NOVEL NEXT Exploiting Hollywood 1980.
Chapter 54 The Director's Bought
Chapter 54 The Director's Bought
Just after dawn, Ronald went out and bought some newspapers at the newsstand.He wanted to find out if the movie he dreamed about last night was Alan Parker's "Hot Lunch".
Grab a copy of Hollywood's "Daily Variety," and "The Hollywood Reporter."There are more stage plays and musicals on Broadway in New York, and many magazines focus on Broadway.
Another copy of "Backstage" and "Show Business."
Back at the apartment, spread four newspapers and magazines on the table, and scanned the news one by one.
"The director of 'The Deer Hunter', Oscar-winning director and double winner of Best Picture, Michael Cimino has signed a new contract with United Artists to direct the new film 'Heaven's Gate'."
Well, leave this alone.
"British director Alan Parker, and producer David da Silva both say the revival of the musical has arrived. Following last year's 'Saturday Night Fever,' 'Grease,' MGM has another musical The film 'Hot Lunch'. The film is in the process of casting, and it is expected to start shooting in July."
After flipping through four newspapers and magazines, Ronald only found the report on "Hot Lunch", not "Fame".
Yesterday's dream only remembered three dances, and I couldn't remember who was the director in the opening credits.
Maybe musicals will revive afterward?And made a similar high school musical "Fame"?But Meg was very young in the dream, probably not more than 20 years old.Maybe even this "hot lunch" might.
"Ring ring ring ring..."
The phone rang, and Ronald answered it. It was director Alan Parker.
"Ronald? I'm Alan Parker. You're at Feuer & Ritzer casting company today, West 48th Street near Broadway, the exact address can be found in the phone book. 10 AM Meet up there."
With a snap, he hung up the phone.
Ronald came to his senses, isn't this the competitor that Julia ordered yesterday?First report to Julia about the movement here.
"Excuse me, is Julia there? This is Ronald Lee, and I have something important to ask her."
"Ronald? It's me."
"Director Parker said today that he would go to a company called Feuer and Lieser to cast a cast." Ronald spelled awkwardly according to the name written down in the notebook, the German pronunciation is really damned.
"It's Phil, I see, please let me know if there are any new trends."
I dug out the yellow pages that had accumulated a thick layer of dust at home, and found the address of Fair and Lieser, which was at the junction of Sixth Avenue and West 6th Avenue, not far from Broadway.
Still telling Meg first, Ronald called his girlfriend's house.
Always busy.
Running to Meg's house, her roommate opened the door for Ronald.
"Yes, Jennifer, I've already got the contract. I don't know... I still have to wait for the director to continue auditioning. The director told me to sign up for an acting training class."
Seeing Ronald coming in, Meg pressed the microphone, "Ronnie, it's my sister Jennifer, and I'm reporting the good news to her."
"I'm going to the director to help him audition, you go ahead, I'll tell you."
Taking the camera and film, Ronald took the subway to his destination.
Howard Fell, a partner in the studio, greeted him through the door himself.
"How did you know Director Alan Parker?" When he came up, he asked about Ronald's background in a roundabout way.
"I'm a photographer, specializing in audition portraits, and I've taken pictures for Natasha Kinski before. Director Parker wants me to audition for his new film and take some photos for reference." Ronald was tight-lipped.
"You don't see many photographers as young as you."
"They all say I have some talent..."
Just as he was talking, Director Parker also entered the office.
"Howard, hello, let's make a long story short. I need 600 high school students who are ensemble performers, who study dance, music, and acting. I also need 8 protagonists, and 16 secondary roles. This is the casting requirement." Director Parker put a thick one Stack of documents dropped on the table.
"Ah, you're here too, Ronald, good. Let's get started."
The two began to discuss the requirements of the audition, and Ronald took out a pen and paper to take notes.
Director Parker asked Howard Fell to find actors who were more ordinary and less successful.
After a simple lunch, Director Parker took Ronald out.
"I want you to go to all the auditions with me, and you take pictures of the audition scene for me, and then record it. You know, not all audition pictures are as real as yours. Some are retouched."
