Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1544 Streisand's Script Consultant
In an ideal Hollywood world, screenwriters' scripts are all copyrighted. Scripts that are revised by others will also be passed down in an orderly manner. It is possible to find out who revised which draft and how much text they contributed to the final draft based on records.

But in reality, Hollywood is often full of lies and deception. For most scripts, the copyright is determined at the time when the big studio pre-purchases the script. Whoever writes most of the content in that draft is recognized as the screenwriter by law and the union.

The director or financier of the film will also tell a lot of lies in the script because they want the project to start shooting smoothly. Some directors are not good at finalizing the script before starting shooting. They always want to retain as many possibilities as possible, so they are reluctant to lock the script. Before shooting, or even during shooting, they have to keep revising, inserting new pages, and making temporary changes.

Coppola is the most typical director of this type. If you want to see the script of his classics such as "The Godfather", in fact, those are retroactive scripts released by the film company in order to make more money after the filming is completed or even released. In fact, they are scripts that are modified in reverse based on the finished film.

This is definitely not the version that the director and actors could see when "The Godfather" started filming. The actual script that was used for filming was completely messy. If you watch that version, maybe one-third of the scenes were not included in it, and the other one-third was modified so much that it was unrecognizable.

Barbra Streisand is such a director. On the one hand, she lacks the ability to take care of all the details that need to be taken care of when shooting a movie, and she does not have the energy or willingness to do so.

For her, perhaps the ideal situation is that someone else does these trivial things, and she only needs to decide those things that are decisive for "artistic expression".

On the other hand, Barbra Streisand's own artistic taste is not very good. She doesn't really understand which details can improve the artistic quality of the film. The things she values ​​may not be important in the eyes of experienced directors like Ronald, or they can be changed to save money and achieve the desired effect.

In addition, Barbra Streisand also had some selfish motives. She always wanted to add her own understanding of love and family affection into the film. For example, the English professor she played lacked intimacy with her colleague, the mathematics professor, because she was not pretty.

For example, the sister and mother who are much prettier than the protagonist have many messy relationships between men and women that she cannot understand. Although the protagonist has to come forward to help solve every crisis, they still seem to be much happier than the protagonist.

Of course, such content and theme are not something that a new director like Barbra Streisand can handle. Naturally, a famous star actress like Barbra Streisand played some tricks, deliberately hiding these ideas, trying to trick Ronald and the distributor TriStar Pictures into starting the film without knowing it, so that she could have the final say.

Of course, Ronald could not hide such a trick from his eyes. Yang Yanzi went to visit Barbra Streisand, and then talked with several screenwriters and crew members who had been fired by Streisand, and then she understood what she was planning.

Streisand made all kinds of excuses and refused to give the script, so Yang Yanzi simply got a copy of the script up to the time when a screenwriter she fired was fired.

"This script has quite a business vision..." Ronald saw the script and his first impression after reading it was that the screenwriter named Richard LaGravense was actually quite good.

The script does not focus too much on "Do men love women's brains or appearance", a theme that Barbra Streisand particularly cares about. Instead, it incorporates many elements of traditional romantic comedies, such as how the two professors went from hating each other to appreciating each other, and how the relationship between the heroine and her mother and sister went from conflict to reconciliation.

The mother's role is particularly wonderful. Her regret for the lost time and appearance, as well as her love for her daughter who is not as good-looking as herself, are intertwined until the very end, when they are finally highlighted.

Sure enough, when I looked at the screenwriter's resume, I found out that his other work was the screenwriter of "The Bridges of Madison County", a movie adapted from a novel by Warner Bros., which was filmed last year and has just been edited and is being screened.

The film stars Clint Eastwood and Meryl Streep. Although many people in the industry disdain this film, they even joke that who wants to watch a love story between two forty-year-old middle-aged people?

But the novel's popularity has remained high, and it was the best-selling book in the country in 1993. Since its publication in 1992, it has remained in the top ten of the New York Times bestseller list and still shows no signs of leaving.

The accumulated popularity of such a bestseller is daunting. Ronald felt that it would definitely not fail at the box office as those people said. The last time there was such a pure love tragedy was "Love Story" in the 1970s when the film industry was generally weak. It was so popular that it was like a movie from the golden age.

