Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1449 Public Relations Offensive and Defensive
Following TriStar Chairman Mike McDavoy and director Jonathan Demme, Ronald also appeared on a talk show, accepting an exclusive interview with David Letterman, who had jumped to CBS, during the late-night slot.

After NBC assigned the baton of Johnny Carson to Jay Leno, who had a strange big chin, David Letterman still fulfilled his contract with NBC. After taking a few months off and having several rounds of secret negotiations with people from several major TV stations, he finally chose CBS, which offered the highest price and could give him the most resources.

In order to recruit David Letterman, CBS gave him a three-year contract of $14 million per year. It also spent $8 million to renovate the studio. Letterman's live accompaniment band from NBC also accepted a pay raise and followed him to CBS.

"Ronald, there's a question I've been meaning to ask you. Larry Kramer has his own review of this movie in the Los Angeles Times. What do you think of this review?"

After David Letterman chatted for a while and both of them were in a better mood, he asked the questions that had been agreed upon in advance.

Although the name of CBS's Late Show with Letterman is similar to his show on NBC at the time, the actual arrangement of the program is a little different. The conversations between the guests are longer, and there is a more in-depth discussion on a topic. This may be more in line with the CBS audience, which is older and more willing to listen to some in-depth content.

"David, what I want to say is that everyone can have their own opinions after watching the movie. This is a free transition. But I also want to say what we think of this movie. I think it is not about... It is not an examination of minority groups. This is a movie about how people who have been discriminated against win justice in court..."

Ronald began to play according to the pre-ordered content. Film reviews are generally not released one week before the film is released. This is because most films cannot know in advance what kind of reviews they will get. They have to spend money on advertising to attract the first batch of audiences to the cinema, and then rely on word of mouth. Film reviews play the biggest role during this period, attracting more audiences to the cinema to watch the film.

But Larry Kramer's unprovoked attack just gave the movie a good opportunity to warm up. The main reason here is that his attack is too ridiculous. The general audience can see that this guy is completely standing on the position of a minority group of intellectuals to attack.

Those reasons, in the eyes of ordinary people, are the mentality of those extreme groups that make a lot of noise. Why should we make a movie specifically for a group like you that accounts for a very small population? And let the most handsome actors in Hollywood play you?
The general audience's mentality will be to understand this matter from the perspective of whether these people have gone too far and that the movie itself is not that bad.

After this offensive report came out, all the creators of "The Philadelphia Story" spoke in unison, saying that we did not make this movie for them. We made a movie about court offense and defense, and about seeking justice for the weak and the discriminated against.

In fact, among the general public, although there are very few people belonging to minority groups, there are also very few people who really pick on those groups in life and discriminate against them in words and actions. Most people have an attitude of ignoring such people: I don’t discriminate against you, but I won’t participate in your lifestyle.

Larry Kramer's attack and Ronald's lack of response have aroused their curiosity. It seems that the people who made the movie are quite normal, so why did these few extreme people start to curse? What happened in the movie that made these people lose their temper?
"OK, I believe you, Ronald. Because you are my friend, I believe what you say. But how do the general audience judge the right and wrong of this matter? Can you give some more details about why Larry Kramer hates this movie so much?"

David Letterman took over the conversation very smoothly and gave Ronald an assist.

"David, to be honest, I don't know. Everyone can have their own ideas, and I have mine. Why he thinks this way is something only he knows. I can only tell the audience that I think the movie is very touching, and I always support stories about the underdog getting justice.

As for which of our statements the audience thinks is right, there is only one way to find out..."

"OK, the Philadelphia Story is coming out next week, I know I will buy tickets to see it. Ronald Lee..." David Letterman finally made a commercial and ended the interview show.

"Thank you, David..."

After the show, David Letterman made an exception and chatted with Ronald alone. Ronald is now a client of Richard's faction, and with Ronald's help in the job-hopping incident, the two of them are completely stakeholders beyond ordinary friends.

"Anytime, anywhere, my friend..."

The next day, director Jonathan Demme also came out to be interviewed by Variety magazine.

