The filming of the "Believer" music video began. This time, the filming was actually simpler for Linton, as it was basically all about looking cool.
The singing scenes had to be cool, the basketball scenes had to be cool, the boxing scenes had to be cool, the baseball scenes, and so on, all had to be cool. However, Linton's athletic prowess left the entire film crew in awe; they didn't even need to choose specific angles, everything they shot looked cool.
Linton usually appeared refined and scholarly. While he was cool and had a tough physique, the overall impression he gave everyone was that of a tough young actor.
But to their surprise, when he took off his shirt, he revealed a well-proportioned body, strong muscles, and a full sense of power, especially when moving. His hormones were off the charts, and his physical condition was even better than that of a professional athlete.
Zack and Carson cheered, saying they were glad there were no beautiful women present, or else their souls would surely be captivated. They predicted that when this music video came out, girls would be drooling over it, and it would attract countless female fans.
Zack still had some skills. Thanks to the solid preparatory work, and with everyone's collective effort, all the scenes were shot in three days. He then immediately dove into the editing Room for Late Stage work, not even attending the wrap-up party.
In the evening, Linton attended the wrap-up party for the crew, organized by Carson. The party was still wild, filled with women, alcohol, and marijuana. But Linton controlled himself well, simply drank a celebratory toast, and left early.
He then finally had a few days of free time.
As Linton's popularity grew, Universal had already elevated his treatment to A-list standards, adding a dedicated makeup Room, makeup artist, and image consultant. They also proposed adding an assistant for him.
As for the assistant, Linton felt that at Universal, one Jasmine was enough to help him manage and coordinate affairs between Universal's various departments, and help him handle fan mail and gifts. He wanted to hire another one himself, mainly to manage and operate his fan club.
Universal also agreed, letting him find someone outside to be his personal assistant. To put it simply, Universal would pay, and he could choose anyone he wanted, even if they didn't come to work.
They also explicitly stated that all the assistant's work would be at his discretion. Universal would provide a basic salary and social benefits, while he would be responsible for bonuses and such. Universal readily agreed, not caring at all.
The main reason was that at this time, agencies and record companies had not yet realized the impact of fans on movie box office and record sales, and did not pay much attention to fans, let alone fan operations.
Based on Linton's explosive success, Linton was also received by Universal Records President John Smith, who encouraged him to continue his efforts and release more and better works, promising that Universal would use the highest Rank promotional resources to release Linton's songs.
Time was simply too tight; there was no time to hold a celebration party. They would have to wait until after the third single was released to hold one together.
Over the next few days, with Mira's assistance, Linton interviewed several assistant candidates and finally chose Bella Miller.
She was a 24-year-old white girl with short red hair, who graduated from Georgia State University last year with a major in media and public relations. She arrived in Los Angeles in August and was currently an intern at the California Independent newspaper.
Linton offered a salary of 30,000 US dollars per year, with corresponding social benefits, and an annual bonus at the end of the year based on work performance.
Bella also resigned from the newspaper and will officially serve as Linton's private assistant starting June 8th.
Upon learning of his return to Los Angeles, Cameron Diaz and Naomi Watts both called. Cameron Diaz had been in a film crew during this time, taking on a small role and filming out of town. This was already quite good; it was a named role, and she had only secured it due to her increased fame from the rumors with Linton. She was expected to return by the end of August.
Naomi Watts had also gained considerable popularity during this time through the "Numb" music video, and because of her excellent performance in the music video, she recently landed a role in a TV series. However, she would not join the crew until after the 10th, and during this time, she was running errands in Los Angeles.
After interviewing the assistant, Linton arranged to have dinner with Naomi that evening. However, considering that the rumors with Cameron had not yet ended, according to Universal's arrangement, the rumors between them would only conclude after the promotion of "Believer" had ended, which would be early July.
The two found a private restaurant. After dinner, Naomi actively invited Linton to her apartment. Considering the apartment's poor privacy and bad soundproofing in the Room, Linton still invited Naomi to his small villa.
Back at the small villa, the battle naturally began.
Linton felt that although Naomi's popularity was not as high as Cameron's, it had qualitatively improved compared to when they first met, and it also provided a slight bit of help to his Cultivate.
At 8:30 the next morning, Naomi's agent came to pick her up. It was still the same old saying: as a newcomer, every opportunity must be seized, and there can be no slack. Linton, on the other hand, had no arrangements, so he simply rested at home and pondered his next steps.
It had been four months since his Transmigration in February, and he was now a popular singer, having released two singles with good sales and amassed a huge following.
He had also met two future A-list Hollywood actresses and helped them quickly boost their popularity. It was conceivable that their Hollywood path would be much smoother than in his previous life, and they would be of greater help to him then.
