Find a quiet spot, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding 🌙 ✦ The bedroom “audition” lasted until evening.
Afterward, Evan and Naomi drove down to a convenience store for two packs of cigarettes, a pizza, and more condoms.
His supply had run out that afternoon, and his beautiful neighbor clearly had no intention of leaving.
He ate pizza on the balcony while forcing himself to keep drawing storyboards.
Naomi wore one of his white shirts and sat nearby, reading the script between bites.
“Evan, I just called my agent,” she said.
“She’ll come by tomorrow to handle the contract.
Do you know what happens if I don’t get this role?
In a few days I fly back to Australia and go back to damn television, commercials, or whatever else lets me keep grinding away at acting.” “Then don’t mess it up,” Evan said without looking up from the page.
“If you don’t want to fly home with your tail between your legs, this matters to both of us.
If I mess this up, I probably won’t find another investor.
If you mess it up, you may leave Hollywood with nothing.” He kept drawing as he spoke.
“All right,” Naomi said.
“But don’t you think it’s getting late?
Maybe I should show you a more special kind of ‘acting.’ Aren’t you going to audition me again?” Evan looked up as she turned, lifted the hem of the white shirt, glanced back with her tongue between her teeth, and walked slowly toward the bathroom.
The view made his blood run hot.
He whistled, set down his pencil, and followed her in.
After a wild night, Evan woke the next morning to find his beautiful neighbor making breakfast, as if they had stepped into a movie.
Apparently, when a woman had a goal in mind, she could make a man very comfortable indeed.
A knock came at the door.
Still half asleep, Evan opened it and found a middle-aged woman in a professional suit standing outside.
“Sorry to bother you,” the woman said.
“Is Ms.
Watts here?
I went across the hall, but she wasn’t home.” Evan stepped aside and let her in, then closed the door and went to shower.
“Hey, Jenny,” Naomi called from the kitchen.
“Want some breakfast?
I made eggs and bacon.” She set a plate on the coffee table with a bright smile.
“Listen,” Jenny said, lowering her voice.
“You shouldn’t give this much for a rookie director who hasn’t even graduated, on a tiny independent film nobody knows will ever be finished.
This industry is a mess, especially independent film.
Plenty of men make promises before they get what they want and forget those promises afterward.” Naomi’s agent clearly did not trust the project.
One look at what Naomi was wearing told her exactly what had happened the night before.
“Oh, please,” Naomi said.
“I’ve been in Hollywood almost a year.
What have you gotten me besides a few extra parts with no lines?
If I don’t grab this chance, I go back to Australia to do theater, commercials, and whatever scraps I can find.
Those bitches back home would laugh themselves sick.
At least he’s handsome, isn’t he?” Jenny had no answer to that.
She had signed plenty of actresses, and she did not have enough resources for every newcomer, no matter how beautiful.
Evan waited in the bathroom until their conversation was over, then came out as if he had heard nothing.
He sat at the table and began eating breakfast as though everything were perfectly ordinary.
“Sorry, Jenny.
It is Jenny, right?” he said.
“Someone will bring the contract later.
You know how it works.
If we’re signing today, I want her agent present.” He spoke to the agent directly.
The situation was not unusual in Hollywood, and he did not take offense.
If anything, Jenny’s instinct to protect her client made her competent.
Just after eight, Luke knocked on Evan’s door with a thick stack of documents under one arm.
Evan made quick introductions, then picked up the paperwork Luke had brought.
With Jenny present, Naomi signed her contract first.
Evan let out a quiet breath once it was done.
An actress this beautiful, this affordable, and this likely to become famous was not easy to find.
More than a decade later, King Kong had left a very clear impression on him.
The rest of the documents were equipment rental agreements.
Evan reviewed them and signed his name.
“Evan, what about the hospital?” Luke asked.
“Where are you planning to shoot the hospital scenes from the script?” “I remember an abandoned psychiatric hospital outside Orange County,” Evan said.
“We’ll go look at it when we have time.
If it works, we’ll dress part of it.
If not, we’ll have to rent another hospital location.
I don’t have the money to build a set.” He had no choice.
Without a line producer or unit production manager controlling the spending, he had to watch every dollar himself.
“That’s where we are,” he continued.
“Today I still need to look at Jimmy’s clients.
I hope CAA’s new actors can perform.
Tomorrow the whole crew meets, and once we’re ready, we start at the school.
We have two months, max.
I need time left for postproduction.” “Okay.
You’re the boss.” Evan shrugged and turned back to Luke.
“This morning, you and I need to go to Vincent High School in Orange County.
