Chapter 023

On Thursday, Simon was still on time at the 7-11 convenience store early in the morning.

After yesterday's press conference, the packaging project of "Butterfly Effect" basically will not have any changes, and the relevant contracts will be signed next week.

According to the Hollywood script transaction process, within a week of signing the contract, Simon will be able to receive a payment of $140,000 for the first version of the script and an option deposit for the next two scripts. For the subsequent $60,000 balance, Simon needs to follow the requirements of the film company. Make corresponding changes and refinements before settlement can be made successively.

The first $140,000 in cash was enough for Simon to start the production of "Lola Run." So Simon has already said hello to Roger, and he'll be leaving the 7-11 when he's done with next week's work.

After more than two hours of work, at around 9:30, Simon, who was standing behind the cashier, saw Roger Griffin hurried out of the office with a newspaper in his hand.

Sensing that Roger Griffin was running towards him, when the middle-aged fat man approached, Simon asked, "Roger, what happened?"

Roger Griffin didn't speak immediately, his eyes were very sharp Strangely, he looked up and down Simon for a while, and then handed over the newspaper in his hand, pointed to one of the articles, and asked, "Simon, isn't it about you?"

Simon took the newspaper and scanned it. Oh, this is the Los Angeles Times, and he noticed the headline of the article Roger had just pointed to.

What does the 'butterfly effect' mean? "

Simon's first thought, this question is familiar enough.

Then look at the text.

The content of the article still first mentioned a series of recent events in the WMA. Perhaps this matter has been discussed by too many people, so the "Los Angeles Times" reporter named Peter Butler chose another way and began to pay attention to " The script for The Butterfly Effect.

To Simon's surprise, Peter Butler found the origin of the 'butterfly effect. It's not easy to do this in an age without internet search engines.

After spending some time explaining the meaning of the "butterfly effect", Peter Butler began to speculate on the story content of the "Butterfly Effect" script. Combined with information such as WMA's selection of Brian De Palma as the director, it finally concluded that "The Butterfly Effect" is likely to be a crime thriller that triggered a series of serious events under a certain opportunity.

If the content of the article is only these, Simon would not care too much.

Peter Butler's speculation has little to do with the true story of The Butterfly Effect.

However, to Simon's surprise, Peter Butler specifically mentioned his name in the article, and became curious about the surname 'Westeros', claiming that he had searched a lot of information and could not find any related information with this surname. , so it is thought that 'Westeros' is likely to be an original surname, a very interesting original surname.

Seeing Simon frowning slightly at the newspaper in front of him, Roger Griffin didn't speak for a while. He couldn't help but snapped his fingers in his ear and said, "Simon?"

The convenience store owner smiled and said, "Roger, maybe I have to take a day off tomorrow."

"No problem, it doesn't matter if you don't come to work next week," Roger Griffin shook his head, despite Simon's attitude it was the default, but he couldn't help but ask: "So, is this you?"

Simon handed the newspaper to Roger again, nodded, and said, "Yes."

Roger Gerry When he heard Simon's confirmation, he casually waved the newspaper he had just received, making a rushing sound, and said, "Then, the middle-aged man a few days ago is the vice president of WMA mentioned in the newspaper these days. , um... what's it called? And, now, you have $200,000?"

Simon looked at Roger, who was stuttering, and said with a smile: "$200,000 isn't too much for you, right? This store...this one..."

Having said this, Simon suddenly stopped, turned his head and glanced at it. The 7-11 convenience store where I am.

Roger's convenience store should be a franchise-type with its venue, and its scale is relatively large. In addition, it is located in the centre of Santa Monica, and its business is also very good.

only.

Carefully recalling my daily cash register data, even on days with high customer traffic, the daily turnover of this convenience store is only more than 10,000 US dollars.

Roger looked at Simon who was suddenly sluggish, and reached out and snapped his fingers in his ear again: "Hey, what's wrong?"

"Roger," Simon shook his head helplessly, and said, "I suddenly found out that you This store is not suitable for my movie, I need a store with a daily turnover of more than 100,000 US dollars."

