Oprah was very experienced. She could tell at a glance that William and the other two were acting, but she was very satisfied with the result. She smiled and said, "Yes, this ending is perfect. William, if you donate, then we certainly hope that Russell and Ridley will win the award. Six million dollars can help a lot of vulnerable groups. William, I thank you on behalf of the Women and Children's Fund. You are a great guy."
William quickly got up and thanked the applauding audience, "Thank you, thank you."
After the audience quieted down, William said to Russell and Ridley, "God, you two are really the best directors and the best actors. You can understand each other's thoughts with just one look." William pretended to be helpless and patted his forehead, "Well, I'm very happy to contribute to the Women and Children's Fund. Although I was cheated, I'm still very willing to do it for the sake of the lovely children. I'm looking forward to the day when you will be my driver. I'm very satisfied with this compensation."
Everyone was amused by William's exaggerated tone. Russell smiled and said, "I have no problem with that. I really want to try the life of a driver for 2.5 million dollars a day. Thank you. This may be the most special experience in my acting career."
After that, Ridley and Russell walked to William's side and hugged him. The audience was also very happy to see this result. They were so happy that they clapped.
Today's show made Oprah very happy. There were so many topics to talk about. Oprah believed that the ratings of this show would definitely soar after it was launched.
After the show, William took Ambrosio back to the hotel to change his clothes. After that, he took a bottle of Latour and got into the Bentley provided by the hotel and went to Ridley's home in New York.
Sitting in the car, Ambrosio hugged William's arm excitedly. His face was full of excitement as he talked to William about Ridley's past and how great he was and how big of a shot he was.
However, William knew that Ridley could only be regarded as an A-lister before he started filming Gladiator. He was not a famous director because his previous movies did not do well at the box office.
In the mid-90s, he even went on hiatus for a few years. This old guy was good at controlling big scenes. However, no matter how good a director was, he was still just a director. A few years later, the box office of Celestial Empire did not do well because of the production company. Ridley was forced to be silent for almost ten years. It was not until Mars Rescue that he became popular again.
But at that time, he was almost 80 years old, and his energy was not as good as before. Gladiator was definitely Ridley's most glorious time.
William took Ambrosio's hand and went to Ridley's house in New York. It was a middle-class community. The house and yard were quite big, but they were only worth a few million dollars. Although Ridley was a big director, he was not a big box office director. He did not have much money, and his life was not as rich as imagined.
William and Ridley Russell hugged and walked into Ridley's house. Today's party was private. Only Russell and Ridley's agent were there.
As soon as they entered the door, the two agents tried to please William. However, William ignored the agents of Elite Culture. These guys were dreaming. Did they think that William did not know anything? They even wanted to package a pirate project.
William would not listen to them. Who didn't know that Elite Culture's package project was a big scam? Only a few of them were successful. It would not be a good thing to hand it over to them.
This project would cost at least hundreds of millions of dollars. If he could not get half of the copyright when he cooperated with a big Hollywood company, William did not intend to invest in it himself. He could do something else with the money. He just wanted to let Russell and Ridley argue about this project.
They did not see how badly Hollywood had cheated foreign investors. Many investors in Germany and oil-producing countries had been cheated by Hollywood. He was not stupid enough to jump into this big hole.
After everyone had a good dinner, William, Russell, and Ridley smoked cigars and drank Latour that William had brought. They talked for a long time before they got to the point.
Finally, Russell said anxiously, "William, what do you think about this project? Can you tell us?"
William thought for a moment and said, "If you want me to invest, I can only get half of the copyright. The screenwriter's fee and the cost of 'He Was a Pirate' will be included in the investment. But I know it's impossible."
Russell and Ridley nodded after hearing William's words. "It's really impossible. The film company will definitely not give up the copyright. I think you should take the screenwriter's fee. It's easier."
William said helplessly, "I understand. Just look at DreamWorks. Forget it, let's not think about it. Ridley can be the director, but …"
William said to Russell apologetically, "I'm sorry, Russell. In my vision, the main character is Captain Jack. Blacksmith has to find a very handsome young actor with good acting skills.
I haven't thought about the female lead yet. Captain Barbossa, I have my eyes on Jeffrey S. The main character of this movie is not suitable for you. I'm sorry, Russell. Of course, if you can make a cameo appearance, I'll definitely welcome it. "
Russell nodded after hearing that. "The main character is not suitable for me. I can make a cameo appearance, but I hope to be the assistant director and assistant producer of the movie. I'm 40 years old. If there's no suitable role, it's not a bad idea to try to become a director."
William looked at Ridley. He had no confidence in Russell's transformation to become a director. It depended on Ridley. If Ridley felt that it was possible, then it would be possible.
Ridley saw that both of them were looking at him. It was not a big deal to be an assistant director. There were many kinds of assistant directors. He smiled and said, "No problem, William. When I was shooting Gladiator, Russell gave me a lot of advice. Besides, Russell doesn't have to be an executive assistant director. He's just an assistant director who's learning and running errands."
"Haha, I don't dare to say that Russell is an errand runner. I have no problem with that," William said with a laugh.
Russell was very happy when he heard that. There were many male actors who worked as an assistant director. After becoming famous, all actors wanted to try if they could be a director. There were not many opportunities for such a big investment and a big director to take care of them.
Russell thanked him and said, "Thank you. I will join for free. Don't worry, I know that I'm just learning. I won't tell you what to do."
William and Ridley laughed when they heard that. "You don't have to pay for it. Just pay the normal assistant director salary. After all, you have to get something out of it. It's just a matter of how much you get. As an actor, you are one of the best. As a director, you can only be a rookie director."
"That's right," Ridley agreed.
"Well, then we'll pay according to the normal standard."
After the three of them agreed on some details, Ridley promised that after William gave him the script tomorrow, he would ask the people in charge of the eight big Hollywood companies to push the script. If the eight companies were interested, they would find a chance to sit down and have a chat.
When they were almost done talking, the three of them returned to the living room and laughed and chatted. Everyone saw that William was interested in the secrets of Hollywood. Ridley's agent tried to please him and told him a lot of big secrets. William and Ambrosius were surprised. They did not expect that there were so many things that they could not understand.
They chatted until it was almost 11 o 'clock. William and Ambrosius got up and left. He had to write the script overnight and submit it to the Writers' Association tomorrow morning.
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