Made in Hollywood

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"Jos, I look forward to working with you."

Out of his office, Duke shook hands with a bald middle-aged man, "In my eyes, you and your team are the most suitable candidates."

After on-the-spot assessment, Duke finally found his favorite pyrotechnician. This pyrotechnic special effect team, recommended by George Lucas and led by Joss Williams, generally met his requirements. After waiting for confirmation from Warner Bros., You can sign the relevant work contract.

After sending Joss Williams away, Duke didn't go back to the office and went directly to the audition room on the first floor. Because he spent too much time on the pyrotechnic team, when he came here, the audition was almost over.

Duke wasn't too concerned about the results of most auditions, there was little room for female characters in the film, and the only supporting actress who had a bit of weight, he'd already committed to Naomi Watts, whom Nancy had demanded, for the role. It is a normal phenomenon in Hollywood that his agent strives for interests within an appropriate range, and Duke does not shy away from this.

Several major roles in the film must be decided by him and the two production managers. Some scenes but not too important roles have naturally become the focus of some newcomers, just like Duke did to Naomi. Like Watts, other characters also have human relationships. For example, the choice of Mason's daughter is in the hands of Charles Rowan, which can be regarded as a tacit understanding of the crew.

Human relationships in Hollywood are equally important. Everyone has human relationships to take care of. These characters who can show their faces but are not important, tend to have a greater weight in favor.

But there is one rule that everyone will take the initiative to follow. No matter which actor enters the crew through whose relationship, she must meet the most basic requirements of the role!

If a beautiful actress has no basic acting skills, and she does not fit the role setting, it is useless to put everyone in the crew to sleep. Even if they are squeezed in, they will be 'KO' by the director or producer during the shooting. Lose.

All kinds of deals do exist in Hollywood, but they are done under the tacit rules of the parties.

Sitting behind the camera monitor in the audition room, Duke just flipped through the roster and materials of the actors who participated in the audition, and had no intention of interfering with the casting director. Like some of the crews he had been in, he could see a lot of it. It might be a sparkling name later, but he was used to it long ago, and there was no special feeling at all.

Besides, actors need to be trained, and the future front-line is likely to be a rookie now.

The most typical, Keanu Reeves in "Speed ​​of Life and Death", if Jack, the male protagonist, is replaced with another complicated setting, instead of habitually sulking with a serious face, he may be able to cope now. will be difficult.

And why did Duke insist on using Nicolas Cage and Ed Harris in this movie, because both of them are not newcomers, and both have ten years or more experience in filming, especially Ai who played General Hammer. De Harris has acted in more than a dozen movies in total.

Newcomers can use it, but it depends on the specific role.

For example, Naomi Watts, as Duke said, she does have some acting skills, but after more than ten years of training, she is still far from the future.

Opportunities are important, but opportunities are reserved for the well-prepared.

The audition ended quickly, Duke had a few words with the casting director and an executive producer, and after confirming that Naomi Watts passed the audition, he left the audition room and walked towards his director's office on the second floor, just before him. When opening the door to go in, there was the sound of high heels falling from behind, and when he turned to look, Naomi Watts and Nancy Josephson walked over together.

"You got the role." Duke opened the door and gestured to them.

"Oh, this is my biggest role yet." Naomi Watts sighed in visibly relieved as she walked in. "Thank you, Duke."

"You're welcome." Duke pointed to the reception sofa in the office, "Sit whatever you want."

Nancy Josephson sat some distance away from Duke, and Naomi Watts sat generously next to Duke.

"No action from the CAA?" Duke asked his agent.

"It's calm for the time being." Nancy said after thinking about it, "There is a situation, maybe we should pay attention, 20th Century Fox has restarted CAA's packaged project "Interview with the Vampire", tentatively starring Tom Crewe and Brad Pitt, who has recently risen to prominence, and the film's schedule is set for next summer."

"Maybe it's for "Brave Island"?" Duke immediately thought of this.

"It's possible." Nancy Josephson frowned and said, "If they're targeting you, it's really troublesome, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt have a certain appeal, and "Interview with the Vampire" also has wider readership.”

"In the end, we have to rely on publicity, works, and appeal to the audience." Duke seemed very calm, "Don't forget, Anne Wright's novels are more literary and artistic, if CAA really puts this type of The work is pushed to the summer season when popcorn is popular, and the result is still unknown."

