Coming out of Universal with the distribution contract, Robert said happily: "Now the biggest difficulties for the film have been resolved, but to release it in August, we need to accelerate the project's progress."
"We do need to speed up, but we also can't make mistakes in a hurry. This afternoon, we'll finalize the studio's accountant. Next, I'll work with Zack as quickly as possible to draw out the storyboard.
These next few days, you should quickly select the outdoor shooting locations, and then you should prepare a detailed budget as soon as possible."
"I can finalize the outdoor locations and produce a detailed budget in at most another week.
The outdoor location scouting personnel I hired previously are already working, and they've gone to Baltimore first, as per your request, to inspect it.
That place is indeed quite suitable for the film's location shooting; most outdoor scenes should be able to be shot there."
After Linton secured the film's distribution, Robert's enthusiasm was unprecedentedly high.
"Then I'll also try to complete my storyboards within a week. Tomorrow, I'll sign a new agency contract with WMA Company.
I plan to have WMA Company provide most of the package services, supplying crew members and most of the cast and staff. If you have suitable candidates for crew members, recruit them quickly in the next two days."
"Okay, we still need to hire the production crew members from outside and not rely entirely on WMA Company's package, otherwise, it will be easy for collusion and self-serving behavior to occur."
The two engaged in a lively discussion about the film's progress. Linton calculated his schedule and simply arranged for Zack to come to Linton Manor in the evening to discuss the storyboards.
While they were discussing, Mira called, excitedly saying that WMA Company's board meeting that morning had approved Linton's new contract terms.
She asked Linton when he would be available to sign, as WMA Company hoped to hold a signing ceremony and invite the media.
Linton calculated the time and decided on tomorrow morning. He also wanted to finalize the new contract as soon as possible so that the upcoming film project could proceed smoothly.
After the group had lunch at Linton Manor, they went to Goodman's office in the afternoon and interviewed four accounting applicants. After a comprehensive evaluation, they chose a white female accountant named Mary Waters.
Mary, 35, had 15 years of accounting experience. She previously worked at a small film company for five years, but unfortunately, the company went bankrupt last year, and she lost her job.
After Linton and Robert interviewed and assessed her, they found that she was very familiar with Hollywood's accounting rules. They immediately had Goodman process her onboarding and sign a non-disclosure agreement.
After completing the onboarding procedures, the two took her to Linton Studio, introduced her to Bella, and had Mary assist Bella in quickly completing the office renovation and setup.
They also called Zhou Haisheng over, introduced them to each other, and arranged for the financial handover of Linton Studio.
In the evening, Zack arrived at Linton Manor looking haggard. Linton, seeing that he seemed severely sleep-deprived, asked:
"Zack, what's wrong? Have you been having insomnia lately?"
"Oh, it's nothing. We're making a movie, you know. I wanted to finish the storyboards early, so I've been staying up for several nights. It's just lack of sleep; I'll be fine after a good rest."
It seemed he had underestimated the appeal of making a movie for Zack, who had always been shooting music videos. Indeed, while Hollywood has thousands of film projects every year, it rarely easily employs newcomers.
This opportunity as assistant director for the movie "step up" was a rare chance for Zack to break into film, so he naturally cherished it and dedicated himself fully.
"You still need to balance work and rest. I don't want you to be exhausted before the movie even starts shooting," Linton reminded Zack.
"Don't worry, I'm young and healthy, I can handle it. Here are the storyboards I've drawn these past few days, take a look." Zack pulled out a thick stack of manuscript paper from his bag and handed it to Linton.
Linton took it and saw, Goodfellas, two-thirds of the storyboards were already drawn.
This was only a few days of Cultivation Technique; no wonder Zack looked so haggard. It seemed he really hadn't slept well for days; he was pushing himself too hard.
He opened the manuscript paper and carefully examined Zack's storyboards, surprisingly finding the quality to be quite high, and the style was basically the same as what he had initially set.
"Good, very well drawn. Continue with this style. I have good news for you: we've already signed a distribution agreement with Universal for the 'step up' movie. Once the storyboards are finalized, we'll quickly form the crew."
"That's great! The storyboards can be completed in at most three days. Also, can my two student assistants from my previous music video shoots, Tony and Minny, also join the crew?"
"Yes, they are quite capable. Let them join the crew as director's assistants."
"I'll thank you on their behalf. They will definitely work hard."
Zack left happily, to continue staying up late drawing storyboards.
The next day, Linton and Goodman, accompanied by Mira, arrived at WMA Company. This time, the reception was different: President Brett Migge and Vice President Logan personally greeted them downstairs, with many invited media reporters also present.
After some pleasantries, the group went to the conference room, where lawyers and relevant personnel were already waiting. The two parties first reviewed the new contract terms.
