Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1292 Ovitz Launches a New Front

Few people believe that a little bit of simulation of the movement of a real-life movie camera can bring what kind of bonus to the animation.

But Ronald knew the appeal of this technique to the audience who saw it for the first time. This shooting method can actually be done very crudely. When he was shooting "Breakdance", he used a very crude method to shoot it.

Although it is a mistake to look closely and the photographer can be seen, the audience still likes this shot. It can make people feel dizzy, and when they are about to reach a climax after experiencing emotional ups and downs, it can make the audience feel a sense of release.

However, this shooting method was previously used in live-action movies. Children, the audience of cartoons, rarely see it. In addition, parents will also feel a sense of novelty when they see similar scenes in cartoons.

Those audience members who applauded for ten minutes at the internal screening of the New York Film Festival were not hired agents. In fact, there is no tradition of long applause in America. This was completely spontaneous by the audience, and it was a very good signal, so much so that Ronald was more confident than the people at Disney.

Ronald, who stayed in New York, also attended the premiere of a movie, "City Slickers," starring Helen Slater.

Billy Crystal directed and starred in the film. Although it imitated John Wayne's film "The Cowboys" in form, the audience could not tell that it was a comedy because it was changed from a serious drama.

Helen played a young literary lady in the city, and she looked very good. However, she had few scenes, and director Christo cut out a lot of the emotional scenes due to time constraints.

"What a pity! I thought my performance had improved and I might be able to compete for this year's award..."

When Helen got home, she began to sigh. All movie actors, especially female stars, have an instinctive desire to compare themselves with others regarding their screen time and the number of close-up shots.

"My dear, this is the director's choice, because it has to meet the length requirements of the theater. In fact, your performance is really good, much better than the previous comedies you played..."

What Ronald said to Helen was not a lie. Her acting in the previous films "Ruthless People" and "Happy Together" was always a bit artificial.

But in this play, she is much more relaxed, and the audience does not have the feeling of watching a stage play rehearsal. The role is also very close to the image of a literary young woman in the audience's mind, and there is nothing wrong with it.

Of course, acting is a contradiction of finding dramatic conflict in similarity. Helen's acting is just similar, not impressive enough to be unforgettable.

But women still need to be coaxed. Ronald knew that in addition to having few roles, the fact that he did not appear side by side with her at the premiere was also an important reason why Helen was unhappy.

"Will you be free tomorrow?"

"Where are we going?" Helen cheered herself up and didn't let these small questions affect her mood. She is now doing a lot of drama practice and teaching amateur actors in the actor troupe. Her mentality is much better than before.

This may also be the reason for her improvement in acting skills. Teaching the principles of acting to others is actually a process of self-examination and improvement. At least when you let others relax, you will also become relaxed.

"I have an appointment with someone to discuss cooperation, you can come with me..."

……

“Oh, this is where Michael Jackson recorded?”

The next day, Helen, wearing a black top and a red scarf, appeared in the recording studio of Columbia Sony Records with Ronald.

"Ha, that's not it. MJ has a dedicated recording studio. Our president stipulated that MJ enjoys unlimited priority. This place is for recording some second- and third-tier singers, and everyone has to take turns using it." The speaker was a veteran black jazz producer from Columbia Records.

"Oh, this is great, I didn't expect to be able to record here..." Helen has been trained in jazz piano and vocal music since she was a child, and she also planned to develop into a singer before making movies.

"What's that smell?" Helen smelled a strange, strong odor as soon as she entered the recording studio.

"Fuck, those little bastards are here again... Sorry, there was a new black rapper recording here before, they don't know any rules, and made a mess of this place, they are all low-level singers from Chicago, you know, they are fearless with a little street background. I apologize to you, let's go over there to meet your band..."

The producer closed the door and ordered the ventilation fan to be turned on. He personally accompanied Ronald and Helen to another conference room, where six gray-haired black musicians were waiting. It turned out that they were all accompanying the big-name jazz singers in New York. However, black people nowadays prefer rap, and they haven't received such a rich man who wants to record a beautiful woman for a long time. They are all very excited and want to catch a fat sheep to make a little money.

