Chapter 203 - August Sh*t. Some random sh*t.

August 1, 2013 – Thursday 10 AM – Vagner Studios

"That concludes the report for the first month of 'Miss Sellers'." Anthony finishes his words on the podium.

"…" Despite his calm exterior, Anthony is very very nervous looking around the people in the conference room. The people he just addressed are the board members of Vagner Studios and the investors in 'Miss Sellers'.

"…" The board members can only mull over sullenly the poor ticket sales of 'Miss Sellers that Anthony reported. 

"I've heard from people that you had something to do with this?" One investor asks in hidden anger.

"Yes. Even though we lost 20 screens from Centurion, we managed to work something out with our distribution branch. We were able to offset our losses from Centurion by grabbing more screens from smaller theaters and independent ones. I also got last minute product integrations which saved us millions." Anthony reports wanting to neutralize his faults. 

"Everyone." Vagner Studio's CEO, seeing the unfriendly gazes of the people in the room towards him and Anthony, takes the attention.

"Let's just admit it, we were outdone. Anthony here at least did something that made us break even despite his… unconventional methods. We just can't dictate what the people want to see, and the people wanted to see Isaac's film more than ours. It's as simple as that." The CEO defends Anthony.

'What the F.U.C.K?! That's what I said yesterday! You f*ckin dressed me down and now you're parroting me?! F.U.C.K YOU!' Anthony curses the CEO with a glare. 

"I know you could have done better, but you're not wrong either." The chairman of the board speaks up. "What I'm more worried about is the future." This makes everyone in the room perk up.

The Chairman continues. "At least we broke even. The films of the smaller studios can't even sell tickets; they are f*cked. And if we don't get our sh*t together, even though we're big, we're f*cked too." 

"What do you mean?" An investor asks on behalf of those who are not in the know. Those who are in the know like the CEO and Anthony on the other hand, have an inkling of what the chairman is talking about. 

"The rumors about the sequel for that gangster film, I've confirmed it's true." The chairman reports to everyone.

*murmur* *murmur* The people look at him skeptically.

"A handful of the people who have a history with the Coniglio Family already saw it. There are even rumors that there's still a sequel after the sequel because the first sequel did not wrap up the story." The chairman erases the skepticism.

*MURMUR* *MURMUR* The room descends to subdued panic.

"So it's not just 'Miss Sellers' we should be concerned with, but the sequels 'Yard Blues' and 'Love Campus' too." The chairman says as he looks at the CEO and Anthony.

"And if Isaac is not the forgiving type, and he found out what you did, Anthony, what do you think he'll do?" The chairman concludes with a rhetorical question. Anthony's face crumples at this. 

"That's right. He'll do what we've been doing. Release his sequels alongside our films'." The chairman says to make the others understand. 

"… Why don't we uh… sue him?" A young board member suddenly proposes, saving Anthony.

"What?!" The others are dumbfounded.

"On what grounds?" The CEO asks.

"Let's just get some random guys, have them claim that 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer' is their work and that Isaac stole the idea from them. Rinse and repeat." The board member says.

"Intimidation suits? Are you f.u.c.kin stupid?" The chairman yells.

"What? We do it all the time against journalists." The board member says.

"You're not talking about libel or defamation, but copyright infringement! We're gonna get sued back for fraud if a judge doesn't slap us with it first." The CEO shoots down the suggestion.

"What's more stupid is that you're not just suing Isaac. You're offending Coniglio family too. Hell, I wouldn't even be surprised if someone in this room is connected to them and the Coniglio will find out about your stupidity before you even leave the building." The chairman says.

The board member swallows his spit but recovers his guts immediately.

"Then what the hell are we supposed to do? Wait it out? Wait until Isaac does not have a film on theaters?" The board member counters. 

"…" The CEO and the chairman are stunned by the unintended suggestion.

"Huh… Aside from making films that can match Isaac's film, which right now is hard to do? … Waiting it out… might just be the best thing we can do." The CEO says.

"Usually, we make others not want to compete with us but this time, that might just be the right move." The chairman shakes his head. 

"Really? That will just end up with more losses." The board member grumbles.

"We might save ourselves from losses…" Anthony butts in.

"Ah! Excuse me. May I talk to you for a moment?" The CEO however immediately grabs Anthony's arm with a warning glare.

Anthony ignores the warning and returns a look of defiance while brushing the CEO's hand aside. 'F*ck you. You approved of my plans. You also tried something, so you're going down with me if this don't work out.' Anthony thinks as he takes the center of the podium again.

The CEO can only give up and retreat to the side of the room as to not get caught in what he thinks an incoming crossfire. 

"?" The attention of the room goes back to Anthony, their curiosity intensified from the interaction they just witnessed.

"Without Isaac's film, 'Miss Sellers' could have been the best-selling film this year. To be quite honest? 'Miss Sellers' is just as good as September Ninth. It might even be better than September Ninth considering the details we put in it.

