Franck was bringing up the rear and now could see them from above. He was amused by how hard they were trying to follow an animal. He thought back to his two years of hell with two successive flops, and the way the people around him had reacted. They had all turned their backs on him for several months. It had been as humiliating as it was infuriating. It’s hard to watch others losing interest in you; it’s not exactly that they pity you, more that they worry that failure is contagious. He thought about the shifty looks he had got at festivals and parties, and the former distributors and partners who had stopped answering the phone or suddenly had other projects with other people.

He had met Liem and Travis at Cannes. At first, he thought it was a godsend; they were so energetic, and they knew so much about new technology and video games – 3D war games that were impeccably designed. They said they had considered their options and wanted to get into the film industry; they seemed to have lots of ideas. In a sense, they were newcomers and he was a bit washed up, which helped them get along, especially as Cannes is so fickle. Like all festivals, there is a feeling of overwhelming euphoria at Cannes: everyone is beautiful and triumphant, all plans are promises, and everyone says yes to everyone, but once the festival finishes you never hear from them again. They had produced two short films ‘for fun’, but they swore their experience in digital would help get Alpha Productions back in the game; they were used to the multimillion-euro investment plans of video game production. When Franck met them, he had been convinced he needed new blood and help to relaunch his company. He believed they were genuine and only later realised they couldn’t care less about films and were actually planning to use his library to lure in the tech giants. Obviously their only ambition was to get into sponsored series and bank on the internet … His foot caught on a root and he almost fell. His lace had come undone and he bent down to tie it.

‘You’re getting old, mate. You don’t want to see that things have changed!’

‘What?’

‘Nothing, nothing, Franck. I was just asking if you’re OK …’

‘Yeah, I’m fine.’

‘Hey, when we get to the bottom, are we gonna have to go up another hill?’

‘Yes, we have to go up one more hill and back down again, and then we’ll be there.’