Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1469: Groundhog Day Attack
"Ronald, this is so infuriating. What does it have to do with me that they didn't get nominated? Other films nominated for Best Original Screenplay include Philadelphia, Dave, In the Line of Fire, and The Piano Lesson..."

Ronald looked across at Nora Ephron, the director and screenwriter of Sleepless in Seattle, and shook his head helplessly. He opened the menu and said, "What do you want to eat, Nora?"

"I want salad, um, put the salad dressing on the side, don't stir it. Chicken and beans, no chicken, but give me some tomatoes, um, forget it, still put some chicken, but no chicken breast... um, I also want a cocktail..."

Nora Ephron still has the typical demeanor of a middle-aged literary New York woman, and she is very difficult to please even when ordering food.

"Um, I'll have a glass of ginger ale and one of your sandwiches..." Ronald hurriedly ordered his own dishes, which would be served immediately. If he was any later, the waiter would probably get angry, and it would be troublesome not knowing what "condiments" to prepare for the dishes on their table.

"I really don't know what Columbia was thinking. Why did they let them attack Sleepless in Seattle, which was also released by Columbia?"

"Drink something first, and we'll talk slowly..."

Ronald finally got the wine brought by the waiter and quickly asked Nora Ephron to take a sip first, otherwise the meal at the famous Hollywood restaurant Musso and Frank's Kitchen would definitely not be enjoyable.

What Ephron complained about was that she was singled out and specifically targeted by some tabloid media.

This year's Oscar nominations included a film called "Groundhog Day" produced by a small company and distributed by Columbia, which did not receive a single nomination. After the nominations were announced, they actually started to attack personally, saying that Nora Ephron's "Sleepless in Seattle" did not deserve to be nominated for Best Original Screenplay, and that this position should belong to their producer, director, and screenwriter Harold Ramis of "Groundhog Day".

Sleepless in Seattle was distributed by TriStar Pictures, while Groundhog Day was distributed by Columbia itself. There might be some problems. After Ronald learned about this, he immediately asked someone to ask TriStar Pictures CEO Medavoy and Columbia's Peter Guber.

However, Nora Ephron was emotionally unstable and clamored for media interviews to fight back against the slander from Harold Ramis. Ronald had to go out on his own to appease his beloved general.

Nora Ephron also didn't understand why the producers of "Groundhog Day" were attacking her with all their might, ignoring the other four nominated films. She was so angry that she didn't even notice that a dish was not served according to her request.

"Maybe it's because Groundhog Day and Sleepless in Seattle are both romantic comedies..." Ronald knew very well that the Best Original Screenplay was rarely awarded to a comedy. This has been the "dark" tradition of the Oscars for many years. It seems that the voting judges all felt that comedies were much easier to write than dramas.

Of course, there are still many wise writers in charge of nominations. They also know that the size of comedy is the most difficult to grasp. However, these people can only decide which movies are nominated, and the final winners are still mainly decided by the largest number of actor judges.

This gave the "Groundhog Day" some opportunities to attack the unlikely award-winning "Sleepless in Seattle", which they thought was a less risky approach. Anyway, no matter what their idea was, Sleepless in Seattle seemed to be the easiest one to attack.

"Mr. Li, your phone number..."

Musso and Frank Kitchen was founded in 1919. It was once a place where Chaplin, Hemingway and others often dined. It still retains an old-fashioned atmosphere. The waiter brought a telephone from a distance and placed it next to Ronald.

"It's me, ah, Mike, do you know what's going on?"

The call was from Mike Medavoy of TriStar Pictures, who said he had asked someone to check and that TriStar Pictures had not attacked Groundhog Day in any way during the film's release and Oscars public relations, and he did not know why the other party would take the initiative to attack.

After hanging up the phone, the waiter was about to take the phone away, but Ronald motioned him to put it down, "Someone will be calling me soon..."

Sure enough, within five minutes, another call came.

"Ronald, I assure you that I did not do anything to attack Seattle Nightlife, and I had no knowledge of it... They acted on their own initiative, on their own initiative..."

This time the caller was Peter Guber of Columbia, who, as always, vehemently denied any involvement in Groundhog Day.

"So, this was all done by the Groundhog Day guys?" Ronald demanded a firm commitment.

"It was completely their own decision. I heard that they spent $650,000 to send copies of the videotape to the judges. If they don't get any nominations, it will be difficult for independent producers like them to get financing for their next film. You know, Ronald, sometimes they are like this. They would rather bear the blame than notch up some media response..."

"So, if I take counter-measures?"

