In the new building of 20th Century Fox, scenes of "Die Hard" are still being filmed.
Some areas that were originally scheduled for interior decoration were suspended, and the messy construction sites were retained until the filming of the movie was completed before decoration began.
The company's legal department was most affected. Their office is on the floor below the filming location and is often disturbed by noise and dust. However, employees like it because they can sneak up and see the filming location.
"There is no problem with this version of the contract. You can sign it."
After reading the new version of the contract sent by the legal department, Ronald's business lawyer, Mickey Kanter, a well-known barrister in the Los Angeles entertainment industry, whispered in his ear, saying that he had helped him rule out Fox's burial.
All mines in the contract.
Goldberg, the president of Fox, gave Ronald a top-notch salary that a commercial director could get to direct "Working Girl". But the price was that Ronald's daydream could only be symbolically paid to the production company.
Signing, and not much dividends.
After Ronald's agent and company executives argued hard, Daydream finally obtained a commensurate small amount of investment and enjoyed priority rights to share the rights. Fox's legal department had buried a lot of director obligations in the contract.
, and is linked to the final share.
For example, whether the movie can be nominated for an Oscar, its box office performance, and the marketing activities that Ronald must attend as a director, etc.
But in terms of seniority, these elites in the legal department are all named partners of a famous large law firm in Los Angeles, JFK Jr.'s boss when he was a lawyer, and the disciples and grandsons of Mickey Kanter.
Of course, these little tricks cannot escape his discerning eye.
After arguing hard, Fox's legal department had to make concessions on many contract terms. Today, when Ronald flew back from New York, he could come over to sign the contract.
"Cheers!" Goldberg took out champagne to celebrate this small victory. Recently, under his management, many projects have been successfully promoted. Many projects have found popular stars to star, except for Ronald's.
In addition to the film, there is also a project by female director Penny Marshall that is about to start production.
"Can your casting be faster? We wonder if we can release the casting news for 'Working Girl' in time for the Christmas holiday?" Goldberg's real expertise lies in public relations and marketing.
"I can't promise anything, but I'm going to meet with my casting director to find a candidate for the heroine later."
"Ah, you always put the producers at ease and walk the walk, Ronald. That's why Hollywood likes you so much... Hahaha..." Goldberg drank the champagne with satisfaction.
Everyone ended the brief signing ceremony, and the photos taken by the photographer will appear in the latest news column of newspapers such as The Hollywood Reporter tomorrow as a small news announcement about the launch of the project.
"Ronald..." At the elevator entrance, lawyer Mickey Kanter stopped Ronald, "Can we talk?"
"Of course..." Ronald and he walked to the window on the side, separated from the others.
"Can I ask, why did you compromise on the box office share and then win back on the video share? Are you more optimistic about the video share? Is it because Top Gun's video sales figures gave you confidence?"
As a senior lawyer in Hollywood, Mickey Kantor is very concerned about the trends of the industry. Ronald, uncharacteristically, did not care about the box office dividends this time, which made him feel that another change in the profit distribution pattern was just around the corner.
Thinking of the recent frequent contacts between several major labor unions and the Producers Guild, Mickey Kanter wanted to know the thoughts of Ronald, a director known for his high return on investment.
"Actually, no one can predict the box office of a movie, Mickey." Ronald spread his hands, "In fact, in this industry, no one knows what to do (to make money)."
Seeing that Mickey Kanter didn't believe him, Ronald added, "But I know that the return of video tapes is far easier than the box office of a movie. My accountant told me that there is room for manipulation in this.
Far less than the box office. And like the box office, you don’t have to wait another year after the release to get the refund from the theater. You see, the Dirty Dancing movie is almost out now, and I haven’t gotten a single point yet.
Where’s the return of the money?”
"Great business observation, great." Mickey Kanter admired Ronald's business sense. A young director can be artistically successful while also having a business mind. One person has two talents at the same time.
Geniuses in the field are rare.
"Has the box office of Dirty Dancing exceeded 100 million? Several girls in my family really like to watch it."
"It's still a little short of it. I don't expect it to break through until the end of January next year." Ronald smiled. Dirty Dancing's box office performance in North America exceeded everyone's expectations. It has already exceeded 80 million and is about to exceed 80 million.
90 million. If some copy rental fees for overseas distribution are included, the book profit has far exceeded 100 million.
