Chapter 150 - Practical Application of Music and Film in TV Broadcasting

September 4, 2012 – Monday, 9 AM – South Ouigab, Nabla

Tayaw while he is away in America since June, already finished his project of clearing his land in Nasiri with the help of the construction company he hired. An access road was already built from the highway going up to Tayaw's massive land. With the access road, it was also easier for the construction company Tayaw hired to install a good drainage and water systems to the land.  He also managed to buy-out more plots of land in Nasiri Hill, more than doubling his initial purchases. 

In addition to his land-purchasing and land-clearing project, Tayaw, through Chala being his authorized representative, also bought two neighboring apartment buildings in South Ouigab, each having 5 floors and 50 units each. The two buildings belonged to the same owner but because the apartment buildings are not even half rented due to the above average rent, she did not hesitate to sell the buildings to Tayaw immediately for the price of 15,000,000 BGC for each building. 

Tayaw did not kick out the tenants of the buildings but he also closed his buildings from receiving more residents. After all, he was thinking of using the apartment buildings in the future especially after the North Teungeb Expressway Project is done. 

Despite his huge spending, Tayaw also started his first 'real' project. His virtual sets.

/Yeah. Looks like it's going well./ Tayaw's voice reverberated around the office through a man's speaker phone.

"Uhuh. Is that all?" The man replied.

/Yeah. That's all. I'll let you know if I want something added or if it needs amending. / Tayaw said.

"Alright then. We'll start right away. But if you want something fixed, it's on you." The man said.

/Sure./ Tayaw simply replied.

The man, who is the engineer that Tayaw hired, is currently talking about the on-going construction of Tayaw's virtual sets. So far, Tayaw has no problems with what the engineer and his men had already built. 

Despite the odd shape of the room, it is still after all, a simple room which only requires a little more complicated wiring and set-up. These virtual rooms located at the warehouses he purchased in South Ouigab during his short visit after the Kingbo debacle. 

"Wait. I have something." Another man, a designer hired by Tayaw, said.

/Yeah? What's up?/

"About the UHD LED screens that you want. The manufacturers said it's going to cost extra for curvy screens." The designer reported. 

/Wow. Really? Just tell them that we'll go to STT in China. What curvy. We're not looking for televisions but just giant monitors. / Tayaw said.

"Oh? There's a difference?" The designer asked in curiosity.

/Yeah. There's more inside a TV. The monitors we need, don't./ Tayaw explained.

"Alright then. It's gonna take a while for the rooms to be fully wired anyways. I've got time to negotiate." The designer said. 

Teungeb, while not a tech powerhouse compared to USA and East Asia, has the best manufacturing hubs of all things visual and audio tech in the world. The work ethic of Teungebians ensure the quality of each product produced. This is the reason why Tayaw did not have Chinese or American companies build his custom screens for him, but preferred to go local as it is much cheaper and at the same time, the quality is assured.

/Yeah… do that./ Tayaw said with contemplation in his voice.

"By the way. Just curious. What are you gonna use this for? Some high-tech amus.e.m.e.nt park?" The engineer asked.

/Yeah. Something like that./ Tayaw chuckled, but not bothering to explain any further.

"Cool. I wanna see how it works when it's done." The designer chimed in.

O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O-O

Studio 29, Beverly Blvd. LA, Ca. – 11 am Local

"Aiden! Aiden! We got a call from Isaac!" A man reported excitedly as he barged in Aiden's office.

Aiden Gerty, a black-haired, green-eyed man in his 40s, is not only the host of 'The Late Night with Aiden Gerty', he is also the head writer of his show.

"Hm? Which Isaac again?" Aiden asked the head producer to jog his memory.

"The 'September Ninth' director." The producer clarified.

"Oh? That's great! Wait. How'd we book him? Isn't he supposed to be untraceable?" Aiden, while glad with the news, is also curious as to how of all the shows, they were able to book Tayaw.

Tayaw, since the popularity of 'September Ninth' boomed, became a talk of the town within the insiders of the entertainment media. However, they did not have a way to find Tayaw for an interview. 

"It's the distributer of 'September Ninth'. They convinced Isaac to do press. It's surely to campaign for the Academy Awards." The producer guessed. Aiden just nodded in understanding. 

"So? What's wrong with you?" Aiden noticed the producer's conflicted face.

"Isaac has some … strange requests … For one, he also wants to be the musical guest." The producer said.

"Wait… what are the other requests?" Aiden wants to see first in case Tayaw's other demands are just as ridiculous. 

"He also doesn't want a pre-interview. He doesn't even want to know which questions we ask about his film as long as they're not destructive. Then he doesn't care about the rest of what we ask him." The producer said. 

"Huh… Well. Everything just can't be easy, ain't it? Hey. What do you think? Can the dude catch up with me? Does he even speak English?" Aiden asked for his producer's opinion.

"English? He can. He's Teungebian, yes, but he's also a country singer, at least that's how he started out here. You know the people who like country, they're … they won't take someone seriously unless they speak English." The producer said, trying to be optimistic.

"Oof. That's not a fair stereotype. Anyway. It makes sense. How about his talk show experience? I can't simply let someone who can only answer 'yes' and 'no' let loose without a script." Aiden moved on.

"Yeah. I don't know. One of the interns pulled this up for me. I haven't even watched it, let's see it together." The producer said. 

