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Chapter 144 New York Film Circle

Ronald still underestimated the number of people Shirley MacLean offended. After she became the actress, every time she gave an interview or attended a party, she kept talking about her past life and aliens and UFOs. She soon had no friends.

Already.

It seems that the Oscar curse will not let a victim go just because of an unprecedentedly confident acceptance speech.

"Ronald, you promised me that you must come." MacLean's 50th birthday party couldn't be deserted without people from the circle to support her. She called Ronald and asked him to come.

."

"I will," Ronald is preparing for the post-release marketing tour of "Break Dance". Minahan contacted movie theaters and disco nightclubs in major cities across the country, and scheduled the three leading actors to perform break dance throughout the movie to promote the movie.

Ronald only needs to attend meetings in several major cities such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago. Then he will inevitably have to dance a few times.

"Where is your party?"

"At the Spotlight Club in New York."

"Huh?" Ronald didn't expect that Shirley MacLean's "fame" would make her avoid Hollywood and go to New York to hold a party in order to find enough celebrities to attend.

Well, even if he goes home to meet his aunt, Ronald also wants to meet people in the film industry there.

The day before MacLean's birthday, Ronald flew back to New York and had a happy dinner with his aunt and Donna.

Donna finally applied to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), choosing this university with a strong engineering atmosphere. Although the admission rate here is higher than Harvard and Yale, the average SAT scores of students are better.

Ronald promised Donna that he would send her to MIT for the fall semester.

On the second night, Ronald put on his handmade suit and went to the Limelight Club on Sixth Avenue. It just opened at the end of last year and was originally a church that was transformed into a nightclub.

As a nightclub focusing on disco and rock music, combined with the interior of the church, it has an indescribable strange feeling.

Ronald found that he didn’t know much about the people in the film industry here. Although he studied at New York University Tisch College, he didn’t have much contact with the so-called New York film industry. Most of the filmmakers here like to shoot

An art film with a lower budget than Ronald's exploitation films.

Most of the time, they spend several thousand dollars and go on camera with a 16mm camera. Of course, they don't care much about the box office, but they care more about winning one or two awards at some film festival.

"Ronald," Shirley MacLean stood up in person to welcome Ronald to celebrate her fiftieth birthday.

"Happy birthday to you, Shirley," Ronald kissed the actress.

"Let me introduce you to people in the New York film circle." Shirley MacLean was very grateful to Ronald for coming.

"This is Robert Downey Jr.," Shirley first introduced a director with a beard. "He is about to shoot his first Hollywood film, which is funded by MGM/United Arts."

"Oh, Downey Jr. is your son-in-law, right? I met him in Hollywood." Ronald remembered that there was also Robert Downey Jr. who auditioned for "The Kid".

"That's my son." Old Downey was still very proud of his talented actor son.

"This is Andrei from the Soviet Union." The second guest introduced by MacLean was Andrei Konchalovsky, a film director who defected from the Union.

"Nice to meet you!" Ronald knew this name. He had done a lot of work as a screenwriter for Tarkovsky. He was also a director and had made the movie "Uncle Vanya" adapted from Chekhov's famous work.

"Hello, I heard from Shirley that you are also a director?" Konchalovsky is a tall man with good English and a slight Russian accent.

"Yes, I make Hollywood exploitation films."

"Andre," Shirley MacLean secretly told Konchalovsky about Ronald's background, a blockbuster director who was about to take off.

"Ha, I came to America just to make the movie I want to make. You know, there are always various restrictions there..." Konchalowski immediately started chatting with Ronald enthusiastically.

"Are you filming in Hollywood now?" Ronald asked.

"I have now made my first feature film in America, but no distributor is willing to release it yet."

"What kind of movie is it?" Ronald felt a little strange. For such a successful and famous director, someone would definitely be interested when he comes here.

"Maria's Lovers", Konchalovsky replied, starring Natasha Kinski.

"Oh," Ronald nodded. Kinski is indeed an actor that European directors love to use. After Coppola's "Old Love, New Love" completely failed at the box office, she is probably not doing well in America and can't get accepted.

A script for a major mainstream production.

"Natasha, Natasha!" Konchalovsky turned and shouted to the other side, "come and meet the young Cossacks of Hollywood."

Konchalovsky was spotted in this film by Kinski when she had dinner with her, and she tried her best to persuade Konchalovsky to make it first. She was willing to cut her salary to play the heroine Maria.

"Hi, Natasha," Ronald smiled, hugged Natasha Kinski, and replied to Konchalovsky in her surprised eyes, "We have known each other for a long time."

"That's great. Natasha is also the promoter of this movie. We can just talk to him about whether it can be distributed in America."

"You...can control the distribution channels now?" Natasha Kinski looked at Ronald. The boy who took audition photos for himself back then has now climbed to the upper echelons of Hollywood. Even Konchalov

Sky was trying to please him to sell the film.

"Misunderstanding, I'm just a director who makes exploitation films." Ronald was modest. Distributing a movie was not something he could handle. At most, he could talk to Minahan and let him see if it was worth releasing.

.

"Can I exchange a business card with you? I asked a friend to invest part of this movie. It is a good movie that reflects the devastation of war on human nature and love. Ivan came back from the battlefield of World War II and suffered from mental trauma.

, marries his lover Maria, but cannot be humane...

