Exploiting Hollywood 1980.

Chapter 1565: Conversation with Mike Wallace
CBS's 60 Minutes program contacted Ronald for the first time since he made Top Gun. Many of their viewers were fans of Old Hollywood who wanted to see the U.S. military appear on the screen in a positive image again and wanted to interview him.

After Ronald made Dirty Dancing, 60 Minutes invited him again. This time it was because the story of the movie was about the growth of young women in the s, which was once again in line with CBS's audience.

Of course Ronald refused all of them. He was not very interested in this kind of interview, and would ask a lot of private questions, which was more suitable for a retired person's review.

But as Ronald became more and more of a Hollywood figure, like other TV shows or well-known magazines, such interview invitations were resent every 3-6 months, in the hope that one day Ronald would suddenly figure it out, or some news about him would break out, and he would need to go on the show to clarify himself.

This time, Ronald took the initiative to contact CBS's 60 Minutes program, which surprised the program crew. They also asked Ronald to choose which host he wanted to be interviewed by.

This surprised Richard and Pat Kingsley. Generally speaking, CBS's 60 Minutes is a serious interview program. The guests have enough time to talk in depth, and there are some older and more mature audiences. The ratings are ranked first among TV media.

You know, the average audience of David Letterman's Late Show is only between 1200 million and 1500 million, while 60 Minutes, a serious interview media, has an average audience of more than 2000 million.

Their interviewees include former presidents, leaders of the Senate and House of Representatives, business leaders, celebrities, foreign politicians, etc.

As a Hollywood figure, being able to appear on this show shows that his influence has gone beyond the entertainment industry and has become a topic of conversation among the people. Those who have been able to appear on this show in Hollywood are all very famous stars, including Marlon Brando, Barbra Streisand and other people who are well-known to all ages.

Everyone thought that CBS must be very eager for Ronald, which was why it offered the condition of selecting reporters for interviews.

"That may not be the case, but it doesn't matter. Which reporter do you think should be the best to interview me? How about Connie Chung?"

The reporter chosen by Ronald was the second female reporter on CBS's 60 Minutes program, and the first Chinese female reporter in CBS and even in the television industry. She was given the position of producer to lead the interviews.

Her famous work in 60 Minutes was interviewing Marlon Brando, a famous Hollywood movie star who was always rude to journalists. She had a good image throughout the show, spoke logically, and was able to empathize with the interviewee. She calmly got Marlon Brando to talk about many topics that everyone thought he was unwilling to talk about.

Ronald was quite impressed with her, especially because he thought she was much better than Barbara Waters, another female CBS reporter and the first female reporter to appear on 60 Minutes.

"This..." No one expected Ronald to bring up such an unpopular candidate. Everyone thought he would find Leslie Starr, who has interviewed the most Hollywood figures.

"She's a very good choice..." Pat Kingsley supported Ronald's choice. A reporter who is considerate and well prepared is much better than those reporters who are famous but ask questions without preparation and follow stereotypes. The worst reputation among them is undoubtedly Barbara Waters.

"Very good, let's contact them."

Ronald knew that 60 Minutes magazine could also interview his subjects at their homes, so he made this request to CBS. Having some home shots would add to Ronald's commoner feel, which would be very helpful for the final public relations event before the Oscars.

……

"How about this one? Doesn't it look like the one in the Manhattan apartment in New York?" Ronald took out all the clothes and prepared to wear them during the 60-minute door-to-door interview. At this time, he received a call from Richard.

Connie Zong has decided to switch to ABC. Although she will undoubtedly agree to interview Ronald, CBS will not let her grab this peach before leaving.

The candidates proposed by CBS happened to be Barbara Waters and Lesley Stahl, both women.

"Neither of these two is good enough..." Ronald looked down on Lesley Starr's interviewing skills. This person was a producer before she took over the microphone and did the interview herself. Her skills were very limited, and she often asked questions that angered both the interviewees and the audience. When she was the host, the show's ratings were the lowest.

As for Barbara Waters, Ronald excluded her from the beginning. She had a questionable character and it took either a lot of courage or a strong background to accept an interview with her.

"Then who should we look for? Molly Sefer?" Richard mentioned the name of another 60 Minutes host.

"Why can't I ask the best reporter to interview me? I would rather let Mike Wallace interview me." Ronald replied with a smile. He should be one of the best directors in Hollywood today. Why can't he accept an interview with the best exclusive reporter?
Then he called Pat Kingsley and asked for her opinion, and then contacted CBS to express his wishes.

