Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1418 How to Return to the Historical Scene
"Hahaha, Ronald and I have known each other for a long time. When my film was exhibited at the Montreal Film Festival, he went there as a buyer. We admired each other very much at that time.

I admired his keen sense of film, and he admired my dedication to film. Later, when I had a breakdancing project, he was the first person I thought of. That was the first film I produced that grossed over 100 million yuan.

After this, everything is history that you are familiar with..."

“Minahan and I have known each other for a long time. I admire his endless enthusiasm for low-budget entertainment films and his rich experience in overseas distribution. This is the beginning of a good cooperation between Daydream and 21st Century Pictures, and also a testimony to our personal friendship.”

"Ronald, Minahan, want to take a photo?"

"OK……"

Surrounded by reporters, Ronald affectionately hugged Menahem Golan, and the two posed in a very appropriate pose in front of the background of the opening posters of the two movies "Mortal Kombat" and "Forrest Gump".

Finally, Daydream officially obtained the filming rights of Forrest Gump through a cooperation deal with Menahan Golan's 21st Century Pictures.

Theoretically, this movie was a joint production between 21st Century and Daydream, but the vast majority of the profits belonged to Ronald's company. What Ronald gave out in exchange was the overseas distribution rights of "Mortal Kombat" and the investment that Minahan thought was appropriate.

Such an agreement avoids many legal problems. It is difficult for Warner Bros. and Winston Groom, the original author of the novel, to find flaws in the contract. If they really want to stop Ronald from making this movie, it may take more effort than making a big production themselves.

……

However, Warner Bros. did not want to let go just like that, and they began to use some of their connections in the industry to spread the word in the media and private conversations that the film had poor box office prospects because "Rain Man" a few years ago had exhausted all the potential of similar themes.

Considering that Warner Bros. did exchange the film rights with Shirley Lansing after she became the CEO of Paramount, this statement was recognized by some people in the industry. Some speculation began to circulate as to whether Ronald would finally fail this time.

Of course, no one was so tactless as to tell Ronald about this rumor. He was busy dealing with copyright issues with various people in Hollywood and the television industry.

In the movie Forrest Gump, there are many historical figures and historical TV shows that appear, and all of these require the consent of the copyright owners. Some people are easier to talk to, while others are more difficult. When encountering difficult problems, Ronald has to step in personally to negotiate.

"Mr. Dick Cavett, nice to meet you. I am your loyal audience. I have watched the tapes of your talk show series of interviews with famous directors over and over again."

"Ah, those were the good old days, when TV viewers were still interested in hearing me interview some serious profession like director..."

Dick Cavett is a talk show host whose ratings were once second only to Johnny Carson, who just retired. Unlike late-night talk shows like Johnny Carson and David Letterman, which are based on jokes and humorous jokes, Dick Cavett's talk show still has the serious atmosphere of the golden age of television.

He has a lot of interview series, such as boxers, musicians, directors, politicians, athletes, the depth of the content of the discussion is more profound than Johnny Carson, and there is no lack of humor. However, this serious talk show is still no match for the vulgar and funny Johnny Carson.

After entering the mid-1980s, the ratings of the talk show named after Dick Cavett continued to decline, and finally it was no longer able to compete with Johnny Carson in the prime time.

His show was moved from PBS to a smaller Olympia TV network, and then it could only be broadcast twice a week on ABC's late night slot. After entering the 1990s, it was moved to CNBC, a cable TV station with a smaller audience but higher fees.

There, his program became a non-resident program. When there was a hot topic, he would be invited to come out for an interview and make an album. When there was no hot topic, he would often just do it when he had the chance. It can be said that he was in a semi-retired state to some extent.

Ronald invited him over this time because there was a very important supporting role that required his cooperation.

Because according to the plot, during the Vietnam War, Forrest Gump went on the Dick Cavett Show and appeared on the show with the famous music superstar, John Lennon, the lead singer of the Beatles.

It was September 1971, and John Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono were on the show together. At that time, Yoko Ono's reputation was not very good, because she was carrying the notoriety of breaking up the Beatles. Beatles fans hated her and gave her the nickname "Dragon Lady".

