Chapter 80 Bad news for small and medium-sized producers
The place on Long Island was too restrictive and there was no social interaction. Ronald simply ended his vacation early and returned to Los Angeles.
"I thought you were going to stay in New York for a while?" Ronald asked Diane, who was determined to go back to Los Angeles with him. The strike of the Writers Guild is still going on, and the establishment of new movie projects has been suspended. The originally busy audition work is now very busy.
It’s rare, and I don’t know what Diane is doing back there.
"Someone saw my performance when I was growing up and called Paula specifically to tell me they wanted me to audition. Paula said it would be a good fit for me."
Diane finally matched her clothes to the plane. What she wore today was very Marilyn Monroe style. Maybe every actress has the dream of becoming Monroe.
"What kind of movie is it?" Ronald felt very strange. Now there is no one to change the script. What studio is willing to make a bet at this time? Will the strike end soon? He asked the Producers Alliance for it.
This is not the news I heard. This time I went to Los Angeles and I had to attend a meeting to discuss countermeasures.
"It's not a movie." Diane made a Monroe-style blowing kiss.
"Is that a TV show?" Ronald asked.
"It's not a TV series either," Diane kept giggling, "it's just the miniseries that CAA launched a few years ago."
A miniseries is a TV series of about six episodes. Compared with a normal TV series that has more than ten or even dozens of episodes in a season, a miniseries is different in that its number of episodes and plot direction are determined.
Moreover, the length of each episode is relatively long, and the shooting techniques and budgets, and the seriousness are closer to movies than TV series. Ten years ago, CAA relied on a miniseries called "Shogun" about the Japanese Warring States Period to break into the market.
The brokerage market has become one of the largest companies in the brokerage industry today.
"What is the subject?" Ronald thought, no wonder Diane would take it. When she had a choice, she always had high requirements for the quality of the role.
"Western"
Ronald frowned. The market for western movies is shrinking very badly. Not only are no one watching western movies, but the ratings of western TV series are also very poor.
But he soon felt relieved. This was not his project. Diane could shoot whatever she wanted. Anyway, Paula had a good taste and would not cheat her. Even if the genre was in decline, there would still be some masterpieces.
"This is a script that Peter Bogdanovich co-wrote, and it was going to be made into a movie nearly twenty years ago, and John Wayne, James Stewart, and Henry Fonda were going to collaborate.
But after that, Wayne was unwilling to film it, so he kept it on the shelf. This time, it was changed to a four-episode, six-hour miniseries in total..."
On the plane, Diane told Ronald a lot about the script called "Lonesome Dove". Ronald was actually not very interested in such old themes. A group of Texas cowboys drove cattle
The story of a group going to Montana, with three positive male protagonists, reminded him of the classic Hollywood business card "Red River".
The structure of the story is similar, but the details are slightly different, and it has been extended to four episodes. But I can't say this to Diane, as she is now very interested.
Ronald waited for Paula Wagner who came to pick her up at the airport, and only asked her, "How is the quality of Lone Pigeon Town?"
"It's very good. It suits Diane. We expect it to become a hot-selling TV series. The recent script shortage is very serious, and we are lucky to get this old script."
Ronald nodded, this hit the point.
"Aren't you still considering Rain Man?" Paula only asked Ronald.
"I still have the same answer, unless Tom (Cruise) chooses to play the mentally retarded person." Ronald still feels that only by letting the good-looking Cruise play the mentally retarded person can the effect be unexpected by the audience. And Niceta
I warned myself that Dustin Hoffman, who was originally scheduled to play the mentally handicapped brother, was difficult to handle on the set.
Having seen such a big star with a salary of 6 million, Ronald felt that it would be better to find someone who is easy to work with. If Tom Cruise, whom he has discovered and worked with, was the star, then he would be very interested in starring.
He is seeking an Oscar nomination.
Now, it is more difficult to play a supporting role, but it is not outstanding. Why? Cruise may not have the confidence in his acting skills yet, right?
…
The next day, Ronald went to the Producers Union for a meeting. Brian Walton, the negotiator for the Writers Guild, had spoken softly in the media the previous week and expressed that he would consider accepting the compensation proposed by the Producers Union.
The $50 million proposal will go to the union to convince representatives of each branch.
"The strike that has lasted for more than a month is expected to end. Let's resume normal filming as soon as possible." In the Producers Alliance, major production houses gathered together and complained about the strike.
Unlike large studios that have accumulated many scripts, small and medium-sized studios are now facing a very serious shortage of scripts. Moreover, their financial pressure is even greater. If projects are delayed, bank interest will crush them to death.