"He came like a shadow, into my room. His eyes like the sea made me discover myself..." Helen went up and played and sang a song she wrote and composed herself, "Touch and Leave".

The six musicians looked at each other in surprise, and then one by one joined in the impromptu accompaniment, making the whole thing very romantic.

Ronald touched his nose at the end of the song, as if the lyrics were directed at himself, and then he began to applaud, and the six musicians stood up and took off their hats to salute Helen.

"We originally thought you were just here for fun, but we didn't expect that you could record it right away. It's been a long time since we heard a white person sing improvisational jazz..."

"Really?" Helen was happiest when professionals praised her professional ability.

"Yes, and you can record it all the way through, unlike those young black people who can only record some sentences separately, and their performance ability is not good. The last white girl who could sing a song from beginning to end, ahem, a female singer, was Karen Carpenter..."

"Hahaha……"

Seeing that he had made Helen happy, Ronald encouraged them to record a test song to see the effect. Then he went to talk to the producer about the main purpose of this trip. He wanted to cooperate with Columbia Records to produce a soundtrack album of classic British films.

In white middle-class families, many people still have a love for light music, and they play it at some gatherings and dinners to create an atmosphere. The soundtracks of famous passages in old movies are very suitable for this kind of music.

As a film producer, there are also many opportunities for cooperation. Now that Ronald has a better relationship with Sony, he wants to release his future soundtracks on Sony Columbia, such as the recently successful "Dances with Wolves", "The Silence of the Lambs", and "Other People's Money".

Ronald was chatting with the producer when the door of the conference room suddenly opened and an Italian man walked in.

"Director Li, I am a fan of your movies. It is the wisest choice for you to choose Columbia as your long-term partner for the soundtrack..."

"This is President Motula..." The producer stood up and introduced Ronald.

"Hello..." Ronald knew that this was the American whom Sony trusted most after it acquired Columbia Records. Last year, he replaced Yetnikoff, who was the main contributor to the acquisition, as the CEO of the record company.

"I'm sorry, I've been busy with MJ's new album recently, so I didn't come to say hello to you just now. Fortunately, you're still here, which gives me a chance to pay tribute to you... Your Dirty Dancing album created a miracle, and sold more than MJ's back then, hahaha..." The CEO spoke with a bit of charm, which made people let down their guard and feel close to him.

Nowadays, movies and music have a tendency to cooperate closely and even merge through the medium of videotapes. A movie not only drives videotapes, TV reruns, and star salaries, but the record industry also likes this kind of work that does not cost too much. Although it has to share the profits with the movie, the production cost itself is also low, and the profit is still considerable. Motura cannot underestimate this source of income.

"Mr. Motula..."

"Call me Tommy..." Motula was very satisfied with the content of the contract and came over to show his closeness to Ronald. The two talked about the current cooperation trends in Hollywood and the record industry.

"We should have more cooperation like this in the future. Columbia Records' previous cooperation with Hollywood was made annoying by the packaging business. This kind of direct cooperation is more appropriate."

"Are you also troubled by CAA's packaging business?" Ronald understood something.

"Ovitz is a very ambitious manager. He has been reaching out a little too far recently and has attracted a lot of clients from the record industry... We also want to deal with him..."

Mottola told Ronald that Ovitz's expansion in the music industry was much smoother than the sniping he suffered in the advertising industry.

This year he signed a management contract with an important music producer, David Geffen of Geffen Records. This producer with a wide range of interests sold the Geffen Records label he founded to MCA Panasonic, and now has also signed his management contract with Ovitz.

Ovitz's biggest hit among singers was rock star Madonna. This was his first time catching a big fish in the music industry.

"Directors actually have a love-hate relationship with Ovitz's packaging system. They love it because it is convenient and has a high success rate for projects. But they hate it because it deprives them of some creative and casting freedom..."

