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ecotone99 · 5 years

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[RF] Los Angeles - The city of angels

I saw through the window a moltitude of lights: it was now evening and the plane on which I traveled was about to land in Los Angeles. It was love at first sight. I rushed, without really knowing where I was going, to take the luggage then went out immediately to finally breathe a bit 'of fresh air. I had made a stopover in New York and I was not able to leave the airport. I also want to smoke a cigarette. I lit two in a row. I looked a bit 'around bewildered. I had come halfway around the world. I proceeded to objectives. My destination was the hostel where I stayed for my two-week stay. I relied a direct shuttle services from the airport. Within a few minutes I was on the road again. While I was on the bus a stranger offered me a piece of candy. I accepted it. I am a bit 'naive and I tend to have good faith in others. It was good. The impact with the wide, endless highways took my breath away. A sense of freedom comes over me from the inside. It was the first trip that I faced alone. I was fascinated. We reached our destination. I paid the TAXI. Twenty-one dollars had already left. The hostel resembled in all respects to one of those typical American houses in a rustic style. When I entered I saw a melting-pot of people who watched TV. They didn't look at me. I soon realized that it was something quite normal considering the bustle of people who frequented the place. But someone stepped forward to me: a young innocuous-looking black guy and rather serious. He wore glasses and his hair cut short. He introduced himself, "Hello my name is Pedro, Welcome to Free Housing, I'll show you the house." He was a crew member who ran the "cabin". My english, school, had yet to turn up and during the home tour I nodded my head. I carried the luggage in the room that I was given and that I had to share with three other people. I paid in advance the bill for the night. I spent one hundred and fifty US dollars. From then on I had to live with ten dollars a day. I tried to ask my first question. "Where can I buy cigarettes and a lighter?" I'm a heavy smoker. The answer thankfully was simple and painless. "Down down the road." I followed that one indication and in fact I was faced with one of the classic American open day and night supermarkets. I took a pack of Marlboros and a lighter with ergonomic enclosure which I keep still. It 's strange to me because lighters have always been short-lived. I returned to the hostel without looking around much. It was dark. My priority was fall into bed to write to my family and to my girlfriend that I was fine. So I did. I was ready to fall asleep when I realized that it was impossible. There was a guy who snored worse than anyone else. It made a loud noise and by the way he sobbed. This went on for hours although eventually stopped and I managed to get to sleep with the ardent hope for him to go on his way as soon as possible. The next morning I woke up early and I was more lively than ever. Among other things I noticed, looking in the mirror, that my tongue was once again become pink. My body had already disposed of the accumulated stress before the trip. I put it in my suit and went downstairs where I uttered a timid "Hello" to me and I arranged to have breakfast. From what I understood each roommate was free to take the supplies they wished, place them in the appropriate shelves or in refrigerators and cooking. So I headed back to the Rite Market to buy some drink and some snacks. It was early November, the sun was already shining and did not at all cold. I noticed that the path along which I was was dotted with palm trees. I bought a "tank" milk, an orange juice and cereals. So, to begin with. So I went home and put something in my teeth. I already knew what would be my next move. I had, as agreed, to make an important phone call. I had to call Sam Lane, executive producer of cannabis for free, to arrange a meeting in order to present the project that I realized hoping that acquire the rights. I had read that he spent fifteen thousand US dollars a week to produce an episode of his show so I was hoping to make a good shot. No sooner said than done. I locked myself in the bathroom and dialed the number. He answered almost immediately. I was not ready to have a conversation in English and even more so "business" but God though I did not pray more for some time helped me anyway. "Hello Sam, I'm Michael." I paused. "I'm in Los Angeles." "When we can meet?". I was already out of breath as my future at that time depended for much from him. He responded with some enthusiasm, "Michael! Send me a message saying your address this afternoon I send you to take a car. " "Okay, great," I said. "See you later". My heart was pounding. I was thinking what I would have done if he had not replied. I was playing around. I had right away, however, a strange feeling. Too good to be true. I did not lay down and after lunch I was ready to start exploring the city. Before going out I checked the e-mail account. My best friend wrote me: "Hello Michael, How was your trip? I know what you felt just before we left. Enjoy this adventure and believe it all the way. California is one of the most beautiful places in the world. Take care. Andrew "I put the signed blacks pants, a T-shirt printed with a picture of James Dean and a three-button jacket between the elegant and casual. Since I had your hair cut almost to zero also I put my funny gray cap with the visor. Instead of going to South as I had done up to that point, once out in the street, I proceeded northward along Crenshaw Boulevard until I reached the intersection with Wilshire. I was carrying a briefcase with inside the project that I had to present to anyone who could also be only minimally affected and in hand clutching a list of possible contacts divided among talent agencies and television production companies. I chose Los Angeles because of it. I decided to start with the talent agency. The problem was to find them. Wilshire Boulevard is one long highway dotted with skyscrapers and buildings on both right and left and numbered in a specific order. I had to get to the number 10250. Where I was at that moment I was more or less at number 700. Once I discovered which way the numbers were going in up I reached the goal and rang the bell. I was very nervous because of the research that I had conducted found that in almost all cases the answer was "We do not accept unsolicited material." I showed up with a weak voice, "Hello, I'm an Italian guy and I want to introduce you to