I was just thinking about taking the arts exam and you said I've been playing supporting roles

Chapter 460: Top-Secret Script!
"Chan, thank you for your wonderful performance!"

Inside the audition room, Jean-Marc Varley, the director of "Dallas Buyers Club," smiled slightly at Chen Jin.

Chen Jin has just finished his audition for the role.

The female producer sitting next to the director was Robbie Bolenner, who also smiled at Chen Jinshu; the two had met once before.

She was also one of the producers of the film Bale had just finished filming, "Out of the Furnace".

To be honest, "Out of the Furnace" and "Dallas" are actually two movies of the same nature, both made with the aim of winning awards, a fact that many people are aware of.

But their ultimate fates were worlds apart.

Bale also gained and lost weight for a role, but in the end, it was Dallas that had the last laugh!
It's safe to say that whether an actor or a movie becomes popular is truly a mysterious phenomenon.

Robbie, how are you feeling?

After Chen Jin left the audition room, Mark Vallée asked the female producer standing next to him.

Robbie Bolenner, 31, is a veteran producer at Focus Features, and in fact, she has the most say in the decision-making process.

The budget for "Dallas" is not considered high by Hollywood standards; with a budget of $500 million, it barely falls out of the low-budget range, so she was perfectly capable of being chosen as the lead actress.

"Chan's acting skills are beyond doubt, but his advantage is probably the smallest among all the auditions!"

Many people present understood this even though Robbie didn't explicitly state why.

Skin tone match!

This is one of the most unsolvable fundamental problems in Hollywood movies.

The reason why Asians struggle to make it in Hollywood, with only a handful achieving fame, is because Chinese Americans have too few roles in Hollywood blockbusters.

Even Black people have their political correctness, what about Chinese people?
In the future, they won't even be able to beat people of Indian or Korean descent.

At least the Indians are united and speak English, while the Chinese in the past couldn't even manage the most basic act of sticking together.

The future influence of Chinese Americans in Hollywood will not come from North America, but from China's growing national strength and film market, which is indeed ironic.

Many Chinese-American actors who achieve fame in North America actually have more opportunities in China.

Such numerous inherent disadvantages have limited the roles available to Chinese Americans in the Hollywood market.

"I feel that we should be more conservative with this role!"

“Bernard played a similar role in ‘Bad Education,’ so he must be very experienced!”

"I also prefer Bernal!"

"..."

The casting director and the producers whispered among themselves, each of them already having a definite answer in their hearts.

Moreover, there's no need for the actor to prepare for the role, since Bernal has played it before and will have a fresh perspective on the character.

For a film with an investment of only 500 million, such an actor is quite cost-effective.

"Alright, call on the next one!"

Mark Vallée said that they would not discuss the role of the second male lead, Ryan, any further, because the next person to audition was Ron Woodruff, the male lead of "Dallas," who was considered the highlight of the entire script.

His actors must possess both acting skills and talent; that is of utmost importance.

***
"How about it?"

As soon as Chen Jin walked out of the audition room, Aaron went up to her.

A few more actors just arrived at the rest area outside. Judging from their status, Aaron could tell that they were probably vying for the male lead role.

He just didn't expect that this independent film, with a budget of only $500 million, would attract so many second-tier stars.

It's worth noting that the script for "Dallas" had been shelved by Universal for nearly 20 years!
The script was already in development in 1996, and the initial plan was to cast Woody Harrelson, a potential Oscar winner, as Ron, with Dennis Hope, director of "Speed," as the director.

However, the project was abandoned due to the investor's bankruptcy.

In the new millennium, Universal acquired the script and prepared to give Brad Pitt a try, but Pitt withdrew from the project and opted to work on World War Z.

The project was established and then withdrawn, withdrawn and then established again, until now it has finally started filming.

The investors are still Wall Street suckers; it's clear that Global and Focus won't pay this money.

According to the system information Chen Jin checked, the film "Dallas" was indeed full of twists and turns, and it was not easy for it to come to fruition.

Even now, after the project was approved, the Wall Street capital suddenly withdrew its investment 10 weeks before filming began, and it was producer Robbie who kept the crew running using her personal credit card.

Matthew McConaughey, the lead actor, has not yet become a global sensation with "Interstellar." Currently, he is considered a "muscle-bound pretty face" by the industry because he often plays romantic comedies, and the investors clearly do not believe that he can act well in this movie.

