{1st Person POV}
The weekend had come and gone just like a flash. It went away so quickly that I feel like I'm going to fall to the ground from fatigue at any moment.
But I have to endure it.
After all, I chose this career, so I can't really go back on my word.
That reminds me, I got called by the CEO of SkyMount, Edward King. He asked me very early in the morning to come to the studio and meet him at 8 o'clock or so in the evening.
And I was currently outside, on the streets, waiting for the car Mr. King apparently sent.
People passing by whispered about me, or that's what I think.
Though, It did feel weird. Think about it. If people whisper something about you behind your back, then it just makes me uncomfortable.
Suddenly, a Challenger stopped right ahead of me. Slowly, the front window went down, and revealed Uncle David behind the wheel, looking all smug.
"Hey there, Oliver!" He greeted me. "Come and hop in quickly, otherwise King's gonna be angry at you arriving late."
"You're the one who's supposed to pick me up?" I asked.
"Yep. Anyways, get in."
I sighed and quickly walked to the passenger door and opened it.
After sitting down, I gently closed the door, and the Challenger quickly accelerated, causing me to fall back in my seat.
"Whoa!" I exclaimed. "Slow down! You want us to crash or something?!" I screamed while I quickly put on the seat belt.
There was no way I was going to die today.
"I didn't think you'd have a sports car." I said.
"Sorry, can't hear you over the wind." Uncle exclaimed.
"I said that I didn't think you'd have a sports car!" I shouted.
"Look, Oliver, I may be old, but that doesn't mean I will stop being passionate about my hobbies!"
"Well, I don't think you should be driving in the first place! You're nearly 60, for God's sake!"
"I may be nearly 60, but I'm still as strong and fit as I was a decade ago! Haha"
Another sigh escaped my lips, as I accepted my situation.
In no time, we reached the SkyMount studio, mostly thanks to Uncle's VERY reckless driving.
I quickly got out of the car as soon as it was parked.
Feeling nauseous, I walked to the nearest tree and stood beneath it for shade from the sweltering heat aswell as to calm myself down.
"*pant* See! *pant* This is why *pant* you shouldn't drive!" I exclaimed as Uncle walked towards.
"Oh, come on. Don't act like that. Didn't you like going on drives with me when you were younger?" Uncle asked, chuckling at my disjointed state.
"Well, I was *pant* a kid back then! *pant* It's different now, alright?" I said and looked at the sky, finally feeling a bit better.
I then looked brought my head down, now stareding at the main building.
"Alright, let's get moving." I said, and started speed-walking.
Uncle followed behind, surprisingly keeping up with me.
'Maybe I did underestimate how healthy he was.' I thought.
Both Uncle and I walked inside SkyMount Studio's main building, and entered the nearest elevator.
Clicking on the button that had '5' on it, the door closed and the elevator started to move.
I was feeling a bit tense. Who wouldn't, though?
If you were PERSONALLY called by the boss of the company you work for/at, then I'm sure as hell you'd be nervous and tense too.
One thing kept bothering me, and it was the question that why the hell did the CEO call ME? Is it good news? Bad news? What's the reason? Does he think I'm good enough to be contracted or something?
"Nervous?" Uncle David asked.
"...Yeah, a bit." I replied.
"Well, don't worry. The CEO isn't a scary person at all. Infact, he's super nice." Uncle David reassuringly said. "Though, he likes to play mind games on people."
"Mind games?" I asked, a bit interested and terrified, but mostly terrified.
Both of us walked out of the elevator as the door opened.
"Well, 'mind games' is a bit of an exaggeration. It's more like he has such a calm demeanour that it seems like he's playing with you."
"You're just scaring me." I muttered.
Really, the way Uncle described the CEO didn't make him sound friendly or nice at all.
Reaching the door to the office of the CEO, Uncle knocked two times.
A "Come in!" Came from inside the room.
Uncle David walked inside first, followed by me.
I looked around the room, and no doubt, it was magnificent, and yet simple at the same time.
Grey coloured walls, with an Oak wood floor pattern. There was a large, glass wall from where you could see L.A's skyline.
In the centre, there was a white coloured table, with a computer and a lot of files.
The CEO, Edward King, was standing beside the glass wall, gazing at the L.A skyline.
He turned his head slightly towards our direction, and spoke. "Ah, you've arrived."
He walked towards us and motioned Uncle to leave.
Uncle leaned in on me and whispered, "Don't worry too much."
With that, Uncle left the room, leaving only me, aka Oliver Knight, and the CEO of SkyMount, Edward King.
The atmosphere became really awkward, with neither me nor Mr. King saying anything.
'Too awkward.' I thought.
Having enough time in silence, I initiated the conversation.
"Um, Mr. King, why have you called me here?"
