Chapter 108: Do You Believe in Love at First Sight?
Chapter 108: Do You Believe in Love at First Sight?
“Motorola has agreed to pay three million dollars in sponsorship fees, but the prerequisite is that the male leads must be the previously revealed Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks.”
“Lamborghini’s sponsorship offer this time is a one-time payment of eight hundred thousand dollars. They’ve gotten smarter and no longer accept sponsorship fees that fluctuate according to box office.”
“As for the rest, Ray-Ban sunglasses offered five hundred thousand dollars and requested more than five seconds of close-up shots featuring the Ray-Ban logo in the film. Hershey Chocolate & Candy Company also offered five hundred thousand dollars to buy out the product placement for the packaging-box bomb…”
In the conference room, Jeffrey’s voice carried excitement as he read out the sponsorship offers from each company interested in buying product placement, one by one.
Actually, Eric had the same document in his hands, but Jeffrey simply could not help reading it aloud. He was too happy. If all the offers on the document were finalized, that meant Firefly would earn more than six million dollars in profit before the film had even started shooting.
In this era, more than five hundred Hollywood films had the chance to appear on theater screens every year. But even counting later revenue streams like videotape and broadcast rights, no more than fifty films would reach six million dollars in profit.
Eric wrote his comments beside each product-placement offer one by one, then closed the folder and handed it to Jeffrey. “Alright, Jeffrey. It’s only a little over six million dollars in sponsorship. Is that enough to make you this happy?”
“Only a little over six million dollars?” Jeffrey looked up unhappily, repeated Eric’s words, and retorted, “Eric, if you’re so capable, find me another film that can get six million dollars in sponsorship.”
“There isn’t one now, but that doesn’t mean there won’t be in the future.” Eric spread his hands. “Maybe in another ten or twenty years, films will be able to recover most of their costs through product placement alone.”
“There’s no need to wait ten or twenty years,” Jeffrey said with some emotion. “If it had been the previous film, Pretty Woman, and we’d gotten this much sponsorship, then it would already count as recovering the cost.”
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that assumption.” Eric suddenly remembered another very important matter. “Did you tell these sponsors that everything must remain confidential before the film is released?”
“Of course I didn’t forget,” Jeffrey replied. “I already explained the stakes clearly to them. Before the film is released, the sponsors won’t reveal even half a word.”
Only then did Eric nod in relief. He stood and asked, “That’s good. Today’s auditions are about to start again. Are you coming?”
“Forget it. It’s too torturous. I’m not going.” Jeffrey quickly refused. At first, he had quite enjoyed the producer’s power of life and death over actors, but after sitting behind the audition table for several days in a row, repeatedly asking questions and watching auditioning actors perform again and again, that earlier sense of superiority had slowly vanished completely, leaving only boredom and exhaustion.
The auditions these past few days had also left Eric dizzy. These were mainly auditions for roles in Running Out of Time. For every role, there were more than a hundred actors who had obtained audition qualifications, and that was already after extensive screening. In addition, some eliminated actors kept trying to obtain a second audition opportunity through all kinds of channels. In short, the whole mess was enough to give anyone a headache.
Eric had already decided to hand the auditions for The Others and Scent of a Woman to the two directors, Jonathan Demme and Martin Brest. He planned to have the two directors first select fewer than ten backup candidates, then he would conduct the third-round final audition himself. That would be much easier.
The only thing slightly better than auditioning all kinds of villain roles over the past few days was that today’s auditions were for Yoyo, the woman Andy encountered on the bus, the character jokingly mocked by certain fans, or pseudo-fans, as the third party who came between Andy and Sean’s pure and beautiful relationship.
Of course, that was only a joke. Although the two leads in Running Out of Time were cool as they played off each other, the story as a whole was tragic and cold. If that adorable “Chief Inspector Wong Kai-fat” was the touch of comedy in the story, then Yoyo was its touch of warmth. A story needed joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, just like life.
Eric’s standard for this role had previously been a beautiful woman between eighteen and thirty with the aura of a professional working beauty. Therefore, today’s audition process would definitely be pleasing to the eye.
