Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1520 Provoking Bullets to Fly Across Broadway
The film "Sleep With Me" is an independent production. It was originally going to be a film festival, so it would also look for independent film directors like Quentin Tarantino to make cameos.

It was also screened at Cannes, where it was said to have received a long standing ovation from the audience (a gimmick many films that go to Cannes use).

In fact, the film performed very poorly in the copy trading market, and no European distributor was willing to buy it. The main reason was that the story of the film was too bad, telling a love triangle between two men and one woman.

Sarah and Joseph are about to get married, but Frank, the best man and their good friend, says on the eve of the wedding that he should marry Sarah. This kind of story is nothing special in European movies... As early as 1962, Truffaut's "Jules and James" performed a classic version of the story.

Moreover, the particularly bad thing about Sleep With Me is that he hired six screenwriters to write stories for six different characters, which made the film fragmented and the director lacked the ability to coordinate. The story of the whole film seemed to have no third act ending, as if the crew ran out of money halfway through filming...

However, all this changed after Quentin Tarantino won the Palme d'Or this year. A cameo role actually became the biggest selling point of the film in the American domestic market.

MGM, which was previously in trusteeship and half-dead, suddenly bought the distribution rights for this film in the United States. They wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to get some attention and give some highlights to buyers seeking to sell MGM.
In order to achieve great things with little money, MGM's distribution department actually knows very well that such films attract fans of some out-of-date stars and moviegoers who have a higher opinion of the European Film Festival. They will go to see a movie that is actually extremely bad just because of these gimmicks.

So they found Roger Ebert, the film critic of the Chicago Sun-Times, and gave him almost all of their marketing budget in exchange for a review that was ostensibly praising but actually sarcastic.

"...Quentin Tarantino shows up at a party and launches into a long, detailed, and feverish explanation of why 'Top Gun' is actually the story of a man struggling with his sexuality. The more he talks, the more plausible his theory sounds...at least from a party joke perspective."
The ending of the movie is a bit abrupt. Maybe all six screenwriters only wrote the script for the beginning and the middle, and no one thought of ending the story.

What’s left behind in a director’s cut are some fragments of the story, some flashes of inspiration, and if you look at it with the right attitude, strangely enough, sometimes these kinds of films can get great reviews.”

"Roger, what do you mean by this theory becomes more reasonable the more you listen to it? Are you serious?"

Ronald had someone find the cameo of Quentin and watch it, and then read Ebert's film review again. He was so angry that he hung up the phone and called Roger Ebert.

"Ronald, ah, if you read the last sentence of my review carefully, I really treated him as a joke..." Roger Ebert received the highest PR fee this year, but he did not dare to offend Ronald too much. So he could only use a teasing tone to describe the guest appearance of Quentin that MGM specifically requested to appear in the review.

"I appreciate your sense of humor. It seems that you prefer Miramax's PR activities to the joint invitation from Paramount and Daydream." Ronald said sarcastically. Forrest Gump was very generous to film critics and the Chicago Film Critics Association. You took money from one party and used ridicule to gain benefits from both sides...

"Ah? Ronald, I didn't mean that at all. It was just a favor to an old friend of MGM. I didn't know it was so offensive to you, I must correct it on the weekend movie review TV show this weekend..."

"Haven't you seen this movie?" Ronald was amused by his sophistry. He was worthy of being a film critic.

"Although it is very difficult to say, I still want to ask for your forgiveness. I rarely give a review without watching a movie, but this movie is a very niche movie and I don't expect it to be seen by many people, so I am just repaying a favor to an old friend."

"Come on, if you correct it in the weekend TV movie review, wouldn't that just be giving them free marketing? Bad exposure is better than no exposure, I think you should understand this."

"Ronald, I beg for your forgiveness, and for your and Ms. Shirley Lansing's understanding..." Roger Ebert was quite afraid that Ronald and Paramount would join forces to attack him.

"Come on, you are the Pulitzer Prize winner, the prophet that American moviegoers look to for guidance..."

"Come on, Ronald, for God's sake. What do you want me to do to make it up to you?"

"Do you think you only offended me and Shirley? Don't you think about how many fans Tom Cruise has? You slandered their hero like this..."

"Oh, God, if I could, I would buy all the newspapers with my own money, cut out that paragraph one by one, and burn them to ashes.

I know that anything I say now will have the opposite effect. But I am willing to do anything I can to make up for my mistake. You, Ms. Lansing, and our dear Hollywood No. 1 male star, anything is fine, as long as you open your mouth..."

"Well, look, I know Harvey Weinstein wants to win awards at all the city film critics associations in the United States..."

"As a member of the Chicago Film Critics Association, I think Forrest Gump is the best movie of the year... from best movie, best actor, to the most important best director..."

"Okay, okay, I believe you. It seems that you were really deceived by the film company..." When Ronald heard that Roger Ebert was willing to speak for him in the Chicago Film Critics Association, where he had great influence, it was tantamount to destroying Pulp Fiction's attempt to sweep all the critics awards. It would be very helpful for him to compete for the Oscars, and he could also get his free help, so he decided to forgive him.

"Well, I just watched a trailer, and there was Quentin's improvisation..."

"Wait a minute, you mean this part was his improvisation and not written in the script?"

"That's it……"

"Interesting, what else do you know about the inside story of that movie?"

"I still know a lot. In order for me to write a positive review, they gave me a lot of details to choose from. They also know that the movie itself is not good."

"Tell me what you know..."

……

"Is this how you break the promise you and your sister made to me?"

A day later, Ronald called Jennifer Tilly to his office and threw the "Sleep with Me" poster on her desk.

