hunt hollywood

Leaving the convenience store, Simon did not return to the motel immediately, but shuttled through the streets of Santa Monica, scouting for his planned first film in advance.

The first film Simon intends to make is Run Lola Run.

Although the original "Run Lola Run" filming location is not in Los Angeles, Simon does not have enough capital to pick and choose.Since he was in Santa Monica, he directly confirmed the filming location of the new version of the film here.

The choice of "Run Lola Run" is also the result of Simon's careful consideration.

After all, this body is only 18 years old now.

Under normal circumstances, Hollywood's somewhat rational film companies would not spend millions of dollars to let a young man under the age of 20 take risks, and now Simon does not have the capital to personally invest in the production of commercial films.

Therefore, he must show enough strength to dispel Hollywood's scruples about his age, at least to a certain extent.

To achieve this, in fact, it couldn't be easier, nothing more than to prove it through works.

Although there have been some changes on the WMA side, the script income of "Butterfly Effect" has been expected.This is Simon's first capital, and he must use it well to knock on the door of Hollywood.

Of course, no matter how high the price of a script is, it cannot be too much.Therefore, Simon has very little choice but to make an ultra-low-budget movie.Also, the movie has to show enough value, either at the box office or in awards.

In terms of box office, there are actually many films in Simon's memory that simply created miracles at the low-cost and high box office, such as "The Blair Witch" and "Ghost Story".

But in the final analysis, more than 90.00% of the success of these films is due to luck and proper commercial operation, and has nothing to do with the quality of the film itself.

The obvious evidence is that after the success of these films, the directors of the films did not show much presence in Hollywood.

Therefore, it is 99% possible for Simon to get these movies out at this time. Even if there is a 1% chance of reaping some benefits, Simon's ability in film production will not be affected by Hollywood. recognition.

As for awards, this thing undoubtedly places more emphasis on qualifications.

Moreover, it is even more difficult to produce an excellent art film that can reach the award-winning level of several major film festivals with the money earned from selling a script.

After repeated selection, "Run Lola Run", an alternative and avant-garde experimental film, seemed perfect for Simon.

"Run Lola Run" also had a very low production cost, which was 35 German marks in my memory, which is roughly equivalent to 18 US dollars, but this was more than ten years later.

Now, as long as you save a little, Simon thinks $10 will basically do the trick.

Although it was produced at a low cost, "Run Lola Run" has sufficient artistic value and commercial value. The film has not only won many awards, but even formed a trend among young Germans.

Of course, for Simon, these are not the most important.

The most important thing for Simon is that "Run Lola Run" perfectly demonstrates the ability of the film's main creator and director.

After the birth of "Run Lola Run" in 1998, the film's dazzling skills in editing, soundtrack, color, montage, camera movement, etc., quickly made it a classic teaching case of film schools around the world, and it has become a classic for many well-known film schools. Directors have had a very profound impact.

Doug Liman, the director of the classic Hollywood spy film "The Bourne" series, once publicly admitted that the unique shooting style of "The Bourne" was inspired by "Run Lola Run". For this reason, Mann also specially invited Franka Potente, the heroine of "Run Lola Run", to serve as the female number one of "The Bourne".

Therefore, choosing "Run Lola Run", even if the film fails in the awards and box office in the worst case, it is enough for Simon to get a chance to show his filmmaking skills to the major Hollywood studios.

Hollywood has its extremely conservative side, but at the same time it is a circle that worships genius and miracles extremely.

As long as a person can prove his strength and bring benefits to the film company, not many people will care whether this person is an angel or a devil, and the age issue is naturally not a problem.

On HSD Avenue north of downtown Santa Monica.

Simon passed by this intersection, and immediately saw the castle-like dark gray building across the street, which was a club.The architectural tones of Los Angeles are generally dominated by light tones such as white, which makes people feel monotonous and boring.

As a result, such a rather alternative dark gray building in front of him became very conspicuous, and Simon quickly made a decision to make this dark gray building one of the street scenes that Lola quickly passed by while running.

Without a camera, Simon could only use the most stupid method to record this location by drawing.

Holding a hand-bound hardcover notebook and standing on the curb of the street, Simon first wrote down the most basic street information, re-examined the street scene in front of him, and then began to quickly draw in the form of a shot script.

