Behind The Spotlight Chapter 171
"You only visit me whenever you need something."
"Um, you're the one who called me this time," Collin replied carefully, trying to understand her mood.
"Exactly. If I didn't call you, you'll not show up at all."
"..."
'Does that imply something?' Collin asked himself and slightly tilted his head while staring at CEO Lila Seraphina, who looked particularly expressive today. Perhaps something happened to her a few days ago, during Thanksgiving, maybe?
'Her surname seems to be Latina but her appearance is more on the Caucasian side... I wonder if her Mom is white.'
Well, her Mom was the Latina while her Dad was the white guy, although Collin had no idea. He thought Lila's surname came from her father.
"So you don't miss me at all?"
"Lila, please don't play around. We are in a professional setting," he reminded her, trying to bring the conversation back to business.
Lila slightly pouted. Their first meeting had been a surprise for her. Back then, Collin was still nervous and practically sweating buckets every time she looked his way.
And now, he had become one of the most respected talent agents in the company, with five successful clients. Perhaps that explained why he became more mature and confident as the years passed.
Lila wanted to tease him more, but she decided to change the topic. It was indeed true that they were in a professional setting.
"You're promoted to be an executive of ANT, with a 1% company share. The company has seen all of your success and we want to extend our hands and officially become partners. Not only that, your commission rate has increased to 6%," she announced.
"Really!?" Collin was happy, his voice rising slightly. That was the best thing he had heard lately.
Earning the 1% share of ANT was surprising but somewhat expected, but the increase in his commission rate was the cream of the crop, the exact thing he secretly prayed for. For Collin, this was huge.
As a talent agent, one of his career plans was to become an executive/shareholder. He thought this position was already high up and believed the money he would earn from being an executive would be worth it. But after working as a talent agent and negotiating with many productions, Collin realized that the commission rate was the most important factor in his job. His income depended heavily on the frequency and scale of his clients' projects. In fact, this year alone, he earned $14 million from commission. It was amazing, far beyond what his younger self ever imagined. So yeah, he was happy about the increase in commission rate, but not so much about the company share.
For him, the 1% ANT share was just a reward.
'A few years ago, I dreamed of owning a share of this agency. I even did my research and learned that Apex Network Talent had a net worth of $780 million.'
That valuation was eight years ago. Naturally, ANT's performance these past few years increased its valuation to $1.2 billion. Collin now owned a 1% share valued at $12 million.
'I now have a higher status and I can introduce myself with better confidence. I'm not some fucking agent anymore, I'm a partner of ANT.'
"Aside from that, your salary will increase to $350,000 annually," Lila added casually.
"Nice. I'm glad to hear that," Collin replied, trying not to grin too widely.
"If you decide to retire or resign from your position as an executive, the company will buy back your shares for the market price," Lila added.
After that, Collin excused himself in a much better mood. Out of all the good news, the 6% commission rate was probably the greatest thing by far.
Once Collin was gone, Lila stood up and checked the bookshelves in the corner of her office. She found a magazine that was published a decade ago. She flipped through the pages and found a picture of Collin wearing nothing but trunks. It was an advertisement for swimwear. His abs and serious deep gaze were distracting to the point that she had to swallow. Lila slightly bit her lip while looking at the picture before quickly closing the magazine as if caught doing something illegal.
That day, Collin visited Arnold to brag about his promotion, only to realize that Arnold had also been promoted, turning the bragging session into a mutual celebration. The two laughed and decided to drink later. Both of them were considered worthy of becoming partners of the agency.
Furthermore, Arnold was already a dad, and he wanted to work hard for his newborn daughter. Arnold and Jolyne married with a prenuptial agreement, of course, since both of them had their own money. Jolyne had been resting for a year and was now looking for a new project. Her last movie was The Bride Runaway, which was a box office hit, and fans were eager for her comeback.
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"Why are you here?"
"Huh?"
"You're already an executive? Why are you interested in looking at the new applicants? Let us have our moment first." Earnest joked with Collin. The Black talent agent couldn't believe that Collin was interested in scouting new applicants even though he already had five successful clients and a position most agents dreamed of.
"You're still looking for a new client? You already have five."
"Why not? The more the merrier," Collin replied, shrugging lightly.
They were in a wide audition room with dozens of agents sitting on the panel. This time, as an executive, Collin was seated in the middle of the panel. He became the center of attention, with several agents sneaking glances his way. To his right was Earnest, while to his left was Matteo.
Earnest was Cross Pinger's agent. As for Matteo, his client was the director of The Tonight Show with Ray Reno. Both had interacted with Collin before and respected him.
"First of all, don't hog every person you find talented. Leave something for us," Earnest said to Collin.
"I agree with Earnest. You're now famous in the agency as one of the best talent agents. If you show interest, these applicants will naturally choose you," Matteo added, shaking his head.
"Come on, guys. I've been attending the yearly audition for new applicants. You know that I only watch most of the time," Collin defended.
"But you also wrote something in your notes," Earnest accused instantly.
"I'm writing their first impressions. I'm just here to watch," Collin insisted.
"Alright, the first applicant will show up. I've been trying to look for a director, but no one has grabbed my interest," Earnest said, sighing dramatically.
The panelists were all from the film department. The music department rarely invited agents from other departments to scout their new applicants, especially after Collin 'stole' a huge prospect from them.
The agents from the music department were still mad about not acquiring Princess Chantal, and they held grudges impressively long.
As for the sports department, agents usually attended sports games in many schools. This was the common way to discover promising athletes, particularly basketball and football players. Agents watched their high school games and depended on instinct to find rising stars.
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[Author's Note: Not going to lie, I forgot about Collin's 6% commission rate. In the later chapters, I still use 5% rate, I might have to edit that later on.]