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

Chapter 473 Taking Down Dallas!
"It's truly unbelievable... His Raine is beyond my expectations!"

"To be honest, I didn't care about him at all during my first audition!"

After the audition, "Dallas" director Jean-Marc Varley couldn't help but speak up. Craig Bowden, a screenwriter who had been silent until now, nodded thoughtfully, seemingly agreeing with Varley's point of view.

In fact, Craig Bowden has little say here, which is why he remains silent, as he is a new screenwriter.

"Dallas" marked his first collaboration with industry veteran Melissa Warlake, and also his first foray into Hollywood screenwriting.

That's right, Dallas was the first screenplay he ever wrote.

Of course, that's a nicer way of putting it.

In fact, Bowden acted as Warrick's assistant from the very beginning in writing the script for "Dallas," and the entire script for "Dallas" was actually written by him.

It was euphemistically said that Warwick was responsible for overseeing and polishing the work, as well as making a final revision.

Yes, many famous screenwriters develop their scripts this way.

This isn't just the case in Hollywood; it's the same in screenwriting circles in China, Japan, and other countries. Whenever a film is credited with two or more screenwriters, one of them is definitely doing the hard work and is the one who deserves the most credit for the script.

However, often the screenwriter's name is listed much later in the credits; the director will request a screenwriter's name because they participated in the revisions.

The veteran in the industry has to be credited, because he's responsible for reviewing and editing.

In the end, the "first screenwriter," who clearly put in the most effort and knew the script best, was the most marginalized "character."

Giving him a credit is already considered a good thing for the production team; kicking such people out of the production team happens quite often.

Who told you to be a new screenwriter?

With no fame, no talent, and no works, they bully honest people like you.

Therefore, the person who has the most authority to speak about the script and characters of "Dallas" is undoubtedly Craig Bowden!

He knew more about the supporting character, Ryan, than Woodruff, the son of the main character.

After all, he had this image in mind when he wrote it.

Woodruff Jr. had never had any deep contact with Ryan; he had only seen his picture.

To be honest, when Craig Bowden first saw Chen Jin during her audition, he completely ignored the racial characteristics of the character in his mind.

He really does look so much like him.

He's so much like Ryan from Craig Bowden's novels—so charming and alluring, yet… he's a man.

He has male physical characteristics and some subconscious male behaviors.

If Craig Bowden had the authority to make such a decision, he would definitely approve it immediately.

Putting aside Chen Jin's Chinese identity, just from that audition, he had already made a screenwriter automatically imagine the role of Ryan in the "Dallas" script as him.

It's that amazing.

This is what Raine should be like: a beautiful transgender HIV patient who dresses herself up beautifully and speaks with great poise.

Even with a terminal illness, she still exudes femininity.

This Chinese actor performed really well.

Craig Bowden has some faith that Chen Jin can play the role well.

"How are you all?"

Seeing that no one in the room had spoken for a long time, Rachel Winter couldn't help but speak up. Everyone's face looked like they had "something on their mind."
"I have just expressed my approval!"

"Chan is truly a great actor; the Venice Film Festival Best Actor award is definitely not a dubious one!"

Director Jean-Marc Vallée was the first to speak, followed by Woodruff Jr.: "He doesn't fit the role of Uncle Ryan, but he acted alright..."

"If this were a commercial film, the audience probably wouldn't like this character much!"

"But for art films, I don't think it makes much difference whether a person of Asian or Caucasian descent plays the role!"

Melissa Warlake, the credited screenwriter, is only thinking about getting the film made as soon as possible; she's had enough of these repeated cancellations and withdrawals of funding.

The repeated setbacks of this project left him exhausted.

He hadn't even bothered to watch the auditions before; he wouldn't have wanted to waste his time on it if Rachel hadn't called him over to discuss some details of filming.

"Craig, what about you?"

Rachel looked at the real screenwriter who hadn't spoken yet: "This story was drafted by you. You investigated Ryan's background. Don't you feel there's a discrepancy? After all, the real Ryan is white, we all know that!"

