Chapter 360 Independent production is very troublesome
"Oh, Ronald, you are such a gentleman." Kim Cattrall's two powerful long legs were now stretched out on the bed tiredly.
"Why do you say that?" Ronald was a little confused. Could it be that the rounds of attacks he launched on this beauty on this big bed made her feel that her beauty was respected? That's why he said that?
Cattrall chuckled. She felt that she was thirty years old when she really felt the benefits of being a woman. She had to wear good clothes and show her charm to men. This is what a female star should do. .
"Do your homework well." Ronald was not disgusted with this kind of self-motivated actress, and told her not to forget to read the script and figure out the characters while working out and modeling.
Cattrall did not let down the opportunity given by Ronald. She put in a lot of effort and worked out every day. She worked hard to completely match the appearance of the puppet. She was able to be a real "heroine" in such a movie with many roles.
…
Ronald asked Bud to go to the airport to pick up "Dirty Dancing" artistic director Lane Weaver and location designer David Chapman.
This film does not have the participation of the seven major studios, and it has to be distributed by itself, which is equivalent to being "independent" from the Hollywood system. All things have to be gathered to Ronald and let him make decisions. There is no one of his own The team dealt with it, and Ronald had no choice but to decide these trivial and troublesome details on his own.
"Virginia's Mountain Lake House is a few hours' drive south of the Catskills. Look, do these locations look very similar to resorts in the Catskills? They are all decorated in the style of Jewish resorts in the 1950s and 1960s. "
Ronald looked at the location photos they brought. The photos from the two places looked very similar.
"Mountain Lake Villa is too far away from New York, and it only started to open as a Jewish-only resort very late. Since the 1970s, it has been popular to go abroad for vacation. Their passenger flow is not much, and they have been greatly affected, so we can use it cheaper Rent it at the price.”
"So that's it, can't we keep negotiating the price?" Ronald looked at the price quoted by the other party and found that it was still too high.
"We've figured it out for you. You can take one day off a week. There are no Screen Actors Guild supervisors in Virginia. Then for other indoor scenes, we can find another place to shoot."
Lineweaver pulled out another stack of photos.
"This is a place we found through North Carolina when we were choosing a location. Look, are these cabins where poor boys who are suitable as backup dancers live?"
Ronald looked at these photos. The house was small and shabby. It was a bit like his old house on Staten Island. The two rooms were transparent from the front to the back, giving an unobstructed view.
"Yes, it does look like a poor man's house. How did you find such a similar place?"
"It's all down to David Chapman, who found a Boy Scout camp."
"Oh?" Ronald looked at the location designer Chapman.
"This is an abandoned Boy Scout camp that hosted hundreds of Boy Scouts when summer camps were popular.
But the Boy Scout summer camp has declined in recent years, and not many people have come here. The facilities have begun to run down, so we can rent them for free and renovate them, and the appearance matches the description of the dilapidated house where the backup dancers live in the script."
Ronald looked at the photos and found them to be ideal. The location designer was very good at translating the feeling in the text into the appearance of the location, and he also had a strong ability to find places.
"However, there are many scenes in the script that connect the resort and the place where the backup dancers live. You have to do a good job of recording the scene, otherwise shooting in two places will cause a lot of confusion."
Looking at the details in the photos, the types of plants, and the style of the architecture, there are still some slight differences.
"No problem, I will do this specifically next time to make sure it's done properly." David Chapman is a very experienced industry veteran. He has seen this kind of thing happen a lot.
If Ronald can give himself enough time in advance, he can definitely make it invisible to the audience.
"This is what poor film crews without money are like. If there was enough budget, I would definitely shoot all the scenes at Mountain Lake Villa." Ronald began to joke.
"You can't say that, director. I have seen many film crews, and there are not many directors like you who spend all their money on the final effect of the film." David Chapman took it seriously and immediately began to refute.
Compared to those crews that ask truck drivers to drive, move wood, and keep accounts, it is more interesting to work for such a crew.
It's obvious that the director wants to make the movie a masterpiece. And his value is to give the director the best effect with his limited budget.
"Yes, let's work together. I don't have any more budget now. After it is released, if the box office is satisfactory, I will give you a replacement bonus."
Ronald is currently having some trouble with his production budget. The purchase of music rights is much more than he expected.
It turns out that studios are responsible for negotiating with record companies. But people like Weintraub are already in the music industry, so they don't have to spend any energy on this part.
But it’s different now. You have to deal with everything yourself. The music director Danny Goldberg that Ronald asked for took the tape given by the screenwriter Eleanor and checked the current copyright holder of the song one by one.
