The My Hollywood System
Chapter 44

January 3, 2011

East Street, Los Angeles

A 1268-square-foot house on the east LA street with a 0.25-acre Lot and 2 bedrooms, separate bathrooms attached to each.

It was Will's new residence, which he had just bought. He could have bought a better one but decided not to because he needed funds for his future film.

*Abribing*

Vaporizing a little, Will wakes up and goes to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee for himself. Last month has been intense and [The Blair Witch Project] will reach $200 million.

He had bought this house for $500 thousand and was still getting used to living in it since it had been less than a week since he moved here. The house is quite equipped with a modern touch to it.

It had a parking lot and was enough for someone like Will, who had no family to live with. June is busy because she even gets a role for some commercials, and she rarely visits him, not because Will blames her, she herself is busy trying to keep up with all the emails and letters she keeps on receiving.

*sap*

He took a sip of coffee and immediately regretted it because he was not prepared for the burns his tongue received.

Ruffling her hair with her hands, she went and opened her laptop as usual. It has become his habit to check and track daily news.

[Christmas Movie from Foxstar Studios 'The Santa of My Dreams' has finally surpassed the $20 million mark.].

[U. S. president to give speech on Janua 6.].

There were plenty of news and articles, but the ones in the trending section were filled with the all-too-familiar [Blair Witch Project], causing a smile on Will's face.

[Modern pioneers of the invented recording technique, 'The Blair Witch Project', have been the talk of the whole country for the past 2 months. This camcorder trend has brought many similar videos on MeTube with millions of views, but the trend-setter, Hollywood's youngest multi-millionaire director, Will Evans, is still on the rise.

Some of the youths from the famous film school even started idolizing him, and everyone had the same question on their minds, 'What next?'.

According to the lead given by Will on the famous talk show 'Night Talks with Tuffin', it's pretty clear that he'll be working on some new movies, though, that has led to a lot of speculation emerging from the audience and pundits.

Will he continue his horror trend and release another horror movie? Or will he work in another genre altogether? If so, will he succeed in it or will his first popular movie be his last?

There are many questions, and people are eagerly waiting for the answer.]

Will, who read the Hollywood Times article, smiled with satisfaction.

As she was about to take a shower and start her day, her phone rang next to her laptop.

[1 unread message from 'Uncle Ben']

[Hey, Will. I just texted you to remind you of our meeting. Come to the MCA office at 4 p.m.]

Will, who was already thinking about the meeting, did not need a reminder but still appreciated it.

Benjamin had helped her a lot even though she was not her relative.

Will goes to the bathroom and takes a shower. Afterwards, she wore a neat black-and-white outfit with an inside shirt inserted in and an unbuttoned black blazer on top.

He went to the parking lot and started riding his Yundai Sailor.

On the way to the MCA office, he thought of the phone Benjamin was talking about.

He had received an anticipated call almost a week ago. It was by Edward Friedman, the director who took [17 Again].

He congratulated Will on the huge success of [The Blair Witch Project] and praised him for his outstanding direction in the film.

Afterwards, she told him how impressed she was with the script [17 Again] and wanted to meet him for a discussion.

Afterwards, Benjamin asks Will's permission to arrange a meeting between Edward and him, which Will happily agrees to.

The Hollywood industry is all about connection, and making a connection with Edward Friedman is a good opportunity.

Will arrives at the MCA office at 11am and goes straight to Benjamin's office, meeting his assistant on the street, who gives him the brightest smile he can muster.

As Will knocked, Benjamin's lively voice rang out from within.

"Haha, come in, Will."

Will pushed the door open and entered. Both Benjamin and the brown-haired middle-aged man stood up, smiling at him.

“Welcome, Will. Meet Edward; he's one of the best directors on this MCA. Edward, it's Will; he doesn't need introductions lately, right?”

Benjamin introduced in jest.

“You flatter me, Uncle Ben. Hello Director Friedman, I have long wanted to meet you. I've been a huge fan of your works.”

Will lied through his teeth. Although it was not a total lie as he had researched it and watched many of his films since he moved into this world.

Edward Friedman is one of the popular rom-com directors in Hollywood, and he has quite a number of accomplishments backing him up. His most famous works are [Your Eyes Are Lying] and [I'm (not) A Free Man].

Both are Hollywood blockbuster films, and [I'm (not) A Free Man] has bagged many awards for his hilarious yet realistic concept of an average modern man, free in name but bound by parents, workplace, community, and love life.

When the introduction is over, Will said.

“I'm quite happy that you will be directing this film. I would love to see my precious character come alive. I just hope this movie will benefit you and MCA.”

