Exploiting Hollywood 1980

"Ring, ring, ring..."

Ronald was awakened by the alarm clock that he set 3 hours ago, and he felt like he was still floating in the air.

The mental tension of the past two days and the lack of sleep last night made him feel a little out of shape.

After taking a bath with boiling hot water, Ronald regained his spirits, and today will be another day of continuous fighting.

Last night, he didn't have time to call the casting director Julia Taylor. Early this morning, Ronald drove to the casting studio. After greeting the big black security guard, Ronald waited for Julia to appear at the front desk.

"She is busy with the casting of the new film these two days, and may not have time to talk to you." Seeing him come to the company so early, the front desk couldn't help reminding Ronald.

"When will she come today? I only need 20, not 10 minutes." In addition to the two versions of the script, Ronald also specially picked out the plot of Doris in case Julia didn't have extra time to read it.

"Then you wait." The front desk said unhappily.

"This is a gift for you." Ronald took out a box of beautifully wrapped chocolates and handed it over. He bought it on the way out in the morning just to make the receptionist happy.

"Oh, is this Belgian? I like it very much." The receptionist happily swept the chocolates into the drawer under the table.

"I'll tell you quietly, Julia has encountered some problems with casting these two days, and she is not in a good mood. Don't refute her, just go along with her."

"Got it, thank you."

Ronald chatted with the receptionist while waiting at the front desk.

"Good morning, Julia." The receptionist suddenly sat down and showed a standard office girl's smile.

"Morning. Ronald, you are here too?" Julia walked over quickly and went to the meeting room after saying hello.

"Julia, I have something to ask you..." The receptionist gently pulled him under the table.

"...I need your help." Ronald didn't care about so much, he had to say it.

"I'm busy, wait for me for a while." Julia pushed the door and walked in. From the moment the door opened, Ronald saw that there were already actors waiting inside.

"Auditions start so early?"

"You'll have to wait. It's been like this for the past two days. They'll start acting as soon as they get in. It takes at least an hour to finish each time." The receptionist whispered to Ronald.

Ronald raised his hand to look at his watch. He didn't have much time to waste in the morning.

"Julia, I only need 10 minutes..."

"Julia, Julia, my business is urgent, can you...?"

Two hours had passed, and Ronald hadn't stopped Julia. He wanted to force her the second time, but Julia's stern eyes stopped him. After all, he had to ask her for help.

If he still couldn't find free time, Ronald could only try Irene at the Stella Adler Acting Center. I don't know if it's too late now. I have to find a place to call.

Ronald, who was anxiously turning around outside the conference room, sighed, "Ah", he still had no connections. He held the wall, gently touched the wall with his head twice, and then leaned against the wall.

"Young man, you are still so good at hitting the wall."

Ronald raised his head and saw the strange man wearing black-framed glasses who explained to him what emotional memory was last time.

"Uh..." Ronald was speechless with embarrassment.

"Are you here to peek at the audition too?" The man said to him softly, "Don't make too much noise, otherwise they will hear it inside."

"Peeking?" Ronald followed the strange man's gaze and saw that there was a small door on the wall of the audition room with transparent glass on top. The strange man was behind the door, observing the auditioning actors from a distance.

"Why are you peeking here?"

"You know, I'm not good at dealing with people. I get nervous when facing them, so I just secretly watch here during the audition. I will write down the right people and tell Julia later." The strange man lowered his voice and explained to Ronald.

So he is the new film director that Julia serves? Ronald thought to himself.

"But you seem to talk to me normally, not like an introvert at all."

"Yes, yes, I will talk nonstop when I meet the right person, but I will be afraid when I meet strangers. Last time you hit the wall very well, so I talked to you. I feel that we are the same type of people, both of whom are very observant."

"Are you a director?"

"Yes, I am a director. I am also a famous clarinet player in Manhattan."

"Can you help me look at my script and give me some advice?"

Ronald handed over the part of Doris that he rewrote. It happened that he was also a director, so he saw if he could get the evaluation of this guy.

"Why not? It happened that this group of actors' performances were very boring."

The director and clarinet player adjusted his glasses, picked up the two versions of Doris's plot before and after Ronald's revision, walked under the light and began to read.

"Yeah, that's great, I'm right, you have a strong sense of observation. I've seen many shy performers in the orchestra, but I've never seen a shy singer."

