Exploiting Hollywood 1980 Chapter 882

  Chapter 882 The Shortest Strike in History

"Paula is very capable. My audition for this movie went very well. I was in the second round of interviews with Tom Hanks. Yesterday Paula called me to congratulate me. I can do it again. Playing the heroine."

   "Well, as I told you, Paula is very good at considering the development of an actor from a long-term perspective. She doesn't choose the script based on the higher salary of the play, but on the basis of your highest income within five or ten years."

   "Ronald, I'm so happy..."

   "I'm happy for you too, Diane..."

  Back to Los Angeles, Ronald heard the good news from Diane. She was cast by Penny Marshall as the lead actress in "Big" alongside Tom Hanks. It made up for the missed cooperation opportunity of "Mermaid" a few years ago.

Paula Wagner didn't tell Diane that Ronald asked director Penny to recommend her, completely based on her own strength and acting skills, Diane finally defeated many actresses, relying on the chemistry with Tom Hanks Responding to the play, got the role.

  Diane is very excited, she has not received such a heroine with a lot of roles for a long time. I talked to Ronald a lot about the performance of this play, how Hanks got the right size for a character whose inner age is 13 years old and whose appearance is an adult. How did I get reacted by Hanks? Many lines read very emotionally.

   "Tell me, have I gained a little weight? I haven't played such an intense role for several years, is it rusty?"

  After the excitement, Diane began to worry about gains and losses again. She looked in the mirror in the huge bathroom of the Beverly Hilton executive suite, trying to pinch the flesh on her waist, and then recited the lines from the audition.

"No, you did a good job. Penny Marshall is a veteran actor-turned-director. She chose you because of your acting skills and your excellent cooperation with Hanks." Ronald embraced from behind Diane, stroking her smooth and flat belly with one hand.

  Diane has learned from Ronald to practice yoga since last year. The non-stop practice every day keeps her in good shape, and the girl's last bit of baby fat gradually fades away, becoming more mature and charming.

"But Penny Marshall is a female director, I think she will be very picky... Well", Diane was a little confused by Ronald's soft kiss on the neck, and began to close your eyes.

"Believe me, I'm also a director. This kind of thing depends on the reaction between the hero and heroine. With this reaction, everything else is secondary." Ronald looked at Diane's snow-white skin in the big mirror, and began to A little flushed, she opened her eyes and glanced at the mirror, then closed them shyly.

  Ronald turned Diane around and kissed from the lips. The silk pajamas were hanging to dry, and the heat of the skin inside came out...

   After a long time, the two hugged each other, lying on the king-size bed and watching TV. The residual heat and a sweet smell in the air were still swirling and stimulating the nasal passages of Ronald and Diane.

   "Well, I now feel that I am the best candidate for the heroine, hahaha."

  After the happy time with Ronald, Diane's fear and uneasiness were completely eliminated, and what remained was the safety and self-confidence after being satisfied.

   "By the way, is your role in the new play settled yet?" Diane put her arms around Ronald, her neck resting on his chest, and she had extra energy to care about Ronald.

   "So far so good", Ronald replied with a smile.

After returning to Los Angeles, he and Julia Taylor immediately asked Alec Baldwin, who auditioned from New York, and Joan Cusack, to find Demi Moore to read the script to see if she had the ability to play a character who could play the secretary. The ugly duckling who has been working for ten years.

  As for Kevin Spacey, who was always unable to distinguish between reality and drama during auditions, and who was suspected of harassing actresses, he was left in New York and did not come with the two audition doubles.

  The audition went really well, and Demi Moore is one of those beauties whose level of beauty is very much related to makeup and costumes. Wearing very old-fashioned clothes, exaggerated makeup, huge earrings, and ugly blonde wigs, Demi really doesn't see much beauty.

  However, the biggest surprise was the two audition doubles.

  Alec Baldwin obviously knew that this was his best chance, so when he was in New York, he had been training himself day and night for which audition scenes, and he also found Broadway friends to practice with.

  He was originally a handsome guy, playing a gangster handsome guy named "Gherkin" in Jonathan Demme's new movie "Join the Gang". This time, through his relationship, he borrowed the costumes from the movie and put them on during the audition in Los Angeles.

