~： Seven hundred and twenty-seven-1 just go straight ahead.

Unlike traditional Hollywood directors, Wayne is very clear about his position. Others can start a vacation for weeks, months, or even years after a film is made, and these are for him. , all just luxuries that are only occasionally thought of.

Success, success, and continuous success. For at least the past two years, he must ensure that he is always in the circle of successful people, so that at a certain moment, he can start to promote his huge plan.

The cooperation with Christopher Rockencourt is more like a small episode for him. It is nothing more than that after understanding the possible calculations of the other party, he is also calculating the other party.

The more important things in front of him are undoubtedly the two projects "Wonder Woman" and "Superman", the former has entered the final preparation stage. The mature behind-the-scenes team has shared a huge workload for Neng Wayne, so that he can spare time to care about other things while busy with preparations.

The progress of "Superman" is relatively slow. Zach Snyder, with his assistant director, is like a trapeze, scouting around the scene. Most of the work of the crew is essentially under the chairmanship of producer Charles Rowan. proceed below.

Everyone knows that most of Wayne's energy is destined to focus on the "Wonder Woman" project. At least he has to wait for him to finish overseas filming before he can turn his attention to "Superman".

Of course, this doesn't mean that "Superman" was raised by a stepmother, it doesn't mean that "Superman" is unimportant, it's just because of the release time of these two projects that they have to appear one after the other.

As long as you are an experienced worker in the circle, you can understand how much pressure it is to be pressed by the top production in two circles in a row. Even putting aside the invisible pressure, just finishing the previous project and immediately entering the next project can make the director be tortured crazy by the endless busy work.

Fortunately, Zach Schnecker also understands this. All the preparations he is doing now are to make Wayne less burdensome.

In fact, in the hearts of many people in the crew, it is very clear that as long as Wayne does not officially join the group, Zha Dao is equivalent to the leader. To a certain extent, his ability is fully qualified.

It is also because of the existence of this idea that Zack Snyder's preparations have been made a lot smoother, at least from the beginning, the most common power struggle in Hollywood crews has been avoided.

In front of the preparatory studio where "Wonder Woman" is located, Warner Studios has a special visitor today. Since the audition ended, it has been difficult for strangers to freely enter and exit the studio, except for staff members with work permits.

"Excuse me, ma'am, you can speak to Ms. Nina Klein on the phone."

Sofia Coppola reluctantly raised her hand and slapped her forehead. The security guard guarding the door of the studio made her a lot of trouble.

"Damn it, I've already shown it to you, my mobile phone is out of power!"

Even if she tried her best to control her emotions, her voice inevitably rose gradually and became sharp.

Seeing the black security guard standing in front of her, she shook her head firmly again, and she stamped her feet helplessly in anger. She raised her wrist and glanced at the time. It was only around eleven o'clock in the morning, and this time was what bothered her even more.

Now it is the busiest time for work. If there is no accident, it is almost impossible for anyone to go out now, even the assistant responsible for buying coffee for the workers behind the scenes.

"Hey, man."

Sofia Coppola stretched out a finger, pointed to her face, and said weakly to the security guard: "Look at this face, ok? I'm Sofia Coppola, Wayne Greenberg is the last one. Deputy director of the project, damn, haven't you seen me?"

Her words seemed to arouse the interest of the black security guard. She tilted her head and looked at her up and down with interest, and finally she chose to shake her head. "No, ma'am, I haven't seen you, I'm new here."

Sofia Coppola had a headache and lamented that she was unlucky to meet such an axis of security personnel. She tried to invite the other party to the studio, and randomly found a staff member to take her in, but this guy was afraid that he would sneak in after he left!

Even if more than one daring paparazzi has done this, is she Sofia Coppola like a paparazzi? Is there an unprofessional paparazzi like her? Which paparazzi doesn't carry a camera with them?

Looking at the security guards who looked like wood in front of her, she racked her brains and couldn't come up with a good solution. Now she is thinking about whether to go to the cafe at the entrance of the studio first, and then come back when the crew breaks at noon.

"Hi, Sophia?!"

A thick female greeting suddenly sounded with a suspicious tone.

