"Are you sure you want to do this, Leah?"

Putting down the coffee cup, George Lucas broke the quiet atmosphere of the café with words of surprise, and he quickly lowered his voice, "This is too risky! ”

"I'm Duke's mother."

Sipping her coffee slowly, Leah Rosenberg's voice was still flat, "I know how realistic Hollywood is, if I don't help him, who else in this world will help him?" ”

She looked up at George Lucas, her dark eyes as calm as water, "I'm just doing what a mother can do." ”

"After you called me last night, I studied the script carefully."

Seeing his friend's resolute attitude, George Lucas quickly regained his composure and said the most basic facts, "If a movie wants to make a script, it must require tens of millions of dollars of investment, I watched a video shot by Duke, he is indeed very thoughtful, and the fast and sharp editing is also very characteristic, but he lacks experience!" ”

"George, give me an exact number." Leah Rosenberg ignored George Lucas's last words, "In your estimation, how much money does Duke need?" ”

After looking at his friend seriously for a while, George Lucasmo rubbed his trademark beard and said slowly, "If Lucasfilm produces zuò and the special effects are completely handed over to Industrial Light and Magic, it is estimated that about 12 million US dollars can basically be done, but Duke is a novice, and this number will inevitably increase, at least 15 million US dollars." ”

"I'll do my best to mortgage two properties in Santa Monica and San Francisco." Leah had this idea when she first saw the script, and after weeks of deliberation, she seemed to be saying the little things that didn't matter, "With some of my savings, it's no problem to get together $10 million, and I'll figure out the rest." ”

"Leah, you're gambling!" George Lucas reminded her.

"George, push forward twenty years......" Leah's calm eyes finally revealed a fine light, "When we started our business, which decision was not a big gamble?" Do you remember when you were filming Star Wars? Ninety percent of people in Hollywood say you're a fool, and all the critics in North America are scolding you for making rubbish, and the result? ”

Hearing his friend mention his proudest thing, George Lucas couldn't help but smile, took a sip of coffee, "You have so much confidence in Duke?" ”

"No faith."

Leah Rosenberg's words almost made George Lucas squirt out his coffee, "But as a mother, I am willing to give him a chance to succeed, and even if he fails, he will only lose two properties and some money, and I can afford this loss." ”

Seeing George Lucas nodding slowly, her voice gradually slowed down, "George, we have known each other for thirty years, and I have never begged you to help me do anything, the producer and distribution of the film ......"

"It's all left to Lucasfilm."

Since Leah had decided to take the majority of the investment, and had said such solemn words, George Lucas stopped persuading, and he thought for a while, "If I am interested in this script, those film funds will definitely be willing to pay for the rest of the investment." ”

This kind of thing of borrowing chickens and eggs to sell favors is easy for Hollywood bigwigs to do.

The general direction was agreed, and the two discussed some specific aspects of the matter, and it was not until half a day later that they left the café separately.

Duke, who knew nothing about his mother's decision, never gave up hope, was also aware that the opportunity did not seem to arise anytime soon, and he had to find a suitable job to support himself.

He is in contact with an assistant director of the crew of "Captain Hook", Spielberg's crew has finally pulled the investment after the financial crisis director shutdown and started filming in the studio of Universal Studios again, Duke wants to return to the crew to work, even if it is just a temporary job doing chores, but it is also a rare learning opportunity to watch the filming of Hollywood's No. 1 fast shooter live.

The most important thing is that he must have a certain source of income, wait slowly and look for opportunities.

It's not that Duke didn't think about investing in his mother, but he just thought about it.

There is no mother in this world who owes her children, and he can't ask for more, and Lady Leah has also expressed her disdain for the script.

Take 10,000 steps back and say, even if the mother is willing to invest, without the support of the film company, it actually doesn't have much effect.

Not to mention the complexity of forming a huge crew without the support of a film company, even if the film is made, the distribution and release is a huge problem.

In this huge industry, distribution companies are always at the top of the food chain, and Duke will not be naïve to think that as long as he can personally sign a contract with a distributor, the other party will spend millions of dollars to promote the film, and then share one-third or even half of the proceeds with him, a nobody.

Don't forget, he's a complete newcomer, no distribution company would invest such a large amount of money in the work of a newcomer director whose rights are not in his hands, they are not engaged in charity!

Unless the rights to the film are sold entirely to the distributor, but it is still the question of who will be the director of a rookie. The female work has a high price?

Therefore, he needs the support of a production company or a well-known producer, and if the producer of the film is a large production company like Lucasfilm, some problems will be solved.

Duke's personal zuò is a completely different concept from Lucasfilm or Warner, and the treatment you get from distributors will be very different.

Why directors who have just debuted take the path of making zuò people or film companies, in fact, this is an unsolvable choice.

Because he had previously worked as a temporary worker on the crew of "Captain Hook", Duke got the job after just two phone calls, and from the new week, he entered the studio at Universal Studios.

