The Player Page #3

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Stuck on a story point, though.

- I'm a story editor. Go.

- New York City, big advertising agency.

An account executive makes

a presentation to a potential client.

The client promises

to get back to him.

- Does it have to be advertising?

- That's not the problem.

The account executive keeps waiting

for the client to call him back...

...to tell him what he thought

of the idea, if he got the job or not.

But the client never calls.

The account executive gets so pissed off

and frustrated, he becomes obsessive.

- He decides to drive the client crazy.

- What does he do?

Sends him threatening postcards.

It's not important.

Here's the problem.

How long do you think...

...the account executive

harasses the client...

...before he becomes dangerous?

- Does it have to be advertising?

- How long?

If it were me...

One month?

Three months.

No, more. Five months.

- To be dangerous, five months.

- That's what I thought.

- Who's the writer?

- I don't know.

You don't know the writer

who pitched you the idea?

I don't know his name.

It's a couple kids.

TV writers.

Can we go to bed now?

I'm starting to wrinkle.

- See you tomorrow afternoon.

- Absolutely.

Burt, Larry Levy. I hope you don't

remember me, and if you do...

I hope there are no hard feelings,

I was working for Gassner then.

Take care.

- Who was that?

- An exec over at Fox.

Was until breakfast, anyway.

- Good morning, Mr. Mill.

- Hi, Susan. How are you?

I'm with Joel.

- Hi, Burt. Griffin Mill.

- Good to see you.

Hi, Charles. How are you?

- A**hole.

- One of a breed.

Actually, he's not. There's a whole

breed of them. They're breeding them.

Joel, you're losing your touch,

scheduling meetings so close together.

That guy didn't have time

to finish his breakfast.

He'd already eaten.

Gets up early.

- You went to Mellen's last night.

- Take this away, please. Yes, I did.

- How is he?

- I'd like a Vitelle water.

He's fine.

You left early. Why?

We had to work

on the museum party.

I will not work for Larry Levy.

I'm not asking you to.

I report to you. If I have to report

to Larry Levy, I quit.

You can't quit.

I won't let you quit.

You have a year and a half on your

contract. I'll sue you for breach...

...if you don't show up in the office

every day, with a smile.

Why Levy?

Levy was available.

He's good on material,

you're good with writers.

We're a team. He's a new member

of the team, that's all.

He can make us all look good.

This is a wine glass. Can I have

my water in a water glass, please?

Well?

I'll have to think about it.

I want an answer this afternoon.

I have to go out to Palmdale.

The director of Lonely Room

is giving Lily a hard time.

- I'll be back around 5:00.

- So call after 5:00.

I'll get back to you.

...you haven't died.

See, he's still hanging on.

Griffin, Joel Levison on line 2.

I'll put it through.

- I'll get back to him.

- Tell Joel you'll get back to him?

Yeah. I want to hear

what he's got to say.

- How did this get here?

- The mail.

But this does not have a postmark.

This was hand-delivered.

Not to me.

It came with the mail.

Jimmy?

Do you know anything about this?

Who delivered it? Where it came from?

Mail room?

But I want to know how it got

to the goddamn mail room.

- Find out and get back to me.

- Okay, sure.

- You go with him.

- You want me to go to the mail room?

I want you to go to the mail room.

And while you're there...

I would like a copy of

The Lonely Room rewrites...

...in white pages,

no color.

- Find out how this got in my mail.

- Yes, sir.

- You'll get your own phones?

- I can get my own phones.

Son of a b*tch!

Five months.

One, two, three, four, five.

Richard Fueller.

David Lucas.

Cal Winstrom. David Kahane.

Sammy Tettleton.

Incoming.

Incoming. Unreturned calls.

Bill Lyndstrom.

Nancy Franklin.

Wouldn't be a woman.

David Kahane.

Lyndstrom.

Strategic Planning.

Wouldn't be him.

What was that other guy's name?

Kahane.

Kaltrime. Kahane.

'Unproduced. '

Gotcha!

- Hello.

- Hello. Is David Kahane there?

David!

I'm sorry. I forgot.

He's gone out. Who's this?

- This is Griffin Mill.

- Oh, the dead man.

- What did you say?

- Oh, nothing.

- About me being a dead man?

- Just a nickname David has for you.

I see.

That's a funny nickname.

I suppose your husband doesn't like me

very much.

I don't have a husband.

I suppose David doesn't like me

very much.

David's gone to the cinema.

- When will he be back?

- When the film's over, I presume.

And you are?

- June.

- June?

Here we go.

You want to know my last name.

- No one can pronounce it.

- Try me.

Gudmundsdottir.

Gudmundsdottir.

- How's that?

- Very good.

Thanks.

- What do people usually say?

- Don't ask.

Anything from Good Dog's Water

to Goulash Wallop.

- You English?

- Yep.

Well, no, not really.

Where are you sort of not from?

Do you want the long story

or the short one?

- The long one.

- No, you'd never believe it.

- The short one's Iceland.

- Iceland?

I didn't know anyone came from Iceland.

I thought it was just a block of ice.

It's very green, actually.

Really? I thought that was Greenland.

No, Greenland's very icy.

Iceland's very green.

They switched names to fool the Vikings

who tried to steal their women.

I see.

No. Blue sea.

Red sea.

- No red.

- You're a painter.

How did you guess?

What movie did David go to see?

He went to the Rialto in Pasadena.

He always goes there.

What's showing?

Bicycle Thief, I think.

It's a good movie.

Have you seen it?

I don't go to the movies.

Why not?

Life is too short.

I've got to hang up now.

David Kahane!

You have the wrong guy, man.

David Kahane.

Griffin Mill.

Griffin Mill.

Yeah?

Great movie, huh?

It's refreshing to see something like

this after all these cop movies...

...and, you know,

things we do.

- Maybe we'll do a remake of this.

- You'd probably give it a happy ending.

No, we'd keep it pure.

Pure, right.

- You want to write it?

- Don't f*** with me.

I'm not f***ing with you.

Didn't I say I'd get back to you?

Yeah, about six months ago.

I thought you'd forgotten.

You were angry.

Maybe.

Do you want to talk about it?

- Okay, sure.

- Great.

Let's let the studio

buy us a drink.

If you don't mind a place where you

don't have any suck with the maitre d'.

- I know a bar down the street.

- Let's go.

Have you ever been to Japan?

Yes. I was there once on

a location scout with Steven Spielberg.

I lived there for a year.

Student year abroad.

I wish I'd done that.

I think about it a lot.

I'll never forget it.

You should write about it.

I did.

Don't you remember?

What?

My idea about the American student

who goes to Japan.

That was my pitch, the one you were

supposed to get back to me on.

- You don't remember, do you?

- Of course I remember.

You never got back to me.

Listen.

I was an a**hole, all right?

It comes with the job.

I'm really sorry.

I know how angry you must've been.

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