MTL - Exploiting Hollywood 1980-Chapter 887 Enter the Dragon
Chapter 887 Enter the Dragon
"Sinitta, a British singer, actress, and TV host born in America in 1963, her 1985 single "SoMacho" won the number one British single.
She signed an American singer management contract with CAA, and a host economic contract, and she is one of the many female stars under Jack Lapke. "
A few days later, Nisita discussed matters with Ronald and Richard in the office. He took out a resume of female stars under Lapke and showed it to Ronald.
"Does this have something to do with Lapke's leak?" Ronald picked up his resume, looked at the photo of a black woman on it, and was a little confused about Nisita's train of thought.
This black singer has black hair and black eyes, high cheekbones, and a pointed chin. His appearance has the characteristics of the working people at the bottom. But the figure is like a high school girl who hasn't grown up. It may be more reasonable to say that she is a track and field athlete than a singer.
This kind of appearance and figure is neither the beauty in the mainstream aesthetics of white people, nor the beauty in the eyes of black people that often appears in black TV shows.
"I didn't expect it to be her, so I couldn't get online for a long time, until the private detective you recommended took a picture of her with that Brad Pitt kid."
Nisita handed over another stack of street photos taken by Frank McPeak. On the top one is Brad Pitt's long-haired shawl, with his arms around this Sinida, and the two seem to have just come out of a cafe. The focus of the telephoto camera is a bit blurry, but the intimate posture of the two people and their faces together are perfectly captured.
"Isn't it?" Ronald took out the following photos and looked at them. There are medium shots and long shots. It is true that only these two people are together, not many friends, and then cut out gossip photos with scissors. These two are truly a couple.
"Eh..." Ronald was speechless. Although America has called for racial equality for many years, and there are also interracial celebrity couples, but this is obviously a combination of female talent and male appearance, which still makes Ronald feel very fresh.
"This kind of thing is very common. Your 'bodyguard', Dolph Lundgren, was also brought to New York from Sweden by the famous black model Gracie Jones."
"Oh..." Ronald remembered the black female model with more African features, curled his lips, but he didn't expect that Lundgren also got the position through his girlfriend.
"But there are no black main characters in the movie?" Ronald thought to himself that Brad Pitt and Jack Lapke were connected, but it was said that Jack Lapke was a white female star, deliberately leaking information to win Audition opportunities, that's reasonable.
For black people like Sinida? In "Working Girl", there is not a single black female character in the past. Ronald is at most a trick because of the quota for blacks.
"Yeah, I was skeptical, too, until a new photo from Frank McPeak arrives," Nisita handed over another photo of him from "Dallas," America's most-watched show to date. Child star Sharon McCall.
"Oh?" Ronald took over. Shalan McCall is not only a child star, but also the champion of multiple beauty pageants. After her debut in "Big Family", she didn't have many film and television works, but she has always been a question-and-answer TV. popular characters on the show.
The photo is another shot of Brad Pitt and Sharon McCall shopping intimately in New York. He took a look at the time of the photo, and it was only a few days before and after the photo with the black singer Sinida.
Ronald was disgusted for a while. If this kind of person really became a formal boyfriend and girlfriend with his cousin Donna, wouldn't it be disgusting? If he got some gossip news and threatened himself to give him a role, Ronald didn't want to continue thinking about it.
"We will unite together to protest Mr. Ovitz. What conditions do you want?" Nisita obtained some evidence and planned to join his wife Paula and Richard to file a complaint against Ovitz, so that Jack Lapke was deflated.
"First of all, I don't want this person to appear in my sight again." Ronald said, pointing to Brad Pitt.
"That's easy, any more?"
"For the movie Working Girl, CAA must stand by me with all my strength, and my casting decision shall prevail, and no agents other than you, especially Lapke's clients, shall be allowed to audition. In the twentieth century All negotiations with Fox should also be based on my position."
"A very reasonable request", Nisita was overjoyed when he heard this. Not only the actors under his small group of managers have the opportunity, but they can also take the opportunity to sign Alec Baldwin and Joan Cusack, the supporting roles that Ronald likes.
