Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Hi, Ronald! Haven't seen you for a long time."

Back to the casting studio on East 31st Street in Manhattan, New York, the same black door with a few steps up. The strong black guard was still at the door. He still remembered Ronald who worked here.

"Hi, long time no see, how are you?"

Ronald hugged him warmly.

"Yes, Ms. Julia Taylor is waiting for you." The black guard was very happy that Ronald still treated him equally as before, and quietly reminded Ronald, "She is a little upset, you..."

"Forget it, Ronald is also a big director now, they should come to please him." The black guard wanted to remind Ronald not to make the general manager Julia Taylor angry, only to find that things have changed.

"What's wrong? Who made her angry?" Ronald hadn't seen these old friends for several years. When he saw them again, it was as if no time had passed, and he just took a break to drink a cup of coffee.

"I heard that she and Woody Allen have different opinions, but she didn't tell us much, and we can all see that she is a little unhappy."

"Thank you," Ronald patted the guard's shoulder and handed him a bag of snacks as a small reward for revealing the news.

"Meow...", a white cat called to Ronald, as if recognizing the young man who had worked as a photographer here for a year, and jumped onto the front desk again.

"Director Ronald, Ms. Taylor is waiting for you."

The front desk was replaced by a young lady. Ronald nodded to her and entered Julia Taylor's office.

"Oh, Ronald, hahaha, I'm so happy to see you." Julia came out from behind the desk and hugged Ronald to say hello.

After the two exchanged greetings, they talked about the recent situation of their mutual friends.

Julia herself is serving as Woody Allen's exclusive casting director, and one or two movies are cast every year. Recently, his "Hannah and Her Sisters" has won unanimous praise from film critics.

Margaret, who used to be a casting director at "Famous", has gradually become the backbone of the casting studio. When Julia was busy working with Woody Allen, Margaret was in charge of the studio's work.

"So, Ronald, how can I help you?" Julia Taylor's temperament has not changed much. She is still a trustworthy middle-aged beauty. She quickly turned to the point and asked Ronald why he came.

"I have a movie that is different from the popcorn movies I shot before. It is a very good romantic comedy, and there are also heavy supporting roles. I'd better steal you away from Woody Allen for a while. If you don't have enough time, please recommend me a casting director who is familiar with drama performances."

Ronald explained his purpose, took out a copy of the script from his briefcase, and handed it to Julia Taylor.

"Hmm..." Julia took it and read it. She was very happy for Ronald sitting opposite her. When he was in the casting studio, Ronald was a very insightful photographer. After becoming famous in Hollywood, he shot commercial films for several years.

Finally, this young and promising director from New York is also starting to turn to feature films that focus on performance and plot.

The casting studio is in New York, and those who come here to find casting services are all directors who are good at shooting feature films. A large number of commercial films in Hollywood do not pay much attention to the chemistry between actors, but are more concerned about the similarity in appearance.

So much so that a casting master like Julia Taylor has a lot of skills, but in the film business, she has only worked with Woody Allen for a long time. Outside the New York film industry, not many people know her skills.

"Who are you going to use for the heroine Loretta?" Julia quickly finished flipping through the script and asked Ronald at the beginning.

"Cher," Ronald replied immediately, "she has agreed."

"Why?" Julia Taylor took out a notebook and stared at Ronald, ready to write down his opinions.

"Oh...oh...oh, wait a minute, you mean, you are willing to take time to cast for my movie?" Ronald was a little unconvinced.

"Yes, why not? Now that I can be the casting director for your movie, I can add a very good line of resume to my resume."

"Huh..." Ronald thought Julia Taylor's words were interesting, and she seemed to have other ideas.

"It seems that I said something similar when I came here to apply for a job before. Hahaha." Ronald replied, "When will the new film directed by Woody Allen start shooting? There will be no overlap between my film and his, right?"

"He should be fine, but I will no longer cast for him." Julia Taylor shrugged and replied with a smile.

"Very good, then I'll make a call and ask someone from my company to sign a contract with you. Will it be in your name or the casting studio?"

"In my personal name." Julia Taylor looked around, obviously reluctant to leave this place where she started working.

After Ronald finished the call, he came back and continued with Julia.

"It's very simple, Cher is famous enough, and the budget for this production is not much, so I need to find a celebrity with fans to play the leading lady. And Cher is the kind of woman who makes people think that she can do something crazy like falling in love with a disabled brother while preparing for the wedding with her brother."

Julia Taylor nodded, "What about the male lead Johnny? This is a difficult role to play. He hates his brother for causing him to lose a hand, and then he meets his brother's fiancée and immediately falls in love with her, and even invites her to the opera. This kind of role can easily make the audience feel that it is too fake, and it must be played by an actor with explosive power."

"I plan to let Nicolas Cage play it, and he agreed." Ronald said, "Do you know him?"

"There is his file, wait a minute." Julia Taylor went to the file cabinet where the audition photos of the actors were placed, and found the audition photos and resumes of the two male and female protagonists in the part starting with c.

"Do you have any favorites for the others? Or did the screenwriter write the script with that actor in mind? We can all try."

"No, I have no idea about the others, so I came to you for help. Casting this movie is a big challenge for me."

"Why do you say that?"

"I talked to the screenwriter Shanley. Each of his characters has a prototype of an Italian friend in childhood, and many scenes take place in the kitchen. Such a scene of a family eating around a big table is particularly challenging for the chemistry between the characters. I don't know who has this ability. You have been in New York for a long time and often go to Broadway plays."