the pitch for a new animated series". The answer was clearly the one I anticipated. First door in his face. First of a long series. No problem. I looked through the list of contacts an address close to where I was at that time and I noticed that for better or worse many were located along the Wilshire although to a variety of civic. I made another attempt, but the answer was the same. It seemed to me a completely absurd policy. At about half past four p.m. I sent a text message to my primary contact. I asked him if it was confirmed the meeting and took the opportunity to invite him to eat a pizza. Meanwhile I sat a moment. I had already ground several kilometers and I was pretty torn down because it does not like being told no so openly. I began to get really afraid of not succeeding. Mr. Lane replied apologetically that he had an important business meeting and then we would not have been able to see that day. He could stay. Then I resumed walking towards one of the most famous of the city agencies. I arrived at the base of the skyscraper which housed intending to pretend a university student who wanted the opinion of one of the trade concerning his dissertation. I talked to the porter who advised me, since it was quite late, to come back the next day and discuss with a young lady named Alice. I came out more than satisfied because at least he gave me an answer that was not entirely negative and that gave me some hope. I stopped at a fast-food, ate a sandwich along at least twenty centimeters so I went back to the hostel. It was not yet very clear in my head the projects in which I had ventured. That evening I met the rest of the team who ran the house. AJ was high, egocentric and gym-lover. Mike seemed rather reserved and had the air of being always tired. The youngest, Chris, had already taken part in several commercials while Dan, the General Supervisor, took the part of thirty libertine. Also I made a first friendship with a French girl named Valentine who wished to become a make-up artist and which briefly told her my story. He advised me saying any more upside to be the best. That night I slept like a log because the snoring man was gone. The next day I went back to the building where I had "appointment". I was even more agitated than usual. After a short wait in came a young girl who asked me politely what she could do for me. I stammered my unusual request. I was all sweaty hands. My English was still quite sparse. He brought up the top floor of the building where there was the agency's focus. Before joining I had to ask permission from the Director reception. It was a private company. He asked me some general information such as first and last name and what kind of university course I attended. Then politely he said "At the moment there is no one, in case you recall." I accepted gladly the answer and walked away. I already knew that I would not receive any phone call and that in fact there had to be someone. Stay within those offices was like being one step from heaven. Were companies that were earning hundreds of millions of dollars a year and who ran the biggest talents on the planet. In the afternoon I wrote to Sam to find out what had happened. He replied that he was at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Los Angeles. I rushed there. It was evening now, and walking through the streets of Downtown I realized where we were really arrived. Skyscrapers. Exclusively tall and majestic skyscrapers. It was an impressive sight, amazing and breathtaking. I tried to take some pictures but I lost myself in admiring such beauty. Certainly there are many who argue that there are no feelings in a heart of steel. I personally find it endearing. I see it as a boost to want to rise to the top. The hotel where we were to meet was one of the most luxurious of downtown. I sat in the lobby and I wrote to him that I had arrived. Meanwhile I talked with some of the demonstrators who were participating in a movement called "Stop the war on drugs!" And to which he also attended my contact. He replied apologizing again. He told me he was already gone, and he had forgotten our meeting. He asked to see us the next afternoon. I naively believed him. I returned to housing. Valentine introduced me to that point a man in his fifties. He told me he was very intelligent and who had just met. His name was Gabriel. From the looks of a poor man. The sound of his voice, however, was very special. Sweet, to be that of a man. I showed no fear my project and he said: "It 'spectacular!". It excited me a lot. Then he asked me if I had protected with copyright and I said: "Of course!". He made a good impression right away because he told me to be a former French billionaire who had lost everything because of the crisis and who was in Los Angeles to meet his daughter, fashion designer. Before falling asleep, I sent this message Sam: "It is said that America offers everyone a chance to become great. You are mine. See you tomorrow. Michael ". He replied with a smiley. The next morning arrived in no time at all. I returned early in the Westin Bonaventure and sat, waiting, doing up and down the elevators as they faced the outside of the main building giving directly on the city. I had lunch in a small restaurant inside the hotel and took a quick tour in the conference room where they held a debate on the huge number of arrests because of drugs. Mr. Lane does not was felt. So I took with the situation, and I wrote him that I was there waiting for him. He told me to make me find the blue elevator base. "Here we are!" I thought. I rushed to the place indicated and after few minutes of waiting came. He was a man in his forties, dressed in a simple way, with a little 'of beard and long hair down to his shoulders, but collected with a pigtail. He greeted me and invited me to go to her room. I could not wait to talk to him. I was charged more than ever. He let me in and introduced me to some of his collaborators. I noticed, to my surprise, that on the sofa there were bags full of marijuana. I was hoping to get to join the club. Finally I opened the bag pulling out the silhouettes of the characters and the file with its description. "That's Sam, this is an American doctor, good-looking and with the medical card for Marijuana, who runs his beautiful home as a rehabilitation center. He looked interested and sometimes closed his eyes. I went to explain its main features: "It 'a bit' crazy, hyper-active, often giggly and head in the clouds". "It feels like Peter Pan." With the same determination I introduced also the remaining components of the pseudo family: the adopted adolescents, the natural children, the fat housekeeper, the