Chapter 017: Assembling the Crew
Chapter 017: Assembling the Crew
On the set of Back to 17, Eric made quite a few mistakes during filming because he was distracted thinking about Home Alone. However, because the movie was nearing the end of production, Penny Marshall’s temper was surprisingly good. She patiently corrected Eric’s mistakes one by one.
Eric had even considered asking Penny Marshall for help, but after thinking it over, he gave up on the idea.
If Penny Marshall knew, then 20th Century Fox would know as well. With the eyes of so many professionals at 20th Century Fox, they would obviously recognize the potential of this low-budget Christmas comedy. At that point, they would definitely find a way to get involved, and that was not something Eric wanted to see.
In the end, Eric thought of a certain fake lolita currently “cultivating herself” in rehab.
In his previous life, despite her notorious reputation, Drew had still managed to rise again successfully, break free from the child star curse, and become a well-known Hollywood actress, director, and producer. Aside from her own abilities, connections were also a very important factor.
Even though the girl was only thirteen now, with her worldly and highly social personality, her network definitely could not be underestimated. At the very least, asking her for help putting together a small film crew certainly would not be a problem.
On October 9th, Back to 17 finally wrapped filming, and Eric smoothly received his five hundred thousand dollar paycheck. Thus, he immediately began preparing for his next plan without stopping.
…
“Eric, where are we going?” Aniston sat in the passenger seat and asked curiously.
Eric pulled the Home Alone screenplay out of his bag. “Take a look at this first.”
Aniston looked at the title in surprise. “Wow, Home Alone. Your new screenplay?”
“Mm.” Eric nodded, started the car, then continued, “I plan to personally shoot this movie.”
“What? Eric, you’re not joking, right? Do you even know where the power button on a camera is?”
“Of course I do. And by the way, what I’m going to be is the director, not the cinematographer.”
Having worked in the industry for many years in his previous life, Eric had basically done every film-related job there was, and done them all quite well. If he had cloning abilities, aside from the actors, he alone could have handled the entire crew.
“Alright, alright. Then where exactly are we going now?”
Eric hesitated for a moment before saying, “To visit Drew at the rehab center.”
“Hmph!”
“Annie, I brought you along because I don’t want you misunderstanding anything.”
“Hmph!”
“I want to ask Drew to help me find some professionals and assemble a film crew. Even though she’s young, she knows quite a lot of people.”
“Hmph!”
Eric sighed, pulled the car over to the roadside, and unfastened his seatbelt. “Looks like today, the first thing I need to do is convince a certain jealous little girl.”
“Hmph—ah, what are you doing? Don’t, mmph…”
Eric lunged over. Aniston was trapped by her seatbelt and unable to struggle free, and Eric directly pinned her against the passenger seat and kissed her deeply.
Aniston reflexively struggled for a moment, but under Eric’s kisses and caresses, she quickly softened. Once Eric’s tongue pried open her teeth, she finally gave up resisting completely, and her little tongue clumsily began responding in return.
The two passionately kissed for a full four or five minutes. Aniston could feel Eric’s hands becoming more and more daring. They had already slipped beneath her clothes and were slowly moving toward the pair of firm buds on her chest.
“N-No, don’t, Eric.” Just as Eric was about to succeed, the flushed Aniston finally spoke to stop him. “This… this is the roadside.”
Eric also realized he had gone a little too far. He released Aniston and gently brushed aside the loose strands of hair on her forehead. Looking at her charming face, red enough to drip blood, he asked, “So if we weren’t on the roadside, then it’d be okay?”
“Y-You… that wouldn’t be okay either.”
“Alright then. You’re not jealous anymore, right? Let’s go.”
Eric fastened his seatbelt again and restarted the car.
“Hey, Eric, you could also ask Penny or James for help. Why do you insist on finding that… that woman?”
In order to maintain her ladylike image in front of Eric, Aniston quickly swallowed words like “bitch” back down and even stuck out her tongue slightly.
Eric explained his concerns. Sitting in the passenger seat, Aniston quietly clenched her little fists but did not say anything more.
At a well-known rehab center in Los Angeles, the two were searched upon entry to prevent visitors from bringing in drugs. Led by a staff member, Eric quickly found Drew.
When they saw Drew, the girl was lying beside an outdoor pool sunbathing in revealing clothes, holding a hardcover copy of Jurassic Park in her hands.
“Hi, Drew?” Eric called out.
“Eric, if you didn’t come visit me soon, I was going to escape and find you myself.”
The moment Eric spoke, Drew, who had already spotted him, shouted excitedly and jumped straight up from her lounge chair. She rushed toward Eric and clung to him like a koala, opened her mouth, and immediately tried to bite at Eric’s lips with a kiss.
Eric hurriedly raised his hand to block his face. Unexpectedly, Drew did not mind at all and instead kissed the center of his palm, even sticking out her tongue to lick it. The wet, warm sensation of her little tongue against his palm instantly stirred Eric’s thoughts.
“So disgusting. Like a dog in heat!”
Beside them, Aniston, who had been completely ignored by Drew, darkened her face and viciously cursed.
Although she had a powerful urge to yank Drew off Eric, there were many people around watching them. Aniston was not nearly as thick-skinned as Drew.
After fooling around for a while, Eric finally managed to pull Drew off him.
