Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1518: Weinstein is fearless

"Have a seat. What would you like to drink? Coffee, tea, wine, whiskey, or brandy?"

Ronald decided to meet Harvey Weinstein in his office. The president of Miramax, along with his wife, had done disgusting things to actresses who wanted to get roles in Miramax projects.

Ronald heard some oral accounts from many actresses. Weinstein's wife, Eve Chilton, was originally an assistant at Miramax. After marrying Harvey, she not only did not stop her husband from hunting for women, but also assisted him. She often played the role of letting actresses put down their guard and "discussing movie scripts" with Harvey.

Because of this, Ronald felt it was too disgusting to meet this person at home, so he found a time to meet him in the office.

"Red wine? I've been fascinated by red wine lately, Ronald. Did you know that in some places in our country, the soil and water are suitable for growing grapes, just as good as those famous grape producing areas on the European continent."

Ronald frowned, not knowing what the fat man was going to say.

There was a smug tone in everything Harvey Weinstein said that made Ronald uncomfortable, but since he said he loved his country's wines, he didn't want to waste those famous red wines imported from Bordeaux or Burgundy.

He took a bottle of red wine with a very simple label from another cabinet, opened it directly, and poured a glass for Harvey.

"This is Francis (Coppola)'s own vineyard, where he grows and makes wine. Since you like your own wine..."

"Hmm..." Harvey Weinstein took a sip and put down the glass, "I'm talking about the vineyard in Massachusetts..."

"Let's stop rambling. We are all busy people. It is most convenient to solve problems efficiently."

Ronald also put his glass on the table, interrupting Harvey Weinstein's aimless boasting about his country's wine knowledge.

Harvey set a very bad precedent. In the Oscars PR war, instead of talking about how good his own film was, he belittled how bad the other party's film was. This kind of aggressive PR behavior has rarely appeared in previous Oscar award periods.

Ronald firmly believed that with his years of experience in Hollywood technology and art academy, as long as everyone played by the rules, it would be difficult for Harvey to compete with him this year. The influence of Forrest Gump on the industry and the audience was much greater than that of Pulp Fiction and Bullets Over Broadway.

But if Harvey Weinstein insists on this kind of mud-wrestling PR, it's hard to say. After all, the result of this mutual smear campaign will definitely be the profits of other films. It doesn't matter if Weinstein's Pulp Fiction fails at the Oscars, but if Forrest Gump is dragged to Weinstein's level and is skillfully smeared by him, it may lose this best opportunity.

"Ronald, I thought we were on the same page. We've met each other before in Cannes. The films we make both require overseas financing channels and domestic distribution channels. However, all of this is firmly controlled by the big studios. They have taken the most profitable part away from independent producers like us." Harvey Weinstein changed his angle and continued to talk nonsense, refusing to get to the point with Ronald.

Ronald was very annoyed by him, so he took out all the negative information about Weinstein from the drawer and threw it in front of him.

"Harvey, I don't ask for much. If you stop attacking Forrest Gump, I won't attack you... We all compete for what we want during the award season based on our own abilities."

"Ronald, like I said, we should have been on the same side. We both need to control our own financing and distribution channels. Those big studios control both ends of Hollywood, but what kind of crap did they produce? Only when people like us who truly understand art take charge of the entire project can Hollywood be revitalized. Why should Paramount get all the glory of Forrest Gump? You should cooperate with me and restore the artists' dominance over movies. Then I will fully support you..."

Ronald was so angry at Harvey's clumsy attempt to sow discord that he laughed. Just because Forrest Gump was distributed and financed by Paramount, it doesn't deserve to win the Best Director and other Oscars? "You should tell this to your boss, Mr. Eisner. Miramax is also a subsidiary of Disney now. See if he agrees with you."

"That's what I told him in person. Ronald, you can ask Eisner himself. He's sure he agrees with me, but his position doesn't allow him to do so." When Harvey heard Ronald's sneer, he knew the other party wouldn't buy his argument, but he still insisted that he was right.

"Really? Then I'll give him a call." Ronald's dislike for people like Harvey Weinstein increased again.

I originally called him here today to discuss business, but he kept talking nonsense and making a mess. I don't know where he went off to. But if you don't deal with his nonsense, then the two of you won't be able to discuss your business.

Harvey Weinstein calmed down a little and was no longer nervous. This was because Eisner was a very famous person who liked to play golf during work hours. If it wasn't for a very important person, the phone wouldn't get through to him.

"Hey, Ronald, why did you come to call me? I just happened to have a vacancy here. The traitor Katzenberg left me. Do you want to replace him?"

Perhaps it was just a coincidence that Eisner was in the office and heard that it was Ronald calling. He immediately asked his assistant to answer the call.

Ronald turned on the speakerphone and smiled at Weinstein...

"God Dax it!" Harvey Weinstein's face turned even paler. He didn't expect Ronald to be able to talk to Eisner directly. Eisner was even more tyrannical than he was. If he knew Weinstein was at the scene, he would definitely let him answer the phone himself. If he found out that he was saying bad things about him behind his back, the consequences would be very bad.

Weinstein quickly put his hands together and bowed to Ronald, asking him not to repeat his words to Eisner. But the fierce light in his eyes could not be completely concealed. Ronald, you must be lucky...

"Hey, why would you think I would be interested in a position that even Katzenberg is not happy with?"

"Hahahaha, tell me, why did you call me today? I'm a person who distinguishes between gratitude and resentment. I still owe you one."

"You know, I have a movie that I'm trying to get nominated for an Oscar this year..."

"Damn it, did that bastard Harvey piss you off? Well, he is indeed a troublemaker, but he has a very powerful background, and I can't completely restrict him..."

Ronald frowned when he heard this. He pressed the speakerphone and continued talking to Eisner on the microphone.