But as Ronald said just now, the return of box office dividends has always been a very difficult matter. The cinema must be dragging its feet and wait until the end of next year before the legal deadline for suing is reached before the box office dividends are paid in full.
But the money-making ability of Dirty Dancing does not lie solely in the box office.
The soundtrack album of the movie "Dirty Dancing" has quietly been at the top of the sales charts for many weeks. Sales have been suppressing Michael Jackson's new album until recently when MJ personally called Ronald to say hello.
Only then did they beat the reported sales figures.
But even so, the sales in America have made RCA very happy. Next year, the sales volume is expected to exceed 10 million, bringing huge wealth to the record company and Ronald himself. At the end of the year, there is another album
The huge check will cost Ronald a huge amount of income tax.
While the iron is hot, the second soundtrack album "More Dirty Dancing" produced by RCA and Daydream has also been completed recently. 10 songs did not have the chance to be included in the first album, but have appeared in the movie, as well as
5 new interludes selected by RCA to match the genre of the movie will be released soon at the end of February next year.
In comparison, Ronald's "Dirty Dancing" video, which Coca-Cola carefully produced and which Coca-Cola subsidized at $6 per copy, is expected to rank third in revenue from a movie that cost less than $5 million.
appearance.
Fortunately, the videotape, which will be sold around next year's Super Bowl, is a short-term business and the repayments are quick. Ronald will receive his first repayment before next year's Oscars party.
Even recently, the leaders and Congress want to cancel the preferential personal income tax. Investment in the stock market cannot be deferred and exempted. How to handle the tax on so much money needs to be carefully considered. If you really can't afford to buy a house, forget it.
Ronald, who has recently become energetic after counting money and works 10 hours a day without feeling tired, is waiting for the income from records and video tapes to arrive, so he can rush to buy a house in Los Angeles and decorate the landscaped garden on Staten Island.
The project is in progress.
"Mitch, do you want to come up with me and take a look? Die Hard is being filmed there. It's a good movie." Ronald, who was happy, saw Julia Taylor, who was coming with him, and was already waving to him in front of the elevator.
So an invitation was also extended to Mickey Kanter.
"Why not? This is a movie you produced?"
"Yes, First Blood takes place in the building, you know what I mean?" Ronald and guests like Skilled and Mickey went upstairs to visit the crew.
…
"Alan, what are you doing here?"
When he arrived at the filming floor, Ronald saw Alan Rickman at a glance. He had a big, bad-looking beard and was chatting with the crew.
"Hello, Ronald, I'm practicing my American accent with them." Rickman came over to say hello to Ronald. He just had nothing to do right now, joking with these small-town staff and chatting with them.
When they chat, they imitate their accents.
The theater actor born in London's West End is honing his skills all the time.
"Where's Joel (Silver)?" Ronald saw that not only the supporting actor Rickman, but also many staff members were chatting and playing on the set as if they had nothing to do, and he suddenly felt that Joel Silver's
The producer acted a bit irresponsibly.
"Ronald, Ronald...fuck you...you are finally here, just come..."
Just as he was talking, Joel Silver came over from a distance and said, "Let's talk in my lounge."
"This is my lawyer, Mr. Mickey Cantor, whom you know. This is my casting director, Julia Taylor, from New York."
Ronald couldn't show such eagerness, and continued to introduce everyone to Joel Silver as normal.
"Mickey, Julia, everyone is on their own, I have something urgent..."
Joel Silver knew the regulars in Hollywood, so he took Ronald to the lounge next to him.
"What's wrong? Where's director John McTiernan?" Ronald entered the room, looked at Joel Silver who was sweating with anxiety, and asked.
"I didn't investigate carefully before. McTiernan is a 'field director'. Fortunately you can come, we have to solve this matter..." Joel Silver took a script and handed it to Ronald
come over.
Ronald opened it and saw that the script was much thicker than when he turned it on. There were many blue, pink, yellow, orange... inserts in various colors.
According to Hollywood rules, the script is locked after it is turned on. Once it needs to be modified, it must be copied on paper of a different color and then replaced with the original white paper. Every time it is modified, a new color must be used to allow the actors and crew to
The staff members are clearly visible and everyone is in sync.
The colorful papers Ronald saw showed that Director McTiernan continued to revise the script on the spot after the filming started. Fortunately, Joel Silver's on-site management was excellent. Otherwise, if he did not follow the rules, everyone would probably be angry.
