"Don't run away, Ronald, you have to do me this favor." Spike said hurriedly when he saw Ronald tidying up the room at home.
After helping Ronald complete the shooting of two chewing gum commercials, Spike Lee came to ask for debt, hoping that Ronald would help him improve his script.
"Thanksgiving is coming soon. The original origin of this holiday is to know how to be grateful, Ronald. I know you are signed as a screenwriter in the MGM movie. You have to help me. I have to apply for various African-American Funding from affirmative action groups is needed to make this movie possible. They need to evaluate the script."
"Spike, I'd love to help you, but I have to go back to Staten Island for Thanksgiving. My cousin Donna was admitted to Stuyvesant High School. She got a 620 out of a possible 700, which shows that she's the best among all high schools in New York State. She ranks in the top 12% of eighth-grade students at IQ. I have to congratulate her, and I also have to prepare for transferring schools and moving, so I really don’t have time.”
"Hey, man, when Dickinson and I went to shoot a commercial for you, we didn't shirk it. When we worked hard to please that white executive for you, don't forget it." Spike Lee yelled angrily. Ronald.
"Didn't that give you twice the average salary?" Ronald thought to himself, but he just complained in his mind.
"Okay, I surrender, take it." Ronald reached out and took Spike Lee's movie script. "
"Qiao's Courtyard?" Ronald read out the name of the script. It seemed wrong, "Qiao's Big Bed?" Why did you change the name of the script again? What does it mean?
"No, it's Joe's barber shop in a compound in the Big Bed neighborhood. Ronald, you don't understand the slang and abbreviations of our black people. This is a ghetto in Brooklyn. The official name is Bedford-School." Vincent. We all call him Big Bed.
My story is about various stories that happened in a barber shop named Joe in this neighborhood. It reflects the history of how black people maintain their traditions under a mixed culture and fight against Italian gangs, Jehovah's Witnesses, crazy people, underground Mark Six lottery, and other organizations. "
"Is this subtitle what I understand it to mean? Let's cut off our heads?" Ronald looked at the cover and was really excited.
"Have you changed this draft into a gangster vendetta movie? The barber picks up a machete and fights with Italian gangsters. The gimmick is very good. I think you can even go to the producers of low-budget exploitation films. They will like it. of."
Ronald felt that Spike Lee had finally figured it out. Reflecting black culture on the screen was a noble goal. If he mixed this goal into the gun battles, vendettas, religion and gangster plots that the public loved to watch, he would not be both applauded and praised. It was a hit.
"Wade, you have a great sense of humor, Ronald." Spike laughed loudly. "Look clearly, this is us shaving our heads, not cutting our heads. It's about a barber's partner who was suddenly shot dead. In order to keep his barber shop, he fought with all kinds of people, but in the end he failed shamefully."
"Okay." Ronald immediately downgraded the movie in his mind. It turned out to be a reasonable movie.
After quickly reading the script for ten minutes, Ronald had an idea in his mind and said to Spike, "I counted the number of scenes, and it's not enough 90 minutes. How long do you plan to make the film?"
"You can shoot as long as you can. I still have a lot of plots that I haven't written yet, but I don't have enough money anymore. I'm going to apply for funding this time. I hope I can support it until the end of filming."
Ronald picked up the yellow pencil and roughly wrote out the scenes in the script on paper. Then I did some statistics and found that almost all of them were indoor dialogue scenes, with only a few outdoor and action scenes. Spike still tried his best to design the script in the direction of simplifying shooting and reducing costs.
"I don't have anything to suggest about the script. There are some plots that I don't quite understand. Maybe the living conditions in that neighborhood are really bad, so much so that barbershops have to compete with each other in a cut-throat manner.
I didn’t quite understand the expressions of many black people in it, and I didn’t fully understand the subtext of the characters in the dialogue.
But from a producer's point of view, your script is a typical low-budget movie, and it should be possible to make it with the budget you got last time.
I don't quite understand why you're still raising money. "
"How did you shoot? We have compressed the budget to the minimum. The actors are free, and the staff are all helped by classmates. By the way, you have made low-budget exploitation films in Hollywood, please help me See if there are any ways to save money.”
"Where's your budget execution table? Let me take a look."
Spike took out a piece of paper and handed it to Ronald.
Taking a look at it, Ronald only saw a simple expenditure statistics, in which the most money was for film and equipment rental.
Ronald estimated that the barber shop where Spike shot the scene was also kindly sponsored by fellow villagers, and he did not apply for police permission for street shooting. It was a completely guerrilla-style shooting method. Ordinarily it should be very cheap.
"Why does film cost so much? Spike. Your early film expenses can be used to shoot a 60-minute feature film."
"How is this possible? I have been very frugal and just bought 5 cheap expired films, which are just enough to cut out 10 minutes of feature length." Spike screamed that he was wronged and searched for a long time in his notebook to buy the film. Develop the prints and show them to Ronald with photographer Dickinson’s recordings.
