The Extraordinary Babysitter Comes To The Big Screen (F/f)

[goodgulf]

The Extraordinary Babysitter Comes To The Big Screen

The Pre-Pre-Production Meeting

Jake Russo pulled into a spot in the parking garage, wishing that they had valet parking here. He was a bit early and could do with a pick me up, so he did a line of coke off his briefcase.

"The worst part about this town is the expense." Jake muttered.

Which was true. He was a B list director (sometimes C list) which meant he had to live up to the image or people would think he was on his way. He needed a collectable car, a place in the hills, and to be seen at all the right nightspots. His wife had to shop at the right stores, his kids had to go to the right schools, and everything cost a right lot of money. Only in a city where appearances mattered as much as (or more than) substance would drugs eat up such a small proportion of his disposable income. Total up all the drugs they went through in a week and it was like a weekly dinner out for a family living in Middle America, at least as a percentage of his total budget.

Energised, he went to the pre-pre-production meeting.

The project pre-pre-production status meant it had little if any budget, but Jake wouldn't be here if he didn't think there was money to made. Entering the nondescript conference room, Jake saw that (unless they had writer coming) he was the last one to arrive. Not that anyone had noticed his arrival; they were all on their phones. Jake took a seat and prepared for a soft sell as he faked making a phone call.

Dominating one end of the table was Casey Stone. A former Disney star, she had followed the standard career path: a three year TV show, ending when she 18, then cast adrift to make her way in the world of post teen stardom. She'd had a few projects since then but still had her Disney shine at the advanced old age of 20. Casey had yet to do nude work, and could still play young if she wanted, mostly due to her own looks rather than makeup. Jake thought that the girl would be carded until she was 30. An airline employee had once asked a 22 year old Emma Watson if she was an unescorted minor, and Jake could see that sort of thing happening Casey for years to come.

On the other hand, he could easily see her going the other way. If she embraced tats, piercings, and the heroin chic look (mixed with the drug use that inspired that pale neo-goth look) then Casey might look 40 before she hit 25. That would be a shame, but Casey would be far from the first former teen star to crash and burn in her 20s.

Orbiting around the former teen star were the cream of her entourage. Her agent, Jennifer Henrie, her manager, Lucy Hampson, and her PR person, Karli Reynolds. Some of them had to be leaches, some of them productive members of her team, and Jake didn't know which were which yet. It was important that he learnt that fast; if this project went forward it would be as a Casey Stone project.

The other end of the table was dominated by Ben Fowley. The producer on this project, he represented the moneymen. Either he would green light it or the project wouldn't leave the pre-pre-production stage. Down the table from him was the casting director, Robert Lambert. Jake had worked with the man on past projects, mostly ones dealing with younger actors. The man had countless connections with the agents that stood between professional filmmakers and stage door mothers. Jake was sitting on the opposite side of the table from Robert, but not directly across from him. It was important that the others see Jake closer to Ben Fowley, because directors out classed mere casting directors.

The dynamics were clear: The professionals were on one end of the table while the former teen star and her people were at the other.

Ben Fowley put down his phone and called the meeting to order, demonstrating his importance by interrupting everyone else's calls. Jake noted that Casey immediately said “Bye” turned her attention to the producer, but Karli Reynolds didn't. The PR rep, possibly the least important person in the room, was the last one to put down her phone.

Jake wasn't sure that meant she was profoundly ignorant of her place in the pecking order or if she had something on Casey, but he pleased to see Casey acting professionally. Most times the stars left Disney feeling that they were owed an Oscar or three, but it seemed Casey had been out in the real world long enough to learn a bit about her place in it.

“We all know why we're here and what we're looking at doing.” Ben Fowley said before Karli ended her call. “Do we need a code name for it?”

Jake and Robert signalled negatively, and Casey shrugged.

“Does it matter? If it goes ahead we'll be calling it by the book's name, and if it doesn't it's nothing.” Casey stated.

“We know which role Casey would play.” Ben Fowley acknowledged. “Let's how the other roles look.”

Robert Lambert nodded and passed papers around. Digital phone records last forever, but paper could be tossed out. Especially if they didn't have a title on it.

“These are the names that would be available, interested, and suitable.” Robert Lambert said. “We can mixed and the names, depending on chemistry. I don't think they've been told they're up for it, but their agents are on board.”

