Backtracking to the Age of Literature and Art

959 Jailbreak
Matt Damon entered the showbiz very early. In 1988, he played a role in "Modern Cinderella", but this role has very few roles and only one line.

And what really made Matt Damon start his Hollywood journey was "Good Will Hunting" co-written by him and Ben Affleck. In 2, it was nominated for nine Oscars, which can be described as a double harvest at the box office and word of mouth.

It was also by virtue of his wonderful performance in this movie that Matt Damon received Spielberg's attention and participated in "Saving Private Ryan". This is also the first time Matt Damon has participated in a major commercial production.

But in fact, before "The Martian", Matt Damon did not show much box office appeal. People still habitually classify him as a literary film, and his salary is not high. Slightly higher than the third-tier stars.

Therefore, even the most expensive Matt Damon didn't spend much money on "The Martian".

Of course Spielberg knows this, but now he is in a business negotiation with Jimmy, which is about how much money he can make, so of course he has to say things in his own favor.

Of course, the production cost of "Inception" is not something that the two of them can decide in a few words here. Afterwards, a series of calculations and internal publicity are required to finally reach a result that both parties agree with.

"If you say so, "Inception" will spend more money on actors this time? Is the leading actor settled?"

Jimmy shook his head, "The male lead hasn't been decided yet."

Spielberg pointed at the table with two fingers, and pondered, "According to the setting of the actor, it is best to choose an actor between the ages of 35 and 45. An actor of this age... Tom Cruise, what do you think? How about it?"

Jimmy asked curiously, "Why do you recommend Tom Cruise?"

Spielberg laughed, "The reason is simple, because he is very popular and can bring us more box office."

"There are many popular actors, but he is not the only one."

"In addition to being popular, he is also handsome and his acting skills are decent."

"Aside from being not too tall, there really isn't any downside," Jimmy added.

Spielberg clicked on the script: "I didn't see a requirement for the protagonist's height in the script."

Jimmy shrugged, "Not really, but I still find it strange that you usually don't recommend an actor so directly."

Spielberg suddenly laughed, "There are indeed other reasons. The filming of "Minority Report" was postponed before, but it is about to be filmed. The protagonist has already been determined to be Tom Cruise, but it has not yet been confirmed." Talk it out."

Jimmy understood immediately, "You want to pack "Inception" and "Minority Report" together and talk to Tom Cruise, so that you can spend less money."

Spielberg nodded, "That's almost what it means. As the prop director of "Minority Report", you should be willing to facilitate this matter."

That's right, Deep Space Corporation provided prop guidance services for "Minority Report" this time.

In the movie "Minority Report", daily life in 2054 will be reflected.

At the beginning, Spielberg hoped to invite some outstanding elites in engineering technology, environment, crime fighting, medicine, health, social welfare services, computer technology and other fields to discuss the future of 2054. how is it like.

However, it would be too much work and troublesome to do so, so Spielberg directly approached Deep Space Corporation.

In the process of prop design and visual design this time, Yu Dong also participated.

Although Yu Dong has never experienced the real 2054, he has seen the movie "Minority Report", so he can still give some suggestions based on the movie.It is equivalent to that he directly stated the results of the discussions of those elites, omitting this process.

"I can only say that I will seriously consider your suggestion, but it is impossible for us to determine the male lead just to save you money."

"Saving money is just incidental, and Tom Cruise is a perfect fit for Inception in every way."

Jimmy nodded. He felt that what Spielberg said made sense. It goes without saying that Tom Cruise's box office appeal.

"I'll tell Yu Dong about this." Jimmy leaned back with a smile and put on a relaxed posture, "But you've been too busy recently, "Jurassic Park 3" and "Artificial Intelligence" It has just been released, and "Band of Brothers" will be broadcast in a while, you will start working on "Minority Report", and you are the producer of "Men in Black 2". There is also the Transformers series, which will also cost you a lot thought."

Spielberg said with a smile, "So, you know how much I have lost by sitting with you all afternoon?"

……

After the trip to Washington, Yu Dong and they went to the next stop, Princeton.

Princeton was the first university to recommend Chinese literature series, and it was only after their school that other schools in the United States gradually included works such as "Frantic Finger" and "Westward" in the recommended bibliography.

In addition, both Joyce Oates and Philip Roth are from Princeton, the former is a professor at the school, and the latter is a writer-in-residence at the school.

In reason and reason, the writers group is also going to Princeton University.

The itinerary of the group of writers to Princeton this time is slightly different from that at Columbia University. There is an additional signing. After the exchange meeting, Princeton University will hold a reader meeting for these writers, mainly to sign autographs for readers. This also enables close contact with students.

But Yu Dong still had some personal affairs to do in the past. His grandfather Cheng Mingde had studied for a Ph.D. at Princeton University decades ago, and also conducted postdoctoral research for a period of time, so Princeton University can also be regarded as Cheng Mingde's alma mater.

Cheng Mingde has not been back to Princeton for so many years. When he learned that Yu Dong was going to Princeton this time, he hoped that Yu Dong could say hello to his alma mater on his behalf and donated 5 yuan to his alma mater.

The money was saved by Cheng Mingde himself. Cheng Mingde and his wife donated 5 yuan to Zhejiang University before. Their monthly income is quite considerable, and they usually have little expenses, so they can save so much money.

After arriving at Princeton University, Yu Dong will donate money, and the money was sent by Yu Dong himself. The school is very happy.

As one of the most famous private universities in the world, Princeton University attaches great importance to donations.

Although their school is a private school, the tuition fees are very low and the scholarships are very high. The burden on the students is relatively light. The reason for this is that their school accepts a large number of donations from alumni.

