America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 569 La La Land
The personnel changes at Warner Bros. gradually revealed chaos, and rumors were spreading everywhere. Martin received more reliable information that Alan Horn, the head of Warner Pictures, was about to leave and prepare to join Disney Pictures under Walt Disney as co-chairman and CEO.

In the first decade of the new century, Warner Bros. dominated Hollywood.

In the next ten years, it is very likely that Disney will be the only dominant player.

Martin held an internal meeting in the studio and discussed with Louise several times to make preparations for both scenarios.

With every change of power, there are always prominent figures from the previous generation who fall.

No one wants to be the one who falls.

That day, Ary Emmanuel called and asked Martin to meet.

Because Martin was at the Warner Bros. studio filming Gone Girl, he came straight over.

The two agreed to meet at a cold drink shop.

When Martin rushed over, Ali had already arrived.

Besides him, there is another person, Mark Wahlberg.

Martin didn't feel embarrassed at all. After all, the person who stole Mark Wahlberg's role in "The Departed" was Matt Damon, and it had nothing to do with him.

Wahlberg took the initiative to step forward and shake Martin's hand: "I'm new to WMA, so I'll give you more advice in the future."

Martin shook his hand. "You're welcome."

Wahlberg simply said: "We actually have one thing in common. We both don't like Matt Damon and his gang."

Martin was slightly startled, then he understood what was going on and laughed: "This is a good common point."

The two sat down, and Wahlberg took the initiative to say: "I have heard a little about the Foot Gang and the Face Gang. I hate the Foot Gang. When I auditioned for The Departed, the crew originally decided that I would play the role of Ding Genan, but due to the operation of the Foot Gang, Matt Damon snatched it away in the end."

Martin remained calm and said, "The Foot Gang is really a bunch of bastards!"

Wahlberg was clearly trying to curry favor with Martin: "It's a pity that Matt Damon, that bastard, didn't go in with Harvey. I've heard from many media friends that there were many victims and media who wanted to expose the case, but were repeatedly pressured by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, and finally had to compromise."

"These are moral issues, not legal ones," Martin said.

Some time ago, he focused his main attention on Harvey Weinstein and ignored others.

After all, Xavi is the core of the Foot Gang. Once he is defeated, the others will be easy to deal with.

“I’m not going to let Damon go,” Wahlberg said.

"He will definitely be greatly affected in the future." Seeing Wahlberg licking endlessly, Ali quickly interrupted him and said to Martin: "Old friend, I am almost annoyed by Natalie Portman recently. She complains to me all day long."

Martin knew what he was talking about: "David Fincher and the original author Gillian Flynn both chose Charlize Theron in the final audition, and I had no choice."

Ali said, "I see, she's just not good enough. I'll stop Natalie from bothering you when I get back."

Enough of the foreshadowing, he suddenly changed the subject: "Mark read Marcus's autobiography "Lone Survivor" and saw the script from me. He was very interested in the prototype character of Marcus."

Wahlberg immediately followed up and said, "I have played many soldier roles, such as "Edge", "Three Kings", and "Sniper". I have undergone long-term military and firearms training, which gives me an advantage over other actors."

Originally, he also approached Saoirse Ronan, who played his daughter in "The Lovely Bones", for help.

But Saoirse Ronan was more slippery than a fish. She talked a lot of nonsense but didn't come to see her teacher.

Ali looked at Martin and said, "Give Mark a chance, he's great."

Martin thought about it and thought that Mark Wahlberg should be able to play the role, so he took out his cell phone and called Marcus and producer Akiva Goldsman in front of the two of them and recommended Mark Wahlberg.

The rest was easy. Just let Mark Wahlberg prepare for the audition with makeup on.

Upon hearing this, Mark Wahlberg simply went to the nearby studio of "Lone Survivor".

Ali stayed to have tea with Martin.

Martin said, "You've been very active recently. Did you just dig him here?"

Ali said simply: "It has been a while. He has a wide range of roles and is very promising in the commercial field. He can play serious roles as well as shit and fart roles."

He put Wahlberg aside and said, "The person I want to dig the most is Christopher Nolan."

Martin had introduced the two to each other, and that was all he could do, not getting overly involved. He asked, "Nolan hasn't softened his attitude?"

Ali said: "Not yet, but CAA's pressure on Nolan has created a huge crack. As long as I persist, the crack will expand and collapse the whole wall."

Martin smiled and said, "I hope you can dig down the whole wall soon."

"I will." Ali finished a cup of tea and said goodbye.

Behind the counter of the cold drink shop, Mia had been observing Martin, waiting for the two men to leave. Seeing that Martin was about to leave, she quickly picked up her bag and went over to look for him.

Martin had already seen Mia and greeted her: "Long time no see." Mia said carefully: "Martin, can I spend a few minutes chatting with you?"

