"Sir." A polite title shocked Franklin Leonard, who was in deep thought, and raised his head, then he saw the waiter standing in front of him, holding a plate of champagne in his hand and casting a questioning sight with a smile.

Franklin looked down and noticed that his glass was empty, so the waiter came forward to ask questions so dedicatedly. Franklin originally planned to take another glass, but looked around and felt that he was pretending to behave with a glass of champagne, and there seemed to be no need, so he simply put the empty glass back on the tray, showed a polite smile to the waiter, and expressed his gratitude.

Seeing the waiter turn and leave, walking towards Michael Mann and Graham King not far away, Franklin's eyes couldn't help but move, looking at the noisy scene, he was a little dull for a moment.

These two producers of "Flyers" attended today's nomination lunch. "Flyers" is undoubtedly the biggest favorite of the Oscars this year, which also made the two of them the focus of the audience, and there were endless people around them. At this time, the two were surrounded by Kate Winslet, Laura Linni, Julie Delpy and others, and the atmosphere was very lively.

Franklin was only five steps away from them, but everything had nothing to do with him. The space of just five steps was isolated from two worlds. No matter how hard he tried, he could not break the barrier, which made his chest a little dull.

As a pre-production development manager of film and television, he is not qualified to attend the Oscars ceremony, nor is he qualified to attend the Oscar Night. Even the nomination lunch seems out of reach. Most of the time, he is just an "internal staff" in the company, like a shameless vampire, hiding in an unknown cage made of steel and concrete.

But the fact is that he is just a film practitioner, has nothing to do with the spotlights, has nothing to do with the applause of flowers, and has no difference with the ordinary white-collar workers at work. Today, he attended the nomination luncheon just because the two producers of "Soul Singing King" were absent, and two empty seats appeared in the crew. One of the colleagues who attended the bench had skin allergies, so he won the qualification to appear.

He originally thought that he would usher in a breakthrough in his career. After all, this is the Oscar nomination luncheon, with the attention of everyone, with flowers blooming and singing and dancing. He originally thought that he had personally dug out the script of "King of Souls" and recommended it to Taylor-hackford with his own strength, which created the miracle performance of the movie in the awards season, which would at least become his stepping stone...

But, he was still too naive.

For the star-studded Hollywood, there is not much difference between a film and television development manager and a waiter. Turn your eyes away from Michael, Graham and others, and you can clearly see the proud Jamie Fox, who has a bright smile on his face and is talking around the corner. The joy between his eyebrows can be felt even if it is a dozen yards apart. But as the "King of Soul Singing", he stands alone in the corner, no one cares about it.

"Jamie Fox is really likable, isn't it?" A soothing and friendly voice rang in his ears. Franklin didn't feel any abnormality. He just shrugged his shoulders and curled his lips, and replied subconsciously in an ironic tone, "Who said no?"

After saying the words, Franklin then realized that it was not the question and answer in his mind. He caught a figure in his eyes, and then his eyes touched the other person's eyes. In an indescribable embarrassment, he suddenly rushed from the soles of his feet to the top of his head, and a numbness broke out.

"...Mr. Strello." Franklin said hesitantly, his brain fell into a brief blank. He immediately recognized the person in front of him. It was Lancelot-Straello, the hottest celebrity in 2004, but he felt that his brain was a little irreversible. For example, why did Lance appear here? For example, he didn't say anything inappropriate to himself just now?

"Lance." Franklin looked at the other party raised the red wine glass in his right hand and handed it over, while there was a wine glass in his left hand. So, this wine glass was specially for himself? Franklin did not respond, and the other party continued, "Maybe you prefer champagne?"

"No." Franklin finally came to his senses, "No, no." He quickly took the wine glass, "I like red wine, I like red wine very much." He felt like a fool, all the surprises came too quickly, so he could not feel joy, and only fear was left. He didn't even know how to deal with it. In Lance's eyes, he should be ridiculous!

Franklin took a sip of red wine in panic, but almost choked himself. He raised his eyes in a mess and looked at Lance, and then saw a pair of smiling eyes, kind and friendly, without any ridicule or teasing, "Today is the first time I have attended such a grand event, and I believe you are too. The nervousness is always difficult to find a suitable outlet for venting." Lance not only did not avoid the topic, but took the initiative to raise "tension", which made Franklin feel slightly relaxed, a little embarrassed, but more relieved.

