Chapter 194 - Phone Calls and Sh*t

May 28, 2013 – Thursday 9 AM – Black Deer Pictures, Clambu City

"Good morning boss." Yarag is greeted by Kyer as he enters his office.

"Hm. Good morning to you too." Yarag nods.

"I heard from the guard that you came in very early." Yarag says.

"... What's up with you?" Yarag notices the unpleased expression on Kyer's face.

"Boss. Something happened." Kyer says as he fiddles something in his computer.

"How bad could it be?" Yarag says as he sits down at his desk.

"I'll print it out for you." Kyer says and a minute later, the printer beside Yarag starts working.

Yarag then starts reading each page that is coming out of the printer, and every page he reads, the expression in his face also worsens.

[Isaac's new film. Mob connections?]

[Winner of Sorrento Awards. Too violent for film.]

[Was Isaac forced to make a film for the mob?]

['Gold, Blood, and The Deer': A product of a greedy director.]

[Gold, Blood, and the Deer. An overrated film for film snobs.]

[The Mob still lives through Isaac's new film]

['Gold, Blood, and The Deer'. A colossal waste of time]

*SLAM*

"F*CK" Yarag slams his office desk no longer bothering to read the rest of the headlines Kyer is still printing out.

"I know, right? Did they even see the film?" Kyer says in annoyance.

"How did they? Most of these f*ckers probably weren't even invited in Sorrento. Even if they did, I don't think they're this f*ckin blind." Yarag lights up a cigarette to calm down.

"A smear campaign then?" Kyer asks.

"Most probably. They're just jealous after we got the deal." Yarag sighs, regretting bragging the deal to the industry insiders he knows from America.

"What do we do? Contact these journalists? These articles might become more harmful if we ignore them." Kyer says.

"Let me think for a moment. This is the first time this happened to us." Yarag shakes his head.

"I'll call Tayaw. I mean, the mob accusations are pretty valid. That's the problem here." Yarag says before pulling out his phone, dials Tayaw's business number, and puts the phone on speaker mode. 

/Hello?/ Tayaw answers immediately.

"Tayaw! Have you seen these articles?"

/Yeah. Kyer e-mailed them just now. Why?/ Tayaw says, his tone casual, without worry.

"You're not bothered?" Yarag says.

/Nah. The connection will be figured out sooner or later. In fact, I kinda already admitted who I dedicated the film to. They're not reporting something new./ Tayaw says. 

"So you're okay if we just let them do this?" Yarag says, dumbfounded.

/Yeah. In fact, I'll even double down on admitting to the mob stuff. These articles are just helping us with the marketing. Let's thank these journalists instead! They're Angels!" Tayaw says, his voice bright.

Yarag after calming down, "… true…" now sees Tayaw's reasoning.

/You might not know this but American mobs are mysterious to people. Either way, they'll see it out of curiosity whether they have a positive or negative perceptions of it. / Tayaw says.

"Still. These might make people hesitate to see the film. These articles' potential to damage our ticket sales are enough grounds for us to sue them." Yarag says.

/Nah. Don't bother… uhhh... yet. Let me work something out. In fact, can you get me an access to Black Deer Picture's YouTube channel?/ Tayaw asks.

"… The trailer's finally done?" Yarag says in realization and excitement.

/Yeah. These might be enough to counter these negative 'reviews'./ Tayaw says. .

Kyer meanwhile, is already tapping away at his phone.

