Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 601 Save more

   "Thank you for your help, Mr. Secretary, I am very grateful." Ronald expressed his sincere thanks on the phone to Secretary of the Navy John Lyman.

   This time, I was able to get the backing of the Navy, thanks to George Jr. in Texas, who asked his mother Barbara to call Minister Lehman's mother Constance, and pulled off the platitudes that today's young people lack patriotism.

   After Minister Lehmann received a phone call from his mother, he asked Ronald again about the process of filming "Top Gun", and expressed satisfaction with Ronald's casting and filming progress.

"Hahaha, work hard, lad. In fact, I also have a deep relationship with Hollywood. Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco, is my cousin. Well, we are considered to have made friends over the years. When I went to California, you You can introduce me to some Hollywood female stars."

   "Of course there is no problem," Ronald hung up the phone.

   This time, in order to prevent problems before they happen, we used a lot of relationships. George Jr. also directly called Matthew, the naval liaison officer, through his father's secretary and asked him to make a tough statement.

  The navy has given a statement in support of Ronald, and the plan to replace Mancuso directly has been eliminated in the bud.

   Of course, doing all this is not without cost.

   "Richard, how's the arrangement for entertaining Minister Lehman?"

   "You'd better leave this matter alone, I'll arrange it, you don't know about it from beginning to end." Richard was very cautious and did not discuss any details with Ronald.

   "Thank you", Ronald patted his agent on the shoulder. Among his agents, Richard is the most loyal.

   "What did Mr. Eisner say?" Richard asked.

   "He wanted me to go to Disney as a director, and said that the script was up to me to choose. But my cooperation with Paramount is quite happy now. Mr. Tanin and I are old friends. I just recommended him a ready-made movie."

   Ronald also heard a message when he called George Jr. for help.

   Little George complained about Eisner's sluggishness. After the $200 million in the second phase of the Screen Fund was given to Eisner, he remained silent. George Jr., a director of the fund, was questioned by some investors.

  Ronald took advantage of the two-pack preparation time for the crew transition, and called Eisner to help Little George deliver the message. Eisner attached great importance to him, and specially invited him to chat privately at a high-end Dongying restaurant.

  The chef served sushi and eel rice, and exited the box, leaving the two of them to chat easily.

  Eisner's power has been greatly reduced compared to when he was at Paramount. He has great respect for potential directors, and he will meet in person when he has the opportunity. He didn't know how to use chopsticks, so he simply rolled up a napkin and folded it in half, inserted chopsticks, made a large tweezers, and swallowed the eel in one bite.

"Ronald, I know you are a screenwriter. If you have a new script, or if there is a good filmmaker who wants to make a production with box office potential, you must remember to contact me." Eisner's current attitude towards Ronald Much more equal.

   He explained that now Disney does not have a good reputation in the field of live-action movies. Before, it only made a few teen movies with moderate investment. They were not hired for large projects, and Eisner was not sure about small projects.

   "Mr. Eisner, in fact, you have a very good movie in your hands." Ronald picked up a piece of eel with chopsticks, the sauce was very flavorful. He thought of Walter Murch.

"Walter, I know him," Eisner pondered for a moment, "I understand you recommend the 'Return to Oz,' but that movie was set during Ron Miller's time. Do you understand what I mean? ?"

Of course    Ronald understood. Walter Murch's film "Return to Oz" was the project of the former head of Disney, and he was almost fired. Now that Eisner is in power, for him, the success or failure of this project is not suitable, so it is left aside.

   Now Murch's film is caught in a strange situation that no one pays attention to. The follow-up special effects production funds are not in place, and the preliminary marketing work has not been carried out.

   "Walter's movie still needs to do clay stop motion animation, if you're willing to support, then this movie is brought back to life in your hands."

   "Huh? Interesting idea." Eisner wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. In fact, he didn't care much about the movie that the former CEO decided on.

"Walter Murch was a good friend of George Lucas. When he was fired by Ron Miller, I asked George for help, and George flew to Britain to intervene, vouching for Murch to let him bear Ron Miller's back. Miller's pressure to finish the film." Ronald said the situation at the time, Eisner did not know the inside story.

   Ronald liked the taste of the eel so much that he ate another big piece.

"Cheers", Eisner and Ronald clink glasses, he is very interested in the news revealed by Ronald, George Lucas is preparing for a big production, it is said that the special effects are further than Star Wars, the seven major Studios are chasing. With this news, Eisner felt a little more confident.

  The next day, Walter Murch came over to thank him in person, and Eisner gave him a special amount of money for production and marketing.

  Clay animation is just a doll made of clay and put it into a certain pose, stop-motion photography, and 24 photos combined into a one-second animation. With Eisner's personal intervention, the progress of "Return to Oz" will be greatly advanced.

