America achieves both fame and fortune

Chapter 162 Fan Event (Seeking Monthly Tickets)

After get off work, Martin and Bruce returned to their North Hollywood apartment.

Under the parasol by the door, Antonio set up a table with five hamburgers and two steaks lined up in a row.

He admired the sunset, savored his hamburger, and enjoyed the leisurely life of a millionaire landlord.

Martin went over, grabbed a bottle of iced drink, and said, "Rich man, you're too leisurely. If you keep eating like this, obesity will crush you."

Antonio's nonchalant attitude turned to wariness: "Martin, what are you trying to do?"

"You've made a lot of money, haven't you? Invest it; there's a good opportunity now." Martin tried to attract investment: "I'm working on a movie..."

Antonio raised his hand to interrupt him: "Stop! Martin, stop talking."

Martin stopped and looked at the portly landlord: "A chance to make money!"

Antonio picked up a hamburger: "I have food, drink, property, and savings. As long as I don't invest, start a business, or get married, I'll live a very comfortable life until I die."

His words suddenly stung: "I'm a millionaire, a rich man, why should I work as hard as you?"

At that moment, Martin understood Old Brooks's feelings. He turned and walked towards the door, not forgetting to leave with the words, "From now on, don't talk to me for a week."

"Your package is here, Jessica received it for you." After saying this, Antonio took a big bite of the hamburger and ate it with relish.

Bruce looked Antonio up and down, then gave him a thumbs-up: "You're awesome."

Seeing the strange look in Old Brooks' eyes, Antonio suddenly found the hamburger tasteless and couldn't sit still. He urged, "Hurry up and come upstairs, don't disturb my meal."

After Bruce left, Antonio felt inexplicably relaxed, and his backside finally settled down.

Martin went upstairs, went to the door across the street, and gently knocked on it.

Jessica opened the door and peeked out. Seeing Martin, she immediately said, "You're back? Oh right, the package is with me."

Behind her, Emily, carrying a cardboard box, squeezed past Jessica and delivered the box to Martin.

Martin said, "Thank you." He pointed to the rooftop: "We'll go upstairs for a drink later."

Jessica quickly replied, "Okay! We also have something to tell you."

Martin glanced at his watch: "See you on the rooftop in half an hour."

"Okay." The two quickly went back to put on makeup.

Martin returned to his room, and Bruce followed him from behind.

While Martin was unpacking the packages, he called a nearby restaurant to order wine and dinner.

Martin opened the box, which was full of bull horn carvings, all of them depicting human figures with big mouths and red noses, all modeled after him as clowns.

Some are funny, some are scary.

Bruce picked one up and said, "The carving is getting better and better."

Martin then pulled out the envelope at the bottom of the stack. Inside was a letter written by Lily.

The letter was short and mainly described one thing: some people at Marietta Public High School were slandering "House of Wax," and she led a group to deal with those bastards one by one, basically stuffing a smelly sock into each of their mouths.

Bruce asked, "Would you like a gift in return?"

Martin thought of his collection: "Where's my crocodile tooth pendant?"

"You've already delivered it once," Bruce reminded him. "You want to deliver the same thing a second time? Dude, have some decency."

Martin packed his things away: "Let's talk about it later."

Last time, those two rascals, Louise and Kelly, mailed a set of carving tools back to Atlanta in his name.

Lily mentioned the movie in her letter, and Martin said, "I'll collect some movie materials and mail them to her another day."

The restaurant sent Bruce's dinner, and Martin called Jessica and Emily, as well as Antonio from downstairs, to have dinner together on the rooftop.

Hearing that there was something delicious, Antonio moved his obese body and rolled over.

Five people sat around a long dining table, eating and chatting.

Jessica asked, "Martin, have you been following blogs lately?"

Martin said, "I check it occasionally. I've been very busy lately, preparing for a new movie."

Emily immediately asked, "A new movie? How big of a production is it? When will filming start, and what will it require...?"

Compared to her, the younger Jessica was much more composed.

Seeing her companion remain silent, Emily stopped asking questions.

"We've just started planning; it's a long way from official preparations," Martin said vaguely, then asked Jessica, "What's wrong with the blog?"

He has limited energy and can't possibly check it every day, so Thomas manages the blog most of the time.

Jessica said, "Rachel is planning to call a gathering of active members of the fan section, with everyone splitting the cost, and they'll discuss your new movie at the gathering."

Martin asked directly, "What are your thoughts?"

Jessica considered her words carefully before saying, "Here's what I'm thinking: bring some magazine photos or autographed pictures of you to Rachel, and have her distribute them to the active members of the fan section. They'll be a pillar of the fan network..."

She attended a professional art school, and in terms of cultural level, she is higher than Martin: "I think fans need to be cultivated. A loyal fan can influence five or six people around them, or even more, especially when buying tickets for the movie."

