In Los Angeles, there are bars with different scales and different grades. Lynn's bar, located in West Hollywood, is where Levi and Alexander are today. The long ice-cold wine barrel leaning on the bar provides various food with different flavors, plus many excellent seats. The ping-pong table in the bar explains this to people: this is a pretty old-fashioned, no themed elements, no high-end multipurpose bar. Everything in the bar tells people that this may not be a high-end place, but it is an excellent place to enjoy. The reason why this is their destination is also that it is very close to the office of Levi's small company.
After sitting down, Alexander quickly ordered food, "Nick, you still want a crispy roast pig as before?" "Belgian beer with garlic fries, thank you." "You just came out of the hospital. Just have a glass of wine," Levi was quite surprised by Alexander's words: he should be Jewish, but when it comes to crispy roast pigs, he didn't care—it seems that to them, the doctrine is not worth it. Well, it's okay not to let yourself eat pork.
"If you still feel uncomfortable, you should have said something in the hospital." Alexander glanced at him, "Are you sure you are all right?"
Levi waved his hand, signaling not to care. Of course, he can't stay in the hospital. He has to come out. He also wants to see the outside world, and at the same time, he also wants to see, for himself, what kind of person he is and the partners around him.
"How many people are left in our company?" Levi couldn't find any relevant information in his memory, so he asked a question in desperation—the original little Levi didn't seem to like managing the company very much. His small company is not far away in his memory, but his memory is more about this bar.
"Since we didn't have many funds left and weren't able to pay the salaries most have left. The only ones who stayed are friends for our sake."
It is really miserable. However, Alexander said more than one person is willing to stay without money.
"You seem to have come earlier than us."
Just as Levi was thinking, three people had already walked over. Alexander raised his hand to greet them, "Bob, Mike, sit here. Where is Jack?" Three people came to their booth. Levi lifted his head and saw the people on the opposite side coming over, walking. A baby-faced man at the front greeted them, "Jack's gone to New York - he's hooked up with a model, he's gone with that model - this kid can always find rich beauties. Nick, I heard something happened to you. What's the matter?"
Robert Richmond, nicknamed Bob, was his friend. He is a little older than himself, probably in his early thirties, but he has a short height and a baby face. He is not tall, only about 170cm, with ginger hair and a very typical baby face, which also shows that his Irish blood is not fake. In his memory, Bob always looks serious about doing things—this is why Levi regards him as a friend because the person in front of him is a trustworthy partner. Bob is a New Yorker. His parents are well-known figures on Broadway. His parents influenced Bob himself since he was a child, and he has deep experience in writing scripts. It's just that when he grew up, he was more interested in the film industry than drama. After completing a film study course at New York University, he came to Hollywood to seek development.
In Hollywood, his development doesn't seem to be going very well. He still participates in writing scripts for the production of various TV dramas. His writing style is excellent, and the characters' dialogue is also terrific. As for the line design, he can be said to be very good, but he always sticks to stereotypes because he does not have much creativity; he has not created any works by himself until now.
And behind him, wearing a half-worn shirt and half a cigarette in his mouth, was Clark Stanley. He is not short but is taller than Levi. As far as his facial features are concerned, he can be considered handsome, with a rather Latin-like face and a very characteristic appearance. It's just that this person is unkempt, with short stubble on his face, smoking excessively, and his skin looks dull. In addition, his waist seems unable to stand upright, making him look quite decadent.
Clark is also one of his friends. In memory, this young man of Latin descent was a friend Levi made in college. Clark was very talented but seemed to have a bad temper. Although he was still in Hollywood, he didn't do well.
And beside them, the one wearing glasses, a little chubby, about the same age as Alexander, was the last important person left in the company, Michael Scaffold.
Levi and Bob are considered the second generation of insiders, and although Clark is not the second generation, he is still a graduate of a major university. Michael is different from them. He didn't graduate from any major university, but after graduating from high school, he went to work in Hollywood, trying to find an opportunity to make a difference. But things are different than expected. He has no acting skills to speak of. After a few years of tossing in Hollywood, his dream of being an actor has also pretty much gone. His body has become fat. He has worked in many crews in various roles. Although he has no acting skills, Michael has strong interpersonal skills. He can't provide professional advice on various crews but can always help with chores. Over time, he has also established his contacts in Hollywood and even worked as an assistant director in some small movie and TV series crews.
