Page 9 of The Actor: Harrison

Not helping, Kevin. You are not useful with your cryptic responses.

“She’s a firecracker, isn’t she?” I can play this game too, asshole. I can talk for hours about nothing until you drop dead, knowing shit about me.

“She is!” He smiles broadly.

I nod expectantly and he finally gives in.

“She’s so invested in this movie she would be crushed if it didn’t get made,” he admits.

Here we go. Talk about money, Kevin. I know this is your favorite language.

“Is there any chance it will fall through?” I pretend to be surprised. Aaron told me they need more money. This is why she is here.

“Can I tell you something in confidence?” He makes a big deal of glancing at Aaron and then at me, like he’s putting a lot of faith in me not telling anyone about it. “The funds are not enough for this movie. It’s a big project and we spent a lot to acquire the rights for the script. Now we’re tight for the production costs, let alone the promotion,” he almost whispers conspiratorially.

He is good. He is really good. He doesn’t go straight to the point in asking for cash. He makes you feel like you’re helping a poor director achieve their dream. What he doesn’t know is that I came here precisely to play this game. I already know I want to put money in it. I just need to know how.

“Are you serious? Is itthatgood?”

He nods once, then sips his champagne for a more dramatic effect. “That good.”

“Listen. I could look into it. I know a company trying to branch out with their investments. I can try to talk to them, if you want. Maybe they have some marketing budget to relocate. They did some other indie movie, but nothing this big.” I try to sound uncertain.

“It’s worth a try. They’re not some controversial company that would cause a backlash, are they?” He pretends to be worried. The truth is that even a scandal is free publicity in this industry.

“No, please, don’t even think something like that. They deal in premium healthy dog food.”

He chuckles. “A business that will skyrocket in the future.”

Tell me about it. I know very well where that company will go.

“You can say that. Listen, give me a couple of days to look into it and if they’re interested, I’ll have them call you. I can give them your phone number, right?” I lay down my trap.

“Give them my personal one, I will take care of it.”

And here we go. I have him exactly where I want him—bent over a pile of money.

“Sure. Not a problem at all.”

When I walk into the house and find Aaron at the bar counter, he looks at me like I just murdered someone. He studies my appearance as though trying to spot blood on my hands.

“Do I want to know?” he finally asks.

“Healthy Dog LLC is going to make a movie!” I clap my hands smiling.

“Isn’t that the company where you’re a silent investor?”

I gasp. “I didn’t think about that! What a coincidence.”

He frowns. “Do they know about that?”

“Why should they know about it? I found an investor for their movie. Does it matter where the money comes from? As long as everything is legal, money is money.”

He shakes his head, disapproving. “It will backfire, you know that, right?”

“Probably, but I’ll think about that when it happens.”

I hope it won’t hurt too much.