The next day, Ronald attended a ceremony in West Berlin and announced that he would give a copy of "Dirty Dancing" to Hannah's charity group, which would then be screened in three cinemas for a long time.
West Berlin was very moved at the ceremony and even sent an official representative to attend the ceremony. At the meeting, charity organizations and ordinary people expressed their gratitude to Ronald for his kindness, and the applause lasted for a long time.
Ronald felt very good, stretched out his hands, and waved them repeatedly to stop.
As a result, the gesture was misunderstood by the participants. Everyone thought that Ronald stood up and waved in the hope of more enthusiastic applause. So all the participants stood up and applauded, and some shouted slogans such as America, Hollywood, etc. in English, and some even
I came up and wanted to hug him.
Does this mean he really loves himself? This was the first time that Ronald was praised by an audience like this. His heart was filled with excitement. He whispered to Cannold, and then announced that he had prepared a batch of videotapes of his own films to give to them.
, convenient for those "immigrants" from East Germany to watch.
I’m a little confused about the West Berlin people’s favorable impression of America. Unlike the Japanese, who were also defeated in the war, and feared and obeyed America, the West Berliners seemed to really like America from the bottom of their hearts.
After chatting with Hannah about her observations, Hannah clarified Ronald's doubts. At the beginning of the Cold War, West Berlin relied on air transport from America to ensure daily supplies. Commander Kennedy at the Brandenburg Gate
The speech "Today I am a Berliner" he delivered was once a warm memory for West Berliners.
And last year, the current commander-in-chief visited West Berlin again. At the same place, he once again delivered a speech with the theme "Mr. Mikhail, please tear down this wall!" as the commander-in-chief of America.
After that, the number of immigrants from the East through various channels doubled. The West German people, especially the residents of West Berlin, looked at America, which has a large German population, as a cousin.
Ronald also likes this country where a high proportion of people speak English, and has a favorable impression of Hollywood. The film production industry in his country is weak, and this is the best place to dump movies. Now develop a relationship with them,
In the future, the movies I daydream about producing and releasing will have a solid box office market.
In fact, many European producers have also discovered this opportunity. The Chinese film "Kung Fu Master" that participated in the Golden Bear Awards this year also tried to be like a Hollywood movie and be released in German theaters immediately after it was screened.
.The distribution manager of Tongguo met Michelle Cannold in almost every negotiation meeting this time.
The information Cannold brought back was that this Chinese film was favored by many film buyers.
"Oh, do Germans also like kung fu movies?" Ronald asked casually. If you want to sell movies here, it is very important to understand the preferences of the local audience.
"Haha, Kung Fu Master is the name of a video game. In fact, it is a typical Chinese movie, the story of a mother and her daughter's classmates, and there are nudity scenes." Cannold knew that Ronald did not like French-language movies.
"Oh..." Nowadays, Chinese films no longer have commercial film masters like Truffaut, and have been reduced to using this kind of thing to attract audiences. But what is this "Kung Fu Master" game? It seems to be very popular in Europe now.
?According to Cannold, at the end of the film, the male protagonist Julian, a high school student, won the championship of this game competition.
…
"Ada, Ada...ah..."
When Ronald returned to New York, he asked someone to find a "Kung Fu Master" cassette, inserted it into the newly bought Nintendo game console, and started playing. This game is very fascinating, and it is different from all other aircraft shooting games.
The game is completely different.
This is a kung fu fighting game. The protagonist is an Oriental. After his girlfriend is snatched away by bad guys, he goes to an old castle alone, and then uses fists and kicks to defeat the enemies that keep coming on each floor, defeating them as he moves forward.
The most annoying thing is the enemies that come from behind and release flying knives from time to time. You have to crouch or jump to avoid the flying knives. Ronald finally reached the bottom of the level and saw a staircase leading to the second floor, but was rushed towards him with a wooden weapon.
The boss of the stick can be knocked down with one stick.
"Hahaha, you died again." The person gloating next to her was Donna. She happened to come to see Ronald, and as soon as she entered the door, she found her cousin playing an interesting game.