The version of the script will be wrong, and there must have been a lot of problems.
"How's the progress?"
"The progress is okay, but the overtime hours every day are very long. Just like now, the crew is waiting for that bastard McTiernan. Halfway through the filming, he felt that the original plot was unreasonable, so he had to revise it. This happens every day
Things, our crew will inevitably go over budget."
"If you overspend, just overspend. What do you want me to do?" Ronald was also mentally prepared for this kind of thing. Not all directors were trained by Roger Corman. Many people were filming and filming.
If you get new inspiration, it would be wrong if you don't let him take pictures.
This is why, every time he cooperates with a new director, Ronald will relax 20% of the budget, and this part of the money will be used as a reserve fund in case the director is halfway through filming and various unforeseen circumstances arise.
"You have to tell me, will these modifications improve the quality of the film? Or are they purely to satisfy the director himself?"
Joel Silver has nothing to hide from Ronald. The two are the final persons responsible for the film project, and they are both in the same boat. At this time, it is most reliable to listen to Ronald's thoughts, who is also the director.
"Actually, it's okay... I haven't seen the sample film. Judging from the revision of the script, John McTiernan didn't mess around. But his inspiration is really not very good? I saw that many plots were filmed halfway through.
Rewritten?”
Ronald picked up the shooting diary. In many of the shooting records above, the director re-wrote the scenes and lines and re-shot the scene halfway through the shooting. If it weren't for the skill of Joel Silver's assistants, these would have been impossible.
Confusing shot numbers can kill an editor during post-editing.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "That's okay, I have to give the assistant girls more overtime pay, reward them with delicious food every day, and often write all the scripts every night
It is very common to work overtime until midnight when copies are dismantled, replaced, and bound again.”
"Where is the director and starring Bruce Willis?" Ronald gave Silver reassurance that this script modification was based on Ronald's experience and John McTiernan's previous filming of "The Predator"
Judging from the image quality, it is still heading in a good direction, but the creation process is a bit messy.
"McTiernan was holding back on the script, and he said there was a plot twist that was difficult to handle, and Bruce was 'taking a break' with his girlfriend." Joel Silver gave him a wink.
"Take me to meet them..."
"Okay, okay..." Joel Silver finally got Ronald, a busy man, back to the shooting scene just to let him play his role.
"John, I heard there's a twist problem?" Ronald entered the director's lounge. He tried his best to act like a fellow director discussing with McTiernan and not show the negative emotions brought about by his producer duties.
.
"Ronald, you are here, take a look at this. I just discovered today that the plot of the villain Hans Krupp discovering that MacLean is the one who is against them lacks drama..."
"End of Act 2, entering Act 3, huh?"
Ronald listened to McTiernan's story, but the problem still arose before entering the finale of the final act.
The polite villain finally discovered that McClain was the hero who was against him. He suddenly encountered McClain played by Bruce Willis on the unfinished floor.
Two heroes and villains who have never met meet suddenly here. How to separate them again, then go back to regroup, and finally face off again on the rooftop is a big problem in the plot.
The showdown between the hero and the villain always has to be left to the end. So this encounter was just the first time the two faced each other, and each found that the other was the opponent of their destiny.
But this plot needs to be dramatic, to arouse the audience's tension, and the second act must end here, and all the contradictions cannot be alleviated.
John McClain and Hans Krupp must realize that neither can fulfill their destiny unless they kill the other.
For McClain, this fate means rescuing his wife and his colleagues in the company, becoming a hero, and finding a way to reconcile with his wife. For Hans, it means killing McClain and taking away a large amount of unregistered national debt.
"Why the hell didn't you think of that before?" Ronald cursed secretly, sat down and read the plot written by McTiernan.
Artists all have different working methods. I heard that Francis Coppola also has the habit of changing plots on the spot. Some more extreme directors can even make changes while shooting based on the actors' performances after the filming is started, and turn the supporting characters into protagonists.
are also very common.
For example, the casting director Julia Taylor, who also came with her, and her former long-term collaborator Woody Allen, often did this, forgetting the main plot while filming, and finally thought of the complete story in the hands of the editor.
When Hans Krupp saw John McClain, he had to recognize him as the man who was against him. But he couldn't let the conflict break out at this moment, delaying the final battle until the end of the third act.
Ronald read for a long time, and everything McTiernan wrote was centered around this theme.
