"Mr. Ovitz, what do you think of Working Girl's prospects at the Oscars?"
Ronald and two agents, plus Tom Cruise, who was represented by Niceta's wife Paula Wagner, formally made an appointment with Michael Ovitz.
"Ronald, we have known each other for a long time. The Oscars are not awards that can be manipulated by an agency. All I can do is do my best in public relations for CAA's clients. I can't say that I treat all clients equally, because resources are limited, and we must
First ensure our core customers.
For example, you and Tom are our most important client assets. I am also shocked by the issue of this nomination. I have asked all brokers to conduct non-public investigations. It can be said that this is not a normal election.
"
Ovitz has had enough experience with clients coming to settle accounts every year after Oscar nominations. Therefore, he has been prepared for it. First, he and Ronald's team explain the reasons for the unfavorable nomination.
"Unfortunately, during the filming of Your Working Girl and the subsequent preparations for the new film, it was one of the few film projects that was able to operate normally during the Writers Guild strike. Although the final outcome of the strike had nothing to do with you, the people from the Writers Guild were angry at
These screenwriters were still paid during the strike, so many movies shot last year received a lot of unfair treatment."
"Ah...", Ronald looked at the summary of the secret investigation that Ovitz showed him. The impact of this strike was far-reaching, and the aftermath also affected the nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
Not only "Working Girl", but also "Pear Blossom", "The Last Temptation of Christ" and other major productions, none of them received the screenwriting nominations they deserved.
The filming was relatively early, "Grown Up", "A Fish Called Wanda", and "Unlimited" starring River Phoenix, which escaped the writers' strike, although they are not traditionally the best screenwriters.
My favorite film genres were unexpectedly nominated.
Originally, feminist-centered films such as Working Girl and The Robbery of Pear Blossoms have always been favored by the Screenwriters Guild, which has a relatively high proportion of women. However, it is generally difficult for children's films like "Grown Up" to win the Best Screenplay Award.
"It seems to make sense?" Ronald felt that Ovitz said it so sincerely, and it didn't seem to be intentional...right?
Later, Ovitz also talked to Paula Wagner and Tom Cruise about the problem of his failure to win the Best Supporting Actor award.
Tom actually knew that he had made the wrong choice when he was filming "Rain Man", and then he corrected his mistake and took over the filming of Oliver Stone's "Born on the Fourth of July". Because of his busy shooting schedule, he missed the last part of the movie.
Important public relations period.
In short, Ovitz was quite modest. After explaining the problem, he also promised to improve and win more for them at next year's Oscars.
To film "Born on the Fourth of July", Tom Cruise cut off his long, flowing hair and became a handsome guy with a short haircut. The training in the Marine Corps is indeed much more cruel than that in the Navy. His current hair,
Much shorter than in "Top Gun", you can almost see your scalp.
However, a round haircut is indeed the gold standard for testing the quality of a handsome guy. Even for such a big-headed guy, Cruise is still very handsome. After the discussion, he asked his agents to go back first, and he took Ronald and the two of them to find a guy.
Intimate little restaurant, if you have anything to ask Ronald:
"Do you think what Ovitz said is true?"
"Half-truth, half-false. I feel like what he said is the truth, but it's only part of the truth." Ronald knew that Ovitz was known as a tyrant within CAA, and he was not at all as sincere and honest as he was when dealing with clients.
.
"What do you mean?" Ever since he entered Hollywood, Tom Cruise has wanted to make a breakthrough in his acting skills and win an Oscar.
Ronald was not as inconvenient to speak in front of his little brother as before. He took out the list of this year's Academy Award nominees for Best Screenplay and showed it to Tom Cruise.
"Rain Man" - Ronald Bass
"Growing Up" - Ann Spielberg
"Wanted without Limits" - Naomi Foner
"Millions of Gold Arms" - Ron Shelton
"What do they have in common?" Ronald asked Cruise, pointing to the list. "Why weren't their movies interfered with by the Writers Guild nomination vote?"
