Rise To Stardom - Chapter 237

Chapter 237: Well, Shit
Jeff walked into a now well-established production company, taking in the sights as the employees on ground gave their greetings in a familiar manner.

Reciprocating their greetings with a warm smile, he soon made his way to the elevator, only to halt in his steps, turn on his heels and take the spiraling staircase to the top floor instead.

‘Gotta move those old bones…’ he said to himself as he hummed lightly.

Typically, the old star should’ve been in Canada, much like everyone else filming the superhero movie as he still had a couple small scenes and one major scene left.

But he’d informed the crew that he wanted to do a few personal things in New York before coming over, one that the crew had been more than open to working their schedule around to fit his request.

Additionally, Kyle, considering he wasn’t exacting trusting of the lull in Atlas International’s actions, had given his Hollywood Grandfather the details of the situation transpiring between them.

That said, a few seconds later, Jeff arrived at the top floor and made his way straight to the CEO’s office.

And upon opening the door, he wasn’t the least bit surprised to see Bruce, the CEO himself, lounging on the couch while reading a biography novel on Hollywood’s Greatest Stuntmen, his reading glasses giving him a sort of intellectual feel that surprisingly matched his savvy appearance.

Hank on the other hand, was on a phone call with a distribution company, seemingly coming to an agreement on something.

Upon noticing Jeff, the producer waved slightly with a toothy grin, promptly returning to his call as the old Hollywood star reciprocated in kind with a smile of acknowledgement.

As for Mark, he was furiously typing on the keyboard of his laptop as he sat behind a desk in the far corner, his gaze focused with a hint of excitement in his dark-circled, sunken eyes!

Taking a swig of his black coffee, the Director of the extremely successful [Epoch One], slammed the mug down on the table with a strong thud and resumed his intense script-writing session.

“Apparently, he got a surge of inspiration for [Epoch Two]’s plot last night so he’s been like that ever since.” Bruce casually commented as he flipped to the next page of his book.

“Nothing I say’s gonna get him out of that trance so be my guest.” he briefly gestured in Mark’s direction to the old star.

“No. I’d rather leave him be. Wouldn’t want to interrupt his flow.” Jeff stated in response, a nostalgic smile on his lips as an image of a younger Mark doing the exact same thing with his very first movie script, overlapped in his field of vision.

Nodding lightly, Bruce then inquired, gently placing the book atop his laps as he sported an amused gaze, a thin smile on his lips as he finally angled his gaze upwards;

“So, how’s filming being? Hope that workaholic grandson of yours good too?”

“Filming’s been splendid. As for Kyle… well he’s as insane as ever.” the old Hollywood star’s eyes crinkled with warmth as he responded with a light smile.

“But that’s not why I’m here.” Jeff’s tone suddenly turned serious as he sat next to the action star who arched a curious brow.

“The kid’s run into an issue with Atlas International…” the old star stated, earning a deep frown from Bruce.

Around this time, Hank was also done with his call so the moment’s Jeffrey’s words landed, he similarly frowned.

The same thing happened as Mark whom was furiously typing, paused, his brows creasing in annoyance as he raised his gaze upwards.

“Lex, I’m sure…” all three soon commented with a unified hint of heavy disdain in their tone.

After [Epoch One]’s success, many big Hollywood film studios had wanted to assimilate the small production company into theirs, Atlas International especially, being one of them.

But with how well-connected the trio in the room were, alongside also having strong connections to Jeff who in turn, had even more powerful connections and backers in Hollywood, Atlas, or more specifically Lex, knew that he’d be barking up the wrong tree if he pushed it any further.

“Yeah. Just like he wanted to buy out Dot Productions after [Epoch One]’s success, he’s out for Kyle’s studio.” Jeff whom had been kept in the loop with the series of events that had transpired back then, continued;

“And although they’ve been extra quiet, Kyle’s sure they’re up to no good behind the scenes and are probably just biding their time to act… one he fears might be targeting post-production.”

“Which is why, he’s secretly asked of me to inform you that he’d be extremely grateful if Dot Productions could helm the distributions, promotions and marketing of the movie…”

“… at the price of a 5% cut of the movie’s box office earnings of course.” Jeff concluded with Kyle’s request, his tone professional.

“So, what do you say?” Kyle’s Hollywood Gramps, asked with slightly outspread arms, a cordial smile on his features.

In response to that, the trio widened their eyes in surprise, the frowns on their features vanishing in an instant.

Kyle hadn’t just randomly asked of Dot Productions to handle the movie’s distribution because Cassandra couldn’t handle it.

After all, she had been doing a fantastic job thus far despite the fact that the movie— an intended blockbuster superhero movie for that matter— was being produced independently by them.

Rather, knowing fully well that there was a high possibility that [Fables & Legends] could be planning to release in theatres on the same day as theirs, Kyle, being the Executive Producer of the movie, figured Atlas could end up bullying them into a corner at the last minute with their immense resources and over the top promotions.

So, in an effort to combat a possible scenario where that did happen, it was a smart move from him to actually rely on a well-established production company, solely for the distribution, promotions and marketing of the movie.

One that Atlas would obviously be wary of messing with.

