Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Aren't you going to drive for Director Parker?" Meg was behind Ronald, putting one arm around her boyfriend's shoulder, and holding a Coke in the other hand, feeding Ronald a drink.

"No, I'm not going. The director has to prepare for auditions and has already checked into the Ambassador Hotel. I also have my own work to do, and I'm writing a script."

Ronald was typing away on the typewriter while dealing with Meg.

"Which character are you writing now?"

"I'm writing a scene about Hillary, a rich girl in the dance department, and Lisa Monroe, who is in the same department as her." Ronald stopped, pulled the letter paper off the typewriter, and handed it to Meg.

After the black character Lydia was eliminated from the lead role, the director added a role for the white character Lisa in the dance department and became the starring role.

"Which role are you going to audition for, Meg? Hilary or Lisa?"

Meg has always wanted to take it a step further, and she also has the ambition to be the protagonist. Hilary and Lisa, the two white roles in the dance department, are the most suitable for Meg. Ronald's thoughts these days have been spent on their drama.

"I mainly prepared for Lisa. Hilary and I have very different family backgrounds. I performed for Irene several times at Stella Acting School, but it was not ideal. But she thought I should challenge myself and find ways to find out. Hillary’s motives.”

"I asked my sister Jennifer, and she felt that Lisa's middle-class background is more in line with ours, and she has a lot of roles. It would be a good choice to choose a character with a background similar to hers in the first film."

Ronald frowned. He and Meg had already quarreled twice because of Jennifer's various suggestions. Perhaps because of the deep feelings they had when they were young, Meg believed in Jennifer more, even though Erin was a professional acting teacher, and her advice was more appropriate.

"But Lisa Monroe was a lazy girl. In the end, she was dismissed from the dance department by her teacher because she was not good at dancing. You are such a good ballet dancer, can you play her well?" Ronald agreed from another angle. Acting teacher Erin.

"Well, what you said makes sense. Maybe I can try both." Meg continued to look down at the play written by Ronald.

"Hey, why did you copy what I said into the script?" Meg read halfway through the script, raised her hand and pinched Ronnie's waist hard.

Ronald smiled. This was what Meg told her about her dream when she went to the Statue of Liberty with her. Ronald felt that the scene where Hillary had an abortion was very suitable, so he put it in with slight changes.

This is Hillary's monologue while waiting at the door of the clinic.

"(Hands crossed and pressed on the abdomen, monologue to the little baby in the belly)

You see, I got an offer from the San Francisco Ballet and I decided to take it.

You see, I'm a good dancer, better than average, the best in the school. If I went to be a dancer at the New York City Dance Company, everyone would think that I used money to pave the way to get in.

You see, my dream is to dance all the classical ballet roles before the age of 21, including Giselle, Coppelia, Sleeping Beauty, and Black Swan...

I want to hear the audience shouting at me on stage in New York, Leningrad, London, and Paris

avo! There will even be a ballet written just for me.

You see, there is no room for a baby in my dream. (sobbing quietly)

"

"(Clinic nurse asked) Do you pay with MasterCard or American Express, honey?"

Meg hit Ronald again:

"Ronnie, you are so cruel to Hillary by writing like this. I don't allow you to write like this."

"Why? This scene happens to be the ending of Hillary's story. I think it's a good way to handle it? Giving up the baby for the sake of career is Hillary's character."

"Besides, you can get more familiar with this scene. I feel that director Parker will like it and maybe use it in the final script. Moreover, he is used to auditioning actors in scenes with strong emotions." Ronald hopes that Meg will win over Sheila role in.

"No, I don't want everyone to know my dream." Meg shook her head.

Ronald remembered what he had heard when interviewing the painter in the same apartment. Don't tell others about your unfulfilled dreams easily. Nodding, he crumpled the letter into a ball and threw it in the trash can.

"Oops, I'm going to be late for class at the Academy of Performing Arts," Meg exclaimed and hurriedly picked up her bag to leave.

"Take my car." Ronald handed over the keys.

"Thank you, Darling." Meg kissed Ronald and walked out the door.

Ronald looked at the wad of paper in the trash can. He took it out again and spread it out on the table, carefully smoothing out the wrinkles.

I read it twice and it was really well written. This section is the best scene I have ever written. Dialogue derived from real life is very powerful.

Ronald carefully folded it and stuffed it into the plastic cover of the notebook to keep it as a souvenir.

"Ronnie, how many audition applicants do we have now?" Margaery asked.

"There are more than 620 registrations in total."

"In that case, about 500 people will show u (appear at the scene), and it's still not enough."

"Is there anywhere else we can do some advertising?" Director Parker asked.

"No more. We have sent them to all the places we can. In addition to the Academy of Performing Arts and other art high schools in New York, we have posted audition advertisements." Margaery shook her head in distress.

