Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1468 Oscar Nominations Announced

"Nominees for the 66th Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor are Leonardo Dicaprio for What Eats Gilbert Grape, Ralph Fiennes for Schindler's List, Tommy Lee Jones for The Fugitive..."

Arthur Hiller, now president of the academy, announced the nominations along with actress Kristen Lahti.

Arthur Hiller, who attended the ceremony for the second time as president of the Academy, did not follow tradition and invite last year's Best Supporting Actress winner Marisa Tomei to announce the nominations. Instead, he invited an unpopular actress who had been nominated before.

Ronald's Jewish mentality is not surprising. One more project that he has the power to decide is one more bargaining chip to be exchanged...

"This Leonardo is better than the late River Phoenix..." Diane said beside Ronald, looking at the youthful and energetic photo on the screen.

Leonardo Dicaprio's film is about a young boy who has been supporting a family with a mother who is overeating and obese and a brother who has intellectual disabilities. Leonardo plays the younger brother with intellectual disabilities, and this kind of role is easy to win the favor of the judges.

What Diane meant was that the actor himself or his agent had a more mature plan for his career. It was much smarter than River Phoenix who only chose confused teenagers to play. At least in comparison, it was much better than Diane herself who had decided to accept random roles from Coppola.

"Oh, even prettier than River..." Ronald looked at Leonardo's face and couldn't help but admire him. This guy has very good bone structure, sharp looks, and a kind of innocence that makes people unforgettable at first sight. Almost every angle is very photogenic. The director of photography must like this face shape very much.

Moreover, he is only 19 years old this year, and being nominated for an Oscar is rare in Hollywood history. In this industry where fame must be achieved early, this will give people a huge advantage.

Diane glanced at Ronald. It was rare to use the word "handsome" to describe a male actor, but this Leonardo was very suitable. He even outshined the protagonist of the movie, Johnny Depp.

"Hmm..." Ronald held up a small notebook and ticked off the nominees. The Fugitive and his own director's Sugar Coated Trap could both be sent to the head office in China to try to distribute the first batch of Hollywood movies this year.

Both films have plots that reflect corruption and social contradictions in America, which I think are more suitable for the head office. If we can get some Oscar nominations, they will pay more attention to it. Last year, a bureau leader asked why there were so few Oscar-winning movies that he had never seen. This year, with an Oscar nomination, the chances of passing are much higher.

There are no surprises in the entire nomination. The main nominations are concentrated in movies such as The Piano Lesson, In the Name of the Father, Schindler's List, The Fugitive, and The Age of Innocence.

The best of course was Spielberg, whose Schindler's List received 12 nominations, and another Jurassic Park also received three special effects nominations. Jonathan Demme, as Ronald expected, did not win the Best Director, but also received five nominations including Best Actor and Best Original Song.

Ronald's own "The Trap" also received nominations for Best Actor, Best Supporting Actress and Best Original Score, and was even ranked alongside Stallone's "Cliffhanger"...

As soon as the live broadcast of the nominations ended, Ronald began calling to congratulate everyone, including Tom Cruise, who was nominated for the second time, and Tom Hanks, who was nominated for Best Actor.

"Is my chance of winning the award this year greater than the last time I was born on the Fourth of July? After all, it was directed by you..." Tom Cruise seemed very excited. He had full faith in Ronald's ability to bring out the best acting skills in stars.

"If you want to bet on my directing to get extra points, you may be disappointed. I myself have not been nominated for Best Director, and the probability of actors winning awards in the movies I directed is not high..."

"Hahaha, you let Diane win the award. I'm already satisfied with the nomination..." There may be some disappointment hidden in Tom Cruise's laughter.

Ronald later spoke to Paula Wagner, and Cruise's attitude of being satisfied with the nomination was true, but he really wanted to win the Best Actor award.

"Ronald, thank you. The last time I was nominated was for my role in Grown Ups with Diane. How can I say that you and your wife really bring me good luck."

