American Fame and Fortune Chapter 161

Chapter 161 Light a Fire

The pickup truck turned into the parking lot, and Martin looked at the small building not far away. There were many paparazzi gathered at the door of the building.

These guys have a very keen sense of smell.

 There are actors per capita in Los Angeles, as well as news sources per capita.

Bruce made a phone call and said: "Mene's agent Munir and lawyer are already inside."

Martin opened the door and got out of the car, and walked towards the office building with Bruce, ignoring the paparazzi reporters and entering the office building.

After explaining their purpose of coming, a clerical staff member immediately took them into an office.

Munir and the lawyer are waiting here.

 Martin asked: "Is he okay?"

Munir said: "He is a very nice person, and he can leave after paying the bail."

 Martin asked directly: "How much more is left?"

“I chipped in some of it, and part of Mene's salary is still there.” Munir said quickly: “There is still a shortfall of US$5,000.”

 Martin wrote a check for US$5,000 and gave it to Munir, and Munir and his lawyer went to handle the bail procedures.

 After a while, the two men brought Mene out.

Meine lowered his head when he saw Martin: "Boss..."

"It's okay." Martin walked out first: "Get out of here first."

 He reminded again: “There are paparazzi and reporters outside.”

Meine slowed down a little: "Boss, you and Lao Bu go first, I will go out in a while."

 “Meet at the fitness center in North Hollywood.” Martin and Bruce went first.

When the two got into the car, Mene happened to come out of the building. The paparazzi reporters were so excited that they wanted to put the microphone into Mene's mouth.

 Bruce smiled heartlessly: "He grabbed the headlines again."

 Martin shook his head: “It's okay not to have this kind of headline.”

 Arriving at the fitness club, Bruce opened a separate lounge. After waiting for a while, Mene and Munir walked in together.

 Martin asked for some wine and snacks: "Sit wherever you want."

Mene cried with a sad face: "Victoria has no professional ethics. I didn't tell you when I had enough fun, and you still want to arrest me for doing business!"

Martin said: "Fishing."

Bruce knows a lot: "The FBI often does this, using fake news to lure traffickers or perverts on the Internet..."

Munir interjected: "The lawyer, the bail broker, said that Mene danced too much about Paris and had been targeted by the LAPD for a long time."

 Martin asked Mene: "I remember you said you didn't take any money from her."

Meine was helpless: "She secretly stuffed $100 into my pocket this time, and I didn't even notice! For $100, I'm worth $100!"

Bruce asked: "They didn't ask anything else? Like what club you are in?"

"No." Mene said: "I was warned not to talk nonsense. My nuclear weapons may kill me for no reason if they are inside. I didn't say a word."

Bruce said: "Fortunately, you are not stupid. Don't be fooled by external propaganda. They don't follow the rules."

 Martin asked Munir: "What did the lawyer say?"

Munir asked carefully and said: "The end should be a high fine, probation, and community service."

Martin reminded Mene: "It's best not to go to that club of yours. It's a bit more stable recently and don't get caught with sore feet again."

Meine lowered his head and said: "Boss, I will listen to you." He vowed: "I will pay you back the money as soon as possible."

 Martin waved his hand: "If there is an audition opportunity, you will audition normally. If there is no audition opportunity, you will assist the crew with pre-planning work."

Munir was just a small agent. He kicked Mene and said, "I will keep an eye on him. If he dares to do anything wrong again, I will sell him to Mexico!"

Meine was first tired of being played with, and then was arrested for a job. His usual escape was gone this time: "I will report to the studio tomorrow."

 Munir left first.

Meine walked out of the back door of the fitness center alone, looked back, and said to himself: "I thought the boss would abandon me and leave me alone."

Let alone help the boss register a studio, even if he faces 20 people over the age of fifty, he will rush forward for the boss Martin.

  No matter how much it is, you have to think about it, after all, your life is at stake.

 In the lounge, Martin couldn't help but said: "The LAPD also has such a good time."

Bruce shrugged: "Consumption of public funds to entertain the body and mind. You don't think that the LAPD is a law-abiding and professional person, do you?"

 Martin laughed: “How could that be?”

Because the time was short, he still remembered reading a piece of news before he choked to death. The Los Angeles official announced or leaked all the information on the LAPD's undercover list.

　　This is such a terrible thing. Those LAPDs in special positions will probably doubt their lives.

Bruce added: "A friend of mine in the military said that the largest gang organization in Los Angeles is the LAPD." The next day, with the cooperation of professional organizations, Mene registered and established a separately accounted "Wanted" studio. A small soundstage was rented at Warner Bros. Studios.

Buying the copyright of comics, screenwriter Michael Bradt's screenwriter costs, and other various expenditures and reserve, Martin has invested $ 700,000 in the project, and will be calculated in the film production cost.

　Including various labor and management expenses incurred during the period, the investment must be at least US$2 million.

