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The night was getting darker and thick fog covered the residential area by the sea. The salty moisture came through the gaps in the windows, and then slipped into the nose of the busy figure under the window.

"Ah snee~"

After sneezing, Duke turned off the air conditioner, his eyes fell back on the drawing board in front of him, stretched out his long and lazy waist, put his hands back on the desk, picked up the pencil and outlined simple lines, two ovals, one large and one small, and four straight lines formed a pattern representing the male protagonist.

In just a few minutes, the image in his mind became a storyboard artwork.

This is another world where many young directors like the most popular storyboard drawing method. It is concise and direct, and is enough to express the scene represented by the artwork. In today's era, it can be regarded as a futuristic painting method.

However, the effect is pretty good. Duke often uses artwork to communicate with people from various departments of the crew, and most people think this artwork is simple and clear.

After drawing another picture, Duke put them together into a file bag. His storyboard artwork came to an end for the time being. If you have any new ideas in the future, you can also change them at any time.

After simply packing up the desk, Duke walked out of the bedroom and came to his mother's study. He knocked on the door gently. As expected, the sound of inviting him to come from inside.

"Mom..." Duke pushed the door and walked in.

"Is there anything wrong?" Mrs. Lea took off her glasses and looked here.

"It's late," he pointed to the clock on the wall, "You have a break."

"Yeah, right away."

Seeing his mother nodding, Duke finally said, "Good night."

"Good night."

When he returned to the room, Duke lay down but was not sleepy. His mind was almost full of "The Speed ​​of Life and Death". Even though the preliminary preparations were smooth, the crew did not make any mistakes on the surface. Even if he had confidence in his ability to accumulate over the years of study, the pressure brought by this first time still made him feel a little heavy.

When opportunities do not appear, we look forward to opportunities; when opportunities come, we are afraid of failure if we cannot seize them.

This is a common problem for most people, and Duke is no exception. Even if he lives for a lifetime, he is still a normal person.

This is a rare opportunity and an opportunity that cannot be failed. Duke is very clear about this. If he messes up, he will not have a second time in a very long time in the future.

Pressure can be converted into power. This is simple to say, but not so easy to do.

Duke finally fell into a deep sleep with the famous quotes of those Niu Bei characters who were doing inspirational training.

Perhaps a good sleep is the best way to relieve stress. After getting up in the morning, Duke's posture was still upright, and his tough face was full of perseverance and confidence, as if no power in this world could defeat him.

After a run on the coastal road by the sea, I went home to have breakfast made by my mother, and went back to my room to change into formal clothes. Duke drove his Chevrolet to West Hollywood.

Today the crew will hold a second audition for the heroine, and Duke has a certain say in it.

Duke and Robin Grande did not participate in the first audition for the male and female lead. He didn't care too much about whether Keanu Keevis, who accepted the audition invitation, would be wiped out. There is no actor in Hollywood that cannot be replaced, even if that person is Meryl Streep.

As for "The Speed ​​of Life and Death", is it important for the male lead Jack? For such a role, just find a handsome white young actor with a tough atmosphere and can pass the basic acting skills. In fact, there is no difference.

Duke suggested Keanu Reeves, just because Keanu is a little popular now and her pay is cheap enough. This is not something he can do in a few years. Within $500,000!

Because most of the funds are invested in special effects and shooting, the total budget for actor pay is only $2 million. Duke and Robin Grand even reached a consensus to reduce this expense to less than $1.5 million.

Even so, one-third of all cast and crew pay will have to wait for the film to be released in North America.

As for whether the film can be released in North America, people including Duke are not worried. Lucasfilm is an absolutely top ten production company in the industry. It is just a very ordinary job to find a distributor, and has already had contact with Twentieth Century Fox. You should know that the latter has been inciting George Lucas to restart the Star Wars series, and signing the issuance contract is basically not a problem.

Of course, the specific release conditions will not be confirmed until the 20th Century Fox has seen the sample.

When he arrived at the "Speed" studio, Duke found that many actors who participated in the audition came earlier than him. This is nothing strange. Actors are the most competitive circle in Hollywood. In this era, even a well-known director has only half a foot in front of the screen, and actors are the most glamorous signature in Hollywood.

Most of those who enter Hollywood with dreams want to become an actor, or to be precise, celebrity actors!

The crew has no obvious tendency to the heroine. This is Hollywood. The news will definitely be found out by those who are interested. These actresses who have played several small roles but have not really become famous will definitely not miss this opportunity.

