Ten Thousand Dollars

"Good afternoon, Andrew." Badman was not wearing a suit at this time. His overalls were bulging over his belly, making him look a little bloated.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Badman."

Andrew said hello and sat on the chair opposite the desk.

Badman looked a little tired, but he still smiled and said, "Don't call me 'Mr.', I'm not used to it."

"Okay, Badman."

"This sounds like a much closer relationship. Remember, black people hate the social etiquette between white people the most. Especially here, in the northern part of New York, this is the black territory."

"I see, Badman." Andrew nodded. He really didn't know much about how black people get along with each other. Although he lived in the Bronx, the northernmost area of New York with the most black people.

Badman took out a cigarette, lit it up, and asked, "What do you need to prepare for the album cover shoot?"

"You need to prepare a closed room and some light sticks that can adjust RGB colors."

"Simple, I know where I can borrow lighting equipment, I can just make a phone call, what else?"

"Besides that, just let Raymond choose a leather jacket and a cross necklace."

"Easy, I'll arrange it now." Badman acted decisively and called other people in front of Andrew to arrange for things to be done.

Then he suddenly asked, "You should have listened to Raymond's songs yesterday? What do you think?"

Andrew raised his eyebrows, not knowing what Badman meant by asking this, but from the phone call he vaguely guessed that the agent in front of him didn't have much hope for this album, so he said half-truthfully, "I don't usually listen to hip-hop, but I think that song Eight Hours Later is pretty good."

"Not bad?" Badman puffed out smoke, and his expression was not visible: "Do you think it will sell well?"

"It's hard to say, I'm not a professional." Andrew didn't respond directly, because he knew very well that there was no hope for this album to sell well, and it was good enough to not lose money.

It's not surprising that companies and DJs in Chicago and Los Angeles don't buy into it. Raymond's rough voice is like the roar of a wild animal when it's not controlled. But he's not a rock singer, and he doesn't have his own unique rap rhythm. The audience can't even hear the lyrics clearly, so it's a pity that they like it.

"Okay, then do you think this song needs a MV?"

Hearing this, Andrew suddenly realized that Badman was struggling with this.

Just like he argued with the person on the phone, if only three MVs were shot, then which songs to shoot MVs for was the top priority.

However, Andrew had a different opinion on this, and said bluntly: "To be honest, Badman, I think if you need to shoot an MV, it is best to spend all your efforts on one song."

"One song?" Badman frowned: "Why?"

"Because of the cost." Andrew accurately grasped what he was thinking: "If a song can be shot effectively and attract attention, and then the entire album is released, I think the sales will be higher than directly releasing the album."

Badman thought for a moment: "You are right, that's right. But who knows which song the market likes?"

"I said, or you can ask the radio station's taste."

"Well, you are right, after all, they deal with listeners every day, and they must know their preferences." Badman agreed with Andrew's suggestion.

"In fact, if you are short of MV directors, I can do it too." After confirming the shooting time, Andrew suddenly mentioned his own ideas.

"MV director?" Badman thought for a moment: "How about we talk about it after we finish shooting the album cover?"

"Of course no problem."

Andrew stood up and left. Suddenly he said in front of the door: "Badman, I have another question."

"What?"

"If I shoot the album cover, I must make sure of one thing, that is, no matter what I say or do, everyone else must follow. There can only be one voice on the scene, that is me. Is that okay?"

Badman shrugged: "Of course, no problem, we respect professionals." "Then it's settled."

Andrew turned and left the office.

Badman immediately called Faith again.

"Fez, I've figured it out. We're only going to shoot the MV for one song in Raymond's album."

"No, no, no, it's not that I don't like his album, but this way we can maximize the benefits. We only have so little money, so of course we have to spend it on the most critical things."

"Listen to me, first find a local radio station and ask them to help us choose a song, and then release the single after shooting the MV. As long as the market response is good, the sales will naturally increase when the album is released later!"

"What? Beast Star? This song is not good!"

"Can't refute it? Fez! You're starting again! Although you are the boss, you don't understand music!"

"Bullshit, of course I understand! I've brought so many singers!"

"FXXK, have you already agreed with Raymond? I'm really going to be pissed off by you, okay, okay, just release the Beast Star that can scare people to death!"

"Release the album cover immediately after shooting! Don't even think about the MV, that's just throwing money away!"

Listening to the irritable voice coming from the room, Andrew was amazed.

He had already left, but suddenly remembered that he hadn't asked about the remuneration, and as soon as he reached the door, he heard Badman's angry roar.

I don't know what kind of person Raymond's father, Faith, is, who can make Badman so angry.

But it's none of his business. The most important thing for him now is to get the album cover done and get the money.

That night, Jimmy came to find Andrew again and took him to Apollyon's company.

In fact, it's called a company, but the overall area is not even as large as Faith Music Company. It's just a studio at most. Usually, these people don't work in the company. They either work part-time on the set or have parties in Apollyon's villa.

And this time, Apollyon picked up the Domino's advertising shoot on the set, because the original director's creativity was not up to standard and was fired by Monaghan on the spot.

As for Scarlett, she was also the original actor, and she got the most money for the entire advertising fee.

So Apollyon, the temporary director, didn't get much money, at least it was much less than when he was the assistant director of a movie, but this was his first battle in the advertising industry, so money was not the most important thing.

He paid Andrew four thousand dollars. Judging from the salary of Hollywood lighting technicians, even the salary of movie lighting technicians is only a few hundred dollars a day, so four thousand dollars for two days is far beyond the industry standard.

But this is not the big part. Mr. Monaghan also paid them an additional advertising planning fee of thirty thousand dollars.

Andrew got ten thousand dollars alone, and the rest of the money was shared by others.

To be honest, this is the first time Andrew has received so much money. In the past, he only earned tens of dollars or hundreds of dollars.

Now he finally saw a unit of more than ten thousand.

This money made Carmela very excited. In the evening, she bought a lot of fruits and meat that she didn't usually eat, and filled the refrigerator.

This means that they don't have to worry about debt and livelihood for the next one or two years.

However, Andrew soon proposed that he wanted to buy a car.

In a place like America, it is really difficult to move without a car. Andrew doesn't want to endure the smell of urine to evade the subway ticket every day.

And Carmela also agreed with this. This is something that all young people in America have to face. She doesn't want her son to ride a bicycle every day to travel time and laboriously.

So the two of them discussed it and decided to leave only $5,000 at home, and use the rest of the money to buy a used car and for Andrew's expenses.

(End of this chapter)