Over the next few days, the initial restlessness and dissatisfaction among the crew of 'Run Lola Run' suddenly vanished without a trace. Everyone became highly motivated, and there were no longer any objections to Simon's unconventional directing style.
As for the reason...
Have you seen Brian De Palma? 'Carrie', 'Scarface'.
He's here.
Have you seen David Giler? 'Alien', 'The Money Pit'.
He's here.
Have you seen Robert Redford? 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid', 'Out of Africa'.
He's here too.
For the crew members, who had previously only worked on low-budget independent film sets, these were all high-ranking Hollywood bigwigs. But they all successively visited the inconspicuous small set of 'Run Lola Run'.
Moreover, in addition to Brian De Palma, David Giler and Robert Redford also expressed their willingness to be credited as executive producers for 'Run Lola Run'.
This was even more remarkable.
You know, if they had known earlier that Brian De Palma was going to be an executive producer, no one would have been dissatisfied, and that idiot Josh Wickman would certainly not have left so rashly.
Now, two more heavyweights had arrived.
Who is Simon Westeros?
Who the hell cares?
But participating in a film executive produced by three Hollywood big names, Brian De Palma, David Giler, and Robert Redford, that was a solid credential.
Adding this to their resumes in future job applications might quickly help them break into the mainstream commercial film circle.
Simon also learned from Ron and Kathryn about what happened that day in the screening room at Fox Studios, and he personally went to watch the rushes the next day.
Simon was equally surprised by his own filming results; he hadn't expected to do so well beforehand. As his first directorial work in Hollywood, Simon simply tried to squeeze out all the potential from the dozen or so memories in his mind.
Watching the rushes of 'Run Lola Run', Simon even vaguely felt that he might have overdone it a bit.
However, Simon did not hold back afterward.
Since he had already shown his talent, why not make it even more prominent?
Furthermore, with the backing of the three bigwigs, Simon's command over the small crew quickly became effortless.
Time always flies by during busy days.
In the blink of an eye, it was the last day of October, the fourth week of filming for 'Run Lola Run'.
Tonight was Halloween, a very important holiday for Americans, and it happened to be a Friday, followed by the weekend.
Therefore, the festive atmosphere became even stronger.
The 'Run Lola Run' crew had been filming Lola's entry into the casino these past two days.
There are casinos in Los Angeles, and Simon had even specifically visited one in the city centre.
However, there were none in Santa Monica.
Of course, this was not a problem.
The director said, let there be a casino, and so there was a casino.
The crew rented a ballroom in a hotel in downtown Santa Monica and quickly set up the 'casino'.
Compared to other scenes in 'Run Lola Run', the casino scenes were definitely large-scale, and over fifty extras were invited by the crew for these two days.
Despite this, with the help of Ron, Kathryn, and others, Simon still managed to control the entire crew very well.
However, with more people, some situations were naturally unavoidable.
Just as filming began in the afternoon, Sandra discovered that her prop ring was missing.
In the original 'Run Lola Run', Lola wore various oddly shaped pieces of jewellery on both hands. But in the new version, Simon only designed a wide band ring for the female lead, a silver ring about one centimetre wide with a striking butterfly pattern engraved on it, which was also the third 'butterfly effect' hint Simon planted.
For such a small prop, Simon naturally wouldn't only order one. When he received all three finished rings, Sandra showed great fondness for them, so Simon gave all three rings to the girl to keep, with no intention of taking them back after filming. Although they were pure silver, the three rings together weren't worth much money.
Now, with this little thing lost, things became a bit troublesome.
Sandra had never thought that the ring she always wore on her hand would go missing, so she hadn't brought a spare.
All the afternoon's shots involved Sandra, and Simon didn't want any continuity errors in these small details, so he hastily sent a director's assistant to Sandra's apartment in West Hollywood to retrieve the prop.
Sandra herself had to stay behind to touch up her makeup.
Immediately after. things took another turn.
