My Hollywood System

Chapter 9:

Will started working hard on writing the script of [The Blair Witch Project].

Although the script was pretty short, he did his best to upgrade and change stuff according to this world, while trying his best to make out a better version of the story. Even though the movie was considered the scariest movie of the 90s in American history, Will wanted to add a few things and make a few changes here and there to make it a bit more interesting,

Like in the actual movie, the Blair Witch was never shown. Many reasoned that it was because of the lack of budget and technology back then, but the truth is that they had four alternate endings and chose to go with the one which didn’t show the Blair Witch to create a sense of unknown and uncertainty among the audience.

Even though this gave a real outlook, there were many who criticised this too, mainly because to them, the movie felt like a video of a low-rent horror outing with no real scares.

Will decided to add an actual background plot for the Blair Witch and a character that will play the role of Blair Witch.

Although all this would only increase the cost of production, the produced movie and overall thrill would increase by threefold at the very least.

It took him a week to write down the whole script, in a revised version.

Unlike for [17 Again], this time he wasn’t in immediate need of it nor had a due date, he didn’t sacrifice his sleep or workout time. Hence, he wrote it slowly and in a relaxed manner.

Now, he was thinking about how he’d go about with the production.

And for that, he needed a group of technical staff who would help him in creating his movies, and this group of staff is generally called the production team.

But for a newbie director like Bill, acquiring a good production team alone was an impossible task.

He’d need connections and recommendations from people who have been working in the industry for a long time.

As the movie was solely his project, the expenditure would be his too. He was sure to lose a lot of capital that he was going to make from the script of [17 Alone].

He would need to gather a crew of actors and would need to find the locations for shooting.

It was surely going to be hectic, but Will was still full of smiles. After all, even if he didn’t know how the movie would turn out to be, he’d still be completing his dream of two lifetimes.

***

“Hahaha, Will, congratulations on the successful contract signing.”

Benjamin laughed after Will signed the contract.

It was the contract for the film [17 again] and now MCA has bought the rights to it.

Only after reading through the contract two times that Will had signed it but now that he did, he felt both regretful and happy.

Happy because he was getting 500k USD for the deal and regretful because he knew that he could have earned way more if he had used the script of [17 again] to make a movie.

But currently, he doesn’t have the resources and making a movie like [17 again] would cost at least 40 million dollars.

‘Anyway, it’s a nice start. There will be more opportunities in the coming future.’

He thought in his mind and Benjamin suddenly changed the subject.

“You know, I was in talks with Edward Friedman yesterday and he seemed interested in [17 again]. I will send him the script today but I think this will go ahead.”

For the record, Edward Friedman was one of the directors associated with MCA. He particularly made thrillers at the start of his career but had delved into romantic comedies lately. He was a well-known figure in the industry and had the skill to back up his reputation.

“You mean [17 again] is going to be a movie?” Will asked, surprised as projects don’t go ahead this fast normally.

It was normal for even good scripts to take 1-2 years before they are taken on and made into a feature film.

“Yes, Edward is a good friend of mine and he wanted something like [17 again]. It’s in the trends and is a fairly well-written rom-com. That’s why he wants to hurry up with the production.”

“Then, I hope he makes a good movie out of it.”

“I can bet he will.” Benjamin laughed.

He and Will talked a bit more about movies and stuff.

He told him that there was an actor he was handling that he will propose to play the lead in [17 again] and talked more about Will’s future.

He even advised him to not spend all the money quickly and save something for the future as in Hollywood, you can be rich on Monday and go bankrupt by Saturday.

After talking for a while, Benjamin asked.

“Will, are you really going to direct an independent movie? Why not just take screenwriting as a career for a few years before moving to direction?”

He was still sceptical of Will’s choices and didn’t wish for the latter to ruin a good chance in a new career.

“Uncle, I already told you that I don’t have too much interest in screenwriting. I want to be a director.” Will replied, shaking his head. “Moreover, I don’t like doing commissioned scripts.”

As there were too many screenwriters in America and only a few hundred movies and series that get adopted every year, it was really hard for an average screenwriter to make a living.

Due to this, they take jobs like making commissioned scripts or adapting scripts.

“I understand that. If that’s what you want.”

Benjamin said and decided to give up on persuading Will. After all, it is hard to do anything when young people have decided on something.

They don’t listen to experience.

As the contract signing was already a success, Will was given a credit card with $500,000 in it.

Most of the time, people in the industry deal with cheques or credit cards. A money transfer or cash were rare.

After that Benjamin and Will talked about his dad. Benjamin felt regretful about how his best friend left him.

He consoled Will that everything will be fine as long as he acts mature and doesn’t get impulsive when making decisions.

Life in America was faster than a bullet train, the one who adapted to its speed became successful while the slow ones were left behind.

There wasn’t much to talk about after that and as Benjamin had work, Will quietly left the MCA office.

Now that he has money, he decided to head up to a mall and buy some clothes, and have a haircut later. His hair was already grown and he needed to shave the stubble that had grown out.

But as he was on his way, his phone suddenly rang.

[Unknown Caller]

[+1 650 *** ****]

It was from an unknown number. Will picked it up.

– Hello? Is this Will Evans?

It was the voice of a female.

“Yes hello, and who are you?”

– Ah, Will, it’s me, June.

Unexpectedly, the caller was June. Will wasn’t even sure that she would contact him again since he was almost a nobody right now.

‘Did she come to a decision yet?’

What she said next answered Will’s question.

– I’d like to audition for the role if It’s still available.

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