A few minutes later, while concentrating on the work in hand, Simon suddenly felt someone tap his shoulder.

Turning his head in doubt, there were two girls standing behind him at some point.

One of them was Courteney Cox, and there was another fair-haired girl who was also pretty, but Simon didn't know her.

At this moment, Courteney was looking at him vigilantly, without speaking, as if waiting for Simon to take the initiative to explain.

Simon turned around and looked around, only to realize that he was standing in front of a five-story apartment building, where Courteney and the blonde girl should live.

Feeling Courteney's eyes, Simon immediately understood.

Ok.

Being called a stalker.

With a wry smile, Simon closed his notebook and explained, "Curt, would you believe me if I said it was a coincidence?"

"I don't believe it," Courteney shook her head immediately, but still said, "So, what are you doing here?"

"I told you this afternoon, I'm preparing my own movie," Simon said, simply handing over the notebook in his hand.

Courteney took the thick [-]-folio notebook with a suspicious expression, and opened it casually. The blonde girl next to her also came over curiously.

The notebook has accumulated dozens of pages of shot-based drawings based on various types of street scenes. Although they are all very simple sketches, no matter whether it is Courteney or the blonde girl, they can easily appreciate Simon's solid painting skills. Most of the drawings There are also many professional annotations such as lighting and camera positions marked in detail.

After flipping through several pages in a row, Courteney's attention was quickly attracted by the running short-haired girl in the sketch, and she suddenly looked at Simon again with some embarrassment.The blond girl didn't have any scruples, she admired a few words in a low voice, then raised her head and said to Simon: "You are really good at drawing, but is the girl in the drawing Curt?"

Simon was stunned for a moment, looking at Courteney's short hair style at this time, and only then did he understand why the other party asked such a question.

In all fairness, Simon didn't have a specific object in mind when he sketched Lola's look, and he didn't have much feeling for Franka Potente, who played the original Lola.

However, perhaps during the time he came to Los Angeles, Courteney was the only girl Simon knew whose image fit Laura’s setting, so he subconsciously put her figure on it during the drawing process, which led to the current situation. misunderstanding.

In fact, the drawing is actually very simple. If there are not enough prerequisites to hint, it is difficult for anyone to think of this aspect.But Courteney happened to be in front of Simon at this time, and with the little misunderstanding just now, it was not surprising that the blonde girl would ask such a question.

Looking at Courteney, who looked down at the drawing and said nothing, the two girls in front of her had obviously confirmed a certain fact, so Simon no longer refuted this little misunderstanding, and simply nodded and admitted: "Yes, I will return this afternoon. I invited Curt to be my heroine, but unfortunately she didn't believe it."

"Hehe, Curt doesn't want to, why don't I do it, and you change all the girls in the manuscript to look like me," the blond girl smiled jokingly, and stretched out her hand to Simon: "Hello, I It's Kristy Swanson."

Simon reached out and shook the girl, saying, "Simon Westeros."

When the blond girl heard the words, she immediately showed a dazed expression: "Oh, you are what Curt mentioned recently..."

Before finishing speaking, Courtene reached out and stabbed her friend's waist to make Christie shut up, then handed the notebook to Simon and said, "Okay, you pass the test."

"So," Simon raised his finger and pointed behind him: "Can I stay here and finish that painting?"

Christie immediately laughed.

Courteney blushed slightly, and gave Simon an angry look: "You can do whatever you want, this is a public place."

Simon also felt that the question he just asked was a bit stupid, so he smiled, reopened the notebook, and turned to the last page.

Looking at the dark gray building opposite again, Simon picked up the pen and began to draw. Seeing that the two girls did not leave immediately, he said casually, "Are you going to have dinner?"

Chapter 012 Party

Courteney just stood at the side of Simon and looked at his painting with some restraint, but Christie leaned over without hesitation, sticking to Simon's side, a strand of beautiful blond hair dangling in Simon's peripheral vision, looking at him while painting. Said: "No, we are going to a party, Simon, why don't you come too?"

Simon was noncommittal, continued to draw, and asked, "What party?"

"Held by Matthew to celebrate the box-office hit he starred in in The Kidnapped. Oh, Matthew Broderick, you know?"

Simon nodded. Although he has the memories of twelve other people, in order to fully increase his understanding of Hollywood in this era, he has been reading Hollywood's two ace paper media "Variety Show" and "Hollywood Reporter" during this time. , so you know everything about the hit movies that are currently playing.

