"Are you sure you want to do this, Leah?"

Putting down the coffee cup, George Lucas broke the tranquility of the cafe with surprise words, and he quickly lowered his voice, "This is so adventurous!"

"I'm Duke's mother."

Slurping coffee slowly, Leah Rosenberg's voice was still dull, "I know how realistic Hollywood is. If I don't help him, who else in the world will help him?"

She looked up at George Lucas, her black eyes calm as water, "I'm just doing something within my mother's ability."

"I carefully studied the script after you called me last night."

Seeing that his friends were determined, George Lucas quickly returned to his calmness and said the most basic facts. "If the movie wants to make the script effect, it will definitely require a tens of millions of dollars. I watched a video shot by Duke. He is indeed very thoughtful, and the fast and sharp editing is also very distinctive, but he lacks experience!"

"George, give me a exact number." Leah Rosenberg ignored George Lucas's last words, "By your estimate, how much money Duke needs?"

After watching his friend carefully for a while, George Lucas rubbed his iconic beard and said slowly, "If it were produced by Lucas Pictures and the special effects were completely handed over to Industrial Light and Magic, it would be estimated that about 12 million US dollars can be basically handled, but Duke is a novice, and this number will inevitably increase, at least 15 million US dollars."

"I will mortgage two properties in Santa Monica and San Francisco as soon as possible." Leah had this idea when she first saw the script. After weeks of careful consideration, she seemed to be talking about small and insignificant things. "Plus with some of my savings, it's okay to raise $10 million. I'll find a way to do the rest."

"Leah, you're gamble!" George Lucas reminded her.

"George, push forward twenty years..." Lea's calm eyes finally showed her gleam, "When we started a business, did we decide not to be a big bet? Do you still remember the situation when filming "Star Wars"? Ninety percent of people in Hollywood say you are a fool, and all the film critics in North America are calling you a trash, what's the result?"

When George Lucas heard his friend mention his most proud thing, he couldn't help but smile, picked up the coffee and took a sip, "Are you so confident in Duke?"

“No confidence.”

Leah Rosenberg's words almost made George Lucas spew the coffee out, "But as a mother, I am willing to create a chance for him to succeed. Even if he fails, he will just throw away two properties and some of his money. I can still bear this loss."

Seeing George Lucas nodding slowly, her voice gradually slowed down, "George, we have known each other for thirty years. I have never asked you to do anything for me, the film's production, distribution..."

“That’s all for Lucasfilm.”

Since Leah decided to take on most of the investment and said such serious words, George Lucas stopped persuading him. He thought for a while, "If I were interested in this script, those movie funds would definitely be willing to pay for the remaining investment."

This kind of thing that can be used to sell favors by borrowing chickens and laying eggs is easy to do.

The two reached an agreement on the general direction, and the two discussed some specific aspects. They did not leave the cafe separately after half a day.

Duke knew nothing about his mother's decision. Although he had never given up hope, he also realized that opportunities did not appear in a short period of time and that he had to find a suitable job to support himself.

He is contacting an associate director of the crew of Captain Hook. After Spielberg's crew experienced a financial crisis and shut down, he finally got investment and started shooting in Universal Studios again. Duke wants to return to the crew to work. Even if he is just a temporary worker who does chores, it is a rare learning opportunity to be able to watch the filming of Hollywood's No. 1 Quick Gunner on the spot.

The most important thing is that he must have a certain source of income and wait and look for opportunities slowly.

It’s not that Duke didn’t think about investing in his mother, but he just thought about it.

There is no mother in this world who owe her children. He cannot ask for more. Mrs. Leah also expressed the meaning of not being optimistic about the script.

To take a step back, even if my mother is willing to invest, without the support of the film company, it will not be of much use.

Not to mention the complexity of forming a huge crew without the support of the film company, even if the film is filmed and released, it will be a huge problem.

In this huge industry, the issuing company is always at the top of the food chain. Duke would not naively think that as long as he personally can sign a contract with the publisher, the other party will use millions of huge funds to promote the film, and then share one-third or even half of the income with him, an unknown person. Are the senior executives of the issuing company idiots?

Don’t forget that he is a complete newcomer. Without a distribution company, he will invest such a large amount of money in the works of new directors whose copyright is not in his own hands. They are not engaged in charity!

Unless the copyright of the video is sold completely to the publisher, but that question is still the question, who will offer a high price for a new director's debut female work?

Therefore, he needs the support of a production company or a well-known producer. If the producer of the film is a large-scale production company like Lucas Pictures, some problems will be solved.

Duke's personal production is a completely different concept from Lucasfilm production or Warner production, and the treatment you can enjoy from publishers will be very different.

Why do directors who have just debuted take the path of producers or film companies? In fact, this is an unsolvable choice.

Because he had worked as a temporary worker on the crew of "Captain Hook" and just made two calls, Duke got the job and entered the Universal Studios studio in the new week.

