MTL - Exploiting Hollywood 1980-Chapter 910 video game adaptation

  Chapter 910 Video Game Adaptation

   The next day, Ronald attended a ceremony in West Berlin, announcing the gift of a copy of "Dirty Dancing" to Hannah's charity, which was followed by a long run in three movie theaters.

  West Berlin was very moved during the ceremony, and even dispatched an official representative to attend the ceremony. At the meeting, charitable organizations and ordinary people expressed their gratitude to Ronald for his kindness, and the applause continued for a long time.

   Ronald felt good, stretched out his hands, and waved them to stop.

  As a result, the gesture was misunderstood by the participants. Everyone thought that Ronald stood up and waved, hoping for more enthusiastic applause. So all the participants stood up and applauded, and some people shouted America, Hollywood and other slogans in English, and some even came up to hug him.

   Is this really loving yourself? It was the first time for Ronald to be hugged by the audience like this, and his heart warmed up. He whispered to Cannold, and then announced that he would transfer a batch of videotapes of the movies he shot to give them to facilitate those who came from East Germany. "Immigration" to watch.

  I don't understand the West Berlin people's favor towards America. Unlike the Japanese people who were also a defeated country, they feared and obeyed America, but the people of West Berlin seemed to really like America from the bottom of their hearts.

  Talked about his observations with Hannah, and Hannah explained Ronald's confusion. At the beginning of the Cold War, West Berlin relied on American air transport to guarantee daily supplies. President Kennedy's speech "Today I am a Berliner" at the Brandenburg Gate was once a warm memory of West Berliners.

  And last year, the current commander-in-chief visited West Berlin again. In the same place, he once again delivered a speech with the theme of "Mr. Mikhail, please tear down this wall!" as the commander-in-chief of Amerika.

  After that, the number of immigrants from the East through various channels has doubled. The people of West Germany, especially the residents of West Berlin, have an attitude towards America, which has a large German population.

  Ronald also likes this country with a high proportion of people who speak English, and he has a good impression of Hollywood. The film production industry in his own country is weak, and this is the best place to dump movies. Cultivate a relationship with them now, and in the future, the movies produced and distributed by my daydream will have a solid box office market.

  Actually, many European producers have also discovered this opportunity. The Chinese film "Kung Fu Master", which participated in the selection of the Golden Bear Awards this year, also tried to be the same as Hollywood movies. After the screening, it will be released in German theaters immediately. The hair country distribution manager will meet with Michelle Cannold in almost every business meeting this time.

  The information Cannold brought back is that this Chinese movie has been favored by many movie buyers.

   "Oh, do Germans also like Kung Fu movies?" Ronald asked casually. To sell a film here, it is important to understand the preferences of the local audience.

   "Haha, Kung Fu Master is the name of a video game, but it's actually a typical Chinese film, a story of a mother and her daughter's classmates, and **** scenes." Cannold knew that Ronald didn't watch French movies.

   "Oh..." Now there are no commercial film masters like Truffaut in the Chinese film industry, and it has been reduced to the point of using this kind of thing to attract the audience, but what is the game of this "Kung Fu Master"? Seems like it's very popular in Europe right now? According to Cannold, at the end of the film, Julian, a high school student who is the leading actor, won the championship of this game competition.

  …

   "Ada, Ada...ah..."

  Back to Ronald in New York, someone found a "Kung Fu Master" cassette, inserted it into the newly bought Nintendo game console, and started playing. This game is very addicting and totally different from all other games like airplane shooting.

   This is a kung fu fighting game. The protagonist is an oriental man. After his girlfriend was snatched away by bad guys, he went to an old castle alone, and then he had to beat the enemies that kept coming with his fists and kicks on each floor, and beat them as he went forward.

  The most annoying thing is that the enemies who come from behind throwing knives from time to time have to squat or jump to avoid the flying knives. Ronald managed to get to the bottom of the level and saw a staircase leading to the second floor, but was knocked down by the boss who rushed over with a wooden stick.

   "Hahaha, you're dead again." Donna was gloating next to her. She just came to see Ronald, and as soon as she entered the door, she found her cousin playing an interesting game.