hippie visionary and the priest Rastafarian. He did not give them time to finish that stood up and motioned for me to follow him to the door. I could not understand. We went out. He asked, "Are you here on vacation?". I replied "No Sam, have come specially from Italy to introduce this project." Then he asked, "Are you from a good family?". I in all honesty told my mother was not well and that the money was gone. "Well," he told me at that point. "I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I am an activist! I have no money to develop your project. " while we were moved to the hotel and when we were out in front of his car did not have time to say anything but he left. He told me to give my phone number to a certain Paul. "I will invite you to my house to surf!" He exclaimed. Three days of waiting for five minutes went very badly. In those moments I thought that if it had happened a miracle would come home defeated, empty-handed and with more debts than before. I returned to the hotel I spoke with Gabriel. I told him how the meeting had gone, and put, for the first time since I was there, a joint in my mouth. He said clearly: "He's trying to fuck you." I immediately plugged in everything that had happened: the three days of waiting, the questions about my family status and that concerning the purpose of my trip. I was surprised. My brain was pervaded by continuous electrical shocks that are transformed into images just as happened to me before we left when I was smoking marijuana with my friends. The reality was beginning to distort assuming the guise of a picture already painted. Gabriel added, "Never trust of businessmen." The world of Hollywood show business opened before my eyes: a cruel reality and most armored of a maximum security prison where those who hold the reins of the game are producers, high finance sharks, always looking for new ideas for which, however, are not willing to shell out a penny. I took his words as a dogma. The conversation became interesting. We were sitting on the couch under the gazebo in the small courtyard of the residence. I wanted to know more. Something magical was happening. He added, "Why are you here?". I replied saying that limiting beliefs, sex online poker and had reduced me to poverty. She made a face that earned him a thousand words. I had fallen into death traps. He kept saying "You look like a nice guy." He had already understood everything. Then he asked me "What do you want?". I immediately replied, "I want the money." "So you want success?" He said. "The money is with the success". I confirmed faster and with more conviction than I had ever done up to that point, "Yes, I want success." Already I hung on his every word. The lesson was not over yet. Gabriel spoke again: "If you want to succeed you will have to sacrifice everything." I listened. I would also have accepted a deal with the devil. "You'll have to rely on yourself and look like a millionaire." "Remember that the snake do not comes from the castle but from ruin","It 's so for all successful men". I had just met, I knew little about him and already his words sounded like the commandments in my ears. The goal was became clear: when I presented my project I had to look a prominent businessman, a wealthy entrepreneur, or even better a Hollywood secret star. To get to the big boys, get their attention and take home the pot I had to bluff. It was created a 'particular understanding that it would be further strengthened with the passage of time. Then I spoke and said, "When you smoke marijuana I see the world differently". He replied "Marijuana cures your depression." I breathed a sigh of relief. I thought I was schizophrenic. I began to see better the design. I had managed to reverse my perdition tunnel. He said, "Let's go back to the person you met, tomorrow write them a message and tell him you're going to go back to Italy because you have people involved there too." "Okay," I replied. Finally he said, "Tomorrow is another day." I went to bed happy as ever because hope had fed again. The next morning I wrote what Gabriel had suggested and more added that I had already registered the subject and to actually be a businessman. He answered almost immediately and I did not believe what I was reading. "Michael, come to my house this afternoon at Sunset Beach. I want you to discover another side of California. I told Paul to leave. " I replied that there was no need. I wrote "Mr. Lane knows that I like to move relying only on myself. " Gabriel advised me to go with nothing. So I did. I studied the path on the Internet and undertaken. I took a piece and then walk a stretch on the subway. It was an opportunity to see outside the Staples Center. In a moment the memories resurface. It had been at least ten years since I dreamed of becoming an NBA star. I arrived in Long Beach. I thought to have come to Paradise: palm trees everywhere, open spaces, fresh air, blue sky and bright sun. For the first time I saw the ocean. He immediately transmitted a feeling of omnipotence. I took a bus that would take me almost to the finish line and I remember having no loose change to pay for the ticket came forward a smiling woman who paid him in my place. Dropped in Seal Beach and proceeded on foot on the Pacific Coast Highway: a wide road that was developed parallel to the ocean. The sun was already setting. It was a unique spectacle. It was like living in an impressionist painting. I wrote a message to my mom, one of the few that I sent since I was there and I told her that I was realizing my dream. I was unaware that he had another kidney crisis due to his medical condition and voltage. They were taking her to the emergency room. I arrived at their destination: the house was situated in front of the beach. Sam was outside waiting for me. We watched the sun disappear behind the horizon in a few seconds improbable. He asked me if I wanted to smoke pot. I agreed, and we entered. He went down there malice. I faked myself in the part that had to represent. The trip took me to say I was in fact a seller of ideas, that every time I have to propose a project fixed a budget for the trip, beyond which I can not go, and then I was back in Italy because I had run out of cash. I also said that my sister's boyfriend was a very wealthy guy and then I made him intuit that they are well covered. "I am like a snake" I said almost hissing. I expressed calmly, I held my legs crossed, I moved my hands and had a relaxed attitude precisely because I knew I had the trump cards in hand. He made his move. He offered me ten thousand US dollars. I had crushed. My heart started beating me in the chest for a few moments. Ten