Chapter 12
Hi all, next chapter here. This chapter is kind of boring to me. Mostly covering the MC's financials and his plans for the future. Now, unlike most stories, the MC has no idea how the stock market works. Nor does he know what will be worth what down the line. All he has to go off of is movies and what is in them. This is a big advantage to him, but he is also mostly a writer who is in no way rich yet. So, as you read, if my math is off or I am forgetting something, please inform me.
Now, with that said, to address the only question that was asked in the last chapter.
Alpha_astro, I feel I owe you and a lot of people reading this story an apology. I am still going to make this a somewhat haram but in a more modern context where the woman in the MC's life starts to realize that he is just not husband material. But carry on seeing him anyway, even years down the line.
With that answered on with the story.
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"I think it was in the movie Scarface that the main character Tony Montana said in this country, you gotta make the money first. Then, when you get the money, you get the power. Then, when you get the power, you get the women. He was not wrong. Do you honestly think any of the women I have fucked in my life would have let me within 10 feet of them if I didn't have or at least seem to have a way to make money? No offense to them, but the answer is no." Caesar Espinar
-1997-
The year 1996 was over, and I guess you can say I was riding a high. After selling the script for Scream, I had a bit of cash in my pocket, but anyone who knows anything will tell you 70,000 dollars will not last long when you're trying to keep up appearances in Hollywood. After taxes, paying my agent and lawyer, moving to a new apartment, and putting a down payment on a new Viper GTS 1996, I was living well above my means. But as a pseudo-celebrity who was dating Salma Hayek for a time, I couldn't be seen in a beat-up old ride for long after all that came the clothes, the accessories, and whatnot. All to give the image of something that wasn't real. When my taxes were done at the start of the year, I think I had about 12,000 left in the bank. Again, this is an example of how expensive life in the limelight can be.
However, I wasn't too worried, even though my agent tried to get me to take out a loan because he worried about my overspending. I didn't need to. At least not yet. After all, negotiations were still going on behind the scenes for my other scripts. The fact remained that Scream had ended its domestic run at the box office with a straggling 126 million dollars. The international box office was still pending but was showing strong results. Not that it mattered to me, as my contract with New Line only gave me 0.3 percent at the domestic box office, not the international one. Still, that was 378,000 dollars in the bank for me, and New Line wasn't fooling around. Because I owned the copyrights to Scream and they desired to release Scream 2 by the end of this year, they wanted to keep me happy. So, the first payment of my royalties was pending, and I should get it within the next few months.
After that, you had my other scripts that had sold. As I had predicted, the Weinstein brothers, having missed what clearly was a golden opportunity, did everything they could to get one of my scripts. What they got was Urban Legend, a slasher film that was nowhere near on the level of Scream but should do well nonetheless with my name behind it. Knowing that and missing out on Scream, the Weinstein brothers had overpaid for the movie. At least to me, they did, but I would hardly complain about making 110 thousand dollars. It was my first 100-dollar script, and it was one I didn't even care about. Now, if I wanted, I am sure I could have made more, but while I didn't like Harvey Weinstein for some reason, he was still a big player in Hollywood. There was no point in trying to fuck him over when he could be helpful to me down the road.
The 2nd script I sold was Scream 2, but I didn't really sell it so much as to keep my end of the deal. To keep Robert happy and, by extension, Warner Bros, who I was currently working for on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, I told my agent to keep the fee low but increase my box office share. Now Robert was happy that the fee I was asking for was only 50 thousand, which was 20 thousand less than Scream. He was displeased, however, when I asked for 1 percent of the box office. Both domestic and international this time. He, after all, wasn't stupid and knew they had a hit movie on their hands with Scream 2. So, the desire to share the overall profits wasn't something he wished to do. Yet, in the end, Robert had little choice but to accept the deal. After all, New Line only got the first offer. If we didn't come to an agreement, I could take Scream 2 to someone else, and many people wanted Scream 2 at this point in time.
Next came an unexpected development. The Strangers was one of the two scripts I had put away in the WGA when I first came to Hollywood, but I had little faith that anyone would pick it up. After my initial success, Se7en and Scream, that changed. But having promised myself that I would make Tiffani a star on the big screen. I pulled it from my agent's hands and started to shop it around myself, to studios. Where I almost instantly found interest in the film. That was till I told them about Tiffani and the role I had in mind for her.
