Hollywood King

The next day after the meeting with the CEO of cube pictures, Ian went to meet Mason, taking the script of ‘La La Land’ with him. He decided to buy coffee to make the morning much more pleasant. 

“Good morning, uncle.” Ian went in and placed the coffee on the table while Mason greeted him back.

“Is that the script?” Mason asked.

“Yes, take a look,” Ian sat right in front of him, while Mason started reading the script. 

They both fell into silence while Mason kept turning pages over and trying to get a grasp of the storyline. A few minutes passed by. 

“This is very well written and I think would be a change in Hollywood,”

Ian genuinely smiled listening to his words, “I did analyze a bit about how well a musical can do after what you said the other day, but I think in my point of view that this movie can do a lot better and would make a huge change in the field, It’s mainly because it’s not the typical musical movies that exist in the industry,” Ian acknowledged. 

But in reality, even while deciding on the movie, he knew everything about the current trends in the industry and how hard it can be if they decided on a musical and it didn’t turn out to be good. It’s a huge risk.

“Are you going to direct this as well?” Mason asked out of the blue.

“Yeah, I think I should. I already planned how well the shots can be taken. It is also easy since the settings can be shot in places around Los Angeles. Hollywood. Obviously,” Ian chuckled emphasizing ‘obviously’.

Since La La Land was a movie based on and around Hollywood, things were much easier for them. With a few permissions here and there, everything else would go smoothly. 

“Hmm… The outline and everything seem nice.”Mason said. Ian was texting John to meet him later because of what he had in his mind. “I’ll read the entire script and let you know, tomorrow,”

Mason said while still scrolling through the pages, and with every line he read, his curiosity grew more and more. 

Ian stood up from where he sat and roamed around the studio. He saw how Mason had put up an article right beside the exit door to the studio which had written things about ‘Home Alone’ and how it became a success. Besides that article, there were several more articles on successful movies Renners released some years ago.

‘Renners hit it big with |It’s A Never|’. Ian kept reading the article, there it had explained how It’s A Never rom-com movie became a huge hit, ten years ago. It was directed by Henrey Renner, Ian’s father. Unfortunately, the hype lasted not more than five years. The article showed how it got locally distributed and how proud Henrey was talking about it to some local media channels. The article had a short abstract from a quick interview Henrey faced.

‘We tried to relate with the feelings of the youth through this movie, and with this success, I’m sure it was a blockbuster. Special credits should go to my pal, Mason Striver along with our entire crew and the acting crew. That’s all, thank you,” 

Ian walked back to where he was after reading it and saw the script was on the table. Mason’s eyes were on every step Ian took. It was because he has never seen Ian wanting to read or know about anything Henrey did with the studio. 

“I’ll read it within today, and let’s talk about the script tomorrow. I already ordered some equipment online and they should be here within two weeks. Some other stuff like camera, lenses, tripods, sound equipment… I was actually going to wait till we get the crew and get a word from whoever works on them,”

“Yeah, I was going to talk with John about the crew today, and uncle since we have enough money with us right now, go with the best and the most durable equipment. Don’t wait for the people because we need to start shooting as soon as possible, I’m sure anyone would work with branded equipment, it doesn’t really matter at the moment as long as they are durable,”

Mason thought and knew that Ian was right. They had made around $350 million dollars from Home Alone. Which also means they had more than enough money to deal with things before the next movie starts. 

“Yeah, okay. I’ll get it settled today. Oh, and before you came here today, I talked with an architect for the renovations,” An ‘oh’ left Ian’s lips. “Yeah, renovations will start soon, around next week. She will come to meet us to show her plans and stuff tomorrow, you will get your own office, finally.”

Ian smiled and nodded. Having a space where he can work alone sound nice to him. “I will book us a place to work during the times of renovations, and till then we have other things to do.”

“The employees?” Mason asked right away.

“Yeah, the employees. I will ask John about the crew behind the cameras, you can recruit some to work around the office? I mean, we will surely need more help with time. Especially with La La Land.”

“No worries, I’ll take care of it and make arrangements to do interviews with the time that’s left,” 

-

Ian was in the bar waiting for his good old friend to ask for more help. Ever since John joined Ian in the theatre on the ‘big’ day, he has been even busier with the export business. 

Seeing John approach him, Ian smiled and ordered the same drink they had the other day. 

“How have you been?” Ian asked trying to break the ice. 

“Awfully busy. I feel more tired because I’m not doing things that I like. But, yeah, time taught me a lot. Got used to them all. How about you, director?”

John asked, yet Ian saw John looked like he hadn't slept in a few days. John’s under-eye bags and red lines in his eyes were prominent. Ian felt concerned more than anything.

“I’m doing awesomely fine. Home Alone was a big hit and enjoying the after-party. But man, look at you. You should take care of yourself more, you don’t look fine,”

“I know, cut the shit. Don’t be concerned about me right now, ask what you wanted to. These days I have been very busy with a deal, it will be done in the next day or two. And yes-” John was cut off when the waitress brought their drinks.

“Hm… You were saying?”

“Home Alone… I never thought it would do this much great, heard you’re selling the international rights?” Ian laughed and nodded in reply while taking a sip from his drink, “That’s even greater. Never thought my uncle’s crew would be this useful. I had lost hope, you know”

“Yeah, figured it out. That is mostly why I wanted to meet you today,”

John laughed loudly, “Here I thought, out of friendship.”

It brought Ian a smile because nevertheless how much of a stranger John is to him, the fact John came all the way to meet gave a feeling that Ian should at least show some gratitude. 

“That, too. But, John… What are the crew doing these days?”

“Hmm…They worked on a few short movies for the past few months. Other than that, my assistant didn’t really update me on it. Do you want them?”

Ian nodded and continued to drink with John. 

“I’m thinking of buying your uncle’s company,” Hearing those words, John almost choked in his drink but gained back his composure in a milli-second. 

Ian has been thinking about it for a quite while. During making budgets with the profit they will get around next week for the home alone, after paying the taxes and separating money for renovation, and equipment, Ian knew he could buy the company of John’s uncle and offer him a fair price. 

“That… would be great. You know with how things are, I won’t get back to movie making any time sooner and they need jobs. I will make arrangements as soon as possible, but I need 30% of the shares,”

Surprisingly, John said yes without any more thought. Ian was more than ready to try make him convince to buy the company because he knew how much it meant for him… Sentimentally, because of his history. 

“I didn’t think you would agree to this easily,”

“I wasn't gonna, but again, the reality is what matters. Can’t be selfish about anything, I’m sure you’ll do great with Renners. Adding up my uncle’s company would be a good help, and my uncle up there must be proud of me right now, and not like I’m giving it all away,”

“Yeah, makes sense,”

“By the way, Won’t there be a new movie?”  John questioned… and the rest of the evening went in a blur. 

The bar which they decided to meet was exceptionally quiet and peaceful. With the sun setting in the outside, the two men got nearly drunk, while their jokes got louder and nonsensical at a point. Regardless, the attention they got from the ladies didn’t decrease even by a single percent. 

More than 3/4th of the bar figured out who one of the two gentlemen was and the ladies from time to time came around to make small talk while trying to seduce both of them or at least one of them. Mainly because they were in expensive-looking suits, but Ian's case was exceptional. Nevertheless, the attention didn't seem to cease till they got out of the bar. 

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||__A word from me__||
Thank you so much for the comments, I felt so good reading them. I'm sorry the chapter is late, I was kind of dealing with something. Hope everyone is fine! Click on the heart and leave a review if you can! The comments are my inspiration to start every chapter! Tysm in advance!