Exit Hollywood
By Chris James
Chapter Nine
Mark Harrison was leading a life that most young actors could only envy, but he had worked hard to gain his position in the business. His debut in the Hank Dobbs' film Indigo and the Cowboy had shown what a versatile actor he was since the role was nothing like the television character he had played. He had received an Oscar nomination in the process which had furthered his career.
On the surface an actor's success in Hollywood was gauged by the amount of money their films made at the box office and the public acclaim. In truth, real success was measured by the ability to attract studios and directors, not tomorrow, but into the future. Jim Curry planned ahead and actors had to do the same thing.
Mark's face was popular around the world, but there were probably more fans in Asia than anywhere else. It was that fan base that had brought him to the attention of Daichi Films, and Tadeko Daichi, the studio's owner.
It didn't hurt that Mark and Steve had developed strong relationships with some influential people in Japan the past few years, but it was Mark's talent and martial arts skills that brought him a starring role in Holiday in Japan. From what Mark had to say it was anything but a holiday, just more hard work.
"Daichi is an exacting director, and he wants every scene to be perfect," Mark said. "What made it most difficult was that all his directions had to be translated into English by an interpreter. That didn't always succeed in conveying what he wanted, and so we would do the scene again...and again."
They were sitting by the pool at Tim's house listening to Mark's discourse about his experience. Ted and Dennis were fascinated, but Steve had heard much of it before. The setting might have shocked the average person since there were three naked men in the pool.
Ted was pleased that his father didn't seem to mind the nudity in this situation. Tim and Brian were both handsome men, their bodies lean and fit from years of martial arts exercises. But Ted was also proud as his father was in great shape and didn't look out of place in the current company.
"How did your Japanese friends fare? You said they had never acted in a film before," Ted said.
Mark smiled. "Both Kenji and Edward thought it was quite an adventure, but it was all made easier because Master Namuko helped coordinate the stunts."
That made Steve smile and Mark nodded at him. "You want to tell them about Namuko?"
"Kasuto Namuko is a very special Sensei, he used to run a martial arts school for boys, but he's retired," Steve said. "He is...is the kindest, most perceptive person I have ever met."
"Yes, he is all of that," Mark agreed. "Tim took us there for a month when the television show was on hiatus. What a great time we had." And then he laughed. "Japan was a whole lot different this time around."
"So what's next on your agenda?" Dennis asked.
"Hmm...that was a great party last night," Mark said.
Steve laughed. "See how he did that? I guess what he's not saying is that he can't talk about it."
"Hank swore me to secrecy," Mark said.
"So you're going to be in that film with Jim and Hank," Ted said.
Mark's mouth dropped open. "How did...do you now about it?"
Ted grinned. "Nope, just fishing. I know Hank has a story or a script that Jim gave him, but I have no idea what's in it...and don't you tell me. Jim will say something when he's ready."
"Sneaky bastard...I knew we were going to get along," Mark said.
"I've still got the Come Next Tuesday work ahead, maybe it will be Dennis who gets into this mystery film first," Ted said.
"Nothing is due to happen until next spring, that much I know," Mark said.
"But you're in it? I mean has Hank said he wants to cast you?" Ted said.
Mark nodded. "Steve too...but really, guys...I don't know much more than that."
"We'll probably find out first," Dennis said, and then he looked at the pool. "Damn...that looks like a centerfold shot."
They all stared at the three men floating on their backs in the pool, hot bodies in the sun. Ted could understand Mark's attraction to Brian, but it was more than physical. Brian had helped push Mark's career almost from the beginning. Tim knew little about what Steve needed as a performer, but he was the best kind of moral support.
So, they were to be in a film with Jim and Hank...Ted wanted in on the deal. He finally felt the sun and one look told him Steve was feeling it too. They retreated under the shade of the striped awning at the end of the deck, and with that the men got out of the pool to join them.
Just as Tim was settling down a buzzer went off and he walked back into the house. He returned a few minutes later with a short muscular man he introduced as Manuel Padilla, their cook for the afternoon. Both Mark and Steve got up and embraced the man; it seems they were old friends. The men went about helping Manuel pull out the grill.
