"Baryshnikov is always so cold towards everyone. I don't think he is targeting you because of this matter." Niceta advised Ronald to calm down.
"I don't think so, otherwise why would he want me to watch his movie and learn some of his bullshit performances?" Ronald said angrily.
"The key is whether the producers still have their original views on Ronald's creativity," Paula Wagner said.
"Let's get started..." Seeing that the persuasion was ineffective, Niceta asked the public relations manager Paula hired to start her proposal. A confidentiality agreement had been signed in advance, and it was Paula's old relationship, so she could safely discuss Ronald's predicament.
.
"Thank you, the situation we are facing now is..." the PR consultant began as usual.
"Ring ring ring ring".
"Your phone", Richard answered the phone and handed the phone to Ronald.
"Ronald, I don't know about this."
It was John G. Avelson, the director of "Rocky", who called to clarify to Ronald. This was all Stallone's personal decision. He didn't know about it before, otherwise he would have stopped him.
"It's okay. I know it has nothing to do with you. Sly and I have a bit of history."
"You have to be careful. If a director encounters such rumors, the producer may question his creative ability."
"I understand, I will handle it, thank you for calling."
Ronald hung up the phone.
"Please continue..." He raised his hand and apologized for interrupting the public relations expert.
The woman in front of me dressed as a white-collar worker is the chief public relations expert of a small public relations workshop in Hollywood, Eva.
The public relations industry mainly relies on personal abilities and relationships. Therefore, it is generally based on this kind of exclusive small workshop. Everyone recognizes the person as an expert, not the company's brand.
"Okay, let me continue." Eva, wearing red glasses, twisted her waist and walked to the whiteboard. "Like I said, if no one knows about a scandal, then it is not a scandal."
Eva drew a circle on the whiteboard and wrote Stallone's name inside.
"But you have lost the opportunity to control this incident immediately. Stallone is a big star, and his talk show is watched by many people. The audience will believe his statement immediately, no matter how absurd the logic in it is.
"
Eva drew lines outside the circle to indicate influence.
Ronald nodded, he still underestimated Stallone's status in the hearts of American audiences.
"Viewers usually have their own worries to deal with, such as children's dental corrections, utility bills to pay, annoying customers, stern bosses, etc. They watch talk shows for nothing more than fun.
While coaxing their children and thinking about how to deal with the boss's questioning tomorrow, they have limited energy and can only remember one or two sentences of gossip that are easiest to spread.
That is, there is a movie called "The Kid", which imitates Stallone's Rocky, and it seems pretty good."
Eva put on a parental look and imitated to show Ronald the reaction of ordinary viewers.
"This is the intimidating power of a superstar. When the audience hears his name, they can concentrate and listen to what he has to say for the next fifteen seconds.
We can only accept this result now. Most viewers who have watched TV have now assumed that you are imitating "Rocky". We have to start from this place and then find ways to reverse the situation."
"Is there no way to refute his fallacy?" Ronald asked.
"There is no way, even if you go on your friend David Letterman's show and provide evidence to prove that you independently created 'The Dragon King', the audience will still only remember what Stallone said. People will not go into it independently.
When thinking about who is right and who is wrong, all they want is an interesting piece of gossip coming from the mouth of a star.
And then, boom! That's the truth." Eva made a decisive gesture.
"But I wrote the script myself."
"Stallone was nominated for an Oscar for Best Screenplay."
"But my boy Long Wei's story is completely different from his."
"In the end, the protagonist trained specially with the help of the coach and defeated the defending champion."
"He's doing boxing, I'm doing karate...uh..." Ronald himself lost his voice.
"The key to the problem is that Stallone did not say that you plagiarized, he said that you imitated. Although the Writers Guild has a clear distinction between the two, in the eyes of ordinary people, your movie is the youth version of Stallone's 'Rocky'
.You can’t file an arbitration with the Writers Guild and have the Guild clear your name.”
When a superstar like Stallone said on TV that Ronald's movie was very similar to Rocky, it must have been carefully planned. He used his power to suppress others, and no matter how he responded, he could not eliminate the other party's slander.
Both belong to the genre of action and inspirational films, and the structure of the story is inherently imaginative. Coupled with Stallone's malicious hints on the show, in order to save trouble, I used the abandoned episode of "Rocky III" by Stallone.
Ronald was a little angry. Can celebrities be unreasonable?