"Of course, Director Parker." Ronald was very happy. He had a short-term job and could learn how directors choose actors.
"I may have to watch dozens or hundreds of actors every day, so I don't necessarily remember them in a day. You remember to take pictures of them with Polaroid and record my evaluation at the same time." Parker saw the efficiency of Ronald's shorthand It's very high, and I'm quite satisfied. This way, one assistant can be used as two people.
"One more thing, I hope you don't tell Julia and Margery in the casting studio about our coming to Fair." Alan Parker finally made his attitude clear, hoping that Ronald would promise him loyalty .
Ronald thought for a while, expressed his attitude, and made some hints:
"I am not an employee of the casting studio, and Julia is not my superior, so I have no obligation to report your whereabouts to them, Mr. Parker."
"You're a smart guy, how about this, I'm going to be busy with auditions for a month, I can ask the producer to hire you as my temporary assistant and driver, and rent your car."
"But I don't have a car now."
"Why are you so stupid again?" Alan Parker gave Ronald a forehead. "The daily rent and driver's fee are 200 yuan. You can buy a new car and earn it back in a month."
Can you still play like this?Ronald nodded quickly and agreed.
The director took Ronald to yesterday's audition studio.
Julia and Margaery were already waiting for him in the conference room.
Also present at the meeting was a semi-bald man whom Director Parker introduced as "Hot Lunch" producer David Da Silva.
Ronald quickly stood up and greeted him.
After the director's introduction, he started the casting meeting on his own: "Let's see, which children did you bring today?"
Ronald felt that director Parker didn't take producer da Silva seriously.Speaking of producers and directors, who has more power?
Margery shared dozens of photos, "The managers recommended these after hearing the news. We have selected 5 actors for each leading role. Let's take a look together."
"The first is Hillary, a girl from the dance department. This character is a rich girl who majors in ballet, and her dream is to enter the New York City Ballet." Margaery pastes Hillary's background on the whiteboard and attracts it with a magnet.
Ronald almost couldn't hold back his laughter. Isn't this the image of the rich second generation who bought into the New York City Ballet that Meg despised yesterday?It seems that the script is very grounded and comes from life.
But at this point, I can basically confirm that the "hot lunch" is the "famous" I dreamed of yesterday. The background of that Hillary is very suitable for the practice scene in the dream, and the name is also right.
"Do you have any ideas about these photos?" Margery asked, pointing to the five photos spread out on the table.
Director Parker shook his head, "They are still too American, with victorious expressions on their faces."
"What do you think, Ronald? It just so happens that you are about the same age as them, so you feel better." The director asked him to express his opinion by name.
"I think this is good, you can try it." Ronald pointed to a photo of a beautiful woman, and said that the blonde beauty looked a bit like a cat. "
The actor in this photo is most like the one in the dream last night.
"why?"
"Intuition? I think she has the temperament of a rich girl, and her thin body looks like a dancer."
"I think so too. Michelle was specially recommended by William Morris' agent. She won No.6 in Miss California last year." Producer Da Silva spoke for the first time.
"Very well, I'll give her... well, Michelle, an audition." Director Parker said.
Margaery looked at the director, and posted the photo of this beautiful woman under the label "Hilary".
Then there's the character of Montgomery, the sensitive and low self-esteem boy whose mother is a mentally ill actor.
"Which one do you think is suitable? Director Parker asked Ronald again."
Ronald didn't remember the plot of Montgomery's character, so he just pointed to one according to his intuition.
"Well, blond hair, she feels a little fragile when she smiles, her teeth are messy, and she probably has low self-esteem."
"Very good, I think he fits too." This time it was Margaery from the casting studio who agreed, and then put his photo under the Montgomery character.
The director also nodded in agreement.
……
After selecting more than 10 audition candidates for the leading role, it was still not enough.Everyone decided to go to the performing arts high school in New York the day after tomorrow, discuss with the school, and organize a large-scale live audition for students.
After finishing their work, Julia and Margery from the casting studio served sandwiches and Coke.Everyone replenished their energy while chatting, but Ronald ate a lot.