Martin knew Mia when he was still a child actor. There was no hurry at the moment, so he pointed to the chair opposite and said, "Sit down and talk."

He asked, "I remember you left here to focus on your career in Hollywood?"

Mia smiled awkwardly: "I can't help it. Life forced Sebastian to concentrate on his creation, but his works were too classical and did not conform to the current trend. He also lost his job at the Smoke House. I can only think of ways to make more money."

Martin nodded slightly. These two people are just a microcosm of the tens of thousands of low-level actors and staff in Hollywood.

There may be hundreds of thousands or even millions of people working in Hollywood, but only a minority of them can make it big.

"I may not have much talent in acting." Mia was quite helpless: "Even though I got a role with lines, it still didn't change my situation. My acting career didn't improve at all."

Martin knows that this is the case for most actors: "Many times, hard work does not necessarily lead to equal rewards. I have had similar experiences, but I am just luckier than you."

Mia nodded and said, "Martin, do you remember what I mentioned last time? I want to try to write a script. I have been using my spare time to create it, but I feel that the stories I write are terrible and I overthrow them again and again."

Martin asked, "Have you written a suitable story?"

Mia opened the bag she brought and took out a manuscript and handed it to Martin: "I can't write a fantasy story, so I simply adapted a script based on my experience with Sebastian. Now I have written the beginning. Can you help me take a look?"

Martin took it and found that it was a handwritten manuscript. He kindly reminded: "Next time, keep the original manuscript and only provide a photocopy. If someone takes your manuscript away, you will lose if you sue."

Mia wasn't even a formal screenwriter, so she wasn't well prepared for this, so she nodded quickly, "I remember."

Martin quickly browsed through the script and found that the heroine in the story was indeed very similar to Mia, and could even be said to be similar to many low-level actresses in Hollywood.

As for the male protagonist, all Martin saw of Sebastian was the pianist who played music in the smoke house, and he didn't know anything else.

The heroine is set as an actress and playwright at the bottom of Hollywood, working part-time as a waitress at Warner Studios. She needs to take frequent leave to attend auditions, but has never received any important roles and can only support herself by part-time jobs.

The protagonist is naturally a pianist who plays in the restaurant. His ideas are too old-fashioned and he has always insisted on jazz.

The two met because of a traffic jam, and later they resonated with each other's identities as down-and-out Hollywood people, so they came together and encouraged each other in their careers.

Martin was very familiar with the last scene of the manuscript, in which the hero and heroine visited the Griffith Observatory together at night and established their relationship as lovers.

There is nothing more after that.

It is obvious that the script is not yet finished, and even for the completed parts, a writing layman like Martin can see that there are many problems in scene design and transitions.

Mia is a newbie, so it's normal for her to have problems.

Martin asked, "Not finished yet?"

Mia said directly: "As I was writing, I suddenly lost confidence, and Sebastian and I had a disagreement about the script."

She elaborated: "Sebastian read the script and thought it would be more appropriate to add jazz and other musical elements to it, and design it as a musical genre, but musicals have long been out of fashion, and I think romantic comedies are better."

Martin nodded slightly: "It's a good story."

Because of her experience of working hard at the bottom of society, the stories Mia wrote resonated with Martin.

Martin also saw the shadow of a movie he had once remembered, "La La Land" starring Emma Stone and Ryan Gosling.

Martin was deeply impressed by that film. On the one hand, it was made relatively recently in time, and on the other hand, it caused a huge misunderstanding at the Oscars for Best Picture award ceremony.

The gay Black Lives Matter winner of the Best Picture award was named "La La Land" when the guest announced the result.

Is there an inside story? Martin doesn’t know. He has forgotten the titles of all the gay Black Lives Matter movies, but he always remembers La La Land.

Mia saw that Martin was silent and asked, "Is it worthless?"

Martin thought for a moment and said, "You wrote a very rough script. Many parts need to be revised."

Mia lowered her head, wondering whether she should leave Los Angeles and return to her hometown.

Martin continued: "Well, Mia, you finish writing the entire script first."

Mia raised her head, her eyes full of brilliance again, and promised: "I will stick to it and finish it."

Martin glanced at the counter and said, "I need you to concentrate on your creation. Quit these part-time jobs and go to my film and television studio to find Jessica. You have met her."

Mia nodded: "I know him."

"She will give you a full-time writing job, so you can focus on writing scripts." Martin said in advance, "In addition, there will be a buyout fee for the script copyright. Since you are a newcomer, the price will definitely not be high. I will give you a buyout price that is above the average for new screenwriters in the Writers Guild."

According to a new agreement signed by the Writers Guild last year, a script by a new screenwriter can only be paid a maximum of $30,000.

Mia agreed immediately.

(End of this chapter)