Find a quiet spot, turn the page, and let’s see what this story has been hiding 🌙 ✦ At seven in the morning, Evan was already up and organizing materials.
Everything he needed went neatly into a bag.
He looked at Naomi, who was still doing her makeup, and shook his head.
“We need to move faster.
I can’t be the person who planned this project and still show up late.” “Okay, I’m ready.
We can go anytime.
Do you want me to carry the bag?” Naomi dropped her eyebrow pencil, came over, hugged his arm, and took the document bag from him.
Evan did not refuse.
A beautiful woman being attentive was one of those things that made a man feel absurdly accomplished.
He grabbed his keys, locked the door, and drove the blonde beauty straight to Jasmine Cafe.
No one else had arrived when they got there, so the two of them ordered coffee and sandwiches and treated it as breakfast while they waited.
Luke arrived first, as expected.
He was genuinely invested now.
Maybe Evan’s work ethic had infected him.
Maybe his first chance to be deeply involved in a feature had kept him from sleeping.
The crew members came in one by one after that.
Evan had only met them once, and most of the crew were still strangers to one another.
There was not much small talk.
They introduced themselves briefly, then waited in silence for the others.
At seven fifty, Jimmy came in with Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke.
The three pulled out chairs, and Jimmy addressed the table.
“Sorry.
Looks like we’re late.
Hope we didn’t hold anyone up.” “It’s not eight yet.
You’re not late.” Evan looked around the table.
“All right.
Everyone is here.
I know most of us don’t know each other yet.
That’s fine.
Once shooting starts, you will.
“I called everyone in today because production starts in two days.
Most of the shoot will be in Orange County.
The school scenes will be at Vincent High School.
I worked that out with them.
When we officially start, the school will help clear the areas we need and provide some basic items.
“Ross, Mia, if the school already has any props or set pieces you need, coordinate with them.
Don’t be shy about asking.
“Lily, if you need a makeup room, Luke can arrange a classroom.
We’re not renting a makeup trailer.” He watched Ross, the prop master, and Lily, the makeup artist, nod before continuing.
“The hospital scenes will be shot at an abandoned psychiatric hospital outside Orange County.
Luke, take Ross and Mia to inspect it ahead of time and plan what needs to be dressed.” “Sorry to interrupt, Evan,” Ross said, knocking lightly on the table.
“From the sound of it, Mia and I can’t handle that setup by ourselves.
I’ll need help.” “No problem.
Luke, hire two temporary production assistants.
Any other issues with props or set dressing?” “Not for now,” Ross said.
“Once I see the location, if there’s a problem, I’ll come to you.” Evan nodded and went on.
“Those are the two main locations.
We’ll concentrate the scenes there.
The road and underpass scenes can be handled later on a quiet road and a bridge underpass.
“If everything goes smoothly, the shoot should take about two months.
I expect everyone to behave professionally.
That’s the plan.
If you have questions, ask now.
Once cameras roll, I don’t want work stopping because someone held something back.” He looked around at the small group.
By any standard, this crew was bare-bones.
Once fully assembled, they would still only number a dozen or so.
Steve, the lighting technician, raised a hand, and Evan nodded for him to speak.
“Where are we staying?” Steve asked.
“Sorry.
I just want to make sure it has been considered.
This is your first production.” Before Evan could answer, Luke did.
“The hotel is arranged.
Room and meals are included.
It’s two blocks from the school.” Steve nodded.
Evan looked over the group again.
He knew he was a rookie director, and every crew member there had worked on at least some kind of production.
They would naturally doubt him.
As long as the work got done, he could live with the rest.
For most of them, this was only a two-month job.
Nothing more.
Anyone who had read the script knew this strange little horror movie had long odds.
“All right.
If there are no more questions, go prepare.
Two days from now, we meet outside this cafe in the morning.
Transportation will take everyone over.” Evan turned to Jimmy.
“Extras are handled?” “Handled,” Jimmy said.
“A good-looking middle-aged man for the teacher, a few slots left for student extras, and the rest are easy.
New actors are not hard to find.” Jimmy nodded, then left first.
Evan drove Naomi back to the apartment.