Stallone was not very reasonable. He was of Italian origin, and he made his debut in exploitation films for Roger Corman. He was very skilled in this little bad trick of quarreling between colleagues.
"So what are our plans?" Ronald asked Eva.
"The first option is to simply admit that your movie does refer to Rocky's story. In this way, all his attacks are equivalent to marketing for your movie, right?
Anyway, the Writers Guild knows it, and the Directors Guild people know it too, that you are not imitating Rocky's story. I have read Ebert's film review, and your movie is not essentially an action movie. Instead, it tells the philosophy and philosophy of karate.
A kind of father-son relationship.”
"This plan passes." Ronald didn't want to admit defeat like this. He was bullied for nothing, so he endured it for the sake of some box office? He was not short of the box office. If he admitted it, he would never be able to wash away this stain in the future.
Moreover, the executives of the studio are not very clear about this. If they think they are imitating, then they may be questioned in terms of originality.
"The other option is not to admit it or deny it. Wait for the news to be overshadowed by other news in the entertainment industry. In fact, the audience's reputation will only spread after watching the movie. Stallone's statement can only affect some people who have not gone.
Audiences who have watched the movie.”
"Is there more?" Ronald accepted it again when he heard it, and he couldn't breathe out.
This may be a more feasible solution in reality, but when someone plots against me like this, I always want to fight back against him.
Stallone, you don’t know how to pick up girls yourself, and you can’t blame me, Ronald, for your anger.
"There is another way that can give you some relief, but I don't recommend it. Besides, it requires unprecedented resources." Eva took off her red glasses and looked at Paula Wagner who recommended her.
"Say," Paula knew that Ronald was very angry now, so it would be good to let him listen to the plan and vent his anger.
"That is to find a star in the circle who can rival Stallone to balance out the aura brought by his fame. As long as a star comes out and speaks for you, the audience will naturally focus on whether you are imitating 'Rocky'
', moving on to the debate between the two celebrities' different opinions.
But the downside is that this turmoil will continue. Is it really beneficial to the goal you want to achieve? This matter may have a deeper and deeper impression on the producer's mind.
"
Eva still advised that if you want to eliminate the impact on the producers in the industry, maybe making the matter bigger is not a good choice.
"What kind of star do you want?" Ronald immediately felt that this method was good.
"There are male celebrities who are the same as him, or more famous than him, with more fans. Do you have any big-name friends in the industry who are willing to speak for you?" Eva saw that the persuasion failed, so she had to put forward conditions.
She secretly sighed. There were not many clients who could listen to the professional advice of their public relations consultants and then choose a suitable strategy. Most clients in the entertainment industry were always more emotional and impulsive.
"Have we?" Niceta asked.
Paula didn't say anything. Tom Cruise wasn't famous enough, and she didn't want him to be involved in this kind of thing.
"Perhaps, we can find a celebrity represented by CAA?" Richard asked when no one said anything.
The two agents who were more senior than him remained silent. Ronald did not have such great influence and did not have enough exchange resources to allow big stars from CAA to speak good words for him.
"If not, I suggest..." Seeing everyone's silence, Eva still wanted to sell her first two plans.
"No, I have..." Ronald spoke up.
"Is this going to use Coppola's influence?" Niceta thought to herself beside him, "If Coppola, a big client, is willing to give Ronald a hand, then let him go. Anyway, he and Stallone
We are both of Italian origin and have communication channels with each other. It would be nice to be a peacemaker in the end and smooth things over."
"I can contact..." Niceta said.
"I wonder if George Lucas has enough influence?" Ronald said a name that no one would have thought of.
"Lucas? Of course that will be enough. If he can help you say something, it will be very effective." Eva immediately blurted out her affirmation after hearing this name that made all the middle school boys scream.
"But... you and him..." Paula Wagner half asked.
All four people looked at Ronald. Could he ask Lucas to come out and put in a good word?
Ronald felt that it was a pity that when he was helping Walter Mersey, Lucas said he owed him one time on the plane, but he didn't expect to use this trump card so soon.
"As long as you can get Lucas to say good things about 'The Dragon King', no one will believe Stallone. After all, he is not good at directing." Eva stared at Ronald, not expecting this young client.
There is also a thick thigh.
"I have some friendship with him, he will help me with this." Ronald took out the phone book, "Please give me some privacy for the call."