"Huh? Are they all screenwriters who have just entered the industry?" Tom Cruise did not understand what Ronald wanted to ask. These screenwriters had just entered the industry not long ago. Ron Xie who wrote "Millions of Dollars"
Don was a recent minor league baseball player.
"Idiot, look at their last names..." Ronald smiled and patted Cruise on the shoulder, revealing the mystery, "They are all Jews."
Tom Cruise was not familiar with screenwriting, and when Ronald reminded him, he discovered the secrets that Ovitz had not said.
Just like in "Rain Man", which he starred in, Dustin Hoffman was nominated for the Golden Globe Award and the Oscar Award. In the same movie, there is not much difference in the acting performances of the two brothers.
The autistic person played by Dustin Hoffman may look good in the eyes of actors who don't know how to act, but in the eyes of actors, directors, screenwriters, etc. who know how to act, Tom Cruise's
Acting is more difficult.
And those who defeated Tom Cruise to be nominated for Best Supporting Actor include Kevin Kline in "A Fish Called Wanda" and Martin Landau in "Tucker: My Dream".
Jews.
The acting nomination of Kevin Kline, the boyfriend of actress Phoebe Cates discovered by Ronald, is quite normal. "A Fish Called Wanda" did receive a lot of praise.
The biopic of inventor Preston Tucker directed by Coppola is very weird. The film's box office was so bad that it didn't even recoup the shooting cost. And throughout the film, director Coppola
, the leading actor Jeff Bridges, the more outstanding supporting actors Joan Allen, Christian Slater and others did not receive a single Oscar nomination in the arts category.
Only Martin Landau, a perennial supporting actor and acting coach, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor.
"Fuxk", bang!
Tom Cruise punched the table. Every time he played a leading role, he gave CAA face and stuffed a lot of actors signed by CAA. He also took the initiative to help CAA try to sign Martin Scorsese.
director's efforts.
But he seems to be an asset, and Ovitz always earns profits from it without maintaining or upgrading it.
"How can I get nominated for an Oscar? I feel like I have done a lot, but received very little recognition." At this moment, Tom Cruise seemed to be the same person who had no money to fix his teeth, but was working diligently on the audition.
The young actor was waiting at the door of the room to be recognized.
"Well, if you ask me, you can still contribute more to Hollywood as a star. Maybe one day, they will realize that the industrial foundation of Hollywood is created by stars like you attracting audiences to movie theaters. Rather than
It's made by those 'actors' who don't make much money and complain that the audience can't understand their movies."
"I just feel that I spend a lot of time and energy on acting, but I never get their recognition..." It's rare for Cruise to show his true feelings in front of Ronald. In his heart, he is still the same person who works hard in everything he does.
Children from poor families who want high scores.
Ronald, I understand what Cruise is talking about, including producers, film critics, and agency bosses like Ovitz. These people are, to put it nicely, industry leaders.
What sounds worse is that they are parasitic species that rely on the market created by these star actors and actresses that they look down on.
Who is the cornerstone of Hollywood? Time will tell.
"Don't be like this. I've seen Oliver's new movie, and you have a lot of hope. But nominations are proof of strength, and winning depends on luck. If it doesn't work once, you can only try again..."
"I will mobilize my friends to vote for your best director." Tom Cruise regained his confidence. Ronald, a noble man at that time, could convince him with just a few words.
Deep content to see.
"Is this your second consecutive nomination? Will you win?" Tom Cruise really hopes Ronald will win.
"Why……"
Ronald's persuasion to Cruise just now was very logical. Now that it's his turn, he still can't let go of his obsession with winning the award.
After the Golden Globes and before the Oscars, there is the annual awards season. Various awards are awarded intensively during this time.
Ronald is not exempt from the secular world, and he travels non-stop to various award ceremonies, and at the same time works as a publicist for the film.
The first one to be awarded is the National Society of Film Critics Award. This award is voted for by film critics across the country. Many of its members are professors in universities.