"I am not sure!"

Craig finally spoke up: "I don't know how the audience will react!"

“But many people know the story of Dallas, and they know Woodruff’s father, but who is the other founder of Dallas? Unless they really look into it, they won’t know that he is a transgender person!”

"Not to mention, I know his name!"

"So, the audience doesn't care who Ryan is?"

Rachel understood some of it.

"Yes, what they care about is the inspirational story; they don't care who plays Ryan, whether it's a man or a woman!"

"That's enough, Mr. Woodruff is a white actor!"

Just like in "The Shawshank Redemption," the second male lead was originally white, but the movie cast a black actor as him.

"I feel like the actor's portrayal of Ryan has stepped into my mind!"

"That must be him!"

In his first time as a screenwriter, Craig was quite artistic and intellectual.

Therefore, Chen Jin's audition performance perfectly captured the image of Ryan that he had imagined.

"3 votes to 1?"

"Personally, I wasn't really keen on giving him the role of Ryan, but... he was very enthusiastic!"

“We don’t have much time left. Since Craig and Mark both said it was okay, let’s finalize the contract with them as soon as possible!”

Rachel was speaking from the heart.

This is a last resort.

The main issues are funding and time.

However... if Raine really gives the role to this Chinese actor, the investment seems... not a big problem.

The other party is quite optimistic about this script and is willing to submit it.

Thinking about it this way, Rachel's worries about funding eased considerably.

At least, she has this as a backup plan when she really can't raise the money.

"His fee...I wonder how much this guy needs?"

Bernal's salary is 80, and Rachel thinks Chen Jin should be paid less; but she also knows that this actor's salary in the Hollywood market has recently risen sharply, possibly even higher than Bernal's.

After all, he has a huge Chinese market behind him.

This is the real reason why Chen Jin's salary is so high; her team has been hyping up this value.

"Fine, I'll call his agent myself and talk to him!"

"Let's try to finalize the role as soon as possible!"

Rachel finally sighed. The others in the room had long since stopped thinking about the role of Ryan. In Craig and Jean-Marc's opinion, the role of Ryan had just been decided.

As a producer, Rachel also had to consider the actors' salaries. "What about the other actors?"

"Do we need to take another look?"

Rachel suddenly asked the others in the room, mainly Melissa Warwick.

"Rachel, we don't have much time to waste!"

"When can those actors confirm their audition dates?"

"I don't mind if it's possible right away, but I feel that waiting a couple of days would be too much of a waste of our time!"

"What do you say?"

Melissa Warwick shrugged, and Rachel had no choice but to say, "Okay, then I'll contact a few other actors first to see if I can audition right away. If not, I'll call Chan's agent!"

This should be the safest option.

From Rachel's perspective, he still harbored some resentment towards Chen Jin.

It's not about his performance, nor is it racial discrimination, but rather an elite white person's feeling that the true story must be respected.

Because the character of Ryan in this true story is white, she always felt it was strange to have a Chinese person play the role. This is a kind of obsessive-compulsive and perfectionist struggle.

Thinking this, Rachel took out her phone and contacted the other auditionees from Rain.

It's really strange that a producer would take the initiative to contact someone like that.

So when the agents of the actors who auditioned answered the phone, they knew that there must be a problem with Rachel.

If we don't seize the opportunity now, when will we?
They were unaware that Rachel already had a replacement, so they were all fighting for the best interests of their own artists, including their pay.

That's definitely the right thing to do.

Even Chen Jin's agent, Paula, initially wanted to do the same.

Raising prices on the spot is perfectly normal in the entertainment industry.

If Rachel were really in a hurry, she might agree, but now... Chen Jin's alternative kept echoing in Rachel's mind. Compared to those disgusting, bitchy artist managers on the other end of the phone, Rachel actually thought Chen Jin was quite handsome.

People are defined by comparison.

One person proactively contacts you for an audition, while a bunch of others are already negotiating prices before the auditions have even started.

Even if Rachel still had doubts about Chen Jin, this phone call still made her furious.