"This game is really difficult." Ronald put down the controller and played for more than half an hour without realizing it. It was really addicting. Nowadays, video games have developed to such a realistic level.
"What movie does this protagonist look like? I saw it on the cover of your video tape." Donna pointed to the Kung Fu Master protagonist on the TV screen and said to Ronald.
"I don't know, the cry is imitated by Bruce Lee." Ronald had seen Enter the Dragon, and Ada's cry was exactly the same.
"But the person looks different, right? This person is fatter than Bruce Lee, and has long hair." Donna pointed to the release of Little Man and said to Ronald, "It's that movie or something, made by your friend in Xiangjiang
of."
"Ja?" Ronald came to his senses. This character really looked like him. He quickly dug out the "Food Truck" video tape that Ja gave him. Isn't the chubby look on the cover the protagonist in the game?
Ronald, who was full of suspicion, picked up the phone and called the ja in Xiangjiang.
"Hey, Luo Sheng, do you have anything to do with Aaron?" Sister Jiao gave the phone to Ja.
"Ronald, your movie 'Fighting World' is almost finished. You can actually invite Brooke Shields to make a movie? There are many advertisers asking her to shoot commercials. We all want to cooperate with her. You
Can you ask her to stay and make a few movies?"
"Porky has a lot of advertising contracts in Japan that are going to be continued. She will go over there after filming Fighting the World. You can help put in a good word with the publisher in Hong Kong, and maybe she can find a starting price that her Hong Kong advertiser can offer." Rona
De declined on behalf of Brooke.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "I know, I know, Japanese advertisers offer high prices, and I also cooperate with them. Who are you calling this time?"
"I have something to ask you. Your 'Food Truck' has been adapted into a video game. I want to ask how the cooperation works here?" Ronald really wanted to ask, this "Kung Fu Master" game is so popular.
, I have also filmed "The Dragon King" and "Break Dance", and adapted them into games to get licensing fees, which also opened up a profit channel for low-cost productions.
"What video game? I don't know? Who among you knows? Has anyone made a game using my look?"
JA looked like he didn't know anything about it. Ronald didn't expect that these Japanese game developers actually didn't buy the pirated works that he had the right to use.
The two investigated for a long time, and finally the lawyer from Xiangjiang said that they had discovered this marginal video game, but because the name was changed to Thomas by the game company, and the character image was too low-resolution, it would be difficult to prove it in court.
It is adapted according to the appearance of ja.
It seems that they combined the ja's appearance with Bruce Lee's weird scream as a weird trick to avoid legal risks.
ja sent a lawyer's letter to the game company, and Ronald also called in lawyer Lindsay Dole for consultation.
The result of their legal team's research is that there is no well-known legal case for this kind of lawsuit involving video games imitating the copyrighted images of film and television characters. In addition to Sony, which has a lot of business in America, other Japanese game manufacturers, such as Nintendo, Sega, etc.
, the main game production business is located in Japan, and transnational rights protection is very difficult.
The images of some famous Hollywood characters who have tried to defend their rights can easily be circumvented by Japanese lawyers. For example, the image design and name of the Nintendo game Donkey Kong produced in 1981 were copied from the famous Hollywood monster King Kong (
king kong).
Universal is the copyright holder of King Kong's image. Ronald's old acquaintance, Universal's chairman Sid Sheinberg, sued Nintendo in the name of infringement, seeking huge compensation and the retail price of each game sold.
3% of the image usage fee.
However, Nintendo is not easy to bully. They have been prepared for it. Donkey Kong that entered the American market was renamed "Donkey Kong" in an attempt to get away with it.
Ronald laughed out loud while looking at the dossier. Nowadays, the display effect of game consoles on home TVs is very bad, and the characters are all color blocks. Otherwise, it would be difficult to say that a gorilla is a donkey.
Universal's lawyers were not easy to mess with, and they immediately came up with another reason. This Donkey Kong game is about a man who looks like a plumber going to rescue a beautiful woman who was captured by a monster. During the process, he has to avoid Donkey Kong being thrown from above.
