Hollywood Hunter

On Thursday, Simon still arrived at the 7-11 convenience store on time early in the morning.

After yesterday's press conference, the packaging project of "Butterfly Effect" will basically not undergo any changes, and the relevant contracts will be signed next week.

According to the Hollywood script transaction process, within one week of signing the contract, Simon will be able to get the first version of the script of 140,000 U.S. dollars and the option deposit for the next two scripts. The subsequent $60,000 balance requires Simon to follow the film company’s requirements for the script Make corresponding modifications and polishes before settlement can be made.

The first cash of US$140,000 was enough for Simon to start the production of "Lola Run". Therefore, Simon has already greeted Roger and he will leave the 7-11 convenience store when he finishes his work next week.

After busying for more than two hours, at around 9:30, Simon, who was standing behind the cashier, saw Roger Griffin hurriedly walk out of the office with a newspaper in his hand.

Perceiving that Roger Griffin was obviously rushing towards him, when the middle-aged fat man approached, Simon asked, "Roger, what happened?"

Roger Griffin didn’t talk to him immediately. He looked up and down Simon with a strange look, and then he handed over the newspaper in his hand, pointed to one of the articles, and asked: "Simon, it says nothing. Will it be you?"

Simon took the newspaper and glanced at it. It was a copy of the Los Angeles Times, and then he noticed the headline of the article Roger had just pointed to.

What does the "Butterfly Effect" mean? 》

Simon's first thought, this question is really familiar.

Then look to the text.

The content of the article still first mentioned a series of recent WMA incidents. Perhaps this matter has been discussed by too many people. Therefore, the Los Angeles Times reporter named Peter Butler chose a different approach and began to pay attention to The script content of "Butterfly Effect".

To Simon's surprise, Peter Butler found the source of the ‘butterfly effect’. In this era without Internet search engines, it is not easy to do this.

After spending a period of time explaining the meaning of the "Butterfly Effect", Peter Butler began to guess the story content of the "Butterfly Effect" script. Combining WMA's selection of Brian de Palma as the director and other information, it finally concluded that "Butterfly Effect" is likely to be a crime thriller that triggered a series of serious incidents under certain circumstances.

If the content of the article is only these, Simon would not care too much.

Peter Butler’s speculation has little to do with the true story of "Butterfly Effect."

However, to Simon's surprise, Peter Butler also specifically mentioned his name in the article, and became curious about the surname'Westero', claiming that he had searched a lot of information, but could not find this surname. Related information, so I think'Westero' is probably an original surname, a very interesting original surname.

Roger Griffin frowned slightly when Simon was looking at the newspaper in front of him. He didn't speak for a long time. He snapped his fingers in his ear and said, "Simon?"

Simon recovered from his thoughts, smiled at the convenience store owner, and said, "Roger, maybe I have to ask for a leave tomorrow."

"No problem, it doesn’t matter if you don’t come to work next week," Roger Griffin shook his head. Although Simon’s attitude was obviously tacit, he couldn’t help asking: "So, this is really you?"

Simon handed the newspaper to Roger again, nodded, and said, "Yes."

Roger Griffin heard Simon’s confirmation and slammed the newspaper he had just received, making a rustling noise, and said: "Then, the middle-aged man a few days ago is the one mentioned in the newspaper these days. WMA vice president, called, um...what is it called? And, you now have 200,000 US dollars?"

Simon looked at Roger who was a little stuttered and smiled: "200,000 dollars is not too much for you, this shop...this..."

When he said this, Simon suddenly stopped, and turned his head to scan the 7-11 convenience store where he was.

Roger's convenience store should be a franchise type with its own venue, and it is quite large in scale. In addition, it is located in downtown Santa Monica, and its business is also very good.

only.

I carefully recalled the cash register data in my weekdays. Even on days with high passenger flow, the daily turnover of this convenience store was only more than ten thousand dollars.

Roger looked at Simon, who was suddenly sluggish, and stretched out his hand again and snapped his fingers in his ear: "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Roger," Simon shook his head helplessly, and said, "I suddenly discovered that your store is not suitable for my movie. I need a store with a daily turnover of more than $100,000."