Turning around sharply, what caught Sofia Coppola's eyes was a strong middle-aged black woman. Consistent with the aesthetic of most black women, this woman, who carried four or five thermal boxes in both hands, wore a bright red dress with oversmeared bright red lips.

"God, Lillian."

Just as a person suddenly grabbed a life-saving straw when he was drowning, Sofia Coppola threw the briefcase on the ground, stretched her arms exaggeratedly, and hugged the black woman.

"Hey, hey, Sophia, be careful what I have in my hand."

Lilian stretched her hands open to maintain the balance of the lunch box in her hands, but the smile on her face was still bright and enthusiastic. She stared curiously at the woman she had hugged.

"Long time no see, how come you are free? I heard from Nina that you are going to make your own project, oh my God, you are now a director with your own crew, I..."

"Lilian."

Recalling the enthusiasm of this black aunt's assistant, Sofia Coppola immediately made a gesture of surrender, turned around and picked up her briefcase. "I'm here to visit the class, um, to visit all of you in the class. By the way, there are some things that I want to talk to Wayne about."

Speaking of which, she glanced at the security guard with a headache. "You saw it, obviously this dutiful guy, kept me out of the studio."

"come

on, let's go, I'll take you in. ' Lillian shrugged and said with a smile.

This time, the security guards finally didn't ask Sofia Coppola for the entry and exit documents. They watched the two women with a funny look and walked into the secret studio together.

"You can't blame Schroeder, he's a good and responsible guy. After the audition, paparazzi came in several times to take pictures, and those people were like crazy, but since Schroder came, there has been no paparazzi. I can get in..."

Helping to carry a bag of lunch boxes in her hand, Sofia Coppola nodded and said hello to the acquaintances she saw while listening to Lillian's chatter. From the moment she entered the studio, the familiar feeling returned to her.

No one will underestimate the assistant next to her, who looks like a black aunt's assistant at the bottom. Many old people are completely used to this existence. You must know that this is the earliest errand in Wayne's crew, and every time a new project is opened, the first Notify the staff who came to the crew to report, so many years, there has never been an exception.

This black woman is illiterate, and her appearance does not conform to the mainstream aesthetics. She is no different from other low-level workers, and her main job is to deliver coffee.

The exception is that not only does she serve the behind-the-scenes staff, she is the only handyman who can deliver coffee to Wayne. Besides Nina, he is also the only low-level assistant who is qualified to help Wayne get Chinese food.

The reason is very simple, because Wayne admires her work attitude, and also because when she was on the same production crew as a small workshop, she silently poured tea and water to all the behind-the-scenes staff.

This is an ordinary person who is struggling to survive at the bottom of Hollywood, but he is liked by everyone in Wayne's backstage team. Sofia Coppola still remembers how Patrick Dempsey played a big role to her during the filming of "The Flash", and finally bowed down to apologize to the low-level handyman under the serious eyes of associate director Gilmour. of.

Obviously, in Lillian's eyes, Wayne, who is the leader of the crew, gave her the last bit of dignity in her life. Therefore, she became the only assistant in the crew who could reassure Nina and go to help fetch Wayne's lunch.

Perhaps in front of Wayne, his behind-the-scenes team has always been tacit and united, and everyone has a good professional attitude. They cooperated to help him make the project, and it has been like this for so many years.

But in Sofia Coppola's eyes, this team is no different from other well-known behind-the-scenes teams in Hollywood. The water is still very deep. Not to mention the supervisors of various types of work, let's talk about the lower-level assistant walking by my side, I'm afraid He is the only person in Hollywood who has ever accepted an apology from a big star.

"Hi, Nina."

Pushing open the door of the director's office, Sofia Coppola skillfully put the lunch box in her hand on the table, greeted the assistant who was looking through the magazine, and looked behind the desk, who lowered her head and took a serious shot. man writing.

"Hi, Sophia, why are you free today?" Nina put down the magazine and got up to help organize it together.

"Look who is here?"

Hearing the greeting, Wayne raised his head and looked directly at Sofia Coppola with a smile on his face. No matter how the outside world judges him, it cannot be denied that he has always been an extremely nostalgic person.

