Owen, while thinking about how rehearsals would begin soon, couldn't help but remember his co-star: Jenna Ortega. She had just turned 20 a few days earlier, on September 27th. He found out because they had followed each other on social media, and he noticed her followers congratulating her.
They had done a chemistry read on Monday the 19th at the A24 offices, almost two weeks earlier. Jenna had been the last actress to audition. Before her, Owen had done test scenes with three other actresses, including his girlfriend, Sophie, who unfortunately didn't get the part.
The other two were Lili Reinhart and Emilia Jones.
Lili, known for Riverdale, showed a very professional level. Her acting was good, although her age, 26, made her seem a bit too mature for a character like Aimee, who is 17 in the story.
Although it wasn't a serious obstacle. Owen knew that most teenage characters in films were played by actors over eighteen anyway. Some productions even went overboard.
Euphoria, for example, portrayed high-school students with actors well into their twenties: Zendaya was 26 in the first season, Jacob Elordi 25. Closer to thirty than to the age of an actual teenager. Only Hunter, her friend, was in a somewhat closer range at 23.
The test with Lili had been fine. Not especially good, not bad. Simply neutral, what you'd expect when two actors meet for the first time and need to build chemistry from scratch.
The other actress was Emilia Jones, whose level genuinely surprised Owen. She was 20, and it was clear that in CODA she had carried a demanding lead role. She wasn't nominated for an Oscar, but the film did receive multiple major nominations, and her performance raised the film's value.
CODA hadn't been a commercial success: it cost around ten million and only recovered a fraction. Although, to be fair, it had been released in a limited run, almost directly to streaming.
It never reached the mass audience nor generated much impact. It wasn't the type of cinema Owen enjoyed, but even so, he recognized that the performances were of high quality. CODA was a family drama and, although that genre wasn't among his favorites, he had nothing against it.
In fact, his next project, Good Will Hunting, would also be essentially a drama, with romance elements. Warm situations, occasional humor, and a protagonist with a strong emotional arc.
In his past life, he had loved that movie. It had endearing characters: Will, the mentor, Chucky as Will's best friend, and the love interest, Skylar.
That was the kind of story he wanted to bring into this world. Films that connected with general audiences, not just critics, cinephiles, or intellectual circles. Because for Owen, cinema needed to move people, touch them emotionally, and reach them.
'Who knows, maybe CODA will end up becoming a cult classic,' Owen thought as he washed the dishes from breakfast.
It had happened to many films before: releases with little promotion, bad timing, or limited distribution that later, over the years, transformed into beloved and highly valued works. That path was more common than it seemed.
Owen had watched CODA so he could speak with certainty, and he was honest with himself: he didn't think it would go that far. It was good, yes, and he didn't think it didn't deserve its nominations. But it hadn't impacted him much, and it was far from the level of Good Will Hunting, at least in his opinion.
As for the chemistry read with Emilia, his experience had been… meh.
She acted very well, but they didn't connect. There was no spark, no natural rhythm between them. It was simply functional.
And regarding the personalities of Lili and Emilia in just 20-30 minutes, when everyone is focused on acting and following Elijah's directions, you can't really know whether the other person is a generous, disciplined, difficult, temperamental, or calm colleague. The test is about acting, not about getting to know each other.
The situation with Sophie had been completely different. Her acting level was very good, and the chemistry between them had already been more than proven in Paranormal Activity and Paperman. They already knew each other, understood each other's rhythms, trusted one another, and on top of that, they had now been dating for months.
It was inevitable: in front of the camera they felt comfortable and synchronized. All of that showed, and it was there even before saying the first line.
During those three auditions, Owen had remained optimistic. He genuinely believed Sophie practically had the role secured.
The test with Emilia hadn't just been weak in terms of chemistry, there was also the economic factor. After CODA, her asking price had increased, which made hiring her more expensive. Owen, with his producer mindset, kept that in mind.
The test with Lili hadn't been particularly noteworthy either.
