Exploiting Hollywood 1980

   Chapter 687 Squint Pollack

  Gossip quickly spread in the circle that Frank Price and Sidney Simberg had a boxing match at Universal Pictures. It is said that Price is like George Foreman, who is good at punching, while Simberg is like Ali, who is good at jabs and controlling distance.

When the two were in an inextricable fight, it was the young director that Simberg personally supported, the director of "Longwei Kid", martial arts master Ronald Lee, who separated the two with a karate trick in the end, avoiding the A lose-lose "jungle war".

   Of course, there is also a saying that Ronald ended up supporting Frank Price, who bought out his screenplay debut for $350,000, and blocked Simberg's heavy punch. Because Simberg wants to throw the blame for the failure of a certain movie to Price, the benefactor of his debut.

   "Ronald, what do you think of the recent rumors of Universal Pictures? How much truth is there?"

"I think people who make up rumors are very imaginative. You can try to write a script. If it is interesting, you can consider voting for my company. I have always wanted to make a film that reflects the filming of the film, just like the director of the hair country. The same is true of 'Day as Night' by Phil.

If it opens with two of the most famous boxers of our time, Rocky Balboa (played by Stallone in 'Rocky'), and Jack LaMotta (Robert De Niro in 'Angry') Bull's) boxing match, it must be very interesting. "

"Hahaha……"

   used humor to defuse the reporters who came over after smelling the smell. Ronald smiled goodbye to them and got into Bud's car.

   As soon as he got in the car, Ronald's face went down.

  Frank Price's prediction soon came true, and he formally resigned to his boss the next day, with a buffer period for resignation and a generous hush money known as a golden parachute.

However, because he publicly scolded Jews in the world, and the evaluation of "Howard Duck" by the internal film critics was also very low, he really needed an unlucky person to take the blame. This time Price's resignation is in the eyes of experts. , still pretty ugly.

   His resignation period is only three months, and his successor will be announced in September. Nor did Price, as is customary, give Price a distribution guarantee contract with a personal studio. This clause, even Tom Mount, the small giant of Universal Pictures, who was forced away by his wife, got it.

   And soon, a candidate who would temporarily take all his jobs, took his place and began to take over Frank Price's work at Universal.

"When it comes to finding potential scripts, and potential directors and screenwriters, Frank Price is a rare talent in Hollywood, and now there are very few high-level executives who read scripts in person like him." He was waiting for himself in the car. Nisita, was preparing to accompany him to meet the president-elect who was temporarily working.

   "But... hey..." Ronald shook his head, "He doesn't understand office politics."

   "Yeah, his political fighting ability is too poor, even the cheerleading girls in public high schools are inferior."

   Twice people made excuses to take the blame, in Columbia and Universal.

Price's eye for blockbuster movies is truly remarkable, seeing "ET Alien" at Columbia, "Back to the Future" at Universal, and "Out of Africa," which won seven Oscars this year. ".

   But he was swept out of the house immediately because he was not good at fighting for merit and blame.

   Maybe he is better at being an independent producer than the president of a big factory. Only in this way can he make better use of his expertise in selecting scripts.

   "Hello, Director Ronald, Mr. Tom Pollack is waiting for you inside."

   The incoming president, Tom Pollack, who has not yet been officially appointed, did not immediately occupy Price's office, but chose a smaller one for temporary use. Pollack's last name is the same as "Out of Africa" ​​director Sidney Pollack, so Ronald knew he was Jewish too.

   After drinking two cups of coffee at the door, Ronald was already bored counting the patterns on the office carpet before being belatedly greeted by the secretary.

   "Thank you", Ronald and Nisita exchanged glances, it seems that the waiting time is also a signal.

   "Well, you're welcome, Ronald. Please take a seat."

  Tom Pollack didn't come up to hug and shake hands, but asked Ronald to sit down and say across the desk.

   "Hello, Mr. Pollack. Everyone was impressed by your negotiating skills in Star Wars."

