"Good afternoon, Billy and Annie. I brought you guys some gifts, want to take a look?"
Luca said with a gentle smile.
Billy and Annie glanced over, their expressions easing a bit.
"Luca, you're finally here. We can talk about gifts later; let's discuss work first,"
Billy sighed.
"Yes, Luca, you're the screenwriter. You can't just disappear all the time,"
Annie complained.
Luca chuckled awkwardly. "Alright, alright, my bad. How about we take a half-day off, and I'll treat everyone to drinks?"
"..."
Billy and Annie were silent for a moment, then both nodded.
There was a serious conflict between the two that needed to be resolved immediately. If they couldn't fix it, this project would be a disaster.
The three of them were investors, and none of them wanted to lose money. They decided to use this chance to lay everything out on the table—continuing to argue wasn't going to help.
"Okay, the crew is off for half a day. We'll resume work tomorrow morning!"
Ten minutes later, the crew disbanded, just in time for lunch.
Luca, Billy, Annie, and Mr. Ross—along with some key members of the crew—headed to a restaurant.
The situation with the crew was serious, so no one was in the mood to eat, not even Luca.
During the meal, Luca took turns talking to Billy and Annie about the issues with the production.
Billy expressed his frustration.
Annie was too controlling, often interfering with the filming process, which left Billy feeling sidelined and stripped of his authority as the director.
"Haven't you worked with her many times? Don't you know what kind of person Annie is?"
Luca said while eating a slice of pizza.
Billy sighed, putting down his fork with little appetite. "I know she's a strong woman, but I didn't realize she'd be this overbearing."
In their previous collaborations, Billy was the director, and Annie was the choreographer. They each stuck to their roles.
Annie was excellent at choreography; no matter what kind of dance was required, she could deliver it perfectly.
But now that Annie was both the producer and an investor in the film, she had more say, and she'd become even more assertive.
"Alright, I get it."
This was a power struggle within the crew.
Luca wiped his mouth and went over to talk to Annie.
When he brought up Billy's frustrations, Annie said that as the producer and an investor, she had to be responsible for the movie and the company.
She felt that the way things were being filmed wasn't working—not just today's scenes, but the entire recent filming hadn't met her expectations.
"Luca, your script is excellent. It's almost like a director's script, and it aligns very closely with my vision. If we follow your script, the movie will definitely turn out great.
But Billy thinks you're just a screenwriter, and that your script isn't practical, so he's been changing the shooting plans on his own. That's why I'm upset with him."
Luca nodded. Changing the shooting schedule would undoubtedly increase the budget and could lead to a movie that was too different from the original plan. Could it still be a hit if it deviated too much?
Annie's concerns were valid.
"Luca, I have a bone to pick with you too!"
Annie glared at him. "You're the screenwriter and producer, so you need to take responsibility. If you had been on set, some of these conflicts could have been avoided."
"…"
Luca broke into a cold sweat. Why was this falling on him now?
"Annie, I've been really busy lately…"
"Busy?"
Annie was clearly unhappy. "You mortgaged your house to invest in this film because you want to make money, right?
But how are you going to make money if you just ignore everything? You don't think you can just throw money at the crew and expect to harvest the profits in the fall, do you?"
That was exactly what Luca had been thinking.
He figured that with Annie, the original director Billy, and the experienced Mr. Ross on the crew, plus the same lead actors and his own director's script, the filming would go smoothly.
But, as always, things are easier said than done.
For instance, this current conflict was something he hadn't foreseen.
"Annie, you're right. I'll take responsibility for my part."
Luca spoke earnestly.
When dealing with women, he felt it was wiser to admit fault first, especially since he genuinely hadn't been handling things well.
Annie nodded slightly. "So, how do you think we should solve this?"
"I—"
"Let me be clear!"
Annie raised a finger and said firmly, "I don't accept any 'meet in the middle' approach. If you side with him, I'll stay quiet. If you support me, then we'll film according to my vision and your script.
I'm not letting my investment go down the drain."
"...Alright!"
Luca was at a loss for words. He understood both sides, but he had to make a decision.
Billy was a famous director, and of course, he had his own ideas during filming.
