America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

William Morris, lobby.

Adrian and Tony walked through the partitioned office space and arrived at the glass-closed office where agt John was.

The latter's nose was red and swoll with a Band-Aid stuck on it, which looked somewhat funny.

In the office, the faint sound of a phone call could be heard.

Adrian knocked on the door and tered.

John, who was nearing 40, hung up the phone with a serious expression, "You came at the right time, there's news from the production team."

Adrian, who had eliminated his biggest competitor yesterday, was confidt, "Did we win?"

John said, "The production team informed you that the role you got is named Dalton, not Nick Jones."

Adrian expressed his confusion, "I auditioned for Nick Jones! Who the hell is Dalton?"

Tony asked, "Did they make a mistake?"

John carefully checked the role list st by the production team and said, "A marginal supporting character, Nick Jones' sidekick."

Adrian still didn't understand, "Why?"

"The production team said you didn't pass the audition, but they thought your acting was good," John had specifically inquired, "They said you're more suitable for Dalton."

Adrian paced back and forth, hands on his hips, unable to figure out where the problem lay.

Touching his clown-like nose, Tony asked, "Did I suffer all this for nothing?"

Without losing his temper, Adrian pulled out a chair and sat down, "Who's the winner?"

John replied, "Martin Davis."

"Fuck!" Adrian cursed.

Tony didn't understand, "Why him? In terms of siority, acting, and connections, how could any of those compare to Adrian? He's be in Los Angeles for less than two months!"

Adrian considered a possibility, "Did Susan Levin sleep with him?"

"Talking about this now is pointless," John, having expericed many failures and successes, said, "The reality is we did a lot and still lost. Auditions are about striving for the best chance to win, but no one can guarantee a 0% success rate."

He waited a momt before asking Adrian, "Do you accept this role?"

Without directly answering, Adrian said, "A month ago, I was the male lead in 'Star Partners', and he was just a minor character. Now he's going to be the male lead in 'House of Wax', and I have to be his sidekick. How do you expect me to accept that?"

John knew that everyone expericed a psychological drop, but some things had to be accepted quickly, "You should take this role, Adrian. You need to think long-term, not just about gaining or losing a role."

He raised his hand to stop Adrian's objections and elaborated, "Through Donnie's connections, we barely managed to build a relationship with Susan. If you refuse, that relationship will inevitably break. Susan is only thirty years old; she's bound to become a figure like Catherine Knedy in the future.

Right now, you should be thinking about how to use this role to establish a good personal relationship with Susan."

Adrian vigorously rubbed his chin, taking a while before asking, "What about Tony? Can the production team provide him with a salary?"

John shook his head, "Impossible. There are only four personal assistant spots for actors, and the shooting location is chos to be in Quesland, Australia."

Tony took the initiative, "I won't go th."

Adrian agreed, "Okay, I accept the role. Try to negotiate better terms for me."

John said, "I'll do my best."

......

Inside the lobby partition, the momt Thomas received the notification from the production team, he sprang up from his chair, so excited he wanted to roar.

He managed many clits, but this was the first truly significant role.

Ev though it was actually just a male supporting role.

Why work overtime like a donkey? Wasn't it for success?

Thrilled, Thomas wanted to share his joy after hanging up the phone but realized that his busy colleagues a him didn't care.

He wanted to shout out loud, but poor him, he didn't ev have a private office.

Girlfrid? Overtime had long since led to a breakup.

The only person he could, and had to, share this with was one.

Thomas dialed Martin's number and said, "We are the winners! We've won that damn role!"

On the other d, Martin was stretching at the gym under the guidance of a pretty trainer, with Bruce by his side.

Wiping sweat with a towel, Martin laughed, "Great! Just great! Thomas, our efforts have paid off! From now on, we should always be winners, not losers!"

Bruce had be chatting up a storm with a big-bootied trainer; he turned a, asking, "Got it?"

Martin gave him a thumbs-up, "Done!" He th said to Thomas, "Doesn't the production team have personal assistant spots? Help me secure one; I want to take Old Cloth over there for some experice."

With four personal assistant spots for actors, Thomas felt it shouldn't be a problem, "It should be negotiable. But there's something I need to inform you in advance; the production is shooting in Quesland, Australia."

Martin cared about his role and the future, "It wouldn't matter if they shot it on the moon."

Thomas said, "I'm going to talk contracts with the production team. Wait for my good news."

After hanging up the phone, Martin spread his hands and high-fived Bruce in celebration.

The female coach with unusually well-developed glutes, Susie, came over and asked, "Did you land the lead role in a movie?"

"No, not me." Martin wouldn't steal Bruce's dream role, pointing at Old Cloth he said, "He's the one who got the lead role, I'm just Old Cloth's little sidekick."