/// If you don't love her anymore and just staying because you're scared, please leave. Leave her now, before it's too late for you, or for her. Just look around you. The first girl you will see is a hundred times better than your girlfriend./// - Tayaw during the Joe Farley's Kiss The Radio

After listening to Tayaw's only clippable interview, Aiden and the producer entered a silent contemplation, no longer concerned about Tayaw's English or interviewee skills.

A few seconds later. "Wow. He pulled that advice out of his ass? That was quick." Aiden said in appreciation as a broadcaster.

"Yeah. I think so too. It didn't seem like he memorized it or was reading it." The producer agreed, speaking out of his experience as a producer and a writer.

[[Hmmm. Preacher, preacher, please come quick…]] The two then listened to Tayaw's songs. The two are not fans of country, being native New Yorkers, but they were nonetheless impressed by Tayaw's songs. 

"Yeah. Let's agree to his requests. When does he prefer to appear?" Aiden asked.

"Wait, really? Be a musical guest too? He's… country. Our viewers … " The producer asked, unsure of Aiden's decision.

"Come on. It's good country. When does he want to appear?" Aiden ignored the producer's concern. 

"Thursday night." The producer said.

"Let's do it. Hmm. Who are the guests again for Thursday?... Yeah. Let's bump the athlete dude. Just tell the NFL fellas that they're just wasting money on promoting something that people will surely see." Aiden said.

"Okay." The producer found it fair. "How about him being a musical guest?" The producer asked.

"Yeah. Let's also bump 'Jupiter Landing'. Isaac deserves the spot more instead of an actor's cover band." Aiden slammed his palm on his table. The producer, seeing Aiden's habit, nodded. 

"Oh. By the way. I thought you were gonna refuse, so I didn't mention it." The producer started reporting again.

"What's up?" Aiden, now intrigued by Tayaw, is excited to listen to Tayaw's demand.

"He wants to direct the episode as an experiment or something." The producer said. 

"He. What?" Aiden was caught off-guard.

"Yeah. He said he wants to edit it too. He said he won't argue with us about what to show, but he wants to be in-charge of HOW it comes out on TV." The producer shrugged. This made Aiden consider for a few seconds. 

"So he wants to direct our show like a film? That's gonna give us a lot of adjustments to work with." Aiden asked.

"That's what I said too. But he said it won't be like his movie. He said, that we can just do our interview as usual he'll only arrange how the cameras are to be positioned." The producer explained.

Aiden felt excited at this.

"What do you think?" he asked the producer.

"I don't know. Honestly? I want to see how it would look." The producer said.

"Alright. Let's do it. And. Reschedule the other guest. We'll make the whole episode about Isaac." Aiden decided. 

"Whoah. Hey, are you sure we can fill an episode with just him, man?" The producer asked, uncertain about Aiden's decision.

"Yeah. Look. Say, 10 minutes about his movie. Instead of 1 song, we'll do 2 songs, one for Isaac, one for our house band, so that's another 10 minutes. Then 10 more minutes for the unscripted segment, even more if it gets interesting. Then my monologue. That's enough." Aiden laid out. 

"Oh! Okay. We'll do that then." The producer realized it could work out.

"By the way, he said he wants to borrow the house band." The producer said. 

"Hm? Then don't ask me. Ask them… They're not a regular house band, they're legit artists." Aiden said, confused as to why the producer had to run it up to him.

"The genres though…" The producer said, implying a concern. 

"Oh. Wait. Da Bellum Burning guys are hip-hop / soul and Isaac is country… Huh… " Aiden contemplated.

"That's why I'm asking." The producer nodded.

"Whatever. We're not musicians. They are." Aiden just shrugged his shoulders. 

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September 5, 2012 – Petit Hermitage Hotel, West Hollywood, CA – 9:40 am local

"Damn. So, this is what it looks like here." A dark-skinned man, fashioning a sharp faded afro hairstyle, and dressed in a black suit jacket and suit pants, looked around the rooftop pool and outdoor beds of the Petit Hermitage Hotel. He is accompanied by two others who are similarly dressed, the only difference is one is wearing a pair of brown tinted sunglasses and the other one is wearing a boater hat. 

"Isaac must have… fancy tastes. Don't know if I'd like him." The man with the sunglasses remarked.

"Bruh. As if your $10,000 watch you're wearing, right NOW, ain't fancy. Fck outta here." The man with the boater hat said. 

The three men are three of the members of Da Bellum Burning, the house band of 'Late Night with Aiden Gerty'. 

The three men are the vocalist, drummer, and rapper of Da Bellum Burning. They are also the actual songwriting and producing team of the band, therefore, are the members who has the say about anything music composition and music arrangement in the band.

When the three heard of the news that Tayaw wants to work with them, their interest was piqued. It always gave them a complex that they are more known as a show's house band instead of their music, despite them winning some top awards given by critics. So, when a relatively famous musician wanted to work with them, they could not just ignore it. 

After seeing Tayaw's body of work in music, they immediately agreed with Tayaw's proposal. This led to the three in the hotel, waiting for their appointment with Tayaw. 

"Man, where's this cat?" The man with the boater hat said, almost losing his patience. While they are sitting relaxed in some of the outdoor beds by the pool, they have already been waiting for 10 minutes and Tayaw has no signs of showing up yet.

"Reception said he's gonna meet here, right?" The man in suit jacket asked, just to check if they're in the right place.

They were expressing their impatience to each other when suddenly, *SPLASH* they were startled when a form of a person suddenly came out of the water in front of them, wearing nothing but swimming trunks.