Falling stones.
Universal believes that this plot is a plagiarism from the classic monster movie produced by RKO Pictures.
With the combination of the male protagonist, the beautiful woman, and the gorilla monster, the judge immediately began to favor Universal Pictures' view. Although Nintendo argued that the villain was a donkey and not a gorilla, the similarity of the plots could not be denied.
Unexpectedly, just when Nintendo was about to admit fault and pay compensation, one of the lawyers they hired named John Kirby discovered a big loophole in Universal's indictment.
It turns out that according to the latest revised copyright law, American classic movies can enjoy 70 years of copyright protection. The copyright of King Kong, filmed by RKO in 1933, will not expire until the next century.
However, after RKO's film library was purchased by Universal, there was a problem in the handover process. The copyright law revised in 1976 automatically enjoyed 70-year copyright for new films shot after that. However, previous films required the studio to do so.
Copyright registration can extend the copyright of old movies to seventy years.
A large number of film studios such as RKO and United Artists that have now gone bankrupt and reorganized have had their film libraries sold to many film companies. They have been resold many times. For this blockbuster, Universal's legal department actually forgot to register the copyright.
.Now according to copyright law, the copyright has expired and has entered the public domain. Anyone can use it without paying Universal.
Not only that, Nintendo also entrusted John Kirby to countersued Universal. After a verdict last year, Universal had to compensate Nintendo US$1.8 million in legal fees and reputational damage.
After this incident, when game manufacturers entered the American market, they would rename characters suspected of infringement. For example, the character image of Ja was used in this game. The Japanese version of the game is called Kung Fu Master, and the American version has been renamed.
It's called Spartanx.
Ronald saw that there was no legal precedent on licensing fees to support his authorization to Japan Game Company to adapt Longwei Kid into the game, so he gave up the idea. However, he continued to ask Lindsay Dole to help him with the copyright law of video games.
Research and follow up, and once there are precedents and opportunities, you can try to adapt your own movie.
Ronald, who continued to prepare "Working Girl" in New York, finally waited for Harrison Ford.
He caused a sensation on the set as soon as he joined the cast, and the actors, including lead actress Melanie Griffiths and supporting actress Joan Cusack, rushed to talk to Harrison.
Wherever Harrison Ford goes, there will be a group of actresses following him around, pretending to discuss issues, but actually looking at Harrison secretly.
Not only the actresses, but also the crew, makeup artists, hairstylists, recorders, and other female staff all came over intentionally or unintentionally, wanting to talk to Harrison Ford.
Particularly outrageous was the actress who played Tess's companion secretary, Nora Dunn. She simply walked around Harrison Ford for a long time, and often stuck her head out from behind Ronald, trying to smile with the idol.
She glanced at her, or flirted with her, trying to get Harrison to strike up a conversation with her.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "I can't do this..." Harrison Ford held the script, as if he had just started to read it carefully today, and he turned to a page, which was Jack Traynor.
The scene of flirting with Tess at the elevator entrance.
Jack Traynor wanted to date Tess, but Tess declined to further develop a personal relationship with him because she wanted to focus on her work.
"What can't you do?" Ronald was asked and his mind was filled with questions. The camera was about to start, and you told me that you couldn't act?
"My image, ahem, I mean, it doesn't quite fit the character of Jack Traynor. He's a Wall Street loner, a lothario, and he wouldn't talk to a woman like that. You know what, Jack doesn't know
What does it mean to be rejected by a woman?"
Harrison Ford's intention is very clear. He is a star. Stars are always chased, dreamed, and secretly loved by women. He cannot be rejected by a woman. There is no reason why Tess doesn't want to fall in love with him first, and then falls in love with him after getting to know each other better.
His transformation.
Celebrities must make women fall in love with them as soon as they appear. There is no reason, no reason. Otherwise, how can they still be stars?
"This is a very good point..." Ronald felt that from the perspective of Harrison Ford, this makes sense. Anyway, this is not an important part of the movie. If Harrison Ford and Melanie
·It’s not impossible if Griffith’s acting has a chemical reaction.