She was never a woman with a good temper.

Otherwise, Paula wouldn't have kept calling her a "bitch." The two strong women clearly couldn't communicate effectively.

"Shit, these bastards!"

"A 200 million yuan salary? Why don't you just die?"

Rachel hung up the phone and kept cursing, feeling like she had just made a fool of herself.

With funds already tight, is it really necessary to maintain the same level of perfection as before?

With this thought in mind, Rachel's mind was completely clear... No more fighting, just Chen Jin.

Contact his agent; if the salary is agreed upon, "Dallas" can start filming immediately!
Snapped!
Rachel dialed the phone number of Aaron Anderson, the agent in charge of external relations for Chen Jin's management team.

Beep!
The phone was answered after only three rings.

"Rachel, I've always admired your work efficiency!"

Aaron said with a laugh on the other end of the phone.

Because it's almost midnight; who, except perhaps someone in the entertainment industry, is still working at this hour?

Some people even call in the middle of the night.

"Alright, Aaron, I know you know what I've been through!"

"Chan's audition just went well, and our team is quite satisfied with him. However, our production team's budget is really limited, so his salary... well, you know what I mean!"

Rachel was too embarrassed to say it, but Aaron seemed quite straightforward.

"Chan told me about the script for 'Dallas,' and he gave me two options!"

"First, he acted for free, yet he still captured 10% of the global box office!"

"You should know about the second option. Chan's company is very interested in investing in this script. He's very optimistic about 'Dallas'..."

Aaron spoke quickly, and Rachel actually wanted to interrupt, but in the end she listened patiently to the end.

Compared to investing in "Dallas", Chen Jin's first proposal excited her considerably.

Zero pay!

Another actor willing to act for free.

He and Matthew should be able to become good friends, and this film is a collaboration between the two of them... Rachel's last bit of concern for Chen Jin vanished completely because of this plan.

Chen Jin's portrayal of Ryan, alongside Matthew's Ron, should be quite exciting.

Because they are all people who are very considerate and thoughtful towards others.

This is the quality of an excellent actor.

Rachel admitted that she had misunderstood the Chinese actor before, thinking that he came to Hollywood for the money.

No one would think that actors are getting a good deal by working for free.

Because nobody knows how things will turn out after the movie is released!

Even worse, the film might not even be released after it's finished, meaning it won't earn a single penny and will be a complete loss; moreover, the failure rate of art films in the North American market is as high as 99%!

In other words, out of 100 art films, only about 1 might actually make money.

Moreover, this film has to be an award-winning film. It needs to win awards at some film festivals to have a chance to be released in theaters and rely on the fame of winning awards to gain some traffic and box office revenue.

An Oscar? That's even more unrealistic.

Countless commercial films have their eyes on this award. Every year, Hollywood produces hundreds of films, but only a handful are nominated. Even a low-budget film like "Dallas" faced numerous setbacks in its investment process, not to mention the public relations efforts for the Oscars.

Winning an Oscar costs a lot of money.

Rachel wouldn't dream of such a far-fetched idea. Although everyone wants their movies to be a huge hit, rave at the box office, and win countless awards, such a dream is like winning the lottery in Hollywood.

We might not see each other for several years.

Rachel couldn't possibly think it was herself.

She actually had a feeling that even if "Dallas" won awards at film festivals, its final box office would probably only be in the millions.

She can only recoup her losses through prize money from film festival awards.

Winning awards at major film festivals brings financial rewards; even better, it attracts the attention of overseas film distributors who sell distribution rights.

But it's too difficult for an American story to be shown in other countries.

Film distributors also need to consider whether there is a market and whether tickets can be sold.

Therefore, Chen Jin and Matthew's support for the project without any payment was purely out of respect for the script. They genuinely loved the story and wanted to play the two characters in it.

This is the resonance between the actor and the character.

"The second one!"

Rachel thought for a long time, and finally smiled at Aaron and said, "I accept Chan's investment, but I also have a few requirements!"

(End of this chapter)