hunt hollywood

After about 10 minutes, Simon took Sandra to a shop called 'Strong Watch Shop' near Douglas Park.

Unlike other watch shops, this shop can provide customers with handmade customization services.

Simon got the information about this store from Jonathan's assistant Owen Wright. It is said that many Hollywood movies will also customize clock props here.

Chapter 027 Clear Purpose

"Vincent, not black gears, I need bright gears with metallic luster, preferably stainless steel."

"Do you need grooves on the sides? Like those cogs in Chaplin's Modern Times, I think that would be more artistic."

"No, you don't need any grooves on the sides."

"It will look very monotonous, Simon, I will show you a part and you will know."

"Of course I know, but multiple gears overlap to create a three-dimensional effect, so that it will not be monotonous, just like my concept drawing."

"Simon, your concept art, while beautiful, is very amateurish."

"So I'm the customer, you're the owner, Vincent, and it's up to you to try to realize my vision. Also, when the clock is running, all these gears must turn. I need to give people a very strong sense of time." A sense of passing."

"Two options, Simon, if you only need to show such an effect, I can set up another power system, which is very simple and cheap. If you want to integrate this set of gears with the mechanical structure of the clock Together, it may take two or three months to wait, and it is very expensive."

"I choose the first one."

"Okay, so, look at your next concept art, which is, um, a butterfly?"

At the counter of the Strong watch shop, Sandra Bullock sat quietly next to the boy, still holding Simon’s backpack in her arms, listening to a series of conversations between him and the owner of the watch shop, Vincent Strong. There was a smile on his face, but he felt a little distressed that he couldn't get in a word.

At the same time, Sandra looked more than once at the two conceptual drawings that Simon showed to the shop owner.

These are two wall clocks.

The first one has a pendant. The main body is composed of many densely packed gears. Since it is only a light gray pencil drawing, it is indeed very reminiscent of the scene in Chaplin's "Modern Times".

The other clock is a butterfly with very beautiful patterns, and the patterns and textures on the butterfly's body are cleverly divided into twelve hours.Listening to the conversation between Simon and the owner, he seems to want to make it golden, it must be more beautiful.

Simon and the owner discussed for more than ten minutes, and confirmed the details of the two wall clocks and the customized price in detail.

Finally, after paying the deposit, Simon left the watch shop with Sandra.

Standing on the side of the street, Sandra saw Simon start to look around again, cheered up, and smiled nonchalantly: "So, where shall we go next?"

Although the girl hid it well, Simon still felt the slight complaint in Sandra's tone, and pointed to a coffee shop diagonally across the street: "Hey, I invite you to drink coffee and talk about the movie by the way."

Some dissatisfaction that had just risen in my heart disappeared immediately.

He found himself following him across the street, seemingly happily, and laughed secretly at himself.

Unpromising guy.

but.

never mind.

Simon locked the bicycle on the side of the street, and the two walked into the coffee shop together and found a place to sit down.

After each ordered coffee and a plate of muffins, Sandra asked first, "Simon, what are those two wall clocks for?"

Simon patiently explained: "Two shooting props, the gear wall clock is used to shoot the beginning of the movie, and the butterfly wall clock is the setting in Lola's room. As clocks, they both represent the passage of time. However, the butterfly wall clock has another meaning , I hope this film can pave the way for my other film."

In the original version of "Run Lola Run", the two clock props that appeared successively are both European retro types.This is actually very much in line with the overall style of Berlin, an ancient European metropolis.

However, Simon is now in Los Angeles.

A new and vibrant city.

Therefore, if we continue to copy the original version, the two retro European clocks will appear very incongruous in the new version of the film.

Since the time, location, storyline, etc. of the new version of the film need to be greatly adjusted, Simon is actually remaking another completely different "Run Lola".

That being the case, Simon intends to show some ideas that are completely different from the original version.

In fact, the original version of "Run Lola Run" did not convey much too profound philosophical thinking, or even some specious truths.

Director Tom Tykwer just wanted to show the various ideas accumulated by himself as a crazy video game fan through a movie, so he quickly wrote the script and shot quickly. The protagonist is my girlfriend, and most of the other characters are acquaintances. Everyone happily made a very fun movie.

Now, Simon's purpose for making this film is also very simple and clear.

Number one: make a cool movie and show Hollywood what you're capable of.

Second: through the production of this film, re-acquaint yourself with the production process of Hollywood films in the film era.

Third: Promote the concept of "Butterfly Effect" and pave the way for the release of "Butterfly Effect" in the future.

Among them, the first two points are the goals that Simon must complete, and the third point is of an incidental nature. If it can be achieved, it will naturally be better, and it doesn't matter if it cannot be achieved.

However, although the third goal depends on luck, Simon still spares no effort in the performance details.