"He's quite a cook and an excellent sailor," Steve explained. "He's also the only straight man Tim ever hired. The best part is that he didn't go with Tim's father on that cruise to the Philippines or he wouldn't be here."
"Is Tim going to recover that boat?" Dennis asked.
"He is, but I doubt if he has the time to go get it himself. Maybe he'll send Vince and Terry to bring her back. Oh, they're also part of Tim's crew...and such a lovely sight to see."
Mark laughed. "Tim's security guys are delightful to look at. Steve says you two met in Sacramento, how did that happen?"
Ted allowed Dennis to tell the story and he gave a good overview of their meeting and subsequent romance. And although the events were recounted, there was no revelation of the people in the Tahoe crowd. But Steve wasn't dumb, just very curious.
"Okay, that's the second time I've heard the story, and now I'm more aware of what you've left out. The people in Tahoe, besides Jim and Betty, are they all gay?"
Dennis looked at Ted who shrugged. "If it can be arranged I'd like you guys to come with us after Christmas," Dennis said. "Mike has a big new house up there with lots of room, but I would still like to ask if it's all right."
"And that's where I will get my answer?" Steve asked.
"You already know the answer, and you know how difficult it is to be in that position," Ted said. "Our private lives are the sanctuary for things like this," He said, his hand waving at the scene around them. "Even my dad feels comfortable here because he knows this is private."
"When is your father going home?" Steve asked.
"Tomorrow," Ted replied. "He knows we have to get back to work, this is going to be a busy month."
Busy was hardly an adequate term to describe the weeks that followed. Ted's father drove back to Sacramento and the pace at Curry Studios became a frenzy of activity. Partial Payment went through its final makeover and Jim shopped it around for distribution.
Ted found his mornings taken up with meetings and final planning sessions for Come Next Tuesday. The cast list was filled out and the script became solidified. Bob Ware and Mark Coglin spent a week visiting location sites in the afternoons. Ted would have liked to accompany them but he was involved in something else called school.
At Cabot Performing Arts High School, Dennis had performed most of his academic work on the school's website, allowing him to achieve the requirements for graduation at his own pace. This is what Ted faced through the studio program, and he was delighted. There was one general class for all the required subjects, and that was run by the company's tutor-teacher for two hours every afternoon.
Not all of the eight students attended every day, production schedules didn't allow that. But Ted was in the class with Steve and six others, actors from the nearby Sony Studios, ages fourteen to eighteen. Most of their time was spent doing homework, and they were expected to do the assigned reading on their own time.
Mark Coglin and his assistants had completed most of the storyboards for the filming. The 'hard' locations were sites that they could not change but possibly just decorate, places like the computer lab at TechMills. Much of that was just background for some of the action scenes, but it was impressive and would have been too expensive to build.
Studio sets would include Doyle's classroom, an electronics store, Nicky's bedroom, and the dining room of his father's house. They had an empty county school building to use for the gym and locker room scenes, the cafeteria and the school lobby scene. The rest would be filmed on the streets in several locations.
Mark Coglin had drawn a storyboard for each location as a reminder of the image he wanted to preserve. These would be used in discussion of set decoration, props and lighting. It would also allow Mickey Talon to think through his direction in a scene around the various obstacles, entrances and exits, and for the all important camera angles.
There were seventy-eight renderings in all, any of which Barry and Ted could use in a presentation to the audience of kids. Bob had scoped out the Bel Air Theater and chosen several camera locations he felt were unobtrusive. The place had a narrow stage in front of the vast movie screen and an excellent sound system, everything they needed for a good show.
Nelson Gupta was the contractor that served Curry's media needs and he had designed the website for Come Next Tuesday. By now the site had garnered tens of thousands of hits from all the across the country and the world via the web. Nelson had a whole new package of material to dump on the site and Barry gave him the go ahead. They would now be interactive with their potential audience.
Gone was any thought of using the Partial Payment cast in the presentation, they now had their own kid stars. For the next week Barry and Ted worked on formatting the presentation and then they called in their actors for a little meeting to prime the event.
