In the evening, Ronald came to Weintraub's mansion in Beverly Hills. When he entered, Weintraub happened to be on the phone in the study room upstairs. Ronald was chatting with his wife, the famous singer Jane Morgan.
A few words.
"I heard that you borrowed Debbie's dance studio?" Jane Morgan already had many wrinkles on her face, but she was very amiable when she spoke.
"Ms. Debbie Reynolds? Yes, I borrowed her dance studio for rehearsals. I especially liked her couch dance in 'Singin' in the Rain'."
"Oh, that was Debbie's debut. She couldn't dance before."
"Then she is really talented. She danced so well for the first time in front of the camera. It's a pity that she doesn't act in many movies now."
"It's also because she had a good teacher, Gene Kelly. Since she divorced Eddie Fisher, her acting career has turned to the television screen."
Morgan was talking about a past incident of Debbie Reynolds, when she and Elizabeth Taylor were best friends. Taylor's husband died in a plane crash, and Debbie sent her husband Eddie Fisher to comfort Taylor while she was busy
Handle Taylor's funeral.
Unexpectedly, Eddie Fisher put Elizabeth Taylor to bed.
"A terrible betrayal, isn't it?" Jane Morgan seemed to read Ronald's thoughts, "If you ask me, Debbie should not file for divorce. Don't let anyone else take your husband away."
"Honey, what divorce?" Weintraub came down from upstairs.
"Let's talk about the old stories of your old friend Debbie Reynolds." Jane Morgan and Ronald nodded and went about their business.
"Mr. Weintraub..."
Ronald reported some progress to Weintraub. The actor's training and scenery went very smoothly.
"Very good, everything is progressing according to schedule. Is there anything else you need me to solve? You can talk to Susan at any time, or call me."
"I have a problem, and only you can help me," Ronald said, looking at Weintraub.
"what is the problem?"
"Who is my backup? When are you going to decide who will be the director?" Ronald asked straight to the point.
Weintraub kept his mouth open, but he didn't expect that the news would be leaked. He was also a big business man, and he quickly returned to normal.
Weintraub stood up and got two glasses, "Whisky?"
"No ice."
"Okay." Weintraub poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Ronald. The two took a sip in silence.
"I did find a director to consult on all aspects of the film's progress. He is just my consultant now, and I have no intention of letting him replace you immediately. It's just that I have no experience in production before, so I have to do a lot of things.
I need to find someone in the industry to ask."
Weintraub was open and honest, admitting that he did find a director for "consulting" work.
"I understand your difficulties, but I also hope you can understand me. What I am doing now is the preparatory work for the movie. If you can't give me a guarantee, someone who may lose his job at any time cannot be 100% committed.
.
Besides, this is my own screenplay and the first medium-sized investment film I directed. I handled ‘Longwei Boy’ with 120% investment.”
Ronald looked at Weintraub, then took a sip of wine.
"Even for this film project, if you change the director now or after filming starts, it will cause a lot of confusion. I don't want my script to be shot in a way that lowers its quality because of such an accident.
So now, you choose one, me or him. I don’t want to go into the shooting with this kind of doubt."
Ronald was like a gambler, showing his hand to Weintraub. It was either Ronald or a spare tire, me without him, him without me. Not for Weintraub.
Space, jumping back and forth between two people, using one person's words to force the other.
"Of course it's you, Ronald." Weintraub pondered for a second and decisively chose Ronald.
In any case, Ronald wrote an idea from scratch into a script, and recommended Noriyuki Morita, who was very suitable. He also did a decent job in karate training for the actors. He had no reason to pay for the spare part.
words, and gave up on Ronald's achievements through hard work.
"Okay, congratulations again on our agreement," Ronald and Weintraub shook hands.
He drank the rest of the whiskey in one gulp and said, "Jerry, to be honest, why are you so worried about my directorial ability that you want to find another 'consultant'?" Ronald wanted to know some of Weintraub's thoughts.
"First of all, like I said, I'm not worried about you, you will always be my first choice. I just don't understand movies, so I have to find an unbiased third-party opinion."
"What about other than that? Do you have any other concerns?" Ronald knew that the first reason given by others was probably false.
"I have no doubts about your directorial ability, but your first two movies were all based on action, plot, pictures, and pop songs. This movie doesn't have those R-rated hot scenes, it all relies on performances and actors.
The interaction between them brought out true feelings and moved the audience."
Ronald knew that this was the idea of the so-called "consultant" again. Weintraub was beguiled by him and thought that he had no experience in handling such a movie that relies on acting to win.
"Yes, this movie that is going to be made into a PG movie is different from my previous two movies, but I have a way around it." Ronald stood up and added a little whiskey to himself and Weintraub.
