The next person who reports to Ronald is his script assistant, David Simkins. If you want Daydream to start making movies like an assembly line, you have to feed materials to the head of the assembly line - something that can be filmed
Script. Keep
Although the scripts are tight now, David Simkins still got a lot of scripts. He used to work as a development manager at New World Pictures, so he knows where to buy such low-cost movie scripts-
—The circulation warehouses of other film studios, as well as the offices of screenwriters and agents.
The script was shot and dropped by a CEO-level person, and it was lying quietly in the circulation warehouse. Turnround means that we will not film anymore, but if you can get investment from other people, we can
sell to them.
Ronald looked at the outline posted on the cover of the basic scripts and the summary summarized by Simkins. These scripts were all well written, otherwise they would not have been picked up by the studio in the first place.
The reason why it was not put into production may involve star schedules, budget issues, director issues, or even political struggles in the office. Some scripts were forgotten after being placed in it, and they have even been dormant for more than 20 years. Daydreams like this
Yes, there are no big problems when it comes to bidding.
The only drawback is that the studio that buys the copyright charges too high a price, with the cheapest one costing more than 100,000 US dollars. This is also because if the studio wants to retain the script copyright, it must renew the contract in a few years, otherwise
The original author can resell it to other willing investors under union terms.
Other scripts were collected through less well-known screenwriting agents. They originally wanted their clients to sell some scripts and get a share of the agent's fees. These scripts were piled into a pile. Their quality
They are not as highly selected by the studios, so there are mixed results.
And even those well-written scripts may be suspected of plagiarism. There are so many movies in the history of Hollywood, as well as movies from Europe, Asia and other places, no one can say that they have seen a small part of them. If those screenwriters plagiarized one or two
For a movie script that is not well-known in America, the studio has to face a very troublesome intellectual property lawsuit.
"It doesn't seem like there are as many as I thought?" Ronald asked David Simkins. The movie scripts he collected during this period only filled two wooden boxes.
"There are no signs of the Writers Guild strike ending yet, so scripts are very scarce now. Especially the scripts that have been put into circulation. If we want to buy them now, we have to pay double or even triple the price compared to last year."
Mkins shrugged his shoulders and spread his hands.
"Damn strike..." Ronald picked out some kung fu movies and scripts suitable for female audiences and put them on his desk. "Let's start with these two types of movies. You can help me make an estimate.
Those that can be shot with a budget of less than three million will be put on the special list."
"What are the big studios doing now? What scripts are they planning to shoot now?" Ronald remembered and asked Simkins, who had gone to the Seven Warehouses to exchange.
"Everyone is snapping up adaptation rights now. Those people are either not members of the Screenwriters Guild, or when they wrote, they aimed at movie adaptations and included a lot of script writing methods. This can bypass strike restrictions. This is the case for adaptation rights in recent years.
Prices hit new highs.”
"Well, it's a pity that we didn't grab a few copies before the strike."
The two talked about the copyrights that major studios are competing for. Now, any copy can sell for more than 300,000 yuan.
The script prices in Hollywood went through a cycle after Ronald entered the industry. When he first entered, it happened to be a time when the presidents of major studios were changing one after another, and his own debut film was also sold at a good price.
In the next three years when the management was relatively stable, the period of large-scale purchase of scripts passed. By 1986, it was no longer a question of the selling price, but the studio's refusal to purchase them.
Things must go to extremes, and in recent years, script prices, which have always been sluggish, have begun to rise slowly again. After the strike, they suddenly reached sky-high prices. As long as the works are on the bestseller list, the price starts at 300,000 yuan.
Among them, one work is particularly hotly contested. One is Thomas Wolfe's debut novel, "The Bohe Vanities," hailed as a genius by book critics.
This work aims at the fierce conflicts of racial conflicts in contemporary New York. It tells the story of a white man and his mistress who accidentally entered the black area of the South Bronx and encountered two black men who robbed them. During the fight, the mistress accidentally hit and killed one of them, and was finally raped by the media.
Revealing the stories that become hot topics.
Because the book reviews were so good, it was even said to be the most talented family in America. So the competition was particularly fierce. The final winner, Warner Bros., paid $750,000, plus a small share of the profits after the release.
success.
Ronald took the book Simkins gave him and started reading it on the way home. It was really good. Ronald read it in one go. It was already time for dinner.
As he watched, he remembered that a similar incident had occurred on the New York subway a few years ago. A woman on the subway, suspecting that some black men in the Bronx were going to rob her, shot two black youths to death with a pistol.
In the end, the public sympathized more with this woman who commuted to get off work every day and took the subway at the risk of being robbed by black men, and she was acquitted.
The ending of the movie was more dramatic than reality. In the end, the jury in the court was deadlocked at 6 to 6 on whether the protagonist was guilty or not. They had to declare the trial to be invalid and set a new trial at another time. And all six votes were not guilty.
