Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 518 New York, Sweet Home

   "Motor, motor, MJ has already commented on the originality of the spacewalk, what do you have to respond to?"

   After spending a day in Chicago, the crew rushed to New York non-stop to continue the trip.

  Nisita sent colleagues from the New York office to intercept Ronald and his party at the airport and told them that Michael Jackson had been interviewed to "clarify" the original question about the moonwalking spacewalk.

"There is no doubt that MJ said that he was the original creator of the moonwalking spacewalk. When polishing the dance steps, he asked two 'children' to give him some reference." CAA colleagues, MJ said in an interview The original words were repeated to the bougainvillea prawns.

   "That's what he said?" The bougainvillea prawn was very upset. It was one thing not to give a signature, and it was another thing to belittle his contribution in such an understatement.

   "You will definitely be asked this question when you go out. This is the answer that Ronald entrusted us to prepare for you." He handed a piece of paper to the bougainvillea prawn.

   The "child" Boogaloo Prawn, who was not even mentioned by MJ's name, was so angry that he almost forgot what the standard answer said when he came out for an interview.

   "MJ is the pride of black people", Ronald came up and put his arms around his shoulders, reminding in a low voice.

   "Uh...MJ is the pride of our black people. He is a great singer and dancer, and he has also made extraordinary contributions to breaking dance into mainstream culture. It is my honor to be compared with him."

   After stuttering to memorize the lines, the bougainvillea prawn separated the reporter with one hand, put his luggage on his shoulders, and walked out.

   "Ronald, what do you think of the new film 'Sixteen Candles' of the same period?" The reporter poked the microphone at Ronald again. Now your movie has fewer theaters than him, but the box office is better than his. John Hughes said he liked your movies, what do you think of his? "

   "Really? What did he say?" Ronald pretended to be stupid.

"Hughes said that you helped him a lot in the pre-production phase of the film and helped him gain trust with the producers. It was a major boost for his first film. He also said that although the box office is not as good as your film now. , but he's bullish on 'Sixteen Candles' long-term box office. What do you think of his films?"

  Now the film critics seem to be comparing Ronald to John Hughes. Both their debut films are youth films about high school men and women, and both of them are screenwriters, and Hollywood is optimistic about the future of both of them.

   "John Hughes is my friend and I took the time to watch his movies and I think I liked 'Sixteen Candles'…

   Yes, this is his debut, and his box office is not a failure in any way. If you don't believe me, you can look at the box office list of the weekend 'variety show'. I'll call to congratulate him..."

   Ronald fooled the past. Although his new film was higher at the box office than the other, there were two other films that failed miserably at the box office.

   This is a deliberate contradiction created by the reporter. If he mentions the box office victory, someone will surely ask the comparison of the two films in film reviews.

   "Hey, we actually arrived at the hometown of hip-hop and rap on the east coast." After getting in the van that came to pick him up, Sabado said with emotion as he looked at the street scene outside the window on the road.

   "Now that breakdancing is going to be popular with your dance style." Ronald continued with a smile.

  No matter which side is the orthodox break dance on the east and west coasts, the young people in America now dance like theirs. Whether it's learned from "Break Dance" or from MJ's concert MV.

   "Look, there's a breakdance scene on the TV wall over there." Boogaloo pointed to the big screen in the window of a roadside department store where multiple TV sets were lined up. It is playing a dance fight scene performed by him and Sabado.

   MGM was encouraged by the strong box office in the first week, and began to increase the budget. On major TV stations, especially the MTV channel where young people are concentrated, the trailer clips were broadcast repeatedly throughout the day.

   "Oh yeah, bougainvillea prawn, sabadu, you are our idol"

   The black doorman at the door of the hotel, wearing a deep red hat, saw the crew actually staying at his Manhattan Hilton, and excitedly stepped forward and gave them a high five.

  "Let me help you" The doorman also made two breakdance poses, took everyone's luggage, and put them on the luggage cart.

   "Thank you, here." Ronald knew that the two leading actors were from poor backgrounds and might not understand these "etiquettes". He stepped forward and hid a bill in his hand and handed it to the doorman.

   Checked into the hotel, and Ronald saw the new newspaper lying on the head of the bed.

   "Well, it's still better for me from my hometown." Ronald flipped a few times, and the movie review columns in various newspapers in New York all mentioned his "break dancing", and they were all good words.

   "A musical across the ages..."

   "Will be written into history as a symbol of pop culture..."

   "Explosive Movie..."

   Looking further down, Ronald found that New York was also a multicultural city. Some tabloids with Latino and black readers also mentioned the film.

  Although he couldn't understand the various slang words above, the proper nouns of hip-hop and the nicknames of his predecessors, the long-winded ones took up a lot of space.

  Looking at the competitor "Sixteen Candles", this film was not like the hit in Chicago, but it was criticized a lot in New York.

