The man continued: "The second group of directors is not a profound artistic creation, but just shoots some scenes. Why does it have to be Joe? Jerry said that there are some minor problems with the assistant's shooting, but New World Production's Movies, which one has no problem? This is just some footage from the second unit. I don’t understand why not.”
He may not know yet that this assistant is Ronald who is present.
Everyone was silent for a while. This is certainly a feasible way to solve the problem, but... Roger Corman is not a philanthropist. Jerry Zucker had obviously tricked him, and there was no way he would let him go with a frivolous remark.
Ronald never expected that it would be his turn to have a big cake fall on his head so soon. I was ecstatic in my heart: "Yes, that's right, my level is good. Let me be the second unit director. Then I can join the Directors Guild. Even the lowest-level director assistant can use his membership card to fool people, and he will film Audition photos.”
But his expression was serious, his lips were tightly closed, and he didn't say a word.
Roger Corman coughed: "The essence of this matter is an issue of integrity. Jerry signed a contract and must fulfill it. Could it be that you signed a $3.5 million filming contract with Paramount and Warner will pay $7 million tomorrow?" The budget allows you to shoot, so you give up Paramount and go to Warner?"
Jerry Zucker responded tit-for-tat: "This is not a matter of more money or less, but industry rules. We spent 5 years on this movie and slowly polished it into what it is now. Your request actually destroyed Our only chance in five years, this is against industry rules. This is the dream of the three of us, so stay out of the way, Roger."
He picked up the coffee and took a sip: "We are not unreasonable. In addition to refunding the advance salary you gave me, I can also be responsible for the salary of the second group of directors for the remaining days."
Roger Corman pondered for a moment: "But you have already done two-thirds of the filming, and I can't find anyone to take your place." After speaking, he looked at Ronald with a vague look.
Roger Corman went out of his way to emphasize the two-thirds figure, which was an implicit reminder to Ronald not to jump out and do bad things. Even if Ronald takes over the filming now, the Directors Guild will not issue him an invitation to join the film because there are not enough scenes shot, and the second team director still has to be signed by Jerry Zucker.
Ronald understood the hint, so he maintained an upright sitting posture, lowered his head slightly, looked serious, and said nothing. But my heart was like a roller coaster: "No way, there must be a way around this rule."
"No one stipulates that a crew can only have one second team, right?" Sure enough, Jerry Zucker jumped out. He needed to add fuel to the fire and let Ronald take over, so that he could escape. "Just spend the remaining five days The shooting volume, as a separate second-team shooting task, then the person who takes over will be considered to have completed the entire shooting volume.”
Jerry Zucker also hinted to Ronald that as long as two second groups are established, there will be two second group directors, and he will get the opportunity to join the Directors Guild. It would be best if Ronald could introduce himself. Everyone looked at Ronald again.
Ronald still remained silent. He couldn't recommend himself for this kind of thing... Besides, boss Roger Coleman didn't have the only choice...
Silence has a powerful force, like a huge black hole. Everyone wants to say something to fill the black hole and free themselves from the gravity of the black hole.
Roger Coleman also took a sip of coffee. He knew in his heart that he had no cards in his hand to stop Jerry Zucker from running away. There was no card to force Joe Dante to give up helping his good friend Allen direct on set and go shoot the second unit. But he wasn't willing to completely admit defeat so soon.
He decided to make a final struggle:
"Normally, people who have been signed directors will not go back to be second-unit directors. However, considering the current situation of the crew, what we need is someone who is familiar with the crew and has experience..."
This time, everyone looked at co-director Joe Dante.
A long, awkward silence...
Ronald's heart was beating so fast that he could hear the thumping in his chest. His throat began to feel dry, then itchy, and he couldn't help coughing, but he still tried his best to suppress it and maintain the expressionless silence.
Because he knows that the key to whether he can get the membership card of the Directors Guild lies in these few minutes. He must show his core competitiveness that he once suffered from "aphasia" - pretending to be mute.
After a long time, no one answered Roger Coleman's words. Everyone seemed to be afraid to speak or change their sitting positions for fear of being mistakenly thought that they had something to say, and even their muscles began to stiffen.
