Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 174 The Curse of the Oscars

"It's Martin Sheen's eldest son, Emilio Estevez, but he's all cut out at the end." A few hours later, at the dinner table at Walter Murkey's house , he answered Ronald's question.

   "Why do they have different last names?" Ronald took the coffee from Mrs. Walter Angie and took a sip. "Thanks, Mrs. Mersey."

   "Call me Angie, Ronald, Walter told me last time he came back from Los Angeles that finally someone understands his editing theory, and we've been talking about your coming for the past two days."

   "Thank you for the dinner, Angie. It was the best meal I've had in the West. I brought presents for the kids."

   "I'm glad you can get used to British food." Angie took the Polaroid camera, leg warmers, building blocks and other gifts suitable for boys and girls of different ages prepared by Ronald, and thanked Ronald for his thought.

  Angie is from Britain and married to California with Walter Murkey. She is a nurse and takes good care of the family. So she went back to take care of the four children, and Ronald stayed in the living room to continue chatting with Walter.

"Martin Sheen is Latino, and when he entered the industry, he didn't want to affect his acting career because of his ethnicity and belief, so he used an Anglo-Saxon surname - Sheen, but his eldest son Emilio did not want to inherit This stage name, using the original Latino name."

   "Then he has a lot of backbone?"

   "Martin told me when he dubbed his monologue for the film that he himself gave up his Latino surname because of pressure and has always felt uncomfortable, so he still appreciates his son's decision very much."

"That's it." Ronald, since the last time he learned about the racial quotas in the movie, understands the idea that minority actors don't want to be classified. Emilio seems very confident in his acting skills and is not afraid of Latinos. affect your own destiny.

"Since you won the Oscar, now the studios have put you in charge of editing and mixing? I think you've been busy these days." Ronald thought that Mersie has a lot of work orders now, I'm afraid there won't be more time to teach yourself.

   "On the contrary, I'm very busy, but it's all piecemeal work like mixing and recording. There's not a single sound design work that manages the entire film."

   "Why is that? Didn't the Oscars recognize your achievements? How come no one asked you to be responsible for the whole movie?"

   "This is the Oscar curse."

  …

"Jane, don't worry, all the studios' bids will be faxed directly to this office, we'll just wait here." Ovitz was in the CAA's president's office, trying to make Jane Fonda less so nervous.

"I have experience, Michael. After I got the best actress in 1971, I was cursed by the Oscar for 3 years, and the two films in a row only got 200,000 at the box office. Although the box office of Hua Guo Syndrome was OK this time. , but that's just a coincidence because of the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island, and I'm very worried about Golden Pond and the box office results of the next movie after that."

   "That's why I insist that all studios have only one bid, Jane. Don't make them think you're a premium star," Ovitz told Jane Fonda about his consideration.

   "The so-called Oscar curse, I personally think, is actually because after winning the Oscar, the market will give the winner an exorbitant price.

   Often only those laymen would pay this kind of price to hire a new actor and actress. And laymen do not understand production, and their judgment is flawed, which often leads to the continuous poor box office of the films that the award-winning actors will follow. "

"Think about the movies you threw away in those years, Jane. First, A Doll's House, and then everything directed by Godard, the hair countryman, is not a project that is favored by the major studios. So this time we have to make sure that the major production The studio is really optimistic that your performance in the movie can bring in the box office, and only invest in the project, not the kind of gambling behavior that only you are the selling point of the whole movie.

   I have absolutely no intention of lowering your salary, we just don’t need them to bid against each other to compress other production budgets, as long as they can respect your status as an actress and choose one of the highest prices quoted. "

   "So you estimate how much they can pay for the script, project, director, plus my participation?"

"It's hard to say. From what I've communicated with them, they are willing to pay you an unprecedented high price, but it's hard to say what the director is willing to pay for the script. In their eyes, only you have star status. The only bankable asset in the project.”

  The so-called Bankable is the high-quality assets recognized by the bank, the guarantee of box office sales, and the collateral that can be used for loans. The manager of the loan department of the bank has no concept of film shooting. Only when they agree to participate in the film project will they approve the filming financing loan.

There are many kinds of    packages, such as directors who have made consecutive blockbuster movies, leading male stars, or gold producers with a string of successful resumes. Jane Fonda is one of the few female stars who can rival male stars and are regarded by banks as a package.

   "It's starting", the secretary on the side pointed to the fax machine and said.

   "Squeak... squeak..." The fax machine began to ring with difficulty, and quotations were faxed from five major studios.

"You are a professional, Ovitz. We hope that no matter who it is, my IPC film industry has the right to participate in the investment, and we will reinvest Jane's salary into the film production, participate in the investment together, and enjoy a corresponding share of the total box office. divided."

   Jane Fonda's producer said next to him.

   After years of experience, Jane Fonda has long understood the various ways of playing in Hollywood. This time, I took the guarantee contract of guaranteeing income under drought and flood, and immediately backhandedly put it into the film to pursue greater interests.

   Of course, this is also an expression of her and the producer's confidence in Ronald's script and the director's level of control, otherwise, they can get paid and leave.

