Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 463 Stud

   In the evening, Ronald came to Weintraub's mansion in Beverly Hills. When entering the door, Weintraub happened to be on the phone in the upstairs study, and Ronald had a chat with his wife, the famous singer Jane Morgan.

   "I heard you borrowed her dance studio from Debbie?" Jane Morgan already had many wrinkles on her face, but she was very amiable when she spoke.

   "Ms. Debbie Reynolds? Yes, I borrowed her dance studio for rehearsal. I especially like her couch dance in 'Singing in the Rain'."

   "Oh, that's Debbie's debut, she couldn't dance before."

   "Then she is really talented. She danced so well for the first time in front of the camera. It's a pity that she doesn't act much in movies now."

   "It's also because she has a great teacher, Gene Kelly. Since her divorce from Eddie Fisher, her acting career has turned to television."

  Morgan is talking about a story of Debbie Reynolds, when she and Elizabeth Taylor were best friends. Taylor's husband died in a plane crash, Debbie sent her husband Eddie Fisher to comfort Taylor, and she was busy with Taylor's funeral.

   Unexpectedly, Eddie Fisher comforted Elizabeth Taylor to bed.

   "A terrible betrayal, isn't it?" Jane Morgan seemed to read Ronald's thoughts, "If I say Debbie shouldn't file for a divorce, don't let someone else take your husband away."

   "Dear, what divorce?" Weintraub came downstairs.

   "Let's talk about your old friend Debbie Reynolds." Jane Morgan and Ronald nodded and went to work.

   "Mr. Weintraub..."

   Ronald reports some progress to Weintraub. The actor's training and Kanjing went very smoothly.

   "Very well, everything is progressing according to the progress, do you have anything else you need him to solve? You can talk to Susan at any time, or call me."

   "I do have a question, and only you can help me," Ronald said, looking at Weintraub.

"what is the problem?"

   "Who is my spare tire? When are you going to decide who will be the director?" Ronald asked directly.

   Weintraub's mouth widened, but he didn't expect the news to be leaked out. He's also a big business guy, and he's back to normal quickly.

   Weintraub got up and took two glasses, "Whiskey?"

   "Without ice."

   "Okay," Weintraub poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Ronald. The two took a sip in silence.

"I did find a director to consult all aspects of the film's progress. He is only my advisor now, and I have no intention of letting him replace you immediately. It's just that I have no experience in producing before, so many things, I have to Find someone in the industry to ask."

   Weintraub was open and honest, admitting that he did find a director for a “consulting” job.

"I understand your difficulties, but I also hope you can understand me. What I'm doing now is the preparatory work for the film. If you can't give me a guarantee, people who will lose their jobs at any time can't be 100% committed. .

   Besides, this is my own screenwriter and the first medium-sized investment film I directed, and I dealt with 'Longwei Kid' with a 120% investment."

   Ronald looked at Weintraub and took a sip of wine.

"Even for this film project, if you change the director now or after shooting, it will cause a lot of confusion. I don't want my script to be shot with a lower quality because of this accident. So right now, me or him, you pick one. I don't want to go into filming with that kind of doubt."

  Ronald was like a gambler, facing Weintraub Stud (ShowHand). Either Ronald or the spare tire, with me without him, with him without me. Don't give Weintraub room to jump between the two, using the words of one to force the other.

   "Of course it's you, Ronald." Weintraub pondered for a second, then decisively chose Ronald.

Anyway, Ronald wrote an idea of ​​his own into a script from scratch, and recommended the very suitable Morita Noriyuki, and also did a decent karate training for the actors, and he had no reason for that spare tire. words, and give up Ronald's hard work.

   "Okay, congratulations again on our agreement," Ronald and Weintraub shook hands.

   He drank the rest of the whiskey in one gulp, "Jerry, to be honest, why are you worried about my directing ability, and you want to go to another 'consultation'?" Ronald wanted to know some of Weintraub's thoughts.

   "First of all, like I said, I'm not worried about you, you are always my first choice. I just don't understand movies, and I have to find an unbiased third-party opinion."

   "What about other than that? Do you have any other concerns?" Ronald knew that the first reason given by others was mostly false.

"I have no doubts about your ability to direct, but your first two films were all about action, plot, graphics, and pop songs. This film doesn't have those R-rated hot scenes, it's all about acting, and actors The interaction between them brings out the true feelings and touches the audience.”

  Ronald knew that this was the idea of ​​the so-called "consulting high-profile". Weintraub was bewitched by him, believing that he had no experience in such a movie that wins by acting.