After making a few phone calls and asking a few friends who had seen the preview, Ronald received nothing but praise. They said that Eastwood, who directed and starred in the film, had given a first-rate performance, and that Meryl Streep was even more of a dramatic actress, and that the middle-aged heroine she played was enough to make college boys admire her.

Ronald asked Richard LaGravense to come, and he talked with him for several hours. Gradually, the situation became clear.

Barbra Streisand must have hidden plans. When she received the script written by Richard LaGravense, everyone praised it at first. But a week later, she had a lot of new ideas and asked Richard LaGravense to revise it.

This situation is not uncommon. Generally speaking, there is a certain honeymoon period when reading a script. After the period has passed, problems may be discovered. The screenwriter welcomes this situation and can make targeted modifications.

After that, Barbara Streisand invited him to her home, where he would "guide" Richard LaGravenese on how to revise the script at any time.

Of course, the direction of the revision is a very common celebrity disease. The problems of the heroine Rose need to be alleviated. She can't be really ugly as Richard LaGravenese wrote. She must have a certain beauty, but she just doesn't know how to dress up.

Rose is the only sensible woman in the family, and her mother only mocks her sharply for being ugly and not knowing how to dress herself.

Mathematics professor Gregory still hopes that his wife will be good at dressing up, become beautiful and more attractive. Although he can appreciate Rose's high IQ, he still cares about superficial beauty...

In short, these supporting characters are all flawed characters. Only under the guidance and education of the protagonist Rose (Barbra Streisand plays herself) can they discover the beauty of the heroine...

This is also the most common problem for celebrities who work as producers, directors, and screenwriters. They always think that a good movie should revolve around them as celebrities, and that good quality and stories must happen to them.

In fact, if you just want to be a star, it is not wrong to think so. Many Hollywood commercial films rely on stars to support the box office, so of course they have to occupy all the good qualities.

However, as a director who has a comprehensive view of the whole, thinking like this will cause big problems. If you are already so perfect, what story is there to tell? The supporting characters have become only foils for the heroine, as thin as paper, as if their only purpose in the script is to foil how beautiful the heroine is (her appearance is as beautiful as her soul), and how the heroine's IQ is superior to everyone else (for example, the English professor is smarter than the math professor).

What made Richard LaGravense most angry was that during the time he lived in her house to revise the script, Richard LaGravense always modified some of the plots of the script according to Streisand's opinions.

But the next day, Barbara Streisand got some "expert advice" from somewhere, and she had a new idea about how to highlight the image of the stars in the script.

Anyway, the "senior consultant" always has a point. Every time Richard LaGravense tried to convince Streisand with the rules of film creation, he was refuted the next day by the reasons she learned from the "senior consultant".

……

"Barbara, I heard that your new version of the script has been revised? Can I take a look? Yes, Mr. Medavoy of TriStar Pictures also wants to take a look. After all, Columbia no longer has a CEO. Any new film project will have to go through a more complicated process than before... Yes, the finalized script must be sent to Sony before filming... Yes, you know, the Japanese are very particular about red tape when doing things..."

Coincidentally, Peter Guber, CEO of Sony Columbia, officially announced his resignation. He took a large severance package, an independent studio he founded, and a distribution agreement with Sony Columbia, and parted ways with Sony "amicably".

Peter Guber's income figures during his tenure at Sony Columbia were kept confidential, but judging from the terms disclosed by various channels, he earned more than hundreds of millions of dollars during his years at Sony.

In addition to the $275 million spent to hire him and acquire his company, Guber's annual salary during his time at Sony was $5000 million, plus a one-time bonus of $ million during his tenure.

In addition, Guber also received generous option awards, which is equivalent to 8.08% of the overall asset appreciation of Sony Columbia Pictures during his tenure.

Of course, due to the limitations of Guber's ability during this period, although there were many box office and critical successes among the films released by Columbia, there were also many failures, so he did not receive many rewards for this.

Overall, including a three-year distribution agreement when he left and the money to fund him to rebuild his own independent studio, it is estimated that Guber's income during his time at Sony was between $3 million and $5 million.

This number makes all Hollywood executives envious. Who doesn't want to cheat more money from the Japanese?
This also made Sony very angry, but due to the requirement to continue operating in America, they could not deprive Guber of his normal severance pay, so they could only close their eyes and pretend nothing had happened.

