Volume 3 Summer Rain Chapter 0352 A Different Hollywood
Some people say that Hollywood is full of discrimination and a place where white supremacy reigns.
Nan Yi sneered at such remarks, "Why? In Hong Kong movies, will white people be the protagonists, or will black people be the protagonists? Or in anti-Japanese war movies, will the Japanese be the protagonists?
When you go to someone else's house as a guest, you want to sit in the main seat. Are you dreaming?"
After getting off the plane, Nan Yi was not in a hurry to go to 20th Century Fox, nor was he in a hurry to find a place to stay. He just asked the school beauty to follow him, and the others hid outside. He found a tour guide and driver to take them around Hollywood and see another side of Hollywood.
The tour guide Nan Yi hired was named Chen Fang, a Chinese American whose parents opened a restaurant in Los Angeles and hoped that their son could inherit the family business and become a restaurant owner.
However, young people like freedom and do not want to be bound by constraints. Since his home is close to Hollywood, Chen Fang went to Hollywood to try his luck and see if he could become a star. However, after several years in Hollywood, he was not satisfied.
The main reason is that American films are mostly white-themed and require too few Chinese actors. As for Chinese films, except for Bruce Lee's kung fu movies that made it into Hollywood in the past few years, which caused a wave of movie-watching in America, some Chinese actors had some opportunities, but with the death of Bruce Lee, everything returned to the starting point.
Now Chen Fang works as a tour guide while doing minor roles, otherwise he would not be able to support himself.
"The buildings in Hollywood are not much different from those in ordinary English towns. Except that there are more people, the billboards look more modern, and there are more buildings than in ordinary English towns.
Nansheng, do you think this place doesn't live up to its reputation?
When I first came here, I also thought it was strange. How could Hollywood, which is so famous all over the world, look like this? But after staying here for a long time, I no longer find it strange.
In half an hour, we will be in the bustling area. "
While driving, Chen Fang introduced Hollywood to Nan Yi and his partner, who were pretending to be a foreign couple.
Nan Yi remained calm and acted like a newbie who came to Hollywood for the first time, expecting Chen Fang to show him the Hollywood in his eyes, Hollywood from different angles.
After a while, Chen Fang brought Nan Yi and the other person to the bustling area of Hollywood.
There are tall buildings and bars everywhere. Most of the people walking back and forth on the streets have handsome faces. Whether they are men or women, they are all very good-looking.
Some women dress very eye-catchingly. In January, they wear something slightly larger than a bra on their upper body and hot pants on their lower body. They are not afraid of the cold and just hang out outside.
Seeing that Nan Yi was staring at the woman outside, Chen Fang said, "Nan Sheng, there are too many girls like this in Hollywood. If you want one, they can be delivered to your room at night. The price is not too expensive. Thirty dollars will do."
Hearing Chen Fang's words, Nan Yi's face darkened a little, "So, do you think my 'girlfriend' doesn't exist?"
However, Nan Yi did not find Chen Fang's enthusiasm for pimping strange. For a prostitute guide and driver like Chen Fang, kickbacks were one of their sources of income.
"Chen Fang, are there many girls like you mentioned in Hollywood? And are they so cheap? Logically speaking, girls of this quality wouldn't be cheap anywhere. They can't be so cheap in Hollywood, right?"
"You feel weird, don't you? I felt weird too when I first came here. Actually, this is a unique situation here. Do you know what those girls do?"
"Are you looking for opportunities in Hollywood?"
Nan Yi couldn't pretend that he knew nothing. He really knew a lot about this. Which film and television base doesn't have a "pink street" next to it?
Among the actors in the film and television industry, except for the top ones who have considerable income, the others do not even get as much salary as an ordinary office worker, but their expenses are much higher than those of ordinary people.
Especially for women, after all, the entertainment industry is all about looks, so investing in face and skin care is essential, which is a considerable expense. The income from serving dishes and coffee when they are not famous is often not enough to make ends meet, so it is understandable that they find a "side job".
"Nansheng, you guessed it right. These girls are all actors. They all came to Hollywood to pursue their dreams."
"For a living?"
“I guess so. The cost of living in Hollywood is not low, especially for girls. Their cost of living is even higher. Before they became famous, they could only work in restaurants and cafes to earn a meager income.