...In the end, Ivan killed Clarence, who was having an affair with Maria, and adopted Maria's illegitimate son. In the end, love defeated the trauma of the war, and the two were able to live together again."

"No problem", Ronald and Natasha Kinski exchanged business cards. Kinski's friend invested a lot of money, but now no publisher is willing to publish it, and she is a little panicked.

But do these people start filming without finding distribution channels in advance? The ideas of these Europeans are really different from Hollywood. And the plot of this movie... um... only Europeans will like it, right?

.

"Well, I will be in Los Angeles next month, and we will meet and chat then." Natasha Kinski looked at Ronald again and again. How could he have changed so much in less than two years?

Ronald looked around again. Many people in the New York film industry are very good at saying that if they catch him, they will chat with him regardless of his identity. But they can't get much money. The film industry is not big in New York, and there are many low-level directors.

Both actors and actresses lack opportunities.

"Dang-dang-dang-dang..." A bell rang, a big cake was pushed out, Shirley MacLean gave a brief speech to everyone, and she blew out the candles as everyone sang happy birthday to you.

"Congratulations!" Ronald stepped forward and kissed Shirley goodbye.

"Don't go, why is there no girl you like here? I think you and Natasha are having a good conversation."

"We are old acquaintances. I have taken audition photos for her before." Ronald smiled.

"That's just right. She doesn't have a big Hollywood star now, so she's out." Shirley MacLean hinted, "Do you have any plans for your next movie? I think you two may have been destined in a previous life."

"Not yet. I have two movies coming out this summer, so it all depends on the outcome."

"Ha, don't you like European beauties? Come, let me introduce you to an American beauty."

Shirley MacLean pulled Ronald to prevent him from leaving early, and I will introduce you to another beauty, "This is another heroine of Coppola, dangdang... the new era Grace Kelly,

Diane Lane.”

"Why are you here?" Ronald looked at Diane's big eyes and was stunned.

"I came here with Bert. Thank you, Ms. McLean. Ronald and I are old acquaintances, and his sister is a good friend of mine."

"Ah ha ha ha...Then I won't disturb you." Shirley went to greet other guests.

"Are you not happy?" Ronald saw Diane wearing a blue shirt and black skirt. She looked mature and beautiful. However, the makeup still had some residue of the Cotton Club style, which made her look a bit classical.

Diane had actually seen Ronald a long time ago, but she had been with her father Bert. Now that Bert went to drink and chat with other people, she came over.

"Nothing," Diane flipped her hair.

"Tell me, what happened?" Ronald thought that something was wrong with her, so he pulled Diane aside and questioned her carefully.

It turns out that Diane's movie "Streets of Rage" has been postponed again. "Cotton Club", which has just been filmed, has come under great pressure. Even Orion Pictures was forced to issue a statement, saying that even if "Cotton Club" had a box office

Failure will not affect the company's cash flow.

Although there is still a chance before the movie is released, the producers and distributors are talking like this, which obviously means they are not optimistic about Coppola's finished film.

Ronald mentally pulled his fingers, "Betta", "Rage on the Streets", and "Cotton Club". Diane was obviously afraid that like Natasha Kinski, she would strike out and be abandoned by the mainstream of Hollywood.

"It's okay, I think your anger looks great in street photos." Ronald comforted her quickly and touched Diane's head.

"You just don't like the Cotton Club", Diane heard the implication. It seemed that Ronnie still liked his appearance in "Streets of Rage". He raised his hand and hit Ronald twice.

"But Streets of Rage haven't been cut yet." Diane was troubled again.

"Ah? It's been packed for almost a year, right?" Ronald was surprised. The filming of "Streets of Rage" was almost completed at this time last year, and the subsequent scenes were just a set of reshoots. How come it hasn't been edited yet?

"I heard that the story couldn't be connected. They tried many ways but couldn't cut it into a complete story."

"Don't worry, you won't be asked to act. I think you are a very good actor." Ronald suddenly felt that Diane was so miserable. Her father Bert's idea of ​​​​selecting films was still too old.

Quasi-directors and producers don't seem to be very useful now.

"I'm not worried. In the worst case, I will quit the film industry. Anyway, over the years, I have earned more than two million, and Bert has helped me keep it in my bank account. It doesn't matter if I don't work in the future."

"Don't say that, you are born to be an actress, the new generation of Grace Kelly. If you don't act, the American film industry will suffer great losses." Ronald heard this again from a girl who wanted to quit the film industry.

Give the other person encouragement right away.

Unlike Brooke Shields, Diane has really developed her extraordinary acting skills since childhood. If she doesn't act in movies, it would be a big loss.

"Diane", Burt came over from the side with a blushing face. He asked his daughter to go home with him.

"Burt," Ronald hugged him, "Are you okay? I'll take you back."

"Okay, thank you", Bert agreed, he drank a little too much.

When he arrived at home, Bert asked his daughter to go in first. During this time, Diane returned to her old self, living with him.

"Ronald, I made a mistake. I didn't listen to you and asked Diane to play Tom Cruise's 'It's Crazy'. Now there's something wrong with several of the movies I picked. Hey, maybe it's me.

She is old and cannot keep up with the times. From now on, Diane will make her own decision about film selection.

If you have any chance in the future, please don't forget her.

vomit……"

Ronald quickly patted Burt on the back to make him feel better when he vomited.

"Don't worry, Diane's acting skills have been cultivated very well by you. I will take care of her when I have the right opportunity."


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