Rebirth of America, this is my time

Maybe it’s because being in the entertainment industry means showing off, but it’s also possible that Universal Studios is the headquarters of Universal Pictures.

In short, when Steven Spielberg brought Ethan Jones and Steve Jobs to his cafeteria, the area of ​​more than 10,000 square feet can only be described in one word - Hao !

The buffet-like dining format and the assembly-line-like three-row menu cabinet engraved the word rich on the facade.

Regardless of whether it is Pacific cuisine that represents the seaside flavor, Southwestern cuisine that is deeply influenced by MXG, or Cajun cuisine that combines Gallic chicken cuisine, Indian cuisine, and black cuisine, you can find it all here.

In addition, Southern black cuisine, represented by pulled pork and fried meat, is what Americans often call home cooking, and New York cuisine that incorporates the tastes of immigrants from all over the world, as well as the New York cuisine that is mainly created by John Bull immigrants. New England cuisine can also be found here.

It is no exaggeration to say that this small cafeteria at Universal Studios already contains all the popular flavors in the United States!

After picking and choosing, Ethan chose a seafood assortment, a spicy meat sauce and bean stew, and a Texas barbecue.

Spielberg ordered a grilled steak, eggs Benedict, and pecan pie.

Jobs got a pear cheese salad, a burrito, and ordered shrimp gumbo.

After a brief taste, Ethan immediately gave a thumbs up and said: Oh Fxxk! This barbecue is really Juicy!

Oh~Ethan~you can like it~ Spielberg introduced: Our chefs here are all masters with more than 20 years of cooking experience. Many of them are directly invited from places where the cuisine is popular, as much as possible. It restores the local flavor.”

For example, the Texas barbecue you want is brought from Austin and made by the chefs of the Mueller family.

“The founder of their family was the first master in the country to introduce beef ribs to the barbecue industry.”

Really? So it seems that I'm quite lucky today? Ethan said with surprise: Although I was stuck on the road for a long time and didn't have time to have lunch, it's really nice to be able to taste the master's cooking when I'm hungry. It’s a happy thing.”

I'm not flattering you! After all, getting what you need when you need it can multiply one's satisfaction.

Spielberg's eyes lit up when he heard Ethan's words, Oh Ethan, you are right.

Jobs also raised his eyebrows and nodded slightly in agreement.

Although the real purpose of everyone coming to the canteen is to eat, when they met for the first time, they still chatted when they should. After praising the dishes, Ethan took the initiative to open up the topic and asked whether Spielberg and Jobs were How we met.

How did we meet? Just like you, we met through games.

Spielberg smiled and said: Steve told me that you met when we were selling games? Then I am just the opposite of you, because I met Steve when I was buying games. At that time, Looks like he’s in Los Angeles promoting Gran Trak?”

At this point, Spielberg turned his head and glanced at Jobs.

Yeah~Yeah~Yeah~

When Jobs heard the question, he nodded and said, 'Gran Trak'~ That's it. That was the first time we met.

He sipped the apple juice brought by the waiter, and then complained, To be honest, when we first met, Steven gave me the impression that he was a madman, because at that time he took out A thousand dollars in cash to buy an arcade machine.”

Really! I was stunned!

That's a thousand dollars! I don't know why a normal person would carry so much money with him!

Oh, who made me want to play games?

Jobs's words made Spielberg laugh and said: If I remember correctly, Atari's delivery time at the ordering venue was three days, but three days was really too long for me. , I didn’t want to wait, so I just took out the cash and bought it.”

But the problem is that all he got at the time were one hundred!

Mentioning this matter, Jobs immediately became excited and started to draw with Ethan's pen, That was a stack of one hundred dollars! I didn't dare to accept it at all! I was afraid that he was selling fans, and I was even more afraid of holding it. The cash will be robbed later!”

Oh, oh, you can't blame me for this. Spielberg spread his hands and began to explain: Although I can take out twenty dollars, a thousand dollars is fifty twenty dollars! Those are all A lot! Is it convenient for me to buy arcade machines with so much money?

Such a question made Jobs frown and said, So you're trying to scare me for your own convenience?

Spielberg was too lazy to pay attention to him, It's because of your poor psychological quality!

Oh! Sxxt! Steven! What did you say?

What did I say? Of course I told the truth!

The bickering between the two made Ethan laugh.

And the scene of an imminent fight made him shake his head.

But he had no intention of intervening, because it was not a big deal.

