Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 247 Twenty-five boys!
"The situation is like this. When we asked Gary to submit the edited version of Alien to the Motion Picture Association for classification, they said that our film was full of blood and horror scenes and asked us to modify it according to their requirements."

"This situation is actually very common. Normally, we are willing to delete some scenes that the public thinks are inappropriate from the film. But the problem is that this time, the revision suggestion form they issued was not sincere at all! These beasts listed a total of 75 revision points! This is equivalent to asking us to re-edit the movie! More importantly, if we make the revisions according to their requirements, the whole movie will become fragmented! It will be unwatchable!"

"So, we felt strange and went to the film society."

"To be honest, on the way there, I told George that we might be targeted."

"After we went to the Film Association and communicated with them, we found that things were even more outrageous."

"Because when we said that it was impossible for a horror movie to delete all the horror elements, the guys firmly said that the horror elements in the movie Alien had to be deleted!"

"Even though I took out my copy of Jaws and said that the scale was not like this before, the people in the association still said that the scale is like this now!"

"Because Alien is a movie known to everyone in the world!"

"When the whole of America knew that Alien would be released together with Starfield this summer, for the healthy growth of children, we had to edit Alien into a G-rated movie that people of all ages can watch!"

"MFxxk!"

"What kind of idiotic theory is this?"

"I get angry when I think about this now!"

"Aren't these sons of bitches just provoking?"

"Not only that, those bastards also said that if we don't make the changes according to their requirements, they will give the movie "Alien" an X rating! People under the age of seventeen will not be allowed to enter!"

"Even if I! Steven Spielberg! And he! George Lucas! We are the producers of this movie, it won't work! They will only accept modification as a solution!"

“When I heard this, I got furious!”

"Who do these guys think they are? Do they think their power is innate? Without us, how could these sons of bitches have the power they have now?"

"If they dare to threaten us today, we can make them leave tomorrow!"

"So at that time, I went straight to the office of Jack Valenti, the president of the Film Association. I wanted Jack to get rid of these guys whose brains were caught in the door!"

"Then……"

"When George and I broke into Jack Valenti's office, we had some physical contact with those people. Maybe because my fist felt their shamelessness, it swung up and gave those sons of bitches a close kiss!"

"Some tables, chairs and benches beside George also flew up. Please ask them to sit down!"

"About a dozen people? We sent them all to the hospital!"

"The worst one, can't get out of bed for a month!"

When Ethan took a chartered plane and arrived at George Lucas's home in Los Angeles, what he saw was Steven Spielberg with his hands wrapped in gauze and George Lucas with a cane.

While he was asking questions in confusion, wanting to know how the two of them ended up like this, Spielberg, who was sickly lying on the sofa, suddenly took off and started giving orders and making speeches.

Excitement was mixed with saliva, and resentment ignited anger. Amid the roars, Ethan also got a general understanding of what had happened. Then he frowned.

The Film Association forced them to change horror films into popular films? Otherwise, they would be labeled as dirty?

Isn’t this special code targeted at people?

When the scary aliens turn into Teletubbies, who would still go to the cinema to watch movies?
When the guy that suddenly jumped out of the human body was not an alien, but a Makkabaka...

hiss--

Oh grass!

This scene seems even more terrifying!

cough cough-

Although Spielberg was very tactful in this regard, only saying that those people in the Film Association looked down on him and Lucas, but Ethan knew with his own eyes that this matter must be related to his enemies, or in other words, they were the ones who did it!
"Warner? Steve Ross?"

"MGM? Kirk Kerkorian?"

"Disney? Ron Miller?"

Ethan called out the name of his enemy like a dish, then he gave Spielberg a probing but sure look, "They did it, right?"

This question made Spielberg, who was previously shaking his fist, smile lightly and sit back on the sofa.

Lucas, who had been silent since Ethan arrived, tapped his cane, as if to attract Ethan's attention, but more like a silent affirmation.

The silence between the two made Ethan snort and lean back on the sofa.

He casually put his feet on the coffee table, and at this moment, his face was full of smiles.

In fact, on the way here, Ethan had already asked Gary Kurtz, the president of Destiny Pictures, who came to report the cause and outcome of the incident.

Although that guy's words were vague, only saying that Spielberg and Lucas had a conflict with some staff members of the American Film Association, and he didn't know the specifics, how could Ethan not guess the answer?

When the words "Alien", "Film Association", and "Contradiction" appear together, it can only prove that his enemies have already taken action. If Ethan were Warner, MGM, or Disney, when he found that his enemies were expanding their territory in his own field, no matter how well-mannered he was, he would retaliate crazily.

“So what’s going on in Hollywood right now?”

"Those three companies have been forced to officially unite by me?"

"I haven't paid attention to the entertainment industry for a long time since I put Steve Ross down."

