NOVEL NEXT Exploiting Hollywood 1980.
Chapter 66 Into the Enemy
Chapter 66 Into the Enemy
"Aren't you going to drive Director Parker?" Meg was behind Ronald, putting one arm around her boyfriend's shoulder, holding a Coke in the other hand, and feeding Ronald.
"No, I'm not going. The director is preparing for the audition and has already checked into the Ambassador Hotel. I also have my own work to do, and I'm writing the script."
Ronald was typing on the typewriter while dealing with Meg.
"Which character are you writing about now?"
"I'm writing about Hilary, a rich girl in the dance department, and Lisa Monroe, who is in her same department." Ronald stopped, tore off the letter from the typewriter, and handed it to Meg.
After the black character Lydia was eliminated from the leading role, the director added Lisa, a white character in the dance department, and became the leading role.
"Which part are you auditioning for, Meg? Hilary or Lisa?"
Meg has always wanted to go further, and she also has the ambition to be the protagonist.And Hilary and Lisa, the two white characters in the dance department, are the best for Meg.Ronald's thoughts these days have been spent on their play.
"I mainly prepared for Lisa. Hilary and my family background are too far apart. I was at Stella School of Acting and I performed for Erin several times. It was not ideal. But she thought I should challenge myself and find a way to find out. Hillary's motives for her actions."
"I asked my sister Jennifer, she thinks Lisa's middle-class background is more in line with ours, and there are a lot of scenes. It is a good choice to choose a character with a background similar to her own in the first film."
Ronald frowned, because of Jennifer's various suggestions, he and Meg had already quarreled twice.Maybe it was because of the deep feelings she had when she was young, and Meg believed in Jennifer even more. Even if Irene is a professional acting teacher, her suggestion is more appropriate.
"But Lisa Monroe is a lazy girl. In the end, she was dismissed by the teacher from the dance department because she couldn't dance well. Your ballet is so good, can you play her well?" Ronald echoed from another angle Acting teacher Erin.
"Well, what you said is also reasonable, maybe I can try both." Meg continued to look down at Ronald's play.
"Hey, why did you copy what I said into the script?" Meg read halfway through the script, raised her hand and twisted Ronnie's waist fiercely.
Ronald smiled, this is what Meg said about her dream when she went to the Statue of Liberty with her.Ronald thought it was very suitable for the scene where Hillary went to have an abortion, so he slightly changed it and put it in.
This is Hillary's monologue as she waits at the door of the clinic.
"(Hands crossed and pressed on the stomach, monologue to the little baby in the stomach)
You see, I got an offer from the San Francisco Ballet, and I decided to take it.
You see, I'm a good dancer, better than average, the best in school.If I went to be a dancer at the City of New York, everyone would think I paid for it.
You see, my dream is to dance all the classical ballet roles before the age of 21, Giselle, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, and Black Swan...
I want to hear the audience yell Bravo at me on stages in New York, Leningrad, London, and Paris!There will even be a ballet written just for me.
You see, there is no room for a baby in my dream. (sobbing softly)
"
"(Clinic nurse asks) Do you pay with MasterCard, or Amex, Honey?"
Meg hit Ronald again:
"Ronnie, you're being cruel to Hillary for writing like that. I won't let you write like that."
"Why? This scene happens to be the end of Hillary's story. I think it's a good way to handle it? It's Hillary's character to give up the baby for the sake of her career."
"Besides, you can get more familiar with this scene. I think director Parker will like it, maybe he will use it in the final script, and he is used to auditioning actors with strong emotions." Ronald hoped that Meg would win over Sheila role in .
"No, I don't want everyone to know about my dream." Meg shook her head.
Ronald remembered the truth he heard when he interviewed the painter in the same apartment before, don't tell others about your unfulfilled dreams.Nodding, crumpled up the letter paper and threw it in the trash can.
"Oh, I'm going to be late for class at the Academy of Performing Arts," Meg exclaimed, grabbing her bag and leaving in a hurry.
