Chapter 679: Kicking David Letterman’s water glass to pieces
The browser was paired with the new World Wide Web protocol, which suddenly reduced the skills required for surfing the Internet to the level that ordinary people can do. What followed was an explosion of users. The free strategy allowed the official version to be released in the first week, plus
The number of users of the previous trial version has exceeded millions.
In addition, there is a classified website called Yahoo hosted on the server of Stanford University. If you want to find information in specialized fields, you have a good place to go. All kinds of information put on the website are also like geometry.
Growth like a progression.
Ronald found it very interesting and hired a programmer to help put all the movie introductions of Daydream online. He also made a friendly link with IMDb. In this way, all netizens who visit IMDb can click on the website's logo.
Come to Daydream's website.
In the Hollywood circle, Ronald was definitely one of the first people to try the Internet. In private communications and public statements, he strongly praised the benefits of the World Wide Web. He also printed the website address on
on your business card.
On this day, Cole Needham, the founder of IMDb, arrived in Los Angeles from faraway Bristol in the business class cabin that Ronald had reimbursed. Ronald gave him a very high courtesy, not only inviting him to his
He stayed at his home and personally introduced him to several Hollywood stars.
It just so happens that Forrest Gump is also participating in the selection of the Film Critics Association Awards in various places, and some small industry organization awards. Cole Needham is attending with Ronald or other staff members of Daydream.
.
Cole Needham also wrote a Hollywood travel diary about daily activities, and then compiled it and posted it on his website as a report on the 1994 Golden Globe Awards and Hollywood's preview.
Of course, such things are also very troublesome. Many places do not have Internet access, and Cole Needham has to go home every day to access the Internet. Ronald's house has set up a dedicated line to ensure that every room has an Internet connection.
Cole Needham was busy and fulfilling every day, and Ronald also learned some things that he didn’t know before. He and Cole Needham actually met online very early on, and even exchanged a few words about the movie.
evaluation.
It's the Use group where Ronald sometimes goes to check movie reviews. There is a section called "rec.arts.movies". Cole Needham has been an active user there since 1990. He collected the
A lot of content related to movies and celebrities is placed in this section, and you can find it by just using the initials.
With the help of more and more netizens, the scale of this database of movies and stars has become larger and larger. Until the end of last year, Cole Needham simply used his salary as a software engineer to set up a
The independent website IMdb has moved all related content in "rec.arts.movies" to the website.
As the number of users increased, server rental fees became more and more expensive. Cole Needham used his income from his job and part-time job to pay for it, and gradually became unable to do so. Ronald generously donated money and wrote to him.
One check can directly support the current scale of servers for one year.
However, Ronald asked Cole Needham to consider whether to turn IMDb into a company and then accept his capital injection to become a commercial company instead of an amateur website run by a few enthusiasts.
It can be seen from Cole Needham's free collection, organization, and uploading of information about various movie stars in the "rec.arts.movies" section that this person has the mentality of an engineer and has never thought about making money through this.
.
But now the website's users and traffic are growing rapidly, and his travel notes in Hollywood have also attracted many new readers. He knows that one day, the website will inevitably embark on the road of commercialization.
However, there is a big difference in who is entrusted with commercialization. Ronald promised that he would not promote certain films based on his own likes and dislikes, or the needs of Daydream Pictures or even DDH, and would maintain the website as a
An objective and neutral perspective.
In addition, Ronald also promised to give himself and the first batch of staff scattered all over the world, as well as the original enthusiastic netizens of "rec.arts.movies" some shares, which made him think about it for a long time, and he was already leaning towards it.
Yu agreed to Ronald's conditions.
However, he is a mature engineer after all, and he knows that the current IMDb cannot be sold at a high price, so he hopes that Ronald will give him another two years to make the website to a level that his own spare time cannot support. By then Ronald will
Will be the No. 1 acquirer.
Ronald understood what the other party was thinking. In the past few days in Hollywood, Cole Needham had also read a lot of reports about Marc Andreessen and his Netscape company, and understood that he might have stumbled into a gold mine by accident.
