American fame and fortune

After signing the brokerage contract, the two returned to work.

Thomas remembered something and asked, "Have you joined the Screen Actors Guild?"

"There's no screen actors' union or affiliate in Atlanta," Martin said simply. "I've never joined."

Thomas turned on the computer and searched for the works that Martin had starred in. Both late-night drama and "Zombie Gigolo" were non-union projects, and "Noon Sunshine of a Beautiful Mind" was a union project, but Martin did not apply for it during filming, so it could no longer be used as a certificate.

He said: "Los Angeles is different from Atlanta. Most of the leading actors and actresses, as small as the supporting roles at the bottom, use union members. It is difficult for non-union members to get important roles."

Martin asked, "Can't apply now?"

Thomas explained: "You have to have a major role in a project that has a signed agreement with the screen actors union. Movies, TV shows, MTV are all available, or you have worked in it for 30 consecutive days, and you can apply while you are working."

Martin immediately grasped the point: "Get the union membership first?"

"Yes, this is the prerequisite for your development." Thomas thought about it for a while and asked, "Is there any arrangement for Ms. Mel?"

Louise's resources must be used at critical moments, and Martin will not use them for such a trivial matter: "There is no arrangement on the agency side? It shouldn't be difficult to deal with such an outstanding agent like you?"

It is the agent's responsibility to seek job opportunities for clients. Thomas said, "I'll check with the company to see if there are any suitable opportunities."

The public resources allocated to Thomas will be used less. He also has his own considerations: "You should also look for it there. If you have a suitable opportunity, let me know and I will talk about it."

"Ms. Mayer's resources are best spent when it matters," Martin stressed.

"Okay." Thomas asked, "Any more questions?"

Martin said: "I practice my Hollywood accent privately, and I need a professional teacher or tutoring class."

Thomas checked on the computer: "Here, in Paramount Studios, the teacher in the class is from the University of Southern California School of Film. The professionalism is high enough. The new class starts on weekends. The price is a bit expensive, and each class is one hour. , a small class of 12 people charges $400."

Martin said naturally: "Money is not a problem, you sign up for me."

Thomas was taken aback for a moment. This should be the work of the assistant.

He is an agent of a big company, and the other party is just...

"Forget it, I just came from Atlanta and don't know the rules." Thomas shook his head secretly, thinking that this was the only time, he picked up the phone and dialed the training class, and reported the name of William Morris, who said they would reserve a spot .

Martin wrote down the address and phone number, planning to sign up after the meeting.

Thomas searched for resources on the intranet and asked Martin: "Besides acting, do you have any other specialties?"

Martin didn't need to be modest, he said directly: "Horse riding, bartending, shooting, archery, dancing, fighting, swords, driving, wire, makeup, fireworks..."

Thomas couldn't believe it, after all, the person in front of him was too young: "Are you sure?"

Except for the shooting and the newly learned dance, everything else is accumulated over the years in Martin's previous life, and he has completed evolution: "You may not know, but they all call me the most versatile actor in Atlanta."

Thomas was skeptical, but thinking of the person introduced by Louise Meyer, and the dance video on the Internet that made men feel deeply inferior, he forced himself to believe it.

He glanced at the time and found that he was delayed by a young actor for nearly three hours. He quickly said, "That's all for today. Keep your cell phone connected. I'll call you anytime."

Martin said politely, and walked out of the partition.

I saw many people like him on the way.

For ordinary actor clients, the business is naturally represented by ordinary brokers.

He's doing just fine, and Thomas hasn't been out of the mailroom for at least a year.

Leaving William Morris, Martin drove to Paramount Studios. The khaki arches and opposite iron doors of the studio often appear in film and television works.

The training class starts on weekends. For ordinary actors, the tuition fee is high. To sign up, you need to pay the fee for ten classes at once, which is 4,000 US dollars.

The studio not only has language classes, but also various performance classes, some of which are sponsored by celebrities, and the fees are staggeringly high.

Fighting out from hundreds of thousands of ordinary actors, the cost is not generally high.

Martin came out of the studio and called Michel Gondry. The other party was doing the post-production of "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". The film will be released in March next year, and now is the busiest time.

Michelle Gondry made an appointment with Martin to get together after this busy period.

On the way back, Martin received a call from Thomas, informing him that he would audition for a cast at Warner Studios at 9:30 tomorrow morning.

"A small role in the show, most of the time as the background, with a few lines." Thomas reminded: "The casting director is a client of the company, and I greeted him and his agent."

Martin asked: "What do I need to prepare? Is there a role or script for the audition?"

