Hollywood, located in the northwest suburbs of Los Angeles, is the headquarters of major film companies, a popular tourist destination, and a mecca for movies.

As early as when Wang Yang first came to Los Angeles, he went to Hollywood, visited Paramount Cinema, stepped on the Walk of Fame, and also went to Chinese theaters to see the hands and feet of celebrities. The purpose of his coming to Hollywood today is not to play, but to find candidates for the male and female protagonists of "Smart - Ghost Shadow".

The search for an actor is not carried out on the street, and it is a talent scout to observe whether passers-by are suitable to be actors on the street. How to cast a movie, Hollywood has its own system. Wang Yang is going to go to the actors' union today.

The Screen Actors Guild of America (SAG), founded in 1933, is the largest screen actors union in the United States, with more than 120,000 members. With another union with more than 70,000 members, the American Federation of Television and Radio Actors (AFTRA), which includes nearly all actors in the United States.

The purpose of the existence of the actors' union is to seek benefits and rights for union members, such as introducing job opportunities to actors, defending rights, and being responsible for labor contract negotiations with producers' associations.

Many people who don't know about Hollywood think that Hollywood generally has "unspoken rules", that is, sex trafficking. That's not true, Hollywood a few decades ago may have been like that, when directors, actors, screenwriters, etc. were all contracted with film companies, equivalent to employees of the company, and the film company was in power, which naturally bred a lot of dirty and dark things.

However, with the establishment of various labor unions, the improvement of the system, and the maturity of the market, directors and actors no longer signed employment contracts with film companies, but became film contracts, and the relationship between superiors and subordinates became a cooperative relationship. As a result of these changes, the sex-trade in Hollywood has become less and less violent, and now almost extinct.

First of all, we don't talk about whether the actor himself or herself is willing to do sex-trafficking, but even if he/she does, it is very difficult for the other party to do it. Hollywood is no longer a studio system, nor is it a star system, and those big-name stars and studio owners can no longer make decisions on candidates, and the era when they said that whoever plays will play is gone.

The current casting system is a system of checks and balances. The director, producer or even the CEO of the investment company does not have absolute power, when you want to choose actors, you can find an agency, of course, the agency will eventually go to the actors' union, and the actors' union will notify all eligible members according to your requirements and agree on a time for an interview. The interviews are conducted by a tripartite group of directors, producers, and agents from the Actors' Guild.

In the end, only the actor who agrees on the three parties can get the role, of course, the agent is more of a regulatory role, but as long as one party does not agree, the actor will not get any role.

So here, even if an actor and the director have a deal, don't expect it to succeed, because the director alone has no decision-making power, and the deal can't be successful.

Besides, if some ignorant girl is deceived by an unscrupulous director, she sleeps with someone but can't get a film appointment, she is likely to go to court and get into the newspaper, and this kind of scandal is a big deal in the United States, and the director and actor must have ruined their future and ruined reputation. Because fans across the country will spurn them and refuse to watch their movies, in other words, you have no market, and naturally no more film companies will ask you to make movies.

If a producer or a director tries to make such a request, then the actor can find his own union to help him defend his rights, whether it is SAG or AFTRA, the strength is very strong, and a lawyer will immediately be sent to the film company to which the relevant director and producer belong to file a lawsuit and ask for an explanation.

Okay, you said that as long as you sleep all three parties, won't you be able to get the character?

This is going to talk about the mature market of American films, how many movies are made in the United States a year? Let alone hundreds. How many directors and how many actors? In this fiercely competitive market, no matter which director wants to make a movie, he is facing huge profit pressure.

Take a look, Hollywood invests tens of millions of dollars, or even hundreds of millions, to make a movie at every turn, and the investors may involve dozens of companies, and the requirements of these companies are very simple, profitable, and the minimum requirement is to recover costs and not lose money. If anyone messes around for the sake of sex trafficking, messes up the movie, and causes them to lose money, the investment company will not let him go, and at least you will be discredited, and at worst, you will be held accountable and sued in court, and you will be imprisoned.

Besides, many directors can't make a movie for a few years, and when the opportunity comes, they won't allow themselves to miss it, and they won't be stupid enough to ignore their future for the sake of momentary pleasure. If you want to be happy, you can go to a bar for a one-night stand or find a call girl, and once the movie fails miserably at the box office, his career can basically come to an end.

