My Hollywood System

On her laptop, June was watching the movie that Will had recommended to her.

[Janitor of the Asylum]

It was a horror movie released 30 years ago, and its quality was terrible. But right now, June was completely invested in it.

This has never happened with other horror movies she has watched. Maybe it's because of the first-person narrative?

It was just that she couldn't help but clutch her teddy bear tightly in her hug as the movie progressed to the climax.

On the screen, a girl frantically ran through the hallway, with the screen shaking as she ran. Creepy sound effects were coming from the background.

Then there were sounds of someone chasing her— with a menacing laugh and slow footsteps.

All those were enough to make June's heart beat wildly, and as the girl fell down, she screamed out loud.

A bloody handprint appeared on the screen as the figure of the janitor finally appeared. Watching him smile, June's soul nearly left her body.

The movie ended then, and she hurriedly turned her laptop off and switched on the lights. She has a feeling that she won't be able to sleep if she turned off the lights tonight.

After calming down, she slowly muttered.

"He's right… Will is right… this can really work."

She stood up from her bed and went to her wardrobe. Taking out a dress that she could wear tomorrow to meet him, she thought of the young director she met today.

'His ideas sound crazy, but I feel like he can really succeed with them.'

She smiled, thinking about him.

In her heart, she had a feeling that maybe, her time had finally come. She was going to get famous one way or another.

And Will was going to pave the way for her.

* * *

In the morning, Will was again on his desk, scribbling down notes to use during the shooting for [Blair witch project].

During the shoot, he won't have the time to think about every frame from the start, so it was better to make notes. After all, it was going to be the first time he would be a director; he didn't want to mess it up no matter what.

That's why he was scribbling down how they will shoot every frame.

Although his drawing was bad, it was still enough to understand. On [Blair witch project], he would handle most of the stuff.

He was the director, screenwriter and editor. If he can find some people who can help him out, it would be nice.

'Maybe, I should ask Uncle Charles about it.'

He thought and at that moment, his phone rang. He picked it up, smiling at the caller's name.

"Hello, June. So, how was the movie?"

– Scary. I wasn't able to sleep properly, thanks to you. I even kept the lights turned on for the whole night. Nevertheless, now I understand your point.

"Will you audition?"

– I definitely will. I have already talked with my agent, and to be honest, he wasn't happy and was constantly telling me to change my opinion, but I don't care. I really want to be a part of this project.

"Glad to have you on board. Though, you would need to pass the audition. Otherwise, the role will go to someone else.

Will chuckled, and a confident voice came out from the other side.

– Don't worry, I will!

They talked for a while longer, and after that, Will called her to his apartment.

. . .

Half an hour later, Will heard a knock on the door. He remembered the bell was broken, and he had yet to fix it.

Shaking his head, he went to the door and unlocked it. June was standing there in casual clothes.

"Hello, Come in."

June entered the small house and looked around. Although it was small, it was clean, and everything seemed in place.

"Wow, an upcoming director sure has a big apartment."

June commented teasingly.

"Rented apartment."

Will corrected her while laughing after seeing the weird look she gave.

"Are you sure you've enough money to at least produce the whole film?"

She asked sceptically. With Will, she could never let her emotions relax. Sometimes he seemed like her ticket to stardom; othertimes, he seemed to like her ticket to hell.

She chuckled at herself and at her nervousness. Since she has decided to work with him on this movie, she'd see it through no matter if her ship sinks or sails.

"Come sit."

Will pointed towards the couch he had laid for her.

June sat down without complaining. Will started to tell her about how he planned to work on the movie.

From the start of the movie as to how three friends would go out to shoot a documentary on The Blair Witch and how each and every one of them would disappear slowly by the end of the story.

He explained how the 'Found Footage Technique' can make everything seem so realistic and thrill worthy.

This time, June didn't complain. She was already so scared because of the movie she watched yesterday that she couldn't even sleep much.

As he went on, he talked about how he needed to gather a crew together, and he'd start tomorrow.

"By the way, you'll need to give an audition tomorrow too."

June readily agreed as she was confident in her years of experience and practice.

He told her to accompany him in the rest of the auditions too, as they've already become acquaintances.

Then he told her to accompany him to an antique shop. She was confused at that.

"We'll get a camcorder from 1994 or 1995 to make it feel real. Later, if the movie succeeds, we can earn just by selling the camcorder."

June couldn't help but marvel at the young director's genius. Not only was he a screenwriter, but also a director and a business-minded person.

Her appreciation for Will grew every second.

After that, they went to an antique shop.

They did find a camcorder from 1994, but the shopkeeper was trying to sell it for $3k, saying things like it is a relic of the past.

After much haggling, Will brought it down to $1700. The shopkeeper won't go down a penny after $1700, so Will had to buy it at that.

June just stayed speechless throughout the whole haggling and purchase process.

Her opinion of Will kept changing, from a normal young man to a screenwriter to a director, to an extremely poor director, to a haggling uncle.

He had so many sides to him that every one of them seemed funny, absurd and refreshing at the same time.

As the purchase was done, Will and June decided to part ways and set up a time and place for meeting up tomorrow.

Will directly came home after that and noted down all the money he has spent till now, including the money he used on clothes, haircuts and the restaurant.

He added down the camcorders purchase as a business purchase. After that, he brought up the system screen.

He had already browsed through the system and found out everything was quite expensive, but not absurdly expensive.

He had decided to spend his money on two things.

[Intermediate Level Direction]

Type - Skill

Cost - 40,000 Fame Points

[Beginner Level Acting]

Type - Skill

Cost - 5,000 Fame Points

He bought both of the skills for a total of 45k FP, leaving him with 5k FP that he decided to keep with him.

Miscellaneous information filled his head, and he even felt like he had gotten the experience of directing and acting, although he has clearly never directed or acted before.

Although he could have just bought the directing skill, as he was a young and new director, there would be times where he'll face questions like 'If you think acting is so easy, why don't you show us'.

He wanted to buy acting skills immediately, but he didn't have enough FP for that.

He was preparing in advance for a circumstance that may or may not appear. That's how cautious Will was about his life as a director. After all, directing was his dream.

Tomorrow, his new life would truly start.