Exploiting Hollywood 1980 Chapter 906

  Chapter 906 Academy Award Nominations

"The land on the opposite side is a natural pond. Our garden is just facing it. Although that land does not belong to Director Luo, it does not prevent us from seeing the pond directly from the garden. The essence of Jiangnan gardens is Design according to the natural scenery."

"Have the natural scenery first, and then design the building?" Ronald and Mr. Wang, the garden designer from Huaguo, stood on the hill behind the house on the land they bought for shooting "The Godfather", looking at the garden design diagram.

"Yes, this is a tradition of Huaguo culture. For example, our Temple of Heaven, look at this photo..." Mr. Wang handed Ronald a photo of the Temple of Heaven in National Geographic magazine, "This Temple of Heaven is built according to Western architecture. Aesthetics are not deep enough. But the photographer of the photo understands the culture of Huaguo very well. He took the blue sky above the Temple of Heaven in the photo, so that the whole building is very harmonious and integrated with nature. This is our idea of ​​the unity of man and nature. ..."

"So, what you mean is that we don't need to buy that piece of land. As long as we build a garden here, the scenery over there will naturally become part of the garden, right?" Ronald listened for a while and understood the garden design. concept.

  After the income from the original soundtrack of "Dirty Dancing" and the sales of the video tape entered Ronald's bank account one after another, the landscaping project that Ronald had already decided on began to speed up.

   It turned out that Ronald had a very simple idea. He bought and built a garden for himself to entertain himself and entertain friends. But gradually, I discovered that although America is a country known as free, the sale of land may be the least free of all tradable commodities, and it is the most regulated by the state and town.

   First of all, except for Douglas Hansen, who has been entrenched in the local area for more than a hundred years, new land transactions rarely adopt the "free simple absolute property rights" (FreeSimpleAbsolute) that Lincoln was in charge of.

   This kind of land contract, which was only possible when the land was sparsely populated before the Civil War, is the most free type of landlord. The owner can permanently own the property rights of the land, and there is no real estate tax if the house is not built. And the use of the land is completely free, you can dig it however you want, use it for farming, or build a house and open a factory.

  But after the economy developed, the land was divided into more subdivided by the governments of various places. In addition to the expiry date of land property rights, there are also usage restrictions. Different land uses have different fees and taxes.

   In addition, there are some mandatory collection and special protection clauses. If the people on the land vote absolutely to expropriate the land for public utility development or parks, the government can set a price to force the expropriation.

  If there are wild animals on the land, or any protective relics with historical and commemorative significance, they can be designated as protected areas by law, so that they cannot be rebuilt.

The big wasteland that Ronald was looking at, because of the pond, many migratory birds would stay here for a few weeks every year when they migrated, so the owner of this land was willing to sell, and Ronald was willing to buy, but the municipal government The Ministry of Finance informed that it needs to go through an environmental protection assessment before agreeing to this transaction.

   Douglas Jr., as a veteran landowner, told Ronald's Creek that this assessment could take more than a year. Ronald, who couldn't wait, asked Huaguo's design team to come over and build a small garden first.

   "Then we dig a stream from here to bring running water in..." Mr. Wang, the garden designer, continued to introduce.

   "Please contact my lawyer, Ms. Lindsay Dole, I have a new movie to shoot, and I will leave things here to you."

   "Ronald, I have your call, Richard is calling." The little Bud in the car under the mountain bag yelled at Ronald on the mountain, and his car phone received a call from his agent.

   "Richard, it's me, what's the result?" Ronald knew that Richard was so anxious to find himself, it must be nominated for the Best Director Award from the Directors Union. The director award, the most weather vane before the Oscars, has always had a high rate of overlap with Oscar nominations.

"Sorry, Ronald. The Directors Guild doesn't have much influence with us... Although this is an outpost for Oscar nominations for Best Director, it doesn't coincide 100% every year. We can still look forward to the Oscars. There is another day to vote tomorrow The nomination list will be announced the day after tomorrow.

  Mr. Ovitz has issued an order that among all agents of CAA, all clients who have voting rights should publicize for you. "

   "It's okay, that's it." Ronald hung up the phone. Directors Guild Awards and Oscar nominations are just around the corner. Many directors who have the right to vote probably fill out the voting forms for both awards. I'm afraid there won't be much of a difference... hey...

   Ronald felt a little depressed. I have made a lot of mental preparations for the Oscars. They all said that the Oscars value qualifications, and young directors who perform well often only get nominations, and because of their young age, they don't get awards. If you really want to win the award, you may have to be nominated for the second or third time.

  But if there is no nomination now, it will be very embarrassing.

  In the evening, Ronald received a list of films nominated by the Directors Guild.

The five nominees for the best director of the directors union this time, in addition to Bertolucci of "The Last Emperor", as well as the directors of "Catching the News" James L. Brooks, Adrian Ryan, and Stanley Pierberg.