"It's all their own fault. I totally agree with your reasonable self-defense..."

"very good……"

Ronald waved to the waiter, handed him a twenty-dollar tip, told him to take the phone and leave, and not let anyone disturb his table.

"It was created by two producers, Harold Ramis and Trevor Albert. You were just an innocent victim..."

Ronald cut the sandwich into four and savored it slowly. The food in this old restaurant is still made with great care. To this day, many celebrities still come here to eat, and many movies are filmed here.

"Shxt! These people are really abominable. As a romantic comedy, we might have won few awards..." Nora Ephron was so angry that she drank the wine in one gulp.

"Don't take it too seriously, Nora. This is how Hollywood is. People often attack you for ridiculous reasons. You are now a top director of romantic comedies in Hollywood. With just one more movie, your position in this genre will be unshakable..."

"Then let's forget it?"

"Of course not. We will definitely fight back, although I don't know what form it will take..."

"Of course, Ronald, I completely trust you. This matter is really terrible..." Nora Ephron stopped being upset. It seems that one of the benefits of being a billionaire is that others will naturally trust you in front of you...

……

After dealing with Nora Ephron, Ronald returned to the office of Daydream, where Jan de Bont, the director of Speed, was waiting for him.

"Mr. Li, that's great, the feedback from our preview is first-rate..."

"Oh? Call me Ronald, we are old friends, Yang..." Ronald took over the feedback from the audience preview jointly organized by 20th Century Fox and Daydream.

In addition to over 95% of the audience giving the highest praise and expressing their willingness to recommend it to their friends, there are also reviews from the people responsible for the previews.

"During this preview, the number of people going to the bathroom was 30% lower than during normal previews, and most of the people who went to the bathroom backed away from the screen with their faces facing the screen..."

"Hahahaha..." Ronald wanted to laugh when he read this. This was a variation of the bathroom assessment method he used. This situation only occurred in those extremely commercial movies with extremely intense plots from beginning to end, and the audience was reluctant to miss any minute of the plot.

It seems that the high concept of the bus detonating the bomb when the speed drops below 60 miles per hour is indeed a genius idea. It is worthy of being the first idea of ​​Akira Kurosawa.

It seems that this Speed ​​is sure to become Die Hard on the Bus in terms of box office and audience feedback.

“The final scene that the audience saw was a black and white line drawing hand-painted using storyboards, but they still liked this ending very much and ended with applause…”

Ronald went back to reading the review from the person in charge of the test screening feedback. He looked up at Jan de Bont and asked, "What does this mean?"

“The people at 20th Century Fox told me that they felt that the entire movie, except for the elevator action scene at the beginning, took place on a bus, which would be too monotonous, so they asked me to add a scene in which the bad guys who escaped were caught in the subway and punished in the end.

I no longer have the budget to shoot this scene, so I drew a storyboard to indicate to the audience..."

"But they still like it?" Ronald smiled slightly. Jan de Bont also deliberately let him see the feedback so that he could make money.

"Yes, the audience is looking forward to the final battle between good and evil. They don't mind that it is done in sketches. I think they would be dissatisfied if this simple ending was not added."

"Great, how much do you think it will cost? Um... let me call 20th Century Fox..."

Ronald was not at all disgusted by people like Jan de Bont who came to him to ask for money. If the film was well made and edited well, and the audience enjoyed it, he might want to reshoot an ending that would make the film even better. This might be the happiest situation for a producer in Hollywood to increase the budget.

Soon, the decision was made to increase the budget and reshoot the ending. Jan de Bont recalled the main actors such as Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, and found a studio to start building the subway scene.

"Well, that's what commercial films are like. As long as you grab the audience's attention and keep them asking what will happen next..."

Ronald sighed for a while. When he was doing a preview of his own Forrest Gump, there was a similar phenomenon of fewer people going to the bathroom. However, those who went to the bathroom did not walk backwards, reluctant to take their eyes off the screen, but when they left, they always lowered their heads to wipe their eyes...

There are still many touching scenes in Forrest Gump, which almost make people cry. However, the pace of Forrest Gump is slower than that of Speed, and the audience often runs to the bathroom and then runs back.

Although the presentation is different, this is also a bladder destroyer...

A few days later, David Simkins, the director of the Daydream script, found Ronald and reported the results of his work in the past few days.

"What we do know is that Harold Ramis approached Jonathan Shipp before he wrote the screenplay for Groundhog Day, who was looking for a financier for his short film 'Twelve Zero One', keeping the core idea of ​​time stopping and the characters being trapped in the same day, but adding a more commercial plot and a happy ending.