thousand dollars for something that I had done in twenty days. "No" rest. "How much?" He asked. I looked him straight in the eyes and made my counteroffer. Slow motion said "A hundred thousand." She told him not to resent. They had too much money to put on a project at the embryonic stage. I had raised dramatically. Then he asked me to be his partner. Among the show's creators in addition to his name figured would also my and I would receive a share of the future profits of the series. I refused even that proposal. He got angry. He was about to lash out at me when I asked him to calm down. There I had in hand. I told him I had to think about it. I did not close the deal because its transformation had annoyed me. I had left twenty US dollars in the wallet. He gave to me another twenty. "That's my friend keep them", "If you want I can help you sell the project to the big majors" he said. Already I imagined the characters I had created come to life magically within the animation studios. Foretaste of the idea of arousing the interest of the major television networks in the nation and to sign a multi million dollar contract. I left convinced potermelo hold good in case the following week I was not able to get much better. Going back to the hostel I noticed a large dog outside a hotel. I went down to cuddle. He also had hair before her eyes. I asked the owner of a photo scattarci. I wanted to send it to my girlfriend. I knew that she would like. Then he invited me to a party of artists that was held in his hotel. He introduced me to his companion and made me compliments for eyeglasses that I carried. Gabriel had suggested me to continue to wear them because they gave me even more the air of being an intellectual. I did know a journalist who left me her contact details. Exhausted, I sit down in a closet full of paintings. A couple entered. He was a business man. She was drunk and was convinced that I was homosexual. The man left his business card on a table. I picked it up. It said the film producer. I took it and put it in my pocket. From that day I turned around the cards on the table. First I wrote an e-mail to that contact asking him on a date. Gabriel pointed out to me that I had forgotten to prefix the name of the recipient with the correct name. He did not answer. I put aside the reality, as they do with a dress out of fashion and began to smoke more marijuana. I found myself catapulted into an experience of transcendental life, metaphysics and mysticism. I reach the headquarters of a major television network. I tried to go in and say to the secretary, "I have an appointment", and pulling straight for the offices. I stopped by an employee and waved in the face characters. "Have you ever heard of an American doctor well-to-do and middle-aged ...?" I shouted against. He got excited and sent me upstairs. There, I stopped at the front desk. "It 's showtime!" I exclaimed. They called security. I began to understand how companies were structured. Before you talk to a potential decision makers you had to pass at least two levels: receptionist and assistant. People were paid on purpose to keep away guys like me and represented the last two steps of the stairs that would lead me to success. I had to step on them. In the evening, I polishing a technique and began to write notes on my phone to remind me of what I should have said. I organized amazing presentations as I began to immerse myself completely in the part of the arrogant young yuppie, bold and confident. I saw the results. I was able to get the email of a major film producer. I convinced the secretary to call the assistant then I KO him by telling that I wanted to propose to his boss to play himself in a film about the pitching. Unconsciously, I used a mix of sales techniques and persuasion. I sent details of the project. He said, "Hello Michael, Thanks for introducing me your idea. I appreciate your enthusiasm and your hard work, but unfortunately it is not a matter on which I will focus. You are right in believing that it is an easily marketable and eligible project but the story has to be something that interests me and that's not the case. It considers that it is very difficult to develop this type of projects even when I myself firmly believe in the idea. So, ultimately, I can not spend my time working on projects for which they are not certain. Of course this is just my opinion and you should certainly continue to show your project to people who could answer you better than I did. Sorry can not help you but I wish you luck. Best wishes. Bob". I did not demoralizing. I made business cards and began to introduce myself as a film producer. I began to live a dream. To really become one. I showed also the American Film Market. It was a film event that was held at a hotel in Santa Monica, and where there were hundreds of manufacturers and distributors. To enter you had to buy a pass for two hundred dollars. Potendomelo not allow smoked a little 'Marijuana and positioned myself in the lobby waving the characters as a street vendor. A girl, fresh of his first short film, gave me the attendant number of a famous producer telling me to try to contact her. I walked all day, every day. At one point I bought an ointment because I had an inflamed foot tendon. Every day new contacts. People telling me where to go and people encouraged me not to give up. I had begun to see the origin of a new project: a TV series set in the hostel where I was staying. Those guys who ran were so simple and common in their diversity that could well become the protagonists of a new and interactive TV show set right there. I spoke with people from all over the world and they all had their own stories to tell. Moral of the story: one hundred episodes and ten seasons. Gabriel, however, also suggested to me an idea for a movie. He whispered, "A boy from Senegal flying to Los Angeles with nothing but his ideas and become a Hollywood producer." "Americans love fairy tales with a happy ending," he concluded. The young man could be me, or better yet, I could use my adventure as an integral part of what would become a screenplay. Strong of these three ideas my rat race was esplanade. I spent a weekend to scream. That Saturday night I went to a famous Hollywood nightclub with a Milan boy named Cristian, a Mexican and a French. We arrived with a sporting car. We entered after an hour. To jump the queue you had to tip the bouncer. I was not in the mood to spend money. Cristian, said piciu, had just lent me one hundred and fifty euro and had to be enough. There were incredibly sexy girls who smoked marijuana and occasionally, from above, showered dollars. I spent the night in the