Exploiting Hollywood 1980

Chapter 12 Actors Studio

Producer Da Silva and director Parker got in the car and drove to the hotel.

"Why did you promise Ronald to sign the script? We are negotiating a contract to buy the script from Christopher Gore. The price of $5,000 includes his sole signature right."

"Otherwise Gore would not have sold it to us at this price. He is not a newcomer. You should know that MGM later bought this script from me for $40,000. Gore hopes that this movie can impact the Oscars. He agreed to it because he wanted to be nominated for the best original screenplay."

Dada Silva, who was driving, asked.

"I have no choice, David." Alan Parker, who was sitting in the passenger seat, replied.

"This is a youth film. You, me, and Chris, we have all bid farewell to adolescence for 20 years. The children today, what they like, what they recognize, their aesthetic preferences, their common vocabulary, and we have a generation gap."

"I originally planned to go to the performing arts college during this period to get to know the life of those children and observe everything about them up close. But now..."

"I will find a script doctor to help revise it. I will find the one who revised the youth dance film "Saturday Night Fever" that year." Producer Da Silva stepped on the accelerator, "But what if Ronald really wrote a usable script, what would you do?"

"In Hollywood, verbal contracts are not worth a piece of paper. Who said that?" Director Alan Parker asked with a smile.

"Sam Goldwyn said so." Da Silva also laughed, "Then why did you promise him to sign his name? If you give him the price of a script doctor, he will try his best even if he can't sign his name?"

Alan Parker was silent for a while: "I think Ronald is a person who focuses on long-term rather than short-term interests. You gave him $6,000, but he didn't buy a cool Pontiac, but a practical and fuel-efficient Japanese Honda."

"This kid has ambitious goals. For someone like him, the signature of a script at this stage is far more important than the $20,000 he earns as a script doctor."

"Only by giving him hope for career advancement, not money, will he do his best to write." , will he spit out his most sincere feelings on the typewriter like vomiting blood and turn them into words. I don't want mediocrity, I want excellence! "

"What are you going to do then?"

"Isn't the lawyer hired by the crew used to deal with these things? Besides, he may not be able to write a satisfactory script. Let's talk about it later. The most important thing now is to deal with the problem of the performing arts school, David."

"I asked my friends and found that the main power of the performing arts school is in the hands of the school director. The school director who targeted us also served as a member of the New York Public Education Committee and managed the funding of all public schools..."

Ronald, who knew nothing about this, returned to the artist's apartment.

Meg took the initiative to come to Ronald's apartment and helped decorate the room with a more petit bourgeois aesthetic. She hung a few Indian-style stickers on the wall of the living room, and also got a few plastic flowers, moving them left and right.

Ronald happily watched Meg help him clean up the house. He took a cup of Coke from the refrigerator and drank it sweetly. He drank it while watching Meg busy. This feeling was really comfortable.

"Ring, ring, ring..."

Ronald walked into the inner room and picked up the phone.

"Ronnie, you haven't called your aunt for a long time." Aunt Karen asked.

"Aunt, I was just about to call you. My photography business in Manhattan is good. I also found a casting company and became their long-term photographer."

"Yes, yes... It's a company that specializes in selecting actors for movie directors, so I often have to take pictures."

"What? There is an email for me? What Directors Guild sent it? Oh no, it's the Directors Guild. Yes... It's my membership card. Okay, I'll go back, aunt."

"Ronnie, come and see my results." Meg called him from the outer room.

"Ronnie, that's a girl's voice, right? Remember to bring her back to Staten Island to see us." Aunt Karen said with a smile on the other end of the phone.

"Okay, aunt, I have to hang up. I will go home later tomorrow to get my membership card. Yes, I recently joined the crew to help with casting, so time is tight. Love you, Bye"

"I'm here, Meg." Ronald ran to the living room and hugged Meg, "Your taste is the best."

Meg stuck to Ronnie like an octopus and kissed him.

The sweet smell made Ronald walk a few steps faster and put Meg on the sofa. Meg hugged him by the neck and the two were entangled together.

After a long time, Meg took her jeans and T-shirt, took two steps at a time, and opened the door to the inner room.

"Click, click", Meg opened two doors in a row and went to take a shower. The design of the train apartment is very bad. To go from the living room to the bathroom, you have to cross two rooms.

If you share the rent, there is no privacy at all. So Meg prefers to run to Ronald's side.

Ronald picked up his shirt and pants and walked into the room. "I'll take you to the Actors Studio tomorrow to register, right?" He spoke to Meg through the air.

"Morning? I'll come to see you here tomorrow morning." Meg opened the door and spoke to him, revealing her head and one arm, wiping her hair with a towel.

"It's just right. I'm going back to Staten Island in the afternoon. Will you come with me?" Ronald said, opening the bathroom door, "I'm coming."