Thomas said: "Rest well at night, don't go out, and make sure you have enough energy tomorrow. The audition role is an independent film director, the script has not yet been written, and there is no role script."

Martin said, "I see."

The benefits of agents and brokerage companies are now apparent, and actors are no longer fighting alone.

Back after dinner, Martin made a few phone calls to think carefully about tomorrow's audition.

In the early morning of the next day, the sky was slightly bright outside, and Martin was sleeping soundly, when suddenly there was a knock on the door, and someone shouted loudly.

He was woken up, covered his head and wanted to continue to sleep, but the knocking on the door kept ringing.

Martin got up, subconsciously went to the bedside table to feel for the gun, but found nothing.

The man woke up immediately, because the plane came over, and all the guns were left in Atlanta.

"Jessica! Jessica!" Martin heard what was shouted.

He put on a t-shirt, picked up his mobile phone, entered the living room, slightly opened the door, and by the voice-activated light in the corridor, he found that the bumpy face from last time was tapping on the door diagonally opposite.

Before Martin could speak, the man turned his head and gave Martin a hard look: "Don't care about your business, get out!"

While closing the door, Martin said, "I called the police, and the police will come soon."

With a bang, he shut the door, put on the safety lock, and moved away from the door.

Following Bruce, Martin learned a lot of family self-defense knowledge.

"Fake!" Pothole face cursed, and left quickly.

Martin heard no sound outside, opened a crack slightly, and the landlord Antonio, holding a shotgun, rolled from the stairway into the corridor as if slowing down the camera.

"Bastard, why don't you go away!" Antonio's fat face trembled, and he shouted towards the stairs: "Come here again to make trouble, and I'll blow your head off."

Martin opened the door and reminded before coming out: "It's me, Martin."

Antonio said: "Don't worry, I'm a friendship gun, I won't hit my own people."

This mess, many tenants were woken up and came to check the situation.

Martin came up to Antonio and said, "You came too late, everyone is gone."

"No way." He couldn't come out unless people left. Antonio panted and said, "I heard the sound, got up from the bed, put on my clothes and found the gun. It will take time."

The door diagonally opposite opened at this moment, and a blonde woman came out and patted her trembling chest: "I was scared to death."

The gun in Antonio's hand tilted towards the woman and asked, "You don't know him?"

The woman quickly moved away: "I don't know him. He is looking for Jessica. You know, Jessica moved out half a month ago."

In the corridor on the other side of the same floor, the male tenant with glasses said: "Antonio, add a security gate on the first floor, the law and order in Los Angeles is too bad."

"Do you know how much it will cost to add a door? You pay for it?" Antonio looked around at the other tenants: "Or should it be shared among you?"

When it comes to money, no one talks.

Antonio finally caught his breath, and his big belly stopped rising and falling rapidly: "This kind of thing happens occasionally, and the tenant has already left. This is a prosperous area in North Hollywood, and the LAPD patrol frequency is high enough."

Another said, "You trust those idiots? Years ago, right here, two guys beat the crap out of that bunch."

Antonio waved his hand: "Okay, okay, go back and continue to rest."

It was still early, and the crowd gradually dispersed.

Antonio held his gun of friendship and strode back to the third floor.

Compared with the slowness when compared, the speed is more than twice as fast.

Martin was about to go back to the house, when the blond woman in long pajamas suddenly said, "Thank you for scaring him away."

"You're welcome." Martin replied casually, "He woke me up."

"I'm Emily." The blond woman introduced herself and asked, "Are you new here?"

Martin politely replied: "Martin Davis, I just moved in this morning."

Emily looked at him carefully, and said again: "Thank you."

Martin sized him up a little. He was not tall, at most 1.6 meters. He nodded, "You're welcome."

Emily waited for Martin to return to the room, returned to the residence, took out her mobile phone and dialed a number: "Jessie, you little bastard, don't make noise! ​​Let me ask you, who did you offend? He came here today, scared Broke me!"

The other side replied: "I auditioned some time ago, and I had some disputes with people. I'm sorry, I'll settle it in a few days. It's just a little money, and I can get it together soon."

The two had rented together here for a long time, and Emily couldn't say any more, so she told her to be careful and hung up the phone.

At eight o'clock in the morning, Martin left the house on time, went to a nearby restaurant to have a light breakfast, drove to the vicinity of Burbank, found a quiet place to let his thoughts go, and when the time was about to arrive, he rushed to Warner Studios and came to The office area where the crew is located, to participate in the audition.

Thomas had signed up for him, and Martin found the audition room according to the picture.

There were more than a dozen people sitting on the two benches in front of the audition room.

Martin took an empty seat and waited patiently.

After the third shift, ask for a monthly pass.