David Da Silva and Alan Parker got in the car and drove to the hotel.
"Why did you promise Ronald to sign the script? The contract we signed with Christopher Gore for the script, $5,000, includes his sole signature right."
"Otherwise, Gore wouldn't have sold it to us at that price. He's not a newcomer. You know, MGM later bought this script from me for $40,000. Gore hopes that this movie will win an Oscar. He agreed to it because he wanted to be nominated for the Best Original Screenplay."
Da Silva asked while driving.
"I didn't have a choice, David." Alan Parker, who was sitting in the passenger seat, replied.
"This is a youth film. You, me, and Chris, we have all bid farewell to adolescence for 20 years. The kids today, what they like, what they approve of, their aesthetic preferences, the vocabulary they often use, are all generational gaps from us."
"I had planned to go to the performing arts college during this time to get immersed in their lives, stay with those kids, and observe everything about them up close. But now..."
"I'll find a script doctor to help with the revision. Find the one who revised the youth dance film 'Saturday Night Fever' that year." Da Silva stepped on the accelerator. "But what will you do if Ronald writes a usable script?"
"In Hollywood, a verbal contract is not worth even a piece of paper. Who said that?" Director Alan Parker asked with a smile.
"Sam Goldwyn said so." Da Silva also laughed. "Then why did you promise him a signature? If you give him the market price of a script doctor and he can't sign his name, won't he still try his best?"
Alan Parker was silent for a while: "I think Ronald is a person who focuses on long-term rather than short-term interests. You gave him $6,000, but he didn't buy a cool Pontiac, but a practical and fuel-efficient Japanese Honda."
"This kid has lofty goals. For someone like him, the writers' credit of a script at this stage is far more important than the $20,000 he gets as a script doctor."
"Only by giving him hope for career advancement, not money, will he do his best to write, and bring out his most sincere feelings on the typewriter. I don't want mediocrity, I want excellence!"
"What are you going to do then?"
"Aren't the lawyers hired by the crew used to deal with these things? Besides, he may not be able to write a satisfactory script. We'll talk about it then. The most important thing now is to deal with the issue of acting major, David."
"I asked a friend and found out that the performing arts school's main power is in the school board's hands. The school board that targeted us also served as a member of the New York Public Education Committee and was in charge of the funding for all public schools..."
Ronald, who knew nothing about this, returned to his apartment.
Meg took the initiative to come to Ronald's apartment and helped decorate the room with a more petite bourgeois aesthetic. She hung a few Indian-style collages on the wall of the living room and got a few plastic flowers, moving them left and right.
Ronald was very happy to watch Meg help him clean up the house. He took a cup of Coke from the refrigerator and drank it slowly. While drinking, he watched Meg being busy. This feeling was comfortable.
"Ring, ring, ring..."
Ronald walked into the inner room and picked up the phone.
"Ronnie, you haven't called your aunt for a long time." Aunt Karen asked.
"Aunt, I was just about to call you. My photography business in Manhattan is doing well. I also found a job at a casting company and became their long-term photographer."
"Yes, yes... It's a company that specializes in selecting actors for movie directors, so they often need to take pictures."
"What? There's an email for me? Is it from the Directors Guild? Oh no, it's the Directors Guild. Yes... It's my membership card. Okay, I'll come back."
"Ronnie, come and see my decorations," Meg called him from the outer room.
"Ronnie, that's a girl's voice, right? Remember to bring her back to Staten Island to see us." Aunt Karen said with a smile on the other end of the phone.
"Okay, Aunt, I have to hang up. I will go home later tomorrow to get my membership card. Yes, I recently joined the crew to help with casting, so time is tight. Love you. Bye"
"I'm here, Meg." Ronald ran to the living room and hugged Meg. "You have the best taste."
Meg stuck to Ronnie like an octopus and kissed him.
The sweet smell made Ronald walk a few steps faster and put Meg on the sofa. Meg hugged him around the neck, and the two of them entangled together.
After a long time, Meg picked up her jeans and T-shirt, took two steps at a time, and opened the door to the inner room.
"Click, click", Meg opened two doors in a row and went to take a shower. The design of this apartment was very bad. To go from the living room to the bathroom, you have to cross two rooms.
Ronald picked up his shirt and pants and walked into the room. "Shall I take you to the Actors Studio to register tomorrow?" He spoke to Meg across the air.
"Morning? Ok, I'll come here to see you tomorrow morning." Meg opened the door and talked to him, revealing her head and one arm, wiping her hair with a towel.
"It's just right. I have to go back to Staten Island this afternoon. Will you come with me?" Ronald said as he opened the bathroom door. "I'm coming."
