Chapter Three Hundred and Nine The Audience of The Sound of Music is Missing
David Simkins is the script assistant hired by Ronald. His main job is to select various potential and interesting scripts for Ronald.
This job is more interesting than similar jobs in TV stations.
Because Ronald is a director who knows how to write. He will exchange scripts with David once or twice a week in person or on the phone. From Ronald’s words, David Simkins learned a lot about how to be a director.
The trick to seeing a script from a producer’s perspective.
David Simkins, who originally only looked at scripts from the perspective of the script itself, quickly understood what kind of scripts would be loved by directors and producers.
To be precise, the two angles are not the same. Directors like to find room for performance in the script, what kind of performance space there is, and who can be found to play what role. The final film will be different because of the different roles.
what is the difference.
From the producer's point of view, everything starts from the cost. How much does it cost to shoot these lines? How many costumes, makeup, and props are needed for this scene? Is there any way to control the cost? How to choose the location so that it can be shot at the lowest cost?
.
Of course, if an actor or star reads the script, what they will consider more is whether they can use their acting skills to outshine their co-stars on the screen, and whether they can deepen their star image among the audience.
David Simkins feels that he has been well trained. The truth in Hollywood is to give the director as much room as possible within the budget.
Now that major labor unions have strongly raised the minimum wage, the most popular way to save money in the past two years is to go to Australia or Canada to shoot. In addition to lower wages, more working hours, and tax rebates.
He also works very hard. In addition to learning knowledge, Ronald also promised him that if the script he writes meets the requirements, Ronald will consider it for filming or recommend it to a suitable producer.
Of course, the most important thing now is to summarize various interesting scripts and discuss with the boss the possibility of directing them himself.
"Mr. Spielberg thought about it for a long time after talking to you, but he still hasn't let go. He is a little worried about the script adapted from his deeds. I hope it won't be too obvious in the script, so that people will guess that it is him."
David Simkins forwarded to Ronald exactly what Spielberg's assistant Catherine called to explain.
"What? He still doesn't want to reveal the secret? Hmm..."
Ronald knew in his heart that Spielberg was essentially a shy person. This kind of story adapted from his early deeds as an apprentice at Universal made him a little uneasy. The director filmed the story for others to see,
Rather than telling others your story...
"I will have a chat with him after I come back from London. Is this the same reply from Mr. Frank Price? Anyway, Michael J.
Filming is available.”
"Then I'm just going to go back to Price?" Niceta said next to him, "Fox is currently focusing on preparing the movie he most wants to make about the life of a rock band. I'm afraid his focus will be mainly on that.
.”
"This is just right. If Steven is unwilling to come out to promote it, this movie will have some problems in marketing."
Ronald was a little worried about the box office performance of the movie that Frank Price had asked him to direct.
He discussed the script with Spielberg, and Spielberg pointed out on the spot that with ordinary marketing methods, this movie might not attract enough moviegoers to watch it.
That was April before "Top Gun" was released. Ronald, Frank Price, and Spielberg met at Universal under the arrangement of Michael Ovitz, the president of CAA.
The plot of this movie is actually a story that happened when Spielberg was working in the Universal Television production department in the 1970s.
Spielberg graduated from high school at the time and dropped out of college to work at Universal Studios. Because he was young, no projects were willing to hire him as a director.
Spielberg loved movies so much that he grew a beard and tried to look older. Then he imitated Universal executives, put on well-pressed suits, and wandered around various studios and offices.
Because he had a Universal work permit, the directors, photographers, and other people on the set didn't know who this person was. So he was allowed to wander around the set, asking others technical questions and artistic decisions. The on-site staff also
willing to answer his questions.
He soon discovered that if you were pretending on the set or in the office, as long as your clothes were ironed, your tie was on, your shoes were polished, and you showed confidence, no one would find out that you were cheating.
This made Spielberg, who had been relatively introverted since he was a child, but had a rich imagination, very proud. He played this game for more than half a year, and even got an office for himself in Universal's office building, where he put all kinds of script materials.
There, I go to work every day.
It wasn't until one day by chance that Universal's then president Sidney Sheinberg saw him and asked who this very knowledgeable young man was that Spielberg revealed his secret.
However, Sheinberg admired his hard work, courage, and adventurous spirit. Instead of blaming Spielberg, he gave him the opportunity to direct several TV movies, which later led to the filming of "Jaws."
Originally, Price wanted to show the script to Spielberg, but he was not interested at all. So he asked Ronald to take over the script.
Ronald was very confused as to why Spielberg wasn't interested. The story was well written, the characters were well developed, and it supposedly had the potential to win box office and critical acclaim.
