Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 626 Touchstone Pictures

"Your public relations consultant, Eva, has a good idea. This reporter clearly divided the young and promising actors into two groups. The first wave only had Zan, and he also concentrated on honing his acting skills. Ralph Mazio can enter. This ranks will add a lot of topics to the sequel of 'Longwei Kid'."

   Weintraub hosted Ronald at his home in Los Angeles. If it wasn't for Ronald's tip this time, Mazio, the hero of the sequel, would be in trouble.

   "Did Ralph's statement come out?"

"At this."

Weintraub handed over a public statement, Ralph Mazio said that he and Emilio were only working together in "urchins outside the world", the two did not have a deep friendship, and they were busy shooting new films and in Get ready for the sequel to "Dragon Power".

   And he expressed that he did not agree with the statement of the "Stinky Boys Gang". They are not a gang. Like the Mouse Gang, they always make movies together, but they split up to find their own careers.

   "It's about the same caliber as Tom Cruise's." Ronald breathed a sigh of relief. It was a way taught by a public relations manager.

"Little George's mother, Barbara, called me. After you talked to Eisner, give her a call back. Now he is very interested in being a fund director. Among his friends, he asked him if he invested. What movie, he can't say it, it's very embarrassing."

   Weintraub's wife, Jane Morgan, saw that Ronald and her husband had finished chatting about the new film, and took the time to whisper to Ronald the request of his friend, the deputy commander's wife, Barbara.

  Barbara's eldest son has never been so fond of work, and now he is laughed at by his friends every day for casting a liar and has not seen a single movie. He didn't return his mouth, just said that it depends on the long-term operation of Disney. Seeing that the mother was very distressed, she called to care about her son's career.

   "I will, Mr. Eisner asked me to meet for the weekend."

   "Martin's son, what a scourge. He has implicated several of Hollywood's most promising actors all at once."

   In a private little restaurant, Eisner met Ronald privately.

   "Who said it wasn't, fortunately I was clever and asked Cruise and Mazio to make a statement, otherwise my two new films will be in controversy before they are released."

   Now Emilio's "Boy Gang" has become the hottest topic in Hollywood. All male actors should criticize them for being unprofessional, disrespecting their acting skills, and only know the spirit of enjoyment, and draw a clear line with them.

   In private, he was warned by the agent and the production company one by one not to be interviewed by reporters in private, and all interviews must be checked by a professional public relations company.

   "Fortunately, he didn't involve Molly Ringwald, a minor, otherwise parents across the United States would have to tear him apart."

Eisner's anger has not faded, and Martin Sheen bought the adaptation copyright of Hinton's Oklahoma Junior trilogy "This Time, That Time" for his eldest son, which is his own at Paramount Issue contract signed during the period.

  Although I am at Disney now, the responsibility is still my own. Originally at Disney, he also wanted to sign their father and son to release Emilio's first self-written and directed film, Wisdom.

   Now there is such a scandal, he just wants to blacklist both father and son, slap them to death, and never hire them.

   "Cough cough..." Ronald went around for a while, but still got to the point.

   "Now the mother of one of the directors of the Screen Fund came to me and wanted to ask about Disney's use of the fund. You know, she has always taken care of her children."

"I know. The contract I signed with the Screen Fund can only be used for investment in live-action movies. But now the veteran gang in Disney, led by little Roy, wants to completely deny the strategic direction of his former son-in-law Ron Miller. ."

   "Then what?" Ronald understood what Eisner meant.

  The nephew of the founder Walt Disney, Roy Disney Jr., used his son-in-law Ron Miller to invest in live-action movies, all the reasons for losing money, forcing him and his cousin to go to Napa Valley to grow grapes.

  The newly introduced CEO Eisner and Katzenberger duo, but the two privately agreed with Ron Miller's live-action film policy, and were unwilling to invest in traditional Disney cartoons with high costs and slow turnover.

   "When are you going to help me make a movie?" Eisner avoided talking about investment, and instead invited Ronald to star.

   "I just made and played Top Gun and needed a break, and then it's the sequel to Longwei Kid..." Ronald said that he had no time.

