The Best Director

The time came to April 28th. During these two days, Wang Yang went to three film companies successively, but still found nothing, and the artisan company hadn't contacted him for the time being, which was what he expected .

Today is destined to be a busy day. Wang Yang finished a part-time job of distributing leaflets in the morning, and went to a film company to try his luck in the afternoon. This company called "Thinking Movies" watched his movies from beginning to end, and bought them. The manager was in a cold sweat, but after thinking about it, they still didn't dare to take the risk easily.

Since Thinking Films and his agreed meeting time was very late, and its headquarters was far away from Jessica’s home, after leaving Thinking Films, Wang Yang didn’t even have time to go home to take a shower, change clothes, etc. Yes, I rushed directly to Jessica's house with the briefcase containing the gift to attend her birthday party.

When the dusk was approaching night, Wang Yang finally came to the community where Jessica's family lived before it was too late. This is a very high-end community, with a wide avenue in the middle and large houses with front and rear gardens on both sides. It is tree-lined and beautifully landscaped. It is definitely a first-class community in Los Angeles.

"Hi, Jessica, I've come near your house, but I don't know how to go next." Wang Yang glanced at the surrounding environment, and smiled shyly at the phone: "Well, okay, I seem to be lost. Well, here I am at a crossroads, with a small fountain in the middle, chairs next to it, and some trees around..."

"Fountain? Oh, I know where it is!" Jessica laughed crisply, she sounded in a good mood, and she said, "It's very close to my house, but you'd better stay where you are, I'll go pick it up You, wait."

"Okay." Wang Yang put away his mobile phone, sat down on the bench next to the small fountain, and looked at the surrounding scenery. After waiting for a while, I saw Jessica coming from the intersection, smiled and waved to him, and quickened her pace.

She was dressed very beautifully today, a pink plaid lady dress, her long brown hair fluttered as she ran, she ran to the chair, smiled at Wang Yang, showing her white teeth: "Hi, Yang !"

Wang Yang stood up, looked at her, and praised: "Wow, Jessica, you are so beautiful today." He laughed and said: "Happy birthday."

"Thank you." Jessica smiled and rolled her hair, and said happily, "I'm glad you can come."

Seeing Wang Yang take out something wrapped in colored paper from the briefcase, she was startled, and then realized that it was a gift, covering her mouth with her hands, with a look of surprise on her face: "Oh, God..."

Wang Yang grinningly said "Dangdangdangdangdangdangdangdangdangdang", held the gift in both hands, handed it to Jessica, and said with a smile, "Is it Miss Alba? This is a birthday present for you, please sign for it."

"Oh, my God..." Jessica took a deep breath, took the gift with both hands like a treasure, and sighed, "Wow! It's incredible. Jan, I received your birthday present again. This is The second." She smiled and said, "You know what? The first birthday gift you gave me was also the first birthday gift I received from a friend besides my family."

Hearing what she said, Wang Yang felt a little embarrassed and blamed himself, the first gift? Those "wife cakes" were not made by him at all, but he just took them as gifts. He still remembered that there were ten cakes in the box, Jessica ate three, and he ate seven...unexpectedly For Jessica, it actually has such an important meaning...

And this second gift, although considered special, is actually very handy. Wang Yang laughed dryly, and said with a guilty conscience: "See if you like it?"

"Okay, let me see what it is." Jessica focused all her attention on the gift and didn't notice his embarrassment. She smiled and opened the colored paper. The gift inside seemed to be a book. She took it out curiously and expectantly. It was not a book, but a large book composed of many A4 papers.

On the top page, "Ranger" was written in large pencil characters. She flipped through it casually, and found that this large stack of A4 paper was completely filled with pencil characters and some pencil drawings that could be seen everywhere. Some are weapons, some are characters, and some are frame-by-frame images. Although the artistry is average, it can be seen that they are sub-shots of movies.

Jessica was stunned, and it took a while to realize what the gift was. She raised her head excitedly, looked at Wang Yang, and said in disbelief: "Wow, no way!?" She looked down at the gift in her hand again. He sighed repeatedly: "A manuscript of a script!? Ranger? Yang, is this your script?"

Wang Yang rubbed his head, looked at the script, his eyes were a little proud, like looking at his own child, and said: "Yes, a messy story, I hope you like it."