"It's great here too, watching exploitation films at midnight shows, being opened up by the enthusiasm. Are these made up or true? Do they really watch movies like this at midnight shows and act themselves out?"

"Oh, yes. They have a fan club, and the most popular one has seen The Rocky Horror Show more than 150 times."

"More than 150 times? It would be nice if someone liked my movie so much. My fans haven't watched it so many times. Even the critics only watched it once. I really envy this director for this, even though he made rubbish."

"I really hope that my movie can get such high evaluation from the public, but most of my audience are intellectuals, and the general public doesn't like to watch it."

The director and clarinetist began to talk to himself again.

Are there any critics commenting on his movie? It seems that his movie is good, maybe Alan Parker will agree with his evaluation?

"If it's convenient for you, can you give me some written evaluation of my script? For some reason, I need an authoritative third-party opinion, sir?"

"Do you have other parts of the script? Sometimes the fragments of the script may not represent the real level."

Ronald quickly handed over the final version of the script from Antonia, and the parts he wrote on it were marked with sticky notes.

"Well, this paragraph is very good, very good. Your writing is very good, and your observation of life is very detailed. I said that we are the same kind of people."

"Hmm? How did you write this dialogue about a girl snatching a man? The darker the blackberry, the sweeter it tastes. It's a very interesting wording. I feel that you have a talent for writing comedy. Why don't you try to revise the script for me next time?"

"By the way, you can call me Woody, Woody Allen."

"Thank you, Mr. Woody Allen. My name is Ronald Lee." He shook hands with Woody Allen, "Can you give me a third-party opinion?"

At this time, Julia heard the movement outside, stopped the audition, and came out to see that it was Ronald who was pestering Woody Allen, "Ronald, don't disturb Woody. We are still auditioning."

"It doesn't matter, Julia, Ronald is great, I'm reading his script, it's great."

"I'm not satisfied with this group of actors, Julia. Why not try Ronald? I feel that he is very good at banging his head against the wall, maybe he has an acting talent."

"Are you serious?" Julia looked at Ronald, not quite understanding what banging his head against the wall meant.

"Of course, he is a very natural performer, and his performance is very natural. He is a hundred times better than those artificial actors."

Woody Allen said as he wrote comments on Ronald's script.

"Ronald Lee's revisions make this script better. He made the role of Doris from mediocre to outstanding. I hope he can revise the lines in my script."

Then he thought for a while and added, "PS: Ronald's acting is also very natural. You can consider letting him play the guy who banged his head against the wall after failing the admission interview. Signed - Woody Allen."

Tear the comments from the notebook, put it in the script and handed it back to Ronald.

"Ronald, when do you think you can audition for my new film? Julia will arrange it."

"Uh, I have something important to do today, so I don't have time for an audition."

"It's okay, I know how to find you, Ronald." Woody Allen winked at him.

"Julia, I apologize for interrupting your audition, but I'm here to bother you because I have something important to do."

Ronald briefly described his predicament to Julia, hoping that she could give a neutral evaluation of his script.

"Ronnie, you're really interesting. You already have Woody's evaluation, which is enough." But Julia still took the script and quickly read it.

Ronald looked at Woody, then back at Julia. Is this man a big shot?

"You don't know Woody, do you? He is the most powerful director in New York. In 1977, he directed and starred in "Annie Hall", which defeated George Lucas and won the Oscar for Best Original Screenplay and Best Director."

"Don't say it, George is just not liked by the judges." Woody seemed a little shy when he heard others praise him.

Ronald looked at Woody in surprise. This little man was actually a two-time Oscar winner. His evaluation of his script was definitely powerful enough.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Allen, I don't know who you are. When I was in high school, I was busy making money and didn't have much time to watch movies."

"Don't worry about it, keep writing scripts, you will succeed one day. Remember to come to the bar of the Carlyle Hotel to see me perform. I will perform with the New Orleans Jazz Band there every Monday night." Woody Allen winked at him again.

Ronald apologized to Julia again and hugged her goodbye. He took the script and ran out the door.

He ran to the phone booth, stuffed a few coins in, and dialed the number of Robert Donnell Law Firm.

Lindsay must not go to court.

Ah, it's connected.

"Is that Rebecca? This is Ronald. I'm looking for Miss Lindsay Doll. Please ask her to answer the phone."

"Lindsay, it's me, Ronald. I got a key testimony. I can try to negotiate again. Are you in the office? I'll find you."