"Ah, hahahaha... no"
"Not going to Staten Island?"
"No... um..."
Meg still didn't agree to go to Staten Island together. Ronald thought it might be a little early. When they get to the next stage of their relationship, they can go meet with Aunt Karen.
The next morning, the two drove to the Actors Studio to sign up.
The studio is near Hell's Kitchen, in an inconspicuous brick building on the roadside of West 44th Street. If it weren't for the huge flag hanging on the white door with the words "Actors Studio" written on the background of the capital A, Ronald would have almost missed this place.
After knocking on the door, the staff asked about their purpose and asked them to fill out the audition application form. This confused Ronald: "Isn't this the Actors Studio? A place to train acting skills?"
The staff must have been used to seeing young men like Ronald, and pointed to the historical introduction on the wall.
The Actors Studio turned out to be a club-like place founded by Lee Strasberg, Elia Kazan, and others to exchange acting skills.
To join the Actors Studio, you must go through an audition. Those without film or theater performance experience are generally not accepted.
"This? Is The Actors Studio a club? How many rounds of auditions are required to join?" Ronald was a little confused. He asked the staff, "Do you charge tuition?"
"No tuition, as long as you pass our audition, you are a lifetime free member, and the audition is also free. However, if you fail the audition, you must wait a year before you can apply again."
Ronald and Meg looked at each other. "Can we take two resumes and leave?"
"Of course."
The two left disappointedly. In the car, Ronald said, "Then what should we do? Meg. I heard from Julia Taylor last time that there is a Stella Adler at New York University who also runs an actor training class."
"No, look here." Meg pointed to the founder in the introduction, an old man with a white beard, and said, "I remember my sister Jennifer mentioned him, Lee Strasberg, one of the founders of the Actors Studio. He also runs an acting training class himself.
"Really? Then let's look for it. "
Lee Strasberg's drama training school is on 15th Street, which is closer to the artist's apartment. The reception here is much more satisfactory.
A staff member patiently explained the various long and short courses and the fees. Finally, Meg chose the 12-week, 12-hour course per week that will start next week. This is just in time to complete most of the acting training before the final start of filming.
Ronald wrote a check for $980 and paid all the training fees. Starting next week, Meg will spend 2 hours a day on acting training, and Lee Strasberg, who is nearly 80 years old, will personally give them the first lesson.
Resisting the temptation of Meg to have dinner together, Ronald hurried back to his home on Staten Island.
Aunt Karen looked much better than last time, and the financial relief greatly eased her mental stress.
After dinner, Ronald played with Donna for a while, and Aunt Karen took out an oversized letter.
After cutting open the envelope, it turned out to be a card from the Directors Guild.
The new president of the Directors Guild reformed the card. The new version is no longer a cardboard card, but a plastic card the size of a credit card, which looks very modern.
After reading the various union benefits explained in detail in the letter, what most excited Ronald was the director internship program offered by the Directors Guild every year.
Once the application is accepted, you can follow famous directors into the crew and watch how they direct the film.
Aunt Karen came over and said goodnight to him, "Ronnie, don't forget to come back and spend two days with me at the end of next month on Memorial Day."
"I will, Aunt Karen." The last Monday in May is Memorial Day. At this time of year, Aunt Karen will get together with her late husband's former comrades-in-arms and widows. This is an important gathering that she attends every year.
Lying in bed, he began to think about revising the script. Ronald sorted out his thoughts over and over again.
What kind of ending should I think of for the eight protagonists so that the audience will feel both real and relieved?
'I have no idea at all. When I was in high school, I did not belong to that literary and artistic circle, and wrestling was also a relatively rustic sport. Unlike the quarterback of the football team, I could not date girls who learned musical instruments or dance casually.'
'I don't understand their dreams and pain at all. To write a wonderful ending, I have to observe their daily lives more.'
Ronald is self-taught here, and he has the same idea as Alan Parker.
'Then, when I was in high school, what kind of performances did I like to watch?'
During his years at Totenville High School, whenever Ronald saw the orchestra, the dance team, and the cheerleading team, he envied their artistic talents.
To a rough guy like himself on the wrestling team, being able to dance ballet, play the violin, and do somersaults are all very impressive skills.
'For someone like me who doesn't know the inner skills, seeing the violin playing harmonious melodies and the ballet dancers spinning in the air is like seeing magic.'
'Isn't it a wonderful thing to show these skilled techniques to laymen?'
'The several songs and dances in the dream are even more exciting because I can't do them, right?'
Ronald rolled over, climbed up, grabbed a ballpoint pen, and replayed the three plots in his mind while writing on the manuscript paper...