What Ronald had to do was to capture some clips of John Lennon in the interview, then replace Yoko Ono's position with Forrest Gump, and finally let Dick Cavett host this interview that never happened again, completing the scene of Forrest Gump witnessing history.

"Oh, I was so young back then..." Dick Cavett happily accepted Ronald's invitation. He generously provided the copyright of the program, but also made a request, which was to invite Ronald and the program creators to his show when the movie was released. He also wanted to relive that kind of in-depth interview.

Ronald of course happily agreed, and Dick Cavett also asked some questions, such as how to implement this interview, how to insert a virtual character into the real environment, and how he could return to his younger self.

"We have tried many methods and conducted many experiments. Generally speaking, this interview will probably be reshot. We will restore your studio at that time, and you will still be sitting in your seat. Our dressing room will make you look 20 years younger. In the middle is our actor who plays Forrest Gump, answering your questions. John Lennon on the far left will need a special effect to change his lines and say what we want him to say."

"Oh, this sounds interesting. Can you also use a special effect method to make me really 20 years younger?"

"Hahaha, maybe there will be such a method in the future, Mr. Cavett, but for now we still rely mainly on makeup and special effects."

Dick Cavett also visited the Daydream History Showroom, where there were many B-movies that did well at the box office. Dick Cavett himself still liked Oscar-winning movies, and was only interested in "Other People's Money," a movie that exposed the corrupt power of money, and took a few photos.

"Thank you, Mr. Cavett." Finally, after the other party signed a cooperation agreement and transferred the adaptation rights of that episode, Ronald shook hands with him.

"Thank you too. I don't have many shows worth doing right now..."

The two men laughed, and Ronald even asked him to try on makeup to see how convincing it would be to make him look twenty years younger.

"Ms. Yoko Ono is a very difficult person..." Dick Cavett, who was very satisfied with the makeup effect, reminded Ronald before leaving.

"It's okay, that's why I don't let her be in the camera..."

Ronald smiled secretly. It seemed that the host remembered the attitude of Yoko Ono during the interview. At that time, Lennon defended his wife with all his strength, but it was also obvious that the host and the audience were hostile to Yoko Ono. In addition to the dissatisfaction with the breakup of the Beatles, there was also a hint of racial discrimination. Why was Lennon, who was famous among hippies at that time, taken over by a skinny Japanese woman?

One done, there are still twenty-five to go.

Ronald looked at the long list of names on the list. It was not easy to make such a faithful film.

For example, he also had to communicate with Michael Jackson, who owned the records of John Lennon during the Beatles period, and David Geffen, who owned the copyright after John Lennon went solo. The former was easy to deal with, as he happened to live in a big house owned by a real estate developer, and when he heard that it was just one or two lines, he quickly agreed.

David Geffen is in more trouble. He is trying to get President William to pass his bill to eliminate discrimination against people of different orientations in the military. Ronald's dialogue was taken from Lennon's famous song "Imagine" after he went solo, and he had to ask for his consent.

Finally, after agreeing to let a lobbying firm he was familiar with in DC take over Geffen's order in lobbying for a bill to eliminate discrimination, Ronald also got the rights to use the song.

Similarly, David Geffen also warned Ronald not to mess with Yoko Ono. It seems that he also knew the ability of this lady to stir up trouble. The two reached an agreement to seek the consent of Lennon's widow Yoko Ono with this interview video and a few lyrics of a song. I won't go into details. Anyway, this Japanese woman was not too interested in anything in Lennon's songs except for the profit.

Next, there are two major categories of authorization licenses that need to be completed.

One category is the right to use historical images of historical celebrities, including former presidents, JFK, Richard, Lyndon Johnson, etc.

In addition to the president, there was also the governor of Arkansas at the time, who prevented blacks and whites from attending the same university. These images can be directly used from newsreels without changing the lines of those characters to obtain permission for use.

However, in order to modify historical details, include Forrest Gump, and also modify some of the dialogues or laughter lines of the time (mostly Forrest Gump doing stupid things that make the other party laugh), the consent of these people's descendants was also required.

