Hollywood Drawing

With Professor Anderson's praise, several people sitting in the office laughed happily. Professor Anderson also smiled happily. He was truly happy for his compatriots.

"So, what are your plans for Christmas? Now that the film is finished, do you want to go back to the farm?"

When the teacher asked him about his Christmas arrangements, he thought for a moment and said:

"Well, my mom has called me a few times before I go back to the farm for Christmas. I always tell her that I'm busy with work, and if I don't go back, I think she'll drive to Los Angeles and smash all my photocopies. "

Listening to him teasing his mother, everyone smiled kindly. This country and family will always be everyone's first belief. Jimmy suddenly looked at Wayne. It wasn't until he noticed his gaze that he spoke:

"Congratulations. To be honest, I thought you were filming something that was full of blood and couldn't tell the story clearly. Don't worry, I will help contact the film company to discuss distribution issues when I get back. But don't hold it too high. Hope, you know, even if I use some corporate connections, I may not be able to invite many people to watch your film."

"It doesn't matter, Jimmy, do your best, I'm mentally prepared."

He didn't want much, so he called Jimmy here just to give him confidence so that he could try his best to attract people. Otherwise, relying on your own luck, maybe not many people will come to see it.

"Okay, just be prepared. January is about to enter, and there are only a few days left before the Saint-Denis Film Festival. You have to give yourself a price in mind, lest a company really takes a liking to the bid and there is a gap between the price and your price. Too big."

Jimmy reminded him carefully. Jimmy was afraid that he would price himself too high. Jimmy knew what the film distribution industry was like. They were at the absolute upper reaches of the industry and relied on sucking the blood of production companies to survive.

Wayne heard his reminder, but actually didn't take it too seriously. The bottom line he set for himself was lower than everyone thought. If no company is willing to pay a high price in the end, in order to send the film to theaters, he is really not afraid of losing money and selling it. The main reason for making the first film is to promote himself and prove himself.

After this campus screening, he finally got rid of his workaholic persona. Before Christmas, I slept with Naomi for a few days, slept well in the apartment for two days, and then drove back to the farm.

On January 17, 1991, Wayne and Luke took a plane to Park City, Utah, USA, carrying a copy of the film. Tomorrow, January 18th, the Saint-Denis Film Festival will officially start here.

The Sundance Film Festival, also known as the "Sundance Film Festival", is specially designed for independent filmmakers, and its influence has been growing in recent years. It aims to encourage low-cost, independently produced films that express a completely different purpose from Hollywood films. The American Sundance Film Festival is organized by the Sundance Institute, which is composed of 25 members.

In 1981, Robert Redford was determined to enhance the artistic vitality of diversity in American films. He discussed plans with his colleagues and friends at Sundance in Utah. As a result, he established the Sundance Institute, dedicated to supporting and cultivating New film screenwriters and film directors; support and help new feature films and documentaries to participate in domestic and international film festivals in the United States.

In recent years, this has been the best platform for all independent filmmakers to promote themselves, and this is also Wayne's purpose. At two o'clock in the afternoon, Wayne and Luke hurried from the airport to the hotel they had reserved. Without daring to stay for a moment, they put down their luggage and went directly to the rented screening room.

Thanks to Professor Anderson, he helped Wayne get the invitation letter and screening room. Although he was not participating in the competition section, it was great to have a theater with a good location.

Just like Luke and the medium-sized screening room in front of him, under the handover of the staff, he got nine days of use of the screening room. The cost is not cheap, the daily rental fee is as high as two thousand US dollars, but the location is good, right in the middle of the street.

After sending the staff away, he went in and took a look around. He wanted to make sure that there would be no problems during the screening. There are fifty seats in the hall, and the curtain is not very big. After looking at the projector behind it, Luke confirmed that it was fine.

Pulling out a makeshift poster, it showed poor Naomi looking horrified at the masked killer beside her. There is only one sentence on the poster, birthday turns into a memorial day, how to escape.

The production was very crude, but he didn't take it too seriously. This poster mainly told people what movies were shown here, and the movie company buyers would never look at this thing.

After making the poster stand, the two returned to the hotel and quietly waited for the film festival to arrive.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Wayne opened the door of the cinema on time, and Luke took the copy to prepare for the screening. Tourists came to the door one after another, looked at the posters and chatted with him. There are many people passing by, but few people go in and wait to watch.

It wasn't them that Wayne was waiting for. Jimmy called him and he would bring the guests over before ten o'clock and asked him to prepare for the screening so that nothing went wrong.

Ignoring the tourists, he looked at his watch anxiously until Jimmy appeared in front of Wayne with two people.