Barry commandeered the screening room to show the storyboards and scheduled the cast to come in and view the images. At first they had thought to have Steve moderate the show, but they soon added Beverly since she was such a commanding presence. Miguel, Bobby and Leonard each had a role to play in the presentation.
Bob was going to send a Steadicam crew to the meeting to make a little promo video for the website which would explain why the site was going interactive. Nelson had already set up the password protocol that they would hand out at the presentation event. They would all find out if this would work quite soon, the event was only five days away.
Although the word about the event had been posted in the local newspapers, the biggest windfall of kids requesting tickets had come from the website. To make sure the requests were legitimate and the parents of each child approved, ticket locations were posted. An adult was required to pick up the tickets, with a limit of four per customer.
They were free tickets, and as such were all grabbed up within forty-eight hours. On Saturday, August twentieth, at two in the afternoon, almost a thousand kids would descend on the Bel Air Theater. It was a frightening thought, Ted decided. They would have but one chance to make this work.
Dennis was more optimistic once he was assigned a role. Since Jim was not going to be visibly involved in the event he needed someone to direct the affair, and that someone was Dennis.
"You want me to what?" Dennis asked.
"I want you to direct the show," Jim said. "You know, stage manage and make sure the camera crews get what they need. Having four camera units rolling is a huge expense in equipment and labor. We have to make sure every moment counts."
"Are you sure you want me? I don't have that much experience."
"Dennis, this is a managing role. You don't have to call every shot, just prod the cameramen in the right direction. Go to the meetings, get involved," Jim said. "When we cut the final product for our advertising display I'll make sure you get the credit for unit direction, how's that?"
"Thank you...I think," Dennis laughed, and Jim clapped him on the back.
"Two months and you already have two screen credits to your name. Oh, and tell Ted and Barry they'll be getting producer's credits as well."
Dennis smiled and went off to tell Ted and Barry the good news. They had just begun the meeting when he slipped in the door and took a seat behind the cast.
"We have selected forty of the images for you to show the audience," Barry was saying. "By now you have all read the script so we'll go through these one at a time so you can get oriented."
The first image appeared on the screen and like students in a class the cast all spoke at once. "Doyle's classroom."
"Oh, well that was easy...next," Barry said.
"Computer lab," the cast all said.
On and on, the cast named each image from what they remembered seeing in the script. They only stumbled over two of the images, Doyle's study with the mirror, and the small electronics store where Arty D attacks the clerk.
"I remember that scene," Beverly said. "That's Mr. Curry's freak out moment."
"Yes, Doyle is overwhelmed by the presence of so many personal electronics, very good," Barry said, and then sat down in a chair facing the kids.
"That scene caused a lot of discussion because we didn't want the younger kids in the audience to get scared. We don't mind if there's a little fear generated here. Arty D is trying to come to the surface and the scene allows Jim to exploit the gadgets in the store. By definition it is a scary scene, but the fear factor is low."
Barry grinned. "But you all know Jim, he'll make the most of the moment."
Ted nodded since he had been delighted when reading the script at that point. "I'm glad you know the scene, it happens to be one of the defining moments in the script." And Ted read the synopsis aloud:
A reluctant Arthur Doyle enters Bits and Bytes, a small computer and electronics store. He stands appalled on the threshold, surrounded by everything he has come to hate about the modern world.
The clerk is a young man, not many years older than Doyle's students. He has a Bluetooth receiver clipped to his ear and is talking on the phone. In his hand is a Blackberry and he is texting someone. He stands before Doyle, and in a nasty tone asks, "Yes?"
No greeting could be any ruder. Doyle hears the sound of techno music thumping in the back ground and slaps his hands over his ears. He issues a growl of discontent that quickly turns into a howl of anger. The clerk shrugs and turns his back on Doyle, his major error.
"I have some weirdo in the store, Karl," The clerk says on his phone, and Doyle pounces.
In the moments that follow Doyle begins to manifest the Arty D character. The clerk is bound in packing tape, beneath which Arty has placed dozens of cell phones off the wall display. He goes about the store breaking things and making a pile of goodies to steal before he finally turns back to the clerk. A close up of the face shows that Arty D is fully in control, and the image is supposed to be shocking.