"Ronald, I think you're a good fit for casting. You know what? The founder of our studio, Marion Dolotti, is now a vice president at Paramount."
"She's been emphasizing the need to pick people based on intuition, and you have a very good intuition. Would you consider joining us?"
Julia said to Ronald.
"Me? I still want to go to college first to see if I can be a director." Ronald said.
"Yeah, who doesn't want to be a director?" Julia smiled, changed the subject and continued:
"Next, I will mainly be casting for Woody Allen's new film, and Margaery will be responsible for the audition for the acting high school."
"Why, Julia, are you going to abandon me for that Jewish dwarf Woody?" Director Parker made an exaggerated gesture, expressing heartache.
"No, your film needs a total of about 600 actors. This cannot be done by any casting company alone. We should find more casting companies and hold joint auditions."
Alan Parker was silent for a rare moment, "You are right, I will let the producers contact the casting companies in New York and Los Angeles, and openly issue casting invitations."
"We made appointments with all the casting companies to find a big house and do a big joint audition. Ronald, you come when the time comes, we all like your instincts."
"Okay, thank you director." Ronald was very happy. Maybe the director saw that he was the same age as the characters in the script, so he felt more emotional when he saw people?
It took a certain amount of time from sending out invitations to receiving recommendations, and everyone began to discuss how to organize joint auditions.
Julia Taylor asked Ronald to go outside, leaving Margery to discuss the details of the joint audition with the director.
"Ronald, your briefing was timely. We made an agreement with Howard Fair that they dropped Woody Allen's new film, and we made the concession to do a joint audition with them for Hot Lunch."
"But if there is a third audition company involved, you still remember to notify Margaery in time. The rest of our deal remains the same, understand?"
"Okay, I understand." It happened that the two audition companies compromised and made a joint audition.Ronald didn't have to swing between them and the director, testing his integrity with a car.
I just took the opportunity to ask Meg about it: "Ms. Taylor, if Meg wants to take an acting training class, do you have any recommendations?"
"Aren't you from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts? How come you ask me, the best acting coach in New York is in your school."
"Uh, I haven't started school yet."
(End of this chapter)
Just after dawn, Ronald went out and bought some newspapers at the newsstand.He wanted to find out if the movie he dreamed about last night was Alan Parker's "Hot Lunch".
Grab a copy of Hollywood's "Daily Variety," and "The Hollywood Reporter."There are more stage plays and musicals on Broadway in New York, and many magazines focus on Broadway.
Another copy of "Backstage" and "Show Business."
Back at the apartment, spread four newspapers and magazines on the table, and scanned the news one by one.
"The director of 'The Deer Hunter', Oscar-winning director and double winner of Best Picture, Michael Cimino has signed a new contract with United Artists to direct the new film 'Heaven's Gate'."
Well, leave this alone.
"British director Alan Parker, and producer David da Silva both say the revival of the musical has arrived. Following last year's 'Saturday Night Fever,' 'Grease,' MGM has another musical The film 'Hot Lunch'. The film is in the process of casting, and it is expected to start shooting in July."
After flipping through four newspapers and magazines, Ronald only found the report on "Hot Lunch", not "Fame".
Yesterday's dream only remembered three dances, and I couldn't remember who was the director in the opening credits.
Maybe musicals will revive afterward?And made a similar high school musical "Fame"?But Meg was very young in the dream, probably not more than 20 years old.Maybe even this "hot lunch" might.
"Ring ring ring ring..."
The phone rang, and Ronald answered it. It was director Alan Parker.
"Ronald? I'm Alan Parker. You're at Feuer & Ritzer casting company today, West 48th Street near Broadway, the exact address can be found in the phone book. 10 AM Meet up there."
With a snap, he hung up the phone.
Ronald came to his senses, isn't this the competitor that Julia ordered yesterday?First report to Julia about the movement here.
"Excuse me, is Julia there? This is Ronald Lee, and I have something important to ask her."
"Ronald? It's me."
"Director Parker said today that he would go to a company called Feuer and Lieser to cast a cast." Ronald spelled awkwardly according to the name written down in the notebook, the German pronunciation is really damned.
