Chapter 145: MHS – Chapter 147

Dream Vision Head Office, Santa Monica, California.

In the huge meeting room of the building, every important figure of Dream Vision was seated.

They all had confused expressions on their faces as they waited for Will, who was busy scribbling down on the huge whiteboard of the meeting room.

He put down his marker pen and everyone can finally see what he wrote on the board.

[GTA: Vice City]

The hope of getting the context of why they were summoned here was shattered when everyone in the room read those unfamiliar words.

“As every one of you is well aware, [1917] has just been released and is doing very well in the movie theatres and cinemas. That means we can’t release [Liberty City] for at least one whole month. Otherwise, it would bucket the profit that would otherwise go to [1917].”

After sweeping a glance at everyone and seeing that everyone was listening and had an expression which said ‘go on’, Will continued.

“So, I had this awesome idea to make [Liberty City] forever memorable for the future generations.”

Will finished and waited for everyone to take in his words and voice out their thoughts.

The first one to speak was his uncrowned secretary, Amanda.

“First of all, what does this… [GTA: Vice City] even mean? What is it?”

Everybody nodded their heads in unison as if saying that’s what they wanted to ask too.

“GTA means Grand Theft Auto, a term for car robberies. Vice City is a city from the same universe as [Liberty City]. It’s the place from where Tommy Vercetti came from.”

Then Will turned around and stuck a piece of paper into the whiteboard. There was a pre-drawn sketch of Tommy Vercetti on it, just a younger version.

“It doesn’t look like Ethan…. Is that really Tommy Vercetti?”

The head employee from the PR department pointed out.

“Yes, it isn’t Ethan. [GTA: Vice City] isn’t a movie like every one of you is taking it to be. Instead, it’s a video game.”

Hearing that, gasps of wonder and dumbfoundedness could be heard from people as whatever they were thinking till now froze in their minds. On the other hand, Amanda, who Will had entrusted with the task of contacting a game company, finally realised something as she connected the scattered dots.

“Don’t tell me… are we going to invest in a video game now?”

Amanda’s words sounded weird to herself, as she thought that the talk about investing in a game in a Hollywood movie studio was absurd.

“Bingo!”

Will exclaimed, affirming the suspicions everyone was slowly gathering in their hearts.

Amanda saw a headache coming to her as she slowly rubbed her forehead and asked.

“So, what is all this about? Do you have a plan…? Well, you know what? Sorry for asking. Of course, you would have a plan. Just tell us what the plan is exactly.”

Everybody gave a helpless smile at Amanda’s words. Will was as eccentric as anyone could be, not only did he make absurd plans and strategies, but they also worked. Every. Single. Time. 

At this point, anybody asking him whether he had a plan for something he had blurted out would be making fun of themself. In the eyes of Dream Vision and DTA employees, Will Evans always had a plan.

Will smiled and took one of the chairs lying around, turned it towards the direction everyone was seated and sat on it, as he started explaining his plan to everyone.

***

California was considered a giant that stored the most gaming companies in the USA. And from the more than three hundred big and small companies scattered around California, more than 100 of them were from San Francisco alone, making it downtown for game creators.

EC Games Studios Headquarters, San Francisco, California.

EC, also known by its elaborate name, Electronic Crafts, was one of the leading video game companies in the world. Not only did it develop and distribute many PC and mobile games, but it also had its own ES (Electronic Switch), which was popular throughout the world as a gaming console.

EC’s reach spread far and wide, to the point that it had even managed to establish itself in countries like China and Japan, which were known to be leading in games and technology.

Inside the office of Arnold Rival, the head of EC Studios, Arnold was sitting with Jay Lincoln. Jay Lincoln was a man famous for being the brain of [Tales of Gartiya]. It was a single-player Action/Adventure video game that had boomed the market like nothing else. Kids loved it and almost everyone in America had heard about the game.

Currently, Jay, as the man heading the IP of [Tales of Gartia] had come to Arnold Rival, the distributor and heart of the game. WIthout Arnold, it wouldn’t have been possible to launch and manage the game on such a large scale. But today, these guys weren’t here to talk about their previous success. Instead, they were here to discuss their current failure.

