Birth of an actor

After hanging all the clothes in the closet, and using books, photos, record players, new sheets and other things to make the dormitory more warm and tidy, William and Christopher Dixon went to the restaurant for dinner.

On the way, William stopped by the post office and sent out many Harvard postcards, mainly to tell his relatives and friends his new address.

Christopher Dixon watched William bought nearly [-] postcards and kept writing, half surprised and half envious, and said: "Wow, you have so many friends."

There are also many types of friends. Those who study together in the library, those who go to sports and parties together, those who can tell each other their troubles, secrets or not, those who call at least once a week or don’t call once for several months... It’s like changing Send a postcard to inform me of the new address, which is really a relatively close friendship.

Once again, Christopher Dixon felt the difference between his roommates and himself: William Bradley seemed like the kind of guy who loved, even enjoyed, socializing.

"Actually, I didn't intentionally make friends." As if he knew what Dixon was thinking, William said: "But because of work, I can always meet all kinds of good people. As long as we keep in touch, Over time, we became friends."

"Work?" Christopher Dixon asked puzzled, "Does that mean working in a coffee shop?"

"I'm an actor." Seeing Christopher Dixon's unbelievable expression, William laughed and said, "Yeah, that's right, a Hollywood actor."

"No wonder I always feel a little familiar when I look at you, and I thought it was an illusion, but now it seems that I must have seen your work before." After being shocked, Christopher Dixon reacted very quickly and said: "I don't Focus on fashion, don't go to the cinema very often, and rarely rent DVDs, so you can feel familiar when you see you, you must have made a very good movie."

William tried his best to keep himself calm, but a smile on the corner of his mouth still revealed his pride: "Maybe, although I don't have many works, I am very proud of them."

“Tell me what you’ve done—wait, you just sent Leonardo DiCaprio a star! That Leonardo DiCaprio? Cameron, the director of 2" to make a shipwreck movie together?"

William rubbed his nose: "If you read the newspaper more carefully, my friend, you should be able to find that Cameron's 'shipwreck movie' has also appeared on the list of performances."

This time, Christopher Dixon opened his mouth wide open for a full 5 minutes - so long that the post office staff suspected that he had some kind of facial paralysis and came over to ask.

"Unbelievable, I have a Hollywood star roommate!"

The so-called perish in silence if you don't explode in silence, who said that Nerds are dull and rigid?At least Christopher Dixon's roar in this life is enough to shake the earth, causing all male and female creatures within 100 meters to cast their surprised eyes.Many people followed Christopher Dixon's gaze and looked at William.

Just as the postcards had already been mailed, William quickly grabbed Christopher Dixon's arm and led him out of the post office.

"Sorry, I was too excited." Christopher Dixon finally came to his senses and apologized as he approached the entrance of the restaurant.

William shrugged and said indifferently: "Don't be so sorry, I'm not really a big star, and the atmosphere of Harvard also determines that there will be no fanatical groupies here. A few days of curious onlookers like dancing is over."

Christopher Dixon sighs: "I'm getting more and more guilty for what you're talking about, man."

"Did I lie to you? Haha!" William suddenly laughed: "I don't feel sad at all, but I'm actually a little proud because for a moment, you were shocked by my true identity. Right?"

Christopher Dixon shyly pushed the black-rimmed glasses on the bridge of his nose: "Yes."

When they walked to the entrance of the Annenberg restaurant, the stern-faced security guards stopped the two of them, and they were not allowed to enter until after checking their credentials.

Every dormitory building at Harvard has a restaurant. In addition, there is also the Annenberg Restaurant, the dining hall for all Harvard undergraduates. Just like the restaurant in the dormitory building, which usually only provides meals for students in the building, the Annenberg Restaurant also Non-Harvard undergraduate students are not allowed to enter. Maybe graduate students will be more accommodating, but for people outside the school, those who cannot receive invitations from Harvard students will not be able to enter.

Privacy and exclusivity also make Annenberg Restaurant one of the prides that all Harvard students will never forget after graduation.

As soon as William entered the Annenberg restaurant, he was shocked: the tall wooden vaulted roof in all brown tones, the ancient stained glass windows, the huge chandelier is brilliant and bright, and even the walnut tables and chairs have been used for many years. Gives off a round and smooth texture.

"This is a complete replica of Hogwarts!" He couldn't help muttering to himself.

