The Best Director

Salt Lake City International Airport was bustling with people coming and going. Wang Yang, with a black suitcase slung over his shoulder, strode out of the terminal. His visit wasn’t meant for a set tour; after all, he was part of the High School Musical 2 crew. His primary purpose was to discuss some script issues with the director of High School Musical 2, Sara Schulman.

At 34, Sara Schulman was a British female director who had just received a nomination for the Best Short Film at the British Academy Film Awards, earning her this directing opportunity. She had already asked Wang Yang to come to Salt Lake City several times before because unavoidable problems with the script could arise during actual filming, and the director would need to communicate with the screenwriter to identify and solve these issues.

However, Wang Yang had been busy in New York and could only discuss these issues over the phone. Now that the acquisition of Blue Sky Studios was over and The Pursuit of Happyness crew hadn’t yet been formed, he finally had some free time. So before heading back to Los Angeles, he needed to make a trip to Salt Lake City. But aside from Sara Schulman, he didn’t tell anyone else about his visit. He wanted to surprise Jessica.

Arriving at East High School, Wang Yang got out of the taxi and, looking at the familiar campus in front of him, couldn’t help but spread his arms and take a deep breath. In this high-altitude city, it seemed that one had to breathe a bit harder. He slung his suitcase back over his shoulder and headed towards the baseball field of East High School, knowing that the crew was shooting there that day.

As he descended the steps to the baseball field, he spotted a large group in the distance through the chain-link fence, including crew members and extras. His spirits lifted, and he quickened his pace to join them.

“Hey, kid, you’ve got to stop right there. You can’t go any further!” At that moment, a middle-aged white man stopped him. He said impatiently, “It’s just a film shoot, nothing to see. Go back.” As the person in charge of securing the site, he had to intercept these unrelated parties every day.

Wang Yang smiled, took off the Golden State Warriors cap he was wearing, and immediately felt the glare of the sunlight. He smiled and said, “Hi, Gus, don’t you recognize me? I’m Wang Yang, part of the crew.” He remembered this man’s name was Gus, who had also been part of the crew during High School Musical.

“Wang Yang?” Gus frowned as he looked at Wang Yang for a moment, then suddenly laughed with realization, stepping aside and smacking his head. He laughed, “Of course, I recognize you, Director Yang! Please come in.”

“Well, then I’m off,” said Wang Yang as he put his cap back on and walked briskly past him. As he approached the crew, his steps grew quieter.

This scene required a lot of extras for some shots, so there were many young people sitting or standing in the baseball field, waiting for filming instructions. Further away, camera rails were laid out on the ground, and the cinematographer was operating the camera – not Valerijs Feists; Sara Schulman had her own familiar cinematographer. Meanwhile, Valerijs Feists was out of work, waiting for The Pursuit of Happyness. Wang Yang had already spoken with him, and they were set to continue working together.

Besides the cinematographers, there were lighting technicians, sound engineers, and others forming a large circle, with Sara Schulman looking seriously through the viewfinder. In the center of it all, Jessica, Tom Willing, Marcus Mans, and others were performing. Suddenly, Sara Schulman, dissatisfied, shouted “CUT” and walked into the scene to instruct Jessica, who listened carefully and nodded from time to time.

“My sweetheart is going to be the NG queen again?” Wang Yang stood in the distance with his arms crossed, a helpless smile on his face. He wasn’t worried about wasting film; he was worried that Jessica might be unhappy. Lost in thought, he suddenly felt someone looking at him. He turned and saw, a few meters away, a blonde girl standing in a glamorous rich girl’s outfit – it was Rachel.

She held a cup of water, her gaze a bit vacant, as if she was in a daze. Wang Yang waved at her and smiled, saying, “Hey, Rachel!”

“Hi…” Rachel suddenly snapped back to reality, she too smiled faintly, lowered her head, then slowly walked over and said, “Did you come from New York?” Wang Yang raised his eyebrows in a smile, nodded and said, “Yes, New York.” Realizing she might have asked a silly question, Rachel drank a sip of water, silent.

Wang Yang glanced over at Jessica, who was still listening to Sara Schulman’s instructions, then turned to the silent Rachel beside him. After a thought, he asked, “Are you okay? Uh, I mean, I heard from Jessica that you caught a cold, and that she passed it to you…” He stopped his sentence and said, “So, how is it going?”

“It’s okay, I’m fine.” Rachel chuckled, shook her water cup, and said, “Took some medicine, drank lots of hot water, it’ll be fine soon.” Her voice was very nasal, and she added with a laugh, “Actually, I wish I were sicker, then I could rest properly for a few days.” Wang Yang couldn’t help but join the conversation with a laugh, “Come on, the movie has just begun filming, and you’re already thinking about rest?” Rachel winced uncomfortably, whispering, “Sara’s temper is too big!”

Wang Yang discreetly glanced over at Sara Schulman, then asked, “How big? Bigger than mine?” Rachel shrugged, and Wang Yang frowned, saying, “It seems you intentionally caught a cold, Rachel, this is a conspiracy.” Rachel nodded, “Yes.” Wang Yang lamented, “That’s really bad, someone wants to play hooky.”

