Located in the northeast of Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of less than 80,000 within its seventeen square miles, yet it has earned the reputation of being the 'Media Capital of the World,' with a fame that seems even greater than New York's.This is not only because Burbank is adjacent to Hollywood, occupying a strategic location; but also because it is home to many top media and entertainment companies. Disney, Warner Bros., NBC, Viacom, and PBS have all established branches here, and there are dozens of large studios scattered around, which makes Burbank extremely busy year-round.Traveling along the European-style avenue in Burbank, Hugo saw a sign at the intersection that read 'Warner Boulevard.' Hugo finally felt relieved; although there was a traffic jam along the way, they had at least arrived at their destination.Checking the time, it was already 9:45. Hugo knew that being late was inevitable, but worrying now wouldn't solve the problem, so Hugo could only force himself to calm down and look at the surrounding scenery.In fact, there were no iconic buildings around; three-story villa-style small buildings were scattered among the green trees, but they didn't look like residential houses; they looked a bit like an embassy district.Joseph turned the car into a large iron gate, showed his ID to the guard at the entrance, and then drove into the complex.There was no sign at the entrance to this complex, as if it were just an ordinary place, but Hugo knew that this was the Warner Bros. studio, which had the most studios in Burbank, and countless movies had been filmed here.Since Warner Bros. owned five of the largest studios in Los Angeles, major companies would rent studios here for film production; not just Warner Bros., but other companies did the same.This was the case for 'a few good men'; although it was invested in by Columbia Pictures, the filming was taking place at the Warner Bros. studios.After the car was parked, Hugo and Joseph jogged to the studio, but even so, Hugo was still late.Looking at the clock, it was pointing at the 'two' position, which meant Hugo was ten minutes late. Such things were unpleasant to happen on any occasion, especially since Hugo was not exactly a 'popular' Actor right now.Hugo and Joseph walked into the studio, panting and apologizing all the way, but the staff around them were obviously lukewarm. The indifference, or even rejection, in their expressions was so clearly visible that they didn't even intend to hide it, directly making Hugo feel that the atmosphere was ominous.Looking around, he didn't see Rob, and main Actors like Jack and Demi were not standing in visible positions in the studio.Joseph could only ask the staff standing nearby, 'Excuse me, where is the production assistant?' According to general procedures, when an Actor arrives at the scene, someone is bound to come up to greet them; the director, producer, production assistant, or assistant director would always have someone take on the task of receiving the Actor.But today, obviously no one came to receive Hugo.'I don't know.' This was the Staff Member's reply. After experiencing the same answer from three consecutive Staff Members, Joseph and Hugo would have to be fools not to understand what was going on.Clearly, the 'a few good men' crew intended to give Hugo a hard time. This was not surprising.There are many links in the success or failure of a film. From the current Actors to the behind-the-scenes prop masters, the crew is a whole; only when everyone works together can an excellent film be created.However, Actors shoulder the heavy responsibility of presenting the crew's hard work on the big screen, so many times, the Actor's performance determines the film's results—this is also why Actors' salaries always account for the bulk of the film's labor costs, and the success or failure of the film is tied to the income of the entire crew.Simply put, whether the crew staff can get a bonus, after stripping away the intricate relationships in the middle, largely depends on the performance of the Actors.Under such circumstances, at the last minute two days before filming started, the crew gave up the then-popular rising star Tom Cruise and chose the current Golden Raspberry Awards worst Actor, Hugo Lancaster. Although the crew staff didn't have the right to change the producer's decision, there was no problem with expressing regret and complaints in their hearts.In a situation where the staff generally didn't think highly of or were dissatisfied with Hugo, Hugo was actually late on the first day of reporting. Being late meant being irresponsible, acting like a diva, not being serious, not being focused, not being dedicated, having no sense of time, not being professional... Even if Tom were late, it is estimated that the staff would be hard-pressed to have a good look, let alone Hugo, who was already unpopular?But what could Hugo say? He was already in the wrong for being late, and furthermore, offending the crew staff was not a wise choice.In fact, Hugo had mental preparation before coming. There was a similar situation on the set of 'scent of a woman', but at that time Hugo was a supporting Actor, and it didn't have much impact on the crew. Plus, from the director Martin to the lead Actor Al, everyone favored Hugo, so the whole movie filming process was relatively harmonious.But now, 'scent of a woman' had not yet been released, Hugo's situation had not improved much, and it was estimated that the resistance