Over there, representatives from major companies gathered in another group to chat. What they were more concerned about was how much they could control the share of the writers in the agreement. These senior managers relied on this to write their year-end summaries.
"Gentlemen..." Alliance President Nick Kuant came out more than ten minutes later than scheduled. "Bad news, the Writers Guild has officially rejected our conditions."
"Oh, Shxt..."
"Isn't he going to agree?"
"We can discuss whatever terms he is dissatisfied with..."
There was a cry of wailing from the small and medium-sized producers. They had expected to get new contracts today and were preparing to resume work. They were all disappointed.
"They did not put forward new demands, and we did not modify the terms. We completely followed the arrangements of the negotiating envoy sent by the Grand Commander. The reason why the negotiations broke down was that Brian Walton could not convince the Writers Guild Committee to agree to accept
On this condition, they still insisted on a compensation of 200 million US dollars, and the addition of greater creative control to the screenwriter (a greater say in deciding directors and actors)."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "We cannot accept those..."
"Who do they think they are?"
Now it was the big studios' turn to complain.
Nick Kuant, the president of the Producers Alliance, waved for everyone to be quiet, then introduced the negotiation process and the details of the breakdown in detail, and answered everyone's questions.
Ronald sat in the back and basically understood. Brian Walton, the negotiator of the Writers Guild, won election to this position by inciting low-level writers. His reason for persuading the Writers Guild Negotiation Committee was
Three years ago, if I had listened to myself, I could have obtained 200 million and regained creative control from greedy and amateur producers.
Such excessive conditions, of course, caused a lot of damage during the negotiation process. Even if the commander-in-chief personally interrogated the special envoy sent by the federal government to negotiate, he would not be able to succeed.
Brian Walton had no choice but to go back and report the bad news. But the low-level screenwriters who were bewitched by him did not agree. The committee members representing them would never allow Brian Walton to agree.
If we go back to the conditions proposed by the Producers Guild in the past, it means that what Brian Walton said before was all lies. Then these committee members who were elected by the union members may have to be re-elected next time.
Oh no.
Moreover, in the early stage, they all believed Brian Walton’s confident appearance and his overly optimistic propaganda about union members. As a result, they believed the lies and actively participated in the strike. They also established an inspection committee to prevent them from thinking about it.
Screenwriting job at work.
Such investment makes them refuse to believe that Brian Walton is an incompetent liar.
Brian Walton had no choice but to pretend that this was just a temporary setback and that as long as he continued to strike, he could get the promised conditions.
So under this false confidence, the bargaining committee of the Screenwriters Guild officially rejected the employer's conditions and announced that the strike would continue.
"The pressure in Hollywood is not the greatest right now," President Nick concluded above. "Now the TV station is about to start production of the new autumn season of TV series. The screenwriters have also spotted this opportunity and want to force us to submit.
Everyone agrees that if the creative decision-making power is even partially ceded to screenwriters, Hollywood will no longer be Hollywood. We can only unite and continue to fight them. The screenwriters who object to the agreement mainly write films without independence.
A low-level screenwriter who has written a blockbuster movie or TV series.
But they account for the majority of the union. Originally, they could not get much of the remaining dividends caused by the TV station's reruns. These people's ideas are too idealistic, too simple, and sometimes even naive, and they are easily fooled by people like Brian Walton.
people use.
We can only let the facts soften them, no work means no wages, and now they are looking for celebrity actors to raise funds for the strike and help writers survive the strike without wages.
Everyone can explain things clearly to our friends in the Screen Actors Guild through their respective channels. It will not benefit anyone if this farce continues.
I will continue to maintain contact and negotiate with the Writers Guild and try my best to help everyone win some exemption clauses."
Everyone was very disappointed, but due to the situation, everyone had no choice but to discuss how to apply for exemption clauses, what conditions needed to be met to apply for exemption, and then filled out the opinion form and submitted it to President Nick for reference.
Ronald filled in some information casually, paying attention to the conversation of the producers around him.
"Is the situation really that bad at your TV station?"
"Forget it, did any of you watch David Letterman's show last night?"
"I didn't watch it. I had to find screenwriters from Australia and Canada to change the script. What happened?"
"He really had no choice but to install a fountain in the studio. When there was no topic, he would let the fountain spray water on himself."
Ronald almost couldn't hold back his laughter. It seems that the situation on television is even more serious, especially the talk shows that are broadcast every night, which need to constantly output jokes. Usually there is a writing team to serve the host.
.
"I am now in the script warehouse every day, looking at old scripts from decades ago to see which ones can be reused."