"Drive my car." Ronald handed over the keys.
"Thank you, Darling." Meg kissed Ronald, and went out.
Ronald looked at the wad of paper in the trash can.He took it out again, spread it out on the table, smoothed out the wrinkles carefully.
Read it twice, really well written.This is the best scene I've ever written.Dialogue from real life, very powerful.
Ronald carefully folded it and stuffed it into the plastic cover interlayer of the notebook, as a souvenir.
"Ronnie, how many audition candidates do we have now?" Margaery asked.
"A total of more than 620 applications."
"In that case, maybe 500 people will show up (appear on the scene), which is still not enough."
"Is there anywhere else we can do some commercials?" asked Parker, the director.
"No, we sent them to wherever we could. Except for the Academy of Performing Arts in New York, we posted advertisements for auditions in other art high schools." Margaery shook her head distressedly.
"Do you want to try newspapers again? In addition to placing casting advertisements in professional newspapers and magazines such as Hollywood Reporter, Daily Variety, Backstage, and Show Business, we can also try mass media.
Many students read The New Yorker, Harper's Fashion, and the New York Post, and the entertainment section of the newspaper is fine too. Ronald had an idea and remembered his advertisement in Los Angeles.
"It's too late for the magazine, let's go to the newspaper. Since the Post was acquired by an Australian tycoon, gossip news can appear on the front page." Producer Da Silva decided.
"Our audition will be next Saturday. We will divide into two interview groups and hold them in two business halls of the Ambassador Hotel. They will be in charge of the casting directors of Margaery Simkin and Howard Fell respectively. .
Each group has 4 casting directors for initial audition, mainly depending on their talents: musical instruments, singing, dancing, acting, etc. "
Producer da Silva begins assignment
"The candidates who pass the initial test will go to the room on the second floor, and the director, Margaery, Feier, and I will check it together. For the candidates who pass, we will conduct a re-examination at an optional time."
"We were aiming for eight main characters, now we have seven. 8 secondary characters, and 7 resident actors. A total of 16, 24, no, minus Meg Tilly, that's 48. "
"According to the ratio of 20:1, we probably have to accumulate 1000 audition candidates, and now we are still short of about 400."
"Think about it, think about it, where to find these people."
The producer mobilized several people present to brainstorm.
"Should I contact the art schools in Connecticut and Massachusetts to arrange an audition?" casting director Howard Fell had an idea.
"It's very troublesome to cross states, and they are minors. Different states have different regulations and may need to be accompanied by their parents. It's best to solve it in New York." Margery expressed different opinions, "Of course if you have a good candidate, That's another matter."
"So? What's going on in Hollywood?" Da Silva asked the director again.
The director has gone back and forth between Los Angeles and New York twice, and has not finalized any candidates.
"It's not optimistic. We can organize an audition there, but right now in America, there is a shortage of young actors who can act. When using adult actors, we have to consider that the close-up of the face will not show off, so we can only find those who are young. "
"Who else has a good idea? Ronald, how about you?" The producer called Ronald's name.
"I don't have any ideas. We can't get in except for the performing arts college. We have traveled all over other places in New York."
In fact, the solution is very simple, we all know, but no one said it.
The biggest selection base was the New York Performing Arts High School, which had a falling out with the crew after hearing the script leaked by the director.There are thousands of students in the graduating class + senior grades, and all problems have been solved.
However, after the lesson from last time, Ronald is not easy to speak now, and he is cautious in his words and deeds.
"Ronald, try to sneak in and find a way to spread the news of the audition." The producer assigned the task directly.
"Okay, I will. You have to approve some funds for me. I may need to bribe the security guards, bribe the teachers and so on." Ronald said angrily, the producer Da Silva was still dissatisfied with him, and put This task was entrusted to him.
If it is done well, it is not necessarily meritorious, and if it is not done well, it is a matter of his ability.