Actually, the contract terms had already been agreed upon by both sides, but now with both parties' lawyers present, they were making a final confirmation. The new contract primarily had three changes.
The first change was a reduction in the agent's commission from ten percent to six percent.
The second change was WMA Company classifying Linton as an A Rank client (WMA Company divides its artists into six Ranks, with A Rank being the highest. Previously, Linton's new artist contract placed him at the lowest F Rank client), granting him A Rank client treatment and access to WMA Company's maximum service resources.
The third was the establishment of a co-managed agency team led by Mira to serve Linton. Mira, as the lead agent, would be responsible for handling Linton's film production and music-related business. There would also be one co-managed agent responsible for media communication and personal assistance, and another for literature-related writing.
However, to show maximum sincerity, WMA Company did not directly appoint the other two co-managed agents but instead allowed Linton to choose them from among interested agents within WMA Company.
Witnessed by numerous media, Linton and WMA Company signed the new contract.
During interviews with reporters, both parties praised the signing as a win-win collaboration. Linton then revealed that he would be investing in and directing a film.
The reporters immediately erupted in excitement. They had expected a standard interview, just getting a red envelope and getting it over with, but they never imagined such big news would break. Coming today was absolutely the right decision.
"Linton, how much are you investing in this film?"
"Linton, is this a commercial film? What genre is it specifically?"
"Linton, as a singer, are you capable of directing a film well?"
"Linton, as a popular singer, have you been treated unfairly, which made you consider changing careers to make movies?"
...
Suddenly, Linton was surrounded by microphones, with all sorts of questions bombarding him. The initial questions were normal, but the later ones were questioning him, and even more outrageous were the conspiracy theories.
Linton only briefly revealed that the film's name was "step up," it was a youth musical, with an investment of around 10 million us dollars, the script was already out, and he would be directing it himself.
He refused to say more, wanting to maintain some suspense to keep the media continuously following and reporting.
Moreover, enough information had been revealed today; tomorrow's headlines for various media outlets were already set, which could also be considered pre-release publicity for his film.
The reporters left satisfied, to draft their news reports, while Linton stayed behind. Besides meeting and interacting with other WMA Company executives, he also needed to select the two co-managed agents.
WMA Company was also overjoyed, never expecting that Linton's film project would be launched right after signing the new agreement with him.
Given Linton's current situation, making a film would definitely require purchasing package services, and as Linton's agency, it was naturally the ideal choice to provide those package services.
After considering the opinions of Logan and Mira, Linton selected Ili Lance to handle his media communication and personal assistance, and Carnes Carter to handle his literature-related writing, from among many interested candidates.
Ili Lance is a 30-year-old white woman with long blonde hair, a tall figure, average looks, and a friendly demeanor. She has over 10 years of media communication experience and is very capable.
Carnes Carter is a 28-year-old white man, dressed like an elite, with a deep literary background. It's unclear why he didn't become a screenwriter but instead became an agent at WMA Company.
After selecting the agents, Linton held a short meeting with the three of them, clarifying the three current tasks. The first was to continuously follow up on Grammy public relations, a task assigned to Ili, with direct reporting to Logan when necessary.
The second task was negotiating advertising endorsements, to finalize the signing with Armani men's wear and Timex watches as soon as possible.
Mira had already negotiated the terms for these two companies' endorsement collaborations. Linton had also met with the executives of both companies; both were for 3.8 million us dollars per year, a two-year contract, with a one-time payment after the advertisements were shot.
Additionally, closely follow up on the Mercedes-Benz Company collaboration, striving to achieve cooperation. This task is assigned to Mira, with Carnes assisting."
"The third task is that the 'step up' movie will mostly package the cast and crew to WMA Company. The crew will be assembled soon, so you should quickly provide a recommended list of suitable crew members for me and Robert to audit.
When selecting the list, you need to pay attention to three points: first, the professional level must be at least above average. Second, there must be no negative records. Third, no drug users.
Actors are not urgent for now; they will be determined after the crew is in place. This task is assigned to Mira, with Ili and Carnes assisting."
"Linton, for the selection of crew members, the first two requirements are not a problem, but if you add the third point, I estimate that the entire Hollywood wouldn't be able to put together a single crew?" Mira, Carnes, and Ili exchanged glances and said.
"Why? Is drug use so serious in Hollywood?" Linton was a little disbelieving.
"It's true. From what I know, over ninety percent of professionals in Hollywood have used drugs."
"Alright then, the third point will be changed to no one with a drug addiction. When signing, a clause must be added that no drug use is allowed during the crew's tenure. Is that okay?" Linton readily agreed.
"No problem."