Dreams, Memories & Keys

Chapter 53 - A Year of Change

Reflecting back, Susan remembered thinking of the Thanksgiving of 2015 as the Thanksgiving that began the changes. By the end of the weekend, they already knew that next year, the family would spend Thanksgiving apart. That meant the next thanksgiving when they all expected to be together once again at the Abernathy's house in the Malibu Hills, the one with the cave and the broad panoramic views overlooking the Pacific Ocean, would be in 2017. But that was two years from now. Two years which would be filled with change.

The first of those changes announced itself late on the Monday following the Thanksgiving weekend, on the last day of November that year. Bert came bounding into the house on that morning, with Jessie at his side, asking to see Greg and Susan together. Their hands were clasped together, and Susan assumed it would be about the wedding, but Greg suspected something else was afoot. He knew through his entertainment industry contacts that although Bert had finished his course requirements and received his degree in film school from USC the previous June, and that his final project went a long way towards earning that degree, it was in many ways a work in progress. From what Greg heard about it, that project was in many ways unfinished, and Bert had been urged to go forward to completing it when he could.

According to what Greg heard through his creative contacts at the university, Bert had developed a unique process, one which combined the power of computers with live action to expand on what was possible to do in the finished project on the screen. That is, he'd found a way to make characters and backgrounds produced through the computer look like and interact seamlessly with live action. The prototypes he'd presented to his instructors at the film school in the form of an original project were so impressive, the rumor was it had the potential to revolutionize the film industry. Given that, news of his innovative ideas spread, and Greg wondered if Bert might eventually approach him as he worked to develop his ideas further. But he said nothing about this to Susan, at least not right away, not until he heard what the young couple had to say.

"You and Jessie wanted to see me?" Greg asked as Bert entered the library with a grin with a skeptical Jessie following. "What's going on?"

"Is it about the wedding?" Susan guessed.

"No Mama. I don't want to talk about that until after finals, maybe in January," Jessie declared.

"Agreed. We have much too much going on between now and then to even think of it," Bert confirmed. "Rather, this about me trying to finish something I started in school ... or rather something that I based my final project on for my degree. My instructors really encouraged me to try to make something more of it ... and I have been ... trying that is."

"I'm listening," Greg assured him.

"Well, you know how Mom has been encouraging me to look for a producer or co-producer position in some sort of show or movie somewhere, just to get my foot in the door professionally?" Bert began.

"It's not a bad idea," Greg told him. Greg started to go on, but Bert stopped him.

"Yes, I know. Mom told Jerry that I've finished my degree, and he's already called me to talk about helping him out with an off-Broadway play that needs a temporary producer. I told him I'd think about it, and I will," Bert assured him, "but why should I do that when I've expanded on my project, and I think I've sold my movie?"

"You only think you've sold it? You told me you had!" Jessie protested.

"I have," Bert insisted boldly before looking sheepishly at Greg. "Only it isn't finished yet."

Greg didn't reply, only arching a questioning brow.

"It needs editing mostly," Bert hastened to explain. "The CGI stuff I've done works really, really well with the live action bit, which is how I sold it. But the cuts I've done are too rough. I need professional help for this to work well enough for them to buy it, but they are interested."