   It was a big dark horse that occupied Ronald's nomination. Lather Halstrom from Sweden. The director's semi-autobiographical film "The Years of Dog Face" was released in America in the middle of last year.

   In Sweden in 1958, a toddler is sent to live in the country when his mother is seriously ill, where he encounters a quirky small town and learns about love, sexuality — and himself.

   It should be said that Ronald was squeezed out by the Swedish director, which is not very surprising. Because this Swedish movie is a very weird movie. Not only is the plot less dramatic, but the film was released in America in Swedish with English subtitles.

   Just such a movie, purely by word of mouth, won more than 8 million box office in North America, which aroused a lot of praise from the film critics. The main audience of this movie is in big cities, mainly college students and young people.

  This kind of self-discovery plot can easily resonate with young people. Even the director himself didn't expect the success of the film, and he soon won the favor of Hollywood producers, ready to come to Hollywood to develop.

  Ronald had someone find a copy of the movie and watched it himself. Although "The Years of the Dog Face" was shot with full emotion and skillful technique, I still felt uncomfortable being nominated by a Swedish-language film.

   Is it true that young directors must be ranked according to seniority in order to be nominated, as the legend in the industry does? The Oscars are not all based on the strength of the films of the year. Sometimes there is also the factor of repaying debts of love. For example, the director should have been nominated a few years ago but he didn't get it because of too strong competition.

   Or like this Russell Halstrom, he made this medium-produced movie with a small budget and a literary theme. Hollywood has always been lenient to European talent.

Another possible reason is that Ronald's previous films were all commercial films, so there is not much innovation in director techniques and the ability to inspire breakthroughs in actors' performances. Many directors with voting rights may have never watched "Moonlight Liao" People," just voting based on impressions of Ronald's past.

   "Ronald, Ronald, are you going to Manhattan?" my aunt called downstairs.

   "I'm not going." Early the next morning, Ronald was still lying on the bed unwilling to get up.

   "Then you can have breakfast first, I made the sandwich you like."

   "I'm a little tired, let's talk about it later."

   It was rare for Ronald to stay in bed, and he couldn't cheer up the next day. He called the crew from the bed, and he didn't go to the scene and the actors to prepare for it today.

   "Ronnie, go for a walk, the sun is so bright. An award is nothing special, the audience likes to watch it." Aunt Karen brought breakfast into the room.

   "Hey..." Ronald had no choice but to get up and finish breakfast, put on his coat and take a boat to Manhattan.

  Walking aimlessly, Ronald came to the prototype of the school in "Fame" that year, the gate of the New York Art Specialized High School. After the re-planning and decoration, it was renamed LaGuardia Art Specialized High School.

  The stone building at the gate has not changed, but a bronze plaque is inlaid on the stone wall of the new school gate. Below the school's name, a row of small characters "Famous all over the world was filmed here" was engraved with a kid.

   Today happens to be a holiday, and many students who intend to apply for the art college have come to visit the school. They will all end up with a group photo under the bronze medal.

   "Did you know? This was a famous filming location back then, and many of the actors were students of art colleges." A girl said to her friend that she had an excellent voice, and she might be here to take the singing department exam.

   "I didn't watch movies at that time, I only watched TV series adapted from movies..." Her companion was a little taller than her, and looked more like a dancer, maybe she came to apply for the dance department.

   "Actually, this is not a shooting location, but it's true that the actors are students." Ronald interrupted and corrected them.

   "Huh, what do you know? When Gene Anthony Ray was interviewed, he said that this is his alma mater. He is the only one whose main character in a movie continues to act in a TV series."

   "Haha, is that so?" Ronald heard this name that he hadn't heard for a long time. His black younger brother continued to play the same role in the TV series of the same name. America Today once reported that he was drinking and abusing drugs, but he and the crew denied it.

  The TV series ended last year, and several of their characters finally graduated from high school in the drama. Gene was later cast in the musical adaptation of Stephen King's novel Carrie. It was forced to close after only 21 days on Broadway.

  However, in the minds of these little girls who grew up watching his TV series, the handsome black dancer is still there.

  Ronald turned a corner and walked uptown in Manhattan. The surrounding area of ​​Central Park was very quiet. In the upper-class neighborhood, only boutiques and some yoga places were open.

  Ronald saw one of the karate halls, and there were some children wearing gi uniforms and black belts, imitating Daniel LaRusso's posture on the tatami and kicking cranes.

   "Sir, do you want to come to our gym too? We have training for adults and children." A staff member saw Ronald standing outside the transparent glass floor-to-ceiling windows, and came out to greet him.

   "It's nothing, I'm just looking around..." Ronald nodded to leave.

   "You are welcome to come here often. We also have peripheral products authorized by 'Longwei Boy', such as Miyagi's head scarves, which children like very much."

  Ronald then moved down town and gradually approached Chinatown. The shops here are much more lively than those in the upper city. Many of the customers are whites, blacks, and Latinos who come to buy food and cheap goods.

