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SH - Chapter 20: First cut
🕑 Added 2025-09-08 16:42:41 +0000 UTCApril 20, 2022 – 6:46 p.m.
The first cut of Paranormal Activity was ready.
It wasn’t the final version yet, if everything continued as planned, it would be ready between May 22 and 30.
Owen was sitting in front of his laptop. Matt was standing behind him, too excited to sit down.
Owen logged into FilmFreeway, a web platform that allows filmmakers to submit their films to festivals. His account was already created; he clicked on Submit Project and began filling out the fields: film title, runtime, genre, country of origin, language, cut type, synopsis, and so on.
He uploaded a private Vimeo link with a password. The file had already been uploaded hours earlier and reviewed frame by frame.
Then he added a simple placeholder poster and a short director’s note that Matt had drafted.
Finally, it was time to pay.
$95.
The submission fee for entering the film by the extended deadline.
He paid, and for a few seconds the page kept loading. The circle spun, Owen stared intently at the screen, and Matt sipped from his beer can, watching the circle spin.
For a few seconds, the page kept loading.
Until the message appeared:
[Your project has been successfully submitted to the Palm Springs International Film Festival]
A brief silence. Almost solemn.
Until Matt broke it: “We’ve got to celebrate tonight!” he exclaimed, raising the can like a toast.
Owen slowly turned in his chair to look at him, one eyebrow raised and a playful expression.
“Don’t celebrate just yet, Matt. Do you know how many films get submitted to this festival?” asked Owen.
“About a thousand?” Matt guessed uncertainly; he hadn’t researched much about it.
“No. Between two and three thousand, including features and shorts,” replied Owen. Matt couldn’t help but grimace.
“And do you know how many they select?” Owen continued.
“Five hundred?” Matt said cautiously, as if Owen were a doctor about to deliver a diagnosis he didn’t want to hear.
“No. One hundred fifty. Two hundred at most,” Owen answered.
Matt stared at him for a few seconds… then flopped dramatically onto the couch, letting out an exaggerated sigh.
“Well, that’s it. Great. It was nice to dream,” he said with resignation.
Owen chuckled softly. He let Matt dramatize for a moment and then, with a confident smile, shrugged.
“Relax. Our film will get selected because it’s very good, and we made it with very little money, that’s something they like,” Owen said firmly.
Matt narrowed his eyes. “First you depress me and then you cheer me up, do you enjoy playing with my emotions?”
Before Owen could answer, the apartment’s doorbell rang.
Matt looked up with a mischievous smile. “Must be your girlfriend.”
“She’s here all the time lately. I feel like I’m being pushed aside,” he added, pretending to be hurt.
Owen shook his head, smiling faintly. Since their first official date, when he and Sophie saw The Name of the Wind, they had been seeing each other often and talking every day through texts or calls.
It could already be considered an official relationship.
He got up from his chair and went to open the door for Sophie. Matt kept drinking his beer, keeping an eye on the laptop screen in case any confirmation or email from the festival arrived.
When Owen opened the door, Sophie was there. A smile immediately spread across her lips when she saw him.
“Hi,” she greeted.
“Hi,” Owen replied, leaning in to kiss her without hesitation.
Sophie rose slightly on tiptoe to reach him better.
From the couch, Matt leaned to the side, just enough to peek his head out, beer in hand.
“Hey, you two, cut it out. Get a room for that,” Matt teased, noticing the kiss was lasting too long.
Owen and Sophie pulled apart and stepped inside.
“Are you jealous?” Sophie asked Matt with a teasing smile.
Matt raised an eyebrow without moving from the couch. “Me? Why would I be?”
“Because you don’t even live here, and you’re losing ground,” Sophie replied.
“As long as you don’t take my spot on the couch or the remote, we’re good,” Matt said with a small grin.
“Whatever, I’d rather sit with Owen,” Sophie said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, sitting on the other couch.
“Whoa, so affectionate,” Matt teased.
“It was just a casual comment. Don’t overanalyze it,” Sophie said, trying to brush off what she had unintentionally let slip.
“Uh-huh, sure. Casual comment loaded with verbal affection. Do you need Owen close to sleep at night?” Matt continued with a sly smile.
Sophie shot him a deadly glare, but luckily for Matt, Owen sat down on the couch just then, interrupting the exchange without paying much attention.
“We already submitted the film to the festival. First cut,” Owen told Sophie.
“Really? That’s amazing!” Sophie exclaimed with a smile.
“Yeah. Now we just wait. If by May 31 we haven’t heard anything…” Owen nodded, leaving the sentence unfinished.
Usually, if there wasn’t an acceptance email by then, it was almost certain they hadn’t been selected.
Sometimes a rejection message would come, though often it arrived late.
And in other cases, you only found out by checking the festival’s program online, watching how other films filled the slots while yours was nowhere to be seen.