But Ronald also has his own way to deal with it.
"I'll give you a $100 quota, and you can bring a few bottles of wine. The janitor likes this, so you can get in," Da Silva said, "Remember to give me the purchase receipt for reimbursement."
"Give the janitor a drink and sneak into the middle school dormitory? Could it be the producer's own experience? Do you really think that you will go to the acting college alone and foolishly pull people's heads?" Ronald thought secretly.
After the meeting was over, only Margaery comforted Ronald, "Do you remember the last time Julia Taylor invited you to join us? Think about it, you will be in charge of auditioning some of the actors for this audition, and you can also come to the studio after school starts." practice."
"Thanks, Margaery, I will," Ronald replied.
The next morning, Ronald drove to a parking lot opposite the Academy of Performing Arts, turned off the engine and waited.
After a while, Gene came over with the two boys, "Hey Ronnie, these are my good friends from acting high school, John, and Morgan."
After saying hello, Ronald got out of the car and opened the trunk. It was full of advertisements for the "Hot Lunch" audition. This was after Ronald typed it out yesterday and copied it at the Xerox copy shop. There are 2000 copies in total. .
"Help me move in together." Several people moved the audition advertisement near the cafeteria on campus.Gene's two friends are senior dance students, and they know the leaders of almost every department.Each leader sends one or two hundred copies, and soon all classes in the graduating class and senior year will be covered.
In fact, it is the school's board of trustees who prevent the students of the performing arts college from auditioning.As for students, even teachers, who wouldn't want to be selected by the crew and become famous overnight?
The filmmakers didn't understand the class complexities of public schools, which weren't as strictly regulated as the private schools his generation attended.It will take at least a few days for the high-ranking school directors to get the news, but once the news spreads, who can stop them from auditioning?
"Here," Ronald handed Gene five $5 bills to distribute to his buddies.
What Ronald didn't expect was that the news spread not only in the performing arts college, but through the network of classmates between schools, it had spread throughout the art schools and performing arts venues in New York within a few days.
(End of this chapter)
"Aren't you going to drive Director Parker?" Meg was behind Ronald, putting one arm around her boyfriend's shoulder, holding a Coke in the other hand, and feeding Ronald.
"No, I'm not going. The director is preparing for the audition and has already checked into the Ambassador Hotel. I also have my own work to do, and I'm writing the script."
Ronald was typing on the typewriter while dealing with Meg.
"Which character are you writing about now?"
"I'm writing about Hilary, a rich girl in the dance department, and Lisa Monroe, who is in her same department." Ronald stopped, tore off the letter from the typewriter, and handed it to Meg.
After the black character Lydia was eliminated from the leading role, the director added Lisa, a white character in the dance department, and became the leading role.
"Which part are you auditioning for, Meg? Hilary or Lisa?"
Meg has always wanted to go further, and she also has the ambition to be the protagonist.And Hilary and Lisa, the two white characters in the dance department, are the best for Meg.Ronald's thoughts these days have been spent on their play.
"I mainly prepared for Lisa. Hilary and my family background are too far apart. I was at Stella School of Acting and I performed for Erin several times. It was not ideal. But she thought I should challenge myself and find a way to find out. Hillary's motives for her actions."
"I asked my sister Jennifer, she thinks Lisa's middle-class background is more in line with ours, and there are a lot of scenes. It is a good choice to choose a character with a background similar to her own in the first film."
Ronald frowned, because of Jennifer's various suggestions, he and Meg had already quarreled twice.Maybe it was because of the deep feelings she had when she was young, and Meg believed in Jennifer even more. Even if Irene is a professional acting teacher, her suggestion is more appropriate.
"But Lisa Monroe is a lazy girl. In the end, she was dismissed by the teacher from the dance department because she couldn't dance well. Your ballet is so good, can you play her well?" Ronald echoed from another angle Acting teacher Erin.
"Well, what you said is also reasonable, maybe I can try both." Meg continued to look down at Ronald's play.
