Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 365 I'm Not But Christmas

   "They love Christmas commercials and hope you continue to shoot their new creations for next year."

  JWT's creative director, Darcy Maguire, was very happy after seeing Ronald's Christmas ad. This fragment of Christmas family atmosphere is very suitable for her taste.

   It just so happened that Burger King also felt that the Christmas commercials were well done, and Maguire agreed with them on the advertising creative for the next year. It is better to use raw than cooked, and found Ronald again.

   "Are you still a comparison ad?" Ronald took the material.

"Burger King wants a more radical new idea, this time I want to change the way of cooperation and outsource the production part to you. As long as you make an advertisement that makes Burger King happy, no matter the specific details, it will be handled by your company. We only produce A total price."

   Wouldn’t that be enough to round up a $1.3 million movie production budget? Ronald was delighted and hurriedly opened the material and began to look.

   "McDonald's burgers have 20 percent less beef than Burger King", Ronald read the ad, "Is this true?"

   "McDonald's fried beef patties seem to shrink in size. The beef patties in several McDonald's franchisees we sampled are indeed more than 20% smaller in volume."

  ‘That means it looks small, not the weight? "Ronald murmured a little, will this be a problem?

   "Let that little girl named Sarah be photographed?"

   "Yes, after our test, the audience liked her the most among the actors who appeared in the Christmas ad. So for this new ad, we plan to let Sarah Michelle Gellar shoot first."

   "Is this... this kind of advertising OK? Will it violate the regulations of the Federal Trade Commission (FTC)?" Ronald knew a little bit of the FTC regulations, so it seems that few people do this directly attacking the advertising ideas of competitors. "

   "It doesn't matter, Burger King has a strong team of lawyers, and there is no problem with broadcasting. This does not violate FTC regulations. McDonald's can only sue for an injunction, but according to the assessment of Burger King's lawyer team, it is not enough to make Burger King's advertisements not broadcast."

   "Burger King is fine, I'm afraid I have a problem." Ronald thought to himself.

   "I'll have to talk to Eddie, you know I'm working on my new movie, and I have a lot of things to be sure before Christmas." Ronald began to shirk.

   "Okay, you discuss it first, and give me a reply as soon as possible."

"no problem."

  Returning to Ronald, he contacted personal lawyer Lindsay Dole.

   "Ronald, your caution is justified. That Maguire is right, courts generally won't uphold McDonald's strong relief to ban Burger King ads because they're not strictly speaking lies.

   However, McDonald's can sue you. While you have freedom of speech under the First Amendment, that doesn't include explicit defamation, and they can indeed sue you to deter others who want to.

   This kind of thing happens from time to time in other industries, but no one has yet challenged a giant like McDonald's.

  Although you won't have a lot of trouble if you respond properly, but that's McDonald's, and their team of lawyers can make your next year quite troublesome.

  Although you have a case to fight, I may earn a little more money, but I would like to see the movie you made, and I don’t want you to waste time responding to the lawsuit.

   I will give you a non-court consulting business and review the contract, which is more in line with my taste. Hahaha. "

   "Thank you, Lindsay, I'm very grateful. I'll raise my retainer next year, and I can avoid a lot of potential trouble with you."

   "And I will improve my service quality. Our business is good this year. I have the money to call a few good legal assistants."

   Next, after discussing with his agent Eddie, Ronald declined Maguire's invitation on the grounds that he wanted to concentrate on the film project.

  Although Eddie lost a lot of income in this way, Ronald promised him that in the future non-film business, he would change to a cooperation model and let Eddie become the project producer and be responsible for various details. When there is another outsourced project, they will share the money according to the proportion, so that Eddie will not suffer too much.

   "Thanks, Eddie. Merry Christmas to you."

   "Merry Christmas, Ronald. I'm Jewish, but for Christmas, you can wish me a Merry Hanukkah."

   "Sorry, I keep forgetting you're Jewish. Happy Hanukkah."

  The Jews in America, except for a small number of liberals who were fully integrated into secular life, mostly maintained their Jewish beliefs. The Jews, on the other hand, did not recognize the position of **** as God, but only considered him a prophet.

   So they didn't celebrate Christmas, Easter, and a series of traditional Christian festivals. Their Hanukkah, which coincides with the date of Christmas, is a holiday to celebrate the Jewish uprising against the Roman Empire and the restoration of Jerusalem.

With just over a week to go before Christmas, Ronald decided not to go back to Los Angeles, where he signed all the documents for the establishment of the film studio, and reviewed all parties' investments with accountant Lawrence Wang and personal attorney Lindsay Dole. Agreements, complex contract terms, require two people to work together to ensure correctness.

   Ronald also spent a lot of time with Aunt Karen and Donna during this time. During the busy time in Los Angeles, I sometimes didn't call my aunt. This time I finally got time to get together, and Ronald felt very good.

   In addition, I rejected Burger King’s advertisements, so there is still a gap in funding. You can also consider contacting acquaintances in New York to see if anyone is willing to invest in yourself.

   "Ronnie, I have something to ask you." After dinner at her aunt's house that night, Aunt Karen called Ronald to her bedroom.

   "I heard Donna say she heard you call your broker to discuss financing?"

   "Oh, yes, I'm looking for investors for my next movie." Ronald pretended to be relaxed while drinking the black tea brewed by his aunt.

"Why don't you tell me? The leg warmers are doing well, and sales are increasing rapidly this year. If you need them, you can use them in your movie first." .