"Why don't we try newspapers? In addition to placing casting ads in professional newspapers and magazines such as The Hollywood Reporter, Daily Variety, Backstage, and Show Business, we can also try mass media.

Many students read The New Yorker, Harper's Bazaar, and The New York Post, so the entertainment section of the newspaper is also OK." Ronald suddenly had an idea and remembered his experience of placing ads in Los Angeles.

"It's too late to place ads in magazines, so let's place ads in newspapers. Since the Post was acquired by an Australian tycoon, gossip news can appear on the front page." Producer Da Silva decided.

"Our audition will be held next Saturday. There are two interview groups in total, held in two business halls of the Ambassador Hotel. They will be led by casting directors from Margery Simkin and Howard Fair.

Each group will have four casting directors for preliminary interviews, mainly looking at their talents: musical instruments, singing, dancing, acting, etc."

Producer Da Silva began to assign tasks

"Those who pass the preliminary interview will go to the room on the second floor, where the director, Margery, Fair, and I will check them together. For those who pass, we will conduct a re-examination at a later date."

"Our goal is 8 protagonists, but now there are 7. 16 minor roles, and 24 resident actors. A total of 48, 47, no, we have to subtract Meg Tilly, that's 46."

"According to the ratio of 20:1, we need to accumulate about 1,000 audition candidates, and we are still short of about 400."

"Think about it, think about where to find these people."

The producer mobilized several people present to brainstorm.

"Should we contact art schools in Connecticut and Massachusetts to arrange auditions?" Casting director Howard Fair came up with an idea.

"It's troublesome to cross state borders, and they are minors (or), and the regulations in different states are different. They may need to be accompanied by their parents. It's better to solve it in New York." Margaret disagreed, "Of course, if you have a good candidate, that's another matter."

"Then? What's the progress in Hollywood?" Da Silva asked the director again.

The director has been back and forth between Los Angeles and New York twice, and has not finalized any candidates.

"Not optimistic, we can also organize an audition there, but now there is a shortage of teenage actors who can act in the whole of America. If we use adult actors, we have to consider whether the close-up of the face will not be exposed, so we can only find those with young faces."

"Who else has a good idea? Ronald, what about you?" The producer pointed out Ronald's name.

"I don't have any ideas. We can't get into the entire New York except the Performing Arts College. We have run all over other places."

In fact, the solution is very simple, everyone knows it, but no one says it.

The largest selection base is the New York Performing Arts High School, which had a falling out with the crew after hearing the director leak the script. There are thousands of students in the graduating class and senior year, and all problems have been solved.

However, after the last lesson, Ronald is not easy to speak now, and is cautious in his words and deeds.

"Ronald, try to sneak in and think of a way to spread the news of the audition." The producer directly assigned the task.

"Okay, I will. You have to approve some funds for me. I may need to bribe security guards, buy off teachers, etc." Ronald said unhappily. Producer Da Silva was still dissatisfied with him for giving him such a task.

If he did it well, he might not be credited, and if he didn't do it well, it was his ability problem.

But Ronald also had his own way to deal with it.

"I'll give you $100. You can bring a few bottles of wine. The janitor likes this, and you can sneak in," Da Silva said, "Remember to reimburse me for the purchase receipt."

"Give the janitor wine and sneak into the middle school dormitory? Could it be the producer's own experience? Do you really think you will go to the performing arts school alone and recruit people?" Ronald thought to himself.

After the meeting, only Margaret comforted Ronald a few words, "Remember Julia Taylor invited you to join us last time? Think about it. You will also be responsible for auditioning some actors this time, and you can also come to the studio for internship after school starts."

"Thank you, Margaret, I will." Ronald replied.

The next morning, Ronald drove to a parking lot opposite the performing arts school, then turned off the engine and waited.

After a while, Gene came over with two boys, "Hi, Ronnie, these are my good friends from the performing arts high school, John and Morgan."

After saying hello, Ronald got out of the car and opened the trunk, which was full of "hot lunch" audition advertisements. Ronald typed them out yesterday and copied them at Xerox Copy Shop, a total of 2,000 copies.

"Help me move them in." Several people moved the audition advertisements to the cafeteria on campus. Gene's two friends are senior dance students, and they know almost every department leader. If each leader distributes one or two hundred copies, it will soon cover all the graduating and senior classes.

In fact, it was the school board that obstructed the students of the performing arts high school from auditioning. As for students, and even teachers, who doesn't want to be selected by the crew and become famous overnight?

The producer does not understand the class complexity of public schools. Public schools are no longer as strictly managed as the private schools his generation attended. It would take at least a few days for the high and mighty school directors to get the news, but once the news spread, who could stop them from auditioning?

"Here," Ronald handed Gene five $20 bills and asked him to distribute them to his friends.

What Ronald didn’t expect was that the news was not only circulated in the performing arts school, but also spread to art schools and performing arts venues throughout New York within a few days through the network of classmates between schools.