At Cube’s Studio - Editing Department, main studio.

The main editor of the project Resident Evil was a few feet away from Angela Bird, the director who sat with them just to check on how the editing process was going.

“Brett, I think it would be more than enough to just focus on the left corner. Like, can we lower the contrast?” Angela asked.

“Yes, I’m trying. I think the sound isn’t mixing up too well either. The gunshots are a bit later than the video,” Brett said while looking at the sound director who sat right next to them.

“I’m trying, I’m trying.”

“Okay, I’ll be back in an hour. I have to finalize some stuff with the marketing team. Good luck,” Angela Bird said, stood up, and walked out of the studio in a single stride.

“She is kind of hard to deal with.

“Perfection is everything,” the sound director mimicked Angela’s voice.

“Can’t blame her though. After the release of the trailer, there were plenty of comments doubting her skills just because she went on a long break,” Brett said, taking a sip from the iced coffee which accompanied her while he was under her strict gaze.

“The only reason why people are like she is strict and tough to work with is, how she wanted shots exactly as she imagined them. I heard the female lead saying in an interview that Ms. Bird made her go through the same shot twenty times. It was during the first few shots though.”

“Yeah, but-” The sound director took a sip from his drink. “She does her job completely and perfectly. Like, many female directors shrug the entire movie off and handle it to the editing department right after the shooting.

What they don’t know is how the director must be there, at least until the sound directors and editors get a grasp of the movie and how it is going.”

“You’re right. When is Resident Evil going to be out?” Brett asked after a long pause.

“We are at the end anyway. If everything goes as planned, it wouldn’t take so long.”

“The trailer was released without a release date?”

“No, the release date was mentioned. But you know how movies work. Some movies get delayed and some completely postpone the date, although the latter is something that’d piss off many waiters,”

“Ah, I brought you guys food. We have been working for three hours now. Just eat something,” Angela brought two burgers and fries to both the people who sat for fours straight working on the project.

“That’s kind of you. Thanks!”

“Haha, no problem. Were you guys talking about how strict I’m?” Angela asked, making both the men gasp in shock.

One choked in his saliva, and the other one simply smiled with a shrug.

“Not our words, I mean, you are not strict-”

“Right, I’m not-” Angela said and walked over with the food in her hand. “This is the first movie that I’m putting so much effort into. And I want it to be one of those best movies of mine. Also, including director Ian, I don’t want to disappoint anyone, myself either. So, I’d do anything in my power to get the execution I expect.” She said with a smile.

“Yeah, you didn’t have to explain,” The sound director said while Brett nodded while agreeing.

“Yeah, well. I just felt like it. And trust me, this is the first time I said it. Anyway, I was thinking of a vibrant effect where the girl was screaming. It could have been better that way, can we go back and edit?” She asked.

“Sure, give me a second,” Brett said while typing things quickly on his laptop.

Thus, they were almost close to the end of editing.

-

At White Devil Theater, New York City.

Ian, Mason, Harley, and Raelyn were seated in the theater to find the new big faces that would be on the screen for Ian’s next movie, Marriage Story.

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Ian already had some faces in mind, so it was easy for him to find people and complete the entire casting process—but the hard part was finding perfect faces for it.

One might think that due to how Ian had the faces in mind, he could simply just find talents and appearances for it, but for Ian, it made things even more difficult.

Not only did he compare the idols he had in mind, but also he tended to look for talents that could improve the movie in every way possible.

“Come over here!” The person who led the actors made them sit a little bit far from Ian and the panel of judges.

There were all sorts of actors there. Ian had specifically chosen some of the files that Murphy had received.

From that, the actors and actresses present today would be selected for the roles Ian had organized for the movie.

“Mary Lavender!” Ian called out.

A young girl, with long hair grown past her shoulders, walked to the stage and stood tall.

She smiled at the audience, and Ian went off with, “Do you have any monologues practiced?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Okay then, you can present it!”

