Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1550: Each One Takes What They Need

"Thank you to the Directors Guild for the recognition. I never dreamed that one day I would be able to stand here and give an acceptance speech to my colleagues, such as Mr. Billy Wilder. During my short study at New York University, Professor Marty (Scorsese) played his films in class as learning materials."

The 47th Directors Guild Awards was held right after the Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards. This award was founded in 1949. The Directors Guild is a relatively small union, and they are relatively united internally, so this award is equivalent to an internal gathering and recognition.

This year's awards ceremony was also held at the Golden Globe Awards venue, the Beverly Hilton Hotel. But the venue was decorated more intimately, with everyone's tables very close to each other and the podium above.

This award ceremony is not televised, so everyone attends it as if they were attending a gathering of friends. Ronald also brought Diane and Roger Jr. along, as if they were attending a director's party.

From the outside, Ronald has a great chance of winning this time, so he brought his family to celebrate this important moment in his life. And Ronald is even more confident. The old men in the Directors Guild, represented by Billy Wilder, have all received Ronald's kindness.
Apart from other things, his Criterion Collection videotapes have already released several classic films by Lubitsch and Wilder. Although these old guys don't say it, they are proud to be in the Criterion Collection queue. The elderly are afraid of being forgotten, and what Ronald does is to keep them remembered.

Many people have made classic movies that almost no one remembers except old fans. But with the renovation and re-publication of this collection, people will still remember their efforts decades later.

Sure enough, after the Best Documentary Award was awarded to "Basketball Dreams", the Best Director Award for the film was unsurprisingly awarded to Ronald.

Several directors who have been seen regularly at awards shows these weeks - Quentin Tarantino of Pulp Fiction, Frank Darabont of The Shawshank Redemption, and Mike Newell of Four Weddings and a Funeral - all clapped in disappointment.

Regardless of what happens in the upcoming Oscars, the Directors Guild's internal awards show that Ronald still receives the most professional recognition among his peers.

This award is not comparable to the Oscars where most of the actors voted. Let's not talk nonsense. Ronald won the award because his narrative was smooth, and he told decades of history without feeling lengthy.

It was also because he led a new technological trend, using computer special effects combined with real shooting, which opened up a new direction for Hollywood directors, and they now have one more weapon to increase their expressiveness.

Besides Ronald, Quentin, who is the most popular among the media, is also an innovation in perspective and narrative in the eyes of insiders. His directing techniques are relatively new and eye-catching. We are all familiar with classic movies of all ages, so it is not difficult to find the reappearance of the wisdom of our predecessors in them.

Regardless, Ronald's speech still made everyone very happy. This kind of situation has happened to most members of the Directors Guild. A few movies allow them to be together with their former idols and heroes and talk about movies. It can be said that this is one of the driving forces for most directors to enter this industry.

Moreover, Ronald did not distance himself from them because of his wealth and status, but still treated them as equals as a director. This made the directors feel grateful and close to him. After all, Ronald was still one of them. If the new movie did not have enough money, maybe he would give them some support as a director.

However, the most popular person at the awards ceremony was not Ronald, but his and Diane's son Roger Jr. Scorsese, Coppola, Spielberg, Cameron and others surrounded Roger Jr. and took turns hugging him, expressing a sense of closeness.

In fact, the American people's views on family are similar to those of the Chinese, and they place family in a very high position. Little Roger was also dressed up beautifully by Diane, and the wives of those directors also liked him very much.

"See, I told you, little Roger, your daddy is fine." It was Spielberg's turn to hug Ronald, and Uncle Steven used this opportunity to reassure Ronald. He had gone through the same thing himself. The Oscars are an award that respects multiple nominees. As long as you are not British, you will always get a turn based on seniority.

"That's not necessarily true. Some people are very aggressive in public relations now. You all saw what happened to Baolin. I have to defend myself..."

Ronald informed everyone about the various extraordinary actions of the Los Angeles Film Critics Awards, and asked Pauline, an elderly and sick woman, to say things that were unfavorable to Ronald, which made the directors on the scene feel sick.

"Ah, Roger, come here, take a look, what kind of person do you want to be in the future? Do you want to be a director like your dad, or a director of photography, or do you like to be an actor in front of the camera... hm?"

