Leaving the convenience store, Simon didn't immediately return to the motel. Instead, he traversed the streets of Santa Monica, scouting locations in advance for his planned first film.
The first film Simon intended to make was "Run Lola Run."
Although the original "Run Lola Run" was not filmed in Los Angeles, Simon currently didn't have enough capital to be picky. Since he was in Santa Monica, he directly confirmed the filming location for the new version here.
Choosing "Run Lola Run" was also a result of Simon's careful consideration.
Ultimately, he was currently only 18 years old.
Under normal circumstances, a film company in Hollywood with a bit of sense wouldn't risk several million dollars on a young man under 20. Simon currently didn't have the capital to personally invest in producing commercial films.
Therefore, he had to demonstrate sufficient strength, at least to some extent, to dispel Hollywood's concerns about his age.
Achieving this was actually quite simple; it was merely a matter of proving himself through his work.
Although there were some changes at WMA, the script earnings for 'The Butterfly Effect' were already foreseeable. This was Simon's first capital, and he had to use it well to open the door to Hollywood.
Of course, the selling price of a script, no matter how high, wouldn't be too much. So, Simon had very little room for choice and could only make a super low-budget film. Moreover, this film had to demonstrate sufficient value, either in terms of box office or awards.
In terms of box office, Simon remembered many films that purely created low-budget, high-grossing miracles, such as 'The Blair Witch Project' and 'Paranormal Activity'.
But ultimately, the success of these films was more than ninety percent due to luck and well-executed commercial operations, having very little to do with the quality of the films themselves.
Obvious evidence of this was that after the success of these films, their directors did not end up having a continued presence in Hollywood.
Therefore, if Simon were to bring out these films at this time, there was a 99% chance he would labour in vain. Even if there was a 1% chance of gaining some profit, Simon's own abilities in filmmaking would not be recognized by Hollywood.
As for awards, this undoubtedly placed more emphasis on seniority.
Moreover, with only the money earned from selling a script, it would be extremely difficult to produce an excellent art film that could reach the award-winning standard of major film festivals.
After repeated selection, 'Run Lola Run', this alternative and avant-garde experimental film, seemed perfectly suited for Simon.
'Run Lola Run' in his memory also had a very low production cost; he seemed to recall, it was 350,000 German marks, roughly equivalent to 180,000 US dollars, but that was more than ten years later.
Now, if he was a bit frugal, Simon felt he could basically get it done for 100,000 US dollars.
Although it was a low-budget production, 'Run Lola Run' possessed sufficient artistic and commercial value. The film not only won many awards but also created a trend among young people in Germany upon its release.
Of course, for Simon, these were not the most important points.
What Simon valued most was how "Run Lola Run" perfectly showcased the directing abilities of the film's creative team.
After 'Run Lola Run' was released in 1998, its dazzling use of techniques in editing, music, colour, montage, and camera movement quickly made it a classic teaching case in film academies worldwide, and it had a very profound impact on many renowned directors.
Doug Liman, the director of the classic Hollywood spy thriller 'The Bourne Identity', publicly admitted that the unique shooting style of 'The Bourne Identity' was inspired by 'Run Lola Run'. Doug Liman even specifically invited Franka Potente, the lead actress of 'Run Lola Run', to play the female lead in 'The Bourne Identity'.
Therefore, choosing 'Run Lola Run', even in the worst-case scenario where the film's awards and box office were unsatisfactory, would still provide Simon with an opportunity to showcase his filmmaking skills to major Hollywood studios.
Hollywood has its extremely conservative side, but it is also a circle that highly reveres genius and miracles.
As long as a person can prove their ability and bring profits to a film company, few people will care whether that person is an angel or a devil. Age, naturally, becomes even less of an issue.
On HSD Avenue, north of downtown Santa Monica.
Simon passed this intersection and immediately noticed the castle-like dark grey building across the street; it was a club. The architectural tones in Los Angeles are generally dominated by white and other light colours, making the city feel monotonous and dull.
