Jeff is an ambitious man. Even though he has reached the position of President of Warner Bros., he is still not satisfied.
He longs to break free from the shackles of the board of directors and behind-the-scenes financers, and touch the true pinnacle of Hollywood with his own hands.
Just like David Geffen and Weinstein did, instead of stopping at the position of a high-level employee.
Apocalypse Pictures is just such an opportunity. Dozens of emerging independent film production companies pop up in Hollywood every year, but less than half survive within three years.
Going bankrupt after shooting one film has become the norm.
However, this company is different. It not only owns Leon Smith, the traffic-generating machine, but also has absorbed a group of film and television industry talents in a short time.
Excellent scripts are greenlit and start shooting one after another, and even Ready Player One, which was considered the most difficult to shoot, was settled in a short time.
Staying in the high-level position of Warner Bros. for more than a decade, Jeff relied on his bald-smart brain and hound-like keen sense of smell.
He smelled the opportunity for success on Leon—so far, everything this 21-year-old young man has done has been successful.
"Don't hesitate, buddy. Whether in the record industry or the film industry, fighting alone won't work." Jeff pulled a cigar from the humidor as if on his own turf, sniffing it under his nose. "I know young people like lone hero stories, but reality is not a movie. Such stories usually end in tragedy in reality."
"You are absolutely right." Leon slowly reviewed in his mind.
James Wan's joining and Jeff's joining are two different things.
The former is an outstanding director eager for recognition, passionate, and full of idealism.
The latter is a highly powerful professional manager in Hollywood, with more ulterior motives than honeycomb holes, and will never completely obey anyone's orders.
But the benefits brought by Jeff's joining are real, even more meaningful than the joining of several outstanding directors and the successful release of several movies.
He alone can connect every link in the upstream and downstream of the Hollywood entertainment industry, with importance equal to Katzenberg to DreamWorks.
Thinking of this, Leon hesitated no more and took the initiative to extend his right hand.
"You agreed just like that?" Jeff was a little surprised. With his understanding of Leon, he didn't expect it to be so easy.
"I was considering this even before you brought it up. It's my honor that you can join Apocalypse Pictures."
Snap—Fire flashed in Jeff's eyes as the two clapped their hands together heavily. "I don't know why, but with you, I can always find the passion of my twenties. But I know very well that this will be the starting point of a great cooperation!"
After reaching an agreement on intent, next was the details of equity distribution.
Regarding how much share Jeff should occupy, Leon drew a rough range in his mind.
At most not exceeding 30%, ensuring his absolute voice in the company.
The dividend distribution method is the same as the shares held by James Wan, only participating in DVD sales and streaming licensing dividends. Jeff had no objection to this. For an independent film company, it is only natural that whoever is the actual investor participates in box office sharing.
Even for the major shareholder Leon, the same applies.
New York State adopts a "subscription system" for the registered capital of film companies and does not require capital verification.
Actual operating funds are met through subsequent capital increases, investments, or other financing methods.
To avoid possible legal risks and possible financial disputes, Leon proposed to decide the ownership of shares in the simplest and crudest way.
Jeff occupies a 20% investment share in Ready Player One, so in the first stage of the movie shooting, he has to take out at least $10 million.
Then him occupying 20% of Apocalypse Pictures shares is the optimal choice.
Jeff was not satisfied with this result. His original plan was 30% or more, but under Leon's repeated insistence, he didn't say much.
For a startup company, the share ratio has no practical value except for the different weight of voice.
"Make an appointment. Let your lawyer take the power of attorney and my lawyer to the New York Tax Bureau to settle this matter as soon as possible." Leon said immediately after hanging up the phone with James Wan.
The other party had no objection to the idea of a new shareholder joining, especially after hearing the name Jeff Robinov.
Just this name appearing on the shareholder list makes the value of Apocalypse Pictures soar by a large margin.
After achieving his goal, Jeff revealed a satisfied smile. After taking a deep puff of the cigar, he said: "I will facilitate the cooperation between Apocalypse Pictures and Warner on The Witch project as soon as possible."
"How long?"
"Not more than three days. It's just a low-budget movie; I can make the decision alone, but have to go through the motions in the meeting, you know." Jeff said, "I don't understand why you suddenly want to invest in a low-budget horror movie. Just to support that little British girl?"
"Don't joke; that girl is only 15 years old. You know I'm not interested in girls with no boobs and no butt." Leon said casually, "But I always have passion for making money. That girl has a face for a leading lady; she is a born actress."