Ethan put his hands on his stomach and asked in a calm tone.

This question made the two people beside him smile. After exchanging glances, Lucas, who was already tied to the Game of Destiny, spoke up, "Ethan, although the three companies haven't issued a statement of cooperation, we all know that if only one company takes action, the Film Association will not take a clear stand."

"And the situation of these three families..."

"Under your attack, Warner Bros. suffered a net loss of more than 150 million last year. Their Superman did not meet box office expectations at all. It has only earned more than 70 million after two months of release. The arcade is even worse. According to our understanding, Superman has only sold more than 3,000 units so far."

"MGM's losses have exceeded 50 million. They officially withdrew their acquisition of Columbia Pictures last month. Since their acquisition agreement included a termination fee, they need to pay Columbia Pictures' shareholders 7.5 million U.S. dollars in cash."

"Disney's situation isn't good either. After Roy Disney publicly stated that he had your support, many of Disney's external shareholders contacted Roy Disney, wanting to know the progress of the matter. This action will cause countless topics to emerge at their shareholders' meeting this year. Even if Ron Miller can suppress those voices with his staunch allies, this kind of thing is like a spring, right? The harder he suppresses it now, the harder it will rebound later."

"Oh, so they want to eat me alive now?" Ethan asked with a smile.

However, although he was asking, he did not intend to wait for a response and continued: "This is really some good news! Because the more miserable the opponent is, the happier I am!"

The unconcealed thought made the two people on the side stunned for a moment, and then they smiled.

The two of them might think the current situation is very serious, but for Ethan...

Warner, MGM, and Disney have joined forces?
So what?

Just a chicken and a dog!

If I can beat you once, I can beat you a second time!
"Okay, since you know that the deletion order for Alien was issued by those guys in retaliation, why didn't you tell me directly? Instead, go to the Film Association and reason with them?"

Ethan was a little confused on this matter.

His words made Spielberg a little embarrassed, and he rubbed his nose with his index finger. Lucas said, "Oh Ethan, under normal circumstances, we do have to communicate with you, because Warner, MGM and Disney are all targeting you, but this matter is special, so we decided to do it ourselves."

"The current president of the Motion Picture Association, Jack Valenti, was promoted to the position by Universal Chairman Sidney Sheinberg. With him in office, Universal can influence everything in the Motion Picture Association."

"So we thought that even if Warner, MGM and Disney put pressure on the MPAA at the same time, with Steven around, it should be very easy to change the movie rating."

"But I didn't expect..."

At this point, Lucas stopped and looked at Spielberg.

The guy who felt the stare sighed and took over the conversation.

"But I didn't expect Jack Valenti to not meet with me at all..."

It turns out that the trigger for Spielberg and Lucas to cause trouble in the Film Association was not the hostility of the staff in the Film Association, but the avoidance of the president Jack Valenti.

When the two rushed into the office of the president of the Film Association, wanting him to expel all those self-satisfied idiots, what they saw was an empty room.

This fact made Spielberg smell something unusual.

Because before going to the Film Association, he had already called the Film Association.

He knew Jack Valenti was in the Society.

But when they got there, Jack Valenti slipped away?
Wouldn't that make him a clown?
After the guys who followed him said that he, Spielberg, was the one who felt extremely good about himself, Spielberg, realizing that he had been fooled, came into conflict with those guys.

But this is normal, right?

When a person discovers that the guy who once looked down upon him is now crawling on his head to shit?

Anyone would be angry about this.

More importantly, when those guys get to the top not by their own strength but by relying on the power of others, it would be a miracle if Spielberg, who has two movies that have grossed over 100 million yuan, can tolerate it.

After the two brothers explained all the mess, Ethan, who was leaning on the sofa, also frowned.

He understood what Lucas and Spielberg meant, and Ethan actually thought the same way.

When Alien was distributed by Universal and Lucas and Fox were producing Star Wars sequels, Roy Disney could change the direction of the wind within the Disney Group. Even if the Motion Picture Association threatened him under pressure from Warner, MGM and Disney, he could easily solve the problem.

But now, Universal is powerless?
Then this matter...

That's a bit troublesome.

"What's going on now?" Ethan asked in a deep voice, "What happened to Jack Valenti?"

Spielberg didn't want to answer the question, and Lucas shrugged and spread his hands.

"What else could it be? Betrayal."

"But this is normal. He is not a loyal person."

"Or maybe he is only loyal to money..."

Jack Valenti participated in World War II. After retiring, he returned to his hometown of Houston, received a bachelor's degree in business administration from the University of Houston, and then went to Harvard to study for an MBA.

His first job was as an advertising planner for ConocoPhillips, an old-school capitalist in Texas who was once a part of old Rockefeller's Standard Oil.

