Chapter 38 Airborne Lucky Jenny

 After the Christmas-New Year's holiday, Jeanne and Cesare went to sign an employment contract, and she also applied to join the Actors Guild by the way - the conditions for joining the Actors Guild (SAG) are actually quite simple, if you are a starring actor, you can apply to join the Actors Guild if you work in a project with SAG for one day, and your salary meets the minimum standards of SAG, and if you are an extra, you can also apply to join the Actors Guild if you work for more than three days in a SAG agreement project.

 But if you think about it carefully, the threshold of SAG actually still exists, take Jenny's colleague Jessica as an example, after Jessica came to Hollywood, she first acted in some unpaid student movies - these movies are not paid, of course, they are not SAG agreement projects, and there is no chance of release, and those young so-called directors may not even be able to play DV, so Jessica quickly lost interest and began to want to do TV dramas, or small roles with one or two lines. However, because of the existence of SAG, each SAG agreement project must give priority to hiring a certain number of extras from SAG, which varies from industry to industry, ranging from 20 to 80, which means that unless it is a big scene with hundreds of people, non-SAG actors will not even have the opportunity to play soy sauce, let alone work in this project for more than three days.

 I'm sorry, but most movies and TV shows are cast directly from the cast pool recommended by SAG, such as Dave, one of his jobs is to summarize the small supporting roles that "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" needs for this period of time, and then contact SAG or another big union, the American Federation of Television and Radio Actors (AFTRA). They will screen out the right actors to interview you and rarely choose people from other sources, so unless you or your manager has a way to get the audition leader or higher, hand in your resume, and pass the screening, you will rarely even get an audition opportunity.

 For example, Jessica, who has been a Hollywood star for more than a year, is fortunate enough to be an extras two or three times, and has not saved enough three days of work at all, so she is still not qualified to join SAG. At the time of Jenny's departure, her manager was emailing her resume, looking for opportunities to shoot advertisements and magazine prints, and if she could choose to shoot a SAG deal, she would be eligible to join the union. In the future, at least they will be organized people. However, generally speaking, SAG agreement ads are also directly linked to the union casting, and Jessica's manager is likely to have no way (or will) to contact the casting person directly to sell the resume, so if she is unlucky, this path may not work.

 In Los Angeles, especially in the Hollywood area, handsome men and beautiful women are not uncommon, but only a small number of them can eventually join the union and successfully enter the industry, many of them will probably lose their careers after hitting a wall for a year or two in a row, and some people will sink, and this 'lucky one' who successfully joined the union can finally stand out, and there is no one in a hundred who supports themselves by acting, and the remaining 99% is probably Hollywood drift, constantly playing soy sauce as a human flesh set, and even the threshold of SAG insurance cannot be reached. But even so, in the eyes of those on the periphery who can't even join the SAG, they are at least organized people, which is already very enviable. A career path like Jenny's is already a miracle for them.

 Chen Zhen had memories of her past life, so she made up her mind from the beginning that she would rather not join SAG than enter the industry as an extra-in - in her time, once acting, lifelong acting, it was rare for people to be able to turn from a temporary performance to a supporting role, let alone be the protagonist. Even if she is confident that she is a rare and a horn, it will take at least five years from the temporary performance to the starring role, and she can't afford to waste this time. So she wanted to mix in the stage drama circle at that time, and came from a relatively high-style stage play, of course, she was lucky, this road that was destined to be more difficult has not yet begun, Dave's side sent Qingyunti, her first job 'Huanita', in fact, is enough to qualify to join SAG. Huanita was the main cast member in that episode, CSI was SAG's agreement project, and the $5,000 pay certainly met SAG's criteria.

 However, Jenny did not join at that time...

 Because... Joining the Actors' Guild requires an entrance fee of 3,000 yuan... She has no money...

 It wasn't until now that the check for the performance of "Chicago" arrived in her hand, and she had $10,000 or 20,000 in her bank, that Jenny put this matter on the agenda, and after the formalities were completed, the actors' union would protect her welfare, stand up for her in case of trouble, and help her get her back if she was in arrears, etc. For Jeanne, however, her relationship with Cesare has become so close that the union's role of 'introducing performance opportunities' has largely ceased to work. Basically, most of the performance opportunities introduced by this kind of introduction are relatively low-level, for example, the starring role of "Chicago" is definitely not selected through such casting, and even for a role like Kitty, the director may have already chosen it in his heart. At the level at which Jenny is now starring in "Chicago", most of the opportunities on the Screen Actors Guild are unlikely to satisfy her, and even if she receives a call for inquiry, Cesare will directly refuse it, and will not go to her side without screening.

 sadly paid more than 3,000 membership dues, Jenny began to look forward to her next income, "Chicago", the troupe is paid once a week, that is to say, if there is no accident, she can get a salary of 104,000 within 26 weeks stipulated in the contract, and then after deducting taxes and commissions, she can still leave more than 60,000 yuan in her hands. - In the past, when she was a hostess, because the tip was not taxed, only the basic salary belonged to the low-income group, and she almost did not have to pay taxes, but now her annual salary is at least 104,000, and she has to pay taxes, the United States is a high-tax country, and she has to pay taxes at least 20% of her annual income at this level, and then deduct 15% of the firm's commission, and only about half is left in hand.

 Of course, this is only a rough number, because she still has to pay an accountant to file her taxes, and judging from the publicity ideas confided in James, Cesare may also help her arrange a PR company, which is also paid on a monthly basis, but I don't know how to pay.

 - In short, although Jenny's income is now a little higher than before, ... She is actually quite poor, because the places where she spends money have increased a lot.