“Jay, you know how much I like your work. When there was no one who believed in your game, I did. I put my belief in it and we succeeded together. But you should know the current state of the sequels.”

Arnold said with a tinge of bitterness in his voice. The game had worked splendidly when it was launched. So much that everybody demanded a sequel.

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EC Games complied with their consumers' wishes and released the sequel. It was a hit too, but nowhere near on the scale of its prequel. As the profits from the game started to get lower and come close to the cost of maintaining and updating the game, Arnold requested Jay to release another sequel as a quick money-grubber.

After months of effort, another sequel was launched and the market that it met with was as hard as a rock. The third sequel was a total failure, instead of profit, it only increased the losses of the company. 

Not like the only game that EC had was [Tales of Gartia], but it was undeniable that a big chunk of its income came from the aforementioned game, which was now slowly dying.

“It’s a disappointment, but we can’t do much about it.”

Jay said, knowing full well that there was no way to get up a horse that had already died.

“I know. But we can’t stay as it is now. The stockholders want us to start a new IP.”

Arnold said, somewhat annoyed. It was always the same with the major shareholders of the big companies. They would always boss around people because of the fear of losses while enjoying the profits from the sidelines.

“They want us to, but you should know better. Even if we start a new IP, it won’t even be close to what [Tales of Gartia] was. And that would just make them angrier.”

Jay rebuked. He himself wanted to work on something new, but he wasn’t confident enough to claim that it’ll work on the same level as [Tales of Gartia].

“We don’t have much choice either way. We have to start a new IP and I want you to head it. I don’t know a better person to trust with this.”

Arnold said. As if raising his hand and giving up on the matter of negotiations totally.

“But still-”

Jay wasn’t able to finish his sentence as there was a knock on the see through glass door. Arnold, who saw his secretary knocking, gestured for her to come in.

“Sir, we just received a call from Dream Vision Studios.”

***

Johnathan had come to Ethan’s house after getting the call from Amanda, regarding the reshoot.

Since it was an urgent matter, he didn’t want to leave behind any loopholes that could lead to complications and any type of conflict later on.

“So, what is it about?”

Ethan asked as he took a large sip from his coffee mug.

“Well, I got a call from Dream Vision’s CEO personally regarding a reshoot. Will wants to reshoot some of the end credits parts as he wants to add a scene in it.”

Johnathan said as he looked at Ethan.

“Man, no, please no. I had finally planned a week’s vacation. Tell him to leave it as it is.”

Ethan said, clearly displeased that he was asked to shoot again.

“It is better to reshoot because it’s something Will Evans is very excited about. And don’t forget that normally a shoot can drag on for half a year. You were lucky it was Will’s film that has a track record of having fast shooting. Not only that, but I’ve also heard that some of the industry insiders are labelling the film as a blockbuster.”

Johnathan said in a convincing manner. Ethan suddenly thought about the box offices of both [1917] and [500 days of Summer] and decided that it would be in his best interest to remain in Will’s good shoes.

“Alright, I will do it. Just inform me about the shooting schedule, and tell Will to complete this shoot as soon as possible.”

Ethan conceded and Johnathan sighed in relief. It was always troubling being the agent of an A-lister, but it also paid well so what could he even complain about.

Johnathan took out his phone from his pants right pocket and called Will’s secretary, Alexia.

“Yes, yes. Mr Silva has agreed to the reshoot, just inform us about the schedule and try to finish it as early as possible.”

After discussing with Alexia, Johnathan hung up the call.

“Wanna drink some mojito? Since the vacation is postponed for good, let us just enjoy it here. I know how hectic an agent's life could be, after all, I was one myself.”

Ethan said as he chuckled.

“No way! Are you kidding me?”

Johnathan said as he looked like his eyes would pop out. He had never heard about Ethan’s past of being an agent.

“Yeah, it’s a short story, but let me tell you in detail….so it went something like this….”

And hence, the Actor and his agent bonded for the first time ever since their first meeting.

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