.
These are all old songs from the 1950s. Record companies have gone through many mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies, reorganizations, and the copyright situation is quite complicated.
Some are still in the hands of the creators, and some have passed away and there are still negotiations with the children of the owners.
Ronald felt that it was not worthwhile to use these trivial matters to sell face to Weintraub and others, so he asked Goldberg to come forward and be responsible for the entire copyright negotiation.
Danny Goldberg said it would take a month or two to complete the negotiations, and the song rights would not be cheap because Eleanor selected all the hits on the charts at the time.
There were money holes everywhere, and Ronald felt that half of his budget was gone before he could even finalize the cast.
Now David Chapman saved himself one-third of the venue rent, and he had no choice but to rely on his credibility to write them bad checks.
I hope that because they are blockbuster directors, they can believe in themselves and do their best.
…
"I hope you can find better candidates. If this movie is a hit after it is released, I will give them bonuses..."
"Don't be ridiculous, Ronald. Dancers, as written in your script, are very poor. They just rely on your salary and try their best to pay the bills at the end of the month."
The speaker was Kenny Ortega, the cheap choreographer Ronald hired.
This was Madonna's choreographer when she was filming the "Material Girl" music video. She also served as a choreographer in John Hughes films such as "Pretty in Pink" and "Spring Is Not a Day to Read".
The main reason why I found him was because he asked for a cheap price. A person who works as a choreographer in a youth film is definitely not a top choreographer in the industry. Being chosen by Madonna to choreograph shows that his level is not bad.
However, Kenny Ortega was born into a poor family. His mother was a hotel waiter and his father was a factory worker. He had seen all kinds of scammers since he was a child. When he heard the talk of bonuses, he was born with disbelief.
.
"But these backup dancers are too..."
Ronald looked at the photos of the dancers that Ortega had brought and really didn't want to use them. All of them looked crooked, either the men were as thin as skeletons, or the women were fat and round.
In the dream scene, there were not many close-ups. Was it this woman? Ronald looked at the photo carefully. Who would remember what a fat girl who dances well looks like in a movie? Maybe you have to watch them.
You can only recognize it by dancing.
"This is the first time I have seen such a fat female dancer. I have dated many dancing girls..."
Ronald also had some distrust of Ortega, so he came up to ask about the situation first.
"With your limited budget, can't you just hire them..."
"But this is too frustrating..."
The two of them were chatting in a hurry, their voices gradually getting louder, and it seemed like they were about to quarrel.
"Can I say a few words?"
Assistant choreographer Miranda Garrison was a very charming woman, and she stopped the two men verbally.
"Of course, please tell me." Ronald looked up and down. If it were a dancer with Miranda's looks and figure, he wouldn't say anything.
"First of all, the budget for this movie is really small, but if you insist on finding good-looking dancers, it's still possible."
"Miranda..." Ort said anxiously. Those beautiful men and women who can accept this price all want to get into the entertainment industry, but their dancing ability is actually a mess.
"Wait until I finish..." Miranda stopped Ortega.
"But if I hear that the dance in this movie is very important, I think they are the best choice. These people have some flaws in appearance, but they are all very good dancers that everyone in the industry has heard about.
Talent.
Do you want someone with good looks and average dancing? Or do you want someone with excellent dancing and average appearance? Besides, these are supporting roles, don’t they just bring out the beauty of the protagonist?”
Ronald smiled, "What you said makes sense. I agreed. But I want to be really good at dancing. You train them well. All I want is the result, which is to look like the dance partner I danced with since childhood. You
You should understand it after reading the script."
"Like the dance partner I've been working with since childhood? That's not easy." Kenny Ortega began to scratch his head.
"Why, you can't do it?"
"I think there may be a way to separate the dance movements. Instead of these two thin guys, they have good waist movements, so I let them only practice waist movements. This fat girl has good expressions and shoulder movements..."
"Just do it your way, and I'll see the results when the time comes."
"No problem", Ortega is still very confident about training only one movement.
"When will the male protagonist Johnny and his dance partner be ready? They are the two best dancers in the plot. We have to spend more time training them."
"Ha, these two roles are not yours to decide. The Screen Actors Guild will conduct a formal casting process. All I can say is as soon as possible."
"Ronald, have you chosen the director of 'Dirty Dancing'?" screenwriter Eleanor asked him again.
"Talking to Adrian Lyne. He hasn't made a final decision yet."
"He's pretty good, but what about the male and female protagonists? Especially the male protagonist Johnny, you promised me to watch it."