This time the search for a person is more difficult, there are no clues, and we have to go to Europe. Ronald first paid McPike $100,000 in advance and asked him to search full-time for two months. Then he would see if there were any clues and how to proceed.
Richard followed Ronald even more closely, saying that he had a lot of things going on recently and he still needed someone who was familiar with the situation to help him with things at any time. CAA has a broad relationship and can be used for anything.
Ronald didn't think much about it. He really needed someone to consult him at all times and help him handle things.
"Roger Corman is coming to New York tomorrow, will you pick him up?" Richard immediately took over and arranged Ronald's affairs.
"I'm not free. You can pick him up for me. We'll meet on Broadway in the evening."
"Where are you going? Do you want me to help you?" Richard hurriedly followed.
"I'm going to see Douglas Jr., as you have seen. It happens that the candidate's team is in New York. Let's talk about the action committee. Come if you are interested." Ronald was a little surprised. Richard was very interested in politics. Interested too?
"No, no, I'll help you pick up Mr. Coleman... When will you return to Los Angeles? Miss Basinger just asked about you before I came." Richard began to mention the beauties' wishes, consciously or unconsciously. News from Ronald.
For example, Annette Bening also went to Paris to shoot another film that also changed "Dangerous Liaisons". If Ronald went to Europe, she eagerly expected him to visit the class. Kim Basinger is now working hard to promote her new work and invites him to watch the video at her home when she goes to Los Angeles.
Ronald was in a hurry to see Little George and didn't have any extra thoughts on it. He just said he would see when the time comes.
"Hey, Rick (Nisita), Ronald is not very interested in those two beauties. When he heard me saying about going to Europe, he didn't refute. There is a high probability that he has already started looking for the ballerina. We are here We have to speed up, it’s best to find the woman named Antonia before Ronald, and then do some background checks.” Richard quickly called Niceta.
"Don't be nervous. I've already used our ballet agent. He can contact the principal male of the New York City Ballet and should know something." Niceta comforted Richard, who only had one important client. He hung up the phone and sighed. Every time a client encounters a relationship problem, the agent is the most nervous. Some time ago, his wife Paula took countless precautions to guard against Tom Cruise's wife Mimi Rogers. Work, now it's his turn.
…
"We will continue the current economic policies. Liberalism is the foundation of America..." As the manager of the campaign team, George Jr. spoke repeatedly on the stage with the guests at this private donation meeting. " My dad chose not to raise taxes.”
"What's wrong with little George? He seems to be in a low mood?" Ronald asked little Douglas next to him.
"Recently, George Sr.'s approval rating has dropped sharply, and he has opened up a poll gap of more than 5% with Dukakis." Douglas Jr. has recently been busy using the election to integrate and understand more political and business relationships in Manhattan, giving My family's business paved the way, so I know these things very well.
"How could it happen? With the current commander-in-chief's outstanding performance in governance, will old George still fall behind?"
"The video will be played soon, take a look." Douglas Jr. said, and the scene of George Sr. opening his mouth and reciting Thousand Points of Shimmer appeared on the TV screen at the conference.
"Tsk, he really doesn't have any charm at all." Ronald understood. Now when running for the leadership, what matters is the impression of voters. Old George used to be the deputy commander, so he did not receive much attention from TV cameras and some in-depth reports from newspapers. Those voters who paid attention to politics still had a good impression of his mediating efforts in Suville, Persia and other places.
But after winning the primary election, he appeared more and more often, and more ordinary voters paid attention to his personal image for the first time. The image of old George is very boring, and the equally boring Dukakis at least talks like a governor.
"Hey, if you ask me, George is better in front of the camera than him. At least he is enthusiastic enough." Ronald lamented while looking at George who was selling hard on the stage.
"Then just write a check, put in more ads and appear less in the news. It will improve the image." Douglas Jr. smiled. Ronald also took out his checkbook and wrote one on the spot.
"Thank you, thank you for supporting my father..." After the speech, little George stood aside and shook hands with every guest who donated money.
"Your daydream was an advertisement for the deputy commander's family, and the effect was very good. We now rely on him to deal with Dukakis' offensive." In the end, all the guests left, and Ronald and Douglas Jr. who remained were Roger Ailes, the campaign consultant brought by George Jr., was invited to a meeting to discuss campaign strategy.