"Whatever you say." Jeff spread his hands, not believing a single punctuation mark of these words.
Among the female stars rumored with Leon, there are not only full-figured women like Beyoncé and Kardashian.
Street Jesus pays attention to a balanced diet of meat and vegetables.
Jeff continued: "I have no right to interfere in your private life, but we are now in the same trench. I must remind you not to sleep with those women casually. As submissive as they are in bed, they will be as crazy when biting back."
The matter of Leon sleeping with Heard and Megan Fox has not been known by tabloid media yet, but such things cannot escape Jeff's ears.
Rolling in the sheets with an actress requires doing something in return, but he regarded this unspoken rule of Hollywood as nothing.
Practicing the scumbag behavior of "eating and then spitting out" to the extreme, deceiving two popular actresses with one movie.
Since choosing to do so, one must bear the risk of backlash at any time. The deceived actresses choose not to expose it now only because the timing is not ripe.
Once their careers go downhill significantly and lose the spotlight, they will unhesitatingly bring out the sex scandal to hype topics.
Less than half an hour after Jeff left, Max brought the production team to Apocalypse Music to re-record Blinding Lights, which was unfinished last week, for Leon.
This time Leon didn't record in the Columbia Records studio, taking this opportunity to personally experience the new recording studio he built.
Tim had no objection to this. Choosing where to record is the singer's freedom; they won't pay a cent less for the funding.
A few days ago, Ariana named one of the three recording studios "Moon." Leon casually named another recording studio with a completely contrasting style "Sun."
But neither of these two recording studios was chosen by him as the recording location for Blinding Lights. Instead, he took Max into a recording studio themed in black, with "Eclipse" written in gold letters on the door.
Perfectly corresponding to the color tone here, and also forming a theme with the other two recording studios.
Besides Max and his team, Anya also appeared in the recording studio.
Her eyes looked around the recording studio curiously, finally resting on Leon.
After the date with Leon on Fifth Avenue last time, her figure appeared more and more frequently in Apocalypse Music.
Soon became familiar with the employees here, becoming less introverted.
Learning from the chat with Bonnie that she was a fashion blogger, she immediately subscribed to her channel on YouTube.
Those lingerie outfit videos that couldn't cover anything shattered the worldview of the British girl, making her blush and heart beat fast every time she watched.
"Listen, Leon, your singing skills have no problem! Find the emotion, dominate the audience's brain with your emotion!" Just like the pep talk before an NBA game, Max did the final emotional adjustment for Leon before recording.
The dim environment of the Eclipse recording studio made it easier for him to concentrate. Putting on headphones, he gave a thumbs up to Max.
A strong spotlight fell on him, and the accompaniment sounded in the headphones.
"Sin city's cold and empty (Oh), No one's around to judge me (Oh), I can't see clearly when you're gone!"
Max put on monitor headphones, shaking his head while listening, simultaneously commanding the keyboard player's performance state with gestures.
Under Leon's guidance, the lighting engineer shone the spotlight on Anya. Suddenly becoming the focus of the scene, she looked around nervously, only calming down when she met Leon's eyes.
"Yes! Awesome! That's the state!"
"Look, this girl is already blushing from your stare!"
As soon as Leon walked out of the recording studio, Max rushed forward and gave him a warm bear hug. "I know why your state was wrong last time. Because there was no girl, right? It seems you are just like Cardi; the opposite sex is your source of inspiration for recording!"
The recording process this time can only be described as perfect. Max even proposed to release two versions of this single for sale.
One is the official version with MV, and one is the studio live version.
"Mr. Leon, your singing just now was great. I've never heard music of this style." Anya, unaccustomed to being the focus, leaned over blushing.
"You also understand music?"
"I learned a little bel canto technique, but because I really have no singing talent, I gave up singing lessons at the age of ten." Anya said, "But my dad is a super fan of Pink Floyd. I can almost recite the lyrics of the entire Dark Side of the Moon album. The new song you just sang has a shadow of Pink Floyd..."
Leon and Max nodded in unison. Blinding Lights is basically a super stew.
Psychedelic rock, disco dance music, R&B, Trap rap...
This song can hardly be clearly defined; the degree of innovation is not inferior to Old Town Road, which combines country and rap.
Max put his arm around Leon's shoulder and complimented: "Even looking at my entire producer career, this guy is the most talented existence. I have never seen anyone who can play with so many music genres. Even if one day he creates a series of symphonies, I won't be surprised."
