Exploiting Hollywood 1980

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

He took a copy of Hollywood's "Daily Variety" and "Hollywood Reporter". There are more Broadway plays and musicals in New York, and there are also many magazines focusing on Broadway.

He also took a copy of "Backstage" and "Show Business".

Back to the apartment, spread four newspapers and magazines on the table, and scanned the news one by one.

"The director of "The Deer Hunter", Oscar Best Director, Best Picture double winner, Michael Cimino signed a new contract with United Artists and will direct the new film "Heaven's Gate."

Well, ignore this one for now.

"British director Alan Parker and producer David Da Silva both said that the musical revival has arrived. Following last year's "Saturday Night Fever" and "Grease", MGM has launched another musical "Hot Lunch". The film is in the casting stage and is expected to start shooting in July." After flipping through four newspapers and magazines, Ronald only found reports on "Hot Lunch" and no news on "Famous".

I only remember three dances in yesterday's dream, and I can't remember who the director was in the opening credits.

Maybe musicals will be revived later? Another high school musical similar to "Famous" was shot? But Meg was very young in the dream, and should not be more than 20 years old. Maybe it was this "Hot Lunch".

"Ring, ring, ring..."

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

"Ronald? I'm Alan Parker. Come to the casting agency "Feuer ap; Ritzer" today, on West 48th Street near Broadway. The specific address can be found in the phone book. Meet there at 10 a.m."

After saying that, he hung up the phone with a snap.

Ronald was sober. Wasn't this the competitor that Julia had told him about yesterday? First, report the developments here to Julia.

"Excuse me, is Julia there? I'm Ronald Lee. I have something important to talk to her about."

"Ronald? It's me."

"Director Parker said he was going to a company called Feuer ap; Ritzer for casting today." Ronald wrote down the name in the notebook and spelled it awkwardly. The German pronunciation was really damn bad.

"It's Feuer. I know. Remember to tell me if there's any new development."

Turning out the yellow pages that were covered with a thick layer of dust at home, he found the address of Feuer ap; Ritzer, at the intersection of 6th Avenue and West 28th Avenue, not far from Broadway.

It was better to tell Meg first, so Ronald called his girlfriend's home.

The line was always busy.

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

"Yes, Jennifer, I have already got the contract. I didn't know... I still have to wait for the director to continue the audition. The director told me to sign up for an acting training class."

Seeing Ronald come in, Meg pressed the microphone, "Ronnie, it's my sister Jennifer, I'm telling her the good news."

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

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

Howard Fair is a partner of the studio and personally welcomed him in.

"How do you know Director Alan Parker?" He asked Ronald about his background in a roundabout way.

"I'm a photographer, specializing in audition portraits, and I've taken photos of Natasha Kinski before. Director Parker wants me to audition for his new film and take some photos for reference." Ronald was flawless.

"There are not many 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 it short. I need 600 extras, high school students who study dance, music, and acting. I also need 8 protagonists and 16 minor roles. This is the casting requirement." Director Parker threw a thick stack of documents on the table.

"Ah, Ronald, you are here too, very good. Let's get started."

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

Director Parker told Howard Fair that he must find actors who are ordinary and not so successful and exposed.

After a simple lunch, Director Parker took Ronald out.

"I hope you will attend all the auditions with me, and you will take photos of the audition scenes for me and then make records. You know, not all audition photos are as real as the ones you take. Some are retouched."

"Of course, Director Parker." Ronald was very happy. He had a short-term job and could learn how directors choose actors.

"I may have to see dozens or even hundreds of actors every day, so I may not remember them all in a day. Remember to take Polaroid photos of them and record my comments." Parker was quite satisfied with Ronald's efficiency in shorthand. In this way, one assistant can do the work of two people.

"One more thing, I hope you don't tell Julia and Margaret in the casting studio about our visit to Fair." Alan Parker finally made his attitude clear, hoping that Ronald would promise him loyalty.

Ronald thought about it, made his attitude clear, and made some hints:

"I am not an employee of the casting studio, and Julia is not my superior, so I have no obligation to report your whereabouts to them, Mr. Parker."