Perhaps it was the first time he saw this storyline, or perhaps it was a hint of the direction of the plot in his dream. Ronald had a flash of inspiration and said to McTiernan, "You know Alan Rickman can imitate an American accent now."
Yet?"
"Oh?" John McTiernan still didn't know what Ronald meant.
"The kidnapper speaks with a German accent, but Mike has never seen him before. I don't know what he looks like. What if he can change to an American accent?" Ronald thought to himself that this man's qualifications were not good enough, and he had already hinted so clearly.
.
"You mean, you can let Hans Krupp speak with an American accent, pretend to be one of the hostages, and escape from MacLean?"
"What do you think? You have never seen each other before, right?"
"No, no, you have such a genius idea. I will change it right away. Once the changes are completed, we can shoot. All the clues of the second act can be gathered here, and then the two of them will naturally enter the final battle.
Because MacLean had met Hans, it was only natural that he finally found out that he was the leader of the kidnappers..."
"Okay?" Joel Silver looked at McTiernan writing furiously and said, "That's it? You are really a genius."
"Is Bruce Willis 'resting' ready? I have to..." Ronald walked out. McTiernan estimated that it would take another half an hour, which would be convenient for him and Julia Taylor to do things.
"Okay, I'll take you there. He's tired of being with his girlfriend every day. He's resting when he's not filming."
Joel Silver ran to Willis' lounge and knocked on the door, "I'm Silver, Bruce, are you there?"
"What's the matter?" Bruce Willis, wearing a white vest, poked his head out from behind the door.
"It's Ronald here. He wants to talk to you. You know he has a new project..." Joel Silver still respects this very dedicated leading actor, although he was noisy during the break on the set.
Quite a bit.
"Hey...Ronald. Come on, I just don't have a turn to film, Demi, Demi..."
Demi Moore poked her head out from behind, her hair was still a little messy, and she was tucking up her clothes with her hands.
"Hi, Ronald!" She tried to sound as natural as possible.
"Ronald came to me to talk about a new play, can you believe it? I was a TV actor before, and now a big director like Ronald comes to me... huh?" Bruce Willis was very happy,
Making this kind of action movie is really what I want to do, and it's much more enjoyable than a series like "Blue Moonlight" that can't be edited anymore.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Demi, help me order some delicious food. Ronald and I need to have a detailed chat... McTiernan is always dilly-dallying.
Damn it, we don’t know when the filming will start. I’m starving to death.”
As he spoke, Bruce Willis took out a bunch of 20-dollar bills from his pocket, which looked like more than two hundred dollars, and handed it to Demi Moore.
"Oh..." Demi Moore was a little angry, but this is the character of this rough boyfriend.
"No, you are mistaken, I came to talk to Demi..." Ronald smiled and pointed at Demi Moore, watching Bruce Willis's face change.
"Well, haven't you always wanted to play a movie with a real protagonist? It's definitely true that Ronald came to you." Bruce Willis stood up to cover up his loss and embarrassment, "I'll buy you some pizza.
." He put on his coat and went out.
"I want pineapple," Demi Moore added. She is on a diet and doesn't want to eat too much meat.
"Let the assistant go," Ronald smiled and pointed at Joel Silver.
"I'll go, I'll go", Joel Silver came over with a smile and took the cash from Bruce Willis' hand, "Cowboy, let's get something meaty..."
"Yes, pizza is only as good as meat." Bruce Willis was handed the steps and walked out with Joel Silver.
"Demi, this is Julia, Julia Taylor, my casting director...I'm asking you this time, do you feel like being the heroine..."
"Heroine? Did you direct it?" Demi Moore's eyes shone brightly, did she finally have the opportunity to beckon to her?
"Yes, but you will play a secretary who is close to thirty years old...it may damage the image." Ronald first told the difficult part.
"No problem, you won't make the heroine look ugly all the time. I understand you, Ronald." Demi Moore didn't hesitate at all. I asked my agent to contact you and you can arrange the audition."
"Very good..." Ronald looked at the casting director Julia Taylor next to him.
Julia Taylor nodded secretly, indicating that at least she would not be eliminated.
"Do you think she is suitable?" Ronald asked Taylor after walking out of the lounge.
"Yes, at least her character of decisively risking everything for opportunities is very similar to Tess. As for her appearance, she is a little too beautiful. Let the makeup artist look ugly..."