Getting off the car

Burbank, located in the northeast of Los Angeles, was a city with a population of fewer than 80,000 people living within 17 square miles. However, it had earned the reputation of being the "Media Capital of the World", which seemed to be more famous than New York. Not only because Burbank was adjacent to Hollywood, occupying a favorable location, but also because it was home to many top media and entertainment companies. Companies like Disney, Warner Bros., NBC, Viacom, and PBS had branches here. In addition, there were dozens of large studios scattered around, making Burbank busy all year round.

As Hugo drove along the European-style streets of Burbank, he saw a sign at the intersection that read "Warner Boulevard", and only then did he feel relieved. Although they were stuck in traffic all the way, at least they had arrived at their destination. Looking at the time, it was already 9:45, and Hugo knew that being late was inevitable. But now he couldn't solve the problem by being anxious, so he could only force himself to calm down and look around at the scenery.

In fact, there were no iconic buildings around here. Rows of villa-style three-story buildings were scattered among the green trees, but they did not look like residential areas; they looked more like embassy districts. Joseph turned the car into a large iron gate, showed his credentials to the security guard at the entrance, and then drove into the park.

There were no signs at the entrance of the park, making it seem like an ordinary place, but Hugo knew that this was Warner Bros. Studios with the most studios in Burbank. Countless movies had been filmed here. Since Warner Bros. owned five of the largest studios in Los Angeles, major companies rented studios here for movie production, not only Warner Bros., but also other companies. This time, "A Few Good Men" was invested by Columbia Pictures, but it was filmed at Warner Bros. Studios.

After the car was parked, Hugo and Joseph ran to the studio, but even so, Hugo was still late. Looking at the clock, it was pointing to the "2" position, which meant that Hugo was ten minutes late. Such a thing was unpleasant in any situation, let alone the fact that Hugo was not a "popular" actor right now.

Hugo and Joseph walked into the studio, panting and apologizing all the way, but the staff around them were obviously indifferent, even showing a clear rejection on their faces. They didn't even intend to hide it, which made Hugo feel the bad atmosphere directly.

Looking around, he didn't see Rob's figure. Jack, Demy, and other main actors were not in visible positions in the studio either. Joseph could only ask the staff standing next to him, "Excuse me, where is the production team?" According to the normal procedure, someone would have greeted the actors upon their arrival, such as the director, producer, production team, or assistant director who would take over the task of receiving the actor. But today, obviously no one came to receive Hugo.

"I don't know." This was the response from the staff. After experiencing the same answer from three consecutive staff members, Joseph and Hugo no longer understood what was going on. They felt like fools.

Obviously, the "A Few Good Men" crew intended to give Hugo a warning. This was not unexpected.

The success or failure of a movie involves many aspects, from the current actors to the behind-the-scenes props, the crew is a whole, and only with everyone working together can an excellent movie be created. However, the actors bear the responsibility of presenting the whole crew's hard work on the big screen, so often the actors' performances determine the movie's outcome - which is also why actors' pay always accounts for the biggest portion of the movie's labor costs.

The success or failure of the movie also sustains the entire crew's income. In short, whether the crew staff can get a share of the profits will largely depend on the actors' performances, ignoring the complex relationships in between.

In this situation, the crew gave up on Tom Cruise, who was currently at the peak of his career, two days before filming started, and chose Hugo Lancaster, the current worst actor winner of the Golden Raspberry Award. Although the crew staff did not have the right to change the producer's decision, expressing regret and complaint in their hearts was still not a problem.

In a situation where the staff generally did not have high hopes or were dissatisfied with Hugo, he was late on the first day of reporting, which meant irresponsibility, arrogance, carelessness, lack of dedication, poor time management, and lack of professionalism... Even if it were Tom who was late, the staff would probably not have a good attitude, let alone Hugo, who was already unpopular?

But what could Hugo say? He was already in the wrong for being late. Furthermore, offending the crew staff was not a wise choice. Actually, Hugo was mentally prepared before coming. He had encountered such a situation in the "Scent of a Woman" crew before, but he was only a supporting role then, and his impact on the crew was not significant. In addition, from director Martin to male lead Al, everyone favored Hugo, so the entire movie production went relatively smoothly. However, "Scent of a Woman" had not been released yet, and Hugo's situation had not improved much. It was estimated that the resistance he encountered in "A Few Good Men" would only be greater and not less.