Two wall clocks just customized, the first modern gear wall clock is to match the new shooting environment.The second butterfly wall clock clearly hints at the concept of 'butterfly effect'.

In fact, Simon intends to set up three 'butterfly' images in the film.

If there are only one or two, it is not easy to leave a deep impression on the audience, and if there are more than three, it will appear too overwhelming. It is just right to set up three images.

The waiter brought the coffee for the two of them. Sandra waited for the other to leave and asked, "Another movie? Are you planning to make two movies?"

"No," Simon shook his head, and said, "The other one is "Butterfly Effect". You should have heard of the recent events, right? I wrote that script."

Sandra just signed a contract with Jonathan last week. In the next few days, media turmoil broke out around the WMA package project, which led to infighting in the company. The girl was also a little worried that she would find another agent just after signing the contract. How could it be possible? I don't know "The Butterfly Effect".

However, no matter what, she never thought that the script of "Butterfly Effect" would be written by the big boy opposite.

After staring at Simon for a few moments, Sandra finally let out a low exclamation: "Wow!"

Simon just shrugged and continued: "Most people who have read the script of "Butterfly Effect" think that this name is too unpopular. The plot of "Run Lola Run" just happens to explain the concept of 'Butterfly Effect' very vividly. Therefore, Through the clear hint of props such as the butterfly wall clock, I hope that "Run Lola Run" can let more people know the term 'butterfly effect'."

Chapter 028 Option Contracts

The two sat in the coffee shop until the evening, and Simon explained to Sandra Bullock all the details of "Run Lola Run" in great detail.

Sandra Bullock is a very straightforward character, and she agreed to Simon's request to dye her hair without hesitation, and also said that she will start exercising during this time to adapt to the upcoming high-intensity shooting.

In the end, Sandra did not express any objection to Simon's $5000 remuneration.

The matter of the heroine is settled in this way.

It's a new week in a blink of an eye.

After the article in the "Los Angeles Times" last Thursday, in the following days, some media indeed shifted their attention to the content of the "Butterfly Effect" story.

Now that it has taken over the project, Fox has noticed this situation, and began to take advantage of the trend to promote "The Butterfly Effect". WMA is even more happy to see the media shift their attention from the company's infighting to the packaging project itself.

As a result, under the guidance of many parties, the group of slightly uncommon words "butterfly effect" began to be gradually noticed by more and more people.

However, although many media began to include Simon's name on topics related to the "Butterfly Effect" script, Jonathan successfully blocked some invitations to interview Simon himself.

As a newcomer, the script transaction price of 20 US dollars is indeed amazing, but after all, it is just a screenwriter who does not attract too many people's attention.Just like not many people still remember, last year a newcomer's original script called "Lethal Weapon" was also sold for a high price of 25 US dollars.

In the final analysis, script trading is actually more concerned by fellow screenwriters who also hope to get ahead. Even if most ordinary people notice it, they are often amazed and envious, and then there will be no more.

So, Simon's life is still very peaceful.

Now that he has made an appointment with Roger Griffin, Simon still hasn't left the convenience store in the new week, and the fat boss is also happy that Simon, a young man with a low salary but still doing his duty, continues to work for him.

After several days of intensive consultations, the final signing date of WMA and Fox's "Project Butterfly" package contract was confirmed on Tuesday.

Simon arrived at the WMA headquarters around 8:50 am, just as Jonathan's black Mercedes turned into the parking lot.

After locking the bicycle, Simon walked up to Jonathan who was waiting for him not far away, shook hands with his manager, and said, "Good morning, Joe."

"Morning, Simon."

Jonathan smiled and shook Simon's hand, then looked at his bicycle.

Jonathan lent Simon $500 before he left for San Francisco last week, and Simon only spent $[-] the entire time.

However, after returning, Jonathan did not take back the money. He knew that Simon was still living in the motel, but he just told Simon to choose a suitable place to live as soon as possible.

Jonathan originally thought that Simon would be impatient to improve his life when he suddenly had a lot of money in his hands.Unexpectedly, Simon is still riding that second-hand bicycle today, and his clothes have not changed much.

Although he admired the young man's financial self-control, Jonathan still persuaded: "Simon, you'd better buy a car as soon as possible. You can't do without a car in Los Angeles. Even if Fox's remuneration still takes a few days, the [-] dollars is about the same." That's enough."

Simon nodded with a smile and said, "I will think about it as soon as possible."

It's not that Simon doesn't want to improve his life.He has made an appointment with a real estate agent and intends to rent an apartment as soon as possible in the next few days.After all, there are too many inconveniences of living in a motel.

But apart from that, Simon has no plans to buy a car or buy other outfits for the time being.

On the one hand, Simon is too busy. He arranges his time very well and doesn't have much free time to go shopping.

On the other hand, as the preparations for "Run Lola Run" deepened step by step, Simon felt more and more that he might have misremembered a very important thing, which was even worse than choosing Roger's convenience store as the filming location. The venue also made serious mistakes, which made him more cautious in spending money.

