Chapter 41: No More Crashing into Me
Chapter 41: No More Crashing into Me
After six in the evening, the crew members of Home Alone gradually arrived at Eric’s house.
Once the sky had completely darkened, Eric returned to the living room after discussing a few things with the chef Vanessa in the kitchen. Looking around, he was surprised to discover that besides the Home Alone crew members, there were also more than ten beautiful girls in various evening dresses.
“Jeffrey, what’s with these girls?” Eric found Jeffrey Hansen and asked curiously.
Jeffrey smiled. “It’s Nickell and the others. After finishing Home Alone, they picked up another campus comedy project. Those girls are people they met during that shoot. Somehow they heard that the director of Home Alone was holding a party at his house, so they tagged along with Nickell and the others. As for the reason… I probably don’t need to explain.”
Eric laughed. The girls had obviously come for him. But he did not mind. The Home Alone crew only had two or three women; everyone else was male. If the party were filled with nothing but grown men, it really would have been boring.
Walking to the center of the living room, Eric clapped his hands to draw everyone’s attention. “Everyone, quiet down for a moment. Let me say a few words.”
The conversations in the room quickly died down, and all eyes turned toward Eric.
“First of all, I hope everyone has a wonderful evening. Today’s party is to celebrate the success of Home Alone. That success does not belong to me alone, because without all of your help, there’s no way I could have completed filming Home Alone in such a short amount of time. So here, I want to say thank you once again to all of you.”
Eric bowed slightly as he spoke, and the room burst into applause.
Eric raised both hands slightly to signal everyone to quiet down again before continuing, “Of course, words alone definitely aren’t enough. Home Alone achieved such astonishing box office success because every single one of you contributed to it. So I specially prepared a bonus for everyone. At the same time, I hope we’ll have opportunities to work together again in the future.”
After speaking, Eric took out a stack of envelopes containing checks and, together with Jeffrey Hansen, began handing them out. Eric had already written everyone’s names on the envelopes beforehand, so there was no chance of giving the wrong one away.
Based on each person’s role and other factors, the checks ranged from two hundred thousand to five hundred thousand dollars. Compared to Home Alone’s box office earnings, the amount seemed insignificant, but for these crew members, it already equaled several years’ worth of salary. After all, they had previously only worked in the low-budget independent film circle, earning at most tens of thousands of dollars a year.
Of course, Eric had not forgotten the actors who participated in Home Alone either. However, their bonuses would definitely be larger, so Eric planned to pay them after receiving his share from Columbia.
Some people might wonder why, after the movie had already finished production and both sides had settled accounts, he would still distribute large sums of money after the film became a hit. But every industry had its own rules, and those who broke them would find themselves unable to survive within the circle. Sharing profits after a major box office success was one of the rules of the film industry.
In his previous life, despite the continuous budget overruns of Titanic, James Cameron had explicitly stated that he was giving up all profits owed to him. Yet after Titanic achieved its box office miracle, Fox still gave him an enormous bonus, despite relations between both parties previously deteriorating to the point where they nearly drove each other to jump off buildings.
After distributing the checks, Eric officially announced the start of the party, then pulled Jeffrey Hansen upstairs.
“Jeffrey, this one’s yours. It’s enough for you to buy back Firefly.”
The two arrived at the balcony outside Eric’s bedroom on the second floor. Eric took out another envelope and handed it to Jeffrey. The check inside was for three million dollars. Eric did not feel the slightest heartache over it. Without Jeffrey Hansen, an experienced producer, helping from the beginning, Home Alone could never have progressed so smoothly.
Jeffrey Hansen accepted the envelope and rubbed it a few times before decisively handing it back to Eric.
“Hm?” Eric looked puzzled by Jeffrey Hansen’s actions.
“Eric, I’ve thought about it these past few days. Even if I buy Firefly back, without Solina, I still wouldn’t be able to grow Firefly into something bigger. So… so I have a request.”
Eric smiled. “Jeffrey, do we really need to use the word ‘request’ between us? Go ahead.”
“Eric, you said you were going to start a film company. Could I come work for you? You know, I may not be good as a director, but I do have some experience as a producer.”
Eric raised his brows in pleasant surprise. He had once entertained the same idea himself. He had even considered completely absorbing the production team Jeffrey’s wife had built.
However, Eric could sense Jeffrey Hansen’s attachment to the Firefly Film Company he had founded together with his wife. Combined with the success of Home Alone, Eric was confident enough to establish a new production team himself, so he had given up the idea of poaching people.