  The clothes of Italian gangsters, after the interpretation of the movie "The Godfather", are now also moving closer to the elite. So wearing costumes and looking like Alec Baldwin, it is also reasonable to say that he is an elite on Wall Street.

  The chemical reaction between Demi Moore and Alec Baldwin was immediately inspired by the latter's carefully prepared lines. The dialogue between the two has an atmosphere of back and forth, two goldfish biting each other's tails. Lively, the second round of auditions and reading the script turned into a Broadway performance scene, full of tacit understanding.

  In addition to Hollywood investment banker character Jack Trainor, Alec Baldwin also read lines from Tess' other boyfriend, chef Mick Duggan. Both types of men were read out by him. Not only the casting director Julia Taylor was very satisfied, but even Demi Moore asked Ronald in private, who is this actor, and will he act opposite her? , in the end play a chef or a banker?

  Another audition double, Joan Cusack, is a newcomer to the Chicago theater circle, and she is also an excellent theater actress.

  This actress's line skills and understanding of characters are absolutely OK. However, her slightly boxy chin ruins the overall shape of her face. It's not a big problem in the theater world, but in the film industry, Joan can't play too positive female roles.

  Although the lines she read to Tess's boss Catherine and her secretary friend Xin are very good, but if it's a movie, it's only suitable for the role of Secretary Xin.

After the audition, Julia Taylor grabbed Ronald, "Just give Alec a chance, he is absolutely qualified for the role of Jack Trainor. You know I never recommend an actor I don't believe in, Alec. Baldwin is definitely one of the best actors for the role."

   "Where's Joan?" Ronald didn't reply right away, but asked Julia Taylor how she felt about Joan Cusack.

"She can only play Xin, and her acting ability is completely competent. Although the role of Xin is the promoter of Tess's plot several times, her time and status in the movie are not enough. If you ask my opinion, she It's also in the top three I recommend.”

   "Let them stay and don't go, I'll see Goldberg."

  Ronald took the audition tape and went to the Fox Building to meet Goldberg, the president of 20th Century Fox.

   "Mr. Goldberg, we seem to have won the lottery. When you looked at my audition, what did you find?"

  Goldberg picked up his glasses and put them on, watching the audition tape that Ronald had brought.

   After a long time, he put down his glasses, "Sure enough, these two actors are of extraordinary quality..."

  Hearing what Goldberg said, Ronald knew that the other party agreed. Such a wonderful performance, Goldberg has no reason to disagree.

"But..." Goldberg took out a cup of fine brandy from the cabinet and poured Ronald and himself a glass, "Catherine, you must find a famous movie star to play. I can't let three of the four protagonists It's an actor nobody knows."

   "I understand that Julia Taylor is contacting suitable female stars. If you like their performance, can you give them some encouragement?" Ronald took the opportunity to speak.

   "Encouragement?" Goldberg didn't understand.

   "If Mr. President of Fox can attend their next audition to read the script, and then personally say a few words of encouragement..." Ronald laughed.

   "Your boy..." Goldberg picked up the phone and called the secretary, "What are my plans for the afternoon? Okay, clear the ones before 3:30, and I'm going to see Ronald's audition."

   "Very good, very good, thank you, Julia, are you interested in casting full-time for Fox?"

  Goldberg came to see the screenplay audition with makeup in the afternoon. Watching a live performance was more enjoyable than watching it on a video tape.

"Thank you, but I prefer independent casting work now." Julia Taylor declined with a smile. Many castings in major studios are not decided according to the role. She doesn't like to compromise in order to let TV stars act in movies .

   "This is Alec Baldwin, and this is Joan Cusack." Ronald quickly introduced the two actors to Goldberg.

   "Hello, hello..." Goldberg shook hands with them, and went back to chat with Demi Moore.

   "You came to Goldberg just to say hello to Alec and Joan for him?" Julia Taylor whispered in Ronald's ear.

"Yes, these high-level people, if you don't let them nod on the spot, maybe they will regret it in two days. They will feel embarrassed if they want to regret it after doing this." Ronald replied quietly, and he learned this trick from Coppola. Well, when Marlon Brando was asked to play the godfather Vito, that's how he went to the big boss to finalize.

   "Ring ring ring ring..."

   Ronald, who was sleeping with Diane in his arms, was awakened by the ringing of the phone.

