25 Ive Found I (1/2)
August came abruptly. Wang Yang had been living in simple reclusion for the past one and a half months. Day after day, he would log on to his computer and promote his film.
After two months of continuous effort, their viral marketing campaign had shown its full effect and even started to take on a life of its own. Discussions relating to ”Kevin's Murder” were mushrooming on every single online forum, even when Lionsgate's staff weren't fanning the flames with their posts and threads. As word of the movie spread from tens to hundreds to thousands of people, rumors formed. Speculations abounded. Stories were told, embellished, and told again. Burdened with traffic, the official website of Paranormal Activity eventually crashed. Lionsgate had no option but to swap out their official website servers for new ones.
Even the web portals were abuzz with reports of the strange internet phenomenon. Featured prominently on Yahoo was the headline: ”A Movie Adapted from a Real-Life Case of Demonic Possession?” Thankfully, Yahoo's coverage of the recent online sensation was, at best, superficial. It merely recounted the rumors, and there was no indication of them digging deeper into the matter. After all, no one was the wiser. Even in the grand scheme of internet history, the viral marketing tactic employed for Paranormal Activity was considered a revelation, let alone in the world of cinema.
Yahoo's news report was a welcoming sight to Wang Yang and Lionsgate Films. After all, who wouldn't want a cost-free and effective form of advertisement?!
Ever since the news report had been published, traffic at the movie's official website had spiked exponentially. Posts spawned all over the internet, from online communities to web forums. People, hungry for truth, had begun to question if the whole incident was real or just a sham. The market had spoken—the time was ripe for the movie to be released. Should they have missed the boat, everything they'd done up until then would have been in vain. Once the media had begun to investigate the matter, the truth would've been out in no time. And when that happened, the once-curious audience would've naturally lost interest and forgone seeing the movie.
Meanwhile, all the groundwork had been laid for Paranormal Activity's release. Just a month ago, the movie had passed MPAA's ratings evaluation. As Wang Yang had predicted, it was classified as PG-13. And just a few days ago, Lionsgate had finished copying his movie onto 25 reels of film, which were then sent out to 25 theaters across 5 cities, including Los Angeles and San Francisco.
The first day of Paranormal Activity's test screening finally came. Since they did not intend to publicize the movie's director or its actors, the premiere ceremony had been naturally omitted (it was more of a blockbuster thing). The movie was scheduled to screen at midnight and run until 2 a.m. Although the time slot couldn't have been more apt for a horror movie, it was also the time when people would have been going to sleep, especially during the summer holidays. By then, moviegoers would empty their pockets and have their fill of entertainment for the evening, and very few would stay back for the graveyard slot.
Sure, the timing of the schedule could have been better. Then again, the screening had been organized with a very specific audience in mind, namely the curious who'd been hooked by the online marketing propaganda. They would go to the theaters just to see the movie, whether it was screened during the day or night. Therefore, Wang Yang had no concerns regarding the screening schedule. He wasn't pinning his hopes on the uninitiated or the casual moviegoer, anyway.
Although there was no official ceremony for his movie's premiere, that didn't mean Wang Yang couldn't have his own little celebration. At that time, he and Jessica were in a car on their way to the movie theater.
On that day, Wang Yang wore a brand-new, black attire that made him look more mature than usual. Combined with his tall, robust physique, he looked overwhelming. Jessica, dressed for the occasion, was equally stunning. Her flowing, auburn hair and her vividly beautiful face that somehow managed to be sweet and alluring at the same time gave her a youthful charm that few could resist.
Sitting in her Ford Focus with her hands firmly on the steering wheel, Jessica kept her eyes on the road ahead. Wang Yang was sitting in the passenger seat beside her, listening to a relaxing song on the radio. Suddenly, his cell phone buzzed. He paused the music, took out his cell phone, and saw who was calling him. ”It's Rachel,” he said, looking sidelong at Jessica with a smile.
Barely grazing his eyes with hers, Jessica said, ”Oh, please send my regards to her.”
Wang Yang nodded and answered the call with a smile. ”Hi, Rachel!” he said happily. ”Jessica and I are heading to the theater. She wants me to send you her regards!” Then, he held the phone to Jessica's lips. Jessica smiled and said, ”Hi, Rachel. Good evening.”
”Good evening, Jessica,” said Rachel over the phone, giggling as usual.
After the girls had exchanged their greetings, Wang Yang held the cell phone back to his ear. Looking outside the car window at the dazzling city lights, he said excitedly, ”We're on our way to the cinema to watch Paranormal Activity. I'm so pumped!” he laughed.
”That sounds awesome,” Rachel replied to Wang Yang's comment flatly. Then, suddenly, in a manner that Wang Yang thought to be half-joking, she asked, ”Is it just you and Jessica going to the movies? Wow! Yang, don't tell me you two are dating?”
