America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 794 He broke his bones for his brother

After spending Christmas in Atlanta, Martin received a call from David Fincher as soon as he arrived in Los Angeles. He went back to Beverly Hills to drop off his luggage and then rushed to the Disney Studios.

Louise, Graham, and David Fincher are already waiting for him.

On the table in the small conference room were several of the latest newspapers, with the entertainment section filled with the latest reports on "Argo."

Among them, photos of Ron Stern and other rescued individuals stand out.

Martin had already read the newspapers on the plane. Sitting at the conference table, he shook his head and sighed, saying, "These bastards are dragging down the quality of the Oscars' public relations every year."

Louise smiled at him.

Martin thought to himself, "I've always won awards fair and square. The first Oscar I won for Best Supporting Actor was one I fought tooth and nail for."

He won the Oscar for Best Actor last year because his opponents were so weak that he won without a fight.

David Fincher seemed somewhat anxious, saying, "The fact that those who experienced it firsthand have come forward to criticize us has led to a lot of criticism in the media, putting us in a very passive position."

Martin glanced at the photo in the newspaper: "Ron Stern, I remember him, I saw him at the premiere."

Graham said, "When he was rescued, Ron Stern was a Marine stationed at the embassy. He later retired and went to Seattle to work as a security guard at a bank."

Martin asked, "Have you contacted him?"

"We've been in contact." For some of the work, Louise was already seated at the front: "But his response to us was simply to tell the truth when he was interviewed by the media."

Martin frowned slightly: "Is that so?"

Louise said, "It's obvious someone has contacted him, and we're still working on him."

David Fincher chimed in, "Which film based on a true story, aside from the main plot, is a one-to-one recreation of the events? If so, would it still be a film? You might as well just make a documentary."

Louise added, "I just had a detailed investigation done. Ron Stern has an average income, his wife is unemployed, his children lack self-care abilities, and he has a heavy financial burden. However, his son, who is severely addicted to drugs, was recently admitted to a very expensive drug rehabilitation center."

This was normal, Martin wasn't surprised, and asked, "What measures has the production team taken so far?"

Graham said, "I contacted Tony Mendes, who will be giving an interview in the next few days to refute Ron Stern's claims."

This matter directly affected Tony Mendes' interests, and the old man not only personally called Ron Stern but also actively cooperated with the production team.

The Tehran rescue is one of the most noteworthy things in Tony Mendes' life, and he will not let anyone deny his crucial role.

Graham added, "We contacted Mark Hansen and Michael Cohen, who are still working in the Foreign Office and were also rescued by Tony back then. They were willing to give interviews to support us."

Louise continued, "I contacted the CIA. The CIA has been helping the film. To deny Argo is to deny the CIA's contribution. The CIA will issue a statement soon."

Martin put down the newspaper he was reading and said, "These are all normal responses that can mitigate the negative impact of this series of events."

He pointed to reports about shady government deals and asked, "Are there really any behind-the-scenes deals?"

"There was definitely a deal behind the scenes in the rescue of those 65 hostages," Graham said simply. "The unfreezing of their assets and the acquisition of F-14 Tomcat parts are true, but whether they are related to Tony's rescue is something only the CIA leadership or the decision-makers back then know."

Martin doesn't actually care about the truth of the events, because his criteria for judging the veracity of the events related to the film "Argo" are particularly simple.

Everything that benefits the film is true; everything that has a negative impact on the film is false.

Louise then added, "This series of measures is merely a passive defense." Having personally witnessed last year's Oscar race for Best Actor, she said, "To gain an advantage, you need not only to defend, but also to attack."

David Fincher asked, "Who is the adversary behind all this? Have you found out?"

"No." Graham had someone investigate, but there were no clear results: "The target range is not very wide, focusing on film crews that are vying for an Oscar this year and have clashed with us on several major awards."

Argo's primary goals are Best Director and Best Picture, as evidenced by the series of preliminary awards already presented.

Anyone with even a basic understanding of the Hollywood awards season process can easily figure this out.

Martin asked directly, "In a few days, the Academy will mail Oscar ballots to all members, and the awards season situation is becoming clearer. Who are our main competitors?"

Graham replied, "I've spoken with Spielberg and studied the current situation carefully. The primary goal for 'Lincoln' is the Best Actor award. Other films like 'Les Misérables' and 'Beasts of the Southern Wild' are unlikely to pose a threat to us. The only competitor is Ang Lee's 'Life of Pi'."