It is conceivable that this award favors films with "profound meaning". The best picture was awarded to "The Unbearable Lightness of Being". The best director was also awarded to director Philip Kaufman.
Ronald was only nominated for Best Director, and the other nomination was for Best Actress for Melanie Griffiths.
Next up is the New York Film Critics Circle award.
This is Ronald's home turf. Reporters on the film review pages of major media outlets in New York take great care of Ronald, a local boy. In particular, many of the social activities organized by Ronald for New York film critics only require the film critic's credentials.
You can pay a very low fee and enjoy various discount coupons for five-star hotels.
This gives these journalists who write unprofitable "film review pages" in New York, a city with a high cost of living, many opportunities to show the benefits of being a film review reporter in their circle of friends.
Although he is not as respected as a social commentary reporter, and he does not have as much extra money as a financial reporter, but after all, he has the opportunity to have close contact with various celebrities and actors, and he can also take his friends to watch this kind of premiere for free. In addition, Ronald
Sponsored various film review activities, these people's favorable impression of Ronald and Daydream made them change their preferences for films that reflect the trials of human nature.
The best director award was awarded to Ronald. "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" and the Australian film "Cries in the Dark" starring Mel Streep did not win Ronald's "Working Girl"
”.
Faced with the doubts of some insiders, they were very confident: "Working Girl is a movie that reflects life on Wall Street in Manhattan. Were you Jews not very happy when you watched it?"
However, Melanie Griffiths once again missed out on the Best Actress award, and the Best Actress award went to Meryl Streep.
Going all the way north, the third film critic award awarded is the Boston Film Critics Award.
This city has a long sports tradition. The Boston Celtics and Boston Red Sox are both traditional strong teams in their respective professional leagues.
Especially the Boston Red Sox, because in order to support the theater industry, they kicked out Babe Ruth, MLB's greatest hitter, and sold him to the New York Yankees. Therefore, they were possessed by a curse and have never had it since 1920.
champion.
Therefore, the film critics here are also very fond of the baseball movie "Millions of Gold Arms". They hope that in turn, they will preferentially award this film in the film awards in exchange for lifting the curse of the Red Sox.
The best film and best screenplay were both awarded to "Million Dollar Arm", but the best actress was awarded to Melanie Griffiths, which made Griffiths, who was pregnant and came to public relations, very happy.
After winning the award, he gave a three-minute speech on stage.
In addition to these traditional awards, this year there is a new Film Critics Award, awarded for the first time in the city most famous for film critics. This is the Chicago Film Critics Award.
This award has nothing to do with the two most famous film critics, Roger Ebert and Gene Sisco. Their influence is national, with the blessing of PBS's film review program.
.
Apart from them, film critics from other media outlets in Chicago have a difficult life. Every time a new movie comes to Chicago to promote, their treatment is a notch worse than that of their counterparts in New York and Los Angeles.
Movie promoters are usually content to just wait for Albert and Sisko and call it a day. Because of this, few movies come to Chicago for premieres.
After many years of planning, it was finally thanks to two female reporters who wrote TV series reviews that they secured sponsorship from the television station. Only then did this third largest city in the United States have a film critics award commensurate with its status.
The funds for the first awards ceremony were limited and there was not even an award ceremony. They published it in the newspaper and announced the winners and that was it.
Best Actor, Jeremy Irons. Best Actress, Barbara Hershey. Best Director, Robert Zemeckis for "Who Framed Roger Rabbit".
Best Picture, Alan Parker's "Mississippi Burning." Their award, which perfectly avoided all the Oscar favorites, seemed to be a sign of protest.
Ronald read the newspaper and felt that it was a mistake. This award is the first one and it is awarded by the big city Chicago. If it is also public relations, the return on investment will be very high. Come again next year, this will be a place where everyone invests real money.
battlefield.
One after another awards are being awarded day by day, and soon it will be the turn of the most important Oscar award.