This year, Princeton University also canceled undergraduate student loans that require "eligibility verification", and the annual endowment provides 90.00% of five scholarships and all financial aid funds for students who receive loans, with the goal of enabling more than 80.00% of students to graduate debt-free, More than 60.00% of students receive financial aid of more than $[-].

Moreover, Princeton University has also established a Princeton University investment company. They will invest and operate the donated funds they receive every year. In the past few years, the average annual return rate has exceeded 12.00%.

These gold-absorbing policies enable Princeton University to respond to the rapidly changing external environment and strengthen scientific research in certain areas in line with the times.Money may not make a school develop, but money is definitely a necessary condition for a school to develop.

Money is one aspect. In addition, the school also believes that when accepting donations, the donors will contribute to the development of the school and have a strong sense of continuity and responsibility.

After handing over 5 yuan in RMB to the school, Yu Dong proposed to donate 50 U.S. dollars to the school in the name of their husband and wife.

The reason why Yu Dong donated the US$50 was not only because of his relationship with his grandfather Cheng Mingde, but also because he wanted to win over Princeton University.

Before recommending a large number of Chinese literary works, Princeton had an indissoluble bond with Chinese traditional culture.

Since Professor Fang Wen taught at Princeton University in the 60s, he has been actively promoting the research of Chinese calligraphy. After more than 30 years of development, Princeton has also become an important center for the study of Chinese calligraphy in the United States.

Although academic research is different from promotion, academic research is one of the foundations of promotion. Yu Dong is willing to build a good relationship with Princeton.

Yu Dong also explained to the Princeton school that he hoped that the US$50 he donated would be used for the research of Chinese calligraphy.

When Princeton accepts donations, it encourages donors to take the initiative to make donations, so when they heard Yu Dong's suggestion, they immediately agreed.

In addition to Yu Dong and his personal donations, Deep Space Corporation also donated 20.00 books to Princeton. Only 80.00% of these books are science and engineering books, and the other [-]% are literature books, and more than half of them are Chinese writers novel.

After discussing the donation with the school, Yu Dong went to the office of the English Department.

The writing center of Princeton is located in the same office as the English Department. Joyce Oates and Philip Roth also work here, but Philip Roth doesn’t have to teach, and he is relatively free and rarely appears here. He doesn't even show up on campus that much.

When Yu Dong arrived, Wang Xiaobo was chatting with Liam Haydn, the dean of the English Department.

This is not the first time Wang Xiaobo and the others have met Liam Haydn. They had met before when they came to Princeton.

There was a young man standing behind Liam Haydn. Yu Dong didn't pay attention at first, but when he got closer, after meeting the young man, Yu Dong was stunned. This person looked very familiar.

Soon he remembered, isn't this Miller, the protagonist of "Prison Break"?
How is he here?
Then Yu Dong thought, "Prison Break" hasn't been aired yet, and Miller isn't famous, so maybe Miller is still in school?
It is difficult to guess Miller's age from his appearance. It is not wrong to say that he is in his early twenties, and it is not impossible to say that he is 30 years old.

When Miller saw Yu Dong, his eyes revealed a trace of surprise and expectation.

Liam Haydn was also very happy to see Yu Dong, he shook hands with Yu Dong vigorously, "Long time no see, Yu, after hearing that you are coming over, I was so excited that I couldn't sleep all night."

Yu Dong smiled, Liam Haydn is a very enthusiastic person, and Liam Haydn was very enthusiastic when they met for the first time before.

"You probably thought you could play cards with Wang Xiaobo and the others, so you couldn't sleep because of the excitement?"

"Hey, playing cards is just secondary."

In addition to his enthusiasm, Liam Haydn also likes to play cards, so he can quickly mix with people like Wang Xiaobo.

According to their itinerary this time, they can rest for a day and a half in the middle. They can choose to stay in New Jersey to rest, or they can choose to go to the next stop in Pennsylvania to rest. In the end, most of them chose to stay in New Jersey.

On the one hand, it was because everyone was exhausted from the journey in the past two days, and they didn't want to run any more. They wanted to rest in Princeton before starting. On the other hand, Yu Hua and the others wanted to stay in Princeton and play cards with Liam Haydn and the others.

In addition to Liam Haydon, Princeton has many other poker players.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Yu Dong looked at Miller behind Liam Haydn intentionally or unintentionally. Liam Haydn also noticed Yu Dong's eyes and introduced with a smile, "This is Wentworth Miller, a graduate of our school, has been graduating for several years, and happened to come back this time to see."

"It's not a coincidence. I knew that Mr. Yu and the others were coming, so I came here to have a look."

Yu Dong was a little surprised by Miller's honesty, he asked with a smile, "Miller is also from the English department?"

Liam Haydn nodded, "He is from English literature, and he is also my student."

"Are you currently engaged in an industry related to English literature?"

"Actually, I'm in Los Angeles now, hoping to work in the acting industry, but I haven't had a good opportunity."

Miller's answer was expected by Dong, but Wang Xiaobo was quite surprised.

The current situation of Miller is a bit like the "horizontal drift" that has appeared in the past two years. As the domestic entertainment industry has become more and more prosperous and the salaries of actors have become higher and higher, many people have gone to Hengdian, thinking that they can become Actor, get rich overnight.Some of these people are theater majors, while most are non-professional ordinary people.

"Los Angeles Drift" was much earlier than "Horizontal Drift". Walking on the streets of Los Angeles, grabbing a random young man may be a young man with a dream of acting.

But like Miller, it is still very rare for a high-achieving student who graduated from Princeton University's English Literature to go to Los Angeles to become a "lost drifter".

Just like in China, it would be unbelievable for a student who graduated from the Chinese Department of Yan Normal University to go to Hengdian to play tricks.

(End of this chapter)