Owen had noticed a hint of doubt on Elijah's face: perhaps because Lili had too much presence, she was very attractive, and her vibe clashed with the nature of Aimee's character, who was meant to be someone discreet, a girl who goes unnoticed. Besides, Lili was also costly due to her career.
Sophie was beautiful, yes, but she had a more alternative, rebellious aura, which fit better with Aimee's vulnerability. And with the right wardrobe, makeup, and direction, she could easily portray someone shy.
Even so, at the moment Owen had nearly assumed his girlfriend would get the part, that Monday arrived. The day he met Jenna.
The first thing he noticed was her height. She was very short, barely 5'1".
Sophie was almost 5'7". As for him, although it didn't really matter, he had grown a bit since arriving in this new life back in February: good nutrition and the gym had pushed him close to 6 feet.
But what truly shattered his initial expectations wasn't Jenna's height. It was her acting and, above all, the unexpectedly natural chemistry they achieved.
Owen had sensed it from the very first exchange. Things flowed effortlessly: the pauses, the glances, the small gestures, everything clicked with surprising ease.
He wouldn't say it was better than the chemistry read with Sophie, but it was dangerously close. Matching that level between two people who had just met wasn't something that happened often, though it wasn't impossible. Owen had achieved such chemistry in his past life with other actors right upon meeting them, whether in friendship roles, romantic roles, or anything else. But it was rare.
For a moment, a thought crossed his mind: act worse, tone himself down, let the scene lose strength so Elijah wouldn't perceive so much chemistry with Jenna. A way to tilt the scales toward Sophie.
But he dismissed the thought. He didn't want to sabotage anyone. That wasn't his style. And, besides, he knew Sophie wouldn't like finding out he had secured a role for her through unprofessional behavior. Although, to be honest, if he had done it, she would never have known, he could've just told her he performed at his best and she would have believed him. Even so, he didn't do it.
Jenna got the role. The news appeared first in Deadline and then spread across other outlets: "Jenna Ortega joins The Spectacular Now as co-star."
Even though the chemistry had been good, Owen knew it couldn't have been the only factor Elijah considered. Jenna naturally embodied the vibe they wanted for Aimee: timid, discreet, sweet, and someone who blends into the background.
He also remembered that Jenna had played a character with a certain vulnerability in The Fallout. He hadn't watched the full movie, only some clips, but what he had seen aligned with the tone of the character they needed.
Although as he thought about this, the trailer for Wednesday, an upcoming Netflix series, came to mind. Its first teaser had been released in August.
There, Jenna showed none of the shyness associated with Aimee. In those two minutes and thirteen seconds in which she embodied Wednesday Addams, she radiated control, coldness, intensity, and a magnetic presence impossible to ignore.
It was yet another demonstration of her range.
When Owen realized the decision was leaning toward Jenna, he began looking into her career in more detail. He wanted to know who his co-star would be.
Her résumé was surprisingly strong and solid for someone her age. In fact, he could even say it was much better than his own.
Jenna had been acting since childhood, and in recent years she had accumulated projects that steadily pushed her career forward: The Fallout, A24's X, Scream, which surpassed a hundred million at the box office, Scream 6 (already filmed), and a Netflix series where she would be the lead and which already looked promising. Her Instagram had over seven million followers, proof that her media presence was growing fast.
Among the four candidates, Jenna had one of the strongest careers and possibly the highest relevance at that moment.
Emilia had prestige thanks to CODA, yes, but she wasn't a mainstream name yet. She didn't even reach half a million followers online.
Sophie, despite the recent boost from Paperman, Paranormal Activity, and everything else, was around seven hundred thousand. She was growing, but still relatively new to the general audience.
And Lili, of course, was the most famous of them all, with over fifteen million followers and a massive mainstream audience thanks to Riverdale. Although, precisely because of that, it was hard not to see her as the actress from Riverdale.
Compared to the others, Jenna occupied a perfect middle ground: well-known enough to give the project visibility but without a fixed, defining image that might restrict the character.