Only after the meeting was over did he finally let out a long breath.
The first stage was finished.
From here, the work would have to prove itself on set.
For the first time, he truly understood why Horowitz always said a movie was the combined effort of an entire crew.
Evan had no casting director to run auditions, no line producer or unit production manager to control the budget and solve crew problems, no director of photography and camera assistant to handle camera planning, and no team of assistant directors to divide up the workload.
The preproduction alone had left him exhausted.
He had scraped this small crew together through sheer effort, and even that made him feel as if he needed more than one body.
Still, arrangements had to be made.
At least the project was moving forward.
He picked up the phone and called Luke.
“Luke, it’s Evan.
Tomorrow, confirm the rented bus again.
Confirm the equipment too, and make sure it gets loaded ahead of time.
I don’t want surprises.” “Got it.
I’ll have everything loaded tomorrow afternoon.” After hearing Luke’s answer, Evan relaxed slightly and sat near the balcony to keep drawing storyboards.
Naomi had finally gone back across the hall, which meant he could work and think through everything still missing.
He pulled a sheet from the typewriter and started marking it with pencil.
The locations were nearly locked.
Props, camera gear, and set dressing could all be put in place.
Before shooting began, Evan still needed to inspect everything himself and make sure nothing was wrong.
Any mistake in preproduction could turn into a serious problem during filming.
A delay or accident could push them over budget, and if they ran out of money, the film might die halfway through.
He also had to account for the crew itself.
This patched-together group had never worked together before.
Problems of rhythm were inevitable.
Better to shoot simpler scenes first, give the actors a chance to settle, and let the crew learn how to move together.
The two main actresses were almost certainly going to clash.
Evan trusted the contracts, the potential credits, and the possible benefits of a finished film to keep them focused long enough to do their jobs.
His mother had told him when he was younger that in Hollywood, there was no such thing as a perfectly harmonious crew.
Evan believed it.
Personal friction was acceptable.
Conflict was acceptable.
What mattered was that none of it interfere with the work.
If it did, he would throw people off the project.
Actors were not expensive at this level.
Actors from across North America and much of the world came to Los Angeles chasing work.
The city was never short on unknown talent.
When he first considered Lori, Evan briefly thought about casting a minority actress for the optics, then rejected the idea.
He remembered the culture-war battles that would consume Hollywood decades later and used them to justify an uglier instinct: the reflexive prejudice he still carried toward Black Americans.
He knew better than to voice those assumptions on a set, but that did not stop them from shaping his choices.
He told himself he only objected to performers who turned every creative decision into a racial argument.
Yet the exception he made for someone like Will Smith, disciplined, ambitious, and comfortably mainstream, showed how selective his standard was.
It was bias dressed up as pragmatism.
Evan looked up from the page he had been marking, crumpled it hard, and tossed it into the trash before going to the door.
“Hi,” Naomi said, standing outside with playful brightness.
“I know we haven’t been apart for even half a day, but I missed you a little.
Are you still working?” Evan frowned at her tone.
“Naomi, we’re just friends.” Her expression did not change.
She studied his face and said, “Of course.
Good friends.
I’m here to invite you over for lunch.
You don’t have anything scheduled, do you?” Evan closed his door and followed the playful blonde across the hall.
This woman was always testing him.
If the film failed, he suspected she could turn cold faster than a page turning in a book.
Her apartment had the same floor plan as his, but her room was very different.
It was much cleaner and more orderly.
She clearly liked things neat, maybe even a little too much.
A small dining table stood near the open kitchen counter.
Two large plates sat on it, each with a steak, along with a bottle of red wine.
After he sat down, Evan noticed that his steak was obviously bigger.
She had considered his appetite.
“Naomi, sometimes you’re a hot little wildcat, and sometimes you’re as thoughtful as a perfect lover,” he said as he began cutting into the steak.
“Charming enough to make a man want to lock you away and keep all that beauty for himself.” Naomi watched him handle the meal with polished manners and listened to the sweet words coming out of his mouth.
She knew better than to take them too seriously.
In two days, she had already learned something about this man.
Words like that would remain words.
He would not stop moving for any woman or any feeling.
✦ ✦ ✦ 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.