Chapter 12 Actors Studio
Producer da Silva and director Parker got in the car and drove to the hotel.
"Why did you promise Ronald to sign the script? We are buying the script from Christopher Gore. The price of $5,000 includes his sole signature right."
"Otherwise, Gore would not have been able to sell it to us at this price. He was not a newcomer. You must know that MGM later purchased the script from me for US$40,000. Gore hoped that this film would hit the Oscars. He wanted to I only agreed if I was nominated for Best Original Screenplay."
asked Da Silva, who was driving.
"I have no choice, David." Alan Parker, sitting in the passenger seat, replied.
"This is a youth film. You, me, and Chris, we have all said goodbye to adolescence for 20 years. Today's children, what they like, what they recognize, their aesthetic preferences, their commonly used vocabulary, and we all have The generation gap has broken.”
"I originally planned to go to the Academy of Performing Arts to go deep into life during this period, stay with those children, and observe everything about them up close. But now..."
"I'll find a script doctor to help with revisions. Just the one who revised the youth dance film 'Saturday Night Fever'." Producer Da Silva stepped on the accelerator, "But if Ronald really writes What do you do when you have no available scripts?”
"In Hollywood, a verbal contract is worth less than a piece of paper. Who can say this?" Director Alan Parker asked with a smile.
"Sam Godwin said it." Da Silva also laughed, "Then why did you promise him to sign it? If you give him the price of a script doctor and can't sign it, won't he try his best?"
Allen Parker was silent for a while: "I think Ronald is a person who pays attention to the long term, not short-term interests. You gave him $6,000, and he didn't buy a stylish Pontiac, but a practical one." And the fuel-efficient Japanese Honda.”
"This kid has great goals. For people like him, the signature of a script is far more important than the $20,000 from being a script doctor at this stage."
"Only if you give him hope for career advancement instead of money, will he try his best to write, and will he spit out his most sincere feelings on the typewriter like vomiting blood and turn them into words. What I want is not mediocrity. What you want is excellence!”
"What are you going to do then?"
"Isn't the lawyer hired by the crew just to deal with these matters? Besides, he may not be able to write a satisfactory script. Let's talk about it later. The most important thing now is to deal with the issue of acting profession, David."
"I asked a friend to find out that the main power of the Academy of Performing Arts lies in the hands of the school director. The school director who targeted us is also a member of the New York Public Education Commission and is in charge of all public school funding..."
Ronald, who still knew nothing about it, returned to the artist's apartment.
Meg took the initiative to come to Ronald's apartment and helped decorate the room with a more bourgeois aesthetic. She hung a few Indian-style posters on the wall of the living room, and also got a few plastic flowers, which she moved around.
Ronald watched happily as Meg helped him clean up the house. He took a cup of Coke from the refrigerator and drank it sweetly. While drinking, he watched Meg busy. This feeling was really comfortable.
"Ring ring ring ring..."
Ronald walked into the inner room and picked up the phone.
"Ronnie, you haven't called Auntie for a long time." Aunt Karen opened her mouth to ask.
"Aunt, I was just about to call you. I have a good photography business in Manhattan, and I have also found a casting company to be their long-term photographer."
"That's right...it's a company that specializes in selecting actors for movie directors, so we often have to take photos."
"What? Is there an email for me? From some director's union? Oh no, that's the director's union. Yes... it's my membership card. Okay, I'll go back, aunt."
"Ronnie, come and see my results." Meg called him from outside.
"Ronnie, that's a girl's voice, right? Remember to take her back to Staten Island to see us." Aunt Karen said with a smile on the other end of the phone.
"Okay, aunt, I have to hang up. I will go home later tomorrow to get my membership card. Yes, I recently joined the crew to help with casting, and my time is tight. Love you, Bye"
"Here I come, Meg." Ronald ran to the living room and picked up Meg. "You have the best taste."
Meg clung to Ronnie like an octopus and kissed him.
The sweet smell made Ronald take a few steps quickly and put Meg on the sofa. He was grabbed by Meg's neck, and the two were entangled.
After a long time, Meg put on her jeans and T-shirt, took two steps at a time, and opened the door to the back room.
"Click, click", Meg opened the door twice and went to take a shower. The train apartment was poorly designed, you had to cross two rooms to get to the bathroom from the living room.
If it is a shared apartment, there is no privacy at all. So Meg prefers to run towards Ronald.
Ronald picked up his shirt and pants and walked into the room. "Should I take you to the Actors Studio to sign up tomorrow?" He talked to Meg from a distance.
"Morning? I'll come here to see you tomorrow morning." Meg opened the door to talk to him, showing her head and one arm, wiping her hair with a towel.
"Just in time, I'm going back to Staten Island in the afternoon, will you go with me?" Ronald said and opened the bathroom door, "I'm here."