   "This game is really difficult", Ronald put down the handle, and played for more than half an hour without knowing it, really addictive. Today's video games have developed to such a realistic level.

   "What movie does the main character look like? I saw it on the cover of your video." Donna pointed to the main character of the Kung Fu master on the TV screen and said to Ronald.

   "I don't know, the cry is imitated by Bruce Lee." Ronald watched Enter the Dragon, that Ada, Ada's call was exactly the same.

"But people look different, right? This person is fatter than Bruce Lee, and has long hair." Donna pointed to the release of the villain and said to Ronald, "It's that kind of movie, your friend from Xiangjiang made it. of."

   "Jackie Chan?" Ronald came back to his senses, this character really resembles him. He quickly dug out the "Food Truck" video tape that JackieChan gave him. Isn't the chubby figure on the cover the protagonist in the game?

  Suspicious Ronald picked up the phone and called Jackie Chan from Xiangjiang.

   "Hey, Luo Sheng, do you have something to do with Aaron?" Sister Jiao gave the phone to JackieChan.

"Ronald, your movie 'The World of Boxing' is almost done. You can invite Brooke Stoudemire to make a movie? There are many advertisers who want to hire her to shoot commercials, and we all want to cooperate with her, you Can you ask her to stay and make a few movies?"

"Bo Ji has a lot of advertising contracts in Dongying, and she will go there after the filming of Boxing World. You help the publisher in Xiangjiang to speak well, and maybe the advertiser in Xiangjiang who is looking for him can offer a starting price." Rona Derby declined for Brooke.

   "I know, I know, advertisers in Dongying pay a lot of money, and I also cooperate with them. Who are you calling this time?"

"I have something to ask you. Your 'Food Truck' has been adapted into a video game. I want to ask how it works here?" Ronald really wanted to ask, this "Kung Fu Master" game is so popular , I have also filmed Longwei Boy, and Break Dance, and adapted it into a game to get a license fee, which also opens up a profit channel for low-cost production.

   "What video game? I don't know? Does anyone know? Has anyone made a game with my appearance?"

  Jackie Chan didn't know at all. Ronald didn't expect that the game developers like Dongpu were actually pirated works that didn't buy him the right to use them.

The two investigated for a long time, and finally the lawyer at Xiangjiang said that they had discovered this side-scrolling video game, but because the name was changed to Thomas by the game company, and the character image was too low-resolution, it was difficult to prove it in court. It is adapted according to the appearance of Jackie Chan.

  It seems that they paired Jackie Chan's appearance with Bruce Lee's strange name, which is a strange trick they thought of to avoid legal risks.

  Jackie Chan sent a lawyer's letter to the game company without mentioning it, and Ronald also called the lawyer lady Lindsay Dole for consultation.

  The result of their lawyer team's research is that there is no famous case for this kind of lawsuit in which video games imitate the copyright image of film and television characters. In addition to Sony, which has a lot of business in America, other Japanese game manufacturers, such as Nintendo and Sega, have their main game production business in Japan, and it is very difficult to defend rights across borders.

  The images of some famous Hollywood figures who have tried to defend their rights are also easily circumvented by Dongying lawyers. For example, the Nintendo game Donkey Kong produced in 1981, the image design and name are copied from the famous Hollywood monster King Kong (King Kong).

Universal is the copyright owner of King Kong's image. Ronald's old acquaintance, Universal's chairman Sid Simberg, sued Nintendo in the name of infringement, demanding huge compensation, and the retail price of each game sold 3% of the image usage fee.

  However, Nintendo is not easy to bully. They have been prepared for a long time. The Donkey Kong that entered the American market was renamed as "Donkey Kong" in an attempt to get away with it.

   Ronald looked at the dossier and laughed out loud. Now the display effect of the game console on the home TV is terrible, and the characters are all colored blocks. If it weren't for this, it would be very difficult to call a gorilla a donkey.

  Global's lawyers are not easy to mess with, they immediately put forward another reason. In this Donkey Kong game, a man who looks like a plumber goes to save a beautiful woman who was captured by a monster. On the way, avoid the stones thrown by Donkey Kong from above.