"Jonathan, Larry Kramer has harshly criticized your Philadelphia Story, saying it avoids the intimate scenes between Hanks and his lover (played by Antonio Banderas) and portrays the warmth of Hanks' extended family too rosy. He said these people are rarely so lucky. Why did you want to make such a movie in the first place? Do you still think that Philadelphia Story reflects their lives now?"

This time the reporter wanted to write an in-depth report, so he started by criticizing Demi and asking him to respond.

"The reason why I made this film is very simple. My wife's good friend Juan also has this problem. I also tried to make a documentary based on his story, but after trying, I found that it was meaningless to make a film about them. The objects of my film should be those who don't understand their situation.

These unfortunate people have long lived with the truth and are very clear about what it can bring to their lives. So my Philadelphia story needs to touch ordinary people who have never come into contact with them, so that they can understand that these people are just like them, ordinary people with courage, love, and people who love them. "

Jonathan Demme accepted this kind of text interview and answered more questions than Ronald did in the TV interview. He immediately put himself in a high position and said, "I made this movie so that more people can understand you. It is obviously excessive for you to blame me because of your own obsessions."

"Tom Hanks' character shows conviction and wisdom, but almost no anger. Just like the people in the movie that Larry Kramer accused were all good people, where is the angry element of this story?" Every question the reporter asked was directed at the main aspects of Larry Kramer's accusations, and he expected to get more explosive responses.

Jonathan Demme smiled slightly. Everything was within the expectations of the public relations consultants. They had already thought of the answer.

“If your immune system is compromised, maintaining as much quiet as possible is the best way to stay alive. Because the stress of anger weakens the body and accelerates the onset of disease. We chose to pursue spiritual things. We shot a lot of scenes where Hanks’ character meditates.

We feel like this is a man so committed to staying alive, at least until he sees his name vindicated, that he would see anger as a wasted emotion.

I think it’s admirable that Andy didn’t express more anger. But I also admire the ACT UP demonstrations, and people with this disease have the right to vent all the anger they have. We chose this specific character of Andy because he would avoid anger to achieve more important things in life.”

The reporter raised his eyebrows. This answer was a subtle but pointed response that turned the accusation back towards the real person.

Larry Kramer's ACT UP group was so extreme and violent, and organized many demonstrations with physical conflicts. A big reason for this is that they were not direct victims, and they themselves were not... The truly unfortunate people were physically weak, and if they were too violent, they might be doomed.

Once these words were spoken, they were quite hurtful. Larry Kramer was also using these unfortunate people to fight for the interests of minority groups. You keep blaming the fact that not enough movies are made. It's really the minority groups' fault. How much sincerity do you have for those unfortunate people who suffer from...?
"So what about the accusation that the minority couple in the movie didn't have any sex scenes?" the reporter beamed, adding fuel to the fire.

"Film is an art form with a limited time frame. We also have ratings to consider, so that more people can see this story. The accused scene, many PG-13 movies show a couple with the same editing method, two people are celebrating the success in court, one is wearing pajamas, the other is not. Then they jump back to the court, and they have more battles to continue.

And I felt like the movie was filled with emotion about the love and attachment that Hanks’ character, Andy, has for many people in his life, including Antonio [Banderas]. The scene with them in the hospital near the end of the movie was one of the most intimate and beautiful scenes between those two that I’ve seen in a long time. I thought it was pretty amazing.”

"Hehehe..." The reporter was very happy. This was a direct attack on Larry Kramer. He only cared about two male stars kissing or exposing something on the screen. A true film artist cares about the true feelings between people. Love does not have to be expressed through lingering in bed for a minute.

……

In a blink of an eye, it was the world premiere of "The Philadelphia Story" held at the Cineplex Odeon in Century City, Los Angeles. Ronald stood at the door and greeted the guests in person.

The first people to arrive were Ronald and Jonathan Demme's mutual friends, who turned out to be their bosses when they debuted, Roger Corman and his wife.

"Hah, Roger, Julie...thank you, thank you for coming to the premiere..." Ronald saw that his old friends were very happy, and hurriedly accompanied them in to rest.