Therefore, all Hugo could do was express his apologies and then put all his efforts into his work, delivering an excellent performance. Compared to explaining with words, the best way to win over these picky crew staff was to put out a truly outstanding performance. This was the only way.

Joseph had also prepared himself for this situation, but facing the staff's coldness, he still felt uneasy because he knew how hard Hugo had worked in the past two months, and the role in "A Few Good Men" was entirely based on Hugo's strength. He did not think Hugo deserved this kind of treatment.

Joseph took a few deep breaths and adjusted his mood before speaking up loudly, "I sincerely apologize for our lateness, but we've already wasted enough time. I believe Rob and Jack are waiting for us. Does anyone know where the rehearsal room is? Please let us know, thank you."

Joseph lived up to his reputation as a broker, using both soft and hard tactics in his speech. On the one hand, he apologized, but on the other hand, he threatened the staff. If they were late for too long, the director, Rob, would definitely find out and the staff would have to face his anger. And don't forget, Jack Nicholson was rushing to meet the shooting schedule, and he couldn't wait any longer.

Sure enough, after everyone looked at each other, a person walked out of the crowd with a polite smile on his face, looking disheveled and sweaty. "Sorry, sorry, I just had to take care of something. I'm Algric Chaplin, in charge of the production."

This man was of average height and ordinary-looking, with nothing memorable except for his Mediterranean hairstyle - if you didn't count the oily shine on his face. His smiley face was clearly a polite and insincere social facade, even slightly awkward in social situations, but Joseph had no intention of exposing the man's mask and just smiled and nodded. "No problem. Let's go see Rob quickly. Hugo and I were already late, and I hope we won't be delayed any longer."

Joseph never defended himself, pushing the responsibility onto traffic jams and other issues, but he candidly admitted his lateness, which won him a few points in the eyes of the staff who were originally biased against Hugo, although it was insignificant.

Algric led Hugo and Joseph to move slowly and casually, chatting about some boring topics related to the weather and traffic. It was clear that although Algric was forced by Joseph to lead the way, he still didn't let go of his plan to make Hugo late. He deliberately delayed the time all the way, making the fact that Hugo was late indisputable, which would be difficult to please in the eyes of people like Rob, Jack, and Demi.

This kind of bloodless tactic is too common in the crew, which is also why you shouldn't easily offend staff. Before crossing over, Hugo once saw a performance where a singer offended the organizers' staff, and as a result, there were problems with the lighting when the lights were turned on. The audience below watched the singer as if they were watching a zombie, with a pale face. The singer burst into tears after leaving the stage, but had no way to express their grievances.

However, not offending staff didn't mean Hugo wouldn't fight back.

A road that could be reached within five minutes of walking ended up taking a quarter of an hour to reach. When Hugo arrived at the meeting room, he was already half an hour late. He walked in quickly and said to Rob with a serious and sincere tone, "I'm really sorry for being late."

Rob still had a smile on his face and didn't seem to mind much, but Jack, who was sitting next to him, had a sullen face. He was holding an imaginary sign that clearly read "I'm not happy" as he snorted heavily, "You're half an hour late on the first day of script practice. Why not just postpone the script practice by two hours from now on?"

Rob stood awkwardly next to them, while Daisy, who originally planned to greet Hugo, stiffened in place. She didn't even have to turn around to see the almost uncontrollable smile on Algric's face.

Joseph originally wanted to explain, but Hugo stopped him. Being late was a fact, and he didn't need to make excuses. "I'm really sorry, it's all my fault. I promise it won't happen again next time. I'm sorry," Hugo said sincerely and seriously, without a smile.

Jack easily sensed Hugo's sincerity, and this genuine attitude made him somewhat relieved. After all, Hugo did not constantly shirk responsibility and find excuses like those young people. However, Jack still had no intention of letting Hugo go and continued to stand with his arms crossed, a posture of keeping strangers at bay.

Hugo continued, "We were late when we arrived at the studio, and we apologized to the staff and delayed some time. Fortunately, Alric brought us here, or Joseph and I wouldn't have known where the meeting room was. It only took us a quarter of an hour on the road, but I'm really sorry for keeping everyone waiting."

Although Hugo was the one apologizing, silently, everyone in the meeting room, including Rob, Jack, and Daisy, turned their gaze to Algric standing at the back. Algric was still trying to suppress the smile on his lips, but he suddenly felt a thousand arrows piercing his heart from the intense stares. The warmth in his heart was instantly drowned with a bucket of cold water.