Chapter 2: The first step toward Hollywood
"Where do you learn things like fighting, spies and ... death ?" Amanda said, eyeing him suspiciously, wondering who she should beat up for leading her son astray.
"Mom, you do remember giving me advanced dictionaries, right ? Well, learning all the content within I found the meaning behind a lot of things. When I thought about how cool being a spy would be, I ended up writing it down, to never forget it" said Ryan, looking at her like she asked something stupid.
'sigh' Amanda felt like crying for underestimating her son's genius and giving him these dictionaries.
"Well, now that you like it, can we seek to publish it ? I have a lot of ideas for other books too" Ryan said, ignoring the self blame of his mother.
"Yes, I will get the copyright for it tomorrow and send copies to publishing companies afterward.
However, I don't want you to write anymore books with a heavy mood like this one, you must wait until you are older !" Amanda replied, taking the tone she use when she try to intimidate poor Ryan.
"Yes mom ! Don't worry, I have a lot of ideas." Ryan replied immediately, overjoyed at the first step taken toward his dream.
"Mom, could you borrow some books about screenwriting from the library too, please ?" Ryan asked, taking full advantage of the cuteness of a 6 years old.
"Alright but you're starting school tomorrow so go brush your teeth and go to bed." Amanda replied and smiled looking at her son going to the bathroom joyfully.
She was pretty worried with Ryan never getting any friends his age but seeing the manuscript in her hands she realized he was mentally too far head for it to happen.
Now she can only hope he will find older kids to get along with in school.
Unfortunately, she is bound to be disappointed, as a war hardened 35 years old man (mentally) Ryan will never connect with any child, even while being in a child's body himself.
In the end, wheels of history are stronger than Ryan thought, the first publishing house interested by 'The Bourne Identity' was Bantam Books, the same one as the original. After some negotiations with Bantam Books, his mother got him 9% royalties, it is not much but Ryan is content with the fact that he got to keep the movie copyrights and his identity hidden for now.
His book got on sale two months later, and, as expected, became a bestseller. Bantam Books is expecting 300 000 copies sold by the end of the year and is already asking for a sequel, with 15% royalties this time.
Meanwhile, Ryan disclosed to his mother the first result of his studies in the field of screenwriting, the screenplay of '10', a romantic comedy portraying a composer following his crush to her honeymoon in Mexico.
The first time around it got 74 millions dollars at the box office for a production cost of only 7 millions, Ryan hope to make his start in Hollywood with this success.
After reading it, Amanda knew it was not realistic for her to hope that her son's maturity to stay normal. After a spy book, Ryan headed her order and wrote something lighter, the only problem is that romance is still not something a 6 years old should think about.
So she could only hand out some advice to try and sway him.
"Ryan, I know you are very smart and comprehend a lot about adult stuff but please, make your next work something for children, something you could only think about with a child's mindset because even if being adult is attractive, you will never got to experience childhood twice. I will send '10' to film studios and directors but think about it and make the most out of your youth and take your time growing up." Amanda said before standing up and going back to her desk, studying for one of her exams coming soon.
Ryan thought about what his mother said and even if he is seeing her point, he is choosing such works because they are the earliest opportunities for him to accumulate fame and money. He would love to write Toy Story, The Lion King or Harry Potter but he is afraid of the consequences. These work may not be as successful years ahead of their original time and he want to limit his impact on history.
In the end Ryan though about his mother happiness and the many years he have to shine and decided to put a hold on some of his plans and focus on opportunities more in line with his age.
On a different note, '10''s screenplay was not perfectly written as Ryan never got to see it in his previous life but his target was Blake Edwards, the original writer, producer and director of the film, so it was bound to interest him.
After three months, Ryan finally got his screenplay in Blake's hands and fortunately, Blake hadn't started writing it yet.
A couple of days after receiving a call from Blake's assistant expressing Blake's interest in the screenplay, Ryan and his mother got to meet him.
In his grandparents 's home, where Ryan and his mother are currently living, Amanda and Ryan are seated on a sofa and in front of them is Blake, similarly siting on a sofa.
"Ryan, I must say it is a first, a six years old writing a love comedy this good" said Blake, examining Ryan from head to toe.
"Mr Edwards, it is my pleasure my humble work got your attention" replied Ryan, staying perfectly composed. No matter what Blake expected by gazing at him so intently, Ryan's will forged in a war zone will not allow him to crumble so easily.
"So calm and well mannered, I like you kid !
Well, I got sidetracked, so my proposition for your script is 75 000$ and 3% net profit. " said Blake, going back to the main point of today's meeting.
Amanda was going to reply when her son beat her to it.
"Mr Edwards, I have no interest in net profit, 120 000$ and the promise to let me follow you as you are making the film and you have yourself a deal" replied Ryan.
Ryan knows very well that in Hollywood a film is rarely 'profitable', the studios are using every accounting tricks they can think of to make it a losing business so as to not pay taxes.
This mean that any promise based on the net profit of the film is useless, only gross profit share is interesting.
"Sigh... kids are so cunning these days, you price is acceptable but why do you want to come along on the film's shooting, this is not a playing area you know ?" said Blake suspiciously.
"My dream is to be a director so I want to use this opportunity to learn from you, I promise to not cause any trouble." replied Ryan with a determined expression.
This is something he discussed with his mother before so when Blake turned to his mother with a questioning look Amanda nodded reluctantly while saying "I am okay with this but there will be some conditions: first is that I am coming along, second is that you must provide a teacher for Ryan and last is that we will stay a maximum of three months no matter if you have finished shooting or not"
In the reminder of the year 1976, beside improving his screenwriter skills , Ryan had to attend school.
It was a once in a lifetime experience for his professors, seeing a student skip a grade every month, Ryan took solace in his screenplay books being allowed in school and waited patiently for his teachers to allow him to skip grades.
It took 8 months but Ryan got to be with 12 years old kids and his teachers refused to make him go faster, regardless of his test results. It was not perfect but at least 12 years old kids were tolerable to Ryan, not that he got any friends thought.
Meanwhile, Ryan got his first income from 'The Bourne Identity', with 9% royalties, 10$ a book and 250 000 books sold from 6 months on sale it add up to 225 000$. When added with his sale of '10''s script it is 345 000$, with this start up fund, Ryan is planning his next move.
On the front of '10''s shooting, it is still in the planning stage and the shooting is expected in six months if all goes well.
For now though, it's Christmas.
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