studio willing to bid, the next one is less difficult to negotiate.

  In the film market, no one knows whether a project will make or lose, but since other people are optimistic about this project, the prospects must be good. If you can borrow the vision of a popular producer in the industry like Katzenberg to judge the box office prospects of the film, the subsequent studios agreed quickly.

   "So your script is sure to sell?" Pfeiffer still came to the hotel to accompany Ronald in the evening.

   "I don't know, if it can be sold, it is also due to Jane Fonda's credit." Ronald and Pfeiffer sat on both sides of the dining cart pushed by the waiter, eating the dinner delivered.

"Now I don't trust anyone's commitment. Mr. Owitz and I have met Paramount, Twentieth Century Fox, Orion, and Warner Bros. over the past two days. I'm in charge of selling the script for about half an hour. The speech, I hope to impress the producer."

   Ronald inserted a piece of pizza into his mouth and took a sip of soda.

"The answers I heard were: We'd love to invest in any project that Jane Fonda approves, we like the Vietnam War, we like the script very, very much... But for two days, I haven't heard from any studio executives. On the spot, I ordered to prepare for bidding competition to sign the contract."

   "I don't know very well, does it mean that I like it very, very much in Hollywood, which means I don't like it when New Yorkers say I don't like it? Very willing means you find someone else?"

   "Giggle..." Michelle Pfeiffer was amused by Ronald, "I don't know the producer's speaking style, but the agent Limato said that many stars speak like this."

   "So I'm not very confident that the contract can be finalized this time, and I have to meet Frank Price, the president of Colombia, tomorrow."

   "You'll make it, Ronald." Pfeiffer shook his hand and said.

   "How are you? Are you still getting used to the acting class?" Ronald backhanded Pfeiffer's hand and asked about her situation.

   "It's okay, but emotional memory often makes me collapse."

   Ronald's hands visibly shook when he heard this. Memories of the Actors Studio in New York came back to mind.

"What's the matter, Ronald?" Pfeiffer felt Ronald's nervousness. "Don't worry, I know some classmates who are more experienced than me. Peter told me that as long as I choose emotional memories that are suitable for play , like the crying scene. It's no big deal." Michelle Pfeiffer, in turn, let Ronald relax.

   "Really? What memory did you pick?" Ronald drank water again, suppressing his nervousness, "Would you like me to analyze it for you."

   "Hahaha, you're not an actor and you don't know, emotional memory will not work when you say it."

   "Okay... that's what you said." Ronald remembered the method of emotional memory, that emotion must belong only to the actor himself, in order to achieve the best effect.

   When you have time, ask Diane's father, Bert, he used to give acting training classes, maybe there is a better way.

   "By the way, who is Peter?" Ronald took another slice of pizza.

   "Hahaha...I thought you wouldn't ask. Peter is also an actor who often plays supporting roles in TV dramas. He is a classmate in my acting class." Michelle Pfeiffer laughed at Ronald jealous.

   "I won't be here tomorrow. There are many exercises in the afternoon acting class and physical training."

   "I'll miss you." Ronald reached out and wiped off a little tomato juice from Michelle's mouth, and the atmosphere in the room immediately became ambiguous.

   "Are you an actor to become famous, or to make money?" Ronald put his arms around Pfeiffer, and the two whispered on the bed. He remembered what Katzenberg said, it is easy to make money and become famous, but it is difficult to beat time and pass it on.

"I don't know, I just love acting. After I became the Miss Orange County pageant, I called the agents in the Yellow Pages and asked them how they could act in movies." Michelle leaned against Ronald. said on the shoulders.

"I was really naive at the time, but I was lucky, my first agent was good to me, but unfortunately I ran into those two liars. He was old and he didn't want to represent me anymore. I heard that Then he retired."

   "Why did you enter this industry?" Pfeiffer talked about his original intention to enter the entertainment industry, and in turn asked Ronald.

   "What about me? At first, it was to make money. Then I wanted to create something, preferably to leave some traces in Hollywood."

   "Hee hee..." Pfeiffer posted the initiative, she liked the temperature of Ronald's body, "By the way, who were your parents before? I never heard you talk about them."

   "They were just ordinary people who lived in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts," Ronald said. "Our family used to have a house, but after their car accident, I had no money to pay the mortgage, and was sued by the bank to the court for auction."

   "I never heard you say that, you must be sad."

