At the Los Angeles Country Club, a black Cadillac SLS drove smoothly past the white gate of the club and parked on the flower-studded roadside.
The camera followed the slide to the driver's seat, and Martin opened the door and got out of the car. He was dressed in formal attire, with the background of a luxury car and a club, showing his successful style.
Director Joseph said from behind the monitor: "Kah, this one has passed."
A driver went over and drove the car to the entrance of the club.
The crew also moved to the door, where they were ready for filming.
Martin went to the trailer to change clothes and came back to continue filming.
Not just videos, but print ads as well.
Although Cadillac is a luxury car brand among American cars, it is not as focused on high-end as Brioni and requested to shoot the commercial as soon as possible in order to catch up with the Super Bowl commercial in early February.
The commercial featuring Martin and Che will be featured in the US Spring Festival Gala.
It's also great publicity for Martin himself.
After receiving Cadillac's annual endorsement fee of 10 million, Martin fully cooperated and put on various POSS according to the photographer's requirements.
After taking the photo here, I reapplied my makeup.
The Cadillac SLS was parked in front of the club.
Martin took a key and entered the clubhouse foyer.
Director Joseph warned about the positioning: "Pay attention to the lens and the key."
Martin held up the key.
The crew was ready, Joseph gave the order, and filming started again.
Martin came out of the club, took out the key and pressed it on the car, the car lights flashed.
The cameraman following the photo captures a close-up.
Joseph shouted: "This is over, go back and do it again."
Martin was not tired of doing things for money, the most basic professional ethics, and this one was filmed eight times in a row.
At about 4:30 in the afternoon, all the advertising shots and graphic pictures were taken. Martin took off his makeup and changed clothes, got into a Cadillac SLS, and headed straight to Burbank.
This is one of several new cars sent over by Cadillac.
In addition to being used by Martin in public, it can also be given as a gift to relatives and friends.
Agent Thomas was waiting in the car.
Martin took out a car key and handed it to Thomas: "The car is at the Cadillac store. You can pick it up yourself."
Thomas asked: "Did you give me the car?"
"You earned the endorsement deal, and you deserve the car," Martin said.
This gain in addition to the agent's commission warms Thomas's heart. Compared with those celebrities who need to be coaxed and deceived after becoming famous, Martin is really a rare good customer.
Thomas put away his car keys.
Bruce also has one just for him.
In addition, Martin also left a car for Mene, but Uncle Mene is filming abroad and will not return to Los Angeles for the time being.
Thomas glanced at his watch and said, "The preview is over."
Today is the preview screening of "Never Ending" for theater managers and media. Because he has to shoot a Cadillac commercial, Martin can only attend the reception party in the evening.
Entering Burbank, Bruce turned onto the road heading to the Burbank hotel.
Martin opened the insulated box that came with the car, took out a box of pizza, opened it and placed it on the armrest in the middle of the back seat. He picked up a piece and said, "It's too late to eat dinner. Drinking is inevitable at the party. Eat some first, don't drink on an empty stomach." .”
"You are so thoughtful." Thomas picked up the pizza and ate it.
Martin ate pizza, rinsed his mouth with mineral water, sprayed a breath freshener, and slightly adjusted his clothes in front of the mirror.
When dealing with critical critics, pay attention to every detail.
The eyes of many critics are bigger than the eye of a needle. If they feel that people do not respect them, they can use their pen to criticize black people for the rest of their lives.
Martin may not care about them in the future, but now he needs these guys to charge forward with opinion articles and attract more people's attention.
The car stopped at the door of the hotel. Martin and Thomas got out of the car and saw Louise as soon as they entered the hotel lobby.
She was wearing a women's suit and black-rimmed glasses. When she saw Martin coming in, she waved gently.
Martin went over there and asked, "How was the test response?"
Louise would not joke about this kind of serious matter, and said: "The response has been very good."
She held Martin's arm: "Go to the banquet hall and chat while we walk."
Martin took his time and went to the elevator.
Louise said: "The 38 reporters who participated in the test screening gave an average score of 84 points. The theater manager's commercial score was better, with an average score of 94 points."
The latter's scoring is not purely based on film quality, but more from a market perspective. The level of scoring is directly related to the support of theaters when the distribution company negotiates with theaters.
In the past ten years, there have been endless examples of good films failing at the box office and bad films selling well.
Martin asked again: "Where are the fans?"
This question actually made Louise feel good, and she said: "A+!"
"What a good news." Martin also smiled.
As for the critics, he didn't ask, and Louise didn't say anything.
Going upstairs and entering the hotel banquet hall, Martin immediately adjusted his mentality, mingled among media reporters and critics, and toasted with others from time to time.
As in the past, he had great respect for the critics who participated in the test screenings. He always listened to their opinions and discussed high-level artistic topics with them.
Before entering the new year, the Oscar nomination ballots have been distributed, and Martin still needs these people to help him continue to wave the flag.
Martin took the initiative to find Kenneth Turan, the chief film critic of the Los Angeles Times.
"I just watched the test screening, and your acting skills are as good as ever." Turan was more concerned about Martin and his role than the film: "You performed the transition from abjection to success very well."
Martin said: "Thank you for your compliment. It may be my own experience that allows me to understand this transformation more deeply."
