The production team, for the sake of convenience with expenses and such, held the routine script reading session in Cabo San Lucas.
In the conference room of a seaside hotel, the main cast and crew of the production team gathered for the first time.
Stay tuned with NovelFire-mp _y,r.
The most powerful trio in the crew comprised Craven, Aga, and Martin, who represented the investors.
There was also Sophia, who came for a vacation and to join in the fun.
But the female King Kong was just there out of curiosity, not saying a word.
Martin didn't recognize any of the other actors.
The actress playing his wife Lane in the film was named Vanessa Shaw, a child star.
Martin chatted with her to get acquainted, as they were to portray a married couple.
"I have a pretty serious reading disorder," Vanessa said with an embarrassed smile upon hearing Martin bring up discussing their scenes, "I often rely on my assistant to help me read the script."
Knowing not to discriminate against people, Martin replied, "Let's discuss this after the script reading."
Vanessa nodded; she had been a child model in commercials before she was ten and started working in film and television shortly thereafter, her childhood memories were almost entirely of film crews, sets, and cameras.
As for education within the crew and at home, it was more of a formality to comply with the Parent Teacher Association's regulations.
Recently, Martin had been in contact with more actors and gradually discovered many with reading disabilities, especially among the acting community.
The script reading session was led by director Aga, who emphasized the scenes of Vanessa and a few others, barely needing to mention Martin's parts.
The two important actors who didn't attend were represented by their own agents.
One represented the son of the male lead, and the other was a dog.
If you counted by daily wages, the latter ranked right after Martin, the male lead, among all the actors in the crew.
As the script reading came to a close, Aga suggested that the main cast get to know each other better as soon as possible, to facilitate filming.
Craven emphasized the importance of safety for the crew. Cabo San Lucas is a tourist spot in Mexico and is much safer than places like Tijuana or Juarez, but it was advised that they avoid going out alone as much as possible.
Especially, they were cautioned against venturing out of the bustling areas to admire the scenery in the old city.
The crew hired several professional security personnel for outdoor shoots.
They might not have been fighters, but they were familiar with all the local factions.
Plainly put, the crew had paid for protection.
Martin invited the lead actors, including Vanessa, to enjoy the scenery on the beach and to discuss their respective roles casually.
The actors playing the parents-in-law of the male lead were two seasoned actors with decades of experience; acting and understanding roles were not an issue for them.
Martin remembered the sexy actress playing the little sister-in-law after she introduced herself—she was one of the strippers he, Aga, and Craven had discussed the role's plot with at the strip club that night.
Milly's main job was acting, though she also worked part-time as a stripper, having got into the crew through Aga's connections.
One could say that actors in Los Angeles were everywhere.
In the afternoon, Martin went with the crew to a nearby studio compound to get accustomed to the environment and to rehearse.
All of the indoor scenes of the production would be shot there.
The studio compound was very close to the beach, and next to it was a football field under construction.
Bruce went to inquire and came back saying, "The set for 'The Summer of Jeans.'
Martin found a high vantage point and observed the area: "That crew has a lot of scenes, they're shooting a women's football training camp."
Bruce reminded him, "Buddy, you're an actor, not a peeping Tom."
Martin protested innocently, "What did I say? Just a women's football training camp..."
As they were speaking, close to a hundred women gradually appeared on the lawn nearby, with a diverse array of hair and skin colors, all youthful and around 20 years of age, toned figures in shorts, curvaceous...
They were actually temporary football actresses being auditioned by The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants crew.
Hearing the commotion, Aga, the womanizer, also came over, standing beside Martin and commenting, "The youth film crews always please the eye. I want to direct youth films in the future."
Bruce, the pervert, said, "I like production teams with lots of actresses."
Aga nodded in agreement, "All the cast and crew of our team combined don't add up to their number of actresses."
Martin raised a more practical issue, "The crew next door is all beauties, and ours is all perverts." He felt a party was necessary, "Aga, when time allows, go and talk to the crew next door in the name of the director and organize a joint party between the two teams, how about that?"
Aga, being a director full of artistic flair from France, readily agreed, "Good idea, but let's wait a while. The crew next door just brought some early members. Let's talk again once their key members arrive, and we need to shoot some outdoor scenes first."
Back at the studio, Martin met two dog actors, both well-trained German Shepherds.
He asked, "Can I pet them?"
Both German Shepherds were muzzled, appearing very docile.
Their handler, Daniel, suggested, "Take it slow, get acquainted step by step."
Martin had never had a dog, but in his previous life, he had played the role of a police dog trainer and had some experience dealing with dogs. After becoming familiar for a while and getting Daniel's approval to remove the muzzles, he also fed them some meat.
The animal actors used by Hollywood production teams were all rigorously trained, and calling them exceptionally smart among their peers was an understatement.
