Around 8 pm, in his library, by himself and his laptop.
Ian had an easy day at the studio. For more than half of the day, he was checking on the past documents in the studio, and plotting out future investments. Things were going fine for him, and the time that was running felt almost like a break.
If said right, he knew that it was the calm before the storm; the storm in the huge projects that were yet to come, and the calmness was the period Ian got to spend by himself and spend thinking about the future possibilities.
Taking the laptop, he started to continue from where he left off.
Seconds turned to minutes…. Minutes turned to hours….. The time kept ticking, and Ian’s mind was fully occupied with the script of his next big project.
Phew! Finally!
Ian thought and typed the last few sentences.
_/\_
Her hand comes into
frame, stroking his cheek.
TIGHTENING slowly to extreme closeup until--
His eyes open.
CUT TO BLACK.
THE END.
_/\_
He typed it and sighed in relief. The next day was the planned meeting to meet the CEO, and VFX head of Goofy and talk about Ian’s plans. Even thinking about it made Ian feel like he'd achieve something huge shortly considering how things have been going for him.
He stood up, with all those thoughts roaming in his mind, and printed the script so that he could show it to Mason. He knew that the response from Uncle and whomever who’d read the script would give positive remarks.
The specialty with the movie he selected was, how the movie industry lacked such a movie with technology, story plot, and great execution of the idea. And according to Ian, he was ready to show the industry what it lacked and how good things could get.
With other thoughts, Ian finished all his work and walked downstairs to drink some water.
“Sir?” Valentine’s voice came, although the lights were off.
“Valerine, it’s me. I just finished work,”
The lights turned on and revealed the lady who looked extremely tired.
“I just heard some noise, and I came to see what was it.”
“It’s just me, you can go back to sleep,”
“Good night, sir.”
Valerine said and walked away to go back to sleep. Ian walked down and grabbed a cup of water. As soon as the water hit his throat, he felt he was parched before and didn’t even feel it considering how absorbed he was with his work, and his thoughts were occupied with work too.
He walked back upstairs and went to sleep, yet with another few more thousands of thoughts in his mind.
-
[At the company of Goofy]
“And once again, here we are,” The CEO of Goofy, Jeff Sanson said, walking inside the office.
Besides Ian, Lucas sat with his fingers fidgeting in front of him.
This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.
Two meetings were scheduled for the day. The first meeting was with Ian’s lawyer, Jordan Wright. It was to discuss and secure the deal between them. In the contract, there was nothing particular about the projects they’d be doing, but it was about how the relationship would be during the first project.
The deal had secured with them agreeing to everyone one of Ian’s requests,
“Hello, Mr. Sanson,”
“And we have Lucas here, so what’s the plan, Ian?” Jeff questioned looking at Ian, straight in the eye.
“Yes, so… I’m done with the script, and the thing is, as you know I need to arrange a trip to the Brazilian Rainforest, and for that, I need to take the entire VFX crew,” Ian said.
“Why?” Jeff questioned right away.
“Well the thing is, according to the deal now, the trip should be sponsored by Goofy. As to why the main reason is the project… I want to create the world—an entire world from scratch. The movie relies a lot on the VFX department. For that, I don’t think I can paint the whole picture of the world for Lucas in my mind. I genuinely need to show them what I want.
Since this is going to be a high-budget movie, I don’t want to take chances. So I suggest this should be done how I want,” Ian said. “And, apart from the VFX department of Goofy, I’m taking some other people as well. Because as I said, the investments to the movie are very essential—you understand it obviously,” Ian said.
He planned to make a big-budget movie with the investments of Goofy. So that the need for them to get cooperated with Ian’s movie would accomplish, but in reality, Ian was using them for investments and the VFX department—yet, the movie would be under Ian’s name and reputation.
Hearing the words from Ian, Lucas nodded. Seeing both of them together, and how Ian explained it, the CEO reluctantly agreed to his idea.
“Of course! Of course, Ian! Anything for you at the moment. I already have high hopes for the movie, so take it the way you want it to be. I’ll make sure to arrange the necessary funds in time,”
“Yes, what Mr Renner says is true. And we already talked about his idea. The movie is spectacularly unique. The VFX department can do wonders with it,” Lucas said, grabbing the attention of both people.
“Yeah, I already heard him. And yes, Ian. When are you planning to go?” Jeff questioned yet mocking Lucas.
Ian felt as if it was getting intimidating to be present with both of them due to how clear the tension was.
“Uhm… Yes,” Ian said, looking at Lucas and then shifting his gaze to Jeff. “Brazilian Rainforest, and then Mariana Trench… Finally, New Zealand to Paraglide,” Ian said.
“Oh okay, So, Ian….”
Jeff, Ian, and Lucas continued the discussion. But most of the time, Jeff ignored Lucas almost as if Lucas was not there among them.
-
After the discussion Ian had with Jeff Sanson and Lucas Campbell, things were settled for them to go to the Brazilian Rainforest with the VFX department. After the Brazilian Rainforest, there were some other locations they had to go to.
Ian planned to take the VFX crew, sound crew, camera crew, and Mason with him. It was mainly for the reason of just showing the locations, and explaining how he wants things based on how the actual places look.
“....So, uncle, as I said, these are the characters I want. And while we prepare for the trip, I want to see if any such potential actors could be found within the industry. More like, I have this plan of getting some of the scenes in the site itself, therefore, I need to have an idea about who I’m going to work with,” Ian said while Mason nodded listening to his words.
“Yeah, give me two days, I’ll see what I can do to help you with the cast. I think there’s someone I remember when I read the characters of the female lead. Uh… Give me some time,”
“Yeah, take time. I’ll try to find it too,”
“I have this feeling that this is going to be a huge project, Ian. And this feeling must be so true considering how many plans you have for the movie. I read the script too. It was honestly….. Exceptional! That’s one way to put it! I can’t think of anything more,” Mason said and Ian raised an eyebrow signalling him to continue.
“Ian… Avatar, in my eyes, is an eye-opening movie. The world you built with the story could literally become one of the hugest things that any director had done in centuries. The story, every character, the culture, the way you wanted to build the love for the flora and fauna… It’s truly extraordinary.
And I truly think with the way you’ve visualised the story in your mind, if only it came to a reality, this would raise you to the top of the industry in no time. The idea itself would make millions of people swoon and be fans of it, and what I can say right now is…. You have got this, son,” Mason said with a smile.
“Thank you, hope everything goes well. The words mean a lot, uncle. And I know if this movie turned out to be one of the greatest, your name would be behind the reasons too,” Ian said humbly.
There were many reasons why he chose Avatar as his next movie. The main reason was how the Goofy made connections with them unexpectedly. And, before that, he was working on another script, something far away from the VFX world, yet as soon as things happened, he changed his plan to something huge.
Avatar in Ian’s previous world was a movie made by the legend, James Cameron. With a budget of $237 million and $9 million+ for the re-release, it had made $2.847 billion at the Box Office.
Ian knew that, with Goofy's reputation and technology, he would be able to catch billions of eyes and hearts with this movie.