Ronald walked out of the administrative office and saw Gale, whose eyes had stopped shedding tears, talking to Jim.
"Hey, Ronald, do you know how to fight? You took down two guys easily."
"I was on the wrestling team in high school."
"Oh," Gale imitated Ronald's moves and said, "Will you take pictures for me today?"
"Wait for me for a moment. I'll bring my camera up to take some pictures, and then I'll treat you to dinner."
"What? Is there anything to celebrate?"
"Yes, Mr. Corman asked me to take charge of the remaining second unit directing work."
…
"Give me an emotion, Gale," Ronald was directing Gale to pose and make expressions. "Think of anything, something happy."
"No, no, what you just thought of is a bit bad. Think of another one."
"This thing is good, I like it, keep it up, good."
Gale seemed to suddenly think of something happy and gave the camera a beautiful smile. Ronald quickly pressed the shutter and captured it.
Jim walked from behind Ronald to Gale and handed her the coffee.
"Take a picture of me with Gale."
"Put it aside for a while; don't smudge my lipstick."
Ronald clicked the shutter a few more times, and both of them had good expressions.
Then I set the shutter to the timer and took a photo of the three of us.
Ronald put away his camera and tripod. The three of them walked out of the office and got into Ronald's car to go eat.
Ronald didn't spend too much money, and the three of them found an ordinary restaurant. Ronald thought the environment was very similar to the one where Aunt Karen worked in Staten Island. There were big bright windows and sofa booths, but not many people were eating, perhaps because it was Sunday.
The three of them sat in a booth, and the waiter brought them a menu to order from. Italian food such as pasta, meatballs, pizza, and pure espresso are served here.
After finishing the main course, the three began to talk about what had just happened.
"Roger asked me to be in charge of the second group's filming, and then asked me to ask you for the cameraman's contact information and be responsible for the shooting." Ronald briefly explained what had just happened.
"Not using the original second-team cameramen from 'Rock n Roll High School'?"
"Roger asked me to shoot with him, and we will finish the second unit, but not continue Jerry Zucker's shooting schedule."
"So you set up a second unit to shoot the rest of the scenes?"
"Then you are not..." Gale paused and looked at Jim next to him.
"It's okay. Jim and I are friends." Ronald took the coffee brought by the waiter and pushed it in front of Gale and Jim opposite.
"Union man?" Jim asked.
Ronald nodded.
"I already am one," Jim said, pulling out his wallet, pulling out a membership card and placing it on the table.
Ronald picked it up. "The Teamsters..."
"Oh, not this one, this is my other union."
Jim searched again, took out one and handed it to Ronald.
This is a cardboard card with the Directors Guild logo in the upper left corner, an eagle flapping its wings and ready to take off. Below the logo are the words 1978-1979, indicating the validity period of this card.
At the top are the words "Directors Guild of America"; below are Jim's name and address typed, and at the very bottom is the signature of the president of the Directors Guild.
It's just such an ordinary little card, but with it, you can enter the Hollywood industry.
"Is this what you applied for with that short film?" Ronald asked.
"Yes, my short film was made by dentists for tax refunds, so it must be registered with major unions in Hollywood before you can get tax refund documents. Once the Directors Guild sees your registration, they will send you the application materials."
Gale took Jim's Directors Guild card from Ronald and looked at it curiously.
"After that, you need to find three members of the Directors Guild to endorse you, then have the application materials notarized and mailed back to the guild. After they approve it, they will send you the membership information. Then you write a check for the membership fee to them and you can get the membership card."
"That sounds a bit complicated."
"Yes, and the membership fee is not cheap. Short film directors like me belong to the lower level, and pay the same $750 membership fee as commercial directors, documentary directors, assistant directors, and drama site managers. Oh, and there is also a $60 renewal fee every year."
"But there are benefits too. They will pay for your medical insurance, and you don't have to pay extra for the lowest tier. Compared to other industries, the unions in the film and television industry do a good job in this regard."
Ronald was a little envious, as he didn't have health insurance yet. But he should be able to get an invitation to join the club next year, and he would have to work hard to make money and pay the membership fee.
Jim took back the Directors Guild card that Gale was playing with and put it in his wallet. "Tell me about your college applications. Have you decided yet?"
"I have already applied to two public universities in New York. But I want to apply to some schools with film programs. I just asked Mrs. Corman for advice. She said that several universities in California and New York with film programs are worth considering. She also said that I can ask her and Roger to write letters of recommendation."
"Then you have a great chance. Mr. Corman knows some people in the circle, and his letter of recommendation will look good in your college application." Gale is a Stanford graduate and is very familiar with these things.
"But the tuition is not as cheap as public schools. I heard that you need to pay for filming in college."
"Don't follow university professors blindly," Jim said. "You can read their books and listen to their lectures. But those professors have never made a movie themselves, so how can they teach you? They are just dealing with theory, not the practical."
"Instead of spending money to learn how to shoot movies from a professor, it's better to work and study at New World Productions, and you can also enter the industry. Few of those film graduates can shoot better than me."
"That's not true." Gale still preferred to go to college. "Look at the new directors that are emerging now; they all graduated from college. George Lucas who made 'Star Wars', Francis Coppola who made 'The Godfather'..."
"But Steven Spielberg dropped out of college," Jim laughed.
Gale hit Jim's hand to show his dissatisfaction with his argument and giggled.
"Gale, can I use the company's copy machine? I want to prepare the application materials today. Please help me mail them out tomorrow. I have to shoot with the second group starting tomorrow, and I'm afraid I'll forget to do these things."
"No problem. You can prepare for the recommendation letter. I'll remind Roger for you tomorrow. Today is the 17th, and the Christmas holiday is not far away. Don't send the express mail. It's not fast at all. It's better to go to that FedEx company. The documents they send will arrive within two days and are guaranteed to be before the deadline."
"Thank you so much. I'll give you the postage first," Ronald turned to Jim's direction. "Jim, do you want to come to Group 2 to help me? Or would you rather study with Allan in the crew?"
"I'll go help you," Jim agreed. "Most of the scenes next for Allan are indoors. I see there's an outdoor motorcycle chase in the script. Is that shot by your second unit?"
"Yes, then I'll let you shoot this scene." Ronald knew that Jim was interested in stunts and was also a motorcycle enthusiast.
"There are also some introductory empty shots without actors. We also need to find a prop designer and make a school sign." Ronald began to calculate what manpower would be needed.
"No, I can do it. I know these things." Jim said, "What other scenes and props are there? Let me think about it together."
There is also a telephone booth scene, a sunrise scene on the mountain, and a concert entrance scene, all of which are trivial and scattered scenes. We can go back to the office and check them in detail.
After drinking the espresso in one gulp, Ronald left a slightly larger tip, and the three of them returned to the New World Productions office.
After checking the office phone book and the film industry directory, Ronald found the addresses of the admissions offices of four universities. Gale helped him type out several blank envelopes and asked Roger Corman to write a letter of recommendation tomorrow.
"Mr. Corman takes his recommendations very seriously, and he writes them himself," Gail said.
"By the way, is your short film in the company? We happen to be free today. Let's watch it," said Ronald.
"No, I left it at home. I'll bring it next time."