/*ding* oh… Thanks Kyer. You're actually listening. Alright. I'll get back to you two in a few minutes./ Tayaw says before dropping the call.

~~~~~~~

Northwestern University, East Ouigab

*bzz* *bzz* *bzz*

"Hm?" Bay-an's phone cannot stop buzzing from the notifications.

He then looks at the professor before sneakily taking out his phone to check it.

"…the f*ck?..." Bay-an cannot help but softly exclaim at the newest upload in the band's YouTube Channel. Jenna who is seated next to him notices Bay-an's actions.

"…what?..." Jenna whispers.

Bay-an then passes his phone to her.

A minute later.

"…why would he upload this in our channel? Did he make a mistake?..." Jenna asks softly.

"…maybe. But even if it is, I hope he won't take it down. We'll get a lot of traffic in our channel just with this…" Bay-an explains.

Jenna nods, immediately seeing the benefit of Tayaw's upload. 

"You two there! Am I boring you?" Bay-an and Jenna are not as sneaky as they thought and they are called out by the professor.

"Sorry Professor!" Jenna can only apologize, but not meaning it. 

~~~~~~~

Page Road, Nashville Tennessee

*BZZT* *Hmm The crow can be a mocking bird, feathers as black as coa--*

"Hey." Walter answers the phone call from his internet guy.

/Hey Walt. So, Isaac just called, which was a pleasant surprise. Anyways. He sent me something awesome. Looks like his movie trailer. He said that you agreed to upload this. I'm just double checking. / The internet guy reports.

"… Oh!" Walter is reminded if his arrangement with Tayay.

"Sure. Go ahead. We talked about this. It's a part of our marketing for his film." Walter says.

/Awesome!~ It'll be up in a minute. Check it out then./ The internet guy says.