"Wayne, this is James from Touchstone Pictures and Albert from New Line Cinema. Is the film ready?"

Seeing that the two of them were relatively indifferent, Wayne greeted them and hurried to the back to help Luke with the screening. There must be no mistakes in this scene.

After James and Albert entered the theater, they sat alone in the middle. When he saw that there was no problem, he came to the front and told Jimmy that he could start at any time.

"Jimmy, are these two the only ones? Are there any movie viewers from other companies?"

He hopes there are more, so that the chance of being chosen will be higher. Jimmy shook his head and whispered:

"I only invited these two medium-sized companies with distribution capabilities. They came to watch because of their relationship with CAA. There should be no more. Tell Luke to start."

He nodded and motioned to Luke behind him to start the screening. He is not disappointed. The film will be screened for nine days. There will always be opportunities until the end of the film festival.

After the theater lights slowly turned off, just before the movie started, Wayne noticed two more people walking into the theater and sitting in the back row. He didn't pay much attention, thinking he was a tourist.

Over the course of more than ninety minutes of screening time, James's attitude towards watching movies slowly changed. He was originally planning to leave after watching it for the sake of CAA's reputation, but he didn't expect that it aroused his interest from the beginning.

From the first time the heroine of the movie was killed, James took out his notepad and pencil and took notes while watching the movie. Wayne, who was standing in the back row, noticed him. Not only James, but also the last two people who came in. One of them was also reading and writing something, while Albert seemed completely impatient. He left early before the movie was over. Cinema.

Wayne's attention was not on the curtain at all. He observed several people in the auditorium. Except for the seven or eight tourists, the most eye-catching one was James.

As the movie ended, everyone applauded politely and then slowly left. James, led by Jimmy, came to him.

"Director Greenberg, your film is beyond my expectation. I will go back and report it to the company. If it is convenient for you, I will watch it again in the afternoon."

"Of course, no problem, you're always welcome."

Seeing that he agreed, James shook hands with him in a friendly manner and followed Jimmy out. When he walked out of the theater, Wayne discovered that there was still one person who hadn't left. He was a middle-aged white man in his thirties who had also been recording just now.

"Hello, Director Greenberg, can we chat for a few words? I'm a cinematographer at Castle Rock Pictures. My name is Tom Hughes. You can call me Tom."

"Of course, we go outside."

He didn't expect an unexpected surprise, so he took Tom out of the theater and went to the outdoor cafe next to it.

"Director Greenberg, Mr. Jennings specially recommended your film to me before I came here and asked me to take a closer look."

After hearing what he said, Wayne understood why he came here. It turned out to be Jennings' recommendation.

"You can call me Wayne. I really want to thank Mr. Jennings when I get back. What do you think? Is Castle Rock Pictures interested in this film?"

Tom thought for a while, organized his words, and then spoke:

"The selling point of the film is relatively clear. I am personally optimistic about it. Of course, I will submit the film. No one knows what will happen in the end."

He was not disappointed after hearing this. He chatted with Tom in a friendly manner for a while before saying goodbye and returning to the cinema. In fact, they only played one show in the whole morning. He understood that the key was to look at the afternoon.

"Luke, don't worry, please be quiet, okay? Sit down and have something to eat." Looking at the anxious Luke walking around, he was obviously not in a calm mood.

"Wayne, what's going on? Do you think James will buy our movie?"

Luke stood next to him and looked at the people passing by on the street. From time to time, you can still hear them discussing the movie they just watched, and the comments are obviously mostly negative.

"There's only so much we can do, don't worry, I'm sure someone will buy it."

He was not as anxious as Luke, but he still believed in the quality of the film. He had just gone to several movie theaters, and almost none of the low-budget movies being shown could satisfy him.

They are all constantly shaking images, extremely long shots, and even what the director wants to express is incomprehensible, as if not filming it this way would not be artistic enough.

This gave him great confidence that at least in these independent films, his films could be watched by people.

At two o'clock in the afternoon, Wayne showed a professional smile and received the four people led by James. After greeting each other, Luke started the movie screening again.

This one was a little better than in the morning, there were at least a dozen spectators, and his attention was always on James and the others. From time to time, they could be seen discussing something in low voices. It wasn't until the movie was over that James asked Wayne for his phone number before leaving with the company's people.

"Jimmy, do you think people like Touchstone will like this film?"

After seeing off this group of people, he chatted softly with Jimmy. Jimmy recalled the expressions of the group of people just now and said:

"Hopefully, I think they will contact you. All you have to do now is continue to show the film and wait for more people to come."