   "One, two, three, four...five, six, seven, eight...two, two, three, four...jump..."

   On the second floor in a narrow porch, came the voice of the password for the dance.

   Ronald looked up and saw a small dance classroom teaching Mamba dance. Outside the stairs leading up to the first floor, there is a Latinlooking woman who is distributing promotional materials.

   "Have you seen Dirty Dancing? We teach it here and it's easy to learn. Would you like to try it?"

   "I don't have a partner..." Ronald declined, but his mood gradually improved. Although the awards from the directors union failed, the films he shot did change America a little bit.

  Continuing to go down, it is a three-way zone with poor public security. Chinatown, Little Italy, and Latino concentration areas.

A group of Latino guys are spraying incomprehensible graffiti on the wall with paint cans. There is a dual-card loudspeaker recorder in the corner. Accompanied by the rap music, a few young people in sweaters are imitating Michael Jackson's moon walk , breakdancing in touch.

   "Boom...boom..." There was a sound of a motor, and on the other side of the road, a woman was wearing a leather jacket and leather pants, sitting on a motorcycle, who seemed to be the heroine in "Night of the Comet".

   "Boom..." The female A Fei started the motorcycle and rushed towards Ronald.

   "Shxt..." Ronald saw that he was coming to grab something, so he quickly turned around and ran away from the cross road. A few Latinos who were ready to cooperate with the sneak attack were left behind to curse.

   After running for four or five blocks, Ronald stopped. He felt good, and the effect of his daily exercise was still there, and he would not be out of breath after running for a short time.

  The blood circulation brought about by running was smooth, which brought back Ronald's fighting spirit. He put his finger in his mouth, whistled loudly, and flagged down a cab, "Go to Fifth Avenue."

   "Mr. Li, I have your message."

   Arriving in the lobby, Ronald was stopped by the housekeeper, took out a note from behind the counter, and handed it to Ronald.

   "It was a call from Mr. Nisita. He called several times and you were not there. Please call him back as soon as possible."

   "Oh..." Ronald touched his body, he was in a bad mood, and he didn't bring out his bag or pager.

   "Hi, I'm Ronald." When he got to the room, Ronald called Nisita.

   "Oh my God, where have you been? We need to hire you an assistant, I'm freaking out when I can't find you."

   "What's the rush?" Ronald asked.

"You have been nominated for the Best Director Oscar, and it will be announced tomorrow. We have arranged for several important media to interview you. I can confirm the time when you show up. Richard, Richard, hurry up and Hollywood Reporter , called the variety show reporter..."

"Oh yeah? Hahaha..." Ronald laughed out loud. CAA's agent was still very good, but he actually made a mistake in the nomination of the Directors' Union. With the votes from the Film Critics Association, he made a comeback and won the Oscar for Best Director. nomination.

   After debuting for so many years, I finally got nominated for an Oscar again. Different from the best original song last time, this time it is the best director of one of the top five heavyweight awards.

   "You also have the best picture nomination. (Because Ronald is the producer Nisita also laughed over there.

   "In total, your moonlight is sultry, and there are six nominations for Best Actress, Best Supporting Actress, Best Supporting Actor, and Best Original Screenplay."

   "Hehehe...", Ronald smiled very happily. Being able to get six nominations is the treatment only for blockbuster movies. In the future, will there be any stars in the industry who dare to underestimate themselves?

   "It's not over yet, your 'Dirty Dancing' was nominated for Best Original Song."

  Nisita talked about the nominations. The other films that received multiple nominations are all old acquaintances along the way.

Bertolucci's "The Last Emperor" has nine nominations, "Catch the News" seven, Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun," Adrian Lane's "Fatal Attraction," and "Moonlight Allure." "The same is six items.

   "So the director of that Swedish film isn't nominated? Did they give him Best Foreign Language Film?"

  Ronald felt much better. Originally, the Academy Award is an award for Hollywood, so why not nominate a Hollywood insider to promote a foreign language film. Since it is a foreign language film, the best foreign language film award is where he should be.

"Are you confused? Ronald, a foreign language film released in mainstream theaters in America is competing for the normal awards. Russell Halström won the best director for his dog-faced years, and the best Adapted Screenplay nomination."

"Ah? He's still there? Then who was squeezed out?" Ronald heard that the Swedish director was still on the nomination list for best director. He was the unlucky guy who was nominated for the Directors Guild Award and didn't get an Oscar nomination. ? "

   "It's Steven..." Nisita's tone also changed, "He was squeezed out by the director of the British film 'Hope and Glory', John Bouman."

   "Spielberg didn't get nominated for best director?" Ronald didn't know what to say when he heard the news.

  "Yes, there is no nomination for the best film, only the secondary awards of best art direction, best editing, best photography, best costume, best soundtrack, and best sound effects."

   "This..." Ronald thought, this is the first time Spielberg has been fooled by Oscar?

  (end of this chapter)

Chapter end