Chapter 185 - Three Industry Insiders

April 4, 2013 – Thursday, 6 PM – Vagner Studios, Pasadena, California

"Anthony! Can you spare me some time?" Anthony is busy with paperwork when he is interrupted by an unexpected visitor.

"Michael. The f*ck are you doing here?" Anthony, despite his harsh words, is glad to see Michael, an old friend of his.

"I just had a talk with your president and it crossed my mind to see you on my way out." Michael says and takes a seat on the sofa in Anthony's office.

"Heh. I thought you were kidding. So, did it go well?" Anthony asks as he joins Michael at the couch.

"Yeah. I'll be here after my contract in Spire Pictures is done." Michael says.

"Good. It's great to have another pro with us." Anthony is glad of the news. 

"Anyways. What are you guys working on right now?" Michael asks.

"Well? The important ones... Sequels for 'Yard Blues' and 'Love Campus', just as you might have heard. And a new project." Anthony says.

"Nice, nice. That new project is Miss Sellers, right? Based on some best-selling novel?" Michael asks.

"Yeah. What? You looking to invest in it?" Anthony asks.

"Nah. Are there still spots for 'Yard Blues' and 'Love Campus'?" Michael asks.

This makes Anthony freeze.

"Wow… So you too, huh?" Anthony scoffs.

"Man, you know how it is." Michael simply shrugs.

"Heh. That meeting we had, you guys from Spire, us from Vagner, those fellas from Tisney… After what happened at that secret conference? I know how it is alright." Anthony says, bitterly.

"Yeah. Folks from different studios coming together, is unheard of. But we needed that for some ideas." Michael says.

"Hmm." Anthony nods as him and Michael reflect on the meaning of that meeting.

"F*ckin Isaac." Michael scoffs.

"Yeah… F*ckin Isaac." Anthony shares the sentiment.

"So... Are there spots for your sequels I can cash in on?" Michael asks again.

"Nah. You're too late. Investors who are in the know already filled those spots. 'Miss Sellers' though, we got lucky and clueless investors are willing to gamble. Although we have a lot of money for the new project, we need all the funds we could scr.a.p.e." Anthony offers.

"Nah. No thanks." Michael says, disappointed.

Anthony is disappointed too at Michael's refusal.

"Hey. Since that meeting, aren't we all studying 'September Ninth'? 'Miss Sellers' is gonna adapt Isaac's style. Aren't you guys at Spire doing the same?" Anthony asks.

"Yeah. We are. But who's really confident? You have talented people, we have talented people, foreign studios have talented people. But who's coming on top right now at Sorrento? F*ckin Isaac. You know as well as I do that right now, making better movies based on what we know is the best bet to take, to take him on." Michael says.

"We don't have to compete, yeah. But our board aren't listening, the f*cks. Are you guys spending a lot as well for the uh, experiments? Our director for 'Miss Sellers' is pulling his hair out." Anthony nods.

"... Hey. Can I have a bottle I can take home?" Michael asks, acting as if he has not heard the question. Anthony however notices the small twitch in Michael's face, which he figures that Spire Studios have the same problem. 

"I do..." Anthony finally drops the matter and he walks to the liquor cabinet under his office desk, opens it an grabs an unopened bottle.

"Vintage Scotch. An early welcoming gift for you." Anthony says as he passes the bottle to Michael.

"Nice… Thanks." Michael says while appreciating the classy looking bottle. 

"By the way. Are you available now? I have a dinner meeting. You can join us." Anthony offers.

"Nah. I'm sorry. I have to go back to Spire tonight so, rain check? Maybe I'll invite you out on my first day here." Michael refuses politely.

"Alright. I'll be waiting for that invite." Anthony accepts the refusal. 