“Does anyone see any problems with those names?” Ben Fowley asked.

Jake glanced at the list. There were no names, just girl #1, girl #2, and boy. Well the dotty aunt and the other adult roles were listed as well, but those characters were almost background filler. Each young character had two or three names beside it, along with a question mark, representing Robert Lambert's openness to find fresh faces for those roles. Most of the actors listed were on family shows and would be shooting around their TV production schedules.

Glancing at it, Jake couldn't see anyone with a bad rep. Robert knew Ben Fowley wouldn't have a problem with any name on the list, so it all came down to if Casey would work with the others. Jake didn't think that it was a test of her professionalism, just double checking that the project's star would work with the others.

After a brief huddle with her people, Casey spoke up:

“It's hard to say for sure about those question marks, but we're good with this list.”

“Then that's a step forward.” Ben Fowley began. “Okay, now, the first challenge: chapter 4.”

Jake nodded, knowing what the man was referring to.

The project was based on a YA book titled 'The Extraordinary Babysitter', that was a riff on the Lemony Snicket series. Three similarly aged cousins (two girls, one boy, none of them siblings) had been left in the charge of a dotty aunt. The dotty aunt had a busy day in town, leaving the cousins in the charge of titular sinister babysitter.

The book's sinister babysitter was the role that Casey hoped would be her first major breakout, non teen star, role. Jake didn't even dare think the words “adult role” or “mature role”, knowing how the scandal sheets would latch onto any hint that Casey was doing a sex movie. Not that Jake was sure how playing a babysitter would aid Casey in throwing off her teen image, but he wasn't being paid to steer Casey's career. Technically he wasn't currently being paid at all, but when the project moved forward then Jake would be paid for directing a commercial success in a set amount of time without going off budget. It wouldn't be the Godfather or Chinatown, or even Lemony Snicket, but it would earn out and that was why they'd hire him.

The problem with chapter 4 was the confirmation that the babysitter was a weird one. One of the girls was frogmarched into the house, her panties lowered and dress raised, to get a bare bottom over the lap spanking.

That was the first of four spankings in the book, three of them given by the babysitter in the most stretched circumstances imaginable. Even if you supported spanking it was clear that the babysitter was looking for excuses, not valid reasons, to spank. Each spanking was surrounded by rationalising, with 'yeah but' being used to dismiss every valid counter argument against the spanking happening. There was a bit of fallout after each spanking, then came the build up to the next one. In chapter 8 there was a hairbrush spanking, chapter 12 had an outdoor switching, then things came to unexpected head after the early return of the dotty aunt leading to chapter 14 where the babysitter bent bare over the side of a bed for a strapping from the aunt. The bedroom door was left partly open, with the three cousins looking on smiling. Now that shot would need setting; they had to have a bedroom at the end of a corridor, not off a hallway, which meant maybe building a special set. Of course they wouldn't be showing Casey's backside, but they would have to make it clear that she was half naked.

All told, it was a darker teen role than Casey had played before, but it was still basically a teen role.

“That should be easy to work around.” Jake began. “We can even follow the basics from the book. The babysitter reaches under the dress, pulls down a pair of panties, sits and flips the girl over her lap with something blocking the camera's view. The girl's skirt might be up but she's wearing another pair, or a swimsuit, and then we get a good Foley artist to do the sound, maybe some red makeup and tears applied to the face between takes, and we've got it in the can.”

Ben Fowley and Robert nodded, but Casey didn't.

“Actually, I had my own views on that scene.” Casey grinned. “I thought I'd pull down the girl's panties, haul her over my lap, and spank her bare bottom. Do it for real, get it done in one take, and surprise the hell out of her.”

Jake went to laugh, but stopped before he did. The looks on Casey's entourage made it clear that it wasn't a joke. Suddenly Jake realised how this would be a transitional movie. Casey would play it as an ironic throwback sort of thing by taping themes that were both mature and childish.

There was a moment of silence by the professionals, then Ben Fowley turned to the casting director.

“Would that be in the realm of possibility?” Ben Fowley asked, treating the suggestion seriously.

“With the unknowns? Of course.” Robert nodded. “Among the name talent? It could be. I would have to subtly feel it out things with their agents, but their agents might be willing to sell it. They know they are dealing with a limited window of cute and need to maximise that income stream in. No offence to anyone here.”