Grades and reputation are very, very important for directors and producers, and if you make movies that are box office poison, or if you are a person with a bad reputation, there is absolutely no investor who will give you money.

Because the movie failed, the investors themselves will not be able to protect themselves, take a look at the later "Wind Whisperer" produced by MGM and directed by John Woo, which cost 120 million, but in the end only received 77 million box office worldwide, which made MGM lose a sharp deficit and the stock price plummeted, which directly led to MGM's high-level reshuffle. And John Woo has not been trusted by investors since then, and finally wants to return to China to shoot "Red Cliff".

Why did it fail at the box office? It's very simple, in the face of hundreds of movies every year, the level of American audiences has long been raised, and there are so many movies, which one is better? So the audience generally looks at the movie reviews before making a decision before entering the cinema, and it is conceivable that a bad movie is a bad movie, and even if you promote it wildly, no matter how beautiful your heroine is, the critics will not show mercy, because the way they want to keep their jobs is to write popular film reviews.

This is a very simple fact, there is no shortage of beauties in Hollywood, and I have never seen any film company make a movie with a few vase beauties, and the movie can be a big hit. Are you kidding? Haven't you ever seen a woman? If you want to see a woman, you might as well watch Playboy, which is still completely naked.

There are many women who are willing to sell their hues, just look at those playboy girls, but I have never seen them be the heroines of any movie, and they can't even win a small supporting role.

Because in Hollywood, you want to change roles by **, you are willing, others are unwilling, there is no such deal.

It's not that Americans are particularly good, but a few decades ago, Hollywood was also dirty, why has it become so clear now?

Of course, Hollywood also has "unspoken rules", but not sex-trafficking, the real unspoken rules are discrimination, discrimination against homosexuality, discrimination against skin color, and even discrimination against women.

Take a 70-year-old actress and a 70-year-old actor as an example, this old woman usually only plays a grandmother, but this old man can star in a romance movie with a 20-year-old woman.

"Welcome to SAG. As soon as Wang Yang walked into the actors' union, the staff at the front desk who was responsible for receiving visitors said enthusiastically: "Do you want to join the actors' union? As long as you pay $1,500 a year, we will give you insurance, provide you with job opportunities, and protect your rights and interests." ”

"No, thank you. Maybe I'll join the directors' guild later. Wang Yang shook his head with a smile, and then explained his intention: "I am going to make a DV movie independently, and I need two actors, that is, the male and female protagonists." He looks like he is in his twenties, his body is not fat or thin, and his appearance is not required. Oh, it's a horror movie, it takes about a week to shoot, and both roles are paid 4,000. ”

After listening to Wang Yang's words, the staff member squeezed his eyebrows and said with a smile: "Oh, four thousand dollars is not much, but I believe there will be many people who will need it." Okay, I'm registered, let's arrange a time and place for the interview, and we'll notify all the eligible actors, and it's up to them whether to go to the interview or not. So, when and where?"

"The sooner the better, tomorrow, will the location be in my house?" said Wang Yang, whose home is the scene in the movie, and the best effect is if he auditions in the scene.

"I'm afraid not, you know, the interview is best done in a public place. The staff shrugged their shoulders and said, "It's too fast, some members haven't received the news yet, and you don't want to miss the right candidate, right?"

Wang Yang nodded, although he had to race against time now, he couldn't delay things because of this. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Then in three days, the location will be at the 'Sweetheart' café on Sunset Street." ”

"Ok, what about your name, contact number?"

After everything was registered, Wang Yang paid the fee of 200 US dollars, and then it was over, and the next thing was to wait.

During the three days of waiting, Wang Yang stayed at home and watched horror movies in his head all day to perfect his script. In the past few days, Wang Yang has been so frightened that he can't even sleep well at night, and he will wake up when he hears any sound, which is all thanks to those horror movies.

American horror movies are okay, but they are bloody, and they are more disgusting and thrilling; the theme and cost of "Smart-Ghost Shadow" determine that the horror of this movie is psychological, so Japanese horror films are the focus of his study, and Japanese horror films are the most terrifying, and they give people a feeling of suffocation, whether it is "Midnight Bell", which has been released in January this year, or "The Grudge", which will be released in 2003...... Each one brought Wang Yang's spirit to the brink of collapse.