He didn't have money to buy expensive gifts, so he thought it would be better to give some meaningful and unique gifts. After some selection, he chose this script. The content of this script does not come from the future movies in his mind, every stroke is his own thinking, he has practiced martial arts since he was a child, and is very interested in martial arts under the influence of old man Wu; Influenced by superheroes, like Superman, Batman, Captain America, etc., this script tells the story of a martial arts superhero in a modern city.

He has been writing this story since he was in junior high school, and he has been writing it until now. He has experienced the maturity of his mind, the enrichment of knowledge, and the deepening of his understanding of movies. This script is constantly being revised and supplemented. It is more than enough to make twenty movies if all the content of that big stack of papers is shot, good or bad. His painstaking efforts over the years are all in these manuscripts.

So he copied the script and sent the manuscript to Jessica.

"Of course, I like it, I like it very much!" Jessica kept flipping through the thick stack of A4 paper in her hand, staring at it with bright eyes, and murmured: "Wow, this gift is so cool." People are amazed... This is the best gift I have ever received..."

Hearing her thanks, Wang Yang felt a little ashamed, so he said half-jokingly and half-seriously: "Jessica, I think this script will be made into a movie one day, and the heroine of the movie will be played by you. In fact, this is my gift. But the premise is that you are willing to be the heroine."

"What?" Jessica's heart skipped a beat, and she stopped to look through it. She remembered what they said when they were young. When we grow up, we will become directors and actors, and then... Is there anything special about this gift? mean? Holding the script, she looked at Wang Yang with big eyes without blinking, her heart beat fast, her voice became unnaturally quiet, and she said, "Well... Maybe, maybe I can try."

But Wang Yang didn't have any special meaning as she thought. He nodded with a smile and said, "Well, that's good! At least I don't have to worry about finding the heroine, haha."

Jessica just smiled. Seeing that he had nothing to say, she said "Oh" and said, "OK, then come with me, my house is just ahead."

Her house is also a big house with front and back gardens. There are colorful balloons hanging on the trees and mailboxes in the front yard. There are several long tables on the lawn, covered with tablecloths, and various foods are placed on them. There are many people in the yard, some middle-aged people are busy, some young people are talking, and some children are running happily. It seems that there are many people invited to the party.

"Brother, welcome to my house!" Seeing that Jessica brought Wang Yang back, Joshua on the lawn greeted him immediately, and warmly touched Wang Yang's chest, holding his hand. The DV machine was shooting, and he smiled at Wang Yang: "You can do whatever you want, I will continue to finish my movie. Well, this movie is a documentary called 'Jessica's 17th Birthday Record', isn't it cool? After he finished speaking, he went to other places to take photos. A big white dog followed him. According to Jessica's introduction, it was their family's Labrador named Danny.

"Hey, Jessica, who is he?" At this time, several young men and women came up, both white and black, and they looked at Wang Yang curiously.

Jessica glanced at Wang Yang, smiled and introduced to those friends: "This is Wang Yang, my good friend, he is a director." Wang Yang nodded to them and said: "Hi, everyone. "

Those young people all gave a "wow" in surprise, looking at Wang Yang, such a young director?

Next, Jessica introduced her friends to Wang Yang, Elijah Wood, a short white man, the protagonist of "Flippo the Dolphin", he and Jessica naturally met during filming. Wang Yang looked at his tender face, feeling very familiar. After thinking about it, it turned out that this guy would play in "The Lord of the Rings" in the future, playing the role of Frodo Baggins of the Hobbit.

Then there is a tall and strong young white man, Jack Frank, he is also a director, and he is a student of the prestigious UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles). Wood is a good friend and thus knows Jessica. Wang Yang was a little puzzled, and looked at Jack a few more times. Could this guy be the "Jack" that Joshua mentioned?

There are also John, David, Winters, Eileen, Michelle and others, some of them are Jessica's neighbors, and some are her classmates in acting school.

After everyone got to know each other, Jack Frank seemed to suddenly see the stack of A4 papers in Jessica's hand, and asked curiously, "Wow, Jessica, what are those in your hand?"

Jessica smiled slightly, and said simply: "A script, a birthday present from Jan." She didn't want to talk about this topic, and she didn't want to share some joy with others. She looked at Wang Yang and said with a smile, "Yang, come with me, I'll take you to meet my family." She said sorry to her friends, and took Wang Yang to the back garden.

"Script?" Jack Frank muttered, frowning as he watched the backs of the two of them talking and laughing.

