Dreams of Stardom (Hollywood SI)

Ring Ring

“Hello?” Mum answered the phone in our living room, “Yes, this is his mother, Kathy.”

She paused for a moment before a blinding smile lit up her face. “Oh, that’s wonderful news. Of course, we can come down to discuss terms. Tomorrow? Yes, that’s doable.”

As soon as she put down the phone, she gave me the beaming smile she usually did. “You got the part!”

Although it was the third movie I’d be doing and the second movie involving an audition, I still felt elated at the news.

“YES!” I celebrated excitedly, jumping around. I rushed to Mum and hugged her tightly. “Thank you for letting me do this, Mum!”

“Anything for you, love.” She returned my embrace with equal fervor.

After separating, she said, “Let’s discuss some terms before we present them to the producers tomorrow.”

I nodded and sat down on the couch happily.

“First of all, they’ll continue your dance lessons for your role, so we won’t need to negotiate for that,” she stated the obvious.

“Yes. And the best part is that it’s with Peter, so that’d be great,” I gushed excitedly.

“Yes,” Mum nodded. “Next are your music and martial arts lessons. As [Dancer] is a small-budget film, we cannot make too many demands of the production. I’ll ask them if they can accommodate it, but no guarantees.”

That was understandable. I could always practice music on my own for two months if it came to that.

“They are obligated by law to provide you with a personal tutor, so that won’t be a problem. Now, the important part of negotiations is your pay.”

“What about it?” I asked curiously. “I got $250k for [The Sixth Sense]; I can’t believe I can get any more than that before it releases.”

Mum shook her head. “No, that was before you got the Golden Globe. Given what they know about you starring in [Harry Potter], you can easily get half a million at the very least from any other average to high-budget film.”

“What about this one?” I asked the obvious question.

“I don’t think they’d pay you anything more than $100k,” Mum said frankly. “This makes our position a little stronger as we can put forth a condition for future dividends.”

“Dividends? Don’t only the top stars get dividends?” At least that’s what I believed wholeheartedly.

Mum shook her head. “Not really, no. See, most small-budget indie films fail at the box office; many don’t even get distributors. So production companies limit their budget by paying actors lesser salaries to maximize profit. Usually, most renowned actors won’t work in small-budget films in this case, so producers attach a profit-sharing incentive to lure big stars to small-budget films.”

“But I’m not a big star! Neither am I old enough to demand profit sharing yet,” I argued.

“Why are you so hell bent on reducing your own pay?” Mum asked incredulously.

“I don’t want to lower my salary! It’s just that… I feel like even $100k is enough for a two-month job. I don’t exactly need too much money. And we have [Harry Potter] to earn money from, after all.” I gave my excuses.

In hindsight, yes, it was me being an immature ass who didn’t know his own self-worth.

“Don’t worry too much about money, love. But keep in mind that it’s not just a two-month job. You have to do interviews, film promotions, and attend film festivals. And, of course, you have to face fans and people wherever you go for years to come who may remember you for this small indie role that you once did. Is that fair for a two-month job? And remember, the money that you don’t take goes to big corporate giants who already have too much money.”

“When you put it like that…” I trailed off and sighed. “Fine, you do the negotiating. Get as much money as you can from them. Or rather, don’t.”

I paused for a moment or two and went through some calculations in my mind. [Billy Elliot] earned more than $100 million worldwide in my past life. Assuming things go in a similar direction this time as well, I can safely say that even if I get 1% of the gross revenue, I’d still get more money than the $500k that I’d normally get.

“Don’t ask for a gross salary at all,” I declared. “Ask for a share in the gross theatrical revenue. Even if you could get me 2%, that would be enough.”

Mum was looking at me, shell-shocked. “2%? Really? What if the film never gets released? Or doesn’t break even?”

“2%, subject to a minimum of $100k?” I answered after thinking for a bit. “That would be my expectation. You can obviously go higher if you can.”

“I like the way you’re thinking now,” Mum agreed with my idea. “I will ask for a share in home video if the film is not widely released in theaters.”

“Nice,” I smiled at her determination. “You go do that. I have a phone call to make to share the good news.”

“Oh? May I ask who?”

“Toni,” I smiled. Toni Collette was the sole reason I was involved in ballet, so I felt I owed it to her to tell her the good news first.