   "I stayed in the hospital for a long time and suffered from aphasia. Some insurance money and the money left over to the bank after the house auction were used for medical expenses."

   "Poor Ronnie..." Pfeiffer hugged Ronald tighter.

   The next morning, Ronald reunited with Ovitz, and the two went to the last studio, Columbia Pictures, to sell "My Brother's Protector."

   Of all the studio executives Ronald has ever met, Frank Price is the least executive. He looks more like a senior accountant, or a high school math teacher. The forehead is large, but the suit is not very close-fitting. A red tie wrinkled the shirt.

   "Welcome, my friend Michael. You are welcome too, Ronald Jr." Frank Price hugged the two of them very warmly. This sale is more like a script chat between friends.

   Ronald did not expect that the president of Columbia would be so familiar with his script, and asked a lot of detailed questions. How did you come up with the name "My Brother's Protector", why set up a fool, why let the fool become the protector of all warriors?

   Ronald answered one by one.

   This made him feel that all the previous studio executives may not have read their scripts seriously. Compared with Price, Katzenberg is more like asking his subordinates to read the script and write a synopsis. And he himself only read the synopsis and the comments of his subordinates.

   "Where's your favorite director?" Price asked Ovitz.

   "The director of Hua Guo Syndrome, James Bridges," Ovitz replied, "He works well with Jane, and Jane means him."

"I know him, and he directed 'Urban Cowboy,' which Paramount just released. John Travolta, and Deborah Wenger, are notoriously difficult actors and actresses. Actor. I agree in principle."

   "Jane also wants Bruce Gilbert to be a producer..."

Frank Price scratched his head, "Ronald, can you give me and Mr. Ovitz a private conversation space." Then he pressed the button on the table and called in his secretary, "Please Take Mr. Li to the lounge for a while."

   Ronald followed the secretary to the lounge and drank the coffee the secretary brought. Knowing that Ovitz might have to discuss some key issues with Price, he can't help but worry. Frank Price is the most meticulously scripted of all, and perhaps the most likely to have paid for it.

   At the same time in the office, Frank Price was a little angry, "Michael, you have added more conditions, do you want Jane's IPC Films to participate in the investment?"

   "Bingo, Orion and Paramount all agreed."

   “But none of them could have a $3.5 million shooting budget.”

   "Yes, but they weren't bitten by that hyena either."

  Frank Price fell silent. Last year, Kirk Kerkorian, the Las Vegas tycoon who took control of MGM and then ruined it, has his eyes on Colombia again, and has aggressively increased his stake in Colombia in the capital market. nearly 25%.

   After that, the Ministry of Justice launched an antitrust investigation against Kerkorian. He controlled the two major producers of MGM and Columbia, as well as some theater chains, touching the antitrust red line.

   Kerkorian’s connections are very deep, and he actually turned the antitrust lawsuit into a verdict in his favor. He was not allowed to increase his stake in Columbia or any of the major Hollywood studios, but he was not forced to sell the 25 percent he already had.

   During this time, Kerkorian was even prepared to sue Columbia Pictures for the strange reason that he failed to do his best to create benefits for shareholders. This is a combined punch aimed at executives such as Price. It is intended to purge the original management, join other non-film industry shareholders to win the controlling stake, and then slowly hollow out Columbia like MGM.

   Having seen Kerkorian's approach to bringing MGM, most of Colombia's shareholders are very dissatisfied with the casino operator's troubles, but it is also a reality that Colombia lacks profitable star productions.

   Now Price needs this Jane Fonda movie more than anyone to get the support of all shareholders.

   "So what are your full conditions?"

   "3.85 million production budget, Jane Fonda starring took away 2 million guaranteed contract, James Bridges director, Bruce Gilbert producer plus IPC Pictures entered the game."

   "Let's talk about any other conditions."

   "If you declare a big investment to the outside world, I will help you stir up the heat in the media. How about starting with young screenwriters selling sky-high scripts?"

   "Do you have a complete publicity plan?"

"Yes, let the news slowly ferment and appear repeatedly in the media. It is better for Ronald, a young screenwriter, to fire the first shot. The 20-year-old screenwriter wrote the Vietnam War script, which attracted Oscar-winning actress Jane Fong Da's attention, in the end five Hollywood studios bid, and Columbia won..."

   "I love this media title."

   (end of this chapter)