Ronald asked a lawyer to draft a contract to solidify their verbal gentleman's agreement. Ronald would provide a portion of IMDb's operating expenses required within two years according to Cole Needham's request.
, when Cole Needham chooses to commercialize the website, Ronald will have the exclusive right to make the first quotation. And two years later, if Cole Needham still wants to maintain the independent operation of the company (the subtext is that
other investors), must return Ronald’s donation fee.
Of course, all these commercial terms are hidden in the warm friendship. Ronald still acted as a loyal fan who saw Hollywood. He was very moved by his own behavior of building an online database in his spare time, so he donated some fees.
Let this database run well.
As for the purpose of disclosure, it is to add some professional data for the convenience of people in the industry. Ronald has developed special user services for Daydream Company and several casting directors he is familiar with, so that he can directly contact the actors' agents.
Of course, Cole Needham’s biggest gain from coming to Los Angeles this time was meeting his hero, Jackie Chan from Xiangjiang. Not only did he get Jackie Chan’s autograph and photo, he also had dinner with his idol and participated in
"Red Zone" premiere in Hollywood.
In his opinion, although his idol Jackie Chan still doesn't speak English very well, his every move undoubtedly has the style of a superstar. Even the talk show interviews that Hollywood invited him to have received very high ratings.
This time I came to Los Angeles, it was really a combination of business and private. This small part-time project, and my favorite stars, have achieved their goals.
After dinner, Ronald and Jackie Chan went to chat about some personal topics.
"It seems my guess is correct, right?"
Ronald smiled and told Jackie Chan that his prediction was more accurate than his. At that time, Jackie was busy with two movies, one was The Red Zone, which was shot in America, and the other was The Human Torch, which was shot in Japan.
The investment in both is huge, and it is also an experiment by Jackie Chan to try internationalization after the rapid decline of the Hong Kong market.
His appeal in Japan is also very strong, and he has big financial sponsors like Mitsubishi Motors to support him. America also seems to have many fans, and his good brother Ronald is a big shot in Hollywood. So he is filming a movie at the same time.
, by the way, He is also raising money and releasing it in both places to see which one has greater potential.
After the premiere, the box office results on the first weekend were surprising. Although the re-edited version still has a lot of non-English dialogue according to the taste of American audiences, Jackie Chan's action comedy still makes people accustomed to Hollywood
Action movie audiences were overjoyed.
In particular, the story also takes place in the Bronx, New York, which gives the audience a sense of intimacy. Black audiences on the East Coast, especially in New York, have contributed a considerable amount to the box office. Coupled with the support of Chinese audiences across the United States, in
In this awards season, among many films with more artistic and authorial qualities, it actually stood out and scored 11 million at the box office.
This result has exceeded the total box office performance of Jackie Chan's previous film in many places, making the balance of possibilities for future development of the two movies greatly tilted towards Hollywood.
In addition, some problems during the filming process of the two movies, as well as the ability and number of professionals in the film industry in Japan and the United States, also gave Jackie Chan a better impression of Hollywood. The film industry in Japan is also different compared to the past.
has shrunk significantly, and professional staff are not as easy to find as in Hollywood.
The directors of the two movies are also divided. Stanley Tong, the director of the popular area, is obviously very popular in America. Various people, including the Hong Kong actress Anita Mui and the Canadian heroine Fran?oise Yip, have
I have a good relationship with him.
Not only does this man know how to make women happy (actresses, in particular, are a profession that requires coaxing), but he is also very good at action design. The male protagonist was exercising at a relative's house in the Bronx and had to stand on his head and "walk" with both hands.
For the action, due to Jackie Chan's past injuries, Stanley Tong also stepped in as a stand-in, and the performance was flawless.
As for Thunderbolt, which was shot in Japan, director Gordon Chan was obviously not used to such a global blockbuster. Not only did he have some conflicts with the heroine Anita Yuen, but he also fell out with the original assistant director and action director Lam Chiu-yin, and in the end Jackie Chan
I had no choice but to replace my brother Hong as the action director before the filming was completed.