Owen checked the time, there were still a few minutes left before eight. He had some free time before the Zoom interview with Variety.
Sophie hadn't stayed over. They had spent the entire weekend together, so they decided to give each other a bit of space and not be overly attached. They still didn't live together.
Owen turned on his computer, sat down, and while waiting, he replied to messages on his phone: some congratulations about the film reaching 50 million, family messages, and Matt sending voice notes, euphoric as always.
He finally set his phone aside and went straight to YouTube.
In the past few days, Paranormal Activity's success hadn't been the only thing causing a stir. Owen had uploaded a new short film to Second Take Films: Lights Out.
And honestly, even Owen couldn't fully believe what the short had generated in just ten days.
In front of him appeared the video:
[YouTube]
📺 Lights Out
👤 Second Take Films
📌 1,318,000 subscribers
👁️ 22,651,135 views | ⏳ Published 11 days ago
💬 101,357 comments
'This is insane,' Owen thought. Even he, as the producer of the short, hadn't expected anything like this.
On September 23rd, before uploading it, he was barely a hundred thousand subscribers away from reaching one million thanks to One-Minute Time Machine and the domino effect created by Paranormal Activity in theaters.
But uploading Lights Out, with no trailer, no campaign, just a short Instagram story hinting that something new was coming, had been like lighting a match over gasoline.
And he wasn't exaggerating.
The Wednesday trailer, released in August, had 9 million views after almost two months, and even so, Netflix considered it a massive success on social media.
For a short film, one that lasted about the same as a trailer, to surpass 20 million views in less than two weeks was unprecedented.
The One-Minute Time Machine short had also been a total hit: 9.7 million views. An insane number, though it was already falling behind compared to Lights Out.
His personal socials had also skyrocketed. His Instagram had surpassed one million followers, and Twitter had reached 380,000.
At first glance, someone might think social media doesn't matter much for an actor. But underestimating it would be a mistake.
For a young actor or actress, social media works as a public extension of their career: visibility, audience interest, perceived popularity, and even an informal indicator of how much attention a project might attract.
It doesn't make anyone a better or worse performer, of course, and a seasoned actor with a solid trajectory doesn't need these metrics to prove anything. But in the real world, studios, platforms, and marketing departments do pay attention to those numbers.
They don't decide who gets hired, but they can tip the scales, boost expectations, or simply reinforce that a name generates conversation.
In a few days, Owen would receive his YouTube payment for the views accumulated during September. October's views didn't count yet, but it would still be a substantial payment.
Just One-Minute Time Machine alone had generated around 9 million views that month. Lights Out, meanwhile, should be around 20 million, since the first days always concentrate the highest traffic.
To that, he had to add the residual views from Paperman, The Black Hole, and the first Paranormal Activity trailer, the one he uploaded before closing the distribution deal with A24.
In total, it was reasonable to estimate between 30 and 35 million monetized views. His channel ran at an RPM of about $3.50, quite high, but fair, since film and entertainment channels tended to have high RPMs.
That meant his monthly payment would be between a minimum of $105,000 and a maximum of $122,500.
'Who says short films don't make money?' Owen thought, a faint smile forming as he rocked back in his chair.
Although maybe he should've paid Sophie, Matt, and the rest a bit more. He had only spent $5,000 on Lights Out. On One-Minute Time Machine, around $10,000, since it was twice as long, had two shooting days, more editing hours, and a more difficult post-production process.
Fifteen thousand dollars invested in total, and after just one month he was already making over a hundred thousand thanks to those same short films.
Although it hadn't always been that way with short films. Paperman, in its first month, barely gave him $3-4k, and he spent almost $10k on it. It only became profitable over time as months passed and it continued accumulating views and generating passive income, so to speak.
[Comment Section – Lights Out]
@VHSCollector:
I feel like this short is going to end up in every "best short horror films" compilation of the year.
@Ally182:
I kind of want an explanation for the monster, but at the same time, no. It works better like this.
