Alan Parker stood up immediately and said, "Please wait a moment, this movie will be great. It will greatly increase the reputation of this school and attract more students to apply."
A school director with steel-gray hair and half-rimmed glasses immediately retorted: "Our school has been on the map for forty years, and every year there are still hundreds of qualified applicants who are not admitted because they exceed the number of admissions.
.Enrollment promotion is the last thing we need.”
Producer Da Silva also stood up: "I assure you that this will be a film of very high quality and taste, and it will never be the kind of film that slanders and slanders the reputation of the school."
The school director who spoke suddenly stood up, put his hands on the table, and looked directly at the director and producer:
"Gentlemen, I can't take the risk of you tarnishing the reputation of our school the way you tarnished the reputation of a Turkish prison in the last movie 'Midnight Express.'"
"Why? When I contacted you last time, everything went smoothly. Why did you suddenly make such a decision?" Producer Da Silva asked the principal.
The principal raised his hand to signal the steel-grey-haired school director to speak.
"Last time when you came to the Academy of Performing Arts, one of our teachers heard the crew members discussing the content of the script of 'Hot Lunch'. There were female students getting pregnant, school bullying, racial discrimination, etc. They made it up.
The plot of the."
"She reported the situation to me. I believe that these plots must not appear in our school and cannot represent the image of New York Performing Arts High School. After an emergency meeting of our school board, it was decided to immediately suspend the relationship with the 'Hot Lunch' crew
Full cooperation."
The school director raised his head very high and looked at the crew members with the whites of his eyes and said.
The principal added one last sentence:
"This was a joint decision between the school board and the New York Board of Education."
"Bang!" Director Allen slammed the table angrily, and the school director began to question his last film. This was already a personal attack.
Everyone had to get up and leave.
"If you ruin the reputation of a Turkish prison, does that place have a reputation? Or does your school have the same reputation as a Turkish prison? It's inexplicable!"
"A bunch of trash who don't understand art manage a school in the name of art, it's ridiculous!"
The director was still angry along the way.
Ronald followed him out of the principal's office. Opposite the playground outside the window was the auditorium, which could accommodate more than 2,000 people.
It was originally planned to be used to organize this large-scale audition. All seniors and graduating students in the school would come to participate in the audition. Now it has all come to nothing.
"Pah, pah, pah..." came the sound of baseball. When Ronald saw it, he saw three young men who looked like students playing on the playground.
The catcher caught the pitcher's ball three times, but the young man who swung the bat was not very good at hitting the ball and was struck out.
The group of people walked out of the school gate, and Ronald looked back again.
This is an old-fashioned stone building built before World War I. The stone walls, coupled with the red doors and windows, give people the arrogance of an old-fashioned capitalist.
The Performing Arts High School is located on 46th Street in midtown Manhattan, not far from Times Square. It is in the center of the capitalist world. They now have the right to be arrogant and let the "Hot Lunch" crew out.
…
"dxmn it, who leaked the script?" Producer David da Silva yelled, "If I find out, I will... I will kill this bastard."
"It doesn't have to be like this, David. The acting master will always find out in the end. The focus now is not to hold people accountable, but to find a solution." Director Alan Parker said calmly and rationally.
"Not necessarily. In fact, we can give them a fake script..." Ronald thought to himself.
"Here comes the coffee." Margery walked into the conference room with a plate of coffee, and Ronald quickly stepped forward to help.
Everyone was suddenly attacked by the school board at the Performing Arts Vocational High School. Now they have returned to the casting studio to hold an emergency meeting to discuss countermeasures.
"Alan, you should consider going back to Christopher Gore's script. Let's go back to square one and start again."
Christopher Gore, the name sounded familiar. Ronald flipped over the script in his hand, and sure enough, in the author column it read "Christopher Gore"
"No, Chris's version is still a Hollywood package. When I first agreed with the director, I said that you would let me write my own version of the script, and Chris would only retain the right of signature."
"Oh my God, Ellen. Why are you so stubborn? The attitude of the acting academy today is very clear. They will not agree with the plot you wrote, where a poor black boy impregnates a rich white girl? What other New York parents are there?
, will you send your daughter to a performing arts college to dance ballet?”
Producer Da Silva jumped down from his stool with excitement.
"And they also refused us to borrow the shooting location. Where will we shoot? If we build a scene, we will need to add at least 5 million to the budget. The original budget of 8.5 million is based on real-life shooting."
"That's your problem. If you only want Chris's script, why bother asking me to direct it?" Alan Parker said bluntly, "David, you must have wanted to make a different movie.
right?"
The director continued: "This is 1979, not 1959, and the audience no longer buys those false stories. A blockbuster movie must make the audience feel real and credible. Can they still be baptized by 'The Godfather'?"
