Paula thought Riley turning twelve was a change of pace – imagine how she felt when the girl turned thirteen! Fortunately, she’d been able to adapt with the times, though given that she was now the head of Dream Productions, she had to, right? She’d done her best to appease the increasingly impossible demands of Jean Newberry, the former head of the studio, but after the… creatively misguided outburst that led to Riley’s lucid dream (a smash hit, mind you), she was fast-tracked to the top, and she couldn’t have been happier. After all, she would do anything and everything to keep their girl content.
Her former AD, Janelle Johnson, had become an iconic director (something Paula wished she’d seen earlier), and Xeni, the young, aspiring daydream-maker-turned-dreammaker was the off-the-cuff soul that Riley needed to keep things interesting (another thing Paula wished she’d seen earlier). She made it a point to be more open-minded when it came to keeping Riley’s dreams fresh and inspired, and not be afraid to try new things – or hire new writers/directors, for that matter.
At the moment, she was currently floored by the script in front of her. Noriko had hurried into her office with a folder marked (URGENT), and insisted that Paula had to take a look at this. Curious at what all the hubbub was about, she gave it a readthrough.
Holy smokes.
Then she clocked who the author was.
…
’Hello, this is Headquarters, Joy speaking~!’
“Hi, ma’am, uh, this is Paula Persimmon from Dream Productions – I’m not bothering you, am I?”
’Oh, Paula! No, not at all! Riley’s just enjoying a day out with her friends right now, and we’re keeping an eye on the console as always! What can I do for you?’
“Uh, well… a few things, maybe. So, I got a script that just landed on my desk, fresh off the presses here – I mean, it’s really something special, something I think would do wonders for Riley.”
’Awesome! Can’t wait to watch it! Is something wrong, though?’
“No, no! Well, not ‘wrong’, per se, it’s just… one of your new friends wrote it.”
’...Oh, fiddlesticks, I completely forgot! I’m so sorry, you’re right – it is their work. They weren’t sure whether it would be okay to send it in – I told them it was worth a shot, but I completely forgot to run it by you first!’
“Whoa, hey, it’s okay ma’am, honest, I was just surprised is all, heh. We’ve never had a script literally come from the top.” Paula assured her as she ran a hand through her curly purple hair. “Any chance they’re available right now? I think I’d like to hear their side of things.”
’Absolutely! Why, they’re right here, I’ll just hand you over to them. Here, it’s for you…’
Some shuffling was heard for a moment, until a new voice came over the line, one which put a bright smile on Paula’s features – ah, there they were.
“Hey there, kiddo! This is Paula Persimmon of Dream Productions, and lemme just say, kudos on being the first of the bigwigs to send something down to us! Don’t worry, I’m not calling to chew you out or anything – much the opposite! I’ve read your script, and I really, really like it! We’d love to make something big outta this if you ever wanna, y’know, stop by and talk some turkey. I mean, if you even can get outta that place, since I know you’ve kinda got a full-time job up there, ha-ha!”