On the plane back to Los Angeles, Ronald and the two producers had a seat in business class. The lunch here was much better than in economy class, and there was even steak and red wine on the menu.
Ronald, who was full of wine and food, saw that it would be some time before he arrived in Los Angeles, so he picked up the "Times" exclusively for business class and read it.
"Lady Margaret's Fall", the title of this in-depth report is very interesting. It tells the story of the British Prime Minister who fell in China.
"After the meeting, Mrs. Margaret walked out of the door lonely, with a solemn face. She stepped down the stone steps of the north door of the General Assembly Hall, raised her eyes and saw the reporter on the lower right, suddenly smiled, turned her head and signaled to the reporter, trying her best To make yourself appear calm.
As she continued walking down, her high heels tripped against the stone steps, causing her body to lose balance and fall to the ground. Her leather shoes and handbag were also thrown aside. Fortunately, she had reached level ground and the fall was not heavy.
The Prime Minister has encountered many major incidents since taking office this year. During the Paris-Dakar Rally at the beginning of the year, her son disappeared during the race. The Prime Minister used the British armed forces to search and found her unharmed and drunk son.
She used public weapons to do personal things, and faced a vote of no confidence due to poor approval ratings. She won the support of the people with her extremely tough performance in Argentina's Falkland Islands War, but she unexpectedly encountered a "wrestle" here.
There's no denying that the Iron Lady was in a bad mood after the two-and-a-half-hour interview, even if her fall was purely accidental.
A few days later, Britain and China signed a joint declaration to return sovereignty on July 1, 1997..."
"Well, it seems that the Chinese are still quite capable, better than that South American football powerhouse." Ronald closed the magazine and the plane was about to land.
Arriving at the airport arrival hall, Ronald said goodbye to the two producers. Don Simpson still looked confident, and the filming process gave him a lot of confidence.
Jerry Bruckheimer, who didn't know much about movies, was a little worried. Paramount was planning to sell half of the distribution rights to "Flashdance" to PolyGram, which was a sign that it was not optimistic about the future of the movie.
"Goodbye, Ronald." The two said goodbye to Ronald.
Unexpectedly, this farewell would soon come true. The next day, Don Simpson called Ronald. Paramount President Eisner wanted to summon Ronald again and asked him some questions about the filming of "Flashdance" things.
Ronald stood waiting outside the door of Paramount's president's office. This time the secretary came quickly, "Ronald, Mr. Eisner is waiting for you."
He was led into Eisner's office by his secretary.
"Give Ronald and I some time, please go out first." Eisner politely asked Don and Jerry to leave the office first. He wanted to have a private chat with Ronald to understand the shooting situation.
"Ronald, how was the movie?"
Ronald glanced at Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer who were walking out, nodded and said hello to them, thinking that he might not be the one you brought to Eisner for questioning.
"Judging from the samples I've seen, the director's level is extraordinary, and the singing and dancing parts are shot at a very high level. It will be a musical film of the new era.
Mr. Eisner, I'm not talking about the old-fashioned musicals like 'Grease', which are full of the texture of this Broadway musical, and the characters dance inexplicably. 'Flashdance' will be a new type of musical, with all the dance scenes.
It happens in real life and blends perfectly with the plot.
Moreover, the quality of the dance is great, and teenagers will like the energetic and fast-paced dance.”
"It seems like you like Director Lane's filming very much?" Eisner asked Ronald as he sat behind his desk, seemingly thinking about something.
"I do."
"The dance scene was the highlight, huh?" Eisner continued.
"Yes, the plot is actually a bit cliché, and director Adrian Lyne understands it very well, but the dance scenes are really eye-catching."
"Okay, Ronald, I trust your judgment. Please go out first. I want to talk to Don and the others about the publishing contract." Eisner pressed the secretary's intercom, "Please let Don and Jerry in.
.”
Ronald walked toward the door. When he was almost at the door, he turned around and suddenly asked, "Mr. Eisner, that 'Footloose' movie?"
Eisner raised his head suddenly and said, "Oh, that movie has been handed over to a new vice president who will take office soon. She will contact you."
Ronald was waiting at the door, and sure enough, not long after, Don Simpson whistled and walked out of Eisner's office with Jerry Bruckheimer.
"He agreed and only sold 25% of the distribution rights to PolyGram's Guber. This was less than the original 50%, which shows that Eisner was more optimistic about the box office of this movie than originally
prospect.
"Hey, you called me here just to endorse you in front of Eisner? You bastard." Ronald laughed and cursed at Don Simpson.
"Isn't this a good deal? You can gain a little trust in front of Eisner. Although he is quite cruel, he is good to directors with artistic creativity. Maybe he will invest in your new script." Don Simpson
He hugged Ronald and whispered in his ear.
"You owe me once, Don." Ronald wouldn't let him run away with just one word.
"Of course, of course... I know you are financing your movie, but as you see, this is my and Jerry's first movie. If it is released successfully next year, we will have the opportunity to help you produce it."
"That's pretty much it."
"Ronald, Don also had no choice. We don't have any strong resources. This movie is actually the pet project of a female vice president at Paramount. She recently resigned, and we only obtained the production rights."
After Jerry Bruckheimer and the other three people got out of the earshot of the president's secretary, they explained to Ronald again.
The so-called "pet project" refers to a project that a certain senior executive of a major studio is particularly optimistic about, and will start filming regardless of the opposition of others, and devote a lot of resources to it.
Just like Universal's Shenberg treats Spielberg's projects, this female vice president who has resigned from Paramount also likes the script of "Flashdance" and did a lot in the early stage to promote the start of filming of the project.