"Then help me choose the script, and recommend any director who can make small and medium-budget films." Eisner still wants to catch Ronald, the second phase of the screen fund, Ronald is the key figure in the middle, if He can make a blockbuster live-action movie for Disney, and he can continue the fund distribution of the third and fourth issues, so he does not have to worry about the source of funds.

   The cost of this kind of private equity fund is much lower than that of bank loans, and it is also much more convenient.

   "My production company, Daydream Pictures, can I invest in it?" Ronald saw that Eisner had given him a chance, and immediately followed the stick.

   "The screen fund's investment will also have some shares for the production company, but it's really only a little." Eisner made a small gesture.

   "As long as you can participate."

"I will ask the assistant to send the script to you, or the same sentence, you can shoot whatever theme you want, and let whoever you want to star in the leading role, but now I can only give you the right to decide the budget of small and medium productions, Say, I can give you the green light for any movie with a budget of no more than six million."

   "Why?" Ronald couldn't help wondering when Eisner gave a specific data.

"If you are willing to direct, you can negotiate how much money you want. If you don't direct and only participate in the production, I can only give you 6 million. Because I plan to put small and medium-cost live-action movies under this brand, so that the board of directors will There won't be too many constraints."

   said, Eisner pushed over a document.

  Ronald took a look at it. Above it was a feasibility report for a comedy, action, and romantic teen movie that teenage audiences would love. Below it was the words "TouchStone."

   "Hmm...to cross Chencang secretly?" A Chinese sentence popped up in Ronald's mind. It turned out that Eisner put some small and medium-sized films on the "Touchstone Pictures" signboard, which has nothing to do with Disney, in order to reduce the resistance to promoting live-action movies on the board of directors.

"This is a company established by Ron Miller to make small and medium-sized productions for teenagers. However, his vision is very bad. Since its establishment, only the recent movie 'Return to Oz' by Walter Murch has been made. ', there is hope that it will make a profit, and the other six productions will all lose money."

Eisner took a sip of wine and continued to introduce, "I made a compromise. In the future, the title of Touchstone will not appear any Disney-related logo, so that the audience will not know that he is a company controlled by Disney. Touchstone will be released independently. Channels will also allow larger-scale R-rated films, as well as newly approved PG-13-rated films. As long as you want to grasp the profit, whether it is the script in our film library, or you write it yourself, or buy it at your fancy Send them all. Katzenberg will approve them in person."

   This means that Ronald has a secret project and distribution channel, and he can submit any exploitative films he likes. Not only can I be a director myself, but I can also help my friends.

   The next day, Ronald excitedly went to CAA's office. Richard was carrying boxes of scripts into his office.

After renewing his contract with Ronald for three years, Richard also has his own independent office. He also put a special desk for Ronald. The refrigerator is full of snacks that Ronald likes to eat, and Coppola Winery from the winery.

   "So much? Did Disney move their film library?" Ronald felt joy in his heart when he saw such a big battle. After struggling for several years, it finally came to the point where the producer came to ask for his own director.

  Although it is only because of the special relationship between Eisner and the screen fund, although only the production decision of the budget of less than 6 million.

   "Do you need an assistant to condense these movies into a few hundred words for you to see?"

   Ronald thought for a while and rejected the other party's suggestion. It is not easy to find an assistant who has professional ability and is willing to work hard. Maybe a good script was let go.

   "Let me see it myself."

Lying on the comfortable bed at home, Ronald picked up a script and read the first three pages to see if it could arouse his interest. If he was interested, he would read it back. If the story behind made him want to continue reading , put it aside, and take a closer look when you have time.

   While reading this, I did not accumulate a few interesting scripts.

  Ronald picked up another script that read "Ruthless People," written by a nobody named Dale Rauner, who hadn't written any script that made it into a movie.

   "It turned out to be a comedy?" Ronald thought the beginning was very interesting. Two stupid thieves kidnapped the billionaire heiress, a fat and vicious woman. And her husband, who was thinking of the kidnappers to tear up the ticket, could take the inheritance and fly with his lover. "

   "This is worth looking at for yourself", Ronald thought my opening plot was very catchy, and put it in a pile of scripts that were focused on by the bed.