"What?" Jennifer Tilly looked confused. Last time her sister Meg was in trouble, her boyfriend Colin Firth also left her and returned to her hometown in Britain to try a mini-TV series. At that time, Hollywood did not accept her sister very much. She thought it was Ronald's ban and ran to beg for mercy.

"You know that video where Quentin Tarantino said Top Gun was about the Lone Ranger finding his true identity?" Ronald asked, pointing to the guest appearance of "Quentin Tarantino" on the movie poster, which was written in larger fonts than the main actor.

"Well, I did see it..." Jennifer Tilly nodded. Harvey Weinstein was not intimidated. Although Roger Ebert never mentioned the movie again, Harvey was able to find several film critics to talk about the cameo on TV. The specific video was also broadcast on some local TV stations and circulated in Hollywood.

Albert also told Ronald that the heroine Sarah in the movie was played by Meg Tilly, and the hero was Eric Stoltz, whom Ronald hated...

Ronald was furious, and because of Jennifer Tilly's request, he also stated that he would not do anything to ban her sister Meg. But how could Meg Tilly get the leading role in a film that was intended to compete in Cannes?
You have to know that Meg Tilly has given birth to three children, two with her ex-husband Zinnemann and one with her unsuccessful boyfriend Colin Firth. A 34-year-old mother of three children can play an unmarried heroine in a movie, which is definitely not an ordinary casting.

Coupled with the many tactics targeting himself and Forrest Gump surrounding this movie, Ronald had to wonder if Meg Tilly had joined Harvey Weinstein?
"Ah? You have to believe me, you really have to believe me. I had nothing to do with Meg being chosen as the heroine.

She hooked up with an old man in Hollywood, who turned out to be an executive of Time Warner. My sister is good at attracting old men.

I have fallen out with her and we don’t talk anymore.”

"I find it hard to believe what you said. I just want an explanation..." Ronald found this unbelievable. Didn't you come to me to plead for your sister not long ago? At that time, you even showed me your sisterly love. How come you fell out not long after?

"It's true, I swear to God. You have to believe me. We sisters are like this. I always help my sister, but my sister can quickly find a man to help her, and she ends up doing much better than me.

Ronald, every time I help her, I feel so sorry, but every time she is in trouble, I can't help but help her..."

Ronald thought about it and realized that the two sisters really had an unhealthy relationship. The elder sister also wanted to show her superiority in front of her younger sister, and to regain her confidence by having a feeling of "I am the elder sister and you still have to beg me".

But the younger sister is more attractive to powerful old men. As long as she wants, she can quickly get better resources than her hard-working sister, and then the sister will feel jealous. The two often fall out, get jealous, and make up in this cycle.

This kind of relationship sounds difficult for a man to understand, but because it is twisted and tangled, and the reasons are bizarre, it is hard to be a made-up story. Ronald also has some understanding of the two sisters and tends to believe that what Jennifer said is true.

"Really, Ronald. I've struggled so long, but my sister hasn't received as many nominations for a role that she played so easily.

I always strive for opportunities, study roles and perform hard, but I have not been nominated for any Oscar-level awards. My sister Meg, who did not prepare for research and just acted casually, even fell in love with male actors on the set, easily got nominations for the Golden Globe, Oscar, and Saturn Awards before she was 30.

I worked so hard to get a role in a film by a famous director like Woody Allen, but I still didn’t win any awards, even though they know that my box office appeal is actually stronger than many award-winning actresses…”

Jennifer Tilly started to cry as she spoke, and it seemed that she was not acting, but was expressing her true feelings.

"Wait a minute, Bullets Over Broadway, Miramax didn't nominate you?" Ronald thought it was a bit unfair.

"Yeah, all my friends have the same expression as you when they hear about my role, woo woo..."

Jennifer Tilly is actually very motivated about her film career. She often plays the role of a beautiful villain and is also well-known among B-movie audiences.

The domestic violence her father suffered when she was a child made her stronger and more willing to work hard for herself. The impact on her sister Meg was that she learned to read the other person's expression, understand their thoughts, and then perform an action that the other person wanted her to do.

Both of them were unconsciously influenced by their childhood experiences.

"Why don't you get a nomination for yourself? I think your performance is really good." Ronald suddenly thought of Harvey Weinstein's plan. Although he promised Uma Thurman to strive for a nomination for Best Supporting Actress, the person he really wanted to focus on public relations was Woody Allen's old team, Dianne Wiest, who starred in Bullets Flying Down Broadway.

Back then, Ronald himself directed Working Girl, which also had two nominations for one movie, Sigourney Weaver and Joan Cusack, but he ended up splitting the votes himself and didn't win an award.

Then he had an idea: why not take the initiative to create such a situation?

"Oh? Can I? But Harvey?"

Jennifer Tilly didn't expect that she was called in to be questioned, but in the end, Ronald actually got her nominated for an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress?
"Humph, it was you who nominated her, not him. Isn't it natural for an actress to spend some PR budget to promote herself if she thinks her performance meets Oscar standards?"

"Ah, is that so? Really?" Jennifer Tilly seemed to suddenly come to her senses. Yes, as long as she could get enough actors to vote for her as the Best Supporting Actress and get into the top five in terms of votes, wouldn't that mean she would be nominated?

By then, my salary will increase, and I will get more and better scripts...

"But I don't have any money..."

"This is your own business," Ronald waved her off. Jennifer Tilly was not a woman who could just wait. As long as the seeds were planted in her heart, one day she would overcome all her fears and do whatever it took to find a place for herself.

"By the way, who was that old man that Meg caught that you were talking about?"

"Ah, it's John Kelly from Warner Brothers. He's thirty years older than her."

(End of this chapter)