On the other hand, Tom Hanks, a famous Hollywood nice guy, spoke more politely. Grown Ups is still a movie with a strong comedy color. The nomination is more of a runner-up. It is rare in the history of the Oscars to win an acting award for a comedy.

But Philadelphia is a serious drama with a tragic ending, and a typical traditional drama in which good people do bad things because of their ideologies. The value of such a nomination is completely different from that of a comedy, and this year Hanks has a real chance of winning.

"I will allocate two equal sums of money to you, and you will work with them to do some public relations at the Oscars. In short, you should listen to their own ideas. If there is anything you need me to do, tell me immediately. In short, don't act on your own. We are not the ones who control the awards..."

Ronald also specifically talked it over with the person in charge of the awards at Daydream, because both films were invested by him and they had a close relationship. Ronald's final decision was to give the same public relations support to both films, but he would not favor either side.

The biggest favorite this year is Daniel Day-Lewis, who turned down The Philadelphia Story. Critics are all speaking well of him. However, as he is British, it is doubtful how many votes he can get in Hollywood. There has definitely been a lot of competition between Britain and the United States in the past two years.

Another notable one is Holly Hunter and Emma Thompson. Both actresses were nominated for Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress at the same time, which also set an Oscar record.

For Best Actress, Holly Hunter was nominated for her role in the controversial "The Piano Lesson," while Emma Thompson was nominated for "The Remains of the Day" by Japanese Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro.

For the Best Supporting Actress, Holly Hunter won for her role as Ronald in "The Trap", while Emma Thompson co-starred with fellow Best Actor favorite in "In the Name of the Father".

Ronald also gave Holly Hunter some additional public relations budget. If she could win both the Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress awards, it would be a very rare breakthrough.

The other two nominated films related to Ronald are those for Best Foreign Language Film.

Ang Lee's "The Wedding Banquet" was nominated for an Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, in addition to winning the Golden Bear.

The film nominated for Best Foreign Language Film together with him is "Farewell My Concubine" by Kaige Chen. This film is much more popular than The Wedding Banquet. He won the Palme d'Or in Cannes, the most powerful of the three major European film festivals, and the cinematographer Changwei Gu was also nominated for the Best Cinematography Oscar.

Before the Oscars, it also won a series of awards, such as the Boston, New York, and Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

Interestingly, both films won double yolks in the Golden Bear and Palme d'Or. The Wedding Banquet shared the Golden Bear with the mainland film The Lady of the Soul, while Farewell My Concubine shared the Palme d'Or with this year's Oscar favorite The Piano Lesson.

In short, in the past two years, Europe's appreciation of Chinese-language films has gradually spread to Hollywood. This year, two Chinese-language films were selected for the best foreign language films, which is also a great success of this Chinese-language trend.

Ronald signed the document after including all of this in the PR budget for this year's Oscar campaign. He would use the successful methods of sending out videotapes, screening the film at resorts and retirement homes, as well as traditional party canvassing and critics' praise, to create some buzz.

However, Ronald believes that the biggest winner this year is still Spielberg and his "Schindler's List." With the blessing of his Jewish identity, plus the praise from directors and American film critics after the film was released, and the gradual increase in box office, the Jewish fence-sitters at the time immediately turned to support Spielberg as soon as they saw the momentum change.

Roger Ebert even selected the film into his list of favorite films of 1993, and the mainstream upper-class magazine The New Yorker praised it highly, rating the shower scene in the middle of the film as the most terrifying scene in Hollywood ever.

Fortunately, the awards that Ronald was trying to win were staggered with the main nominations for Schindler's List, so there was no conflict. Ronald even called Spielberg and said that he fully supported his Best Director nomination this year.

"Thank you so much. To be honest, I've been nominated before and it was very disappointing. It seemed like the Academy judges didn't want me to win. But this year, I finally feel like I'm really in the competition...hahaha."

Spielberg laughed on the phone and seemed to be in a good mood. He had been nominated for Best Director three times before, for Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Raiders of the Lost Ark, and ET.