"Oh, Harrison, that's the way you are, Ronald, we should listen to him, shouldn't we?"
Actress Nora Dunn, who had become a nymphomaniac, actually started speaking next to her.
Ronald turned to look at her, this stupid woman couldn't find a place to be crazy? She is a director and producer, and she is negotiating terms with the most famous star of the crew. What's going on with you speaking out?
"Oh, I, I...I'm sorry..." Nora Dunn realized that this was not something she could discuss.
"It doesn't matter, you must like the character I play, right? What's your name?" Harrison Ford was very kind to this fan of the actor. He looked at her with his trademark crooked smile, and then he was gentle and manly.
Angrily, he got away from Nora.
"My name is Nora, Nora Dunn. Nice to meet you, Harrison." Nora Dunn almost cried. She secretly put her right hand into her pocket and took off her wedding ring. Then she stepped forward.
They hugged each other like a crush.
"Oh, be careful, be careful, I'm hugging you..." Harrison gave her a gentle hug.
Ronald looked at the ring-shaped skin on the ring finger of Nola's right hand, which was lighter than the rest of the skin, and put his hand on his forehead. This star's charm is really great.
There are stars who can assist the box office, but there are also problems caused by stars.
Ronald felt that there would be many temporary requests to modify the plot and lines in the script, so he called the screenwriter Kevin Wade and asked him to stay on the set. For some temporary problems, there could be a screenwriter.
Together they revised Harrison's part of the script on the spot.
"Sorry, Ronald, I can't go to the set." Kevin Wade replied in a very soft voice on the phone.
】
"You can't come to the set? What do you mean you can't come to the set? This is your script, don't you want to watch Harrison Ford play the character you created, Jack Traynor? Kevin, you have to come, if you
If there is other business, we can discuss it, right?"
Ronald feels that things have been a little rough since returning from West Berlin. Is Kevin Wade going to fight with him in order to collect money?
"There is no other business. Ronald. Negotiations between the Western and Eastern Writers Guilds and the Producers Union are likely to break down. The union notification letter I received yesterday says that starting today, I will not be allowed to participate in the script writing or revision of any crew.
Or a screenwriter-doctor consulting program. I'm sorry, Ronald."
"Ah..." Ronald heard the bad news. Why is there a strike?
"Mr. Ronald Lee, as a joint representative of the Writers Guild of the West and the Writers Guild of the East, I am here to inform you that as a member of the Writers Guild, we need you to suspend any screenwriting work and wait for notification from the union."
Sure enough, not long after, a union representative came to the door and personally delivered a notice, asking Ronald to suspend his work as a screenwriter.
"I'm also a member of the Writers Guild..." Ronald hadn't thought of this identity for a long time. He hadn't started writing for a long time, and the dividends from the Writers Guild were only tens or hundreds of dollars, which was only enough to pay his membership fees.
of.
"Sorry, I am also the director of this film. As a director, I have to continue to do preparatory work here."
"This is your freedom, Mr. Li, but we will film crews that represent major Hollywood productions, help supervise members of the Screenwriters Guild, and will not work in private before reaching an agreement. I hope you can understand." The union representative finished.
gone.
"What the hell is going on? We idiots from the Producers Guild haven't reached an agreement with the Writers Guild yet. What's going on?" Ronald immediately called Daydream's general manager Eddie.
"The Writers Guild has a new negotiator. He is very tough and we have no way to communicate with him. It is impossible for the Producers Guild to give writers a higher bonus than the Screen Actors Guild and the Directors Guild." Eddie answered on the phone.
"And their negotiators are stupid enough to interfere in the director's casting. They hope to get the right to negotiate roles in film and television projects. We can't give in..."
"Damn it, what do they think the screenwriter's identity is?" Ronald cursed. No, it seems that I am also a screenwriter myself and am still a trade union member.
"We have to have an alternative plan. Help me find if there are any good screenwriters who are not members of the Writers Guild. I would like to use them. Those from Britain can also be used..."