Fortunately, I can still talk to Jessica on the phone every day and listen to her sweet laughter, otherwise Wang Yang will definitely go crazy.

On the day of the interview, the script of "scared out" had been completely written, and Wang Yang adopted a lot of future horror ideas, and they were chosen in the way of thinking of ordinary Americans, which was the culmination of psychological horror. If the later "Smart-Ghost Shadow" can scare people, then now this unrecognizable "Smart-Ghost Shadow" is released, which can definitely scare people to death!

The agreed start time for the interview was 9 a.m., and Wang Yang got up early in the morning as usual, practiced boxing and had breakfast, and then set off for the "Sweetheart" café on Sunset Street in Hollywood.

When Wang Yang came to the café, he found that Jessica, who said she was going to come last night, had already arrived, she sat in her position and waved to him with a smile, Wang Yang walked over, and muttered with a smile in his heart, Joshua, that poor guy, can't come to class, and said that he wants to stare at me, haha!

"Hey, you're Jan, right?" When it was almost 9 o'clock, the staff sent by the Actors' Guild also arrived, a middle-aged white man, wearing a pair of black-framed glasses, he took out his ID and showed Wang Yang, his name was Mark Snaunt, he smiled: "I'm in charge of today's interview." ”

"Hello, Mr. Snent. Wang Yang hugged him gently, and Jessica also said hello and shook hands with Slent.

Seeing Jessica, Mark Slimt let out an "oh", seemed to have found a treasure, and couldn't take his eyes off it and said, "Beautiful lady, are you also here for an interview?"

Jessica shook her head in denial, "No, sir." I'm the producer of the film. She smiled, looked at Wang Yang and said, "Just kidding, I'm just here to see the excitement, Yang is today's chief judge, and he has the final say." Wang Yang spread his hands and grimaced.

"Oh, I see. Mark Slunt sat down, ordered a cup of coffee from the waiter, continued to look at Jessica, and praised: "Miss Alba, in fact, I am still an agent, you are very beautiful, and you have a particularly charming temperament. From the perspective of my years in the industry, you can be an actor. ”

Wang Yang and Jessica both laughed when they heard this, and Jessica said: "In fact, I am already an actor and a member of the Actors Guild. ”

Mark Slunt burst out laughing, "I knew I couldn't be mistaken. He looked at Wang Yang, then at Jessica, and asked curiously, "Interesting, young director (pun intended), why don't you let your girlfriend play the heroine of the movie?"

"Oh, oh! no, no......" Hearing Mark Slunt think they were in a relationship, Jessica reflexively denied: "I'm not his girlfriend." After that, she secretly glanced at Wang Yang out of the corner of her eye, and her heart was pounding, why was she full of anticipation?

Seeing that she denied it so quickly, Wang Yang was a little disappointed in his heart, and smiled: "It's a good friend." ”

"Oh oh. Mark Slunt shrugged his shoulders and said, "Isn't it a girlfriend who can also act?"

Jessica lowered her head and took a sip of her coffee to hide the unnaturalness on her face. However, she learned to act, so she immediately controlled her expression and explained with a smile: "Young said that I am still too young to be the age of a heroine." ”

"Yes, I need the heroine to look in her twenties. Wang Yang added, in fact, he later reconsidered, can Jessica play the heroine, but in the end the original verdict was upheld. Because he has watched several horror movies starring Jessica in his mind, there is really nothing outstanding about it, and it can be said that she is not suitable for horror movies at all.

Mark Slunt seems to have become a fan of Jessica, and said a little dissatisfied: "I think it's a good fit." He crooked his mouth again and said, "Of course, the young director has the final say." ”

Seeing Jessica become a little unhappy, Wang Yang couldn't help but scold Mark Slent in his heart, isn't this making it difficult for him? I want to explain to Jessica, but I don't know how to say it.

Fortunately, at this time, the first actor to come to the interview finally appeared, and the strange silence at the coffee table ended. The first to come was a white actress with long pale blonde hair, dignified and beautiful, with some freckles on her face, she handed her resume to Wang Yang, and introduced herself quite nervously: "Hi everyone, my name is Anne Darren. ”

Wang Yang flipped through her resume, born in 1978, 20 years old this year, she used to take acting classes in high school, participated in local stage plays, and came to Hollywood after graduating from high school, but almost all of her performance experience in the past two years is extras, that is, there are no lines.

