The Best Director

Hollywood, located in the northwest suburb of downtown Los Angeles, is where the headquarters of major film companies are located. It is also a popular tourist destination and represents a sacred place for movies.

As early as when Wang Yangchu first came to Los Angeles, he had visited Hollywood, visited Paramount Film City, walked on the Avenue of Stars, and visited the Chinese Theater to see the hand and foot prints of celebrities. The purpose of his coming to Hollywood today is not to play, but to find candidates for the leading actor and heroine for "Spiritual-Ghost Story".

Searching for actors is not done on the street. It is scouting to observe whether passers-by are suitable to be actors on the street. How to cast a movie, Hollywood has its own system. Wang Yang is going to visit the actor union today.

The Screen Actors Guild of America (SAG), established in 1933, is the largest actors' union in the United States, with more than 120,000 members. Together with another union with more than 70,000 members, the American Federation of Television and Radio Actors (AFTRA), these two unions include almost all actors in the United States.

The significance of the existence of the actors' union is to seek the interests and rights of union members, such as introducing job opportunities to actors, defending their rights, and being responsible for labor contract negotiations with the producers' association, etc.

Many people who don't understand Hollywood think that Hollywood generally has "hidden rules", that is, sex-trading. That's not true. It might have been like that in Hollywood decades ago. At that time, directors, actors, screenwriters, etc. were all signed by the film company, which was equivalent to the company's employees. The film company held the power, and naturally a lot of dirty things Yes, something dark.

However, with the establishment of various trade unions, the improvement of the system, and the maturity of the market, directors and actors no longer signed employment contracts with film companies, but instead signed film contracts, changing from a boss-subordinate relationship to a cooperative relationship. As a result of these changes, sex-trading in Hollywood has become less and less, and now it is almost extinct.

Why? First of all, let’s not talk about whether the actor himself is willing to make a sex transaction, but even if he/she is willing, it is very difficult for the other party to implement it. Hollywood is no longer a studio system, nor is it a star system. Those big-name stars and studio bosses can no longer make a decision on the candidates.

The current casting system is a multi-party system of checks and balances. Directors, producers, and even CEOs of investment companies do not have absolute power. When you want to choose actors, you can go to agencies. Of course, the agencies will eventually go to the actors union. The actors union will notify all qualified Members, make an appointment for an interview. The interview examiners are composed of the director, the producer and the agent sent by the actor union.

In the end, only the actors with the unanimous consent of the three parties can get the role. Of course, the agent is more of a supervisory role; but as long as one party disagrees, the actor will not get any role.

So here, even if a certain actor has a deal with the director, don't expect it to succeed, because the director has no right to make decisions alone, and the deal will not succeed.

Besides, if some ignorant girl is cheated by an unscrupulous director, she sleeps with someone but fails to get a film contract, she is likely to go to court and make a complaint in the newspapers, and this kind of scandal is a big deal in the United States. The actor's future must be ruined and his reputation ruined. Because movie fans all over the country will spurn them and refuse to watch their movies. In other words, you have no market, and naturally no movie company will ask you to make movies.

Don’t talk about doing it, you can’t even talk about it. If a producer or a director tries to make such a request, then the actors can find their union to help them defend their rights. Whether it is SAG or AFTRA, they are very powerful. Lawyers will be sent immediately to file a lawsuit with the film company to which the director and producer belong to seek an explanation.

Well, you said that as long as you sleep all three parties, you can get the role?

This is about the mature market for American movies.

How many movies are made in the US a year? Let alone a few hundred. How many directors, how many actors? Countless. In this kind of brutally competitive market, no matter which director is making a movie, he is facing enormous pressure to make a profit.

Let’s see, Hollywood often invests tens of millions of dollars, or even hundreds of millions of dollars, to make a movie. The investors may involve dozens of companies. The requirements of these companies are simple, profit, and the minimum requirement is to recover costs and not lose money. If someone messes up for sex-trading, messes up the movie, and causes them to lose money, the investment company will not let him go. At least it will ruin your reputation, and at worst, you will be held accountable to the court and you will go to jail.

Besides, many directors have been unable to make a movie for several years. When the opportunity comes, they will not allow themselves to miss it, and they will not be so stupid as to disregard their own future for a moment of pleasure. If you want a high, you can go to a bar to find a one-night stand, find a call girl, and once the movie fails at the box office, his career can basically be over.