CBS agreed immediately. Mike Wallace is known for asking tough questions, and Ronald's willingness to be interviewed by him was a great choice. It was a great boost to the ratings.

……

"I'm curious, Ronald, can I call you Ronald? I have a question I want to ask you in advance."

Mike Wallace appeared at Ronald's house in a light brown suit with vertical stripes, looking very elegant. While the staff were preparing the equipment, Wallace and Ronald started chatting.

"Of course, I will never miss the 60 minutes you host. Even if I can't watch it live, I will ask Diane to record it for me." Ronald made him a cup of black tea and handed it to him to show his friendliness. "What do you want to ask me?"

"It's not on the record..." Wallace pointed to the camera and recorder that were not working yet, "I'm just curious why you don't want to be interviewed by Barbara Waters. She is known for her friendliness towards Hollywood people. I didn't want to compete with them because you designated Connie Zong at the beginning..."

Ronald did not dare to neglect it. Mike Wallace was a tough reporter who dared to call the former Middle East strongman Ruhollah Mousavi a madman to his face. It was hard to say whether this small conversation before the formal interview was a test.

"Can I be honest with you, Mike?"

"Of course..." Wallace put down his teacup and quickly adjusted his expression to a listening state. Although this person is known for being ruthless to his interviewees, when you meet him face to face, it is hard not to have a good impression of such a sincere person.

"I don't like her because she once tortured my friend in an interview and I was very unhappy. I would rather face a reporter like you who has a reputation for being tough than a venomous snake like her... Sorry for being vulgar."

"Hahaha, it doesn't matter. We CBS reporters will also compete for interview subjects. You don't have to be more tactful because of my friendship with her. Can I ask who is your friend who was treated unfairly by Barbara?"

Mike Wallace revealed some secrets inside the industry. In such programs, reporters also try to poach and sabotage each other. His relationship with Barbara Waters is not necessarily much better than that of two Hollywood stars competing for roles in good scripts.

"Can I trust you? Mike, this is our private conversation, you can't broadcast this."

"Sure, hi, Luke..." Mike Wallace called the engineer who was fiddling with the equipment and confirmed that the microphone and camera lens were turned on.

"It's Brooke Shields... Barbara Waters' interview with her was very unreasonable, and also..." Ronald talked about the past. Barbara Waters' interview with Brooke Shields was like an interrogation. She also forced Brooke Shields to say in public that she had no feelings for men like him. The two later missed each other in love, which can be said to be an objective reason.

"Oh my God, you and Brooke Shields..." Mike Wallace exclaimed.

"I hope nothing about her will appear in the interview. It's not a good topic. I have to consider the impact on others and my own family..."

"OK, I respect your choice, Ronald. You are such a difficult interview subject, and it's rare for me to be taken advantage of before the interview even starts." Mike Wallace seemed to be very concerned about not mentioning in the interview that Brooke Shields was Ronald's ex-girlfriend.

……

"Ronald Lee, a famous Hollywood director, has many commercially and artistically successful works. He is also a successful producer and has founded his own media company. But at the same time, he is also a person who pays great attention to protecting his privacy. It is well known that he rarely accepts interviews, even when the movies he directed need to be released.

So why did he open up to 60 Minutes and talk about his experiences over the years? We have asked him this question every few months for the past five years, but he has always refused to be interviewed by 60 Minutes, until recently, when his movie Forrest Gump was loved by American audiences and criticized and attacked by critics...”

Mike Wallace is indeed a top reporter. The advantage of speaking frankly is that he can quickly gain the audience's attention during his opening remarks.

"Ronald had to pay the price of having a portion of his private life revealed in order to express his response to the opinions surrounding Forrest Gump in one go."

The two sat on the sofa in the study and began the interview.

“You’re from New York? But you started your film career in Los Angeles?”

"Yes, after I graduated from high school, I started taking photos for my classmates' yearbooks to earn money. When I had enough money, I bought a used car and drove to Los Angeles. Here I was lucky enough to find a job as a script reader at Roger Corman's New World Pictures."

"It's hard to imagine that a young man who graduated from high school back then could become what he is today after just fifteen years of hard work..." Mike Wallace showed the audience some photos of the Volkswagen that Ronald had found and that he had driven back then...