These three people, along with Levi, who was born in the second generation, and Alexander, who is wealthy and well-connected, but doesn't know what art is at all, are the people who came to discuss the shooting of TV dramas.
These people are all friends of Levi in memory, and they were also the earliest employees when Levi's film company was established. In Levi's memory, there is another person named Jack, who is the leading actor in his movie, but now he is not in Los Angeles and has gone to New York.
Of course, it can also be said that these people are now a group of paupers in a company that was brought to the brink of bankruptcy by Levi's gambling-style filming.
In Hollywood, companies are formed every day, and companies go bankrupt every day. Levi estimated that if Nick died, their production company must have also entered the ranks of bankrupts.
And these few people are not bankrupt now, but they are not rich either. Their film company was originally very small, but now it has lost a lot of money. Even little Levi, the boss, wants to commit suicide in shame, which also shows the embarrassment of these people.
However, now it seems that these people don't look particularly embarrassed. This also made Levi understand something: a director who can commit suicide for art's sake and his friends seem to be relatively poor artists who don't care about their food.
"Nick, how do you feel? I heard that you are thinking about suicide. Is it true?" "It's over, and it's no big deal." Levi shook his head, didn't talk about this topic carefully, and didn't know what to say, "I came to you today not to talk about these things. I want to discuss what our next plan is."
Several people on the opposite side stared at Levi, and Levi raised the cup in his hand calmly. He took a sip of his wine lightly. Clark snorted lightly and then raised his glass, "You don't need to pretend to be hurt now, but don't talk about how miserable your suicide is in the future. I gave you a chance, so don't blame us if you don't have to." "I didn't pretend." Levi smiled, "I said, the suicide is over. Now it's time to think about the future." "What medicine did your doctor prescribe for you? Alex, are you sure there are no problems with his mental condition?" Still puzzled, Michael took a bite of his flatbread, "The recovery is quite bizarre."
"That's because something good happened, so he feels better." Alexander took over the topic, he could see that Levi didn't want to talk about suicide, and he also noticed that Levi's state was different, but it was strange that a person who had just committed suicide was in the same form as before. Since he didn't want to discuss it, he changed the topic by saying, "Good news: Guys, I had a fruitful conversation with Nick's father. Although his father is not very optimistic about our work, he greatly admires us. He is willing to help us contact a big TV station and let us directly send them the script of a TV series we created for review. Guys, the opportunity has come."
Levi ignored Alexander's claiming the credit to himself, and he watched the changes in the expressions of the people opposite him with great interest, wanting to know what they thought. He is still determining what they consider. It can be seen that none of these people wanted to shoot a TV series with no artistic pursuit, but none of them objected.
"We can also consider making movies." Levi opened his mouth. He wanted to know what kind of people these people were, "We can still shoot DV movies." "We can't even do manual zooming. How does that thing show the language of the camera? Don't be kidding. Use that thing to make a movie once, and they will never treat us as people in this circle in this life." Clark immediately refuted.
"What about the one-man show?"
"How about the set? An actor who costs $8 an hour can't perform a one-man show. Even if there are ready-made scenes, there are many long shots in the one-man show, and the lack of acting skills cannot be covered up by editing, so the actors' acting skills are high."
This time, it was Bob who spoke. "Nick, you don't need to say this. It's not stupid." After a few random words, Levi also said, "You know they're not idiots. They don't say anything because the TV series grade is too low. I know you don't know how to shoot this kind of thing - you said it yourself, movies are not toys, and you can't waste them at will."
"Since you all know that we can't make other movies, why are you so reluctant? Guys, this is our opportunity to save money. We can't afford to make movies. TV dramas are different. This is an opportunity to save money, practice our skills, and level up. Now, we can experiment with our ideas and talents at will—Don't you want to take this opportunity and try your own abilities?"
*****
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