Spielberg didn't think Quentin was a threat to Ronald, and he continued to make Roger laugh. Now Roger could understand some complicated things, such as movies are filmed, not real.

Everyone was watching with great interest. Little Roger turned his head left and right, looking at the photographers and directors on the scene, wondering what he was thinking.

"He, of course he wants to be an animator. He watches those cartoons every day and thinks they are the most genius creations." Diane added.

"Hahahaha..." Everyone was so happy... Ronald's son is going to be an animation artist, it's so funny to think about it. Now you can't inherit any of Ronald's resources.

……

"Please welcome this year's New York Film Critics Circle Best Actor, Paul Newman"

A few days later, another critics award, the New York Film Critics Circle Award, was also presented. Unsurprisingly, the Best Director award was not given to Ronald, but to Quentin.

On the one hand, most film critics tend to be left-wing, and there is a natural gap between them and Forrest Gump. On the other hand, Harvey Weinstein's public relations work was also very good.

However, Pauline Kael, as the spiritual leader of New York film critics, had her experiences in Los Angeles spread back to New York film critics. Everyone felt a little disgusted when they learned about the things behind some of her remarks.

In fact, Pauline Carr had cognitive impairment from time to time, and Harvey Weinstein took advantage of this problem, cleverly arranging some leading questions, and then inflated Pauline's brief answers into a 100-word criticism of Forrest Gump.

What film critics fear most is that their words are taken out of context and then cause unnecessary trouble. After all, they are all journalists. Although their speech is well protected, the producers are the source of their status. No one wants to completely offend a big shot like Ronald.

If the winners of the Film Critics Association were not determined and announced in advance, many film critics would want to change the winners and let Ronald win the Best Director award. After all, Ronald did not retaliate against Pauline Carr, a retired and influential film critic who publicly criticized his films. Instead, he helped Pauline's daughter and provided her with free nursing services through a charity fund.

Besides, Ronald, like Paul Newman, is a native of Staten Island, so no one can say anything if he favors his fellow countryman.

“I am very grateful for the recognition from the film critics in my hometown. I want to say that although Hollywood is the center of movies in everyone’s mind, New York movies will always have a place in my heart. My wife and I have so many good memories of our first house on Staten Island.

Although Staten Island has to wait several months to see new Hollywood movies, it has produced a master of movies, and I'm not talking about me and my wife..."

Compared to Quentin Tarantino's usual hippie-style acceptance speech, Paul Newman is already world-famous, and he won the Oscar for Best Actor a few years ago, and his life is perfect. So this time he mainly reviewed and thanked, and raised the value of the already declining New York film industry.

John Cassavetes, the symbol of New York cinema, has passed away. Now the representative of New York cinema is actually Spike Lee, a black director who specializes in making black films.

Therefore, Paul Newman and his wife, Oscar-winning actress Joanne Woodward, attended the award ceremony together and spoke highly of their fellow countryman Ronald. They spoke up for Ronald both openly and covertly.

However, Paul Newman is a symbol of the old times after all, he will not tear his face off and criticize directly by name. This makes Harvey Weinstein and others complacent, you say your own things, and then the media will only report that Quentin won the film critics award in Ronald's hometown.

……

"The winner of the Chicago Film Critics Association Best Picture Award is Basketball Dreams..."

Among the three most influential film awards, Chicago is the latest to be awarded, and Roger Ebert and Gene Siskel are the two most influential stars in this award. They are the two most famous film critics in America and have their own TV film review programs.

Therefore, the two of them are most aware of some of the dynamics in the industry.

Ronald invested a lot of resources in invisible places to strive for the Oscar; Harvey Weinstein also invested a lot of money in visible places to win over Oscar judges. Although the two people's fight is disproportionate in strength, judging awards is like voting for a president, and having money does not necessarily mean winning.

Therefore, they also used their influence to avoid offending either party. The Best Actor award went to Tom Hanks of Forrest Gump, and the Best Director award went to Quentin Tarantino of Pulp Fiction.

But the Best Picture award is not easy to divide. If you give it to one reluctantly, you will offend the other. If the two are tied, it will affect the reputation of both. You are too "aware of the times".