But Arty is not horrified by electronics...far from it. He is a master in that realm. And here is where the audience will discover the power Doyle has absorbed from that hidden library book. With a wave of his hands he sets off all the cell phones taped to the clerk. The din drowns out the music playing in the store and the clerk shrieks with terror.
Arty leans over the clerk and laughs. "Have a pleasant afternoon, young man."
And with that he turns for the door, leaving the store in chaos and destruction. He is shown exiting the store, the hunched profile of Arty D quite clear. The final shot is a frontal, Arthur Doyle standing calmly outside the door. Placing his hat on his head he turns to walk away and the camera focuses on the closed sign hung on the glass. On it is written the word: 'Forever.'
Ted laughed. "See, I like that touch...forever."
Barry nodded. "We are not going to read the script to our young audience next week, but what I handed out are some talking points about various scenes. You understand our reasons for holding this event. We want their feedback and their ideas.
"The whole event will be recorded and we'll all watch the playback together. There might be some good ideas, and there might be some that are silly or even crazy sounding...I can almost guarantee that. I still think the online feedback will be far better after the kids have had time to think about things."
"Will we give them credit for those ideas?" Bobby asked.
"Yes, very important, be sure and get their names during the question and answer period. I was thinking since you guys are the Chips Club that we ought to give the contributors a name like the Junior Chips...any suggestions?" Barry asked.
Steve laughed. "How about the Fan Intelligence Group, FIG for short."
"Get real, Steve," Beverly said. "I'd go for Fan Based Idea Group."
"We'll think of something," Barry said. "This is all a marketing tool, something to use in our advertising. But if there are solid ideas and we can use them..."
"I spent some time online the other night," Ted said. "I was trolling through some of the fantasy sites looking at the story concepts posted by the under twenty group. These are the kids we are after and some of them are geniuses when it comes to story lines and conceptual ideas.
"I think with the concerns we have about the future of film making that our source material is going to come from some unknown out there. Their imagination is boundless and we have some very creative people in our generation...the generation that will produce the films we will be watching in the next twenty years. I for one am looking forward to hearing from these people because they will be a part of my success in this industry."
There was silence after Ted made that statement, and then Barry smiled. "How right you are."
Bob's camera crew moved in and the cast set themselves up in the first row of seats. There was no script, just an idea of what was needed.
"Hi, I'm Steve Biddle, and you are about to venture into the future of film making." The camera view pulled back to reveal Beverly sitting beside him.
"And I'm Beverly Cooper." The camera pulled back further to reveal all five cast members. "We are about to begin the filming of a new Jim Curry production, Come Next Tuesday...and we want your help."
"Before we begin, a little more about the five of us sitting here. We are the Chips Club in the movie, something you can read about on the website," Steve said. "On the end there is Bobby Morris and next to him is Leonard Baker. They both had film roles when they were younger and are bringing that talent to our cast."
"Beside me is Miguel Guzman, a bi-lingual actor," Beverly said. "Miguel has been on Spanish television programs since he was six, but this will be his first feature film. Steve and I began our careers on television together in Adam Conquers Earth and each of us has gone on to make movies. What Steve is too modest to tell you is that he won an Oscar last year for his performance in Top Dog."
"I want to know what the dog got," Miguel said.
"A lifetime supply of bones," Steve replied with a laugh. "We are at the beginning of a new approach to making a film and as Beverly said we want your help. In the next few weeks this site will begin posting the story behind the film. We would like you to read it and comment us with your ideas and criticisms."
"You can help us make this a better film," Beverly said. "Your thoughts and ideas will be read by the cast and production staff, and you will each get a reply. But those of you with a great imagination who can contribute something to our movie will receive credit in the film."
"This is a new idea for a new generation of actors. The links and information provided on this site will give you the knowledge to contribute," Steve said. "We want to hear from you... and to be honest, no one knows how well this will work, but only you can make it happen."
And then out of nowhere Steve held out his fist with a thumb pointed upwards and the four others bumped fists with him as they all yelled 'Chips.' Barry was dumbfounded and sat for a moment before yelling," Cut."