“None taken.” Jennifer Henrie commented.

“I know all about kids, and teens, who didn't grow up cute.” Casey acknowledged. “Half the actors that were on my show are out of the business because they don't have the look or the personality to go on.”

“Exactly.” Robert nodded.

“If the cast was up for that, what sorts of problems do you foresee?” Ben Fowley asked, turning to Jake.

Jake was sure that half the actors in Hollywood, teen stars or not, would take a spanking for a chance at work, so hadn't bothered listening to the by-play between the casting director and the star. Instead he had set his mind racing. Had the former teen star done some research or was this an idea bounced around in her circle with everyone agreeing that Casey was a genius?

“As a shot it is possible.” Jake began. “We do the tight shot and wide shot at the same time. What I worry about is the rating. If we lose G we lose a huge chunk of Casey's fan base, which might make the project uneconomical to proceed with.”

“Some brief, non-gratuitous, nudity can be accepted with a G.” Lucy Hampson noted. “Kes comes to mind as a movie where you glimpsed everything, and the 50s and 60s are full of movies of topless preteens. Even the Partridge Family showed the youngest girl's chest when she was in the bathtub.”

“Her chest?” Jake said, empathising the second word. “Yes, that's acceptable for a preteen. But we aren't talking about preteens running around topless. We are talking about showing teen characters getting their bared bottoms spanked. Four of them.”

“Three.” Casey corrected. “I'm 20, remember?”

“But your character is a teen.” Jake countered. “Maybe if we restarted casting, coming up with a list of 18 plus actors who can play young? No, we still need to worry about that rating and network standards. Only I'm not sure when they will kick in. Are we talking about a general release movie, a speciality channel movie, a network movie, or direct to DVD download?”

Casey tried to interrupt, but Jake didn't let her.

“If it's a general release, speciality channel project, or direct release we'd have time to edit those scenes, maybe shoot them twice, to clean the project up for network broadcast.” Jake continued. “They might be a couple of years down the road, but I'm sure everyone here knows how important those residual payments are. First North American broadcast, first British broadcast, first Australian, and that's before we look at translations. Losing those fees be more costly than losing the G rating.”

Jake had to breathe, giving Casey the chance to speak.

“But other movies have shown spankings, on bared bottoms. The Fearless Vampire Killers...”

“Ah, but that was a late 60s, maybe early 70s movie.” Jake countered. “That's a totally different world than today. If you have time you should watch 'Pretty Maids All in a Row', a dark comedy where half the 'laughs' come from how Rock Hudson's character is seducing half the high school girls he teaches. If anyone tried to make that movie today the mob would rip them apart. No, citing history only applies when the public still feels the same way. Oh, and Sharon Tate wasn't a teen when she made that vampire movie.”

“How about an unrated DVD version?” Karli Reynolds suggested. “We shoot them from the face side and their backsides, with the backsides being saved the DVD?”

“We'd need a pair of DVDs for that.” Jake countered. “Walmart doesn't stock unrated DVDs and with our target market there's no way we can lose out on those DVD sales.”

“Other than sales and ratings, could the unrated DVD concept work?” Ben Fowley asked.

Jake wasn't sure which answer the man wanted, so went with an honest one.

“We'd need an extra camera for that.” Jake answered. “We should be able to work the shoot around the extra people, but we'd need at least one extra crew... Thinking about it, no, we'd need pair of extra crews. One for each wide shot, one for each close shot.”

“But we would only need them for a day.” Casey countered. “We could even do it in order. The hand spanking in the morning, the hairbrush starting around noon, and the switching in the afternoon. That's two crews for single day, which is less than spending a day per scene, and you know those actors will want to milk their time as much as they can.”

“I believe that we might require another meeting on this.” Ben Fowley mused aloud. “This meeting was designed to run over casting decisions, not probe into the guts of the thing. It seems that we aren't on the same page for a couple of issues. Jake is doing a great job of pulling answers out of the air, but we really need to look at our options here. So, our people will call each other and set up another meeting. Are we all on the same page on this?”

A chorus of agreement later, the meeting was over.