Ronald did his homework before he came. This Pollack has two famous reputations in Hollywood, one of which is that he worked as a lawyer for George Lucas for many years, and the one that exclusively owned the peripheral copyright of "Star Wars", and The contract for the rights to the sequel was negotiated between him and Twentieth Century Fox.

   Because this contract helped Lucas become the richest man in Hollywood, Pollack has been very professional and did not disclose the name of his negotiating opponent at Fox.

   Sure enough, when he heard Ronald mention his most proud deeds, a smile appeared on Tom Pollack's face, and he gradually let go of his guard and no longer had a business-like attitude.

"It's a mess right now, and I was brought in to deal with this mess because of my relationship with George. George was in a bad mood, but he told me that you're a very nice young man and respect older people. This line of business is really like a roller coaster, and those who have made a name for themselves in this line of work were once held at the top..."

Tom Pollack said some old gossip to Ronald, nothing more than saying that everyone has bad times, and Ronald understands the importance of luck in the film industry, and does not look down on people because of temporary success or failure , will be a good long-term partner.

And now Universal is at the cusp of the storm, Simberg's position may not be guaranteed, what is most needed now is to smoothly ride out the failed period of "Howard Duck", and now Ronald's new film is on the line with Price, who has resigned. too close a relationship...

   Ronald didn't talk to him, he just looked at the other's face and kept nodding his head.

This aspect of    is that Tom Pollack is too articulate to talk for a moment. On the other hand, it is related to the other's second "famous" place in the industry...

   He is a slanted eye!

   One of his two eyes is very strabismus. When he is still, his two eyes seem to look at two separate objects on the left and right. So while he's looking at you with one good eye, he's staring a foot away from you with the other.

   The feeling of this communication is quite strange, Ronald always feels that he is not talking to himself. There were a few times when he couldn't help but want to play a prank, and he looked a foot away from the other person and spoke.

   Good parenting prevents this strange thought. But Ronald had to devote a little energy to suppress this idea. If he really did it inadvertently, he would have to completely offend the other party.

   "So my client Ronald, when can we resume the preparatory work, casting and the formation of the technical team is imminent." Nisita helped Ronald to ask them the most important question this time.

   "Ronald, I just took over, but I read the script right away, and Frank isn't the only one in Hollywood who reads the script. It has a serious problem in my opinion."

   "What's the problem?" Ronald heard that it was a serious problem and hurriedly took out his notebook. The other party's vision of reading the script is no worse than Frank Price from a historical point of view.

   "You've been researching for a long time, what do you think of this script?" Tom Pollack squinted at Ronald's next to Nisita's face, but was talking to Ronald.

"I think it's a very good script. It has both the reality of business warfare and the demeanor of old-fashioned Hollywood neuro-comedy. Today's young people from small towns come to big cities to work hard, and they will encounter all the problems of the protagonist. I think the audience is quite wide. And it's all happening around urban audiences, and there hasn't been a movie about that in the last decade..."

  Ronald attached great importance to the opinions of the other party, and took his own thoughts to the fore.

"You make a lot of sense, that's what makes this movie great, and that's what I love about it. But here's where I'm talking about the big problem. The way drama and comedy are performed in the movie are very different, and you're going to use that Which style is dominant?

   In those scenes, how much light comedy? How much is the drama style? "

  Tom Pollack looked at Ronald with the other eye, and the original eye, moved to the other side, seemed to look at the door again.

"But in my opinion, this style of deviation is not a big problem. Just like Helen Slater's previous 'The Wicked Man', it actually uses a drama style to play comedy story."

"You're right, but I've just started and it's going to take time to figure it all out. In my opinion, is it possible to find another writer to get a general feel for the style? I can talk to anyone you want. And you said Helen, she still needs to see how the audience feedback on her previous 'The Wicked Man' is not as good as Michael J. Fox's male protagonist, whose performance style is very similar to his in 'Back to the Future', and has already experienced the audience's feedback. test."

  Tom Pollack looked at Ronald again with his original eye.

   The act of constantly changing eyes and staring at himself, I don't know if it was the opponent's habit or a deliberate psychological tactic, which made Ronald feel irritable.