"Hey. Let's leave the building together." Anthony says as he goes back to his desk to pick up his suit jacket.

~~~~~7PM - 'The Kettle Arbour', Pasadena California – 

"Harvey, how you doin?" Anthony greets one of the people he has been waiting for in the restaurant.

"Pretty great actually. How about you?" Harvey asks as he joins the man at his table.

"Good. Good. Order first." Anthony says.

"Huh… It's unusual to see you at a place like this... Is Carol coming too?" Harvey asks as he opens the fancy menu book of the fancy restaurant.

"Yeah. She's on her wa – Oh she's here." Anthony says as Caroline enters the front door of the restaurant. 

The three acquaintances, all in their 50s, wearing their stereotypical corporate fashion, are three of the top executives of the media conglomerate Vagner Group. Anthony works in Vagner Studios that produce films and television shows, while Harvey and Carol work in Vagner Cinema that distributes Vagner Studios' works and other studios' works. 

"Just us?" Caroline asks as she joins the two men.

"Yeah. No secretaries, no assistants, just like I said." Anthony nods.

"Huh… Why?" Caroline asks, echoing Harvey's concern.

"It's a short meeting. And, it's just you two I wanna treat." Anthony says.

"heh. F*ckin cheapskate…" Caroline scoffs.

"Hey. I invited Michael Ross. He is joining Vagner Studios. But he refused a free dinner." Anthony says.

"Right… That's still just one more person." Caroline jests.

"About that. You rarely offer dinner or lunch. Something good happened lately?" Harvey asks. 

"Nah. Something possibly bad could." Anthony says.

This gets the attention of the two and they close their menu books to wait for Anthony to explain further.

"It's about Sorrento Film Festival." Anthony continues.

"Hm? We don't usually bother with European awards." Harvey says.

"Ugh. But they know good films. Remind me again what the last year's winner has done?" Anthony asks.

This makes Caroline and Harvey silent in contemplation. 

"$50 Million, right?" Harvey says.

"Yeah..." Anthony nods.

"But. Didn't the studio l still profit?" Caroline asks.

"Here's the thing. We didn't." Anthony says, to the surprise of the two.

"On paper, we did profit from 'Fallen Memory'. But after distributing the money plus profits to the investors, we were left with just a few million. That was just enough to cover the expenses and the crew's salary." Anthony explains.

"So, you broke even, but you lost time." Caroline nods.

"'September Ninth' ate up what could have been your share." Harvey says in understanding.

"Yes. I received some dressing down from that one. How could I have f*ckin known?" Anthony says in slight indignation.

"Is that why we're here? You feel like something similar's gonna happen this year?" Caroline asks. 

"Yeah." Anthony simply nods.

"Well? What happened last year was a special case. It's not like there's another 'September Ninth' coming, right?" Caroline asks, optimistically.

"Carol's right. Who knows what kind of films are even competing in Sorrento this year? Even if something as good as 'September Ninth' comes out, it's probably not in English. Not only that. It's no longer just Isaac who will use his own style." Harvey says.

Anthony shakes his head. 

"That's the thing. Isaac has made another film and again, it was selected for the competition." Anthony says. 

"No one's seen any of the films yet, and he's not gonna win for sure. I'm sure there's much better films this year, considering the shit that Isaac started." Caroline says.

"Would it even be as good as his first film?" Harvey asks.

"I've not seen the film so I don't know how good it is. But. I spoke with one of the jury members. He's a friend." Anthony sighs.

"And?" Harvey asks.

"He said that it's much, much better than 'September Ninth' and it's an all-American cast." Anthony says. 

This attracts Caroline and Harvey immediately.

"What awards is it competing for?" Caroline asks.

"Basically all the awards except for actress ones. They even made a new award just for Isaac." Anthony says.

This news is now making Caroline and Harvey drool more than the food the fancy restaurant could offer. 

"This is good. This is good news. Thanks for the heads-up Anthony." Harvey says.

"Hey Harvey. Isaac, as you know, is hard to find. How do we even talk to him?" Caroline says.

"Well. We can start with the actors. Anthony, do you know any of the cast?" Harvey asks.

"…" Anthony can only speechlessly look at the two as they talk about how to sign a distribution deal with Tayaw. 

"Fellas!" Anthony stops Caroline and Harvey's discussion.

"I'm here to ask a favor not the other way around." Anthony says.

"And Isaac's new film is a problem for me." Anthony adds.

This makes Caroline and Harvey become apprehensive.

"Look. Our studio is working on another film. So far, we've spent $8 million in pre-production, and we estimate that we'll spend at least $15 million more in production, and then there's marketing too. Allie Edison and Vaughn Miller's agents are asking a high f*ckin price too, so there's that.  If Isaac's film takes market share again, we just might lose our investors' money this time." Anthony says.

This makes his two acquaintances sympathize and drop their caution. 

"Well? What do you want us to do? You can't expect for us to NOT AT LEAST bid on Isaac's film, right?" Harvey says.

"Hey. It's not like that. Say, if you really get the distribution rights, I just want you guys to leave me a slice of the market share you two control. If you can assure me that, then I'll owe you guys big time." Anthony explains his plan. 

Caroline and Harvey exchange glances at Anthony's request. After almost telepathically communicating, they both express their understanding.

"Okay." "We can arrange that." Caroline and Harvey say, respectively. 

"However. Once Isaac's film premieres in Sorrento, I'm betting my left nut that your chances of winning the distribution deal will be a lot lower. I have another request if that happens." Anthony begins.

Caroline and Harvey can only wince at the image of them unable to chase a cash cow.

"What's your plan?" Harvey asks. 

"How are you guys with Centurion Corp these days?" Anthony asks.

"We're still partnered up, why?" Harvey says.

"What's that got to do with your plan?" Caroline asks, a sense of familiarity dawning.

"How many theaters and screens do they have?"  Anthony asks.

"Harvey. You know better with this than me." Caroline passes the question.

"Well, as you know… they own Archbeam Cinema, Atlantic Theaters, and some other small theaters. With that, they probably have at least 50 theaters nationwide and each theater has at least 6 screens, so that's around 300 screens, maybe 500 at most. They always have 90 or so screens reserved for one of your studio's films." Harvey explains.

"Those aren't just 90 screens, but 90 screens with 250 seats." Caroline adds.

"If you're counting seats for 'Miss Sellers'. There's 50 more screens we can reserve for you from other theaters we're partnered with." Harvey adds. 

Anthony shakes his head.

"140 screens. That's not assuring. Even if we can fill those seats in every weekend in the first month of release, we'd barely make even, just like what happened last year. " Anthony says. 

"So, you want more screens…" Harvey says in realization.

"Hold on. I know where you're going with this. Even if we do win the exclusive distribution, you can't possibly want us to shelf it just so it can't compete with you. It's gonna look bad for us. Not to mention how much Isaac's film can make us." Caroline says.

"It's not like you didn't do this before." Anthony says.

"True. We did. But those directors we pushed out? They have no pull and their movies are average. Say, even if we can steal Centurion's screens for you, Isaac is different. If what you heard about his new film is true, then Centurion would want it in their theaters no matter what." Caroline explains. 

"Yeah… We can't do anything man. One more thing. Let's say Tisney gets the distribution rights, they're also partnered up with Centurion. We can't do anything then." Harvey says.

"So what? We're producing more blockbusters than almost any studio lately. Guys, if Centurion is going to decide to screen Isaac's film, just tell them that we'll go to other theaters to screen the sequels to 'Yard Blues' and 'Love Campus'." Anthony pulls out the rest of his plan.

"…" "You're crazy." Caroline and Harvey are shocked.