Maybe this crew is not very famous, but don’t forget that the producer of the film is Lucas Pictures, and the producer’s name is even more slapped with George Lucas’s name.

From the seats of these actresses, we can see their competitive mentality. They are very far apart from each other and basically don’t talk. Moreover, they have a strong sense of self-protection, and even the water given by the crew members will not touch their mouths.

Hollywood is a veritable big dye vat. In order to become famous, many people can use jaw-dropping methods, especially the battles between actresses, which are often more intense and insidious.

Although I have not witnessed it with my own eyes in this life, Duke has heard of many rumors in this area, and 90% of these rumors have been proven to be true.

For example, the deputy director of the crew of "Captain Hook" mentioned to him that if there is fierce competition among several actresses in a crew, everyone will be careful, especially for their diet. They only trust their personal assistants. Often, they unscrew a bottle of mineral water and took a sip and went to the show in a hurry. After the show, they would never drink the bottle of water again.

It doesn’t mean that someone will definitely do something, but the most basic sense of self-protection.

After going to his office for a cup of coffee, Duke entered the audition room and greeted Robin Grande. He nodded with associate director Cone. He walked directly to the monitor connected to the camera and sat in the middle chair.

The audition began soon, just like Hollywood assembly line production, the audition was almost programmed. The actresses who came in briefly introduced themselves, read a line, performed a scene in the script according to the interviewer's requirements, and then talked about their understanding and views on the role.

If you can pass the first audition, you will definitely not be too bad in terms of basic acting skills and appearance conditions.

In the morning, six actresses entered the audition room. In fact, there were many names that Duke had impressed. For example, the second tall person with distinctive Germanic descendants was Uma Thurman, the fourth Australian Naomi Watts with a sweet temperament, and the last black man, Harry Berry.

Black people will definitely be eliminated. Duke didn't know who was the host of the first audition, so he actually chose her to enter the second audition. This did not meet the requirements of the film at all. The person sitting behind the bus could be of any skin color, but if the film wanted to succeed, the heroine sitting in the driver's seat must be a white man.

This is the easiest movie political correctness.

After a simple lunch, a few people who had the right to speak for the male and female protagonists returned to the audition room and gathered together to watch the morning audition video to decide the candidate for the female protagonist as soon as possible.

"Duke, you're the director."

Robin Grande, sitting behind the oval desk, asked Duke, who was standing next to the monitor, "What about your opinion?"

After taking a video tape, Duke stuffed it into the video camera, pointing to the tall woman on the screen and saying, "Uma Thurman, she is the most suitable for Anne's image setting among all."

"I don't think so."

Assistant director Cone stood up and walked to the monitor, "She is only twenty-one years old, too young, her acting skills are relatively immature, and she is not beautiful enough."

As he said that, he took a videotape and replaced the one that was played, "I think she is good, and Naomi Watts is even more pleasing in terms of image."

Turning to look at Conne, Duke's brows frowned and loosened, and said directly, "I don't agree!"

He turned around and walked two steps to the left, standing opposite the assistant director, "What I need is a typical American big girl, a silly big sister with a little wild temperament, not a sweetheart!"

"I stick to my opinion!" Conne did not give in.

"Robin, what about you?" Duke turned his head and looked at the back of the desk. "What about your opinion?"

With George Lucas not interfering, the real decision is still in the hands of Robin Grande.

"It's good," said Robin Grande, lit the table gently, "Naomi Watts moved backwards, and Uma Thurman was in the driver's seat as a passenger on the bus."

"I agree."

Walking back to his position, Duke sat down. Although Robin Grande was supporting himself, his wrist was smooth enough. With outstanding abilities, it was not unreasonable for George Lucas to choose him to control the crew.

Duke took the lead in making a compromise, and naturally Conne no longer insisted on his own opinion. He just waited for the crew to sign a formal actor contract with them, and would send the scripts belonging to the characters to their respective hands.

The next day, the male lead audition was held, and Duke had a disagreement with Conne again, and Robin Grand once again supported Duke in obscurely, and Keanu Reeves won the role of Jack.

Faced with these actors who are eager to become famous and do not have much capital, the crew will definitely not offer high pay.

After tug-of-war negotiations, Keanu Reeves's agent won him $400,000, and another major actor, Dennis Hober, paid $200,000.

As for the heroine, in Hollywood, where the pay gap between male and female actors is huge, Uma Thurman only has 80,000 US dollars.
Chapter completed!