Roger heard Simon say this, and he was not disappointed at all, but said: "The daily turnover is more than 100,000 US dollars, that is probably There is only Wal-Mart at this level, and they will not agree to let you shoot any robbery scenes."

Simon recalled that he was lucky to find the shooting location immediately, and a wry smile appeared on the corner of his mouth and said: "It is true. So, but, you have to try it."

As he was talking, several customers came one after another.

The two saw that the checkout counter opposite Simon had already lined up, so they stopped the conversation temporarily, and when Simon had dealt with a wave of customers, Roger asked again: "Simon, why does it have to be a shop with a daily turnover of more than 100,000 US dollars? "

Simon said: "My protagonist needs to grab $100,000 "

"Get $100,000 at one time?" Roger asked in return and continued: "The choice of grabbing the supermarket is too bad, big Some supermarkets can't store so much cash at the cashier. If it were me, I would choose a jewellery store, even if the money is not enough, gold and gems can be paid for."

Simon thought to himself that today's events are coming, and after hearing Roger say this, he smiled and said, "You seem to be familiar with this kind of thing?"

"Who hasn't seen a few movies yet," Roger also laughed and said: "And, by coincidence, my brother owns a jewellery store, and his store is on 26th Street next door. Of course, he is even less likely to agree to you filming a robbery scene in his store."

Simon, originally he had already planned a detailed shooting plan around Roger's convenience store, and he was worried about how to adjust it. After hearing what he said, he immediately straightened out a lot of thoughts.

Roger's convenience store is on 25th Street, his brother's jewellery store is on 26th Street, and it's pretty easy to just adjust a block.

But getting a jewellery store to agree to film the heist was more difficult.

With this calculation in mind, Simon didn't act too eagerly. Selling the script to Fox, he will then work for at least a month on the script revision. If he wants to start shooting his own "Lola Run", he will have to wait until September at the earliest, and he has enough time to prepare.

Now, still to solve the current problem.

At 3 p.m., Simon finished his shift and hurried to the WMA headquarters by bicycle. He also bought a copy of today's "Los Angeles Times" on the way.

Came 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, then pointed to the door of Jonathan's office and said, "Wait a minute, Jonathan is talking to Sean Young about something ."

Simon was not sure: "Sean Young, Rachel?"

Owen Wright got up and pulled a chair next to him, motioned Simon to sit down at his desk, and confirmed: "Yes, it's Rachel."

Simon nodded, somewhat surprised that Sean Yang would be Jonathan's client.

However, apart from the amazing replicator Rachel in "Blade Runner", Sean Young doesn't have any other outstanding masterpieces.

Moreover, it is said that this woman is too fond of playing big names, and many Hollywood filmmakers do not like to work with her. This eventually led to the actress, after "Blade Runner", only briefly flourished for a few years and then quickly fell silent.

Simon just remembers that Sean Young, who missed the role of Catwoman due to a fall from a horse during the filming of Michael Keaton's "Batman", also did something that made a sensation in Hollywood as her career became more and more unsatisfactory.

After the success of "Batman", Warner Bros. launched the sequel "Batman Returns". During the production of the film, Sean Young suddenly stood outside the Warners set in a self-made inferior Catwoman costume and made a fuss, hoping that Warners would give her the role of Catwoman again, but only ended up with a 'Hollywood Mad Woman' title which destroyed the image of Goddess Rachel in many people's hearts.

Recalling these events, Simon said to Owen Wright: "Speaking of which, I don't know what clients Jonathan has, Owen, can you show me the list?"

"Sure," Owen Wright said. Nodding, he took out a folder from the 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 profile was a veteran actor named Robert Duvall.

Simon had some impressions of the male star, but he still belonged to the barely familiar type.

However, in the profile, Robert Duvall is not only the best actor Oscar winner in 1984 but also has three other Oscar nominations. In this way, the other party can probably be regarded as the biggest star in Jonathan's name.

Continuing to turn back, there are still several veteran male stars who are generally forty or fifty years old.

Simon was not too surprised by this situation.