Mr. King, who had already gone back to his position near the glass wall, glanced at me and said in an amused tone. "A bit Impatient, are we?"
My eyebrows twitched a little. I don't know why, but even though he didn't really mean it in a bad way, I still reaced like that.
'The hell? What do you mean I'm impatient?! You called me here!'
My eyebrows were twitching quite a lot, so I stopped doing that. But my face clearly showed my annoyance (I think), which Mr. King was easily able to notice.
"Annoyed? Sorry abiut that, but it's also your fault for getting easily annoyed, no?"
"Can we move onto the reason as to why I'm here?"
"Why don't you slow down a little? C'mon, stand here." He motioned for me to stand next to him, and I followed.
We were nearly the same height, but the CEO still overshadowed me by a lot due to his sheer muscle mass, something I lacked.
"Take the beauty of this view, why don't you?"
I looked outside the window/wall. The city was lit by yellow and orange lights, adorning the city in a golden hue. Mixed with the dark, night sky which covered the city almost gave L.A a mystical feeling.
"It's certainly beautiful," I said. "But I don't see any reason to do this."
Mr. King just smiled at me, before asking. "Did looking at the scene of the city make you feel calm? Did it bring peace to your mind and heart?"
I tilted my head to the side. 'Where the hell is he going with this?' I thought in confusion.
"...Yes." I answered, still not sure where this conversation was leading. "But why does it matter?"
"Because you, just like everyone else, need to be relaxed and released of your fatigue. Everyone is so busy nowadays that they don't care about their mental health, and that's why depression and stress have become such a big deal. Everyone is afraid of what'll happen if they don't do this, fail that, or what'll happen to their life that they fail to take some time off to absorb and appreciate the beauty of life and nature." Mr. King said.
"Being in the entertainment industry myself, I understand the amount of stress that you're going through, and as your boss, I thought it'd be a good idea for you to be relaxed before discussing important things." He finished.
"I see…" I muttered.
"Well then, let's move on to why you're here." Mr. King said as he walked to his table. I followed him as he took out some sheets and handed them to me.
I carefully read the sheets, with the first data set being the midnight gross of 'The Departed', which was $1.7M. Something that was beyond my realm of expectations.
The more I read, the crazier it got.
$29.9 Million dollars domestic opening weekend.
"$29 Million?" I muttered.
I was really, and I mean REALLY, surprised at 'The Departed's success. I mean, I expected it to be a hit, but $29 Million? That's insane.
That opening weekend made 'The Departed' the largest opening weekend of the year, something which I didn't think was going to happen. Even though it'll lose that record in a few weeks or a month tops, that is still a huge feat.
The International/Overseas gross stood at $26.2 Million; $11 million weekend, $15 Million was on the weekdays.
The largest markets were the United Kingdom and Ireland with $4.2 Million, followed by Australia ($1.7 Million), Russia ($762K), Hong Kong ($282K), Thailand ($255K) and Taiwan ($159K).
The worldwide gross amounted to $56.1 Million.
By no means was this a bad result, especially so when there still many major markets left. $56 Million was a pretty large opening, especially for a crime drama like 'The Departed'.
This also meant that 'The Departed' had already recouped its budget. Still not profitable, mind you, but this was a good result nonetheless.
"So, what do you think?" Mr. King asked.
I turned to look at him. "I'm really surprised." I put the sheets back on the table and continued. "I did think 'The Departed' would be a success, but not to THIS extent. Surely, you're happy with the result too?"
Mr. King smiled.
"Of course I am." He said, and started to walk in circles around the table. "I'm sure you remember that our two other films released so far this year have had performances below our expectations. So, the fact that your film, 'The Departed', became a surprise hit and gave us our largest opening weekend since 'God's Here!' Back in November is fantastic. And that's why-" Mr. King stopped right in front of me. "-I have an offer for you."
"Offer?" I asked, my voice laced with confusion and curiosity.
"An offer, yes. Although it's more like a contract." He said with a sly smile. "I think you deserve some privileges, as you have proven to be a viable up-and-coming director who can put butt's in seat."
'A contract, huh?' I thought.
Mr. King opened the drawer of his desk and brought forth a sheet of paper, which I assumed was the contract, and put it on the desk.
He tapped on the contract, and I moved forward to read the contract.
Reading its content, the contract basically stated that I would officially be working for SkyMount as a director contracted to them. I had the right to choose the final cut of the film, something which was quite important. The contract said that SkyMount was going to distribute my films in a 5-film deal. However, I didn't have control over the marketing and promotion of the film.
In other words, I was going to be chained to SkyMount until I've created 5 films. And that's something I don't want; to be chained up to a studio.
Though, I had one question in my mind, a question which I shouldn't have asked.
"How'd you get the contract to be completed so quickly?" I blurted out.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, shouldn't creating a contract have taken a longer time?"
