Ch 17: Two Giants

4th November, 2007

{3rd Person POV}

Currently sitting inside of a meeting room in the SkyMount building were four people.

And one of them was Oliver Knight, who was talking with Scott Anderson and his agent.

Scott Anderson was an old actor in his mid-50s. He had been nominated for quite a few awards before, but had never won. 

"Mr. Scott really liked the script that you created, and he'd love to get a role in the movie." Said Scott Anderson's agent.

Oliver's face lit up at hearing the words of praise coming out of the agent's mouth.

'Man, it just feels great when someone compliments your hard work.' Thought Oliver. 'Though, I didn't come up with it.' 

"That's good to hear." Oliver said with a warm smile. "If you're okay with being in the movie, then shall we discuss your role and contract?" 

"I'm fine with that." Scott said. 

Christopher Bird, who had been sitting there quietly for a while, brought out the contract.

"I think you'd be perfect for the role of Frank Costello. What do you say?" Asked Oliver.

"I'm fine with that. I liked his character quite a lot." Scott leaned on the table and continued. "However, let's talk about my pay." 

"I can't pay you more than $3 million for this. Upfront, that is. Now, if we're talking about points, then that's another story."

Points, or percentage, was well, the percentage of the box office gross a person working on the movie could negotiate for. This method, also called participation, would lower the budget of the movie, but the studio would earn less money that way, and it might even mean that even though the movie would have theoretically made enough to break even and make a profit, the participation would mean the studio would lose money.

Though, this is only for the theatrical run. Any money generated from merchandise, TV rights or home media would go to the studio. And considering this was the 2000s, home media was still strong enough that a movie which flopped theatrically could in the end make a profit with the home video sales.

That probably sounds complicated to a lot of people, but such is the way of the film industry.

Anyways, for big actors like Scott, they get both a high salary and points. Why? Well, they are the ones selling the movie. 

Think about it. Who's going to watch another action film or mob flick if there isn't any sort of draw? For this sort of case, the big actors are the draws.

Quite a famous case would be 'The Revenant' grossing $520M worldwide against 'The Force Awakens'. It's opening weekend was quite low, but it held off really well, and in the end became a huge success. Leonardo DiCaprio's star power led that movie to success. 

While Oliver was monologuing in his head, Scott Anderson had a smirk on his face. "I see you catch on quickly to the ways of filmmaking, eh? Yes, I do want points."

Christopher Bird was looking a bit anxious at this exchange. After all, for this movie, he was supposed to be a studio man, and giving away points willy-nilly will lose the studio millions of dollars in revenue. And so, he interjected in the middle of the negotiation.

"5%." He said.

"Hm? What'd you say?" Scott asked, not because he was getting cocky, but because he just didn't hear Christopher properly.

"I said 5%. That's the most we can give you." Christopher repeated himself.

Oliver looked at Christopher with a questioning gaze, wondering why he interrupted the conversation. 

Seeing the look Okiver was giving him, Christopher explained. "Oliver can't give points because if I left him be, he might give you a really high number. You're far bigger of a celebrity than he is, Scott, so him getting pressured might happen, and that might incur a huge loss in potential revenue for the studio, and I cannot let that happen." 

Oliver nodded in understanding, while both Scott and his agent looked a bit upset.

"I'm offended that you think I'm that kind of person, Chris. I assure you, I wouldn't have done that. Oliver has a bright future ahead, and I'm sure of it. So why would I ruin all that?" 

Scott Anderson's agent looked like he was about to burst into tears, because he knew that if Scott got angry, he won't be able to do anything. But going against someone like Christopher Bird was also a suicide mission of sorts, and he didn't have the courage to stop the both of them.

Oliver, who was now on the sidelines, wondered what the relationship between these two was. Scott Anderson had called Christopher Bird by a nickname to his face. Not anyone can do that. 

Oliver knew that both of them had worked before on a lot of films, but what happened behind the scenes is something that was hard to come by. 

Though, he couldn't let this negotiation spiral into an argument of sorts. 

And so, he interrupted the two before the argument could get more heated.

"Um, let's calm down, shall we? Mr. Christopher, while I do appreciate you thinking about me like that, I would never do something like that. After all, I know what should be done to create a good film and what not to do." 

Oliver then turned towards Scott Anderson.

"Mr. Scott, I also appreciate you thinking about my future career, but I don't think there's any need to get into a debate. So, let's all just calm down and get the negotiations over with, shall we?" Oliver said with an awkward smile, trying to look as natural as possible.

While he was putting quite a brave front on the outside, inside however was a complete 180.

He was scared for his life and career. He was sitting there, in front of the biggest two giants in Hollywood, who were now arguing with each other, and he had to stop them?!

Fortunately, he stopped them. Kinda. They were secretly glaring at each other throughout the final negotiations, which both Oliver and Scott Anderson's agent had picked up on. 

In the end, Scott Anderson signed on for the role of Frank Costello for a pay of $3 million dollars upfront and 3.5% of the total box office gross. 

Soon, other actors who were interested in playing roles for 'The Departed' came and went.

And finally, at the end of the day, Oliver was all alone. Everyone had left, and Oliver was walking down the corridors of the SkyMount building.

He opened the front glass door, and walked into the parking lot. It was at this moment that his phone buzzed. 

Oliver took out his phone to check, and he had gotten an email. 

Seeing the name of the sender, he smiled, in a creepy way.

He read through the contents and then stared at his phone for a while. His smile had turned into a smirk.

"You finally accepted the offer I sent you, Keanu. I felt like I was gonna die if you didn't message me." He looked at the setting Sun, and chucked. "I'll get to the top of Every. Single. Entertainment Industry! I'll change this world for the better!" He shouted.

Fortunately, the parking lot was empty, so no one could hear Oliver and think that he was crazy or something.

~~~

A/N: Here it is, Chapter 17!

Yeah, yeah, I know that it took nearly two weeks, and I'm sorry about that, but I also have exams this and next week. So yeah.

And yes, I know that the first 20% or so of the chapter is really bad, I just couldn't figure out how to write it.

Also also, I wrote this chapter in ONE hour! I seriously have no clue how, but I did!

P.S: Barbenheimer is popping off.