The most watched film in Hollywood this summer is undoubtedly Tom Cruise's Top Gun.The film, which was released in mid-May, had a cumulative box office of 7500 million U.S. dollars in less than two months.

In Hollywood in the 80s, the comprehensive distribution model of rolling out thousands of screens at one time has not yet emerged, and the mainstream distribution methods of major film companies are still a combination of long-term distribution and multiple rounds of screenings.

The basic characteristics of this traditional distribution model are the small scale of the opening and the long screening time.

Even for "Star Wars: Return of the Jedi" three years ago, the number of opening screens was only a little over 1000.But on the other hand, as long as it is a popular hit movie, it can basically be shown in North American theaters for more than half a year.

"Top Gun" also opened with a screen count of around 1000 yuan. It earned a box office of 7500 million U.S. dollars in less than two months after its release, temporarily ranking No.1986 on the North American box office list in 1.

Based on the usual box office curve of long-term releases and the current popularity of "Top Gun", the film can at least earn no less than $7500 million in the next few months.

Last year, only three films in Hollywood achieved a domestic box office of more than 1.5 million yuan. "Top Gun" is expected to have a total North American box office of more than 1986 million US dollars, and it has almost locked in the annual box office champion in [-].

This is indeed the case. Simon clearly remembers that the final North American box office of "Top Gun" was 1 million US dollars, ranking first in the North American box office list in 7900.

Relying on the popularity of "Top Gun", Tom Cruise successfully promoted from a popular niche in Hollywood to a world-class movie superstar.

In addition to "Top Gun", the campus comedy "Skipping School Genius" released in June, with a production cost of 600 million US dollars, has achieved a box office of more than 3000 million US dollars in just three weeks, which also belongs to the box office of this summer. dark horse.

In the next few months, even if the total box office of "Skipping School Genius" cannot break through [-] million, it is very hopeful that it will be able to squeeze into the top ten of this year's North American box office list.

Simon is not familiar with Matthew Broderick, the leading actor in "Skipping School Genius". Except for the current movie, he probably only remembers that the other party is the leading actor in the Hollywood version of "Godzilla" in 1998 in the original time and space, and The "Godzilla" that year brought almost all negative effects to the main creators, and the acting careers of the leading actors and actresses were also greatly affected.

However, Simon is very concerned about the movie "Skipping School Genius" at this time, because the director of the film is named John Hughes, the famous screenwriter of "Home Alone".

"Home Alone" is a super-best-selling work with a global box office of nearly 90 million US dollars in the early 5s, and Simon naturally does not want to miss it.

After casually chatting with the two girls beside him and finishing the drawing in hand, Simon planned to leave and go back to the hotel.He is not interested in the parties that Westerners are keen on. What's more, it must be late at night after the party. Although the downtown area of ​​Santa Monica is relatively safe, Simon does not have a car. What an unexpected situation.

However, Christie did not let Simon go, dragged him forcibly into Courteney's white car, and finally made a sneaky expression of "you owe me once" to Simon, obviously confirming his love for Ke Teni. Teni had thoughts of ideas.

Now that she was in the car, Courteney did not show any refusal, so Simon agreed.

The party location is the Airship Bar near the beach in Santa Monica.

The three of them arrived outside the bar in Courteney's white car. As night fell, there was already a long queue at the entrance of the bar.

Christie stepped forward and said a few words to the tall guard. The guard looked through the list in his hand, checked the driver's licenses of the three, and stamped the backs of the hands of Simon and Christie, who were under the drinking age, before letting them in.

Simon later learned that Christie had also played a small role in "Skip School Genius", which was not too conspicuous, and today was an official invitation, unlike the men and women who lined up outside the door hoping to enter the Hollywood social circle.

Entering the bar hall along the corridor, Simon found that the oval layout of the hall is indeed just like its "airship" name, and the decoration also looks full of technology.

At this time, the hall was crowded with young people, the lights were flickering, and the music was deafening.

Christie did not join the carnival crowd immediately, but first led Simon and Courteney to the other side of the bar as directed by a waiter, where the leading actor of tonight's party was.

After turning half a circle in the crowded oval hall, the three found a few young men and women sitting around a round table deep in the bar and chatting.

