Chapter 8: Eye-Opening

After visiting his cheap father, Old Gilbert, Young Gilbert continued to immerse himself in his work. Finally, by the end of June, he handed over the project proposal for "The Shallows" to Spielberg.

At the post-production location for *Hook*, Spielberg was flipping through the project proposal, occasionally making annotations and revisions.

Young Gilbert stood nervously by, waiting. The opportunity was given to him by Spielberg, but Young Gilbert couldn't afford to relax—he needed to showcase his abilities to Spielberg.

After all, the fact that this project had already been approved by Universal Pictures was set in stone. Once spoken, it's as binding as a nailed-down plank.

At this point, Universal Pictures wouldn't go back on their word, as doing so would risk upsetting Spielberg.

Although the film project was guaranteed, the director wasn't. Even though the screenplay for this film was written by Young Gilbert, it didn't necessarily mean he would be the director.

So, the project proposal was the first step for Young Gilbert to prove to Spielberg that he had the capability to direct the movie.

The rest would depend on his subsequent performance.

Young Gilbert had done an excellent job on the project proposal—at least, Spielberg seemed very satisfied with it.

After skimming through it, Spielberg expressed his satisfaction: "Good job, Gilbert. When do you plan to start filming? How much investment will you need?"

The filming schedule depends on when the funds are secured and the preparations are complete. The budget is something the producer needs to calculate.

But as a director, you also need to understand your film project.

If you don't know how much money you have to spend, then how can you decide how to shoot and what approach to take?

Young Gilbert had already made some rough estimates, so he answered, "If everything goes smoothly, I plan to start filming in Hawaii in July. Based on the current plan, I'll need about three to four million dollars for production."

At that time, a typical Hollywood A-list production required an investment of $40 to $60 million, with some even reaching $70 to $80 million.

With the exception of James Cameron's films, it was rare for a single film to have an investment exceeding $100 million.

In comparison, Young Gilbert's request for $3 to $4 million was indeed considered a small investment.

Spielberg acknowledged this, saying, "Okay, I'll submit this project proposal to Universal. Be ready. By the way, what's Gwen doing now?"

"Oh, she's practicing surfing!" Young Gilbert replied.

Meanwhile, on Santa Monica Beach in Los Angeles, Gwyneth Paltrow was undergoing her first outdoor surfing training under the guidance of a surf instructor.

"Wow, wow, wow, this is amazing!" After completing a round of surfing, Gwyneth Paltrow was exhilarated by her first experience surfing on the ocean.

The young girl really enjoyed the thrill. Ever since she started learning to surf, she couldn't get enough of it, and she even planned to drag Gilbert along to try it out.

This time, besides the instructor, Gwyneth Paltrow's friend Winona Ryder also came along.

Winona Ryder was now something of a star herself, having co-starred in *Edward Scissorhands* with Johnny Depp last year, gaining recognition from the audience.

When she heard that her friend was learning to surf for a movie role, she volunteered to accompany her and practice surfing together.

As Gwyneth Paltrow returned from surfing, Winona Ryder handed her a bottle of water. "Good job, Gwen."

"Thanks," Gwyneth Paltrow said as she unscrewed the cap and began drinking the water like a thirsty cow, with no concern for maintaining a ladylike image.

Not that she ever had much of a ladylike image to begin with.

Winona Ryder was curious about how Gwyneth Paltrow had met Young Gilbert, so she asked, "Gwen, can you tell me about Gilbert? How did you meet him?"

Gwyneth Paltrow answered honestly, "At first, I just thought he was handsome, and I thought it might be nice to have a fling with him. Later, when I found out he was writing his own screenplay, and I thought it looked good, I decided to play the female lead and recommended the script to my godfather."

Winona Ryder frowned and said, "It sounds like you got the short end of the stick, considering he used your connections to get a directing opportunity."

"Come on, that's not how it works. He even practices yoga with me; it's a win-win!" Gwyneth Paltrow replied.

"You practiced yoga with him?" Winona Ryder covered her mouth in disbelief. "If Uncle Paltrow finds out, you're done for."

Gwyneth Paltrow was annoyed. "I'm telling you this because I consider you a good friend. If you tell my dad, we're done."

"Don't worry, I'll keep my mouth shut. But, is he good in that department?" Winona Ryder asked, curious.

"Of course he is," Gwyneth Paltrow replied with a satisfied, reminiscent look on her face, her expression filled with joy.

She patted Winona Ryder's hand and said, "I heard you're dating Johnny Depp. Is that true?"

Winona Ryder blushed and admitted, "Yes, we're dating."

"No way! He's eight years older than you and has been married before," Gwyneth Paltrow said in disbelief.

But Winona Ryder didn't care. "So what if he's eight years older? He's divorced and single now, and so am I. I think we're a great match!"

"He's going to hurt you," Gwyneth Paltrow said.

"Hurt me? No one can hurt me," Winona Ryder replied firmly, clearly determined to date Johnny Depp.

She didn't let Gwyneth Paltrow off the hook, though. "And what about you? Aren't you seeing Gilbert? Aren't you afraid he'll hurt you?"

"We're partners, not in a romantic relationship. This is a popular type of relationship among young people today, where we explore mutual topics of interest," Gwyneth Paltrow said confidently.

This left Winona Ryder speechless.

After a moment, Winona Ryder sighed and said, "Your life is really messy."

"Messy? What's messy about it? I only have one partner at a time; it's not like I'm sleeping around," Gwyneth Paltrow replied, even more confidently.

In the early '90s in North America, heavily influenced by the previous era's Beatlemania, young people exploring topics like marijuana, drugs, and relationships were seen as having a free-spirited attitude.

In this era, if you didn't partake in some of these activities, didn't attend social gatherings or parties, and didn't date, people might think something was wrong with you.

At first,Gilbert found this decadent lifestyle unacceptable. He originally thought that as a web director, he was already quite liberal, but he realized he still wasn't liberal enough.

Even now, Gilbert still found this lifestyle difficult to accept.

To be honest, Gwyneth Paltrow was only the second girl he'd practiced yoga with. The first was a cheerleader from USC's football team

Gilbert couldn't quite remember how it happened, but that was his first experience with the passion and yoga skills of an American girl.

Old Gilbert even opened a bottle of wine to celebrate, toasting to his son finally breaking his vow of celibacy.

Old Gilbert often told Young Gilbert that he didn't resemble his son at all.

At first, Young Gilbert thought Old Gilbert had discovered that his son had been replaced, but it turned out the old man was just complaining that his son wasn't dating enough girls and lacked the style of his youth.

According to Old Gilbert's boasting, by Young Gilbert's age, he had already dated seven or eight girlfriends.

In response, Young Gilbert would retort, saying that the downfall of the Landrini family to its current state was due to Old Gilbert's inability to control himself.

This always made the old man huff and puff, but he couldn't deny that Young Gilbert was right.

In Young Gilbert's opinion, a career is the foundation—once that's established, what kind of woman wouldn't he be able to have?

Youth is valuable, but it can't be eaten.

This summer, Young Gilbert's career was about to take off.