Leaving the convenience store, Simon did not immediately return to the motel, but shuttled through the streets of Santa Monica, preparing the scene for the first film he planned in advance.
The first movie Simon plans to make is "Lola Run".
Although the filming location of the original "Lola Run" is not in Los Angeles, Simon does not have enough capital to pick and choose. Since he was in Santa Monica, he directly confirmed the location of the new version of the film here.
Choosing "Lola Run" is also the result of Simon's deliberation.
After all, this body is only 18 years old now.
Under normal circumstances, Hollywood's slightly sane film companies would not take millions of dollars to let a young man under the age of 20 take risks. Now Simon does not personally invest in the capital to produce commercial films.
Therefore, he must show enough strength, at least to some extent, dispel Hollywood's scruples about his age.
Wanting to do this, in fact, couldn't be easier, nothing more than proof through works.
Although some changes have taken place on the WMA side, the script benefit of "Butterfly Effect" can already be expected. This is Simon's first capital, and he must also use these to knock on the door of Hollywood.
Of course, the price of a script cannot be too high no matter how high it is. Therefore, Simon can only make a very low-cost movie. Moreover, the film must show sufficient value, either at the box office or an award.
In terms of box office, there are actually many films in Simon's memory that simply created low-cost and high-box office miracles, such as "Blair the Witch" and "Ghost Record".
But in the final analysis, more than 90% of the success of these films is due to luck and proper commercial operation, which has nothing to do with the quality of the film itself.
The obvious evidence is that after the success of these films, the film directors did not show much presence in Hollywood.
Therefore, when these movies are released at this time, Simon has a 99% chance that he will win the game. Even if there is a 1% chance of reaping some benefits, Simon himself will not be affected by Hollywood's ability in film production. Recognition.
As for awards, this thing is undoubtedly more important to seniority.
Moreover, it is just as difficult to make an excellent art film that can reach the award-winning level of several major film festivals by just selling the money earned from a script.
After repeated selections, "Lola Run", an alternative and avant-garde experimental movie, seemed perfect for Simon.
"Lola Run" also has a very low production cost. In my memory, it is 350,000 German marks, which is about 180,000 US dollars, but this is more than ten years later.
Now, as long as you save some, Simon thinks that $100,000 can basically be done.
Although it is a low-cost production, "Lola Run" also has enough artistic and commercial value. The film has not only won many awards, but also formed a trend among young Germans.
Of course, for Simon, these are not the most important.
What Simon values most is the perfect demonstration of the film's creative director ability in "Lola Run".
After the birth of "Lola Run" in 1998, the film's dazzling use of skills in editing, soundtrack, color, montage, and mirroring techniques quickly made it a classic teaching case in film academies around the world, and it was well-known to many The directors have had a very profound influence.
Doug Liman, the director of the classic Hollywood spy movie "The Bourne" series, has publicly admitted that the unique shooting style of "The Bourne" was inspired by "Rola Run". Doug Liman For this reason, Man also specially invited the heroine of "Lola Run" Franka Potente as the female number one of "The Bourne".
Therefore, choosing "Run Lola", even in the worst case, this film will be unsatisfactory in awards and box office in the future, and Simon is enough to get an opportunity to show his filmmaking skills to major Hollywood studios.
Hollywood has its extremely conservative side, but at the same time it is a circle that worships genius and miracles.
As long as a person can prove their own strength and can bring benefits to the film company, not many people will care whether the person is an angel or a devil. The issue of age is naturally even less of a problem.
On HSD Avenue, north of downtown Santa Monica.
Simon passed by this intersection and at a glance saw the dark gray castle-like building across the street, which was a club. The architectural colors of Los Angeles are generally dominated by light colors such as white, which makes people feel monotonous and boring.
As a result, such an unusual dark gray building in front of him became very conspicuous, and Simon quickly made a decision to make this dark gray building one of the street scenes that Lola quickly passed by during his run.