Because Jack Valenti had good abilities, with the recommendation of ConocoPhillips, he met the then Senate Majority Leader, the future Mi Zhenzong, and officially entered the official career. He served as Mi Lezong's press officer during his reign. After Lezong was assassinated, he witnessed Zhenzong's inauguration on Air Force One and became his first special assistant.

On the surface, Jack Valenti rose to fame overnight, but he did not forget who has the final say in this country. No matter how long he stays in Washington, he is just a secretary and at most a member of Capitol Hill in the future. If he follows the capitalists, he will get much more.

So, when Universal invited him to come to the Motion Picture Association of America to take charge, he decisively resigned from his job in Washington and became the chairman of the Motion Picture Association of America and the political spokesperson for Hollywood giants.

After taking office, he worked diligently for the capitalists.

He came up with the first film rating rules in America so that the bosses behind the scenes could better promote their films to the public. As for those scenes that "slipped through the net" in certain movies?

The blame lies with the censors.

Later, when Philips and Sony came out with videotapes, he went to Capitol Hill on behalf of the interests of Hollywood giants and asked lawmakers to restrict the sale of projectors by Philips and Sony, saying that the emergence of home videotapes would lead to a surge in piracy and the death of the film industry.

But when his boss Universal and Philips reached a cooperation on CD players, he immediately changed his tune and said that the emergence of CDs was the greatest progress in human entertainment. In short, everything is about money.

He will cheer for whoever gives him power.

Everyone in the circle knew that Jack Valenti was a retainer of Universal. When Spielberg, the prince of Universal, found out that the movie he produced was targeted by the association, his instinctive reaction was to find the other party to solve the problem. However, no one could Unexpectedly, one of his own dogs bit his owner.

This is what makes Spielberg most angry.

He felt offended.

When Spielberg told Universal's boss Sidney Sheinberg about this, the news he got made Universal furious, because under the bribery of Warner's boss Steve Ross, Jack Valenti had completely turned to Warner, and the price he paid was...

It’s the letters of recommendation from prestigious schools that Jack Valenti’s children need;
It's the future job for Jack Valenti's kids.

Warner boss Steve Ross promised that in the future, Jack Valenti's children would be directly hired to work at Warner, in any position and on any project.

Not only that, because Steve Ross's current wife is the daughter of an oil family, Steve Ross can also send Jack Valenti's children into the oil industry.

In short, as long as Jack Valenti followed Steve Ross, Steve Ross would guarantee that his child would have no worries about food and clothing for the rest of his life. Then, Jack Valenti, who had always been concerned about money, accepted it.

"so……"

"Now he belongs to Warner."

At this point, Lucas also sighed and looked at Ethan.

"With Jack Valenti's betrayal, the situation is now very unfavorable for us."

"Because our greatest strength in the Motion Picture Association is Jack Valenti, once we lose him, we will face the most severe attacks from our peers."

"Now, the entire Motion Picture Association has eight members, namely Paramount, Fox, MGM, Disney, Columbia, Warner, Universal Studios, and a small company, Embassy Pictures."

"When we at Universal were unable to influence the association, the power of MGM, Disney, and Warner was enough to fight against everything. Even if you brought in Paramount and Embassy Pictures, we would still lag behind in the vote count."

"Because we dumped Columbia before."

"so--"

"We don't actually know what to do with the movie Alien now."

"The reality before us is that this movie simply cannot pass review."

"Then--"

“It cannot be shown.”

As Lucas finished his words, Spielberg suddenly laughed at himself.

As a superstar in Hollywood and a big director with two movies that grossed over 100 million yuan, he can't even get his movies approved by censors. This is simply ridiculous!
Especially when George Lucas is sitting next to him...

This matter is even more hilarious!

Of course, Spielberg and Lucas both understood that this was a struggle between capitals, and it was not something a small director could contend with, but... even if a movie ranked first, it would still be suppressed by capital?

Then what’s the point of filming this movie?
"MFxxk!"

Thinking of this, Spielberg pounded the sofa in anger.

With a dull thud, Lucas also lowered his head.

Ethan had actually completely grasped the emotions of the two people, but he did not say anything to comfort them. First, he did not know how to comfort them, and second, he himself did not know how to resolve the matter.

If before, Warner's method of stepping on others to get to the top was a crooked way, and the combination of film and games was an innovation, then now, this kind of blockade on review is a conspiracy to keep each other warm!

I won’t compare products with you!
I won't compete with you for the market!
I will use my industry-leading position and identity as a rule-maker to prevent you from launching any projects!

This special one is the most disgusting!
'Damn it!'

After cursing in his heart, Ethan turned his attention back to the matter itself.

Now that Warner has made the move, he must take it.

As for the breaking point...