Achievement and reputation are very, very important to directors and producers. If the films you produce are box office poisons, or you are a notorious person, absolutely no investor will give you money.

Because the movie failed, the investors themselves will also be in trouble. Take a look at the "Wind Talker" produced by MGM and directed by John Woo. It cost 120 million, but in the end it only received 77 million at the box office worldwide. MGM's deficit soared and its stock price plummeted, which directly led to MGM's high-level reorganization. Since then, Woo Yusen has not gained the trust of investors, and finally he has to return to China to shoot "Red Cliff".

Why did it fail at the box office? It's very simple. Faced with hundreds of movies every year, the level of American audiences has long been raised, and with so many movies, which one is better to watch? Therefore, audiences generally read movie reviews before making a decision before going to the cinema. It is conceivable that a bad movie is a bad movie. No matter how extravagant your promotion is, no matter how beautiful your heroine is, the movie critics will not show mercy , because the way they want to keep their jobs is to write popular movie reviews.

This is a very simple fact, there is no shortage of beauties in Hollywood, and I have never seen any film company collect a few beauties in a vase to make a movie, and the movie will be a big hit. joke? Have you ever seen a woman? If you want to see women, you might as well go to "Playboy", where there are still nudes.

There are many women who are willing to sell their lust, just look at those playboy girls, but I have never seen them be the heroine of any movie, and they can't even win a small supporting role.

Because in Hollywood, if you want to use your body to change roles, you are willing, but no one else is willing. There is no such business.

It’s not that the quality of Americans is particularly good. A few decades ago, Hollywood was also dirty. Why is it so clear now? Without him, the system determines everything.

Of course, there are "hidden rules" in Hollywood, but they are not sex-transactions. The real hidden rules are discrimination, discrimination against homosexuals, discrimination against skin color, and even discrimination against women.

Take a 70-year-old actress and a 70-year-old actor. This old woman usually only plays a grandmother, but this old man can star in a romance movie with a 20-year-old young woman.

"Welcome to SAG." As soon as Wang Yang walked into the Screen Actors Union, the staff responsible for receiving visitors at the front desk said enthusiastically: "Do you want to join the Screen Actors Union? As long as you pay an annual membership fee of 1,500 US dollars, we will give you Insurance, job opportunities, and protecting your rights."

"No, thank you. Maybe I will join the directors' union in the future." Wang Yang shook his head with a smile, and then explained why he came: "I'm going to make a DV movie independently, and I need two actors, that is, the hero and heroine. Look I look like I’m in my twenties, I’m neither fat nor thin, and I don’t have any requirements for looks. Oh, this is a horror movie, it takes about a week to shoot, and the two characters are paid 4,000 yuan.”

After listening to Wang Yang's words, the staff frowned and said with a smile: "Oh, four thousand dollars is not much, but I believe there will be many people in need. Okay, I've registered and arranged an interview time and place Well, we will notify all qualified actors, as to whether to go to the interview, it depends on their own ideas. So, time and place?"

"The sooner the time, the better. Tomorrow? Can the location be at my house?" Wang Yang said. His home is the scene in the movie. If you audition in the scene, the effect will be the best.

"I'm afraid not, as you know, the interview location is best in a public place." The staff shrugged, and said: "There is still time too fast, some members haven't received the news yet, and you don't want to miss the suitable one Candidates?"

Wang Yang nodded. Although he was racing against time, he couldn't delay things because of it. After thinking for a while, he said, "Then three days later? The location will be at the 'Sweetheart' Cafe on Sunset Street."

"OK, so your name and phone number?"

After everything was registered, Wang Yang paid a fee of 200 US dollars, and then the work was done, and the next step was to wait.

During the three days of waiting, Wang Yang stayed at home, watching horror movies in his head all day long, in order to perfect his script. Wang Yang has been so scared these days that he can't even sleep well at night, and wakes up when he hears any sound. This is all thanks to those horror movies.