Finally, Joe Dante, who withstood the pressure of everyone's gaze, broke the silence and said:
"I think that Alan's health is still very weak. It is risky for me to leave him at this time, and it is not in line with the obligations between friends. The sample film shot yesterday has fully demonstrated Ronald's directorial ability and Artistic talent. I think setting up a new second-unit filming team and putting him in charge can completely complete the second-unit shooting..."
Bingo!
Before Joe Dante could finish speaking, Jerry Zucker stood up and wanted to shake Ronald's hand, "That way we'll all be fine."
Ronald waited politely for Joe Dante, shook his hand first to thank him, then shook hands with owner Roger Coleman, and finally shook hands with Jerry Zucker.
Jerry was already in ecstasy, took out his checkbook, wrote $600, signed and handed it to Roger Coleman. The trio left happily.
The Colemans walked up to Ronald, and Roger stretched out his hand to shake his hand: "Ask Gail to get the contact information of the second group of photographers, and I will ask Gail to put your information into 'Rock and Roll High School' Director employment form, sent to the Directors Guild.”
"Okay, Mr. Coleman, thank you very much."
Roger waved his hand and prepared to leave.
The proprietress Julie Coleman did not leave immediately. She also shook hands with Ronald and started chatting: "How is your college application going, Ronald?"
"I applied to two public universities in New York State because I am a New Yorker." Ronald liked the demeanor of this professional woman very much. "But I also want to apply to a few film schools. Working in the new world will make me happy." I fell in love with movies, so I wanted to try it.”
"Have you decided? The application deadline seems to be approaching soon."
"I know very little about it, and I would be grateful if you could give me some advice, Mrs. Coleman."
"Just call me Julie." Julie Coleman sat down again and analyzed the situation of the film major in college for Ronald.
"The universities in California are close to Hollywood, and their film departments are relatively strong. There are UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles) and USC (University of Southern California), both of which are very good. New York is close to Broadway, and they are very good at training stage actors, and their film majors are slightly better. It’s inferior, but you can also consider it. NYU (New York University) and Columbia University both have good majors. However, there are not many film industry professionals in New York, so the job market for undergraduates is not as good as in Los Angeles.”
"Are there any scholarships to attend these schools?" Ronald asked.
"There are some very few scholarships, mainly for students from other countries outside the United States." The boss's wife Julie smiled. He had heard Gale talk about Ronald's situation and knew that the boy in front of him did not have a wealthy family.
"If you major in film, you need to prepare some other expenses. In addition to tuition, book fees, and miscellaneous fees, the graduation project of film students is to make a short film. But the school does not have this money and must raise it by itself. Or find sponsorship.”
Hiss..., the filming fee is at least more than 20,000 US dollars, which is more expensive than the tuition. Ronald had a headache.
"But don't worry, with your artistic talent, it's not difficult to find some profitable work in New York. New York is the largest advertising center in the world. There are dozens of advertisements to be shot on Madison Street every day. You got the Directors Guild card. , you can try shooting commercials for them.”
Ronald felt grateful and thanked the proprietress Julie repeatedly for her guidance.
"If you need a letter of recommendation, you can come to Roger, or you can come to me."
After saying that, she stepped on her husband Roger's arm and walked out.
The proprietress Julie knows her husband Roger's habits and is unhappy when the cost of filming a movie increases. What's more, today is two things together, losing Jerry Zucker, a cheap labor force, and losing Ronald Lee, a future cheap labor force with great potential. However, she also knew that apart from being a bit stingy, her husband Roger was a rare kind person in the film industry. He did not embarrass Ronald because of this, but gave him a chance.
And she was very optimistic about Ronald Lee's future, so she came over and gave Ronald a lot of very valuable advice. "This kid will do something good in the future." Julie and Roger whispered.
Standing alone outside Roger Corman's office, Ronald felt a sudden urge to laugh out loud. This kind of junior membership may not be considered a big deal in the eyes of people in the industry, but if he uses it to show it to clients who take audition photos, the fee can go up significantly.
