Bowery Street, directly across from Disney Studio.
Several trucks stopped in front of a four-story office building, and many xicans got off the vehicles, moving the cargo into the building.
At the entrance of the building, a new, shiny copper naplate hung, inscribed with bold letters—Davis Film Production Studio.
By the end of this year, the office lease at Warner Bros. Studios was up, and Martin had chosen not to renew. Instead, he relocated the company to this site near Disney.
Martin stood in the spacious fourth-floor office, which afforded him a perfect view of the Disney building across the street.
This location was similar to Warner Bros. Studios, with the production lot located right behind the office building.
There was a knock at the office door, and Martin went to open it.
Jessica ca over with a few xicans pushing carts: "Boss, the safe you ordered has arrived. Should I have them place it directly inside the office?"
Martin nodded, "Bring it in." He pointed to a spot in the corner where it was ant to go: "Just put it there."
The xicans pushed the cart over and then lifted the heavy safe together, placing it in the corner.
Martin checked the position: "That's fine."
As the xicans passed by Martin's desk, two of them glanced at the stack of docunts on it—one spot in particular contained a sizable pile of files.
They often serviced companies in Hollywood and could tell at a glance that those were screenplays.
The n did not linger long and proceeded to leave the office.
Martin asked Jessica, "Have all the items been moved in? "
Jessica replied, "Everything will be done with this trip."
Martin, like a savvy capitalist, said, "We'll resu normal operations tomorrow."
The noise of moving continued from the open office door until it quieted down half an hour later.
After settling the bill, the trucks and a large van gradually left.
On the van, four xicans were discussing.
"Boss, placing such a big safe in the office, he must be keeping valuables in there."
These n, who hadn't been in Arica long, had unknown past jobs, and so of them were very daring: "Should we take a shot at it?"
The boss, who appeared quite honest and had a good-guy look, said, "Diego, don't talk nonsense. We're doing legal business!"
Diego, whose neck tattoo peeked out, scratched his head and said, "Boss, working this hard for money is just too slow."
De Paul, sitting next to him, added, "They say Arica is heaven. We gave up business in xico and ca all this way to Arica, only to end up working our asses off again."
The boss, Rodriguez, said, "Didn't you see? The owner of that office is Martin Davis, a real big shot in Hollywood, rumored to be so close to the new chief of the Los Angeles Police Departnt that they might as well be wearing the sa pants!"
Determined not to be outdone, Diego retorted, "In xico, we've even dealt with mayors!"
Roro, who was driving, interjected, "Shut up! That's all in the past. No one speaks of it again."
Rodriguez continued, "You haven't been here long enough to understand that the LAPD is the biggest ard violent group in Los Angeles. For people like us, if we get in the LAPD's way, we're just targets for emptying their magazines!"
Diego and Roro fell silent.
Rodriguez went on, "Security in Los Angeles isn't great. No one puts anything too valuable in an office safe—that'd be like telling others to co and steal it!"
As the driver, Roro chid in again, "When I left the office, I noticed so screenplays on Martin Davis's desk."
"I saw them too, definitely screenplays," Rodriguez looked to Diego and De Paul and said, "Pay attention now, I'll teach you how to make money without risk."
Diego and De Paul nodded eagerly.
Rodriguez explained, "Martin Davis is known in Hollywood for his sharp eye. The movie projects he picks are always blockbusters. In my frequent contacts with Hollywood companies, I've heard more than once that many companies and producers are dying to know in advance what projects Martin Davis will choose."
De Paul was quick to catch on, "The screenplays on the desk?"
"Right, those screenplays are our business opportunity!" Rodriguez said to the driver, "Roro, you know a lot of people in Hollywood. Spread the word that we've seen many of Martin Davis's project scripts."
Roro hesitated, "But we only saw the screenplays…"
Rodriguez might look honest, but he was no fool: "Where those scripts are hidden, that information could be worth so money."
Roro nodded, "I'll head out this afternoon."
Diego and De Paul chid in, "We'll go with you."
Rodriguez approved, "Good idea. Even though your English is not bad, you need to get used to the environnt here. Don't always resort to guns and such—we've got to use our brains to make money!"
"Understood!" the two replied in unison.
After returning to downtown Los Angeles, the four had lunch, and while Rodriguez sought high-end contacts, the other three went to spread the news.
......
Like other production companies in Hollywood, Davis Studio constantly received screenplays sent by screenwriters.