"It's really strange, why are expired films so expensive?" Ronald looked at the number and looked a little unusual. "Wait for me to make a call."
"Hello, is this Gail?...I'm Ronald, I'm fine in New York, how are you, are you still so busy?...Are you free now?...I just want to ask you some questions,... ...Well, as for the price of film, why is it so expensive?...Roger has special channels?...Okay, okay, what about the cost of developing and printing?...I understand, thank you."
"That's right, Spike. I asked my old boss, Roger Corman's executive secretary at New World Productions, and it's true that their film prices are very low, so you can shoot Rock 'n' Roll High School for $300,000." movie of."
It turns out Roger Coleman had his own money-saving secret that no one else could copy.
First of all, what Coleman bought was not new film, nor was it the expired film that Spike bought that had been stored for a year and although it could still be used for shooting, its performance had declined. What he shoots is a kind of leftover film.
Each film is available in two sizes: 4 minutes and 11 minutes. But when filming a movie, it's impossible to use exactly 11 minutes every time. If the length of film in the box is not enough for the following lens, the photographer will replace it with a new one.
After each film is shot and sent to the lab, there will be some unexposed film. The lab would splice the films, put them in sealed jars, and sell them to amateurs.
Roger Corman has a good relationship with Warner and Fox, the two major studios, and can buy the remaining films at a discount of 10 to 20% off the original price. Because he shoots so much every year, many studios are willing to sell surplus film to him in bulk.
The second is the cost of printing. Roger Coleman has a large printing volume and does it have high requirements for quality? The main way for a laboratory to make money is to develop and print as much film as possible without stopping the machine and the chemicals.
However, major studios have very high requirements. Each film must comply with quality control requirements, and the chemicals must be changed when the film is developed to a certain extent. Moreover, the daily business volume fluctuates. In many cases, the liquid that can still be used for printing has to be thrown away because there is no film. Machines and humans doze there too.
The advantage of Roger Corman is that it does not require quality, and the color of each film does not need to be uniform. There is no rush in terms of time. Therefore, the lab often arranges for blanks to be inserted into his films. Whenever there is some potion left and time available, I insert a copy of Coleman's film development. Anyway, after three to five days, I will finish washing it.
In this way, the laboratory saves costs and can also give Roger a very good discount.
Adding the two together, among Roger Corman's shooting costs, the largest expenditure on film and printing was almost only one-fifth of others.
In order to get this kind of discount, low quality requirements, good relationships with major studios, and a huge production volume are all indispensable. Only Roger Corman can do this in Hollywood.
"So, Spike, it's not that I don't want to help you. It's just that this is an advantage that Coleman only has. Even if I order film from him, he will definitely increase the price to about the same as what you buy in New York."
"I understand you, Ronald. Jews are always so smart. But if it weren't for you, I wouldn't know why he had such a low cost. I thought there was something wrong with my directing skills and I couldn't make such a low-cost film. Than, there were too many retakes.”
Spike Lee continued, "I would like to ask you to be the producer of my graduation film. I need your help with many cost-saving things during shooting."
"Okay, no problem, but again, you have to wait until I finish Thanksgiving."
"That `s a deal."
After sending Spike Lee away, Ronald continued to tidy up the room. He would give the back bedroom of the apartment to his cousin Donna, and Aunt Karen would often come to Manhattan to take care of her daughter and oversee the leg warmer business. Ronald transformed the photography studio outside into a living room, and the bedroom in the middle was his own.
The photography business gradually shifted to the casting studio. Ronald no longer took the business of private photography in the apartment. His accountant Lawrence told him that he would easily be reported to the IRS for tax evasion.
In this way, this apartment is mainly for living, similar to the shotgun room on Staten Island.
Fortunately, the Stuyvesant High School that Donna was admitted to was in the East Village, so it was very convenient for Donna to attend classes.
Theresa and David had some success selling leg warmers at Manhattan's Art High School, but they also needed room to store some of their merchandise. In this way, Ronald's apartment completely changed its use, from a photography studio to a warehouse for homes and small businesses.
Taking the disassembled photography lighting and other equipment, Ronald drove to the casting studio. He made an arrangement with the person in charge, Julia Taylor, to put the photography equipment in the studio for the audition photos.
After wishing each other a happy Thanksgiving, Julia reminded him, "Did you bring any Thanksgiving gifts to your family?"
"I brought some food to my aunt, but I forgot to buy it for my cousin." Ronald scratched his ears. "What do you think girls in eighth grade like? Julia."
"Oh, I'm also worried about what to buy for my daughter. You can see for yourself."
"Donna is a bully in elementary school. How about buying her a book to relieve her boredom?" Ronald came to a Random House and read the bestseller.
"Endless love?"
Ronald looked at the introduction sign next to it that read: New York Times bestseller selection, shortlisted for the National Book Award.
After flipping through it, it seemed like it was about teenage love. Little girls should like romance, right?
"Please wrap it up for me. I want it as a gift."
multiple copies