"That means that we've done great in applying Isaac's style and enough people liked it. If we can re-write 'Love Campus' and 'Yard Blues' into a better story, while making their quality the same with 'Miss Sellers', we will catch up with Isaac. We make money while we learn." Anthony concludes. 

"How confident are you?" The chairman asks.

"50%, tops that we can compete, 75% chance that we can break even every film until we catch up. But I'm 100% confident that our people are competent. They are learning on the job every day. Let's look for new talents too. There are many young and obscure indie film makers competing right now in different film festivals, and they have adapted Isaac's style well. Even though we can't compete with Isaac for now, we'll do well enough to survive." Anthony says. Anthony's confidence somehow calms the room down. 

"Another thing. Last year, there was a total of 100 million or so ticket sales in America and 40 million of those are by 'September Ninth' in only four months. The first seven months of this year, we saw 62 million tickets sold and of those, 35 million tickets are sold by 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer' in only six weeks." The board members are shocked at this report.

"We… can't keep Isaac do this to us…" An investor chimes in.

"We can't. However, we have a take away from this. In the previous years, before Isaac's debut, the highest we've seen in ticket sales in the country is around 90 million and that was in 2007, 10% less than last year.

"Looking at Isaac's 'September Ninth', he earned way more in ticket sales than DVD sales. That isn't normal in the industry. It's either 50% tickets, or 50% DVDs/Blu Rays. This means that Isaac actually  made movie viewers go to the theaters instead of them just waiting to buy or rent DVDs or Blu Rays." Anthony concludes.

"So you're saying, Isaac is changing how films are seen..." A random board member says.

"Yes. Without 'September Ninth', and 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer', we never would have known that the American film market is bigger than we thought. If we can offer the market quality, stand-out films like Isaac's, then we have the potential to capitalize in the biggest film market we've seen in history." Anthony explains.

*MURMUR* *MURMUR* All sorts of exclaims and discussions fills the room.

"…" Watching the people he cannot get through to previously now listen to him, Anthony is feeling proud inside but maintains his calm. He then looks at the CEO and the CEO simply looks away.

'Not only incompetent, a f*ckin coward too.' Anthony feels smug looking at the CEO looking small. 

"How do we do that?" The chairman asks after the round of discussion.

"… I have a suggestion, a summary really of the opinions of our creative teams… And you won't like it." Anthony begins with hesitation.

"We should stop making films of the romance or sports genre." Anthony says.

*MURMUR* *MURMUR* The room immediately react negatively and they share the same sentiment; "Those are our money-makers…" 

"Everyone… I get your knee-jerk reactions but here's the thing. Isaac proved that people are hungry for something new. He made films that we thought are against the market but he ended up setting a new trend. I hate to admit it but, it's a start of a new era for the industry." Anthony drops. 

"Then what are we supposed to make films about?" A random board member asks.

"It's best if you get the details from our creative teams themselves, but I can say something. I've seen various films that 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer' competed against in Sorrento and I think we can grab some ideas from them.

"First of all, we can stop making sports films. I can say with confidence that 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer' gobbled up the slice of the sports genre. Hell, I think 'September Ninth' even made sports films boring last year, making the sports films flop. Tell me, everyone. If you go to a theater that shows 'September Ninth' and 'Hard Ice', which one would you have seen?" Anthony asks. 

"... September Ninth..." is the split decision winner. 

"Exactly. September Ninth was more exciting to watch than 'Hard Ice'. That's why 'Hard Ice' flopped despite being nominated and winning awards. I myself would rather watch a real hockey match or behind the scenes footage of real athletes than watch 'Hard Ice'." Anthony says. 

"Now, would you folks rather watch 'Gold, Blood, and the Deer' or 'Yard Blues'?" Anthony asks again. 

"..." Tayaw's film again is the winner.

"Right. And it's for the same reason. While we can't make a gangster film like Isaac's, we can borrow some ideas. We can make films that talk about searching for family." Anthony suggests, receiving nods of approval. 

"When it comes to romance films on the other hand, we can still make them." Aiden says. This gets a more positive response.

"But we can't make them the way we used to. I've seen some of this year's best films in festivals. I've noticed that they still have flavors of romance in them but just like 'September Ninth', they are more about the growth of the characters as people, not just fighting for deserving it. Don't worry though. Our people right now are splitting their hairs to make that happen." Anthony reports.

Seeing the approval in the room, Anthony is now more confident. However, he does not want to appear dictatorial to his superiors. 

"If you're all not ready to give up on romance and sports, maybe we should make films that are not fairy tales but actually talk about the reality of love and athletes' lives. Those are just suggestions, but any topic really that is unique and will be interesting to people, we should make films about those." Anthony concludes.

That makes the room enter a lively discussion. Anthony can finally smile, having gotten through the skulls of the board members.