As the finale continued and the winners received their awards, Matthew slipped out of the auditorium early with Lily Collins. A few people had just recognized him, and if they didn't leave quickly, they were sure to be mobbed.
Escorted by six bodyguards, he and Lily slipped into a bulletproof rcedes.
"Where to?" Matthew asked.
Lily replied, "Find sowhere we can get a late-night snack. I'm starving."
Matthew glanced outside and told Brown, "Take us to Aggie's."
The restaurant was nearby, and he rembered it for its excellent Italian late-night snacks. He had been there once before.
Five minutes later, Matthew and Lily walked into the restaurant. His six bodyguards followed, taking seats at two adjacent tables.
Lily glanced over at Brown and then asked Matthew, "Is that business from before still not resolved?"
Matthew placed their order and handed the nu back to the waiter before answering, "No."
He smiled. "Don't worry. This is Los Angeles, not Tijuana."
There were so things best left unsaid to Lily; after all, she was only a nineteen-year-old girl.
Just three days ago, after sustained pressure from his side, the FBI and the California police had conducted another joint raid with the xican authorities in Tijuana. It sent several drug traffickers scattering like startled birds, but the police still failed to capture their targets.
Helen suspected there might have been a leak from within the xican police departnt.
It was common knowledge that the rampant power of xican drug cartels was directly linked to the corruption within their own police force.
In modern society, before the might of a strong state apparatus, any drug lord or gangster was nothing more than scum.
Matthew wasn't overly concerned. The FBI predicted that both targets would likely flee to Colombia or even further afield.
Of course, he hadn't let his guard down. There was always a chance the other party had slipped into California; after all, Tijuana and California were only separated by a wall.
Lily, who ca from a wealthy family and knew little about such things, casually asked a few more questions before the conversation shifted to the season eight finale of Arican Idol, which she had just watched.
"Are the judges crazy? I can't believe they let Kris Allen win the title over Adam Lambert!" Lily sounded quite indignant. "Adam has a much more distinctive voice. Kris Allen's singing is just average. I'm not a big fan."
Seeing Matthew's indifference, she pressed on. "Seriously, Kris Allen sounds like so guy you'd hear singing at a pub. Adam Lambert, on the other hand, sounds like a true artist on stage!"
"Well..." Matthew said thoughtfully. "They sound pretty much the sa to , don't they?"
Lily rolled her eyes. "You have terrible taste in music!"
Just then, the waiter brought their late-night snacks. As they ate and talked, Lily added, "Didn't you see how excited the people in the front rows were when Adam was singing? So of them were even moved to tears!"
Indeed, most of the audience mbers in the front rows had been extraordinarily emotional, reacting so intensely it was as if the show resonated with them on a deeply personal level.
But Matthew, who had been in Hollywood for years and was still the Angel Agency's number one client, knew that these audience mbers weren't as simple as they appeared.
"Lily..." Matthew didn't respond directly to her comnt, but instead asked, "Didn't you have audiences like that when you were hosting your show on Nickelodeon?"
"What kind of audience?" Lily didn't quite understand what Matthew ant.
Matthew said it plainly, "A professional audience, just like tonight."
Lily froze. "They weren't regular people?"
She had hosted a children's show for a short ti and had heard whispers of sothing like this, though she'd never encountered it directly.
Matthew nodded. "Not only are they professional audience mbers, but technically, most of them are employees of the sa agency as us."
Lily was astonished. "They're all clients of the Angel Agency with us?"
"Helen established a subsidiary of the Angel Agency over two years ago and spun off the business of providing extras," Matthew explained calmly.
"At the sa ti, she started developing the professional audience market. The agency currently provides audience services for Arican Idol, The Tonight Show, and many other programs... In fact, this side of the business is probably one of the best in all of Hollywood."
"I thought Helen only handled elite clients," Lily said, looking a little embarrassed.
Matthew smiled. "You shouldn't underestimate this low-end business. I read one of Helen's reports a couple of months ago, and the revenue from this sector is substantial."