But Luca had provided a solid director's script before they even started shooting "Step Up." Annie had been overseeing the process and giving feedback along the way.
This left Billy with little room to exercise his own creativity, which was probably why he was unhappy.
Understanding is one thing, but support is another.
Luca decided to first review the footage that had been shot before making a final decision.
That afternoon, in Washington D.C., at the "Step Up" production office.
The office was set up in a hotel.
After shooting, the crew's dorms, cafeteria, warehouse, editing room, makeup room, and other departments all operated out of this location.
It was essentially the crew's headquarters.
Every day after filming, the film reels would be brought back for editing.
Once the editing was done, the director would watch the footage and decide if any scenes needed reshooting.
Today, Luca stayed in the office to review the day's footage.
"Luca, this is the footage from this morning's shoot. We did eight takes in total. We could've wrapped up sooner, but Annie kept pointing out problems,"
Billy shrugged.
"I'm the producer. I have to be responsible for the film's quality. If the footage isn't up to par, it's my duty to call for a reshoot,"
Annie said calmly.
"But I'm the director! I've been making films for decades. Don't you think I know whether something is good or not?"
Billy retorted.
"Decades? Ha!"
"What are you laughing at? What's so funny?"
Billy snapped angrily.
"Alright, both of you!"
Luca stepped in, cutting off their argument. "Can you two hold off for a bit? Let me watch the footage first."
"Fine, go ahead,"
Annie waved her hand dismissively.
"Thanks,"
Luca shook his head, then sat at the workstation to carefully review the footage from today.
They'd filmed eight takes in total, and the edited clips added up to over ten minutes of footage.
Luca watched frame by frame, taking notes as he went along. It took him over an hour to get through it all.
When he finished, he furrowed his brow. The scenes were markedly different from what he'd envisioned, filled with Billy's personal style.
He couldn't say they were bad, but they weren't what he wanted.
"Luca, what do you think?"
Billy and Annie asked in unison.
Luca set down his notebook. "Why do these scenes feel so inconsistent, like they were shot by two different people?"
"That's because they were! Annie kept interrupting me during filming, insisting that I do things her way,"
Billy explained.
"You're wrong. I didn't insist on doing things 'my way.' I wanted you to follow the script. But you didn't,"
Annie countered.
Billy threw up his hands. "No director follows the script exactly during filming. You need to trust me—I know what I'm doing to make this movie better."
"Really? Fine, let's settle this. Luca, you decide how the film should be shot."
Annie tossed the ball back to Luca.
"Alright."
Luca, holding his notebook, picked out several scenes he thought were well done.
"I think these scenes turned out great."
"Ha! Luca, those are the ones I directed according to my vision!"
Annie laughed, losing her composure for a moment.
"Luca, do you really think that's the better way to shoot?"
Billy asked, frowning.
"Yes, I do. I think it fits better."
Luca stood his ground.
These scenes were shot according to his script, exactly like he had envisioned.
He thought for a moment and decided to stick with the original plan.
Of course, if Billy could produce better shots that exceeded the original, Luca would support him. But so far, Billy hadn't.
"Luca, you should review the other footage too,"
Annie said, pulling out some film reels and playing them in the editing room.
They had been filming for over half a month, so there was plenty of material to review.
As it got dark, Luca had skimmed through most of the footage, taking notes and marking down the shots he approved of.
When he finished, Annie took a look at his notes and couldn't help but laugh.
"Luca, you and I are on the same page. The shots you approve are exactly the ones I want. Are we telepathic or something?"
Mrs. Annie, excited, gave him a quick kiss on the forehead, then turned with a smile. "Billy, what do you think now?"
Billy looked at his notes, and his face darkened. With trembling hands, he placed the notebook on the table.
"Since you all think shooting it this way is better, why don't you do it yourselves? I'm done!"
He turned and walked out of the room.
"Billy!"
Luca called out.
Bang!
Billy slammed the door shut.
"Ugh, what a mess," Luca said, pinching the bridge of his nose, feeling helpless.
What was supposed to be a pleasant collaboration had turned into something completely unexpected.
(End of Chapter)