As soon as he completed the script, he went to The Writers Guild to get the script copyrighted. 100 dollars were gone but he knew this was just the start. The first step was done. The second step was also done. Only the third one was remaining. He mentally made notes to himself on what he still needed to do along with uncle Mason.
-
Sitting in front of uncle Mason, Ian took out the 'Home Alone' script and kept it on the table. He was shocked by the look on his Uncle's face. The last time he came here, he was sure that Uncle Mason was trying to understand him. But now the atmosphere was weird. Ian showed no emotions on his face, but inside his brain, thoughts were running around.
Mason almost couldn't believe his eyes. Ian Renner was in front of him with a script. The other day, Mason was so sure that Ian was just messing around, that he took it all as a joke. The kid he was seeing now was no longer the same kid he knew. Now the kid in front of him was a scriptwriter. Taking the script in his hand, he wondered what was going through Ian's head while he read the title, 'Home Alone'.
"Home Alone?" Mason questioned while Ian nodded in reply. "You… wrote this?" He asked almost in disbelief.
"Yes, I did."
Knowing Ian for so long, Mason knew that he could be the type to buy a script from someone else and make it look like he poured his effort into it. That was just how much faith Mason had in him.
"If you're not sure, you can ask from The Writers Guild." Ian made it clear after seeing the doubt in Mason's eyes.
"Huh?" Mason questioned not yet completely trusting his words.
"The copyrights are under my name. Which obviously means I wrote that." Ian stated, sternly.
With that, Mason went silent and got into the business of reading the manuscript. With each page he turned, his entire mindset about the whole project turned. Mason was amused, surprised, shocked, bewildered and on top of it all, confused. Mason's eyes started to have a glimmer in them as he read more and more.
Time passed quickly and only the sound of pages turning could be heard. Ian sat silently as Mason's eyes scanned through the pages.
The perception of Ian, which ought to be someone who didn't even know the basics about screenwriting, completely took a 180° turn in Mason's eyes. Even the content wasn't that bad. It was in fact pretty good for a comedy movie.
For a second, Mason kept wondering if the script he had read was really written by Ian.
"You really wrote this?" He asked, doubt apparent in his voice.
"I already said I did. Uncle, please trust me on this."
Ian insisted and seeing his honest eyes, Mason dropped his scepticism for the time being.
"Hmm.. This script is really good." Ian's eyes glittered hearing that. "The characters have enough substance and the situations are funny. Moreover, the main character is someone who will surely make people laugh. I would even say that this script is perfect for a low-budget comedy movie."
Mason's assessment was based on the amount of scripts he had read everyday. Although Renner films was only working on soft porn movies for a while, he had been looking for a good script to produce a movie.
Home Alone was really good by his standards.
"So, what do you wanna do with this script?" Mason inquired. Ian couldn't understand what he was trying to ask. "I mean, we can sell this for quite a good price since Christmas is just two months away."
In the festival season, a lot of comedy movies would be released that a family could watch together. It was a great way for studios to earn quick cash in with a good comedy movie.
"Uhm-" Ian was cut off shortly.
"I can pull a few strings to sell this."
Ian shook his head in return. This whole selling idea bothered him.
"I want it to be produced by Renner's Films. I want Renner's production house to reach its former glory and," he heaved a heavy sigh, "This would be a great start." He completed what he had to say.
"Hmm… if this has been your plan all along, I should think about it a bit more carefully." Mason leaned in his chair while continuing.
"We're gonna need a cast and a director. We already have our old production crew." He said.
Although the idea was just perfect and what they needed at the moment, Mason knew more. He truly liked the manuscript. Yet there was that doubt lingering around. Will the Renner's would be able to do it, or will it be a failure for Renner's.
"What else are you thinking, uncle?" Ian asked.
Mason let out a sigh and words slipped out of his mouth. "I'm not sure if this will work for Renner's."
"It will just cost a couple of million dollars. I'm sure it will work." Ian stated, almost unsure of what more to say just to convince Mason to accept the whole idea of this project. One way or another Ian knew this would work.
Because in the other world, the movie had cost almost 18 million dollars, if not more. But it was mainly because of the high marketing budget they had. If it wasn't for a few more reasons, this film could be easily produced with a few couples of million dollars even in this new world. This was no secret to Ian.
Mason gave a sceptical look which Ian was now too used to. This also explained that Mason was having doubts about this. Ian saw the look but he was not willing to explain everything because he knew more than 500 million dollars were earned according to his old memories and were confident about this.
He was planning to produce the movie with the money his parents left him. That was something the previous Ian would never do.
Mason glanced at the script one more time and moved his gaze towards Ian, "If we're going to do this, you should know we don't have much time left for Christmas. And that would be the only season this film will get a hit. I know some directors-"
"I can direct." The three words shocked Mason for who-knows-what time.
"Uh- what?" He asked.
"I can direct, Uncle."
"This is not the time to joke if you're serious about this whole project."
Ian shook his head while saying, "You do remember that the only thing that made my father proud about me was me going to Stanford University."
"I certainly do," Mason replied, disappointment was clear in his voice.
"What you don't know is, I have studied a course on movies. Also, I've been reading a lot of books for weeks." Ian was confident while spitting white lies through his mouth. He 'was' reading books and that was true.
"Huh- you did what?" Mason couldn't believe his ears. Ian just nodded in return.
Ian in his previous life did study movies as a part of his attempt to trying to improve in acting. It has always been a huge dream of Ian to be an actor. The thing that comes along with acting is movies. It was also his dream to get into directing later down his career. Out of it all, the library in his head had information on how to direct a movie, so, it won't be hard for him.
"I seriously don't think so. If you're gonna direct, just know that you'll ruin a nice script. Don't ruin something good I have seen in years." Mason told him strictly.
"I know where you are coming from, I sure do. But I legit wrote this myself, if it isn't me, I can assure you no one knows the story more than I do. Let me do it, uncle. Just like how the script is, you'll get to see a good movie from Renner's Films after years. " Ian insisted and sat straight on his chair.
Mason's mind kept yelling 'No!' over and over but he was silent watching Ian trying so hard to convince him.
"It won't be like how you think. This story is mine, let me do the directing." Ian added, further.
There were a thousand reasons why Ian couldn't direct the movie in Mason's mind. But the script that was his and this silenced half of Mason's thoughts.
"I'm not sure, Ian. Do you even know how to operate a camera? Or how to divide a scene in several shots? Huh? What I think is, we need a professional." His voice became louder with frustration which he was holding back for so many reasons.
"Of course, I do. Why would you think I won't?" Ian sighed loudly. "Give me a chance to prove myself."
"Stubborn as ever." Mason mouthed his thoughts aloud for the first time without thinking, in disapproval.
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