Chapter 22 Directors Guild Card
Ronald walked out of the administrative office and saw Gail, whose eyes were no longer tearful, talking to Jim.
"Hey, Ronald, do you know how to fight? It was easy for you to knock down two Zachs."
"I was on the wrestling team in high school and college."
"Oh," Gail also imitated Ronald's moves, "Then will you take pictures for me today?"
"Wait for me for a while, I'll bring the camera up to take pictures, and then I'll treat you to dinner."
"Why? Is there something worth celebrating?"
"Yes, Mr. Coleman asked me to be in charge of the remaining second group of directors."
...
"Give me an emotion, Gail," Ronald was directing Gail to pose and make expressions, "Think of anything, happy."
"No, no, the thing you just thought of is a bit bad, think of another one."
"This thing is good, I like it very much, keep it up, good."
Gail 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 Gail and handed her coffee.
"Let me take a photo with Gail."
"Put it aside for a while, don't smudge my lipstick."
Ronald clicked the shutter a few more times, and both of them looked very happy.
Then he set the shutter to the timer and took a photo of the three of them.
Ronald put away the camera and tripod. The three of them walked out of the office and got into Ronald's car to have dinner.
Ronald didn't spend too much money, and the three of them found an ordinary restaurant to have a meal. Ronald felt that the environment was very similar to the one where Aunt Karen worked in Staten Island. There were bright big windows and sofa booths. There were not many people eating, maybe because it was Sunday.
The three of them sat in the booth, and the waiter brought the menu for them to order. Italian food such as pasta, meatballs, pizza, and pure espresso are served here.
After eating the main course, the three of them began to talk about what happened just now.
"...Roger asked me to be in charge of the second group's shooting, and then asked me to find you for the photographer's contact information and be responsible for photography." Ronald briefly explained what happened just now.
"You don't need the original second unit photographer of 'Rock High School'?"
"Roger asked me to find him to shoot together. We will finish the second unit, but not continue Jerry Zucker's shooting schedule."
"So you set up a second second unit to shoot the remaining shots?"
"Then you are not..." Gail paused and looked at Jim next to him.
"It doesn't matter. Jim and I are friends." Ronald took the coffee brought by the waiter and pushed it in front of Gail and Jim across.
"Union member?" Jim asked.
Ronald nodded.
"I have been one for a long time," Jim said, taking out his wallet and pulling out a membership card and putting it on the table.
Ronald picked it up, "United Teamsters..."
"Oh, not this one, this is my other union."
Jim searched again, took out a card and handed it to Ronald.
It was a cardboard card with the logo of the Directors Guild in the upper left corner, an eagle flapping its wings and about to take off. Below the logo was the words 1978-1979, indicating the validity period of this card.
At the top was the words "Directors Guild of America", below was Jim's name and address typed on a typewriter, and at the very bottom was the signature of the chairman of the Directors Guild.
It was just such an ordinary little card, but with it, you could enter the industry in Hollywood.
"Is this the short film you applied for?" Ronald asked.
"Yes, my short film was made by dentists for tax refunds, so it must be filed with major unions in Hollywood to get a tax refund certificate. The Directors Guild will send you application materials after seeing your filing."
Gail took James'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 union. After they approve it, they will send you the membership information. You write them a check for the membership fee and you can get this membership card."
"It sounds a bit complicated."
"Yes, and the membership fee is not cheap. Short film directors like me belong to the lower level, and they 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, they will help you pay for medical insurance, and you don't have to pay extra for the lowest level. Compared with other industries, the unions in the film and television industry do a good job in this regard."
Ronald was a little envious, because he didn't have medical insurance yet. But he should be able to get an invitation to join the union next year, and he still has to work hard to make money and pay the membership fee.
Jim took back the Directors Guild card that Gail was playing with and put it in his wallet. "Tell me about your college,Have you decided?"
"I don't know first I want to earn some money.
"But the tuition is not as cheap as public schools. I heard that you need to pay for it yourself to go to college to make a movie."
"Don't be too superstitious about those university professors." James said, "You can read their books and make some friends. But those professors have never made a movie themselves. How can they teach you? It's nothing more than reading from the textbook."
"Instead of spending money to learn how to shoot movies with professors, it's better to work and study here at New World Productions. You can also enter the industry. Few graduates of those film majors can shoot better than me."
"That's not the case." Gail still prefers to go to college. "Look at the new directors that are emerging now, they all graduated from college. Lucas who made 'Star Wars', Francis Coppola who made 'The Godfather'..."
"But Steven Spielberg who made 'Jaws' dropped out of college." James laughed.
Gail hit Jim's hand, showing his dissatisfaction with his argument, and chuckled.
"Gail, can I use the company's copy machine? I want to prepare the application materials today. Please help me mail them out tomorrow. I will start shooting the second group tomorrow, and I am afraid I will forget something."
"No problem, you can prepare the envelope for the recommendation letter, and I will remind Roger for you tomorrow. Today is the 17th, and the Christmas holiday is not far away. Don't send the express mail from the post office, it is not fast at all. It's better to find that FedEx company. The documents they send can 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. "Jim, do you want to come to the second unit to help me? Or would you rather learn from Alan in the crew?"
"I'll go and help you," Jim agreed. "Alan's scenes are mostly indoor scenes. I see there's an outdoor motorcycle chase in the script. Is it 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 to make a school sign." Ronald began to calculate what kind of manpower was needed.
"No, I'll do it. I know these." Jim said, "Are there any other scenes and props? Let's think about it together."
There was also a telephone booth scene, a sunrise scene on the mountain, and a concert entrance scene, all of which were trivial and scattered scenes. We can go back to the office to check them in detail.
After drinking the espresso in one gulp, Ronald put down the slightly larger tip, and the three of them returned to the office of New World Productions.
After checking the office phone book and the film industry directory,
"By the way, is your short film in the company? We have time to watch it today." Ronald said.
"Oh, I left it at home. I'll remember to bring it next time."
(End of this chapter)