To this end, Ronald also wrote to the memorial libraries of these former presidents through the relationship of George Sr. to seek permission. George Sr. was also a retired president, and he promised to endorse Ronald and that nothing inappropriate would happen. This allowed Ronald to quickly obtain permission from the three former presidents' memorial libraries to modify historical images.

However, permission to modify such celebrity historical images was rejected by a famous civil rights leader.

This is the foundation controlled by the descendants of Dr. Martin Luther King, the representative of black civil rights.

"I'm speaking for them, turning Dr. King into a figure who rewrites American history. Why would they say no?"

Ronald was puzzled. This plot actually sided with Dr. King. At the beginning, Forrest Gump learned that Jenny was admitted to college, and then he wanted to go to college with her. On the way home, he encountered Martin Luther King's civil rights movement protest.

Historically, Arkansas was a very conservative, pro-slave state. It still practiced racial segregation until the 1950s and 1960s. During this protest, the white state government used many police dogs to intimidate Dr. King and prevent them from completing their protest.

Forrest Gump recognized the police dogs. They were the puppies he had played with when he was a child. He happily picked up a branch and played a game of throwing branches and picking them up with the police dogs.

The three dogs that were originally rushing towards Martin Luther King recognized the grown-up Forrest Gump and happily played games with him that they hadn't played for a long time. Finally, Forrest Gump went over to explain to Dr. King that these were just "dogs" and they didn't understand.

This plot of using dogs to symbolize the conservative and uncivilized white government was actually felt by Dr. King's descendants to be an allusion and attack on them.

Sometimes Ronald didn't understand how these people were thinking. Maybe the white people in mainstream society didn't understand the sufferings that black people went through during apartheid? Maybe there were really policemen who let dogs bite black people, causing tragedies?
For this purpose, Ronald found Spike Lee and asked him to communicate with him and ask Dr. King what he was dissatisfied with about this plot. Anyway, all of Spike Lee's works advocate the rights of black people, and he is considered one of them, so maybe he can get some words out of him.

The last celebrity-related filming permit was for China, across the Pacific Ocean. Ronald expressed his desire to film in China through the counselor who had been awarded domestic prizes for his panda diplomacy and most-favored-nation treatment.

The message that came back was that this period of Ping-Pong Diplomacy was an important page in the history of the two countries, and we did not want any distortion or possible misunderstanding, so we asked Ronald to submit the relevant script for them to review before making a decision.

After all, Ronald is a Hollywood director, and he cannot agree to such a request for script review. Otherwise, once it is leaked, it will cause strong protests from the Screenwriters Guild and the Producers Guild, which will be bad at that time.

Ronald then turned to his friends for help, asking them if they could provide some historical photos and news documentaries of the time. In this way, he obtained the images of the American table tennis delegation's visit to China through private channels, and tried to recreate them based on them to ensure that the images would not be too far from history.

In this way, no one will violate each other's industry regulations, and there will be no problems when this film applies for distribution in China.

In addition to this type of image use license, another major category is commercial use by magazines, newspapers, and television stations. Ronald's "Forrest Gump" contains many famous moments in history.

Therefore, he also had to write letters to Time Magazine, Fortune Magazine, Runner's World, and the National Enquirer Magazine, the Watergate Hotel, the South Carolina State Parks, the Department of the Interior, the National Park Service, and a series of other permission to shoot.

Fortunately, these places often receive filming permits for similar movies, so our colleagues at Daydream can handle it very well.

"The next thing is these trademark brands..."

There are many trademarks in the movie, such as the running shoes worn by Forrest Gump, the box of chocolate candies he gave to Jenny, and the Coke he drank too much in the White House and had to go to the bathroom so much that he had to stay in the Watergate Hotel. Information about these trademarks can be released to companies in the industry, and a bidding-like process can be conducted.

This also helps a lot in the filming budget.

While talking about the budget, Ronald received another call from Shirley Lansing, saying that there were some problems with the filming budget.

I feel better today, so I'll try to write one chapter first. I'll try to make up for the past two days tomorrow.