"Hey, why did you copy what I said into the script?" Meg read halfway through the script, raised her hand and twisted Ronnie's waist fiercely.
Ronald smiled, this is what Meg said about her dream when she went to the Statue of Liberty with her.Ronald thought it was very suitable for the scene where Hillary went to have an abortion, so he slightly changed it and put it in.
This is Hillary's monologue as she waits at the door of the clinic.
"(Hands crossed and pressed on the stomach, monologue to the little baby in the stomach)
You see, I got an offer from the San Francisco Ballet, and I decided to take it.
You see, I'm a good dancer, better than average, the best in school.If I went to be a dancer at the City of New York, everyone would think I paid for it.
You see, my dream is to dance all the classical ballet roles before the age of 21, Giselle, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, and Black Swan...
I want to hear the audience yell Bravo at me on stages in New York, Leningrad, London, and Paris!There will even be a ballet written just for me.
You see, there is no room for a baby in my dream. (sobbing softly)
"
"(Clinic nurse asks) Do you pay with MasterCard, or Amex, Honey?"
Meg hit Ronald again:
"Ronnie, you're being cruel to Hillary for writing like that. I won't let you write like that."
"Why? This scene happens to be the end of Hillary's story. I think it's a good way to handle it? It's Hillary's character to give up the baby for the sake of her career."
"Besides, you can get more familiar with this scene. I think director Parker will like it, maybe he will use it in the final script, and he is used to auditioning actors with strong emotions." Ronald hoped that Meg would win over Sheila role in .
"No, I don't want everyone to know about my dream." Meg shook her head.
Ronald remembered the truth he heard when he interviewed the painter in the same apartment before, don't tell others about your unfulfilled dreams.Nodding, crumpled up the letter paper and threw it in the trash can.
"Oh, I'm going to be late for class at the Academy of Performing Arts," Meg exclaimed, grabbing her bag and leaving in a hurry.
"Drive my car." Ronald handed over the keys.
"Thank you, Darling." Meg kissed Ronald, and went out.
Ronald looked at the wad of paper in the trash can.He took it out again, spread it out on the table, smoothed out the wrinkles carefully.
Read it twice, really well written.This is the best scene I've ever written.Dialogue from real life, very powerful.
Ronald carefully folded it and stuffed it into the plastic cover interlayer of the notebook, as a souvenir.
"Ronnie, how many audition candidates do we have now?" Margaery asked.
"A total of more than 620 applications."
"In that case, maybe 500 people will show up (appear on the scene), which is still not enough."
"Is there anywhere else we can do some commercials?" asked Parker, the director.
"No, we sent them to wherever we could. Except for the Academy of Performing Arts in New York, we posted advertisements for auditions in other art high schools." Margaery shook her head distressedly.
"Do you want to try newspapers again? In addition to placing casting advertisements in professional newspapers and magazines such as Hollywood Reporter, Daily Variety, Backstage, and Show Business, we can also try mass media.
Many students read The New Yorker, Harper's Fashion, and the New York Post, and the entertainment section of the newspaper is fine too. Ronald had an idea and remembered his advertisement in Los Angeles.
"It's too late for the magazine, let's go to the newspaper. Since the Post was acquired by an Australian tycoon, gossip news can appear on the front page." Producer Da Silva decided.
"Our audition will be next Saturday. We will divide into two interview groups and hold them in two business halls of the Ambassador Hotel. They will be in charge of the casting directors of Margaery Simkin and Howard Fell respectively. .
Each group has 4 casting directors for initial audition, mainly depending on their talents: musical instruments, singing, dancing, acting, etc. "
Producer da Silva begins assignment
"The candidates who pass the initial test will go to the room on the second floor, and the director, Margaery, Feier, and I will check it together. For the candidates who pass, we will conduct a re-examination at an optional time."