"You just need to understand the situation."

The success or failure of "Brave Island" is also related to Nancy Josephson's vital interests. She stood up and prepared to leave, "I will pay attention to the dynamics of CAA."

She looked at Naomi Watts. "It's time for us to say goodbye."

"immediately."

Naomi followed Nancy, and when Duke sent them out, she suddenly turned around and said in a low voice, "Would you like to come to my place for coffee at night?"

"Feel sorry,"

Although he was a little tempted to see that graceful body, Duke still shook his head, "I made an appointment with Zach and John to discuss the shooting plan, and I didn't have time."

That pretty face immediately showed a disappointed expression, Duke would not take it seriously, compared to ordinary people, the acting skills of these actresses are really outstanding.

As night fell, the Rock Studios in Burbank were still brightly lit, and the crew's department heads were busy, Duke, after his discussions with Zack Snyder and John Schwartzman, from Lt. Col. Renho There was news that the relevant people in the Pentagon finally gave up the idea of ​​​​letting the crew to revise the script.

This is good news. If the people in the Pentagon force him to revise the script, Duke will have to say goodbye to them. Obviously, the Pentagon is not as idiot as some people in his previous life described. publicity effect.

The troubles of the Pentagon have been solved, and the preparations of the crew are gradually on the right track. Duke is not a complete rookie when preparing for "Speed ​​of Life". Although many aspects still need to be learned and accumulated, the crew built with the team he recruited as the backbone , Although various frictions continued to appear, there were no serious internal friction incidents. In addition, he had the capital of "Speed ​​of Life and Death", and there was no such person in the crew who directly challenged the director's authority.

This is a circle chasing winners. Success is a kind of capital. As long as Warner Bros. still supports him, Duke does not need to have too many concerns about power and personnel.

The preparatory process is a long process. Even if there are only a few scenes in the movie, the preparatory period is time-consuming and labor-intensive. If you want to shoot smoothly, you can’t save effort in the preparatory work. Except for the staff of various departments of the crew such as Duke, the main actors It's not easy either. In addition to rehearsing their roles, they also need to be trained by the Navy SEALs. Although the requirements are not particularly strict, Ed Harris and others at least look like elite soldiers from the camera.

These are easy to say, but in fact training is a very difficult process, especially for those actors who live a good life all the year round, but in Hollywood, if you want to move forward, you cannot tolerate any slack in your career. All super directors And the stars actually understand that success is never an easy thing.

And those who succeed easily and do not understand this truth, such as child stars, mostly become short-lived meteors.

According to the setting of the script, the film also needs some small actors. Although there are not many scenes, it is a key scene to highlight General Hammer. With a $50 million investment, there are many parents who dream of becoming famous or turning their kids into money-making machines, and even come to Los Angeles from as far away as New York to audition.

These small roles, Duke all delegated authority, as the director of such a large crew, it is impossible to do everything.

However, he also told casting directors to be cautious, after all, children can be completely classified as uncontrollable factors in filming, and the National Child Protection Law and California Entertainment Law also have almost strict regulations on the working hours of child actors, although Hollywood crews have never taken these things seriously, but it is also very troublesome to be reported publicly.

For example, "Interview with the Vampire" mentioned by Nancy, it is said that 20th Century Fox will use Kirsten Dunst. If various regulations are followed, the filming time of this film will definitely be delayed for a long time. Preparation and post-production, maybe you will miss the schedule of sniping "Brave Dead Island".

Duke has considered whether to bribe the internal members of the other party's crew after the filming starts, and ask them to report to the Screen Actors Guild and the Children's Protection Association...

In the end, he gave up this unreliable idea. Without the support of Warner Bros.'s thigh, what would he do against CAA and 20th Century Fox? Although the other party was unhappy with him, he was using the means within the rules, so there was no need to take the initiative to provoke these two huge crocodiles.

The preparations took a lot of time, and it wasn't until mid-November, when the weather in Los Angeles turned cooler, that Duke was ready to start shooting. (The novel "Hollywood Production" will have more fresh content on the official WeChat platform, and there will also be a 100% lucky draw gift for everyone! Open WeChat now, click the "+" sign on the upper right to "Add a friend", and search for the official account "qdread" and follow, hurry up!)