Squatting between several large boxes in the small living room, Duke glanced at his CalArts diploma before tossing it into the glove box, taping it and sealing it back to his home in Santa Monica the next day.

"What about graduating from Film and Video with all A's? Tens of thousands of people come to Hollywood every year looking for opportunities, but how many really come out? ”

In his own words, Duke casually dropped the duct tape on the old sofa, returned to the bedroom, and prepared to change his clothes and go out, "It's been twenty-one years since you came to this world, and you have achieved nothing so far, poor Duke." ”

At this point, Duke sat down in his chair, and the memory came back to his mind, and some things can never be completely forgotten.

Although he has lived in the greater Los Angeles area for 21 years since he was born in 1970, Duke will never forget the real experience that happened on the other side of the Pacific Ocean only yesterday.

After graduating from the directing department of a famous film school on the other side, he has been in the circle for a while, but he has not made many famous names, and there is no company or big names in this circle, and it is too difficult for newcomers to get ahead.

In order to climb step by step to the position of the dream film director, Duke has accumulated qualifications in various jobs in multiple crews, and even worked as an assistant in the props team and pyrotechnics team, and with hard work and research spirit, after several years of hard work, he has become a well-known pyrotechnician in the circle, and has also practiced the ability to make explosions and shoot explosions, and finally in his thirties, he got the position of an assistant director of a low-budget war film, specializing in shooting explosion scenes.

However, before he could enjoy the initial success, he was affected by a bombing accident on the set and became Duke Rosenberg, who was born in Los Angeles.

Heaven is still fair, taking away the possible success in the previous life, but it also gives Duke a good life in this life.

He grew up in a single-parent family with his mother, Leah Rosenberg, who, like most shrewd Jews, had a fortune of her own, though not hugely rich, but was worth tens of millions of dollars, and most importantly, her advertising agency had close business ties with Hollywood, and the two families had been close friends since the seventies, when George Lucas was not yet in his prime.

In this life, Duke is no longer ignorant, he knows exactly what he wants, and has been working hard for it, and the family environment provides enough convenient conditions, he frequently went in and out of the set of Lucasfilm films in his childhood and adolescence, and even played a small role in "Star Wars", although it was later completely cut, it was also a rare experience.

On the set, he observed the Hollywood-style production model, and silently became familiar with the world's film factory, which was the future path he chose.

Directing is a profession that requires a high degree of focus and deep accumulation, and in addition to participating in a few sports that he is interested in, most of his time is dedicated to the film knowledge he loves, screenwriting, photography, editing, coordination, etc., which are all essential elements for success.

Duke is like a sponge absorbing water, absorbing useful knowledge for more than ten years, and after graduating from high school, he did not choose the business school built by his mother, but joined the California Institute of the Arts, which is closely related to Hollywood and the film industry, and after the age of sixteen, he found himself a manager who was also a 'novice', and with the help of his family's extensive connections, he went back and forth between many crews as extras and temporary crew workers to increase his practical experience.

So far, Duke has played more than a dozen roles without lines and frontal shots, and has worked as a holiday worker in several crews, including Spielberg's "Captain Hook", and even though the two lives have been combined for more than two decades, he has always been like a thirsty desert traveler, never satisfied.

These are for the needs of practice, but also for life.

As a member of the Rosenberg family, which his mother said had a glorious tradition, Duke was responsible for his own living expenses and other expenses from the age of sixteen, except for tuition, and no one could deny that the process of learning to be a good director was actually a huge process.

Buying books and expensive film reels, renting photographic equipment, and shooting real films are all financial burdens that bother Duke, even now that he has finally survived the age of twenty-one and officially graduated from the California Institute of the Arts, his financial situation has not improved, and his credit card has been in a negative state.

"What's next?"

Back at home in Santa Monica, he can eat his mother's food for the time being, but he urgently needs a suitable job, "I used to struggle for more than ten years to achieve the position of assistant director, but now does it take such a long process?" ”

It's 1991, and every year that passes, the opportunities available to him are reduced by one point, and Duke has been waiting for twenty-one years, and he has studied and accumulated more than ten years, and now he has finally waited for the moment of real adulthood in the legal sense, and he desperately needs the opportunity, a chance to make real films.

"But who doesn't need a chance? Who wants to get into Hollywood and doesn't need a chance? ”

Thinking of this, Duke stood up and opened the closet, took out his formal clothes, and walked to the dressing mirror, "Maybe Lovett can help himself?" ”

Lovett is Duke's agent, unlike Duke's temporary career of working for several years without any improvement, Lovett is good at drilling, and after several years of hard work, he is now the agent of the younger generation that CAA attaches more importance to.