There were white jurors, and the six votes to convict were all black.
This incident also attracted a lot of attention at the time. The racial discrimination in America that really attracted the attention of the media was against black people. The Chinese-American Chen Guoren was beaten to death a few years ago, but it did not cause such a big stir in the media.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Although the story is good, Ronald looked at the total purchase cost of more than one million. For such a large production, it would be better to attract seven major investments. To add a little more,
There are enough daydreams to make a movie.
Little Bud came to pick him up for a meal, and he suggested going to Denino's Pizza Tavern on Staten Island to eat some of the famous local delicacies.
This is a rare delicacy on Staten Island. It is praised by many Manhattanites as the best pizza in New York. There are no takeaways or chain stores, and wealthy people in Manhattan can only come here by boat to enjoy it.
The pizza tasted great, but it was only eight inches in size and very thin. Ronald had to order two more portions before he and Little Bud were full.
"I heard from my mother and sister that the pizza here is delicious, but I didn't expect it to be so small..."
"Hahaha, let's buy a few more and you can take them back to your family." Ronald waved to the waiter and ordered ten more pizzas to take back.
"My mother and sister will be very happy." Little Bud held a large pile of pizza boxes and placed them in the trunk of the car. "They will all go to church tomorrow. I heard that the new church sponsored by Aunt Karen has confirmed its commitment.
Builders, then we can go to our own church.”
"Do you go to the same church as my aunt?" Ronald asked. He knew that most black pastors are more "violent" in their sermons. Many of them speak as if they are singing, and there are many people who are very ignorant of their ethnic intelligence.
His self-deprecating style is different from that of the pastor of the church where white people go.
"It turns out not to be the case. Now they are all working in your factory on Staten Island, so it is convenient for everyone to go there regardless of their ethnicity." Little Bud laughed, and he told Ronald that in fact they didn't like the original church very much either.
His preaching style, he said it as if he was poor at it.
Especially Ronald opened his eyes, and several of his sisters also learned more about the world because of their work. The former secretary who retired from Wall Street, Theresa Kate, told the black people a lot about how to be independent.
The matter of self-improvement. Some black people really listened to the advice and went to Staten Island Community College to attend night classes. After graduation, they were promoted and made more money. Watch
After opening their eyes and attending night school, these people no longer tolerate the preaching that always says that their ethnic group is not enough to lead them.
The population of southern Staten Island is mainly white, with a small number of blacks, not many Latinos, and some Chinese who moved from Manhattan. The workers are of all races and live very close to each other. On weekends, everyone goes to Aunt Karen to wait for the veterans.
The church that Yishuang often went to gradually became a social occasion.
After Aunt Karen told them that she would donate money to establish a new church, they all expressed their intention to go to the same church as her.
"The food there is delicious, especially the biscuits. My sisters' children only like to go to that church." Little Bud said this, which made Ronald also interested, and the next day happened to be Sunday.
Let’s go and have a look too.
"Are so many people coming?" Ronald looked at the believers who lined up to greet him after the sermon in the church. They were all more or less connected to several of Ronald's factories, including the movie lighting factory, the tape factory, and
There are several small factories involved in camera parts.
When he saw his parents coming, they all came up to shake his hands and say a word or two of thanks.
"This is their home." Aunt Karen knows many people, and she will go to the small factory to visit when she has nothing to do.
Ronald shook hands with dozens of families and felt very good. This small place is like his own little kingdom. Most people rely on themselves to make money, and they all live very close to each other, which is very interesting.
"The new church is located over there..." Aunt Karen pointed to a flattened area opposite and said to Ronald. That was also the land of Douglas Jr.'s grandfather. After he saw the design of the church,
, I simply donated some money as part of the reconstruction plan of the original church to a new one that is larger and has more modern facilities.
In order to fit in with the colonial style of Staten Island for more than two hundred years, the appearance of the new church was slightly modified, using the same white neoclassical architectural style as the real monuments on the island.
Seeing that the Hansen family and his own family are beginning to be closely connected, Ronald feels great. America is a federal country, and by cooperating with Hansen, a local snake with a long history, our relationship can be better shared. What kind of garden will we have in the future?
The management office can cause trouble for itself and it will not happen.
After finishing his appearance in the church, Ronald went to inspect the garden of the house where "The Godfather" was filmed. Compared with the church, this is his real private "territory".
A large group of people with Chinese faces were working on site. Engineer Wang came over to introduce Ronald.
The garden began to be rebuilt as a Soviet-style garden in a foreign land thousands of miles away according to the construction methods used by wealthy families in the south of the Yangtze River for hundreds of years. All building materials, including special blue bricks and green tiles, were specially shipped from China.
Shou
Many construction methods are also Chinese-style, so Engineer Wang hired some Chinese and a Chinese construction team from China. Looking at the garden being slowly built on an open space, Ronald laughed out loud.