"Why?" Ronald didn't understand. Sheinberg had confidence in his old partner Spielberg, but the directors of "Flashdance" have changed several times. It's hard to say why the vice president likes it so much.
.
"Because this represents the liberation of women." Don Simpson put away his nonchalant smile and said to Ronald seriously, "She is a fool, she thinks this movie represents women's liberation. This is obviously a
A movie for a male audience."
It turned out that the female vice president who had resigned had taken a fancy to some details in the script.
Alex doesn’t rely entirely on men, but has her own efforts and dignity. After she found Nick and his ex-wife getting into a car together, she picked up a stone and broke the glass in Nick’s house.
It wasn't until Nick apologized to her that she turned her anger into happiness and reconciled with Nick. In the extremely unequal relationship between the welder and the company boss, she still insisted on one-on-one equality between men and women, and never considered herself to be just one of Nick's lovers.
one of the.
The boss, Nick, first met Alex because Alex’s direct superior wanted to get more workers’ social security benefits from Nick, so he introduced her to Nick as a plaything.
"These women are all emotional animals. They don't understand what the audience likes to watch. When they see a feminist plot, they can't wait to jump in. But that's fine, otherwise it won't be our turn to get the production rights of this movie.
.”
"We can't be so arbitrary. Isn't the president of Twentieth Century Fox held by a woman? I remember her name is Sherry Lansing." Ronald looked at Tang's disdain for female studio executives and deliberately
A counterexample is presented.
"Are you talking about Jerry Lansing? Hahahaha..." Don Simpson laughed wildly, attracting the attention of everyone waiting for Eisner's summons outside.
"Shirley, not Jerry." Ronald didn't know why.
"Hahaha, you don't know the story here." Jerry Bruckheimer pulled Ronald aside and told him a joke spread in the industry.
After Shirley Lansing retired from her career as an actress, she worked with others in the first few years and served as the producer of two blockbuster movies, "The Chinese Syndrome" and "The Kramers." These two movies were not only box-office hits
It was a big seller and received rave reviews.
Twentieth Century Fox, which was in financial trouble at the time, believed that Lansing had a vision for movies and the ability to ensure the success of the film. Two consecutive Oscar-level successful movies made the boss at the time think that Lansing had a unique magic power.
She was appointed president of production at the company, the first time in the history of a major studio to appoint a female president.
But the good times didn't last long. After Lansing became president, she never regained her magic and lost a lot of movies. Only "Lights Out" with former Best Supporting Actor Timothy Hutton was a small box office success.
success.
At the beginning of this year, the financial situation of Twentieth Century Fox was very bleak, so oil tycoon Marvin Davis took the opportunity to acquire a lot of shares and took over Twentieth Century Fox, becoming the new owner of Twentieth Century Fox.
When he summoned President Shirley Lansing on the first day, he saw Lansing walking into the office and the first thing he said to her was, "I don't want coffee, thank you."
Lansing explained to Marvin Davis that she was the Shirley Lansing she was looking for, not his secretary.
Marvin blurted out his famous reply, "I think there's some misunderstanding here. What I'm looking for is Jerry Lasing, the president of the company."
He refused to believe that the president of the seven major studios was a woman. Or maybe he just pretended not to believe it and gave Shirley Lansing a blow.
In short, this matter spread quickly, and it was rumored in the film industry that Shirley Lansing would resign in anger, but she has not made any move yet.
"Hahaha..." Ronald couldn't help laughing after hearing this. He immediately stopped laughing and told a joke about the president of Twentieth Century Fox in Paramount's office. It was not very appropriate.
"See you later, Ronald. You don't like Hollywood-style parties. Next time, I invite you to go to a more formal drinking party." Don Simpson winked at him, and the two of them were eager to prepare to sell part of the distribution rights.
contract.
"See you later," Ronald waved to them.
"Ronald, I heard them all call you Ronald. I am..." A tall and thin man came over, wearing a pair of huge black-rimmed glasses, and introduced himself to Ronald.
"No, Mr. Bogdanovich. You don't need an introduction in the film industry." Ronald recognized the person who was the boyfriend of the previously murdered supermodel Dorothy Stratten, the famous director Peter.
Bogdanovich.
"I really like 'Paper Moon' directed by you. It's such a fascinating movie."
"Hahaha", Peter Bogdanovich also laughed, being admired by his younger generation whose debut film was a hit, made him feel happy, "My new work 'They All Laughed' has also been released, I think it is better than 'Paper'
The Moon is even better, have you watched it?"
"I haven't watched it yet. Maybe it's because I was busy with other crews a while ago and didn't see your new work."
"It doesn't matter. This is a problem with the distributor. This movie is only shown in a few places. I came here today to re-distribute this movie. I'm very happy to see you today. Why don't we go find a restaurant to have some lunch?
, want to chat by the way?"
Peter Bogdanovich was very enthusiastic and directly invited Ronald to have dinner with him.
Ronald had no interest or deep friendship with this director. He also played a less honorable role in Stratten's murder. He knew that Stratten had a husband and openly lived with her, and he did not help Stratten.
Latten secured her divorce from her husband, who eventually killed her.
"It's not just me, there is also a guest. He is also a young genius like you. He debuted at the age of 24 and has already shot a masterpiece that shocked Hollywood." Bogdanovich saw that Ronald was trying to evade, and he quickly
He added more information, named the other invited guests, and persuaded Ronald to go and get to know each other.
"Oh, who is it?"
"Orson Welles." Bogdanovich pushed up his glasses. This Ronald was still young, but he casually walked in and out of Eisner's office, hoping to re-release the movie "They All Laughed".