America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 109 Saturn Award (Alliance Leader +10)

Century City, a hub for Hollywood talent agencies.

It's not uncommon to run into a dozen or so celebrity-manager pairs when you go out for a meal.

Martin opened the bag he had brought, took out a gift box, and pushed it towards Thomas across the table: "This is for you."

Thomas opened the box and asked, "Wolf teeth? No, there are no wolves in Australia. Crocodile teeth?"

Martin said whatever was advantageous: "I hunted the crocodile myself and made it myself. Don't underestimate it just because it's not expensive; it's extremely rare."

"Thank you, that's very meaningful." Thomas put the bag away, but then asked from a professional perspective, "You're not planning to pursue a career in environmental protection and animal welfare?"

Martin bluntly stated: "I'm someone who enjoys life. If I become rich and famous in the future, of course I'll do whatever makes me comfortable. Environmental protection is too easy to backfire, and animal protection is easy to be criticized for eating meat."

He glanced at the pile of meat in front of Thomas: "What would you do if someone asked you to switch to a vegetarian diet?"

Thomas said, "I'd slap him across the face."

Martin, enjoying his steak, then asked, "You must have been working hard for our business all this time?"

Thomas chimed in, "You broke up with Eliza too quickly. I had a plan to use the attention generated by 'The Girl Next Door' to create hype. The movie was well-received among teenagers, especially Eliza. I was going to discuss with Susan about using the romance between the male and female leads during the promotion of 'House of Wax'."

He had strong opinions about this: "You lacked patience, broke up too quickly, only attended one premiere red carpet event before dumping him, and didn't maximize the value of this relationship!"

"I don't object to using one's private life for publicity; as long as there's profit to be made, I'd be willing to be the Truman of the real world." Martin pointed again to the meat on the table: "Could you switch to a vegetarian diet?"

Thomas glanced at Martin, understood what was going on, and stopped mentioning the matter. Instead, he said, "I contacted Lionsgate. The DVDs of 'Zombie Dancer' are selling well. Last week, when I met with Lionsgate's head of publicity, Black, we agreed to nominate you for the Saturn Award for Best Young Actor."

Martin thought for a moment, then asked, "The film award established by the Academy of Science Fiction and Horror Films?"

"Yes, that's it." Thomas explained in detail: "There are six nominees for the acting award. From what I understand, the ones currently nominated for this award are 'Coody the Young Agent,' 'Missing,' 'Freaky Friday,' and 'The Rat Driver.' As for the actors' names, they are too unfamiliar. I only remember one: Lindsay Lohan."

Of all these names, Martin had heard of Lindsay Lohan and asked, "Could I get a nomination?"

Thomas said, "Winning an award is very difficult, and you have to find a way to get nominated. The Saturn Awards have a certain prestige, unlike the newly established Teen Choice Awards, where just showing up guarantees a nomination."

"I'll cooperate with you on what to do." Martin was relatively unfamiliar with the Saturn Awards. In his previous life, he had focused on the Oscars and didn't pay much attention to the Golden Globes.

Thomas said, "Once you get on the good side of the bigwigs at the Sci-Fi and Horror Film Academy, getting a nomination will be easy. I'll give you a call when I need your cooperation."

Martin then asked, "And the new job?"

"Don't rush," Thomas said. "HBO has postponed the release of 'Entourage,' and I'm trying to secure the resources that the company originally favored for Adrian. WMA is a big company, and the internal competition is fierce."

He stated beforehand, "It's very difficult to get a major role in projects that aren't invested in by Ms. Louise Mayer."

Martin nodded: "I understand. 'House of Wax' hasn't been released yet."

Although the horror film has been completed, post-production has not yet begun. Including publicity and distribution preparations, it will not be released until the end of the year at the earliest. Given Warner Bros.' style, it may even be released as late as next spring.

For a medium-sized film project, a year is considered a fast timeframe for preparation, filming, and production.

Those films with investments of hundreds of millions may take more than two years from preparation to release.

Thomas reiterated his comments about the Saturn Awards: "If you can win the Saturn Award for Best Young Actor, you'll definitely have an advantage in the competition for new actors in the company."

Martin was very vulgar, but he also knew the key question: "Money? Gifts? Women?"

Thomas shook his head: "How much money do you have? How much can you borrow? Those big shots don't lack that kind of money."

After lunch, Martin said goodbye and left. Thomas sat for a while, trying to sort out his thoughts.

Martin is Thomas's most important client. He doesn't have a chance to be responsible for WMA's star clients. If he wants to climb the ladder and get past the threshold of having his own office, he needs at least one star client.

