On the venue of the premiere of [30 days of Happiness], a lot of reporters and critics were present.
Originally, there were a lot of screening venues in Bell Lightbox, located in Downtown Toronto which was the location of the Toronto film festival but a lot of the main venues are only for movies with a lot of connections and critically acclaimed people behind them.
For a movie like [30 days of Happiness] which clearly lacked connections, was only able to get a venue that could accumulate over 800 people.
For the press release, the outside of the venue was jam-packed with reporters. A lot of those were from small media companies that had barely gotten into the film festival, while 10-20 of them were from highly popular and well-connected media outlets.
For example, Hollywood Weekly, LA times, Movie Fare and Vanity Magazine.
Among them, Gordon Lee, who had written an article about the movies to look out for in TIFF was also present. Even though he didn't have a lot of hopes for the movie, he was there as it was one of the movies on his list.
At the same time, the magazine wanted him to interview Aiden Silvereye and Katie Brooks to add to their next monthly issue of the magazine.
"Fuck it, why is the premier not starting? They called the press for a conference, but they didn't even come on time."
Gordon Lee said with an annoyed expression as he looked around the venue. But, unlike him, other reporters and critics looked calm.
"Sir, it's still half an hour to the premier. I think they will come in the next ten minutes."
The cameraman standing next to him said, but Gordon clicked his tongue.
"I know that, but those are new actors. Rookies should come before the press and critics. Even the director is no one. I might be wasting my time here today."
In his words, the cameraman stayed silent, knowing it was far better to not say anything. Gordon had a habit of treating people with respect only if they were famous or had lots of good performances to show for themselves.
He thought of everyone else as beneath him.
It was an elitist mentality that he had gotten because he had made contacts with a lot of big shots throughout his career.
‘I just hope everything goes well. This bastard has a habit of asking rude questions to young rookies.'
As the cameraman thought that in his mind, a small commotion started in the red carpet event as two people got out of the car.
They were Aiden Silvereye and Katie Brooks.
Behind them, another car stopped and other people, including the supporting cast and the director Leo Shaw appeared.
Click! Click!
White flashes suddenly appeared everywhere as all the cameramen started clicking their pictures.
At that moment, Aiden was glad he was wearing glasses.
‘My eyes would have gone blind otherwise.'
He thought and moved on the red carpet with Katie.
A lot of reporters took their pictures together, wondering silently in their minds whether anything was brewing between them.
Though there was no proof, it was something worth writing about as a lot of celebs would date while working together. The chances of the arrow shot in the dark hitting the bullseye wasn't too far-fetched.
At least in the mind of the reporters.
Some reporters who had no shame and just wanted some good headlines even started asking about it the two of them.
"Are the two of you dating?"
"Please give a scoop on your relationship. Just a bit."
"Can you kiss in front of the cameras? Just for the movie?"
"Hey, someone get this guy out. He's asking just anything."
Like that, the red carpet event went on, and soon, a staff member escorted Aiden, Katie, and Leo to their seats for the small press conference before the premiere.
The supporting actors were too busy giving one-to-one interviews to other reporters, and anyway, the media was more focused on the leads and the director.
"Hello, I'm Amanda Bailey from the LA times. My question is for Aiden." The first question was asked by a middle-aged lady. "Do you think this is a very big risk for you to be the lead of a movie, considering you are two movies old?"
It was a very good question, and Aiden smiled, taking his time to answer it.
"I did think of it. It was a risk. My agent and I discussed whether it was better to play supporting roles for a while before going for the big role, but in the end, I really believed in the script, and I liked the character so much that I didn't want it to go to someone else." He said before adding. "And not like people in this industry have gotten ahead by playing it safe."
She quickly wrote down the answer on her notepad, and after that, more and more questions were asked by reporters.
"Do you think the movie will succeed? Are you confident?"
"The soundtrack you composed has been called one of the best to come out in the last few years. Do you think being the movie score's composer gives you a certain edge in playing the lead?"
"Director Leo, this was your first movie? There were rumors of a disagreement between you and Night Hawk studios. What do you have to say about that?"
"Katie, how was the experience of going from playing supporting roles in big commercial movies to shouldering a movie? Do you think it will get good ratings from critics?"
Like that, the press conference continued.
As the questions were asked, Aiden became sort of relaxed as most of these questions were related to the movie. Once in a while, a reporter would try to ask a question related to their private lives, but it wasn't something they couldn't handle.
At that moment, Gordon Lee raised his hand.
"Hello, I'm Gordon Lee from Vanity Magazine, and my question is from Katie Brooks." When Katie nodded toward him, he gave off a smirk. "Do you feel like your real acting skills would come out in this movie?"
"What?"
The question made Katie widen her eyes toward him and even other reporters felt like the question was a bit crass.
"I mean, we have seen you mainly in commercial movies. There, You didn't quite show your acting chops, and it was clear that other actors were overshadowing your performance. Do you think in this movie the same thing would happen? Or would we see a side of yours that could act well? Do you regret taking a project that might need acting skills instead of going for another commercial one?"
When Gordon finished his question, he was smirking, appearing like he had not asked anything rude. He had asked it with a very polite tone but the words were full of thorn.
The other reporters were silent, and Katie's mind had gone blank.
Not getting praised for her acting was one of the biggest stigmas of her acting career. The actors she worked with had too much charisma that overpowered her easily, and she was said to be a flowerpot character.
‘What should I say?'
As she was thinking of it, Aiden, who was next to her, suddenly opened his mouth.
"First of all, I think you are rude. Second, no, she doesn't regret it, and yes, you will be blown away by her acting skills in the movie."
When Aiden said that, everyone in the venue froze. No one had expected him to say anything like that, but he had really dared to do so.
Gordon, who was stupefied, not expecting Aiden to give back an answer, wasn't able to say anything for a second. He had only asked the question to target Katie and make a good headline, but Aiden had publicly called him rude.
"How am I rude? What are you saying?"
"You are not? Is the meaning of rude changed in the dictionary without people telling me?"
Aiden turned to Katie like he was seriously asking that, and she just chuckled in response. Other reporters and critics in the venue were also not able to stop themselves from laughing at the blatant sarcasm.
Some people even clapped, appreciating Aiden defending his co-actor.
All this happened while Gordon stood there, unable to say anything. He wanted to talk back to Aiden, but everyone in the venue was already laughing at him.
"Okay, everyone. Let's end the press conference here."
One of the staff members said as he showed everyone the way inside the venue where the premier was going to take place.
In all this, Katie looked at Aiden and muttered, "Thank you."
"It's no big deal. We are friends, and that guy was really rude."
"We do get people like him sometimes."
As both of them made their way inside the theatre, Gordon Lee just stood outside, anger overtaking all other emotions like sanity in his mind.
The event had a lot of reporters, and it was recorded too, so getting roasted by a rookie like Aiden would surely make its way among the circle of entertainment reporters.
At that time, the embarrassment he would feel would be way more.
"That fucking Aiden."
Gordon cursed in the end, stomping his feet on the ground.
The cameraman beside him couldn't help but shrink back a bit, seeing his anger. He very well knew that Gordon wasn't someone to hang around with when he was angry.
‘Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! That damn brat! I'm a senior reporter from Vanity Magazine, and he dares talk back to me like this. It wasn't even a question for him. Let's see how his movie is. Even if it's Oscar level, I will give it the worst score possible!'
Gordon thought in his mind as he dragged himself inside the theatre.
…