"Any other requirements?" Richard wrote down what Ronald said, and then asked him about other asking prices.
"It's nothing else. After all, we haven't got the exact evidence of Lapke's leak. The secretary who was undercover with you still disappeared in the end." Ronald weighed it, and the things he could get in exchange were almost That's it.
"Hey, we are not defense lawyers, and Mr. Ovitz is not a federal judge. These are enough reasons to point the finger at Lapke, a bastard. What evidence does he need? The secretary went to Ovitz to Shi The film crew operated by Steve Siegel, he was at a loss."
Nisita has been dissatisfied with the practice of these Eastern European Jews relying on the same ethnicity of several CAA partners to take advantage of the company for a long time. He united some non-Jewish people, and together with Jewish brokers who did not do things that are not so outrageous, asked Ovitz Make an attack, the probability of success this time is very high. He wants to fight for more benefits for Ronald.
"This time for the best director Oscar nomination, I made a condition for Ovitz to fight for you. What do you think of this condition?"
Nisita knows that his client has a strong commercial appeal, but he still lacks a nomination in terms of art to convince his peers and many stars. If it succeeds, at least a star of Xue'er's status will not have the face to question Ronald's work as a director in the future.
"Are you sure?" Ronald became excited. It is from the heart to say that I do not rely on Oscar nominations, but rely on the approval of the audience to prove myself. But if you can get an Oscar nomination, then... How do you say that Chinese idiom? Well deserved...
"No one can be 100% sure about the Oscars, but if you add your nominations for several major domestic film critic awards and your public relations for the Directors Guild Awards, then you are 70% to 80% sure." Nisita said. Looking at Ronald, if he can win the Oscar for Best Director nomination at such a young age, the media will repeatedly bring it up.
"Ahem..." Ronald coughed excitedly. He took a cup of black tea brought by Richard and took a sip. "Well, that's it. I'm very satisfied with this condition."
"Very well, I look forward to the day when the nominations are announced." Nisita also smiled happily.
…
At about the same time, the fax from Xiangjiang arrived at Daydream's office.
Ronald received Jackie Chan's comments on the script of the movie "Boxer".
By the time Ronald got the fax, it was already night in Los Angeles time. He carefully looked at some comments handwritten by Jackie Chan, and some fighting action scene designs.
The main revision comments are concentrated in two places.
First, JackieChan believes that the best venue for the World Martial Arts Conference is Xiangjiang. Xiangjiang is a place where various martial arts meet. Look for Muay Thai, southern martial arts, karate, boxing, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and Japanese sumo wrestling. Experts, all are convenient.
Second, it was Jackie Chan who recommended to introduce more actors of Chinese origin. He said that Chinese Americans have been shooting real fighting action movies for a long time. Starting from Bruce Lee, they have gathered a group of experienced fighting action film shooting experts and stunt experts. It will be more realistic, closer to the kind of action movies that American audiences like Bruce Lee.
In addition, Corey Yuen, who came to Hollywood to help Ronald with the design of advertising motions, also did a lot of work. Corey Yuen drew those scene designs and storyboards of action designs.
He also recommended himself to do the action design of the movie, and tried his best to persuade Ronald to shoot the movie in Xiangjiang. He knew that Ronald's company didn't have much investment, and he was also troubled by the restrictions of the labor union. He pointed out that Xiangjiang's film production cost was low, the location was convenient, and there was no labor union to limit the legal shooting time every day.
Ronald was very happy, he wrote back to JackieChan to thank him for his advice, and invited Corey Yuen to come to Hollywood to participate in casting and preliminary preparations.
Corey Yuen, apart from making action scenes, is also very familiar with directing work, having worked as a director in Xiangjiang. If the running-in with the working team here goes well, Ronald intends to let him be the director.
As for the role of action director, Ronald didn't necessarily want Corey Yuen to take it. Xiangjiang's action team is the old-fashioned troupe model, without any guarantee of commercialization. It all depends on Jackie Chan's big brother attitude, and gathered a group of dragon and tiger martial artists who are not afraid of death.
