Not much difference

The next morning, Lyman was awakened by the intense sunlight shining through the window. After finishing the outline of the script last night, Lyman felt drowsy and climbed into bed without even remembering to close the window he had opened while taking a stroll. He rubbed his hair vigorously. Although his mind was still a bit foggy, Lyman didn't want to go back to sleep.

With blurry eyes, he slipped on his slippers and made his way to the bathroom. After freshening up, he felt a little more refreshed. He changed his clothes, picked up the script outline, closed the door behind him, and left. Walking on the relatively tidy street, the bright summer sun instantly woke him up.

Cars zoomed past while pedestrians strolled leisurely. Despite wearing cool clothes, it was inevitable to start sweating. Lyman thought to himself, "If I had known, I would have asked René to pick me up instead of meeting at the studio." But there was nothing he could do. It was already a fact, and daydreaming wouldn't change anything.

Continuing along the street, the tall trees on both sides of the road provided some shade from the sun, making it slightly more bearable. Not far away, there was a breakfast shop Lyman had eaten at a few times before. The food was decent, but the main reason was its proximity to his home and its location on the way to the studio.

Upon entering, Lyman saw a large table with various food plates, offering a variety of bread options. On the other side, there was a large iron bucket filled with hot milk. Lyman spoke up, "One croissant, one chocolate bread, and a glass of iced coffee."

The smiling chubby owner, wearing a mask, heard his order and swiftly picked up a bread tong, gently and quickly selecting the items from the food plates. With his other hand, he took out a plastic bag, skillfully packaging the two breads. He then retrieved a packaged coffee from behind the counter and handed it to Lyman, saying, "That will be €8 in total."

After paying and receiving his change, the chubby owner smiled and said, "Welcome back anytime." He then attended to the next customer's request.

It wasn't hard to notice that all the food mentioned was sweet, even Lyman didn't understand why. Perhaps the French believe that breakfast, as the first meal to replenish energy for the day, require glucose the most.

As Lyman walked and ate, by the time he neared the studio, he had finished his breakfast. He crumpled the empty coffee bag and the plastic bag that held the bread, and neatly threw them into a nearby trash bin. Taking out his keys, he opened the door to the studio and walked in swiftly.

The studio was located on the street outside Monica's neighborhood, about two kilometers away from Lyman's apartment. The interior space was not large, approximately twenty square meters, with a toilet but without the necessary facilities for bathing. Well, it was just an empty shell. Neither Lyman, René, nor even Thomas lived there.

René's place was an apartment on the central street of Cannes. His father bought it for him, and he moved out of his parents' house once he reached adulthood. On the other hand, Thomas lived in the Monica neighborhood. It was a property owned by one of his uncles and lent to him temporarily.

Lyman took out a mop from the bathroom and decided to clean the floor during his free time. It had been over a week since he last came here, and there was some dust on the ground. Just as he was about to clean the nameplate at the entrance, René arrived.

He drove his silver car, which was a model from the DS brand, and rushed over. "Hey, buddy, you've been staying at home and missing out on a lot of things," René said, pretending to be regretful as soon as he entered the studio's door.

"What did I miss?" Lyman cooperatively asked, playing along and taking up the question.

"You missed out on our activity of admiring beautiful women together. A few days ago, Thomas and I went to Martinez Beach. Just one glance, and it was all bikinis. It was so tempting... sizzling," René smacked his lips, making an exaggerated expression.

"Oh, come on, I've been to that place before. Is it necessary for you to be like this? Seriously, let's focus on work," Lyman said, puzzled. Looking but not doing anything was something only silly kids like René enjoyed doing. Acting like a ladies' man, he was a pure romantic. Lyman saw through it all.

"Do you have a new plan?"

Upon hearing the words "focus on work", René's eyes became more alert. The journey of creating "Buried" was still fresh in his memory, and it was a success that made him eager to work on the next film project.

"Yeah, I have some ideas. Take a look at the story outline first," Lyman said, taking a stack of papers from the file bag on the table and handing them to René.

With a sense of anticipation, René took the papers and sat on a wooden stool, carefully flipping through them.