The Follow Up Meeting And New Plan

A week later, Jake Russo was pulling into the same parking place. This time he didn't have time to do a line, but he didn't need it. The project was now officially pre-production, which meant a cheque for today's meeting and a belated one for last week's meeting. Those, combined with a residual cheque from a DVD issue, meant that he wouldn't have to tap his savings this month.

Surprisingly, it was the same people attending today's meeting. Jake had half expected a new casting director or for Casey to switch out members of her entourage. Failing that, Jake expected a writer would be there, but then again the movie practically wrote itself.

This time he had done actual research. Not only on ratings, but why this was a Casey Stone project: the former teen actress owned the film rights to the book. Ben Fowley had started lining up money, but the project couldn't go ahead without Casey's participation.

Ben Fowley was the last to arrive, bringing the meeting to order as he walked through the door.

“Well we're officially pre-production, which is surprising for a project that could be a general release, a DVD/download, or web project.” Ben Fowley said, surprising Casey's people. “Robert, how about those names?”

“There are two lists today.” Robert Lambert said, producing them. “The original list is back, along with a list of older actors who can play young. And yes, I've touched bases with the agents involved. Everyone listed would be okay with how things were suggested.”

“Anyone have any problems with the new list?” Ben Fowley asked the room.

Jake shook his head, but the question was really directed to Casey.

“No, these look okay, but the first list would work better.” Casey declared.

“Much better.” Karli Reynolds agreed.

“So, Jake, your views on showing the spankings?” Ben Fowley asked.

“First, there is no way we can show more than a glimpse of nudity and keep a G.” Jake began. “As for Kes, that wasn't a G rated movie. It was PG-13 for, and I quote here, 'language, nudity and some teen smoking'. We aren't looking at language or smoking, but the spankings would more than counter their absence. In short, we'd be looking at PG if show anything that looks like a real spanking.”

“Looks?” Casey queried.

“I've talked with a couple F/X people, and they had ideas.” Jake confirmed. “We could build padded devices, ones looking like bottoms, that not only would absorb something that looked like a real smack but could also shift colours a bit.”

“I'd be spanking fake butts?” Casey asked.

“While they would look realistic, we wouldn't be showing real nudity, which would help the rating.” Jake continued. “Otherwise, if we covered those bottoms, we could build padding for them so they could be spanked full force without them feeling it.”

“Then what would be the point?” Casey complained.

“Now if we went with older actors, and actual spankings, I put together a little screen test.” Jake revealed. “Nothing big, I just used staff to block out the action, but it's doable. It will take a bit of pacing, but we can have one close shot of the upper end of the actor and a different one showing the rear view. One showing no nudity while the other shows the bottom shifting colour, so we could do a rated and unrated version of each scene, if we wanted that.”

When he said nothing big he meant it. Jake had borrowed a couple of cameras and used his staff to work the scene. His au pair hadn't been eager to go over his lap, but she kept dropping hints about how she wanted to make a splay in show business and a screen test was a screen test.

“Let's go over the options.” Ben Fowley said. “We use the fake backsides or otherwise use padding; we use the older actors; or we go to a straight to DVD/download release.”

Casey opened her mouth to interrupt, but Ben Fowley waved her objection aside.

“The problem is that Jake's right.” Ben Fowley explained. “No network is every going to show a real spanking, or even a realistically staged one, so networks are out. This isn't art house enough for the speciality channels or pay TV.”

“Says who?” Casey demanded in a huff.

“Let's talk about what happened after our last meeting. Robert redid his casting notes.” Ben Fowley said, counting his points on his fingers. “Jake did his research into how to film those scenes. Me, I explored our options. Luckily the money was still supporting your vision for the project, but that's mostly because you talked about showing your behind when we film that bit from chapter 14. HBO isn't interested, it's not aimed at their audience. The other specially channels, the artist ones, they don't think it's daring enough. Network hasn't show an actual spanking since the 80s or 90s and no distributor will handle a film that shows a minor's bottom being spanked, not actually spanked. That means some sort of padding, older actors, or we don't try for a theatrical release. Interestingly enough, the backers are still firmly behind the project, even with spanking, but only as long as you supply partial nudity. Otherwise we turn back the clock to Jake's ideas of how fake spanking.”

Karli Reynolds spoke in her client's place.

“But we want...” Karli Reynolds began.