"I plan to have a closed rehearsal two weeks before the shooting starts. Let all the main actors rehearse all the plots of the movie from beginning to end. And I can shoot them all with Sony's betacam camera.
In this way, every night, we can know where there is room for improvement in the performance, and make corrections during the official filming."
Weintraub listened carefully.
"I have another way. If you are still worried about the actor's performance, we can shoot in sequence. In this way, all the shots will be shot according to the rough order of the script. The actors will be fully aware of the part they are about to perform, their emotions and the proportion of their performance.
A better understanding will be much better than shooting out of order.
It's just that this will increase the time for shooting lighting and setting up, which is detrimental to the cost of shooting. I may not have experience in directing plot-based movies, but I have been his director throughout the whole process of Coppola's crew.
Assistant, I am fully prepared for the performance."
Ronald integrated his experience in shooting the first two movies with the experience learned on Coppola's crew and proposed a new plan.
Sure enough, Weintraub was convinced, "How much more will it cost if we shoot sequentially?"
"This drama is mostly indoor scenes, and the scenes are concentrated in a limited five or six places, so sequential shooting will not increase the cost a lot. I expect it to increase by up to 10%."
"Well, I still have a reserve of fifty to one million, just as you said."
Weintraub raised his glass and said, "Cheers!" and then the two drank it down.
After receiving Weintraub's promise, Ronald still felt a little uneasy. Weintraub was not a person who was easily influenced by others, and every time he met with Gao Qian, he would have new ideas.
So, it goes without saying that the spare tire has either a relatively high reputation or a relatively deep qualification in the film industry.
Ronald was not a person who refused to fix loopholes when he saw them. He also made several preparations to deal with this threat. First, let Daryl Vidal and Noriyuki Morita, those partners who were most closely tied to his interests, let him
They continued to pay attention to the crew's troubles.
Then there is Weintraub’s key spokesperson on the set, Susan Akins. Ronald takes her with him every time he does things, and he respects her very much. He asks for advice on everything, and he also teaches many people in the industry.
knowledge to her.
He won Susan on his side, so that even if Weintraub made another move, he would have a good cushion.
Soon the weekend came again, and Ronald finished his work and went home to rest.
"Ronnie, is that you? I'm at home." Donna was making sandwiches in the kitchen.
She had just completed a university visit, and compared to the free-spirited West Coast universities, she still preferred schools on the East Coast. Only California Institute of Technology was of interest to her, but the school had too few enrollments, so even if she applied, she might not be admitted.
"Ronnie, are you free tomorrow?"
"What?" Ronald ate Donna's sandwich, which he inherited from Aunt Karen's cooking. He liked it very much.
"Tomorrow Diane Lane is going to Johnny Carson's Tonight Talk Show. I promised her to be a live audience member. Can you go with me?"
"Why? Don't you know how to drive?"
"I have never been on TV, and I want to find someone who is an expert. Besides, you are so busy, you should find some time to relax. Oh... why don't you go with me?" Donna stood behind Ronald and squeezed his shoulders.
"Okay, I'll go, just in time to meet Diane and old friends."
That night, Ronald drove and went to the NBC studios in Burbank with Donna. Johnny Carson's talk show was in prime time in the evening, and his studio was also the best one.
Ronald accompanied Donna to find a seat and sat down, then sneaked out on his own. The Late Show with David Letterman was in a small shed next to it, and he was also preparing for it. This program will be broadcast after the Tonight Show,
The guests Letterman invited were obviously on a lower level than Carson's.
"Hi, David." Ronald stepped forward to greet Letterman.
"Hi, Ronnie." David Letterman was also very happy to see it was Ronald. The last time Brooke Shields and Sean Penn went on the show to promote it, they set a ratings record for the Late Show. No guest can do it now.
break.
"When can you let me play a role in your movie?" Letterman chatted with Ronald and asked half-jokingly.
"You are welcome at any time, I will always leave a role for you." Ronald knew that the late show had greatly boosted the box office of "Fast Pace", and he wanted to get free publicity.
Letterman laughed at himself, "It's a pity that my agent won't let me do this, and I can't do that."
"Or you can change the format and let my crew put the movie on your talk show?"
"you mean?"
Ronald proposed that the protagonist of his movie come up and re-enact the scenes in the movie with Letterman in the studio, and let Letterman play the role opposite the actor.
"I think this is a good idea. I have to discuss it with my team." David Letterman thought about it seriously and said that he would think about it carefully and contact Ronald if he had an idea.
