Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1441 The bus flies over the viaduct
"Did you hear about MJ?"

“I think there are only a few people in America who haven’t heard of it,” Ronald replied.

"I'm talking about the LAPD's investigation into him. I heard they're going to issue a search warrant and an arrest warrant..."

"Oh, I haven't heard of this news. If this is the case, it will definitely become the headlines of all media."

"I just heard about it from others. I don't know either. I thought you knew it."

The one who asked Ronald this question was rock singer Bruce Springsteen. He had finally arranged the theme song for "The Philadelphia Story" and recorded it in the studio and sent it to Ronald.

Both of them are in the same circle, so of course they couldn't help but talk about Michael Jackson's scandal. Springsteen's attitude towards this is also very subtle. MJ and he have a good relationship. They sang the song "We Are the World" together before, which is about saving African refugees.

But after all, they are of different ethnicities, and the rumored crime is very disturbing, so sometimes people talk about it with some hesitation.

However, John Fogerty, the lead singer of the band CCR, who is also white, recently broke the law. Springsteen's attitude towards him is completely different. He not only supports this senior, but also came to discuss with Ronald to publicly express his support in the media.

Yes, John Fogerty, the lead singer of the CCR band, was sued by Saul Zaentz, the boss who cheated him out of everything and sold his songs at a low price. The reason was that after being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Fogerty sang the songs he wrote in many commercial performances recently without authorization.

This kind of thing was actually very common in the record industry before the 1970s, especially when MJ first debuted, Motown Records, the first black-dominated record company that signed many black singers, exploited black singers even more ruthlessly than the old white-dominated companies.

Bruce Springsteen did not speak up for the black singers. He was just very dissatisfied with the exploitation of CCR, a rare white singer, and wanted to seek justice for him.

However, no one is perfect. Ronald also felt that he was a friend worth getting along with because of Springsteen's loyalty. In turn, Springsteen also felt that Ronald was a very loyal person who was willing to help Fogerty when he saw injustice.

After Fogerty responded to the lawsuit, he also sued Saul Zaentz in turn, not only to get back his own singing copyright, but also to find a way to recover the publishing copyrights of the songs that were taken away from him.

Theoretically, this is not a difficult thing to do. No one dared to sign Saul Zaentz's record company later. As a film producer, he hasn't made any good works for a long time. The younger generation of fans and movie fans are unfamiliar with this name.

In addition, Ronald's new film "Forrest Gump" uses a lot of CCR songs, so it is foreseeable that the band's lead singer Fogerty will become popular again.

Although the American courts have to judge cases based on the cases, there is still a lot of pressure from fans in copyright lawsuits involving idols. It is very likely that a new precedent will be issued to seek justice for this unfortunate singer.

Considering that Fogerty's wealth would reach a level corresponding to the popularity of his songs after he got back the copyright, Springsteen said he would pay for his lawyers. Ronald also contacted his own lawyers and found an industry authority in record copyright lawsuits. He also told Springsteen that he could help together, even if that bastard Saul Zaentz appealed all the way to the Supreme Court, he would help Fogerty get back what originally belonged to him.

This chivalry also pleased Springsteen greatly. He quickly finished arranging and recording the theme song for "Philadelphia Story" which had been delayed for several months. Ronald also requested the copyright of Springsteen's song for "Forrest Gump", and the other party agreed immediately.

……

"Jonathan, I finally got it..."

"Oh my god. This song sounds better in this arrangement. I already had a plan B, now I have to hurry up and add this song."

Jonathan Demme, the director of "Philadelphia," was deeply touched by Springsteen's procrastination. The delay was due to recording, and he was prepared to use other songs instead. Since the editing of the ending had been completed long ago, there might not be enough time to re-edit it.

In the end, this song could only be placed at the beginning of the film, combined with the street scenes of Philadelphia to make a rhythmic match.

"Hopefully, it'll all work out. The rough cut I saw was a miracle. I asked TriStar to raise the marketing budget. We didn't want to market it as a major selling point, because that would discourage people with phobias from watching it.

This time, Springsteen's theme song, coupled with some Philadelphia street scenes and close-ups of Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington's faces, makes the audience feel that this is a story about Philadelphia lawyers."

Ronald explained to Jonathan Demme the marketing plan he and Michael Gray had come up with. ... It was too destructive to America. With previous protests and the constant publicity by Elizabeth Taylor and others, many people had a preliminary understanding of it.

However, many ordinary people, especially in the conservative South, are still terrified of this. Therefore, this movie can popularize some knowledge, but if it is promoted without any cover-up, it is estimated that half of the audience will be scared away.

"I agree, Ronald. You don't have to worry about my unwillingness. I made this film and I know the discrimination against them."

Jonathan Demme was not as disgusted as Ronald expected by this practice of half-tricking and half-tricking the audience into the cinema. When filming this movie, the scene where Tom Hanks was treated with intravenous injection in the hospital was shot in a real hospital, and most of the extras were real patients.

It was when filming these scenes that Jonathan Demme felt the deep hostility of ordinary people towards these patients because they did not understand them. Many doctors and nurses in hospitals also tended to discriminate against them.

Therefore, it can make more people understand this disease and not discriminate against those unfortunate people. Jonathan Demme is willing to pay some price, even if it means marketing his film in this way.

"You know what? When we were filming Andy going to the hospital for treatment, more than half of the extras had unfortunately passed away..."

"Oh, God." Ronald was also shocked by the tragedy of these people. It's only been a few months, and so many extras have died... In order to express support for this group, I can only write their names on the subtitles and thank them.

"This year, Jonathan, I think your chances of winning the Oscar for Best Director are slim... We plan to focus on the Best Actor. I hope you can understand." After talking about the film's distribution, Ronald personally poured Jonathan Demme a glass of brandy and then talked to him about the Oscar campaign.