Now that Jeffrey had brought it up on his own initiative, there was no way Eric would refuse.
“Jeffrey, to be honest, I’d already thought about having you help me at my film company. I just felt you wouldn’t be willing to part with Firefly Film Company, so I didn’t want to bring it up rashly.”
Instead of relaxing after hearing Eric’s answer, Jeffrey Hansen looked even more nervous.
“Eric, actually… that’s not my main request. I was hoping… I was hoping your new company could also be called Firefly. After all, the original Firefly no longer exists. I know this request might be excessive, but… I can… I can work as your producer in the future without taking any share of the profits. A salary alone would be enough. I just hope you’ll consider it…”
Only then did Eric realize that Jeffrey’s feelings toward the Firefly Film Company he created with his wife had never faded. Instead, he wanted to continue part of it through Eric.
Touched slightly by that sentiment, Eric quickly made a decision in his heart. He was not particularly attached to his company’s name anyway. Originally, he had simply planned to call it Williams Film Company, like Disney, Warner, or Fox.
Now, a name that sounded good and carried emotional significance seemed even better.
“Jeffrey, no problem. The new company will be called Firefly Film Company. Honestly, I like the name too.”
Jeffrey’s right hand lifted slightly as though he had still been preparing arguments to persuade Eric. Hearing Eric’s answer, he froze.
“Eric… did you just say… I heard that correctly?”
“Of course. I agreed.”
“This is… thank you so much, Eric. I’ll definitely work hard for you. I…”
Unable to express his gratitude properly, Jeffrey simply opened his arms and tightly hugged Eric.
After Jeffrey released him, Eric once again handed over the envelope containing the check.
“Alright, Jeffrey. It’s just a name. If you’d brought it up earlier, I would’ve agreed long ago. Now take this. You earned it.”
Jeffrey still tried to refuse, but Eric directly stuffed the envelope into the pocket of Jeffrey’s suit.
“Jeffrey, even though there’s a pretty big age gap between us, we’re still good friends, right? So what you asked about the company name just now was simply a request between friends. And this is the result of your labor. Forget that nonsense you said earlier about not taking any profit shares. I still need you to wholeheartedly help me create the next miracle.”
In the end, under Eric’s persuasion, Jeffrey accepted the check.
The two discussed a few more matters regarding the establishment of the film company and preparations for Eric’s next movie before returning downstairs to the party. After announcing the creation of the new Firefly Film Company, the crew members—who had all been harboring different thoughts—immediately erupted in cheers.
After secretly checking the amount on the checks Eric had given them, this team built personally by Jeffrey’s late wife had become restless. They all knew Jeffrey wanted to reclaim Firefly, so most of them had been wavering between continuing to struggle in the independent film circle with Jeffrey or joining Eric instead.
Now that Eric and Jeffrey had arrived at a perfect solution, everyone felt relieved, and the atmosphere at the party became even more lively.
…
After chatting and laughing with cinematographer Nickell Frank for a while, Eric turned around holding a wine glass when a girl in a red high-slit dress seemed to trip over something and stumbled directly toward him.
“Stop—”
Eric quickly called out with a helpless smile, raising his left hand in front of him in a stopping gesture to halt the girl’s movement.
The girl before him, with a beautiful blond bowl cut and a delicate pointed face, instinctively stopped less than a meter away from Eric. She waved the hand holding the red wine unconsciously, splashing some of the liquid out, while embarrassment appeared across her face after being exposed.
“Miss, if you want to flirt with me, you can just say hello directly. No more crashing into me. I’ve already changed clothes twice tonight. If this keeps happening, I’ll have no choice but to appear shirtless in front of everyone, and I’m sure you wouldn’t want to see that.”
The girl, who had been extremely embarrassed moments ago, burst out laughing at Eric’s teasing tone.
“Mr. Eric, you really are funny.”
“Of course. I specifically trained myself to attract the attention of pretty girls,” Eric joked. “So then, this lovely…”
“You can call me Lucini, Mr. Eric.”
“Lucini. That’s a beautiful name. Let’s chat over there.”
Eric pointed toward an empty area nearby. To escape the endless advances of the enthusiastic—or scheming—girls at the party, Eric wisely chose a temporary female companion.
At the same time, he sighed inwardly. If Aniston were here, he would not have to deal with all this trouble. He wondered what that stubborn girl was doing in New York at this moment. Judging by the time difference between the East and West Coasts, it should already be after midnight in New York.