So, the final result was unexpectedly awarded to a documentary called "Basketball Dreams." It tells the story of two Chicago teenagers, William Gates and Arthur Agee, two African-American teenagers from poor communities in Chicago, who strive to pursue their dreams of becoming professional basketball players.

Arthur's father ran away from home, and he could not afford the tuition for the famous private Catholic high school, a strong basketball school, and had to return to the public high school. William injured his knee on the court, which seriously affected his performance.

The fierce competition between the two spread throughout the entire movie. In the end, both of them entered college and received basketball scholarships, but neither of them entered the NBA.

With such a non-American dream-like ending, and the fact that it is a local Chicago story, it is reasonable to award it the Best Picture award.

……

"47th Writers Guild Awards, Best Original Screenplay, Four Weddings and a Funeral, Richard Curtis..."

"what……"

In Chicago, the two were evenly matched, but in the Writers Guild Awards, Ronald had the upper hand. Quentin Tarantino, because he had appropriated the screenwriting rights of Roger Avery, with whom he worked at a video rental store, did not even get a nomination for Best Original Screenplay.

The right to authorship is the basis for the survival of these screenwriters. Unlike directors and actors, screenwriters can not reap lucrative residual dividends. Their income depends heavily on the proceeds from the sale of scripts. If they do not sign their names on the scripts, it means that they will not receive other orders for customized scripts. Their income is the lowest and most unstable among all types of jobs. For successful directors, snatching the authorship of a friend's screenwriter is a bottom line that cannot be touched.

This award is also selected by industry insiders, and many of them are also Oscar judges. Here, Quentin knew in advance that he was not nominated, so he did not come to the award ceremony.

"Best Adapted Screenplay Award, Forrest Gump, Eric Roth..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoosh..."

This award won the applause of the screenwriters present. Eric Roth signed his name on Forrest Gump, but like any movie script, the director must have made a great contribution.

Ronald is also a screenwriter, and he must have made many changes to the script before and during filming. But as a director and producer, he won't compete with you, a small screenwriter, for this honor.

In the past few years, Ronald has also made several screenwriters famous. Everyone has a good impression of such traditional directors. Only by working with directors like them can screenwriters achieve success.

In short, after this award, most of the union members of the Writers Guild who have the right to vote for the Oscars also stood on Ronald's side.

In fact, what is more important than these lively Film Critics Association Awards and what has a greater impact on the Oscar results are the various union awards.

The reason is simple: the voters for these awards have the highest degree of overlap with the list of Oscar judges.

The nominations for each award are determined by the votes of the judges in each union. In this case, the nominations for the Director Award have the highest chance of being selected, and the same is true for the Screenwriter Award.

However, when it comes to the final award voting, all judges have the power to vote for all awards. In this way, the actor with the largest number of Oscar judges becomes the decisive force.

It is actually quite difficult to understand their orientation. Unlike the Directors Guild and the Writers Guild, which both began awarding union awards in 1949, the Actors Guild has never established its own award.

The main reason for this is that the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is a relatively small union, while the biggest actors actually belong to another union, AFTRA (American Federation of Television and Radio Artists).

SAG members are actors who have participated in filming movies or high-budget TV series. A large number of grassroots actors actually participate in AFTRA. Although there is overlap between the two, the number of AFTRA members is much larger than that of SAG.

Therefore, to hold a union award, two unions need to unite, otherwise it will be difficult to be representative. That’s why it has been difficult to give birth.

It wasn't until this year that SAG finally put AFTRA aside and decided to hold a separate Screen Actors Guild Awards to honor actors who have performed outstandingly in movies and mainstream TV series on major TV stations in the past year.

The establishment of this award is actually a move by SAG to expand its influence. If this award also includes TV actors, and there are TV stations willing to broadcast it, then SAG will definitely surpass AFTRA in the future...

But how can a Screen Actors Guild Award get a TV broadcast contract? This is actually highly similar to the previous Golden Globe Awards. TV stations are generally unwilling to broadcast such an award, and everyone has always thought that it is impossible.

However, just when everyone was pessimistic, NBC's local TV station in New York, NBC-12, suddenly announced that it would broadcast the first Screen Actors Guild Awards, which naturally caused dissatisfaction and boycott from AFTRA...

For a time, how many famous actors could attend the first Screen Actors Guild Awards ceremony became the key to the success of this award.