In addition, the project underwent multiple changes and funding shortages, so even Focus Features had little confidence in the film.

Not to mention Universal, they didn't even take this movie seriously.

"good!"

"I've done all the roles I was supposed to play, and I even told them I could lose weight for the part!"

Chen Jin shrugged. Actually, his acting was passable, but he still had a trump card he hadn't used yet, which he would have to wait for the right opportunity to use.

"All right!"

"The chances are slim. Many Hollywood actors can lose weight!"

Aaron felt that this was not an advantage at all.

He patted Chen Jin on the shoulder and pointed to the teams that had just come in: "These should be the ones auditioning for the male lead!"

"Oh?"

Chen Jin glanced over and actually saw Matthew McConaughey, the future Oscar-winning actor and a top Hollywood star.

At present, it is certainly not enough; the salary is less than 100 million.

With "Interstellar" and his Oscar win, he had already joined the $2000 million per film club, a Hollywood standard for the salaries of top global stars.

Chen Jin should now be considered a second-tier actress, with a third-tier reputation.

Because his salary is much higher than Matthew's, and he has the backing of UTA and the Chinese market, his starting salary is at least 200 million US dollars, which can be reduced for art films.

"Chan, I still think you should prepare the scripts for 'Budapest' and 'Whiplash' properly, especially the former!"

"We are open to investing in 'Whiplash,' and the chances of landing a role are very high!"

"As for 'Budapest,' the director is Wes Anderson, a genius who's a regular at the three major film festivals and the Oscars. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this film, which has been in preparation for six years, is likely to win awards at film festivals!"

"It will greatly help increase your market value and reputation!"

Aaron emphasized it to Chen Jin again, and Chen Jin knew that what he said made a lot of sense.

Without any information about the future, among so many films auditioning for roles, "Budapest" is indeed the most "cost-effective" role.

If we acquire it, it's only a matter of time before my value skyrockets.

Putting aside the director and script, the fact that the role Chen Jin was auditioning for was defined as "non-white" was a significant advantage.

For Black people, it doesn't really fit either.

Ideally, it would be someone from the Middle East, whose skin color isn't so obvious; Chinese would also be acceptable, as it would make sense.

That's why Aaron values ​​this role so much and is determined to get it.

In his view, Chen Jin had an advantage in the audition; his Venice Film Festival Best Actor award gave him a significant edge.

Director and screenwriter Wes Anderson's resume actually comes from the three major film festivals.

Two Berlin nominations, one Venice nomination, plus two Oscar nominations.

This director will definitely be interested in Chen Jin, who also won the Venice Film Festival's Best Actress award.

Adding to the mix is ​​an internationally acclaimed actor who is not white, and the role also needs to fit the character's youthful identity. Chen Jin is undoubtedly the most suitable candidate for the role. There are only a handful of non-white actors in this age group who have won awards at the three major European film festivals or the Golden Globes and Oscars. Among those who auditioned, Chen Jin has the most impressive resume; Aaron has already inquired and found that many of them are newcomers.

Chen Jin's Best Actor award alone could completely overshadow them.

Buzz!
Just as Chen Jin was about to answer Aaron, his cell phone suddenly rang in his pocket.

Joel Rubin!

There must be news about "The Martian".

"Aaron, I need to take this call!"

After stepping out of the elevator, Chen Jin went to the side and dialed the number.

"Boss, I'm more curious about how you managed to convince that stubborn old man, Andy Weir!"

"He agreed to transfer the film and television rights to 'The Martian' to us, but he didn't say the price; he told us to decide for ourselves!"

Joel's excited voice came from the other end of the phone.

"is it?"

Chen Jin smiled and said, "Then take some time to sign the copyright to our studio and then transfer it to the Electronic Science and Technology University!"

"$50, or a percentage of revenue after The Martian is released, which would he choose?"

Chen Jin was certainly not as stingy as Warner and Random House.

Chen Jin hopes to collaborate with such a truly talented writer in the long term. He likely owns the copyrights to other novels, which could be bundled together.

If The Martian becomes a global sensation like the original timeline, then Andy Weir will be among the top screenwriters in North America!
Giving him a share of the profits is necessary, and it will also give him some say in the writers' guild.

These editors have a natural reverence for bestselling authors of physical books.

"50 million..."

Joel was clearly quite frightened when he heard this.

