Rise To Stardom - Chapter 245

Chapter 245: How The Turn Tables Have
It had been a week since the crew had finished up filming for [Tech Wiz: Year One] and now, the movie was fully in post-production.

Xavier and Cass, being the competent power couple and director-producer duo that they were, never for once slacked off during this process as they were heavily involved in the film’s editing process.

The CGI scenes especially, were ones the director wanted no compromises on and with his [Jack of All Trades] skill that Kyle had long figured out were tailor-made for moments like this, made every input he gave during every stage of the pre-production invaluable.

Added to that, Dot Productions, Hank and Bruce especially, were just as involved in the entire process as they were in talks with booking down a robust line-up of distribution deals for the movie, enough that it would land in cinemas on the same day, both domestically and overseas.

Yet the most curious thing that had happened so far during all these, was the sudden shift in tone Atlas International had taken towards SpawnPoint Studio.

If previously, they had been a relentless nuisance that had gone suspiciously quiet for months, they were now making a dramatic 180° as they actively tried to cozy up to SpawnPoint Studio under the guise of ‘investors’ in the film.

As a result…

Kyle’s phone buzzed for the umpteenth time today.

Retrieving the device from his pocket, the young man glanced over to the caller’s details.

Seeing that it was a private number, he casually picked up;

[Good day Mr. Kestis. This is Donna Ellsworth from Atla—]

Kyle impassively cut the call.

He wasn’t interested in speaking to Lex’s secretary.

Pocketing the device, the young star returned his attention to the studio before him with a contented sigh, a messenger bag slung over his other arm.

It had been quite a while since he’d been here and if he was being honest, he’d really missed its environment.

“Atlas again?” Jennie whom had walked up the staircase to open the door to the recording studio, turned around to ask as the door opened with a soft click.

“Hmm hmm.” Kyle hummed in response, the smile on his lips only getting wider as he kept staring at the studio.

“Not Lex?” Oliver whom was standing on his other side, despite knowing, rhetorically asked, one hand tucked into his pockets as the other held onto the handle of his laptop bag.

He was practically gloating at the moment.

“Not Lex.” Kyle chuckled in response as he took his first step up the stairs.

In response, the agent, enjoying every bit of this turnaround of events, trailed behind his ward as he remarked thoughtfully;

“Hmmm… must be holding onto his pride…”

“I’m sure he is.” Kyle replied, as he stepped through the doors.

Seeing Jennie already seated by the soundboard, the recording studio spick and span, Kyle once again let out a contented sigh.

Making music.

It was such an integral part of his life that having being on an on-and-off relationship with it these past few months, had him feeling noticeably pumped-up to be back in the kind of professional environment that facilitated it.

In any case, Kyle and Jennie actually had a lot of work to sort out today.

The movie’s scores and soundtrack.

Often substituted and interchangeably used for the other, a movie’s score usually involved crafting original music tailored precisely for the movie to amplify and enrich its storytelling while the soundtrack, typically incorporated existing songs or licensed music into the movie to do the same.

That said, granted most of the soundtracks had already being handled by the movie’s other composers which were also on their way to the studio, Kyle didn’t want to be the one holding them back.

And so, no sooner had he settled into his seat, he pulled out his laptop and a backup flash drive, showing the scores he had been working on to Jennie.

The audio engineer on the other hand, upon listening to each individual score over the course of a few minutes with her trained ear, had various spikes of tingly chills run up her spine.

Sure all the scores still needed a lot of refining but even then, Jennie couldn’t help but inwardly remark as she stared at an unaware Kyle with an almost dumbfounded gaze;

‘How’d he even come up with all this amidst his hectic filming schedule?’

Kyle on the other hand, upon noticing her expression, took the liberty to explain;

“Well, I did spend the last few weeks of filming cooped up in my office at the studio. Best believe I also got in some much needed composing on my end.”

“You’re beyond me, Kyle. And I mean that it the most respectful, awe-inspiring way possible.” Jennie let out a genuinely impressed sigh as she switched on the board.

This earned a genuinely appreciative smile from the young man.

After all, just because he heard the scores in [Deep Dive], doesn’t mean it was easy replicating them as some, especially the ones in the ‘Dive of Faith’ and ‘Run Nathan. Run!’ scene really put him through his paces.

Added to that, the scores were only presented in the scenes themselves so the remaining parts of the uncompleted score, was something he himself had needed to sort out on his own.

That said, no sooner were they done with their initial interactions regarding the unrefined scores, the duo got to work as Oliver, also pulled out his own laptop and got down to business.

