Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 307 Roger Coleman Treats

  Universal's decision to release "Fast Pace" on the East Coast in an emergency was sent to the office of Ronald's agency CAA as soon as possible.

   "Where's Ronald?" Nisita asked Richard, and Universal couldn't find him, and told him the good news.

   "He told me that a friend invited him to dinner. During this time, I told him to go out and inform me that there may be good news."

   "Well done. We have to consider renting a long-term apartment for this client, a director who sold 20 to 30 million in his debut, can't live in a motel all the time."

Nisita explained to Richard, "You go to the hotel and wait for him to come back, and tell him the good news as soon as possible. Ned Tanin will talk to him tomorrow, and this old slicker now also needs Ronald's support. already."

   Ronald was invited to dinner by his former boss, Roger Coleman, and his wife, Julie. Ronald walked into this restaurant with distinctive decoration. It was opened by Greek immigrants and mainly focused on Greek dishes. It was just around Hollywood. The business was good at dinner and it was already full of people.

"I received a call from your new secretary, saying that when you invited me to dinner, you thought someone was playing a prank on me, Mr. Coleman." Ronald was brought to the table by the waiter, and when he saw the Coleman and his wife, Just kidding.

   "Hahaha." Julie Coleman was amused and laughed, Roger's stinginess has reached a certain level.

"You know what? Ronald. Roger was invited by Joe Dante to make a cameo in "Three Times", and he played the role of a man who was outside the phone booth, waiting for someone to finish the call and rushed in, digging out the extra ten The old man who pays back cents."

   "Hahaha", Roger Coleman did not feel offended by Dante asking him to make a cameo role, but found it very interesting. He liked the experience of this cameo very much.

   Ronald took his seat with the help of a waiter. Greek cuisine is known for its various olive oil and low-fat foods, and wine. The three slowly tasted the delicacies and began to chat.

   "Henry Fonda passed away two days ago." Coleman on the biggest recent news in the industry.

   "I asked Jane, his father left a will, not a funeral, and was cremated and buried in the church."

"Hey, I worked with his son, Peter, on a lot of exploitative films back then. Peter didn't like to work with big studios and insisted on making his own independent film, but his father's guest appearance in the last film he directed and produced failed at the box office. He doesn't shoot anymore, and the current movie market is really not very prosperous."

   "That's why Ronald's success is very rare, isn't it? Peter's movie still had Brooke Shields as the protagonist, and it didn't sell." Julie interjected, interrupting Coleman's nostalgia.

   "Yeah. Congrats, Ronald. You know what? Every director who came out to me, after they made their first successful independent film, I would treat them to dinner and congratulate them."

   "Thank you," Ronald gestured with a glass full of white wine.

   "Actually, I also have the same feeling as Peter. The interior of the big studio is too complicated, and my film was involved in high-level personnel, and it almost failed to be released."

   Ronald told Coleman what he knew.

   "I now want the second film not to cooperate with a major studio, but to produce it independently. At least in this way, I can stick to my own shooting ideas and not be influenced by office politics."

   "Then you may only be able to make films for small filmmakers like me. The film market is like this. Last year's annual box office tenth was less than 50 million US dollars. It's not that big studios dare not invest in big productions."

   "I don't mind, a small production of 300,000 to 500,000 dollars is totally fine, as long as it can be released to make money. I want to start writing the script after being busy during this time, and then I will have some savings and can invest some myself."

  Roger and Julie looked at each other, "Then we'll wait to see your script."

   I didn’t expect that there would be a windfall in inviting Ronald to dinner.

   Ronald's filming this time will definitely make a name for himself in the circle. As long as he takes out the script and shows his willingness to direct, someone will definitely be willing to distribute and invest. As long as you provide a shooting team and distribution channels, you can sit back and enjoy the success.

"Actually, I invited you to come this time, and I also hope that when you direct a movie in the future, you can invite Roger to make a cameo appearance. One of his hobbies now is acting. He has attended many movies of his disciples and friends in the past." Julie put down the glass , said to Ronald.

   "Really? Roger also likes acting?"

   "Of course, Coppola made me a cameo as a senator in his The Godfather Part II."

   "I'll remember." Ronald looked at Roger Coleman's appearance, and it really was very suitable for playing the role of a sanctimonious teacher, politician, boss and the like.

   "Now your 'fast-paced' movie is getting a lot of buzz, and my two older kids love it too."

   "Yes, I'm surprised too, I don't know what I'm doing wrong."

  Ronald This is the truth. The sudden popularity of the movie surprised many of the actors who participated in it, and suddenly became a celebrity.

  Fortunately, he is the director, he did not appear in the film, nor did he give interviews, and fans did not know him.

   "Several leading actors called me to thank them, and they seemed to suddenly become popular. When they went out, they would be surrounded by people and asked to sign.