Every week, Martin would set aside so ti to quickly skim through the screenplays, but over the years, few of them were of any value.
In Hollywood, there has been a rough estimate that almost 400,000 scripts are received each year, and the lowest number published by the industry association was 350,000.
This does not even include remakes of old films, sequels, comic adaptations, or novel adaptations.
The ones that get produced—hoping for even one percent is wishful thinking.
As for the infamous Hollywood Black List that gained fa because of "Juno," over the years there were so that beca successful films, but like the Pareto principle in the industry, there were many more failures.
Martin had always been paying attention to the Black List, and of course, he would make a move if he found a valuable project that still had its rights available.
The latest dozen scripts had all piled up on his desk.
Martin was quickly flipping through them.
Among these, there were scripts sent by established writers within the industry, but most were from new writers.
The first script Martin opened was called "The Seventh Son," but after seeing the premise on the first page, he closed it and set it aside.
There was no need to read further, as it was a fantasy epic.
Latter scripts like "Middle Eastern Lover" and "The Prince's Escape" left no impression on Martin— the writers were newcors, and the content of the scripts wasn't worth noting.
The next dozen or so were the sa.
It wasn't until the last one that Martin saw a familiar work called "Transcendental Hacker," a story about an electronic scientist who is assassinated by terrorists, and his wife uploads his consciousness into a supercomputer.
He had seen this movie, and it was morable because Johnny Depp played the leading role.
But rembering that Depp, ever since playing the captain, only fell into pits whenever he left the Caribbean Sea, Martin closed the script and put it aside without hesitation.
Having finished all the scripts, he originally intended to have soone take them all away, but considering that even fairy tale books like "Jack the Giant Slayer" could co in handy, he only had the unimpressive ones taken away, keeping "The Seventh Son" and "Transcendental Hacker."
Martin thought for a mont, couldn't think of any use for them right away, and simply put the scripts in his safe.
The phone on his desk rang, and Martin answered it. It was Mia calling him over.
Since joining and signing a creative agreent with Davis Studio, Mia had been writing and revising scripts.
Even with Bradt's help, for a novice screenwriter like her, it was not easy to write a script to Martin's satisfaction.
Moreover, at Martin's suggestion, the script had turned into a musical.
Mia's boyfriend, Sebastian, had resigned from Smoky House and joined Davis Studio specifically to compose music and write songs for "LA LA LAND."
Martin went upstairs to where Mia and Sebastian had a large private studio.
Mia handed a manuscript to Martin and said, "I've revised the script again."
Martin had not been quite satisfied with the script before, mainly with the ending where the female lead, beca a big star and ended up with the male lead, similar to a Disney fairy tale movie.
A happily-ever-after ending might seem nice at a glance and is perfectly fine for other types of films.
But for a film set against the backdrop of Hollywood, it was inappropriate—not in line with Hollywood reality, nor with the public's perception of Hollywood.
The female lead could still have lingering feelings for the male lead, but would choose to marry and live with a man of higher wealth and status.
Martin took the script and flipped directly to the last part. The ending had been changed; it was no longer the main couple ending up together. Instead, the female lead married a producer, and the ending took place in the male lead's jazz club, where they t again.
They t but did not get back together, ultimately going their separate ways.
"Is this ending okay?" Mia asked.
Martin closed the script, "This ending is good."
At this point, Sebastian said, "I composed a piece specifically for the ending."
"May I listen to it?" Martin asked.
Sebastian sat at the piano and began to press the black and white keys.
The tune was sowhat lancholic, but within the sorrow, there was a sense of striving and uplift.
Possibly from listening to Taylor Swift sing so much, Martin had developed a level of appreciation—he could even discern these nuances from the lody.
He decided that to improve his musical taste, he would have to listen more to Taylor and her squad of friends.
After the piece ended, Sebastian took a mont to catch his breath before looking to Martin, "I was the one who suggested using the musical genre, but I only understand composition, not choreography or lyric writing, so the studio needs to prepare in advance."
Martin nodded, "I will talk with Disney. They are very good at music and dance and do not lack professional talent."
Sebastian was relieved and said, "I'll continue composing."
Martin returned the script to Mia, "Keep refining it, and if there are any issues, discuss them more with Bradt."
His phone rang, and he waved goodbye as he exited the studio, noting the call was from Jolie and Aniston.
"Hey darling, shall we go check out the art film shooting tomorrow? I spoke to Jen on the phone; her and Pitt's new movie is starting to shoot tomorrow."
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