"I heard you've been crazy busy these days." Seeing Wayne put down the pencil in his hand, Sofia Coppola shrugged and sat on the sofa with her briefcase in her arms.

"That's right." Spreading his arms and stretching hard, Wayne looked at his former assistant director, laughed and joked: "Don't say you heard that I was crazy and came to help. "

Shaking his head silently, Sofia Coppola had a hint of hesitation on her face, and her eyes were full of struggling emotions when she looked at the man.

"What happened?" Seeing her like this, Wayne slowly put away the smile on his face, grabbed a cigarette on the table and lit a cigarette, and asked in a low voice, "Is there any place that needs my help, Just speak, Sophia, you're welcome."

If judged purely by an assistant director, there is no doubt that Sofia Coppola is very competent. At least in the limited cooperation between the two parties, he was very satisfied with this woman's diligent working attitude and her dedicated study attitude anytime, anywhere.

No matter what other people think, when this woman joined his team, she didn't have the intention of gilding or having a good-looking work experience. Instead, she was full of professional attitude when facing work.

"I have a project here, can you help me see it?"

Gritting his teeth, Sofia Coppola still chose to speak after thinking of the purpose of coming here today.

"Ha, Sophia, you are looking for distance." After hearing the woman's words, Wayne was stunned for a moment and looked at her amusingly.

"Wayne, I know your time is precious, but this project is very important to me, and I need you, the winner, to give me some advice."

Grabbing the briefcase with both hands, Sofia Coppola looked serious, "It will be the first feature film in my life, I hope you can give me some advice."

As the heir of the Coppola family, she is not short of various resources in the circle, especially the most difficult problem facing novice directors, funds.

Just because of the surname Coppola, there will be countless people willing to invest in her without even letting go of the wind. Some are her father's "old buddies" who are willing to help her on the road to success.

But in her eyes, the more important thing is undoubtedly not money, she just hopes that the first feature film in her life will not be screwed up by herself. The scene of the worst supporting actress in the history of golden raspberry is still vivid, and Sofia Coppola hates being a loser.

Counting her past life, the man in front of her is undoubtedly a successful one. Just because she was the assistant director of the other party and even had the title of assistant director, she knew more about this man's talent and his definition of success.

"Take it out."

Seeing the serious expression on the woman's face, Wayne shook his head helplessly, waved his hand and said, "I think you must be ready, give it to me, I'll take a look now, and we'll have lunch together."

The moment he opened his mouth, Nina, who was standing by the side sorting out the lunch box, punched Sofia Coppola to "come on". Obviously, the two women get along well, and she hopes that her boss can help Sofia Coppola.

Before he took over the simple project proposal, Wayne actually had a guess all the time. He guessed that this project would most likely be the movie that used the "widow sister"'s buttocks at the beginning to confuse the audience for the whole scene.

When he watched this movie, he never imagined that the largest shot in the whole film was just the beginning of the movie, the rendering of the "widow sister" figure...

However, after opening the script, he realized that he was thinking too much. This is a feature film called "Girls Go Forward". Compared with the focus of male directors, the delicate side of women's sensibility is obvious from the script. to see the difference between the two.

"Your father, did you give you some advice?"

He kept flipping the script in his hand, holding a cigarette from time to time, and flicking the ash from the ashtray. Wayne's hands were steady, and neither the casual chat with Sofia Coppola nor the equally curious Nina staring at the script didn't affect the speed at which he read the script.

Sofia Coppola shrugs. "He wanted me to do the work I liked, but he didn't say anything about the project."

"A good and qualified father, isn't it?"

Shaking his head with a smile, Wayne took a big puff of his cigarette.

To a certain extent, Francis Ford Coppola's daughter really doesn't have to care too much about the type of project. This is the role of having a good father.

For other directors who are new to Hollywood, if they miss the first time, there is a high probability that they will not have a second chance. But for Sofia Coppola, even if she misses several times in a row, there is still no shortage of people who are willing to pay for her.

Since the Golden Raspberry Award, this woman seems to have become the second generation of stars in people's impressions, but if this woman is really like the second generation of most fallen mediocre stars, then there will be no surrounding her. the discussions around.