"Ah, hahahaha... no"
"Aren't you going to Staten Island?"
"No...well..."
Meg still didn't agree to go to Staten Island together. Ronald thought that the time might be a little early. When they could live together, the time would be ripe.
Early the next morning, the two got in the car and went to the Actors Studio to sign up.
The studio is located near Hell's Kitchen, in an inconspicuous brick building on the roadside on West 44th Street. Ronald would have almost missed this place if it weren't for a huge flag hanging above the white door with the words "Actors Studio" written on the capital A.
After knocking on the door, the staff asked them their purpose and asked them to fill out the audition application form. This confused Ronald: "Isn't this the Actors Studio? A place for training in acting?"
The staff member was used to seeing stupid young people like Ronald, so he pointed to the historical introduction on the wall.
It turns out that the Actors Studio was a club-like place created by Lee Strasberg, Elia Kazan and others to discuss acting skills.
To join the Actors Studio, you must go through auditions and selections. Those who have no film or theater performance experience will generally not pass.
"This? The Actors Studio is a club? How many rounds of auditions are needed to join?" Ronald was a little confused, and he asked the staff: "Then do you charge tuition?"
"There is no tuition fee. As long as you pass our audition, you will be a free member for life. The audition is also free. However, if you fail the audition, you must apply again after one year."
Ronald and Meg looked at each other, "Can we go away with two briefs?"
"sure."
The two left disappointed, and in the car Ronald said: "Then what should we do? Meg. Last time I heard Julia Taylor said that there was Stella Adler at New York University who also opened an actor training class. .”
"No, look here." Meg pointed to the founder on the profile, an old man with a white beard and said, "I remember my sister Jennifer said about him, Lee Strasberg, one of the founders of the Actors Studio. 1. He also runs acting training classes himself.
"Really? Then let's look for it."
Lee Strasberg's Drama Training Institute is on 15th Street, which is closer to the artist's apartment. The reception here is much more satisfactory.
A staff member patiently explained the various lengths of courses and the fees. In the end, Meg chose the 12-week, 12-hour-per-week course that starts next week. This is just in time to complete most of the acting training before the final start.
Ronald wrote a check for $980 and paid the entire training fee. Starting next week, Meg will spend 2 hours a day training on acting skills, and Lee Strasberg, who is nearly 80 years old, will give them their first lesson in person.
Resisting Meg's temptation to join him for dinner, Ronald hurried back home to Staten Island.
Aunt Karen's mood was much better than last time, and the financial relief greatly relieved her mental stress.
After dinner, Ronald played with Donna for a while, and Aunt Karen pulled out an oversized letter.
Cutting the envelope open, it turned out to be a card from the Directors Guild.
The new president of the Directors Guild has reformed the card. The new version is no longer a cardboard card, but a plastic card the size of a credit card, which looks very modern.
After reading the various union benefits explained in detail in the enclosed letter, what struck Ronald the most was the director apprenticeship program provided by the Directors Guild every year.
Once you apply and are accepted, you can join the crew with famous directors and watch them step by step as they direct films.
Aunt Karen came over and said good night to him, "Ronnie, don't forget to come back and stay with me for two days on Memorial Day at the end of next month."
"I will, Aunt Karen." The last Monday in May is Memorial Day. At this time of year, Aunt Karen would gather with her late husband’s former comrades and widows. This is an important party that she attends every year.
Lying in bed, I started thinking about changing the script. Ronald turned over and over again to gather his thoughts.
For the eight protagonists, what kind of ending can you think of that can make the audience feel real and happy at the same time?
No clue at all. I didn't belong to that artistic circle when I was in high school. The wrestling team was also a relatively boring sport. Unlike the quarterback of the football team, I could date girls who learned musical instruments or dance.
I don't understand their dreams and pain at all. To write a wonderful ending, you need to observe more of their daily lives.
Ronald was self-taught here, and he had the same idea as director Parker.
So what kind of theatrical performances did you like to watch when you were in high school?
During his years at Toteville High School, Ronald was envious of the artistic talents of those in the orchestra, dance team, and cheerleading team every time he saw them.
In the eyes of a wrestling team rough guy like me, being able to dance ballet, play the violin, and do somersaults are all very powerful skills.
For people like me who don't understand the inner skills, seeing the harmonious melody from the violin and the ballerina spinning in the air is almost like seeing a magician's child.
In fact, to show these skilled skills to a layman’s eyes, isn’t it a wonderful thing to watch?
The several songs and dances in the dream were all the more exciting because I couldn't do them, right?
Ronald turned over, climbed up, grabbed the ballpoint pen, and while replaying the three plots in his mind, he started writing on the manuscript paper...