Martin stroked his chin and said, "We don't need to know who's behind this. We just need to know who our main competitor is, and then we should target them and attack them relentlessly."

Louise agreed: "Our goal is the Oscars, not figuring out who's doing all this behind the scenes, because this is becoming increasingly common in awards season PR, it's happened every year in recent years, and I expect it will only get worse in the future."

At this point, she glanced at Martin, saying that Harvey Weinstein had single-handedly crushed the Oscars' public relations efforts.

In recent years, Martin's tactics of playing the victim and openly competing in ugliness have practically thrown Oscar's public relations into a hole.

The Oscars, with its increasingly low standards and lofty ideals, are quickly turning into a clown election contest in Washington.

Martin said, "The next offensive plan is to focus all our efforts on our competitor, *Life of Pi*!"

Louise asked, "Shall we continue with this 'worst' competition?"

Although David Fincher didn't understand the meaning of those words, he guessed from the literal meaning and reminded him: "Graham and I went to see 'Life of Pi,' and it was a very good film, not bad at all."

Graham agreed: "In terms of film quality alone, it's a strong competitor, and they've also done a lot of PR."

Martin nodded: "Besides normal publicity and lobbying, some prize-winning methods can only be used once; they won't work the second time."

David Fincher asked, "Smearing the competitors?"

Martin stated, "Smearing competitors in media reports and public opinion would have been considered normal publicity and public relations more than a decade ago during the Harvey Weinstein era."

Louise knew very well that Martin was going to use unconventional methods.

Martin thought for a moment and said, "You're in charge of contacting Tony and the other two people involved to clarify and support 'Argo' in the media. I'll figure out the attack."

David Fincher, making his final bid for the Oscar for Best Director, said, "Just tell me what you need me to do."

Graham also said, "GK Films can also invest a lot of resources."

Louise, of course, needs no further introduction.

Martin said, "I was thinking about this on the plane from Atlanta to Los Angeles, and I have a general idea. Any suggestions?"

To be precise, his ideas came from a past life and were also related to Megan Ellison.

Megan Ellison's ability to become the biggest Oscar winner since Harvey Weinstein in her previous life was not only due to the quality of the films she invested in and produced, but also to a series of public relations strategies.

The Oscars can be seen as an alternative form of the US presidential election.

Just think about all the messes during the election, and you'll know how much chaos and turmoil there is in the Oscars, from publicity to public relations to the awards.

Martin's proposal was endorsed by Louise Graham and David Fincher.

It's about campaigning... no, about winning awards, so using some underhanded tactics isn't shameful.

Besides, winning the award also brings countless small sums of money.

After the meeting ended, Martin was the first to leave the Disney studio. After getting into the Cadillac with Bruce, he said, "Go find Jody."

Bruce, who was in the corner of the conference room at the time, knew Martin's plan and said, "Jody is away on a business trip. I'll come over as soon as she gets back."

Martin pointed to the back seat: "Don't forget to bring the gifts."

Bruce nodded silently. For his good brother Martin, he had repeatedly bruised his pelvis, and he might break his bones one day.

There was nothing we could do; they were brothers who had been through thick and thin together.

After sending Martin to the La La Land set where they were still filming on location, Bruce called Jody and arranged to meet her the next afternoon.

Meanwhile, Louise and Graham also contacted the media, and Tony Mendes, Mark Hansen, and Michael Cohen gave interviews to the media that day.

Louise then called the CIA's liaison office.

The following morning, at a press conference, a CIA spokesperson specifically mentioned "Argo," praising the film for its accurate portrayal of the CIA's rescue operation and saying that it was a rare positive portrayal of the CIA in Hollywood films, calling David Fincher's film a masterpiece.

Subsequently, Entertainment Weekly published an interview with Tony Mendes, who naturally praised the film adaptation, believing that at least 80% of the film was true, and the fictional part was only to highlight the urgency of the event and the need for rescue, and was harmless.

Like Ron Stern, Mark Hansen and Michael Cohen, who also experienced the entire incident, said completely different things in an interview with People magazine, believing that the film was very realistic and almost a true reproduction of what they experienced back then.

However, it is not easy to completely eliminate the negative impact.

It takes only a mouth to spread rumors, but it takes a lot of legwork to refute them.

Besides, this is not a rumor.

This world is ultimately magical; those who spread rumors are telling the truth, while those who refute rumors are full of lies.

Moreover, the public opinion is more inclined to believe the latter.

(End of this chapter)