Only then did Drew seem to notice Aniston for the first time. “Hi, fatty. I heard you starved yourself so badly trying to lose weight that you collapsed on set. How pitiful. But it doesn’t look like you lost much weight.”
Just as Aniston was about to explode, Eric flicked Drew lightly on the head. “Alright, Drew. No teasing Annie. You should worry about yourself instead.”
Drew gave a soft cry of pain and looked up at him with watery eyes. “Eric, you’re so biased.”
Eric ignored Drew’s pitiful act and said, “There are too many people here. Take us to where you’re staying.”
The place Drew stayed in was similar to a hotel suite and even had a kitchen.
The three entered the living room. Drew poured Eric and Aniston each a glass of juice, then held one herself and sat down on the sofa. “Alright, Eric. What do you need me for?”
“Uh, can’t I just be here to visit you?” Eric asked awkwardly.
Drew curled her lips. “Did you bring Fatty along just to annoy me? You know I don’t like her.”
With no outsiders around, Aniston’s jealousy, which she had held in for so long, finally exploded. “I’ve had enough, you little bitch! I don’t like you either!”
Drew clicked her tongue smugly, looking thoroughly pleased with herself. “Your true nature finally came out, huh? Hey Eric, look, Fatty isn’t a lady at all. It’s all just an act. You’re really going to suffer in the future.”
“You—”
Eric rubbed his temples in frustration, secretly deciding never to let these two appear together whenever possible. “Enough. Both of you stop right now. If you keep going, I’m going to get angry.”
“Eric…” Aniston looked at him with a wronged expression.
“Annie, why don’t you wait for me outside in the car? I’ll be done soon.”
The moment she heard this, Drew’s eyes brightened briefly, but she quickly lowered her head and pretended to drink her juice as though nothing had happened.
However, the sixth sense between women was terrifyingly sharp. Aniston instantly caught Drew’s brief flash of delight.
“I won’t,” Aniston puffed out her cheeks and refused.
Left with no choice, Eric soothed the two girls for a while before finally taking out the screenplay and handing it to Drew. “Here’s the thing, Drew. I have a screenplay here. Can you introduce me to some professionals? I want to assemble a temporary film crew.”
Drew placed the screenplay on her knees and began flipping through it. Very quickly, she burst into giggles. “Hehe, this is really funny. It’s a pretty good screenplay. Mm… Eric, you mean…”
“Yes.” Eric nodded. “I want to independently produce this movie. I made some calculations. I only need around one million dollars, and I can probably come up with that amount myself. But I only have one million, so I need professionals who are both reliable and inexpensive.”
In truth, there were countless film industry workers in Los Angeles. Even without Drew’s help, Eric could still assemble a crew. But on one hand, that would waste a great deal of unnecessary time, and on the other hand, the people he found himself might not be reliable. If anything went wrong during filming, he would only be left crying helplessly.
While Eric was not paying attention, Drew smugly glanced at Aniston before obediently nodding. “No problem. I know quite a few people. What do you need?”
Aniston’s anger flared from Drew’s triumphant look, but she could only puff out her cheeks and glare viciously at Eric.
“Cinematographers, lighting technicians, sound engineers… basically,” Eric shrugged helplessly and spread his hands, “I have nothing right now.”
Drew thought for a moment. “I just happen to know a small film company that recently went bankrupt. They had a filming crew. Unfortunately, the owner mortgaged the company to get a loan, made a movie himself, lost money, and now the bank has probably already liquidated everything. That crew is actually pretty good. I made a guest appearance in one of their movies before. If they haven’t already disbanded and scattered yet, you can take over the whole team. Compared to unemployment, I think they’d be willing to accept work on this movie.”
Eric said excitedly, “That’s fantastic.”
Drew stood up and smiled. “I’ll call and ask. Hopefully it’s not too late.”
After saying that, Drew walked over to the phone by the window and started dialing.
Meanwhile, on the sofa, Aniston quietly leaned over with a deeply aggrieved expression. Her little hand kept tugging at the hem of Eric’s T-shirt, obviously feeling conflicted inside.
She felt useless.
Even Drew Barrymore could help Eric with something important, while she herself had needed Eric’s care just to land a tiny role in a movie. Added to the fact that Drew was now openly trying to steal her boyfriend away, Aniston felt even more insecure.
Very quickly, Drew finished the call and brought Eric good news.
That film company was completely finished, but the team members were all still in Los Angeles. The former owner was very willing to introduce the crew to Eric.
After arranging a time and place with the owner of the film company, Eric immediately stood up to leave. He did not want to waste even a single second.
Before parting, Drew forcibly stole a kiss in a completely self-righteous manner before reluctantly letting Eric leave.
On the drive back, Aniston remained gloomy and silent the entire way, leaving Eric with no choice but to keep comforting her.
“Annie, I’m sorry. I really don’t have a choice. Among the people I know, only Drew can help with this. And after this, I still have to find actors myself.”
Aniston looked at Eric somewhat insecurely. “It’s okay, Eric. I understand. Will you… will you always love me?”
Eric answered without hesitation, “Of course.”
“I love you too, Eric.”
“Annie?”
“Mm?”
“Be my girlfriend?”
Aniston’s face instantly turned bright red. Looking flustered, she said, “Oh, Eric, I think I…”
“No, silly girl. Don’t think so much. You only need to answer ‘yes’ or ‘no.’”
“Yes. I will.”