On Thursday, Simon arrived at Griffin Supermarket on time early in the morning.
After yesterday's press conference, there will basically be no more changes in the packaging project of "Butterfly Effect", and relevant contracts will be signed next week.
According to the Hollywood script trading process, within one week of signing the contract, Simon will be able to receive a first-version script fee of US$140,000 and a deposit for the option of two future scripts. The subsequent balance payment of US$60,000 will require Simon to review the script according to the requirements of the film company. Make corresponding modifications and polishes before settlement can proceed.
The first funding of US$140,000 was enough for Simon to start the production of "Lola Run". Therefore, Simon has told Roger that he will resign from Griffin Supermarket after completing his work next week.
After being busy for more than two hours, around 9:30, Simon, who was standing behind the checkout counter, saw Roger Griffin hurriedly walking out of the office at the back of the supermarket, holding a newspaper in his hand.
Realizing that Roger was obviously running towards him, Simon asked when the middle-aged fat man approached, "Roger, what happened?"
Roger Griffin didn't speak immediately. He looked at Simon up and down with a strange look, then handed over the newspaper in his hand, pointed to one of the articles, and asked: "Simon, what does this say?" Could it be you?"
Simon took the newspaper and glanced at it. It was a copy of the Los Angeles Times, and then he noticed the title of the article that Roger had just pointed to.
"What does the 'Butterfly Effect' mean? 》
Simon's first thought was that this problem was really familiar.
Then look at the text.
The content of the article still first mentioned the recent series of events at WMA. Perhaps too many people had discussed this matter, so the reporter from the Los Angeles Times named Peter Butler chose to find another way and began to pay attention to " The script content of "The Butterfly Effect".
To Simon's surprise, Peter Butler found the origin of the 'Butterfly Effect'. In this era before Internet search engines, it was not easy to do this.
After spending a paragraph explaining the meaning of the 'Butterfly Effect', Peter Butler began to speculate on the story content of the script of "The Butterfly Effect". Combining information such as WMA's selection of Brian De Palma as director, we finally concluded that "The Butterfly Effect" is likely to be a crime thriller that triggers a series of serious events under some circumstances.
If this was the only content of the article, Simon wouldn't care too much.
Peter Butler's speculation has little to do with the actual story of "The Butterfly Effect."
However, what surprised Simon was that Peter Butler also specifically mentioned his name in the article and became curious about the surname 'Westeros'. He claimed that he had searched a lot of information but could not find anyone with this surname. Related information, so I think 'Westeros' is probably an original surname, a very interesting original surname.
Roger Griffin saw Simon frowning slightly while looking at the newspaper in front of him, and didn't speak for a while. He couldn't help but snap his fingers in his ear and said, "Simon?"
Simon came back from his thoughts, smiled at the middle-aged fat man, and said, "Roger, maybe I have to take a day off tomorrow."
"No problem," Roger Griffin nodded. Although Simon's attitude was obviously acquiescence, he couldn't help but ask: "So, is it really you up here?"
Simon handed the newspaper to Roger again, nodded, and said, "Yes."
When Roger Griffin heard Simon's confirmation, he waved the newspaper he had just received, making a clattering sound, and said: "Then, the middle-aged man from the past few days is the one mentioned in the newspapers these days. Vice President of WMA, your name is, um... what is your name? Also, you already have 200,000 US dollars now?"
Simon looked at Roger, who was stuttering, and said with a smile: "$200,000 is not much for you. When this supermarket is doing well, its turnover can reach this amount in a day."
Although Griffin Supermarket is not as large as Wal-Mart, it is located right in the busiest downtown of Santa Monica, and its business is still very good.
However, Roger Griffin shook his head and still said with some emotion: "Turnover and profit are completely different things. Moreover, I earn hard-earned money. How can you not have it so easy?"
As he was talking, several customers came over one after another.
Noticing that queues were already forming at several other cashier counters, the two stopped talking. Roger Griffin also walked behind another vacant cashier counter and skillfully played the role of cashier.
He was so busy until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, when Simon finished his shift and rushed to the WMA headquarters by bike. He even bought a copy of today's "Los Angeles Times" on the way.
Arriving outside Jonathan Friedman's office, Simon still greeted Owen Wright first.
"Simon, why are you here?" Owen Wright saw Simon appear, with a warm smile on his face, and then pointed to the door of Jonathan's office and said: "Wait a moment, Jonathan is talking to Sean Young. .”
Simon was unsure: "Sean Young, Rachel?"
Owen Wright stood up and pulled a chair next to him, motioning Simon to sit down at his desk, and confirmed: "Yes, it's Rachel."
Simon nodded, somewhat surprised that Sean Young would be Jonathan's client.
However, apart from the stunning replica Rachel in "Blade Runner", Sean Young has no other outstanding masterpieces.
Moreover, it is said that this woman really likes to act like a celebrity, and many Hollywood filmmakers do not like to work with her. As a result, the actress was only briefly popular for a few years after "Blade Runner" and then quickly fell silent.
Simon happened to remember that as his career became increasingly unsatisfactory, Sean Young, who missed the role of Catwoman due to an injury from a fall from a horse during the filming of Michael Keaton's version of "Batman," did something that shocked the entire Hollywood.