There are reasons to say that these three films were not favored by the judges because they were science fiction commercial films. However, the 1986 film The Color Purple, which reflects the story of black minorities and is adapted from a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, did not even win the Best Director award, which really made Spielberg very sad. It was not until seven years later that he was nominated again.

The two chatted about some things about this year's Oscars. Finally, Spielberg suddenly asked, "Ronald, can you meet with me? I have something to discuss with you in person..."

There was no reason for Ronald not to go to Spielberg's invitation. He took a car to Spielberg's mansion in Pacific Palisades. It was close to Santa Monica Beach, quiet and leisurely. It used to be the house of Hollywood star Cary Grant. After Spielberg bought it, he expanded it four times. The game room and the children's play area are very large. To some extent, Ronald's personal hobbies are closest to Spielberg's among all Hollywood directors.

"Universal will not repeat past mistakes this year. They will spare no expense in the public relations for your winning the award."

After greeting his wife, Ronald sat down in the meeting room with Spielberg. The two chatted about the filming of the movie, and Ronald brought the topic to this year's Oscars.

Spielberg invited him here, probably to talk about winning awards, and this kind of topic is better discussed in person...

"No, I asked you to come here today because I want to ask you something, but it's not about Oscar..."

Spielberg waved his hands, looking a little embarrassed.

"Your company is listed. How do you manage these businesses? It's hard for me to imagine that you can balance film art and daily business management at the same time..."

"Ha..." Ronald smiled, thinking he had misunderstood. It seemed that even Spielberg was a little jealous of his skyrocketing value.

Ronald was very pleased with himself. He was very fond of this kind of invisible flattery. You see, I may not be better than you in making movies, but when it comes to business, even Spielberg has to ask me for advice...

"I can't do it, and I don't think anyone can do it, except maybe Charlie Chaplin?"

"United Artists is indeed a very special company..." Spielberg nodded in agreement.

Ronald said frankly that the daily management of a company's operations is very difficult and requires a lot of energy and time. The same is true for being a film director, who needs to devote himself to the filming process, working hard for several months or even more than a year with very little sleep.

No one can do both, even if you are a superhuman.

Historically, after Chaplin founded United Artists, he did make a number of box office hits and critically acclaimed films, but United Artists was not managed very well under his leadership.

"The most important thing is that you have a business wizard to help you take care of everything, so you can just focus on making movies. As for other business matters, I can only make some important choices in terms of the general direction and strategy, and the rest must be delegated to them..."

Seeing that Spielberg was listening attentively, Ronald felt better. He emphasized on explaining what strategic choice meant. Directors all know that no matter what the crew does, from casting and script revision to a prop or a costume, the director has to make the final decision.

But the producer doesn't have to worry about these things. He may be involved in the decision making of the biggest stars, he decides how much money to spend on shooting the major scenes in the movie, and he holds the final editing rights in his hands. He only needs to authorize the rest to the director.

Spielberg, who is both a director and a producer, quickly understood this metaphor.

Ronald smiled slightly, and the two of them tacitly stopped talking about this matter and continued to discuss their experience in family parenting and the release date of the game-adapted movie Mortal Kombat, in which Spielberg made a cameo appearance.

"Steven also wants to set up his own production company. His wealth is enough for him to build a comprehensive production and distribution entity..."

After Ronald returned, he discussed it with Richard, who also said that it was very likely that Spielberg, Brian De Palma, Martin Scorsese, George Lucas, and several other New Hollywood directors were part of the gang in the early 1970s.

Their friendship is extraordinary. They can give each other honest evaluations of each other's new films, which is rare in the circle of directors. Maybe they will set up a new United Artists Company.

Mortal Kombat, which Spielberg had been thinking about, had also completed post-production. Ronald also invited Spielberg to watch the movie if he had time, and Daydream could send a copy to his home for screening.

"Speed ​​has been edited, and 20th Century Fox wants to do a test screening..." After talking about this, Ronald also flipped through the files he needed to look at. He was also surprised to see that Speed ​​was going to be screened. How could it be so fast?