In reality, this line of work overlapped significantly with providing background actors. Extras were faces unfamiliar to the audience. When television networks and production companies recorded or broadcast live variety shows, it was entirely possible that so of the more skilled extras were seated where the caras could easily capture them, pretending to be ordinary viewers.
Helen had gotten her start in the low-end business of providing extras, and over the years, the Angel Agency had never abandoned that part of the market, only spun it off into a separate subsidiary for operational purposes.
With a large pool of extras, there was a solid foundation for developing a professional audience business.
"I've heard of professional audiences before, but I've never actually seen them in action," Lily asked with curiosity. "So, what's the pay like?"
Matthew recalled the figures he had seen in Helen's report and replied,
"Decent."
Seeing Lily's curiosity, he explained briefly, "Over the past couple of years, it's not just the four major networks; many production companies have been heavily investing in reality shows and music talent competitions. Arican Idol is already in its eighth season, and for many of these shows, the emotional reactions of the audience are just as important as the content itself."
Lily thought for a mont and nodded in agreent.
"That does seem to be the case. TV shows have been showing more and more audience reactions in the last two years."
"Let's not talk about anything else, just Arican Idol," Matthew continued. "When many of the contestants are performing, the audience in the front row usually listens with rapt attention. Exaggerated behavior, like humming along with their eyes closed or even being moved to tears, is also common."
He couldn't help but laugh. "The more exaggerated their performance, the more money they make."
There were simply too many television stations in North Arica, with no single national network dominating the industry. The competition between programs from different stations was fierce, prompting them to co up with all sorts of unexpected strategies to boost ratings and create buzz.
In fact, it wasn't even a secret within the entertainnt industry. To find these professional audience mbers, many networks recruited them through online staffing agencies or outsourced the job to a professional company like the Angel Agency.
Of course, to be a professional audience mber, one needed a certain amount of acting talent. You had to be able to cry on cue, look instantly enraptured, and your voice had to be loud enough when it was ti to scream.
This business also had its entry requirents. At the highest level, a professional audience mber could earn between $300 and $500 for a three-hour taping. For lower-level work—clapping loudly, cheering, and shouting—a three-hour recording session would bring in anywhere from $50 to $200.
Matthew had once been an extra himself. He'd seen the relevant information in Helen's files and paid special attention to it. Unfortunately, back when he was a background actor, this industry hadn't really taken off on a large scale. Otherwise, making a living as a professional audience mber wouldn't have been so difficult.
Now, extras who could et the standards of a professional audience earned far more than those who only worked as background actors in films.
During the show, the people who scread the loudest, cheered the hardest, and held up the light-up signs were by no ans fans of the contestants.
Just like with the producers of Arican Idol, the Angel Agency received an advance each season. Helen's subordinates would then select suitable candidates from their pool of extras to participate in the show's tapings or live broadcasts.
This segnt of the market was now quite significant. According to Helen, it was worth about $200 million last year.
Helen was just as cautious as he was; she wouldn't get involved in a business unless it was profitable.
Of course, just like actors, professional audience mbers had to be trained.
The agency organized performance classes for this group in advance to prepare them for the job. There were also different pay grades for performances; a better performance commanded a higher price. They were given the seats closest to the stage, and during the peak season, a monthly inco of over ten thousand dollars was possible.
Matthew and Lily ate and chatted about industry gossip, laughing together from ti to ti. The late-night al ca to an end when Lily's mother called, telling her to co ho early.
After finishing their snack, Matthew drove Lily straight back to
Beverly Hills.
Perhaps it was her family background, combined with a privileged upbringing and a relatively smooth entry into the industry, that made Lily seem more straightforward and less complicated than most of the actresses he knew.
The next day, after a call with Matthew, Lily left Los Angeles to join the cast and crew of
Twilight for a promotional tour across the United States.
Matthew also returned to the studio to prepare for filming G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra.
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