  Universal believes that this plot is a copy of the classic monster movie produced by RKO Films back then.

  Actor, beauty, gorilla monster, these elements are combined, and the judges immediately start to favor Universal Pictures' point of view. Although Nintendo argues that the villain is a donkey rather than a gorilla, the same plot cannot be denied.

   Unexpectedly, just when Nintendo was about to admit to losing money, one of the lawyers they hired was named John Kirby, who discovered a big loophole in Universal's indictment.

   Originally, under the latest amendments to the Copyright Act. American classic movies can enjoy 70 years of copyright protection. The copyright of King Kong filmed by RKO in 1933 will not expire until the next century.

  But after RKO's film library was bought by Universal, there was a problem in the handover process. The revised Copyright Act in 1976 automatically enjoys 70 years of copyright for new films made after that. However, for the previous movies, the studio needed to do copyright registration in order to extend the copyright of the old movie to 70 years.

A large number of film studios such as RKO, United Artists, etc. are now closed down and reorganized, and their film libraries have been sold to many film companies. There are many times in the middle. The legal department of Universal forgot to register the copyright of this blockbuster film. . Now under the Copyright Act, the copyright has expired and it has entered the public domain, and anyone can use it without paying Universal.

  Not only that, Nintendo also entrusted John Kirby to countersuit Universal. In the judgment last year, Universal should compensate Nintendo US$1.8 million in legal fees and reputation damage.

  After this incident, when game manufacturers enter the American market, they will rename the names of characters suspected of infringement. For example, the character image of Jackie Chan is used in this game. The Japanese version of the game is called Kung Fu Master, but the American version has been renamed to Spartan X.

   Ronald saw that there was no legal precedent for licensing fees to support himself in authorizing Dongying Game Company to adapt Longwei Boy to the game, so he put out his thoughts. However, he continued to ask Lindsay Dole to do research and follow-up on the copyright law of video games for himself. Once there are precedents and opportunities, he can try to adapt his own movie.

   Ronald, who continued to prepare for "Working Girl" in New York, finally waited for Harrison Ford.

  He caused a sensation as soon as he dropped the crew. Actors, including the lead actress Melanie Griffiths and the supporting actress Joan Cusack, rushed to talk to Harrison.

  Harrison Ford, no matter where he goes, there will be a group of actresses following him around, pretending to discuss issues beside him, but actually watching Harrison secretly.

  Not only the actresses, but also the staff of the face crew, makeup artists, hair stylists, scene writers, and other female personnel, intentionally or unintentionally, came over to talk to Harrison Ford.

   Particularly over-the-top is an actress who plays Tess's secretary companion, Nora Dern. She simply walked around Harrison Ford for a long time, and often stuck her head out from behind Ronald, trying to smile with the idol, or make eye contact, trying to get Harrison to strike up a conversation with her.

   "I can't do this..." Harrison Ford took the script, as if he had just started to read it carefully today, he turned to a page, and there was a scene of Jack Trainor and Tess flirting at the elevator entrance.

   Jack Trainor wanted to date Tess, but Tess declined to further develop a personal relationship with him because she wanted to focus on work.

   "What can't be done?" Ronald was asked with question marks in his mind. It's about to turn on, and you told me that you can't act?

"My image, ahem, I mean, it doesn't quite fit Jack Trainor's persona. He's a Wall Street loner, prodigal, and doesn't talk to women like that. You know, Jack doesn't know What does it mean to be rejected by a woman?"

  Harrison Ford's intention is very clear, he is a star, and a star is always chased, dreamed, and secretly loved by women. It is impossible for him to be rejected by a woman. There is no such thing as Tess not wanting to fall in love with him first, and then falling in love with him after getting to know him better.

  Stars must make women fall in love with them as soon as they appear on stage. No reason, no reason. Otherwise, how could they still be stars?

   "This is a good point..." Ronald felt that from Harrison Ford's point of view, this made sense. Anyway, this is not an important part of this movie. If Harrison Ford and Melanie Griffiths have a chemical reaction like this, it is not impossible.

