Chapter 26: Behind the glitz
"Don't worry. Endeavor Elite Company doesn't have too many big customers now, which is why they attach great importance to us. They will fully support us for this TV series. There is absolutely no problem in this regard. As for the actors, Nick, there will never be a shortage of actors in a brokerage company, especially for TV dramas; there will definitely be people willing to come."
There are many actors in Hollywood. Because the competition is fierce and jobs are hard to find, many people in Hollywood are ready to audition for them when they are needed. What most worry about is not how to become famous but how to survive. Because of this, TV drama shooting is sometimes more exciting for the actors than movie shooting. TV drama shooting may not provide as high a return as a movie, nor can it provide the increased popularity of a film. Still, there are more actors used in TV drama shooting, some for essential roles, and the signing period lasts five years, allowing actors to have a long-term career. This also makes many actors more interested in TV dramas.
The filming of TV dramas requires a lot of manpower. The company's salary for each episode is close to 10,000 dollars for better leading actors, and even the lowest-level extras have to be paid 8 dollars an hour. At the same time, the crew has to be responsible for lunch and dinner. Well, if the crew has to pay for the travel expenses when going out to shoot, the remuneration may not seem high. Still, considering tens of thousands of people are waiting to compete with you for such an opportunity, no matter how low it is, there are people willing to come.
One of the best things about crime dramas is that people die every episode, and someone new gets cast every episode. Such a TV series requires a long-term continuous replacement of actors and a lot of human resources. However, even if a crime drama can kill characters, it is impossible to kill tens of thousands of individuals in a TV drama.
"If there is no problem with the brokerage company, let's discuss casting. You can decide on the starring role and leave the decision-making power for other secondary characters to me. I will never mess it up." Clark was the first to jump out and start talking, "All of you have some job like producers, assistant producers, or lead screenwriters. I will be the casting director for this. I have the qualifications as a guild member."
"But you joined that guild in the first place to have a sofa audition—you told us." Bob revealed his old background, "We are starting a business; you can't use our TV series to do this."
To Bob's words, Levi agreed in his heart: he also felt that it is better not to be senseless when starting a business. As for Clark's idea, if he wants to be satisfied in the future, there are plenty of opportunities. As long as you make movies, are you afraid you won't have a chance to mess around? Levi knew these things very well.
"Clark, this work determines our life and death; you can't do anything foolish." Levi said, "You can be the casting director, but you have to promise me that for this work, we must use acting skills to decide which actor to choose for which character." Levi also spoke. He did not refuse Clark's request but made a request. Because he knew very well that if he didn't ask for it, his friend might mess around because it's so common in Hollywood.
Of course, some people may think Hollywood is a commodity society, and the commodity society is about business, so how could anyone does anything wrong? But for this kind of thinking, Levi can only smile silently: Any industry can claim to have mature rules without shady scenes, but which industry has no unspoken rules truly? Even in the civil service exams, all kinds of unspoken rules are still emerging one after another. Even large companies have public relations departments. How can the film industry become a pure land and keep out of the mud when all the other industries have so much darkness?
Hollywood is a circle of fame and fortune. Movies, drugs, and weapons are also known as the three major profit-making industries. Everyone knows that you can make colossal profits once you become famous in this industry. Marx's words could not be more correct; people will do evil if there can be profits of 300%. The difference between being famous and not is far more than three times in Hollywood. The income of a small actor acting in a play is only eight dollars an hour, and the revenue of a big star can even reach 20 million or more for a play. If 300% can bring evil, then with tens of thousands of times the benefits, what changes can be brought about? Driven by huge interests, it is not surprising that people do anything.
Some people may ask, how can a film easily involve tens of millions, or even hundreds of millions of investment income, to obtain a performance opportunity by relying on unscrupulous means? What happens if the director can't get along with the producers? What if the wrong artists are used, and the box office is not good?
But when talking like this, some things are often overlooked: how many movies are invested in tens of millions of dollars a year?
The number of movies released in Hollywood in a year is about 500. Among these movies, there are only about 100 movies that big companies really produce. And what about the remaining 400? They all are independent films. Of the 400 films, 200 are considered big productions, with an investment of more than 1 million dollars; the rest are movies that dare to start shooting with 200,000 dollars, and the total production amount is at most 1 million dollars. Big movies may consider the box office issue, but many small-budget movies are not box office-oriented. The producers and directors have never thought about the box office, so why are they afraid of affecting it?