"Ah, hahahaha... no"

"Aren't you going to Staten Island?"

"No...well..."

Meg still didn't agree to go to Staten Island together. Ronald thought that the time might be a little early. When they could live together, the time would be ripe.

Early the next morning, the two got in the car and went to the Actors Studio to sign up.

The studio is located near Hell's Kitchen, in an inconspicuous brick building on the roadside on West 44th Street. If it weren't for a huge flag hanging on the white door with the words "Actors Studio" written on the capital A, Ronald would have almost missed this place.

After knocking on the door, the staff asked them their purpose and asked them to fill out the audition application form. This confused Ronald: "Isn't this the Actor's Studio? A place where acting skills are trained?"

The staff member was used to seeing stupid young people like Ronald, so he pointed to the historical introduction on the wall.

It turns out that the Actors Studio was a club-like place created by Lee Strasberg, Elia Kazan and others to discuss acting skills.

To join the Actors Studio, you must go through auditions and selections. Those who have no film or theater performance experience are generally unable to pass.

"This? The Actor's Studio is a club? How many rounds of auditions are needed to join?" Ronald was a little confused. He asked the staff: "Then do you charge tuition?"

"There is no tuition fee. As long as you pass our audition, you will be a free member for life. The audition is also free. However, if you fail the audition, you must apply again after one year."

Ronald and Meg looked at each other, "Can we go away with two briefs?"

"sure."

The two left disappointed, and in the car Ronald said: "Then what should we do? Meg. Last time I heard Julia Taylor said that there was Stella Adler at New York University who also opened an actor training class. ”

"No, look here." Meg pointed to the founder on the profile, an old man with a white beard and said, "I remember my sister Jennifer said about him, Lee Strasberg, one of the founders of the Actors Studio. 1. He also holds acting training classes.

"Really? Then let's look for it."

Lee Strasberg's Drama Training Institute is on 15th Street, which is closer to the artist's apartment. The reception here is much more satisfactory.

A staff member patiently explained the various lengths of courses and the fees. In the end, Meg chose the 12-week, 12-hour-per-week course that starts next week. This is just in time to complete most of the acting training before the final start.

Ronald wrote a check for $980 and paid the entire training fee. Starting next week, Meg will spend 2 hours a day training on acting skills, and Lee Strasberg, who is nearly 80 years old, will give them their first lesson in person.

Resisting Meg's temptation to join him for dinner, Ronald hurried back home to Staten Island.

Aunt Karen's mood was much better than last time, and the financial relief greatly relieved her mental stress.

After dinner, Ronald played with Donna for a while, and Aunt Karen pulled out an oversized letter.

Cutting the envelope open, it turned out to be a card from the Directors Guild.

The new president of the Directors Guild has reformed the card. The new version is no longer a cardboard card, but a plastic card the size of a credit card, which looks very modern.

After reading the various union benefits explained in detail in the enclosed letter, what struck Ronald the most was the director apprenticeship program provided by the Directors Guild every year.

Once you apply and are accepted, you can join the crew with famous directors and follow them step by step to watch how they direct films.

Aunt Karen came over and said good night to him, "Ronnie, don't forget to come back and stay with me for two days on Memorial Day at the end of next month."

"I will, Aunt Karen." The last Monday in May is Memorial Day. At this time of year, Aunt Karen would gather with her late husband’s former comrades and widows. This is an important party that she attends every year.

Lying in bed, I started thinking about changing the script. Ronald turned over and over again to gather his thoughts.

For the eight protagonists, what kind of ending can you think of that can make the audience feel real and happy at the same time?

No clue at all. I didn't belong to that artistic circle when I was in high school. The wrestling team was also a relatively local sport. Unlike the quarterback of the football team, you could casually date girls who learned musical instruments or dance.

I don't understand their dreams and pain at all. To write a wonderful ending, you need to observe more of their daily lives.

Ronald was self-taught here, and he had the same idea as director Parker.

So what kind of theatrical performances did you like to watch when you were in high school?

During his years at Toteville High School, Ronald was envious of the artistic talents of those in the orchestra, dance team, and cheerleading team every time he saw them.

In the eyes of a wrestling team rough guy like me, being able to dance ballet, play the violin, and do somersaults are all very powerful skills.

For people like me who don't understand the inner skills, seeing the harmonious melody from the violin and the ballerina spinning in the air is almost like seeing a magician's child.

In fact, to show these skilled skills to a layman’s eyes, isn’t it a wonderful thing to watch?

The several songs and dances in the dream were all the more exciting because I couldn't do them, right?

Ronald turned over, climbed up, grabbed the ballpoint pen, and while replaying the three plots in his mind, he started writing on the manuscript paper...