Roger didn't feel any loss when he heard Simon say this. Instead, he said: "The daily turnover is more than 100,000 US dollars. That's probably only Wal-Mart's level. They will definitely not agree to let you shoot any robbery."

Simon remembered that he was lucky to be able to find the shooting location a few days ago, with a wry smile on his mouth, and said, "It is true, but I have to try it."

While talking, several customers came over.

The two watched that the cash register opposite Simon had been lined up, and stopped the conversation temporarily. After Simon had dealt with the wave of guests, Roger asked again: "Simon, why must it be a store with a daily turnover of more than $100,000? "

Simon said: "My protagonist needs to grab $100,000 at a time."

"Snatched $100,000 at a time?" Roger asked back and continued: "Then the choice to grab a supermarket is too bad. Most supermarkets cannot store so much cash at the checkout counter. If it were me, I will definitely choose a jewellery shop. Even if the money is not enough, gold and gemstones can be bought."

Simon thought in his heart that today's things are really coming in. Hearing Roger say this, he smiled and said, "You seem to be familiar with this kind of thing?"

"Who hasn't watched a few movies yet," Roger laughed, and said, "And, by coincidence, my brother runs a jewelry store. His store is on the 26th street next door. Of course, he must be It is even more unlikely that you would agree to film a robbery scene in his store."

Simon had already planned a detailed shooting plan around Roger's convenience store, and was worried about how to adjust it. Hearing this, he immediately straightened out many ideas again.

Roger's convenience store is on 25th Street, and his brother's jewelry store is on 26th Street. It would be very easy to just adjust one block.

However, it is obviously more difficult to get a jewelry store to agree to cooperate in filming the robbery.

With such calculations, Simon did not act too eagerly. Selling the script to Fox, he will have to work for the other side at least one month in terms of script modification. To start shooting his own "Lola Run", he has to wait until September at the earliest, and he has enough time to prepare.

Now, we still have to solve the current problem.

At 3 o'clock in the afternoon, Simon finished his shift and drove to the WMA headquarters by bike. He also bought a copy of today's Los Angeles Times on the way.

When he arrived outside Jonathan Friedman's office, Simon still greeted Irving Wright first.

"Simon, why are you here?" Owen Wright saw Simon appear with an enthusiastic smile on his face. He then pointed to the door of Jonathan's office and said: "Wait a minute, Jonathan is talking with Sean Young. ."

Simon was uncertain: "Sean Yang, Rachel?"

Owen Wright got up and pulled a chair next to him, motioned Simon to sit down at his desk, and confirmed: "Yes, it's Rachel."

Simon nodded. It was a surprise that Sean Young would be Jonathan's customer.

However, in addition to the stunning copy of "Blade Runner" Rachel, Sean Yang does not have other outstanding masterpieces.

Moreover, it is said that this woman really loves to play big names, and many Hollywood filmmakers do not like to work with her. Eventually, after "Blade Runner", the actress was only briefly prosperous for a few years and then quickly fell silent.

Simon happened to remember that as his career was getting worse and worse, Sean Young, who missed the role of Catwoman during the shooting of Michael Keaton's version of "Batman" because of an injury from a horse fall, did something that made a sensation throughout Hollywood.

After the great success of "Batman", Warner launched the sequel "Batman Returns." During the production of the film, Sean Yang suddenly stood outside Warner’s studio wearing a self-made poor-quality catwoman costume and clamored, hoping that Warner would give him the role of Catwoman again, but only ended up with a "Hollywood mad woman" The title of God completely destroyed the image of Goddess Rachel in the hearts of many people.

Recalling these things, Simon said to Irving Wright: "Speaking of which, I don't know exactly who Jonathan has customers. Irving, can you show me the list?"

"Of course," Irving Lai nodded, took out a folder from the desk drawer and handed it to Simon, "You can take a look."

Simon took the folder and opened it.

The first page of the information is a veteran male star named Robert Duvall.

Simon has some impressions of the actor, but he still belongs to the type of barely familiar face.

However, in the introduction, Robert Duvall is not only the winner of the 1984 Oscar for Best Actor, but also has three other Oscar nominations. In this way, the opponent can probably be regarded as the biggest star under Jonathan's name.