Both couldn’t help but laugh, but after a few chuckles, they fell silent again, not speaking. Just then, Zachary’s surprised voice came from nearby, “Oh, Yang? You’re here!” He ran over beaming and Wang Yang embraced him with a fist bump, another hand slapping his back, laughing, “Buddy, it’s been a long time.”

Watching Wang Yang and Zachary start to chat, Rachel at the side gave a faint smile, silently walked away with her cup of water.

After the two talked for a while, the shooting on the other side got approved, and as Sara Schulman shouted, “Okay! Ready for the next shot!” the film crew quickly got into action, adjusting the position of equipment like dolly tracks and light reflectors. Jessica, now free, faintly heard Wang Yang’s laughter. She looked around curiously, and on spotting Wang Yang talking with Zachary in the distance, her eyes sparkled, her heartbeat quickened, and she ran over calling out with a laugh, “Yang!”

“Hi!” Wang Yang spread his arms and hugged her, then let go, amused by the surprised smile on her face. Zachary winked at them and then discreetly left. Jessica playfully punched Wang Yang, her tone reproachful, “Why didn’t you tell me?” Wang Yang spread his hands, laughing, “I came to see how you act in a mask. If I had told you, what if you took off your mask? But why do I still not see it now?” Jessica rolled her eyes, laughing, “You must be so disappointed!” “Magic Yang!” Far away, Sara Schulman shouted towards them, waving her hands non-stop, calling out, “You finally came, come over here! Don’t be lovey-dovey on my set, or I’ll kick you back to New York, come here!” Everyone chuckled at her words, and Wang Yang called back loudly, “Just a minute, almost ready!” He looked at Jessica, who seemed a bit embarrassed, took off his Warriors Team baseball cap, and put it on her head, saying, “The sun is fierce, don’t get burned, you’re still sick.” He then handed his luggage backpack to her, tapping the backpack and joking, “Inside there’s a contract worth a hundred million, take good care of it for me.” Having said that, he quickly walked over to Sara Schulman to discuss the script.

With one hand holding the backpack and the other adjusting the cap on her head, Jessica revealed a sweet smile. Rachel withdrew her gaze, the glaring sunlight giving her a headache. She took a deep breath, her hands cupping the water cup, drinking the hot water non-stop, sip by sip.

Even though the crew had dispersed that evening and everyone was free to do as they wished, Wang Yang didn’t go out on a date with Jessica. He hadn’t come to Salt Lake City for a date. The entire evening, he discussed the script’s filming issues with Sara Schulman, resolving many of her questions, until he went to bed in the wee hours. The next day, he continued to follow the crew’s shooting.

In the physics research lab at Eastern High School, the scene was probably about “Gabriela” showing off her talent in front of her classmates. The film crew had finished setting up the equipment, and Jessica and a few students playing members of the genius society were in place. Everything seemed ready. “What!?” Sarah Schulman’s eyes bulged as she bellowed at the middle-aged white clapper loader, “No actor!? Where did he go?” The clapper loader replied helplessly, “The guy just called in, he was hospitalized this morning with food poisoning.” Sarah Schulman was dumbstruck, “How could this happen!” Everyone in the lab listened with some confusion. Wang Yang, sitting on the side, stood up and went over to ask, “What’s going on?” Sarah Schulman was visibly irate. She looked around, and her gaze suddenly fixed on Wang Yang, shouting, “Miracle Yang, you come here!” Wang Yang was taken aback and asked, “What me?” Sarah Schulman spoke quickly, “Haven’t you noticed? We have only one Asian face here! And in this scene, there’s a crowd role for a Chinese-American physics prodigy, so you!”

“Me!? But I can’t act!” Wang Yang was stunned, but he remembered that in the script it just said “genius classmate,” not necessarily Chinese-American. He asked, “Can’t we just get anyone?” Sarah Schulman frowned, “I’m the director, and I need this effect! Plus, you know there are only a few lines for that character, what’s so difficult?” She impatiently thrust the script for the scene into Wang Yang’s hands and said, “No more talk, hurry up! You’re the screenwriter, you don’t need me to explain, right?”

Wang Yang glanced over the script and looked around. Jessica showed great interest and made a “cheer up” fist gesture to him, while onlookers like Zachary, Tom Willing, Rachel, and others were chatting and laughing. Zachary shouted eagerly, “Hey, Yang! Time to show off your acting skills!” Wang Yang smiled and thought it couldn’t hurt to try, so he nodded, “Well, okay…”

Before he had finished speaking, everyone laughed and applauded, some even whistled. Sarah Schulman called out, “Miracle Yang, you’ve got one minute to check the script.” Wang Yang nodded with a smile, reading the familiar lines on the script. Soon after, he put down the script and said, “Okay, I’m ready.” Sarah Schulman clapped her hands and commanded, “Everyone get ready! Miracle Yang, stand on Jessica’s left.”