Wang Yang first saw Jessica's mother and her grandmother. Her mother, Cathy, was a very charming and beautiful middle-aged Caucasian woman. According to the information in the website, Cathy comes from a Canadian family of mixed Danish and French. No wonder she gave birth to such a beautiful Jessica; Jessica's grandmother is an amiable old man who has been staring at him with a smile.

Then Jessica found her father on another part of the lawn, Marc Alba, a man of Mexican origin, tall and tall, with a spirited face and a straight haircut. Although he is now a real estate businessman, he is covered in Up and down still has the majesty of an air force officer.

Jessica held the script in one hand and her father's arm in the other. She looked at Wang Yang and said with a happy smile, "Daddy, he is Yang. He was my father when we were in San Francisco. Classmate, a very, very nice person."

"Hello, Uncle." Wang Yang stretched out his hand to Mark Alba, feeling a little strange, why Mark's eyes look so unfriendly... Could it be said that those who have been soldiers before have a murderous look on them?

Mark Alba glanced at Wang Yang, stretched out his hand and shook him heavily, and said in a neutral voice: "Hello, welcome to our home."

After the introduction, Jessica let go of her father's arm, held the script Wang Yang gave her in both hands, and said, "Yang, then you can do whatever you want, I'll go and put this gift away first!" Walking towards the house, leaving her father and Wang Yang staring at each other.

Seeing Mark Alba's serious face, staring at him constantly, Wang Yang felt a little nervous, Mark Alba frowned suddenly, and asked, "Yang, are you Jessica's boyfriend?" Wang Yang was taken aback for a moment, and said: "No, no, how could it be." He shook his head and laughed: "Uncle, you misunderstood, Jessica and I are just good friends."

"Oh!" Mark Alba nodded thoughtfully, but his mind was very confused. He is not Jessica's boyfriend. What does she mean by such a grand introduction? His daughter, except for begging her to go to acting school, has not held his arm like this for a long time.

Jessica walked briskly into the room, holding the script and humming a song. Just about to go upstairs to her own room, her grandmother stopped her, and the old man asked with a smile: "Jessica, is Yang your boyfriend?" Jessica was startled, and said: "What? Grandma, you said Yang...no." The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, and she said with a smile, "He's a good friend!" After finishing speaking, she walked upstairs with the script in her arms.

Is not it? Grandma laughed out loud.

Back in her room, Jessica breathed a sigh of relief and giggled a few times to herself. She put the script on the desk, flipped through a page casually, looked at those words and pictures, she smiled and stretched out her finger, stroking it lightly, when will Yang be able to make this movie?

After chatting with Mark Alba for a few words, Wang Yang, who "doesn't care" didn't run around, just wandered around on the lawn. Picked up a donut from the long food table, took a bite and chewed, and couldn't help but wow, and exclaimed: "Oh, my God! It's so sweet."

While eating, he looked at the children chasing and playing on the lawn, wondering if the little Mary who was taking pictures with the DV player all day was there?

At this time, Jack Frank came over pretending to be natural, and he also picked up a donut to eat, looked at Wang Yang next to him, and said, "Hi, Yang." Wang Yang greeted him back, and Jack then Asked: "Yang, you didn't write that script, did you?"

"Jessica's share?" Wang Yang nodded and said, "Of course, it's my manuscript."

Jack Frank laughed while biting a donut, gave Wang Yang a thumbs up, and said, "Man, you have a good idea, a good idea! This gift is cheap and special, but it's actually just a bunch of gifts. Paper, isn't it?"

Wang Yang shrugged, too lazy to speak, what did this guy want to say? His gift sucks? His script is worthless? Whatever Jessica likes.

Wang Yang can now be sure that Jack Frank is definitely not Jessica's boyfriend, as can be seen from Jessica's attitude towards him just now, but Jack should be Jessica's suitor, and now, Jack probably wants to Give him some "powerful" to see?

"By the way, Jan, I just heard from Jessica that you are a director?" Sure enough, Jack Frank continued to ask a question.

"Well, you can put it that way." Wang Yang didn't want to talk too much with this guy, he just wanted to send him away quickly.

Jack Frank raised his brows, his face was a little nervous, and he asked hesitantly: "Then do you have any screened works?" Wang Yang looked at the children in the distance, and said softly, "NO, what are you waiting for?" No." Jack breathed a sigh of relief, and immediately asked, "Where do you study?"