This creates a rather interesting situation: In a top Hollywood film, even if there are no unspoken rules, those movies are too difficult for most people to participate in. If one can consider that in a market where 80% of the opportunities may have unspoken rules, the remaining 20% are orderly, happy, and healthy, that is self-deception. But in fact, Hollywood has never thought of deceiving anyone. Neither the media nor the actors deny the existence of various phenomena. The ones who try to deny it are fanatical movie fans who are extremely obsessed with movie stars and think that everything is beautiful heaven under the aura of stars. It is difficult for them to accept it. During the audition, their idols would wear see-through underwear for the director to watch, which is also difficult to accept. Their dream lover would be in the RV, messing around with the male actors of the same crew until they lost track of time and ended up being listened to by the whole crew; for the same reason, it is also difficult for them to accept that those actors who seem to be extremely pure and started shooting love movies are actually brilliant after sleeping all the way-although everyone knows what independent love movies are. Still, as far as movie fans are concerned, they just want to deny it vehemently.
What's more, movie shooting is a big production for Hollywood, not to mention how chaotic independent movies are, so is it okay?
Although everyone knows that big-budget movies need box office, how many big-budget movies need women to support the box office? Among the big-budget films, the most classic ones are sci-fi and action movies that have lasted for a long time. Women can play neither of these two types of movies. However, in the future, in superhero movies and other blockbusters, it is not a problem whether there are women—who will care about Rachel in the Batman trilogy. Who watches Superman to see if Lois is beautiful? Not to mention Ironman, the heroine is just an add-on. For such a movie, what does it matter if the protagonist is changed? In fact, the Transformers really changed the heroine, so what? Anyway, everyone is watching Optimus Prime; who cares about the heroine?
The so-called big production must choose the heroine carefully, which is untenable. In many cases, it doesn't affect the viewing because of the heroine.
There are more than 50,000 actors in Hollywood. How to stand out among these people? Some opportunities are not glorious, but should they use them? For many actors, it is a question worth thinking about. Of course, some people have their moral standards, so that they may refuse or leave because of this. But Hollywood has never lacked confidence. Newcomers will replace those who leave, and those who refuse may waste time. Once the competition is fierce, morality is difficult to guarantee.
There is nothing new about actresses making sacrifices for their chances in Hollywood. Even for the sake of opportunities, it is not unknown for male actors and even child stars to make sacrifices. Many child stars in Hollywood claim to have been treated improperly when they were young, and there are also female stars who blew themselves up from time to time and met sofa auditions-of course, they all claimed that they resolutely refused-these things have long been news.
It may seem unbelievable to some people: Isn't this almost feel like a Hollywood actress is equivalent to a Playboy cover girl? However, the fact is so cruel: Hollywood actresses, there are quite a few of them who have worked as cover girls in Playboy. They think there is a difference between the two, and Monroe must be the first to express dissatisfaction. Not to mention playboys, even actors born in love action movies in San Fernando, participated in many TV dramas and films.
Of course, it cannot be denied that some celebrities are already very famous, and they don't need to worry about unspoken rules when they act. For example, if a star like Tom Hanks is willing to make a movie, who dares to ask him?
Or, some actors who pursue uniqueness do not value fame and money. Some actors do not even accept commercials or endorsements or participate in commercial and publicity activities outside of filming. For example, Woody Allen even dismisses Oscar but goes to the bar to play the clarinet weekly.
Or a rich and robust background can solve all problems. For example, Rooney Mara, who has a billionaire father and a congressman as a grandfather, naturally doesn't care about anything.
But these people are only a minority, after all. How many are there who can perform extraordinarily and refined? How many people firmly pursue art and don't care about fame and wealth? As for having a good family, it is even rarer. The vast majority of people are still addicted to Vanity Fair. Cleaning up any place where fame and fortune are entangled is impossible. These people who are entangled in Vanity Fair are naturally not immune.
Hollywood is a cruel place for film companies, so why not for actors? Glamorous in front of the camera, struggling behind the camera, this is Hollywood.
*****
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