Back to Work

Evan stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows of his suite at the Four Seasons, looking down at Boston's lights and traffic. The city felt more modern to him, different from the glitzy bustle of Los Angeles.

Since Nina had said something felt wrong, he had spent most of the evening at the window in silence. By the time it was fully dark, the ashtray beside him was crowded with cigarette ends.

A handful of clues did not establish a plot. What puzzled him was how little harm the story could actually do.

They had a few photographs. Suppose he publicly acknowledged being the father of Naomi's child. Then what?

Under ordinary circumstances, people would discuss it for a while, many would congratulate them, and the press would find a way to package them as Hollywood's newest golden couple. That was the predictable course of the story.

Jenny's intervention was what didn't fit. Naomi had fired her. Why would she risk antagonizing Evan simply to confirm a pregnancy?

"Someone offered her enough to make it worthwhile."

It was the only explanation he could think of. Even if it was right, it still didn't tell him what they intended to achieve.

"Nina."

He crushed out his cigarette and turned from the window.

"Call Anthony Pellicano in the morning. Have him look into where the photographs first came from."

"All right."

Pellicano was expensive, but Evan valued his ability to find information. Nina had maintained contact with him over the past two years. When people began asking questions about Evan, he wanted to know before those questions became a public problem.

What he paid for, in his mind, was the ability to connect small pieces of information that other people missed. Pellicano had proved useful at finding leads where Evan saw only scattered details.

"We'll leave it there for now. I still don't see what this is supposed to do to me."

He headed for the bedroom without eating dinner.

Whatever was happening, the film had to come first. For everything else, he would have to wait for more information and see what emerged.

Early the next morning, nearly a hundred and fifty cast and crew members filed out of the hotel. A long convoy carried them to the prepared location.

The production had rented space in a building. Outside the perimeter at street level, several dozen local fans and reporters had gathered. With the crowd growing, Evan asked Nina to tell Hector to arrange help from the local police.

Until he understood the situation, he wasn't giving interviews. Some of the fans had come specifically to see him, but he didn't stop for autographs or greetings. He got out of the car and went inside with his head lowered.

Crew members had been congratulating him all morning. By now, almost everyone knew he was going to be a father. To them, it was good news.

For a film just beginning production, all this attention was a mixed blessing. The crowd disrupted work and destroyed any hope of a quiet set. It also put the project in front of people months before its release.

Normally, he would have taken advantage of that. Give the reporters something they could use, generate a few more headlines, and attach the film's name to all of it. Free publicity was still publicity.

Without Jenny's interview, he might already have done exactly that.

His previous successes didn't make this picture safe. The first two films had benefited from shrewd premises and positioning; later projects had drawn on recognizable material that brought an audience with it.

To this world's audience, The Departed was an original screenplay. Whatever reviews it eventually earned, it lacked the immediate recognition of a sequel or a familiar property. Evan remembered how persistent that commercial disadvantage would remain in the years ahead.

The movie still needed to make money. Rosenberg Pictures was providing half the financing. He was not going to throw that investment away just because he wanted an Oscar. The statuette wasn't worth any price.

"Should I get those reporters organized and have Brad and Chris talk to them? Give the film a little publicity?"

Hector had joined him at the window. He could see the opportunity too. It was an audience the production hadn't paid to attract.

"No. They're not here for the movie. Let's concentrate on shooting."

Evan took one last look at the crowd, then headed for the elevator with Nina and the others.

Guillermo and Schwartz were already upstairs, coordinating the departments as they finished the set, camera positions, and lighting.

Although the film had commercial ambitions, Evan was approaching the production more like an independent picture. There was no fixed release date forcing him to race through the shoot. As long as they finished by April or May, they had room to work.

It was early December. If everything went well, they could open in Los Angeles, perhaps in a limited release, before the next summer season. A release during 1996 would put the film in contention for the 1997 awards season. He intended to keep it in theaters for a long run and build an awards campaign around it.

He expected an R rating. A contemporary crime story without an existing franchise behind it would not have the same natural reach as a major action or science-fiction spectacle. Awards attention could help it find a longer life.

Warner understood the difference too. Nobody was budgeting on another North American gross above three hundred million dollars. Evan's recent numbers were not a sensible baseline for every kind of movie he chose to make.

On the roof, the camera and lighting setups were ready. Christian and Brad were running lines while they waited. They had rehearsed the basic action, but neither had expected to begin the shoot with a scene from the end of the film. They were still learning how to work opposite each other.

Evan went behind the main camera and checked the arrangement with Robert and Steve. He wanted any problem found before they rolled, not after it had wasted everyone's work.

However many films a director had made, each new production presented its own demands. A small oversight could waste the work of dozens of people. Past success did not exempt anyone from getting the next setup right.

Satisfied with the basic checks, he sat at the monitor and compared the frame with his notebook. Preparation determined how efficiently the day would run. He had little interest in waiting on set for inspiration to rescue an unfinished plan.

Even with a flexible schedule and an awards-oriented film, he couldn't let the shoot drift indefinitely. Time still cost money.

He studied the monitor and lifted the megaphone.

"Steve, make the light a little harder. It's too soft. Yes, more contrast. I want this to feel cold."

While the lighting crew adjusted the setup, he pointed toward the wall at one side of the roof.

"Wicks, move those old paint cans. They're disappearing behind the actors from this angle."

"On it."

Wicks took two assistants over to reposition them.

"Anything else?" Guillermo asked as he came up beside Evan. "With the dressing or the preparation, I mean."

He had coordinated the setup in advance. This was his first film with Evan, and he wanted to understand how the director liked to work.

"Just small adjustments. Relax."

Evan pointed to the monitor.

"You can't be casual about how a scene is built. What came before it, what we're putting in front of the camera, and what we'll do with it in the edit all have to work together."

Guillermo paid close attention. While the crew made changes, he had a chance to hear the practical reasoning behind them.

"Take the light. If you need a different mood, it's one of the most direct tools you've got. You can make adjustments in post, but that's not the same as getting the light you want on set."

Evan continued talking, partly for Guillermo and partly to bring his own attention fully into the work. The reporters downstairs, the child on the way in Los Angeles, every unrelated concern could recede for a while. This was the thing he knew how to do.

"Lighting's ready!"

"Set's good!"

"Camera ready!"

The crew stepped out of the frame. Brad Pitt, playing Billy, and Christian Bale, playing Colin, moved into position. Everyone looked toward Evan, waiting for the first take.