After Anne's audition, Jennifer also successfully passed her audition. Since there weren't many scenes and filming would only take a few days, she happily signed the contract.
For the music teacher's role, which had few but important scenes, Old Han leveraged his connections to bring in Tim Roth, the lead actor from 'The Legend of 1900.' This made Han Zhiyan marvel at how well Old Han had integrated into America after only a decade or so.
After picking up Liu Yifei and Liu Xiaoli in Los Angeles, Han Zhiyan bothered Old Han to find an acting teacher for Xiao Fei Bao so she could start learning. Han Zhiyan himself had no time to play with her; to finish filming and submit the movie for the Oscar before year-end, he had to work non-stop preparing the crew.
In the following days, Han Zhiyan traveled with Mia to scout locations, finally settling on Gloucester, Massachusetts, and its surrounding areas. With schools, docks, and taverns, they rented several villas there to serve as the female lead's home for filming and accommodation for the cast and crew.
Preparations were largely complete, and the date was July 26th. Han Zhiyan, just about to take a nap, heard Mia excitedly talking on the phone.
“Daxier, this is fantastic! Three pieces of good news, which one do you want to hear first?” Han Zhiyan felt helpless watching Mia, almost forty, jump up and down.
“Mom, it's all good news, just tell me everything at once,” Han Zhiyan responded, playing along with the joyous Mia.
“Hahaha, the first piece of good news is that the filming permit for 'coda' has been approved! You can start preparing for principal photography.” Hearing this, Han Zhiyan instinctively opened his phone and sent a group text: 【Meet at the Ritz-Carlton Boston the day after tomorrow afternoon for the main creative team's preparation meeting. Get ready to start filming!】
“The second piece of good news is that your father has secured Warner Bros. Their VP read your script and agreed to help us with global distribution. Of course, we'll still cover the costs, but the specifics will be discussed once the film is completed.”
“Okay, Mom, what's the last piece of good news?”
“Your short film 'suicide hotline' has been nominated for the main competition unit at Venice Film Festival! I thought it would be good enough just to be selected for the International Critics' Week unit.” Mia grew increasingly excited. Although she had won Best Screenplay at the three major film festivals, seeing her son achieve success made her even more thrilled.
Han Zhiyan was also excited. While he had anticipated the nomination, actually hearing it made him very happy. Though it was just a short film, in his previous life, he never even had the chance to direct. Now, he might actually win an award.
“Mom will do whatever it takes to help you lobby for an award.”
“Mom, no need. It's just a short film. You've read the script for 'coda,' don't you think that film has a better chance of winning an award?” Han Zhiyan quickly stopped Mia. It wasn't worth expending favors for a short film.
“You're right. Let's try to finish the film early. Then we'll see which of the three major European film festivals to submit it to. As long as it can be filmed according to the script, there shouldn't be a big problem. Mom will definitely get an award for you,” Mia said to Han Zhiyan with a domineering tone.
Han Zhiyan could only nod helplessly. Having a domineering mom didn't seem so bad after all.
The next day, at the preparatory meeting in Boston, Han Zhiyan was stunned when he first saw Anne. She looked nothing like the little princess he remembered.
Her skin was tanned and rough, and with her hair tied up, she truly looked like a fisherman's child.
“How is it, Director? Does my image fit? I specifically spent a month learning to fish on a fishing boat. This isn't a spray tan; it's real sun exposure.” Han Zhiyan greatly admired her professionalism.
As the main creative team gathered, the pre-production meeting began. Many had worked well together before, and the lead actors were very familiar with their lines after a month. Anne's sign language was excellent; she could now translate Han Zhiyan's words to the three deaf actors.
“Alright, if there are no questions, the meeting is adjourned. Rest well today, and we'll officially start filming at the set bright and early tomorrow!”
Since this was a formal movie production, Han Zhiyan hired many extras from the Screen Actors Guild and experienced grips and props personnel from Hollywood.
For global distribution, Warner Bros. was given a 15% box office split as a distribution and publicity fee, and Warner Bros. also covered the pre-Oscar screening costs.
“Daxier, I've seen your 'suicide hotline.' The story is very well written, and it's well-filmed. When I was your age, I don't think I was even in high school yet.”
This time, Mia was not the producer; Warner Bros. assigned a professional producer.
“Hahaha, this is just a hobby, a hobby. If it doesn't do well, I'll go back to school obediently.” Han Zhiyan shook hands with the producer, Robert.
Han Zhiyan was very satisfied with this producer. Robert White, formerly a producer at New Line, later moved to Warner Bros. after Turner acquired Warner Bros. He had been in the business for over a decade. From the moment he took over 'coda,' he followed Han Zhiyan's lead in everything, managing the crew and extras behind the scenes meticulously, never once looking down on him because of his young age.
With all preparations complete, everyone boarded the fishing boat, ready to film the first scene.
“'coda' (Child of Deaf Adults), Act One, Scene One, Take One, Action!”
“Stop! Anne, I need you to be more natural. When you sing, you're trying too hard to sing well, but you don't need to. Your family on this boat can't hear your singing, so you need to let go and sing freely, without worrying if every word is in tune.”
“I'm sorry, Director, I understand.” Anne apologized sheepishly to everyone around her.
Anne performed very well in the subsequent takes, without any issues. However, the three deaf actors posed a challenge for him because communication with them relied solely on sign language interpreters. Even when yelling 'cut,' they could only have an adjacent actor tap them, making it difficult to convey many instructions accurately.
The first day of filming ended with a few bumps. After returning to the rented house, Robert pulled him into a room.
“Daxier, if we film like this, your progress might not keep to the schedule, and the budget will be significantly over. Do you want to switch to a few hearing actors and just have them learn sign language for a few days?”
“It's fine, I considered this issue from the start. But with this film, I also want everyone to pay attention to this special group. This is just the first day; everyone will get used to it.”
Han Zhiyan waved his hand. He had indeed anticipated the difficulties of using special actors from the beginning, but he remained firm in his decision. Not only was it to draw attention to this group, but it also carried a hint of political correctness.
“As long as you know what you're doing, you're the director and investor, so you're in charge now.” Seeing that Han Zhiyan had it under control, Robert didn't say much more.
Because Han Zhiyan had the original film in his mind, he could promptly correct any actor's shortcomings, and sometimes even demonstrate how to act, which made everyone remark that he could eventually direct, write, and star in his own films.
In the remaining days, everyone's collaboration improved significantly, and Anne's acting also became much more mature and relaxed than at the beginning. Han Zhiyan grandly declared that all previous scenes would be reshot.
“Daxier, it's almost the end of the month, and the Venice Film Festival is about to open. Get the crew ready for a week's break; we're preparing to go to Venice.” Han Zhiyan received a call from Mia just as he finished a day of filming.
Han Zhiyan arranged the crew's affairs, instructing one of his assistant director seniors to film some empty shots according to his sketches and location photos, then rest and wait for his return.