Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 648 Star Treatment

   Ronald went back to the house that Master Miyagi had built for him in the first Longwei Kid movie. A year and a half later, the place is uninhabited, it's in a state of dilapidation, and the set has spent a lot of money to renovate it.

  Tomorrow, Ronald will start filming in Los Angeles for the American scene of "Longwei Kid Part 2".

   "Ahahahaha..."

   Morita Noriyuki, who plays Miyagi, holds a bottle of wine in one hand and a white beauty in the other, and is drunk to see the shooting venue.

"Morita, you need to drink less tonight. A few days ago, we mainly had the shot of you catching flies with chopsticks. If you drink too much and your hands are shaking, I will give you less shots for close-ups." Ronald and Oscar Best Supporting Actor nominees joked.

"No problem, it's all wrapped around me, ah ha ha ha... onboard!" Morita didn't hear the dissatisfaction in Ronald's words, walked to his bedroom in the movie, sat down with his legs crossed, and started chatting with the beauty An anecdote from the filming of the first film.

   Ronald looked up for producer Weintraub and wanted him to remind Morita. The domestic box office of 100 million US dollars has turned the three leading actors of Longwei Kid into celebrities. Elizabeth Shue has become the dream lover of thousands of high school students, and Ralph Marchio has become a potential star with more responsibility and better acting skills than the Kid Gang among young actors.

   Morita Noriyuki's life has changed the most. From an actor who acted in TV dramas and commercials, and received the minimum wage, he became a star with both reviews and commercial success. He used the image of Mr. Miyagi in one breath, and received many commercials, including Johnny. · Carson's talk show to tell jokes.

  This sequel, I heard that Weintraub gave him more than one million dollars in salary. And Ronald, the first screenwriter and director, is on the same level.

   Of course, the bigger change is his personal life. He started a cold war with his second wife and the mother of two daughters, and had a close relationship with many young beauties who wanted to be in Hollywood. Binge drinking every day.

   When shooting started, Ronald made up his mind to drive away all these blonde beauties.

   "No, my client must get these treatments, this is a rising star in Hollywood, he can get these treatments, it is breakthrough."

   Ronald has finally found Weintraub, who is tangled with Ralph Mazio's agent.

   This time, Ralph Mazio broke through the previous work and received a salary of nearly 1.5 million US dollars. His agent also made a lot of requests, such as using his own makeup artist, hair stylist, and costumer instead of sharing with the crew. Of course, these costs are still borne by the crew.

In addition, Ralph Mazio asked the crew to take on a new trailer, as well as his personal driver, personal assistant, and most ridiculously, his mother and girlfriend, as an assistant producer on the crew. The titles, and of course their jobs, are limited to taking care of Ralph's life.

   All of this is the culprit that doubled the budget of the sequel to more than 15 million.

"Oh, God, Ronald, you're here, it's great." Weintraub was so busy that his assistant Susan Atkins had no experience in dealing with these things, so he had to go out in person, making the Dizzy.

"Why does Ralph Mazio want such a bunch of useless junk treatment? Are these things really useful? Can they make him perform better during filming?" Ronald didn't really understand, he As a director, I didn't ask for anything, just brought an assistant, Bud.

   "Sometimes, Ronald," said Weintraub, squinting. "They do it because they can."

"Ralph Mazio asked for more, and he didn't know what to do with it. His agent told him that Tom Cruise didn't get all of that. This is Unprecedented special treatment for a young actor, he must get it for this first title."

   "Hey, I hope their acting skills don't inflate like their self-esteem." Ronald made a little joke.

   "Is your lightning lamp ready?" After seeing the demonstration of the lightning lamp, Weintraub decisively asked Ronald to rent one, ready to pack it and send it to the Hawaii location in advance.

"Yes, it will be shipped from the warehouse in Los Angeles at that time, and will be packaged and shipped together when the engineer comes over." Ronald grinned, and George Lucas also ordered one for his new movie, which is already the third rental ratio. business.

   "I don't understand why you put production on the east coast, and now when you lease equipment, you have to transfer people from New York."

   "Jerry, how many of your Columbia films this year are still shot in Hollywood studios?" Ronald didn't answer, but instead asked Weintraub.

   "When you say that, it's really..."

  Weintraub counted in his heart that many of the films that started shooting this year have gone to locations in the United States, or simply went to Canada. Only one or two have actually started shooting in Hollywood.

   Non-stop strikes, non-stop compromises and minimum wage hikes. The minimum wage for unions in all industries is rising rapidly. Producers began to vote with their feet. Anyway, audiences are now more accustomed to filming on the spot, and they can go to places where labor unions are weak to save costs, so why not do it.

   Besides, New Jersey, Georgia, and other states have also introduced preferential conditions for film shooting. Toronto, Canada, has a large tax rebate, and Hollywood studios are starting to become idle.

   "Besides, my business is only rented, not sold, anyway, the staff and expenses for business trips are indispensable."

