“I don’t like you, Mr. Williams,” While his daughter went to the bathroom, John Aniston who was sitting opposite Eric suddenly said.
Although Eric was startled, he simply shrugged and asked, “May I know why, John?”
John Aniston said, “For so many years, Jenny has hated me, and I always felt guilty about what I had done to her and her mother. I kept wishing she’d forgive me, and last night she called me. She actually took the initiative to call me, you know? I was so happy I couldn’t sit still, but it turns out, the reason she called was to help her boyfriend, a guy that was going to take my baby away from me.”
Such a reason wasn’t too unbelievable. After all, daughters were usually the apple of their father’s eyes, so naturally the fathers usually didn’t have a very good impression of their daughter’s boyfriend.
Once again, Eric simply shrugged as the two men were suddenly stuck in an awkward silence.
Jennifer soon came back from the bathroom and smiled as she sat beside Eric. Such intimacy only added to John’s anxiousness, but his daughter had taken the initiative to speak to him after so long, so he wouldn’t be stupid enough to ruin his one and only chance.
After their reconciliation, lunch went fairly smoothly, at least on the surface. When John took the air of an elder and reprimanded Eric for being too ambitious, Jennifer angrily glared at him before he finally agreed to help him get in contact with some actors.
With John Aniston’s wide network of contacts in the television industry, Eric was able to soon deal with the majority of the roles, and thanks to his mediation, their pay wasn’t too high which was another source of relief for him.
However, Eric was still hesitant between the several candidates when it came to the duo of robbers, Harry and Marv, until Jennifer introduced him to one of her classmates. Looking at that naturally declining face that had even been retouched in front of the mirror, Eric settled on it right away because that guy was called Matthew Perry: one of the past six leads from Friends.
Afterwards, Eric and Jeffrey flew to Canada a few times, and ultimately settled on a home located in a small town as the filming location. They busied themselves day and night, so much so that Eric even lost a few pounds within just one week, which left Jennifer both distressed and envious.
***
October 17th, Eric’s first film as a director since his rebirth in Los Angeles was finally starting. The crew sent a few people to the town they had decided on in Canada for the scenes that took place inside the home while the rest stayed in L.A. to shoot the airport and police station scenes as those didn’t require any snow. With Hollywood being the world’s largest movie base, shooting here was a lot more convenient.
No one in the crew from the gaffer to the actors agreed to be a part of the project because of the money. Instead, they were basically giving face to John Aniston and Jeffrey Hanson. Although they had their misgivings towards Eric, they also had their own motives in mind.
They had learned about the contents of the Home Alone script, and were very glad that this young director wasn’t like those other debuting snobs who would never film something so “cheap” as they didn’t consider it art. The likelihood of the film’s success was quite high and its production budget was only $1 million. Relying on Eric’s fame from 17 Again and Jurassic Park, perhaps they might even earn a little extra as Eric had promised them a bonus if the film was a hit.
In order to repay Eric who had provided his late wife’s team with employment, Jeffrey Hanson arrived on the set everyday on time, wanting to guide the “novice” with his years of experience. But after a few days, Jeffrey began seriously questioning life, or more precisely, God’s fairness.
Eric didn’t have the impatience of a rookie: he was more like a director with many years of shooting experience; he very orderly and methodically reorganized the set design and the props; he used professional terms to discuss shots with the cameraman; he directed the lighting division to get the desired effects; he was even patient with the overly dramatic actress who played Kevin’s mother and was ten years his senior...
Of course, when consecutive errors occurred, he also showed a director’s unique skill: the director’s roar!
“Ms. Leslie, I want a puzzled expression, a confused expression, not a CURIOUS one! According to my observations, you have obsessive-compulsive disorder, so it should be easy for you! Just imagine yourself lying in bed at night when you suddenly hear dripping sounds coming from the kitchen faucet but you can’t seem to be able to find where the leak is. Picture that emotional conflict when you act. Damn it, we’re only leasing this aircraft for three hours, THREE HOURS! Now everyone get back in your positions, and Nikkel, how do you think we’ll be able to see the sky if you keep aiming your camera at the titanium alloy ceiling of the plane! Pay attention to what you’re doing! FUCK!”
Due to Eric’s excellent performance, all of the crew had recognized his position as the director. So when Ms. Leslie who played Kevin’s mother kept making mistakes on the plane scenes, Eric who was getting anxious because of the shooting schedule couldn’t help but yell, and everyone present unconsciously forgot about his age as they turned completely silent.
