Hardcore Page #15

CUT TO:

INT. OUTER OFFICE - DAY

Jake stands as a SECRETARY says to him:

SECRETARY:

Mr. Ramada can see you now.

He thanks her and walks into Ramada's office.

CUT TO:

INT. RAMADA'S OFFICE - DAY

Bill Ramada stands to greet Jake as he enters. His office is

expensively decorated in chrome and glass. A framed poster

from the New York Film Festival hangs on one wall.

Kurt sits on a plush white sofa.

RAMADA:

Hello, Mr. Holcum. You look out of

breath. What's the matter? The

elevator broke?

(to Kurt)

Is the elevator broke?

Kurt shrugs.

JAKE:

No. I walked up. Don't ride elevators.

RAMADA:

My secretary said you wanted to

discuss a business proposition.

JAKE:

Yes.

(as Ramada sits)

I'm interested in financing an adult

feature film. I was told you were

the man to come to.

RAMADA:

Film making can be pretty expensive...

Jake has slipped into his business shoes. He's cool,

confident.

JAKE:

I've got fifty thousand dollars to

invest.

RAMADA:

Oh.

(a beat)

Why is it that you want to get into

film financing?

JAKE:

Well, Bill -- mind if I call you

Bill?

(as Ramada nods)

Let me be frank. I've made a lot of

money. I've got my own business in

Detroit. Rivets. I make rivets and

sell them to Fisher Body.

(a beat)

Well, rivets, you know, can get pretty

boring after a while. When my business

manager told me I should shelter

some money, I thought I'd try this.

RAMADA:

What exactly do you have in mind?

JAKE:

I thought I'd invest in a film. I

want to sort of become involved in

the process of making a film, meet

the people who make films, learn how

it's done...

RAMADA:

In other words, you want to get laid?

JAKE:

Not exactly...

RAMADA:

It's cool. Why do you think I got in

the movies? How much poon do you

think you get in the car wash

business?

(a beat)

Look, fifty thousand dollars buys a

lot of p*ssy. You can get your joint

pulled by beautiful girls every night

for the rest of your life for fifty

thousand dollars. So why f*** with

the movie business?

JAKE:

(smiles knowingly)

It's an investment.

RAMADA:

If you want to watch when we shoot a

film, for fifty bucks, I let guys

stand around and watch. It's a lot

cheaper.

JAKE:

I thought you were a businessman.

RAMADA:

Don't get me wrong. A couple years

ago, I woulda jumped at fifty thousand

dollars possible financing. But the

Lord's been good to me. I can now

finance any films I choose. Big ones,

small ones. Right now we're setting

up a two hundred thousand dollar

feature film. Live sound. I like to

keep my own money in my films. That

way you don't have to share the

profits. There's plenty of guys in

town that'll take it, though. But if

I was you, Mr... what was your name

again?

JAKE:

Jake.

RAMADA:

...I'd just start my own business.

That's what I did. Get into kid porn.

That's big now. Why don't you come

around the set? Meet some people. If

you still want to invest, I'll ask

around.

JAKE:

Sounds all right.

RAMADA:

Okay. Keep in touch with my secretary.

Jake nods and turns to exit.

RAMADA:

So long, Mr. Jake.

CUT TO:

INT. L.A. FREE PRESS

The next day, Van Dorn waits in line to place a "Personals"

ad in the Los Angeles Free Press.

He wears an open sport shirt, slacks and loafers. Bit by bit

he's been going native. He realizes he isn't going to

infiltrate the pornography underworld looking like a furniture

dealer from Grand Rapids.

Even so, Jake's conventional dress sets him apart from his

fellow advertisers. The long line winds back and forth and

represents just about every possible deviation from the

American heterosexual norm: studs, butches, hookers, freaks,

cultists:
misfits all.

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