Ronald was slowly editing the film in the editing room when he received a call from Douglas Jr.
"Yes, many of the top executives of the TV stations are Jewish, and many are supporters of the Donkey Party. There is a high degree of overlap between them. George Jr.'s team called all the TV stations, but was refused to provide any information related to Dukaski. Lens.”
"How come their team doesn't even have anyone who can collect information about their opponents?" Ronald felt that George Sr.'s campaign team had some problems.
"It is said that that is what Jeb is responsible for..." Little Douglas stopped, and he asked, "Do you have any connections with the TV station? This matter is also very important to us. Dukaski's attitude towards income tax is very Bad..."
"Hmph..." Ronald didn't want to expose his relationship with George Sr. in the film and television circles. Being a candidate who supports tax cuts is nothing among the wealthy producers, but he has another identity. ,director. It would appear too unique in the film and television industry where Donkey Party supporters are everywhere.
"As long as I can help get a copy of the videotape, just one copy will be fine. Little George is in charge of this now..."
Ronald scratched his head. He didn't know many people on the TV station. He only knew Helen's father, Gerald Slater, and the people in the production department of ABC who went to Australia to film "Die Hard".
The former was a Jew and he didn't want to ask him rashly; the latter wasn't familiar enough to discuss such a thing.
"Wait until I find someone to discuss it with..."
Ronald decided to ask Niceta anyway, as he was of Italian descent and there were no taboos in this regard.
Niceta heard Ronald say that he wanted to ask him something, but he didn't want to tell anyone else, so he guessed that it was something related to ethnicity. Ronald did not directly say that he wanted it, but took it as a fact and asked him why he couldn't get a video of a program that had been publicly broadcast on TV.
"They will not let this tape leak out to the market. It is very damaging. They prefer Dukaski, a Greek candidate who is himself a minority."
Ronald understood the implication of Niceta's words. When a minority comes to power, many things must rely on Jews who are also a minority and occupy most of the power positions in the media industry. And George Sr. himself was the boss of a powerful department like the CIA, and he was from a blue-blood old white family, so he was not so easy to talk to Jews.
He thought for a while and continued to ask: "So, if someone gets the video tape and wants to show it on the TV station, will they also find a way to ban it?"
"That won't happen. Firstly, we have the First Amendment. Secondly, the advertising department of the TV station is managed by another group of people. As long as there is money to be made, no one cares. This is their KPI."
"It seems that I need to know more about the operation of the TV station... Someone told me that it is very promising to turn popular movies into TV series." Ronald knew the answer he wanted to know, so he naturally changed the topic. one time.
"Of course, are you interested? I often receive such invitations, but most Hollywood film directors don't care much about TV series adaptations. If you are interested, I can ask them to come and talk to you. .”
When Niceta heard what Ronald said, he felt that he must have been entrusted by someone to find out the TV station's attitude towards Dukakis riding in a tank. Compared with this, making money is more important. TV series are particularly affected by the writers' strike compared to movies. The ratings of many TV series with everlasting ratings are declining rapidly, and it is time to launch new series on a large scale.
"Here, I'm still a student. Cameron Crowe's fast-paced Richmond High drama failed. You'd better do my research first. If there's a suitable candidate, let's talk about it."
Ronald changed the topic smoothly, and the two chatted in depth, and unexpectedly discovered that it might be a quite large gold mine. It was in Niceta's office that he began to really explore the possibility of adapting his film into a TV series.
"Tuk tuk..."
"Come in……"
Just as the two of them finished their coffee and ate a lot of salami, an administrative manager knocked on the door and came in.
"Mr. Niceta, this is the location map of your new office. Mr. Ovitz allows all partners to decide the decoration style of the new office... This is your share..."
"Thank you..." Niceta opened the floor plan of the newly renovated office and frowned. Ovitz's office actually occupies a large half of the top floor. He can only find a corner office on the floor below, which is not as big as the Jewish partners.
"Your new office?" Ronald came over to take a look. There is a central circular atrium in the middle of the new building, and the wings on the left and right sides have completely different styles.
One of the curved wings is dominated by large expanses of glass and travertine, while the other is in masonry with regular, unadorned windows. The atrium is topped by a low, conical glass pyramid, making it a large, light-filled public space.
"This design is good, who is the designer?" Ronald looked at the new office building and felt familiar.
"It's Chinese-American designer Luming Pei. He rarely designs office buildings of such a small size. Mr. Ovitz also begged him for a long time. In addition, Pei himself is a passionate Hollywood fan..."
"Hey..." Ronald started thinking. His new house in Beverly Park is also a small building, isn't it? I don't know if Pei Luming will accept the design order for this kind of house.
"He is an architect who designs large buildings." Niceta knew that Ronald had the idea of demolishing the two small buildings of the new house and redesigning and building it. "But his home is in the Upper East Side of New York. It turns out that Marilyn Monroe Next to his old house, you can try your luck. Maybe he likes you as a lover of Chinese culture and a famous Hollywood director, and will make an exception to help you design a private house..."
"Hey...", Ronald thought to himself, that's what I thought.
In the evening, Ronald practiced yoga on the carpet of the hotel. With his eyes closed, he was still thinking about some details of the Dukakis news he saw.
That news footage, while breathing carefully, the picture was very clear, and the sound was also very clear in Ronald's mind.
"Hehe..." Ronald's heart suddenly moved. He clearly felt that he heard the laughter of the bystanders in the camera, and several people seemed to be talking quietly outside the camera.
After a moment, Ronald jumped up, picked up the phone and dialed Douglas Jr., "Hey, Doug, I thought of it!"