Sandra had put the spare ring in a small safe she had bought, and the girl didn't want to tell outsiders the password, so she gestured for the director's assistant to bring the safe directly to the set.
Just imagine.
A burly man barged into a girl's apartment and then carried out a safe.
What kind of scene was that? So, a neighbour called the police.
After some commotion, by the time Ron and Sandra rushed to the Hollywood police station together to bring back the unlucky director's assistant, nearly an hour had passed.
Perhaps affected by this incident, the subsequent filming also didn't go smoothly.
In desperation, the crew had no choice but to announce two hours of overtime.
With only a few simple shots left, overtime, while expensive, would certainly be much cheaper than once again renting and setting up the scene here next week.
If it were any other time, working overtime wouldn't be a big deal.
But tonight was Halloween, a holiday many people looked forward to. While the crew members were fine, many extras were quite reluctant. After some communication and promises of extra pay, everyone reluctantly agreed.
Fortunately, as it approached seven in the evening, all the casino scenes were finally completed smoothly.
After wrapping up, Simon was overseeing the staff organizing a series of rented casino props when Ron walked over with a white man in his thirties.
The young man was about 1.8 meters tall, dressed in a casual shirt and trousers, with short brown hair and some stubble, looking a bit unkempt.
As the two approached, before Ron could introduce him, the young man proactively extended his hand to Simon and, smiling, introduced himself: "Simon Westeros, hello, I'm Peter Butler, a reporter for the Los Angeles Times".
Simon, somewhat surprised, shook the other's hand and said, "I know. I happened to read your article about 'The Butterfly Effect' back then. Also, Joe called me two days ago, but I think I refused?"
With Brian De Palma and the other two credited as executive producers, plus the outdoor filming over the past few days, Sandra's striking appearance had inevitably attracted a lot of attention, and more and more people in Hollywood were noticing the film 'Run Lola Run'.
Then, Simon's agent, Jonathan Friedman, called him two days ago, saying that Peter Butler, a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, hoped to interview him and the 'Run Lola Run' crew.
Simon had been incredibly busy these days and didn't want to deal with such matters. Moreover, it was not yet the right time for 'Run Lola Run' to be exposed in the media, so he refused.
He hadn't expected the other party to suddenly appear on set today.
Peter Butler's smile remained unchanged upon hearing Simon's words, and he unconsciously changed his address, saying, "Simon, Mr. Ron invited me over. Actually, I've been on set all afternoon; you just didn't notice. Also, I wonder if you could spare some time, perhaps we could just chat?"
Simon gave his producer a displeased glance.
Although he understood Ron's intention to get some exposure for the film, he was still rather unhappy with his unauthorized actions.
Feeling Simon's gaze, Ron had no choice but to say, "Simon, this is actually a good opportunity, isn't it? Our film will still need distribution in the future".
Simon, however, still shook his head firmly and turned to Peter Butler, saying, "Mr. Butler, I'm really sorry, I've been very busy lately, so let's just forget about this".
Peter Butler, upon hearing this, was not discouraged. Instead, he raised the camera hanging around his neck, with a hint of cunning in his eyes, and said, "Actually, Simon, I've already gathered enough material to write an article. However, I also know that now is not the best time for 'Run Lola Run' to be exposed. So, if you agree to spare some time for an interview with me, I can hold off on publishing this article until after the New Year, during the Sundance Film Festival".
Simon's eyes flickered as he heard Peter Butler's condition.
It was almost November, leaving just over two months until the Sundance Film Festival in January next year.
Sundance was precisely the moment Simon wanted to bring 'Run Lola Run' to the forefront.
He hadn't expected this reporter in front of him to guess his intentions so accurately.
After a moment of hesitation, Simon finally said, "Tomorrow at noon, from twelve to one in the afternoon, Fox Studios. You only have one hour".
Peter Butler immediately extended his right hand again and said with a smile, "Then, I look forward to our meeting tomorrow".