Last Days Read Free Page A

like me.’ He felt silly for saying it, but was also revelling in how the film industry quaked at what digital technology was doing to their age-old monopoly. The least he could do was remind its representatives of this fact. ‘Eventually I intend to be the media provider of my own work. For a specific audience. And it will never be any dumbed-down, censored crap put out by executive know-nothings, with their profit and loss sheets, their bottom lines, and their careers. I already finance, shoot and edit the films myself. Owning distribution is the next battle. That’s where I stand.’
    ‘I see.’ Max looked at his tiny feminine fingers, spread them on his desk, studied his nails for a few seconds, while 16
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    either frowning or fighting the half-smile; it was hard to tell with someone whose chin was probably once part of their forehead. ‘Your film Blood Frenzy struck me as unequivocal in its acceptance of, shall we say, a paranormal aspect to that tragic story. What I took from the film was a strong suggestion that something very old, something that defied natural law, had been responsible for the disappearance of a significant number of people . . . in a distant part of the world.
    Did you come to believe that?’
    Here we go . ‘We all want the truth, Max. I just tried to understand what happened. There’s no way I will ever know what really happened up there. I don’t think anyone ever will.
    But I got an authentic sense of the place the story came out of. People suggested things, without much prompting. I never tried to steer the interviews, or to emboss a theory on anything. My mind and my lens were wide open. The viewer is the interpreter. These days everyone wants a say. The world is a hanging jury. I give the audience the known facts and the fallible testimony of the interviewees. And to be honest, I had no idea what that film was going to suggest to me as I made it.’
    ‘I see. Interesting.’
    But did he see? While Kyle spoke, Max had been frowning as if he was not listening, but thinking instead of what he was going to say next. It annoyed him even more, if that were possible.
    ‘I don’t like polemic, Mr Solomon. Most audiences don’t either. My trick is to choose a story that is so interesting, the audience has to get involved on some level. It’s the most I can do as a director. I don’t use stars or shoot well-known events, which is why I’ve given up on the system .’ That word 17
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    almost came out of his mouth on fire. He took a deep breath.
    ‘So I find stories for the neglected mass of non-mainstream viewers. And there’s an awful lot of us. I’m totally pull-based from word of mouth online. That’s my constituency.’
    ‘You make a living from this couture approach?’
    Kyle paused for longer than he wished. ‘Not yet. I was ripped off on the music films and Coven . So I made Blood Frenzy a non-product. I gave it away free from my website.
    Some indie record labels embedded ads on the page which covered some of my costs. I’m in arrears on the rest. But it’s never been about money.’
    He wondered whether he should just get up and leave. He couldn’t even pretend he liked the man. And he’d be one of a dozen directors Max was currently feeling out for something tabloid. At least it wasn’t over a lunch he was paying for; this was an actual production office. But he could already intuit he and Max were terminally different; if he couldn’t trust his instincts after all he’d been through, then what else did he have to go on? Time to split.
    But then Max had to go and say, ‘I believe I have such a story. An extraordinary story. So cards on the table, Kyle. I want you to make a film for me.’
    He fought hard to contain an eruption of excitement. A silence thickened about them. ‘About the . . .’
    The half-smile withdrew entirely from Max’s smooth face.
    ‘Let me bring you up to speed, and then you can tell me if this is to your taste.’ Max