From Flower Vase to Film Emperor in Hollywood

Cody held up his right hand, as if a tour guide leading a group through the Metropolitan Museum of Art, trying to gather the scattered crowd.

The scene before him became more and more absurd the more he thought about it, yet the funnier it became, and after savoring it, the more he admired it—

How exactly did Anson do it?

Beneath that handsome exterior seemed to lie a head full of endless whimsical ideas, constantly breaking the mold and defying conventions, bringing surprise after surprise.

One second, a series of inspirations would burst forth, willful and reckless, completely disrupting the crew's plans, while also throwing Sun Records Museum into a frenzy.

A complete mess.

Everyone caught in the trouble was grumbling and disoriented.

The next second, a casually conceived idea would solve all the problems, and what seemed like a situation that might sink into a quagmire of trouble was resolved with a few casual strokes.

…Just like that?

The "Walk the Line" crew was filming on Union Avenue in broad daylight, and whether the crew liked it or not, crowds would gather to watch.

Moreover, their crew was slightly different; they weren't as rich as the "Spider-Man" crew, closing down all the roads around a New York City intersection.

After discussing with the Memphis City Hall, they only closed one street, with the ends of the street remaining open.

The main reason wasn't that the City Hall needed to "charge fees," but that closing the street would cause losses for the businesses and residents here.

Obviously, Memphis wasn't like New York, where film crews frequently came, and local residents were quite critical of the crew's "disturbance"; coupled with the crew's temporary change of plans, filming here two weeks earlier than scheduled, the crew needed to negotiate with the street's shops and the residents behind them.

In short, maintaining order on the scene and ensuring the filming environment were originally part of the crew's job, and what they were busy with at the moment.

Now, Anson had come up with a trick that, without increasing the crew's extra workload, made the "Walk the Line" crew a welcome sight for the residents—

Very simple: recruit extras on the spot.

First, the crew still paid the extras their daily wages according to industry regulations.

Second, local residents could participate in the movie's performance.

Third, and most interestingly, because the movie needed to authentically present the feel of the 1950s, if anyone among the local residents could bring their own 1950s costumes and styling, the crew would definitely be willing to give them priority.

Thus, the carnival began.

Everything was like a Halloween costume party, with the theme of "1950s" right in front of them.

The residents of Memphis, a city that was already nostalgic and retro, could now openly enjoy a themed party, not only earning money but also appearing in a Hollywood movie?

Who could refuse?

Following that, the tourists who came to visit the Sun Records Museum, after their plans were disrupted, became part of the crowd watching from the streets—

Only with some slight privileges, standing in the front row of the rock 'n' roll zone.

Then, the grumbling tourists all made a 180-degree turn, one or two of them gleeful and excited, even more excited than visiting the museum.

The atmosphere on the scene was like that of middle school students attending their first spring outing.

Cody found this difficult to understand.

Mainly because of his personality, he was the type who liked to make plans and abide by them, needing everything to be planned in an orderly and comprehensive manner in order to feel at ease.

Anson's free-spirited style of doing things was completely unacceptable to him; once things deviated from the track, they could no longer be controlled.

Not targeting Anson, just targeting the style of doing things.

However, the facts before him seemed to be proving:

Accidental deviations from the track could also bring unexpected gains.

Involuntarily, Cody began to look forward to how Anson would perform.

Did Anson really have a reason behind his risk of starting filming at Sun Records two weeks early?

Wait, wait—

See, he made a mistake again; he does things with a plan, Anson probably doesn't, just an inspiration came, and he did it that way, with no clear reason behind it.

So, should he look forward to it, or shouldn't he?

"Excuse me…"

A figure hurried up, standing next to Cody with a curious look.

"What scenes is the crew preparing to film here today? Which song is Johnny recording?"

Cody looked at the other person with a questioning expression, the cowboy hat and red beard revealing a big smile, extending his right hand, introducing himself with extraordinary enthusiasm.

"Hunter."

"I believe your Hollywood crew has done your research; you're professionals, you all know what you're doing."

"But I'm a loyal fan of Johnny Cash, I know everything about him, I also know which of his songs were recorded at Sun Records and which were not, I even know all the interesting anecdotes during the recording process, believe me, I probably know Johnny better than Johnny does."

Incessant, passionate.

Cody could see the sparkling light in the red-bearded man's eyes, unable to be suppressed.

Originally, Cody wanted to tell him to shut up; Hollywood crews are professionals, and they hate it when others think they are experts and then come over to point fingers and nag—

Every fan believes they know the singer better than the singer knows himself.

But, really?

Cody didn't want to burst that dream bubble; this red-bearded man probably hadn't seen Johnny Cash in person in his entire life.

The words had already reached his lips, but Cody remembered Anson's words:

Perhaps they could go with the flow and spread the behind-the-scenes stories and anecdotes of the crew's filming through word of mouth among the general public.

Cody didn't understand, what use was that? The base was too small to form a word-of-mouth effect.

Anson said, "Laying the groundwork. Foreshadowing. We need patience, wait for the opportunity, and everything will naturally play its role. What we need is an impression, a preconceived impression."

"Our crew is professional enough, friendly enough, kind enough, cheerful enough. We are a crew that people aspire to be in. Do you know what role such a preconceived impression can play in the awards season?"

Cody: …Jaw dislocated.

If he hadn't truly experienced all of this himself, he would almost suspect that it was all a carefully planned "accident" by Anson's PR team.

But now, things were unfolding before his eyes.

Taking a deep breath, Cody changed his tone, "No, not recording, auditioning. We're filming according to the timeline, this is Johnny's first time coming to Sun Records."

Sure enough, with just one sentence, Hunter couldn't help but dance with excitement, "Oh, the fledgling Johnny, that's a memory worth cherishing…"

Blah blah blah, couldn't stop at all!