Chapter 6: The director is you

"Are you sure you want to do this, Leah?"
Putting down the coffee cup, George Lucas broke the tranquil atmosphere of the cafe with surprised words. He quickly lowered his voice, "This is too risky!"
"I am Duke's mother."
Sipping coffee slowly, Leah Rosenberg's voice was still flat, "I know how realistic Hollywood is. If I don't help him, who else in this world will help him?"
She raised her eyes to look at George Lucas, her black eyes as calm as water, "I'm just doing something within the power of a mother."
"After you called me last night, I studied the script carefully."
Seeing his friend’s resolute attitude, George Lucas quickly recovered his calm, telling the most basic facts, "If a movie wants to make a screenplay effect, it will definitely require tens of millions of dollars of investment. I watched Duke. He did have a lot of ideas for a video shot, and his quick and sharp editing was also very characteristic, but he lacked experience!"
"George, give me a definite number." Leah Rosenberg ignored George Lucas' last words, "Based on your estimate, how much money does Duke need?"
After watching his friend carefully for a while, George Lucas rubbed his signature beard and slowly said, "If Lucasfilm produces, the special effects will be completely handed over to Industrial Light and Magic. It can be done, but Duke is a novice, this number will inevitably increase, at least 15 million US dollars."
"I will mortgage the two properties in Santa Monica and San Francisco as soon as possible." Leah had this idea when she first saw the script, and after weeks of deliberation, she made up her mind. At this time, she seemed Talking about trivial things, "Adding part of my savings, it’s no problem to make up $10 million. I will figure out the rest."
"Leah, you are betting!" George Lucas reminded her.
"George, push forward for twenty years..." Leah's calm eyes finally revealed her spirit, "When we started our business, which decision was not a gamble? Do you remember the situation when filming "Star Wars"? Ninety percent of people in Hollywood say that you are a fool. All the film critics in North America are scolding you for shooting garbage. What happened?"
Hearing his friend mention his most proud thing, George Lucas couldn't help but smile, and took a sip of coffee, "You have so much confidence in Duke?"
"no confidence."
Leah Rosenberg’s words almost caused George Lucas to squirt out the coffee, "But as a mother, I am willing to create opportunities for him to succeed. Even if he fails, it will just lose two properties and part of the money. I can bear this loss."
Seeing George Lucas nodding her head slowly, her voice gradually slowed down, "George, we have known each other for 30 years, and I have never asked you to do anything for me. The production and distribution of the film..."
"All these are given to Lucasfilm."
Now that Leah decided to take on most of the investment and said so solemnly, George Lucas stopped persuading him. He thought for a while, "If I am interested in this script, those film funds will definitely be willing to contribute to the rest. Investment pays."
Hollywood's big shots are handy for this kind of thing that can be charitable by borrowing chickens and eggs.
They reached an agreement in the general direction, and the two discussed some specific aspects. They did not leave the cafe separately until a short time later.
Duke knew nothing about his mother's decision. Although he had never given up hope, he was also soberly aware that the opportunity did not seem to appear in a short time. He must find a suitable job to support himself.
He is contacting an associate director of the crew of "Captain Hook". After Spielberg's crew went through a financial crisis and was shut down, they finally got the investment and started shooting again in the Universal Studios studio. Duke wanted to return to the crew to work. , Even if it’s just a casual worker doing chores, it’s a rare learning opportunity to watch the shooting of Hollywood’s first fast shooter live.
The most important thing is that he must have a certain source of income, wait slowly and look for opportunities.
It's not that Duke never thought about looking for his mother to invest, but he just thought about it.
There is no mother in this world who owes children to her. He can't ask for more. Mrs. Leah also expressed her disinterest in the script.
Taking 10,000 steps back, even if the mother is willing to invest, without the support of the film company, it will not help much.
Let alone the complexity of leaving the support of the film company to form a huge crew, even if the film is shot, it is a huge problem to release it.
In this huge industry, the distribution company is always at the top of the food chain. Duke would not be naive to think that as long as he personally signs a contract with the distributor, the other party will come up with millions of huge funds for the film. Doing publicity, and then sharing one-third or even half of the proceeds with him, an unknown man. Are the executives of the issuing company all idiots?
Don't forget, he is a newcomer through and through. No publishing company will invest such a large amount of money into works directed by newcomers whose copyright is not in their own hands. They are not engaged in charity!
Unless the copyright of the film is completely sold to the distributor, the question remains, who will charge a high price for a new director's debut female work?
Therefore, he needs the support of production companies or well-known producers. If the film is produced by a large production company like Lucasfilm, some of the problems will be solved.
Duke’s personal production is a completely different concept from Lucasfilm’s production or Warner’s productions, and the benefits that publishers can enjoy will vary greatly.
Why did the directors who just debuted all follow the path of the producer or the film company? In fact, this is an unsolvable choice.