   "Hello..." Ronald found the phone in the dark, picked it up and heard it in a daze.

   "Mr. Li, this is the wake-up service you set. It's three o'clock in the morning. Do you still need me to continue calling to wake up in ten minutes?"

   "Ah... no, thank you." Ronald rubbed his sleepy eyes and went to the bathroom to take a hot shower.

  After drying his hair, Ronald put on a high-count shirt and light gray trousers, and took two coats of dark blue and reddish brown to gesture to himself. I'm going to the strike site in Burbank today, there must be media, so I have to dress nicely.

   "Well...Honey, you look very handsome in this navy blue coat and this tie." Diane was wearing pajamas, took a bright yellow tie, and put it on Ronald's shirt from the back for contrast.

   "Woke you up?" Ronald turned back and kissed Diane.

   "You're so handsome, I'll watch the TV news later." Diane kissed him, yawned and went back to sleep.

   "Ding Dong", Ronald, who was wearing a blue coat, just heard Little Bard come to ring the doorbell.

   "Bud, let's go, to the gate of Columbia and Warner in Burbank."

   Just after five o'clock, the car parked gently opposite the gate of Columbia Corporation in Burbank. There were already many cars like him waiting here.

  Ronald rolled down half of the car window, watching the crowd of protesters gradually gathering at the gate of the factory.

Today, the Directors Union went on strike in New York and Los Angeles because of the remaining dividends from TV broadcasts, and proposed to the Producers Association to revise the Directors' Bonus Agreement, get more dividend points, and what kind of movies were purchased by the TV station. Copyright eligible for dividend renegotiation.

  Ronald is a senior member of the Immediate Directors Guild and a member company chairman of the Producers Guild. According to the regulations of the directors' union, he must appear at the strike site at six o'clock sharp to participate in union activities. The Producers Association has a special person to negotiate with the directors' union, and he does not need to attend as a member unit.

   This strike is mainly aimed at the remaining dividends.

  The so-called surplus means that after the box office dividend is over, if the movie is broadcast on the national syndicated TV network, this part of the profit will also be distributed to the main creators in accordance with the labor agreement. The director is the group with the largest share.

  In the original agreement, the formula for calculating the remainder has a very high standard. For example, the Syndicate TV network that broadcasts must occupy the minimum percentage of the entire American TV viewing share in order to participate in the remaining dividends.

  In addition, only those movies that are released in theaters and have a length of more than 80 minutes can receive dividends after they are sold to TV networks.

   During this strike, one of the main demands of the directors' union is to revise the calculation standard. As long as the program exceeds one hour, even if it is not a theater movie, it can participate in the remaining dividends. Instead of counting the lowest viewership share occupied by syndicated TV networks, as long as it is broadcast on a city TV station, it can be included in the residual dividend system.

  Another major demand, of course, is a constant minimum wage per strike. The conditions put forward by the directors' union are an immediate 5 percent increase in base salary, followed by a further 5 percent increase within 18 months.

   For example, a TV director is currently guaranteed minimum wage of $17,935 for a job on 15 days of preparation and filming for a one-hour TV show.

   "Why hasn't anyone come yet?" Ronald looked through the binoculars at the strike site booked across the way. There were only a few young people gathered there.

   "Crack..." Jr. Bard turned on the car radio, here you can hear the Los Angeles entertainment radio station, and the New York radio station relayed via satellite.

"Joan Rivers, as the supervisor of the strike, has already gone to the NBC building. On behalf of the actors union, she said that she will stand firmly with the directors union and resist any scabs who try to break the strike. She also brought a message that the television actors union has already Serve hot drinks to directors who have been on strike for more than two hours."

   "Shxt!" Ronald scolded. Hollywood directors still have no discipline. The TV directors and commercial directors in New York have gone on strike for more than two hours in front of the NBC building in New York early in the morning.

"Producers Guild President Nicholas Conte III and Directors Guild Leader Gilbert Gates said negotiations are progressing well and they are confident that a new three-year agreement will be reached in a short period of time to prevent New Year's TV audiences from having no new Watch movies and TV shows."