Antonio suddenly interjected: "Not entirely accurate. Someone like me, even ten of my most die-hard fans couldn't sway me."

Bruce glanced at his size and said directly, "I doubt even twenty would be enough."

"Movies make money off ordinary people." Martin then went on to spout nonsense: "You're a rich man, a penny-pincher."

Jessica smiled at Antonio: "Someone like you doesn't belong to the group I'm talking about at all."

"Ignore him." Martin pondered for a moment and said, "One of my new films is coming out in February."

Jessica knows: "The Hills Have Eyes, but apart from the main poster, no other materials have been released yet."

Martin looked ahead: "I'm completely different from the wax museum character in this film; I'm the absolute protagonist. I've requested some promotional materials about me from the production team. Take them to Rachel."

Jessica exclaimed with delight, "That's great! They really wanted it!"

"Do you have anything to do tomorrow?" Martin asked when Jessica shook her head. "Come with me to Warner Bros. Studios tomorrow morning. The crew should have some promotional materials. I'll go and get a batch, and you can bring them to Rachel."

Emily said, "Okay, Jesse and I have been waiting for you since early morning."

The following morning, Jessica and Emily drove with Martin to Warner Bros. Studios.

Martin told them to wait in the lobby, then went directly to Craven and explained the situation in detail.

Craven, who has been in Hollywood for decades and has only ever made commercial films, immediately had an idea: "It's been half a month since the first poster was released. According to the normal pace, the crew should be launching a second wave of promotion. This event is good, after all, you are the absolute protagonist of the film."

Martin continued, "That's what I was thinking too. This is a formal promotional campaign, while informal promotions can only be launched after the New Year. Warner Bros. has a fairly sufficient promotional budget, so could we approach both aspects simultaneously?"

Using him as the publicity center would have obvious benefits, and Martin naturally wanted to facilitate it: "Wes, here's what I'm thinking, how about we turn it into an official event? I remember you mentioned last time that the first trailer was released, could we take this opportunity to hold a fan-participation launch ceremony?"

Craven thought for a moment and said, "Absolutely. The production team can release the first trailer at the event, and then launch it across all media platforms. They can also give away promotional materials to fans and media present at the event to generate buzz for the film in advance."

It's only been a little over two months since "The Hills Have Eyes" was released, which isn't a long time.

Craven simply convened a meeting with the film crew and Warner Bros. distribution representatives to discuss the matter together.

Bruce went to inform Jessica and Emily to wait patiently, and if they really couldn't sit still, they could go for a walk inside the studio.

Emily wanted to go and see, but Jessica stopped her: "Let's wait here for a while."

More than 40 minutes later, a crew member came to call them.

The two men spotted the renowned Wes Craven.

A publicity manager from the production team approached the two and discussed the upcoming activities in detail.

Emily never expected that what started as a fan-organized event would be taken seriously by the production team and turned into official publicity.

To show his importance, Martin personally logged into his blog and posted a reply under Rachel's call to action in the fan section.

"I just saw it. Everyone's support is the most important to me. To thank everyone for their support, I'm going to give some support to the event and ask the 'The Hills Have Eyes' crew for a batch of the latest materials to be taken over."

After the post was published, several replies quickly appeared below.

Martin remained calm and waited patiently for a while before posting another message: "I just contacted the 'The Hills Have Eyes' crew. They heard about everyone's support for me and decided to sponsor this event. The crew will cover the event expenses, give away materials about me in the film, contact the media to report on everyone's support for me, and also premiere the first trailer for 'The Hills Have Eyes' at the event."

The blog immediately became active after this reply was posted.

The number of people signing up has surged.

Someone may have informed Rachel, who then personally asked Martin and posted a new thread calling on everyone to show their support on the spot.

The success of the wax museum attracted a large following for Martin, many of whom use his blog as their base of activity.

The number of people signing up for Rachel's new post quickly exceeded one hundred.

The production team acted quickly, immediately allocating the budget, planning the event schedule, contacting the media, and reserving venues.

Jessica and Emily also became liaisons between the film crew and the fan base.

"Let them temporarily join the crew." Martin needed labor to help him, and it would be best if the crew paid for it: "They'll be useful for the later publicity."

Craven didn't mind the expense and nodded in agreement, "Okay."

Martin asked, "Can you do it?"

Jessica immediately replied, "I have no problem."

Emily hesitated; she still had roles to audition for.

Jessica kicked her underfoot, thinking to herself that Emily's brain was all in her chest.

Emily realized what was happening and said, "I'll join."

Wes Craven was still considering things after everyone else had left.

After a while, he said to Martin, "Ordinary movie fans alone are not enough to generate enough buzz."

Martin reacted quickly: "I'll find a way to get Anne there."

Two updates today. Building up drafts for the next round.

(End of this chapter)