Can you watch 'The Wizard of Oz'?"
Producer Da Silva is unwilling to take a step back:
"Of course I know that the audience needs to see true stories, but authenticity does not mean copying news documentaries. Movies are a kind of entertainment, and the audience still needs to get a positive ending in the end."
"And we must also consider the school's attitude. Appropriate compromises are necessary."
"Compromise? There is no compromise in art. Compromise a little here, compromise a little there, and in the end all you'll get is a bunch of mediocre garbage."
The producer and director were arguing more and more fiercely. Their heads were almost touching each other, and their saliva spattered onto each other's faces as they spoke angrily.
Seeing that they were a little out of control, their faces were red and their necks were thick. Margaery was nearby and couldn't persuade them.
Ronald had an idea and deliberately sent the script forward. The script fell to the ground with a loud "snap", interrupting the argument between the two.
"Sorry." Ronald said as he picked up the script.
"Ronald", the two big guys turned around and called out his name at the same time.
"You happen to be a peer of the story. Please tell me your opinion. Do you like the real world or fake stories?" Director Allen took the lead in throwing a high-speed straight ball.
"Yes, Ronald, for you, do you want them to end up making adult movies and not be able to find a job serving dishes, or do you want them to realize their dreams at the end."
Producer da Silva takes a swing at the ball from the perspective of American Dreams.
Ronald felt very regretful now, so what if he let these two old bastards fight?
Why do you want to be such a good old guy, like a bad catcher, caught between a pitcher and a slugger? What should I do?
If you agree with the director's opinion, you will offend the producer, and your job opportunities will definitely be ruined in the next few months. If you agree with the producer's opinion, it will be even worse. The director may fire himself on the spot.
"Uh... uh..." His heart was racing, Ronald picked up the script to cover up, and turned it over left and right.
What I glanced at was the plot of the singer character Coco. She was tricked into filming by a director who made adult movies, and she cried very sadly.
"Why don't we combine the two?" Ronald suddenly thought.
Put it together? The director and producer were furious again, "If this can be put together, why are we arguing?"
"For example, Coco, she can be deceived, but why not let her get a small job in the end? In this way, her experience will be in line with reality, and she will realize a small dream of hers at the end." Ronald said softly.
"That makes sense, what do you think, Allen?" producer Da Silva asked the director.
Director Parker stared at Ronald intently: "This is a good idea. Ronald, you are a peer of the character in the play, and your ideas are of great reference value."
"Shall we make modifications on this basis and contact the performing arts experts again?" The director turned his chair to the producer and asked.
Producer Da Silva replied: "That's it. Then we have to think about how to find alternative filming locations and how to find other suitable people to audition."
Hearing this, everyone was a little discouraged, but the atmosphere was much better than when they were tense just now, and they began to actively think of ways to solve the problem.
Margaery gave Ronald a thumbs up secretly.
As a result of the discussion, the producers decided to take a three-pronged approach.
The first is to continue to revise the script and try to negotiate with the New York Academy of Performing Arts again to get them to change their minds.
The second is to find other arts high schools in the New York area, such as the New York Music School and the School of American Ballet. Although the number of students in these schools is not as large as that of performing arts schools, they can add up to some suitable shooting locations.
and audition students.
The third is to expand the scope of joint auditions between the two casting companies, and send audition notices to Broadway, Hollywood, and even high school performing arts clubs. The New York crew will hold an audition with a scale of 1,000 people to select eight leading roles.
Those who cannot be chosen for the leading role can also be cast in minor roles and extras.
Director Alan Parker came over and said to Ronald, "Take this script back and think about how to revise it when you audition with me these days."
Ronald nodded quickly in agreement.
"You are of the same age, and there may be some perspectives that we cannot see. So don't read the content of the script, but learn its writing format. Then focus on writing two places."
"The first is the ending of the eight protagonists, and what small success they achieved in the end. For example, if you say Coco finds a job, you have to think about what kind of job she can find and earn enough money to support herself after graduation."
Ronald quickly nodded in agreement.
"Don't worry about not thinking about it completely. Just think of as many protagonists as you can."
"Then there are those real-life scenes. What scenes in art high school are attractive to you are what you and your high school classmates would like to see on the movie screen."
"Write it carefully. If it is good, I will add your name to the list of screenwriters." Director Parker finally drew a big pie.
…
Everyone had left, and producer Da Silva personally sent director Parker off, continuing to talk as they walked.
Ronald stayed at the end, put away the coffee cups, sat alone, picked up the script and weighed it. To realize his dream of being a director, screenwriting is an unavoidable part.