"It's Phil, I see, please let me know if there are any new trends."
I dug out the yellow pages that had accumulated a thick layer of dust at home, and found the address of Fair and Lieser, which was at the junction of Sixth Avenue and West 6th Avenue, not far from Broadway.
Still telling Meg first, Ronald called his girlfriend's house.
Always busy.
Running to Meg's house, her roommate opened the door for Ronald.
"Yes, Jennifer, I've already got the contract. I don't know... I still have to wait for the director to continue auditioning. The director told me to sign up for an acting training class."
Seeing Ronald coming in, Meg pressed the microphone, "Ronnie, it's my sister Jennifer, and I'm reporting the good news to her."
"I'm going to the director to help him audition, you go ahead, I'll tell you."
Taking the camera and film, Ronald took the subway to his destination.
Howard Fell, a partner in the studio, greeted him through the door himself.
"How did you know Director Alan Parker?" When he came up, he asked about Ronald's background in a roundabout way.
"I'm a photographer, specializing in audition portraits, and I've taken pictures for Natasha Kinski before. Director Parker wants me to audition for his new film and take some photos for reference." Ronald was tight-lipped.
"You don't see many photographers as young as you."
"They all say I have some talent..."
Just as he was talking, Director Parker also entered the office.
"Howard, hello, let's make a long story short. I need 600 high school students who are ensemble performers, who study dance, music, and acting. I also need 8 protagonists, and 16 secondary roles. This is the casting requirement." Director Parker put a thick one Stack of documents dropped on the table.
"Ah, you're here too, Ronald, good. Let's get started."
The two began to discuss the requirements of the audition, and Ronald took out a pen and paper to take notes.
Director Parker asked Howard Fell to find actors who were more ordinary and less successful.
After a simple lunch, Director Parker took Ronald out.
"I want you to go to all the auditions with me, and you take pictures of the audition scene for me, and then record it. You know, not all audition pictures are as real as yours. Some are retouched."
"Of course, Director Parker." Ronald was very happy. He had a short-term job and could learn how directors choose actors.
"I may have to watch dozens or hundreds of actors every day, so I don't necessarily remember them in a day. You remember to take pictures of them with Polaroid and record my evaluation at the same time." Parker saw the efficiency of Ronald's shorthand It's very high, and I'm quite satisfied. This way, one assistant can be used as two people.
"One more thing, I hope you don't tell Julia and Margery in the casting studio about our coming to Fair." Alan Parker finally made his attitude clear, hoping that Ronald would promise him loyalty .
Ronald thought for a while, expressed his attitude, and made some hints:
"I am not an employee of the casting studio, and Julia is not my superior, so I have no obligation to report your whereabouts to them, Mr. Parker."
"You're a smart guy, how about this, I'm going to be busy with auditions for a month, I can ask the producer to hire you as my temporary assistant and driver, and rent your car."
"But I don't have a car now."
"Why are you so stupid again?" Alan Parker gave Ronald a forehead. "The daily rent and driver's fee are 200 yuan. You can buy a new car and earn it back in a month."
Can you still play like this?Ronald nodded quickly and agreed.
The director took Ronald to yesterday's audition studio.
Julia and Margaery were already waiting for him in the conference room.
Also present at the meeting was a semi-bald man whom Director Parker introduced as "Hot Lunch" producer David Da Silva.
Ronald quickly stood up and greeted him.
After the director's introduction, he started the casting meeting on his own: "Let's see, which children did you bring today?"
Ronald felt that director Parker didn't take producer da Silva seriously.Speaking of producers and directors, who has more power?
Margery shared dozens of photos, "The managers recommended these after hearing the news. We have selected 5 actors for each leading role. Let's take a look together."
"The first is Hillary, a girl from the dance department. This character is a rich girl who majors in ballet, and her dream is to enter the New York City Ballet." Margaery pastes Hillary's background on the whiteboard and attracts it with a magnet.
Ronald almost couldn't hold back his laughter. Isn't this the image of the rich second generation who bought into the New York City Ballet that Meg despised yesterday?It seems that the script is very grounded and comes from life.
