The Number One Star in the Interstellar Era

WHEN the ending credits rolled, the lights in the small theater room came back on. The people who had just watched the film did not speak. The room was completely silent for a long minute. Then, a single person started clapping. That one sound broke the stillness, and the silence quickly turned into loud, enthusiastic applause.

“That was incredible,” one of the production staff for [The Shadow Within] finally said, his voice full of awe. “Did we really just make that?”

“I had goosebumps the entire last act,” one of the supporting actors admitted, shaking his head. “I still can’t believe I got to be a part of this film.”

The head of IndieFlix turned to Director McCann with a huge grin on his face. “You’ve got a real winner on your hands here, Director. A genuine hit.”

Truthfully, when the proposal for this movie first came to him, he had hesitated about taking it on. The director was a complete newbie with nothing on his resume. The only reason he had agreed in the end was when he found out Astrid Townsend would be part of the movie. Not only that, Astrid was also a major producer for it.

He had been confused by it at first. After all, Astrid Townsend was a rising star. Why would he take on a project like this and even put his own money into it? Wasn’t he worried it would stop his momentum if the movie failed? But after watching the final, edited film just now, the head of IndieFlix finally understood.

The story itself was already very strong. But Director McCann had found ways to make it even better. He had chosen the perfect actors for every role. His directing created a creepy, unsettling feeling that worked perfectly for the story. Even the music was outstanding. The head of IndieFlix could hardly believe this was just an independent film.

Now, he was genuinely happy with the choice he had made. And after seeing the final product, he decided right then to put more money and resources into promoting the movie.

Director McCann gave a shy, grateful smile. “Thank you. I’m just… really relieved it turned out this well.”

Around them, the other actors and the production staff kept talking, their voices buzzing with excitement about the movie they had just seen.

From his seat, Astrid smiled to himself. They were all in a small theater room at the IndieFlix headquarters. With only eight days left before the movie’s official release, the director had decided to show everyone involved the final version today.

The finished film was even better than he had hoped. It wasn’t just Director McCann’s overall vision, but also the music. The score created a truly mysterious, intense, and frightening atmosphere. And for that, he could only think of one person to thank.

He glanced at Kiran, who was sitting on his left. He had invited him to this private screening. After everything Kiran had done for the movie, he definitely deserved to be here. Especially after seeing the final cut of the film.

Six days ago, when they signed the contract with Resonance for Kiran to work on the soundtrack for [The Shadow Within], Astrid hadn’t expected him to finish it in just three days. Since the editing team was already on standby, they could finish the entire film in the next three days after they got the music from Kiran. After watching the final product, no one would ever guess they had done it all in just six days.

“You did an incredible job, Kiran,” he said, his voice full of genuine praise. “Thank you again for agreeing to help us out with this.”

Kiran turned to him, his cheeks turning a little pink. “Hey, you don’t have to thank me. I got paid really well for this, remember? Besides, it wasn’t hard to write the music when the story was this good to start with.”

When he first watched the rough cut of the movie with no music, he knew exactly what to do. The scenes themselves, the emotions on the actors’ faces, and the pacing of the story gave him all the inspiration he needed. He didn’t have to struggle to come up with ideas, they just flowed naturally as he watched.

“If there’s someone amazing here, it’s you, Aster,” Kiran added.

He wasn’t even exaggerating. Most of his inspiration came from watching Astrid’s performance as Dr. Stevens. The main lead was great, but Astrid’s acting just hit him harder emotionally.

And besides, Shir had been there to guide him. His cheeks warmed a little as he remembered the three days he spent working in Resonance’s music studio. Shir would drop by from time to time to check on his progress and offer advice. They had only talked about the music, but Kiran had still found the whole experience really enjoyable.

Astrid just smiled at Kiran’s compliment. “Yeah. I think I did okay with.”

“What do you mean ‘okay’? It was way better than okay,” Rhett Archer, the movie’s main lead, cut in. He was sitting up front and had turned around to join the conversation. “That ending credit scene was just…” He pretended to shiver. “Like something straight out of a horror film.”

“Right? I feel the same way!” Kiran agreed.

The two of them started talking about the movie, going over different scenes. Astrid just shook his head and smiled as he listened.

“This is going to be a big hit,” he heard Ellis say. She was sitting on his right. He turned to her and saw the slight smile on her lips. She looked at him, her eyes bright. “Your instinct for picking projects is really something special.”

He gave a low chuckle and shrugged one shoulder. “It’s really just luck most of the time.”

The truth was, it all came from the experience of his past life. If not for that, he would probably be like other young actors, choosing safe, commercial projects instead of an independent film like this. He might not even be acting at all if he hadn’t had those memories.

The people in the theater were still too excited to calm down.

And so, that same evening, the official trailer for [The Shadow Within] was released.