Leaving the convenience store, Simon didn't immediately return to the motel, but instead navigated the streets of Santa Monica to prepare for the first film he had planned.

The first film Simon intended to make was Lola Run.

Although the original "Lola Run" was not filmed in Los Angeles, Simon doesn't have enough capital to pick and choose now. Since he is in Santa Monica, he directly confirmed the filming location of the new version of the film here.

The choice of "Lola Run" is also the result of Simon's careful consideration.

At the end of the day, this body is only 18 years old now.

Under normal circumstances, Hollywood's slightly sane film companies would not take millions of dollars for a young man who is not yet 20 years old to take risks, and now Simon has not personally invested in the capital to make commercial films.

Therefore, he must show enough strength to dispel Hollywood's scruples about his age, at least to some extent.

To do this, in fact, it is very simple, it is nothing more than to prove it through the work.

Although there have been some changes on the WMA side, the income from the script of "The Butterfly Effect" is already expected. This is Simon's first capital, and he must use it to knock on the door of Hollywood.

Of course, the price of a script, no matter how high it is, cannot be too much. Therefore, Simon has very little choice and can only make an ultra-low-budget movie. Moreover, the film must also show enough value to either be box office or an award.

In terms of box office, there are actually many films that have simply created low-cost and high-box office miracles in Simon's memory, such as "Blair the Witch", such as "Ghost Shadow".

But in the final analysis, more than 90% of the success of these films is due to luck and just the right commercial operation, and it really has little to do with the quality of the film itself.

The obvious proof is that after the success of these films, the directors of the films did not show much presence in Hollywood.

Therefore, at this time, Simon has a 99% chance of making these movies out of the water, even if there is a 1% chance of reaping some benefits, but Simon's own ability in film production will not be recognized by Hollywood.

As for awards, this thing is undoubtedly more about seniority.

Moreover, it is equally difficult to make a great art film that can reach the level of awards at several major film festivals just by making money from selling a script.

After repeated selections, "Lola Run", an alternative and avant-garde experimental film, seemed perfect for Simon.

"Lola Run" also has a very low production cost, in memory it is 350,000 German marks, which is about 180,000 US dollars, but this is more than ten years later.

Now, with a few savings, Simon feels like $100,000 is pretty much the deal.

Although it is a low-budget production, "Lola Run" also has enough artistic value and commercial value, and the film has not only won many awards, but has even formed a trend among young Germans.

Of course, for Simon, that's not the most important thing.

Simon's most important point is the perfect display of the film's main creator's directing ability in "Lola Run".

After the birth of "Lola Run" in 1998, the film's dazzling use of skills in editing, soundtrack, color, montage, camera movement techniques, etc., soon made it a classic teaching case for film schools around the world, and had a very profound impact on many well-known directors.

Doug Liman, the director of the classic Hollywood spy film "Spy Shadow" series, has publicly admitted that the unique shooting style of "Spy Shadow" was inspired by "Lola Run", and Doug Liman also specially invited Franka Portant, the heroine of "Lola Run", to serve as the female lead of "Spy".

Therefore, choosing "Lola Run", even if the film does not perform well in terms of awards and box office in the worst case, Simon is enough to get a chance to show his filmmaking skills to major Hollywood studios.

Hollywood has its ultra-conservative side, but at the same time it is a circle that worships genius and wonder.

As long as a person can prove his strength and bring benefits to the film company, not many people will care whether this person is an angel or a devil, and age is naturally not a problem.

On HSD Avenue north of downtown Santa Monica.

Simon passed by the intersection and immediately caught his eye on the castle-like dark grey building across the street, which was a club. The architectural palette in Los Angeles is generally dominated by light tones such as white, which can feel drab and boring.

As a result, such an unusual dark gray building became very conspicuous, and Simon quickly made the decision to make this dark gray building one of the streetscapes that Lola quickly swept by as she ran.