What the current CAA means to Hollywood, Duke knows very well, in fact, his brokerage contract is about to expire, and this time Yolovitt met to preliminarily discuss the renewal of the contract, after all, if he can use the power of CAA, maybe he will take a lot of detours.

Taking off his baggy loungewear and changing into a crisp formal suit, Dukton Guò looked at himself once again in the mirror, and as a man with a good family upbringing, he did not want to make a mistake in such an important meeting.

Inherited from his mother, the dark brown hair is neatly parted on both sides of the head, the high nose is above the deep eye sockets, one of the black eyes shows a deep and restrained age, and the hard lines of the face seem to be carved by Michelangelo himself......

"Maybe it's easier to succeed as a vase man in a commercial film, right?"

Looking at his apparently half-breed appearance, coupled with his height of six feet and an inch, Duke couldn't help but think of the other side, and then shook his head.

He wants to be the one who controls the set, not a vase.

After tidying up his clothes a little, Duke walked out of the rented apartment, locked the door, went downstairs, got on his second-hand Chevrolet on the side of the road, and drove towards the location of the California Institute of the Arts.

As a satellite city of Los Angeles, Valencia is not too big, and Duke's residence is not too far from the school, driving through Center Street, turning two more intersections, and the car follows the side entrance of the California Institute of the Arts.

Lovett's drop-off location was in a café next to the side entrance, and Duke found a parking space on the side of the road to park the Chevrolet, bypassed a green belt, and pushed open the glass doors of the café.

Turning left through the door, Duke saw Lovett in a quiet corner at the end of the passageway, only instead of what he thought, there was another person next to Lovett.

"Why is he here?"

With a slight frown, Duke strode over, and Lovett apparently saw him as well, and nodded to this side, "Duke." ”

"Hi, Lovett."

Duke greeted him familiarly, pulled out a chair and sat directly across from Lovett, then stretched out his hand to the other side, "Hello, Rick Solomon, I didn't expect to see you here." ”

The other party had no intention of shaking hands at all, but simply waved his hand.

Retracting his right hand, Duke did not go to see Rick Solomon, his fellow at the California Institute of the Arts, and the relationship between the two was very ordinary, having competed directly on things such as quarterback on the college football team and the pursuit of cheerleaders.

Of course, Rick Solomon was the loser.

He didn't come here to fight the other party, Duke looked directly at the other side, like all Hollywood agents, Lovett wore a crisp suit, with professional shrewdness and indifference on his face.

"Lovett,"

Seeing that the other party didn't mean to speak, Duke had to take the lead and say, "The new contract ......"

"I'm sorry, Duke!"

Putting down the coffee cup, Lovett interrupted him directly, "There are some things that were not made clear on the phone, and I came to Valencia this time mainly to negotiate a brokerage contract with Mr. Solomon......"

He paused for a moment and said unceremoniously, "CAA will evaluate every artist under its umbrella, but Duke, your acting skills are very bad, and there is no improvement, as for what you once said about becoming a director, I'm sorry, I don't see any possibility of success, therefore, CAA and I will not renew your contract." ”

Hearing this, Duke raised his head slightly, and looked at his agent with a little surprise - his hope of hugging his thighs was about to be disappointed......

"I'm sorry."

Having said that, Lovett did not have any apologies, "The company's management has officially invited me to be one of the partners, and I will cross-manage some well-known artists in the future, and the work and resources in my hands will increase, and I will not have extra energy to plan the future for those who do not see hope......"

Although Lovett's face was still shrewd and flat, Duke was not a shallow person, and could read irrepressible self-satisfaction in the other party's curved eyes and upturned mouth.

Indeed, to be able to become a partner of CAA, you do have the confidence to be complacent, and it is understandable to give up a newcomer like yourself who seems to have no future.

Almost in the blink of an eye, Duke's surprise vanished, and his expression returned to his original expression, and he said nothing more.

"You know, Duke."

Lovett stood up, patted him on the shoulder as he passed by, and said in a condescending tone from above, with a slight arrogance, "You have disappointed me very much, you have played seventeen roles in five years, but your career has not made any progress, listen to my advice, you are not suitable for this industry, and it will only be a waste of your time and energy to continue." ”

After saying that, he walked towards the door of the café without looking back, and never looked at his former five-year partner again, as if he wanted to use this way to show Xiàn completely abandon Duke's attitude.

"Do you hear that, you're not a good fit for Hollywood."

These words came from Rick Solomon, who did not leave, in a snarky and mean tone, and continued to stab Duke who he thought was bleeding in his heart, "Lovett is known as the most discerning of the newly rising agents, but in you, he is clearly blindsided. ”