"I haven't read any more."

"How did you and Jessica meet?"

"We used to be classmates."

Jack Frank nodded suddenly, thinking to himself, it seems that there is no threat, just an old classmate. He turned to look at Wang Yang again, and asked, "By the way, can I ask you a question?" Wang Yang couldn't help but rolled his eyes, and said impatiently, "Please, buddy, you've already asked a lot of questions." Jack didn't think so, and asked, "What are you doing now?"

"McDonald's part-time waiter, occasionally handing out leaflets." Wang Yang answered truthfully, looked at him with a funny face, and asked, "Brother, are you satisfied?"

waiter? Flyers? Hearing Wang Yang's words, Jack Frank couldn't help but look smug, ha, how can a little handyman with no future compare to him, a student from a prestigious school! Why does anyone dare to say that he is a director now? He whistled and said: "It's okay, you can continue to eat." After speaking, he patted Wang Yang's buttocks, then turned around and left haha.

Wang Yang couldn't help shaking his head and laughing. This guy still wanted to pursue Jessica, but he didn't know that Jessica hated the arrogant and contemptuous "top students" like him the most.

While eating donuts, watching the children and the Labrador dog Danny playing the game of tossing the ball, Wang Yang smiled and looked fascinated. Suddenly, someone tapped him lightly on the shoulder, and he heard "Hey". He looked back and saw Jessica standing behind him, she smiled and said, "Yang, sweet How's the ring? Is it delicious?"

"It's delicious. Very sweet and crisp, first-class donuts." Wang Yang praised a few words, looked at her smiling, and couldn't help being surprised: "Oh, you didn't make it, did you?"

Jessica also wanted to say yes and accept the compliment, but she didn't make the donuts, so she could only shake her head and smile, "No, it was made by my grandmother." Wang Yang took another bite and said with a smile, "Wow, That's a real thank you to your grandmother."

"Yeah." Jessica looked at the laughing children opposite and asked, "Yang, do you like children very much?" She saw Wang Yang's smile just now. It will only appear in the person of the child.

Wang Yang nodded with a smile, and looked at the children, saying: "Children, dogs, "Tom and Jerry", once I see these cute things, I can't walk anymore." He laughed again Smiling, she frowned and said: "Of course, some children are very naughty. They are like the children in "Home Alone". They make you a headache and make things messy. When I meet such children, I am very scared."

"Me too." Jessica glanced at Wang Yang, and she seemed to have something more in her heart, and said with a smile: "I also like children, dogs, and "Tom and Jerry"; I don't like "Home Alone", haha! "

Wang Yang said with a smile: "But from my observation, those children are not saboteurs, hehe, I really want to join them."

"Oh, you can't join them for the time being." Jessica smiled and said excitedly: "Ms. Miranda is here!" She waved and walked into the room: "Jan, come with me."

"Wow, OK." Wang Yang finished eating the donuts in his hand, wiped his hands with a paper towel, and followed Jessica into the room.

※※

In the hall, on the light blue fabric sofa, Ms. Miranda is reading the script of "Spiritual Ghost Story". She is a middle-aged Caucasian woman, wearing a black female suit and a pair of rimless glasses. , There is a professional woman's temperament.

Jessica sat next to her, her eyes filled with anticipation; while Wang Yang sat on the small sofa opposite, waiting quietly.

In fact, Miranda was just going through the motions when reading the script. Every year, countless young people bring their scripts to the film company to try their luck, but the film company will not be interested, and only a very small number of lucky people will have their scripts selected, but so what? The film company will just pay you some money, buy the story, and then find a professional to do it yourself, you are nothing.

This is mainly because it is impossible to judge what the movie will look like after it is made into a movie, let alone the market value of the movie, just by reading the script. It can be said that a newcomer's script is really worthless.

Miranda read it for a while, and found that the script was a regular script, which at least showed that the person who wrote the script had a professional foundation and was not messing around. She looked up at Wang Yang who was opposite, and asked, "Yang, I heard from Jessica that you have been to many film companies, haven't you?" Jessica also looked at Wang Yang.

Wang Yang nodded, and said, "Yes, I have visited many places, but it seems that no one has appreciated my movies yet." After that, he smiled self-deprecatingly.

This is normal. She walked into the film company with enthusiasm and then left with a frustrated face. She had seen many young people like this. Miranda asked again: "Can you tell me, which film companies are they?"

