GAWAIN'S DOMAIN - PART 2

From the back water of Wales to the Hollywood hills, Gawain had very much made himself at home in Sunny California after negotiating himself as an executive producer for ‘Digital Renegades’, now the most coveted movie franchise series in the world.

Sharing a hotel suite at the Waldorf Astoria, Beverly Hills with his best mate Kevin who continued to play on his PS5 with the curtains drawn while Gawain went to production meetings all day long.

At the present meeting various discussions were taking place about the state of the current draft of the script. Gawain, taking the proverbial bull by the horns put his foot down, much to the general astonishment of the director and other executives.

“No lie. The script’s in a right state.”

Taken aback by his sheer audacity the head of the studio Violet Sherman queried Gawain’s complaint.

“What do you suggest Gawain?”

“I suggest a complete re-write. The whole thing needs a root and branch approach before a rebuild, like.”

Louis cut in.

“We don’t have time for a major re-write.”

Gawain shook his head in disappointment. Violet was intrigued by his conviction that something was fundamentally wrong with the story.

“Who is going to perform miracles on this re-write at such short notice?”

“I’ll give it a crack.”

Christina was now becoming incensed at Gawain’s arrogance who had been undermining her friend and lover Louis since they first began discussions in Wales.

But before she could contest Gawain’s delusions of grandeur, she was usurped by Violet who agreed to Gawain’s ambitous suggestion.

This scrawny Welsh kid from nowhere had suddenly become a runaway train in human form and now the shackles were off, there was seemingly no way of stopping him.

After the meeting Violet privately assured the numerous producers of the movie (with the exception of Gawain) that she was simply humouring the young lad. They would proceed with the script as it was, making just a few judicious cuts and additions with the help of their in-house script doctor.

Violet Sherman hadn’t made her way to the top of the Hollywood food chain to be made to look a fool by a kid who had yet to be introduced to a razor.

As a precaution, Gawain had asked his amateur, legal nerd grandfather (who bore an uncanny resemblance to the wizard Merlin) to look over his contract to check for any potential loopholes the studio group might pull on him further down the line. His grandfather had never felt more proud or honoured than assisting his favourite grandchild with his  unexpected, burgeoning Hollywood career, except for perhaps the time he represented himself in court over several unpaid parking tickets and won.

“Talk soon, Gawain me boy. Don’t forget what we talked about. Blitz defence!”

Missing his friends and family back home, Gawain blasted “We’ll keep a Welcome”  through the state of the art speakers in his hotel suite.

Sensing his friend’s melancholy, an unusually perceptive Kevin paused his game on his Playstation and joined Gawain on the balcony as they gazed out at the frenzy of lights across the city.

“You’re doing well. Don’t let them weapons get to you.”

Gawain smiled.

“Let’s order some food eh?”

“Now you’re talking. Can we have that Popeye’s Chicken again?”

Several movies later, sated from their massive blow out feast, Kevin had fallen alseep next to a half eaten chicken wing while Gawain continued to work all through the night on his re-write of the script.

He loved that feeling of personal industry while the rest of the world was fast asleep. It made him feel ahead of the curve.

One week later, Gawain made sure to be on set for what he believed would be the first day of the re-shoot.

To his absolute fury he discovered they had continued shooting with the old script.

“What the hell is going on here?” he demanded to know.

A tentative Louis stepped forward.

“We had to move quicker than you could write kid.”

Removing his newly acquired luxury sunglasses, Gawain eyeballed Louis and the other producers with laser-like focus.

“You’re not going to get away with this, scum!” he screamed at them all.

Momentarily stunned by the young boy’s outburst, they continued nonetheless with the days shooting.

Someone, presumably Violet Sherman, had not studied the small print of Gawain’s contract with the studio which had been originally negotiated on the back of a napkin at the Well and Anchor. As a consequence they now found themselves facing a heavy lawsuit with Gawain who had clearly done his due diligence on the matter with the help of his wily old grandfather.

In their bid to get him to sign, he had included some additional clauses which had been written in Welsh by his grandfather and were now seemingly open to a far wider interpretation than they had originally understood.

Louis and his team were swiftly gotten rid of by Violet Sherman who suddenly realised her entire empire was under threat from the boy she had deceived.

By the time Kevin had nearly completed Demon’s Souls on his beloved PS5, Gawain had gained an entire film franchise and become the head of the studio.

Directing the first instalment of Digital Renegades, on budget and on time had earned him the respect of his industry peers.

With big plans ahead for the future, it was now time to return home, loathe that Kevin was to give up his current addiction to Popeye’s Chicken.

Upon his return to Wales, there was a street party in the run down estate where Gawain and most of his friends and family lived. It was quite something to behold. Someone from this run down area, so synonymous with poverty, had now become a modern day folk hero similar to that of King Arthur or Robin Hood.

From now on, Gawain would become the stuff of legend in Wales and good sort that he was, would re-invest in his community so that his neighbours, friends and family could enjoy the spoils of his outrageous fortune.

Paying a visit to his one still living set of grandparents whom he’d always visited every sunday in times past for afternoon roast, Gawain promised them both he would seriously consider their suggestions for both a re-make of the musical Camelot (Mamgu’s favourite because of the Richard Harris 1967 movie version) and a full, unabridged cinematic version of The Mabinogion (Bampi’s favourite).

The future was a wide open goal for Gawain.

And you can be sure he wasn’t going to miss.

On his final evening in Wales before returning to Hollywood, Gawain took special note of the inscribed proverb above the door to the old pub toilet.

It read;

“He who steals an egg, will steal more.”