Rise To Stardom - Chapter 121

Chapter 121: A Bit of Trust
KYLE KESTIS AS THE 10TH CURATOR. ARE FANS INTRIGUED OR APPREHENDED?

The answer, by a large margin, is, apprehended.

Majority of fans, aren’t exactly in camp wonder boy’s casting for the role of the 10th Curator (Me included).

The gravitas, the complexity, the ‘oomph!’, that makes The Curator, such an intriguing character, died with the first five renditions, especially, the 5th Curator.

In fact, maybe to a certain, the entirety of the series should’ve died with him (I’m sure most of us agree with that).

Still, that’s not to say that there haven’t been a few standout episodes in the newer seasons.

Even if it was all a copy-paste of the 5th, some of the ‘older’ actors that were cast, some of whom acted as ‘older’ versions of The Curator, did provide some great acting chops that still, at the very least, had some of us die-hard fans to the show, stick around.

Now, even that, seems to have gone down the drain.

Even if Jon Quentin, did have a hand in selecting Kyle Kestis for his role as the 10th, there really isn’t much to expect, unfortunately.

And that isn’t even me being a hater because damn, Kyle Kestis’s music career is absolutely phenomenal.

But, as at the moment, and as an actor, Kyle Kestis really only has a single movie to his name.

One that he wasn’t even the main lead in!

Will we get our complex performances?

Or will we just get another, watered-down version of our beloved 5th?

That, is yet to be seen…

Still, credit where credit’s due.

Jasmine Faye, is a fantastic actor who’s proven herself, time and time again as a bankable actress so there’s no issues with her, being cast as The Curator’s new companion.

Jon Quentin (although we’re all still questioning his casting choice), can at least guarantee, that we get an alright storyline, at the very least.

Yes, I know he wrote some of the best episodes in the series but, hey, he’s been gone a long while…

Who’s to say if he’s still got his mojo…?

As for Tiana Rivers and Barry Goodman… Perfection!

No issues on that front!

The only real hurdle here, is none other, than, the main lead himself who has some massive boots to fill.

As for me, Her Esteemed Queen Galactica, I’m not expecting a thing!

In my books, the soul of the series, died a long time ago.

And neither am I expecting it, to suddenly spring back to life after four mediocre seasons.

– – –

The article, written by the self-proclaimed Queen of The Galaxy, was getting a crap ton of engagements with over 5.3K comments, 21.7K retweets, 182K likes and over a million views.

Considering she was probably, the most, self-proclaimed, independent movie reviewer who was also, working full-time as an indie game dev, denizens of the social media app, always loved to hear her occasional takes on various series, movies, comic books and videogames of course.

Quite literally, Queen Galactica, was an immensely popular, internet icon and celebrity.

Yet, despite never having even revealed her face, not even once to the general public, people knew of her to be honest, sincere and undoubtedly, based.

That exactly, was why, even a young man like Kyle, even with his limited use of social media, knew about her.

“Kyle… are you holding up alright?”

“Hmm? Why’d you ask?” Kyle curiously tilted his head in response to his agent’s words.

Both were on their way to DreamLand Inc’s. HQ for the marketing meeting, although only Kyle would be attending as Oliver, still had a business meeting of his own in about thirty minutes with a popular brand who wanted to feature Kyle in a photoshoot for their new products.

“Well, although I know you probably aren’t the least bit perturbed by the internet’s reception to your casting, I still need to ask.” Oliver glanced over to him, a slight hint of worry in his tone as he kept driving;

“You good?”

Smiling a bit at his agent’s words, Kyle casually replied as he switched off his phone’s screen, one where he had been reading the TweetTalk post from;

“I’m a young actor Oliver. One who’s being really lucky with his endeavors.”

“People being unwelcoming of my casting and saying I’m too young for the role, aren’t exactly wrong.” the young man continued with a calm demeanor;

“Actors, need to earn their reputation. I understand that. Perfectly.”

“That’s why I’m hoping, that at the very least, I’ll build some of that with my role as The Curator.” Kyle concluded as he gazed at Oliver with an assuring smile;

“So yeah, I’m good.”

Glancing over to his ward, now completely sure that he was holding up well, mentally especially, Oliver then responded with an approving smile of his own;

“That’s good.”

“Also, you will build a fantastic reputation as a dependable actor Kyle. That I’m sure of.” the agent added, pulling the vehicle to a stop at the broadcasting company’s parking lot.