"Wow...where did that come from?" Steve said.
"Just shows you're thinking," Ted said. "I guess we'll see if it catches on."
"Can we do some individual spots?" Barry asked.
Ted looked at his watch. "You have twenty minutes."
They sat Miguel in a chair and the camera crew focused in on him. "Hi, my name is Miguel Guzman..." And then he repeated the line in Spanish.
Ted and Barry stood back to watch as the individual cast members talked through their bios. Dennis slid in behind them and placed a hand on Ted's shoulder and then Barry's.
"This is clever...got a second?"
They backed over into a corner of the room to talk quietly. "What?" Ted asked.
"Jim has decided that I'm to stage manage your event and work with the camera crews, for that I am to get unit direction credits at the tail end. However, as the ones who have done all the real work Jim has decided to put you in the title credits as the producers. Congrats, guys."
Barry grinned. "That sounds fair...at last the big time."
"It's a start, smart ass," Ted said.
Barry nodded. "It is that."
"Your cast is really with it," Dennis said. "This all looks great."
"The real test is next week, confidence is high," Barry said.
"Your confidence or mine?" Ted asked.
"It better be both of us," Barry replied.
Dennis stood in the lobby of the theater and watched the crews push their camera cases across the carpet. This all reminded him of the summers he had at Spring Grove Music Theater while he was still in high school. These union guys didn't seem any different. But Dennis had arrived early to find the projectionist and hand over the case that held the WALL-E disk that Pixar had loaned them.
He would observe the event from the projection booth and communicate with the cameramen via headset. Barry and Ted would work the floor, making sure those who stood to ask questions could reach a microphone and be heard. Steve had been delegated to run the slideshow of storyboards with a little remote device.
The cast on stage would have two prompter screens on the floor which would display a short synopsis of each scene that was shown on the storyboard. That had been Ted's idea, and it was a good one. But Dennis had been surprised when he had attended the meeting last week, it seems the cast members had the film script already memorized.
Bob Ware had two remote camera locations set up on either side of the stage, each of them masked by a black box. All the functions of the cameras were remote and so the operator would sit in the booth with Dennis. A large flat screen monitor would show them all the camera shots on the floor below.
The Bel Air still had two 35mm projectors in the booth for the older format films that came on reels. But right beside them sat a new Sony 4K Digital Projection System that displayed a whole movie off a large hard disk.
The union projectionist met Dennis at the door to the booth and showed him inside. The look on his face said it all; he was concerned about having all these people in his work space.
"Avery," The man said, introducing himself.
"I'm Dennis King with Curry Studios."
Eyebrows went up and Dennis could only imagine that Avery regarded his youth as inexperience. He eyed the case in Dennis' hand.
"Is that your movie?" Avery asked.
"Yes, do you need any help setting up?" Dennis asked.
"No...I mean...we'll both be better off if you don't touch any of the equipment. We have some pretty strict union rules."
"You're with Local 33?" Dennis asked.
"That's us," Avery said.
Dennis smiled, pulled out his wallet and produced his union card. "I'm with Local 50 in Sacramento."
"Oh wow," Avery said. "Welcome, Brother. How did..."
"It's a long story, I'll fill you in as we go along," Dennis said.
It didn't take that long to tell Avery that a dishonest manager at Spring Grove had tried to put the theater out of business so he and a few crooked associates could take over. Dennis had backed the union and joined their strike. The friendship he had with the current Vice President of the Local had won him a coveted union card. Now he carried the card around even though he'd never had the opportunity to use it.
It was smooth sailing after that. The stagehands union also encompassed projectionists, and almost every other trade that supported stage, film and media presentation. Like many of the older generation of union men, Avery had done it all.
An equipment table was set up in front of a large window in the booth which looked out at the whole theater. The Bel Air had not done a staged performance in about ten years and Avery seemed pleased to see the old place come alive.
Bob Ware arrived and shook hands with Avery, and then they began setting up the control network and the stage equipment. Jim arrived by late morning to look at the progress.
"So tell me the truth...are you coming in disguise?" Dennis asked.
