America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

Chapter 66: Chapter 66: The Master and the Acting Fee

This film has a publicly disclosed investment of a grand scale, one that Kelly Gray has never managed before, so she made a specific call to Louise Mel.

Preparing for her trip to Morocco, Louise chose to have a layover in Atlanta and stay there for one night.

At the airport hotel, upon meeting Martin and Kelly who rushed over, Louise automatically ignored the latter and flung herself onto Martin, exclaiming loudly, "Penicillin!"

Kelly felt a pang of annoyance and cursed, "You nymphomaniac, do you only have eyes for men? Can you two, a shameless couple, tone it down a bit?"

Louise picked up a magazine she brought specifically, thrust it into Martin's hands and said, "Quick, take a look. Louise's Penicillin has shocked the whole of America, shocked the International Bartenders Association; many have dubbed me a master!"

It was an issue of "Fashion Gentleman," a magazine under the Hearst Group. Martin saw that Louise was on the cover, dressed in a sophisticated work attire, with her right hand placed across her pronounced chest, holding a glass of the perfected Penicillin.

The cover's tagline — Louise's Penicillin, curing all unhappiness!

Upon opening the magazine to the title page, there was an interview with Louise, primarily discussing the process of inventing Penicillin.

Martin had fully traded off the rights to Penicillin, and Louise, of course, did not hold back, claiming it all for herself.

Then there were praises for Penicillin by several notable connoisseurs.

One of them even said it was the cocktail world's greatest discovery since the new century, and Louise the most outstanding female mixologist in the last two decades.

Louise was on cloud nine as if she were Michael Jordan to baseball, Gareth Bale to golf, Leonardo to female models under twenty-five — it was a love that came from the soul.

Kelly took the magazine, glanced at it, and mercilessly exposed her, "You harlot, how much did you spend?"

Louise fell from the clouds, hitting the floor with a thud, and glared at Kelly, "How dare you slander my innocence out of thin air?"

The two glared at each other, hands bent into claws, ready to tear into one another at any moment.

Martin patted the couch and said, "Sit down and let's talk business first."

Louise snatched back the magazine, stored it carefully, straightened out her wrinkled beige shirt, and said, "We shouldn't handle this project in the same way we do pure romance dramas, but in the Hollywood style."

Upon hearing this, Kelly understood right away, "Find a few irrelevant folks and set up a separate company just for the project?"

This was a common Hollywood film maneuver. Louise simply stated, "As long as it's legally taxed, there generally won't be problems, but you must be prepared for problems. Wrap the project in a shell, keep financials separate, and if someone does start investigating, we can dump the shell at any time."

Martin understood, "And then let others take the fall?"

Louise joked, "Only if you want to pick up soap in prison."

Kelly automatically followed suit, "I'm prepared."

Martin reminded, "Stop talking nonsense and focus on the business at hand."

Louise continued, "The publicized production cost shouldn't be completely disconnected from the film's quality. I recently attended a screening by a German director for something like House of Death — claimed to have a 12 million dollar budget but looked like a 100,000 dollar movie. It's worse than your late-night flicks..."

As a friend of ten years and close enough to have shared the screen, she specifically warned, "That German director can afford to lose his dignity, but you, Kelly, cannot. You have a much longer road ahead of you."

Kelly made gestures and said, "I've been away from Hollywood for a long time, give me some advice."

Louise didn't play coy and said directly, "Inflate the promotion budget. I know you don't have distribution power, but to sell the film and attract distributors, you still have to do promotion."

She emphasized, "Especially for overseas distributors, selling the film internationally doesn't matter how much for, but the accounts must show expenses for overseas promotion."

Martin suggested, "Register for a few overseas film festivals? Like Southeast Asia, India, or Russia or something, send a few people at random, piling up the costs?"

Louise smiled at him, "Not bad, your insight is improving."

Kelly committed everything to memory, "Benjamin has planned a three-month production cycle for the film, intending to showcase it at the Savannah Film Festival. Help me get in touch with a few distributors."

The three of them talked for a while longer, and gradually the topic came to an end.

"Now onto something more cheerful," Martin came to the long sofa, sat between Kelly and Louise, and embraced them both, "Boozy girl, haven't let out your 'expanding screw' yet?"

Louise knew all about publicity, "Take it slow, I keep releasing new cocktails and maintain the heat in the bartending world. It won't be long before I, like Ada Coleman, become a master in the International Bartenders Association as a woman!"

She clutched Martin's hand, "You'll help me, keep inspiring my creativity, right?"

Martin said, "Of course, what's mine is yours."

Kelly suddenly asked, "What's an 'expanding screw'?"

Louise laughed happily, "As excellent as Penicillin."

Kelly felt she had also degraded, "You two are really a pair of shameless dogs."

Martin eagerly invited, "Kelly, you're welcome to join the ranks of the shameless."

Unfortunately, the hotel's sofas were red, and it was imminent that a new round of auditions take place.

...…

The next morning, the crew had their first meeting since the project got green-lit.

Gray Company registered and established "Zombie Stripper" studio with Andrew and others.

The company's vice president Dave was the producer, and the shooting team, other than Andrew replacing Lynn as the casting director, was all the usual crew used by Benjamin.

Aside from the lead role, Martin also doubled as the production manager and had a certain right to speak.

The crew hired Atlanta's hottest male stripper team at a high salary and would pay them a handsome fee.

As highly specialized technical talent, the team of eighteen would be paid a total of 900,000 US dollars.

Their inflated salary indirectly raised the salary of Martin, the male lead.

Martin's total compensation as the male lead and production manager was a hefty 150,000 US dollars.

The main filming location was at the House of Beast Club.

There was also another simple studio to be set up.

The crew publicly disclosed a production cost of 6 million US dollars and a marketing budget of 3 million US dollars, with plans for a global release.

No sooner had the studio opened than the staff responsible for overseas promotion and sales of foreign rights embarked on a global journey from the Atlanta airport.

The group also submitted materials to the relevant state government offices to apply for subsidies and incentives.

According to Georgia's policy from last year, "Zombie Stripper" with an investment over 500,000 US dollars could enjoy a 30% tax incentive.

As for how the books were done, that didn't concern Martin.

Jerome accompanied him to the temporary office rental for the studio, and Martin signed his name on the contract that Dave had sent over.

He had secured his first lead role in this life and the last.

Upon leaving the office, Jerome said, "150,000 US dollars, you've set a new record for the Marietta Theatre Company."

Martin mentioned vaguely, "Special circumstances."

Jerome thought he meant his relationship with Kelly, "With such a high salary, you have to work seriously and stay focused. Make sure you're well-prepared."

Martin agreed with this, "I'll start getting ready tomorrow."

After a long journey, he finally stepped onto the circular stage of the House of Beast.