My Life in Hollywood C18 Private Screening (Patreon)

The seven guests noticed the café was packed with students. One of them, Alden Kennedy from Summit Pictures' indie horror acquisition division, sipped his coffee and remarked, "This place is pretty popular with the kids, huh?"

Maxwell Moore from Worldwide Pictures' low-budget genre department nodded, raising his eyebrows. "I've been here before for your last screening, Nathan. It wasn't nearly this busy."

"Yeah, definitely something different going on today," Jefferson, an independent investor and old friend, agreed.

Nathan didn't know how to explain without embarrassing himself. He cleared his throat and steadied himself with a sip of coffee. "Uh, actually, those students are from my son's high school. They're here for the private screening too."

The seven exchanged glances. No one quite knew what to say.

Nathan panicked internally. "I hope you guys don't mind." He quickly added, "If it's a problem, I can tell them to go home so they don't—"

"It's fine by me," Alden said, waving it off with a smile. "Doesn't bother me at all. Actually, having other people watching makes it feel more like a theater experience instead of just a private screening."

"Yeah, I'm cool with it too," the others agreed without much fuss.

Nathan exhaled in relief. Only seven people had shown up for this screening. He'd sent out the pitch to dozens of contacts—ultra-low-budget horror, under fifteen grand, minimal cast and crew. Most had ignored him completely.

These seven had responded, though he knew it wasn't about him personally. Alden and Maxwell were junior scouts who had to check out every micro-budget horror project that crossed their desks—their studios made money acquiring cheap genre films for pennies and flipping them for profit.

The others were small-time indie distributors and investors who specialized in low-risk horror acquisitions.

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