In comparison, Columbia Records, which Sony had previously acquired, performed much better. Motura's management actually helped the Japanese owner make a lot of money.

Therefore, Sony has a new perspective on the operation of Columbia Pictures. They are not looking for a new CEO for the time being, but are tightening power and requiring more reporting.

Mark Canton, who temporarily replaced Guber, was not granted the power of interim CEO. All important decisions in daily operations had to be reported to Sony America Branch and approved before they could be implemented.

The Japanese also looked down on Medavoy, the president of TriStar Pictures, who had outstanding performance in recent years. They still had some superstition about the American philosophy of winners. When choosing candidates, they would choose those who have always won.

Medavoy's wife was abducted by a billionaire. No matter by American or Japanese standards, he can hardly be called a winner.

Therefore, Medavoy had to give up the idea of ​​becoming a Sony film salesperson and came back to work on Ronald's project. At least this boss treated capable employees fairly.

The two of them thought that if Barbra Streisand behaved like this, there would only be one result, which was that the movie would fail at the box office. But for celebrities, they couldn't directly conflict with them, and they had to find ways to appease them.

Sony had just tightened Columbia Pictures' decision-making power, and Mark Canton seemed like he would only be a caretaker cabinet. The two of them demanded that Streisand hand over the new script in the name of filing a record with the Japanese.

They also threatened Barbra Streisand that Sony's people were very rigid and would send people to watch the daily samples when the filming started. If they didn't match the script submitted, they would stop the filming. These people had learned from the frustration of United Artists' filming of "Heaven's Gate" and knew that they had to manage the film at a micro level.

In fact, such a clause only applies to the film and TV series projects approved by Columbia during the Guber period. Sony is actually quite satisfied with Medavoy of TriStar Pictures. And if Ronald wants to participate in the project, they will never interfere.

Japanese people admire winners and strong people. Since you have a continuous history of success in box office reviews, then don't interfere. They are still very relieved that Madavoy is not the CEO, but in charge of the film project.

This reason was very suitable for Barbara Streisand. She also made several calls to the project producers of Columbia Pictures, who confirmed that this statement was true. Sony is now reviewing all the stalls left by Gubel on a large scale.

"Don't worry, I'll get Richard LaGravenese and any other script doctors you think are suitable to work with you. You are an artist, Barbara, and I trust your creativity. All we have to do is fix those wonderful ideas in your mind..."

Barbara Streisand had no choice but to personally bring a copy of the script that she really wanted to show to Ronald, hoping to find a way to pass Sony's review.

Ronald flipped it open and saw that, just as Richard LaGravense had said, the script had become like a Wal-Mart promotional brochure, filled with colorful papers.

This is the usual practice for Hollywood scripts. Every time a new revision is made, they don't just print a new batch of copies. Instead, they remove the copper nails that bind the script, then print the text of the revised part on a different color paper and rebind it.

This way, we can trace the history of the script revisions from the beginning, just like a diary. The paper in this copy of the script is of different ages. The original manuscript was made of white paper, which has become frayed by the flipping of the pages. The age of the different colored papers is also completely different.

The newest one, which used magenta paper, was very new, and Ronald seemed to smell the scent of laser printer toner on it.

"Is this the latest one?" Ronald said as he flipped through the script.

"Yes, I just took this off the printer this morning." Barbra Streisand said she had a hard time. She had to learn how to print multiple copies, how to split the script, and how to replace the old version with the new revised part.

It turned out that all of this was done with the help of someone else. I just fired Richard LaGravense, and Ronald's words were very scary, so I had no choice but to do it myself...

"That's it. Madavoy and I will go to Sony to talk to them and try to get approval as soon as possible. Then you can start looking for a script doctor you like, and then the casting will also begin. If you have any candidates, just put forward them..."

Ronald left the script behind and sent Barbra Streisand away. He thought for a while, then took out the script and read it carefully again. He even took out a magnifying glass and looked at the revised parts for several minutes.

Then he picked up the phone, "Dr. Lee? I have another document here, and I hope you can help me identify it. Yes, I won't send it by courier this time. I'll have my subordinates deliver it by plane. Don't file your identification results anywhere... OK, thank you."

The physical examination results were okay, fortunately my blood sugar was still normal.