Preparation

With unions, protection agencies, insurance policies, and mature market departments, the cost of movies that should be cheap would balloon.

The human factor is also an unstable factor that should be taken into account. There is also the cost of special effects and programming equipment that varies in every other movie.

The Creed hides from those overpriced spending under the guise of experimental film enthusiasts.

"So does that mean we only get to do this in one shot?" Alexander voiced out the obvious.

"Yes." Sullivan indulged his grandson. "We can trick everyone that these movies we are shooting are private family-bonding projects. If your predicted prospects for the first movie are correct, then we can only say that the entire thing is a happy surprise."

The Creed duo can already imagine the headlines saying 'Low-cost private shootings spawn a multimillion movie series'.

"When we finally set up a film company to hoard all five movies, our next couple of projects would then be hounded by brokerage companies, and our previously free location shootings would now be rented by the day." Sullivan foretold and the duo drove away in silence.

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Preparations went on and Alexander wanted to experience it all firsthand and wanted to compare it to the bloated payment structure that the after-projects would undergo.

It was the start of summer yet here they traveling in the snowy regions of North America. It can't be helped as Home Alone is inextricably linked to snowy Christmas.

With Sullivan's salesman debating skills and well-cultivated connections, the houses, mansions, airport terminals, and resorts to be used were finalized with a simple shake of hands or a little money.

Alexander did not know the exact location of the house from the original timeline but the one they found perfectly fit their vision.

For the mansion bit to be used in the 3rd movie, Sullivan simply recycled the mansion they were supposed to use in the Bruce Wayne fanfic.

As for the resort to be used in the 4th movie, it only took a traveling agent to know of new travel locations that wanted some publicity.

The finalized resort did not even care if their film was theatrical or direct to videotape. All they wanted to brag and lie about was that their placed was used as a filming location for a 'film crew'.

The Creeds were pretty sure that they duped the location owners but Alexander was doubly sure that the locations would economically benefit even more when the movies would achieve the results he hoped they would.

Hence, the guilt was offset by that guarantee.

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With locations finalized, the crew was next on the agenda.

Quite different from the hassle of travel for the set locations. All that Sullivan had to do was send out a notice and cheap filmmakers came flocking into their doorsteps.

They lived in San Fernando Valley. This was Sullivan's turf and the biggest cesspool of Hollywood leftovers.

The lure of fame and fortune is unparalleled and talents flock to Los Angeles by the hundreds.

The opportunity was few and they had to shift to the mecca of erotica to make ends meet.

Sullivan and Alexander were quick to choose and the chosen crew was quickly given their schedules and responsibilities.

Cameramen, sound engineers, lighting crew, propsmen, make-up specialists, and a whole lot of talents were dug up for the cheapest price.

Everyone wanted the opportunity to be part of a non-sexual series of movies and the Creeds were heartless enough to take advantage of that.

They even dug up some Industrial Light and Magic leftovers to deal with the special effects.

The bandits being blowtorched to their heads needed film magic as a Superman-level stunt double was non-existent.

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With the crew already nitpicked, the problem of equipment would be the next hurdle.

This wasn't the tech century where every civilian could be a filmmaker by virtue of Youtube, TikTok, and their handy phones.

The cost of cameras and film strips is what makes homemade filmmakers like the Creeds a rare breed of people.

They can squander yet not spend much money as Sullivan himself owns the feature film-level equipment. The costly filters and film strips are brought from his supplier at a discounted value.

Hence, they spoiled themselves with equipment but didn't spend much.

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With the crew behind the scenes and pieces of equipment finalized and briefed by Sullivan on his film ideology, the next on the agenda was the casting.

To perfectly trick everybody with convenience, the teeny-bodied Alexander would star in all five films as the snobby but genius Kevin McAllister.

It convinced everybody that the old Creed was burning bucks to spoil his only grandson.

Even as the director, Sullivan himself would be Clint Eastwood and star as the creepy old salt shoveller.

In the original, the old salt shoveller was only used for the first movie. For the Creed version, the old man would be linked to the McAllister family on a closer level.

His storyline is the big driver for the second movie. It would be far better than the original New York version with repeats of old enemies and a pigeon lady.

The casting took much more time and planning.

Most of the McAllister child cousins and adult family members did not require much thought as their exposure was low. However, important characters needed better consideration.

They were in the heart of the porn industry, so hiring people like Joe Pesci and Catherine O'Hara was impossible. Not to mention, pricey for cheapskates like the Alexander.

Fortunately, Hollywood attracts and scorns talent by the hundreds. Sullivan picked out non-union members with the cheapest acceptable pay.

Even the characters who are set to appear in all five movies like the mother and father actors have cheap pay.

A notable sibling like the fat Buzz has much higher screen time and Alexander couldn't help but think that the teen actor was closer to the original.

The bastard uncle from the original movie would also have a reoccurrence in later Creed sequels as a villain accomplice.

The entire cast didn't have any unearthed no-name actors that made a name in the future but they were the more acceptable.

Alexander knew that he wasn't lucky enough or looking forward to having co-actors like young Britney Spears or that Amidala actress.

All in all, the entire assembly was ready and the Creed's crazy idea to shoot all five films in succession was put into action.