“I know what you want to do.” Ben Fowley interrupted. “Me, I want to produce another Godfather, or maybe a big budget sci fi project that will blow away Star Wars and Avatar, but that's not happening this year. Maybe that could happen a few years down the road, but at the moment it's not possible. That's part of a producer's job, defining the possible, and what I'm telling you is that the only way we can go in the direction that you want is a direct release or some weird web based product.”

“But...” Casey protested.

“You own the rights so it's your choice.” Ben Fowley reiterated. “If you can't choose, then this won't be the first project to die in pre-production. Look, maybe, just maybe French TV would touch this, but that would mean a low budget production shot in France with you speaking French. Since you don't speak French I don't really see that as an option, nor do I see you wanting to do a product that most Americans will never see.”

Casey frowned. For a moment, Jake could swear that she was pouting, but after that moment a professional smile replaced that frown.

“I think we need a minute to conference on that.” Casey said.

“Take your time.” Ben Fowley told her. “But we'll need a decision before we leave this room. Otherwise, well what's the point of going on if we don't know what sort of cast we'll need?”

Casey nodded, then turned her seat. Soon her entourage was circled around her, talking in low voices.

Ben Fowley singled the others and they moved to sit closer to him.

“Are we talking or just posturing?” Robert asked. “I'm asking because I always guess wrong.”

“What is there left to say?” Ben Fowley asked. “But if they're talking we should talk too. Did all those agents sign off on actual spankings?”

“They did.” Robert confirmed. “They were all sure they could sell it to their clients. It wasn't hard to get them on side since I'd put together the initial list with those scenes in mind. If there was resistance to that idea I didn't put that name on my list. And if we got with unknowns, well those kids would kill for a role like these ones.”

Ben Fowley nodded.

“Did you really stage the scene, blocking it out?” Ben Fowley asked.

“I did.” Jake said. “I got assistants to work the cameras and told someone it was a screen test, but I mostly did it so I could say I did it. I've done countless shoots like that, usually blending the two views. If we go with the older actors we can be PG for theatres and have an unrated version for the DVD/download.”

Ben Fowley didn't speak again. Casey was still in conference, so Jake filled the silence.

“Did you really send feelers out to French TV?” Jake asked.

“Maybe.” Ben Fowley said with a shrug. “If not, it's another option on the table. One they'll never take, but they can't say I didn't give them options. And it's only a maybe option.”

“Speaking of maybes, is this really going to go ahead?” Robert asked. “If not, I'll warn the agents that things are unstable.”

“No, the money's stable.” Ben Fowley grinned. “There's enough interest in seeing Casey Stone's bare ass that the money's not going anywhere. Of course we'll need a clause where she doesn't do Playboy or otherwise show her body off before our project sees the light. Otherwise we won't earn out. Anyone see any other problems?”

“Just the usual.” Jake grunted. “Those are the only four challenging scenes. We don't even need chemistry between the cousins; them being rivals is half the story. No, the only challenges will be dragging decent performances from a young cast. Even if we use the older actors it's not like any of the names on that list are the next Olivier.”

“I wonder why they're still talking.” Robert said. “Are we dealing with a refusal to accept reality?”

“Maybe, but notice how the PR flak is doing a lot of the talking?” Jake said. “That's because this is her idea. She spotted the book and sold Casey on it being a breakout role. If this flops then she's gone.”

“Maybe not.” Ben Fowley countered. “I didn't get this far in without knowing the players. The manager and agent usually call the shots, but Karli with an 'i' is the one who cleans up messes. If she does a tell all then Casey's next stop could be porn because at that point doing a porno could only improve her rep.”

“There's that much dirt?” Jake asked.

“The insurance boys needed access to Casey's medical records, which includes when she started on the pill and how many STDs she's been treated for.” Ben Fowley revealed. “She's gone through less drugs and booze than most in her position, but the sex stuff would ruin her image.”

Casey called down the table.

“Are you sure that there can't be real swats with the younger crowd?”

“Positive.” Ben Fowley called back. “And we'll need to green screen them in on chapter 14. We can't have them actually looking at your bottom, not until they see it in theatres, or the film will never make it into theatres.”

There was a bit of more talk, then Casey's conference ended. Jake and the others returned to their original positions.

“Those options suck.” Casey declared.

“True, but those are the only options we have.” Ben Fowley agreed. “We go with one of those or we drop the project.”

“That's impossible.” Casey said. “Too many people know I bought the rights.”