"So, a little fresh air may help more." Following Lance's words, Franklin looked at the surging crowd, and then realized the profound meaning of Lance's words. He was suggesting that the two of them hid in the corner, just avoiding the urgency of the lively crowd. This not only further eased the atmosphere, but also relieved Franklin.

In just two sentences, Franklin felt much more relaxed. Lance picked up the wine glass and took a sip, "I haven't asked for advice yet, you are..."

Franklin immediately realized his mistreatment and quickly picked up the wine glass to pay his respects, "Franklin Leonard. I am...uh..." Franklin knew that he was an unknown person. He wanted to find an accurate title to introduce himself, but found that he could not find a high-sounding title, which made him speechless. "Uh, Universal Pictures' pre-production development manager." Franklin only thought of this word in his mind, a speechless title that made Franklin unable to help but hold his right hand and almost spill the red wine.

"So, did you dig out the 'Soul Singer King'?" Lance did not seem to notice Franklin's embarrassment, but instead showed a curious look of exploration.

This made Franklin overjoyed, "Yes." But then he noticed that his voice was trembling slightly. Franklin had to drink two sips of red wine, and finally calmed himself down. "This is my job, you know, read countless scripts, and then look for suitable projects, submit them to the producer or director, and finally promote the production of a work." Talking about his work, Franklin's speech organization finally smoothed, and his whole body shone with light.

"In fact, no one was optimistic about this script at the beginning, but I thought this work was a treasure house. After my insistence, Heckford nodded and agreed to join the project." Franklin unconsciously lowered his voice, as if he wanted to share such important information impatiently, but he didn't want to seem too anxious, so he took another sip of red wine and took a breath. "Later, Heckford personally joined the script creation and re-cluttered the whole story. To be honest, I think he had done an excellent job, but unfortunately he did not receive the Oscar recognition."

"The King of Souls" has not been able to gain a place in the nomination for the best adapted script.

After saying the words, Franklin realized that the one standing in front of him was one of the top five of the best original scripts. He seemed to have talked a little too much under his emotions. This made Franklin stop his words suddenly, and the whole atmosphere suddenly seemed a little awkward.

Fortunately, Lance did not allow the atmosphere to continue to be stiff, but said with a chuckle, "I want to make a lot of money in the nomination stage." The slightly jealous tone made Franklin laugh. "The King of Soul Songs" and "Killing with a Knife" can be regarded as dark horses on the Oscar nomination list. "However, it must be admitted that Ray Charles' life is really admirable!"

The script of "Soul Song King" is actually not outstanding. The script deliberately weakens the discrimination and persecution of black people at that time, and also deliberately weakens the bonds and obstacles of blindness on Thunder's career. It focuses more on the lifelong entanglement of childhood nightmare on the superstar, and emphasizes the contradictions and conflicts between this musical genius and his personal life. This is undoubtedly a huge loss for the overall film. From the height of the work, the script is incomplete or even failed; but it made Jamie Fox and became his own performance stage. It has to be said that from this perspective, the script is successful.

The praise Lance said to the point was not too exaggerated, but just right, which made Franklin feel very comfortable, but not too proud, and the smile on his face naturally outlined.

"Choose scripts is always a troublesome thing, isn't it? Especially choosing a book with potential from countless scripts is simply looking for a needle in a haystack." Lance continued along the topic, "I can't imagine how tedious your work is, and of course, I don't want to experience it either!"

Looking at Lance's fearful expression, Franklin seemed to have found a soulmate and raised his eyebrows, "Come and tell me!" After a pause, Franklin still couldn't help it and continued, "Every day, we have to read thirty to fifty scripts, God, every day! And more often, these work is useless, and it is hard to imagine that I spent a month, and I couldn't even find a suitable script to use, that kind of frustration..."

"So, when you find a script like "Soul Singer", the sense of accomplishment becomes more and more fulfilling, right?" Lance's response made Franklin stunned, and then burst into laughter.
Chapter completed!