…

…

…

Discussions had been going on for a while in the meeting room.

A bunch of things, especially regarding promotions and advertisement tactics, had been resolved as Bruno, a calm-looking, middle-aged Black-American man with a fairly average build who had a low fade and was also the Marketing Director, along with Jon himself who was the Showrunner, Executive and Creative Director, either approved or vetoed as they felt was necessary.

As for Tiana, Barry, Jasmine and Kyle, along with many others sitting around the table, they simply listened attentively, engaging with everyone else from time to time.

Currently though, now moving to the last part of the meeting, was a discussion on how to make the trailer of the 10th season of the show as engaging as possible, enough to make even the oldest of fans, come running back to the show.

“According to market research and the trends, fans of the series have loved trailers that show off a good grasp of what they could be expecting in the new season of the show.” one of DreamLand Inc.’s Data Analyst, showed the board the data he had obtained via the wireless projector.

“I think we should make the trailer, as explosive as we possibly can too. I’m sure the fans would love it. A high budget will be necessary though…” a female employee who was a higher up in a popular advertising agency which had been working with DreamLand Inc. for the longest time, stated.

“Yes. I agree too but, the narrative and the message of the trailer, needs to be a stronger point to focus on. Fans want to see something fresh so I genuinely believe we should reveal some plot points of the story in the trailer.” an employee in the Content Strategist Team, pitched in his own idea.

“No. That won’t work.” another employee from the advertising agency, countered as he explained his reasoning;

“From what I’ve seen, people don’t really enjoy knowing the plot of a series before it has even aired. It would be counterintuitive if we went along with your pitch.”

Like that, ideas were being thrown and countered as the employees at the meeting, kept dropping various ideas in a civilized manner.

At some point though, Kyle couldn’t help but frown.

Something was seriously bugging him with the way all of them were going about this.

‘Is there really even a need to make a trailer?’ he thought to himself with a slightly deeper frown.

Sure this sort of thing wasn’t his turf at all and neither did he specialize in it but, considering he was currently seeing things from the perspective of a fan of the show and not as an actor or as someone that was actually part of this business meeting, Kyle’s reasoning only got stronger by the second.

Having noticed this though, Bruno, curious about what was going on inside the young man’s head, gestured to Jon to glance over to Kyle.

Glancing over to the young man, seeing his frown getting progressively deeper by the second, Jon soon asked;

“Kyle. Care to share your thoughts?”

Obviously surprised that he was asked to share his thoughts, Kyle watched as everyone turned their attention to him, curiosity evident on their faces.

Realizing that he had no choice but to speak his mind, the young man, gently tapped the ergonomically-designed table for a few seconds before opening his mouth;

“No one’s really expecting anything different this season.”

“That’s why I think we need to spend, literally next to nothing on the trailer.”

“There’s already enough attention from fans as is, especially with me being casted as The 10th Curator.”

Kyle’s words were acute, direct and unpretentiously blunt, instantly stripping off every blessed thing all of the marketing team had been saying so far regarding the trailer.

In fact, it almost felt too blunt, almost akin to something Tiana would say.

Maybe that was why, Jon, Barry and Jasmine glanced over to the Director for a brief moment, watching as a slight curl of approval graced her lips.

Still, Kyle was different from Tiana.

That was why, in the most respectful tone possible, he continued;

“I understand, that procedures demand of us all to find some way or the other to sell excitement and hype for this season regardless but, as I’m sure you’re all aware of, trailers, on their own, for the most part, don’t really do much to get fans intrigued enough to want to tune in for a new season of a show.”

“Especially, if that show, and putting it mildly, has had quite a rocky run for a long while…” he concluded, carefully picking his words as he did.

There was an undeniable truth to Kyle’s words.

One that everyone seemed to be on the same train on as they nodded slightly in agreement.

“Rather, why not give the fans, something, unexpected…” the young man soon spoke after a brief, introspective silence, descended into the room, grabbing everyone’s attention once again.

“Something, that would be unexpected yet still interesting enough to make them excited.” Kyle said with a confident expression as he continued;

“All we’ll need…” the young star glanced over to Jon, Barry and Bruno;

“… is a footage, from the casting auditions and…” Kyle settled his gaze on Tiana and Jasmine with a light smile;

“A bit of trust, in your director and her actors.”