   He couldn't help but blurt out, "Okay, Mr. Pollack. You might as well try another writer, but the start time is just around the corner, if the shooting schedule needs to change..."

"Just call me Tom, Ronald. There is no change in the shooting plan, just to dispel the doubts of the upper management, and let me make a reconfirmation as a newcomer. As long as we agree on the performance style of the script, it will be done right away. Shoot."

   "Please send the two gentlemen out." Tom Pollack was very efficient in his work. After communicating with Ronald, he immediately rang the bell and called the secretary to invite them out.

   "I'm very sorry, there seem to be a hundred things I need to deal with here, I have to speed up. Let's schedule a time to talk about the script as soon as possible..."

"Huh..." Finally getting rid of the squinting Pollack, Ronald got into the Mercedes-Benz, took a bottle of Coke from the refrigerator, and took a sip, "This person is really strange, I talked to him. It seems that he is always leading by the nose."

   "You're not just being led by the nose, Ronald." Nisita sighed.

   "What?" Ronald was puzzled.

   "Think about it, what did you promise him? What did he promise you?"

   "What do you mean, he's playing tricks on us? Hanging us with some ambiguous answers and then delaying?"

  Ronald wasn't a fool either, but he was impetuous when he was seen by those weird squinting eyes, and he didn't see through the other party's true intention all of a sudden. "

   "It's okay, today's situation is actually what we expected. In that case, let's wait and see, if Tom Pollack didn't contact us, then he must be looking for someone else to take over your project.

   Besides, it's time to think about that Barry Morrow script. ' Nisita said to Ronald.

   "That one-act movie script? Didn't it say Sidney Pollack was going to direct?" Ronald took a swig of Coke.

   "Sidney gave up, he turned to work on his own production company."

   "So you came to me?" Ronald took a sip of Coke dissatisfied.

"Come on, Ronald. Now in Hollywood, Spielberg and Sidney Pollack always have priority. They both always have priority to get those scripts that have a chance to hit the Oscars. It's nothing. shameful."

   "Okay, let's take a look first." Ronald put his hands behind his head and lay down on the leather seat.

   Ordinarily, he should be very satisfied. There are only two Jewish directors who can read those "hopeful Olympic" scripts before him in Hollywood. Most of the other big directors write their own scripts, or have the ability to organize their own screenwriting teams.

   However, why is it a little uncomfortable?

  …

   "Ronnie, have you decided not to direct that 'Secret of Success'?"

   After a few days, Tom Pollack did not call himself to discuss the progress, as Nisita expected. It seems that the other party wants to use this dragging method to make him give up the script shooting in order not to arouse his disgust.

   "The new producer and I have a bit of a disagreement on the creative direction." Ronald said an official breakup reply, then put his arms around Helen Slater's neck, and the two kissed.

  Helen is still the one in "There is a Wicked Man", her blond hair is slightly longer than before, beyond her ears, and not yet reaching her shoulders. In addition to beauty, add a little playfulness.

   "If... I mean if..., if you're not a director, wouldn't you be against me playing the heroine?"

   "Well... no, who said I was going to oppose you playing the heroine?" Ronald felt wrong and quickly denied it.

"Don't lie to me, you just despise my acting skills. But I think I'm quite suitable for this movie. Like 'The Wicked Man', I also use the method of acting as a drama to play comedy. I think I can have to……"

   Helen said and turned her back, she seemed a little sad.

"Actually, you don't need to think too much about your acting skills. This role is a bit suitable for your performance." Ronald laughed. Anyway, in "Secret of Success", the heroine is a somewhat superficial manager of the financial department. But thinking that others respect their mentality not because of their beauty but because of their professionalism, it is really a bit like Helen.

   "Really?" Helen turned to be happy, "Then I asked the agent to contact the audition? Hee hee hee."

   "I don't mind at all. If you act, I don't have as many concerns as myself as a director."

   Ronald hugged Helen, and the two were lying on the bed smiling.

   "Hey, silly girl." Ronald sighed in his heart as Helen hugged him tightly. If you don't direct yourself, your greatest competitive advantage is gone.

   (end of this chapter)