That evening, Charles rushed to his mother's residence in North Hollywood.
"What's wrong? Looking for another film crew job?" Evelyn looked at her son coming to see her, thinking he wanted to work and learn on a film set again.
Charles shook his head, pulled out a flyer about "my big fat greek wedding" theater, and pointed to the description on it, saying,
"This one-woman show can be adapted into a movie, depicting various family conflicts, love, and comedy between Greek and American families, all with witty humor," Charles said to himself, not noticing his mother's expression.
"Unlike the sweet romantic comedies of Meg Ryan, Julia Roberts, and Drew Barrymore, this is a slice-of-life romantic comedy, reflecting the situation of other ethnic groups living in American society."
"Nia Vardalos, this is a script she wrote herself based on her daily life. She is of Greek descent and lives in the United States, experiencing these kinds of troubles. It's completely drawn from life, down-to-earth, and will also pique the audience's curiosity."
Evelyn raised her hand, rubbed her forehead, and stared at her animated son. She really didn't want to interrupt him, but...
"Darling, first tell Mom, what do you want to do?"
"Oh, I just wanted to ask if you have any connections to develop this movie. I think it could make a lot of money," Charles seemed somewhat expectant.
"Do you know how long it takes to prepare a movie? The script, producers, directors, actresses, and other crew members, the filming process, and then the subsequent promotion and distribution. Do you think developing a movie is that simple?" Evelyn said, with a look that suggested he was dreaming.
"Of course I know. Although this is a low-budget independent film, and the script and actresses are not a problem, the main difficulty now is funding."
"I'm confident that with a production budget of only 5 million US dollars, this movie can be made. For distribution, we can take it to film festivals like the Saint-Denis Film Festival, South by Southwest, or the Toronto Film Festival, which are all independent film festivals and won't cost much."
"We don't have money for promotion, so we'll go through film festivals, release it in a very limited number of independent art house cinemas, and let word-of-mouth build its influence. This kind of movie isn't a commercial blockbuster; it relies on long-term screenings!"
"Of course, I also need Mother's help. We don't have money right now, so we must bring in capital. To ensure my role and rights in the movie, I want you, Mother, to talk to Nia Vardalos about the film adaptation. We can sign a script first-look agreement first."
Well, that was Charles's goal. After all, he was nobody right now, and no one would listen to him. Evelyn, at least in the Agent field, knew a few people, and Nia Vardalos would trust her if she talked to her.
Evelyn stared at Charles for a moment. Charles was incredibly serious now, which made Evelyn seem a bit troubled. She exhaled deeply and said,
"Are you serious? You're only 19!"
Charles nodded, very seriously saying, "It's precisely because I'm not old yet and don't have money, that I need you, Mother, to be in front of the scenes, and I'll be behind the scenes!"
"Moreover, this adapted movie should quickly catch the eye of producers. We really can't wait any longer. If we miss this opportunity, we'll be lacking a large amount of start-up capital."
Evelyn thought for a moment and said, "Let me think about it first. I need to go to the theater to watch the performance!"
Evelyn was conflicted. In fact, buying a newcomer's script isn't expensive, unless the script attracts many people, in which case bidding would make it more expensive.
The price of a film script adapted from a stage play varies depending on its popularity.
Even if Evelyn bought it, the price wouldn't exceed 100,000 US dollars, as it was a newly opened stage play. Of course, if others liked the script and offered a higher price, there would be nothing she could do.
Evelyn could afford 100,000 US dollars, but she didn't have much in savings, as her annual income was only 200,000 to 300,000 US dollars.
Money had to be spent. Evelyn's total savings right now were just over 150,000, a dilemma!
When Charles left his mother's house, he was still preoccupied. He remembered very clearly that this movie was discovered by the big star Tom Hanks. With Tom Hanks's fame, developing a small-budget movie of a few million would be too easy!
The film's promotion and distribution didn't involve much investment. After all, this kind of movie didn't have big stars or famous directors; it was basically all newcomers, and even promotional posters weren't widely displayed. The main focus was community cinemas, small art house cinemas, relying on word-of-mouth accumulation and long-term screenings!
For several days in a row, Charles waited for his mother to call him. The performances of "my big fat greek wedding" in Los Angeles weren't particularly famous.
After all, it was just a one-woman show, mainly attracting people of Greek descent and other ethnic groups with similar difficulties, and then some artistic literary figures.
That day, Charles was chatting with Megan Fox. They had become familiar with each other over the past few days. Anyway, they were both young and had no qualms.
While they were hugging, cuddling, and kissing in a park gazebo, Charles received a call from his mother, "Will's Cafe, come over!"
"Megan, I have something to do, I'm leaving!" Charles let go of the Lady he was kissing and ran off as soon as he got the call.
Women are not as exciting as making money!
West Hollywood, Will's Cafe.
Evelyn was sitting with Nia Vardalos in a corner of the cafe.