American horror movies are okay, but they are bloody and more disgusting and frightening; the subject matter and cost of "Spiritual Ghost Records" determine that the horror of this movie is psychological, so Japanese horror movies It is the object of his research, and Japanese horror films are the scariest, the ones that give people a feeling of suffocation, whether it is "Midnight Ring", which was released in January this year, or it will be released in 2003 "The Grudge"...every one of them brought Wang Yang's spirit close to the verge of collapse.

Fortunately, I can chat with Jessica on the phone every day and listen to her sweet laughter, otherwise Wang Yang will definitely go crazy.

By the day of the interview, the "Scared Out" script had been completely written. Wang Yang adopted many future horror ideas, and chose them with the way of thinking of ordinary Americans, which is a great achievement of psychological horror. If the "Spiritual-Ghost Records" of the later generations can scare people to death, then the release of this unrecognizable "Spiritual-Ghost Records" will definitely scare people to death!

The agreed start time for the interview was 9:00 in the morning. Wang Yang got up early in the morning as usual, practiced boxing and ate breakfast, and then set off to the "Sweetheart" coffee shop on Sunset Street in Hollywood.

When Wang Yang came to the coffee shop, he found that Jessica, who had promised to come last night, had already arrived. She sat in the seat and waved to him with a smile. Poor guy, you can't come to class, and you say you want to stare at me, haha!

"Hi, you're Yang, right?" When it was almost 9 o'clock, the staff sent by the actors' union also arrived. It was a middle-aged white man wearing a pair of black-rimmed glasses. He showed Wang Yang his ID. After looking at it, the name is Mark Srant, and he said with a smile, "I'm in charge of today's interview."

"Hello, Mr. Slante." Wang Yang hugged him gently, and Jessica also said hello and shook hands with Slante.

Seeing Jessica, Mark Slanter let out an "oh", as if he had discovered a treasure, and couldn't move his eyes and said: "Beautiful lady, are you here for an interview too?"

Jessica shook her head and denied: "No, sir. I'm the producer of the movie." She smiled, looked at Wang Yang and said, "Just kidding, I just came to watch the fun, and Yang is today's chief judge. He has the final say." Wang Yang spread his hands and made a grimace.

"Oh, I see." Mark Slanter sat down, ordered a cup of coffee from the waiter, continued to look at Jessica, and praised: "Miss Alba, I am actually an agent, you are very beautiful , has a particularly charming temperament. From my perspective of working in the industry for so many years, you can become an actor."

Wang Yang and Jessica both laughed when they heard this, and Jessica said, "In fact, I am already an actor and a member of the Screen Actors Union."

Mark Slant suddenly laughed: "I knew I was right." He looked at Wang Yang, then at Jessica, and asked curiously: "Interesting, young director ( Young-director, pun intended), why don't you cast your girlfriend as the heroine in a movie?"

"Oh, oh! No, no..." Hearing that Mark Slanter thought they were a couple, Jessica reflexively denied, "I'm not his girlfriend." Glancing at Wang Yang, her heart was pounding, why was she full of anticipation?

Seeing her denying so quickly, Wang Yang felt a little disappointed, smiled and said, "He is a good friend."

"Oh." Mark Slanter shrugged and said, "You can act without being a girlfriend?"

Jessica lowered her head and took a sip of coffee to hide the unnatural look on her face. But she is a student of acting, so she immediately controlled her expression and explained with a smile on her face: "Yang said that I am too young to be the age of the heroine."

"Yes, I need the heroine to look like she is in her twenties." Wang Yang added, in fact, he reconsidered later, could Jessica be the heroine? But in the end the verdict was upheld. Because he has watched several horror films starring Jessica in his mind, and there is really nothing outstanding about it. It can be said that she is not suitable for horror films at all.

Mark Slanter seemed to have become a fan of Jessica, and said a little dissatisfied: "I think it's quite suitable." He twisted his mouth again, and said: "Of course, the young director has the final say."

Seeing that Jessica became a little unhappy, Wang Yang couldn't help scolding Mark Srant in his heart, isn't this difficult for him to do? I want to explain to Jessica, but I don't know how to say it.

Fortunately, at this time, the first actor who came to participate in the interview finally appeared, and ended the weird silence on the coffee table. The first one to come was a Caucasian actress with long light blonde hair, dignified and beautiful, and some freckles on her face. She handed her resume to Wang Yang, and introduced herself nervously: "Hi, Hello, my name is Anne-Darren."