“So the power mechanism of the Film Association is one person, one vote?”

Ethan wants to find out how the film society works.

"Or, how did the president of your film association come about?"

The two understood what Ethan meant.

Lucas said, "Ethan, it is unrealistic to replace Jack Valenti because the president of the Film Association is elected by the members themselves, that is, the film companies in the association."

"Voting to remove Jack Valenti is indeed the best way to get him out of office, but we clearly don't have enough votes right now, and there is no term limit for this position. As long as the president wants to do it and the members don't vote to remove him, the president can continue to do it until he dies."

"..."

Ethan was speechless.

"Is this a guaranteed job?"

He scratched his head.

"Then - there is no check and balance?" Ethan asked again.

"Yes." Lucas nodded and said, "In fact, the Film Association and the film rating committee are not the same department. The Film Association will not directly interfere with the work of the rating committee, but..."

“The ratings committee members are ordinary people.”

"They will be some American parents, some children, some ordinary people in society."

“Although they are the first unit to censor films, they are very easy to buy.”

"If they issue a rating that is not acceptable to the producer, then the producer can appeal to the Ratings Board's Appeals Committee, where it will be reviewed."

"And Alien was shot down in the first unit."

"So that means we can appeal?" Ethan understood.

At the same time, I wondered, “Why don’t we appeal?”

"Because the members of the appeal committee are the presidents of major film companies."

Spielberg tilted his head and said, "Since this organization was established by the film company itself, how could the film company hand over power to outsiders?"

"So-called fairness, justice and openness are all for outsiders to see, okay?"

'have to……'

Ethan is really speechless now.

In order to ensure that the power of film censorship can be firmly controlled by the Hollywood giants, they did not give the association too much power from the beginning! In this case, once several companies form a group, the isolated company will definitely suffer a fatal blow!
There is no solution to this kind of thing!

I can't even think of a solution for Lianqiu!

When this fact came to light...

Ethan just felt like he was screwed.

The movie was filmed but cannot be released?
This special code...

Just as he was scratching his head, wondering if Spielberg's mentor had any professional advice, the phone at Lucas's house suddenly rang.

Since the other two were too lazy to move, Ethan stood up and answered the phone.

then……

Only then did he realize that the guy on the other end of the phone was Evelin, and she was looking for him.

Not only that, the other party also brought new news.

"Vinton has found out that the project teams that are attacking him now are roughly the same as those who raised doubts two years ago. However, the new people seem to have problems."

“It seems that those professors and scholars have all received funding from Rockwell.”

"What did you say?" Ethan raised his voice!

"Which company?"

"Rockwell?"

He suspected that he had heard it wrong!
But Evelyn on the other end of the phone replied affirmatively: "Yes, it's Rockwell."

"so--"

"I'll be right back!" Ethan made the decision.

After hanging up the phone, I was about to say hello and leave, but I swallowed the words back.

"Steven, George, please come with me."

Ethan looked at the two salted fish on the sofa who had lost their dreams and said, "I have something I have to go back to deal with. This matter is no less serious than Alien, so you should come back with me and discuss the solution to the Alien incident with me."

"Okay?"

Although it was a question, the tone left no room for doubt.

Spielberg and Lucas did not hesitate. One jumped up and the other walked with a cane.

Although they still have a lot of work to do in Los Angeles, those things are not important at all!

When no matter how good a movie is, it cannot become capital...

How to become capital and shoot what they want to shoot, that is what they want to do most!
And now, if Ethan wins this confrontation, the Hollywood giants will be finished.

When they all took out the nuclear weapon of industry rules, could Ethan still break through the siege?

what--

Then Warner and the others will have no way to block Ethan from now on!
I have exhausted all my tricks!

And them?
oh! ——

They are all brothers!

Note: ① In reality, Jack Valenti has a daughter named Courtenay Valenti, who did enter Warner through Steve Ross. She was initially the president of Warner's development department, managing the budget of movies, and made "You've Got Mail", "A Little Princess", and "The Iron Giant". Later, she entered the creative department and developed "Happy Feet", "The Great Gatsby", "Crazy Miles", and "The Internship", the last four Harry Potter films. Warner really spent a lot of money to compete with Universal for talent, but fortunately, they had a good eye. ② The selection system for the president of the American Film Association is a member recommendation system, and the final review is in office. The review committee that ordinary people see is useless. The ultimate power lies with the appeal committee composed of executives of various companies. In 06, a movie called "Unrated Films" talked about this matter. The director also revealed how the big studios got the distribution rights of small companies. If small companies want to build their own distribution systems, the big studios will directly raise the ratings of small companies' movies and force them to hand over the movies to themselves. This is how Steve Ross's tactics described in the article worked in reality, and even Nafei was rejected by them in the first place.

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(End of this chapter)