"You know me, I can't resist," Jim laughed. "Just look for the clown."
About what Dennis figured. With all the makeup and the wig no one would recognize Jim. Barry and Ted considered this to be a kid to kid event, and Jim could have no apparent role. The young cast would hold sway, and because of that this event would be unprecedented.
By noon the setup was complete and they broke for lunch in the greenroom backstage behind the screen. The Bel Air had been built seventy years before, back in an age when audiences filled the theater to overflowing. Now there were film festivals and preservation groups to keep the place alive, it was an uphill battle.
Curry Studios catered the lunch, feeding a dozen stagehands and camera operators. Dennis dragged Avery along and the man seemed delighted to be there. The cast came in early and the simple lunch turned into quite a party. They had a short walk-thru rehearsal after eating, and then the doors opened to admit the audience which had already lined up on the sidewalk out front.
A quick head count showed they had over eight hundred kids and about four hundred parents. The main floor was filled with boys and girls from ten to sixteen years of age. Most of the parents retreated to the balcony to avoid the teeming masses of children. Ted was glad to see the ushers of the Bel Air staff were pretty much in control.
On their way in the audience passed by tables laden with free refreshments and snacks, most of them considered healthy. There were several places where a parent could stop to make a donation to the Children's Hospital or sign their kids up for a website password. And there amidst the chaos was a tall orange haired clown dressed in a green and gold costume chatting with the smaller kids.
It took an hour to move that many people through the maze of the lobby, the bathrooms and the aisles of the theater, but by two o'clock everyone was seated. Dennis had spent much of that time watching the monitors and talking the cameramen through their paces. As things settled down Barry took the stage and the noise subsided.
"Good afternoon," Barry said. "My name is Barry Neil and I'm on the staff for the Jim Curry production of Come Next Tuesday. If you've seen the website then raise your hands for me."
A forest of hands went up. It seems at least two thirds of the kids had seen the site which made Barry smile.
"Great...then you have an idea of why we are here. We have brought you here today for two reasons. First, we would like to see your parents make a donation to the Children's Hospital. Jim Curry and the entire staff at Curry Productions support the work of this hospital and we will match any donations made today to assure the kids of Los Angeles the finest medical care possible.
"To thank you for that support, the good folks at Pixar have given us a chance to show you the director's cut of their most popular movie WALL-E..." There were cheers from the kids at that announcement.
"I know many of you have seen it before, but there are some scenes in this version that have never been released so you'll be the first ones to see it. When the film is done we'll take a short intermission and then I'd like to introduce you to some real Hollywood stars...the cast of Come Next Tuesday. So enjoy the film..."
The house lights dimmed as Barry left the stage and the Sony/Pixar logos appeared on the screen. Except for the internal fan in the projection unit the machine was virtually silent. Dennis stared at the projector and Avery smiled.
"Beats the hell out of those old film projectors," He laughed.
"I'll bet," Dennis said.
Tony Collins sat at the table with the remote control unit for the cameras and as the movie played on the screen he looked at the audience. "Kids seem to be enjoying this," He said.
"A lot of them know the film, they'll be looking for the added scenes so they can tell their friends," Dennis said. "Let's just hope it keeps their attention for the next one hundred and two minutes."
Twenty minutes into the film the door to the booth opened and a clown came in accompanied by Ted and Barry. Avery looked up and frowned.
"Who are you?" He asked.
"Avery...allow me to introduce Jim Curry," Dennis said.
"Hello there," Jim said. "Everything looks good so far. The kids seem to be well behaved. I have to get back to the office so we'll meet on Monday and look at the raw footage."
The film ended at three-forty and they took a twenty minute intermission. This is where Barry was worried they might lose some of their audience, but he was wrong. The kids quickly returned to their seats, they wanted to see stars.
Two union men went out into the audience and placed wireless microphones on stands that the audience could reach, and then returned to the top of the aisles at the back to watch over their equipment. The house lights remained up as the logo and name Come Next Tuesday appeared on the screen.
