“You seem like you might already have a plan brewing,” Ryan said.
“I do but I’d love to hear your thoughts,” she remarked.
“I know who you are and how long you’ve ridden out this industry,” Ryan said. “I can’t even begin to imagine the bullshit you’ve had to deal with over the years. Not only that but I know how much you mean to Tinsley. I think if anyone can come up with a plan, you can.”
Katie looked at me and then back at Ryan. I had tears in my eyes and his kind words nearly had her tearing up as well.
“We’ve got to hit them where it hurts,” she explained.
“Tell us what we need to do,” Michael chimed in. And the rest of the room erupted into cheers.
Katie laid out her plan. Without the castmates in this room, the studio had no movie. Sure Ryan’s part had wrapped but the rest of them weren’t done filming yet. What if they all just threatened to walk?
The studio had way too much invested at this point to go back. If the whole lead cast walked, they would bankrupt the movie simply in trying to recast and reshoot all they had so far. It was a long shot, but it just might work. I wanted to feel confident, but I was just too scared right now.
21
MICHAEL
I couldn’t believe the way the studio was treating Tinsley. After everything she’d already had to put up with from Lee, now this? It was completely unfair.
Lee had been riding the edge of stupidity for some time and now his own actions had pushed him over. Why were they punishing her?
“I can’t make it here without this job,” Tinsley had told us all. She tried to stay composed but I could see her on the verge of crumbling. “Losing this type of job is career ending. I won’t be able to work in this town again if we don’t do something.”
“Whatever it is Tinsley, we’ll do it. If this walkout doesn’t work, we’ll find something that will,” I assured her.
“Are you sure this is something you guys want to do? Is it even something you can do?” she asked.
“Why don’t I call my dad. He’s a lawyer. He handled all my stuff until recently. I’ll have him look over my contract again and let me know if it's even a possibility,” Ryan suggested.
“Great idea!” Katie cheered. “It’s been years since I’ve read a contract. Those things send me cross-eyed.”
Ryan stepped away to go and call his father. The rest of us gathered around Tinsley. I’d never seen her looking so vulnerable for this long. Even after the earthquake, she had quickly regained composure when the guys had all walked in. This Tinsley was shaken.
“Are you okay,” I asked quietly. “I mean I know you’re upset about getting fired but is there something more?”
“I just have worked so hard my whole life. I finally thought everything was falling into place. Not just with the job but with you guys. I felt like my life was actually on track for once. To know I could lose it all, lose you guys. It’s devastating,” she cried.
“We’re not going anywhere Miss Tinsley. What’s the point of all this movie star stuff if you can’t throw your weight around a bit. I for one am not going anywhere. I’d love you here but I’ll follow you to the ends of the earth if need be,” I said, squeezing her hand.
“Do you really mean that?” she asked, tears streaming down her face. “Do you think the rest of the guys feel that way too?”
“We sure do,” said Thiago coming up behind us with Kai.
“What we have can't be separated by distance,” I remarked.
“How did I ever get so lucky?” Tinsely said, smiling through her tears.
“I ask myself that every day,” Kai said.
Just then Ryan returned from his phone call with his dad. Ryan’s dad had luckily already read through the contract before when Ryan had first signed
“If your contracts are anything like mine, you can walk for a subsection under ‘creative differences,’” Ryan remarked. “It’s a bit nuanced, but my dad thinks we can make it work. Basically, it refers to things that are outside of our moral compass.
“We’d have to spin it a bit, but essentially, we’re not questioning the morals of the work but the morals of the man directing the work. And we’ve already got a bit of a background built up when you consider all that shit Michael went through with Lee and the extra.
“My dad said, there is enough out there about who Lee is to give us some grounds to call them on it. Basically if we feel that our integrity is being called into question by say a racist, misogynistice, homophobic director, we have a mans to make it work,” he said.