MTL - Exploiting Hollywood 1980-Chapter 54 Director's buyout

  Chapter 54 The Director's Bought

   As soon as the day dawned, Ronald went out and bought a few newspapers at the newsstand. He wanted to find out if the movie he dreamed about last night was Alan Parker's "Hot Lunch."

   took a copy of Hollywood's "Daily Variety Show" and "The Hollywood Reporter". On the Broadway side of New York, there are many stage plays and musicals, and there are also many magazines focusing on Broadway.

   took another "backstage" and "show business".

   went back to the apartment, spread out four newspapers and magazines on the table, and swept the news one by one.

   "The director of 'The Deer Hunter', the best director of the Oscar, the double winner of the best picture, Michael Cimino signed a new contract with United Arts and will soon direct the new film 'Heaven's Gate'."

   Well, ignore this for now.

"British director Alan Parker and producer David Da Silva both say that a musical revival has arrived. Following last year's 'Saturday Night Fever' and 'Grease', MGM has released a musical The film 'Hot Lunch'. The film is in the casting process and is expected to start in July."

   After flipping through four newspapers and magazines, Ronald only found reports of "Hot Lunch", but not "famous".

   I only remembered three dances in my dream yesterday, and I can’t remember who the director was in the opening subtitles.

   Maybe there will be a revival of musicals later? Another similar high school musical "Famous in the World"? But Meg was very young in the dream, probably no more than 20 years old. Maybe even this "hot lunch".

   "Bell bell bell..."

  The phone rang, Ronald picked it up, it was director Alan Parker.

"Ronald? I'm Alan Parker. You're here today at Feuer & Ritzer casting company, West 48th Street near Broadway, the exact address can be found in the phone book. At 10:00 a.m. Meet up there."

   hung up the phone with a snap.

   Ronald wakes up, isn't this the competitor Julia asked yesterday? Let Julia report what's going on here first.

   "Is Julia there? I'm Ronald Lee, and I have something important to ask her."

   "Ronald? It's me."

   "Director Parker said today that he's going to a company called Feyel and Lizel to cast a role." Ronald followed the name he wrote down in the notebook and spelled it awkwardly. The German pronunciation is **** good.

   "It's Phil, I know, let me know if you have any new trends."

   Digging through the yellow pages, which had accumulated a thick layer of gray, and found the addresses of Fair and Lizel, just off the corner of 6th Avenue and West 28th Avenue, not far from Broadway.

   Still talking to Meg first, Ronald called his girlfriend's house.

   is always busy.

   ran to Meg's house, where her roommate opened the door for Ronald.

   "Yes, Jennifer, I have already got the contract. I don't know... I have to wait for the director to continue the audition. The director said that I should sign up for the acting training class."

   Seeing Ronald coming in, Meg held down the microphone, "Ronnie, it's my sister Jennifer, and I'm reporting good news to her."

   "I'm going to the director to help him audition, you go ahead, I'll tell you."

   Bringing the camera and film, Ronald took the subway to his destination.

  Howard Fair, a partner in the studio, greeted him personally.

   "How did you meet Director Alan Parker?" I came up to inquire about Ronald's origins.

   "I'm a photographer, specializing in audition portraits, and I've shot Natasha Kinski before. Director Parker wanted me to audition for his new film and take some photos for reference." Ronald said nothing.

   "It's rare to see photographers as young as you."

   "They all say I have some talent..."

   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 performing in groups, learning dance, music, and acting. I also need 8 leading roles, and 16 secondary roles. This is a casting requirement." Director Parker put the thick one Stacked documents on the table.

   "Ah, Ronald, you're here too, great. Let's get started."

  The two began to discuss the audition requirements, and Ronald took out a pen and paper to record.

   Director Parker instructed Howard Fair to find ordinary actors who were not so 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 document it. You know, not all audition shots are as real as yours. Some are retouched."

   "Of course, Director Parker." Ronald is very happy that he has a part-time job and can learn how to choose actors from directors.

"I may watch dozens or hundreds of actors every day, so I don't necessarily remember them all day long. You remember to use Polaroid to take pictures of them and record my evaluation." Parker saw the efficiency of Ronald's shorthand. Very high, quite satisfactory, so that one assistant can be used for two people.

"One more thing, I hope you don't tell Julia and Margery at the casting studio about our coming to Phil's side." Alan Parker finally spoke up, hoping Ronald would assure him of his loyalty .

   Ronald thought for a while, expressed his attitude, and made some hints:

   "I'm not an employee of the casting studio, and Julia is not my superior, so I'm not obligated to report your whereabouts to them, Mr. Parker."

   "You're a smart guy, so let's do this, I'm busy auditioning this month, and I can ask the producers to hire you as my temporary assistant and driver, and rent your car."

