My Hollywood System - Chapter 238

Will was taken aback as soon as he heard the name, but he didn’t let it get to his head. After taking a deep breath, he replied.
“Alright, let’s have the screening tonight. Don’t forget to bring your actors with you.”
[I sure will, but I am curious why you were surprised by the name. Do you know who Johnny Depp is?]
Will shook his head, “No, I confused it with someone else.”
[Oh, alright.]
“Yeah,” Will added, “I will see you in the evening then. Around 5 PM should be a good time.”
[Cool with me.]
Will nodded, “I will see you then. Take care.”
[You too.]
– du du du
Putting down the phone, Will opened his intercom and instructed Alexia, “Are there any scheduled meetings for later tonight?”
[Amanda wants to talk about the MCU project. She also told me she would like to introduce a few people to you.]
Will frowned. After a moment of thought, he added, “Postpone it for tomorrow. Also, prepare the screening room for the evening.”
[Noted.]
“Also, have you find out something about the articles? And the two people I mentioned earlier?”
[I am onto them.]
Will nodded and disconnected the intercom.
Then after opening his drawer, he took out an A4 size sheet of paper and started scribbling on it—the first of its heading being [MCU Timeline]
…
While Will had finished his call, the CEO’s office at the Foxstar Studio had a tense atmosphere.
The two Miller siblings were sitting silently at the main desk with pensive looks on their faces.
After finishing the call with Will, Sofia—who had lied to the former to buy some time and understand the situation—started asking questions to her brother Colt about his actions.
Although it was pretty clear from the start that he had risked ruining the relationship with Dream Vision over greed, as he explained the situation to his sister, things became clear for the latter as she now had the whole picture of what was going on.
However, that did not mean she agreed with the actions of her brother.
“I think it was you who complicated the situation for yourself,” She began to word her observation, “You see, you had a choice. To either stand with Dream Vision or go against them; you chose the second option. Also, I am sure you DID have some greed, no matter how much you try to deny it.”
“Alright, Alright. I know I did get a bit ahead of myself. But how is my choice wrong if Dream Vision still isn’t as big as them,” Colt frowned.
Sofia nodded, “They are not. But from what I see, it’s just a matter of time. Will Evans has proven himself on a big stage, and with him at the helm, they will surely become big in the coming years.”
Colt stared at her, “I understood that fact very well. But that’s one big IF. We don’t know the future. Also, Dream Vision only has Will Evans. Without him, there’s no Dream Vision.”
Sofia nodded, “I know, and that’s exactly why what you did only makes the situation worse.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, it’s pretty simple. Will Evans needs people, people who can push him. And out of all the studios in Hollywood, our studio had the biggest chance to become his great ally.”
Colt frowned, “You want us to be the sidekick?”
“No,” Sofia shook her head, “I want us to grow beyond our current stage. Dad has already been in talks with Japanese studios to form a collaboration and bring the anime industry to the mainstream. I talked with Dad to offer Will a partnership in that idea. Unfortunately, the latter rejected.”
“What?!” Colt was taken aback, “Why would you give him a share of our pie?”
Sofia sighed, “It’s not a pie, Colt. Not yet. We need Will’s talents. And if in order to get him on board, we have to let go of some of the profit, so be it.”
“Then why did he reject it? Also, he’s a Hollywood movie director. I don’t think he will know anything about the anime industry or its workings.”
Sofia nodded, “I agree. But he has a certain knack for stories and getting good scripts. Japan is filled with hundreds of artists; Will would have made things easier for us.”
“It’s not easy for us to get into Japan, and even now, we have barely taken half a step in. It’s like shooting an arrow at the target without even knowing where it is. Also, I am sure he rejected mainly due to wanting to focus on Hollywood for now because he has too much on the plate.”
Colt pursed his lips, “So what else did you talk about?”
Sofia shrugged, “Since the Japanese proposal didn’t interest him, I had something more interesting for him. It was about Foxstar Logic.”
Colt shook his head, “I don’t think he would be interested in that. He already has studios like Pixar..”