 This is definitely a conscientious price in Hollywood.

Six major companies such as Warner Bros. operate a platter project and produce a film with 50 million US dollars. If they don't spend 5 million US dollars in management expenses, they will be embarrassed to say hello to the other five companies in Hollywood.

 Martin is very clear that he now needs to climb up and build a word-of-mouth brand, and he cannot go too far.

 To put it bluntly, deception also requires branding and strength.

 After the news of recruiting directors and action directors was released, the studio quickly received more than 20 resumes.

 Most of these names, Martin has never heard of them, and he has no worthy works in the past.

 He did not dare to take too many risks and use directors with no successful experience.

 In this regard, Martin can only discuss it with Louise.

Louise wore black-rimmed glasses, carefully looked through the director's resume that Martin brought, and said directly: "There may be directors who are talented, capable, and have dreams, but they have not proven themselves, so their talents are worthless. , If the investment is only one million, we can take the risk, but at the level of tens of millions of dollars, these people all pass.”

 Martin has experienced the torture of dreaming into reality in his previous life, so he agrees with Louise's statement: "I would rather spend more money to hire a director with successful experience than take the risk of hiring a talented newcomer."

 He asked: "What about John Wu? He's very good at shoot-'em-up action movies."

"John Wu from Hong Kong City?" Louise thought about it carefully and shook her head slowly: "His personal style is too strong, especially in the gun battle genre. Do you think he will make a cool movie with new ideas? A shootout action movie, or another John Wu style movie?”

Martin has seen too many John Woo-style gunfight action movies.

At this moment, flying white doves, solemn churches, dancing-like romantic movements and gun battles seemed to flash before my eyes.

“The latter is more likely,” Martin said.

Louise reminded: "He is a mature director who has been famous for many years. His style has long been established. It is difficult to change, and it is difficult to predict if he is forced to change."

 Martin nodded: "I understand."

Nikki knocked on the door and came in, saying: "Thomas Lane is here."

"Thank you." Martin got up and left Louise's office and went to Davis's studio downstairs.

Thomas was waiting in the inner room of the office. When he saw Martin, he said, "Nothing important. I just sent Oscar Isaac to the studio for an audition. I passed by here and just came over to take a look."

 Martin sat on the sofa and said, "I remember he is another client of yours?"

Thomas specifically said: "Latinos have a completely different play style from you."

 Martin nodded, lighting the fire for Thomas at the right time: "A few days ago, Mike Vogel's agent Pinto came to see me."

Thomas said: "The poisonous snake thing has nothing to do with you..."

Halfway through his words, he suddenly reacted, his face was a little nervous, he quickly adjusted his breathing, and pretended to be relaxed and asked: "About your agency contract?"

Martin said directly: "Yes, Pinto wants me to choose him as my exclusive agent after the agency contract expires. Also, he promised to fight for me to get a major level production from Twentieth Century Fox, a movie The leading actor in an epic film directed by list director Ridley Scott."

Thomas had to hold on to the armrest of the sofa with all his strength. A leading actor in a major level production, he did not have such ability.

That was Ridley Scott. His last epic blockbuster "Gladiator" was not only a box office hit, but also made Russell Crowe the Oscar winner.

Even though Thomas's brain was running rapidly, he didn't know what to say for a moment: “Martin, he is just trying to draw a cake for you…”

“I rejected him!” Martin said righteously: “I have never forgotten that when I first came to Los Angeles, it was you who helped me gain a foothold and settle down in Los Angeles.”

 Inexplicably, Thomas felt relieved.

 Martin's words were resounding: “Thomas Lane, we are a golden partner!”

 Thomas suddenly felt as if he owed Martin a little, a leading actor in a major level production!

 Martin at least has a chance to compete.

 As for myself, I couldn't even find a chance to compete.

Thomas gritted his teeth secretly, with an unprecedented determination: "Martin, I promise you, within a year, even if I sell my **** and accompany old men and women, I will still get you an important role in a quasi-class production. !I swear!"

 He did not dare to speak too fully, because accurate A was the limit he could hope to reach.

Martin said seemingly casually: "Just do your best."

The fire is on, and Martin is not just talking, but also taking action: "If the "Wanted" project can work, if there are roles suitable for your other clients, just ask."

Thomas smiled and said: "No problem, I won't be polite to you."

 Martin asked again: “Does the company have a suitable gunfight action director?”

"I've posted the message, but there's no reply yet." Thomas thought for a moment: "The company has many director clients, including the biggest names like Eastwood and Michael Bay, as well as Mel Gibson. Needless to say, Tony Si Kurt and Guillermo del Toro, as well as Brad Bird and others who are well-known, I have notified their agents.”

Martin knew that this matter could not be rushed, and said: "You should pay more attention to the company." He emphasized: "Directors with the same type of successful resume."

 (End of this chapter)

Chapter end