The house that Michael Douglas asked him to go to is a real old building in California. After it is built, he can invite some friends to play.
"Ronald, I have your phone number..." Little Bud said to Ronald.
"Hello, Richard? What's going on?" Not many people knew about Ronald's car phone number. Sure enough, it was his agent who was looking for him.
"Your Australian friends are coming to America again. Crocodile Dundee and his girlfriend happen to be in New York. Do you want to meet them? They are here with the sequel this time."
"Oh? That's good," Ronald thought to himself. Paul Hogan, whom he met by chance, was filming in New York, and it later became a box office legend in 1986. He didn't expect that the sequel would be filmed so quickly.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! Ronald and the two creators of "Crocodile Dundee 2" met in an apartment on Fifth Avenue. Watch
Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski fell in love because of the drama, and they have truly become a couple. The two behaved very intimately, and they also talked about the incident when they met on the streets of New York.
Very emotional.
Crocodile Dundee set a box office record for Australian movies in America and around the world. Of course, Paramount immediately put the sequel on the agenda. Just recently, Crocodile Dundee 2 was very good at the box office after being released in Australia. Hogan and Lynn
The two came to America in advance with their new film to prepare for its premiere in America next month.
"Will the second part still be shot in New York?" Ronald asked.
"It's still the same structure, half in New York and half in Australia. But this time it was shot in New York first and then in Australia, which is exactly the opposite of the story of the first part."
"That's great. The audience really liked this contrasting story of Australian country people in New York in the first film," Ronald said.
"The budget has increased a lot this time, so we also added a lot of big scenes. We also shot the beginning at the Statue of Liberty off the coast of New York. It is difficult to apply for a filming permit in New York, but everything is fine. We believe the sequel will
It’s just as exciting as the first one.”
Hogan and Linda invited Ronald to watch a preview screening of a copy of "Crocodile Dundee 2" they had specially brought here in the evening.
After watching it, Ronald felt that indeed these two couples, especially Paul Hogan, knew exactly what would tickle American audiences.
It’s still Mr. Crocodile Dundee who was raised by Australian aborigines. Americans like to see how country people from other countries use unique methods to solve problems here.
"I think it might not be worse than the box office of the first part." Ronald thought the editing was very good and compact. Unlike the first part, which was mainly a romantic story, the second part also added a plot about Crocodile Dundee outsmarting South American drug dealers.
.
Just like Rambo, the character of Crocodile Dundee is still the same, but the scene has been changed. And there is a very interesting thing about the whole movie. Its plot and the scenes in the Australian wilderness have a subtle imitation.
The texture of western films from the Golden Age of Laiwu.
It’s not that many viewers don’t like Western movies, it’s just that they’re tired of watching the plot where they ride horses, shoot guns, and fight Indians or Mexican bad guys. If you change it this way, Mr. Australian Crocodile comes to fight South American drug dealers, and everyone can watch the same plot.
It's very comfortable and close to the content of modern life where people drink too much.
"That's impossible. Our first film probably sold over 300 million US dollars worldwide." Hogan announced proudly.
It seems that audiences in other parts of the world also want to see the life of an Australian country bumpkin. Ronald thought to himself that this international box office is very good. This movie does not require much understanding of the meaning of the lines, and everyone can understand it just by looking at the pictures.
Shou
"Now we only have the Eastern camp and a few places in East Asia that we haven't released yet." Hogan said, feeling a little regretful. It has never been easy to enter there.
"Really? I'll make some phone calls later and check." Ronald thought to himself, Japan, China, and some of the relationships accumulated through sending copies of Dirty Dancing in Germany might be able to make this happen.
The movie truly sold all over the world.
"This movie was an unexpected success, I understand that. That's why I want as many viewers as possible to see it. To see Linda and I on the screen."
Ronald expressed his understanding that if Paul Hogan now wants to transform into a Hollywood star, it depends on whether he performs well in other roles.
"It's a pity that the sales of the video tape are not good, so we try to release it in as many countries as possible." Linda Kozlowski, who plays the female reporter Sue Charlton, added.
"Not good? How come?" Ronald was surprised, "The last time I went to Blockbuster, your Crocodile Dundee was still in a good position."
"People from Paramount say that our movies are not performing well enough in the video tape market..." Paul Hogan and Linda looked at each other. How come what Ronald said is different from what Paramount said?
"Really? I remember it was your movie. It was in the best-seller section when you walked in." Ronald frowned. He couldn't remember it wrong. There have been no movies with similar themes in the past two years.
"How about we go take a look? There is a Blockbuster video rental store not far downstairs." Ronald asked the two of them.
Hogan and Linda were also confused. It happened that they came to New York in advance this time so they could see the real situation. "Then let's go and take a look."