As for the partner level, we don't need to consider it for now.

Thomas returned to the company and had just sat down in his cubicle when he noticed Adrian passing by and heading towards the glass-partitioned office.

Adrian knocked and entered John's office.

John frowned slightly: "Why are you here? Didn't I tell you to rest for a while?"

As usual, Adrian pulled out a chair, crossed his legs, and sat down: "There are some things I want to ask you."

What used to seem like a normal action now felt disrespectful to John. He coughed lightly and pointed to Adrian's feet: "This is the office."

Adrian tilted his head to look at John, pulled his leg back, and asked, "I'm broke. You only got a small amount from selling the car and the house?"

John was pessimistic about Adrian's future, even thinking he had no future: "I've given you the contract and the tickets."

Adrian's lawyers and accountants were all introduced by this agent: "You urgently need funds to reach a settlement with the woman, you urgently need money to get out of this mess, hundreds of thousands of Australian dollars, I can't raise that much even if I sell everything I own. You agree to sell your house and car, I can only help you sell them as quickly as possible, what other way is there besides discounts?"

Adrian said, "You sold it for too low a price."

John looked utterly helpless: "Am I supposed to just stand by and watch you go to jail? We're not just agent and client, we're friends. I can't let you go to jail. You're only 27, you have so many wonderful years ahead of you."

Adrian had someone carefully review the contract and tickets, and finding no problems, he asked, "When will 'Celebrity Partner' air?"

John said, "I've been urging HBO to schedule the show. Just be patient, this special period will pass and everything will return to normal."

After asking a few more questions, Adrian left the office and went downstairs. Just as he stepped out the door, a short, ugly, and fat man walked over.

Tony, wearing his baseball cap backwards, handed Adrian the car keys: "My agent just called me, I can't come with you."

Adrian raised his head, his gaze slowly landing on Tony's face.

Tony shook his car keys.

Adrian took the car keys and walked towards the parking lot.

Tony said softly, "Sorry, Ed, I need to eat too."

Adrian didn't turn back, didn't reply, and left all alone.

…………

Burbank, Warner Bros. Studios.

Kelly, who came from Atlanta, had just toured Warner's post-production studio with Louise.

Louise, dressed in a dark business suit, saw that no one was around and lightly patted Kelly's butt: "You slut, I'm going to see the film crew's financial officer. You can wander around Warner Bros. Studios by yourself. I'll call you after get off work."

"You female pervert!" Kelly said through gritted teeth. "When that bastard Martin gets here, I'll settle the score with you all."

Louise blinked. "How do we calculate it? Where do we calculate it? Are you calculating it from the middle?"

Kelly was almost furious and didn't want to talk to her. She stomped out of the post-production studio in her high heels.

Leaning against a palm tree, the fresh air blew in, and she finally exhaled the breath that had been suffocating in her chest.

An electric scooter pulled up and stopped on the sidewalk. A familiar voice reached Kelly's ears: "The most beautiful masterpiece of the Creator, the most beautiful woman in Georgia, the incarnation of Aphrodite on earth, your car and driver have arrived."

Kelly turned her head and saw the handsome, masculine man, and immediately extended a hand.

Martin stood beside the electric scooter and helped Kelly onto it.

Kelly said, "Let's go."

Martin started the car and drove aimlessly around Warner Bros. Studios, asking, "What are you doing in Los Angeles?"

Kelly snorted: "The salesperson I sent neither works nor puts in any effort; I have to come here myself to solicit business."

Martin ignored these words and pointed to the backpack at his feet: "I brought you a gift from Australia and mailed one to you. I didn't expect you to come, so I'm giving you another one."

Kelly took her bag and opened it; inside were two boxes of different colors. "Which one is for me?"

Martin said, "Beige."

Kelly took it and opened it; inside was a polished, white, and smooth animal tusk.

Her gaze fell on another dark gray box: "Is this for that slut Louise?"

Martin replied, "The same."

"Let me see?" Kelly opened the box when Martin agreed, only to find that it was different. Inside the box, besides the fangs, there was a note with the recipe for a cocktail called Honey.

Kelly pulled out a sticky note and waved it: "For a slut?"

Martin casually remarked, "The latest masterpiece from master bartender Louise Mayer."

Kelly exclaimed, "That shameless slut!" Suddenly, a brilliant idea struck her to get revenge on Louise: "I'll keep the recipe; Louise can ask me for it."

Martin asked, "What do you need this for? You're not interested in bartending."

"Of course it will work." Kelly's smile suddenly became smug. "Martin, wouldn't you like Louise to be the sweet spot between us?"

(End of this chapter)