Ronald praised it, but he was actually a little dissatisfied. He also saw Dukakis's campaign ads, which simply highlighted that during his tenure as governor of Massachusetts, he had made economic achievements that were no less than those of the governor of Massachusetts. The economic growth rate of Massachusetts was higher than the national average of the governor of Massachusetts. high.
On George Lao's side, he relied on his fundraising ability that was twice that of the other party and increased investment in advertising to achieve a hard top. But after investing so much money, the gap between his own approval rating and Dukakis's is slowly widening.
"So, can you ask that director to make another version for us? This version has been broadcast for half a year, and now the effect is not as good as before." George Jr. and Roger Ailes formed an alliance to fight against their younger brothers Jeb and And another campaign consultant.
"He's already filming his own movie, so he won't be free recently." The advertisement introducing old George's experience was shot by Emil, and now he is busy with the post-production of "The Reincarnation of the Pretty Man."
"Forget it, if the fundamental problem is not solved, another advertisement may not be useful." Roger Ailes likes to speak out. He knows that this is not a problem that advertising can solve.
"Unfortunately, Laura and I performed very well in it. I also want to try to see if I have the talent to be an actor."
Little George didn't take the temporary lag in the polls too seriously. He was still thinking of taking advantage of this opportunity to shoot another advertisement to overpower his younger brother Jeb in the limelight.
"Do you think old George will lose?" Ronald asked little Doug after seeing off little George who had received the funds. It seemed that the situation was not good now.
"We also need to observe whether the effect of this round of fundraising can stop or even narrow the gap between the two in the polls. You also know that the leader of America is not determined by the support rate of the entire people, but by each individual. Electoral votes from each state. Even if he lags behind, George Sr. still has a chance of winning, as long as the polls don’t continue to decline.”
…
"Roger!" Ronald rushed from the fundraiser to Coleman's hotel and saw Roger Coleman at the scene.
Two old friends hugged and exchanged pleasantries. "Ecstasy," the first film jointly produced and distributed by Ronald and Roger Corman, is about to premiere in New York.
The film has been in production for a long time, but has been delayed until the summer due to financial problems surrounding Corman's ode.
The Writers Guild's strike has ended, and major studios are rushing to shoot and post-produce a batch of movies, hoping to catch up with the production black hole caused by the strike for more than half a year. So Ronald and Coleman discussed that they should release it urgently while the writers' strike was over.
Because it happens to be a gap period now, many movies have not been completed in time, and there are not many movies showing in theaters now. Die Hard is still firmly in the top three movies, although it didn't take the top spot at the box office. Tom Cruise's "Cocktail", which was released at the same time as it, and black movie star Eddie Murphy's "Coming to America" have both shown signs of weakness at the box office.
Among the factors that affect the box office of a movie, the temporary income is actually not very important. What is important is that you can show it in theaters for a few weeks. Now it looks like Die Hard will be one of the final winners.
"Haha, Ronald."
The heroine, Cassandra Peterson, jumped out from the side dressed as a female character in the play. With her majestic figure and transformation into a black witch's costume, Peterson's visual effect is stunning under the light.
"Oh, you are dressed... very beautifully today." Ronald smiled and shook hands at a distance. This actress is really interesting. She dresses very dignified and elegant in life, but I really like the role of Elvira. Once she puts on the witch's dress, her whole personality changes.
"I heard the premiere in Los Angeles was great!" Ronald congratulated Cassandra in advance for this low-budget work, which seemed to be an inevitable commercial success. This kind of black thriller comedy movie is also very popular in the video market.
"Ah, haha, yes, can we have a celebration party?" Cassandra is not young anymore, and she is no longer so obsessed with whether she can take another step forward on the Hollywood actress rankings.
What she wants most now are two things. The first is business success, which will allow her to gain some income and make her life more free. The second is to continue making more Elvira movies. She really likes this role.
"Of course there will be a celebration party, but I think Ronald is more interested in when you will come up with the script for the sequel." Roger Corman knows best how the producer feels when he gets a commercially successful movie: When will you make the sequel?