I have been here for five years and have heard about many girls sleeping with people in their circle. If they don't, they have no chance at all. If they do, they can get some chances, but even so, the chances are pitifully small.
Even if I get it, it won't be a particularly important role, maybe just one or two lines, and not only will I not get paid for such a role, I may even have to pay someone else for it."
"Oh, that's not easy."
Nan Yi agreed with his words, but he disagreed in his heart.
The entertainment industry is the epitome of human evil. What is only an occasional and unusual occurrence in other industries has become the norm in the entertainment industry and has evolved into an unspoken rule.
As far as Nan Yi knows, Hollywood has changed a lot for the better. In the past era of Hollywood big studios, Hollywood was completely monopolized by the big studio system, and the power of Hollywood executives at that time was unimaginable.
In Nan Yi's own 20th Century Fox, there is a legend of the Five O'Clock Girl. Every day after get off work at five o'clock, a beautiful actress would be sent to the boss's office on her own initiative. If she disagreed, she would be banned immediately.
For example, Marlon Brando had a handsomeness that attracted girls, and with his status in Hollywood, girls threw themselves into his arms and boys waited to be seduced.
After all, he is a godfather who has a broad mind and will not be too strict about gender.
The dismantling of the big studio system and the strengthening of the actors' union have helped to improve the situation. However, many of Hollywood's unspoken rules have become explicit rules, no longer half-hidden.
There are too many deals like this in Hollywood. Even if you have become a big star, you cannot avoid it. This is how the entertainment industry is. If you want good opportunities, you have to pay the price.
It’s just that the transactions at the bottom level in Hollywood are more numerous and more abrupt, which obscures the transactions at the higher levels.
Just like the actresses mentioned by Chen Fang, these girls are indeed actors and have registered with the Screen Actors Guild. But such an identity is not popular in Hollywood. There are too many registered actors in Hollywood. Even if you have never made a movie, you can still register.
Of course, there are articles whitewashing this phenomenon, saying that unspoken rules are no longer popular in Hollywood, that Hollywood is more focused on the market, and that if a movie produced has no market, then it is the investors' money that is lost.
No producer would be stupid enough to throw away his own job just for the sake of unspoken rules.
However, anyone who has a certain understanding of the entertainment industry will naturally sneer at such articles.
Nan Yi also felt to some extent that the unspoken rules were giving way to the market. Wall Street capital had begun to enter Hollywood, and for investors, making money was the most important thing.
But now, Nan Yi heard Chen Fang's version of the story from another perspective.
As for those so-called actors, they all came here with the dream of becoming big Hollywood stars. However, even though Hollywood produces a lot of stars, compared with the vast majority of practitioners, the handsome men and beautiful women from all over the world, the number of stars is pitifully small.
And another point is that although there are many big-investment, big-production films in Hollywood every year that can also achieve super high box office, there are far more small-investment, low-cost films.
A company like 20th Century Fox has to make at least 30 to 40 films every year, but among them, large-budget films like "Star Wars" will only be made two or three times a year, or even one every two or three years.
It can be said that the big Hollywood film studios only bet on a few big-budget movies a year. If they win, they make a lot of money. If they lose, they can barely survive by relying on the returns from small productions.
Big productions and big investment companies are keeping a close eye on this, and it can be said that any actor used as the protagonist will be strictly scrutinized, and it is almost impossible to rely on unspoken rules to get ahead.
Only those who are qualified for the position can come and accept the unspoken rules and quickly get promoted.
At this time, the unspoken rules are just a seasoning.
However, those small-scale and independent films are all C-level productions with investments of less than one million US dollars. For such films, with low investments, it is impossible to hire big stars, and they can only use second- and third-tier stars or newcomers, because they are all similar, so it can be said that it doesn't matter who is used.
There are too many monks and too little porridge, so there are naturally unspoken rules if you want to get to the top.
What’s more important is that even if we count those small-scale, independent films, Hollywood only produces a few hundred films a year, at most a thousand. How many actors are needed for this?
And how many movie actors are there? There are hundreds of thousands registered with the Actors Guild, and among them there are at least over 100,000 young and beautiful girls. This is a collection of beauties from all over the world.
In such a prosperous market, it is no longer possible to get a top spot in a movie by using unspoken rules, because all the stars use this. Even if you, a newcomer, use unspoken rules, the crew will look down on you. Why would they give up the opportunity to seduce a star to seduce you, a newcomer?
