NOVEL NEXT Exploiting Hollywood 1980.
Chapter 242 Interview
Chapter 242 Interview
Universal's president, Tom Mount, met Ronald and his accompanying Nisita in his office.
At the age of 33, he became the eighth major, no, he is the president in charge of production of the seventh major studios. Mount is now proud of himself. He took up this position at the age of 27. Over the past few years, he has personally initiated, supervised, or provided financing, and has produced more than 100 films in total.
For various types of movies that are popular nowadays, he has great confidence and predicts the level of profitability in advance.
Ronald, who was welcomed by the secretary, noticed that on the wall of the office, there was a replica of an interview page from Time Magazine, which was framed in a wooden frame.The interview inside referred to Mount as Baby Mogul, a hot and powerful man in Hollywood.
The young Mount had a good demeanor. The handmade suit with metal buckles seemed to fit more closely than Ronald's, and it should be much more expensive. It might be a tailor from Savile Row in London.
Mount, who has dealt with Nisita quite a bit, stood up and hugged him.
But Ronald still reached out to shake his hand. He had met David Lynch once before, but maybe the busy president had forgotten himself.Just use the etiquette of meeting for the first time.
"You must be Ronald, please sit down. Could you please bring us two cups of coffee, can you add sugar?" Mount warmly shook Ronald's hand and beckoned the secretary to bring coffee to the two.
The three sat down, and Mount asked, "Ronald, tell me what this movie looks like in your mind."
Ronald knew that the first critical question came today.For directors who have just debuted and have no experience in directing feature films in theaters, the most important thing for the producer to interview them is to examine, discover, and evaluate the other party's directing level through questions.
Simply put, tell me what kind of picture you can direct the on-site technical team, and actors, to shoot.
"I wanted to make 'Fast Pace' into a movie about growing up as a teenager, reflecting the life of high school students in California. When the audience sees it, these high school students will feel that these high school students are so real, as if they are in the high school next door. go to school.
Therefore, the background of the movie is realistic, and the tone is slightly exaggerated light comedy. The six main student characters represent the six typical types of students today. "
Ronald spoke out the words he had practiced for a long time, and he took out a cardboard board from his briefcase, on which six categories were written on colored paper cards.
"They are
Big brother Brad, who always looks for life experience from books,
Little sister Stacy, who is full of imagination about the opposite sex,
Pretending to be mature, Linda, the social queen who made up a perfect boyfriend,
Nerd 'Rat' Mark, too shy to date girls,
Mike, who was born in a poor family and relied on lip service to make money by all means,
And muddleheaded, but good at surfing, maintaining a childlike Spikeli. "
Ronald pointed to the portraits of the six characters on the cardboard and the character traits written next to them, and explained to Mount.
"Oh, you drew very well. Do you have any considerations for such a classification of characters?" Mount picked up the cardboard and looked at it seriously.
"Yes, I have thought about it." Ronald replied.
"America's high school students have different physical, intellectual, and character development speeds. Students in the same year can have great differences in these three items, which makes people feel that they are not students of the same grade.
You must know that Cameron Crowe, the author of the novel, once went back undercover a few years after graduation, and no one discovered his true identity for a year. "
"The distribution of their development levels in these three items is also different, so there will be several typical characters. For example, a nerd with a poor body and a good brain; another example is an athlete whose body is relatively advanced in brain development...
All kinds of different, and can show different popularity in the social circle of high school.For example, a beautiful social queen, or a little transparent with no social circle at all...
All these character archetypes are deeply engraved in the minds of young audiences.As long as you can see this type of character on the screen, you can think of your classmates and friends around you.
This can greatly enhance the audience's involvement and allow them to integrate into the atmosphere of the story as soon as possible.
……
Of course, a large part of these ideas should be attributed to Cameron Crowe, the author of the original novel. The above are some of my views on the finished film. "
Ronald talked on and on for more than 20 minutes, and Tom Mount listened carefully.
In particular, he was interested in the six different types of high school students, holding the cardboard in his hand and watching it non-stop.
"Very good, Ronald. I have roughly understood your idea of the film. Nisita showed me a few commercials directed by you, which were impressive, but you have no experience directing 90-minute feature films. I Why do you believe in your ability?"
Ronald was well aware of his weaknesses and was ready for a long time, "Although I haven't directed a 90-minute feature film, I have stayed in Roger Corman's crew, shooting low-budget productions. The method has its own understanding.
Later, in the crew of Famous World, I handled many relationships with actors as a crew assistant, and I knew how to stimulate the acting skills of actors.
As for the camera scheduling and the understanding of the overall atmosphere of the film, I think Mr. Mount, you have seen several of my series of advertisements, and the atmosphere is well unified.You can judge for yourself my ability to translate the script into audiovisual language. "
"Very well, what are your thoughts on casting?"
