“Well, it
She smiled and nodded.
“I appreciate your trust and the opportunity. I won’t let you down,” she promised.
There was a knock on the door.
“Ten minutes.”
I’d been late getting on the set a couple of times last week, and I felt bad about that. So I’d asked the production assistants to warn me if I wasn’t ten minutes early. It was a Midwest thing. We hated to be late.
“I have to go and make movie magic. You do whatever it is you do,” I said, waving my hands.
I left her with an even bigger smile on her face.
◊◊◊
Both Saul and Kent sent me texts. It looked like Saul had informed my castmates that we would be negotiating on our own, and Kent was pissed. He wanted a meeting after work to discuss it. I quickly realized that I was about to break one of my life goals to be a man of my word. I’d promised them I would negotiate with the group to get the best possible deal. After seeing the movie, Chubby Feldman had advised Saul against it, and I’d agreed.
I called my uncle.
“I think we found some great equipment,” he started.
“That’s nice, but I have a real problem.”
He laughed at me.
“Let’s hear it,” he said.
“Is that David?” Mom asked in the background.
“Yes, and he says he has a problem,” Uncle John said.
“Just put me on speaker,” I said.
“What’s your problem?” Mom asked.
“I’m about to break my word, and before I do, I wanted to get your take on it.”
“I believe we talked about this,” Uncle John said.
“Yes, but this might mean millions of dollars.”
“What is your integrity worth?” Grandma Dawson asked.
“That’s a lot of money,” my mom reasoned.
“It’s a slippery slope. If David’s word is only good until he’s offered money, what does that make him?” Grandma Dawson asked.
“Can I tell you what’s going on and give you an idea what I’m talking about?” I asked.
I explained why we’d originally decided on the group approach, how women were treated differently, and how I’d agreed because I wanted them treated fairly. We’d come to a ballpark figure that we judged both the studio and we would find acceptable. I then explained how Chubby Feldman had seen the movie and felt I’d be viewed as more valuable than even Craig. That was because of my physicality and how I came across in the scenes. Chubby had made some of the largest-grossing action movies in Hollywood, and Saul said that if Chubby thought I was worth more, you could take it to the bank.
I also explained that Chubby thought the movie would gross more than initially projected. Chubby surmised that we had a hit on our hands.
“So, let me understand this,” Uncle John said. “The studio was going to shortchange the women, and you agreed to do this group negotiation so they’d be paid more.”
“It was significant. I was going to be paid twice as much as they were,” I said.
“I think you can work this out without breaking your word,” Grandma Dawson said. “If you can guarantee the women they’ll make at least what they would’ve with the original deal, would they be okay if you ended up making more? I bet they’re worried that without you they’ll take a financial hit. In essence, you’ll keep your word to make sure they’re paid more than without you. If you guarantee them either you’ll make it up out of your own pay, or from the studio, you’ll have satisfied the agreement.”
“The key is you gave your word that you would work with them to make more money,” Mom said.
“Look, where you made your mistake was making this deal before you knew everything,” Uncle John pointed out. “I remember one of your life goals was learning to say ‘no.’ It’s not your responsibility to right the wrongs of the movie industry. I understand why you did it, and I can see you doing it again in the future. What you need to learn to do is to be patient. I would bet that you all talked about how the success of this movie would affect what you might make on the next two. Am I right?”
“Yes.”
“Look, I’m not trying to beat you up. I want you to learn from situations like this. What I will say is that I think my mom is tap-dancing around the issue and finding a loophole for you to get out of your word. I would suggest that you talk to them, and if they insist that you work as a group, then you do it. If they release you from your commitment, you be sure to thank them and remember what you told us. If they take a hit because of you, you better step up and make it right,” Uncle John said.
“Yes, sir. Thank you for letting me talk this through. I think I’ve figured out what I want to do. I’ll let you know how our meeting goes,” I said, and hung up.
◊◊◊