   "Oh, Harrison, that's what you are, Ronald, we should listen to him, shouldn't we?"

   Actress Nora Dunn, who had become a nympho, actually spoke up beside her.

  Ronald turned his head to look at her, this stupid woman is crazy and can't find a place? I'm a director and producer, and I'm negotiating terms with the biggest star in the crew, so what's the matter with you speaking out?

   "Oh, I...I'm sorry..." Nora Dunn realized that this was not something she could talk about.

"It's okay, you must like the character I played, right? What's your name?" Harrison Ford was still very kind to this actor's fans, looking at her with the iconic smirk with his mouth crooked, and then he was gentle and masculine Angrily excused Nora.

   "My name is Nora, Nora Dunn. Nice to meet you, Harrison", Nora Dunn was on the verge of tears. She sneaked her right hand into her pocket and pulled off her wedding ring. Then stepped forward and hugged each other like a fan girl.

   "Oh, be careful, be careful, I've got you..." Harrison hugged her tenderly.

   Ronald looked at the ring-shaped skin on Nora's right ring finger, which was a bit lighter than other parts, and put his hand on his forehead. This star's charm is really great.

   There are stars who can assist the box office, but there are also problems caused by stars.

  Ronald felt that this kind of temporary request to modify the plot and lines in the script would not be rare, so he called the screenwriter Kevin Wade. Let him stay on the set, and if there are some temporary problems, a screenwriter can revise part of Harrison's script on the spot.

   "Sorry, Ronald, I can't go to the crew." Kevin Wade replied in a very soft voice on the phone.

"You can't come to the set? What do you mean you can't come to the set? This is your script, don't you want to watch Harrison Ford play the character you created Jack Trainor? Kevin, you have to come if you We have other business, we can discuss it, right?"

   Ronald felt that things were not going well after returning from West Berlin. Is Kevin Wade going to fight with him in order to collect money?

"There is no other business, Ronald. The Western and Eastern Screenwriters Union, and the negotiations with the Producers Union tend to break down. The union notice letter I received yesterday, starting today, I am not allowed to participate in any script writing, modification, Or a writer-doctor consultative program. I'm sorry, Ronald."

   "Ah..." Ronald heard the bad news. Why are you going on strike?

   "Mr. Ronald Lee, as the joint representative of the Western Screenwriters Union and the Eastern Screenwriters Union, I am here to inform you that as a member of the Screenwriters Union, we need you to suspend any screenwriting work and wait for the union to notify you."

   Sure enough, not long after, a trade union representative came to the door and personally sent a notice letter asking Ronald to suspend his screenwriting work.

   "I'm also a member of the screenwriters union..." Ronald hadn't thought of his identity for a long time. I haven't written a pen for a long time, and the dividends from the screenwriters' union are only tens or hundreds of dollars, which is only enough to pay the membership fee by myself.

   "Sorry, I am also the director of this film. As a director, I will continue to do preparatory work here."

"This is your freedom, Mr. Li, but we will film representatives stationed in various major Hollywood productions, assist in the supervision of screenwriters' union members, and not work in private before reaching an agreement. I hope you can understand." The union representative left after speaking .

   "Damn it, what's going on, those idiots from our Producers Association, why haven't we negotiated with the Screenwriters Union yet, what's going on?" Ronald immediately called Eddie, the general manager of Daydream.

   "The Screenwriters Union has a new negotiator. He is very tough, and we have no way to communicate with him. It is impossible for the Producers Association to give screenwriters higher dividend points than the Screen Actors Union and the Directors Union." Eddie replied on the phone.

   "And their negotiators are stupid enough to intervene in the director's casting. They want to get the right to negotiate the roles of film and television projects. We can't make concessions..."

   "Damn, what do they think the screenwriter is?" Ronald scolded. No, it seems that I am also a screenwriter myself, and I am still a member of the labor union.

   "We have to have an alternative plan. You can help me find out if there are any good screenwriters who are not members of the screenwriters union, I want to use them. British ones are also fine..."

   "I'll make arrangements right away..."

  (end of this chapter)