But Harold Ramis appropriated this core idea, quickly wrote Groundhog Day, and then used his connections to finance the filming. After that, Jonathan Shipp had a hard time finding people willing to invest, and finally could only seek to shoot a TV movie..."

"So that's it..."

Ronald looked at the information in his hand. Jonathan Shipp was a passionate young producer and screenwriter. He read a short story called "12:01PM" by the veteran science fiction writer Richard Lubov, which tells the story of a man who was trapped at a certain moment in the same day and could only painfully wander around in the same day without being able to escape.

This novel does not end with a plot like Groundhog Day, where the hero finally finds true love and is freed. Jonathan Shipp used very little money to make a short film in 1990, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Film.

That's what it's like to be a fledgling producer, you can't find the right people to talk to about investing in your film, even if you're nominated for an Oscar for Best Short Film. Jonathan Shipp couldn't find a senior executive at a major studio who was willing to listen to his project.

In fact, even if you win the Oscar for Best Short Film, you are still a newcomer in Hollywood.

Jonathan Shipp didn't have a good producer and had bad luck. In the end, he met Harold Ramis, who was famous for his bad character.

Although this Jewish man is talented, he is known for his deception. When Amy Heckerling was still with her ex-husband, he tricked her into cheating on her and she gave birth to a child for Harold Ramis, but he refused to raise the child. This directly inspired Amy Heckerling to write the baby comedy "Look Who's Talking".

Of course, it is very difficult for ordinary people to distinguish between independent producers and scammers. People with great talent who can inspire others are often scumbags who flirt with others but refuse to admit their mistakes.

In short, Harold Ramis stole the core idea of ​​the short film "12:01PM" and did not give Jonathan Ship any chance to participate in the project.

As soon as the Hollywood Reporter published the news about the "Groundhog Day" project, Jonathan Shipp collapsed. He went to Harold Ramis to argue, but he was kicked out again. Harold Ramis was left with nowhere to go and had to sell the project to a small company, Morningside Pictures.

The latter simply did not have the ability to produce such a large project. After failing to find investment, it could only sew a shoddy movie and sold it to Fox TV to be broadcast as a TV movie.

"Come talk to him and tell him I'm interested..."

Ronald closed the file and said to David Simkins.

……

"Mr. Li..." Jonathan Ship, who had come from New York overnight on an economy class flight, was a handsome young man. He was very nervous when he saw Ronald, even though he was only five years younger than Ronald.

"I've heard about your experience from David. I want to tell you that Hollywood is not full of liars like Harold Ramis. You are very talented. Don't give up your dream. The core idea of ​​the time loop is amazing..."

Ronald poured him a cup of tea and offered gentle words of encouragement. Jonathan Heap stammered his thanks, with a gleam of hope in his eyes.

"I'm very interested in your extended version of the script. Although it has been made into a TV movie, not many viewers have seen it. Such a movie is worth investing more money to shoot and release in theaters so that more people can see it."

"Mr. Li, I don't know what to say..."

"Then don't say that. Work hard on writing the script. There are still some things you can reconsider if you want it to reach the standard of a Hollywood commercial film."

"thanks, thanks……"

Ronald's words were equivalent to giving Jonathan Shipp an insurance policy. As long as he rewrote the script to a satisfactory level, the project could be launched and filmed.

"By the way..." Ronald asked casually, "Have you ever taken any legal action against Harold Ramis for such bad behavior?"

"I have considered it and discussed it with Richard Lubov, the original author of the novel, but I am just a nobody in front of him, and I don't have the money to hire a good enough lawyer... I can only swallow the consequences of my own stupidity in pain..."

"In fact, this is also a very bad behavior within the Writers Guild. As long as you report it, there will be a relevant investigation. I happen to know several famous lawyers in the entertainment industry. You can talk to them."

Ronald said, asking his assistant to contact Jonathan Ship to help him contact a lawyer. "Also, exposing it to the news media is also a good option. Don't be afraid of these evil people. Honesty is the best witness. I think everyone understands this."

"I will, thank you..." Jonathan Shipp was not stupid. He quickly reported his experience to the Eastern Writers Guild, and then contacted several Hollywood media, saying that there was a scandal to expose.

"Groundhog Day is suspected of plagiarizing former Oscar-nominated genius young man..."

"Several Oscar voters who wish to remain anonymous said they would not allow Groundhog Day to be nominated for Best Original Screenplay because they had heard rumors of plagiarism..."

(End of this chapter)