…
A girl walked out of the audition room and gently pulled the door closed. After turning around, the expression on her face quickly disappeared. Ignoring all the probing gazes in the corridor, she carried her bag toward the agent waiting not far away. The two spoke quietly for a few moments before walking outside.
A staff member came out, read another name, and another girl was called in.
The next one was herself. Gwyneth Paltrow took the makeup mirror from her bag and checked her makeup again.
She was born in 1972 and was only seventeen this year. According to Eric’s standards, Gwyneth originally would not even have received an audition opportunity. But this had not been difficult for her, because she knew Drew, who had a close relationship with Eric Williams. Both of their godfathers were Steven Spielberg.
That little bitch. Supposedly, she was being kept by Eric Williams. She really was becoming more and more hopeless.
Gwyneth’s father was a producer, and her mother was a well-known film and television actress. Her family background was a hundred times better than Drew’s, and ever since childhood, she had looked down on Drew, who relied on a baby face to act cute. Even at gatherings at Spielberg’s house, Gwyneth rarely greeted Drew. She preferred associating with peers whose family backgrounds were similar to her own, since that would be more helpful for her future development.
However, when she learned that there was an opportunity to work with big names like Eric Williams, Tom Cruise, and Tom Hanks, Gwyneth, who was preparing to enter Hollywood, immediately became tempted.
If she could get this role, then her starting point in Hollywood would be higher than that of minor actors who had struggled for many years. So without hesitation, Gwyneth immediately contacted Drew, hoping the other girl could help her obtain an audition opportunity.
Although she had not been close to Drew before, there was no grudge between them either. That little bitch had agreed after being coaxed by a few friendly words from her. She really was easy to fool. No wonder she had now fallen to the point of being kept. Gwyneth thought contemptuously.
Less than five minutes later, the girl who had just gone in walked out with a disappointed expression.
The eyes of all the waiting actresses in the corridor lit up slightly. One more competitor was gone.
“Next, Miss Gwyneth Paltrow.”
Gwyneth quickly stood, took a deep breath to adjust her state, and walked into the audition room with a faint smile before sitting down on the chair. Her gaze confidently looked straight ahead at the blond young man sitting in the center, lowering his head as he wrote something.
That was Eric Williams. He really was handsome.
Gwyneth’s heartbeat quickened slightly, and she could not help imagining whether he would invite her to dinner. Perhaps she should reject him once first to show some reserve. When men obtained something too easily, they never cherished it. She was quite confident in her appearance.
More than ten seconds later, the young man opposite her finally raised his head, smiling. “Hello, Miss Paltrow. Please introduce yourself first.”
During their brief exchange of gazes, Gwyneth could tell that Eric Williams definitely knew who she was. This made her feel a little excited. It seemed that little bitch had still been useful. At least he did not treat her as a stranger.
“Hello, everyone. My name is Gwyneth Paltrow. I’m seventeen this year. I graduated from…”
After a brief self-introduction, Eric asked, “Miss Paltrow, your file shows that you have never acted in any film before. What makes you think you can obtain this role?”
Gwyneth still wore a smile. She happened to have prepared for this question, so she calmly replied, “Because I was born into a performing arts family. My mother is an actress. When I was very young, I already began helping my mother run lines. Growing up under that influence, I’ve always maintained a strong interest in performance. Since middle school, I’ve always been one of the core members of the school drama club. I’ve acted in many famous stage plays and accumulated rich acting experience.”
After Gwyneth finished speaking, she saw several judges opposite her nod at the same time.
“Miss Paltrow, do you believe in love at first sight?” another question was thrown from across the room.
Gwyneth froze for a moment, completely unsure what the purpose of the question was. As a Westerner whose hormones were easily sparked deep down, Gwyneth did believe in love at first sight. However, she felt that answering that way might make her seem too frivolous.
The people opposite her did not urge her. Gwyneth thought for more than half a minute before saying, “No, I don’t believe in love at first sight. By comparison, I’m more willing to accept sincere feelings developed through long-term companionship.”