"Oh, that's totally different from what I thought. You seem to be a child from a civilian family..." Mike Wallace looked at Ronald with a cunning look. This was a possible entry point, which made Ronald emotional.

“I don’t know if you’re right, but for a kid who spent his high school years on Staten Island, it seems fair,” Ronald responded with a smile.

"From what we know, you are an orphan."

"Yes, my parents died in a traffic accident when I was a kid. But I had a very nice aunt who took me to Staten Island, where my mother grew up, and I spent my teenage years there..."

"It sounds like you had an aunt who was very kind to you, and that you lived a pretty happy time."

"Oh, yes, she's really nice to me."

"But she's also a war widow. Your uncle died in Vietnam?"

"Yes, you seem to know my history quite well?"

Ronald adjusted his posture and began to wonder if it was a mistake to go to Mike Wallace. This guy was clearly well prepared. What tough questions would he ask next?

"Of course, this is the basic skill for interviewing reporters. Is your father also a Vietnam veteran? Did he and your uncle serve together?"

"Yes, my uncle unfortunately died in Vietnam..."

"Well, let's make an assumption. If your father and your uncle were still alive, what would they think of the scene in Forrest Gump directed by you, where Forrest Gump and Bubble are in Vietnam?" Mike Wallace crossed his legs, seeming to be getting into the mood.

"I didn't know much about them. I was very young at that time. But in order to shoot Forrest Gump, I got to know a lot of veterans. I think they might have the same idea as these veterans. This is how they remember the Vietnam battlefield..."

"So what would they think if they saw the footage of you cutting out Forrest Gump's speech at the anti-war rally? Would they condemn you for not being able to reflect the cruelty and senselessness of the Vietnam War, for not saying that dialogue?"

Mike Wallace's eyes suddenly changed, and he stared at Ronald's eyes. The camera behind him also zoomed in, taking a close-up of Ronald's face...

"You!..." Ronald was so excited that he jerked his body forward. Asking such a question right at the beginning was indeed very aggressive. Fortunately, with years of self-cultivation and experience, Ronald immediately stopped the urge to stand up.

"I think you asked a good question. Many of our views on social events are shaped by movies. When many people hear the name of the Vietnam War, they think of it as an unjust war. But as veterans, many of their feelings are actually very similar to Forrest Gump's.

They were drafted into the army, trained, and deployed to Vietnam. They followed the rules and advanced or retreated. Then, boom, a shell hit them. Some escaped, while others were killed. They didn't have time to think of lofty or derogatory words. Everything came upon them suddenly. They were speechless. In the end, they just wanted to go home and reunite with their loved ones, just like Forrest Gump's speech..."

"Is this your response to those who criticized Forrest Gump for not being anti-war? Do you think they are too shallow and don't really understand the feelings of the soldiers on the battlefield?" Mike Wallace was a well-informed person, and he then raised a more realistic question, but overall his toughness was fair, and he listened to Ronald's statement very seriously.

Ronald was silent for a few seconds, then looked at Wallace and his camera again. "How I want to comment on this war is a matter for politicians and political commentators. As a film director, my task is to truthfully reflect the real reactions of different people to the war...

Just as you said, Forrest Gump in the movie is an attitude, the anti-war female college students are also an attitude, and the general who unplugged the microphone is also an attitude. I have no intention of evaluating their moral standards. What the movie can do is to reproduce that period of history on the screen... I think after the movie was released, many veterans told me that this was the most realistic Vietnam War movie they had ever seen, and many anti-war activists at the time also told me that this was the most realistic movie they had ever seen reflecting anti-war activities. I think that is the highest praise for my movie..."

"So you pay more attention to their reviews than to film critics?" Wallace continued to ask.

"The opinions of the film critics are very insightful, but I am more moved by the comments of those who have experienced that period of history. They told me that it was just like that on the battlefields of the Vietnam War. It was drizzling one moment, then cleared up the next, and then immediately came under enemy fire..."

"Oh, this is definitely an experience that only those who have experienced the battlefield can understand. I just heard that your first job in Hollywood was working for Roger Corman. For people outside of Hollywood, the first reaction is, who is he?"

"Well, that's a fair question... He was the master of low-budget Hollywood productions and it was at his place that I first met my good friend James Cameron."

As the interview gradually went well, Ronald also became more cautious. Mike Wallace's skills were there, and there would definitely be many more difficult questions for him to deal with in the future.

(End of this chapter)