While most didn't seem to have a massive problem with Tiffani being in the movie, as she had done well in Scream and was a household name, the moment I told them I wanted her cast as Dollface and not Kristen, they hit the breaks hard. And for a good reason. While Scream had helped Tiffani move away from the TV screen to the big screen a bit, people still saw her as her break-out role of Kelly Kapowski from Save by the Bell or less known role of Valerie Malone 90210. Now, here I was, telling them I wanted her to play the role of a killer. They didn't see it and kept saying no, or we would think about it, which is the same thing.
It wasn't very pleasant, but it couldn't be helped. Still, I was set to make over half a million dollars this year, so I didn't let it get to me. And, of course, I still had one last project in the works with Steven Spielberg, and it was the only project that really mattered right now. We were keeping things quiet for now, of course. Other than going to the WGA to have it script-protected, no one but a few people knew about Shakespeare in Love, and Steven wanted to keep it that way. It wasn't like it was some super secret project, but he was taking a significant risk on this even though I gave him the script in exchange for 5 percent of the box office. Now, the ball was in his court, and I would have to wait till he was ready to work on it.
"Something on your mind, Ceaser?" I hear Tiffani's voice asking me.
"Hmmm, nothing much," I tell her as I continue to cook.
While also wondering how this had happened. Now, I will not say I wasn't happy to have Tiffani in my house dressed in only a long-sleeved T-shirt and nothing more. But this was just one of those strange situations where a few things don't necessarily add up. At the end of 1996, Salma and I silently agreed to take a break from each other. We never told each other why or even talked about it all, but we were over as far as the public was concerned. Leaving the media wondering what happened.
That is where Tiffani came into the picture. Since we were friends, I told her long before the media learned that Salma and I were taking a break. And wouldn't you know it, she came right out and told me she wanted to fuck. Okay, maybe not that bluntly, but she clarified that she was interested in dating. I, of course, being who I was, told her that Salma and I were not over, over, and I was unsure what we were at this point. Tiffani didn't seem to care, however, and made it pretty clear if Salma and I were still fucking she wouldn't mind. Which took me by surprise.
It wasn't that Tiffani was a morally loose woman or anything. She was just understanding of the situation and straight up didn't give a fuck. Almost all the successful women in Hollywood were go-getters. If they saw something they wanted, they went for it. No matter the cost, and while yes, they had their pride and lines they would not cross, they would still go for it to a point. Tiffani was no exception in this. She wasted me and was willing to make allowances to see if it could work out. Plus, what was a greater boot to one's ego than stealing another woman's man?
"Fuck bitches be crazy." I think to myself.
"Didn't seem like nothing. You had that look on your face." Tiffani says.
Letting out a huff, I say, "What look?"
"You know that look. The one you get whenever you're lost in thought." Tiffani says.
It was something Tiffani had come to realize about Caesar: He often got lost in thought. She was unsure what he was thinking about, but she felt like he was going to that place great writers go—a world of his imagination—beyond what normal people could see or even understand. She was a talented actress. She knew that. After all, she wouldn't have gotten as far as she had if she wasn't. But she didn't believe she could be a writer or, if she could, would be equal to Caesar.
"Hmm, sorry, I guess I was lost in thought," I admit to her.
"No, it's okay. I find it sexy, to be honest." She says in a teasing voice.
I laughed dryly and said, "Oh, you do, do you?"
"I do, I really do," Tiffani says with a smile.
"Then I will do my best to do it more often," I say to her dryly.
Which earns me a laugh. Tiffani says, "So what were you thinking about?"
"I was thinking of the Strangers," I say, and Tiffani perks up at the name of the movie I had in mind for her.
"Oh, how is it going? Any takers yet?" Tiffani asks.
"Several, but all with the same problem," I tell her, looking unhappy.
"Don't tell me. They don't think I can play the role of a killer, right." She states as a fact and not as a question. Looking upset while she does.
Yes, Tiffani fully understood that the world saw her as either Kelly Kapowski or Valerie Malone. So, selling her as some demented sociopathic killer was hard to do. But that was why it was so interesting. Before, she wouldn't have even dreamed of doing a role like this due to her good-girl image but now she saw it as a chance to expand the types of roles she could do. After all, she was well aware that she was getting older. Soon enough, the teen idol thing would run its course, and she would have to do what many teen stars struggled to do. Find more mature roles, or hang it up and walk away from acting, which she could do, but she loved acting so much that she didn't want to.