car. Sunday we strolled along the Venice Beach. It was full of street vendors who proposed the most diverse gadgets and street artists who performed in exceptional performance. I could hang out with most of the girls who attended the hostel. Even the seductive girlfriend of Dan told me she liked me. I had the eyes of a tiger, and I had turned into a predator of dreams. However, I was always in a hurry and I preferred to spend his evenings confront Gabriel. The latter gave me other valuable information. "Never look back", "Never talk about money", "Never give up," he said. Then he added, "You do not like money, it's money that like you". Music for my ears. "Go after lunch appointments, we talk better with a full stomach." He concluded . I asked him "How many lives you saved?". "Three maybe four," he said. I did not notice the time passing so much that I decided voluntarily to lose the return flight to stop there a little '. I knew I was on the right track and I wanted to prove to myself and to the world that I could do it. Meanwhile my girlfriend decided to leave. The relations were strained for several days due to the fact that I was completely gone. I had been sucked into the City of Angels. My mom bought me another ticket. It remained a few days left. Gabriel and I went to Universal Studios. My goal was the production company Munchies 2 that according to what my contact said could be interested in my project. I smoked grass Ak47 from the pipette that Mike had lent me. The high caught me prepared. I was more than ever determined to go all the way and soon after I walked in the direction of the offices set out in the background the refrain of a popular song that said "It 's all written in the stars". At that moment I realized I could be destined to do something great and I really felt the protagonist of a film. Everything made me think it would be the final scene. I spoke to the security guard, and I convinced him, almost threatening him, to call someone from the inside. Came a girl. I was exuberant as ever. I began to talk of the project with an uncontrollable enthusiasm, without stopping and with a toothy grin on my face. I felt exalted and almost possessed. Nonetheless I paid attention to how I asked myself, and what I said. I KO'd in the third round even the most skilled of Wall Street brokers. My English had become American pure. I had turned from neophyte to showrunner. Miss told me to wait there. I felt good vibes. When she came back out she told me that the leaders were out and that she would give me the forms to fill out in order to present my idea. Haughty and almost offended I said "Not interested." I went back to Gabriel telling him that I would certainly have tried again and I reached the finish line at all costs. already felt the smell of money. I could not wait to return to my mom and my sister everything I had taken away. I would have stayed in LA. I bought a loft and invited my best friends. The nights by lions we dreamed of spending by teenagers were there waiting for us. We returned to dinner time. I made friends with Joseph, a gentle Scottish alcoholic and Anthony, a homeless man who tattooed me the word "California" on the right leg. All I've got was another free day. Then I would have broken down. Gabriel, meanwhile, had gone. He had disappeared that morning suddenly. He had left his email and his cell phone number. I prepared for a new all-in. I searched the headquarters of a home production of cartoons called Cartoon Machine. I showed up at the reception saying with conviction, "I am the best young Italian-American producer who you'll meet", "I want to speak directly with the manager because I'm running and I have to submit a project that I am convinced will be a success." The receptionist told me to wait there. I followed him without delay and found myself face to face with Corey Wright, CEO and financial partner. I asked him five minutes of his time. I told him "I love America" and showed him the tattoo. Then I threw myself in what was the most spontaneous and spirited conversation I had ever sustained. I took advantage of my whole repertoire of sound bites. I tried to run the show and take it by the throat. I put before his eyes the image of pseudo-family I had created and asked him to carefully observe it. Do not let him time to respond. I had to convince him that I possessed a gold mine. "I see the most original animated series and subversive that could ever be devised" I exclaimed. "The characters are innovative, fun and sarcastic." "They represent America nowadays. "We can create hundreds of episodes and point to a growing market." "Americans love the crazy things!" He concluded. I was convinced that he would accept my proposal. I asked him to work for him. "I like Michael," he said. However, he replied that he could not make a decision just like that. He would leave his e-mail address to which I would have to send the project in detail. I played my last card. "Life in a hostel" I said. When I did her eyes lit up with bright light so much that he left the race exclaiming "This is a nice idea!". I had in mind to make one more effort then I headed for Hollywood Hills in search of the American base of the company which cooperated with a famous Italian director. I found myself facing a simply home. The matched address. I wrote the idea of the film on a business card and tucked it in the mailbox. A damsel, passionate yoga and country music, offered me a ride up to number 448 of Crenshaw Boulevard. It was time to go home. I gave the best of me and already I was planning my next move. Bollywood was the future. That evening I chose to go out with a New York girl who did not even know to be in the world. We toasted to life and health in the last five dollars that I had left. I packed my bags, and Anthony, who also had to go to the airport to welcome one of his three girlfriends, offered to accompany me. After smoking I soon began to fear that something would happen because it was night and we had to pass the most dangerous areas of the city. "Are you with me friend" told me to calm down. We took a bus. They climbed two mothers made of cocaine that brought with them the visibly sick children. "Welcome to California" told me the driver. Arrived at 'LAX, Anthony prepared me dinner with what he had in the suitcase. He did first, second and managed to even offer me coffee warming water and pouring an instant solution. We watched a football game and then fell asleep on a sofa in a small restaurant. The next morning he said to me before I left "Are you crazy man, just like me, that's why we get along." I cried bitterly when the plane took off again and I saw the city from above.

