Find a quiet spot, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding 🌙 ✦ The North American film market had a strict ratings system.
Under the Motion Picture Association of America’s rules, ratings were handled by the Classification and Rating Administration, the MPAA’s ratings arm.
Evan did not believe that process was as clean or impartial as people liked to pretend.
The raters were anonymous, but anyone with half a brain knew the major studios had influence over the system.
The stronger shots he had kept in the film were not excessive, but if he submitted the movie himself instead of through a distributor with real weight, it would not shock him if the board pushed it into an R rating.
PG-13 meant parents were strongly cautioned.
Some material might be inappropriate for children under thirteen.
R meant restricted.
Viewers under seventeen needed an accompanying parent or adult guardian.
These films often carried stronger violence, sexuality, language, or adult material.
The two ratings might sit next to each other on a chart, but the difference in audience reach was enormous.
If some careless vote shoved his movie into R, Evan would have every reason to cry.
After dinner, he returned to the apartment with that problem still turning in his head.
For now, he preferred to wait for a distributor.
An experienced distributor could handle the CARA submission, and any appeal, more efficiently.
Early the next morning, Evan invited Jimmy, Naomi, and Luke to bring the finished print back to USC.
Professor Horowitz had already agreed to watch the new film.
When Evan drove Naomi into the campus parking lot, Jimmy and Luke were already waiting and chatting.
“Luke, any problem with the print?” That was the first thing Evan cared about.
He had made only two prints: one with Luke for screenings, and one stored in a bank vault.
“No problem,” Luke said.
“Relax.
The projection will be clean.” Luke was excited too.
He had put plenty of work into the movie, and this would be its first real screening, even if the audience was only a handful of people.
Evan nodded, then looked at Jimmy.
Inviting his agent to see the finished film was meant to give Jimmy confidence.
The next stage would require him to use every contact he had to bring in acquisitions scouts and buyers.
If the film was strong enough, Jimmy might even push CAA’s network harder than usual.
Jimmy greeted him but said little afterward.
He understood what Evan wanted.
The condition was simple: the movie had to convince him first.
Only then could he report back to the agency and justify using the weight of Hollywood’s largest talent agency.
So there was no point in talking now.
Once Jimmy saw the movie, everything would become clearer.
After the greetings, Evan and Luke carried the film cans into the small screening classroom Horowitz had reserved.
Naomi and Jimmy followed.
Evan had not expected anyone else.
Horowitz was waiting inside, but so were seven or eight of Evan’s classmates.
He ignored that for the moment and hugged the professor first.
“Professor, I brought the film.
Postproduction just finished.
In a few days, I plan to take it to Park City for a private industry screening during Sundance.” Horowitz studied him.
Evan was visibly thinner.
The film had taken a great deal out of him.
The professor patted his shoulder, pride warming his voice.
“Of course.
Finishing it this quickly already means you did well.
I had not planned to invite students, but Adam and Joey were in my office when you called.
They came on their own.
Do you mind?” Evan did not make things difficult for his teacher.
Horowitz had more than one student, and Evan did not care if other people saw the film early.
Movies were made to be watched.
“Of course not, Professor.
Luke, can you handle projection?” Luke nodded and went alone into the booth.
Evan sat in the front row beside Horowitz.
Projection in this classroom was easy for Luke.
During his own student years, he had shown more experimental shorts here than he could count.
Naomi and Jimmy remained quiet.
Since Evan did not introduce them, they did not bother Horowitz and simply sat near the front to wait for the screening.
As the lights dimmed, Adam Goodman sat in the middle rows, his face tight.
Evan had not looked at him once since entering the room.
To Evan, Adam might as well have been a piece of furniture.
The classmates watching today had all come because Adam had spread the word.
The day before, he had been in Horowitz’s office asking for help revising his short film when he overheard Evan’s appointment.
He went back and told everyone.
He and Evan had been clashing for more than three years, and he had never once managed to embarrass him.
Adam thought this might be the opportunity.
His father was a Universal Pictures executive, and he understood how difficult it was to finish a feature.
It was not something students were supposed to be able to do.
Today, he expected Evan to fall on his face.
Evan glanced back, not to see who had come, but because Luke was signaling that the projector was ready.
Evan gave Luke a thumbs-up and told him to begin.
The old projector clicked to life.