@JHKsoul2:
20 million!? This isn't a YouTube channel anymore, it's a hit-making machine. Incredible work.
@Esmile1s:
every time I see a new Second Take Films upload, I know something good is coming. It's amazing to see how fast this channel is growing.
@Roseeuwu:
One million subscribers! YouTube, start sending that plaque!
@bran644:
What are you doing down here in the comments!? Get back up there, soldier!
@Nairsl:
I thought this was going to be an ad about saving electricity...
@Drazzi7560:
Imagine this: you're a kid, you're browsing the internet, and you stumble upon this. You don't know what it is, but you decide to watch it anyway. Bad idea, you're never sleeping with the lights off again.
@g2o:
as a horror addict, this is probably one of the best things I've seen; the tension builds flawlessly, there's not a single word, and it only lasts 3 minutes, but it's better than most horror movies released nowadays.
@Jaketheone2:
Is it weird that the thing that scared me the most was the running footsteps?
@Bloodydelight:
Owen has done it again ✋ Cinema ✋
@Sdreamerfol:
You don't have to hide, grab a baseball bat and face it. Don't be prey.
@Kimchi77:
Something this short film does better than most is portray real terror, not just an easy jump scare. They make us believe the lights protect her from that thing. However, the real horror lies in realizing there is no escape and that any glimmer of hope has vanished. Even with the lights on, none of it mattered. She was dead the moment it appeared in her hallway.
@Gewl123:
My electricity bill is gonna be a bit higher this month… xD
…
The comments on the video and on social media had been extremely positive. On top of that, with the video surpassing 20 million views, it seemed like the perfect moment to pull the feature-length script out of his backpack and sell it in a bidding war between studios.
However, Owen hesitated. Given the level of impact this short film was generating, the feature could perform even better at the box office, it wasn't a crazy thought.
Besides, Owen hadn't simply transcribed the script as it was. He had tried to improve it, just like he did with Paranormal Activity, using the experience he was gaining through courses and practice.
In theory, it should be a refined version. Honestly, he had always loved the original movie as much as the short. He'd watched it with friends, and it delivered everything a horror film needed to convey.
Paranormal Activity, only the first installment was truly good and original. After that, the saga dropped quickly in quality and became repetitive. Lights Out was a film far more tempting to keep.
Even if he didn't act in it, having it as one of the first films produced under his newly created studio, alongside Good Will Hunting, sounded really appealing.
In Lights Out he could simply be the producer and writer, and in the other film both actor and writer. Perfectly balanced.
And yes, Owen had already formally created his studio. He had done it in September, just a few days after Paranormal Activity premiered in theaters, already anticipating that the movie would perform well.
The process was simpler than he expected, thanks to his father's extensive financial experience and his brother's help.
They registered Second Take Films, LLC in California, handled all necessary permits, opened the business account, and organized everything to legally operate as a production company. He spent less than two thousand dollars.
He didn't need a physical office, just a commercial address was enough for contracts, accounting, and paperwork. Later on, he would see if an actual space was necessary, but for now this worked perfectly.
Returning to Lights Out: it had managed to gross $148 million with a budget of barely $4.9 million. A profit of thirty times its cost.
It was far too valuable to sell the script for probably under a million dollars. It wasn't comparable to selling the Paranormal Activity IP, which could reach tens of millions.
With Lights Out, he wouldn't be selling a potential franchise, just a script that had yet to be tested. He hadn't decided anything yet. He will make the decision in the near future.
The day went by naturally.
He did the interview with Variety from the comfort of his home, without needing to go anywhere. They asked him about everything: Paranormal Activity, his YouTube channel, the viral short films, his future projects, The Spectacular Now, and even some more personal topics, but always respectfully.
A few hours later, he attended the first official rehearsal for The Spectacular Now. And so, between work, meetings, and everything else, the days began to move forward.
Paranormal Activity kept growing at the box office. His chemistry with Jenna improved with every rehearsal, and the date of his trip to Georgia to begin filming drew closer and closer.
-------------------------------------------------
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