"BGO, you are right, Ronald, this movie must be cast on Broadway." Julia Taylor nodded, "It's best if you think so. I was thinking about how to convince you to find Broadway actors."

"Don't just look at the appearance of the actors, but also look at their chemistry together. You taught me before." Ronald laughed.

In fact, since the filming of "Dirty Dancing", he has been quite impressed by the professionalism and efficiency of Broadway actors, and has long been thinking about using them more in this play "Moonlight".

"Okay, let's have a meeting with the screenwriter Mr. Shanley first, and then talk to the heroine Cher and the hero Cage. Let's start with their chemistry. I declare in advance that if their chemistry is not good, I will give my own opinions, and I am a person who sticks to my own opinions."

"Of course, I came to you in the hope that you can give me more professional opinions. This movie is not the kind of movie that can just find any TV actor. A lot of dialogues, a lot of indoor eating scenes, if the acting skills are not that good to make the audience feel real and involved, the movie is likely to become boring."

"No problem, I have a lot of actors who have worked in Broadway for more than 20 years, and your supporting roles are all middle-aged people." Julia Taylor is very confident that she can help Ronald find the most suitable actor.

The two went through the role list in front of the script one by one. Julia Taylor recorded a lot of Ronald's understanding of the role and asked a lot of questions.

"I'll look for the right person first, and I'll schedule an interview with you when I have some information."

"There's one more thing, I need you to be cautious." Ronald held Julia's hand, "Not many people in Hollywood know this, the heroine Cher has severe dyslexia, so you have to help me find an actress who can speak with a standard Brooklyn Italian accent, read her lines once, and then let her memorize them."

"This is not a big problem, Brooklyn accent, Italian, middle-aged, female..." Julia wrote down the requirements in detail, "Don't worry, this situation is not uncommon, I know how to deal with it."

"Okay, let's go to the Ukrainian restaurant next door for lunch, just in time to sign the contract."

Ronald took Julia Taylor to the Ukrainian restaurant near the original apartment, ordered a lot of dishes, and ate while chatting.

"I think I need to know more about the family life of Italians. Do you have any candidates who can let me visit their homes, have dinner with them, drink red wine, and listen to their complaints?"

"It's easy to arrange. There are many Italians on Broadway. If you are willing to let them play a few small roles, you will get a warm reception."

"No problem," Ronald wiped his mouth. It happened that a colleague from Daydream Company also brought the contract with Julia Taylor. The two signed a contract to hire her as the casting director of "Moonlight".

"By the way, I haven't asked you why you don't cast for Woody Allen's new film anymore?"

"It's nothing, I have worked with him for a long time, and he needs some newcomers to stimulate himself to make changes." Julia Taylor said.

"Besides that, is there any other reason?" Ronald frowned. Casting is not a position involved in the filming of the crew. What kind of creativity needs to be replaced to stimulate it?

"This is a secret between us. I will never tell anyone what happened when I was casting for you," Julia Taylor laughed. "Maybe when I get old I will write a memoir and write about your stories."

"Hahaha, even if you don't tell me, I will make you tell me. I plan to find a documentary director to shoot some behind-the-scenes footage for marketing materials."

Ronald saw Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun" crew in Xujiahui. Several people carried video recorders and kept filming him working on the crew.

He thought this method was very good, so he planned to do the same when he made his new film.

"That's fine. I rarely appear on camera." Julia laughed. "In fact, there is no big conflict between Woody and me. It's just that I am uncomfortable with his working methods and some of his private life. It just so happens that I also want to work more as a casting director rather than a manager of a casting studio."

"Working methods? Can you tell me more about it? I happened to go to see Spielberg's filming site this time. I found that I rarely have the opportunity to see how other directors work, so I progress slowly. If it's convenient for you, can you tell me about Woody's working methods."

"I can tell you something that most people in the circle know." Julia ordered a cup of coffee and stirred it slowly. "Woody has a habit. He likes to shoot movies in places he is familiar with."

"Hmm..." Ronald listened carefully to what Julia Taylor would say to learn from.

"This time, he shot "Hannah and Her Sisters" in the house where he and Mia Farrow lived. And Mia plays the ex-wife of his character in this movie. "

"Isn't this exposing too much personal matters? "Ronald felt something was wrong. Anyway, it was impossible for him to shoot a movie in his living room and bedroom.

"Yes, Woody always used filming as a process of psychological therapy, but this inevitably filmed his private life in the movie, and I always felt very uncomfortable. "

After Julia started, she couldn't stop. She picked out many things that she was dissatisfied with in her cooperation with Woody Allen, and said a lot.

"And the script, I also..." Julia finally frowned and showed a little disgusted expression.

"What's wrong with the script?"

"Have you seen that movie?"

"I've seen Hannah and Her Sisters, it's very well made, and I don't think there is anything wrong with the script. Except that the middle-class hesitant attitude is a little too much."

"Do you remember that the former brother-in-law played by Woody Allen was infertile? "

"Remember, after he got married with the second sister, he made the second sister pregnant. It's a very interesting arrangement. "

"Woody usually plays a role that is a true portrayal of himself. "Julia suddenly said, "He and Mia, also adopted a child..."

"Ah?" Ronald felt even more uncomfortable. He would never make a movie about such a private matter and announce it to everyone.

"That's why I don't want to take on more Hollywood business, like you, hahaha..."

－－－－－－Off topic－－－－－－

I have something to do today, so I only have 4,000 words, and I'll be back to normal tomorrow.