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flickdirect · 7 years

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Recently, FlickDirect had the opportunity to sit down for lunch with Pixar's first female Supervising Animator, Gini Santos. As one of two Supervising Animators on the upcoming Disney/Pixar film, Coco, Gini gave us some rare insight into the extraordinary and extensive collaborative effort (with much passion from all involved) that occurs to bring a film like Coco to life. Gini has been with Pixar Animation Studios since 1996 after reportedly submitting a reel in lieu of a resume; it included characteristics for which she would garner acclaim in future films. Her first post at Pixar was as a character animator on Toy Story 2. Since then, she has worked on many of Pixar's greatest films (with a few Academy Award Winners among them) including Finding Nemo; The Incredibles; Ratatouille; Up; Monster's Inc; A Bug's Life; Brave... It was her work on Finding Nemo that won her praise, and award nominations for giving Dory a real, almost human feel.A little background to better understand what was discussed, Coco is a film about a family that happens to be set against the backdrop of the Dia del Muerto celebration that takes place in Mexico. A young boy, Miguel, dreams of becoming a musician like his idol, Ernesto de la Cruz, a character whose essence is drawn from numerous Mexican icons from the past to capture a "Mexican Elvis" of sorts. Most notably, Pedro Infante and Jorge Negrete provided the characteristics and nuances for de la Cruz; both of whom had extensive material from which to draw thanks to the availability of old concert and performance footage online. (Listen to Gini describe it in her own words along with much more.) Unfortunately for Miguel, there has been a ban on music in the family since long before he was born. (Catch the review for more details on that... coming very soon.) Before the slightest sneak peek at the film or the "behind the scenes" efforts, one can't help but already be swept up into the excitement and vivid imagery just from listening to Gini Santos. The way she speaks about how the "richness and beauty of Dia del Muerto" provided the "visual perspective that evokes intrigue and emotion, but even more powerful than the images...the spirit of the celebration." She goes on to discuss how drawn to this world the entire team found themselves. Pixar's commitment to "getting the story right" along with everyone's commitment to authenticity meant the team would have to go to Mexico. Go they did, and they "immersed [themselves] in the traditions and the people." Gini credits Producer Darla K. Anderson and Directors, Lee Unkrich and Adrian Molina with having "set us up so well to do a really good film, and make it as authentic as we could." They traveled on several occasions over years with the crew to gain "deeper education [of] and inspiration [from]" the culture and traditions. She tells how "these trips influenced every part of Coco's production from story to music to design, and even to the way we're lighting the film." It was on these trips that was born the need to create a place for the vibrantly colorful alebrijes of carved Mexican folk art. They created "fantastical alebrijes" that "when the lights go down, they actually glow in all these colors."We got an early look at some scenes that at the time were "somewhat a work in progress, but it's almost there." Where better to begin than the beginning of the film where we get some background on Miguel's family, and how the music ban came to be. We're introduced to Miguel's family at present which includes his great-grandmother, Mama Coco, for whom the film is named; and, Mama Coco's daughter, abuelita. Gini then segues into an early animation test that was done when creating Miguel's grandmother, abuelita. As it turns out, a lot of time was invested in creating her to ensure that "her jowls, her neck, her arms...jiggle just right" to the extent that one of the animators on the film "invited his abuelita" who let the team "study all her loose skin, and [she] was such a sport...and enjoying herself." This points to the inclusion of the diversity on hand at Pixar. In this case, Gini discussed the input that was both provided and sought from the many latino animators and team members. While some were Mexican and provided specific details relating to their culture and history, other latinos were able to provide input on a broader though detailed level. One scene, in particular, that was animated by a latino animator has a character making the sign of the cross. As he remembered it, his grandmother and mother would always do that when something happened. Most of us exposed to the Latin culture can acknowledge this as a basic, common occurrence. This scene also points to animators "putting their stamp" on things or merely being identified in their work by other animators. Much like the "Easter Eggs" that might be placed throughout the film. Gini claims the Director is the one who places them, and she even has to look to find them. She did, however, point to one that was in a scene that we viewed...the pizza truck. (Yes, I will be looking for it in the film to point it out to the screeners beside me.) Beyond the exhaustive (though fun) work that went into capturing every nuanced detail of abuelita, one of the biggest challenges would be to animate the skeletons. Animators had to figure out how to "respect structure and design while giving [a skeleton] emotions and personality" to make them believable. It was a challenge to have to "strip away" all the "skin and bone and tissue" from the animated humans that Pixar has come to execute so well. Gini took us through the process "starting early on with a rig. A basic rig. A skeleton rig." (Rigs are "digital models that have controls.")Starting with a walk cycle, using the bare bones to make it funny. "How far they move independently from each other free from the bonds of tissue." We saw three of the early test animations which provided samples (and the evolution) of the varying degrees of bone separation, the spine with the rib cage, range of emotion...movement. Gini told us how Dustin Hoffman's Midnight Cowboy character, Ratso, inspired the walk of Hector (a skeleton who has yet to cross over but becomes a significant part of the journey).As with the "fantastical alebrije creatures" including the main alebrije, Pepita, lighting can make a crucial difference in the animation, and the final product. When we asked how the industry has changed, Gini provided a detailed response which included everything from how technology has driven much of the change, to the process itself. From having done it sequentially, they discovered that having the film go to lighting after animation changes the look for which so much effort was made to achieve. Now, the collaboration between animating and lighting helps create a texture that will guide the team throughout the creation and evolution of the animation(s). The collaboration extends throughout every member of the team. Listen to Gini talk about all the positive experiences she has had at Pixar. After 21 years there, one of the things she loves most is "that they still try to maintain that [they're] director-driven. We connect directly with the director, each individual, each animator... foster that idea, whatever your idea when you first walk out of the shop... just show it to the director, get [their] opinion. The director will come in, and help support you." She adds that "they trust us with the creativity."I look forward to viewing the full, completed film which promises to be "vibrant and colorful; brimming with celebration" where a "bridge of Marigold flower petals so beautiful, and almost alive" brings ancestors to visit their families in the land of the living; and, takes Miguel into the land of the dead. Stay tuned for my review with additional details...possibly a spoiler or two...

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njawaidofficial · 7 years

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How 'Sharknado' Casts Its C-Listers and Nearly Landed Trump as President

http://styleveryday.com/2017/08/03/how-sharknado-casts-its-c-listers-and-nearly-landed-trump-as-president/

How 'Sharknado' Casts Its C-Listers and Nearly Landed Trump as President

Months before he declared himself a candidate, Trump was set to play commander-in-chief in the schlocky Syfy film franchise that has lured everyone from Ann Coulter to Charo for cameos while regular Tara Reid makes a quarter of one male co-star’s pay.

In January 2015, two years before he was sworn in as president, Donald Trump was set to step into the same role in a very different capacity: He had signed on to play the president in 2015’s Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!

Producers’ first choice to play the leader of the free world in the Washington, D.C.-set disaster film was Sarah Palin, but negotiations with the former Alaska governor and vice presidential nominee had fallen through. That’s when Ian Ziering, the gung-ho star of the schlocky Syfy franchise, had the inspiration to capitalize on the special relationship he’d developed with Trump while taping Celebrity Apprentice (Ziering made it as far as the penultimate task). His reality TV boss would make a good commander in chief, he reasoned. An offer went out. Almost immediately, it elicited a response.

“The Donald said yes,” recalls David Latt, the 51-year-old co-founder of The Asylum, the off-brand assembly line behind the Sharknado series. “He was thrilled to be asked.”

Alas, Trump never did get to fend off a swarm of hammerheads in the Lincoln Bedroom. (More on why later.) But his story is far from unusual — just one of thousands of familiar faces who have been approached to star in a Sharknado, in what has grown over the course of five films into Hollywood’s D-list answer to a federal jobs-growth program.

“It’s the long-lost love child of The Love Boat and Hollywood Squares,” offers Scotty Mullen, the bubbly casting director responsible for wrangling more than 80 celebrity appearances in Sharknado 5: Global Swarming, which airs on Syfy on Aug. 6, with a splashy live viewing party in Las Vegas that night. (In true low-budget form, Mullen does double-duty as the newest installment’s screenwriter.)

It sounds like the recipe for a fatal drinking game, but fret not: You’re not expected to spot them all. Some of these faces are famous only overseas, while others haven’t been seen in decades. But you probably will recognize a few, including Charo as the Queen of England, Fabio as the Pope, Clay Aiken doing a spoof on Q from the James Bond films and Olivia Newton-John in her first screen role in 17 years, playing a scientist who gives star Tara Reid a Grease-style makeover.