Temporary workers like them do not have a fixed position, they are all where the crew needs to go, and they do dirty work and tiring work.

Like most Hollywood crews, the atmosphere of this crew is definitely not harmonious, and there are endless battles in the open and in the dark, this is an extremely competitive circle, and if you want to get ahead, you have to use all your means to climb up, especially for those who are ambitious.

Of course, the king here is called Spielberg, but even a successful director like him is plagued by financial problems, and even the crew is shut down for a while in order to find investment.

Similarly, there will be people who challenge his authority, such as the heroine Julia Roberts.

Before the crew shut down, Duke had witnessed it with his own eyes. The poisonous big mouth quarreled with Spielberg over a trivial matter, and even pushed Spielberg at one point, if it wasn't for someone to hold him, it was very likely that he would have had a big fight.

Probably because of financial problems and the fact that Big Mouth had filmed a lot of scenes, Spielberg didn't replace her, but it's hard to say that Julia Roberts from the early nineties to the mid-nineties had nothing to do with the incident.

At the end of the day, Duke took a corner, changed out of his overalls, put on his coat, and walked out of the studio, along the narrow road interspersed with many buildings, and slowly walked towards the parking lot.

A temporary worker like him, who has no status, cannot enjoy special battery car treatment.

Despite the exhaustion of the work, Duke's back was straight, and his tall figure was as strong as a palm tree on the side of the road.

The sound of brakes suddenly sounded from behind him, and a white six-seater battery car stopped steadily beside him.

"Duke Rosenberg?"

A somewhat familiar voice came, and Duke turned his head to see Rick Solomon sitting in the driver's seat of the battery car.

Nodding slightly, Duke turned to leave.

"Hey, Duke!"

Rick Solomon first honked the horn of the battery car, and when Duke's eyes turned again, he said loudly, "I heard that you wrote a script and are also investing in various Hollywood companies, how about it?" Director, when will your movie start? ”

His tone was thick with sarcasm, "Could it be that your film has already started filming at Universal Studios?" That's big news......"

Without waiting for Duke to react, he pointed to the badge hanging around his neck, "See?" A pass for the crew of "Alien 3" at Universal Studios! I'm the supporting actor in it! ”

"David Fincher's place. Female works? The corners of Duke's mouth curled, and he said lightly, "Congratulations." ”

Seeing that Duke was still his usual appearance, without showing any envy or jealousy, Rick Solomon said condescendingly, "By the way, Duke, I heard my father say a few days ago that Warner Bros. had a meeting to discuss your script......

Duke raised an eyebrow, and a smile tugged at the corner of Rick Solomon's mouth, "It's a pity that your "Speed of Life and Death" was vetoed by Warners!" ”

He tapped the steering wheel lightly, "Duke Rosenberg, die of being a director!" Let's continue to be a temporary crew worker, a promising career! ”

Suddenly there was the sound of the horn of the battery car behind them, and it was obvious that one of them was blocking each other's way.

Duke took the initiative to get to the side of the road, but the battery car behind did not leave, but stopped.

"Duke?"

A girl in her twenties jumped out of the battery car, she wore a short-sleeved shirt with a striped pattern, blue jeans, a slender figure, a very contoured face, a hooked nose, black eyes, protruding and full lips, and a smile with an upturned mouth, revealing white teeth.

"Hi, Sophia."

Duke beckoned to the girl who came by, although she was not very familiar with the person, but she had seen George Lucas many times in his home, her father was the famous Francis Coppola, "Why are you here?" ”

"I work on the crew of Alien 3." She spoke in a faintly nasal voice, "Temporary assistant for David Fincher." ”

"Hello, Sophia."

At some point, Rick Solomon jumped out of the battery car and came over to say hello.

"Hello."

Sofia Coppola tapped her chin slightly, ignoring the enthusiastic smile sent by the other party, and patted Duke's arm hard, "Congratulations yet!" ”

"Congratulations?" Duke didn't understand.

"I went to San Francisco yesterday to see Uncle Lucas." Probably a personal habit, she always spoke with a monotonous nasal voice, "He mentioned you, saying that your script was about to be approved by Lucasfilm, and you ......"

There was a hint of envy in her tone, "You are the finalized director candidate." ”

"Is this true?" Duke's first instinct was disbelief.

"Am I going to lie to you?" Sophia clasped her hands to her chest, looked at him and said, "I guess Lucasfilm will notify you soon." ”

"Alright, let's not talk about that." She pointed to the battery car, "Get in the car, I'll take you to the parking lot." ”

The two got into the battery car, and Rick Solomon on the other side reacted, "Hey, Sophia, you're kidding, right?" ”

However, all that answered him was the sound of the wind from the battery car.

After standing stunned for a while, Rick Solomon got into the driver's seat, he looked at the sun that was about to sink below the horizon, and frowned tightly, "This ...... How is this possible? ”