“Alright!” Wang Yang walked in front of the camera, and the nearby Jessica smiled at him and whispered, “Yang, we’re acting together again, how fun!” Wang Yang also thought it was funny, but he felt even weirder. This performance was different from their last scene together because this time the camera would also focus on him; he would appear on the film. He had always been behind the camera, but now he was in front of it.

It was also different from a “Paranormal Activity” trailer which used a single camera for filming; now it was a movie production. Looking ahead at the cameraman carrying the camera, the lighting technician with the light reflector, the sound technician with the microphone, and director Sarah Schulman… as well as the script supervisors, makeup artists, and actors like Rachel at the back, Wang Yang couldn’t help but whisper “Wow” to himself. It seemed like he was truly recognizing the world in front of the camera for the first time.

“Action!” Sarah Schulman yelled. The clapper loader then held up the clapperboard, announcing the scene and take number, and said, “First take, action!” Following the snap of the clapperboard, the camera started rolling. Wang Yang looked into Jessica’s eyes and recited his line with a smile, “Do you know what Einstein’s greatest theory is?” Jessica, pretending to ponder, was just about to answer when Sarah Schulman shouted, “CUT!” She expressed her dissatisfaction, hands spread, “Miracle Yang, you came off as ‘I’m reading a line’! Also, your voice is too gentle, she’s not your girlfriend Jessica, she’s your classmate Gabriela! Your voice needs to be cooler, you know, cool!”

“Oh, I see.” Wang Yang nodded his head, and the camera started again. He looked at Jessica, trying to sound cool, “Do you know what Einstein’s greatest theory is?” Jessica asked, puzzled, “E=mc2?” Wang Yang began to shake his head, “No…” Before he could finish, Sarah Schulman burst out shouting, “CUT! Miracle Yang, is it that hard to stay cool? Damn it!”

“I tried my best.” Wang Yang shrugged, feeling helpless; he’d already said he couldn’t act.

Tom Welling and Zachary burst into schadenfreude-laden laughter; Rachel chuckled slightly, and Jessica couldn’t help but grin, too. They had been barked at by Wang Yang every day during the filming of “High School Musical,” and although he had a good temper, seeing the old director getting scolded by the new one was amusing to them all—they really wanted to say, “You’re getting a taste of your own medicine!”

Wang Yang knew what Sarah Schulman meant, but knowing was one thing, and being able to do it was another. The problem wasn’t with his acting skills, but with immersing himself, including his voice and facial expressions. He couldn’t get into character; he kept telling himself to pour emotion into the role, but he always felt everyone’s eyes on him, countless pairs focused squarely on him, making it impossible to “get into the movie.” Now he understood why Greta Garbo used to demand that no unnecessary personnel be within her line of sight while filming.

He was only playing a bit part, with a few lines at that; the movie’s lead had countless scenes, countless lines… They had to ignore all the people on set and enter the world of the script, which was too hard whether for method actors or those playing to type. But a thought began to dawn on him, wasn’t the job of a good director to immerse actors in that world, to bring out their best performances?

“Alright, Amazing Yang, let’s go again!” Sarah Schulman shouted, snapping him out of his thoughts, but soon she was angrily saying, “So close, just a bit off! Again!” “CUT, it’s just a few lines, come on!” “Oh, it seems you really have no acting talent…”

From initially wanting to try, to feeling lost and then frustrated, Wang Yang finally took a few deep breaths to calm down, trying hard to banish the unnatural feeling in his mind. When the count of NGs rose to double digits, he finally made it!

“GOOD!” Sarah Schulman shouted excitedly, then ran her hands through her hair, saying, “Oh my God, Amazing Yang, I’m so glad you’re not the male lead of the movie, otherwise you would drive me to death!” Wang Yang breathed a sigh of relief, high-fived Jessica with a smile, feeling like a huge weight had been lifted; meanwhile, Tom Welling, Zachary, and the others cheered and clapped rowdily, “Yang, you can get the Best Supporting Actor now!” Everyone burst into laughter, the atmosphere as jubilant as if the film was wrapping up.

“I never want to act again…” Wang Yang laughed as well. He looked at Jessica and realized that he was the true king of NGs, suddenly exclaiming, “Jessica, your acting was really great.” Jessica looked puzzled, asking, “Why do you say that?” Wang Yang shrugged and laughed, “No reason, you’re just awesome.” “Don’t worry, Amazing Yang, I’ll keep your footage safe, and it will definitely be seen in the movie!” Sarah Schulman chuckled, then clapped her hands and announced, “Prepare for the next scene!”

Wang Yang stayed in Salt Lake City for a total of three days, resolving all of Sarah Schulman’s script issues, and he was so busy that he didn’t have time to go out for a meal with Jessica alone. After a reluctant farewell, Wang Yang boarded the plane to Los Angeles, but he knew that once back in Los Angeles, he wouldn’t have any free time, as he was going to dive into the preparations for “The Pursuit of Happyness.”

The role of Chris Gardner was settled, but his son’s… Sitting on the plane, Wang Yang glanced a few times at the passing blonde flight attendant’s figure before murmuring to himself, “Will’s eldest son, his name is Trey, right?”