If this terrain is familiar to anyone, it’s Charo, a fixture on such stunt-casted 1980s escapist fare as The Love Boat and Fantasy Island. The 66-year-old star was already a Sharknado fan when she was approached to play Her Royal Highness. “I think the Sharknado movies are hysterical,” she says, pronouncing it “shark-NAH-doe.” “Nowadays especially, we need shows that put a smile on your face. Coochie coochie!”

Coochie coochie ka-ching, that is: Sharknado has become an invaluable, if unlikely, crown jewel for Syfy, watched by tens of millions around the world (the globe-hopping new film capitalizes on that international popularity), registering billions of Twitter impressions and popping up in everything from Jeopardy! questions to The New York Times crossword puzzle.

But it began as just another title in a string of B-movies commissioned by Syfy — no-budget thrillers with names like Bats: Human Harvest and Mongolian Death Worm. Its path to the screen was fairly straightforward: An executive at Syfy heard the word “sharknado” and said, “I love it. Let’s make it.”

Asylum, which has cornered the market in this strain of cinematic dreck, was brought on to produce. They paid screenwriter Thunder Levin (his real name — “It was the ’60s,” he says) $6,000 to turn the word “sharknado” into an actual story — which he did, concocting a tale of a freak cyclone that scoops deadly sharks out of the Pacific and flings them at unsuspecting Angelenos.

With Sharknado script in hand, producers approached more than 100 actors to play male lead Fin Shepard, including Kevin Dillon, Dave Foley, Seth Green, John Stamos and Fred Durst. All of them passed — even the Limp Bizkit frontman, after being told he could also direct. The closest anyone got to signing on before Ziering was Back to the Future‘s Crispin Glover.

“I ended up in this 30-minute conversation with him during a location scouting in San Pedro,” recalls madcap director Anthony C. Ferrante, whose genuine enthusiasm for the franchise — he coined the word “sharknado” and has helmed all of the films — calls to mind a slightly more self-aware Ed Wood. “He wanted to play Fin like he had brain damage or something. And in my head I’m like, ‘OK — my job here is to make sure he says yes to the movie.’ ” Glover said no anyway.

But then something exciting happened: A legitimately talented and famous actor — John Heard — signed on as the movie’s comic-relief barfly, George. (Heard died July 21 while undergoing back surgery; there was barely a mention of Sharknado in tributes.) Reid was next to board, playing Fin’s ex-wife, April. This was after Teri Hatcher, Rebecca Romijn, Tiffani Thiessen and several others had already passed. Still, Reid was considered a big get for the project, whose title was proving to be a potent actor-repellent. “Tara had a profile,” says Gerald Webb, an actor and casting director who worked on the first three films (and appeared in the second). “Syfy liked her.”

With production commencing and still no Fin, a frantic Asylum went back to Ziering, who had already passed several times, and raised the offer to $100,000, according to a source with knowledge of the deal. Also a key conciliation: The title was changed to Dark Skies. (Syfy later changed it back to Sharknado, much to the cast’s dismay.) At the urging of his wife, who had just given birth and wanted Ziering to qualify for SAG medical insurance, he finally said yes.

And then a funny thing happened on the way to the DVD bin: Something about the movie’s ludicrous title and its cast’s commitment to the equally ludicrous premise (the film climaxes with Ziering’s ex-surf champ diving into a great white with a chainsaw) made Sharknado an instant cultural phenomenon when it premiered on July 11, 2013.

While ratings were modest — 1.37 million tuned in — the film lit Twitter on fire, with everyone from Patton Oswalt to Mia Farrow (“Omg omg OMG #sharknado”) singing its so-bad-it’s-good praises.

As a result, Sharknado 2: The Second One was a very different animal. “Everybody wanted to be involved,” recalls Webb. “Every C-list and D-list actor on the planet.” With the unlikely franchise’s new cachet, Asylum decided to take a kitchen-sink approach to casting, with Latt instructing Webb “to literally ask every celebrity we could think of. We came up with a list of a thousand people, including many A-listers.” Most passed. James Franco was a nonstarter. (There was hope he might be up for a cameo after his arc as a serial killer on General Hospital.) William Shatner’s agent replied with a single word: “Sharkna-no.”

But there were a few notable turns in the New York-set sequel, including Judd Hirsch and Airplane‘s Robert Hays playing into type as a taxi driver and jet pilot, respectively; rapper Biz Markie as a pizza chef; and Richard Kind as a Mets legend who bats a shark into the scoreboard. In many cases, their lines were written when they showed up on set.

Sharknado crews are nonunion (they staged a strike on the third installment and were replaced), but the films are SAG-AFTRA-compliant. “Everyone makes the same amount — a flat rate — and nobody was making close to their quote,” says Webb of the cameos. Asked if the pay — for anywhere from two to four hours of set time — would cover the cost of a Ford truck, Webb responds, “Absolutely not. Well, maybe a really beat-up one that would be at the junkyard a week later.”

Bigger roles, which require several days of shooting, pay more. Chris Kattan, whose career has seen some hard knocks since Saturday Night Live, was reluctant to take a cameo in Sharknado 5 — but was open to playing the meatier role of the U.K. prime minister, a part he approached “dead seriously. They were into me doing it that way.” He has gotten good feedback from his co-stars. “Ian said, ‘You’re going to be really, really happy with it,’ ” says Kattan. “So it’s not like Mariah Carey in Glitter — where nobody said anything.”

