Los Angeles.
Zane returned to the company and immediately did three things for Christopher Nolan:
He signed three directing contracts with him.
He hired him to direct "Wrong Turn 2".
He bought the rights to Nolan's first movie, Following, for $30,000.
Nolan was incredibly grateful. Most new directors in Hollywood had to work for years as assistants before they ever got to direct. Zane was giving him a huge shortcut.
"Boss," Victor objected, looking at the Following contract, "this movie isn't going to make any money."
Zane nodded. "I know. It won't."
In his old life, the movie made less than $300,000 worldwide.
"Victor," Zane explained, "we're not doing this for the money. We're doing it to make Nolan loyal to us. And... it's a good practice run for our new distribution team. Let them figure out how to release a small movie before we trust them with a big blockbuster."
"Understood," Victor said.
Zane wasn't worried about Following. His real goal was keeping Nolan happy.
...
The Next Day.
Zane woke up early and went to the set of "The Purge."
The crew hadn't started filming yet. The producer, Kevin Feige, was talking to the director, Zack Snyder.
When they saw Zane, they stopped and smiled.
"I hope I'm not disturbing you!" Zane called out. He held up two giant bags. "I brought burgers!"
His bodyguards, Ron and Mark, were carrying even more bags full of food.
"Thank you, boss!" everyone cheered.
Even though Zane was strict about budgets, he knew that small kindnesses mattered. As the famous writer Montesquieu said, "Small details are often the most important."
Zane chatted with Zack and Kevin. "Do you need anything?" he asked.
"The filming is going great," Kevin said. "But... we could use some help with advertising. The actors aren't famous yet."
"No problem," Zane said. "I'll tell Victor to handle it. And... I'll get ICQ to run some pop-up ads for you. Since I'm a major shareholder, I can get us a very cheap price."
Kevin was overjoyed. ICQ was huge! It had 12 million users now. Getting ads on ICQ was a big deal.
With that problem solved, filming began.
Zane watched the actors. He didn't recognize any of them. But that was okay. The star of The Purge wasn't the actors; it was the idea.
The story was set in 2022. The government made all crime legal for 12 hours to lower the population. It was scary, violent, and fascinating.
Zane knew this movie would make almost $100 million. And it only cost $10 million to make!
"With movies like this," Zane thought happily, "my company is going to grow fast."
Zane was now worth over $200 million. He was too busy to be on set every day like he used to be.
"But maybe," he thought with a smile, "when I have some free time, I can direct a short film myself. Like The Blind Tuner."
He loved directing, even if it didn't make him the most money.
...
Over the Next Few Days...
Zane spent most of his time at the UPN Television Network.
His top priority was getting "America's Got Talent" ready.
He wasn't rushing to promote Harry Potter yet. He just put some small ads on Amazon. He would do the big push later.
"Donna," Zane said to his TV CEO, "you handle the production for 'Got Talent.' I'll handle finding the judges, okay?"
"No problem, boss!" Donna said. She knew how important this show was.
In 2007, Fox TV paid $70 million just for the rights to make this show! And that didn't even include the advertising money.
Zane knew this show was a gold mine, and he was going to make sure it was perfect.
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