America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 173 Methods to Win a Role

At Los Angeles International Airport, Angelina Jolie, carrying a little boy under four years old, entered the VIP lounge with her assistant.

Louise beckoned.

Julie went over, greeted Martin and Louise one by one, and sat down opposite them.

Martin glanced at the black-haired, yellow-skinned boy and asked, "This handsome young man?"

Julie explained, "My son, Maddox, is mainly back in Cambodia for him, and also to give myself some peace and quiet."

Martin understood; this was Julie's adopted son from Cambodia.

Louise said, "Just as cool as you, I'll definitely grow up to be a handsome guy like Martin."

Julie glanced at Martin and approvingly said, "As long as he's half as handsome as Martin, that'll be fine."

The little boy was shy and buried his head in Julie's shoulder, not daring to speak.

Louise didn't particularly like children and had no interest in playing with them. She asked directly, "The film failed. It seems you've been under a lot of pressure, so you went overseas to find some peace and quiet."

Julie gently patted the child's back and smiled, "Not as much pressure as you. Are you doing alright on your end?"

"Just a dozen or so investors have dropped out of the partnership," Louise said casually, but only she knew the immense pressure she was under. "I had no choice but to look for investment overseas."

Julie said, "As far as I know, there are a lot of people overseas who want to invest in Hollywood, and some even use Hollywood films to create scams, which easily attracts funds."

Martin glanced at Louise, as if considering her feelings, then asked, "Are Cambodians interested in investing in Hollywood?"

Julie thought for a moment: "I think so, I haven't noticed." She looked at Louise: "With your professional experience and qualifications, as long as the project is good, attracting investment shouldn't be a problem."

Louise then shifted to a topic Martin was interested in: "I have a project I'd like to invite you to participate."

Julie was quite surprised: "Aren't you afraid I'll mess this up again? I've already failed three times in a row."

Louise's words were equally touching: "We've been friends for years, we can't just stand by and watch you fall, we'll help you if we can."

She started with nice words, then dropped the bombshell: "Of course, my project can't afford such high salaries."

It's extremely rare in Hollywood to have someone willing to lend a helping hand during difficult times, Jolie said, "I was almost losing confidence myself."

Martin knew his own limitations, so he simply listened and remained silent.

Louise continued, "Let's turn things around together and show Hollywood that we're far from finished."

Julie handed her son to her assistant and asked, "What specific project?"

Louise said, "It's an action-packed gunfight movie, adapted from Top Bull Comics' 'Wanted,' with Martin as the male lead and you as the female lead."

Julie said, "I'll take a look at the script later. As long as the script and the character are fine, nothing else matters."

The failure of "Alexander" has affected Colin Farrell, the most unfortunate actor, but she is also implicated and unlikely to have other suitable opportunities in the short term.

Unless next year's "Mr. & Mrs. Smith" is a success.

Louise said, "I'll have someone talk to your agent later."

Julie glanced at Martin, remembering that he had a movie coming out soon. If it was successful, she would accept the offer and work with a successful person; perhaps that would help her shake off her bad luck.

If she fails, she will have to refuse Louise's offer.

Already in a difficult situation, they cannot afford to fall into the abyss, lest they have no chance to turn things around.

Louise then changed the subject: "Are you very familiar with Cambodia?"

Julie glanced at her son, her eyes full of love: "I've set up a foundation over there, and the King of Cambodia is preparing to grant me the title of Honorary Citizen."

Louise said, "Next time I have the chance, I'll go and take a look, and do my part."

After chatting for a few more minutes, it was time to board, and Martin and Louise went to first class.

The two seats are next to each other, and it's easy to lie down and talk after lowering the partition in the middle.

Louise pulled Martin's arm down to her head and said, "As long as 'Through the Mountains' succeeds, Julie won't be a problem."

She noticed Martin had an earphone on one ear, took it off, and listened: "Boston accent?"

Martin simply stated, "Scorsese's new project, a gangster film adapted from the Hong Kong film 'Infernal Affairs,' features Leonardo DiCaprio as the lead actor, and I'm interested in securing the second lead role."

Louise handed the headphones back to Martin: "That's certainly a great way to elevate your style, but you'll face very fierce competition, and it'll be difficult to win."

Martin said, "The simplest way is to bring your own funding to the project."

Louise turned to look at Martin, guessing what he was thinking: "Don't even think about it if you don't have more than ten million dollars."

Martin said proactively, "So, rich lady, I can only rely on you to take care of me again."

Louise retorted, "When you need me, you call me a rich woman; when you don't, you call me a drunkard, a pervert, and a slut. That's you."

"The first part was serious, but the second part is just to add some spice, isn't it?" Martin emphasized. "That's a Martin Scorsese gangster film, it's a sure thing."