Mullen, 37, was a struggling screenwriter working as a publicist when his spec script Double-D Island (“It’s like The Hunger Games but topless”) got him noticed by Asylum, which first put him to work writing jokes for Kelly Ripa on Sharknado 2. “They said, ‘We forgot to write something for her,’ ” he recalls of the fateful phone call. “I said, ‘How soon do you need something?’ They said, ‘Well, we’re lighting her now.’ “

But it’s Ann Coulter whom Mullen credits with his big break. Asylum wanted the conservative firebrand to play the vice president in Sharknado 3, but was having no luck through her agent. Mullen suggested the company go through her publicist — “Sharknado‘s more of a publicity opportunity than a thespian exercise” — and Coulter “jumped at the chance. So then they asked me if I was interested in doing more of this.” Asylum agreed to pay Mullen a per-cameo bonus.

He sees his role as very different from that of most casting directors — people whose calls, typically, are eagerly answered by agents and managers. Instead, Mullen says, “you’re always selling them on the publicity value. An agent won’t care because they just want the money, and there is none. But if you pitch it to the publicist, they see all the value to be gotten out of it. You’re here to ride the hell out of that crazy publicity train.”

If it’s really true that there’s “no such thing as bad publicity,” Sharknado is determined to test those boundaries. Some of the most reviled figures in pop culture have popped up as chum. In Sharknado 2 alone, there was Andy Dick (who “was having a tough day that day,” says Webb — Ziering had to hold up cue cards with Dick’s lines on them), Perez Hilton (swallowed whole on a subway platform) and Jared Fogle (“You should really be eating fresh, too,” says Subway’s then pitchman, currently serving 15 years in a federal prison for child porn possession and having sex with minors). Among the few stars Asylum has rejected: porn legend Ron Jeremy, who once stopped by the offices to pitch himself.

Sharknado 3 features a cameo by Anthony Weiner, the disgraced ex-congressman who in May pleaded guilty to sexting with a 15-year-old girl. “I guess I am on that C- to D-level cusp of celebrity that they were looking for,” Weiner told THR in 2015. “But I wouldn’t have conceived of doing it if I were going to play myself.” In fact, a sexting-scandal spoof was exactly what the producers wanted; when Weiner refused, he was enlisted to play a dull NASA administrator instead. Most of his performance was edited out.

For Sharknado 5, everything is bigger, starting with the budget ($3 million, double the cost of the original) and star salaries — Ziering now makes $500,000 per picture. Asylum manages to limit costs when it comes to Reid’s paycheck — she makes about a quarter of what her male co-star earns on each installment. She protested the disparity during the filming of Sharknado 3. Syfy later asked fans whether or not to kill off her character — but the network flatly denies that the two incidents are related. (Fans voted to let her live.) “I think Sharknado cares more about their ‘extra of the day’ than they do about their own cast,” Reid says, clearly weary of the franchise. “You work at something for five years and you don’t get treated as well as someone who shows up for a single day?”

She may be on to something, as the piled-on cameos haven’t added up to higher ratings for the franchise, which peaked at 3.87 million viewers for 2014’s Sharknado 2 before dropping to 2.77 million viewers for 2016’s Sharknado 4. The newest installment — which introduces the concept of wormholes to the, uh, Sharknado mythology — shot on location in London, Tokyo, Rome, Sydney, New York, Los Angeles and Sofia, Bulgaria. Some cameo players were flown to those far-flung places (Greg Louganis jetted off to Sofia to play an art thief), while others (Fabio, Poison’s Bret Michaels — also a Celebrity Apprentice alum) shot a few close-ups at home in L.A., with their stunt doubles in rocker wigs doing the heavy lifting overseas.

Lee Mountjoy, a London-based casting director, was brought on to fill out the ranks and went about enlisting local talent Katie Price (the “Kim Kardashian of the U.K.”) and diving champion Tom Daley — Mountjoy randomly “bumped into him in a train station in London. I said, ‘Do you know Sharknado?’ And he said, ‘Oh, my God, definitely!’ “

Similarly, the Asylum guys ran into George R.R. Martin at a Comic-Con event in 2014, whereupon the Game of Thrones author confessed to being a Sharknado superfan. “I own a theater in New Mexico, and they wouldn’t let me play it,” bemoaned Martin. The producers pulled some strings, and Martin was able to screen the original movie at his theater. (He later showed up in Sharknado 3.)

“We look for cameos from all areas of pop culture to appeal to every fan watching the movie,” says Josh Van Houdt, Syfy’s vp original co-productions. “Whether we’re casting a professional athlete, reality star, actor, musician or politician, our goal is to include a wide variety of stars for viewers to either get excited about or, on the flip side, witness getting eaten by a shark in a spectacular fashion.”

And so it might have been for our 45th president. “We got pretty far,” says Webb of the Trump negotiations. “It was serious talks.” A contract was drawn up and sent to Trump attorney Michael D. Cohen — the same attorney currently under FBI investigation in connection with the Russia inquiry.

But enthusiasm turned into weeks of silence from the Trump camp. Eventually, a reason for the stalling emerged. “Donald’s thinking about making a legitimate run for the presidency, so we’ll get back to you,” Latt recalls Cohen saying. “This might not be the best time.” With the production clock ticking, Asylum pulled the trigger on a backup plan, offering the role to Mark Cuban — a modest casting coup that Syfy trumpeted with a press release.

“Then we immediately heard from Trump’s lawyer,” recalls Latt. “He basically said, ‘How dare you? Donald wanted to do this. We’re going to sue you! We’re going to shut the entire show down!’ ” Contacted by THR, Cohen acknowledges a dinner with Ziering to discuss casting Trump but says he has no recollection of the angry correspondence.

Webb, now at his own production company, is philosophical about the dustup. “I took it personally, but I get it now,” he says. “That was my moment of doing business with Donald Trump. And that’s Sharknado.”

This story first appeared in the Aug. 2 issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe.

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