Several people around the round table saw someone approaching, but they didn't intend to get up. Christie reached out to a boy with a tender face, shook hands with him, and said with a smile, "Matthew, congratulations. Also, this is my friends, Curt, Simon."

After Christie finished speaking, Simon and Courteney also stepped forward to shake each other's hands. Matthew Broderick was still sitting. Although he was smiling when shaking hands with the two, he also had obvious indifference.

After a brief greeting, seeing Matthew Broderick's indifference, not even interested in knowing the names of Simon and Courteney, the three planned to leave.However, just as he was about to move his feet, a boy sitting across from Matthew Broderick gave Christie a look and pulled a chair from the side.

"Hey, you guys go and play, I'll talk to Matthew and the others for a while," Christie saw this, and the disappointed expression disappeared immediately, and she said something to Simon and Courteney, watching them walk away, she sat down with a smile Come over and say, "So, what are you talking about?"

"Matthew's new movie," the boy next to Christie replied, and handed her a bottle of drink, then looked at Matthew Broderick across the way, and asked as if he had forgotten the words: "Well, what is it?" What's going on?"

"'Butterfly Effect', a very cool script," Matthew Broderick said with a lively tone when there were no outsiders around, "Do you know what the Butterfly Effect means?"

Everyone shook their heads.

"Actually, I don't know too well," Matthew said, amidst the laughter of everyone, "However, several senior executives in WMA now value this script very much, and are still planning to make it a part of WMA. Package projects, like CAA does."

The girl next to Matthew Broderick saw him walking around, pretended to be dissatisfied and shook his arm, and said, "Matthew, what kind of story is it?"

"This." Matthew enjoyed the girl's coquettishness, but shook his head and said, "I can't say it for now, but you will know it after a while. Moreover, there are many young characters in the script, and you have the opportunity to participate in it." Audition, maybe I can help when the time comes."

The crowd gathered around Matthew Broderick, looking forward to this kind of opportunity, so when they heard his last words, their expressions became more eager and flattering.

Christie also interjected at this time and asked, "Matthew, when will the filming start?"

"The project is still being coordinated, and it should be promoted to the studio soon." Matthew Broderick glanced at Christie's pretty face, and said, "Besides, Norman feels that there are too few scenes in the script that belong to me. , He wants the screenwriter to re-edit the script. In short, everyone knows that a good movie is not so easy to complete."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and at the same time, some people showed envy because of the name of a person mentioned lightly in Matthew's words.

The Norman that Matthew just mentioned was named Norman Broca, and he was his agent, as well as one of the legendary agents in Hollywood.Many years ago, Norman Broca also represented legendary superstars like Marilyn Monroe.

As the two veterans of WMA passed away one after another in the first half of the year, Norman Broca, who just turned 60 years old this year, successfully became the president of this brokerage giant by virtue of his years of experience in WMA.

The few people here are all in Hollywood, and they also have their own good managers.

However, everyone knows that if they can find an agent like Norman Broca, their acting career will definitely be smooth.Matthew Broderick was also able to sign with Norman Broca at a young age because he was born in an acting family.

Everyone was chatting with Matthew Broderick in the center of their words, when there was some commotion on the dance floor not far away, accompanied by lively booing, a small space was quickly vacated on the dance floor, depending on the situation It seemed that someone was fighting.

Someone was making trouble at his celebration party, and Matthew Broderick suddenly felt a little helpless. With a sinking expression, he got up and walked towards the dance floor, and several others quickly followed.

Walking a little closer to the dance floor, Christie recognized the two figures in the center of the commotion, and her pretty face suddenly became bitter.

Chapter 013 Conflict

Leaving from Matthew Broderick and others, Courteney took a few steps, couldn't help but glance back, and then said to Simon with some expectation: "I really hope that one day I can be with Matthew So, throw your own celebration party and be surrounded like a princess."

Seeing the longing expression on the girl's face, Simon recalled the old "Friends", and echoed with a smile: "I will definitely, you may be more famous than him in the future."

"Heh, you really know how to coax girls." Courteney glanced at Simon, but lost her eyes in a blink of an eye and said, "However, it's difficult, Matthew's agent is Norman Broca, he once represented Marilyn Monroe is still the president of the WMA."

Simon said: "Jonathan should be good too, right?"