   "Fox 2.8 million, Orion 2.9 million, Warner Bros. 3 million..." Ron Mayer put away the faxes one by one and quoted the quotations of each company.

  Jane Fonda went back and whispered with the producer that the price was unsatisfactory.

   "Paramount 3.2 million..." The secretary didn't wait for the last few lines of fax to be sent, and hurriedly tore the page of the quotation from the fax machine and handed it to Ovitz.

   "What about Columbia's offer?" Ovitz was also a little anxious, don't make a problem in a pinch.

   "Squeak..." The fax machine began to spit out white paper again. There were so many faxes this time that the secretary cut off the long scroll of paper that was running down the ground. Then he stood in front of the fax machine, and once the fax spit out enough content, he brought it over to everyone to see.

   "These are all revisions to the script?" Jane Fonda took the fax from Ovitz, flipped it roughly, and exchanged glances with the producer.

   "Yes, Columbia President Mr. Price was the first script editor of CBS TV. His professional opinions are very valuable." Ron Mayer, one of the partners of CAA, added beside him.

   "The offer is here..." The secretary quickly handed the last fax to Ovitz, who motioned for her to give it to Jane Fonda directly.

"The total purchase cost of the project is 3.65 million, including Jane Fonda's 2 million PayorPlay guaranteed remuneration, and 350,000 for the script..." Jane and the producer quickly browsed, "Colombia will invest another 6.35 million in production costs, with a total production budget of 1,000- 12 million."

   "This 2 million is the quota for your IPC company, Jane." Ovitz pointed to the last line of handwritten numbers, there was a pen, and after the printed number 10 million, the words up to 12 million were added by hand.

   "We called Mr. Frank Price, President of Columbia." The command secretary Ovitz answered the phone.

   "I'll notify the losers." Ron Mayer took the initiative to notify the bad news.

  "Mr Price", Ovitz said hello first, "Congratulations on getting 'My Brother's Protector'

   "Hahaha...Congratulations to us all." Frank Price's laughter came from the loudspeaker, "Is Jane there? I set aside a $2 million investment quota for your IPC."

   "I see, Frank. Thank you for your generosity." Jane Fonda also decided to invest after consulting with the producer, "IPC will invest 2 million."

   "This will give Columbia more confidence. Listen, Michael, now that the project is ready to be officially signed, we are going to book it for the summer of '82, and if you have no objection, we can start the project publicity plan."

   "No problem, I got a strike waiver and I'm going to shoot 'Golden Pond' soon. After two months of shutdown, we can set the shooting schedule."

   "That's right, we can take advantage of this time to make some revisions and refinements to the script."

   "I've seen your comment, Frank, let Ronald make a good revision. What's your choice for the male lead?"

   "This is also the question I want to ask you, Jane. The interaction between the hero and heroine is what determines the success of this movie..."

   "Let Richard call Ronald and let him know that his script is sold, but keep quiet and wait for our promotion to kick in."

  Ovitz turned his head and whispered to the secretary while listening to the phone.

  …

   "So that's what the Oscar curse means. If you win, you won't get good projects." Ronald nodded.

"Yeah, Ronald. I tell you, if you care about how many good movies you make in your career and not your reputation, it's better not to get an Oscar, but to get an Oscar nomination." Walter Murkey said.

"why?"

"Oscar nominations have proved that you are the top in the industry, and employers will appreciate you. But the Oscars represent another meaning. Employers will always worry about whether your price is inflated and whether you are more temperamental. , Have you inflated yourself to the point of not listening to your boss?"

   "Is that so? But I don't think you have any signs of self-inflation?"

   "It doesn't matter what I said, sometimes things don't need to happen in reality, but what people think will happen to you, and perceptions will replace facts."

   "So what are your plans now?" Ronald couldn't help worrying about Walter Murkey.

"Usually it takes three years of bad luck to win an Oscar. But I'm going to spend those three years as a director, and I wrote a script about the adventures of an archaeologist in Egypt. I hope Warners now has the script. Brothers will let me be the director.

   Originally this script was written for the Diorama Company, but after Francis went through Apocalypse Now, he ran out of cash to make the movie, so he sold him to Warner Bros. It's been a few months since they bought it and they haven't contacted me, and I hope the script doesn't go to waste in Warners' script library. "

   "Why, didn't they buy it for filming?" Ronald wondered. Walter Murkey is not a rookie screenwriter like himself, but an industry veteran who has already won an Oscar for best sound effects, and studios usually buy it because of his strength.

“It’s not the 1970s anymore, when the producers believed in the director and the money was in place, they could shoot. Now the major studios are more cautious about shooting projects. The studios would hoard a lot of scripts, but they didn’t start shooting. many."

   After chatting for a while, Ronald left and returned to Motel6. The prices are cheap, it's fairly clean, and the service is good.

   "Mr. Li? Someone called you this afternoon and left you a message." Seeing Ronald, the front desk turned around and took a folded note and handed it to Ronald.

   (end of this chapter)