Wang Yang looked through her resume. She was born in 1978 and is 20 years old. She took acting classes in high school and participated in local stage plays. They are all extras, that is, extras without lines.

He looked at Anne Darren, who was opposite, and asked, "Annie, if you encountered a ghost at home at night, what would be your first reaction?"

Anne-Darren frowned and thought about it, then said cautiously: "Maybe it was screaming."

scream? Wang Yang immediately made a cross in his heart, but Annie obviously attached great importance to this interview when he came so early, so he continued to ask calmly: "So if it is late at night, you and your boyfriend fell asleep on the bed. It was very sweet, but suddenly there was a sound of footsteps, just outside the bedroom in the corridor, and you were awakened." He made a gesture of invitation, and said, "Please show your demeanor after waking up."

"OK, OK, let me think about it first." Anne Darren blinked non-stop, took a deep breath after a while and said, "Then I will start." Wang Yang nodded, and Mark Srant, Jessica looked at her together.

Annie closed her eyes, then slowly opened them "uh", then frowned, looking left and right with a scared expression, as if she didn't know what to do. After the performance, she took a long breath, looked at Wang Yang nervously and expectantly, and said, "It's just like that."

The traces of performance are too heavy, deeply influenced by stage plays, and I can't perform life-like DV movies at all. Wang Yang made another cross in his heart, shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Annie, you don't meet my requirements..."

"Oh, God!" Annie hugged her head in shock, her voice trembled, and she was about to cry: "Can you let me perform again? Okay, okay?" Before Wang Yang could answer , she had a look of fear on her face.

"No, no, I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Wang Yang handed her resume back, although he sighed in his heart, he could only harden his heart at this time: "Annie, your performance has not yet broken away from the style of a stage play. , This is a DV movie, and I need a life-like performance, so the interview is over."

With red eyes, Annie accepted the resume with a face full of frustration, stood up and said, "Thank you for the opportunity to interview." After speaking, she walked away desolately.

Jessica shook her head empathetically, and said with a frown, "I know how sad she is now. Every time I fail an audition, I will feel that kind of frustration, as if I am worthless and abandoned by God."

"I'm sorry..." Wang Yang sighed, how could it be so easy to be an actor? A single SAG has more than 120,000 members. How many famous actors are there?

According to the statistics of the Screen Actors Guild, among the more than 120,000 members, less than 5% have an annual salary of more than 100,000 US dollars. What is the percentage of members whose annual income ranges from 1 yuan to 4,999 US dollars? 72.1%.

Wang Yang's remuneration is 4,000 yuan, and the average working time for a week is 571 yuan per day. The market for mass roles in Hollywood is now 80 dollars per hour for non-union members, and 120 dollars per hour for union members. So his contract is not too generous, but for extras, it is not too much. And the role is the protagonist, such an opportunity to perform is rare, director Wang Yang? Who is that? A movie that costs 10,000 yuan? Just kidding! ? But who cares, he is the main character anyway, and he still has four thousand dollars.

Therefore, many people came to interview. In one morning, Wang Yang had already interviewed nearly 200 people, all of whom were not very good and could not meet his basic requirements.

Looking at the strong black muscular man in front of him, Wang Yang asked, "If you were sleeping and woke up by a strange noise, what would your reaction be? Please act."

"I guess I'll yell, FUCK!" The muscular man yelled, and said fiercely: "Which son of a bitch woke me up!?"

Wang Yang could hardly help crying, the result of acting like this is that the horror movie has become a comedy movie! He shook his head and said, "Sorry, sir, you can't meet my request..."

"What? I can't meet the requirements? MAN, what are you kidding!?" The muscular man slammed the table, glared at Wang Yang and said, "I acted so well, yet you said I couldn't meet the requirements?! Hey, say Really, are you trying to trick me!? Is this just a hoax?"

"Sir, please calm down." Wang Yang frowned.

"Calm down? Calm down!" The muscular man yelled loudly, and all the people in the coffee shop looked at him. He stood up with his hands on the table, leaned forward and cursed: "Little bitch, what do you think? Is that movie of yours precious? Don’t ask me to act? FUCK!”