He never hesitates to boast: "This change in mental state is a big challenge, and I think I handled it pretty well."
Turan just watched the film and was deeply impressed by Martin's role: "It's no worse than your role in The Departed. If this film doesn't have a science fiction color and has fewer commercial elements, it's entirely possible to hit the next awards season."
"In such a business society, it is too difficult to avoid business." Martin looked helpless: "The brokerage company, investment company, and collaborators around me, etc., I need to consider and balance. I can't decide a movie." The film has not yet been completed, but I have been working hard to use my performance to achieve a better balance between business and art."
Critics are also a group of business writers. To put it bluntly, these industries related to movies are all business. Turan does not think there is a problem with Martin's words, as if a teacher is teaching students: "Don't get lost in business, and never forget to hone your acting skills." .”
Martin nodded heavily and said specifically: "When the Reader film is completed, I hope you can participate in the test screening as soon as possible. Your comments have given me a lot of guidance. The results I have honed under your guidance also need your subsequent guidance. "
These words made Kenneth Turan feel comfortable from the bottom of his heart and said: "Remember to call me."
Martin knows what these people like, and at this stage he needs them to shout 666.
He ordered a drink from the waiter and had a drink with Kenneth Turan.
On the other side, Aniston ended her chat with a newspaper deputy editor. After waiting for a while, she saw that there was no one around Martin and went to look for him.
She was in high spirits: "The response to the film has been very good."
Martin is also confident: "Recovering the cost at the box office is not a problem."
Aniston stepped closer and whispered, "Have you seen the latest news?"
Martin didn't understand: "What news?"
"Griffith Observatory." Aniston said: "Many couples like to go there at night to watch the stars."
Martin has been to this place when he was dating Anne Hathaway.
Aniston continued: "Last night, someone used fireworks to attack the observatory near the planetarium. Many couples were frightened and ran away."
She took out her mobile phone: "Someone took photos of the scene."
Martin only took one look and was sure that the fireworks were Gatling: "Leo and Jack, these two bastards!"
"Luckily there are no trees at the observatory," Aniston said.
But Martin knew the style of these two bastards: "They must have been carefully selected."
After the party, Martin called Leonardo.
As expected, it was those two bastards who attacked Griffith Observatory at night.
They proposed to wait until Valentine's Day to attack Venice Beach at night, which is said to be another famous wild place in Los Angeles.
In the following week, Martin devoted himself to work. While promoting his new film, he also did not forget to continue his public relations for the Oscars.
During the awards season, the results of various association awards and Sentinel Awards were announced one after another, and Martin was mostly nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Award.
But 80% of the prize went to Alan Arkin.
During this period, he attended the Golden Globe Awards ceremony.
The entire "The Departed" crew suffered a huge defeat. Not only did Martin and Leonardo, who were nominated for acting awards, not win, but even the best feature film and best director awards were snatched away by "Babel."
But no one took it to heart, because the overlap between the Golden Globe judges and the Oscar judges is basically zero.
At the subsequent Directors Guild Awards, Martin Scorsese won the Best Director crown.
At the Producers Guild Awards, "The Departed" topped the list!
The Hollywood Practitioners Association Awards are the real weather vane.
In these two major awards, Martin entered the nomination list, but the best supporting actor was Alan Arkin of "Little Miss Sunshine".
Robert De Niro, the supporting actor in "Never Ending," has worked hard in Hollywood for decades and has a wide network of contacts, so he revealed some information to Martin.
Last year's highly acclaimed "Little Miss Sunshine", the award for the production and distribution company Fox's primary public relations, was the best supporting actor for Alan Arkin, who had the biggest grasp.
Alan Arkin is not inferior to De Niro in terms of qualifications. Not only has he mobilized the personal relationships accumulated over decades, but he also sold two Manhattan properties he invested in in his early years to use for public relations.
This old man has played important supporting roles in hundreds of films and TV series. He is also Jewish and is over 70 years old.
For Best Supporting Actor, the advantage is too great.
Oscar is famous for his respect for the elderly and nostalgia.
Martin is open-minded, after all, his goal is to be nominated for an Oscar.
He has a wider network of connections than him, an old Jew in his 70s versus a 25-year-old non-Jew, more than 40 years of experience in the industry versus three years of experience.
The most important thing is that the public relations money Alan Arkin threw in was no less than him.
Even De Niro, an old man, left the first place in the nomination vote to Alan Arkin.
Most of the academy judges are old men over 60 years old.
It’s just mid-January, and the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the most important indicator of the Oscar acting awards, has announced its results.
Leonardo, who was aiming for the Oscar for Best Actor, did not win the Best Actor award and lost to black actor Forest Whitaker.
In the Best Supporting Actor category, Alan Arkin won the award as expected.
However, both Martin and Leonardo were included in the five-person nominees list for their respective awards.
With the film basically guaranteed to be nominated for an Oscar, Martin's energy turned to the promotion of "Never Ending."
In the last half month before the release, he changed cities one day, repeating the pattern of planes, hotels and announcements, from the west coast to the east coast, and even went to the UK and Germany, which were opening at the same time as North America, for promotion.
Regardless of the Internet or other media, the publicity efforts are full.
Because of the good reputation in test screenings, the distributor Warner Bros. secured nearly 3,300 theaters for the film to open.
(End of chapter)