“We didn't start any rumours.” Ben Fowley pointed out.

“I know who started them.” Casey assured them, giving her PR rep a look. “The project has to go ahead, but there's no way I can be the youngest actor on it.”

“Well there's the aunt and...” Robert began.

“The babysitter can't be younger than the kids she's sitting.” Casey clarified. “There's no way this can be a transitional movie unless I'm the oldest on the set.”

“Does that mean you've made a decision?” Ben Fowley asked.

This time there was no doubt about it; Jake clearly saw Casey pouting.

“Yes I have.” Casey whined. “We'll use the fake butts.”




Filming The Big Scene

Weeks later, Jake had to admit that Casey could act. She wasn't Oscar material, at least not yet, but Jake had worked with far less talented actors. Casey was in a sulk ever since she accepted her only real option, but whenever she was on set she was in character. Casey went from sulk to her delightfully wicked character back to sulk like the pro she was.

The younger actors, well Jake wished they were half as professional as Casey, but he had known what he was doing when he signed on. They were at their worse when they were playing around with their prosthetic backsides. The F/X boys had worked out something butt shaped that shifted colour on impact, but they needed a good hour to reset between takes. Between takes, or after one, the actors pounded them for the fun of seeing them shift colour. That extra time stretched the “we need those extra cameras” to two days, but they worked in Casey's scene on the second day, which saved them a bit of cash.

Casey's chapter 14 scene was captured in a single extended take, one that covered much more than was shown in the book. The book only covered things that at least one of the three cousins saw, and they only raced to the half opened doorway after the sound of the strapping echoed through the house, but Casey decided they needed more for the unrated DVD/ download.

“But I had a reason.” Casey whined as she undid her jeans. “Every time! They all agreed I had a reason.”

“No dear, you had a series of excuses.” Elle Dever scolded. “Jeans down. Now.”

Elle Dever had thought that she was a bit young for the aunt role, but she was willing to milk the near cameo role for all it was worth. Even if it risked getting her tons of hate mail from Casey's fan base.

Unzipping her jeans, Casey turned towards the bed while putting her thumbs inside her jeans. In one quick move, she pulled her jeans and panties to her mid thigh. One camera kept its wide focus while the extra camera focused in Casey's milky white bottom and thighs, thighs that clamped shut the moment that they were bared. It wasn't easy to do, but Casey managed to bend over the bed without parting her legs by even an eighth of an inch.

“Well I hadn't mentioned taking those down.” Elle Dever noted. “But as you bared the cousins I shall not be objecting nor shall I tell you to rise to replace those on that bottom of yours. With all the spanking done today, I am truly surprised that you stumbled not upon this strap.”

Casey didn't lift her head when she answered.

“I wasn't snooping because I'm not a snoop.” Casey answered.

“Perhaps, or perhaps not.” Elle Dever acknowledged. “If not then you are an unusual sitter as most sitters go snooping high and low. Even more unusual as most sitters would only spank as the last, nay as the very last, resort. Beyond that, I can recall no sitter before you that required a spanking of her very own, which does make you the most extraordinary babysitter.”

With those words (that were paraphrased from and repeated in the movie's final scene), Elle Dever brought the strap down hard on Casey's taut backside. Casey let loose with a horrible shriek, but barely moved as the strap left its mark on her bottom.

That shriek had been rehearsed; it was the cue for the cousins to lift their heads in shock. The next scream would send the three of them running. Twice more they would hear screams, with them close enough to hear the crack off the strap before the second, then they would be standing at the end of the corridor leading to the master bedroom. They would stand there, staring in awe, as the aunt continued to smack their hated sitter's bottom with the strap.

Of course the actors playing the cousins weren't involved in this scene. They would hear the captured audio and react to that, then there would be a scene with them running, but the final scene (the one where they stopped and stared in awe) would be them in front of a green screen. They would have the audio track to react off of, but they wouldn't see Casey's bared bottom until they saw it on the big screen. Those actors weren't even on the set, and they weren't the only ones missing; Casey had insisted on clearing the set as much as possible and Jake had gone along with it.

While those actors would not see this in person, a camera had to capture their point of view. The camera focusing on Casey's bottom would slowly move farther into the room, shifting to where it would be out of sight from the partly opened door, while the camera shooting the wide view would shift back, the camera man press back hard on the wall beside the door, right on his mark. The cameraman shooting down the corridor would signal the director when the other camera lift its line of sight.

