"Ain't this movie going to be a big hit?"
A man puffed up smoke from his mouth and held the cigarette in one hand. Cold wind touched his neck as he looked at the sky that seemed to be cloudy.
The cold weather wasn't going to go anywhere for a while.
"I don't know. Why do you think that?" The woman standing in front of him asked.
"It's a 60 million dollar production with SGA investing in it. The company is already looking to hold onto them with how things are going and the director's filmography doesn't leave a lot to desire. Most of the supporting cast we selected are great and talented. It's like they have all the right ingredients for a hit movie."
There was an old saying in the film industry that no one knows what project would be a hit but studios try their best to increase the probability of their movie becoming a hit.
Resources, great minds behind the movie and great actors on the screen — These things are present in almost all hit movies.
"Yeah, but we still have not pinned down the three main leads. I heard that Dustin Redforf got one of the parts. He impressed Jesse a lot."
The woman said. She was a production employee who was working on [Disconnected]. Opposite of her, the man was a HR employee and both of them were dating for a while. Talking to each other on the terrace had become a daily habit of both of them.
"Isn't Seth Douglas playing the lead? I even heard that Aiden Silvereye impressed in his audition." The man tilted his head.
"He did but both of them auditioned for the same role. Actually, Seth Douglas was already confirmed for the lead but Jesse Ross wanted to look at other actors too. Probably to see if he could find a perfect male lead and I heard he found Aiden pretty good but now SGA is pressuring to just get Seth on board for the project. They have a lot of power as they are investing in it and many of the supporting actors are from SGA."
"Basically a power struggle."
The man clicked his tongue. It wasn't new in Hollywood. Power struggles between agencies and studios, between two different actors or even between a director and a studio. Those were parts and parcel of Hollywood.
Everyone was used to them but these struggles never end well.
"So, what do you think would be the end result of this?" The man asked, throwing down the cigarette and crushing it with his shoe.
The woman thought about it for a while and looked straight at him.
"I don't know. The Executive producer and Jesse are probably arguing over the casting in the office right now but going by who has the most power on this project, I think SGA has the upper hand here…"
Her words trailed off at the end of the sentence as she sighed.
"You know, I hope the movie didn't suffer because of it. These things destroy a good project sometimes."
***
In the office of the Executive producer who was working on [Disconnected], Jesse Ross had an annoyed expression on his face as he tapped the desk.
In front of him, a man with brown skin colour and a square face was sitting. His name was Rishi Suman, an Indian American who was also the Executive producer working on this project.
"Jesse, you need to understand SGA is helping us out in this project due to a packaged deal. One of their requests was to cast Seth as the lead. You are in this business for long enough to know how it all goes."
Rishi said in a thick American accent, leaning against the sofa seat.
"I know but there's more to this business. It's art too. A movie means a lot, especially this one and I just want to be sure that I cast the perfect person for the lead role."
"Seth is perfect."
"I have other candidates too. Good actors who I think could be great as Mark Knight too. I'm not saying Seth isn't a good actor. I'm just unsure about him as the lead."
Jesse was a director who always wanted to have the perfect casting. A bad casting could easily ruin a project. He knew that well, so he wanted to be extremely sure of his decision.
Unfortunately, Rishi saw the business aspect of movie business more than just filmmaking.
"Jesse, my friend. I understand you want it to be a perfect casting but there won't be any movie without SGA. They were already not happy when you decided to do an audition for Mark Knight too. Due to them, the project was given the green signal and you do know how big of a project it could be with SGA's resources, you as the director and Black Line Cinema distributing the project. Try to understand."
Rishi said in a very calm demeanor and Jesse hesitated. He understood that SGA was bringing in a lot of resources to make [Disconnected]. They were a premium talent agency with connections one could only dream of.
But Jesse wanted to hold an additional round of auditions for both Seth and Aiden.
'Aiden portrayed Mark pretty well and he looks far more like a college student compared to Seth but there might not even be a movie without Seth due to SGA.'
It was a very conflicting matter for him as a director. It was his first cooperation with Black Line Cinemas, so he wasn't getting any support and his authority as the director was not a lot compared to the power the studio and SGA held.
"Rishi, can't we just do another round of auditioning for both Seth and Aiden. I just want to be extremely sure." He asked again but Rishi shook his head, sighing.
"No, we don't have any time. We need to get to the shooting by the end of January, so the movie is ready in a couple of months." He said then added. "You know, I think you are unsure about Seth because you have only met him once."
Both of them have only met once when Seth had come to audition for the role. In Jesse's memories, Seth didn't look like a bad person and had good ideas on the character and story.
Just for an awkward character like Mark, Jesse felt that a more charming and expressive actor like Aiden would be better.
"I don't mind meeting Seth again."
"Yeah, I'm going to a party tonight. Seth would be there too. Come with me. You have already proven yourself as a director. You should show up in these events more and make good connections."
Rishi said and Jesse nodded before asking.
"What about Aiden?"
"What about him?"
"I have not yet agreed to casting Seth as Mark yet. I just said I don't mind meeting him again."
The Executive producer frowned hearing that. Stubborn directors like Jesse were very hard to deal with, especially because rather than box office, they worried more about creating a great movie.
That only works if the movie is being made for an Oscar. Even with those, a producer would always go for profit.
"You are making things difficult…"
Rishi muttered with a frowning expression as his calm demeanor broke. He didn't know what to say to convince Jesse. At that moment, an idea struck his mind.
"I have an idea for Aiden. He's not a bad actor and is doing quite well so…"
***
"The song is pretty good. I think you should send it to Grey. The beat is catchy and if you just increase the tempo a bit, then it could be a great pop song. Grey excels at those."
"Yeah, I did send him a few guide tracks but he didn't like any of those till now. So I might as well take the chance with this one."
"I have a good feeling about it."
Wade said as he tapped his shoe on the ground, listening to the track that Aiden had made. The catchy beat was really holding his attention together.
Both of them were sitting in a meeting room in Aiden's office and going through a few guide tracks that Aiden had made.
As the audition results would only come out after a while, Aiden had time to focus entirely on his album. Aside from making a lot of guide tracks and even trying new instruments, he was also in contact with Grey who was giving him more insight into pop songs and how to make them catchy.
In pop songs, lyrics were secondary and only the music mattered.
"I think I will send it to Grey and see his reaction and if it's good, then I could finish up the lyrics in a few days."
Aiden said and Wade nodded his head, happy with the progress of the album.
"With this, we will have four songs right?"
"Yeah."
For his first album, Aiden was recreating two songs that he sung in X-Star. 'I can't seem to forget' and 'Life is a story'. The third song was the duet one which was titled 'Firefly'.
He had already completed most of it and it would be the first song that he would record.
As they were talking, the door to the room suddenly opened and Tom walked in, holding a parcel in his hand.
"This just came from Vikings publishing."
"Ah, must be the book."
Tom put down the parcel and Wade opened it up. Few copies of <Behind the scenes> were in the box.
'It's finally releasing in two days.'
Aiden thought in his mind, excited about his book release.
...