The issue of the dollar's face value that Jobs and Spielberg talked about has been going on for years.

The US dollar is a currency with strong purchasing power. Most of the time, twenty dollars can allow a family to go shopping in the supermarket. Therefore, ordinary people use twenty dollars most in their lives.

As for higher denominations? That's all flowing in large quantities in illegal businesses.

For example, for example, one hundred US dollars is mostly used by money dealers, or those who sell counterfeit money.

If one is caught and shot, there is basically no injustice.

So when Spielberg went to buy an arcade machine with a stack of one hundred dollars, any normal person would be scared.

Ethan could understand, and he was happy to watch the show.

After arguing for a few words, the two of them stopped knowing that there was no result.

At this time, Ethan intervened at the right time and asked whether the previous news disclosure would cause trouble to Spielberg.

After all, according to the intelligence that Ethan and Jobs heard, MCA wanted to acquire Atari. However, when they were discussing cooperation, Spielberg gave the news about Atari to outsiders. How could this behavior happen? It feels like there is a bone in the back of the head.

When Ethan expressed his thoughts, Jobs smiled and said, Trouble?

Oh Ethan—you look down on Steven so much!

Steven has always been the prince of Universal! The prince of MCA!

Who dares to make trouble for him?

Ethan was stunned when he heard Jobs' words.

But the next second, he reacted, smiled and shook his head: Yeah~Yeah~Yeah~ I am superficial.

'Jaws' is the first movie in the history of movies to have a box office of over 100 million!

When such results appear, no one in Hollywood will offend him!

However, before Ethan could finish his words, Jobs smiled and shook his head again, No, No, No~

You still don't understand, Ethan.

Before Jaws was filmed, Steven was already running around the world like a crab!

Because he only needs to report to one person, and that is the CEO of MCA and the president of Universal, Sidney.

What? Ethan didn't understand.

Spielberg smiled and waved his hand and said, Steve, keep a low profile.

After seeing Ethan's confused face, he explained: Ethan, don't listen to his nonsense. Sidney is my boss, my leader, and the teacher who supports me and educates me. I respect him a lot.”

Under Spielberg's narration, Ethan finally knew what kind of special code is the chosen one!

Because Spielberg wanted to make movies since he was a child, after graduating from high school, he applied to the Southern California Film School three times. However, because his grades were only C, he was rejected, so he had to switch to California State University, Long Beach.

But the problem was that Spielberg didn't like reading at all. He just wanted to make movies, so he went to Hollywood in his spare time, trying to find opportunities to join the industry in this way. And when he heard one time that Universal Studios had a tour that took tourists to visit the studio, he decisively signed up for it, and at the same time, he also played a trick. During the tour, he asked the tour leader to use the restroom, then sneaked out of the restroom, separated from the tour group, and then openly peeped at other people's filming at Universal Studios.

Although this behavior of stealing from others is a bit shameful, Spielberg doesn't care.

After all, how can a scholar's affairs be called stealing?

This is obviously learning!

But it was enough for him to believe in this kind of thing. The sneaky figure of the dog could not escape the eyes of Universal Management.

While Spielberg was wandering around, a guy named Chuck Silvers, a project leader at Universal, spotted him and asked about his intentions. And when Spielberg said that he escaped from the tour bus just to learn film shooting skills and that he wanted to become a film director, the guy named Chuck Silvers was impressed by him. It was decided to give him a three-day pass, allowing him to freely enter and exit various places in the studio and watch openly.

Then……

From that day on, Spielberg became a member of Universal.

Although the pass was only good for three days, Spielberg spent the entire summer at the studio.

For when his fourth day has passed...

The security at Universal Studios didn't stop me at all.

He just let me in, Spielberg said with a laugh.

I was so happy at the time, I thought he had misremembered the date of my pass.

But later I found out that someone had greeted me. The person who greeted me said that if I could come on time for three days, I could watch how they made the movie here.

Is that Chuck Silvers? Ethan asked with a smile.

Yes, it's him, he's a good man. Spielberg nodded.

His face was also filled with a nostalgic smile.

Clearing his throat, he continued: Then, I became a member of Universal.

Because I didn't know that someone had said hello to me, so in order not to be discovered by others, I pretended to be a Universal employee here and pretended to work here.

The office that Steve just took you to was my office at that time. Although it was very shabby and old, I didn't care because no one used it at that time, so I just used it. It can make me A place to rest, a place to think.”