After Simon and Jonathan arrived at the WMA headquarters, several other main creators of "Butterfly Effect", director Brian De Palma, actor Matt Dillon and actress Elizabeth Sue and others also arrived one after another.

After Lou Weiss and other high-level executives intervened for a short time, Jonathan is now in charge of this project alone.

Everyone simply held a small meeting, and then rushed to the Fox Studios not far from the WMA headquarters.

On Fox's side, Fox President Ronald Goldberg also appeared at the signing ceremony, as well as Fox's producer David Giller, who was in charge of "The Butterfly Effect".

The signing ceremony begins at ten o'clock.

However, the whole process was quite low-key, which is actually the common wish of both parties.

In a conference room at the Fox headquarters, under the witness of the lawyers of both parties, Simon, like several others, frequently signed his own name on the thick contract in duplicate. After being so busy for more than ten minutes, it was finally finalized .

Then there was a simple lunch meeting. Everyone had dinner together at a restaurant in Fox Studios. The heads of the two companies introduced each other and introduced the staff who would be in charge of the "Butterfly Effect" project.

During this period, Simon was also notified that the first production meeting of "Butterfly Effect" will be held next Monday, mainly to discuss the revision of the script.

Although Simon is very confident, the script he provided is quite complete.

However, this kind of thing is inevitable, and the studio has the right to modify the script according to the actual situation and even the personal wishes of the person in charge.

Of course, Simon could actually refuse.

But if this is the case, the studio may be happier. They can find a more obedient screenwriter to modify the script, and Simon will no longer be able to get the remaining 6 US dollars in the contract.

It can be said that the power of subsequent revision of the script is not only the power of the studio, but also the power of the screenwriter himself.No screenwriter would want his script to be modified beyond recognition and eventually turned into a bad movie.Rather than letting someone else modify it, it is better to modify it yourself.

After lunch, Brian De Palma and others drove away directly from Fox Studios, but Simon took a ride with his agent and returned to the WMA headquarters, where his bicycle was still there.

"Fox's fund settlement is still very timely. If it goes well, you will get the check in the next few days." In the broker's office, Jonathan looked at the boy opposite and said, "So, Simon, 20 dollars, yes Have no plans to do anything?"

Simon replied with a smile: "Make a movie, you know."

Jonathan also laughed, and said: "Speaking of which, except for "Butterfly Effect", you have never shown me your other scripts, especially the "Death Comes", which was actually seen by the studio first. of."

Simon took out the script of "Death is Coming" from his backpack, handed it to Jonathan, and said, "I've been too busy recently, I almost forgot to give it to you."

Jonathan took the script, but did not rush to open it, and said: "Fox has actually taken a fancy to this story, and I have also read the outline. It is a very special concept, not much worse than "Butterfly Effect". Simon, the problem now is Yeah, do you want to hand over the script to Fox now for another round of money, or wait until after The Butterfly Effect comes out?"

Simon didn't hesitate at all, and said: "Of course, after the release of "Butterfly Effect", I still have this confidence."

"Butterfly Effect" has become Fox's green-light project. Although the schedule has not been confirmed yet, the release time will not exceed next summer at the latest.

If Simon sells the script to Fox now, due to the restriction of the option contract, he will not get too high a price.

But if you wait patiently until "The Butterfly Effect" is released next year, the situation will be different.

Of course, things don't necessarily go in a better direction.

Once "The Butterfly Effect" is a box office success, the price of Simon's second script will naturally rise.On the contrary, if "Butterfly Effect" fails at the box office, Fox will not only further suppress the offer, but even seriously, it will even completely abandon Simon's script.

Simon signed an option contract with Fox for five years.

Within five years, Fox will have first-choice options on two more of Simon's scripts.The so-called right of first choice is simply an equal offer, and Fox can get priority to get Simon's script.

Moreover, over the years, film companies have actually formed a tacit understanding.

As long as a screenwriter signs an option contract, unless the company voluntarily gives up, other studios will basically not participate in the competition for the script of the other party. Film studios discuss remuneration.

Of course, if Fox is not satisfied with any of Simon's scripts during the five-year contract period.At the end of the contract, the initial deposit of $4 is also non-refundable.

After discussing this matter, Simon took the initiative to mention Sandra's participation in "Run Lola Run".

Jonathan heard that the two had negotiated a salary of 5000 US dollars, and he also did not express any objection.These days, he was busy with the "Butterfly Effect" package project, and the agent still didn't know much about "Run Lola Run", and he even felt that Simon's asking price was a bit high.

However, as Sandra's manager, of course, such words cannot be said.Anyway, it was an agreement between the two, so Jonathan asked Simon to find Owen some time, and asked him to help Sandra prepare a contract.