   "Hello Tomita. How are the character preparations?" While chatting, Ronald saw Tomita Tan Ling, a young actor who was identified as the heroine in the previous paragraph.

   "Ronald, hello, I'm ready. During the rehearsal, there was no problem with the lines." Tomita's English was fine, with a slight eastern accent, which Ronald requested.

   "Well, it's very good, you will come together tomorrow, even if you don't have a role in the scene, you can quickly familiarize yourself with the filming."

  Ronald is the only young actor who can still be educated as a newcomer. She happened to be from Ryukyu and immigrated to America after she was born, so she was asked to play the role, and it was also her true character.

   "Action!"

   Early the next morning, Ronald started filming the awkward scene between Daniel and Ali.

  Ali's family wanted to send her to a prep school in advance so that she would be guaranteed to be promoted to the Ivy League.

  Danny thinks that Ali dislikes her family background. There are some minor contradictions in their words, and they speak a little more seriously.

   "Daniel, why are you like this? I went to the preparatory school to broaden my horizons. They have many programs for personal development. I didn't say I had to go."

   "Okay! Then you go to your prep school, don't be with a poor boy like me."

   "Okay, let's go. I thought you would be more mature if you won the championship."

   "Cut!"

  Ralph Mazio immediately went to the trailer to rest when he heard Ronald's call to stop. It was Elizabeth Shue, who came over and asked Ronald how he was doing.

   "Very good, your performance is very natural, did you join the acting class?"

   "Hey, yes, but I've auditioned for a lot of movies now, and I haven't gotten through."

"You have been away from Hollywood for a long time, and there will be a period of adaptation." Ronald comforted, now that all the resources in his hand have been released, and Sue is not as close to himself as Diane and Helen. Let's talk when we get a chance.

  Su was a little disappointed, but gave him a nice smile and went to the trailer to prepare for the next shot.

   Ronald looked at Ralph Mazio. Since this kid was listed among the more motivated ones in the kid's gang, he has learned to be a star. The passion in the performance is not as abundant as in the first part, and it means step by step.

  Fortunately, his body, after more than a year, still looks like a thin child as if it had not developed. In this way, there is no problem with the persuasiveness of acting as a teen movie.

   "Nisita, why are these actors like this after they became famous? They are not as invested in acting as they used to be." After a few days of filming, Ronald was a little out of breath, pulled his agent Nisita, and complained for a long time.

   "Ronald, it's an American disease," Nisita explained to him.

   "America's market is big enough, and our audience doesn't want to see actors play different types of roles like the audience in Britain does.

   In contrast, what we want to see more is that the actor, as a star, keeps repeating a similar role.

  Like Clint Eastwood, who is again in the top 10 list of the audience's favorite stars, and has broken Burt Lancaster's record 15 times.

   But our audience just loves to see him play a western cowboy, or a hot cop, preemptively shoot two bad guys or something.

  Ralph Mazio is the same, the audience wants to see him play the counterattack Daniel LaRusso. He has played this role many times, and it is normal to have no passion.

Let me tell you, I have seen a lot of actors. In fact, they are also very uncomfortable if they keep repeating themselves, but if they play a different type of role, the audience will not buy it, and the box office is not good. A star's counterpart. "

"Hey, it's okay for him to say, I'll try to mobilize his enthusiasm. Morita is even worse. He hangs out with his lover every day and drinks a lot of alcohol. Today's scene of catching flies with chopsticks has been performed several times. I No way, I had to take a few short close-ups and solve them in post.”

"You have to understand that, as an actor who was nominated for an Oscar only after he was over fifty years old, he must have accumulated a lot of dissatisfaction before, and now he is at the stage of complacency in his life. It is understandable to do anything. Many people who have just become famous. Celebrities have it."

   "Hey, I really did. I didn't expect that how to make a sequel, but everyone was bored."

"You know what? I heard a joke from Mr. Michael Ovitz today. There are three types of Hollywood movies that can be released for more than two weeks. The first is that the filming is very sincere and the box office is successful. The second is The film was made with sincerity, but the box office performance was mediocre. The third type was filmed without sincerity, but the box office was very good.

  The sequel movie belongs to the third category. There is a fixed audience and an expected story. As long as you can complete it above the standard, it is not difficult to break through 100 million again. "

  Ronald heard a trace of exhaustion in Nisita's voice, but he felt helpless to accompany him to chat, and he suddenly stopped talking.

   "Are you still there? Ronald" Nisita asked over the phone.

   "I'm here, Rick? Do I have no good news when I'm chatting with you? I just noticed that every time I look for you, it's always a matter of time. Are you annoying when you answer my phone?"

   "Where did you say? This is my job. Richard and I have to pay for each of your works. If you have any questions, you should talk to me."

   "Okay, I see. I'm paying for psychological counseling, but it's a bit expensive." Ronald made a joke, and then laughed out loud.

   "That's it, Nisita, I get it. I'll do my best to make this movie the best it can be. I hope next time I see you, it's good news."

   (end of this chapter)