Chapter 420: Assistant Director

Chapter 420: Chapter 420: Assistant Director

After weighing the pros and cons repeatedly and agonizing over it for a long time, Vivian finally made a safe yet reluctant decision.

She took the initiative to find Catherine Hardwicke, who was also from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, her senior, and had a more mature industry resume, sincerely inviting her to take the helm.

Catherine Hardwicke had always been known in the industry for her delicate and sharp female perspective and her talent for depicting the confusion of youth and adolescent emotions.

In 2003, with her debut theatrical film Thirteen, she swept through the European and American film circles, winning the Silver Leopard Award for Best First Feature at the 56th Locarno International Film Festival and the Directing Award for Dramatic Film at the 19th Sundance Film Festival.

Her debut was her peak; with solid professional training, an impressive award record, and mature on-set experience, she was a high-quality potential candidate among Hollywood’s new generation of female directors.

Vivian introduced the more mature and steady Catherine to Irene, voluntarily giving up the director’s seat just to ensure the quality of the project and avoid any mishaps due to her own lack of experience.

Upon learning the ins and outs, Irene could not help but feel a twinge of regret, pitying that her close friend had missed an excellent opportunity for a debut.

However, she completely understood Vivian’s caution and nervousness.

If it were anyone else, facing such a highly anticipated, top-tier project, they would also hesitate and not dare to rush into it.

Therefore, she did not blame her at all, calmly accepted Vivian’s choice, and officially finalized the project configuration: Catherine Hardwicke would serve as the official director of the first Twilight film, while Vivian Taylor would serve as the first assistant director, following the crew throughout the process to learn, participate in coordination, control details, and accumulate complete directing experience.

When others had dispersed and only the two of them were left alone, Irene looked at Vivian, who was still feeling guilty and slightly uneasy, and gave her promise and expectations with a gentle yet incredibly firm tone.

"Let Catherine complete the first one; I respect your choice." Irene gently patted her shoulder, her eyes determined, "But I want you to remember that starting from the second one, you must personally take over as the director of this series. You cannot hide behind others forever, forever afraid to take the first step. Even if you do not believe in your own abilities, you must believe in my judgment. I believe you can do it, so you will definitely be able to do it."

This complete trust and unreserved certainty instantly struck a chord in Vivian’s heart, leaving her feeling warm and deeply moved.

However, the moment she thought about how she had retreated at the last minute and asked Catherine to save the day, only to come and reap the rewards after the other party had set the tone for the film, she could not help but feel a sense of "burning bridges" and betraying Catherine’s trust, which inevitably left her feeling guilty and uneasy.

Seeing through her close friend’s thoughts, Irene smiled calmly, completely dispelling all her concerns.

"Do not take it to heart, and do not feel like you owe her. As long as Catherine’s shooting quality and lens standards are excellent enough to fully open up the reputation of the first film, I will never lack new projects, new series, or new IPs in the future to gild her career. So you must also work hard; you cannot fall behind others forever."

With this solemn promise from Irene, Vivian completely let go of her mental burden, swept away the nervousness and guilt in her heart, and devoted herself entirely to the project’s preparatory work.

While the Twilight project steadily entered its pre-production phase and Vivian settled down to learn and wait for her chance to take charge, the Transformers crew also reached a successful interim conclusion.

The months of high-pressure, non-stop work finally came to an end.

All of Hollywood was looking forward to this top-tier, heavy-industry blockbuster, and Irene finally completely unloaded the burden of the set and returned to the Echo Pictures headquarters to focus on coordinating all new projects and future strategic layouts for the company.

The day after Transformers officially wrapped up, Irene arrived on time at the Echo Pictures headquarters office building.

Shedding the fatigue of days of running around on set, she wore simple casual clothes, as if she were going on vacation, and sat in her top-floor private office to formally listen to Robert Smith’s periodic work report.

At this time, Echo Pictures was no longer a fledgling new company.

Relying on a continuous stream of hit IPs, a stable and high-quality production rhythm, and clear, long-term layout planning, it had already firmly ranked in the first tier of Hollywood’s new production companies, with multiple project lines advancing in parallel, complex affairs, and clear organization.

Robert Smith brought the complete project materials and progress reports, reporting all recent work progress in detail one by one.

First, he synchronized the work progress of The Pursuit of Happyness.

Will Smith’s team had officially signed the contract, and Jaden Smith’s participation contract was also finalized.

The actor’s salary, box office share, shooting schedule, and adaptation clauses for parent-child scenes were all implemented.

The crew was about to enter the pre-production phase of script reading, supporting casting, and location scouting.

Subsequently, he reported the preparatory dynamics of Taken in turn.

Director Pierre Morel had been following the Transformers crew for more than two months, and his ability in on-set scheduling, lens control, and crew coordination had improved significantly.

He already had the ability to independently direct small-budget hardcore action films.

The special action training for the lead actor, Liam Neeson, was progressing steadily, and Yuen Woo-ping’s martial arts team had completed the preliminary action system plan, establishing a fast, ruthless, and accurate practical fighting style, waiting only for the project to officially launch.

In addition, the Juno script had been finalized, the copyright sealed, and the project filing completed, so casting and preparatory work could be started at any time.

There was also Saw II, which had already been completed and successfully entered the Halloween slot again.

Before long, audiences would be able to see "Jigsaw" in theaters again.

In addition, the script for Final Destination had also been completed, and the production team could fully use the same personnel as Saw, so filming could start at any time.

However, Robert Smith immediately reported a piece of bad news: James Wan had decided to hand over these two projects to others to direct after finishing Final Destination.

He wanted to take a break for a while, perhaps because he had run out of inspiration for such films, or perhaps for some other reason.

He did not go into detail, and Robert Smith naturally could not force him to stay.

Irene expressed her understanding.

As long as one was a normal person, no one would want to keep filming such horrific, bloody, and violent movies all day long without wanting a break.

It just so happened that Final Destination could be released on Halloween next year.

"Did he suggest anyone to take over these two projects?" Irene asked.

Robert Smith further explained: "It is also a Chinese-American director named James Wong. I specifically investigated him; he entered Hollywood even earlier than James Wan. He has directed 21 Jump Street and The X-Files, and his accomplishments in the horror-crime genre are quite impressive."

Irene nodded unconsciously.

She seemed to have heard this name before.

"Since it was recommended by James Wan, then let it be him."