A line of text appeared on the screen.
An Evan Rosenberg Film.
Then Tree woke up, and the story began.
Evan did not keep much attention on the screen.
He already knew the film too well.
Instead, he watched Horowitz settle into the movie while his own mind drifted toward the next plan.
Everyone watched seriously.
No one spoke, including Jimmy and Naomi.
Three minutes in, Jimmy straightened in his seat without noticing it, his eyes fixed on the screen.
The movie was far better than he had imagined.
When Tree was stabbed to death in a bloody rush for the first time, he heard the students in the back rows gasp and cry out.
Good.
As a horror film, it had already cleared its first hurdle.
As the story moved forward, cold little jokes appeared just often enough to release the pressure.
But Tree could never escape the brutal fate of being murdered again, and the suspense kept tightening around that cycle.
For less than a hundred minutes, Jimmy heard almost no whispering except for startled reactions from the back.
That meant the film could hold an audience.
He found himself drawn into the plot, searching for the answer alongside the heroine.
Naomi felt something completely different.
From the first minute, she clung to Evan’s arm.
It was the first time she had seen herself as a lead on a screen, and she had not expected him to make her look that beautiful.
Halfway through the film, tears slipped down her face.
She believed that if any company was willing to release this movie, she would finally move beyond scraping for background work.
Her grip on Evan’s arm tightened.
To the public, actors drew most of the attention.
Inside the industry, however, a successful director could shape careers.
Naomi had gambled on Evan.
Now she believed that staying close to him might carry her farther than she could go alone.
The film ended with the heroine and the male lead kissing.
Evan had not built an elaborate closing sequence, so the screen simply returned to black.
With a clack, the old projector stopped, and the classroom lights came back on.
Professor Horowitz turned around, looked at the disciplined kid he had watched work for years, and began to clap hard.
Jimmy and Naomi stood and applauded too.
Gradually, the classmates in the back rows joined them.
When the applause faded, Evan stood at the front, faced everyone, bowed lightly, and thanked them in a clear voice.
That moment stirred something in him too.
Adam stared at Evan in front of the screen, his brow deeply furrowed.
This was not the result he had wanted.
Then he saw the blonde actress hugging Evan’s arm with force.
He recognized her as the film’s heroine.
‘Damn it.
Why did Evan get everything so easily?’ While no one was paying attention, Adam quietly left the classroom.
He stormed out and kicked an oak tree by the path.
Katie had dated him for only a month before he threw her away.
The promised lead role and post-graduation arrangements disappeared with the breakup.
If she could no longer be used to strike at Evan, then she had no value to him.
Hollywood could be disgusting the moment a man zipped up and stopped answering calls.
Adam had learned that part of the business very well.
Looking back toward the actress beside Evan, he could no longer hold down his anger.
Why did all the good things go to him?
Muttering the same word that began with F over and over, Adam got into his car and drove away from campus.
Evan wanted to release his feature?
Getting a film into theaters had never been that easy.
He would learn soon enough that Hollywood was not a playground for rookie directors.
Evan did not notice anyone leave early.
These months of work had pushed Adam far out of his mind.
His eyes were aimed much farther than school now.
After the classmates finished congratulating him, the group went together to Horowitz’s office.
“Professor, what do you think?” Evan and everyone else looked at Horowitz with open expectation.
“No problem.
In fact, it is much better than I expected.
Evan, you achieved the effect you promised on the page.
Some of the craft is still rough, but it does not harm the viewing experience.
“I did not expect you to do this well.
The selling points are clear, the logic holds together, and the film makes the audience want to stay in the seat and keep watching.
The heroine’s growth, and the touches of love, friendship, and family, are handled lightly, but they support the final theme very well.
“And I am glad you did not overuse your own style.
There are bloody shots and some stronger material, but you controlled it.
You did not let the movie turn into a cult mess.
That restrained dark edge suits the film.
Overall, this is an excellent horror film.” Everyone on the sofa slowly began to smile at the professor’s praise.
Even Jimmy, who had been quiet, smiled with them.
Jimmy knew his chance had arrived.
✦ ✦ ✦ Ready for more?
CREATORS’ THOUGHTS TheBacklot Thank you for reading.
I hope this chapter drew you further into the story.
Stick around, because there’s still a lot waiting just ahead.