"Good." Walter is now curious even though he already has an exclusive copy of the film. 

~~~~~~~

Black Deer Pictures, Clambu City

Five minutes later after his phone call with Tayaw, Yarag and Kyer are now watching something in their company's YouTube Channel. 

==========

*fade in*

|Sorrento Fiore D'oro Awardee|

|Sorrento Jury Prize Winner|

|Sorrento Premio Per Una Certa Prospettiva|

Awards are displayed in white background.

*fade to black*

*WHAM*

*CELLO BACKGROUND MUSIC*

||Inspired by true events||

"What does it mean to live a good life?" Micaela says.

*WHAM* *WHAM*

"Money?"

*random shot of stacks of money being counted*

"Happiness?"

*random cut of Giovanni kissing a girl*

"Family?"

*Little Giovanni having a nice dinner with Julietta and Micaela*

*Random cut of smiling Julietta*

*Random cut of smiling Micaela*

*Random cut of Antonio turning around to face Giovanni with a smile*

~*SILENCE*~ 

"How far are you willing to go?" Random Orsini thug says the line to Giovanni.

*CELLO INTENSIFIES*

*Bang Bang Bang* Giovanni shooting a gun.

*SCREECHHH* Giovanni leading a robbery.

*Wham*

"Sss.. huuu.. sss… huuu." Shot of Giovanni running away from pursuers, and breathing heavily.

~*SILENCE*~ 

"For those?...I'LL DO ANYTHING." A close shot of Giovanni saying the line with resolve.

*Cello mellows down*

|||Gold, Blood, and the Deer. On theaters this June.|||

======

"Holy sh*t…" Kyer is stunned as the YouTube video of the trailer for the film ends.

"HAHAHA!" Yarag is jovial now.

/Good?/ Tayaw, who is again in a call with them, asks.

"Great! Even the trailer deserves a f*ckin award! Tayaw! I'm gonna give you a big hug and a kiss the next time I see you!"  Yarag says.

/It's the thought that counts, Mr. Darbut. It's the thought that counts./ Tayaw chuckles. 

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

5 PM – Vagner Cinema Headquarters, Pasadena California

*ring*

Harvey's office telephone rings.

"Hello?" Harvey absentmindedly picks it up.

/Harvey. In my office, now!/ A voice he recognizes that belongs to Caroline, orders.

"…" Harvey is caught off-guard by the request.

Charlotte is usually not overbearing to him so he figures something serious happened. 

A few minutes later.

[[[ Gold, Blood, and the Deer. On theaters this June.]]]

"…" Harvey shakes his head after watching the trailer and he looks at Caroline.

"I know…" Caroline too sighs in defeat.

"I don't know how I feel about this. Even I wanna see the movie now." Harvey says.

"Looks like it's indeed better than 'September Ninth'. There are just some films that cannot be stopped." Caroline shakes her head.

"Citing the film's awards to establish authority and prestige. '|inspired by real events|' to address the rumors…" Harvey chuckles mirthlessly.

"Right. He f*ckin had us." Caroline too, smiles bitterly.

"Come to think of it, by admitting that his film indeed is inspired by the mob, it will gather more attention. Why didn't we see that?" Harvey says in bitter regret.

Caroline has no words as she too supported the ideas on what to smear Tayaw and 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer' with.

*Ring* *Ring*

The two's silence is interrupted by Harvey's cellphone phone ringing. Looking at the caller ID belonging to a Centurion executive, Harvey takes a deep breath, bracing himself. Harvey shows Caroline his phone's screen and Caroline's face also freezes up.

"Screw it. Put it on speaker." Caroline urges Harvey to answer the phone.

"Hey Darryl. How are you?"

/Hey Harvey! Guess what I just saw?/

"…" Harvey and Caroline cannot answer, figuring out that Darryl too has seen GBTD's trailer.

/Exactly… So f*ck you and your studio. You almost f*cked us out of a great f*ckin film to screen./ Darry drawls out but he cannot hide the anger in his voice.

"Hey man. Just so you know? It's Anthony's idea." Harvey puts Anthony under the bus immediately.

/The head of your studio?/ Darryl asks.

"Yeah. He asked us for a favor. We didn't know it'd be like this." Harvey says in excuse.

/Well that doesn't change the fact that you had something to do with it. So… Tell Anthony we'll still show 'Miss Sellers', but this time in only 70 screens. The minimum of the contract./ Darryl says.

"Darryl. This is Carol. Can we talk about this over coffee? I mean, you didn't really lose anything, right?" Caroline asks, trying to salvage the situation.

/No. It's about you trying to f*ck me over. That's what's about!

You know what? I'll take what could have been your screens to show Isaac's film…

Also, tell Anthony that if we didn't have the contract for the sequels, I'll take 'Yard Blues' and 'Love Campus' and shove them up his a**.

Have a nice day./ Darryl drops the call. 

"God… DAMN IT!" Harvey kicks the trash can by Caroline's table.

"What the hell! Watch it!" Caroline yells at Harvey.

"… Sorry…" Harvey, realizing his actions, calms down. 

~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~

Vagner Studios Headquarters

*Ring* *Ring*

Anthony's personal cellphone rings. Seeing the caller ID, Anthony is hesitant to answer. After bracing himself however, he picks up the call.

"Hey~… Caroline? What's up?" Anthony answers in his best casual tone.

/Hey Anthony. Guess what happened?/ Caroline asks, her tone implying that her question is rhetorical.

"…" Anthony too has caught wind of Tayaw's movie trailers.

/That's right. If I didn't stop Harvey, he would be kicking your ass right now in your office, in front of your people to see./

"Hey! I'm in deep shit too! What the f*ck do you want me to say?" Anthony says in indignation, having nothing to vent his frustrations on.

/Nothing! I don't want you to say anything!  I don't even care how deep in shit you are! But I have something to say. Centurion decided that they will only screen 'Miss Sellers' on 70 of their screens now, not the original 90. There's no stopping them in doing the same thing for 'Yard Blues' and 'Love Campus' sequels. So. Good f*ckin' luck./ Caroline says.

Anthony is about to drop the call thinking Caroline is done, but he is stopped by doing so by another voice coming in.

/Hey d*ck head! Harvey here. If we get lucky and we just get a slap on the wrist after this, don't forget you still owe us. And with this sh*t you got us in? You now owe us f*ckin double. Good talk and go f*ck yourself./ With that, the call is ended by Harvey. 

Anthony collapses down further into his chair in defeat. His anger however is boiling and it does not take long before he releases it.

"F.U.C.K!!!" Anthony's scream startles his entire floor.