   A drowsiness hit, Ronald yawned and fell asleep.

   A screen appeared in the dream. A drum beat came, and a wide blue ribbon passed through the bottom of the screen, condensed into a small ball to the left, and the ribbon also became the subtitle of Touchstone Pictures.

   Then there was another drum beat, and the subtitles on the second page appeared "The Screen Fund Phase II Assisted in Filming".

   "What a coincidence? Actually, what I dreamed of was the touchstone work of the screen fund investment." Ronald moved his mouth, showing a smile, as if he had found a suitable script, and he could deal with Barbara and Eisner.

"The film begins with a small, bald, and shriveled actor, holding a mistress's hand, repeating to her the imagining, already told countless times, that he is going to kill the wicked wife and then rob her of her inheritance. "

   "This person is really suitable for comedy films, and it's a Coke to watch." Ronald commented.

  The man returned home and found his wife was not there. He received an extortion call, saying that his wife was in their hands, and they asked him to prepare half a million dollars in cash as a ransom, and if he called the police, he would kill his wife.

   This actor's facial expressions ranged from impatient to incredible. Finally, when he heard that the kidnappers called the police and killed his wife, he laughed out loud. Isn't this what he wanted for a long time?

   "This acting is really good, the close-up can show such rich layers."

   Ronald also commented on the actor's acting skills.

  Two kidnappers wearing duck masks of two nephews and nieces of Disney cartoon character Donald Duck let go of the cloth bag over the head of the kidnapped wife.

  A fat and ugly actress, pouting her fat lips and starting to squirt, she is going to put the kidnappers in jail and torture them to death.

   "If my wife looks like this and has a super bad temper, I also have the intention of killing her." Ronald saw two kidnappers, a man and a woman, who were shivering by the hostages. He couldn't help but sympathize with his husband.

  The two kidnappers put the hostages in the basement, and the two turned on the TV to see if there was any news about the kidnapping.

  Who knows that all the channels are talking about the latest news of Mrs. Stone's kidnapping, and even the news that the kidnappers extorted 500,000 over the phone was exposed on TV.

  The camera turned to the kidnappers, two people, a man and a woman, looking like a husband and wife, they didn't look like bad guys who could do kidnapping.

"Isn't this an old acquaintance, Judge Reinhold?" Ronald saw a close-up of the male kidnapper's face. In "Fast Pace", he played the heroine's eldest brother Brad and had a crush on Phoebe Cates. the actor of the character.

   "Can you believe it? All the TV stations are talking about this news."

   "Do you feel as guilty as I do?" The female kidnapper's voice was frightened, and her upper body shrank. It seemed that she was not a professional kidnapper.

   "This performance is not very good, it's a bit over the top. Maybe dramas and musicals need such exaggerated body movements to attract the audience's attention. But the movie has close-ups and close-ups, so it only needs a realistic and normal performance."

  Ronald commented on the heroine's acting skills. Even if it's a comedy, it's actually better to act according to the drama. The funny thing about this script is not the lines, but the absurdity of the plot itself.

   "Guilty? We've said it many times. They stole your ideas and used them to make millions of dollars. We only need half a million, which is fair."

  The camera zoomed, and the blurred face of the female kidnapper behind it became clear.

   "Isn't this Helen Slater? No wonder the acting is so bad."

   "Hey, no, this can't be said. It's not good if she or his father Gerald hears it."

"Why, do you dislike my acting so much?" Helen suddenly stopped acting and asked Ronald with wide eyes, her short hair hadn't recovered from 'The Legend of Billy King', just shoulder-length, "Where did I act? No, this is what I learned from Stella Adler's acting training class."

   "Ah no, I mean your acting skills are not suitable for movie performances." Ronald felt a little scared when he saw Helen on the screen suddenly turning to him and questioning.

   "Really? Are you saying that my daughter's acting skills are poor? You are the film director, why didn't you guide her? How did I entrust my daughter to you, you have to be responsible for her acting skills."

  Gerald also appeared on the screen. He held a wine glass and said sternly to Ronald.

   "Ah, don't. I don't know how to direct skills!"

   Ronald rolled off the bed in fright.

   (end of this chapter)