There is no way, whoever comes from the "Hollywood Kennedy Family", whose father is the winner of two Palme d'Or, two golden statuettes, and countless major movie awards, will be fascinated by his father's glorious aura of achievement. shrouded.

"Aha, black elements?"

About twenty minutes later, Wayne put down the script in his hands in surprise, and looked at the woman sitting on the sofa in surprise. "Don't tell me that you were influenced by me."

Without any hesitation, Sofia Coppola nodded directly. "I had been hesitating about how to express the family's emotional contradictions in distress, until I read your early works again."

This is a smart woman, Wayne smiled and tapped the script with his fingers, thinking about how to give some useful suggestions.

The story Sofia Coppola wants to shoot is not complicated, but the theme is very deeply rooted, that is, family emotions. And from the moment he saw the script, he already knew that this film is very suitable as the debut work of a novice director.

Through the addition of black elements, the human nature in the emotions can be better expressed, or it is called humanistic care. Although such a method of expression will inevitably appear a bit cruel, this woman obviously knows exactly what she wants.

This film is not for making money or for commercial achievements, it is just an ultra-low-cost drama art film. If it is based on the premise of art film, there is no doubt that as long as there are no mistakes in the finished film, it will definitely be recognized by some film awards.

"Let's talk about the script, Wayne."

Sofia Coppola looked at him thinking about smoking a cigarette, and said with some impatience: "In the past two years, people's impression of your works has obvious labels of big productions and big scenes, but I always remember that, You've always been an academic master storyteller."

"Well, it's my honor to receive your praise."

Looking up at the woman, Wayne curled his lips and said, "Sophia, I suggest you not be too cruel when shooting the film, you are a rare female director in Hollywood, and you should use film to show more delicate emotions. thing."

Speaking of which, he picked up the script, turned to the second page, pointed to one of the paragraphs, and continued: "For example, the arrangement for the suicide of the youngest daughter in the family, I suggest you to express it in a different way."

There is also a potential reason that Wayne did not directly say, that is, children must be considered. In this land, even in horror movies, once it involves cruel harm to minors, it will be replaced by a euphemistic way of expression.

Hollywood has always emphasized creative freedom, but some of the most basic potential red lines are still followed by everyone. For example, in a commercial film, even if the destructive power of a certain character is reflected again, it will never be shot with a camera lens that brutally harms ordinary people on a large scale.

Sofia Coppola frowned and muttered to herself. "Another way of expressing..."

"Okay, I'll just say it." Seeing that the other party didn't understand too much, Wayne put down the script, put his hands on the table in front of him, looked at the woman in deep thought and said:

"Don't directly show the scene of the little girl committing suicide. Black elements are not used in this way. I suggest you to wrap all the brutal scenes in the script with black humor."

"Black comedy?" Sofia Coppola was stunned when she heard his words, and her eyes instantly lit up after she realized it. "That's rightBlack comedy is the best way."

"Yes, Sophia, you'd better package this good story into a dark comedy. But be careful, you must be careful not to abuse the absurd elements, this is a real story that can happen to you and me at any time. black comedy."

If a film wants to stand out, especially for literary and artistic films, at least it must be able to make the audience understand as much as possible after showing the director’s emotional output, and even make the audience like to watch it.

The theme of family has long been played by countless directors, but this theme will never be outdated, especially in this country. And a family drama with delicate emotions and a little dark humor can at least attract the audience to watch it completely.

"I will seriously consider your suggestion, thank you."

Sofia Coppola looked at Wayne seriously, she didn't mean to make any jokes, she was really expressing her gratitude.

"Finally, let me give you a piece of advice. This type of literary film must be understood by the audience." Wayne waved his hand and finally warned: "Just like the name of your first feature film, "Girls Go Forward" , Sophia, go slow or small, just keep going forward. That’s it, let’s have lunch together.”

As Sofia Coppola packed up her script and left Warners Studios, she stood in the distance, looking at the studio where the "Wonder Woman" team was located, with a faint smile on her face.

"Wayne, you're right, whether it's slow or small, as long as you keep moving forward..."

She is very grateful for her decision to come over today. If the cast of "Wonder Woman" flies overseas in a few days, she will probably miss this important conversation.