 Fortunately, Cesare's close relationship with her allows her to still enjoy some of the benefits of the company's resources, such as the hotel where she lives now, the company directly pays the money until March, and if she wants to continue to live here after March, she can also pay the bill at the internal price, and the expenses are not too high, etc.

 Because of these trivial matters, Jenny was still very busy during the whole vacation, and she didn't see Lilian a few times, as for Cesare, she flew back to Los Angeles after signing the contract, and he was far busier than Lilian, that is, Jenny, a client who is currently very important, and she didn't meet him very often.

 Because of the Christmas-New Year's Day holiday, December to January is also the busy season on Broadway, the rehearsal hall is completely full, and the troupe is also constantly busy, Jenny has not rehearsed with everyone in the "Chicago" troupe, James arranged a full rehearsal schedule for her, in addition to basic rehearsals, and began to strictly follow the musical repertoire for Jenny's every song and dance show. He himself often came to see Jenny rehearse, and he was strict, professional, and almost fastidious in his pursuit of perfection - as if he had never flirted with her before, and he was completely businesslike, and he would not even say a joke.

 Speaking of which, Jenny seems to have seen all the showbiz giants so far who have perfectionist tendencies, Cesare, Robb, and Agata are all like this, so she is also used to getting along with these people who will never be satisfied, and even a little abused and addicted at work, she is really not afraid that others will be too demanding of her, because she is really demanding of herself - although she doesn't want to admit it, Chen Zhen also seems to have perfectionist tendencies.

 Especially this time, it is tantamount to gambling on reputation, if everyone agrees that her performance is not as good as Renee, then she will become a loser who can't be hyped up by her thighs, Jenny doesn't fight for steamed buns and for breath. So she's not afraid of not being harsh, she's afraid that if you don't ask for it, she doesn't have a goal to complete.

 In addition to rehearsals every day, three hours of vocal practice in the performing arts space, if not too tired, continue to practice dance in the space, this time she can be regarded as using the time flow of the space to the extreme, and the whole person has entered a state of selflessness, in addition to practicing every day, the amount of exercise is so large that Jenny even allows herself to eat steak as a staple food - in terms of the calories she consumes every day, she can't bear it if she doesn't eat more meat.

 In this hellish practice, James nodded more and more, and eventually, at the end of January, Jenny was taken to the rehearsal hall to introduce the troupe members, "This is your new Locke." "

 There was a buzz of interest in the large rehearsal hall, and many of the people standing in the back row craned their necks to look at her, and Jenny felt like a transfer student, who was both curious and repulsed, and some of the members might be jealous or disgusted.

 However, compared with the troupe and the crew, the human affection is stronger, after all, some old members have been working in the troupe for several years, and no matter how much you hate it, it is impossible to tear X up. When Jenny integrated into the group and began to prepare for the rehearsal of the basic skills, several people nearby turned to her to introduce themselves, "I'm Group B Lokhee, just call me Amanda." "

 "I'm Amos from Group A, your husband. "

 After getting to know each other briefly, we warmed up with the number of beats in the choreographer's hand, and then the day's rehearsal began.

 Although she is a rookie, Jenny has been practicing under the golden finger for so long after all, and she has a certain foundation in her previous life, so she is completely comfortable in daily rehearsals, and she can easily complete the day's work, and she gradually gets acquainted with everyone. However, the chain of friendly relations here follows the convention - the smaller the conflict of interest, the friendlier the initial relationship. So whether it's a group dance or a starring role, the first people who get acquainted with her are the male actors and black actresses, and Jenny's reputation for the 'blonde white actress' camp is inherently cold, and it should be easy to fall to the hostile side. Moreover, because she is an airborne relationship, even the members of the troupe who have become acquainted with her have limited intimacy with her.

 During lunch, Dietrich came over to greet her, "We're working together again – it's a pleasure!"

 Judging by the camp, she should have belonged to the initial friendly side, but Dietrich's performance on audition day made Jenny a little suspicious, and her attitude was not too enthusiastic. "Yes, Dietrich, I really didn't expect us to be working together again. "

 "By the way, I haven't apologized to you yet. Dietrich sat across from her, winking at her affectionately, "I was a little rude to you at the audition that day, it was Jaime's order, and he wanted me to put some pressure on you - but judging by your reaction, I don't seem to be doing very well." "

 Jenny said sincerely, "No, you really did a great job, and to be honest, I was almost scared by you at first." "

 Dietrich laughed, "Wow, then your acting skills are really good, definitely Oscar-level." "

 She and Jenny chatted over dinner, and the two quickly got acquainted again, and Dietrich told her, "I'm on vacation this Monday, and I'm going to have a party at my house, and you must come." The troupe members who were on vacation on that day would come, and it was a great opportunity to integrate into the big family. "

 Jenny hesitated, and Dietrich persuaded her again, "You know, this is not the time to put on a show, Jennifer, it's good for you to make a few more friends in the troupe. "

 She also made sense, Jenny didn't want to make herself a recognized Bitch, and if she wanted to break the ice, it was best to take action at the beginning, when the relationship was not fixed, she nodded, and thanked Dietrich a little, "Thank you, dear, I will definitely come." "

 Dietrich confirmed the time and place with her, and patted Jenny on the shoulder very friendly, "I'm very much looking forward to your coming." "

 She grinned at Jenny, showing a mouthful of white teeth.

 The author has something to say: Note: SAG's insurance is provided that the number of working hours per year reaches a certain number of days or that the remuneration reaches a certain level.

 The entrance fee of 3000 is what Wikipedia says, and it seems that in 2001 it may be 1500, and this paragraph is all according to Wikipedia...