The girl took a few minutes to get ready. The audience including Ian, Mason, and the other few men and women kept looking at her.

‘Why does my anxiety hit right when Ian Renner is in front of me?!’ The girl smiled on her face, but inside her mind, she was having too many thoughts at once.

“I’m ready.” She said looking down at the few people.

This was a golden opportunity for her. Although she was a B-grade actress, there were only twenty-five people including her that Ian had chosen to audition for the day.

“Okay.

Into the shower. Boom. Bedroom. Make-up. Boom. Gonna make an effort. I take half an hour trying to look nice and I ended up looking… amazing. I mean, best in ages. One of those days. Boom.

Gorgeous, fresh-faced, heels, wearing a skirt, new top, a little bit sexy, on my way to save my café and yes, I am strutting.

I see a man walking towards me from the bus stop. He can’t take his eyes off me. I’m all walking like I’ve got a paintbrush up my arse, thinking:

Yeah, check me out, cos it’s never gonna happen, Chub Chub!”

The way she presented herself made everyone laugh.

By the end of her little part of acting, everyone was laughing. Even Ian had teary eyes for how much he laughed.

The pacing was perfect. Her acting was perfect. Heck, even the way she looked was perfect.

“That was awesome!” Ian said with a smile. “Thank you so much, I’ll let you know the results through your agent.”

The girl walked down the stage and out of the theater after thanking everyone.

Her opening audition with the rest of the actors gave an extra pump seeing how Ian and the rest of the panel reacted.

[...] After a few more auditions, Ian was talking to Mason about the character he had in mind for the last actor who walked off the stage.

“...I want her role to be enthusiastic, energetic, and spontaneous. And that is exactly what I looked forward to. Uh, Melina who just went… I don’t think she had enough charisma to be called Cassie. We’ll keep our options open,” Ian said and nodded.

“Jack, Jack Woods!” Raelynn called the next actor who was ready to take the stage.

“Hello! I’m Jack Woods. I’m a huge fan of Ian Renner’s movies, and…” Ian chuckled at his words. “Haha… Yeah, that one was true. And, I have acted in four movies. I got into acting on December seventeenth, last year.”

“Okay, I’d like to give you a challenge, Jack. Are you ready?” Ian asked.

“Anything for you, sir.”

With his dimple popping and him smiling at his own words, everyone else laughed at the man’s courage to joke in his audition.

“I’d give you a dialogue, give me five different expressions out of it. Five different, Jack. I don’t want to see you sad twice, so pick your best expressions. Focus on your facial expressions, and your shoulders. Because every part of your body tells its own story,” Ian said for which the guy nodded.

In a few minutes, a piece of paper was handed over to him from Raelynn.

And after taking another few more seconds, Jack got ready to nail his auditions in front of his current favorite director.

“Okay, sir, I’m ready!”

“Off you go,” Ian said and in his mind, he snickered at the sound of Simon Cowell.

Jack stood straight, his fists clenched in anger, and he started yelling.

“Oh, well well well. Look who is here! And here I thought that you’re the last one to be concerned when I’m ready to jump off of this building!” He said in anger.

“Cut!”

“Next one… Ready? And… Action!” Ian commanded and the actor continued to do so for the next few minutes. Changing his expressions, movements, voice, facial features, where he looked how he stood—it all counted.

Of course, it wasn’t a theater audition, but Ian wanted to check the young man’s talents as well as spice up the auditioning process.

“Thank you, I’ll let you know within a few days!” Ian said and the man thanked everyone and walked himself out.

“Excuse me, sir,” Murphy walked inside and looked at Ian dead-eyed.

“Yeah?” Ian asked with a frown.

“An agent is waiting to meet you.”

“Agent? Whose agent?” Ian asked back.

“Uh, an actor. Mark Hamill.”

“What?” Ian asked back, surprised, which made everyone who sat beside him turn to look at Ian with the expression, ‘what happened?’.