"Hey, Matt, how are you? Come in," Owen greeted with a slight smile, inviting Matt inside. Matt looked at him with mild surprise as he stepped into the apartment.
Matt entered, whistling softly when he saw how neat and clean everything was. There was even a pleasant smell in the air. He glanced toward the kitchen and didn't see a single dirty dish or utensil.
No soda cans lying around, no pizza boxes, nothing. The only thing on the table was a basket of fruit. In the living room, there were two sofas facing a TV, and in the corner sat Owen's computer on top of a minimalist desk, everything perfectly tidy.
"Who are you?" Matt asked, looking at Owen with a serious face.
Owen closed the door and looked back at him. "What do you mean?"
"You're not Owen…" Matt said, taking a step closer. The room fell silent.
Owen felt his heart race. Could even Matt tell the difference between him and the former Owen? Were they really that different?
Had the old Owen been that close to Matt, close enough for him to notice such a drastic change? That shouldn't be the case, at least not from the memories Owen had.
From what he remembered, the old Owen and Matt had been drinking buddies, the kind who could understand each other with just a look during nights out. Despite Owen's arrogance and often troublesome behavior, Matt tolerated him, being one of the few who could handle him.
However, their friendship had never gone beyond those casual hangouts. Matt wasn't like the original Owen, who drowned himself in drugs. Otherwise, Owen wouldn't have called him.
Before Owen could say anything, Matt broke the silence with sudden laughter.
"There's no way you're this neat!" Matt exclaimed, bursting out laughing at Owen's puzzled expression.
Then he looked around the apartment with a smile of disbelief.
"Is this the place of a responsible adult? The last time I had to carry you back here because you were too drunk to walk, the place was littered with soda cans, beer bottles, and pizza boxes," he added.
'Oh… so that's what this is about,' Owen thought, sighing inwardly in relief.
"Well, you know…" Owen said with a slight nervous laugh, "life changes. Sometimes you've got to grow up a little, and moving apartments came with perfect timing."
"Is it true your parents kicked you out?" Matt asked as he walked over to the fridge and opened it.
'Why do you have to put it that bluntly? And why are you acting like you own the place?' Owen thought, watching Matt grab a can of beer from the fridge. Not that he minded, he'd bought the beer for today's meeting with Matt anyway.
"Yeah… my parents won't cover my expenses anymore because they caught me doing drugs in their house. I don't have that money source to live off anymore, so I decided to make some changes in my life to survive," Owen answered as he sat down at the table.
Matt sat across from him, slid a beer over, which Owen accepted and cracked open.
"Whoa… that's some character development you've gone through," Matt commented, surprised.
"You quit drugs?" he asked, and Owen nodded.
"That's good. They'll only ruin your life. We've already got alcohol and women for that," Matt said with a faint smile, genuinely happy that Owen had left that dangerous path behind.
Owen nodded with a small laugh. Of all the people the previous owner of this body had known, Matt was one of the most pleasant and genuine. Just a rookie director, a bit of a drinker, who spoke his mind directly and without filters.
"So, why did you call me? I doubt it was to get drunk at ten in the morning," Matt remarked, beer in hand.
'Funny you say that, considering you're drinking…' Owen thought.
"I'm working on a project," Owen began, but Matt cut him off before he could continue.
"What project?" he asked.
"That's what I was getting to… A low-budget film," Owen replied, and Matt set his beer can on the table. His gaze grew more serious, like when he had asked if Owen really was himself.
"A low-budget film? How? I thought your parents weren't giving you money anymore," Matt asked, confused for several reasons.
Besides the money, since when had Owen, his party-actor buddy, become a film producer? The process of producing a movie was very complex, and Matt found it hard to believe Owen could handle it alone.
"Yes. I sold my car and managed to get the money for the budget. I already finished the script and even registered it with SAG-AFTRA," Owen said, standing up and walking toward a drawer, from which he pulled out the script.
He placed the script in front of Matt, who looked at it with wide eyes.
"Paranormal Activity by Owen Ashford…" Matt read, holding the script in his hands. "Since when is he a screenwriter?"
"It's an indie horror movie. I want you to be the director. I'll be one of the two main actors. I already prepared the contract," Owen said, placing the contract he had drawn up for Matt on the table along with a pen.
Owen had already decided that Matt would be his director for this movie. Even though he was still a novice, only in his second year of the university's directing program, Matt was, as far as Owen knew, one of the brightest students with the best grades.
On top of that, since Matt wasn't registered with the Directors Guild and was still a beginner, Owen would have to pay him much less.
Besides, directing Paranormal Activity wasn't very complicated. From what Owen remembered of his past life, the film had been shot with just one fixed and handheld camera.
For about fifteen minutes, Owen explained the project: a brief description of the plot, the tone, the main characters, and the overall concept of the movie. Meanwhile, Matt skimmed through the script. He was surprised at how well it was written and at how clearly Owen had explained the story.
"Not bad at all for a movie that'll cost $20,000 or less…" Matt thought, closing the script and looking at Owen in a new light.
"Since when are you a screenwriter?" Matt asked, repeating his question
"Since I stopped getting any major roles at the college. I decided to create my own stories and act in them. Besides, I've always been creative," Owen replied with a slightly smug smile.
He was trying to act a bit more like the old Owen, and what he said wasn't entirely untrue. The previous Owen as a preteen, and even younger, he loved creating his own stories and playing his own characters. His mother knew that better than anyone.
Matt nodded. That was the Owen he knew: stubborn, overly confident in his abilities, and, for better or worse, a bit arrogant. He knew Owen had always been picky and hard-headed when choosing roles, which was why he had done so poorly at the college despite his strong acting skills and good looks.
So it wasn't crazy that he was now creating his own stories and wanting to star in them himself.
What surprised Matt most was how well Owen had managed to turn that story into a script. From what he had just read and heard, he knew Paranormal Activity wasn't a masterpiece that would fight for an Oscar or break box office records, but it did have something unique: a creative approach.
It wasn't about dazzling dialogue or dramatic plot twists, but rather about a constant atmosphere of suspense, something achieved through the simple yet effective handheld camera style.
It was an unconventional format, one that brought the action directly into the eyes of the protagonists, making the audience almost feel like they were part of the story.
Matt picked up the pen and signed the contract without hesitation. His pay for the ten days of shooting would be $2,500 in a single payment. A fair wage for a rookie director without any major work to his name.
In fact, if Owen had offered him $2,000 or even $1,500, Matt would still have accepted after hearing about the film and seeing the well-written script.
More than the money, what mattered most to Matt was that directing this feature film would be an important achievement for his portfolio. It would give him some credibility within the industry, especially since Owen had mentioned that the movie was registered with SAG-AFTRA.
Even if the film had some success at a festival or two, he could use that experience to apply for membership in the Directors Guild, a huge step for him.
Owen smiled faintly, picked up the contract, and signed where it was his turn. Then he rolled it up and stored it in a drawer.
"It'll be a pleasure working with you," Owen said, extending his hand toward Matt for a handshake.
"Same here. It'll be fun, and we'll make a great movie," Matt replied, accepting the handshake with a smile.
At last, Matt would get to work on a real feature film. He had done one before, but it had been a student project with only a $5,000 budget. Obviously, that film had no success of any kind, it wasn't shown at festivals, and no one made any money from it.
Owen had secured his director. He was one step closer to finally being able to shoot the movie and act for the first time in this new body.
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