   "But I don't have a car right now."

   "Why are you stupid again?" Alan Parker gave Ronald a forehead. "The daily rent and driver fee are 200 yuan. You buy a new car and earn it back in a month."

   Can you still play like this? Ronald nodded hurriedly and agreed.

  The director took Ronald to the audition studio yesterday.

  Julia and Margaery were already waiting for him in the conference room.

   There was also a half-bald man who was introduced by Director Parker as "Hot Lunch" producer David Da Silva.

   Ronald quickly stood up and greeted him.

   After the introduction, the director started a casting meeting on his own: "Let's see, which children did you bring today?"

   Ronald felt that Director Parker did not take producer Da Silva seriously. Speaking of producers and directors, who has the most power?

  Margery shared dozens of photos, "This is recommended by the agents after hearing the news. We have selected 5 actors for each protagonist. Let's take a look together."

   "First of all, Hillary, a girl from the dance department. This character is a rich girl, majoring in ballet, and her dream is to join the New York City Ballet." Margery posted the background of Hillary on the whiteboard and held it with a magnet.

   Ronald almost couldn't hold back his laughter. Isn't that what Meg despised yesterday, the rich second-generation image who bought into the New York City Ballet? It seems that the script is very grounded and comes from life.

   But here, we can basically be sure that "Hot Lunch" is the "Famous World" that I dreamed about yesterday. Hillary's background is very in line with the practice scene in the dream, and the name is correct.

   "These photos, any thoughts?" Margery asked, pointing to the 5 photos spread out on the table.

Director    Parker shook his head, "They're still too Amelia-like, with a victorious look on their faces."

   "What do you think, Ronald? It happens that you are about the same age as them, so you feel more." The director called him to express his opinion.

   "I think this is good, you can try it." Ronald pointed to a photo of a beautiful woman who looked a bit like a cat. "

   The actor in this photo is most like the one in my 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's agent. She won the sixth place in Miss California last year." Producer Da Silva expressed his opinion for the first time.

   "Very well, I'll give her... well, Michelle, an audition," Director Parker said.

  Margery looked at the director and posted the beautiful photo under the label "Hillary".

   Then there is the role of Montgomery, a sensitive and inferior boy whose mother is a mentally ill actor.

   "Which do you think is suitable? Director Parker asked Ronald again."

  The plot of the character of Montgomery, Ronald didn't remember, so he just pointed to one according to his intuition.

   "This one, blond hair, feels a little fragile when he smiles, his teeth are messed up, and he is probably a little inferior."

   "Fine, I think he's a good fit too." This time Margery from the casting studio agreed, and put his picture below the Montgomery character.

  The director also nodded in agreement.

  …

   Having selected more than 10 audition candidates for the protagonists, it is still not enough. Everyone decided to go to the performing arts high school in New York the day after tomorrow to discuss with the school and organize a large-scale on-site audition for students.

   After getting down to business, Julia and Margery from the casting studio brought sandwiches and cokes. 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 the vice president of Paramount."

   "She has always emphasized the need to rely on intuition to select people, and your intuition is very sharp. Would you consider joining us?"

  Julia said to Ronald.

   "Me? I still want to go to college to see if I can become a director." Ronald said.

   "Yeah, who doesn't want to be a director?" Julia smiled and continued:

   "Next, I will mainly do the casting for Woody Allen's new film, and the audition for the acting high school will be mainly in charge of Margery."

   "What, Julia, are you going to abandon me for that Jewish dwarf Woody?" Director Parker made an exaggerated gesture to express his heartache.

   "No, your movie needs a total of about 600 actors, which cannot be done by any casting company alone. We should find several 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 to openly issue casting invitations."

   "We made an appointment with all the casting companies to find a big house for a big joint audition. Ronald, you'll come too, we all like your instincts."

   "Okay, thank you director." Ronald was very happy, maybe the director saw that he and the characters in the script are the same age, and it feels more like watching people?

   It takes a certain amount of time to receive a recommendation after sending out an invitation, and everyone starts to discuss how to organize a joint audition.

  Julia Taylor called Ronald outside, leaving Margery and the director to discuss the details of the joint audition.

   "Ronald, your briefing was timely. We reached an agreement with Howard Fair that they would drop Woody Allen's new film, and we made a concession to do a joint audition with them for the Hot Lunch."

   "But remember to keep Margery informed if a third audition company steps in. 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 also doesn't have to swing between them and the director, using a car to test his integrity.

   just took the opportunity to ask Meg about it: "Ms. Taylor, if Meg wants to attend an acting training class, do you have a recommendation?"

   "Aren't you from New York University's Dixie School of the Arts? Why are you asking me, the best acting coach in New York is in your academy."

   "Uh, I haven't started school yet."

   (end of this chapter)