Ronald quickly pressed his aunt, "No no, you and Donna may be mistaken. Film financing is a professional job, and no director will use his own money to make a film. This is the rule of the industry, even if The director is willing, and the producer is not necessarily willing.”

   "Although I still want you to go back to college to finish your studies, Ronnie helped set up the leg warmer business. Since you want to fulfill your dream, why can't your family invest?" Aunt Karen insisted.

"It's not like that, movie investment has its own specificity. It's not something you can invest with money. First of all, the movie needs to be released in theaters, and the distributors - like the wholesalers of the leg warmer business, they buy the distribution of the movie. The right to contact all cinemas to determine the schedule.

   If they don't have the right income, they won't invest in my film. I was lucky that the former owner, Mr Roger Coleman, admired me so much that he had invested half a million.

  Then the movie was going to be sold overseas, and the owner of another distributor also invested a lot of money.

  If I don’t give them a share of the investment, they won’t get the excess profits brought by the movie’s big sales, and they won’t be willing to release my movie. It's a low-budget movie, and even if you want to invest, you don't have a share. "

   "Is that so?" Aunt Karen didn't understand movies, and was persuaded by Ronald in a few words, "Well, if you need it again, remember to tell me. We all support your dreams."

   "I know, thank you, Auntie." Ronald hugged Aunt Karen tightly. Movie investment is very risky. Aunt and Donna finally have a normal life, so don't let them take risks.

   "Ronnie, I finally spent Christmas in New York this time, please call your girlfriend Helen."

   "Uh, I heard her say that she is going to live with her parents' restructured family for a while, and spend some time with them. She is going to Britain soon."

   "What's the matter, I haven't seen her for a long time. She is going to film in Britain soon. Donna and I also want to see him. I heard that she will be going for a long time this time."

   "Yes, I'm going to go to London for fitness for four months right after Christmas, and then it's a long filming cycle. I heard her say that like Superman, this kind of stunt movie is very slow."

   "Call her." Aunt Karen picked up the phone and handed it to Ronald.

   "Okay, I'll ask her and let her come. The cape helped her a lot last time, and Helen kept saying thank you."

   "Haha, that's not worth mentioning."

   Ronald answered Helen's phone, "Helen, I'm Ronald. Are you free before Christmas? Aunt Karen invited you over to the house."

   "Hahaha, of course I'm free." Helen smiled. Recently, she took turns living in the new families of her divorced parents, and it was rare to enjoy the warmth of the family.

   "Come and pick me up at my mother's house, I'm on Long Island..."

  …

   "Take care of Helen and send her back tomorrow", Helen's mother, Alice Jean, looked at Ronald and Helen with satisfaction.

  My daughter is holding her boyfriend, her eyes are full of sweetness.

  Alice Jean looked satisfied. She thinks Ronald is good, he is a gentleman, and he does not have the casual attitude of men towards women in the entertainment industry. It's just that the two of them are very busy with their work, and they can't be together all the time.

"Aunt Karen has made a lot of dishes for you, and she has baked cookies. Now she is busy with the factory and hasn't baked cookies for a long time. I can only eat it because you want to come." Ronald said at The car was talking trivial things to Helen.

   "Ronnie, I'm going to London soon, will you miss me?" Helen asked softly, sitting in the co-pilot.

   "Of course, I'll call you. My film project will start shooting at the end of next month. It's a low-budget film. When I'm done, I'll go to London to visit."

   Ronald smiled and shook Helen's hand.

   "By the way, what Christmas present did you receive this year? I didn't see a Christmas tree at Alice Jean's just now. Did you Long Islanders cut it yourself? Or do you go to the Christmas market in the suburbs to buy it?"

"Hahaha... Ronnie, you don't know me at all." Helen Slater stopped at the red light and gently touched Ronald's face, "We've been dating for a long time, you don't even know me family situation.”

"Huh? Your father, Gerald, works for PBS, your mother is an environmental lawyer and anti-nuclear, and you have a brother, David, who lives with your mother's new family. Your father has a new wife and children. But they all love you. Am I right?"

   Ronald looked at Helen, wondering why Helen would suddenly say that she did not understand her.

   "Idiot, I'm Jewish, but Christmas."

   "Huh?" Ronald was surprised, "I really don't know that, are you Jewish? Isn't your surname Slater a Jewish surname?"

   Ronald thought, not kidding? If Helen's last name was Srelberg or something, it might still be possible.

   Besides, Ronald looked at Helen's beautiful silhouette. His nose was medium in size, very straight, and there was no turning like a hump in the middle of the nose bone. How could he be a Jew?

   "Yes, my grandfather was of Polish descent, and my maternal grandfather was of Russian descent, both of whom were of Jewish descent. But after immigrating to New York, my family was mixed with Chinese, German, and other blood.

  Because Jews were discriminated against, my grandfather and grandfather changed their surnames to Anglo-Saxon Slater, and Tiger. "

   "Oh, I didn't see it." Ronald kissed Helen gently, "Sorry, I really didn't think about it there, I thought..."

   "Actually my parents are both liberal Jews and don't go to the synagogue very much, but it's still Christmas, haha..."

   "DiDi..." A green light turned to the front, Ronald started to shift and started to move forward.

   "By the way, Ronnie, what's your ethnicity?" Helen asked.

   "Me? I don't know. I have to ask Aunt Karen. My parents died early, and they didn't tell me about it... um, maybe they did, I was too young to forget."

   Ronald changed the subject and drove Helen to his aunt's house.

   (end of this chapter)