Without a camera, Simon could only use the dumbest way to write down this location through painting.
Holding a hand-bound hard leather notebook standing on the curb on the side of the street, Simon first wrote down the most basic street information, re-examined the street scene in front of him, and then began to quickly draw in the form of a shot script.
A few minutes later, focusing on the work in his hands, Simon suddenly felt a pat on his shoulder.
Turning his head questioningly, two girls were standing behind him at some point.
One of them was Courteney Cox, and the other blonde girl was quite beautiful, but Simon did not know her.
At this moment Courteney was looking at him warily, without speaking, as if waiting for Simon to take the initiative to explain.
Simon turned and looked around, only to find that he was standing in front of a five-story apartment building, where Courteney and the blonde girl should live.
Feeling the look in Courteney's eyes, Simon immediately understood.
Ok.
Be regarded as a stalker.
With a wry smile, Simon closed his notebook and explained: "Kurt, if I say this is a coincidence, do you believe it?"
"No," Courteney immediately shook her head, but still said: "So, what are you doing here?"
"I told you this afternoon, I'm preparing my own movie," Simon said, and simply passed the notebook in his hand.
Courteney took the thick sixteen-open notebook with a suspicious expression, opened it casually, and the blonde girl next to her also leaned in curiously.
The notebook has accumulated dozens of pages of sketches based on various types of street scenes. Although they are very simple sketches, whether it is Courteney or a blonde girl, they can easily appreciate Simon's solid drawing skills, most of the sketches There are also many professional notes on lighting and camera positions in detail.
After turning a few pages in a row, Courteney's attention was quickly attracted by the running girl with short hair in the drawing, and suddenly she looked a little embarrassed and looked at Simon again. The blonde girl had no scruples, and sighed in admiration lowly, then raised her head and said to Simon: "You can paint really well, but is the girl in the drawing Kurt?"
Simon was stunned and looked at Courteney's short hair style at this time, only to understand why the other party asked such a question.
In all fairness, Simon didn't think of a specific object when he sketched Lola, and he didn't feel much about the original Lola actor Franka Potente.
However, maybe it was during the time when he came to Los Angeles. Courteney was the only girl Simon knew and whose image was more in line with Laura's setting. Therefore, he subconsciously put the other side's figure in the drawing process, which led to this time. Misunderstanding.
In fact, the sketches are actually very simple. If there are not enough prerequisites to imply, it is difficult for anyone to think of this aspect. But Courteney happened to be in front of Simon at this time, and coupled with the little misunderstanding just now, it is not surprising that the blonde girl would ask such a question.
Looking down at Courteney, who looked down at the drawing and did not speak, the two girls in front of him had apparently identified a certain fact, and Simon stopped refuting this small misunderstanding, and simply nodded and admitted: "Yes, I will pay in the afternoon. Inviting Curt to be my heroine, but unfortunately she doesn't believe it."
"Hehe, Curt doesn't want to, or I'll do it, you change all the girls in the manuscript to look like me," the blonde girl smiled teasingly, and reached out to Simon: "Hello, I It's Christie Swanson."
Simon reached out and shook the girl, and said, "Simon Westeros."
The blonde girl heard the words and immediately showed a dazed expression: "Oh, you are what Curt said recently..."
Before she finished speaking, Courteney reached out and stabbed her friend in the waist, told Christie to close her mouth, and then handed the notebook to Simon, saying: "Okay, you pass."
"So," Simon raised his finger and pointed behind him: "Can I stay here and finish drawing that?"
Christie suddenly laughed.
Courteney's face was reddened, and she gave Simon an angry look: "Whatever you want, this is a public place."
Simon also felt that his question was a bit stupid, smiled, reopened the notebook, and turned to the last page.
Looking again at the dark gray building opposite, Simon picked up the pen and began to paint. Seeing that the two girls did not leave immediately, he casually said: "Are you going to have dinner?"