"That's not true, but many details of those scripts are old and inappropriate, and we can't find good screenwriters to revise them. Good screenwriters are all members of the trade union."
"I think one day we will all be driven to places like Australia and Canada, where there is no union harassment and you can find English-speaking screenwriters."
Ronald looked at the big and small producers around him, always with a melancholy face. Fortunately, the strike had little impact on his business. If he had filmed Dirty Dancing, he would have invested the money of himself and his friends and family.
At that time, if we encountered such a strike, then...
Ronald didn't dare to think about it anymore. At this moment, he heard a sigh...
"Why……"
Ronald looked up and saw that it was Minahan Golan from Cannon.
"When did you come? I didn't see you just now."
"I just came here, Ronald... I'm really happy to see you. I haven't been happy about anything recently. I thought my big project would turn around, but I had no choice but to go back to Tel Aviv to find a screenwriter for revision."
Forget about my script."
Minahan looked normal, without his usual enthusiasm. His speaking speed had slowed down.
"You're okay. There is a base in Israel, and the screenwriters there are also very good in English." Ronald comforted his old friend and pointed to another medium-sized producer opposite.
That was Dino De Laurentiis, an Italian producer. A Neapolitan who had an old grudge with Ronald over the movie "Year of the Dragon."
"Pfft... quack..." Minahan finally laughed, causing the other party to turn around and look over.
"Hehehe..." Ronald looked back with an unabashed smile.
"He was in a worse situation than me. I heard that halfway through the production of the last film, the funds were withdrawn by the bank and had to be sold to other distributors."
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "What's going on? Tell me, I love hearing this." Ronald stared at Dino De Laurentiis and smiled evilly.
"Hmph..." Dino muttered and turned around to leave. It was really uncomfortable to be laughed at in person.
"He found Peter Bogdanovich and wanted to lend his talent to support Rob Lowe, another male star of the Brad Gang. As a result...nothing was achieved anyway."
Minahan also pursued Peter Bogdanovich for a while, hoping to sign him as the exclusive director of Cannon. However, Bogdanovich looked down upon him, and finally found Peter Bogdanovich, who had produced many classic commercial films.
Dino.
As it turned out, a few days before the filming of "Beginning with the Law" began, Dino informed Bogdanovich that the film's budget had been reduced and that the script must be revised to adapt to the lower-budget shooting.
Bogdanovich, who originally came to the film for money, saw that it was not good, and immediately arranged for his confidante Colin Garp to play the heroine. Anyway, the two had worked together many times and knew how to fool him.
Then all the high-cost scenes were deleted, and a supporting actress was added to fill in the deleted scenes. It just so happened that his dead girlfriend, Stratten's sister Louise, would play this role. The money that could be earned was
Earn them all.
"Hehehehe..." Ronald and Minahan laughed for a while. Both of them are directors. Of course they know what kind of damage it will cause to the movie if the director deliberately makes money by botching the movie.
Rob Lowe's idea of taking this film to a higher level was completely in vain. He had to be careful not to get caught up in the film's poor reputation and act in a film with good reviews or box office as soon as possible to restore the impact.
It seems that mid-sized production companies will be most affected by this strike in Hollywood. No matter how small the production company is, such as Roger Corman's ultra-low-cost filming, they will not be affected much by this strike.
.
This script doesn't allow you to hire a screenwriter to modify certain scenes? Well, forget it, just tearing this scene off will save money. And many of his screenwriters are talented people who are not in the union.
Perhaps it was the inappropriate laughter of the two that made the surrounding producers look over.
"Ronald, Minahan..." Someone finally came up to say hello to the two unsociable producers.
"Samuel?" Ronald recognized the person. He was Samuel Goldwyn, the son of MGM founder Samuel Goldwyn, and the producer of this year's ruined Oscar ceremony.
"Are you here too?"
"I actually have my own small production company..." Samuel Goldwyn Jr. said with a smile. Apart from a little relic in the name, his family and MGM have nothing to do with each other. "What are you talking about? It seems very strange.
Are you happy?"
"We were laughing at ourselves, wondering if we were going to Israel to hire screenwriters." Ronald laughed.
"But I was so worried that I had to find a Chinese screenwriter to revise my new film." Little Samuel said with a smile.
Nowadays, if a producer can find a film screenwriter who is not from the Screenwriters Guild but has a certain level, it is something to be proud of and show off.
"Haha, what's his name? Is he from Xiangjiang?" Ronald thought for a while, the person in Xiangjiang who can write scripts in English is Tsui Hark? Has he come to Hollywood?
"The level is very good. He graduated from the film department of New York University. I heard that he had not found a job for many years and was raising children at home. I found him by chance."