Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1491 007's Car and Watch
"Ronald, are you really not going to watch the last game of the finals? Whether the Knicks can win the championship depends on you. Everyone says that if you don't come, they can't win the game..."

Dolan personally called and invited Ronald to Houston to watch the last game. He was under a lot of pressure. After losing the sixth game, the fans and the media complained about him a lot, and many rumors about him and Ronald's discord were widely circulated.

Many people believe that Dolan's selfishness caused Ronald, who brought a spirit of cooperation and hard work to the players and fans, to be absent from the scene, and the pressure of losing and not having a championship for 20 years was thrown to him.

Dolan had no choice but to bow his head and call Ronald to ask him to go to the game.

"Everyone is a very vague term. Who are everyone? Have you counted how many people want me to be there? Besides, the team shareholders are not the deciding factor in the game. Pat Riley and the star players are the key to winning. I really have something to do and I am so busy now..."

"That's not the case. Professional sports are very superstitious about winning..." Charles Dolan didn't believe it. "I'll send James to visit you. He's a loyal fan of yours. You can listen to the thoughts of young people like him..."

Old Dolan refused to give up and wanted to win the last game. It would be best if Ronald could really bring good luck to the team. Even if they lost, Ronald could go to the scene and help him take the blame, so that the fans would not blame him alone.

……

"Very good. We mainly made changes to these few rolls of film. These rolls are all numbered. Please write them down first. Then, when you call the cinema managers in various places, you should provide training. Some cinemas have received the wrong films. These rolls need to be replaced..."

James Dolan was sent by his father to persuade Ronald to go to Houston. When he arrived at the airport, he called Ronald's assistant Yang Yanzi. The two went directly to the war room jointly formed by Daydream and Paramount, and saw Ronald watching Michelle Cannold directing the distribution and marketing departments to hold a meeting and assign tasks.

Walter Murch completed the revision of the working copy in the shortest possible time and sent it to Paramount's editing studio overnight. The negative editor there took out the sealed negative of "Forrest Gump" again, put on silk gloves, and re-edited and spliced ​​the film at the revised points.

Afterwards, under the personal order of Paramount Pictures CEO Shirley Lansing, the negatives were sent directly to Paramount's processing plant in southern Los Angeles after they were developed, and began to jump the queue to re-develop those reels of film.

However, this is temporary overtime work after all, so it is impossible to be very efficient. From today, there are still two weeks until the national release. During this period, they carefully adjust each set of film copies, and put the corrected film in to replace the wrong film.

This job itself is prone to errors, so Daydream and Special sent some personnel to Paramount to personally review the film replacement and packaging work.

In addition, some trial screenings and areas with earlier releases have already received a complete set of films. To ensure the correct replacement of the films, local distributors and theaters have to work, which requires a lot of manpower expenditure.

Some copies, which were released later in the cities, were still being processed in the labs, which required them to be replaced with new film stock directly in the labs.

Paramount and Daydream worked together to calculate that about 1,500 theaters would be able to get the correct copy of the film during the release weekend in about two weeks, and the remaining 500 theaters would have to wait until the second week to get it...

This work was extremely complicated and prone to errors, involving companies and institutions from all aspects. As a result, Daydream and Paramount formed a combat team and temporarily set up a combat room in a warehouse in Paramount Studios. They pulled several telephone lines and fax machines here and began to work day and night.

"Oh, you're really busy here?" Little Dolan was very interested in Hollywood, and was disappointed to see such a simple office here. It was different from what he expected, why didn't any female stars come?
"James, you see, I'm preparing for the release of my new film and I really don't have time. Go back and talk to your father, and I won't go to Houston."

"Um, okay...oh?"

Little Dolan's eyes suddenly lit up when he saw the beautiful lady from the marketing department of Daydream Distribution, who turned out to be Claudia Wells, the heroine of Back to the Future. Suddenly he understood why Ronald didn't want to go to Houston.