"Sadly, that is right," I tell her, sighing.
"God, you think the studios would be more willing to listen to you after two back-to-back successes," She says, annoyed.
"They are, but it only goes so far. They are more than willing to let you be in the movie, just not as Dollface." I tell her.
"So they want me to play Kristen," Tiffani says, not sounding interested at all.
After I finished cooking, I let her think about it, not telling her to take the role or refuse it. It was up to her, and I wasn't about to do more than I was already doing for her. I just served her the food and sat down to eat. Now, I know some may find it strange for the man to cook for the woman. But I'm not going to lie. After being with Salma for a while, she kind of spoiled me with Mexican breakfast foods. Find me a white woman who can cook huevos rancheros as a traditionally raised latina, and I will be happy to let her cook. Until then, best I do it myself, which still wasn't as good as Salma but seemed good enough to impress Tiffani.
After eating in silence for a bit, Tiffani finally speaks up and asks, "Do you think I should take the role, Caesar?"
"I am not going to tell you what to do, Tiff. Do you want to play Kristen? If you do, I will start making some calls and sell the script. If not, I will hold off until someone accepts my terms." I told her matter-of-factly.
"You do that for me?" Tiffani asks.
"I told you I let you pick your role if you wanted to be in the movie. I am nothing if not a man of my word." I tell her.
Something that makes her smile in turn. She knew I wasn't poor by any means, but I was still saying no to a good payday just for her. It felt nice that he valued a promise given to her more than money. It spoke a lot about his character behind the tough guy's exterior.
"In that case, I will wait," Tiffani says with a smile. She, after all, had time before her time on 90210 was over. At least, she thought so.
"All right then," Is all I say in turn.
It was, after all, no big deal if I held onto this one script for a while longer before selling it.
"Oh, and seeing as we are going to wait anyway. What do you think of giving the role of Kristen to Elizabeth?" Tiffani asks me.
It takes me a moment to remember who Tiffani is talking about. While I had watched Save by the Bell while doing time in jury. Besides how hot the girls were, I didn't care about it much. So I didn't remember the names of most of the actors off hand.
"Elizabeth? That was the girl who played Jessie, right?" I ask.
"That is right," Tiffani says, happy I remembered that.
I let out a hum as I think about that and try to remember what else she had been in before remembering that one horrible movie I had watched back in 95'. "She also stared in that movie…what was it called? The one where she played a stripper."
"Showgirls," Tiffani says.
"Right, if I remember correctly, that more or less tanked her career, didn't it?" I say to her bluntly and see her wince.
"Ya, it kind of did, but that is even more of a reason to help her," Tiffani says.
"I didn't know you two were such good friends," I told her.
Shrugging her shoulders, Tiffani says, "We're not, but we got along on the Save by the Bell set, and I always liked her. Plus, I think it's unfair how she is being treated."
I think over it a bit. Seeing as I was hanging on for Tiffani, it was no big deal to name-drop Elizabeth as well. I may not have a lot of power in Hollywood yet, but The Strangers didn't require much acting skills. Plus, I had a strange feeling a lot of people would love to see her die or, well, almost die in a movie.
"All right, give her a call. If she wants the role, I will name-drop her as my first pick, and we will see what happens. Now, if you excuse me, I have to get ready to meet Danny at the gym. If I am late, you know he will come get me." I say to her, and I stand up and pick up my plate as I do.
She just sinkers at that. Having met Danny through Caesar a few months ago, Tiffani had to say he was a pretty scary guy. That was until he asked her to sign his Save by the Bell t-shirt. She wasn't even sure if he was a fan of the show or if he was having a good laugh. But after that, she could say she liked him and found him to be a pretty sweet guy.
"Then you better not be late. I don't want my boyfriend getting beat up by some old dude again." She says with a smile.
I just hold up my middle finger at her while walking away. At the same time, I thought I shouldn't have invited her to the gym when Danny and I were sparing. I may have gotten better at boxing, but Danny could still pack a punch.
Later on, while I was standing on the edge of the ring, watching Danny yell at Sarah Michelle Gellar as she worked the mitts, "Faster, faster, faster, blondie. That's the best you got. Left, right, right, left. Rapid fire, rapid fire."