"I used to work in a casting studio in New York, and my view on the characters is: to be as close to the real age of the characters as possible while ensuring that adults can work 8 hours a day and have acting skills guaranteed.
The closeness here, I think it is mainly to choose actors with a temperament similar to high school students. As for the real age of the actors, it is not very important. "
Ronald knew that this question seemed to examine the casting ability, but it was actually an examination of the cost control of low-cost teenage exploitation films.
"Very well, Ronald."
Tom Mount asked some more questions about investigating Ronald's director's scheduling and motivating the actors' acting skills. Finally, he nodded with satisfaction and said to Ronald:
"I appreciate your directorial intentions, and your use of language to express your thoughts on the audition language of the finished film. Especially the classification of this role, can you leave it for me to watch again?"
Ronald glanced at Nisita and saw that the other party nodded slightly, so he readily agreed.
"When can we complete the signing?" Nisita finally asked Mount the most important question.
"We still need to meet some potential candidates. If their performance is not as good as Ronald, we may sign at any time in about two weeks." Mount touched his nose with his hand and said.
"Two weeks?" Ronald repeated.
"Any questions?"
"No, it's absolutely fine." Ronald thought he had to stay in Los Angeles for the next two weeks, so he called back to ask for leave from school.Generally, New York University will support students to participate in the work of the crew, and will also give corresponding credits.If you are a director, you will not stop yourself.
Nisita and Ronald said goodbye and left the office.
After confirming that they were gone, Tom Mount picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"Hello," a woman's voice came from the phone.
"Ronald's strength is very strong... I have a role classification table here, which is his invention, you can come and have a look."
Meanwhile, Ronald got into Nisita's BMW in the parking lot.
"How am I doing?" Ronald asked as soon as he sat down.
"Oh, it's perfect. I can't help but fall in love with your preparation, Ronald. I can't think of any reason not to cast you. There shouldn't be a better choice for this $300 million production. .”
"What? Do you think Mount has other options?" Ronald tensed up and asked hastily.
"Of course, there are always choices in this industry. We often say that it's not what you know, but who you know. In the film industry, it is always the truth.
But your performance is very good, logically there should be no other considerations, not to mention that you are a newcomer and can only ask for a salary of 10 US dollars.At this level, I can't think of a newcomer better than you. "
Nisita still felt a little strange, so she pulled over the car, got out of the car, went to the phone booth and made two or three calls to confirm.
"Is there any news?" Ronald, who was sitting in the car, was actually waiting anxiously.
"No, we haven't heard of any strong candidates yet. But two weeks is an odd time."
"why?"
"If it is a veteran director who needs to wait for his time, Mount can tell us who it is. The competitiveness of newcomers in front of veterans is very weak. We can only pray that the competitor has other better choices, or ask over budget wages.”
Ronald nodded, "Then what if that opponent is also a novice like me?"
"That's even more impossible. Since he is a novice, how can he have the qualifications to let someone of Tom Mount's level wait for him for two weeks?" Nisita felt that this was a doubtful place, but he could not analyze and judge without further information. .
However, he has found a few insiders, and if there is any clear news, he should know it as soon as possible.
"In this case, why don't we forget about him, let's find a place to eat?" Ronald asked.After trying hard to sell himself all afternoon, Ronald felt a little hungry.
"No problem, I know a good steakhouse, I'll treat you today." Nisita started the accelerator and drove to a restaurant next to Hollywood.
"I have a question. If it's not convenient for you to answer, you don't have to answer, Rick." Ronald sat in the co-pilot, opened the window a little, and let the wind blow in through the gap and onto his face.
Today's interview is over, it's a bit like a dream, he needs a little sense of reality to remind himself.In order to realize my director's dream, I have done everything I can, and the rest depends on God's arrangement.
"Come on, what's the question?" Nisita replied.
"Tom Mount is only 33 years old. Last time Richard told me that Shirley Lansing, the president of 20th Century Fox, was not yet 35 years old. Why is such a young person able to become the president of the seven major studios? ? Because they're geniuses?"
"genius?"
Nisita smiled, "I don't know what a producer genius is. In this industry, there are director geniuses, actor geniuses, photography and other technical geniuses, but what is a producer genius?"
"Then why did they become presidents? Is it convenient to say?"
"The virtue of a manager is not to speak ill of others behind anyone's back. But you see they are handsome men and women are retired actors, what do you think they rely on to become presidents?" Nisita asked back.
"I get it, it must be their unparalleled sense of humor."
"Hahaha..." Nisita laughed, "Ronald, you are becoming more and more like a Hollywood director now."