"You are a smart young man. Let's do this. I will be busy with auditions this month. I can ask the producer to hire you as my temporary assistant and driver and rent your car."

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

"Why have you become stupid again?" Alan Parker gave Ronald a slap on the forehead, "The daily rent and driver fee are 200 yuan. If you buy a new car, you can make it back in a month."

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

The director took Ronald to yesterday's audition studio again.

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

Also present was a semi-bald man, whom Director Parker introduced as David DaSilva, the producer of "Hot Lunch."

Ronald quickly stood up and said hello to him.

After the director's introduction, he started the casting meeting by himself: "Let's see, which children will you bring today?"

Ronald felt that Director Parker didn't take producer Da Silva seriously. Speaking of producers and directors, who has more power?

Margaery spread out dozens of photos, "These are recommended by agents after hearing the news. We have selected 5 actors for each protagonist. Let's take a look together."

"The first is Hillary, a girl from the dance department. This character is a rich girl, a ballet major, and her dream is to join the New York City Ballet." Margery pasted Hillary's background on the whiteboard and used a magnet to attract it.

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

But at this point, it is basically certain that the "hot lunch" is the "famous person" I dreamed about yesterday. The background of Hillary is very consistent with the practice scene in the dream, and the name is also right.

"What do you think about these photos?" Margaery asked, pointing to the five photos spread out on the table.

Director Parker shook his head, "They are still too American, with a victor's expression on their face."

"What do you think, Ronald? You happen to be about the same age as them and have more sense." The director asked him to express his opinion.

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

The actor in this photo looks most like the one in my dream last night.

"Why?"

"Intuition? I think she has the temperament of a rich girl, and her skinny figure also looks like that of a dancer."

"I think so too. Michelle was specially recommended by William Morris' 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.

Margaery looked at the director and pasted the photo of this beauty under the label "Hillary".

Then there is the character of Montgomery, a sensitive and low-self-esteem boy whose mother is a mentally ill actor.

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

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

"Okay, blond hair. His smile looks a bit fragile. His teeth are all messy. He probably has low self-esteem."

"Very good, I think he's suitable." This time it was Margery from the casting studio who agreed, then placed his photo under Montgomery's character.

The director also nodded in agreement.

…

More than 10 audition candidates for the leading role were selected, but it was still not enough. We decided to go to a 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 finishing their business, Julia and Margery from the casting studio served sandwiches and Cokes. Everyone replenished their energy while chatting, and Ronald ate a lot.

"Ronald, I think you'd be perfect for casting. Did you know that the founder of our studio, Marion Dorotti, is now a vice president at Paramount?"

"She always emphasized the importance of choosing people based on intuition, and your intuition is very keen. Would you like to consider joining us?"

Julia said to Ronald.

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

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

"Next, I will mainly be doing casting for Woody Allen's new film. Margaery will be mainly responsible for the auditions for the acting high school."

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

"No, your movie requires a total of about 600 actors. This 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 ask the producers to contact casting companies in New York and Los Angeles and issue casting invitations publicly."

"We've made an appointment with all the casting agencies to do a big joint audition in a big house. Ronald, you'll come too then, we all like your instincts."

"Okay, thank you, director." Ronald was very happy. Maybe the director saw that he and the character in the script were of the same age, and he had a better sense of people?

It takes a certain amount of time from sending out an invitation to receiving a recommendation, and everyone started discussing how to organize a joint audition.

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

"Ronald, your notification was very timely. We have reached a consensus with Howard Fair that they will give up Woody Allen's new film, and we will make concessions and do a joint audition with them for the hot lunch."

"But if a third audition company intervenes, you still remember to notify Margery in time. The other parts of our deal remain unchanged, understand?"

"Okay, I understand." It just so happened that the two audition companies compromised and made a joint audition. Ronald didn't have to waver between them and the director and use a car to test his integrity.

It was a good opportunity to ask about Meg: "Ms. Taylor, if Meg wants to attend an acting training class, do you have any recommendations?"

"Aren't you from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University? Why are you asking me? The best acting coach in New York is in your school."

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