Chapter 20: Negotiation

Jerry Zucker waved his hands enthusiastically and shouted loudly. One of his hands suddenly brushed Gail's nose. Her nose hurt, and tears began to flow. She squatted on the ground, covering her face with her hands. 

Jim didn't see what had happened and thought Jerry had hit Gail. He rushed out of the room, shoved Jerry, and then went to help Gail. 

The man who looked like Jerry's brother saw his brother being pushed and quickly moved to hit Jim... 

Ronald stepped forward, grabbed the man's shoulders, inserted a foot between his legs, hooked an ankle, and gently pulled back, rotating his upper body accordingly. The man fell to the ground. 

Then Ronald glanced to the side, quickly turned his head, and ducked to avoid a punch from Jerry Zucker. He turned around, grabbed Jerry by the shoulders, using his leg to touch Jerry's waist. Jerry, too, ended up on the ground. 

Ronald stepped forward, helped Jim up, and shouted: 

"Everyone stop! This is all a misunderstanding!" 

At that moment, Roger Corman came out of his office, and other employees working overtime gathered in a large circle outside the boss's administrative office to watch the scene unfold. 

Ronald explained to everyone: "It's a misunderstanding. Everyone, calm down—nobody's hurt." 

The third person in the trio helped Jerry's brother off the ground, dusting him off. He said, "We're not here to fight. We just want to talk to Mr. Corman." 

He noticed Ronald had eased their fall, and the two hit the ground without feeling any pain. 

As he said this, he extended his hand: "Hi, we don't mean any harm." 

Ronald shook his hand: "I'm Ronald Lee. You can talk to Mr. Corman first. I'll check on Gail." 

Gail had recovered, and Jim helped her to the bathroom to deal with the situation. 

Roger Corman waved his hand to everyone: "Get back to work, it's all good." Then, he thought for a moment, picked up the phone, and called reception: 

"This is Roger. Are Julie and Joe Dante still in the conference room? Great, please send them up to my office." 

Roger raised his hand and invited the trio into his office. The three of them entered, chose three seats by the window at the conference table, and sat side by side. 

After a while, the owner Julie Corman and co-director Joe Dante arrived and sat across from each other. 

Since Gail hadn't returned yet, Ronald went to prepare six cups of coffee, delivered them, and was about to leave and close the door. 

"You can stay and listen for a while; you might learn something," Roger Corman said, noticing the room's dynamic and deciding to keep Ronald there. 

Ronald closed the door, pulled the nearest chair, sat down, and listened. 

It turned out that Jerry Zucker, his brother, and their best high school friend—a trio that had worked together for a long time—had written a comedy film about airplanes and wanted Roger to produce it. 

However, Roger didn't think the script was good. It was just jokes without a coherent plot, interspersed with fake ads for satire. Even for a low-budget film, saying that the story isn't important but then having no story at all was unheard of. 

Moreover, Roger hadn't made many comedies recently, so he wasn't willing to invest in the project. 

Although Jerry Zucker was the youngest of the three, he was the most talented and the trio's leader. He joined *Rock and Roll High School* as a second unit director, hoping to impress Roger Corman with his talent and convince him to reconsider the investment. 

What the trio didn't expect was that a woman they had contacted for investment had lunch with Paramount's COO, Michael Eisner, the previous week and recommended the trio to him. 

After hearing about it, Eisner expressed interest in the project and assigned Jeffrey Katzenberg to handle it. 

Katzenberg read the script and shared Roger Corman's view: the script wasn't complete; it was just a collection of jokes. Paramount gave the trio two weeks to work with one of their script doctors to rewrite a draft. If Katzenberg was satisfied, the project would be greenlit with a total investment of $3.5 million. 

The trio was thrilled, but Jerry Zucker didn't expect trouble negotiating with Roger Corman. He still had five days left to film on *Rock and Roll High School*. Today, Jerry had spent the whole day trying to get Roger to release him from the remaining five days of his contract. 

The two parties were deadlocked. 

Jerry offered to return his initial salary, and Roger could find someone else to complete the remaining five days, allowing the trio to focus entirely on writing the script for Paramount. 

Roger, however, felt he couldn't find a suitable replacement on such short notice and insisted they stay and finish the shoot. 

The two sides argued for over ten minutes. Ronald listened carefully and picked up two key points. 

Jerry's trio had to go to Paramount. If Roger didn't agree, they might refuse to work, and if a legal dispute arose, they could figure out a solution later. The $3.5 million opportunity from Paramount was at stake—if they missed it, another chance might not come. 

Roger's stance was equally clear: the team couldn't just abandon the project and run off. 

The second unit director usually leads a separate filming team, shooting outdoor scenes, environment shots, and scenes with secondary actors. This helps shorten the production schedule, saving money during the costly filming phase. 

But Roger Corman was known for being extremely frugal, squeezing every cent out of production. As a result, the second unit on New World Production shoots not only supplemental content but also a large portion of the main plot in parallel with the main crew. If the main crew missed a scene, Roger would hand it to the second unit or scrap it entirely. 

This filming method made the second unit half of the entire team, carrying a significant workload. 

Thus, the second unit director of *Rock and Roll High School* had to be familiar with the main crew's process. Finding a last-minute replacement might not work, so Roger preferred to wait for Allen to finish the primary unit before switching over. 

… 

"This is unacceptable!" Jerry snapped. Roger's refusal was something he hadn't expected at all. 

"Why not let Joe Dante direct? He knows the team and can step in. It's just a few days, and it won't interfere with his other work—he was already co-directing with Allen," Jerry argued. 

"Allen needs Joe. If Joe isn't there, it'll set him back, which wouldn't be fair. Last year, when we were shooting *Piranha*, Allen helped Joe complete his first film. It's only fair that Joe returns the favor," Roger replied. 

That was only part of the truth. Ronald sensed the real issue was that Joe Dante had earned top-tier membership in the Directors Guild with *Piranha*. He had no obligation to solve Roger's problems. 

Jerry knew this too and retorted: "That's nonsense. Allen is capable—why does Joe have to be the team's co-director? This isn't the U.S. government, where the commander-in-chief needs a deputy." 

The argument was about to escalate again when the third person in the trio suddenly interrupted: 

"I heard Jerry say that a production assistant shot some footage yesterday. Why not have him fill in for Jerry?" 

Jerry Zucker, Joe Dante, and Julie Corman all turned to look at Ronald. 

End of Chapter