"The person speaking at the scene is filming himself. Yes...it's not from the TV station, but a live audience, using a Sony home video recorder to record it. You ask little George to find it. Aren't they all people from the tank manufacturing plant there? ?Find out who took the picture who is now at the scene."
"The people who appeared at the tank testing site must be senior managers and relatives of the M1 Abrams tank manufacturing group. You guys are like gangsters, you will definitely be able to find them..." Douglas Jr. immediately told Ronald what he had discovered. Little George.
"You are so damn right. I will remember your and Ronald's help in this matter." Little George felt that this piece of information was very important and immediately went to find his father's supporters in the military industry. , began a thorough investigation into who took the video at the scene.
Soon, based on the pictures, the campaign team found the executives of the tank manufacturing plant where the shooting was taking place. In his videotape, there is footage of Dukakis on the tank.
However, this person's photography skills were too poor, and he only had ten seconds of usable footage before and after. The rest was either out of focus or failed to keep up with the movement of the tank. In the end, the campaign team only managed to cut out a photo and a footage of less than ten seconds.
But that's certainly enough.
Soon, a new, hastily produced ad attacking Dukakis began to be broadcast on a large scale across the country.
People from the George Sr. campaign had some composition skills, and they cut out a still photo of Dukakis. He was wearing a helmet that was one size larger and had his name on it. Standing on the tank slightly comically, waving to everyone.
As long as you select carefully, it is actually difficult for ordinary people without the ability to manage posture and expression to avoid being cut out of one or two shots of ugly photos.
Then, George Sr.'s campaign team also added subtitles and voiceovers, listing Dukakis's stance on the military-industrial complex and the military at every election and voting since he entered politics.
A voice-over with a deep voice, somewhat similar to old George, narrated:
“Michael Dukakis opposes almost every defense system we develop.
He opposed new aircraft carriers. He opposes anti-satellite weapons.
He opposed the deployment of four missile systems, including the Pershing-2.
Dukakis opposes stealth bombers and ground-based emergency warning systems for nuclear tests.
He even criticized our rescue mission to Grenada and our strikes in Libya.
And now he...
Want to be our Commander-in-Chief.
The United States cannot afford this risk! "
boom……
The response to the ad was exactly what people in the news departments of major television stations had expected. A heavy blow to Dukakis.
Six million veterans, especially those from before the Vietnam War, still have a sense of honor for the wars they participated in. They hate politicians who use the banner of peace to slander the reputation of veterans who participated in World War II.
There are also their relatives, family members, and almost the same number of families of employees of the military-industrial complex. Unprecedented unity.
For them, Dukakis either wants to deny their justice in joining the army in their early years, or deprive them of their jobs. Both are intolerable and are minefields of the highest level.
Therefore, soon, this part of the public, with a ratio of more than 90%, began to support George Lao overwhelmingly, regardless of their own political leanings.
This is what America's general election is like. How can those illusory policy debates compete with the veterans' medical insurance, pensions, and the respectful eyes of their children and grandchildren? How can it be better than a high-paying position in a million-dollar military-industrial complex?
In less than a week, Dukakis's approval ratings plummeted while George Sr.'s surged. The two people's approval ratings also showed an upward and downward crossover.
"Roger Ailes said that in large-scale elections such as the General Election and the Senate, as long as there is a 'death cross' in the support rate and it is so close to the voting day, it is basically difficult to overtake again. As long as George is there Be more ambitious and don't make stupid mistakes again, and you will be able to lead all the way to the finish line..."
Douglas Jr. called again to congratulate Ronald.
"Hahaha, at least we can enjoy tax benefits in the next four years." Ronald was also very happy. "However, in fact, we should be more grateful to the current commander-in-chief. He allowed Congress to pass the tax reform bill. It’s the source of our benefits.”
Ronald said with emotion that Hollywood's industry rebound in the past ten years can only be attributed to the current president's preferential tax policies for high-income individuals. During Jimmy's era in the 1970s, a Hollywood star had to pay taxes for more than half of his salary. Apart from some benefits brought by the admiration of fans, the star actually received no monetary return.
Many celebrities are very famous, but they can only buy houses in new communities. Just like Jack Nicholson, he could only buy Mulholland Drive, which was still a newly developed area at the time, and stay with Marlon Brando, who was also not very financially stable.
"Hey, our commander-in-chief is also because of the 22nd Amendment... You know, his current approval rate is nearly 30 percentage points higher than old George."
"Hey..." Ronald also felt that whether they were supporters of the Donkey Party or the Elephant Party, they probably liked old Ronald very much. I'm afraid it will be difficult to have a general like him who is loved by the people in the future.
During the Persian Gate weapons scandal, his approval rating dropped slightly for two months. Now that the election is approaching, the current leader's approval rating has actually returned to over 72%.
And he also stood up for George Sr., saying that he was his best successor. I am afraid that a large part of the people's love for him will be transferred to old George.
In this way, Ronald was editing the film every day and took a look at the new house in Beverly Park. The more I look at it, the more awkward it becomes. There must be a lot of inconveniences for one person to live in a house built for two families.
Ronald began to find Richard to help him check Pei's address in New York. It's just that that place is one of the best communities on the Upper East Side. In addition to the Pei and Marilyn Monroe, there is also the former residence of former Hollywood actress Joan Crawford.
Although the house here is not as grand as Ronald's new home, it is filled with celebrities with a long history and respectable careers. Monroe was able to move in through her connections with important people, while Joan Crawford was able to move in after marrying Alfred Steele, the chairman of Pepsi-Cola, and taking over the stock after her husband's death. .
If he went to visit him rashly like this, even though Ronald was a famous Hollywood director, he would probably get a polite rejection.
(End of chapter)