Leon curved the corners of his mouth and smiled without responding. According to the uncertainty of inspiration refreshing, maybe one day the other party's words will come true and refresh a symphony.
"That kid Drake will release a new album Take Care this month. He has already declared war on you across the air on social media." Max said with a smile: "It seems he is going to humiliate himself this time. You have at least two heavyweight new songs released throughout October."
On social media, this young rapper from Canada has not stopped at all recently. First, he mocked his old rival Kendrick taking advantage of the "Will Smith slap" incident, and later actually fired directly at Leon.
Although Drake is older than Leon and debuted earlier, his status is weaker by more than one grade, and his fame is far different.
Daring to fire at Street Jesus must be driven by someone, most likely the upstart record label boss Lil Wayne standing behind him.
Leon had no intersection with Wayne, at most met a few times at award ceremonies, but there were often small frictions between them.
The other party is now a core figure in JAY-Z's circle of friends, an active participant in the "Anti-Street Jesus Alliance."
"I'm too lazy to pay attention to this ngga; I haven't even heard his works." Leon meant one thing inside and out: Who is this kid? Does he deserve my attention?
What's his status, and what's mine?
"No, buddy, you can't underestimate Drake too much." Max shook his head. "He combines R&B and rap quite well, even taking on most of the production work for the new album alone. Otherwise, Rihanna wouldn't lower her status to collaborate with him, featuring on his new album."
Max is a true professional, firmly ranking in the global TOP 3 in the field of pop music producers.
After the reminder, Leon paid a little more attention to this potential opponent.
However, he still didn't think Drake's name deserved to be put together with his own, and was too lazy to respond on social media.
If he really had to respond, beating that kid hard through Kendrick's hand would be the best result.
Leaving the recording studio, it was already 6 PM, and the sky was half dark.
Leon personally drove the Porsche 997 carrying Anya back to Tribeca together.
We Don't Talk Anymore was playing on the radio all the way. He tried switching frequencies several times, but the result was the same.
Tim fulfilled the bold words he put down a few days ago; listeners have no choice at all.
Either turn off the radio or be pressed by the fierce money offensive to listen all the time until completely brainwashed by the melody.
After getting along like a "follower" these days, Anya obviously talked more. Listening to the melody on the radio, she couldn't help asking: "Heard this song was released after you broke up with Miss Robbie, right?"
"Yes."
"Still can cooperate after breaking up? Wouldn't it feel awkward?"
"How could it be? Dating is dating, business is business; this has to be viewed separately." Leon shook his head helplessly. Only naive little girls would ask such stupid questions.
"Okay..." This answer seemed to impact the girl's values. Anya wanted to say something more, but swallowed the words.
"Can't be friends after breaking up?" Leon frowned, remembering a British Christmas movie Love Actually he had seen.
British values are not so rigid, even more open than Americans on many concepts.
Open relationships, nude beaches, wokeness—these avant-garde ways of playing spread from Europe to the world.
But thinking of the education Anya received, Leon didn't find it strange. This girl has always attended private girls' schools, which usually have courses on religious female virtues.
Plus strict parental education, love is endowed with a certain sanctity in her concept.
Such a character cannot stand firm in the treacherous entertainment industry. Leon sighed helplessly:
He is not only this girl's boss but also has to take on part of the teacher's responsibility.
Fortunately, this girl is only 15 years old. He has enough time to teach the other party the "correct three views" (worldview, values, outlook on life).
When the car drove past Central Park, he took the opportunity to propose taking a walk together.
Anya agreed without thinking much.
Central Park at this time was full of couples, elderly financier couples, and young investment banking elites hooking up with new interns.
Kissing in public or even more excessive behaviors attracted no attention here. Instead, Anya, the "outsider," was shocked to blush by the hot scenes seen everywhere.
"Oh my God..." She gently tugged at Leon's arm.
"What's wrong?"
"Did you see those two people?" She pointed to a bench not far away.
On the bench, a young man looking like an Indian was hugging a black person. The two were deeply affectionate, light in their eyes.
"This is New York Style. It will be livelier here at midnight."
Driven by curiosity, Anya kept asking, thinking there were urban legends like midnight ghosts here.
Leon curved the corners of his mouth into a wicked smile, just not telling the truth: Every midnight, thrill-seeking young couples treat Central Park as a paradise for wild exploration.
Even during peak hours, there is a risk of "crashing" (bumping into others) in the woods.