"Of course, let me think about it." Wang Yang talked from beginning to end: "Fox Searchlight, Paramount Classics... They rejected me on the phone; those who arranged to meet with me were New Line, Dimensional, Vertex , artisan, thinking..." He mentioned the names of more than a dozen film companies in one breath.

Miranda frowned suddenly. She closed the script, looked at Jessica, shook her head and said, "Sorry, Jessica, I can't help you much." Jessica immediately shouted, "Oh God Ah", with a disappointed and anxious expression on his face: "Why?" Miranda explained to the two: "I have some friendship with Mr. Robert from Dimension Film Company and Mr. Ullman from Thinking Film Company. But, you know , they all rejected you." She spread her hands helplessly, and said, "Sorry."

Jessica said with a bitter face: "Miranda, is there really no other way?"

"It's nothing, Jessica." Wang Yang smiled comfortingly at her, looked at Miranda again, and said politely, "Thank you, Ms. Miranda, I understand."

Miranda nodded silently, and after thinking about it, she said seriously: "But, with all due respect, Jan, I don't think DV movies are realistic. So many movie companies have rejected you, and they have a reason." She said seriously: "Actually, your appearance is not bad. You can consider acting. You know, many film sets need some Chinese characters." Another meaning of her is to say, don't waste time.

Chinese villains? thief? Liar? A character with a bad mouth? Wang Yang shook his head with a smile, and rejected her: "No, I don't know how to act."

"Please, Miranda!" Jessica laughed, a little dissatisfied: "You haven't seen Yang's movie, how do you know it's unrealistic? That movie is really scary and excellent."

Although Jessica's tone was a bit heavy, Miranda was not angry. She patted Jessica's hand and said softly: "Jessica, I'm just an agent. I don't decide whether a movie is good or bad. The only thing I can help is recommend, but the companies I can recommend, they all rejected Yang."

"It's okay, it's okay!" Wang Yang smiled generously and waved his hands. It's not that he wasn't disappointed at all, but his expectations were already very low from the beginning.

Because for any film company, the final consideration must be the film itself. Those distribution managers don’t care who you recommend. The film will cause the company to suffer losses, the reputation will decline, and they will lose their jobs.

So there is no difference between someone recommending it and recommending it yourself. Of course, it may be better in terms of patience and tone, at least watch the movie before telling you "no".

"I'm sorry, Yang." Jessica looked regretful. She really wanted to help Wang Yang. This was the birthday present she wanted.

"Hey, everyone, have you finished talking?" Jessica's mother, Cathy, walked in just in time, smiled at them, and said, "Jessica, everyone is waiting for you outside."

Wang Yang stood up and said with a smile, "Come on, Jessica, don't keep everyone waiting." Jessica calmed down, showed a smiling face, got up and said, "OK, happy time!"

※※

"Happy birthday to you... happy birthday to you... happy birthday to Jessica, happy birthday to you..."

In a courtyard filled with colorful lights and balloons, everyone gathers around a long table with a three-tiered birthday cake on it. Everyone was laughing, tapping and singing happy birthday together, looking at Jessica standing in front of the cake. Dance, the Labrador, circled them, tongue outstretched.

"Jessica, hurry up and make a birthday wish!" Joshua held the DV player and kept capturing the scene of the party for a second. Now it's the highlight of the birthday party, making a wish and blowing out the candles. Of course he won't let go.

"Hmm." Jessica clasped her hands together and looked at the people around her. Her father and family were looking at her lovingly, her neighbors were looking at her kindly, and her friends were also looking at them with smiles on their faces. She, the cute and hateful Elijah Wood, the uninvited Jack Frank, Irene who studied acting together...and Wang Yang, who is smiling with blessing.

Jessica smiled slightly, closed her eyes, and said piously in her heart: "God, my wish is that my family and my friends can continue to be healthy and happy; I can get a role in a movie and don't fail another audition; um, Also, please let Yang's movie be favored by the film company, be released smoothly, and then sell well at the box office... Isn't it a little too much to wish..." She thought for a while, and said in her heart: "It doesn't matter, my merciful Lord , please promise me..."

After making a wish, she opened her eyes and blew out one breath to the 17 candles on the cake. She blew a few times quickly, and immediately blew out all the 17 candles, laughing happily.

"Happy birthday, Jessica!" Everyone applauded enthusiastically, sending their best wishes to 17-year-old Jessica.