A distribution manager is so pretty, isn't Hollywood full of beauties? If it were me, I wouldn't go to the finals. The cheerleaders in Houston aren't very pretty, and there aren't that many of them anyway.

"I don't want to go either. Can I stay here for a few more days? Haha, attend your premiere?" Little Dolan sniffed a few times. His desire to play out trumped his career...

"Oh, not this time. The premiere of Forrest Gump is just one day after the finals. I'll invite you next time if I have the chance..."

When Ronald saw this man's character, he despised him in his heart. However, for the sake of face, he found a reason to send him back.

"Ronald, you are really busy. I have been looking for you for a long time, and in the end it was Richard who sent me here." At this time, a lady and a man walked in together.

The man was Martin Campbell, the director of the latest 007 film, and the woman was Barbara Broccoli, one of the producers. They also approached Ronald to discuss casting and product placement.

"I'm busy now. Can't you wait until I finish the release of Forrest Gump before coming?" Ronald was so busy himself that he couldn't spare any time.

"It won't take you long," Barbara Broccoli said with a smile. She knew very well that these Hollywood tycoons liked to show off the preciousness of their time, which was a way of showing their power over others.

"I'm not kidding. Forrest Gump has made some changes. Look at these... Never mind. What do you want from me? Let's solve the problem quickly. Otherwise, it would save more time to waste time arguing with you..."

"This is the candidate for Bond girl, take a look..."

Martin Campbell took out the audition photos and resumes of the Bond girls who had passed the preliminary selection, and Ronald asked him to take a look and make a decision.

"This is good..." Ronald saw the woman who had appeared in his dream at a glance. He flipped through her resume and saw that the woman's name was Famke Janssen. She was Dutch and came to America to be a model in the 1980s. After retiring from the catwalk two years ago, she began to develop in Hollywood.

"She doesn't seem to be big enough...hmm..." Little Dolan was also watching nearby. When he saw the photo of Famke Janssen, he felt that her breasts were not big enough, unlike the traditional Bond girls who all had a good figure with a protruding chest and a curvy bottom.

"Oh, who is this handsome guy?" Barbara Broccoli then saw Dolan Jr. This guy who could interrupt Ronald directly, is he the son of some powerful person?

"This is James Dolan, my partner in New York..." Ronald frowned, a little dissatisfied. He has the right to cast the new version of 007, not even Barbara. Do you, an outsider, have a chance to speak?

"Oh, I thought you were a movie star from Europe..." Barbara glanced at Ronald's frown and knew what kind of person this Dolan was.

"Haha, many of my friends say I can be a movie actor. With Ronald's help, maybe I can..."

"Of course, look at this muscle..." Barbara pinched Dolan's arm, pretending to admire him. Although this guy has poor ability and doesn't know how to do things, he must be very rich to be Ronald's partner.

"I wonder what project you are working on with Ronald?" Barbara saw Dolan deliberately raising his arms to strike a bodybuilding pose like Schwarzenegger, and she knew that maybe she could win over another stupid rich man who was determined to enter the entertainment industry.

"New York Knicks, you know? I'm going to watch the last finals to decide who is the world champion. I wonder if I'll have the honor to meet you, this beautiful..." Dolan was also fascinated by Barbara's figure.

"Call me Barbara. I wonder if there's a chance I can go to New York with you. Oh, is it in Houston?"

"Of course..." Dolan was happy. On his first day in Hollywood, he could meet a beautiful British movie star (he didn't know Barbara was a producer), and her breasts also suited his aesthetic taste.

"Hehe, after I finish dealing with things here, I'll take you to visit the studio..." Barbara subdued this idiot with just a few words, and then asked him to wait aside while she and Ronald continued to discuss things.

"She looks like she has Russian ancestry, and her legs are very strong and long..." Ronald was chatting with Martin Campbell about the casting of the bad Bond girl.

"OK... is there another one you like?" Martin Campbell had no objection to this. The face of the actress named Famke Janssen was photogenic and easy to photograph. No matter the angle, the lighting could be quickly set up to take a good close-up. Actresses who have transformed from models have this advantage. They are the best who have already been screened by the camera lens.