Most importantly, his Cultivation could be described as progressing by leaps and bounds. In just three months, he had already entered the fourth layer of Qi Condensation, which was simply incredible. One must know that according to the description of the Cultivation Technique, during the Qi Condensation period, it generally takes 5 to 10 years to advance one layer, and anyone who can advance one layer within two years is a Genius among Geniuses.
It could only be said that the era of entertainment to death was truly too suitable for Cultivating the Rolling Mortal World Asking Immortal Art, and as long as it was managed properly, popularity could be endless, without having to worry about resource depletion.
However, as his cultivation grew, more and more popularity was needed, and the time required for each layer of Cultivation Breakthrough would also become longer and longer. Next, he still had the "Believer" single to release, plus its release in the Overseas Market.
It is estimated that by July, he will definitely be able to Breakthrough to the fifth layer of Qi Condensation, strive to Breakthrough to the sixth layer of Qi Condensation by September, and release an album by the end of the year. His popularity should still increase, and he will strive to Breakthrough to the Late Stage of Qi Condensation (seventh layer of Qi Condensation) by the end of the year.
After "er", he couldn't release any more singles and had to consider releasing an album at the end of the year. An album has 13 songs, and he could choose 10 more songs from his memories of his previous life. Anyway, with the Breakthrough of his Immortal Cultivation Technique, not only his physical fitness, but also his thinking ability, learning ability, and memory ability were all linearly improving.
The last time he filmed "Believer", when he filmed some sports scenes and car chase scenes, the entire crew was stunned by his jumping ability, explosive power, reaction sensitivity, body balance, and other physical qualities.
In fact, this was still the result of his deliberate control; he hadn't even used one-tenth of his abilities. It could be said that after Cultivating Immortals, he had far surpassed ordinary people.
Considering the need for promotion in the Overseas Market, since his learning ability had greatly improved, he should still learn the languages of several major markets when he had free time. Chinese, needless to say, was already ingrained in him during his Transmigration. He would learn Japanese, French, German, and Spanish.
After releasing the album at the end of the year, he would slow down on music and still go into filmmaking. After all, good movies bring him a level of popularity that songs cannot match.
Coincidentally, at the end of the year, the royalties for his three singles would be in hand. The combined sales of the three singles, including overseas, would be at least 25 million copies. Calculating at 5.5 US dollars per copy (some Overseas Markets might have a lower selling price than 6 US dollars, and later, the domestic market would also have discounts), his royalty share is 22%, which is roughly 30 million US dollars.
Adding other song authorizations (CBS Television, various competitions, shopping malls, product advertisements, etc.), his share would not be less than 2 million US dollars. Starting in July, he could also take on some endorsement advertisements. According to the current trend, 5 million is the minimum. Commercial performances are not considered for now. After deducting the agency's share, he would still have 33 million US dollars.
But next April's taxes are a big problem. He must find a reliable accountant to help with reasonable tax avoidance. Moreover, by then, the first share of the album will also come in, so funding will not be an issue.
He probably wouldn't find investors for his first movie, but that's okay; he could completely self-fund it. Anyway, the movies he chose had all been market-tested and were guaranteed to make a profit.
However, the primary goal of making a movie was to promote himself, and it would be even better if the female lead could shine. Making money was only the second priority.
Therefore, the selection of films must meet the above two conditions and must be carefully screened. speed, the matrix, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, national treasure, Wanted, the lone agent, Pirates of the Caribbean, Ocean's Eleven all meet the requirements. Oh, copyrights must be registered or purchased in advance, especially for films that will be released in the next few years.
speed, as he remembered, was greenlit and filmed in 1993 and released in 1994. He needed to quickly write the script and register the copyright.
Also, Mission: Impossible was greenlit and filmed in 1995 and released in 1996. He needed to buy the adaptation rights from CBS Television. He didn't have enough money now, so this could be slightly delayed, but it also needed to be completed by the end of the year. The others could be postponed a bit.
Thinking of this, since he had these two days off, he should quickly write the script for speed. He spent two days organizing the outline of the speed script, called Mira, and asked her to file it with the Writers Guild and the Library of Congress.
To clarify, the official copyright serial number generating organizations for American literary works (including film and television scripts) are the Writers Guild and the Library of Congress.
Of course, if you are a member of the Writers Guild, you can also register with the Writers Guild, but the condition for joining the Writers Guild is that you need a guild-filed film script with your name on it to be accepted.
So, generally, to protect their rights, people spend 30 US dollars to file with the Writers Guild, so others can inquire about it. However, the filing needs to be renewed after five years, and if infringement occurs, it also needs to be proven that the other party profited from it.
A more secure approach is to back it up at the Library of Congress. This way, if infringement occurs, it can automatically serve as evidence of infringement, but the filing process takes longer. This is also why the Library of Congress is the largest library in the world.