Ethan, I don't know if you have that feeling. Once you get used to lying to others, you will slowly believe your own lies. I have been at Universal for a long time, and I even thought that I was from Universal. It wasn’t until one day when people from Universal came to me and said that I had been studying for a long time and if I had my own ideas, that I realized that they knew everything.”

At this point, Spielberg immediately leaned back, played with his fork, and said in a nostalgic tone: I was scared to death at the time. But the people at Universal were very kind, and they asked me to prepare a project by myself, saying I was delighted by the fact that if I passed the test, I would get a job, and of course I had my own ideas, so I wrote a script and got $100,000 from a friend to make it. It was made into a short film called Amblin.

To be honest, I wasn't very satisfied with that movie, but after watching it, Sidney thought it was good. He must have been the vice president of Universal at the time, right? He had the power to sign the contract, so he gave it I have a seven-year long-term contract with the director, which gives me a fixed salary and allows me to practice in various projects.

Although I messed up many projects, with Sidney here, no one dared to criticize me, because he once told me in front of many people, 'A lot of people will stick with you in success; I'll stick with you in failure. (Many people will be with you when you succeed, but I will be with you when you fail.)', with his words, I can be around the world again and again Got the project, so what Steve said is actually right...

Spielberg tapped his index finger on the table and said softly: There is indeed no one here who will reject me.

And after Jaws came out—

This is indeed my territory.

When Spielberg told his story with a smile, Ethan really didn't know what to say.

A future world-famous director would stay around the world like a child just to make a movie?

this……

Black history!

Oh no!

For ordinary people, this kind of thing is a black history, but for celebrities, it's just a thirst for knowledge!

There is no way, after a person becomes famous, it is right to fart!

So that's it? Ethan nodded with a smile and said with emotion: No wonder the security didn't stop Steve when he brought me in just now, because they know that Steve often comes to Universal to find you, right?

Yes. Snake Game was sent by me.

Jobs nodded and said, Didn't I disappear in the afternoon of the new product launch? I just gave him an arcade machine.

‘Is that so? ’

Ethan suddenly remembered.

On the afternoon of the Snake Game press conference, the only people left at Atari were Nolan Bushnell.

At that time, he thought that Jobs was going to deliver goods with the large army.

But I didn’t expect that it was given to Spielberg alone?

'It seems like they have a really good relationship. ’

After sighing in his heart, Ethan started chatting with them again.

We talked about games, movies, and Hollywood.

And when he learned that Spielberg and Barbra Streisand knew each other, he even made a request.

Oh Steven, can I trouble you with something?

You say it. Spielberg said with a smile: As long as I can do it, I will definitely help you.

Can you get me a signed copy of Barbra Streisand's album? Because my sister loves her.

This is too simple. Don't just say one, just one set will do. Spielberg waved his hand and said: Whether it's a music album or a movie video, I can get it for you. I'll talk to you later. Just tell the assistant and leave this matter to her.

Don't worry, although this matter will take a while, you will definitely be able to get it before you leave.

Of course... you can't tell me you're leaving now!

Spielberg knocked on the table and joked: After all, I'm not Superman.

Hahaha~ No, no way~ Ethan smiled like a flower, Oh Steven~ Thank you so much... I'm bothering you when I just met you. It's really... I don't know what to do. That’s good…”

Don't know what to do? This is simple. Spielberg said: I want to know a question now. As long as you can answer me directly, then I can guarantee that you will not feel that there is any distance between us. .

‘? ’

‘There’s this magical question? ’

What's the problem? Ethan asked curiously.

As soon as he said these words, Spielberg first made an incomprehensible face and looked at Ethan with very serious eyes. When Ethan frowned and was a little surprised, he burst out laughing and rubbed his hands. Rubbing his hands, he said: It's very simple!

When are you going to release a new game?

I can not wait any more!

While I believe Snake Game will last me a long time, I still want to play something new!

‘…’

‘Okay! ’

Spielberg's question made Ethan dumbfounded.

What kind of thing is this?

Isn’t today a pleasant fan meeting?

How could it turn into an offline solo and a face-to-face reminder?

Although Ethan didn't understand what Spielberg's brain circuit was like, he could still answer this question.

Taking a deep breath, he shook his head and said, Oh Steven, I don't want to lie to you. I do have inspiration in my mind, but I can't realize it for the time being.

What? Spielberg was a little surprised, Why can't it be realized?