(Break)

Stephen Daldry was sitting beside one of the producers of the movie [Billy Elliot], Jon Finn, when another man barged into the room.

“Is it true? You finalized Billy without confirming with me?” His voice was as calm as usual, but there was a hint of detectable resentment in it.

“Now, Greg, let me assure you, we’re just negotiating the contract. Nothing is set in stone.” Jon raised his hands, trying to pacify his co-producer, Greg Brenman.

“Oh yes? Then when were you going to tell me? After signing the contract? Or maybe after the movie has been released?” Greg asked.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Stephen Daldry grouched, “cut the sarcasm. You were in Switzerland vacationing with your new girlfriend, not our fault. I didn’t even know you were returning today.”

Greg rolled his eyes but sat down on the empty couch seat beside Stephen. “Fine, just tell me about the kid.”

“Troy Armitage, he’s 10. Born and raised in London mostly except for the last two years when he moved to LA for his father’s work. He has done two films, the first one [Sex Education]. Rave reviews, he won a Golden Globe this January, and a favorite to win an Emmy this fall.” Stephen summarized.

Greg only raised an impressed eyebrow and motioned Stephen to continue.

“The second film is in post-production and will be released by Disney in the first week of August. A mid-budget film with more than $40 million, starring Bruce Willis. Troy can sing very well, and play the piano, which as you’d recall is required for the movie. And the best part, he is the best actor of the lot I auditioned.” Stephen’s lips curled up in a genuine smile. “From what I’ve seen, he has more talent than most kids when it comes to acting.”

Greg shook his head. “While that’s all well and good, what about his dancing? And his accent? Didn’t you want to only get an actor from northern England?”

“He can do accents passably,” Stephen shrugged. “A few weeks of accent classes will do it. Nothing too extreme. As far as his dancing goes, honestly, he is almost as good as the other kid that you recommended. Jamie? I mean, Troy only started dancing two months ago, but he is a natural. Peter has reassured me that he can get the kid ready in two months. He has already been teaching the kid for a month.”

“Ah, of course. It’s Darling.” Greg grinned, “Did he tell you that while sucking your cock?”

“No. He didn’t,” Stephen answered calmly. “I am with Ian, remember?”

“Oh come on, mate. It isn’t like you're exclusive. I know Ian wouldn’t mind you getting your willy wet with Peter. We hetero people have so many restraints.” Greg jabbed him playfully.

“As much as I’d like to know more about Stephen’s sex life,” Jon cut in, “We are getting off-topic. Seriously Greg, grow up.”

Greg just rolled his eyes at his maturity.

“Now,” Jon continued explaining, “While we know that Troy is a comparable dancer to Jamie, but he is a much better actor, can play the piano, and has already worked on film sets, so he knows his way around. But that’s not his most promising sell. It’s his adoptive father.”

“And who might that be?” Greg asked curiously.

“Steve Kloves. Or better known as the person who bought the rights to Harry Potter.” Jon explained, “Amusingly, they began auditions for all the roles except the lead role of Harry.”

“How has the media not deduced this?” Greg rubbed his head at the information.

“Probably Warner Bros either suppressed the news or no one wanted to publish without confirmation from a source. Steve is, after all, American, and it has been announced that the whole cast would be British/Irish.” Stephen answered.

“So what am I missing? The kid would be Harry Potter and all that jazz, but what’s that gotta do with our film?” Greg asked.

Jon rolled his eyes in exasperation, “Honestly, man! Marketing! Warner would most likely announce the result in a few months. As soon as his name came out, the media would try to learn everything about him. All his roles, his personal life, everything. Free publicity for a $5 million movie.”

“Okay,” Greg agreed slowly, “I can agree to that. Fine, where are the negotiations with his contract?”

“That was quick,” Stephen commented offhandedly but was ignored by both the producers.

“His mother, who is acting as his agent, asked for a price of $500,000 along with a 10% Gross share if the global receipts exceed $10 million.” Jon replied, “She is sharp, and knows that we know about Harry Potter, so she increased the price.”

“But dividends?” Greg asked incredulously, “For a 10-year-old?”

“They know their value. So they inflated it a bit.” Jon waved it off dismissively, “Here is our counteroffer, $100,000 with a 2% of Gross share if the proceeds exceed $25 million. What do you say?”