The favorite for this year's Best Director is undoubtedly Spielberg. His box office record-breaking movie "Jurassic Park" this summer impressed the industry. And "Schindler's List," which was released at the end of the year at about the same time as "Philadelphia," is another movie about the Holocaust.

Apart from anything else, Jews as an ethnic group may account for the largest proportion of Oscar judges.

Moreover, unlike previous years when various Jewish groups competed with each other, this time, as long as the theme of "Schindler's List" is not filmed too badly, if Jews do not vote for it, they will probably be severely despised.

Unlike the general hostility among European Jews when this film was being made, American Jews have now spread the word in various media that this film, which will be released at the end of the year, is a Jewish epic.

Without any specific plan, it is rare in Hollywood to achieve such momentum just by relying on the spontaneous publicity of the Jewish people.

"Ah, it's not a luxury for a director to win two Oscars for Best Director in ten years. I already have my little golden man, and your time will come too." Jonathan Demme is very open-minded about this.

Ronald also helped him win the Best Director award last time. In the short term, even a nomination is unlikely. So he just silently kept Ronald's help in mind, and when the time is right, he will repay this junior brother from Roger Corman Film Academy.

"Thank you for your understanding. Recently everyone has learned this trick. It's not like the last time when the Silence of the Lambs could catch people by surprise."

After dealing with this matter, Ronald spent more time on the post-production of "Forrest Gump". Although most of the special effects were mainly done by Industrial Light & Magic and Ronald's own company's special effects team, Ronald also had to work with them.

The special effects team is responsible for whether it can be done and how to do it, while Ronald is responsible for the art, what to do and whether the result is satisfactory.

Working day after day, Ronald spent most of his time in the special effects studio except for being with his family, which made Ronald himself have a bit of a otaku temperament. His hair and beard became very long, and wearing a baseball cap, he looked a bit like the movie's hero Forrest Gump.

"You need a hairstyle..."

One day, Diane couldn't help herself and touched Ronald's hair. It was indeed too long. And the beard made her feel uncomfortable.

"Really? I was planning to wait until the premiere of Philadelphia." Ronald himself didn't think so, but when Diane said so, he followed her advice and found a famous hairstylist to do his hair. Longer than a Marine Corps haircut, shorter than a rock star's, a very handsome short haircut, plus the temperament he has cultivated over the years, at first glance, others will be stunned.

"That's great! I almost didn't recognize you before." Diane was very happy to see her husband regain his handsome appearance.

"Ah? Is that so? I'm going to the crew of Speed. Now that you mention it, it's a good thing I took care of it. Otherwise, it would be terrible if the crew didn't recognize me."

Ronald thinks that hairstyle and beard may have a great impact on a person's appearance. In this way, when Tom Hanks's brother was used as a substitute in Forrest Gump, not many viewers could tell that it was a double.

……

"Jan, I saw the sample film and you didn't disappoint me. It's great, very good." Ronald went to meet Jan de Bont, the director of Speed.

The filming has been going on for a while. This movie has a lot of action scenes. The male lead Keanu Reeves has shown remarkable fitness results. He wears a white T-shirt on his upper body, which sets off his trained muscles very well. Coupled with the crew cut similar to that of the Marine Corps, he looks very smart and capable.

The heroine Sandra Bullock also successfully brought out the temperament of the actress herself, with a sense of American superiority over girls. Although she is not the most beautiful, she has a straightforward personality and conforms to traditional values. She is the date that ordinary men dream of.

"Oh, Ronald..."

There was some worry on Jan de Bont's face, but when he saw Ronald coming, his expression changed immediately. He stood up and greeted Ronald enthusiastically.

Ronald himself is a director, so he certainly knows this expression of "quietly, don't let the producer know".

Fortunately, he had enough informants on the scene and knew that Jan de Bont's filming progress was relatively smooth. The sample films he had seen were also very good. He knew that Jan de Bont's ideas were mainly artistic and filming, and he did not want to steal money for himself.

"Yang, we are old friends. Just tell me what you have to say."

"Look, Ronald. When I went to scout the location, I found a great place. It's a section of the interstate highway outside Los Angeles that hasn't been opened yet. There's an elevated road that hasn't been repaired yet, and there's a gap in the middle... I want to add a flyover shot."

"Ha... isn't this too dangerous?" Ronald looked at the photo. How could he shoot this? The bus was not the kind of car that stuntmen usually used. It was too heavy and too long. If something went wrong, it would cause casualties.

"It's not dangerous, Ronald. I've done enough research. In the past few years, since Die Hard, many action movies have used stunts that no one has ever filmed before. We can reduce the weight of the bus and add the best special effects personnel in Hollywood..."

Jan de Bont is still very persistent about this shot and talked a lot about the protection measures he researched and why this car-racing shot could be successful.

However, Ronald still had his doubts. According to Jan de Bont's idea, it was indeed highly likely that no one would die in this shot, but as a mature filmmaker, why would he try such a dangerous low-probability event?

"Look, Yang, my new movie Forrest Gump uses a lot of special effects that are superimposed on computers after filming is completed. For your shot of flying over the viaduct, you can actually find an viaduct with no vacant space to shoot, and then have someone erase a section of the road surface..."

"Great, can we shoot like this?" Jan de Bont was very happy when he saw the schematic Ronald drew on paper. Isn't it the best of both worlds to be able to shoot unprecedented special effects without taking unnecessary risks?
"Okay, I'll go with you to talk to our special effects double supervisor later... Will you be with the crew to watch us filming today?" Jan de Bont had a lot of thoughts in his mind. He really wanted Ronald to have a good chat with him, but he still had plans for filming...

"Of course, I really want to see how the male and female protagonists are actually filmed..."