Their fees were also surprisingly high.
With Daniel's permission, Martin fed them some food, and the two German Shepherds quickly started circling around him.
Danny put a muzzle on the dog, "It's almost time to walk the dogs, you take them for a walk around."
Filming required cooperation between people and animals, and Martin took the leash from him and led the two dogs out of the studio.
Danny followed behind them.
Bruce stood by, ready to prevent any accidents.
Vanessa came down from the trailer at this moment and, seeing the two German Shepherds, said, "They're so cute, what are their names?"
"They're also very smart." Martin smiled, "The female on the left is called Beauty, and the male on the right is called Beast."
Vanessa laughed, "Beauty and the Beast, nice names."
Martin pointed to the beach ahead, "Let's go, get to know Beauty and Beast, and talk about the characters, shall we?"
Vanessa decided to walk the dogs with Martin, talking about their characters as they went, "Your character and my family have a lot of conflicts, and mine acts as a lubricant, right?"
Martin, leading the dogs onto the beach, said, "I didn't want to come on this trip, but you dragged me into it, just to ease the tension with your father."
Vanessa had already started to get into character, "Yes, both you and my dad have strong personalities that keep clashing, but his death enraged you…"
"It wasn't mainly him," Martin also spoke from the perspective of the character. "It was mainly because you were killed by those psychos, and our child was stolen, so I got angry and decided to strike back and save our child."
Vanessa nodded, "So, you killed off the psychos."
The dogs, feeling neglected, turned back and looked at Martin expectantly.
Martin quickly reassured them, "We'll play soon."
Danny brought over a Frisbee.
This section of the beach belonged to the studio area and was rented by the crew; Martin removed the leashes and muzzles, and the two dogs ran toward the sea.
They ran halfway then turned back, barking at the Frisbee in Martin's hand.
For some reason, Martin was reminded of the sports get-togethers a buddy of his often organized, which also involved Frisbees.
During that period, the Frisbee games were incredibly popular, drawing many from the entertainment industry, always reaping a great turnout.
Yoga pants, camel toes, and tight tops added much excitement to the Frisbee matches.
Martin threw the Frisbee, the dogs leaped up to catch it, and brought it back automatically.
Other actors who also interacted with the dogs came over as well.
After playing with the two German Shepherds for a while, Martin gave the Frisbee back to Danny and saw Sophia, with her errand boy Scott in tow, walking from the other side of the beach.
Sophia, in a bikini, showed off her exaggerated muscles, the spitting image of a female King Kong.
She waved to Martin, "Come for a swim with me!"
Martin casually joked, "I'm terrible at swimming."
"That's okay," Sophia said unabashedly, "Little Martin, follow me. Auntie will protect you."
After she said that, there was no way Martin would go over.
Sophia reached back, and Scott opened the bag, pulling out a pink water bottle for her. Sophia bit the straw and began to drink while staring at Martin.
Everyone on the beach looked over.
Vanessa, thinking about her role in the film, said, "I have to use one of these in the movie?"
Catherine, who played her mother, came over and said, "It symbolizes the free-spirited woman."
Vanessa had a scene where she used the water bottle to fight off a psycho deformity.
After Sophia went into the water, Scott, with his feet turned out, approached Martin and warned, "Dummy, stay away from Sophia." Searᴄh the NôᴠeFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.
Martin gave him the finger, "No one's competing with you."
Scott said, "If you dare compete with me, I'll tell the whole crew what you've done!" He squeezed out a sentence with menace, "Don't forget, your dad screwed my wife for free, and you damn well screwed my daughter for free!"
"Stop!" Martin reminded him, "Emma's already back, and Jack has nothing to do with me."
Scott glanced at Sophia swimming in the sea, "Might as well not have come back, I'm going to divorce her sooner or later."
Martin asked, "Because of the wealthy woman?"
"Aren't rich women delightful?" Scott said with pride, "I conquered Sophia with my charm, she's willing to spend money on me, letting me enjoy the good life that only the wealthy can have."
Martin said, "Like this, you live comfortably off the wealthy woman, and I, I'll just do my job normally. We won't disturb each other, how about that?"
Scott thought Martin not competing with him was a win, "Deal." He was about to leave but then remembered something, "I warn you, idiot, keep away from Elena and Lily in the future."
Martin acted as if he hadn't heard.
Scott, feeling victorious in the exchange, held his head high, with his feet turned out and his hips twisting, started to leave.
Martin called out to him and took a business card from Bruce, handing it to Scott, "You'll need this."
Scott saw it was a private doctor's card, "What for?"
Martin said, "The best proctologist in Los Angeles, nicknamed Hyena."
To Martin's surprise, Scott didn't get angry but seriously put it away, walking away in his twisting manner.
The business card Antonio had given out finally reached the hands it truly needed.