103 HWI 103

[Shout out to Jeff D!]

Hollywood What If Chapter 103

Filming in the USA was much easier than in France. At least it was their territory and they speak their own language.

The only scenes they had to shoot in the US were the first part of the movie.

There is one action scene, but it's not that difficult to shoot.

Now that most of the scenes have been shot and they still have $5 million in their budget, Kazir had a better time working. At least he was confident that there was enough money to shoot all the scenes.

After that, they have to go into post-production and edit the movie.

Since the first part didn't rely on action scenes, Kazir had to give way in the acting department. Fortunately, most of the actors in this part were experienced. Even Scarlett Johansson was able to keep up with the adults.

'If there's one thing that impresses me, it's Brianna Evans. She turned into a rich mom with one look. I wonder how much she prepared for that?'

He knew that Brianna was a method actor and that she did extensive research for her role. Now, just by looking at her, Kazir immediately thought that she was a rich mother. With her posture and facial expressions, he was convinced.

On top of that, when she had scenes with Liam Neeson and Scarlett Johansson, Brianna easily overpowered them.

But Kazir didn't want too much of that because Liam Neeson was the protagonist of the movie. So they had some NGs.

The movie only had one protagonist, the movie focused on Bryan Mills. Of course, Kazir didn't give Brianna Evans a hard time. He gave her time to shine as long as she didn't overpower the rest of the cast.

In fact, even Scarlett Johansson stuttered whenever she acted with Brianna. She was mesmerized by the woman.

Overall, everything was within his expectations. If shooting continued at this pace, they would be able to finish all their scenes in June.

"Then we can edit the footage in July."

Kazir muttered. His assistant, Erica Mendez, stood next to him. The woman watched the shoot with curiosity. This was the first time she had joined a production crew.

"What do you think? It's bleak, isn't it?" Kazir asked.

"To be honest, yes. I never thought making a movie would be boring."

What they were doing was shooting different shots that would last a few seconds at best. Then Kazir would yell cut.

Erica Mendez thought that shooting a movie was like watching a play. Where actors played their roles perfectly.

But now Erica was seeing a lot of NGs(No Good). Sometimes the actors would make mistakes and say their lines wrong. Sometimes the actors could not hold their expressions and laugh.

Well, the atmosphere in the crew was relaxed, and Kazir didn't like to put too much pressure on. Laughter was a common occurrence during the shooting.

This was different from what Erica had expected. In fact, they spent half the day filming Kim Mills' birthday party. This scene only lasts a few minutes in the movie, yet the crew spends so much time on this one or two minute scene... Then they have to tear down the set after filming is over.

'A waste... It's a big waste.'

Erica could not believe that the crew spent over $25,000 just for this scene. They even rented a pony, a small breed of horse, a real live pony to appear in the movie.

"Let's finish shooting for the day."

Kazir announced and the crew was happy to hear it. The shooting ended early today and they have time to rest or play.

The reason why Kazir ended early the shooting for today was because of one thing - the premiere of Napoleon Dynamite II.

"Sir, let me take you there." The woman stepped in.

"Are you sure? Will your kids be okay?"

"Don't worry, sir. My mom loves taking care of my twins."

Erica smiled. She was already grateful that Kazir had hired her. She wanted to work hard to prove to Kazir that his choice was not wrong... She wanted to work hard because she also wanted a salary raise.

"Again, just call me Kazir. You don't have to keep up this formality. I'm not used to it."

"Yes, sir - I mean, if that's what you want, Kazir."

He just chuckled and got into the car. He let the woman drive, as she was eager to get to work.

Kazir would meet Reese at the theater later. First, Kazir had to put on his suit.

He was the type who was not extravagant. In fact, he was very cheap guy. He didn't like cars, so he only bought one Honda. Well, Japanese cars were durable.

He didn't want to buy a house, and even the apartment he rented was rarely used. He had millions in his bank account, but he didn't bother to buy things for himself.

Still, he understood that appearance was important, so for this important day he decided to open his wallet and buy a $10,000 suit.

If this had been four years ago, Kazir might have cringed at the purchase.

Erica first took him to Grey Pictures. Kazir changed his clothes and put on the suit. Then he called the company's makeup artist to take care of his face.

Unlike the women, who had to prepare for a long time, the men could just get dressed. They didn't have to worry about their eyelashes, blush-ons, and such. As long as they looked good, they didn't have a problem. But it was different for women, they wanted to make sure they looked good from many different angles. So much so that they spent so much time in makeup.

"Let's go."

Erica stepped on the pedal and the car accelerated.

Since Kazir had an important connection to the making of Napoleon Dynamite, he had to be on the red carpet.

The entrance of each actor/actress was timed so that each could have their moment on the red carpet.

The first to arrive was the director, Hugo Lameire. He spent a few minutes on the red carpet taking pictures and being interviewed. Then the next actor came out and did the same thing. It all depends on how famous they were and how the reporters response on their appearance.