Throughout the entire process, both talent and agent, had their phones ring at several intervals, all of it from Atlas’s employees as expected.

But whenever they picked it and it wasn’t Lex himself, they’d simply cut it and move on with whatever it was they were doing.

And about a few hours later, Owen soon walked into the studio with the movie’s other composers, each and everyone of them exchanging warm pleasantries with Kyle, Jennie and Oliver.

Amidst this, Owen casually moved over to Kyle and reminded him;

“Kyle. I figured I should remind you that you the studio’s having a press conference for the game’s DLC release in November tomorrow. Thought you might want to attend.”

“Oh…” Kyle muttered audibly, his expression thoughtful as he mused;

‘I did delegate that job to Sharon in my place ’cause I predicted I’d be busy sorting out the movie’s score as at the moment but…’

… considering he only needed to refine and elevate the already completed scores, the young star came to a different decision.

“Alright. Thanks for the reminder Owen. I’ll be attending the event.” he gently patted his assistant on the shoulder in appreciation.

* * *

Ever since the Hollywood Strike, Summit Talent Agency (STA), Sharon’s previous agency, had only spiraled deeper into one problem after the other.

Sure they had been doing a good job, albeit wishy-washy, at agreeing with their actor’s demands after their uprising but, something else, something unexpected, began to tumble that unstable brick.

Sharon Winters.

Having seen her suddenly quit working with STA, only to hear that she was going to be starring as the female lead in [Tech Wiz: Year One], a lot of actors in the agency, felt something fishy must’ve gone down between her and the agency.

After all, it didn’t make any sense for STA to lose out on the chance to be involved in a movie that had one of the biggest hypes surrounding it since its announcement earlier in the year.

One that was unveiled at the Super Bowl, no less.

As a result, a fair few of them had banded together to begin investigating what had led to such a fallout, solely out of pure curiosity.

And what they had stumbled upon, really had them re-evaluating their affiliation with the company.

Sharon’s contract with STA was nothing short of a nightmare, to put it simply. One that bordered solely on exploitation.

For starters, the contract’s imposed ‘excessive exclusivity clauses’, prevented her from accepting roles outside of STA’s negotiated deals, regardless of how lucrative or career-defining they might have been.

This meant that even if a major studio wanted her for a role, the lady couldn’t negotiate on her own terms as STA had full control over her opportunities.

This was also why Sharon, despite being so talented, had been purposely prevented by STA from becoming an A-lister to keep her groveling beneath and sucking up to them.

Then came the ‘unfair revenue splits’.

While industry standards ensured actors took home a fair share of their earnings, Sharon’s contract allowed STA to take an abnormally large percentage of her profits, including those from endorsements and even social media sponsorships.

Essentially, STA wasn’t just profiting from the lady’s acting work, they were also cashing in on every facet of her personal brand.

Additionally, Sharon’s creative freedom was nonexistent.

STA had final say on her public appearances, interviews, and even the kinds of roles she could accept.

In fact, if they deemed a project “not aligned” with their agenda, she had no choice but to reject it, regardless of how much she wanted to take it on.

Perhaps, the worst revelation of all to the curious actors however, had been ‘the buyout penalty’.

If Sharon wanted to leave the agency before her contract expired, she would have to pay a staggering, borderline impossible exit fee, designed to keep her shackled to STA indefinitely.

This exactly was why, when the lady was about to leave, she had practically returned every blessed thing she had ever owned, all of it equating to the bogus fee she would have to pay in collateral.

That said, when these fair few curious actors at STA had fully uncovered and shared the details of Sharon’s contract with other lesser-grade actors, it wasn’t just shocking, it was downright terrifying.

As a result, many of them soon came to the realization that they, too, could be caught in a similarly exploitative deal, making them seriously reconsider their association with the agency.

It didn’t take long before the talent agency, experienced the cascade of effects that followed, especially Sharon’s former agent, Bianca, whose talents began dropping her like a bad habit.

And now, with most of their B-listers also quitting, they were getting extremely desperate to retain them.

But for a bitter Bianca, she couldn’t help but seethe with anger and resentment whenever she thought back to the fact that Sharon Winters, had in fact, indirectly accelerated the company’s misfortune.

This was why, today, instead of attending a company meeting on what they could do to keep their actors around before the media got a whiff of what was going on— signed NDA clauses in their contracts or not— the sour agent had taken to attend Tech Wiz’s DLC press conference in Canada.

Her goal?

Putting Sharon in a very delicate spot with a potentially controversial question.