Temporary workers like them do not have fixed positions, they all go wherever the crew needs to go, and they do dirty and tiring work.

Like most Hollywood crews, the atmosphere of this crew is absolutely not harmonious, and there are endless struggles in open and secret areas. This is a very fierce competition circle. If you want to stand out, you have to do everything you can to climb up, especially for those who are ambitious.

Of course, the king here is called Spielberg, but even a director as successful as him will be troubled by financial problems, and even shut down the crew in order to find investment.

Similarly, someone will challenge his authority, such as the heroine Julia Roberts.

Before the crew stopped, Duke witnessed it with his own eyes that after taking the drug, the big mouth after taking the drug started arguing with Spielberg because of a trivial matter, and even pushed Spielberg for a while. If it weren't for being held back, it would be very likely that he would fight.

Perhaps it was because of the financial problem and the fact that Damou had already filmed a lot of scenes, Spielberg did not replace her, but it is hard to say that Julia Roberts's ** from the early 1990s to the mid-1990s has nothing to do with this incident.

At the end of the day's work, Duke found a corner, changed out of work clothes, put on his coat, left the studio, and walked slowly towards the parking lot along the narrow roads mixed among many buildings.

A temporary worker like him who has no status cannot enjoy special battery car treatment.

Despite his tiring work, Duke's back is still straight and his tall figure is as firm as a palm tree on the side of the road.

The sound of brakes suddenly sounded behind him, and a white six-seater electric car parked steadily beside him.

"Duke Rosenberg?"

A familiar voice came, Duke turned to see, Rick Solomon was sitting in the driver's seat of the electric car.

Nodding slightly to the other side, Duke turned around and prepared to leave.

"Hi, Duke!"

Rick Solomon first pressed the horn of the electric car, and when Duke's eyes turned back, he whispered, "I heard that you wrote a script and were still investing in various Hollywood companies. How about it? Big director, when will your movie start filming?"

His tone was full of sarcasm, "Did your video have already started shooting at Universal Studios? This is big news..."

Without waiting for Duke to react, he pointed to the badge hanging around his neck, "Did you see it? The crew of "Alien 3" has the pass at Universal Studios! I am the supporting actor inside!"

"David Finch's debut. Female work?" Duke's mouth bent and said lightly, "Congratulations."

Seeing that Duke was still in his usual form and showed no envy or jealousy, Rick Solomon said condescendingly, "By the way, Duke, I heard my father talk about it a few days ago. Warner Brothers once held a meeting to discuss your script..."

Duke raised his eyebrows and Rick Solomon smiled, "It's a pity that your "Speed ​​of Life and Death" was rejected by Warner!"

He patted the steering wheel gently, "Duke Rosenberg, I'm so happy to be a director! Let's continue to be a temporary crew member, a promising profession!"

Suddenly, the whistle of the electric car came from behind, and it was obvious that each of them blocked each other's path.

Duke took the initiative to get to the side of the road, but the electric car behind him did not leave, but stopped.

"Duke?"

A girl in her twenties jumped out of the electric car. She wore a short-sleeved shirt with strip pattern and blue jeans. She had a slim figure and a contoured face. She had a hooked nose, dark eyes, her lips were prominent and full. When she smiled, she raised her mouth and showed her white teeth.

"Hi, Sofia."

Duke waved to the girl who came over. Although he was not very familiar with the person, he had seen him many times at George Lucas's home. Her father was the famous Francis Coppola. "Why are you here?"

"I work on the crew of Alien 3." She spoke with a faint nasal voice, "because David Fincher's interim assistant."

"Hello, Sophia."

At some point, Rick Solomon also jumped out of the electric car and came over to say hello.

"Hello."

Sofia Coppola tapped her chin gently, regardless of the enthusiastic smile the other party sent, and patted Duke on the arm with a hard time, "Congratulations yet!"

"Congratulations?" Duke didn't understand.

"I went to San Francisco to visit Uncle Lucas yesterday." Perhaps it was a personal habit. She always spoke with a monotonous nasal sound. "He mentioned you and said that your script was about to be launched by Lucasfilm, and you..."

Her tone was slightly envious, "You are the finalized director candidate."

"Is this true?" Duke's first reaction was that he couldn't believe it.

"Will I lie to you?" Sophia said with her hands folded and looked at him, "I guess Lucasfilm will notify you soon."

"Okay, let's not talk about this." She pointed to the electric car, "Get on the car, I'll take you to the parking lot."

The two got on the electric car, and Rick Solomon over there reacted, "Hey, Sophia, are you kidding right?"

However, what answered him was the sound of the wind brought by the electric car.

After standing in a daze for a while, Rick Solomon got into the driver's seat. He looked at the sun that was about to sink to the horizon and frowned tightly, "This... how is this possible?"
Chapter completed!