But at this point, I can basically confirm that the "hot lunch" is the "famous" I dreamed of yesterday. The background of that Hillary is very suitable for the practice scene in the dream, and the name is also right.
"Do you have any ideas about these photos?" Margery asked, pointing to the five photos spread out on the table.
Director Parker shook his head, "They are still too American, with victorious expressions on their faces."
"What do you think, Ronald? It just so happens that you are about the same age as them, so you feel better." The director asked him to express his opinion by name.
"I think this is good, you can try it." Ronald pointed to a photo of a beautiful woman, and said that the blonde beauty looked a bit like a cat. "
The actor in this photo is most like the one in the dream last night.
"why?"
"Intuition? I think she has the temperament of a rich girl, and her thin body looks like a dancer."
"I think so too. Michelle was specially recommended by William Morris' agent. She won No.6 in Miss California last year." Producer Da Silva spoke for the first time.
"Very well, I'll give her... well, Michelle, an audition." Director Parker said.
Margaery looked at the director, and posted the photo of this beautiful woman under the label "Hilary".
Then there's the character of Montgomery, the sensitive and low self-esteem boy whose mother is a mentally ill actor.
"Which one do you think is suitable? Director Parker asked Ronald again."
Ronald didn't remember the plot of Montgomery's character, so he just pointed to one according to his intuition.
"Well, blond hair, she feels a little fragile when she smiles, her teeth are messy, and she probably has low self-esteem."
"Very good, I think he fits too." This time it was Margaery from the casting studio who agreed, and then put his photo under the Montgomery character.
The director also nodded in agreement.
……
After selecting more than 10 audition candidates for the leading role, it was still not enough.Everyone decided to go to the performing arts high school in New York the day after tomorrow, discuss with the school, and organize a large-scale live audition for students.
After finishing their work, Julia and Margery from the casting studio served sandwiches and Coke.Everyone replenished their energy while chatting, but Ronald ate a lot.
"Ronald, I think you're a good fit for casting. You know what? The founder of our studio, Marion Dolotti, is now a vice president at Paramount."
"She's been emphasizing the need to pick people based on intuition, and you have a very good intuition. Would you consider joining us?"
Julia said to Ronald.
"Me? I still want to go to college first to see if I can be a director." Ronald said.
"Yeah, who doesn't want to be a director?" Julia smiled, changed the subject and continued:
"Next, I will mainly be casting for Woody Allen's new film, and Margaery will be responsible for the audition for the acting high school."
"Why, Julia, are you going to abandon me for that Jewish dwarf Woody?" Director Parker made an exaggerated gesture, expressing heartache.
"No, your film needs a total of about 600 actors. This cannot be done by any casting company alone. We should find more casting companies and hold joint auditions."
Alan Parker was silent for a rare moment, "You are right, I will let the producers contact the casting companies in New York and Los Angeles, and openly issue casting invitations."
"We made appointments with all the casting companies to find a big house and do a big joint audition. Ronald, you come when the time comes, we all like your instincts."
"Okay, thank you director." Ronald was very happy. Maybe the director saw that he was the same age as the characters in the script, so he felt more emotional when he saw people?
It took a certain amount of time from sending out invitations to receiving recommendations, and everyone began to discuss how to organize joint auditions.
Julia Taylor asked Ronald to go outside, leaving Margery to discuss the details of the joint audition with the director.
"Ronald, your briefing was timely. We made an agreement with Howard Fair that they dropped Woody Allen's new film, and we made the concession to do a joint audition with them for Hot Lunch."
"But if there is a third audition company involved, you still remember to notify Margaery in time. The rest of our deal remains the same, understand?"
"Okay, I understand." It happened that the two audition companies compromised and made a joint audition.Ronald didn't have to swing between them and the director, testing his integrity with a car.
I just took the opportunity to ask Meg about it: "Ms. Taylor, if Meg wants to take an acting training class, do you have any recommendations?"
"Aren't you from New York University's Tisch School of the Arts? How come you ask me, the best acting coach in New York is in your school."
"Uh, I haven't started school yet."
(End of this chapter)
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