Without a camera, Simon had to use the clumsiest of methods to write down the location by drawing.

Standing on the curb with a hand-bound hardcover notebook in his hand, Simon jot down the most basic street information, re-examine the street scene in front of him, and then begin to sketch quickly in the form of a storyboard.

A few minutes later, while concentrating on the work at hand, Simon suddenly felt a tap on the shoulder.

Turning his head in confusion, two girls were standing behind him.

One of them was Courtney Cox, and the other blonde girl was also quite pretty, but Simon didn't know her.

At this time, Courtney was looking at him vigilantly, and did not speak, as if waiting for Simon to take the initiative to explain.

Simon turned to look around, only to realize that he was standing in front of a five-story apartment building, where Courteney and Goldilocks were supposed to live.

Feeling Courtney's eyes, Simon immediately understood.

All right.

I was taken as a stalker.

With a wry smile, Simon closed his notebook and explained, "Curt, if I say it's a coincidence, do you believe it?"

"I don't believe it," Courtney immediately shook her head, but said anyway, "So, what are you doing here?"

"I told you this afternoon, I'm preparing my own movie," Simon said, simply handing over his notebook.

Courteney took the thick sixteen-carat hand-bound notebook with a suspicious expression and flipped it open, and the blonde girl next to her also approached curiously.

Dozens of pages of storyboards based on various types of street scenes have accumulated in the notebook, although they are all very sketches, but whether it is Courtney or the blonde girl, you can easily appreciate Simon's solid drawing skills, and most of the sketches are also marked with a lot of professional annotations such as lighting and camera positions.

After flipping through several pages in a row, Courtney's attention was quickly drawn to the short-haired girl running in the sketch, and she was suddenly a little embarrassed to look at Simon again. The blonde girl had no scruples, and sighed in a low voice, then looked up and said to Simon: "You are really good at drawing, but is the girl in the drawing a Curt?"

Simon was stunned for a moment, looking at Courtney's short hair at this time, and only then did he understand why the other party asked this.

To be sure, Simon didn't have a specific object in mind when he sketched out Lola's look, and he didn't have much of a feeling for Franka Portant, who played the original Lola.

However, perhaps during the time he came to Los Angeles, Courtney was the only girl Simon knew and whose image was more in line with Lola's setting, so he subconsciously put the other party's figure on it during the drawing process, which led to the misunderstanding at this time.

In fact, the sketch is actually very sketchy, and it is difficult for anyone to associate it without enough prerequisites. But Courtney happened to be in front of Simon at this time, and with the little misunderstanding just now, it was not surprising that the blonde girl would ask such a question.

looked at Courtenie who looked down at the sketch and didn't speak, the two girls in front of her had obviously determined a certain fact, Simon no longer refuted this little misunderstanding, and simply nodded and admitted: "Yes, I also invited Curt to be my heroine in the afternoon, but unfortunately she didn't believe it." ”

"Hehe, Curt doesn't want to, or I'll be the one to be, you change all the girls in the manuscript to look like me," the blonde girl laughed teasingly, and held out her hand to Simon: "Hello, I'm Christy Swanson." ”

Simon reached out and shook the girl's hand and said, "Simon Westeros." ”

When the blonde girl heard this, she immediately showed a sudden expression: "Oh, you are the ...... Curt talked about recently"

Before she could finish speaking, Courteney reached out and poked her friend on the waist, telling Christie to shut her mouth before handing the notebook to Simon, "Okay, you've got it." ”

"So," Simon said, gesturing behind him, "can I stay here and finish that?"

Christie burst into laughter.

Courtney's face was slightly red, and she glanced at Simon angrily: "You are casual, this is a public place." ”

Simon also felt that his question was a little stupid, smiled, reopened the notebook, and turned to the last page.

Looking at the dark gray building on the opposite side again, Simon picked up his pen and began to draw, seeing that the two girls did not leave immediately, he said casually, "Are you going to dinner?"