”No, haha!” Still smiling, Wang Yang's eyes jumped unconsciously to Jessica. Unable to hear their conversation, Jessica grimaced and said, ”Are you guys talking about me?” Wang Yang looked at her, shrugged, then went on to explain his situation to Rachel. ”You know, Zachary is in the same boat as you; he can't go to the theaters. And Joshua had to go to another theater to see how things are going over there. So there's that.”
The fact was, Joshua wanted very much to join them at the theater, but Jessica had banished his idea to oblivion before anything could come out of it. Consequently, Joshua had been relegated to another cinema. It was the premiere of Wang Yang's first movie, and Jessica had intended to share the momentous occasion with him alone. Bringing her pesky little brother Joshua along was definitely not part of her plan. But now that she had Wang Yang all to herself in the car, hearing his conversation with Rachel filled her with terrible premonition. Why would Wang Yang need to explain all this to Rachel?
Without preamble, Rachel heaved a sigh of disappointment and said over the phone, ”Yang, I really wish I could fly to Los Angeles and watch Paranormal Activity in a theater. But here I am at York University, all cooped up as you guys wanted. What a drag!” At once, she huffed out an ”Oh, God” in a slightly exasperated tone and apologized, ”I'm sorry, Yang. I'm just feeling a little on edge. The movie that I starred in is about to premiere, yet I can't go and see it. I envy you, to be honest. I bet it'll be an unforgettable experience.”
”Yeah, I'm really sorry, Rachel.” Wang Yang apologized sincerely. From Rachel's tone, he could tell she was very unhappy. He'd never heard such a passionate rush of feelings from Rachel. As it turned out, despite her ordinarily gentle demeanor, her tendency for smiles, and her sweet, dimpled face, she wasn't without her temper.
If he had had his way, Rachel would have come to Los Angeles and watched the movie with him and all their friends. However, Lionsgate had expressly prohibited her from doing so. What if someone in the theater recognized Rachel? Disguise herself with a hat, a pair of shades, and a face mask? Wouldn't that attract even more attention? In order to ensure nothing went wrong during the movie's test screening, Lionsgate decided it was best to err on the side of caution.
All Wang Yang could do was smile and console her. ”But, sooner or later, you'll get to watch it, Rachel. It's coming to Toronto soon, I think.”
”No, I'll come to Los Angeles and watch it.” In her returning placidity, Rachel's voice softened. She said, smiling, ”All right, I'll leave you two to it. Since I have no movies to watch, I may as well go to bed. Goodnight!”
”All right. Goodnight, Rachel.” Wang Yang ended the call and breathed a small sigh of relief. Then, he looked sidelong at Rachel and lamented, ”Rachel's a little upset. She'd been looking forward to seeing herself on the big screen. But now…” Feeling a pang-like regret, he shook his head and said, ”If only we could have all watched it together. Rachel, Zachary, everyone. Wouldn't that have been swell, Jessica?”
”Yeah.” Jessica gave a faint nod. Sure, it'd have been swell if everyone were to have watched it together. But it'd also have been swell, if not more so if it were just the two of them watching. She felt sorry, happy, and thrilled all at once: sorry because she understood Rachel's frustration and sympathized with her; and happy and thrilled because she could go to the premiere with Wang Yang and witness such a pivotal moment with him.
She had witnessed Wang Yang's entire journey to success. Ever since they'd been little, she'd been hearing Wang Yang talk about how he wanted to become a director and make films when he grew up; after they had been reacquainted, she saw Wang Yang's gumption to get up and get things done—from writing the script, to planning, to shooting, to finding a publisher, up until that day, when his film would finally see the light of day. Every step of the way, she was there bearing witness. She'd seen the blood, sweat, and tears. She'd seen the joys and triumphs. She'd seen it all, and it made her feel happy for him.
As Jessica's recounted their adventure, her eyes wandered to Wang Yang. Her heart was a weak mush trying to pick up the pace. Unlike most guys his age, Wang Yang was not childish. He thought wisely and acted maturely. He dreamed big, never gave up despite challenges, did many things well, yet was cheerful and amusing. He was head-and-shoulders above boot-lickers, a*s-kissers, prima-donnas, blowhards, and Jack Franks. He was God among men. He was cool. And he was about to become the youngest director ever to release a film…
”Hey, Jessica, what's on your mind?” She rattled her head and her thoughts scattered. She shifted her focus back on her driving.
The place they were heading to was a cinema called ”The Vitascope”. It was also the place where they had found each other and become reacquainted. Due to the cinema's strategic location downtown and its proximity to USC and several other high schools, it had been shortlisted by Lionsgate as one of the potential venues for screening the movie. After that, Wang Yang had selected it as one of the 25 cinemas where his movie would be test screened.
They pulled up at the parking lot in Jessica's Ford Focus and made their way to The Vitascope cinema. By that time, it was almost midnight. Although the lights shone brightly all around them, there were hardly any customers left at the cinema's ticket office.
Jessica's face flashed with delight when she spotted Paranormal Activity among the slew of posters that hung on the ticket office's wall. She waved enthusiastically at Wang Yang and bellowed for him to come over. ”Yang, come quick! Look, it's Paranormal Activity's poster!”