Sean Hunting was one of the oldest professors in the New York Film school. Although he didn't look like it, the man was already over 60 years old but had made himself keep in shape, so he barely looked like he was in his early 50s.
According to what Jeremy had told him, they met while Sean was directing a short film for a film festival.
They have become friends then but at the end of the movie, Sean had realised that he wasn't made up to be a director.
Hence, he had given up and taken the opportunity to teach others about the job that he always wished to do.
After meeting Aiden, Sean invited him over to his office and brewed tea for him before they started their conversation.
"So, I was very curious. Why did you want to take classes on filmmaking? I'm pretty sure you would know a lot about it at this point. Some of my recent favourite movies are yours."
Aiden smiled at the compliment. Sean has a very calm but serene tone to his voice. Coupled with his looks, it made him look wise.
"Jeremy recommended it to me." Sean made a curious look at that. "He said that it would help me out in acting, learning more about movies. I don't know how much it would help as my life has always been about movies and stories but I was hoping it would give me some new perspectives."
"It might help you. I won't take any guarantee but can give you a filmmaker's perspective to things. A story."
Sean said and hearing that, Aiden nodded his head.
"I think that would be good enough for me."
"Then, it's okay. I will allow you to sit in a few of my classes. But in exchange, I need you to give my students a lecture."
"A lecture? I'm not good at those types of things, you know."
Aiden said, wondering how he was going to go on with a lecture. At best, he could try to talk about his acting journey or go into details about his process.
"You don't have to give a lecture like I do. All of my students are just budding filmmakers. Just answer their questions and that would be good enough for them."
"I'm okay with it."
Aiden said and thought that even if they were budding filmmakers, the questions would be very simple, so he would easily be able to answer them.
Half an hour later, he realised that he couldn't be more wrong.
***
"Do you think the ego of an actor could mess up with the plans of a director? I have heard a lot of A-listers involve themselves with the story. Is it the same in your case?"
A frown appeared on the face of Aiden hearing that question.
It was asked by a burly guy who looked like he was very excited to be talking to Aiden. His answer has also made the whole class quiet.
Even Sean was just smiling to himself on the side.
When Aiden had first entered the room with Sean, there was a lot of buzz among the students. After all, it was not everyday that they would see an A-lister in their classroom, up so close.
Being in a film school, there were students who would get some roles in TV series and then would see a few famous actors but that was mostly rare. And even then, they won't see an A-lister.
Especially one who had just given a major hit and had been coming in the top magazine covers.
So, the buzz was justified and it had only increased when Sean had said that Aiden was going to take a few classes with them together and they could ask him any question they wanted for today.
'It is a difficult question.'
Aiden thought in his mind as he looked at the burly guy who was still awaiting a response. Knowing that there was no other way around the question, he collected his words and opened his mouth.
"I do think that in any movie, the amount of egos involved are unprecedented. Everyone is extremely proud of themselves and their previous work and want this to be the best. A director is the top guy in any production but as you know, some A-listers are on the same level of power, so it can create conflicts. Sometimes, it gets a project to be better and sometimes worse."
"Then, do you want to take control over the project too when you work on it?"
The burly guy again asked and Aiden's smile bleaked a bit but he still responded.
"I have mostly worked on movies where I rarely had a voice until last year when [The Black Saint] released, so now, I do want to do more projects where I can put my inputs. Though, in my case, they are mostly suggestions. I'm a writer myself, so I understand how one feels when someone is trying to interfere in their story."
He said and tried to move on to other questions. And surprisingly, all of them were things that even reporters wouldn't ask him. Maybe because they think that they won't get a reply back.
"If a movie fails, will the director have a hard time making another?"
"Do producers really decide the final edit and interfere in scenes?"
"Do actors need to be restrained by the directors? Or the celebrity status makes them not follow the basic schedule of a movie?"
Aiden had thought that the students would ask more about his life and Hollywood journey but instead, they were more focused on the subtle things in filmmaking that others might ignore.
Maybe because they never got the opportunity to ask this from anyone.
He has a hard time replying to a few questions as every case was different in the industry. Some directors were liked. Some were not.
"If a movie fails, it does make the director lose a bit of his reputation but in the end, it depends on how good he is in his craft and how good his next story will look like. There's always going to be chances if you have enough connections and others trust in your talent. Some directors work with only specific production houses for a reason as there's trust involved even if one movie flopped."
"Yes, mostly. It depends a lot on the power the director holds and how much the producer trusts him but I have seen producers deciding the final edit a lot of times, so I guess you need to be prepared for that. It makes sense as a movie has to really work at the box office until it's along the lines of an independent movie, then festivals are the way to go."
"I think a professional actor would know what to do and how to act. They are mostly under a lot of scrutiny, so they do listen to directors and try to be on time. Obviously, everyone is different and sometimes, schedules change due to a multitude of reasons but you need to learn how to deal with it."
Aiden's answers were straight to the point and as the session moved forward, he was being asked more and more harder questions.
From the subtle things on the set to the actual aspects of filmmaking like how he had shot certain scenes and how a director formulates a scene on the set.
But maybe, that was one of the reasons why Sean has asked him to do a session. To tell him how budding filmmakers think.
***
"I'm sorry but you lost out on the role."
"You can't do anything? The director said he liked me."
"He says it to everyone but he actually removed your role from the movie. And there's no other role to give you. I can maybe accommodate you as an extra. Do you want that?"
"No, I don't want to go back to that. Do you know why my role was deleted?"
"Ah, it's because the director added a second female lead to accommodate an actress that got famous in a film festival. According to him, she will be a big star, so he's trying to get close. He's even acting creepy these days."
The production assistant shook his head and clicked his tongue as he talked about it. Hearing that, Harley had a wry smile on his face.
Two movies that he had worked in were also screened in the film festival but they have not created any buzz. His performance was not even looked at enough for someone to evaluate it.
"Thanks anyway." He just said and tried to turn back. It was then that the production assistant called him out again.
"Why don't you just try to act as an extra? It will at least keep you on the set. I thought you liked the place."
"I do like it but I promised myself I would stop doing it once I moved up in my career and I think I deserved better. Anyway, thanks."
After saying that, he left the building.
He had done a lot of independent and a few commercial movies till now but for the past few months, his auditions hadn't been going well.
Maybe it had something to do with none of his roles making too much of a noise.
It was to the point that his savings were depleting.
Still, he didn't want to go back to his old ways. Not anymore.