"I didn't create this specifically for you, the contract was pre-made. The most I had to do was add your name." He explained with a puzzled look that screamed "Is this guy for real?"
"Oh." I said, feeling really dumb.
"Anyways, about the contract." I began, which immediately caught Mr. King's attention.
"While I do think it's a good offer, I have one big problem with it." I said, looking at Mr. King who was totally focused on my word. " The 5-film deal and no control over the marketing. I don't like it"
"I can see why you'd be upset over having no control over the marketing, but what's the problem with us distributing your next 5 films?"
"Because..." I stopped midway through my sentence. I feared that I might offend him, but then decided that it'd be better to say it than hide my intentions.
"I...I don't want to be chained up to one studio. I don't want to be dependent upon you and SkyMount for distribution. And there's also the fact that I want to create movies that I'm sure SkyMount won't fund."
"Freedom, huh?" Mr. King muttered. "That's quite the huge price either you or I'll have to pay. But, the deal CAN work, it's a two-way relationship after all. However, about your point on creating films b that we won't support," Mr. King waited for a few seconds, "Prove yourself more and I'm sure no one will reject your idea."
I sighed, and said, "You're right, but can you really guarantee that? Are you 100% certain that If I prove myself you'll let me do anything I want?"
Mr.,King nodded confidently. "You think I'd lie about stuff like that?" He asked, quite amused.
"Well yeah." I shrugged. "Hollywood is filled with shady people, and that includes you."
"Then that includes you too, no?"
"I've only just stepped foot into the industry. There hasn't been much I've done." I explained calmly.
I jersey my head up, and said, "We're getting sidetracked. My point was that I don't want to get chained down to one studio. So, can you reduce the number of films I need to create on the contract?" I asked with pleading eyes.
Mr. King sighed at my behaviour, and said in a defeated tone, "Alright, fine. Here's a compromis. How about this? I'll change it from 5 films to 3. How does that sound?"
"That sound's better, but can you also let me have control over the marketing and full creative control over my films?"
Mr. King furrowed his eyebrows, and said, "That's a bit too much, don't you think? While it's true that you've shown to have potential, I think SkyMount wouldn't get much benefit from this deal, would it?"
"Well, without those, I'd be losing out on a lot of stuff to, y'know? But if we can't agree on something, I'l have to go to another Studio, and with the help of Michael Young I could most likely get them to fund 'The Prestige'." I got up from the chair I was sitting on, and walked towards Mr. King. "As you said, I have shown to be a promising individual, and with that beginner's luck, I could walk out of here and still get my films made."
"But I don't want to be on bad terms with you. Both Red Fox and SkyMount have helped me establish myself, and if I leave you guys then I'll just feel guilty." I explained to him while looking down at the floor.
Mr. King's face adorned a surprised look, but then quickly returned to his normal calm and collected face with a smile, and said. "Fine, fine. You'll get your deal, so come here tomorrow at the same time, alright?"
As the word of Mr. King left his mouth, my mood became significantly better. I got up from seat again, and muttered a courteous "Thanks" and "Goodbye", and walked to the door. I opened the door and put one foot outside, and then quickly turned my head around.
"By the way, Mr. King, you look really stressed. I think you should look at the skyline again to calm yourself down. After all, as someone who works in this industry, I can tell when someone is stressed or not."
This wasn't really meant to be a backhand comment or anything, instead, it was supposed to be genuine with a hint of sarcasm.
"Using my own thinking on me?" He said, amused. " You're an interesting fellow, I must say." He said a small smile.
It seems Mr. King took it as sarcasm, which I was quite grateful for.
With that, I left the CEO's room and the SkyMount building.
***
{3rd Person POV}
Now alone in his room, Edward King thought about his actions.
A sigh, followed by a chuckle escaped his lips,
He looked outside the window, at the L.A skyline.
"Olover Knight, you're a good kid. I just hope this deal can help the both of us."
~~~
A/N: HOLY SHIT! This chapter became far longer than it should've! Fricking 2.9k words, aka the largest chapter of this Novel! WTF!
Anyways, was this chapter good? To be quite frank, this chapter is more of a setup for the future than anything. Infact, the ending of this will lead to something I'm sure nearly all of you want.
And THANK YOU FOR 100K VIEWS!
Seriously, I didn't think this book would get there, or not at least this fast, but here we are. Thank you guys (and bots, I guess) for making this happen!
Also, I watched The Martian two days ago, and it was really good. It didn't feel like a boring film at all, until the 3rd act that is. Ridley Scott can be really hit or miss, but fortunately, this time he had a source material to work off of, so the film turned out really well.
Anyways, my toughest exam was today and I did pretty well in it, so expect 2 chapters a week. Who knows, I might even do 3 this time ;)
See ya later!