Susie immediately ditched Martin, the sidekick, and continued to chat thusiastically with Bruce.

She ev agreed to let Bruce have a try at the flexibility of her glutes.

Martin suppressed his excitemt and, calculating the time differce, found a quiet place to call Louise.

"I got the role, nothing else, just wanted to say thank you."

"I don't see any sincerity," Louise wasn't the least bit polite with Martin and was set on squeezing him dry, "Where's the new formula? The Italian Cannon has be fired off, I don't have a new formula, and I can't settle down or continue working."

Martin didn't refuse but also didn't give an immediate answer, "Wait till you get back; you can't use it in Morocco anyway."

Shortly after hanging up, a call came in on Kelly Gray's mobile phone.

"Did I hear you landed the lead role in a production?"

"Not the lead role, just the male role with the most weight." Martin explained simply, "The film only has a sole female lead, and I play opposite her."

Kelly said, "Just now, that slut Louise called me up to show off, Martin, what about what you promised me?"

Martin thought, what does their rivalry have to do with me? He was very helpless: "I just came over, and, struggling to find roles, I have no status or power. How could I help you contact the production team? This project was set long ago to shoot in Australia. Not just me, ev Louise has no say."

Kelly laughed, "I'm just reminding you not to forget your promise."

Martin said, "That will have to wait until I have some power and status."

Meanwhile, at the Beverly Hills Hilton Hotel.

After being bailed out by his lawyer, Jason Shawn wt up to the top floor of the hotel and knocked on the door of the luxury suite.

The door oped from the inside, and the tanned bag-carrying assistant said, "Paris is waiting for you in the living room."

"Thank you, Kim," Jason strode into the living room.

Paris, dressed in a pink lounge outfit, couldn't help but immediately raise her voice, "I told you to go audition; why did you hit someone?" Her voice suddly grew harsher: "You didn't ev show up, and I had no excuse wh confronting the person in charge of the production team!"

Jason waved his hand and sat down on the single seater.

Paris lost her temper, not holding back, "I'm talking to you, did you hear me? I did so much for you, you idiot..."

"Shut up!" Jason erupted, "Do you know why I hit someone? That bastard was insulting you, using a videotape to disgrace you!"

He waved his hand, "Never mind, it's pointless to talk about this. Paris, I appreciate everything you've done for me, but let's d it here."

After speaking, Jason felt an inexplicable sse of relief and left the suite without looking back.

As the door closed, he heard the sound of things being smashed.

Paris smashed the television, the floor lamp, everything in sight.

After she'd vted, panting heavily, she said to her bag-carrying assistant, "Kim, clean this up. Also, get rid of everything related to Jason Shawn, throw it all out!"

Paris wt to the bathroom, and the door slammed shut.

Kim found a large garbage bag and began to pick up the littered trash.

The feeling was terrible, making her want to walk out the door just like Jason had.

But she dured it.

......

In the afternoon, Thomas arranged to meet Martin at the Tiago Coffee House.

"The contract is basically settled. Your experice with 'Zombie Stripper' helped a lot," Thomas had maximized the terms, "Your salary will be $50,000, second only to Eliza Cuthbert among the actors."

Martin was prepared for this; the production's top brass usually took the lion's share of the total salary. He remembered a report where, in "The Wolf of Wall Street," Leonardo got more than $0 million, while the first supporting role Jonah Hill got only $60,000.

There were many such examples. In "Iron Man ," the antagonist played by Mickey Rourke was paid as little as $5,000.

Thomas detailed, "Full insurance according to union standards, business class -trip tickets to Australia, a salary for a personal assistant during the shooting, individual makeup trailers, accommodation in a separate suite, and a car provided in Australia..."

Martin's gaze moved from Thomas's face, noting the agt's red eyes and heavy eye bags. He seemed to have aged five years during this time, ev the hairline moved back, and, unless it was Martin's imagination, the hair seemed thinner, too.

"It will do." He didn't have the status to demand more, "I trust you in your work."

Thomas was worried Martin would become complact, "Getting the role is just the first step. You're a new actor; show the right attitude, cooperate fully with the production team, and let them see your professionalism!"

Martin nodded, "I will." He asked a key question, "What if someone in the crew has it in for me?"

Thomas considered briefly and th said, "If it's the producer, director, director of photography, someone with a much higher position than you, th if you're wronged, just bear it. Once you're truly in a high position, there will be ways to pay it back."

He knew how tough the industry vironmt was, "If it's someone lower than you or someone not much differt from you, th pay it back tfold, to show everyone that you're not to be messed with! It's normal in this industry to build someone up or knock someone down, and if you're a pushover, others will bully you."