Edward smiled at her. He knew how much screenwriters appreciated their characters and how upset they would be if the actors did not live up to their expectations.

Everyone laughed at it as Edward continued.

“To be honest, I never expected someone this young to be this talented. I'm not going to lie, but we hardly need to make any changes to your very well-crafted script. To think that you can not only write such a script but also direct such a blockbuster movie, I see a clear star in you.”

Will just thanked me humbly, and they kept chatting. Edward reveals his plans for the film and talks about the new crew he has assembled.

“The crew is very professional, and I spent a lot of money on them. The lead role will be given to Drake Redcliff for teenagers Mike and Jonathan Smith for 38-year-old Mike.”

Both are famous MCA exclusive actors, and Drake has even become a new star for his teen films.

Edward mentions how he has yet to find several actors for the role such as Mike's daughter Maggi and Mike's son Alex from [17 Again].

"It's not a personal matter, but I would recommend you to try out June for the role of Maggi."

Will be put into his mind, Edward who heard this, remembered June and smiled.

"Why not? Isn't he from MCA? And I think his acting is very good in [The Blair Witch Project]. Since the scriptwriter himself asked, how could I not say yes.”

Edward joked, but he was glad that he finally got someone in the heart. June, who recently became popular because of Will's movie, acting in his movie would be great. Edward would definitely give her a role if she did well at the audition.

As Will recommended it, a thought suddenly flashed through his mind.

"Say, isn't Alex's role empty?"

He asked, which Edward immediately answered as he thought that Will would recommend one of the male leads of the [Blair Witch Project].

“If not already taken, I want to audition for the role as well.”

Will said in a friendly tone, surprising Benjamin.

"What?"

Both Benjamin and Edward asked at the same time as they wondered if they had heard wrong.

"I said if Alex's role is still not decided, I'd like to audition for the role."

Will repeated calmly.

"Do you know how to act?"

Benjamin exclaimed suddenly, making Edward laugh.

After a few talks, Will said casually.

“Not that I asked for the role. Director Friedman could resist if he didn't like my audition.”

Edward thought for a moment then laughed out loud while patting Will on the shoulder.

“Hahahaha, why not. Why aren't. Because like that, I obviously want to see you act.”

Edward was very surprised and pleased with Will's statement. If this genius scriptwriter and director turned out to be a good actor as well, he would definitely make Hollywood shaken. And letting her audition for the role wouldn't bite her, so she agreed.

Benjamin still felt insecure about the situation because he never knew about his best friend's son as he continued to show talent one after another. He looked like a completely different person from the boy he helped to receive at the EUC back then.

She gets a little emotional at the thought of how Will's father feels after seeing him do so well and how much Will misses his father.

The meeting ended after some time, and Edward left the two for some other appointments he had. Apparently, she was very busy with the preparations [17 More] and had taken the time to meet with Will. This increased Edward's impression in Will's eyes.

Just as Will was about to say goodbye to Benjamin, Benjamin told him about something important.

“[17 Again] distributed by Foxstar studio, and the new distribution head has told me that he is very interested to meet you if you have a new project.”

From Benjamin, Will learns that the new head of distribution is none other than James Dankworth, assistant to the previous head of distribution.

Apparently, the previous head of distribution was kicked when it was discovered that he rejected [The Blair Witch Project] without even looking at it, and James was appointed as the new head of distribution with close scrutiny on his head.

Will is quite surprised to hear all this because Foxstar Studios rejected him before. But he understood that his mistake was Chandler, the previous head of distribution, and James was just following his orders, and even then, he hesitated.

Will agrees to meet with the new head of distribution as in business; there is no real enemy, only interests.

After that, Will also recalled something very important that he found and took out his smartphone, and he opened a picture and showed it to Benjamin.

"Isn't this the actor who signed with the MCA?"

Benjamin glanced at the photo and said,

“Oh yes, she. If I remember correctly, his contract will expire soon too. He has worked on several films, but they have barely managed to recover the budget costs. ”

“Oh, so, hm.”

Will was shocked after seeing this guy's movie while he was watching some movies by MCA. She was one of the biggest celebrities of her previous life, and now she is working on a film that is completely unsuitable for her.

The smile on Will's face as plans to open his own production house had solidified in his heart.

The actor that Will mentioned was none other than Robert Downey**., who is best known for his role as an iron man.

The man in the photo was very similar to her, and after watching the film, Will made sure that her acting and voice styles were the same, just her name was different. Michael Elrod is his name on this alternate earth.