Tea Gardener was sitting in her dressing room casually reading a book on kabuki. Despite what some hormonal idiots might believe, life at N-Class Productions didn't revolve around sex. Well, life off of the stage didn't revolve around sex. Nodoka insisted that a level of professionalism be maintained throughout the studio. What happened on the stage stayed on the stage and it was expected that no one made any discriminating marks about anyone else. Nodoka was a fairly easy going woman, unless you broke her rules. If that happened, there would be hell to pay.
All and all, Tea couldn't really complain about her current career. Originally, she was only supposed to be a gopher getting things that the various members of the production staff needed and making sure that the refreshment stand was properly supplied. It was during Tea's sixth week that Nodoka had approached her about subbing in for one of the actresses. The red haired matron of the studio had kept her eye on the then intern and apparently saw a great deal of potential. Naturally, the former member of the Yugi-tachi had been embarrassed and extremely nervous about the mere idea of doing something like that on stage for the camera.
However, Nodoka had patiently worked Tea through her nervousness. The Saotome matriarch had gently coaxed the brunette into agreeing to film one test scene. Tea's constant exposure of the studio helped Nodoka's case in convincing the young woman that nothing harmful would happen to her. Also, the male lead was very understanding and gently helped Tea through her first love scene. After that one scene, Tea had decided to accept Nodoka's offer to sub for the poor starlet.
The movies that Tea acted in actually required acting. Nodoka insisted that adult films required a well thought out plot line and good acting in order to be successful. Anyone could film two or more people going at it like wild beasts. Only a true master could craft a story that seamlessly merged a story with steamy scenes. That was something that many actors and actresses at N-Class Productions took pride in. They were actually actors and actresses with talent who could get jobs acting in the non-adult film industry. In fact, a good number of the people acting at N-Class Productions were now big name stars in the regular film industry.
Tea's solitude ended when the speaker in her room buzzed, "Miss Tea Gardiner, please come to sound stage 7. Lady Saotome wants to talk to you about a new film." The actress quickly put her book down and headed towards the designated sound stage.
When Tea got to the sound stage she found Nodoka sitting in the director's chair. Mrs. Saotome gave the woman a pleasant smile and said, "Good day Ms. Gardener." The owner of the studio then stood up and said, "Please follow me. I want to talk to you in private about your next film." Tea was a little surprised at Nodoka's request, but quickly followed her mentor.
Nodoka casually walked to her office and directed Tea to sit down on the comfortable couch. The elder woman then sat down next to Tea and started talking. "Recently, I was able to convince my foolish husband to let me bring my son into the studio. As my only child, it is necessary that Ranma learn how to run N-Class Productions when I get too old to run things."
Tea could see that this was important to Nodoka and she spoke up. "I know that you care about this place a great deal Lady Saotome. I take it that your son is going to involved in my next film?" After Nodoka nodded her head, Tea continued on. "Is Ranma going to be on the filming and directing crew?" It seemed to be a logical assumption and Tea figured that Nodoka simply wanted her to act as a guide for Ranma.
Nodoka shook her head and replied, "Good thought Tea. However, Ranma doesn't have the audiovisual qualifications needed to a director or cameraman just yet. What he does have is a lot of unrefined acting talent. Genma had Ranma pretend to be different people to get out of difficult situations that baka put them in. I've decided that you two are going to be the leads in a new film and I want you to show Ranma the ropes around here."
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(Posted Fri, 13 Feb 2009 23:01)
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