(End of this chapter)
Universal's president, Tom Mount, met Ronald and his accompanying Nisita in his office.
At the age of 33, he became the eighth major, no, he is the president in charge of production of the seventh major studios. Mount is now proud of himself. He took up this position at the age of 27. Over the past few years, he has personally initiated, supervised, or provided financing, and has produced more than 100 films in total.
For various types of movies that are popular nowadays, he has great confidence and predicts the level of profitability in advance.
Ronald, who was welcomed by the secretary, noticed that on the wall of the office, there was a replica of an interview page from Time Magazine, which was framed in a wooden frame.The interview inside referred to Mount as Baby Mogul, a hot and powerful man in Hollywood.
The young Mount had a good demeanor. The handmade suit with metal buckles seemed to fit more closely than Ronald's, and it should be much more expensive. It might be a tailor from Savile Row in London.
Mount, who has dealt with Nisita quite a bit, stood up and hugged him.
But Ronald still reached out to shake his hand. He had met David Lynch once before, but maybe the busy president had forgotten himself.Just use the etiquette of meeting for the first time.
"You must be Ronald, please sit down. Could you please bring us two cups of coffee, can you add sugar?" Mount warmly shook Ronald's hand and beckoned the secretary to bring coffee to the two.
The three sat down, and Mount asked, "Ronald, tell me what this movie looks like in your mind."
Ronald knew that the first critical question came today.For directors who have just debuted and have no experience in directing feature films in theaters, the most important thing for the producer to interview them is to examine, discover, and evaluate the other party's directing level through questions.
Simply put, tell me what kind of picture you can direct the on-site technical team, and actors, to shoot.
"I wanted to make 'Fast Pace' into a movie about growing up as a teenager, reflecting the life of high school students in California. When the audience sees it, these high school students will feel that these high school students are so real, as if they are in the high school next door. go to school.
Therefore, the background of the movie is realistic, and the tone is slightly exaggerated light comedy. The six main student characters represent the six typical types of students today. "
Ronald spoke out the words he had practiced for a long time, and he took out a cardboard board from his briefcase, on which six categories were written on colored paper cards.
"They are
Big brother Brad, who always looks for life experience from books,
Little sister Stacy, who is full of imagination about the opposite sex,
Pretending to be mature, Linda, the social queen who made up a perfect boyfriend,
Nerd 'Rat' Mark, too shy to date girls,
Mike, who was born in a poor family and relied on lip service to make money by all means,
And muddleheaded, but good at surfing, maintaining a childlike Spikeli. "
Ronald pointed to the portraits of the six characters on the cardboard and the character traits written next to them, and explained to Mount.
"Oh, you drew very well. Do you have any considerations for such a classification of characters?" Mount picked up the cardboard and looked at it seriously.
"Yes, I have thought about it." Ronald replied.
"America's high school students have different physical, intellectual, and character development speeds. Students in the same year can have great differences in these three items, which makes people feel that they are not students of the same grade.
You must know that Cameron Crowe, the author of the novel, once went back undercover a few years after graduation, and no one discovered his true identity for a year. "
"The distribution of their development levels in these three items is also different, so there will be several typical characters. For example, a nerd with a poor body and a good brain; another example is an athlete whose body is relatively advanced in brain development...
All kinds of different, and can show different popularity in the social circle of high school.For example, a beautiful social queen, or a little transparent with no social circle at all...
All these character archetypes are deeply engraved in the minds of young audiences.As long as you can see this type of character on the screen, you can think of your classmates and friends around you.
This can greatly enhance the audience's involvement and allow them to integrate into the atmosphere of the story as soon as possible.
……
Of course, a large part of these ideas should be attributed to Cameron Crowe, the author of the original novel. The above are some of my views on the finished film. "
Ronald talked on and on for more than 20 minutes, and Tom Mount listened carefully.
In particular, he was interested in the six different types of high school students, holding the cardboard in his hand and watching it non-stop.
"Very good, Ronald. I have roughly understood your idea of the film. Nisita showed me a few commercials directed by you, which were impressive, but you have no experience directing 90-minute feature films. I Why do you believe in your ability?"
Ronald was well aware of his weaknesses and was ready for a long time, "Although I haven't directed a 90-minute feature film, I have stayed in Roger Corman's crew, shooting low-budget productions. The method has its own understanding.
Later, in the crew of Famous World, I handled many relationships with actors as a crew assistant, and I knew how to stimulate the acting skills of actors.
As for the camera scheduling and the understanding of the overall atmosphere of the film, I think Mr. Mount, you have seen several of my series of advertisements, and the atmosphere is well unified.You can judge for yourself my ability to translate the script into audiovisual language. "
"Very well, what are your thoughts on casting?"
