Exploiting Hollywood 1980

  Chapter 15 Go to college or make a movie?

   "Two Maixiangyu burgers, thank you".

  Catholics have a tradition of not eating meat on Fridays, so McDonald's, which mainly sells beef burgers, invented the fried cod burger. Ronald doesn't eat often, and the coupons for the Big Mac ran out today.

   When I got home, I boiled a pot of water, took out a tea bag, and made a big cup of black tea. With black tea, we hurriedly finished dinner. Ronald sat down at the table and froze.

   Ronald applied to two public universities in New York. One is the State University of New York at Albany, and the other is the newly established City University of New York Staten Island. The economy is sluggish, inflation is serious, and even if you get a diploma from an ordinary university, you may not be able to find any good jobs.

   Ronald chose two low-cost public universities. Aunt Karen is a resident of New York State and is entitled to a substantial tuition waiver herself. The accounting major you apply for is a type of work that any company needs. Even if the Great Depression comes again, I can still sort out invoices for grocery stores, keep accounts, etc., and I can always get along.

  New York In the northeastern United States, what people often hear are the Ivy League private schools, Harvard, Yale, Columbia...etc.

  America's class separation, the starting point is the university, Ronald also wants to go to the famous school. There is no money and no scholarships, and the tuition fees of famous private schools are several times that of public schools. SAT scores and high school grades are good enough, but low-interest state-sponsored student loans don't qualify.

  Hey, if you have to go to the Staten Island campus of the City University of New York, which has just been upgraded from a community college (promotion), I am afraid you will have to look up to those famous students for the rest of your life.

  …

  Joined a film company and worked as a temporary director for a day. Originally, I just wanted to find a job in the industry so that I could earn more hard money for taking pictures.

   But the conversation with Gail about dreams, and the feeling of having a single word in a crew of dozens of people at the end of the day, ignited a wildfire in Ronald's heart.

  …

   Only those talented people in the film industry can make big money. You must be talented, right?

   And that strange dream last night. If you can dream of more future movies, you can make a lot of money in advance, right?

   Not necessarily.

  Film is the most expensive art.

   Unlike novelists, who can write on pencils and manuscript paper for a dollar. If you want to be a painter, you can start painting by paying $100 for brushes, paints, and canvas.

  If you want to make a feature film that will be released in theaters, the minimum price is 200,000 US dollars.

   Even a 10-minute short film of the kind that Jim made that didn’t have the chance to be shown in theaters would cost more than $20,000.

   For a normal budget movie, sorry...$3 million to start.

  …

   Or take out the script and send it to the studio? Then he was appreciated by the producer, became a director, made a masterpiece, married Bai Fumei, and reached the pinnacle of his life?

   I'm afraid it's not that easy.

Not to mention other things, based on my experience of reading scripts for several months at New World Productions, many of the films to be filmed this year were actually written five years ago, and there are also warehouses in eight major studios. hidden for ten years.

  I am a young man with no successful works and no connections. I am afraid that the script written by him will be sent to the eight major studios, and even a reviewer like himself will not be able to pass the test.

  …

  Join the new world, slowly gain the appreciation of Roger Coleman, and then be like Ellen and Joe?

   This road is equally difficult.

   Now is not the era of the big studios. Twenty years ago, as long as you work in the big studios, you can get ahead with talent and hard work. Write scripts for the stars of your own company, find a director of your own company to shoot it, and get promoted to assistant director after five or six years, until you become a director and start shooting a movie with a budget of $3 million.

  In today's Hollywood, everything is a free market. You find your own investments, your own actors, and your own distribution companies to negotiate.

  Before getting a ticket to enter this free market, like Allen and Joe, you have to take the minimum wage of $200 per week stipulated by the union during filming, and cut your income by more than half when you are not filming. It takes five or six years to start shooting a low-cost small production of $300,000. This is still under the hands of Roger Coleman, a well-known and kind person in the industry.

   Not only that, in the New Hollywood movement in the past 10 years, the new generation of big directors who have emerged are all college graduates. George Lucas in "Star Wars", Francis Coppola in "The Godfather", Martin Scorsese in "Taxi Driver"...

  I graduated from high school, can I compete with these famous school graduates?

  …

   But on the other hand, it is not easy to enter the film industry by yourself.

  How many handsome men and women want to enter this industry but can't find the door.

   I accidentally got into the production of New World by mistake, and I also participated in the filming of the film. It can be said that luck is very important. At another time, you may not even pass the interview.

   If you go to the City University of New York to study accounting for four years, then there is a high probability that you will be an accountant yourself. The once movie dream may turn into a memory of youth like Chris and Mara.

  …

  Ronald held the cup and took a sip of the lipstick tea. The feeling of the studio's overwhelming response came to mind again.

   smiled wryly, and he became very fond of remembering that moment. Anyone who has had the creative experience of this decision, I am afraid they want to do it again.

   After going to college, you may find a stable job with an average income, so you can forget about making a movie as a dream.

   You may make a lot of money by working hard in Hollywood, or you may be poor forever, but in any case, one thing is certain, you will be poor for several years.

   Going to college and filming, how do you choose? If only there was a best of both worlds.

  The best of both worlds… Maybe it’s not impossible.

  …

  “Bell bell bell…”

  The phone rang suddenly.

   "Hello, this is Ronald."

   "Uh, hello, I'm looking for a Mr. Lee, he's a portrait photographer." A nice mezzo-soprano came.

   "I am, please call me Ronald, who are you?"

   "OK. Ronald, my friend recommended you, you see, I called you several times this week, but no one answered, so I'll try again tonight."

   "Sorry, I've been working on a film crew since the Thanksgiving holiday, so I haven't been at home during this time."

   "Then are you still helping people take audition photos?"

   "Yes, but I will be filming on the set next week until the 22nd."

   "So you're busy before Christmas?"

   "I should be free on the 23rd, the morning of the 24th is fine, and everyone is celebrating in the afternoon."

   "Okay, I want to ask you to take a set of audition photos for me, let's take the 23rd."

   "What's your name?"

   "My name is Demi Gaines"

   "OK, do you want to update your audition photos, or is it your first time?"

"the first time."

   "Okay, do you want to shoot in black and white, or in color?" Ronald opened the drawer, took out a work notebook, and began to memorize it.

   "Uh, I don't know, what do you think?"

   "It depends on whether the movie you want to audition is black and white or color, if you just shoot it and keep it with the casting director, then I recommend color."

   "Okay, then color."

   "Well, do you want to shoot outdoors or indoors? Oh, if it's your first time, you can consider indoors. Now, there are more movies shot in studios. You can use indoor ones if you're just starting out, and add them later if you need them."

   "Oh, I listen to you, you sound very professional."

   "Thank you. You can come to my house, I live in Venice Beach..."

   "Wait a minute, Ronald. I'm a graphic model with an agent, and I don't go to the photographer's house." The girl was wary.

"I totally understand. If you have a free studio, I can take your place. If I rent a studio, it will cost extra. Or if you have a bigger room in your house, I can bring the lights and go to your place. shoot."

   "That's good, my boyfriend's home in West Hollywood is huge."

"Generally speaking, for the first audition, I recommend two versions, one for the drama and one for the romantic comedy. The total cost of photography for these two sets is $50, including 5 6x8-inch photos per version, and negatives ."

   "Okay, then it's settled."

   "What's your phone number, Miss Gaines? I'll contact you on Friday the 22nd, and we'll set a time and location for the shoot."

   "Oh, my number is 689-8425"

  …

   Unexpected joy, and another order.

   Created a book group, if you are interested, you can join the group

   Rock High School

   869791240

   (end of this chapter)