Is it because of technical reasons?

Ethan shrugged regretfully, not knowing how to answer.

Such a situation gave Jobs time to speak.

He told the specific situation.

When Spielberg learned that all the problems still lay in the pitfall patent of video games and training devices, he was suddenly a little surprised, Oh Ethan, can't you get the authorization?

If I really want to get it, I should be able to get it, but the price is probably a bit inappropriate.

Ethan said sincerely: When you make a movie, you should know that inspiration is also valuable.

If this value is taken away from the theater chain that provides the venue, then I have nothing to say.

After all, their existence is to provide a place for audiences to watch movies.

But if most of the benefits are taken away by Edison, then...

Before Ethan could finish his words, Spielberg said with a smile: No need to assume, Edison's behavior has been recognized as a monopoly.

But things like Mi Luo Hua... can hardly be considered a monopoly, right? Ethan smiled and said: After all, Professor Bell is different from Edison. Professor Bell never buys patents. The patents in his name are not his own. He led the research and development team. When he was involved in many fields such as aerospace, deep-sea exploration, medicine and medical care, and he no longer charged patent fees for many projects, the corresponding dominance in the field of video games, the court or the It’s the state and it won’t take care of it.”

This fact made Spielberg nodded slightly and asked: Then this problem cannot be solved?

Then he explained: Oh, I mean, I'm really looking forward to your game.

I understand, I understand, you have no ill intentions. Ethan nodded with a smile and said, Actually, I have a solution now, but it may not be achieved in a short time because I need to meet with Professor Ralph Bell , but I don’t know him. I have asked my sister’s teacher to contact Professor Ralph Bell, but the news from them is that it will be as early as the end of the year.”

So, you might have to wait a while.

Because Spielberg knew what happened, Ethan had no intention of hiding it.

But after he told the truth, Spielberg, who was sitting opposite him, was stunned.

Then, the young man scratched his head, frowned and asked, You mean Professor Ralph Bell can help you solve the patent problem?

If he is willing to cooperate with me. Ethan nodded: As long as he is willing to cooperate with me, then I have a way to bypass the patent barriers, and it is a legal bypass. Steve can help with this. I prove it.

Ethan pointed at Jobs.

Jobs, who was already using MOS 6502, nodded, Yes, we have the method, we just need to find the person.

However, just when Ethan thought that the topic had been chatted to death by them, Spielberg said: Is it that simple? Then you can just make games! And I have to be the first one. Player!

‘? ’

Spielberg's words stunned Ethan and said, Steven, I don't understand what you mean.

Don't understand what I mean? It's very simple! Spielberg blinked and said, Because my father knows Professor Bell.

Awareness in every sense of the word.

After Milova's Odyssey was launched, my father also told me about Professor Bell. He said that Professor Bell's skills in the field of electronic engineering were much better than his.

If you want to find Professor Bell, I can ask my dad to make a call for you.

Although I don't know what you want to cooperate with Professor Bell, or in other words, what you definitely want from Professor Bell, but I can guarantee you that even if the cooperation is outrageous, Professor Bell will still look out for my father's sake. After listening to it.”

WTF??? Ethan was shocked!

He asked in disbelief: Oh Steven, are you serious???

Of course! Why would I lie to you about such a thing? Spielberg was very surprised and said, Are you surprised?

Why? Why is it unexpected?

Don't you think it's abnormal for my dad and Professor Bell to know each other?

Um?

Spielberg frowned, he couldn't understand.

The ones who were even more puzzled than him were the confused Ethan and the equally dumbfounded Jobs.

Because this kind of thing is really abnormal!

Note: ① Gran Trak is a racing game produced by Atari. Well... to say it is a product is actually to plagiarize it, because its style and production method are basically the same as the racing game launched by Professor Ralph Bell in Milova Odyssey. ②The information about Spielberg becoming a director came from an exclusive interview with him by the BBC. This was said by Spielberg himself. It's still up on the BBC's UK official website.

PS, there is a rumor that Universal Pictures allowed Spielberg to study there because of his Jewish identity. Universal is a studio with a very strong Jewish atmosphere. From the earliest founder to the later controllers, as well as the executives during the MCA period, they are all Jews, so when Spielberg's extremely obvious Jewish appearance appeared, After that, Universal acquiesced to him coming to see him, and when Sidney discovered that he was really talented, they directly gave him a long-term contract to train their own people.