Hmm, what a crappy title, "3 Idiots". Let's see... Damn, the plot is set in India. Keep reading... It's still about college students. After reading it all, René's previously high expectations faded away. Many unanswered questions piled up in his mind, and he couldn't help but express them.

"I think we should start by changing the title," René began to voice his opinion.

Taking advantage of the time when René was reading the script, Lyman cleaned the nameplate hanging outside the studio. Upon hearing René's suggestion, he responded, "Change it to what?"

René said, "Trapped, how about that? It's direct and resonates with the ending."

"Why don't you just call it three fools? More straightforward and understandable," Lyman rolled his eyes, ignoring the suggestion.

Clearly unsatisfied, René continued expressing his views, "Then why focus on the Indian education system? Stories set in French, British, or American schools would be just as interesting. Why go so far?"

"I'm going to involve the caste system. Do these countries have it?" One sentence knocked René out.

He thought for a moment and continued, "Will there be an audience for our film set in India?"

"As long as we tell the story well, even non-English films can have audience support. Film art knows no boundaries." Lyman finally understood René's concerns. It was mainly about the fact that the main setting was in India, and the actors would be selected from there. René was afraid it would be too risky.

These days, non-English films indeed had a hard time making a mark in the global market. There were few commercially successful films, mostly relying on word-of-mouth rather than box office performance.

"Well, since you've thought it through, I don't have any other questions," René unfolded the papers and asked, "What do you need to do, and what's your creative approach?"

"Do you know about India's caste system? Do you have an understanding of the entire education system? The main direction is to explore these topics. I need you to write the background conditions clearly so that my shooting approach becomes more apparent."

"Oh, buddy, you've given me another challenge. When will you make a film set in France? It's not like I can delve too deep into this Indian country. Besides, it involves social system issues. You've really given me something to do. I might have to refer to various literature sources and possibly bother my mentor again." René was also exasperated. Why did his good friend always like making films with difficult backgrounds to investigate? Why not go for something simpler? It was really difficult for him.

"Just tell me if you can do it or not," Lyman looked at René and said, "Perfect the background, the way characters speak, and the life details in various places. This time, we're aiming for a big hit."

"Oh, by the way, I haven't asked you yet. This film seems like it will require a significant budget. Do you have enough funds for production?"

"Don't worry, I have a plan," Lyman said confidently. Upon hearing this, René didn't say anything. He took the file bag, organized the script outline, and left.

Studying the social background of India was not an easy task, and he anticipated being busy. Watching René leave, Lyman stood in the studio and, after careful consideration, decided to complete all the preliminary preparations first. This would also make his pitch to EuropaCorp for investment more convincing.

He called Thomas, and the two of them went to various guilds to register their project. Their first stop was the French Screenwriters' Guild, where the procedures were straightforward. They submitted a brief description of the script and paid a small fee to have it officially recorded for the new project.

France had comprehensive copyright laws, but Lyman didn't expect the registration with the French Screenwriters' Guild to play a crucial role in protecting their creative rights. Film companies never had much integrity, and plagiarism was commonplace. Even if they ended up in court, such lawsuits could easily drag on for one or two years. Freedom and democracy, those who understood knew.

The role of the French Screenwriters' Guild was merely an added layer of protection, not a guarantee that their script would be inviolable. No one would be foolish enough to think that once a script was registered with the French Screenwriters' Guild, everything would be worry-free. If it were that simple, it would be great.

After obtaining the registration document, they hurriedly went to L'ARP (La Société civile des Auteurs-Réalisateurs-Producteurs). The entry requirements here were more stringent, and Lyman successfully joined based on the release of "Buried" and his complete creative experience.

Paying an annual membership fee provided assistance from the guild, such as pressuring production companies to negotiate suitable salaries and fair profit shares for films. The personnel of L'ARP would strive to obtain the best conditions for every director under their banner. This would be a strong support when Lyman negotiated with EuropaCorp.

After completing a series of tasks that could potentially benefit their negotiations, their next step was to visit the French Society of Cinematographers. They handled the procedures for Thomas. Since Thomas wanted to become a true cinematographer in the industry, having qualifications was essential. With the guild's help, his situation would be better.

Another task was to prepare the budget report for the filming. Lyman started to put effort into compiling it, aiming for logical and well-supported information. It was a time-consuming task.