“And you? Did you land that audition you went to today?” Owen asked, changing the subject.
Sophie hesitated slightly. She lowered her gaze a little and took a few seconds before answering.
“Yes. I did,” she finally said. “It’s a somewhat bigger production, four weeks of shooting. They’re paying six thousand per week.”
“Twenty-four thousand? That’s a lot of money!” Matt exclaimed, his eyes widening.
“That’s amazing, congratulations!” Owen said with a smile.
“Oh, right… congratulations!” Matt corrected himself quickly. “I got carried away with the number. But yeah, what matters is… wow!”
Sophie smiled, but this time more discreetly than usual. “Thanks… It was a good surprise. My mother, as always, secured the best deal,” she said.
“That explains everything. Doesn’t your mother want to be the agent of a young and promising director?” Matt joked with a grin.
“I doubt she’d put up with your jokes and intensity,” Owen replied with a faint smile, shaking his head.
Sophie also smiled, faintly, but said nothing more. Owen noticed this unusual behavior.
Normally she would have said something like, ‘They hired the best actress, me,’ or ‘There was never real competition at that audition.’ Those kinds of comments that, coming from her, weren’t arrogance but rather a mix of humor and genuine confidence in her craft.
Owen had an idea why Sophie was acting this way.
She was probably holding back, not wanting to talk too much about her back-to-back successful auditions, or about the increasingly higher pay.
Unlike him, who was living off the savings from selling his car a few months ago. His auditions, aside from that fitness commercial that paid him $800, hadn’t gone upward. If anything, they’d stayed below that.
In those 20 days he had managed to earn about $1,800 through various jobs found on Backstage: a couple of short films that paid $400 for two days, some commercials with similar pay, and so on.
It wasn’t bad to make $1,800 in 20 days considering the actual days worked. Except his monthly rent alone was $1,850.
And that didn’t include food, transportation, gym, bills, or any extra expenses.
If it weren’t for the money left from selling the BMW, he’d already be in financial trouble. And though she never said it directly, it was obvious Sophie didn’t want to make him feel small.
He appreciated it. But he didn’t think she had to.
Still, it wasn’t the moment to bring it up with Matt around. When they were alone, he would. He’d tell her that the last thing that could ever bother him was seeing her succeed.
And that if he felt anything when he saw her moving forward, it was happiness.
After that, they ordered pizza to celebrate the festival submission. The three of them chatted like friends.
Once their “celebration dinner” ended, Matt hung around a little longer until finally grabbing his jacket and saying goodbye.
“Alright, I’m off. I’ve got morning classes tomorrow. Plus, you two clearly need your privacy,” he said with a small smile.
“Ha, ha. You’re not in high school anymore, don’t make a fuss about watching two people kiss,” Sophie teased from the couch.
“I doubt kissing is the only thing you want to do with Owen,” Matt shot back with a mischievous grin.
“You…!” Sophie exclaimed, feeling heat rise to her cheeks. She sat up straight on the couch as if ready to chase him down and give him a beating.
“Ha, ha! See you, lovebirds!” Matt shouted between laughs as he ran out, slamming the door behind him.
Owen was left standing by the table, not even having time to say goodbye.
“He’s hopeless,” Sophie sighed, still a little flushed but calmer now. She walked over to her bag, which she had left by the shelf, and began pulling out a few things.
“What are you doing?” Owen asked, tilting his head as he watched her take out a small makeup case, a reusable water bottle, and a jar of face cream.
“Getting organized. I’m staying over, remember?” Sophie replied.
“Oh, right. And you called Matt the intruder,” Owen said with a faint smile.
“Shut up,” Sophie shot back, half-playful, half-defiant. “As if you minded… I don’t see you putting up any resistance,” she added in a teasing tone, one eyebrow arched. “In fact, I see you looking pretty happy at night. Very happy.”
Owen laughed, raising both hands as if surrendering. “No complaints here, I admit it.”
After Sophie put her things away in the bathroom, she and Owen watched a movie.
Later, they went to bed.
Both had to get up early, she for her new production, and he for another day of editing and searching for auditions.
The next morning, the alarm rang early. After breakfast, Sophie’s mother came to pick her up.
Her face was still stern. Her hair perfectly styled, dark glasses on, and an expression that showed no enthusiasm whatsoever upon seeing Owen standing at the door.
He noticed it right away. Cold. Not friendly at all.
Sophie gave Owen a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ll text you later,” she said with a discreet smile.
“Good luck,” Owen replied, saying goodbye to both of them. Margaret gave only the slightest nod.
“A pleasure seeing you, ma’am,” Owen muttered sarcastically as he went back inside the apartment. After getting ready, he headed to the studio to continue editing Paranormal Activity.
Comments
Calvin Ellis
❤️Thank you for this moment.❤️