After the success of "Batman", Warner Bros. launched the sequel "Batman Returns". During the production of the movie, Sean Young suddenly appeared outside the Warner studio wearing a homemade inferior Catwoman costume and made a fuss, demanding that Warner give him the role of Catwoman again, but all he got was a 'Hollywood crazy woman' The title completely destroyed the image of the goddess Rachel in many people's minds.
Recalling these things, Simon said to Owen Wright: "Speaking of which, I still don't know what clients Jonathan has under his name. Owen, can you show me the list?"
"Of course," Owen Wright nodded, took out a folder from his desk drawer and handed it to Simon, saying, "You can take a look."
Simon took the folder and opened it.
The first page of the information is a veteran actor named Robert Duvall.
Simon had some impressions of this actor, but he was still the barely familiar type.
However, in the introduction, Robert Duvall not only won the Oscar for Best Actor in 1984, but also had three other Oscar nominations. Based on this calculation, the other party can probably be regarded as Jonathan's biggest star.
Continuing to scroll back, there are still several veteran male stars who are generally in their forties or fifties.
Simon was not too surprised by this situation.
Impacted by the television industry, the Hollywood film industry has experienced more than two decades of silence.
When the film business is sluggish, opportunities naturally decrease. Everyone competes for the few roles based on seniority. This not only leads to a slow replacement of Hollywood artists, but also the stars who stand at the top of the Hollywood pyramid are generally older.
With this in mind, Simon flipped through nearly half of the information, and except for Brian De Palma, who he was about to collaborate with, he only found one actor that he was relatively familiar with, Billy Crystal.
Furthermore, Simon’s own resume happened to be the last of Jonathan’s male clients, following several Hollywood directors.
Then there was still a series of veteran actresses. Simon flipped through it hurriedly and found Courteney Cox's name at the back.
This was until the last page. Simon originally planned to return the folder to Owen, but his eyes were caught by the girl's name on the last page.
In the ID photo, this is also a girl with short hair.
I glanced at the girl's profile and found that she had no film and television works to her name and only had some stage performance experience. It seemed that she should be a newcomer that Jonathan had just signed.
After thinking about it, Simon waited patiently for Owen Wright to finish a phone call, spread the information in front of him, and asked: "Owen, what's going on with this girl?"
Owen Wright put down the phone and looked at the girl's name on the file.
Sandra Bullock.
"Sandra, Jonathan just signed her last week. She was recommended by New York dramatist Sanford Messner. He is a very good newcomer." Owen Wright explained a few words, then looked at Simon and said He teased: "Do you like this type of girl? I happen to have a photo album here, do you want to take a look?"
Simon shook his head with a smile and said, "I just thought that maybe she could try to be the heroine of my movie."
"That's it." After getting along with each other for a while, Owen Wright also knew Simon's plan to make an experimental film. He sounded more serious. He found Sandra Bullock's contact information from the address book and handed it to Simon. He also added: "Now that the autumn schedule is already late, Jonathan's arrangement is to hope that she will first take on some TV series for next spring to hone her skills, and then transition to try movies. Therefore, she happens to be free in the past few months. However, Simon, if If you want a heroine, I can help you choose a few with more acting experience. If you communicate well, the price won't be too high."
"No," Simon shook his head, took out his address book from his backpack, wrote down Sandra Bullock's contact information, and said, "I'll try to contact this girl first."
Owen Wright didn't offer much advice and said, "If you need help, you can call me at any time."
While the two were talking, the door of Jonathan's office opened, and a beautiful woman wearing a black waist dress walked out, it was Sean Yang.
However, Sean Young was obviously in a very bad mood at this time. He looked like an iceberg queen and squinted his eyes at Simon who stood up. However, his footsteps did not stop at all and he walked away quickly on high heels.
Jonathan followed Sean Young out of the office, looked at the girl who had disappeared into the corridor, turned to Simon, raised his hand to gesture to the empty place in front of him, and said seriously: "Simon, this is Miss Yang."
Simon walked over, smiled, shook Jonathan's hand, and said, "I didn't expect you to tell cold jokes?"
"Amuse yourself occasionally," Jonathan said with a wry smile, but did not explain what just happened.
Instructing Owen to prepare coffee for the two of them, Jonathan took Simon into the office, sat down behind the desk, and said first: "By the way, Simon, regarding Curt, I originally planned to let her be the heroine. However, She happened to pass the audition for the second female lead in Canon Film Company's live-action version of "He-Man". The production cost of this movie was 20 million US dollars, and the second female lead was also a good opportunity. So I temporarily considered the second female lead in "The Butterfly Effect" The protagonist is Elizabeth."
Simon didn't know much about "He-Man" and vaguely remembered that it was a cartoon from the past few years. However, he just smiled and nodded and said, "That's good. Both opportunities are not wasted." .”
Jonathan habitually crossed his arms and looked at Simon, saying, "So, you came over suddenly?"
Simon showed Jonathan the article from the Los Angeles Times and said, "Joe, have you read this?"
Jonathan took the newspaper, glanced at it, and nodded: "Owen also showed it to me this morning. I think this should be a good thing for you, right?"
Simon shook his head, thought for a while, and said, "Qiao, there is one thing. Regarding my experience before coming to Los Angeles, I think I need to explain it to you first."