"Yeah, I understand..."

Ronald put down the phone with a sullen look on his face, and looked at Harvey who was grinning happily across from him.

Eisner, the old bastard, actually found an excuse, saying that Harvey Weinstein had connections at the top, so it was inconvenient for him to interfere with Miramax's operations. Ronald didn't continue to talk to him about Harvey's various rule-breaking practices, and he would talk to him about this matter later.

Unexpectedly, the psychological advantage he had enjoyed was inexplicably broken by Eisner's words. Now Weinstein has regained some of the psychological advantage, and the two have to continue negotiations.

"Okay, let's do this, Harvey. Let's make an agreement not to do this kind of PR action to attack each other, and we can compete normally for the rest."

"Well, I'll give you a bottle of red wine. This is my wife..."

"Harvey, I'm really not interested in your wine, why don't you sit down and talk about our movie PR?"

“Patience, patience…”

Harvey Weinstein heard what Eisner said on the phone and had a clue in his mind, so he started speaking to Ronald in the same tone.

"My wife Eve's family owns a small estate on Martha's Vineyard. The vineyards there are owned by the descendants of the earliest immigrants in New England. I have been there with her on vacation before. Those who come to the vineyard are all blue-blooded elites, including direct descendants of those who came on the Mayflower..."

"Harvey..." Ronald didn't know what he meant by saying this. My ancestors also came here on the Mayflower.

"Eve is the most distinguished of them all. Her mother's ancestor was the first Attorney General, Edmund Randolph, and her great-grandfather founded the first global law firm in the United States, Hendon & Williams... So it's not surprising that I met anyone there, right?"

"OK, tell me, who did you see?"

Ronald was really helpless against this rogue look.

"I met the President and his wife of the United States of America. They happened to be on vacation there. We also took a photo together, but the photo is at my home and I can't show it to you. When I get back, I'll give you a bottle of good wine from Martha's Vineyard so that you can taste the real fine wine of America. Hahaha..."

Harvey laughed rudely. In his position at Miramax, he was exploited on the financing side and on the distribution side. Add to that the marketing costs of a medium-sized production and the high production costs, and it would be much more difficult for his film to make a profit than others.

Therefore, Harvey's film projects are particularly dependent on various awards. Pulp Fiction won the Palme d'Or, which made his box office very good. American directors have not won the Palme d'Or many times.

If it can get double recognition from the Oscars, Pulp Fiction will surely be able to achieve another box office high in its re-release after the Oscar nominations are announced.

With such huge benefits in front of him, there is no way he would give up any chance of winning just because he has to follow the rules.

In addition, what he said about his wife's life experience was not false. It's just that by his wife's generation, she no longer had the great power and wealth of the past, but the pass brought by her family status to the places where the powerful gathered was still there.

Harvey Weinstein took the opportunity of his wife to meet the current president and his wife. They had a great conversation and this year he spent a lot of energy to receive the visit of the president and his wife. President William, who already liked Hollywood beauties, gave him some opportunities in the industry this time.

Many American departments need congressional approval for funding. For a department like the CIA, the budget is definitely not enough to carry out various operations abroad. In addition, the bills signed by Presidents Ford and Ronald Sr. prohibit the CIA from engaging in any overseas assassinations and dishonorable activities, and many traditional CIA channels for making money have encountered difficulties.

They have their eyes on the film industry, which has the same characteristics as their traditional money-making channel, the international pharmaceutical transportation industry.

This industry also has a large amount of cross-border capital flows, many internal accounting standards, and a box office system that is difficult to verify and uses cash as the main means of payment.

Working with powerful agencies such as the President and his wife and the CIA gave Harvey Weinstein many privileges that ordinary Hollywood players could hardly enjoy, especially in Europe and Britain, which are traditionally the locations of CIA activities.

Since the CIA is banned from conducting espionage activities in the country, Harvey's influence is unlikely to reach the country. This is one of the important reasons why Harvey is so keen to introduce British or European funds to make films.

"These are all my leftovers..." Ronald thought to himself. He didn't expect to get such an answer. So you got in touch with the commander-in-chief.

"But this doesn't mean you can achieve your goal by smearing it. Harvey, if you do this, you can discredit my movie, and others can discredit your movie, too. Then you may not be able to achieve what you want."

Although this is the case, it was Ronald, who had experienced it, who understood the various privileges of the position of the President in America. It turned out that Frank Sinatra, the bad boy of Hollywood, had many cases of illegal transactions and intentional injury by the gangs, and finally President Ronald pardoned him with a piece of paper.

Old George, who was more meticulous in his work, made many of his followers rich, including projects like Young George where he could just sit back and take advantage of the rules to make money.

If I really want to engage in a smear campaign against Harvey, I'm afraid I won't be in an advantageous position.

"Ronald, this kind of dirt can't do anything to me. I can shut these bitches up in no time (Weinstein pointed to the actresses on the table accusing him of dirt) and you should believe me."

"I won't use this to discredit you, but you can't use this to discredit my movie. Deal?"

Ronald put away the materials. It seemed that this thing was not the right time to use it.

"What I'm saying is, Ronald, we should have been friends, not enemies." Harvey Weinstein tapped his fingers on Ronald's desk twice, turned around and left happily.

"Hmph..." Ronald put the accusations against Harvey Weinstein into the drawer. This guy has a very strange habit. He likes to trick actresses into the room and let them massage his back. It seems that his fat pig-like appearance is really hard to attract female stars.

Now that Weinstein has climbed up the social ladder, it is very likely that such dark attacks will have no effect and will be quelled.

In this case, let's change the method and use the traditional Hollywood style to fight back against Weinstein. Even if you ask President William to come in person, he can't say anything wrong about this.