Chapter 24

Behind The Spotlight Chapter 24

Collin approached his two actors, Lawrence and Axel, with a focused look on his face. The two sat upright while makeup artists worked on them, using soft brushes and sponges to erase signs of exhaustion.

They drank water to cool their dry throats and overheated bodies, all while people brushed their faces and concealed their sweat under thick layers of makeup.

The "church" they were filming in wasn't actually a real church, despite its convincing stained-glass windows and solemn, holy atmosphere. It was a church set owned by Whiner Bruh Studio, one of the Big Six studios in Hollywood. This location was regularly used for filming scenes related to churches, such as weddings, baptisms, or Sunday mass services.

Since Whiner Bruh didn't have any movies scheduled in the next quarter that required church scenes, the place was rented out to smaller productions looking for a suitable church setting. Using ANT as a front, Collin successfully rented the location for a few thousand dollars per week, a discounted rate thanks to his connections.

Normally, this would've been the producer's job, but Collin had to step in and handle it himself because no one else could.

They were only allowed to rent the location for three weeks, with no room for negotiation. During that time, they had to film every single church scene in the script, no matter what. If they didn't, they'd be forced to find another location at the last minute, which would be both disastrous and expensive. Extending the rental wasn't an option either, another production studio had already reserved the location for the following week, and the schedule was tightly packed.

Because of this, Wyatt fully understood the urgency to speed up filming or risk falling behind. Collin and the cast followed through with relentless dedication and focus, ensuring that production stayed as smooth and efficient as possible despite the mounting challenges.

Thankfully, most of the church scenes had already been shot after countless takes and minor setbacks. That was a relief, because no one on the crew could stand this place any longer than absolutely necessary.

It was freaking hot, like being baked inside an oven!

The only thing easing their suffering was the bottles of ice-cold water stored in a cooler that sat in the corner like a treasure chest, a small blessing they all depended on to fight the heat.

Some crew members had to wipe their faces every few minutes due to excessive sweating. Even the cast had to hydrate during every break to avoid dehydration, or worse.

The church had an AC unit... a massive one built into the ceiling vents. But Collin quickly realized they couldn't afford to run it, not even for a few hours. The place was cathedral-sized, and turning on the AC would've racked up a monstrous electric bill they simply didn't have the budget for.

Even keeping the lights on all day strained their finances and made Collin's budget weep. While they had brought in their own lighting equipment, it wasn't enough to fully brighten the interior due to the church's enormous size and shadowy structure.

The caretaker of the set kept a close eye on them... making sure they didn't secretly turn on the AC.

Collin felt bad and guilty about the situation, but they had to make do or risk shutting down production. To ease the discomfort, he bought a cooler and filled it with bottles of water and ice cubes to help fight the heat.

Some crew members might have silently resented Collin, shooting long, sweaty stares his way, especially since he personally admitted to renting the place without AC, a decision no one liked. But it didn't matter to Collin in the long run. His career was usually met with disdain anyway, so this wasn't anything new to him.

Plenty of people hated talent agents, calling them greedy parasites who leech off the success of others. This was just another walk under the sun for him... Get it? Sun? Hot? Yeah, Imma get out.

Lawrence and Axel saw Collin and nodded at him, sweat slowly trickling down their foreheads. Collin nodded back but didn't bother striking up a conversation. He didn't want to interrupt their brief moment of rest. As long as they looked fine and weren't on the verge of heatstroke, it was good enough for him.

Even though being covered in makeup in this sweltering heat was uncomfortable, the two actors powered through like professionals. It was part of the job, after all. They signed up for this.

Lawrence glanced at the balloon he had sat on earlier to create the fart sound. It still lay half-deflated. He wondered whether the mic had captured the sound cleanly or if they'd need to redub it in post-production.

Given their limited budget, the production had to rent a sound library, which was far cheaper than hiring a professional Foley artist who would've charged them triple or quadruple.

A Foley artist is someone who creates and records sound effects, then dubs them into the movie during post-production.

"You thinking of keeping the props to prank people?" Axel asked with a mischievous smirk, catching Lawrence staring at the balloon.

"It depends... Does the film need some bloopers? Maybe we can prank Wyatt and Collin?" Lawrence replied, wearing a devious grin.

"You'd have to ask Wyatt. But if you ask him, he'll already be on alert. It'll be harder to prank him."

"So that means I can only prank Collin or Jennifer?" Lawrence tilted his head thoughtfully.

Lawrence wasn't familiar with the rest of the cast beyond basic introductions. He felt more comfortable messing around with Collin's clients since they'd already spent time together drinking and chatting about scripts, gigs, and random Hollywood gossip.

"Yeah, pretty much. Unless you wanna take the risk with the others."

"Okay, noted."

While the two actors chatted and plotted their prank, Collin checked on Jennifer Randon, who was clearly miserable in her thick wedding dress, looking like she was ready to fight someone.

"You okay?"

"Do I look like I'm okay, you sick fuck?" Jennifer snapped, glaring at Collin through a layer of foundation and frustration, while the makeup artist dabbed sweat-proof powder onto her face.

Wearing a wedding dress in this heat was suffocating, like being wrapped in a hot curtain. There was no breeze, no AC, and no way out. On top of that, she had to wear it the entire day!

"Based on your reaction, you're doing fine."

Collin chuckled despite the deadly glare she shot at him.