encountered in 'a few good men' would only be greater and not less.Therefore, all Hugo could do was express his apologies and then work diligently to contribute a wonderful performance. Compared to verbal explanations, bringing out truly excellent performances to conquer these picky Staff Members was the real way to go.Joseph was also mentally prepared for this, but facing the coldness of these Staff Members, Joseph was still a little bit angry because he knew how hard Hugo had worked over the past two months, and the role in 'a few good men' was obtained entirely by Hugo's strength. He didn't think Hugo should suffer such treatment.Joseph took a few deep breaths to adjust his emotions, then spoke up, 'I sincerely apologize for our lateness, but time has already been wasted. I think Rob and Jack are waiting. Does anyone know where the script rehearsal room is? Please let us know, thank you.'Joseph was worthy of being an agent; this statement was both soft and hard. On one hand, he apologized, but on the other hand, he threatened the staff that if they were late for too long, the director, Rob, would definitely know about it, and then the staff would have to face the director's anger.Also, don't forget that Jack Nicholson was rushing the filming schedule; he had another scene waiting to start, so he couldn't afford to wait.Sure enough, after everyone looked at each other, a person walked out of the crowd with a polite smile on his face, looking dusty and sweating profusely.'Sorry, sorry, I just went to handle some things. I am Alej Chaplin, working as a production assistant.'The man in front of him was of medium build, with an ordinary face, and no memorable points other than his receding hairline—if his greasy face didn't count. The smile on his face could be seen at a glance as a superficial social mask, which was slightly awkward even in social situations, but Joseph didn't intend to expose the other party's mask, just smiled and nodded, 'It doesn't matter. Let's hurry to see Rob. Hugo and I were already late, I hope we don't delay any longer.'Joseph never made excuses, pushing the responsibility onto problems like traffic jams, but calmly admitted his mistake of being late. In the eyes of the staff who had prejudices against Hugo, this actually earned a few impression points, although it was negligible.Alej took Hugo and the two of them forward unhurriedly, chatting about some boring topics like the weather and traffic. It could be seen that although Alej was forced by Joseph to lead the way, he still didn't intend to let Hugo off. This whole way was intentionally delaying time to make the fact that Hugo was late a certainty, and it was estimated that it would be difficult to please people like Rob, Jack, and Demi.This kind of subtle, bloodless tactic was too common in the crew, which was the reason why one shouldn't easily offend the staff. Before Hugo transmigrated, he had seen a performance scene where a singer offended the staff of the organizer, and as a result, the lighting technician had problems when setting the lights. Looking at the singer from under the stage was like looking at a zombie, with a face white as a sheet. After the singer went off stage, tears were streaming down, but there was nowhere to complain.However, not intending to offend the staff didn't mean Hugo wouldn't fight back.A road that could be reached in five minutes took a full quarter of an hour to walk. By the time Hugo arrived at the conference room, he was already half an hour late. Hugo walked in quickly and said to Rob seriously, 'I'm really sorry, I'm late.'Rob had a smile on his face and didn't seem to mind, but Jack, who was sitting next to him, pulled a long face, clearly written with the words 'I am very unhappy,' and snorted heavily, 'Late for half an hour on the first day of script rehearsal, then might as well postpone the script rehearsal for two hours in the future.'Rob stood by with an embarrassed face. Demi had originally intended to come forward to greet Hugo, but at this moment she froze in place. Without even turning his head, one could see the almost uncontrollable smile on Alej's face.Joseph wanted to step forward to explain, but was stopped by Hugo. Lateness was a fact; he didn't need to quibble. 'I'm really sorry, it's all my fault. I guarantee this kind of mistake won't happen again. I'm sorry.' Hugo never smiled, but expressed his apologies sincerely with a nervous and serious expression.Jack could easily feel Hugo's sincerity. This sincere attitude eased him a little. After all, Hugo didn't keep shirking responsibility and making excuses like those young people, which was still worthy of affirmation. However, Jack still didn't intend to let Hugo go, still holding his arms and squinting, with a posture of'strangers keep away'.Hugo continued, 'I was late when I arrived at the studio, and then I apologized to the staff, which delayed a little time. Fortunately, Alej brought us here, otherwise Joseph and I wouldn't have known where the conference room was. It just took a quarter of an hour on the road, so I kept everyone waiting for a long time. I am really very sorry.'Although it was Hugo who apologized, silently, the eyes of everyone in the conference room, including Rob, Jack, and Demi, turned to Alej standing behind. Alej was originally still trying hard to suppress the smile at the corner of his mouth, but at this moment he immediately felt the arrow-piercing gaze, and a bucket of cold water was poured on his hot heart in an instant.