"We were aiming for eight main characters, now we have seven. 8 secondary characters, and 7 resident actors. A total of 16, 24, no, minus Meg Tilly, that's 48. "
"According to the ratio of 20:1, we probably have to accumulate 1000 audition candidates, and now we are still short of about 400."
"Think about it, think about it, where to find these people."
The producer mobilized several people present to brainstorm.
"Should I contact the art schools in Connecticut and Massachusetts to arrange an audition?" casting director Howard Fell had an idea.
"It's very troublesome to cross states, and they are minors. Different states have different regulations and may need to be accompanied by their parents. It's best to solve it in New York." Margery expressed different opinions, "Of course if you have a good candidate, That's another matter."
"So? What's going on in Hollywood?" Da Silva asked the director again.
The director has gone back and forth between Los Angeles and New York twice, and has not finalized any candidates.
"It's not optimistic. We can organize an audition there, but right now in America, there is a shortage of young actors who can act. When using adult actors, we have to consider that the close-up of the face will not show off, so we can only find those who are young. "
"Who else has a good idea? Ronald, how about you?" The producer called Ronald's name.
"I don't have any ideas. We can't get in except for the performing arts college. We have traveled all over other places in New York."
In fact, the solution is very simple, we all know, but no one said it.
The biggest selection base was the New York Performing Arts High School, which had a falling out with the crew after hearing the script leaked by the director.There are thousands of students in the graduating class + senior grades, and all problems have been solved.
However, after the lesson from last time, Ronald is not easy to speak now, and he is cautious in his words and deeds.
"Ronald, try to sneak in and find a way to spread the news of the audition." The producer assigned the task directly.
"Okay, I will. You have to approve some funds for me. I may need to bribe the security guards, bribe the teachers and so on." Ronald said angrily, the producer Da Silva was still dissatisfied with him, and put This task was entrusted to him.
If it is done well, it is not necessarily meritorious, and if it is not done well, it is a matter of his ability.
But Ronald also has his own way to deal with it.
"I'll give you a $100 quota, and you can bring a few bottles of wine. The janitor likes this, so you can get in," Da Silva said, "Remember to give me the purchase receipt for reimbursement."
"Give the janitor a drink and sneak into the middle school dormitory? Could it be the producer's own experience? Do you really think that you will go to the acting college alone and foolishly pull people's heads?" Ronald thought secretly.
After the meeting was over, only Margaery comforted Ronald, "Do you remember the last time Julia Taylor invited you to join us? Think about it, you will be in charge of auditioning some of the actors for this audition, and you can also come to the studio after school starts." practice."
"Thanks, Margaery, I will," Ronald replied.
The next morning, Ronald drove to a parking lot opposite the Academy of Performing Arts, turned off the engine and waited.
After a while, Gene came over with the two boys, "Hey Ronnie, these are my good friends from acting high school, John, and Morgan."
After saying hello, Ronald got out of the car and opened the trunk. It was full of advertisements for the "Hot Lunch" audition. This was after Ronald typed it out yesterday and copied it at the Xerox copy shop. There are 2000 copies in total. .
"Help me move in together." Several people moved the audition advertisement near the cafeteria on campus.Gene's two friends are senior dance students, and they know the leaders of almost every department.Each leader sends one or two hundred copies, and soon all classes in the graduating class and senior year will be covered.
In fact, it is the school's board of trustees who prevent the students of the performing arts college from auditioning.As for students, even teachers, who wouldn't want to be selected by the crew and become famous overnight?
The filmmakers didn't understand the class complexities of public schools, which weren't as strictly regulated as the private schools his generation attended.It will take at least a few days for the high-ranking school directors to get the news, but once the news spreads, who can stop them from auditioning?
"Here," Ronald handed Gene five $5 bills to distribute to his buddies.
What Ronald didn't expect was that the news spread not only in the performing arts college, but through the network of classmates between schools, it had spread throughout the art schools and performing arts venues in New York within a few days.
(End of this chapter)
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