"Beautiful composition," Christopher Nolan said as he looked at the shot from The Witch.
I was with Nolan and my editor Mason in the editing suite at Midas. Nolan had been visiting while I did the post work for The Witch. The man was something of a mentor to me when it came to directing, so having him there meant a lot.
On the screen the shot played: a slow push-in on the family's isolated cabin, framed by the dark, foreboding forest. Nolan leaned forward, studying it. "The framing is excellent."
"Thanks," I said. "I wanted the forest to feel like a character itself."
Nolan nodded. "It's working."
We continued, and I showed him some finished scenes, including the scene where Thomasin is accused by her family in the barn. The camera held tight on her face as shadows flickered from the candlelight.
Nolan watched silently, then said, "This needs to breathe more. You're cutting too quickly between her reactions and the family's accusations. You know, let the tension sit. Hold on her face for a beat longer before you cut."
Mason made a note. I nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I was worried it would drag, but—"
"It won't," Nolan said. "Trust the performance. Anya's giving you everything you need. Don't undercut it with edits."
We continued through the edit. Nolan pointed out a few more areas where pacing could be tightened, where certain shots could linger longer, and where the sound design could be improved. But he also praised moments I hadn't even thought twice about the wide shot of the family praying in the woods, the close-up of the twins whispering to the goat, the final image of Thomasin ascending into the night.
"You've got something special here, Daniel," Nolan said as we wrapped up.
"Thanks, Chris. That means a lot."
"Keep trusting your instincts. You've got the eye for this."
I walked Nolan out of the room and we talked about his upcoming projects. He was still busy with Batman Pt.3, and was also juggling Interstellar's pre-production. He had delayed Interstellar by two years because he wanted to finish the Batman trilogy. The third movie was something we added at the last minute, after all.
I was going to be one of the executive producers for Interstellar, with Stardust Studios producing it alongside Nolan's own production company.
"I need to make a small change in the movie," Nolan said.
"No, you don't. Come on, it's perfect already," I protested.
"No," Nolan insisted. "I felt something off at the last test screening. You know, the scene with Killer Croc."
I shook my head.
The scene he was referring to was where Bruce battles Killer Croc in the third act. It was the most expensive to film. Nolan, being Nolan, had filmed most of it practically, with minimal CGI. It looked amazing, but it also pushed the budget past what we had expected and almost delayed the movie itself.
I didn't even want to think about the whole flood sequence, which used miniatures and practical effects.
Pt.3 had better make more money than The Dark Knight, I thought, because this was a film that had been made quickly and somehow turned into something amazing.
"I'm going to change it," Nolan said. "And please, have people stop hassling me about cutting the runtime."
I looked annoyed. "Has Sarah been hounding you again?"
Nolan sighed. "She's implied, again and again, that I should cut almost twenty-five minutes. It's outrageous."
As the studio grew, so did the number of people who wanted to maximize profits, which meant enshittification: shorter movies so theaters could do more runs per day, and more showings meant more money.
It was a good thing that most of upper management and I resisted these requests from some on the board or from the theater chains themselves. But I worried about what would happen when I eventually left the studio. Would this ideology take over?
"What are you planning after your space adventure?" I asked, changing the subject.
Nolan thought for a moment. "Might do a war movie."
"Oh, really?"
"Yeah," he said. "Or I have this idea..." He paused, then continued. "It's about time inversion. An individual moving backward through time to prevent a catastrophe. It's complicated, but it's about reversing entropy, manipulating causality."
He looked at me. "Do you get it?"
"Nope. You don't know how long it took me to get Memento."
Nolan laughed.
He then asked, "I heard you're doing a movie with Tom Cruise?"
I laughed. "More like he's bugging me to make one."
Nolan grinned. "Not many people can say that."
"Tom wants a Top Gun sequel," I said. "He got the idea from me years ago on a talk show, and now he won't let it go."
"I will say this: Tom does know some good directors. He pushed Joseph for Green Lantern. Pretty sure he wants him to direct Top Gun as well."
"When?" Nolan asked. "Is Kosinski also directing its sequel too?"
"And as you can see, therein lies the problem."
"Ah," Nolan said, understanding the issue I had stumbled into.
"And aren't you going to write for a Dune movie in three years too?" Nolan said, shaking his head. "Christ, Daniel. Where do you get the time?"
"You know me," I said with a grin. "I have all these ideas."
"Still," Nolan said. "The time. You still have books to write, the DCU to manage, a production company... I hear you're also doing a TV series."
"Well, good thing I plan to have good partners for all the screenwriting ahead," I said.
Nolan nodded. "That's a good idea. Don't burn yourself out."
He was right about burning myself out. It had happened before, and I had no intention of letting it happen again. There was a lot more delegating now, since I had more trusted people around me, and most of the writing I was doing with a partner except for some core scripts and books.
"Don't worry about it," I said. "I have it handled."
Nolan left after some time, and I found myself back in my office, looking through all of Midas Productions' current projects.
The company for now was being mostly run by Paul and others. I had delegated it all until I was less busy with DC and my writing. Everything was going well.
John Wick: Chapter 3 was in pre-production, with Chad Stahelski directing once again. Keanu was fully committed to the franchise and was even ready to do more. Ballerina, the female-led spin-off, was being written by some solid screenwriters. I had oversight to make sure it fit into the John Wick universe while standing on its own.
Lady Bird was filming. Greta Gerwig and I had a good working relationship, which I knew would pay off when I eventually pitched a Barbie movie to Mattel.
Extraction would finish filming soon, a movie I was planning to tie into the John Wick universe. Everyone at Netflix was very excited about the shared-universe potential and crossover appeal.
Misery would follow in two years. The book was going to be released next month, so I was going to be busy with that as well.
Then there was Birdman, a movie that was going to get us more Oscars in a few months, and one I hoped would earn Margot her first. She was at the forefront of the promotion along with the others, but slightly more than the rest. I'd even gotten her booked to host the SNL 2016 season premiere.
My thoughts were interrupted when I got a text and looked to see who it was. Speak of the devil, it was from Margot. She'd sent me a photo. I opened it and saw a framed photo of me on a wall on one of the sets at SNL.
What the hell?
I sent back a question mark.
Margot: It will either be funny or bomb horribly.
Me: Okay, now I'm very interested in this episode.
Margot: Oh, you weren't before?
Me: Meh.
She sent an angry emoji.
I put the phone away with a smirk, leaning back in my chair.
I needed a break, I thought. Wait a minute. Isn't the day after tomorrow...?
I looked at my schedule. And yes, it was. I smiled.
Matt Mercer had invited me months ago to play as a guest in his D&D campaign. His friends, of course, included other popular voice actors Laura Bailey, Ashley Johnson, Travis Willingham, and more. I'd met most of them before and knew Matt and Laura the most, due to their voice work on Percy Jackson and the recent Batman game. I was pretty sure I would hire them all for the planned Game of Thrones game as well.
I needed to go and prepare, actually. The character I'd agreed on with Matt was a fun one, and I was sure a lot of their fans would like it as well.