"Long Dadiao is not funny at all, it's a potential offense to Asians, it's a stereotype. It seems that they only speak broken English, never had a girlfriend, and don't care about anything in America. Make a fuss."

   This is a criticism from The New York Times.

"The plot of this movie disgusts me, did he condone 'date rape' outright? Even without the actual act, consensual or otherwise, after the party scene, the male lead Jack actually told Ted that his Girlfriend Caroline is now in the bedroom, comatose.

   You can assault her in ten different ways if you want. Is this the message John Hughes wants to send to teenage audiences? "

   This is a critique of the New York Post.

  Compared to the conservative Chicago, New York's ethos, women's independence and equality of all ethnic groups have gone a step further.

  In Manhattan's office buildings, women can also climb to middle management positions, and when they commute to get off work, there are also endless numbers of women working in the subway and on the streets.

   In Chicago, going on a date with alcoholic beverages at the age of 18 means losing your life, and your friend's girlfriend can turn it on to her if she doesn't want it. It may still be the idea in the minds of many white family boys.

  The employment rate of women is also not as high as in New York. Many white women often find husbands and work as housewives at home as soon as they graduate.

   "Let's Welcome, Boogallo...Prawn, Sabah...Du, and Lucinda...Ditch".

   When it came to the audience meeting, New York was clearly better organized than Los Angeles and Chicago. MGM's money was spent and it was effective. In addition to several leading actors, a team of local street dance troupes from Manhattan were also hired to perform.

   Ronald sat down obediently. The proportion of white people here was significantly smaller. Many of the audience were very familiar with breakdancing, and more than half of them could dance. The interaction on and off the stage was more in-depth. Several audience members even asked the creators how their dance moves should be performed, and then live teaching began on and off the stage.

   "Why did you choose this movie theater?" Ronald asked Minahan curiously. Located on the edge of Manhattan’s Little Italy, next to a neighborhood of Puerto Rican immigrants, the long-established movie theater is a bit shabby.

   "We tried a few things. When we were in Chicago, we put the premiere on the north side, where a lot of white, wealthy, middle-class people live, and for our films, the larger audience came from blacks and Latinos."

"yes?"

"Of course I haven't forgotten about the traditional white audience. Next, the trio of them will perform multiple breakdances at night venues such as Club 54 and the New Spotlight Club. Those places are popular among teenagers. , whatever is popular there, they will follow it.”

   "Then they can still have a lot of extra money?" Ronald asked, this is also a chance to make money for the three leading actors from the bottom.

   "They still have a lot of opportunities, starting from New York, going to New England in the northeast, then south to Florida, back to Texas from the central and south, and Nevada, and finally back to California." Minahan said the trio's next promotion itinerary.

"And we," Minahan pointed to Ronald and himself, "will fly to Paris, then transfer to the seaside town of Cannes, and join Yoram, who arrived there first, this time we must 'Break Dancing' is sold all over the world."

   "Okay", Ronald had long been looking forward to going to the film festival. Cannes is one of the three major film festivals in Europe. There are no good movies and interesting people waiting for him.

  In the evening, the three main creators, together with Ronald and Minahan, had a toast in the hotel bar. A successful film that changes everyone's fate.

  Bugalo Prawn and Sabado have become leaders in the industry. This time in New York, many hip-hop masters are respectful to them, and they are no longer as equals as before.

   Lucinda Dickey has also received many movie invitations, but she still has to finish filming "Break Dance 2-Electronic Boogaloo" together with two male companions.

   "Is the director ready?" Ronald asked Minahan.

   "I found one from my hometown Israel, but unfortunately you can't continue to direct."

   "Have you written your script?"

   "Yes, it's still the story of Motor, Cyclone, Kelly, and their rival Falcon. This time, the two sides fight together to deal with a common enemy and break dance to defeat the conspiracy of the evil capitalists."

   "Huh, interesting", Ronald didn't want to worry about what to do with the sequel, he just wanted to go back to his sweet home and have a dinner with his family.

   "Ronnie, you came a day late, Diane just left." Donna said to Ronald after her aunt's dinner.

   "Where did she go?"

   "Her movie 'Street of Rage' is finally going to be released. It's on the 1st of next month. Will you go to the premiere?"

   "I don't know, I'm going to the Cannes Film Festival soon." Ronald took a sip of coffee prepared by his aunt. "Have you arranged everything for your admission to MIT? Is there anything else I can help you with?"

   "No problem, if you didn't insist on going, I would have planned to drive by myself."

   "You can also go now, here's yours" Ronald took out a key and threw it away. "Just park outside downstairs."

   "Is it my car?" Donna looked out the window happily.

"I told my aunt that that Honda is too big for you. This time it's the new Honda City. It's small, but it has a turbo, with good horsepower and interior space. It's suitable for girls to drive. Tomorrow Try it out during the day."

   "Thank you!" Donna came over happily and kissed Ronald.

   (end of this chapter)