The hype for Ian's performance died down. A week passed. Ian's mind and schedule were now occupied with Inception.
Although Ian thought that he wanted to give Inception a special position in his career, with his focus and process of creativity. With how he selected the Stars to play the movie, he wanted to do the same with every other step—alas, the time had different plans for him.
During the same time that the shooting of Inception was about to begin, Ian had to check in so that the team who was working on the Resident Evil video game wouldn't be slacking, and he had to check in with the re-opening function for the OTT platform.
For the latter, Ian had many plans. The platform already had trending movies, and series streaming that owned copyrights from many popular studios. But, Ian wanted to add his movies, and series to it.
Moreover, holding rights for a good OTT platform is great income. In his mind, he was trying to bring more profit to the Renner Studio, just so he could continue to give space for more creativity.
He already earned more than five billion dollars from all the movies, and series he had done. But more than half the profits were gone back to the studio without a second thought.
"Hey, Ian!" Niko yelled loudly, snapping Ian out of his daydreaming.
"Hm?"
Ian suddenly looked at him/ He was thinking about work, and with everything that has been going on, it all felt a bit crazy.
Will and Gar starting to work with him were the craziest. On the other hand, Jeff Sanson had been too focused in his studio, and it slightly worried Ian as to what he'd do next to grab his attention.
"The set is ready. Since it's the first day, I'm sure you'll have to say things to the actors. Should we get there?" Niko asked.
In Niko's hand, there was the script. On the other hand, he adjusted his glasses. It was a sunny day, and sweat formed on his forehead which led his glasses to slip off while he was looking down on Ian, who sat on a chair that was low to the ground.
"I'll be there. Is everyone ready?"
Niko paused before continuing, "Everyone except Leonardo. He seemed to be a little bit nervous. He didn't even talk when I was talking about the script to everyone and the angles that we were going to take."
Ian nodded.
Niko walked away with a nod in return.
Murphy walked towards them with his phone in his hand.
"Someone named Thomas Guise is in line," He said as soon as he walked over.
"Thomas Guise? Who is it?"
At this moment, Ian had forgotten who Thomas Guise was.
"This was the person who had an appointment last week, and then you cancelled the appointment for the CEOs of Lincoln Studio…"
"Ah, give me the phone."
Ian said and took the phone off of Murphy's hand. The latter walked away from the premises as soon as possible because of how hot the temperature was.
Luckily, Ian was under a shelter right beside the set, and for much protection his shades were helpful.
"Hello, Mr. Guise?"
-Yes, Ian Renner, is it?
"Yes, I'm Ian."
-Mr. Renner, I've been trying to contact you for almost three weeks now. It's been hard, honestly.
"Ah, my apologies, Mr. guise. My schedule was packed. What did you want to talk about?"
-About LoomEz. The streaming platform. We're selling it, and I'm trying to get in contact with potential buyers. Will you be interested?
The voice that came through was defeated.
Ian was no mind/voice reader, but he was able to understand what Guise was going through. Yet, he also knew it wasn't within his limits to help in any sort of way.
"Yes, Mr. Guise. I was trying to invest in a streaming network. But, I already found one. But there's a person who I can recommend you to."
Ian said and immediately remembered that one person who was prepared to buy an entire streaming platform.
[Flashback - two months ago]
"Please, Mr. Lincoln, come in!"
Ian invited the old man with a pleasant, polite smile that reached his eyes.
"Have a seat, it's been too long, Mr. Lincoln!"
J. R. Lincoln, who was also one of the most trusted people in the industry by Mason came to visit Ian after a long time. The last time they met was also the very first time they got introduced to each other—at Mason's retirement party.
"How have you been? Was it a hassle to find your way here? Many people who came here requested to move up to the main street, just so that they could avoid taking turns… But we renovated the office a while ago,"
Lincoln shook his head. "Nah, kid. It's alright. How have you been since Mason took off?"
"Released two or three movies, it's almost as if he's always in mind, telling me to do this, and don't do that. Always."
Lincoln laughed.
"I heard Will and Gar are giving you some trouble…"
Ian shook his head. "Not trouble, competition. They want competition with Renner Studios, and I have got a feeling that they won't feel really happy about it in the end. So, it's all up to time, hard work, and some luck."
Lincoln's smile on his face didn't fade away even an ounce.
"Ah, true that, young man."
Mason trusted very few people in the industry. Apart from those few people, he had quite the experience with fellow directors and businessmen in the industry, who showed their true colours with time. But as for Lincoln, he was someone who was being truthful and honest to Mason for years, constantly.
"For what do I owe the pleasure?" Ian asked.
"I was talking to mason about this streaming project I've been trying to get my hands on. My retirement plan has at least five more years to launch. So, I'm trying to make some profits off of movies. Mason couldn't help but talk about you for an hour straight. I was feeling warm about his talking. In the end, a man said something that made me come here."
Ian understood what he was referring to.
"Yeah, it's true. Mr. Lincoln. I'm trying to acquire an OTT platform as well, but it's hard. The ones I'm interested in… The people who own it aren't in any mindset to sell me shares."
Lincoln looked surprisingly disappointed with the answer.
"It's alright. Let me know if you've any options for me. And, what do you say? Should we make a trip to meet Mason?"
[End of flashback]
That one time Lincoln visited, Ian wanted to help him, somehow.
-Who is it? Can I know the details? If I'm being honest, Ian. I don't want to sell my shares to just anyone. Ugh, God knows how much I tried to not come to this decision… I feel like I've been defeated.
"Hmm… It's Lincoln. The person who owns Lincoln Studio. Mr. Lincoln was finding ways to acquire a platform, you can talk to him. He's easy to get a hold of through his assistant."
A sigh passed through the line.
-Thank you.
"No problem."
-
Ian walked across the set to talk to Leonardo DiCaprio.
Surprisingly, Leo was already in his clothes and wearing make up as suited.
"Leo, hey!"
Ian walked inside the makeup set and looked at himself in the mirror.
Leonardo just nodded at the director's appearance.
"Having second thoughts?" Ian asked straightforwardly.
Leonardo shook his head. They've arrived at a relationship where they came down to first name basic conversations.
"Cold feet." Leonardo chuckled. "I don't even know why, though. I've done several plays already!"
Ian shook his head. "This experience is different. Three-four cameras will be focused on you, and apart from that, you'll have to have picture-perfect scenes acted out."
Leonardo nodded. "Right. Now you're giving me reasons."
Ian smiled and sat next to him in the closest chair.
"But, you've to look on the bright side. This is just an opening. And I can promise you one thing…"
Leonardo looked at him.
"You'll do just fine."
Ian said with much confidence. In his mind, he knew that if Leonardo couldn't do a character, there was no chance that anyone else would do it for at least as much as he could.
And from the experiences he had with the actors who he found here that were in his previous world, they nailed their characters without a doubt, which led them to do much better things with their careers.
"Yeah, as if."
"Try first."
Ian said back with the same intensity. Leonardo sighed.
"Let's see where this goes."
-
A/N; POWERSTONES! POWERSTONES! POWERSTONES!!
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