He looked at Anne Darren across from him and asked, "Anne, if you were at home at night and you ran into a ghost, what would be your first reaction?"

Anne Darren frowned and thought for a moment, and said cautiously, "Maybe it's screaming." ”

Wang Yang suddenly made a cross in his heart, but Anne came so early and obviously attached great importance to this interview, so he continued to ask quietly: "So if it is late at night, you and your boyfriend are asleep in bed, and you have slept very sweetly, but suddenly there is a sound of footsteps, and you are awakened in the corridor outside the bedroom." He made a gesture of please, and said, "Please show how you will look when you wake up." ”

"Ok, ok, I'll think about it first. Anne Darren kept blinking, and after a moment she took a deep breath and said, "Then I'll start." Wang Yang nodded and looked at her with Mark Slant and Jessica.

Anne closed her eyes, then slowly opened them with a "hmm", then frowned, looking left and right with a frightened expression, as if she didn't know what to do at all. After the performance, she exhaled a long breath, looked at Wang Yang nervously and expectantly, and said, "That's what it was just now." ”

The performance traces are too heavy, and they are deeply influenced by stage plays, and they can't perform life-like DV movies at all. Wang Yang made another cross in his heart, shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, Annie, you don't meet my requirements......"

"Oh, God!" Anne suddenly hugged her head in a deep shock, and her voice trembled, and she was about to cry: "Can you let me perform again?"

"No, no, I'm sorry, I'm sorry......" Wang Yang handed her back the resume, although he sighed in his heart, he could only be hard-hearted at this time: "Annie, your performance has not yet gotten rid of the style of stage plays, I am a DV movie, and I need a life-like performance, so the interview is over." ”

Anne's eyes were red, and she took her resume with a frustrated face, stood up and said, "Thank you for this opportunity to interview." With that, she went away lonely.

Jessica shook her head sympathetically and frowned, "I know how sad she is now, every time I fail in an audition, I have that frustration, as if I am worthless and abandoned by God." ”

"I'm sorry......" Wang Yang sighed, how can it be so easy to be an actor? There are more than 120,000 members of a single SAG, how many actors have become famous?

According to the statistics of the Actors Guild, among the more than 120,000 members, less than 5% of them have an annual salary of more than 100,000 US dollars, and the annual income of 1 yuan to 4,999 US dollars is 72.1%.

Wang Yang's salary is 4,000 yuan, and the average working time for a week is 571 yuan per day, while the current mass role market in Hollywood is 80 US dollars per hour for non-union members, and 120 US dollars per hour for union members. So his contract is not rich, but for the extras, it is also a lot. And the role is the protagonist, such a performance opportunity is rare, director Wang Yang? Who is that? The movie that costs 10,000 yuan? Just kidding!? But whatever, he is the protagonist, and he has 4,000 US dollars.

Therefore, there are a lot of people who come for an interview, and in one morning, Wang Yang has interviewed nearly 200 people, all of whom are not very good, and they cannot meet his basic requirements.

Looking at the strong black muscular man in front of him, Wang Yang asked, "If you were sleeping and were woken up by a strange noise, what would be your reaction?" ”

"I guess I'm going to scold,**!" the muscular man scolded, and said viciously, "Which bitch raised me to wake me up!?"

Wang Yang could hardly hold back his wail, and the result of this performance was that the horror film became a comedy! He shook his head and said, "I'm sorry, sir, you can't meet my requirements......

"What? I can't meet the requirements?man, what are you kidding!?" The muscular man slammed the table, glared at Wang Yang, and said, "I acted so well, you actually said that I couldn't meet the requirements?!Hey, seriously, are you trying to trick me!?It's just a scam?"

"Sir, please calm down. Wang Yang frowned and said.

"Calm down, calm down what!" the muscular man shouted loudly, and suddenly the whole café looked at this side, he stood up with his hands on the table, leaned forward and scolded: "Little slut, do you think your movie is very precious?

Jessica was a little frightened, Wang Yang held back his anger and said, "Do you want to cause trouble?"