I want to shoot the school scenes there.
I’ve been there before.
The campus fits the script, assuming we can convince the school to let us in.
This won’t be one day.
We’ll need the location for a while.” Luke looked at him, helpless, and accepted the coffee Naomi handed him.
“That’s going to be hard,” Luke said.
“Even public schools don’t like film crews interrupting classes.
The one you’re talking about is private.
If parents complain, the school could face real trouble.” “Then it depends on how we sell it to the principal,” Evan said.
“Our offer is simple.
The school’s name appears clearly in the movie.
They also get a few slots for student extras, so the kids can take part in the production.
“I’ll tell the principal it helps the school’s profile and may make recruiting easier.
Letting students take part in a film production also gives them a practical arts experience.” He had thought it through.
A public school might be impossible, but a private school was different.
And if this one refused, it was not his only option.
“All right,” Luke said, checking the time.
“It’s almost nine.
We need to move.” “Ms.
Watts, make yourself comfortable,” Evan said, pulling on his jacket and grabbing his keys.
“If you leave, lock the door for me.” He started out with Luke.
“Hey, Evan,” Naomi called after him.
“I may stay and read the script.
Do you want me to make lunch for you?” Naomi clearly was not innocent either.
No one who survived around this industry was.
“No, thank you.” Evan and Luke went downstairs, got into the pickup, and drove toward Orange County, that spread of communities pressed into Greater Los Angeles’s orbit.
Luke drove while Evan kept reading through the materials in the passenger seat.
“Evan,” Luke asked at last, “why Orange County?” “What?” “Why go all the way there?
Shooting in Los Angeles would be easier.” “No.
It isn’t the same,” Evan said.
“Trust me.
In Los Angeles, we have no chance of getting a school location for free.
Orange County gives us better odds, cheaper lodging, and the abandoned psychiatric hospital I first had in mind is near there too.
I have to look at the whole production.” He closed the folder and explained the reasoning carefully.
“You’re already thinking about crew lodging?” Luke sounded genuinely surprised.
They had not even confirmed the main locations, and Evan was already thinking about where the crew would sleep and eat.
Evan gave him a tired look.
“I don’t want to.
But we don’t have a production manager, and you only just came in.
I need contingencies for every problem, not just a single plan.
I think about production problems even when I’m sleeping.” As he drove, Luke suddenly thought the kid might actually pull this off.
With this much effort, it would almost be unfair if the film did not at least reach a theater somewhere.
All the way to Orange County, Evan kept walking Luke through coordination details, especially props.
With only one prop master and maybe two production assistants, Luke would have to pay close attention and help keep things moving.
Luke parked at the school entrance and stayed in the truck with a notebook, writing down the tasks Evan had given him.
He thought through each item and even began cutting and reorganizing the list.
Evan’s intensity had at least dragged his older USC classmate fully into the work.
About an hour later, Luke saw Evan return with a contract in hand.
“Evan?
How did it go?” Evan waved the contract and, for once, allowed himself a smile.
“Done.
We don’t pay a location fee.
The school will cooperate with the shoot.
In exchange, their name appears clearly in the movie for five seconds, and a few students get background parts as practical experience.” It had not been easy.
Bringing Rosenberg Pictures materials and the project package had given him enough credibility to convince them.
“Nicely done.
Are we heading back?” Luke started the engine.
“No.
One more thing.
I called ahead to a small hotel.
I need you to negotiate the price.
If it works, the crew may stay there for one to two months.” Evan gave him directions.
Two blocks away stood the hotel he had found.
It was three stories tall, old enough for the paint to have faded and the walls to show their age.
They parked and walked in.
Evan lowered his voice.
“Their quote isn’t high, but I still want it lower.
Push them.
If the negotiation collapses, I’ll step in, and we won’t have to start from nothing.” Inside, Evan sat on a lobby sofa while Luke went to the front desk and was taken into the back.
Half an hour later, Luke came out and gave him a small nod.
Only after they were outside and in the truck did he explain.
“We don’t have the final head count yet,” Luke said.
“But the price I got is low.
I told them we’d be staying one to two months.
They’ll also provide three meals a day.
Once we know the exact number, we can come back, check in, and sign.” Evan thought that was good enough.
The point was to save money wherever possible, because he still did not know what accidents might happen during shooting.
“Good.
But drive faster.
I have Jimmy coming this afternoon.
He recommended a supporting actress and a male lead, both new clients he signed recently.” It was almost noon.
Luke heard him, pressed harder on the gas, and headed back to Los Angeles.
✦ ✦ ✦ 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.