After working with Eliza for some time, Summer had begun to understand her better.
Eliza was an only child with a solid family background. Perhaps due to her understanding of the common practices in the industry, she had not assimilated. She was conscientious, always doing things methodically. In fancier words, she had a strong character.
When Summer realized that Eliza was serious, she said, “That’s something inevitable. I can’t hide forever. Since I’ve chosen this industry, I’ll have to face the public and let them be the judge.”
Since Summer insisted, Eliza left her to it. “Fine, since you know the score.”
…
The web series, The Lost City began shooting on August, the 6th. The weather was baking hot.
Summer wore a shirt and a pair of black pants instead of her usual dress, so she could move around more freely. The simple-looking white on black ensemble looked great on her.
She and Eliza would meet in the city, then they would head to the scene of the movie set together. When Eliza saw her dressed in such plain clothing, she shook her head.
“You may no longer be Mrs. Emerson now, but you don’t have to give up on yourself just yet. You didn’t even put on your face. Could you show more respect to our crew?”
“I do have light makeup on,” Summer explained as she opened the door and got in the car. She had very light makeup on her brows and lips.
“You’re going to steal the limelight from our female lead without makeup,” Eliza continued to tease her. Summer wore a faint smile but said nothing.
The ceremony was held in the first scene, inside an abandoned secondary school building in the old section of the city which was an hour’s drive from the city.
Eliza was the producer, the person who had the most say in the production team. So when she arrived, everyone in the team was already there.
The female lead was a student from the film academy while the male lead was quite famous. Eliza had mentioned him once to Summer, but Summer did not know who he was.
Eliza went over and asked, “Has Bowen arrived?”
Following behind, Summer heard the name and was struck dumb. The name had left an impression on her earlier. When Eliza disguised herself as a maid to slip into Leonardo’s mansion, she got into a fight with Alisa because Alisa mentioned the name. That fight was brutal, and also because of that, Eliza had requested to leave.
Bowen was a veteran actor, sociable with many die-hard followers. Most of his movies were not particularly successful, but each of them had gained positive reviews. He used to work with many top directors and top-tier artists in the country. That was why he was expensive.
It was the first day of The Lost City’s shooting, but Eliza was asking for Bowen. It was no wonder why Summer could not make head or tail of it. Was this not a web series? The success of a web series depended on click rate. So it was usually not a high-budget production, and the actors and actresses were mostly second- or third-tier artists or fresh recruits. However, using Bowen was a different ball game altogether, considering his pay.
So Summer asked Eliza, “The male lead is Bowen?”
“Yeah.” A hint of embarrassment flashed across her face, and Eliza looked around before bringing Summer aside. “Don’t let Bowen know that I had a fight with Alisa.”
Summer was startled for a second before she replied, “Okay.”
“Miss Austin.”
“Yes?”
Summer still had questions in her mind, but someone was asking for her.
Summer was wondering how much Eliza had secured to make The Lost City web series.
Just then, Eliza’s assistant brought Summer a glass of water. She took the glass and thanked the person. After a while, Eliza had finished her business and come back to her.
“The weather is freaking hot.” Eliza took a sip of water. “But we have to finish shooting before winter so that we can release the web series during the winter holiday.”
Summer thought for a while, then asked, “How big is your budget?”
“Fifty million.” Eliza did not hide the figure from her.
“Fifty million?” Summer was struck dumb upon hearing the figure. Fifty million for a web series was a big production.
“If fifty million’s not enough, I can still get more funding.” Eliza made it sound as if it was easy-peasy.
Summer shoved the hair away from her forehead and then asked, “Aren’t you scared of losing money?”
Eliza was silent as if she was thinking. She then said, “What can I do if it loses money? Worse comes to worst, I can just stop working with you.” She then patted Summer on the shoulder. “I’m just kidding. We haven’t started shooting yet, don’t worry about losing money now. If we have to worry about this and that before we even start doing something, we will be weighed down by it.”
“You have a point.” Summer nodded.
Eliza then got up. “Let’s go. Let me introduce our crew members to you.”
There were too many crew members in the production team for Summer to know them all, but she could see that Eliza was influential. Due to Eliza, they were very nice to Summer. A few of them heard her name and appeared curious, but they never asked her questions.
After a round of introduction, Bowen had also come over. He was tall with clean short hair and a five o’clock shadow. His facial features were well-defined, and his bronze skin made him look manly. Since he did not belong under the young idol-type, which was the most popular right now, Bowen was a method actor, and the roles he could take on were limited, mostly of the tough-guy kind.
Eliza called him over when she saw him.
“Anything?”
Bowen came over, his eyes sweeping past Eliza, who placed her hand on Summer’s shoulder.
“Allow me to introduce you: Summer, the screenwriter of The Lost City.”
Bowen looked at Summer with a surprised look on his face, but he quickly regained his composure and politely looked away.
“Miss. Jarrett, nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too! I’ve watched your movies before.” Summer smiled.
As Bowen was the leading actor, the director asked for him after they talked for a while.
…
The opening ceremony went smoother than expected. It was so smooth that Summer was not surrounded by the media even after she had gone home. It was too smooth to be true.
Summer thought for a moment, then decided to call Leonardo. As if he had been expecting her call, he answered within the first ring.
“Summer.”