"Boss, I have a feeling that guy will make a move for $10. He doesn't seem to care much about the price of the copyright!"

This is an evaluation skill developed by a manager who has worked with brands for a long time.

In fact, that was exactly how many were originally sold.

Through his email exchanges with Andy, Joel had a clear understanding of what kind of person Andy was.

Spiritual pursuits outweigh material pursuits.

Such people are the easiest to deceive.

"It's 50 yuan, including subsequent adaptations and participation in filming. It's not a business deal, but a collaboration!"

Chen Jin spoke to Joel, who could only shrug.

He really couldn't understand the mindset of his own artist. His way of doing things was so different from that of Americans, giving him the intuition that he was a kind and good person.

But such good people are actually very easy to get taken advantage of in North America.

Of course, he also knew that many people in China were like this, and their logic was very different from that of people cultivated by capitalism.

We don't do enough one-off deals.

"Ok!"

"Then I'll have Ferry draft the contract, including any subsequent collaborations!"

"If he chooses to split the profits, should we provide some financial support, since..."

If he loses money, he won't get a single penny.

Joel obviously wouldn't say that, but they had to prepare for the worst.

"Well, if he's willing to trust us and choose to split the profits, the maximum will be no more than three per thousand, or $10 in cash!"

"A 0.3% cut of profits exceeding 100,000!"

This is Chen Jin's target price.

If Andy really chooses this option, Chen Jin will immediately appoint him as the screenwriter for "The Martian," because such a person is a good fit for collaboration and is far better than those Jewish people like Kavanaugh and Weinstein.

"Ok!"

"I'll try to finalize the contract today; he happens to be in California too!"

"Thank you, thank you for your trouble!"

Chen Jin politely said something, and Joel smiled and hung up the phone.

"Did you win the bid for that novel?"

Aaron, who was standing nearby, had obviously heard Chen Jin's words as well. As a member of the management team, he naturally knew what Joel had been doing these past few days.

Chen Jin actually wants to buy the copyright to a free online novel that she has her eye on?
Aaron sometimes really didn't understand this Chinese man in front of him. If it weren't for the unprecedented success of his first film in Hollywood, and the fact that Universal had already signed a contract for the second film, he might not have joined Chen Jin's team.

After all, he is UTA's top outreach agent.

His previous employers included the famous Caribbean pirate captains Johnny Depp and the Coen brothers. Aaron watched Depp rise to the top step by step.

Compared to him, Chen Jin is clearly not qualified.

UTA's main motivation for assembling such a lineup for Chen Jin was the Asian market behind him.

This is also the direction for future UTA extensions.

He was promoted by UTA as a typical example, and the team doesn't know how long they can keep it up.

If the promotion in Asia is ineffective, this top-notch team of agents may face the risk of being disbanded at any time.

Of course, he was also well aware that Chen Jin owned a film company.

This new employer is extremely wealthy, and can be considered one of the youngest 20-year-old billionaires in Asia.

This is also a manifestation of ability.

His purchase of the rights to an unknown novel is like Johnny Depp buying a luxury handbag.

The sheer scale of the commotion was unbelievable to him.

That online writer is such a show-off; I've been trying to sign him for so many days and still haven't succeeded.

Aaron muttered to himself as he got into the team's van with Chen Jin.

They don't have any scheduled activities for today, but Chen Jin needs to prepare for the audition for "The Wolf of Wall Street" in a couple of days. "Whiplash" and "Budapest" will have to wait, as these have a specific timeline.

"Aaron, what are the chances of us getting 'The Wolf of Wall Street'?"

Chen Jin flipped through an encrypted script. This script was different from the ones used in the auditions for "Dallas," and it looked very high-end.

This is a script classified as top-secret in Hollywood!

This was also the first time Chen Jin had ever known that Hollywood scripts actually had secrecy measures in place.

Not only were they placed in the bank for safekeeping, but a very long and strict confidentiality agreement had to be signed before they could be retrieved.

The script is thick not because of the amount of content, but because every English word written on the red inner pages is very large, and the spacing between lines is also very wide.

The bottom page is made red to prevent photocopying. The large font indicates that each script has a unique digital watermark added to the inner pages, making it easy to trace the source in case of a leak.

It must be said that Hollywood does a pretty good job of preventing script theft.

It's easy to imagine how much some people suffered because of the script!

(End of this chapter)