   "Yes, this PG-ready film is different from my two previous films, but I have a way to fix it." Ronald stood up and added a little whiskey to himself and Weintraub.

   "I'm going to close the rehearsal two weeks before shooting. Let all the main actors rehearse all the scenes of the film from start to finish. And I can shoot it all with a Sony Betacam.

   In this way, every night, we can know where there is room for improvement in the performance, and pay attention to corrections when the official shooting. "

   Weintraub listened carefully.

"I have another way. If you are still worried about the actors' performances, we can shoot in sequence. In this way, all the scenes are shot in the rough script sequence, and the actors have full emotional and performance proportions for the parts that are about to be performed. It will be much better than shooting out of sequence.

  Just in this way, it is necessary to increase the time for shooting lighting and setting the scene, which is not good for the cost of shooting. I may have no experience in directing drama-based films, but I worked as his assistant in Coppola's crew throughout the entire process, and I was fully prepared for acting. "

   Ronald combined his experience of shooting the first two films and the experience he had learned on the Coppola crew to come up with a new plan.

   Sure enough, Weintraub was persuaded, "How much more would it cost to shoot sequentially?"

   "Most of the scenes are indoor scenes, and the scenes are concentrated in a limited number of five or six places, so the sequential shooting will not increase the cost a lot. I expect a maximum increase of ten percent."

   "Well, I still have fifty to one million reserves, just as you said."

   Weintraub raised his glass, "Cheers!" and they both drank it.

   Got Weintraub's promise, Ronald still felt a little uneasy. Weintraub wasn't a very impressionable person, and every time he met the high-ranking person, he had new ideas.

  Then that spare tire, needless to say, either has a relatively high reputation in the film circle, or has a relatively deep qualification.

  Ronald is not a person who sees a loophole and does not fix it. He also made several preparations for this threat. The first is to let Daryl Vidal and Morita Noriyuki, the partners most closely tied to their own interests, let them continue to pay attention to the troubles of the crew.

   Then there was Weintraub's key voice on the set, Susan Atkins. Ronald took her with him every time he did things, and respected her very much. He asked for advice on anything, and taught her a lot of knowledge in the industry.

   won Susan on his side, so that even if Weintraub moves again, he will have a good cushion.

   Soon it was the weekend, and Ronald went home from work to rest.

   "Ronnie, is that you? I'm at home." Donna was making sandwiches in the kitchen.

   She has just completed a college tour, and she still prefers East Coast schools to free-spirited West Coast universities. There is only Caltech's appetite for her, but the school has too few enrollments, and she may not be admitted if she applies.

   "Ronnie, are you free tomorrow?"

   "What?" Ronald was eating Donna's sandwiches, and he loved Aunt Karen's craftsmanship.

   "Tomorrow Diane Lane is going to Johnny Carson's Tonight Show, I promised her to be a live audience, can you come with me?"

   "Why? Don't you know how to drive?"

   "I've never been on TV, so I'm looking for an expert to hang out with. Besides, you're so busy, you should find some time to relax. Oops... why don't you come with me?" Donna stood behind Ronald and pinched his shoulders.

   "Okay, I'll go, just to meet Diane and old friends."

   That night, Ronald drove to the NBC studio in Burbank with Donna. Johnny Carson's talk show is prime time at night, and his studio is one of the best.

   Ronald accompanied Donna in to find a seat and sat down, and sneaked out by himself. David Letterman's Late Show, in a small shed next door, and he's getting ready too. This show will be played after the Tonight Show, and the guests invited by Letterman are obviously a grade lower than Carson's.

   "Hi, David." Ronald stepped forward to greet Letterman.

   "Hi, Ronnie." David Letterman was also very happy to see that it was Ronald. Last time Brooke Shields and Sean Penn appeared on the show to promote the show and set the ratings record of the evening show, and now no guest can break it.

   "When will you let me play a role in your movie?" Letterman and Ronald chatted and asked half-jokingly.

   "Welcome anytime, I'll always leave you a role." Ronald knew that the late show had a big boost to the box office of "Fast-Paced", and wanted to get a free publicity.

   Letterman laughed at himself, "It's a pity my agent won't let me do this, and I can't do that."

   "Or can I change the format and let my crew move the movie to your talk show?"

"what do you mean?"

   Ronald proposed to let the protagonist of his movie come up, and let Letterman reenact the scene in the movie in the studio, and let Letterman play the role and play opposite the actor.

   "I think this is a good idea, and I have to discuss it with my team." David Letterman thought about it seriously, and said that he would think about it carefully and contact Ronald when he had an idea.

