“So Susan’s excited about the new album?”
“She is. Marc from your old band, El Toro, is producing. She hasn’t recorded in so long. Thank you, thank you for getting my wife back where she belongs…”
“I’m just thrilled. I can’t wait to hear her voice again. It’s been absent way too long, and I think we’ve got a winner in what we’ve cooked up.”
“She hasn’t been this excited since she found out she was pregnant with Charlie.”
“I have to be honest, Jeremy. I’m excited to be working with her as little as I am. A lot of things seem to just be falling into place.” Ian winced. “You know I really hate that term, especially since I physically lived it.”
“You’ve been a busy boy.”
“You’re turn…anything in the works?”
“Not yet. Had lots of offers, but nothing excites me, lots of the same old crap. I’m getting too old and too bored with most of it. I need something I can sink my teeth into.”
Ian thought for a moment. “Okay, can I show you something? Something very different, maybe not your cup of tea, but I can’t get it out of my mind…?”
“I am very open to anything you can’t stop thinking about….”
“Hand me that tote.” He pointed to the tote that Blake had brought that morning. Jeremy sat it on the bed and Ian started rummaging through it.
“This is a new writer, one I’ve just put on retainer and talked him into bringing me just about everything. I retained him after one script, pretty run of the mill, but some really unique ideas. This stuff, this stuff he wasn’t trying to sell, it all just…I don’t know…blows my mind….”
“He wasn’t trying to sell…”
“Gut feeling. Everyone compromises somewhat on the first sell. I told him I’d put him on retainer if he brought me everything that he’d written but hadn’t tried to sell. My hunch paid off, a lot of really great stuff…this is it…Quarters…”
“Quarters?”
“Title….” He hadn’t the script to Jeremy. “Now I don’t have Jenson’s permission to let anyone else read his stuff. This one, this is just wow…edgy, sexy, funny and I think very personal.”
“Sounds great…”
“Now you would never ever in a million years do this movie, I’ve showed it to Saxon…”
“And…?”
“She loved it, but agreed it was totally uncastable. I think that maybe once you read this you and he might be able to get together and create something, something that will excite both of you.”
“Personal, you said…”
“This just rings to realistic. I’m wondering if maybe it isn’t a little autobiographical, and I really should ask him if I could let someone else see it first. So if he turns me down, we’ll have to figure something else out…”
“Especially since you seem to be handing it out like breath mints at a Garlic Festival…. Okay Mr. Executive, give me the run down….”
“The short sell is a guy getting involved in something and letting it take total control of his life. It destroys everything, including his wife and best friend, and then how he pulls himself out of it and attempts to go on…”
“It’s not one of those drug or alcoholic things?”
“Nope, although he does get involved with drugs, he gets wrapped up in porn.”
“Addicted to watching….”
“Uh…no…. performing….”
“Ah, a porn star…”
“No not really….”
“Computer downloads…amateur stuff actually…” a third voice entered the room. “And they prefer the term Adult entertainment, but that’s just a term like sanitation engineer, its still means garbage man.” He smiled and stuck out his hand. “Hello, Mr. Tyson, I’m Jenson Michael.”
Jeremy shook his hand. “Good to meet you, and call me Jeremy. Ian was just filling me in on how profound he thinks your work is, particularly this script.”
“Thank you, both.” He put his hands in his pockets. “I didn’t hear the whole conversation, but I think now is the time to ‘fess up. It’s very personal, and it will haunt me forever. I try not to be ashamed, and in many ways I am not, but I know that it will haunt me for the rest of my days…”
“Jenson, this…” Ian pointed to the script now at Jeremy’s side “This is just brilliant…”
“But no one would touch it in a million years, except maybe the adult entertainment industry and they’d give it a sappy happy ending and a million dollar money shot.”
Ian nodded his head. “I was going to let Jeremy read it, so he could see what you are capable of and maybe the two of you could get together and create something, something just as good that would give Jeremy what he needs to take you both to the next level.”
“That would be great. Please, sir…uh…Jeremy…read it. I almost didn’t include it; I guess it was my way of chickening out in telling Ian about my past. I knew I’d eventually have to come clean…”
“Jenson, this does not change a thing in our working or personal relationship. You’re writing is brilliant and the fact that you’ve been through what you’ve obviously overcome just makes me respect you even more. I’ve been reading everything you keep coming up with. I’ve been devouring it like chocolate.
“You’re kidding?” Jenson sat down.