Comparing the two sides, the future trend is to embrace Hollywood’s professional system and utilize the professional talents here.
Jackie Chan frequently clinked glasses with Ronald, and also praised Françoise Yip, the heroine of this popular drama. She also participated in the premiere of this movie, smiling from ear to ear, and she was much colder than the cold beauty in the movie.
He looks much more enthusiastic.
Ronald is actually quite optimistic about this actress's performance. In Hollywood and TV dramas, due to racial quotas, there are always some Asian female roles. Nowadays, most Asian actresses in Hollywood are stereotypes.
, either she looks ugly, or her personality is more like the Asian women imagined by the audience, rather than real Asian women.
Françoise Yip has such characteristics. She is not only beautiful, but also has a temperament that is different from that of local Asian women. In fact, it is not difficult to become a regular role in a TV series or a supporting role in some movies.
However, Ronald did not say this. It was obvious that Françoise Yip had the intention to follow Jackie's brother back to Hong Kong for development. Then Ronald simply didn't mention it...
Under Ronald's arrangement, Jackie Chan appeared on many talk shows. The biggest one was David Letterman on The Tonight Show. Of course, Jackie Chan's English was not good, and the translation on the talk show was not appropriate.
.It once became an obstacle to being on the show.
But Jackie Chan is very confident. Even if he doesn't speak English, he is still a star-like person. He told Ronald that his actions are the language of the world.
Sure enough, after Ronald made the call, the host of the most-watched evening talk show agreed to the plan.
During Letterman's show, Jackie Chan smashed a glass filled with water on the table with his bare hands. Then he jumped on his table and used his kicks to sweep away the wine bottle Letterman had placed on the table.
Became fragments.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The audience at the scene screamed and cheered. America did not seem to have this kind of street performer, using skills to kick broken glass bottles, or use his chest to break big balls
Stones, the tradition of bending spears with the throat, etc.
In the eyes of these spectators, even if they punch a glass, they may just hit it to the ground and break it. In this way, within a short distance, one punch will shatter into pieces on the table. With this kind of skill, they
But I haven't seen it.
Not only did the audience enjoy it, but the ratings also showed that this may be the top ten rated program since Letterman's CBS Tonight Show started airing.
For a time, the movie "Red Zone" was also brought about by Jackie Chan's fame and received a lot of free publicity. In the second week, theaters also increased the schedule of this movie, and it is expected to exceed the box office of 10 million for the second consecutive week.
“We granted Jackie Chan from Hong Kong full membership of the American Stuntmen Association and awarded him the title of Honorary Ambassador”
During Jackie Chan's time in Los Angeles, Ronald also arranged a ceremony to make him an official member of Hollywood's Stunt Guild.
Stuntmen are a small group, so small that they themselves do not have a formal union code, so they can only join the Screen Actors Guild like other actors.
But stunt people are completely different from ordinary actors. The requirements for acting skills, casting qualifications, and the salary and wages they receive are not the same system.
Therefore, the stunt actors still established an organization called the Stunt Actors Association. This organization does not have the legal status of a labor union, so it has no coercive power. It can unite to strike and negotiate with the producers.
The main purpose of the Stunt Association is to promote film stunt techniques, safety, personnel training, etc. It also organizes training programs to teach some of the latest special effects action techniques in movies.
Such an association is better for public relations, and granted Jackie Chan an overseas membership, plus a special honorary title. This is also a bit of their selfishness. Jackie Chan's Hong Kong-style stunts are much more advanced than those in Hollywood. Many
Association members who also want to learn some tricks can tell the director that they can imitate Jackie Chan's moves and earn more money.
However, Jackie Chan just laughed at this request. Their director in Xiangjiang did not care about so many safe work procedures. As soon as the action director explained the action of jumping from the roof, the dragon and tiger martial arts masters had to grit their teeth and do it, even if they knew
This action may cause fractures, but it will be done bravely.
And for such a job, if you come to Hollywood, if you don't say anything else, you will definitely be sued by the stuntman. If you let them do such an action even though they know there are risks, they will definitely pay a large sum of money if they lose the lawsuit.