It is no problem to ask for help once or twice, but after a long time, if Ronald makes many action movies every year, he needs a special effects team that meets Hollywood standards.
So, in the first film we collaborated with, it was most important to cultivate our own team and establish our own team of action actors.
For this reason, Ronald had another idea. He called his old friend, Chinese actor Zhao Li.
"Chaoli, this is Ronald."
"Hi, Ronald, why did you think of calling me today?" Zhao Li was very happy to hear Ronald's call.
"I don't go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing." Ronald used an idiom, "My company is going to invest in a Bruce Lee-style action movie recently. You have been in Hollywood for a long time. Have you met Bruce Lee? Those action teams that Li worked with?"
"Oh? You want to find a protagonist of Chinese descent?" Zhao Li asked. Recently, the relationship between America and China is very good. Hollywood has gradually added some supporting roles in the scripts, and many Chinese actors have also got the opportunity to play Chinese roles in film and television dramas.
However, there are not many opportunities for Chinese to play the leading role. In the past two years, John Long, because of his excellent language and drama skills, won the leading role in "Year of the Dragon" and "The Last Emperor".
"Hey, I still have to consider the box office issue, you understand", Ronald said honestly, although the martial arts and core of this kind of low-cost action movie are borrowed from Chinese movies and stereotyped by Bruce Lee, Hollywood still There is no such charismatic Chinese star as Bruce Lee.
So starting from the TV series "Kung Fu" in the 1970s, this kind of film and television drama always has a white actor as the protagonist, and many Chinese and Japanese actors as the main supporting roles.
"Well, Bruce Lee's son also likes to be an actor. He has a better figure than his father, and his actions and appearance are also in line with American aesthetics. You can try it."
"Well...I wrote it down...but I can only give supporting roles..." Ronald wrote down the name of Bruce Lee's eldest son, Brandon Lee.
"The actors who worked with Bruce Lee back then and are still in America, the most famous one is Yang Si. He is still the vice chairman of the Chinese American Bodybuilding Federation. He has a very good figure. We all call him Chinese American Schwarzenegger."
"Oh, so? That's a good villain. What roles has he played?"
"In Bruce Lee's "Enter the Dragon", one of the villain's thugs, the very strong one."
"Well, it's him." Ronald had an impression of this muscular man, who was indeed a bodybuilder.
"Yes, he is a good friend of Bruce Lee. Many of the actions in the movie were discussed together by him and Bruce. If this person is white, he may be an action star by now."
"Okay, okay...Chaoli, you help me make an appointment with him. I want such a talent...that kind of cares about that cottage."
"Haha, he heard that you were going to ask him to make a movie, so he came right away."
"Is there anyone else to recommend besides him?"
"Actually, he found many of Bruce Lee's companions from Xiangjiang. You can go there and ask."
"Really? They didn't make it in Hollywood?"
“It’s not easy for Chinese Americans to gain a foothold in Hollywood, and they don’t speak English. Kung Fu action movies have declined again after the tragic death of Bruce Lee.”
"I see, I will go to find out."
"The one who played Yang Si's boss in Enter the Dragon, the one named Shi Jian is also an actor who often cooperates with Bruce, and the one who played Yang Si's companion thug, I remember a man named Qiao Hong..."
Ronald memorized the names of the action movie actors Chao Li said, and planned to find someone in Xiangjiang.
"Any other actors of Chinese descent, can you recommend?"
"In the mainland, there are many stars in action movies. Do you want the champions of martial arts competitions to film? Their fighting ability in the ring may not be the strongest, but they fight very well."
"Of course, do you have any recommendations?" Ronald thought to himself that I want to make movies to look good.
"You need to say hello to the relevant domestic departments and ask them to issue a certificate. You can contact the martial arts team. The martial arts team in Shichahai is good and has produced a lot of talents."
"Okay, I wrote it down. Any more?"
"It's almost these people. In the Chinese circle, they are either from Peking Opera or from the martial arts team."
"Okay, thank you, I still have the role of Tai Chi here, and you will also come to play a guest role at that time?"
"I can't get into the ring..." Zhao Li laughed.
"Can you play the master..."
(end of this chapter)