Affected by the TV industry, the Hollywood film industry has experienced a period of silence for more than 20 years.

The film business is sluggish, and opportunities will naturally decrease. Everyone competes for roles that are not many in terms of seniority, which not only leads to the slow pace of replacement of Hollywood artists but also the age of the stars standing at the top of the Hollywood pyramid is generally too old.

Thinking of this, Simon turned over nearly half of the information, only to find a male star that he was very familiar with, Billy Crystal.

Afterwards, his information was just sandwiched between male and female stars.

What followed was still a series of old-fashioned actresses, and Simon hurried over to find Courteney Cox's name in a relatively back position.

So until the last page, Simon originally planned to return the folder to Owen but was attracted by the girl's name on the last page.

In the ID photo, this is also a girl with short hair.

Glancing at the girl's profile, the other party has no film and television works under her name and only has some stage performance experience. It seems that it should be a newcomer that Jonathan has just signed.

After thinking for a while, Simon waited patiently for Owen Wright to finish a call, spread the information in front of him, and asked, "Owen, what's the situation with this girl?"

Owen Wright put down the microphone and glanced at the girl's information on the document. name.

Sandra Bullock.

"Sandra, Jonathan just signed her last week, recommended by New York dramatist Sanford Messner, a very good newcomer," Owen Wright explained a few words, looked at Simon again, and said With a joke: "You like this type of girl, I happen to have a photo book here, do you want to take a look?"

Simon smiled and shook his head, and said, "I just think she is quite suitable for the heroine of my movie. "

"That's it," Owen Wright also knew Simon's plan to shoot an experimental film after getting along with him during this period, and his tone was a little more serious. He found Sandra Bullock's contact information from the address book and handed it to Simon, He also added: "It's already too late for the fall season. Jonathan arranges to hope that she will take some TV dramas in the spring of next year to hone it, and then switch to try movies. Therefore, she happens to be free these few months. However, Simon, if you want a heroine, I can help you choose a few more experienced performers, and if you communicate well, the price won't be too high."

"No," Simon shook his head and said, "I'll contact this girl first to try it out. Try it."

Owen Wright nodded and said, "If you need help, you can call me at any time."

As the two were talking, the door of Jonathan's office opened, and one was wearing a black corset. The beautiful woman in the dress came out of it, it was Sean Yang.

However, Sean Young was obviously in a very bad mood at this time. With the appearance of an iceberg queen, Simon, who stood up with slanted eyes, did not stop at all, stepping on high heels and quickly left.

Jonathan followed Sean Yang out of the office, looked at the figure of the girl who had disappeared into the corridor, turned to Simon, raised his hand and gestured to the space in front of him, and said solemnly: "Simon, this is Miss Yang."

Simon, walked over, smiled and shook hands with Jonathan, and said, "I didn't expect you to tell bad jokes?"

"Occasionally amuse yourself," Jonathan said with a wry smile, but he didn't explain what happened just now.

Instructing Owen to prepare coffee for the two, Jonathan took Simon into the office, sat down behind the desk, and said first: "By the way, Simon, regarding Curt, I originally planned to make her the heroine. However, She just happened to pass the audition for the second female lead in Canon's live-action version of "The Cosmic Giant Seaman", which cost $20 million to make, and the second female lead was also a good opportunity. So I temporarily cast the "Butterfly Effect" female lead. The protagonist has been replaced by Elizabeth."

Simon didn't know much about Seaman, the Cosmic Giant, and vaguely remembered that it should be a cartoon from the last few years, but he just nodded with a smile, and said, "That's great, neither opportunity was wasted. ."

Jonathan habitually crossed his hands to look at Simon and said, "So, you came over suddenly?"

Simon showed Jonathan the article from the Los Angeles Times and said, "Joe, have you seen this?"

Jonathan took the newspaper and glanced at it, nodded and said, "Owen also showed it to me in the morning. I think this should be a good thing for you, right?"

Simon shook his head, thought about it, and said, "Joe, there is one Well, about my experience before coming to Los Angeles, I feel I need to explain to you first."