Educational Experience

Part III--Chapter 3

Colt becomes a bona fide movie producer in this chapter. The little clip above is one of the best portrayals of what goes on in those Hollywood "pitch sessions" that I've ever seen. My screenwriter and producer pals bust a gut every time they watch it. So have fun! And then, read on! Colt's meeting the two women who will be part of that upcoming "train wreck," from which he and Wyatt will not emerge intact...

So the girls got hold of Wyatt and Che rushed me to my "office," which was a big, glass walled room in my private "residence."

And I threw my hands up on my head like I was afraid it was all going to come crashing down on me or something-weird first reaction, right? But it was just...soooo formal and...okay, very elegant, but sort of cold. To me, anyway.

The first thing I focused on was the big black desk at the far end with a black leather chair behind it and a view of the sky behind that. It gave me that same floating feeling just looking at it, so I was sure I'd have to get used to actually sitting in it.

In the middle of the room there was a huge "matching" conference table with fancy silver pitchers and crystal glasses and containers of munchies-also black-already set out in front of all the chairs. There was a black tablet and silver stylus in front of each chair, too.

It reminded me of how some people keep their dining room tables set to show off their fancy china and whatnot. Only this set up was all business. I could see a bunch of serious suits sitting there staring at me. And it gave me the creeps, I have to be honest.

There was a TV screen that almost took up an entire glass wall and looked like it was just hanging there in midair which made me smile. And there were some chair "groupings" for casual chats, I gathered. Black leather chairs, black tables...everything was black, glass or silver.

I felt sort of weird when Che left me there to get settled. But when Hugh came in, he sat down with me at the table and set the scene in a way that helped me understand exactly what was up.

"You have an up and coming young actress having trouble legitimizing her status, two young directors who've won awards but still have trouble getting that greenlight, and then a series of established producers who have pet projects Hollywood won't touch," he said. "You are the answer to all their dreams. But you're living your dream. You don't need them, they need you. And in some cases it will be important to make them acutely aware of that. This room says it for you. Or that was the general idea."

"Yeah, but this isn't me. This is you," I said. "I just used to walk in, say my piece and walk out again when JJ was in charge. Now..."

Hugh sat forward with his hands folded, smiling like a patient father.

"I'm told that one Japanese phrase for 'What do you do?' or 'What is your profession?' translates, literally, to 'What are you playing at?'" he said. "It's a way of recognizing that your career persona is something...apart from who you are with friends and family. A role you play in this...game we call a career. It's Monopoly with real money, as JJ used to say."

"Okay, yeah, I remember that," I said.

"And, he played it well. But you also know that the man in the board room was not your Uncle JJ," he said with this little chuckle. "Your JJ was a playmate. Devoted solely to making you the happiest kid on the planet."

I didn't have words for how that'd felt. Having a "playmate" like that.

So Hugh just shrugged and said, "It's play acting-only a movie, as the saying goes. And in this movie, you're Batman and I'm..."