Because I had worked as a temporary worker on the crew of "Captain Hook" before, Duke got the job after only two phone calls and entered the studio of Universal Studios starting from the new week.
Temporary workers like them do not have fixed positions. They are all about where the crew needs to go, and they do dirty and tiring work.
Like most of the Hollywood crews, the atmosphere of this crew is definitely not harmonious. There are endless battles, both open and secret. This is an extremely competitive circle. If you want to get ahead, you have to do everything possible to climb up, especially right. For those who are aspiring.
Of course, the king here is called Spielberg, but even a successful director like him will be troubled by funding problems and even shut down the crew for a while in search of investment.
Similarly, there will be people who challenge his authority, such as the heroine Julia Roberts.
Before the crew was shut down, Duke had witnessed with his own eyes that his big mouth after taking drugs quarreled with Spielberg because of a trivial matter, and even pushed Spielberg for a while. If it hadn't been pulled by someone, it would have been very likely. Fight.
Probably because of funding issues and Big Mouth has already filmed a large number of scenes, Spielberg did not replace her, but it is hard to say that Julia Roberts's from the early nineties to the mid-nineties has nothing to do with this incident. relationship.
At the end of the day's work, Duke casually found a corner, changed his overalls, put on his own jacket, and walked out of the studio along the narrow road interspersed with many buildings towards the parking lot.
Temporary workers with no status like him cannot enjoy special treatment for battery cars.
Despite the exhaustion of work, Duke's back is still straight, and his tall figure is as strong as a palm tree on the side of the road.
The brakes suddenly sounded from behind, and a white six-seat battery car steadily stopped beside him.
"Duke Rosenberg?"
There was a somewhat familiar voice, and Duke turned his head to see that Rick Solomon was sitting in the driving position of the battery car.
Nodded slightly to that side, Duke turned and prepared to leave.
"Hi, Duke!"
Rick Solomon first honked the horn of the battery car, and when Duke's gaze turned away, he said loudly, "I heard that you wrote a script and are still investing in various Hollywood companies, how about it? Great director, When will your movie start?"
His tone was full of sarcasm, "Could it be that your film has already started shooting in Universal Studios? This is big news..."
Before Duke had any reaction, he pointed to the badge hanging around his neck, "Did you see it? Alien 3's crew pass to Universal Studios! I am the supporting actor inside!"
"David Fincher's debut. Female work?" Duke said with a bend of his mouth, "Congratulations."
Seeing that Duke was still in his usual appearance, without showing any envy or jealousy, Rick Solomon said condescendingly, "By the way, Duke, I heard my father talk about it the other day. Warner Bros. had a meeting to discuss yours. script……"
Duke raised his eyebrows, and Rick Solomon put a smile on his mouth. "It's a pity that your "Speed ​​of Life" was rejected by Warner!"
He lightly patted the steering wheel, "Duke Rosenberg, die of the heart of being a director! Let's continue with the promising career of temporary crew work!"
Suddenly the whistle of the battery car came from behind, and it was obvious that they were blocking each other's way.
Duke took the initiative to yield to the side of the road, but the battery car behind did not leave, but stopped instead.
"Duke?"
A girl about twenty years old jumped out of the battery car. She wore a short-sleeved shirt with a striped pattern and blue jeans. She was slender, with a very contoured face, eagle nose, black eyes, and lips. Prominent and full, with a smile, the mouth is upturned, revealing white teeth.
"Hi, Sophia."
Duke beckoned to the girl who came by. Although they are not very familiar, they have met many times in George Lucas’s house. Her father is the famous Francis Coppola, "Why are you here? ?"
"I work on the "Alien 3" crew." She said with a faint nasal voice, "Working as a temporary assistant for David Fincher."
"Hello, Sophia."
I don't know when, Rick Solomon also jumped from the battery car and leaned in to say hello.
"Hello there."
Sophia Coppola lightly tapped her chin, and regardless of the enthusiastic smile sent by the other party, she slapped Duke on the arm hard, "I haven't congratulated you yet!"
"Congratulations?" Duke didn't understand.
"I went to visit Uncle Lucas in San Francisco yesterday." It is probably a personal habit. She always speaks with a monotonous nasal voice. "He mentioned you and said that your script is about to be approved by Lucasfilm, and you..."
There was a slight envy in her tone, "You are the final director candidate."
"Is this true?" Duke couldn't believe it at first reaction.
"Will I lie to you?" Sophia folded his arms and looked at him and said, "It is estimated that Lucasfilm will notify you soon."
"Okay, let's not talk about it." She pointed to the battery car, "Get in the car, I will drive you to the parking lot."
When the two got on the battery car, Rick Solomon over there reacted, "Hey, Sophia, are you kidding me?"
However, the answer to him was only the wind caused by the battery car.
After standing blankly for a while, Rick Solomon got into the driving position. He looked at the sun that was about to sink below the horizon, and frowned, "This... how is this possible?"