Anyone who has read the original book or movie of "Harry Potter" must be impressed by the spectacular, warm and magical restaurant of Hogwarts described in the book, and the Annenberg restaurant in front of him is simply Hogwarts restaurant. The real version of Ci's restaurant is even more in line with the description in the book than the ones in later movies.

"Hogg what?" Christopher Dixon neither understood nor understood.

William carefully looked back in time in his head, and realized that the first book of the "Harry Potter" series probably hasn't even been published yet, so he shook his head and said, "It's nothing, I just thought of the one I read before. The description of a magic school restaurant in the book, I feel that Annenberg fits the description in the book."

“Actually, the restaurant at Columbia University is also very good, not much worse than Harvard.” Christopher Dixon, who is studying for a bachelor’s degree at Columbia University, shrugged and said, “However, this is Harvard after all, so the reputation must be bigger.”

William didn't respond to Christopher Dixon's words, he frowned slightly and his eyes were empty, looking like he was in deep thought.

"Hey!" Christopher Dixon waved his hand in front of William's eyes: "Dude, what are you thinking?"

"Don't disturb my thinking." William brushed Christopher Dixon's hand away, walked straight into the restaurant, ordered food, and looked for a seat. Although he kept his expression of wandering, he didn't delay the meal at all.

'Are all Hollywood actors like this, able to completely immerse themselves in their own thoughts without delaying their meals and rest? Christopher Dixon found with great interest that his roommate, William Bradley, was not only not arrogant, but a little neurotic.

That's fine, Neurotic and him seem to be on the same page, Christopher Dixon thought: maybe they'd be really good friends.

William, who was being stared at by Christopher Dixon as if he was studying some subject, didn't notice the other party's gaze at all, or he noticed it, but didn't care, because William's entire mind at this moment was captured by "Harry" Porter was drawn away.

If it wasn't for the association of the Annenberg restaurant with Hogwarts, and then "Harry Potter", and suddenly remembering that this series of novels, which are popular all over the world, should not have been published yet, William almost missed such a big gold mine !

Obviously, in the first two years of his rebirth, when he was still a young bean sprout, he had planned the blueprint for the future with great interest, and almost wrote down all the good times and good ideas that could make money, why have he forgotten all of them now? ?Is it because memory can't stop the passage of time after all, or is there something in the dark deliberately erasing his past life memory?

'Need to make a new plan, arrange all the opportunities that can be clearly remembered in time, and at the same time make sure that they are not seen by anyone except yourself... Even if you see it, you can't understand it. Encryption is necessary. Use Suzhou The code should be good, and choosing a book that is more difficult to decipher should be the most comprehensive security measure in this era. '

William had just listed this idea in the schedule, and suddenly remembered: It seems that he had done such an encryption a long time ago?

That's right, he remembered, when he was about seven or eight years old, he went to Chinatown in New York, bought a lot of Chinese novels there, and then used one of them to encrypt, the password notebook seems to be cautious by him Hidden?As for where it is hidden, I can’t remember for a while-it’s all because of American education. Yes, no matter which country you are in, families with a good economy put a lot of effort into educating their children. In addition to classroom learning, music in small languages, horseback riding, sports, etc. The cultivation of hobbies also consumes most of the spare time, and being a child is not at all idle - but William has never had the habit of throwing things casually or burying valuables in the ground, so if you can find them among the past items Look patiently, and the notebook will definitely be found.

'Look for encrypted notebooks from more than ten years ago. 'After highlighting the incident and throwing it into memory, and making sure that he would never forget it again, William's thoughts returned to Harry Potter.

How profitable the "Harry Potter" series is? In William's shallow memory, he still clearly remembers the following three statistics: The success of the "Harry Potter" books made the author J.K. The person who earns 10 billion US dollars, richer than the Queen of England, is on the Forbes list of the world's richest people; the adaptation of "Harry Potter" is the highest-grossing series of movies in history, killing the 007 series and the Star Wars series in seconds; From the first book of Harry Potter to the release of the last movie, books, movies, DVDs, games, peripherals and even theme parks have formed a huge industrial chain. Created hundreds of billions of dollars of wealth.