"I used to work in a casting studio in New York, and my view on the characters is: to be as close to the real age of the characters as possible while ensuring that adults can work 8 hours a day and have acting skills guaranteed.
The closeness here, I think it is mainly to choose actors with a temperament similar to high school students. As for the real age of the actors, it is not very important. "
Ronald knew that this question seemed to examine the casting ability, but it was actually an examination of the cost control of low-cost teenage exploitation films.
"Very well, Ronald."
Tom Mount asked some more questions about investigating Ronald's director's scheduling and motivating the actors' acting skills. Finally, he nodded with satisfaction and said to Ronald:
"I appreciate your directorial intentions, and your use of language to express your thoughts on the audition language of the finished film. Especially the classification of this role, can you leave it for me to watch again?"
Ronald glanced at Nisita and saw that the other party nodded slightly, so he readily agreed.
"When can we complete the signing?" Nisita finally asked Mount the most important question.
"We still need to meet some potential candidates. If their performance is not as good as Ronald, we may sign at any time in about two weeks." Mount touched his nose with his hand and said.
"Two weeks?" Ronald repeated.
"Any questions?"
"No, it's absolutely fine." Ronald thought he had to stay in Los Angeles for the next two weeks, so he called back to ask for leave from school.Generally, New York University will support students to participate in the work of the crew, and will also give corresponding credits.If you are a director, you will not stop yourself.
Nisita and Ronald said goodbye and left the office.
After confirming that they were gone, Tom Mount picked up the phone and dialed a number.
"Hello," a woman's voice came from the phone.
"Ronald's strength is very strong... I have a role classification table here, which is his invention, you can come and have a look."
Meanwhile, Ronald got into Nisita's BMW in the parking lot.
"How am I doing?" Ronald asked as soon as he sat down.
"Oh, it's perfect. I can't help but fall in love with your preparation, Ronald. I can't think of any reason not to cast you. There shouldn't be a better choice for this $300 million production. .”
"What? Do you think Mount has other options?" Ronald tensed up and asked hastily.
"Of course, there are always choices in this industry. We often say that it's not what you know, but who you know. In the film industry, it is always the truth.
But your performance is very good, logically there should be no other considerations, not to mention that you are a newcomer and can only ask for a salary of 10 US dollars.At this level, I can't think of a newcomer better than you. "
Nisita still felt a little strange, so she pulled over the car, got out of the car, went to the phone booth and made two or three calls to confirm.
"Is there any news?" Ronald, who was sitting in the car, was actually waiting anxiously.
"No, we haven't heard of any strong candidates yet. But two weeks is an odd time."
"why?"
"If it is a veteran director who needs to wait for his time, Mount can tell us who it is. The competitiveness of newcomers in front of veterans is very weak. We can only pray that the competitor has other better choices, or ask over budget wages.”
Ronald nodded, "Then what if that opponent is also a novice like me?"
"That's even more impossible. Since he is a novice, how can he have the qualifications to let someone of Tom Mount's level wait for him for two weeks?" Nisita felt that this was a doubtful place, but he could not analyze and judge without further information. .
However, he has found a few insiders, and if there is any clear news, he should know it as soon as possible.
"In this case, why don't we forget about him, let's find a place to eat?" Ronald asked.After trying hard to sell himself all afternoon, Ronald felt a little hungry.
"No problem, I know a good steakhouse, I'll treat you today." Nisita started the accelerator and drove to a restaurant next to Hollywood.
"I have a question. If it's not convenient for you to answer, you don't have to answer, Rick." Ronald sat in the co-pilot, opened the window a little, and let the wind blow in through the gap and onto his face.
Today's interview is over, it's a bit like a dream, he needs a little sense of reality to remind himself.In order to realize my director's dream, I have done everything I can, and the rest depends on God's arrangement.
"Come on, what's the question?" Nisita replied.
"Tom Mount is only 33 years old. Last time Richard told me that Shirley Lansing, the president of 20th Century Fox, was not yet 35 years old. Why is such a young person able to become the president of the seven major studios? ? Because they're geniuses?"
"genius?"
Nisita smiled, "I don't know what a producer genius is. In this industry, there are director geniuses, actor geniuses, photography and other technical geniuses, but what is a producer genius?"
"Then why did they become presidents? Is it convenient to say?"
"The virtue of a manager is not to speak ill of others behind anyone's back. But you see they are handsome men and women are retired actors, what do you think they rely on to become presidents?" Nisita asked back.
"I get it, it must be their unparalleled sense of humor."
"Hahaha..." Nisita laughed, "Ronald, you are becoming more and more like a Hollywood director now."
(End of this chapter)
Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.