Greg thought for a bit then nodded slowly, “That is doable. But I don’t think they’d agree to that. What’s our final offer?”

“Either $300,000 with no bonus or $150,000 with a 5% share if the gross exceeds $20 million.” Jon replied, “And you know that in films like this, it is difficult to break even, let alone get four times the budget. I’ll say we choose option 2. Even if we get more than $20 million, he’d get us more publicity than the $1 million we’d be giving him.”

“Okay,” Greg agreed, “You negotiate then. It’s your forte after all.”

(Break)

It took a whole week of negotiations before I finally signed a contract with BBC Films and Working Title Films to appear as Billy Elliot in the film named ‘Dancer’.

My final terms for the film were me getting paid 5% of Gross International theatrical revenue, subject to a minimum of £75,000 (~$120,000) if the box office exceeds $20 million. This means I get only £75k until the gross revenue exceeds $20 million.

There was another condition that my mother protested against, but I acquiesced to it. I would get the share of the box office only if either I get cast as the lead in [Harry Potter] or another of my movies in which I have at least 30% screentime exceeds $300 million at the global box office before the wide theatrical release of ‘Dancer’.

I know from my future knowledge that [The Sixth Sense] alone is enough to fulfill that criteria, so I got Mum to sign that agreement after some cajoling. Even if [The Sixth Sense] underperformed, like I had told Mum earlier, I’d be happy with my $120k. I don’t need that much money, and after a certain point, money is just a number.

Other than money, the contract also covered details of my extra lessons.

As we’d be shooting in June and July, I didn’t need to study because of the summer vacation. They’d have preferred to delay the shooting by a few weeks but couldn’t because I had to go back to the States for the promotion of [The Sixth Sense] during the last week of July.

To compensate for this, my music lessons had been shifted to weekends only because weekends were free from acting for me as per government regulations. Because it was a really small-budget movie, my music lessons were paid for by my parents. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get martial lessons because we were shooting in a small town, and there were no self-defense or fighting-type gyms there. But I had accepted it at this point that I wouldn’t get all the amenities that I wanted while shooting a film, so I will do what I did during [The Sixth Sense]: practice on my own.

As soon as the contract was signed, I had to begin my private dance lessons with Peter, no longer being shared by a bunch of other kids. Not like I enjoyed interacting with most of them. I think they felt that I was getting special treatment from Peter because there was some palpable resentment towards me from some of them.

Mum won’t understand the types of things I tolerate because of her and her worries that I’m becoming ‘anti-social’.

“Alright,” Peter began, gaining my undivided attention, “we have four major dance sequences in the movie. The practice sessions that are all over the movie would be quite easy for you, that I can guarantee. Of the major ones, the first is when Billy practices with his teacher in private. The second is when he is frustrated by his brother and teacher shouting at each other. Third, when he dances for his father and the last is the audition for the Royal Ballet School.”

Yeah, those were most of the scenes that involved heavy dancing.

“The first one, I cannot choreograph now as we need the female actor as well. The second one is the most difficult and will be the longest dance sequence of the movie. The other two are relatively easier. We’ll begin with your audition for the Royal Ballet School as your first performance. Then we’ll move onto scene-3, dancing in front of your father, and finally scene-2, angry dance.” He explained.

“Will the shots be done in one take or will there be cuts?” I asked the most important question. The more dancing that is in one take, the more difficult it becomes while shooting but at the same time brings forth a more authentic viewing experience. More cuts will make shooting the scenes easier for both the actor and the crew, but it diminishes the authenticity of the performance.

“That depends totally on you, Troy.” Peter answered, “The more diligently you practice now, the more chances to make it in one shot. I will try to give you the training for a one-shot sequence as much as I can, but the final cut is in the hands of the director and the editor.”

Well, there goes my plan to take it lightly. As per Stephen, because Billy is a novice dancer, even if I don't dance perfectly, it would be okay.

That statement of his gave me similar vibes to what M. Night Shyamalan told me while shooting that song in [The Sixth Sense]. At that time, I had decided to give as perfect a rendition as I could. I gave many retakes of the same song again and again, only for us to finalize the first take. But Shyamalan liked my performance so much, that he never even asked to shoot a lip-synced version as was the original plan.

Here also, I won’t give out a mediocre performance. I’ll do my best and maybe, just maybe, the director will agree to keep them in one shot like Night did.

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