"I'm only interested in bad Bond girls..." Ronald really couldn't forget the star whose name was On the top, the evil female character who could kill a man by squeezing her legs together. It would be a pity not to give her the role, as not everyone can perform such an effect that combines evil and beauty.

"Tsk..." Dolan made another sound beside him.

Ronald glanced at him without saying anything and continued to chat with Barbara and Martin about product placement.

"Dear James, please wait for me... I'll come to you right away..." As she said that, Barbara threw a coquettish glance at Dolan and successfully persuaded the idiot to go aside.

"Why hesitate?" Ronald pointed to the quote for the car column, the most important sponsor in the 007 movie.

BMW offered a very good price for the new 007 to drive their cars. In addition to providing at least three cars of each model for the filming, they also provided three additional James Bond cars for use in the film promotion.

In addition, the endorsement fee provided by BMW was very generous. The only concern was that they required a three-film cooperation agreement. This decision was also made with Ronald's deep involvement.

Ronald's previous films had all brought product placement in films far more exposure than television commercials. They also wanted to take advantage of the situation and signed three films at once, locking in this series of films that would almost certainly be successful.

"But traditionally, James Bond has driven an Aston Martin..."

"Hey, come on, how much can they offer?" Ronald didn't want to argue about this matter.

The tradition that Barbara mentioned is actually nothing more than a psychological barrier of some British people. A MI6 agent actually drives a German car, which many old people would feel uncomfortable with.

But what does all this pride mean? If the British automobile industry is doing well and has huge sales worldwide, and can afford the endorsement fee for 007, Ronald wouldn't mind Bond driving their car, right?
"What about Bond's watch? Should we go with a Seiko or an Omega?"

"Hey? Doesn't Bond wear a Rolex?"

Ronald didn't expect that, as the second most important prop watch besides cars, this time there was only such a second-tier brand? He clearly remembered that Sean Connery and Roger Moore both wore Rolex?

Barbara explained that after the Bond movies began to wear thin in the 1980s, Rolex and other first-tier brands were no longer of interest. Only Seiko from Japan and Omega, which was a second-tier brand in the men's dress watch market, were interested.

"Then let's go with Omega?" Ronald made a decision. Omega, also a Swiss watch, is still the choice of old-school European gentlemen. The Japanese Seiko watch is indeed a bit out of place on 007's wrist.

"You don't care about the money this time? It's obvious that Seiko is willing to pay more..." Barbara deliberately argued with Ronald.

"There are only a limited number of them. Besides, Omega is a professional watch manufacturer. Divers, pilots and astronauts who have landed on the moon all use Omega watches. Bond is supposed to be a naval officer, so it's appropriate for him to wear Omega, at least more suitable than Seiko, who sells needles on the street..."

After confirming all the important cooperation, Ronald temporarily let it go. This minor re-editing of Forrest Gump did not cause any reaction in the industry, which was exactly what Ronald needed.

Paramount was also very cooperative and used a screening room in the Paramount Studios to hold the premiere of Forrest Gump, and also invited many stars who had worked with Paramount to attend.

Ronald also went home to rest for a day, and then attended the premiere of the movie he directed the next afternoon.

……

"Well? What did Ronald say?"

When Dolan saw that his son who had just returned did not bring Ronald with him, he knew that things were not going well. He had seen him in Hollywood for quite a long time and thought that the conversation went well.

"He was really busy, and it wasn't just for fun. When I was there, he was either on a conference call with the distribution department or chatting with screenwriters about new film projects. I've never seen someone so rich working so hard."

James spoke up for Ronald and introduced Barbara, "This is my good friend in Hollywood...Barbara Broccoli."

"Oh, God, that's what I asked you to do?" Old Dolan sighed in his heart and stretched out his hand to shake hands with Barbara.

It seems that Miss Broccoli (Barbara Broccoli) has her son fooled around and even mentioned investing in a new 007 movie.