Page 84 of The Actor: Harrison

He grins and sits next to me, pecking the skin on my neck, making me shiver. “Damn! You are sexy when you talk business.”

“Harrison! Focus!” I order swatting away his hands trying to grope my boobs.

He chuckles but finally sits back and puts on his serious business face. “I’ve thought a lot about it and I think we’re making a mistake with this movie,” he begins, and I frown.

“With the screenplay you gave me?” I don’t understand.

He shakes his head. “No, the one we just finished.”

“Oh. Okay. Really? What do you mean?” I ask, puzzled. I think it’s a great movie, I can’t see where we could do better.

“We shouldn’t go after minor or indie festivals. Some of them require exclusive rights for the premiere. We can’t release it in movie theatres before the festivals and this stops us from aiming for more.”

“Aiming for more? Are you serious? We’re talking about big indie festivals that will give us international visibility, do you want to throw all our hard work away? I don’t understand where you’re going with this.” I try to follow his reasoning but can’t make sense of it.

His gaze is intense, like he’s trying to download his vision for the future of this movie into my brain. I swear, I’m feeling so dumb right now.

“I think we should aim for the Oscar, along with Cannes, Berlin, and Venice film festivals.” He drops the bomb and watches me intently.

I stare at him, confused. Is he serious right now? This is impossible even for him. It’s not realistic.

“We don’t have the kind of money to pull off something like that. We don’t even have a distribution company to reach the bigger theaters in Los Angeles, let alone the entire country. We are counting on those minor festivals to raise visibility and find someone willing to invest in distributing it. You’re talking about a whole other level of promotion,” I try to explain.

Harrison, more than anyone else, should know how this works. We need to create a new level of buzz around the movie for it to be considered for a nomination. Even if we find a few theaters in Los Angeles willing to show our movie for a week—the basic requirement for the Oscar—we don’t have a budget to push it.

“I know, but I also know someone who has the money and the connections to pull this off.” He grins.

“Who?” I mean, he is a big Hollywood star and can probably drop a million names right now, but I’m the small fish he has to guide into the shark tank.

“Aaron.”

I feel stupid for not having thought about him. Of course, Aaron has the money and the connections to do whatever he wants in this industry. He’s already won Oscars and Emmys with his production company. I often forget that his is not only a streaming company. He’s a producer and his job is to make successful movies.

“He’s already into the next one…” I toy with the idea.

“And I would trust him with my life,” Harrison adds another pro to the virtual list.

“He’d ask for something in return.” I try to play devil’s advocate, but I’m not so convincing.

“Yes, but I’m sure it’s something good for us too. He’s not one to fuck someone over for profit.”

Until a few weeks ago, I would have had doubts about Aaron, but after talking to him for the new movie, I feel I can trust the guy.

Two hours later we’re all sitting around the dining room table eating Chinese and explaining to Aaron what we’re thinking. Or, rather, Harrison is explaining, I’m scarfing down noodles and Aaron is looking at us like he just won the lottery.

“So, what do you think?” Harrison asks in the end.

I sip the water to swallow the prawn I’m munching and wait for Aaron’s response. Harrison assured me it wouldn’t be a problem, that he’ll certainly say yes, but I can’t stop myself from feeling a bit nervous.

Aaron is his friend, but in this case, he’s a producer and a businessman first. He won’t throw his money into this without being certain it’s a good investment.

“I think I’m interested, but I have some conditions,” he says without beating around the bush.

We both nod. We knew this was coming.

“Name it,” Harrison says with the same determination. He’s definitely better than me at negotiating.

“The first one is more to satisfy my curiosity than a real request. I want to see the movie,” he says with a grin.

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