At this time, Mark Slimt shouted out to the muscular man without hurry, and said, "Hey man, I know your name, if you do this again, I will definitely tell the Screen Actors Guild." ”

"**!" The muscular man scolded again, and he really didn't dare to make trouble, he left while scolding, and looked at Jessica with a few bright eyes before leaving, which almost all men would do before leaving, of course, this muscular man's eyes were particularly annoying, and he also said mockingly: "Little beauty, if the Chinese little ** can't satisfy you, come to me! I will make you call Mom!"

"Dude, this is your own death!" Wang Yang was furious, Huo Di got up and rushed towards the muscular man.

"Yang, Yang!" Jessica reacted quickly, hurriedly stood up and wanted to hold Wang Yang, but the strength was not comparable anywhere, she couldn't pull it, she was in a hurry to hold Wang Yang from behind with both hands, and with all her might, her head was buried in Wang Yang's back, shouting: "Don't go, don't go!"

"Jessica, let go of me!" Wang Yang also tried his best to rush forward, and his heart was furious, this muscular man not only offended Jessica, but also reminded him of Terrance Ben, who wronged him, with the same body shape and the same unbeaten expression!

The black muscular man saw that Wang Yang was about to rush out, but he didn't dare to fight, but sped up and left, he didn't want to fight, he really made trouble, he was held accountable by the trade union, and he would definitely be kicked out.

Seeing that the guy ran out of the café and walked farther and farther, the brute force in Wang Yang's body slowly loosened, he sighed, and smiled bitterly at the back: "Jessica, why did you be like this before, and you are like this now? Why don't you let me beat that guy?"

"Yang, don't go......" Jessica still hugged Wang Yang tightly, at this moment, she seemed to have returned to 9 years ago, when Wang Yang wanted to beat Peter's gang for her, she also held on to stop him like this, the emotion of 9 years ago suddenly gushed out, and the current frequency, her heart was nervous and sweet, indescribably good.

"Wow, this is really a movie picture!" Mark Slunt over there joked, which made Jessica wake up from a dream, she hurriedly let go of Wang Yang, and smiled at Wang Yang as if she was shy and embarrassed, and Wang Yang smiled too. Mark Slunt said, "Don't worry, I'll hand over that guy's name to the union, and he'll get the punishment he deserves." ”

He tapped the watch on his wrist and said, "Young director, it's already noon, shouldn't you take a break?"

Wang Yang looked at his watch, it was almost 12 o'clock, and nodded: "Well, it's lunchtime." So he called the waiter and told him that if someone came for an interview, he said that they had gone out to eat and would continue the interview at 1 p.m.

"So where are we going to eat?" asked Mark Slent.

At this time, every piece has to save flowers, so Wang Yang will not pretend to be a big-headed ghost, and shrugged his shoulders and said: "I'll just go to a nearby restaurant and buy a hamburger." Jessica also said, "Me too." ”

Mark Snaunt nodded indifferently and said, "Oh, I'll be back at 1 o'clock, I'll eat at that restaurant on the street......" He looked at the two and smiled, "Then I won't stop you." ”

"Then you should go quickly!" Wang Yang said angrily, Mark Slant left first with "ok, ok", he really left, Wang Yang and Jessica seemed a little embarrassed, Wang Yang had no choice but to joke: "Why did you stop me just now? ”

Jessica rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, now there are no teachers, but now there are police." ”

The two laughed a few words, then called the waiter at the café to pay, and then walked outside with a smile.

Just walked out of the door of the café, only to see a girl with long blond hair and beautiful appearance hurriedly walked into the café, Wang Yang didn't have time to take a closer look, he only felt that the girl made him familiar, I don't know if she went in to drink coffee, or came to participate in the interview?

With doubts, Wang Yang and Jessica had not walked ten steps on the street when a shout came from behind: "Wait, please wait!"

Wang Yang and Jessica stopped, looked back, and sure enough, it was the beautiful girl who chased after her just now, she trotted to her, about 165 tall, so that she wearing flat shoes needed to raise her eyes to look at Wang Yang, she asked, "Hello, are you Mr. Wang Yang?"

"Yes, I am. Wang Yang nodded.

The pretty girl showed a smile and said, "I'm here to participate in your film audition, can I still interview now?"