Therefore, such an unconventional dark grey building became very conspicuous, and Simon quickly decided to make this dark grey building one of the street scenes Lola quickly passes by during her run.
Without a camera, Simon could only use the most primitive method, drawing, to record this location.
Holding a handmade, hardbound notebook, Simon stood on the curb, first noting down the basic street information, re-examining the street scene before him, and then quickly sketching in the form of a storyboard.
A few minutes later, while engrossed in his work, Simon suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder.
Turning his head in confusion, he saw two girls standing behind him, he didn't know when they had arrived.
One of them was Courteney Cox, and the other blonde girl was also quite pretty, but Simon didn't recognize her.
Courteney was looking at him with a wary gaze, not speaking, as if waiting for Simon to explain himself.
Simon turned and looked around, only then realizing that he was standing directly in front of a five-story apartment building. Courteney and the blonde girl should live here.
Feeling Courteney's gaze, Simon immediately understood.
Well alright then.
He had been mistaken for a stalker.
With a wry smile, Simon closed his notebook and explained, "Courteney, if I said this was a coincidence, would you believe me?"
"No," Courteney immediately shook her head, but still said, "Then what are you doing here?"
"I told you this afternoon, I'm preparing my film," Simon said, then simply handed over the notebook he was holding.
Courteney took the thick notebook with a suspicious expression and casually flipped it open. The blonde girl beside her also curiously leaned in.
The notebook already contained dozens of pages of storyboard sketches based on various street scenes. Although they were all very brief quick sketches, both Courteney and the blonde girl could easily appreciate Simon's solid drawing skills. Most of the sketches also had detailed professional annotations about lighting, camera positions, and so on.
After flipping through a few pages, Courteney's attention was quickly drawn to the running short-haired girl in the sketches, and she suddenly felt a little embarrassed to look at Simon again. The blonde girl, however, had no qualms, murmuring a few words of admiration before looking up at Simon and saying, "You're really good at drawing, but is the girl in the sketches Courteney?"
Simon was stunned for a moment, then looked at Courteney's current short haircut and understood why the other person would ask that.
In fairness, when Simon was sketching Lola's appearance, he didn't have a specific person in mind, nor did he have any particular feelings for Franka Potente, the original actress who played Lola.
However, perhaps because Courteney was the only girl Simon knew in Los Angeles whose image somewhat matched Lola's appearance, he subconsciously superimposed her figure during the drawing process, which led to the current misunderstanding.
In reality, the sketches were very brief, and without sufficient prior hints, it would be difficult for anyone to make such an association. But Courteney was right in front of Simon at that moment, coupled with the previous minor misunderstanding, it was not surprising that the blonde girl would ask such a question.
Looking at Courteney, who was silently flipping through the sketches with her head down, the two girls in front of him had clearly concluded a certain fact, so Simon no longer refuted this small misunderstanding. He simply nodded and admitted, "Yes, I even invited Courteney to be my lead actress this afternoon, but unfortunately, she didn't believe me."
"Hehe, if Courteney doesn't want to, why don't I do it? You can change all the girls in the manuscript to look like me," the blonde girl said with a teasing smile, then extended her hand to Simon: "Hello, I'm Kristy Swanson."
Simon reached out and shook the girl's hand, saying, "Simon Westeros".
Upon hearing this, the blonde girl immediately showed a look of realization: "Oh, you're the one Courteney has been talking about recently…"
Before she could finish, Courteney poked her friend in the waist, making Kristy shut up, and then handed the notebook back to Simon, saying, "Alright, you pass."
"So," Simon raised his hand and pointed behind him: "Can I stay here and finish that?"
Kristy immediately laughed.
Courteney's face flushed slightly, and she gave Simon an annoyed look: "Do whatever you want, this is a public place."
Simon also felt that his question just now was a bit silly. He smiled, reopened his notebook, and turned to the last page.
He looked at the dark grey building across the street again, then picked up his pen and started sketching. Seeing that the two girls didn't leave immediately, he casually asked, "Are you two going to dinner?"