They had given a lot of thought to what might represent the film in advertising. Jim had insisted that the Chips were the main factor and so they formed the largest part of the image. Five cartoon avatars represented the cast, their right arms stretched forward, knuckles pressed together and thumbs up.
The gesture Steve had spontaneously produced the week before was now a solid image on the website, the marketing department was overjoyed. Barry bounded back up on the stage and smiled.
"I promise not to say another thing except here they are...the cast from Come Next Tuesday...the Chips Club." The cast walked out from the wings each wearing a blue satin jacket just like Ted's.
"Steve Biddle...Beverly Cooper...Miguel Guzman...Bobby Morris...and Leonard Baker," Barry announced, and the cast waved as their names were called out. Then like a good announcer Barry moved off center stage and stood off to one side. The cast was wired for sound and they waved as the kids in the audience applauded.
Steve stepped forward and held up his hand, but instead of quiet he got a few screams from the girls in the audience. There were cameras focused on the cast and sweeping across the audience. But finally Steve managed to cut through the noise.
"Thank you all for coming today," Steve said. "Let's talk about our movie..."
Ted and Barry stood off to one side like a couple of mother hens and watched the presentation unfold. It would be fair to say that the cast stumbled a bit in the beginning, unsure which of them should step forward and contribute. But they were all confident enough to speak about the film with passion and that infected the audience.
For their part, the kids in the audience were attentive as each of the cast members spoke about their role in the film. The synopsis of scenes was reinforced by the storyboard drawings, all of which had been placed on the website and were familiar to a lot of the audience members.
Ted and Barry were soon moving up and down the aisles with microphones as questions were raised...and what questions they were.
"Is it believable that Doyle would find a book like that in the public library?" Doris Beckley, age twelve, she informed them. "In so many fantasy stories there's always this old bookshop filled with mysterious things, wouldn't that work better?"
"I like that," Beverly said. "The key in that scene is that Doyle is knocked down and we are left to imagine that what happened is more than just falling off a ladder."
"The book changes him, is it from reading the contents or is there some kind of spell that happens when he touches it?" This from a ten year old boy named Barry Oakley.
"A great question, I wondered about that myself," Miguel said.
Amidst all the talk on the film there were the inevitable fan questions about what it was like to work with Jim Curry, how long it would take to make the movie and when would the script get posted on the website? But like all good things they had to end the affair as the clock ticked down and parents began to pull their kids away.
Steve reminded the audience that they wanted to continue the dialogue online and then thanked them for coming. The cast jumped down off the stage and spent time talking and signing autographs, all the while moving up the aisles towards the lobby. By six o'clock the theater was empty and the crews were packing away the equipment. A custodial service moved in to clean away the debris and the Bel Air returned to its normal state once again.
Every one of the cast members was tired and yet very happy, this was the feeling of success. It would take days to paw through the footage, write down the suggestions and ponder what they could do with the information.
It had been obvious from the beginning that the kids were involved with the concept of contributing something to the movie. The influence of recent animated films and the Harry Potter series prompted many of the comments. It only confirmed what Jim had believed from the beginning. This generation of kids had an advanced sense of fantasy and was able to articulate their desires. Now Curry Studios had to act upon the audience's wishes.
The event had the desired results and then some. Nelson Gupta was the first one to call their attention to the new postings on the web at the meeting on Monday.
"There are sixteen new videos posted on YouTube, all of them dealing with Come Next Tuesday, and our website has had over fifty thousands hits in the past two days," He announced.
They all gathered around his laptop to view several of the postings. There were some poor cell phone shots taken at the event, and a few pretty good videos taken with a digital camera. But it was the positive feedback from the viewers that caught their attention. Time and again the kid's comments directed others to the film's website...the event had gone viral.
The entertainment news picked up on what was happening online, and they began to see the Come Next Tuesday logo appear everywhere. The phones at Curry Studios were lit up as the news and print media wanted comments, interviews and appearances. Jim was running around the building laughing.
"We haven't even begun shooting, this is crazy," He was yelling. It was all of that, and they had to deal with it. There was momentum here and they couldn't afford to lose it. The technical support for the filming was just beginning, but they had to do something to keep their audience focused...and they did.
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