   And the cost of marketing has also been increased by 50%, Murch's directorial debut, will get a normal mid-production treatment.

   "It's nothing, I've been waiting for your movie for a long time." Ronald said nothing, took a drink and took a sip.

   "Do you have any worries? I heard that your new film is going well." Walter Murch always had a worried look on his face when he saw Ronald was worried.

To Murch, Ronald had nothing to say, "Now Paramount's executives have an opinion on me. Although they have the support of the Navy during the shooting stage, they can't trouble me, but I am worried that in the later editing, there will be unexpected surprises. Difficulties."

   "That's it..." Murch was silent for a moment, "Did you know that during the golden age of Hollywood, some directors didn't shoot the main shot? It was just to compete for their own power in editing."

   "I know, without the main shot, they can't cut your movie into another story."

"In fact, in addition to this method, John Ford, who was highly artistic at the time, also invented some other tricks..." Murch put some tricks that were privately circulated in senior Hollywood directors and editors to prevent producers from interfering. All told to Ronald.

   "If you do this, ... don't say they can't change your story. Even if someone else edits it, they may not be able to start at all."

   "This is the metaphor of the audience's dream that you emphasize repeatedly, right? When people dream, their minds jump. If others don't know the dream I had, they can only see a bunch of fragmented pictures..."

   After negotiating with Walter Murch, Ronald made up his mind to keep one more hand. The Navy's support can only be guaranteed until the filming is completed. Editing is the final creative link of the film. If you want to maintain the initiative, you have to hold a few trump cards.

  …

  At the airport in Los Angeles, Ronald was waiting for a flight to the Philippines with the main members of the film crew and several actors who played pilots.

   The last cooperative unit given by the Navy was the USS Enterprise nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The Enterprise is a second-generation aircraft carrier with this name. It once circled the earth without refueling, demonstrating the superiority of nuclear power.

   Participated in various military confrontations after launching, such as the Cuban crisis, the Vietnam War, the India-Pakistan war, etc., and was a veritable darling of the American Navy.

   Now that the aircraft carrier is deployed to cruise in the Indian Ocean, the Navy will send the crew to the Subic Bay Air Force Base, then fly to the Diego Garcia Base, and then transfer to the transport ship to join the fleet in the Indian Ocean.

  Because the mission location of the aircraft carrier is classified, the crew did not know the exact location of the Enterprise.

   "Drip..."

   Richard, who came to see him off, received a pager, "I'll call back."

   "Richard, you asked me to find the right person, and I have found it. Satisfy your VIP clients, her girls are the best in LA."

   "It won't be Mrs. Alex, right? I don't want you to keep a low profile?"

"It's not her, it's a woman named Heidi Fleiss, no-one in the line, she used to be Mrs. Alex's assistant, very young. There's no big aftermath to find her, unlike Mrs. Alex's name. The head is too loud, and it is easy to be targeted by the police and the tabloids.”

   "Listen, the people to serve are..."

   "I understand, I understand, don't ask, don't tell, cash transactions in advance, the customer doesn't have to worry about anything, and we haven't made this phone call."

  Richard returned from the phone and gave Ronald a done look.

   "Okay, let's go..."

   A group of people pushed heavy equipment and walked towards the boarding gate.

  The American Navy came to Manila to pick up the crew on a transport plane. Everyone sat in the transport plane. The navy pilots were much more aggressive than the civil aviation, and they took off and landed violently.

   After the transit in Subic Bay, the crew arrived at the Diego Garcia base after a long flight, and everyone changed to a transport ship. After a few hours of sailing, they arrived at the mission location of the aircraft carrier formation.

   On the vast sea, there is no reference, only the sunset, sea water, and a huge aircraft carrier.

  The aircraft carrier was painted gray, and a helicopter took off from the transport ship and transferred to the aircraft carrier with the crew. Ronald looked down from the helicopter. The deck of the aircraft carrier was painted with the numbers 65 in white, which was the hull of the Enterprise.

After    landed, a sergeant came to greet the crowd, and the main crew would have dinner with the captain and flight commander in the evening.

Ronald and Tom Cruise, Val Kilmer, and a few actors who played pilots got off the helicopter and saw the F-14A Tomcat parked on both sides of the aircraft carrier deck. The wings are truncated in a triangular shape to save deck space.

  There are also some soldiers wearing yellow, green, purple and other helmets and vests on the deck. They are busy, with the metal-colored deck, and the fighter, with the sunset forming a beautiful picture.

   "It's so beautiful," Ronald sighed involuntarily.

   "I'll take you to the allocated bedroom first, which the officers and non-commissioned officers made for you."

   "Thank you, maybe you can find a place for my camera equipment first."

   "No problem, we've got a couple of cabins ready for you to store your equipment and shoot the flight control room."

   (end of this chapter)