Louise slowly shook her head: "Scorsese's films, like Quentin's, have never relied on box office success; they need offline operations to recoup their costs. Bad Seed, do I need to remind you? Time is also a cost. Besides, Pacific Pictures doesn't have that many investors anymore."

Martin fell silent for a moment, his mind replaying the process of bringing "Zombie Gigolo" to fruition in Atlanta.

He was constantly running around, pulling in players from the previous and next players, until he finally managed to put together a winning hand.

In my past life, when I was a minor actor, I saw countless examples of producers who were caught between two sides, using one to fool the other, and then using the other to fool the first.

Bill Gates' son-in-law is a joke, but similar cases are not uncommon in the film industry.

Louise knew Martin to some extent and asked, "You bad seed, what wicked idea are you plotting now? Don't drag me into your messes."

Martin asked, "What about using other people's money to make money for you?"

"You're really that kind?" Louise didn't believe him. "What's in it for you?"

Martin stated frankly, "It was a multi-million dollar salary, plus a role in Scorsese's film crew."

Louise simply looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

Martin said, "Your Pacific Films has been around for almost ten years, right? You've been involved in the production of many films, and you can see the Pacific Films logo in the opening credits of many of them."

Louise sighed: "Most of them are low- to mid-budget films, A-list hodgepodges. The only time, we messed it up."

"You told me last time that you wanted to move beyond North America, beyond the region most affected by Alexander the Great's defeat, and attract investment overseas." Martin had considered this carefully: "What if we added Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio's names? What if we used their projects to attract investment?"

Louise, who had participated in numerous co-productions, immediately understood Martin's meaning: "Pacific Films raises investment under their name, and then you take that investment to the film crew and use that to secure a role?"

Martin said, "I have definite information that the production team will be formed in February. It's a film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and I'm sure many people will be willing to invest. Pacific Pictures can get management fees and a share of the profits—using someone else's resources to generate its own revenue!"

Louise has recently been considering attracting investment overseas. After a moment's thought, she said, "It can only be done overseas, preferably not in Europe. With Leonardo's appeal, once the studio is established in Hollywood and the news is out, attracting investment won't be difficult."

Who dares to underestimate Jack's influence?

Martin chimed in, "With your operational capabilities, even if investors want to visit Hollywood and film crews, you can easily take them to Warner Bros. Studios and handle them without any problem."

Louise was confident enough: "No problem."

She's already starting to think about how to proceed: "For this project, Scorsese is collaborating with Warner Bros., and it won't be difficult for me to get the official materials from the production team... Since it's an investment that's been brought in, I can ignore the time cost."

Martin is self-aware that he doesn't have enough fame and influence, or more precisely, he hasn't built a brand and can only rely on Pacific Films.

Louise looked at Martin: "But this way, you'll owe me a huge debt again."

"Honey, try thinking about it differently." Martin is now very self-aware; while he has plenty of physical assets, he severely lacks brand capital: "In the future, when I become famous and a movie star with market appeal, you can use my reputation to attract investment!"

Louise laughed at first, then shook her head: "By then, you will abandon me."

Martin abandoned all his frivolity and asked very seriously, "In your eyes, am I that kind of person?"

Louise was about to say yes, but then suddenly fell silent. The failure of "Alexander" had brought her unprecedented setbacks. Most investors had abandoned Pacific Films, but Martin and Kelly had not.

Although she knew Martin was a complicated person, her feelings for him were much better than before, and she said, "We'll talk about the future later."

The flight landed smoothly in the port city, and Louise immediately called Pacific Pictures from the airport, asking the company to contact Warner Bros. to express their interest in investing in Martin Scorsese's new project.

It's normal for investments involving tens of millions of dollars to take several months to negotiate.

The International Bartenders Association sent someone to greet them, and the two stayed in a luxury suite at the Four Seasons Hotel.

Martin, being very self-aware, acted as a silent companion, accompanying Louise to meet the president of the Bartenders Association and several senior bartenders.

The subsequent International Bartenders Convention will be attended by bartenders and seasoned drinkers from all over the world, and the convention will be held at a famous convention center.

Martin specifically asked the chairman's assistant for a copy of the meeting agenda and guest list, and then went back to his room to review it carefully.

Louise also came to the study, preparing to write a plan, and saw Martin intently flipping through documents: "What are you looking at these for?"

"Since it was my idea, I'll definitely put in the effort," Martin said. "Let's see if there are any potential clients among them."

Louise said, "Very conscientious, keep it up."

After reviewing the information, Martin identified several key individuals and, through Louise's connections in the Bartenders Association, obtained more publicly available data.

Chapter 3 should be coming soon; I'm currently writing it.

(End of this chapter)