They hadn't been able to rehearse this scene (Casey still insisted on doing it in a single take) but there was no way Jake would shoot any important scene without blocking it out. Elle Dever had swung a soft velvet cord as a PA ran through Casey's part, the cord so soft that the PA barely felt it landing on her slacks. They had worked through the camera placings on three different days, working on it for over an hour each time, until Jake was sure that everything would work right for Casey's big scene.

The strap crashed down again, adding more colour to Casey's bottom and producing the second howl. Jake nodded as the cameras continued their moves, almost missing the lick that produced Casey's third unearthly howl.

After the fourth (and last) theatrical howl, the timber of Casey's voice changed. Casey's shifted her head slightly, turning it to look down the corridor before straightening, which told her character that she had an audience. Knowing that she was being watched and without the need to howl for the camera, Casey's reactions became more realistic. Each blow from the strap now produced a gasp or a yelp, but no pleas or begging. That was one of the more awe inspiring things for the cousins, their evil sitter stoically taking her strapping. All of the cousins had kicked and begged her to stop, but Casey's character refused to plead her case while they were watching.

It was a performance that Casey might not be able to pull off. Jake was sure that Casey thought she could do it, but thinking that she could do it and actually taking the strapping were two different things. Worse, while they only needed a minute or so for the cousins to witness (with the cameras mostly focusing on the cousins' reaction – they couldn't afford a full minute of Casey's backside if they wanted to keep their rating), Casey had insisted on even more bonus footage. Elle Dever was to swing that strap at a steady rate for a good five minutes before the close in and the corridor cameras swung off of Casey's bottom.

The first minute, the bit that would be included in the general release, went according to plan, but that was it. Before the second minute ended, Casey shifted from greeting each lick with a yelp to yelping almost continuously. Yelps that contained the occasional sobs before that third minute was half over. A dam broke just before that third minute end; Casey cried and sobbed all through those last two minutes.

But while tears were running down her face, the camera didn't see them. Casey maintained her position throughout the strapping, even when Elle Dever's tired arm caused some of those licks to land on Casey's once white thighs. Casey's bottom might be a dark red and her thighs a lighter shade of crimson, but Casey held those thighs tightly closed, doing what she had to in order to avoid R rated frontal nudity.

Jake was tempted to be late calling an end to the strapping, but he couldn't. There was no way that Casey's people wouldn't notice if he called it more than a few seconds late.

“Turning in ten, mark.” Jake said into his mike at the 4:50 mark. “Five, four, three, two, and mark.”

With the cameras turning away, Elle Dever swung the strap one last time, landing it at the 5:03 mark.

“And cut.” Jake called. “Release the scene.”

Elle Dever dropped the strap and began massaging her arm.

“Now that was a workout.” Elle Dever said loudly. “I'm going to need some muscle cream. I can already feel it seizing up. Casey, how are you doing?”

Casey only sobbed in reply.

“Casey?” Jake called.

Placing her hands on the board and pushing down, Casey rose slowly, revealing that her face was coated with tears. As she rose her legs parted enough for her jeans to sag, which made her next actions a slight bit easier. Without a word, Casey bent to lower her jeans and panties to her ankles then stepped out of them. Her hands rubbing continuously on her backside and tears still flowing, Casey turned and walked from the set without saying a word. Elle and the PAs looked to Jake for direction, but he just waved them back before turning to his assistant.

“Wrap a towel or something towel like around her waist.” Jake said. “Now, before someone snaps a picture.”

The PA used a jacket for the towel object object, holding it in place as Casey stalked towards her trailer. It looked awkward as hell, Casey with her hands below the jacket in a futile attempt to rub the pain from her backside as the PA held it, but it worked. Everything important was covered until after Casey was in her trailer, where she recovered enough to send the PA on her way.


Wrapping Things Up

That scene actually went better than the one with the cousins. All three of them blew the reactions, breaking character at the sound of the first howl.

“And cut,” Jake called. “Hold the scene. Okay people, what's the issue? Of course it sounds horrible; that's what the script called for. No, we didn't torture Casey for the audio track. Anymore questions? Then places, cue sound, roll film, and action.”