“Holy crap!” Jeremy had sat on the empty bed and was tearing through the script. “Just how autobiographical is this?”
Jenson drew a little circle on the floor with his toe. “Names changed to protect the innocent…”
“Zaps you from page one, doesn’t it?”
Jeremy put up his hand, as in do not disturb me and flipped to the next page.
“A rather different kind of action script, is it not?” Ian asked.
“Shhh!” Jeremy hissed. “Oh my God!” He looked at Jenson and turned the next page.
“I’ve never been in the same room while somebody read that. In fact, no one but me has ever read it…”
“Uhm…well, maybe one or two others have read it.” Ian admitted.
“One or two others?”
“Look Jenson, I’ve already optioned you for two series, but “Quarters” is several notches above…anything, plus the subject matter has hit close to my heart for some reason. I’ve showed it to a few people hoping they might feel the same way. Sorry if I over stepped my bounds.”
“I am…there are no words, Ian. You have in many ways been a savior to me…”
“Let’s never go that far, Jenson…”
“You literally pulled me out of the garbage, at least my script anyway and in just the last few months you keep finding ways to make every dream I’ve ever had a reality. You show whatever you want of mine to anyone you want. I trust you implicitly.”
“Jenson, I appreciate your praise, but I’m just betting on a winning horse.” Ian smiled. “Speaking of which, gimme a buck, take a look under that food cover and guess what the muck is. Winner gets the pot.”
“You are kidding me?” Jenson smirked.
“Serious.” Ian said.
“No I mean there’s no way anyone could guess what the stuff is.”
“Of course not.” Ian laughed. “It’s kind of like culinary horseshoes, closest to the mark gets the point.”
Jenson leaned over and sniffed. “That smells like it’s been through the system once already. Is that some sort of bread chunk? Pot pie?”
Ian reached out his free hand. “A dollar and I’ll put you down.”
Ian and Jenson discussed plans for the two series they were working on, tossing out ideas for storyboarding and future episodes. Jenson promised Ian that he’d bring him a few more scripts that he’d tinkered with and a list of ideas for a season’s worth of episodes by Monday morning.
While they plotted and planned, Jeremy read…and laughed…and moaned…and cried. When he finally read the last page, he closed the script and walked over to where Jenson was seated. He got on his knees and held the script to his chest. “This is mine…”
“Sure you can have it. I have it on disk at home…”
“No Jenson, you don’t understand. This is it. I want to do this film.” He was dead serious.
“You’ve got to be kidding me...” Jenson was floored.
“Jeremy…?” Ian blinked.
“I know, I know, we’ll never cast it, no one will want to direct, no one will distribute, no one will go see it…fuck it…I want to do this film…”
“Holy smokes…” Jenson began to tremble.
“If you’re going to throw up, Jenson,” Ian pointed to the bed stand. “There’s a bed pan in there.” He took the money out of it just in case.
“Its intimate, small, the budget will be tiny. I’ll even finance it myself.” Jeremy looked at Ian. “My only question is, are you in?”
“Me?”
“Put your money where your mouth is, buddy. We’ll form our own little production company. Susan will probably get involved. You’ll exec produce, and call Saxon, she’s perfect. Hell, I’ll direct myself if I have to...”
“I guess we could go the film fest route, see if we could find a distributor that way…”
Jenson waved his hands. “Wait…wait…are you guys sure? No matter how hard you try this is going to be a pretty graphic film…there’s probably no chance at all it would get an R rating…you’d have to release unrated…”
“Not a problem for me.” Jeremy was up and pacing the room. “Damn, this is the role of a life time and I don’t care if no one sees it…”
“What if it ruins…your career?”
“Who cares…I’d rather go out doing something that has real bite, gives insight to something that is an unspoken...I don’t know…problem…blight…whatever…”
“But the sex…the nudity…the…uh…?” Jenson cautioned.
“If you think showing a little weenie is a problem with me, you haven’t seen a couple of my films…I’d rather be known as the guy who destroyed his career doing this…” he waved the script in the air. “Then spend the rest of my days playing shoot ‘em up until they have to hire a butt stand in for the obligatory shower scene.” He turned again to Ian and pointed his finger at him. “One more time, Ian Justyn—are you in?”
“Does it make a difference?” He asked.
“Yes. I could do this alone, but with you on board I know we can make this more than a vanity project. Together we’ll find a way to make this something that people will stop and want to see, regardless. Are you in?”
“I’ll have to check on the legalities of it, but if it means that much to you, Jeremy, I will be in as much as HRT will let me…”
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