America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 12 Priority of Debts
Early Thursday morning, Martin drove his old Ford to the Midtown Arts Theater.

Hundreds of people gathered in the theater square next to Peachtree Street.

This is Atlanta's hangout for extras.

To put it bluntly, it is a temporary labor market.

Martin was here yesterday morning and happened to see the TBS TV show selecting audience actors, but he was not chosen.

Whether in Los Angeles or Atlanta, the supply of grassroots actors far exceeds the demand.

Lacking connections and no organization, even finding a job as a pure background artist requires luck.

Martin found a place to park the car and saw Robert's big head when he entered the square.

Robert, with his hair combed neatly and wearing an old-fashioned formal suit, said, "Wait a minute, the captain hasn't come yet."

Martin looked at it briefly and asked, "Did you make it specially?"

Robert said: "This way I have a greater chance of being chosen. Actually I don't have any other ideas. Just one line will do."

This is really a matter of luck. Martin said, "Good luck to you, man."

People from the Marietta Theater arrived one after another, including Martin, all of them were temporary workers and paupers.

The head of the troupe, Jerome, drove over in a Lexus and asked everyone in the troupe to wait at the edge of the square. He made a phone call and waited until a bus stopped on Peachtree Street. He shook hands with the fat man who got off the bus, said a few words, and waved to the square: "Get in the bus."

When the fat man saw that there were no ugly people or people with particularly strange looks, he said something to Jerome and then went to select temporary workers.

Martin walked quickly and got on the bus first. He glanced at the first row in front of the door and saw a folder on the inner seat.

He chose a seat on the other side of the row and Robert went inside.

Martin sat outside and looked out the window at the square.

The fat man is selecting people. His method of selection is very simple. He just chooses whoever he likes.

Based on the information Martin has collected recently, it is not difficult to judge that Atlanta is far away from film and television production centers such as New York and Los Angeles, preferential policies have just been released, and there is currently no mature temporary performance market and supporting agent system.

Jerome is a broker in a way.

The laws and regulations in California and New York do not apply here.

The bus was soon full of people, and the fat man and Martin were separated only by a narrow aisle.

Martin didn't rush to talk to her.

The bus had not gone far along Peachtree Street when it suddenly slowed down.

A parade appeared ahead, near the State Capitol.

There were also TV and newspaper reporters following along.

The fat man stretched his neck and looked ahead. Instead of cursing, he said, "Make way for those people. After they pass the next intersection, we will turn around and take a detour."

The name of the "ATL Freedom Association" was printed on the marchers' vests. Martin judged the fat man's attitude, as if he was talking to himself: "Are you fighting for your legal rights?"

The voice was not loud, but it could still be heard by the fat man, who said casually, "This is a famous liberal progressive group in Atlanta, and they have done many remarkable things."

Martin determined that the fat man's position was on the side of the marchers, and immediately adjusted the position of his buttocks: "Are you doing something great this time?"

The fat man obviously knew: "Several conservative leaders of the Georgia Methodist Association declared that women are just family subordinates and must follow the will of the family, which triggered this protest."

Martin said: "It's a very socially meaningful action."

The fat man was proud: "One of the organizers of this event is Ms. Kelly Gray, the boss of Gray Company." Unexpectedly, this fat man is also a good employee who cares about the boss. Martin quickly found a topic to get closer to him and said, "My friend and many of her friends have always wanted to join the Freedom Association and do something to fight for freedom rights. They can participate in socially meaningful activities like this at any time, but unfortunately they can't find a suitable introducer."

As long as they provide meals, Elena can pull out hundreds of people from the Clayton community, let alone dozens of people.

As for Elena, she volunteers at the conservative Methodist Association.

This is not the point. Elena said that as long as the compensation is right, it doesn't matter who you trust.

"I know a lot of outstanding people in the association." The fat man definitely has a future in Gray Company. He took the initiative to attract supporters for his boss. He took out his business card and handed it to Martin: "I'm Andrew. If you want to join, feel free to call me."

Martin took it and put it away solemnly, then took out the business card he had prepared and handed it over: "Martin Davis."

Just before the bus turned off Peachtree Street, another parade entered Peachtree Street, carrying the Methodist flag.

The two sides were shouting at each other, and the whole city was in an uproar.

The happiest people are the media reporters.

…………

The bus traveled for more than half an hour and arrived at a farm north of Atlanta.

The crew rented a farm and temporarily built some 19th century plantation-style sets. Next to the wooden house that served as a temporary dressing room, actors dressed in old-era costumes had already finished their makeup.

Martin got off the bus and found the team leader Jerome waiting at the entrance of the farm.

Andrew approached Jerome and said directly, "There are two special roles. The daily wage is $100. The working time is until 10: pm. Overtime will be calculated at $ per hour. Ask your best actors to come over."

The hourly wage calculated purely for extras is only $5.15.

Jerome immediately remembered that the idiot Martin still owed him dues, and he called Martin's name first: "Martin, come here!" Then he shouted: "Kohler, Robert, Jones."

No one can owe me money! Jerome said to Fatty Andrew again: "Martin is good, you can give him priority."

Andrew remembered the name, and when the people arrived, he called Martin: "Martin Davis, and... you, follow me."

Robert, who followed Martin, became another lucky person.

Jerome led the two people to the wooden house, and the rest of the people could only follow the stage manager to the temporary makeup area in the open air.

Robert poked Martin, who gave him a look to shut up.

The two followed Jerome to the cabin and waited for a while before being notified to go in and put on makeup.

While putting on makeup and changing clothes, an assistant came over to talk about the play.

There is no character with any lines, but he moves around a lot.

The two played the role of killers who tried to assassinate the heroine. They rushed into the garden where the heroine was with guns, but were shot dead by the hero. Then the hero and heroine fell in love after the hero saved the beauty.

In other words, to shoot this scene, Martin and Robert needed to lie dead the whole time.

Of course, the background artist lying dead on the ground gets paid more than the background artist standing up.

Robert has a senior background, not to mention Martin.

There was no difficulty at the beginning. I strictly followed the movement requirements and passed it in two takes. The only time the director called cut was when the male lead accidentally dropped the gun.

Then the highlight came, the two of them lay on the ground motionless.

The hero and heroine embrace each other affectionately...

(End of this chapter)