Hollywood Road

Murphy found that many tasks were far more challenging in practice than he had imagined. Being a one-man operation, he had to handle everything himself during the initial preparations, sometimes wishing he could clone himself.

In addition to writing the script and creating plans, Murphy spent money to place job advertisements in local Los Angeles newspapers. Although he didn't need to rush to find actors, he had to secure various behind-the-scenes roles as early as possible.

To find affordable yet capable interns, he visited the California Institute of the Arts and the USC School of Cinematic Arts. However, someone like him couldn't expect support from these prestigious institutions. Murphy could only post recruitment flyers around the campuses, hoping to attract interested students.

Furthermore, Murphy, together with his lawyer Robert, went to Delaware to officially register Stanton Studio as a legitimate company. According to Delaware's commercial laws, all that was required was a nominal office in the state, which could even be shared with other companies. However, this still incurred significant costs.

This expenditure strained Murphy's finances even further but was necessary. Attracting people to work for him would be easier with a legitimate company rather than as an individual.

Moreover, he was an unknown novice.

Registering a business in Delaware had tax benefits. The state's tax rates were not as steep as California's, and many Hollywood film companies like Disney and Paramount were registered there.

Delaware also had specialized business courts, making it relatively convenient to handle business disputes.

With an officially registered company, Murphy returned to Los Angeles to continue working on the script and handling recruitment matters.

First, he needed to find someone to manage various administrative tasks, a role known as the production coordinator.

This role was crucial yet unglamorous in a crew. People with high aspirations often disdained such positions, and given Murphy's modest project, it wasn't easy to find someone experienced.

To be precise, from the time he placed the job advertisements to when he registered Stanton Studio, only six people had called him. Five had no experience in the film industry, and Murphy guessed that they, like him, had come to Los Angeles seeking Hollywood dreams and wanted to find a related job to support themselves while looking for opportunities.

Initially, Murphy thought of meeting these five people, considering that everyone starts as a novice, and one might turn out to be talented.

However, the sixth call changed his mind.

"You can rest assured, we are a professional film studio..."

Standing by the studio window, Murphy looked at the dilapidated buildings outside, speaking confidently into the phone, "Stanton Studio welcomes any talented individual with ambition."

"Alright..." Murphy thought for a moment, "Do you know the old Chinatown downtown? Let's meet at the Milton Café at 2 PM."

After setting the meeting time, Murphy hung up and returned to his laptop. The caller had recently arrived in Los Angeles but had worked a summer job at Lincoln Center in New York and had a degree in drama from Juilliard, far more qualified than the previous five.

After a busy morning, Murphy saved the script he had been writing, grabbed the company documents, and went out for a quick lunch before driving to old Chinatown in Los Angeles.

In the narrow streets of old Chinatown, a red-haired girl peered curiously through her car window at the exotic architecture around her. Unlike New York's Chinatown, the area was filled with lean Vietnamese people rather than Chinese.

Driving a red car, the girl moved slowly due to the narrow streets. Her eyes were filled with caution.

Everyone knew downtown Los Angeles had poor security, especially in areas with many Vietnamese people, synonymous with chaos and crime.

"Why did he choose this place?" The red-haired girl frowned as she saw the sign for Milton Café ahead. She didn't stop but drove a bit further, finding a suitable parking spot on the crowded street. With time to spare, she quietly sat in her car, waiting.

During the call, the man named Murphy Stanton explained that his studio was newly registered and was looking for an office, so they had to meet in a public place.

A newly established film studio...

Before coming to Los Angeles, the red-haired girl wouldn't have considered such a company. She came from a good family, with respectable parents, was a top student at Juilliard, and had interned at Lincoln Center. Returning to Los Angeles for her internship, she thought finding a suitable job wouldn't be difficult.

Someone with her training in professional performance and drama had a proud heart. Reality, however, gave her a harsh lesson. Los Angeles was filled with many talented and ambitious people, and the competition far exceeded her expectations.

Since returning to California, the red-haired girl had only secured three jobs: a non-speaking background role, a week-long assistant stint where she was fired for a minor mistake, and an unpaid actor-director role in a community theater.

These experiences severely dented her pride and made her goals more practical. Having moved out of her parents' house, she didn't want to rely on their support and needed to find a job to support herself quickly.

This became her immediate goal, knowing it was the most realistic one.

If she couldn't achieve basic independence, how could she make a name for herself in Hollywood?

After a few months of hard lessons, the smart girl realized that experience and credentials were built step by step. Many Hollywood stars started from obscure positions.

Compared to her past ambitions of becoming a film's leading lady, her current concern was—how much does this job pay?

After waiting for half an hour, the red-haired girl exited her car, locked it, and headed towards Milton Café.

Murphy arrived about twenty minutes early at Milton Café. It wasn't far from where he lived, and he frequently came here for coffee. When bored in his studio, he often brought his laptop to this quiet café, treating it as his office.

Ordering a coffee, Murphy sat in his usual corner spot, thinking about the upcoming work while keeping an eye on the door. He had informed the staff that someone would be looking for him, and they were to bring them over.

Having given up his previous work and returning to the path of his Hollywood dream, Murphy knew he had to bear a lot of pressure. He hoped his ideal employees could handle significant work stress.

After about ten minutes, a red-haired girl entered. She spoke with the staff briefly before being led towards Murphy.

The café's entrance was a bit far from where Murphy sat, allowing him to discreetly observe the red-haired girl.

She seemed to be in her early twenties, about five feet six inches tall. The most striking features were her rare red hair and snow-white skin, visible beneath her western-style suit.

Overall, apart from slightly high cheekbones, her appearance wasn't particularly outstanding.

Murphy didn't care about that. He needed someone capable, not a pretty face.

"Hi, sorry." The red-haired girl spoke first before reaching him, "I'm late."

"No problem." Murphy stood up, extending his right hand, "You must be Jessica?"

"Yes, I am." The red-haired girl quickened her pace, shook his hand, and Murphy gestured to the seat opposite, "Have a seat."

After she sat down, Murphy returned to his seat and introduced himself, "I'm Murphy, Murphy Stanton."

"Hello." The red-haired girl seemed a bit nervous, with a cautious look in her eyes, but responded accordingly, "I'm Jessica, Jessica Chastain."

Hearing this name, Murphy looked at her again: red hair, snow-white skin, light blue eyes, and slightly high cheekbones...

Just much younger than he had expected.

"My studio has just been registered." Murphy didn't make any extra remarks, directly getting to the point, and placed a series of studio documents on the table in front of her, "Here's the studio's information, you can take a look."

Murphy's actions immediately reduced the caution in Jessica's eyes. She took the documents and carefully reviewed them.

When she finished the last one, Murphy spoke again, "My studio is preparing to shoot a film, and I need to hire some professionals."

In Los Angeles, new crews were formed daily. After verifying the studio's existence, Jessica asked, "The ad mentioned a production coordinator. Can you tell me more about the job?"

From his appearance, the man opposite her seemed no older than she was. Could such a person have the capability to make a film?

Jessica Chastain still had some doubts.

"For the fortunate, it's a good job..."

Murphy used some decorative words to describe the importance of this miscellaneous job. Jessica Chastain was smart enough to understand what kind of job it was.

A few months ago, her proud self would have walked away.

But after facing many challenges since returning to Los Angeles and moving out of her parents' house, she needed a suitable job with a decent salary, preferably related to the film industry and Hollywood.

From this perspective, the job suited her needs well.

Murphy looked at her again and said, "I'd like to know about your previous work experience and what you learned from it."