She was pretty good, too, but that was expected from someone with a blackbelt in taekwondo. Her hand speed was a little slow, and her stamina wasn't up to par, which was why she was here. To get her in shape for the role of Buffy. It was one of the things Joss and I had thought about when we talked about Buffy's overall look. We, of course, didn't want bulky but more Sarah Connor from Terminator—tip-top shape and ready for action, but sexy as hell. We also wanted the action scenes to be more believable, so getting her back into fighting condition was a must.
That was why I invited her to join Danny and me at the gym, which she agreed to do. She really wanted this role and was a serious actress. Getting in shape was the least she could do for her chance at stardom. It is an impressive mindset if I don't say so myself. And she wasn't the only one. Nearly the whole main cast was here or occasionally came to work out. Nicholas Brendon, Alyson Hannigan, and Charisma Carpenter were all here. All young and hungry for their moment in the sun.
However, it was as I was watching Sarah that I realized I had overlooked something important. When I had first looked up Buffy the Vampire Slayer, in my mind, I had only been looking for a hit TV show that I could work on. All in order to pad my resume and hopefully get the chance to direct. Pass that I wasn't thinking of anything else. So, I overlooked several things I should have realized earlier and would make my rise in Hollywood even faster. That being product placement and merchandising.
I have worked on four movies and written two of them, but I had forgotten something so basic. To be honest, it was embarrassing. Here I was, the owner of one of the biggest horror franchises ever, and I forgot about merchandising. According to the information in my head, Buffy's own merchandising was worth 10s of millions of dollars. Scream was no doubt worth just as much. It was little wonder Robert was trying to get me to sign over the copyrights to Scream. Really, he should have just told me he wanted a cut, and I would have done so. Well, there's no point worrying about it now. I had already signed over the VSH sale to New Line for a small profit cut. I think it was even less than my box office share.
This way of thinking, however, led me to another moment where I wanted to bang my head into a wall. I forgot I could basically see into the future through product placement. Anything that was used in the movies of the future would come into existence no matter what I did. So I could get in on the ground floor before they even came out. Starting with a company, everyone seemed to have given up on it anyway.
You know, it wasn't hard to understand why as I sat across from my account Burry, who, up to this point, I had never even really met. Other than when I first met him with my lawyer. Didn't like me poking my nose into my own finances. After all, I wasn't even 20 years old yet, and he was a small-time but veteran accountant and investor for a major accounting firm. But small-time or not, he had 10 years of experience to my none. So he wasn't happy to see me or hear me tell him I wanted him to start investing hard into Apple.
A company that was right on the edge of bankruptcy. No one gave it a real shot at making a comeback at this point. But then, no one knew about a movie that would come out in 2013 called Jobs. Soon, Steve Jobs would be back in charge of Apple and would skyrocket it back to the top. With this knowledge in hand, I had talked with several close friends to join me in buying up as much Apple stock as we could while it was still dirt cheap. Something that wasn't easy to do as I was so young. In the end, however, I was able to get Danny, David, and Salma on board. Each of them loaned me 20 grand to invest in Apple with a promise that I would pay them back in full if it failed. With that being only 60 thousand dollars, I saw it as no big deal. I would have that be the end of the year anyway. Combined with the 50,000 I was able to take out as a lone from the bank, I had just over 110,000 to invest in what David called my biggest and craziest adventure yet.
It seemed like a bad investment at 10 cents a piece,1,100,000 shares in a company that was almost dead to most. Hell, it didn't even give me 1 percent in the company for that amount. So, to Burry, it was a terrible investment. But he didn't know what I knew. Steve Jobs would soon be back as the head of Apple, and in the coming decades, Apple would become huge. Bigger than it ever was before its fall from grace. Now was the perfect time to grab as much as I could while I could. Because after this year, I had a strong feeling that getting any more shares would be difficult.
Ultimately, I was the client, no matter how much Burry disagreed with me. It was my money to do with as I pleased. He would get me the shares I desired. The only question left for me to wonder is how long it would take for me to see a return on my investment. After all, being rich was never my real goal. No, my only goal was to be remembered for my work in Hollywood. Buying shares of Apple was only a step to get there. I needed financial freedom away from the major studios if I wanted to be remembered on the same level as Steven Spielberg, Orson Welles, or George Lucas.