   "Come on, it's about to start." Donna saw Ronald walk into Johnny Carson's studio again, and quickly pulled him to sit down. Carson's show is very difficult to get on, and a little girl like Diane Lane is only three minutes away. Donna is afraid that he will miss it.

   The live director gestured to silence everyone, and a theme music called "Johnny Carson" sounded.

  Johnny Carson, who was sitting in the host's seat above, said, "Let's welcome the next guest... Diane Ladd"

   "Huh?" Ronald glanced at Carson. Then I heard Donna whispering in his ear, "Did I have the wrong name?"

  Diane Lane came to the stage from the side wearing a strapless black dress.

   Ronald looked at the girl's walking posture and thought, "It's broken."

  Diane was called by the wrong name by Johnny Carson, Ladd was not Lane.

   Diane Ladd is the name of the mother of her best friend Laura Dern and an actress. Maybe Johnny Carson didn't do his homework, maybe he slipped his tongue and called out the name of an actor old enough to be Diane Lane's mother.

  Diane is obviously very nervous, and she looks like two people when she is free and easy when she performs on the set of "Rage Street". She walked up to the stage, kissed an older guest on the other side of the seat, and sat down on the sofa, across the table from Carson.

   "Diane, why did you kiss him instead of me?" Johnny Carson still started with the usual jokes. When female guests came to his talk show, he would inevitably make fun of him.

   Diane burst into a burst of embarrassed laughter, pulled the hem of her skirt nervously, and covered her mouth.

   "Broken", Donna also saw Diane's nervousness. She knew that her best friend would cover her mouth when she was nervous. After all, she was an 18-year-old girl who appeared on the top-rated talk show in the United States, and was called by Carson by the wrong name.

   "Uh, there's no reason", Diane thought about the words at the scene, "Maybe...hehe..." She was nervous again.

  Carson did not continue, but looked at Diane, waiting for her answer.

   "Maybe I find him more attractive." Diane finally thought.

   "Ah, you must think he's older and attractive like your grandfather. And between us, it's that sexual attraction. Huh?"

  Johnny Carson still didn't seem to realize that he had called the wrong name. He felt that Diane had lost face by saying this, and he immediately began to make up for it.

"Hehehe... Maybe it is." Di An obviously didn't know how to deal with this old hooligan. She burst into a burst of embarrassed laughter. She thought of the guests on the other side, and felt that it was inappropriate to say so, and turned around to say He apologized, "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean that."

   Ronald felt that Diane was about to collapse, and Carson was very unfriendly to her.

   "I see you have a ring, is it an engagement ring?"

   "No, this is my high school graduation ring."

   "I heard about the graduation ring you received in the crew? Then you didn't attend the graduation party? The male students will be disappointed."

   "I led the crew myself, they knew I was busy filming, and I completed the course by correspondence, so they sent it to me specially." Diane showed off his ring.

   "Your movie is called 'Betta Fish', can you tell me what's going on..." Carson brought the topic to the upcoming movie again.

   "Oh...that's a fighting fish."

"Fighting fish, fighting fish. Great explanation." Carson completely leads the rhythm before talking about "Rage Streets" and Diane's upcoming next film with Coppola... this is beforehand Well said regulations.

   Soon the three minutes were over, and Diane stepped down from the other side.

   Ronald and Donna immediately went up to comfort her.

   "I...I...he said my name wrong, I'm so nervous."

   Diane buried her head in Ronald's chest, while Donna held her hand to comfort her.

  Ronald touched Diane's hair, "It doesn't matter, the TV station will probably re-record it."

   "Can you re-record?" Diane looked up and looked at Ronald. This man always appears at the most critical time.

   "I don't know either, but I have a friend who can help you to ask." Ronald looked at Diane's makeup face, tears smearing her eyeliner a little. Now, in Ronald's eyes, Diane has become the little sister who wanted to protect herself at the Oscars.

  Carson disappeared after recording the show, Ronald had to take Diane to the next studio to find David Letterman for information.

"I'm sorry, Diane, Ronald. Normally Carson doesn't re-record. He probably re-records an introduction of himself to you, but he rarely re-records later shows." David Letterman, a former Carson writer, knows the former boss's character well.

   "Well, I was too nervous. I didn't know what to do on stage, my mind was blank, I just had an idea, let's end it quickly. Maybe I don't want to mispronounce the name, it will be better."

  Diane is very sad, and the opportunity to appear on the talk show that I finally got was wasted.

   "Diane, do you have time for my show? Although the ratings are not as high as Carson's, there are still a lot of viewers."

   "Huh? Is it okay?" Diane Lane's sad face disappeared immediately, and she laughed happily.

   (end of this chapter)