Sofia smiled, “Foxstar Logic will be much bigger. You have seen their work, they are many times better than what’s in the market.”
Colt frowned, “Did you show the work to Will?”
Sofia shook her head, “No. I decided to meet him in person first. Although it was a risky move in terms of negotiating, I have to meet him because only then he would understand the seriousness of the situation. Also, the fact remains that he will gain more by getting back with us instead of cutting off all relations.”
Colt remained silent before replying, “Alright, so you’re going to meet him?
“I was,” Sofia stared at him, “But someone had to leak all the mess to the media and screw my whole plan.”
Colt sighed, “I already apologized for that.”
“Not enough times,” Saying this, Sofia stood up and walked towards the exit.
“I am heading to the hospital. Dad’s health got worse after hearing what you did. Don’t do anything stupid before I return.”
Hearing these words, Colt inwardly nodded and leaned back in his seat.
Sofia’s words had affected him and he wanted to think about her thoughts.
But just then, his phone buzzed. Someone was calling him.
And as soon as he saw the name on the phone, his hand froze.
–Incoming Call–
[Ashton Banasiewicz (Allen Pictures)]
…
June’s car rolled into the Dream Vision studios about thirty minutes past four in the evening.
She was half an hour early, and the main reason for that was the people she had brought along with her.
In her car, there were three others.
Sitting by her side was Emilia—Jeffrey’s wife and the one who had handled all the editing.
And sitting at the back were the two leads of the movie, Johnny Depp and Carly Howell.
Carly Howell was a friend of June from her drama student days, while Johnny Depp was actually an independent actor—worked as a part-time paparazzi before auditioning and getting the role to play as one of the main leads for June’s directorial debut movie.
As they parked the car and headed for the elevator, June took out her phone and dialed Will’s number.
[Hello]
“We are here,” She added, “Should we come to your office or to the screening room?”
[Ah, you’re early! Come, I am in my office.]
“I will be there in a minute.”
June smiled while putting down her phone and then glancing at the others walking beside her, she said, “I really hope he likes the movie. I really took a lot from the Blair Witch Project.”
Emilia nodded, “I noticed that too. And as I have said many times before, this will either make it a big hit or come back to bite you in the butt.”
June shrugged, “I will consider it a lesson learned.”
…
In Will’s office, after June’s call, Will clicked on the intercom and called Alexia.
“Is the screening room prepared?”
[Yes]
“What about the reports I wanted? Also, what’s the progress about Luke Newmann and Keanu Reeds?”
[The reports are ready, would you like to see them right now? I have also gotten some news regarding Luke Newman and Keanu Reeds.]
“I will take care of that later, and what about the Foxstar case, did you find out who is the one behind all this?”
[We’re looking into this. The reporter is not willing to sell his source.]
Will shrugged, “Pay him more.”
[We can do that, but is it really worth it? This thing won’t harm us. Not to mention, this thing would have come out after some time anyway.]
“I know,” Will replied and while thinking of the new FoxStar CEO’s claim earlier that day, he added, “I am curious about the truth.”
[Noted.]
“That will be all.”
Disconnecting the call, Will leaned back on his seat after closing a folder on his desk.
For the last few hours, he had been focused on arranging a timeline of most of the tasks he needed to handle concerning MCU.
And this led him to some questions and things he was unfamiliar with.
Thus, he first wanted to meet Amanda and talk about the issues he was facing and finalize the MCU for the coming decade or so.
But one thing was certain, it would most likely take more time for him to get MCU than it actually took for Marvel in his previous world. After all, he was not going to focus only on these movies.
There were many others he wished to work on, and the one he was looking forward to was [The Pirates Of Carribean] franchise; the main reason being the person he was going to meet today.
‘Hopefully, the person is exactly who I think he is.’
Just as he thought of this, there was a knock on the door before the door was pushed open.
And through the door, June stepped in.
Behind her, three more people followed.
However, Will’s attention was on the person who walked in at last after the ladies.
Johnny Depp.

Become a Patron to read chapters ahead of public release and support me 😉

…