Continuing to turn back, there are still several veteran male stars who are generally in their 40s and 50s.

For this situation, Simon did not feel too surprised.

Affected by the television industry, the Hollywood film industry has experienced silence for more than two decades.

When the film business is sluggish, opportunities will naturally decrease. Everyone is vying for seniority for relatively few roles, which not only leads to the slow pace of the replacement of Hollywood artists, but also the age of the stars standing at the top of the Hollywood pyramid is generally too old.

Thinking this way, Simon turned over the information nearly halfway, only to find a actor he knew very well, Billy Christo.

Subsequently, his own information was just sandwiched between the male and female stars.

What appeared next was still a series of veteran actresses. Simon hurriedly turned over and found Courteney Cox's name in a relatively lower position.

So until the last page, Simon originally planned to return the folder to Owen, but was caught by the girl's name on the last page.

On the ID photo, this is also a girl with short hair.

I glanced at the girl's profile. There is no film and television work under the other party's name, but only some performance experience in stage plays. It seems that Jonathan should have just signed the newcomer.

After thinking about it, Simon patiently waited for Owen Wright to finish a phone call, spread the information in front of him, and asked, "Owen, what's the situation with this girl?"

Owen Wright put down the microphone and glanced at the girl's name on the profile.

Sandra Bullock.

"Sandra, Jonathan just signed him last week, recommended by New York dramatist Sanford Messner, a very good newcomer," Owen Wright explained a few words and looked at Simon again. Band joked: "You like this type of girl. I happen to have a photo album here. Would you like to take a look?"

Simon smiled and shook his head, and said, "I just think she is quite suitable for the heroine of my movie."

"That's it," Owen Wright also knew Simon's plan to make an experimental film during this period of time. He took a more serious tone. He found Sandra Bullock's contact information from the address book and handed it to Simon. He also added: “It’s late for the fall season now. Jonathan’s arrangement is that she hopes that she will take some of the TV series for next spring season to hone and then transform to try movies. Therefore, she happens to be free these few months. However, Simon, if If you want a heroine, I can help you pick a few with more experience in acting. If you communicate well, the price will not be too high."

"No," Simon shook his head and said, "I'll try to contact this girl first."

Irving Wright did not persuade him much, nodded, and said, "If you need help, you can call me at any time."

As the two of them were talking, the door of Jonathan's office opened, and a beautiful woman in a black tunic dress walked out of it. It was Sean Young.

However, Sean Yang was obviously in a very bad mood at this time. With a face of an iceberg queen, Simon stood up with his eyes slanted, but he walked away without stopping, stepping on his high heels.

Jonathan followed Sean Yang out of the office, looking at the figure of the girl who had turned into the corridor and disappeared, turned to Simon, raised his hand to indicate to the empty place in front of him, and said solemnly: "Simon, this is Miss Yang."

Simon walked over, smiled and shook hands with Jonathan, and said: "Unexpectedly, you would still make cold jokes?"

"Occasionally entertain yourself," Jonathan smiled wryly, but didn't explain what had just happened.

Instructed Owen to prepare coffee for the two of them. Jonathan took Simon into the office, sat down behind his desk, and said first: "By the way, Simon, I originally planned to let her be the heroine about Curt. However, She happened to pass the second female audition for the live-action version of "Cosmic Giant Seaman" by Canon Pictures. The production cost of this film was US$20 million, and the female number two is also a good opportunity. So I temporarily put the "Butterfly Effect" female The protagonist has changed to Elizabeth."

Simon didn’t know much about "Cosmic Giant Seaman" and vaguely remembered that this should be an animated cartoon of recent years. However, he just smiled and nodded and said, "This is great, neither opportunity was wasted. ."

Jonathan habitually crossed his hands and looked at Simon, and said, "So, are you coming over suddenly?"

Simon showed the article in the Los Angeles Times to Jonathan and said, "Joe, have you read this?"

Jonathan took the newspaper and scanned his eyes, nodded and said, "Owen also showed it to me in the morning. I think this should be a good thing for you, right?"

Simon shook his head, thought for a while, and said, "Joe, there is one thing about my experience before coming to Los Angeles. I think I need to explain it to you first."