"I don't understand," Bard Jr. turned around from the driver's seat and asked Ronald, "Why is it that the directors' union is so easy to talk about this strike? The last screenwriter strike almost brought Hollywood to a standstill? Is it because your directors are not united? "

   "Hahaha", Ronald laughed when he heard Bard's question, "No, no, our directors are too united."

   "Huh? Too united?"

   "Yeah, our directors' union and producers' union are too united."

   Ronald was still looking at the opposite team while explaining to Bard Jr.

  In fact, there are more than 200 member companies of the Producers Association, among which there are a large number of companies, which are actually the production companies established by the director himself. And in the 8,500-member directors' union, those who are able to get the remaining dividends broadcast by the TV station are actually the backbone of those film, TV series, and talk show directors.

  So in these two groups, there are many people who straddle both sides like Ronald.

  As for the so-called re-signing of the dividend agreement, the biggest resistance is not from the producer union, but from public TV stations such as NBC and ABC. This is why the main force of the strike is not in Los Angeles, but at the entrance of the TV station headquarters in New York.

  The clauses that lower the threshold for remaining dividends, the biggest effect is to cut meat from the TV station. Movies that did not participate in dividends are now paid for when they are played on local TV stations.

   In the past, TV programs that could be played at will, but now as long as they exceed one hour, the director has to be paid.

   Time passed slowly, and the sky slowly brightened. After talking all night with representatives of unions and unions, an agreement was reached at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time and 6:00 a.m. Western Time.

  Gilbert Gates, interim chairman of the Directors' Union, and Nicholas Conte III of the Producers Union joined hands to walk from the building where NBC is located at the negotiation site to the strike site, where they will soon hold a joint press conference.

   "Beep beep..." The car phone began to ring.

   "Hello?" Ronald pressed the red call button.

   "The negotiation is completed, and a live press conference will be held immediately." Richard's voice floated in the car through the speaker.

   "Shxt! So fast, **** it, hurry up..." Ronald quickly threw away the sandwich he was eating, opened the car door and ran out.

Several cars nearby, seeing Ronald running out first, turned on their lights one after another. The directors inside, some fat, some thin, some old, some young, all followed Ronald. Behind De, rushed towards the big iron gate of Columbia Studios across the road.

   "We want a dividend!"

   "We want fairness!"

  In an instant, dozens of Hollywood directors were added, and the strike team expanded to the point where it could be seen by TV cameras.

  The staff of the live radio and TV stations also began to lazily turn on the equipment and start broadcasting.

"Hurry up, hurry up, the news from New York, the two sides have reached an agreement, and here we can only capture a few minutes of strike footage." The host of the TV station heard the amazing news through the earphones and hurriedly urged the cameraman boot.

"Viewers, viewers, here's live coverage from New York. Right now, she's not aware of the terms of the parties," said Ken Orsatti, national executive secretary of the Television Screen Actors Guild. She wants directors to act like her union Just as he supports the director's strike, he is willing to support the next strike action of his union.

  A spokeswoman for the Writers Guild told CNN that her union declined to comment on the new contract until it was more familiar with the details. "

  The joint press conference of the Directors Union and the Producers Union was very short. The two parties announced the agreement and then persuaded NBC to agree to a new agreement. ABC still needs further negotiations.

  The host at the scene had to interview other union leaders who came to help out.

   "Okay, thanks for the instant interview with the live host"

  The host of the NBC studio, unwilling to show the female comedian Joan Rivers who was banned by them, saw her rushing forward to speak, so he cut her off.

   "Okay, let's take a look at the strike scene in Los Angeles."

   "Ah, hello, this is the scene of the strike in Burbank, Los Angeles. The news that the two sides reached an agreement in New York just now has reached here. The directors have stopped the demonstration. They expressed that they are very happy that the two parties have reached an agreement..."

  The camera turned around, and Ronald and other famous directors had already put away their signs and ran away. Only some new directors were left on the scene, commenting on the TV station.

   "Okay, that's it, thanks Los Angeles..."

   "Huh..." The staff on location in Los Angeles all let out a sigh of relief, and finally got the location out of the way, and these directors were too uncooperative. I just ran out and yelled a couple of times, as a cooperation to take some distant shots, and then I didn't accept the interview, and ran to the luxury car across the road to enjoy it.

   "These directors only went on strike for three minutes. Is this the shortest strike in history?"

  (end of this chapter)

Chapter end