"I actually already have a rough outline, but this time, I also want to participate in the production of the sequel..." Cassandra Peterson puffed out her chest and expressed her thoughts. Is it normal for a popular (second-rate) star to want to invest the money earned from the first film into the second sequel and play the role of producer?
"We're very welcome." Ronald and Coleman looked at each other, as expected from the two people's phone call in advance.
Cassandra was not a very talented actress, and she missed her rise. Elvira in this movie may be her most famous role. In other words, from now on until she retires, Elvira may be the name the audience calls her when they recognize her on the street.
However, as an unknown second-rate actor, it is also a blessing to be remembered by the audience for his character's name.
Being deeply bound to the character and having no more room for improvement means that Cassandra will not give up the rights to this film. After all, this may be the story that brings her the most financial rewards.
As for the sequel, Cassandra Peterson has the right to decide whether and when to make it. She must be very cautious about this series of stories.
Ronald and Coleman felt that it was impossible to bind Cassandra without paying some price. Regardless of the agreement signed in advance, Cassandra's revenue ratio must now be increased. Otherwise, there are so many entertainment lawyers around Hollywood waiting to go to court to overturn the unequal agreement and collect high legal fees.
Instead of shrinking back, and finally Cassandra contacts other studios, and then takes the distribution ratio that others deliberately inflate, it is better to be more generous and give Cassandra enough benefits. In this way, everyone can still make money, and the story of the witch Elvira can be filmed one by one.
After the collapse of the big studio system in the 1950s, actors are their own masters. At this time, if you want to eliminate interference and steadily shoot the movie that the audience wants to see, the most important thing is to share it.
What Ronald and Coleman need to do is build a platform so that successful actors can continue to make money. Only in this way will they cooperate with you for a long time.
To be honest, actresses like Cassandra have ceilings in terms of acting skills and roles, and they have passed the golden period of rising actresses, so major studios are actually unwilling to promote them. Jumping over with a project is the favorite operation of those people.
"Then it's settled, hahaha..." Cassandra Peterson heard the conditions offered here, and the two sequels were better than the best result she had imagined. She was so happy that she laughed like the witch Elvira in the movie, which attracted the attention of everyone in the hotel.
Sure enough, Ronald's optimism was justified. The weekend's box office numbers bear that out.
The first weekend box office of "Ecstasy" reached 18 million US dollars, ranking sixth. In its fifteenth week, Die Hard staggered past four new films (including the critical hit "A Fish Called Wanda"), with 22 million viewers. Ranked second.
Ranked No. 1 is the movie "Gorillas in the Mist" about Ronald's old acquaintance, Sigourney Weaver, who played the evil manager in Working Girl. It tells the story of a gorilla researcher.
With such good results, "Ecstasy" is expected to exceed the 50 million local box office. Coupled with the steady flow of video tapes, this is another successful film project.
Satisfied, Ronald returned to Los Angeles. He had seen the original footage of Emile Adolino. Although this "The Reincarnation of the Pretty Man" doesn't have many things that make people feel amazing, as a director's debut commercial feature film, it is quite well done.
However, Ronald also saw that Adolino was able to film the confirmed script very stably and performed as he should. But on the other hand, he didn't shoot what he expected. In short, he is a very qualified commercial film director, but don't expect him to have a magical breakthrough.
"I always feel that this movie lacks some outstanding features." Adolino was not completely unaware. In the editing room, he accompanied Ronald to watch some samples and also expressed emotion.
"This is the charm of the later stage of the movie. When you finish editing and add good interludes and music, it won't be a movie at all."
"Speaking of which, I also feel that the movie lacks a powerful climax. If there is a good theme song, it will improve the quality of the movie a lot."
"What song do you want to sing?" Ronald knew that Adolino had the intention of imitating the episode he composed for "Working Girl" and also wanted to find a famous singer to sing the theme song.
"I wanted to have an adult lyricist and give the movie an old-school interlude, because this is an old-school story."
"Well, adult lyrical..." Ronald knew that new pop styles like MJ and adult lyrical guava songs are popular nowadays. In fact, not many people sing it now. Should we go to Barbra Streisand, the biggest name in this style?