They needed another take, then two more during the running scene. Of course they all missed their marks as they stopped in front of the green screen, not that it mattered much. Jake did six takes of them reacting to a minute of Casey's audio track and was left hoping that it could fix that scene in post.

The last scene of the movie happened to the last scene they filmed. Makeup artfully painted tears on Casey's face and the actress faked a limp as Elle Dever led her to the living where the grinning cousins waited. Elle Dever gave her final speech, marking how extraordinary Casey's character was, then added the final line.

“And now that the misunderstanding has been dealt with, and dealt with most thoroughly indeed, everything is settled.” Elle Dever proclaimed. “We close the book on today's events. As for later, why now that I know that we have an extraordinary babysitter in our midst I shall keep her in mind for other times that I need begone alone from this house. Now that my views are crystal clear to her, I sure that such an extraordinary sitter would do a wonderful job.”

The cousins were supposed to be shocked at the announcement. As it ended, Casey was supposed to give them all an evil look, one that transformed their shock to horror.

Casey did her part, but the other actors needed take after take for that last bit. Finally calling it a day, Jake was sure they could fix it in post by combining reactions from different takes.


The wrap party was a wrap party. The younger actors managed to get into the champagne, but no one (including their agents) cared. Ignoring their antics, Jake sought Casey out for a private word.

“I still can't believe you pulled off that scene.” Jake said in a low voice.

“Save it.” Casey snapped. “I've had my butt kissed by some of the best sycophants in the world. Was that third camera still rolling? Did you get it?”

“Everything went as per your instructions.” Jake told her. “The cameraman thinks I was setting you up for a gag reel and he caught it all. Your tearful rise from the bed, your shedding of your jeans, and slightly out of focus footage of that PA shielding you until got to your trailer. And yes, I made sure that I got the only copy.”

“That's wonderful.” Casey smiled. “I've already talked to one of the channels rerunning my old show and they'll run the episodes out order just before the movie opens. There are some episodes where I came off as a brat, and with that running it should drive ticket sales.”

“Showing your backside will drive ticket sales.” Jake countered. “Those brat episodes won't matter that much. And the unrated DVD/download, it should outsell the basic one.”

“Even without Walmart?” Casey teased.

“Even without Walmart.” Jake agreed. “But that extra footage, there's no way it can be in the unrated release. You broke character and showed everything but your boobs; there's no way we can include it even as a deleted or extra scene.”

“No, it's going to be leaked.” Casey said, sporting a sardonic smiled. “Leaked by the person who suggested that this dog could be a transition movie and that I should show my butt in it. After she leaks that, and everyone downloads that footage of me sobbing, showing off my carefully trimmed pubic hair and everything around it, I'll have no choice but to fire her ass. Once that happens it won't matter what she says; she could tell the story of the might I lost my cherry to three guys in a hot tub or all those times I needed the morning after pill, and it will just be a bitter ex-employee trying bad mouth her former meal ticket. A bruised bottom is nothing compared to the freedom I'll have when that bitch is gone. I was ready to get tons of hate mail and maybe a lifetime ban from the Disney parks for really spanking those drunken brats if it meant that Karli with an 'i' had to go over it.”

Jake nodded, the light finally dawning.

“Here's hoping that things work out there.” Jake said, raising a glass of scotch.

Casey responded by raising her bottle of sparkling water.

“Here's to my next birthday, when I'll be able to drink without worry about the paparazzi taking my picture.” Casey added.

They shared the toast, then Jake moved on to the next person he had to talk to. As he did, Jake couldn't help thinking about the payday that this movie would generate. Showing Casey's bottom should triple the expected audience. Male teens would flock to it almost as much as the female demographic, doubling ticket sales. Jake was sure it would triple as older males found excuses to see the movie, just for that glimpse of Casey's wiggling little bottom, providing the triple up.

Which hopefully would add up to enough money to support him until his project.

Goodgulf

[pa1ra]

Compliments for his wonderfull story!
Good change of plot at the end. Initially i had trouble getthing tnrough the first paragraphs, but your storyline was conistent and triggered the curiosity. Thanks again, Goodgulf!

[goodgulf]

I'm glad you liked it. After writing stories where the people behind a movie were angling for real spankings I tried to present professionals who didn't care about the spankings - only their bottom lines.

Goodgulf