Jessica was a little scared, Wang Yang suppressed his anger and said, "Do you want to cause trouble?"

At this time, Mark Srant called out to the muscular man without haste, and said, "Hey, buddy, I know your name. If you do this again, I will definitely tell the actor union."

"FUCK!" The muscular man cursed again, not daring to cause trouble, he left while cursing, and looked at Jessica with bright eyes before leaving, this is what almost all men do before leaving, of course The muscular man's eyes were particularly annoying, and he laughed and said: "Little beauty, if the Chinese penis can't satisfy you, come to me! I'll make you call mommy!"

"Brother, you are looking for death!" Wang Yang was furious, and he got up and rushed towards the muscular man.

"Yang, Yang!" Jessica reacted quickly and stood up hurriedly to hold Wang Yang, but she couldn't match her strength. He hooped with all his strength, buried his head on Wang Yang's back, and shouted: "Don't go, don't go!"

"Jessica, let me go!" Wang Yang also tried his best to charge forward, furious in his heart. This muscular man not only offended Jessica, but also reminded him of Terrence Ben who wronged him. The same body shape, the same expression that deserves to be punched!

The black muscular man saw that Wang Yang was about to rush out, but he didn't dare to fight. Instead, he quickened his pace and left. He didn't want to fight.

Seeing the guy running out of the coffee shop, walking farther and farther away, the brute force on Wang Yang's body slowly loosened, he sighed, and smiled wryly to the back: "Jessica, why were you like this before, It's the same now? Why don't you let me beat that guy up?"

"Yang, don't go..." Jessica is still hugging Wang Yang tightly. At this moment, she seems to have returned to 9 years ago. At that time, Wang Yang wanted to beat up Peter and his gang for her. She also hugged Wang Yang tightly. Trying to stop him, the emotion from 9 years ago suddenly surged out, the same frequency as now, my heart was both nervous and sweet, it was indescribably good.

"Wow, this is really a movie scene!" Mark Srant over there made a joke, which made Jessica wake up like a dream. She hurriedly let go of Wang Yang, and smiled shyly and awkwardly at Wang Yang , Wang Yang also smiled. Mark Srant said: "Don't worry, I will submit that guy's name to the trade union, and he will get the punishment he deserves."

He tapped the watch on his wrist, and said again: "Young director, it's already noon, shouldn't you take a break?"

Wang Yang looked at his watch, it was almost 12 o'clock, nodded and said: "Well, it's lunch time." So he called the waiter and confessed that if someone came for an interview, he said they had dinner outside, at 1 p.m. Continue with the interview.

"So where are we going to eat?" Mark Slant asked.

At this time, every dollar should be saved, so Wang Yang would not pretend to be a big-headed ghost. He shrugged and said, "I can go to a nearby restaurant to buy a hamburger." Jessica also said, "Me too."

Mark Slanter nodded indifferently, and said: "Oh, I will come back at 1 o'clock, and I will eat at the restaurant on the street..." He looked at the two and smiled, and said: "That's okay. you guys."

"Then you go away!" Wang Yang said angrily, Mark Sranter left first "OK, OK", he really left, Wang Yang and Jessica seemed a little embarrassed, Wang Yang had to joke Said: "Why did you stop me just now? Fighting now, no teacher will punish me."

Jessica rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, there are no teachers now, but now there are police officers."

The two talked and laughed a few words, then called the waiter in the coffee shop to pay the bill, and then walked outside talking and laughing.

Just walking out of the door of the coffee shop, I saw a girl with long blond hair and a pretty appearance hurriedly walking into the coffee shop. Wang Yang didn't have time to take a closer look. He only thought that the girl looked familiar to him, and he didn't know if she was going in. For coffee, or for an interview?

With doubts, Wang Yang and Jessica hadn't walked ten steps on the street, and there was a shout from behind: "Wait, please wait!"

Wang Yang and Jessica stopped and looked back. It was the pretty girl who was chasing after her just now. She trotted to the front. She was about 165 tall, so she was wearing flat shoes and had to look up at Wang Yang. She asked: "Hello, are you Mr. Wang Yang?"

"Yes, I am." Wang Yang nodded.

The beautiful girl showed a smiling face and said, "I'm here to attend your movie interview, may I still be able to interview now?"