Nikkel Frank, a 30 year-old cameraman, didn’t even think about the fact that he had just been scolded by a brat. Instead, he subconsciously apologized, “I’m sorry, Director Williams, I will pay attention.”
---
Many years later, when Nikkel Frank would win the Oscar for best cinematography, today’s scene would be the first thing he would remember as he stood on the podium of the Kodak Theatre, “At that moment, my subconscious completely gave in to Eric’s authority as the director. Rather than seeing an eighteen-year-old boy, I saw a man born to command.”
---
After another NG, they finally wrapped the scene up, and Eric breathed a sigh of relief as he took the initiative to apologize to Ms. Leslie, “I’m sorry for being so harsh with you just now, Ms. Leslie.”
“It’s okay, director Williams, I was the one in the wrong. Besides, you look quite charming when you’re angry.”
“Uh….” Eric wanted to remind her that her reaction was a precursor to Stockholm syndrome, but he decided to let it go.
***
Over the next few days, Eric realized that every single member of the crew had changed their form of address to “Director Williams”, even Jeffrey Hanson was no exception. Eric knew that these people had acknowledged him from the bottom of their hearts. Therefore, he continued directing with renewed enthusiasm such that in just four days, they had wrapped up all the L.A. scenes. Thus, the whole team left for the small town in Canada.
Previously, several staff members had been sent to take care of setting up Kevin’s home. Although he had dealt with everything through the phone, Eric was very satisfied after seeing how everything had been arranged and also became determined to do all he could to keep Jeffrey’s crew around.
The town located in northern Canada had never experienced the shooting of a movie, so the residents were very enthusiastic and curious. Before Eric had even arrived, there were already people asking for small roles. Moreover, since they were shooting with a Christmas setting, all the residents took the initiative to decorate their homes such that the entire town was clouded in a festive atmosphere.
Eric generously agreed to their request and invited several children to appear in cameos.
The only thing they had to film in the Canadian house was Kevin pranking the two robbers. In fact, the movie didn’t really have any Christmas connotation; it was just pure comedy. Coupled with Stuart’s performance that was even better than Macaulay Culkin’s, the filming process was very fast. Eric determined that they would be able to wrap up filming within a week.
At the same time, in Los Angeles, the 17 Again crew was starting to panic. Penny Marshall needed Eric to dub some shots, but suddenly discovered that he had gone AWOL; his phone wasn’t connecting and his doors stayed firmly closed which alarmed the woman as she thought that he might have found trouble for himself, so she could only contact Jennifer to learn about his whereabouts.
Getting his contact number, Penny informed him that he had to return to L.A. within a week, and that, in addition to the dubbing, he also had to be present for the movie’s promotion.
Naturally, Eric’s filming of Home Alone was exposed. In this regard, Penny Marshall acted like a benevolent elder as she criticized him a bit for being too impatient, having only just finished filming for 17 Again, but she also didn’t think much of it. She believed that Eric had probably put together a shabby crew and was shooting a nonsensical movie like every young aspiring director.
Eric was caught between work and reality, and although his relationship with the crew was good, he still needed to fulfill his contractual obligations.
Matthew Perry would chat with him from time to time in between sets, and Eric was also very interested in him, but, unfortunately, his focus was solely on how to quickly wrap up Home Alone, so they didn’t have that many opportunities to talk much.
***
A week later, the crew successfully finished all the filming in the town, and thanks to Jeffrey and Eric’s meticulous planning, they had only spent 600,000$, leaving them with about 300,000$ which was more than enough to complete the post-production. Eric was in a generous mood as he threw an open party for the whole town.
The next day, while many people were still in a hangover state, he was already on his way to catch a flight back to Los Angeles.
It took half a day to complete the dubbing for 17 Again before Eric had to frantically busy himself with the film’s post-production.
Over the next few days, he worked more than sixteen hours a day, and to everyone’s surprise, was done with the film’s post-production in just five days. He had the completed film in his mind, so his speed was understandably fast. He had spent less than a day in completing the editing process, which made his editor look at him with eyes full of worship.
***
The next day, early in the morning, a dozen people were squeezed together in a shabby theater with only five or six decent seats. Most of them were members of the Home Alone crew, along with Jennifer who had also come to watch Eric’s work.
After a slight hum of the projector, a hazy silhouette of a blue house under the dim moonlight appeared, and the movie began.
