Brand New Cherry Flavor

Someone is calling you home...

- Hey, what's up? - Code.

- Yeah? - It's good to hear your voice.

Holy shit. Lisa?

Are you okay? I haven't heard from you in months.

I was afraid you were dead.

I've been up in the woods working on that short film I told you about.

Must have lost track of time.

Yeah. I know how you get. So you back in New York?

I'm an hour outside L.A.

Wait, what?

Do you know the name Lou Burke?

Lou Burke? Yeah, of course I do.

Apparently, he wants to meet with me.

Lis, that's huge.

Listen, I need a place to crash. Can I use your couch?

Are you kidding? Yeah, of course. Anything you need.

I'm at 4837 Traction, downtown.

I knew I could count on you.

- I'm glad you're not dead. - Me too. See you soon, Code.

How's your band doing?

- Heard you're selling drugs now, too. - Shh!

Christine's asleep.

- Who the fuck is Christine? - My girlfriend. She lives here too.

Your... Is she gonna mind me being here?

No, no, no. I mean...

No, I'm sure it'll be fine.

I mean, you get along with everybody, right?

You said, you'd never come to L.A.

Guess I changed my mind.

Your actress friend didn't wanna come?

Something happen in the woods?

You know. People tend to get fucked up around me.

Not me.

You want this?

- Nah, I'm good. - Thank you.

- Night. - Goodnight.

- So you used to date my boyfriend. - I wouldn't say date exactly.

It looked like you were sleeping with your eyes open. It was gross.

Sorry.

So he said you might need to crash here for a minute or so,

and I'm totally good with that if you do.

Just... If you wanna take a shower,

use the hallway bathroom, not the one by our bedroom.

And sometimes when you pull the thingy for the shower,

seems like nothing's gonna happen, and then it goes, like, ca-chunk!

And then... Pssh! Like, it spits right in your eye.

Are you, like, an actress or something?

Filmmaker.

Good for you.

It's a very tough town.

It takes years just to get a break.

What do you do?

I'm in real estate.

Morning.

- Hey, babe. - Hey.

Get off your butt, Lis. Don't you have that meeting with Lou Burke?

Lou Burke?

Mr. Burke.

Lisa Nova.

Jesus, you're not much older than my son.

Sit.

And call me Lou. Never Mr. Burke.

Okay. Lou. How'd you get my short film?

I sent it to a few people, but...

You know those nights you wake up every 20 minutes from a different dream?

My wife thinks I should see a sleep guy, but I love my dreams.

I dream about the birds. Oh, hello. Thank you.

Falcons, actually.

I raise Arctic Peregrines. Like nature's 200-mile-an-hour missile.

I had three, but one killed Glenn Close's Pekingese,

and now I've got two. Thank you.

You're having coffee with sushi.

I drink this coffee with everything. Comayagua!

Ship it in from Honduras.

My assistant makes sure my favorite spots have it on hand.

- Very cool. So... - What's your story?

Not from L.A., I take it.

No, I'm from Brazil, actually.

My father is a botanist. He was looking for corpse vines...

I feel like you're flicking puzzle pieces at me.

- He was looking for a corpse vine? - What are we doing here?

I wanted to meet you.

That's how meetings work.

Japanese scallops.

I saw a tape sitting on a desk and...

I don't know. I had this voice in my head.

"Pick up this video tape.

Pick it up."

It's a true story.

That sound crazy? Probably does.

So you liked my movie.

So, what do we got?

It's tense.

And scary.

And, um...

My God, that ending.

I mean, those special effects when she...

Well, I don't wanna get too gory over lunch.

So the question is what's the full-length,

major-motion-picture, opens-on-1500-screens-nationwide version?

Well, what it's really about, to me, is...

this woman.

She's got this thing. But she doesn't know how to use it yet.

Like a superpower. Right? Her eyes already do that thing.

Yeah, but other people wanna take it from her.

They wanna suck her dry and don't care if they kill her in the process.

So this woman, she has to learn how to use this thing against them.

If she wants to make it out alive.

- Okay. - It's a paranoid thriller.

Woman on the run. Right? I've been looking for something like this.

Okay, so let's do a director wish list. Right?

I'm directing.

Okay.

I mean, a rookie director is a tough sell.

You'd have to sell yourself as a...

young female Cronenberg, uh...

Verhoeven.

Truth is, I've been looking to take more chances.

You know, maybe you're the chance I've been looking to take.

But you need to learn to persuade people that you're the one to make this.

So you'll help me out.

That's great.

And that's the thing.

Not everything can be taught. Some things have to be experienced...

Holy fucking shit. Roy Hardaway?

Is that Roy-fucking-Hardaway? Oh, my God! It is!

- How's it going, Lou? Good to see you. - How the fuck are ya, huh?

Yeah. Oh, Roy, this is Lisa Nova. Lisa Nova, Roy Hardaway.

The actor.

I know who he is. Hi.

You gotta try the monkfish liver. It's next-level.

It's mind blowing, like having a woman undress in your mouth.

Am I gonna see you at the Alvin Sender...?

Not sure yet. I haven't decided.

- It was nice to meet you, Lisa. - Yes. You too.

So I'm assuming this is you?

Yes, that's me.

- You living out of this thing? - Actually, yes, I am.

Jesus.

Home sweet home.

Tell you what.

I'm gonna option your short.

We'll make the feature just the way you want it.

Consider this a deposit.

I'll send over a contract. Have a lawyer look it over.

Okay.

Consider an apartment.

Why?

Do you want?

Oh, no, thank you. I'm not hungry, but thanks.

When the bandages come off, she'll look like Daryl Hannah.

Cher wasn't built in a day.

So is it legit?

Nothing seems shady.

You should get a lawyer.

I can't afford one.

Jules says it looks legit.

Well, if Jules Brandenberg says so.

I know what a contract looks like. I have a movie in development.

- He directed our video, babe. - Meaningless.

You're gonna be huge, baby.

Thank you.

Lou Burke. Wow.

He hasn't had a hit in a few years, but I love Breaking Point .

Good for you.

Thanks. So does the contract protect me as the director?

Can I be fired?

No producer hires a director they can't replace if the director sucks.

In theory, they could fire Steven Spielberg if they want to.

But, yeah,

this says, you, Lisa Natasha Nova, are directing the movie.

Just don't suck.

You think I could meet him?

Mm.

It's kind of a shithole, but you can't afford anything that isn't.

The great news is it's furnished.

Or someone abandoned the furniture in here.

But either way, you can use it.

I love this place.

Careful at night. There's coyotes all around here.

- There's whats? - Coyotes.

They're fucking dangerous.

Feels kinda haunted.

Maybe you'll hear some silent film actress sobbing all night.

Maybe she slit her wrists in the clawfoot tub.

Not a clawfoot.

I always wanted a penthouse.

The top floor of a walkup is not a penthouse.

Coyotes.

Coyotes.

So let's talk about Lisa Nova.

Can you sell me Lisa Nova?

You mean sell my movie idea?

No, actually, I don't. Everybody's got an idea.

There's only one you.

So who are you?

Sell yourself to me.

Okay.

So, I'm sure you hear this all the time, but I'm not like every other director.