At a time when unspoken rules have become explicit rules, they are actually not very helpful to one's career. Of course, that doesn't mean they are useless. It can only be said that for Hollywood, they are like a stepping stone. If you don't hand over the stepping stone, the door will not open to you.
This is just like going to work in a big company. Academic qualifications are just the stepping stone. Without academic qualifications, you will not be given any chance to demonstrate your abilities.
Those who can get in the door, that is, those who can be actors, are actually equivalent to a part of life for this issue. Too many and too little are not good either .
When everyone is doing this, it is basically difficult for newcomers to rely on this to get ahead.
The girls who came to Hollywood with the dream of becoming a star, got nothing after giving up their bottom line. Naturally, they would not give up so easily, or they have fallen into their comfort zone, which led to the huge pink color on the streets of Hollywood.
Fortunately, in the eyes of Westerners, they don’t take this kind of problem very seriously. No gossip media will dig up such past events of a certain star. They prefer to focus on the news of "cheating".
For Westerners, promiscuous sex before marriage is nothing, but if someone continues to have affairs outside after getting married, that is a big deal.
For those who come to Hollywood with the dream of becoming a star, there are not many options left before they achieve success. If they want to survive, they can only do odd jobs to earn money to support themselves.
Let me put it this way, in Hollywood, whether it's a street parking attendant, a waiter in a restaurant, or a salesperson in a store, almost all of them are actors registered with the Screen Actors Guild working part-time.
Even so, many people still cannot find jobs. They are forced to sell themselves as commodities in order to survive in Hollywood due to lack of money.
People who have this kind of thinking are very common in Hollywood. Due to fierce competition, supply exceeds demand and prices naturally plummet.
Of course they know that they are losing out by doing this, but supported by the dream of becoming a star and the idea that they are just trying to make some money or make a temporary transition, they persist in doing so.
Only God knows whether you will be rewarded if you persevere to the end.
Every year, many handsome men and beautiful women come here to pursue their dreams of becoming stars, and every day many people leave here dejected and disappointed.
After Chen Fang explained the ins and outs of this, Nan Yi confirmed what he knew and coldly described it as "cruel".
An actress who can portray herself as a naive and innocent girl on the screen is worthy of everyone's worship. She can wade upstream in dirty water, fight her way out of the intrigues, and act "silly" with a very smart heart. Isn't her acting skill worthy of admiration?
Hollywood is like a slot machine, which swallows countless dimes before spitting out a few lucky ones to win the grand prize; those unfortunate people will no longer be remembered by many people, and they will eventually remain nameless and waste their youth.
When they returned to the village, they saw that Mr. Shu, who regarded them as their white moonlight, was still single. They made up their minds, shed two tears of grievance silently, and made the only mistake in their lives - marrying the wrong person.
When Nan Yi was lamenting the unfairness of fate, Chen Fang said, "Nan Sheng, if it were just this, it would be a better outcome for the girls."
"Oh, there are worse outcomes?"
Nan Yi guessed that Chen Fang was about to say "San Fernando Valley".
"Yes, Nansheng, you just came to Hollywood, and there are many things you don't know. In fact, it's not just you. People who haven't learned about Hollywood carefully would never imagine that Hollywood not only has the largest film creation base in the world, but also the largest small film production base in the world."
Glancing at the school beauty who was looking out the window as if she didn't hear the two talking, Chen Fang suddenly whispered to Nan Yi, "Nansheng, if you're walking down the street and a talent scout asks you to make a movie, or tells you there's a more convenient way to help you quickly become famous in Hollywood, don't believe it."
"Is he a liar?"
"They are even more hateful than scammers. Scammers only steal your money, but they are the ones who cheat you. I was fooled by them before, and if I hadn't run fast, the consequences would have been disastrous!"
Chen Fang gnashed his teeth and said, "Those so-called scouts are actually employees of small film companies. When they see handsome men and beautiful women who have just arrived in Hollywood, they approach them and talk to them. They take advantage of the young people's inexperience and ignorance, and at the same time, they really want to be famous, so they are fooled by them.
Yes, they would take you to Hollywood Studios for auditions, but that was another Hollywood, the San Fernando Valley, the little Hollywood movie production area, and once you got there, you were completely cut off from Hollywood.”