   The funniest thing was Ray Walston who played the teacher, he called me and said he was very happy. Walking down the street now, someone finally stopped calling him Uncle Mars Martin, and now calls him Mr. Hand. "

   "There are also many film critics who are saying good things about you. You can ask your agent to collect it for you. It will be interesting to watch in the future." Julie added.

   "Speaking of film critics, what's up with that Roger Albert in Chicago? Why is he so upset with me?"

  Ronald remembered the syndicated nationally broadcast TV movie review show "Bald and Glasses"... No, "Sisko and Albert" was a little annoyed about his own evaluation.

On their weekly review show, the bald Sisko gave his "fast paced" two-and-a-half out of four stars, saying the film had some controversial plot points, but the main characters Sean Penn and Fei Bee Cates's performance is out of the norm, and as the director's first work, it is also worthy of encouragement. Half a star to recommend.

   But Spectacles Albert was critical of his own creation. I think the movie is too vulgar and not high in style. In the whole film, only Jennifer Jason Leigh's performance shows star potential and can only be given one star.

   "Don't worry about the critics' criticism, I never care about them." Roger advised him not to be angry.

"Albert's profession is parasitic on the film industry. Originally, film criticism was a way of film marketing. Now audiences are increasingly relying on weekly box office rankings and friend recommendations to select films. The film criticism industry is growing. Gradually lose his original influence."

"They are from Chicago. Sisko is the Chicago Tribune, a higher-level newspaper with a larger circulation, and most of the readers are white-collar workers. Albert is the Chicago Sun, the subway tabloid. The readers are not high-level, those are the Destroy the bottom conservative people in the disco movement."

  Roger knew some details, and he himself was constantly scolded by film critics.

   "These people have been dissatisfied with the Roe v. Wade decision and want to overturn the Supreme Court decision. So it's normal for him to be dissatisfied with the abortion plot in your movie."

Julie knows better, "The feminist groups in Los Angeles are very fond of your film, they think the heroine Stacey's actions are brave and smart, and they think she is the benchmark for female characters in related teen movies to deal with similar plots. "

"Yes, don't be intimidated by them. These people are film critics because they failed to make films. For example, Roger Ebert himself used to make exploitative films, or the kind of people who rely on exposing vulgar and vulgar tastes. Kind of." Roger Coleman abused Albert's old bottom.

   "Huh? Is that so? This is the jealousy of the losers over the winners?" Ronald thought to himself.

   "That's right, he used to be in the low-budget movie circle, and everyone who makes exploitative films in Hollywood knows him. In the early 1970s, he tried to return to Hollywood as a screenwriter.

   As a result, his 'Beyond the Valley of the Dolls' was rated X and suffered a major box office failure, so he had to go back to write a film review. "

   "I didn't expect these black histories." Ronald listened with relish.

"He also participated in the scriptwriting of several films later, all of which were X-rated films, which failed at the box office and film reviews. Maybe because of this, he has a bias against directors who shoot low-budget films. He only likes to tout the big studios. production."

   "Who is this?" Ronald lowered his head and ate a piece of roast lamb. The lamb in the Greek restaurant tastes very good. Drizzle some lemon juice and match it with white wine. After entering the mouth, it blends in the mouth. The taste is layered and delicious.

   Back at the hotel, Richard was already waiting for him at the front desk.

   "Why are you here? What's the matter?" Ronald saw that Richard seemed to have been waiting for a long time.

   "You're finally back, Universal asked you to discuss the 'fast-paced release in the Midlands and East Coast' tomorrow morning, and they'll be arranging several press conferences urgently, including Dallas, Chicago, and New York."

   "Oh, Yes!" Ronald got the good news of the surprise again, clenching his fists at the hotel front desk and shouting Yes several times! , attracted several guests to look over.

   "Let's find a high-end serviced apartment for you. You always live here, and it will be very troublesome if you can't find you if something happens."

   "Okay, you help me arrange it."

   The next morning, Ronald came to Universal's headquarters to discuss the emergency roadshow arrangement. The schedule is very tight, often only a dozen hours of stay in a city, after accepting a joint interview with the media in the hotel, they will fly to the next stop.

  Jennifer Jason Lee, Phoebe Cates, will walk through the process with him.

   "Ronald, good boy. I knew you would be successful, and it didn't waste the reshoot budget I gave you. In the end, Brooke Shields' cameo was very good."

  Ned Tanin came over to congratulate Ronald and asked someone from the marketing department to take a photo of himself and Ronald.

   "Please believe that Universal will fully support your movie marketing."

   "Thank you, Mr. Tanin." Ronald answered indifferently.

   "Fast-paced will be a big hit at the East Coast."

   "Thank you, and good luck!" Ronald stabbed back, returning the original words that Tanin said when he announced the reduction of the show.

News of   Tom Mount's resignation had spread, and Tanin's compromise on the key vote at the time proved to be a big mistake. He does need some luck.

   (end of this chapter)