"It's all the same. They like to use packaging to create a monopoly..."

……

It was not convenient to go too deep into this topic, so Motula asked again:
"Has Miss Slater's recording been arranged?"

"We're recording now. I'll let the guys who accompanied Bing Crosby do it..."

"very good……"

As they walked and talked, they arrived at the recording studio just as Helen had finished recording. Motula picked up the headphones and listened for a while. "Very good, very good... Miss Slater's voice is very distinctive. You might consider a career in the record industry..."

Helen made a gesture of thanks very obediently, which made Motula's eyes light up. This beauty's singing was very average and she didn't have any potential to become famous, but her temperament was first-class, completely different from those beauties in the record industry. It was obvious that she grew up in a good family.

When he saw Helen kissing Ronald, he immediately looked like he knew everything and thought more highly of Ronald. I don't know how Hollywood works, but in the record industry, a good producer is one who can handle female singers.

……

"Is Ovitz making big moves now?" Ronald and Richard talked on the secure line at night. "I heard that he signed two big names in the music industry..."

"Yes, although Madonna really wants to make a movie, her music value is much higher. David Geffen's company was sold for 800 million. He signed the contract mainly to save trouble. His interest gradually shifted to modern art collection..."

"This guy..." Ronald thought of the eight paintings he had been tricked into buying, which were still gathering dust in the basement.

Richard thought he was talking about Ovitz. “He opened up a lot of new fronts. In addition to the record industry, he also poached the biggest sports agency, ProServ, and brought in Tubby Smith, a famous college basketball coach.

ProServ's strongest industry is tennis, where big consumer product companies like to endorse its endorsers. Ovitz wants to get into the sports agent business.

"If he doesn't fight with us and instead opens up a new front, we can get along peacefully." Ronald thought, could it be that after losing the battle for Coca-Cola advertising, Ovitz turned to an easier industry?

"Maybe he has figured it out. CAA's core competitiveness is still the agent services it provides to clients, not the advertising business..."

"That would be best..."

……

"George..."

After finishing the call, Ronald saw that little Doug and the president's eldest son, little George, had been waiting for him in the living room for a few minutes. "You should have informed me immediately, Helen." Isn't it a bit too much to let the president's son wait for him?

"Haha, Ronald, come on, it's me who doesn't want to disturb you..."

Little George came up happily and hugged Ronald. "Your business is getting bigger and bigger. The company has acquired such a large film library asset. As a shareholder, you should..."

"It's our business..." Ronald corrected with a smile, "This is our company's third quarter operating report, take a look."

As he spoke, he handed over a report on the operating conditions of the anonymous limited stock company registered in Delaware.

George was very happy to see the tens of millions of dollars of purchases. This kind of company business was the favorite of children from political families like him. It was monopolistic, safe, and free of information leaks and business risks. Especially the film library, which could generate cash flow every year through TV broadcast licensing and videotape business. It was a better investment than oil.

After all, the film library will not be at risk of losing money due to the rise and fall of oil prices. If some movies in the library are chosen by others to be remade, there will be licensing fees, which is an asset that can be passed down from generation to generation.

There are also some classic British films in the library, including the copyrights of some of the films shot by Hitchcock during his time in Britain. You know, the legacy Hitchcock left for his only daughter was the copyrights of eight films.

"I hope you are satisfied with the company's operations, Mr. Shareholder." Ronald gestured to George Jr. to read to the end.

"I am very satisfied..." George actually didn't know how to read the business report, but the dividend check in the envelope at the end made him very satisfied!

"My father is going to run for re-election next year. I hope you can still shoot a campaign ad for him..." After putting the envelope into his jacket pocket, George Jr. remembered something and said.

"That depends on who Ms. Barbara gives the campaign business to..." Ronald knew that George wanted to get another chance to show up. In the past year, he had appeared in the Texas baseball team's games, and the TV broadcasts always gave him close-up shots as if they had agreed on it.

(End of this chapter)