And considering Dot Productions had in fact, also made a name for themselves these past few years by producing other box office hits, not enough to make them global powerhouses but still enough to give them a strong footing in the fiercely competitive environment of Tinseltown, they were perfect for the job.

Glancing over to each other, a hint of excitement on their practically glowing features the moment Jeff pushed forward Kyle’s offer, all three simultaneously responded;

“Deal!”

*

Meanwhile, at SpawnPoint Studio, Kyle having rounded up his scenes for the day, briefly brought up his panel of notifications and system interface while pulling on the lidded can of an energy drink.

| You have acted before everyone and impressed them! |

| You have obtained a huge amount of exp. points! |

| 20,000 exp. points have been awarded! |

| Total exp. points available (186,700) |

| Acting has advanced from level 15 to level 16! |

| Advancement in acting will become exponentially harder from here on out! |

| Keep acting to improve your skills! |

___________________________

{Kyle Kestis} – Exp. Points (186,700)

⸶Skills⸷

| [Soulful Vocals (P)], [Growth Spurt (P)], [Appraisal(A)], [Resonance (P)] – {S}], [Charisma (P)], [Polyglot (P)], [Deep Dive (A) – {S}], [Recollection (P)], [Scene Stealer (A)], [Action & Stunt Mastery (P)], [Bleeding Effect (P)], [Detoxification (A)], [Peak Human Conditioning (P)], [Flow (P)], [Choreography Master (P)]…

* Exp. Points can be used to create skills.

⸶Levels⸷

| Singing › Level 18

| Acting › Level 16

| Composing › Level 16

| Dancing › Level 17

| Instrument Mastery (Piano/Guitar) › Level 15/15

* Levels will increase in accordance to your growth.

–––––––––––––––––––––––––––

Closing the panel with a satisfied smile, Kyle downed the energy drink… only to almost sputter on it when Owen walked into his field of vision with his smartphone, all whilst trying to contain his laughter.

Right there, on the screen of his assistant’s smartphone, was a compilation of memes of a slumped over Kyle in the Tech Wiz costume, the internet once again, up to no good;

–

Even superheroes dread the weekdays!

[Photo.jpg]

–

Me when someone asks me; ‘So how’s college?’

[Photo.jpg]

–

When you’ve given it your all and its only Tuesday!

[Photo.jpg]

–

Granted the video of Kyle’s piñata-like spinning incident with Sharon and the crew was locked down tighter than a diamond in Fort Knox due to an NDA, Cass had other plans.

After reviewing the footage a few hours later, she had one of the production crew upload a single screenshot from the incident— an exhausted Tech Wiz slumped over.

Of course, this was done with Kyle and Xavier’s approval, her intent being to generate buzz for the movie while subtly reassuring the internet that production was running smoothly.

That said, Kyle himself had severely underestimated how fast the internet was with making memes of things they found amusing.

“At this rate, you just might become the King of Memes!” Owen finally burst into laughter as Kyle, similarly chuckling at this point at some of the more hilarious memes, simply shook his head in resignation with a light sigh.

* * *

(A few days later…)

“Woooowww!” Eliza’s big, round, jade-green eyes almost popped out of her socket the moment she arrived at SpawnPoint Studio’s basement alongside her father.

“It’s cool, right.” Clint asked of his daughter who was practically beaming, her head bobbing in agreement as her gaze wandered about the massive, walled LED screens and plastered green surfaces in the busy room.

And then she pointed out the moment she spotted a familiar face;

“Uncle Kyle!”

Hearing his name being called, the voice familiar, Kyle whom had been conversing with Jeff about Dot Production agreeing to his request, whipped around in an instant, eyes gleaming in warmth as he walked over to the young girl and pulled out a fist out for her to bump;

“Hello Eliza. It’s been a while, hasn’t it? How’ve you been?” he asked of the young girl who reciprocated his fist bump with a toothy grin;

“Like Sir. Pouncealot on catnip!” she responded with such wit, an impressed Kyle couldn’t help but burst into laughter alongside Clint.

“Speaking of his gentlemanliness, how is he?” Kyle then inquired with a light smile.

“Dandy!” she gestured happily with her dainty hands, earning another chuckle from Kyle.

Yes, Kyle, knowing fully well that Eliza liked the snow-white cat as much as he did, ended up buying the gentlemanly feline from the organization that trained them for a frankly exorbitant price (not that he minded) and had the young girl adopt it instead.

No sooner had Eliza responded to his words though, Cass descended down the staircase with a new face whom was of the exact same height and frankly similar facial features as Clint.

A few minutes later, she formally introduced the man to Kyle, Xavier, Oliver, Jeff and Clint himself;

“Guys, meet Adam Shaw. He’ll be replacing Clint’s stunt double.”

“Pleasure to meet you all.” the man in question, let out a cordial smile as he began to extend and exchange handshakes with everyone.

However, when he finally shook Kyle’s hands, both sharing a similarly cordial smile, Kyle on the other hand, inwardly sighed in genuine concern while maintaining his outward amiability.

___________________________

{Vance Vercetti} – 51 years

Stunting › Level 13

Skills – [Hollywood Fixer].

___________________________

‘Well, shit.’ the young star, for the first time in a long time, cussed.