"Come on, it's about to start." Donna saw Ronald walking into Johnny Carson's studio again and quickly pulled him to sit down. Carson's show is very difficult to watch, and a young person like Diane Lane
Girl, it only lasted three minutes, and Donna was afraid that he would miss it.
The on-site director gestured for everyone to be quiet, and a burst of theme music called "Johnny Carson" played.
Johnny Carson, who was sitting in the host's seat above, said, "Let's welcome our next guest...Diane Ladd."
"Huh?" Ronald glanced at Carson. Then he heard Donna whisper in his ear, "Did you call him by the wrong name?"
Diane Lane wore a strapless black dress and walked onto the stage from the side.
Ronald looked at the way the girl was walking and thought, "That's bad."
Diane was called by the wrong name by Johnny Carson, Ladd was not Lane.
Diane Ladd is the name of her good friend Laura Dern's mother, who is also a famous actress. Maybe Johnny Carson didn't do his homework well, maybe he slipped up and called out an older person.
The name of an actress worthy of being Diane Lane's mother.
Diane was obviously very nervous, and she looked completely different from the carefree and free-spirited person she looked like when she was performing on the set of "Streets of Rage". She walked up to the stage numbly and kissed an older guest on the other side of the seat.
, and then sat down on the sofa, across the table from Carson.
"Diane, why did you kiss him and not me?" Johnny Carson still used his usual funny opening. When female guests came to his talk show, they would inevitably be teased by him.
Diane burst into awkward laughter, nervously pulled the hem of her skirt, and then covered her mouth.
"It's bad." Donna also saw Diane's nervousness. She knew that her best friend would cover her mouth when she was nervous. After all, she was an 18-year-old girl who was on the most watched talk show in the United States.
Show, and was called by the wrong name by Carson.
"Well, there's no reason." Diane was thinking about words on the spot, "Maybe... haha..." She became nervous again.
Carson did not continue, but looked at Diane, waiting for her answer.
"Maybe I find him more attractive." Diane finally thought of it.
"Ah, you must think he is older and more attractive like your grandfather. And between us, there is a sexual attraction. Hmm?"
Johnny Carson didn't seem to realize that he called him the wrong name. He felt that Diane had lost face by saying that, and he immediately started to make amends.
"Hehehehe... maybe so." Diane obviously didn't know how to deal with this old gangster, and she burst out into an awkward laugh again. She thought of the guests on the other side again, and felt that it was inappropriate to say this, so she turned around and said to him
He apologized, "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way."
Ronald felt that Diane was about to collapse and Carson was very unfriendly to her.
"I see you are wearing a ring. Is it an engagement ring?"
"No, this is my high school graduation ring."
"I heard that you received a graduation ring on the set? Then you didn't attend the graduation party? The male classmates will be disappointed."
"I am the leader of the crew myself. They knew that I was busy filming and I also completed the course through correspondence, so they sent it to me specially." Diane showed off his ring.
"Your movie is called 'Fighting Fish', can you tell me what's going on..." Carson brought the topic to the upcoming movie.
"Oh...that's a fighting fish."
"Betta, a fighting fish. Very good explanation." Carson completely led the rhythm, and then talked about "Streets of Rage" and Diane's next film with Coppola... This is in advance
The content of the agreed provisions.
Soon the three minutes ended and Diane stepped off the stage from the other side.
Ronald and Donna immediately went to comfort her.
"I...I...he said my name wrong. I'm so nervous."
Diane buried her head on Ronald's chest, and Donna held her hand to comfort her.
Ronald touched Diane's hair and said, "It doesn't matter, the TV station will probably re-record it."
"Can you re-record?" Diane raised her head and looked at Ronald. This man always appeared at the most critical moment.
"I don't know either, but I have a friend who can help you ask." Ronald looked at Diane's face with makeup, and tears blurred her eyeliner. At this time, Diane was serious about Ronald, and she changed again.
She became the little sister who had to protect herself at the Oscar ceremony.
Carson disappeared after recording the show, so Ronald had to take Diane to a nearby studio to find David Letterman to get information.
"I'm sorry, Diane, Ronald. Under normal circumstances, Carson will not re-record. He will probably re-record his own introduction to you, but he rarely re-records the following programs."
David Letterman once worked as a writer for Carson and knew the character of his former boss very well.
"Okay, I'm too nervous. I don't know what to do on stage. My mind goes blank, and I just have one thought in my mind: Let's end it quickly. Maybe I don't want to mispronounce the name, so it will be better."
Diane was very sad that the talk show opportunity she finally got was wasted.
"Diane, are you free to come on my show? Although the ratings are not as high as Carson's, there are still a lot of viewers."
"Huh? Is that okay?" Diane Lane's sad face immediately disappeared, and she laughed happily.