"Ronald, you and Jonathan are the directors who insisted on giving me a cameo role. When your Forrest Gump is released, I want to come too."

Roger Corman and his wife Julie were invited to Paramount's special effects studio in Los Angeles to play two small roles, playing a politician couple who looked like senators and were present when the President met Forrest Gump.

"Of course, I have to let the audience and critics compare and see which of your acting performances in our movies is better."

"Hahaha..." Roger and Julie were both very happy.

Roger Corman plays a partner in Andy's law firm in "Philadelphia". He is best at playing such hypocritical lawyers, judges, senators and so on.

The next ones to come were all celebrities that Ronald couldn't invite himself. Elizabeth Taylor really made a lot of phone calls for Ronald.

Some of these people were people Ronald had little friendship with, and some even had grudges against. For example, black movie star Eddie Murphy was very dissatisfied with the Oscars produced by Ronald that year, believing that not enough black people were nominated, and he publicly criticized the awards ceremony.

This time he came with his female companion, smiling happily, and facing the camera of the reporter, he praised Demy's yet another masterpiece.

There are also some older, veteran character actors with whom Ronald has little interaction, such as John Spencer and Sally Kirkland, gold medal supporting actors born in the 1930s and 1940s.

They don't have many opportunities to be in the news, so when Taylor received a call, she dressed up extra brightly and came to add some topics to Ronald's new film, and also got her photo in the newspaper.

There are also some female stars who are semi-retired but very active in Taylor's foundation. They have silver hair and their clothes are out of touch with the present, but they can also evoke nostalgia in the audience. In particular, newspapers like to report the names of these old stars. If they can come out to watch a movie, it is also worth a paragraph or two of coverage.

Among these stars, there is one who is quite special: Amy Irving, the ex-wife of Steven Spielberg, who received hundreds of millions of dollars in assets because the prenuptial agreement written on the napkin was invalid.

Amy Irving has more money than she can spend now, and she doesn't seek fame. She dresses very simply, and when she saw Ronald, she took the initiative to hug him and said, "Elizabeth asked me to come, and I'm glad to do something for her foundation."

"Thank you, Amy, thank you, I'm touched. She's the best. Here's a ribbon, do you want to stick it on? Sure, I'll put it on for you..."

"Wow, great logo, just like the Oscars that year, really great..."

Amy Irving wore the red ribbon that represents the meaning of resistance. Today, all the stars who come here can wear it if they want. At the last Oscar ceremony, Kevin Costner and others wore red ribbons to show their support for... After that, most stars understood the meaning. Today's occasion is really suitable.

After that, it was the turn of the celebrities. Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum, and the stars of Jurassic Park also came to show their support. This was the time when the flashlights were the brightest, with constant clicking sounds, and the red carpet was illuminated without a single moment.

Ronald only ran to the side with Diane and deliberately avoided Richard Gere and Cindy Crawford when they came. Richard Gere would come to join in the popularity whenever he saw such a social hot spot with a red ribbon, and coupled with Crawford's incident, Ronald felt very troubled.

"You don't seem to like Richard Gere..." Diane was still keenly aware of Ronald's attitude towards Richard Gere.

"I'll only admit it once today. He and you are acting as a couple, and it makes me jealous..."

"Hehehe..." Diane laughed so hard that her body shook. She and Richard Gere played a couple in "The Cotton Club" and were kissed several times by each other.

"Steven is here..." Diane smiled happily and saw the dense camera shutter sounds indicating that another important person had arrived in front of her. She looked and found that it was Spielberg and his current wife Kate Capshaw.

"Steven..." Ronald also immediately went forward. The two couples of big-name directors were photographed several times by the photographers.

"Thank you. I heard this movie has great potential?" Spielberg asked Ronald with a smile, wearing a red ribbon.

"Tom's performance was great, but this year is your year..." Ronald also laughed. Jurassic Park broke numerous records during the summer, and Schindler's List, which will be released next week, is also a hot favorite for awards. The critics and Jews will definitely take this opportunity to praise it highly, and the saying of Spielberg's year is spreading in the industry.