It can be said that the "Harry Potter" series itself is a business kingdom, an inexhaustible treasure mine, but the profits are not monopolized, but shared. Authors, publishers, the entire children's book industry, film companies, distribution companies , the toy industry, the service industry, etc. are all winners. JK Rowling's one billion dollar remuneration sounds like a lot, but it is nothing compared to the hundreds of billions of dollars in wealth.

Along with the huge sales of the "Harry Potter" series, the inspirational story of how J.K. Rowling went from a single mother living on government relief to a world-renowned author and on the Forbes Rich List was also published and reprinted Here and there, if William's memory serves me right, the Philosopher's Stone, the first book in the Harry Potter series, will be published just next year, by a small British press under J.K. Rowling After being rejected more than ten times by different publishers, the small London-based publishing house finally saw J.K. Rowling's talent and offered her an olive branch, thus giving itself a chance to grow .It seems that this small publishing house has expanded and expanded in just a few years to become one of the most famous publishers in the UK, if not the world.

It was difficult to publish in 1997, a small publishing house, and the submission was rejected more than ten times... William repeated calculations over and over again, and finally he was [-]% sure that J.K. Rowling's first novel is probably not sold yet go out!

However, the flame of excitement burned in William's heart for less than a minute, and was immediately extinguished by reason: he may not be able to dig this gold mine now.

No, in other words, the current William is not qualified to dig.

William now has a small amount of assets and fame, yes, if he is willing to spend money and finds the right manager, buys a small publishing house, finds J.K. The publishing rights of Li Porter series are not impossible—however, with William’s current money and resources, it will take him a month at the earliest—this still excludes how William can convince himself A broker and accountant, he suddenly wants to spend all the money in the account, even mortgage his personal credit to borrow from the bank, just to buy a publishing house and publish a book.God, Amon and the accountant must think he's crazy.

And if William really obtained the publishing rights of the "Harry Potter" series by spending all his personal assets or even credit loans, would he really be able to quickly withdraw funds and make a lot of money in a short period of time? ?

of course not.

To be honest, neither J. K. Rowling nor the publisher made much money by publishing "Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone". "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban" became popular all over the world. The whole book was translated into dozens of languages ​​and introduced to hundreds of countries around the world. It was like falling from the sky, filling their pockets continuously.

Buy all the copyrights of the "Harry Potter" series, but if there is a little accident-for example, "Sorcerer's Stone" is not as good or fast as in the previous life, or the funds of the Midway Publishing House suddenly broke down, and there are management problems Wait—what is waiting for William is likely to be personally bankrupt, and the fate of reselling the publishing house and the copyright of the "Harry Potter" series again.

The publishing industry is really not a business where money comes quickly. To be honest, publishing a book and expecting it to make a lot of money is better than making a low-budget CULT film that meets the tastes of the current audience and expecting the movie to be a big hit!At least the box office is cash. As long as the operation is done properly, the process from filming to release to release is very fast, and it can be done in a few months.

And even if the "Harry Potter" series is as successful as in the previous life, William will face two to three years of embarrassment before "Harry Potter" hits the world. Who will manage the publishing house?How to ensure that the publishing house does not go bankrupt before it starts to make a profit?What about his acting career?He has already made some plans for his Hollywood career. Is he going to stagnate for two to three years because of such a best-selling book?

Two or three years, in Hollywood, is enough to change the world.

Thinking of this, William has actually given up his personal ambition for the "Harry Potter" series.

However, with such a big piece of cake in front of you, it's hard to justify it without taking a few bites, isn't it?

How should I speak?

"Will, Will?"

William, who continued to immerse himself in his own world, suddenly found a pair of hands dangling in front of his eyes.

Looking up, it was Christopher Dixon with a worried face.

"What are you thinking? Will, you've been in a daze for half an hour, and you've already finished your lunch."

William looked down, and sure enough, he found that the plate in front of him was empty, and his fingers were a bit greasy, obviously as if he had held some kind of food for a long time.But now he doesn't even remember what he just ate.

"Are you okay?" Christopher Dixon asked again with concern: "Although I am very used to my friends being in a daze from time to time, immersed in their own thoughts, but you are a bit too exaggerated this time."

"It's okay." William kept all the thoughts just now in his head, smiled at his roommate and said, "It's just that I may have to make a phone call later, overseas." At this time, William stood up and nodded to Christopher Dixon: "I feel a little hungry, and I want to order something more. Do you want some?"

"Just bring me a sandwich," Christopher Dixon responded, "and a Coke."