But what Spielberg said to him at that time only deepened Ronald's doubts, and he even became a little unsure.
"You know this movie is targeting The Sound of Music audience, who have been missing for a long time."
"The Sound of Music? The Julie Andrews one?" Ronald didn't quite understand what Steven meant.
"You should understand, Ronald. I see that you have always known how to attract audiences when making movies. Do you know who the audience of The Sound of Music is?"
"I think those housewives and some adults who are fathers may take their children to see it." Ronald thought for a while and replied.
"Yes, they are the group of viewers who disappeared from the cinema after the invention of television. But sometimes, they will be inspired by a certain movie and enter the cinema again. We don't know what the key is here. This is a gamble.
.”
"Oh", Ronald somewhat understood what Spielberg meant, and also figured out why Frank Price wanted Spielberg to participate in the movie, adapting his true story as a marketing gimmick for the movie.
After the invention of television, the first people to disappear from the regular audience of movie theaters were housewives.
Their entertainment has shifted from movies specifically about housewives in the cinema to watching soap operas on TV.
Ronald has also read many market research reports on movies, and there is a proper term in them called movie audiences.
Hollywood has a clear definition of this, which is an audience that has gone to the cinema more than ten times in the past year and has a fixed habit of watching movies.
These housewives may occasionally go to the cinema once or twice a year, such as Ronald's "Top Gun" or Spielberg's "E.T.", but other than that, they stay away from the rest of the movies.
Already.
If the main audience of your movie is these people, then you are gambling. Bet that your movie has certain qualities that fill the gaps in the movie, and talks about some major real issues that have never been touched by previous movies. The most important thing is
It also needs to be photographed beautifully.
In this way, you have the possibility to inspire more "missing audiences of The Sound of Music" who don't usually watch movies through word-of-mouth to come back to the cinema.
This possibility is actually relatively small, so mature directors like Spielberg stay away from it, especially after his last film "The Color Purple", which reflected major real-life issues, completely failed in awards.
This movie, which Spielberg has high hopes for, has already grossed more than 80 million at the box office in April due to large-scale publicity and the fact that it was his first real-life gimmick.
But at the Oscars, Spielberg suffered humiliation. The movie "The Color Purple" received 11 nominations, including Best Picture and Best Adapted Screenplay, but Spielberg was not nominated for Best Director.
In the end, at the awards night, all 11 nominations were unsuccessful. Ronald felt very embarrassed at the scene, especially every time the camera glanced at Spielberg.
Even the above host Jane Fonda was extremely embarrassed when she announced the best picture award winners. Spielberg did not attend the after-party party and walked away.
Anyway, in the short term, he and the Oscar organizing committee did not give him a best director nomination. Those members with the right to vote did not want the young Spielberg to win the award so quickly.
Because of this experience, Ronald also had a lot of concerns about directing this reality-themed movie.
Plus……
"Is Helen still pestering you to play the leading role?" Niceta found an opportunity to ask Ronald alone.
"She thinks so, I feel a little annoyed..."
Ronald was a little embarrassed because he didn't really want to direct Helen Slater. On the one hand, her acting skills were not very good, but she had a high self-esteem. Someone close to her, Ronald, felt that it was difficult to speak harshly when directing.
On the other hand, this movie has a lot of not-so-good plots. The heroine is a lover who clings to the boss of the company. She relied on her boss’s relationship to become the supervisor of the financial department. Although she finally got married to the hero, this
This situation is harmful to the actor's image.
But Helen Slater's demand for room for her acting skills exceeded everything else. She really wanted to play the heroine and pestered Ronald to flatter her. On the one hand, Ronald enjoyed Helen's tenderness, but on the other hand, he felt that
It's a bit annoying. It would be best if you don't direct it yourself, or Helen doesn't want to play the leading role.
But it was not easy to say it out loud, and it was a bit embarrassing anyway. Only the manager could find a way to mediate in the middle, not only to persuade Helen to give up, but also to find an excuse that would not hurt her self-esteem.
"I will talk to her more." Of course, Niceta wanted to actively share Ronald's worries. "You go to London first. When you come back, I should be able to handle it."
"Well," Ronald turned back and asked his assistant David Simkins, "how about the script that Eleanor sent?"
"The script is a good one, but it tells an old story from the era of Kennedy's leadership, and there is also a problem with the audience. The audience who loved to watch stories about little girls at that time are now middle-aged housewives, and so are they...
"
"You are also a missing audience member of The Sound of Music, right?" Ronald waved his hand, please give me a copy of the script and I will read it on the plane. We will talk about it after I get back from the royal premiere of "Top Gun" in Britain.