[Chapter 13: Shooting the Believer MV and Movie Rights]
On June 1st, they began filming the Believer music video. For Linton, this shoot was actually much simpler. He basically spent the entire time just being cool.
The shots of him singing had to look cool, the basketball sequences needed to be cool, the boxing scenes had to have a cool vibe, and the baseball footage also had to be cool. The movement in Linton's shots amazed the filming crew; they didn't even have to try hard to find the right angles; anything they shot just looked cool.
Linton usually presented himself as refined and gentlemanly. Although he appeared cool and rugged, he ultimately left people with an impression of a tough young man.
However, when he took off his shirt, revealing his well-proportioned physique and muscular build, he radiated strength. Especially when he moved around, his charm was overflowing with energy, like a professional athlete.
Zack and Carson were taken aback, exclaiming it was a good thing no beautiful women were around because they would surely lose their minds over him. "This music video will have girls drooling, I can't imagine how many female fans you'll attract," they remarked.
Zack had some skills, and thanks to solid pre-production work, they completed filming all the scenes in just three days. Afterward, he dove right into the editing room and didn't even attend the wrap party.
That evening, Linton joined Carson's crew for a wrap party. The party was wild, filled with women, alcohol, and smoke. But Linton kept his cool, had a quick drink to celebrate, and then left early.
Finally, a few days of free time came his way.
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With Linton's rising fame, Universal had upgraded his treatment to A-list standards, providing him with a private dressing room, makeup artist, and image consultant, and even offered to give him an assistant.
Regarding the assistant, Linton felt that having Molly was enough to help him coordinate tasks between departments, as well as manage fan letters and gifts. He wanted to hire another assistant himself to mainly handle the operations of his fan club.
Universal agreed, allowing him to find his own personal assistant to fund, which basically meant Universal would cover the salary while he chose whoever he wanted, even if they didn't show up for work.
They explicitly stated that this assistant would report directly to him, and Universal just needed to take care of the base salary and benefits; any bonuses would be his responsibility. Universal didn't care at all and agreed.
At this point, the talent agencies and record labels still hadn't realized the impact of fans on box office and album sales and didn't prioritize managing fans.
Thanks to Linton's success, he was granted a meeting with John Smith, the president of Universal Music, who encouraged him to continue producing more outstanding work. Smith promised Universal would provide top-tier promotional resources for Linton's songs.
Time was tight, though, and there wasn't enough time to hold a celebration. They agreed to throw a party once the third single was released.
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In the following days, with Mira's help, Linton interviewed several candidates for the assistant position and ultimately chose Bella Miller.
Bella was a 24-year-old white girl with red hair who had just graduated from Georgia State University the year before, where she studied media and public relations. She had moved to Los Angeles in August and was now an intern at the California Independent.
Linton offered her a salary of $30,000 per year, with benefits, and a yearly bonus based on performance.
Bella left her job at the newspaper and would start working as Linton's personal assistant on June 8.
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Upon hearing he was back in Los Angeles, Cameron Diaz and Naomi Watts both called Linton. Cameron mentioned that she had gotten a minor role in a film recently, filming away from home. That was a good gig for her, as the role gained her fame thanks to her rumored relationship with Linton. However, she anticipated returning by the end of August.
Naomi also gained a lot of attention from the Numb music video and received a role in a television series as well, although she wouldn't be filming until after the 10th. For now, she was busy with appearances around Los Angeles.
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After interviewing for the assistant, Linton made dinner plans with Naomi. However, considering his ongoing relationship with Cameron, their publicist decided their on-record fling would officially end after the Believer promotional campaign wrapped up in early July.
They found a cozy restaurant to dine at, and after the meal, Naomi invited Linton to her apartment. However, given the lack of privacy at her place and the poor soundproofing of the rooms, Linton suggested they go to his villa instead.
Once they returned to the villa, things naturally heated up between them.
Linton noted that while Naomi's popularity didn't rival Cameron's, she had indeed improved since they had first met and was somewhat beneficial to his growth.
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The next day, at 8:30 AM, Naomi's agent arrived to pick her up. As a newbie, she has to seize every opportunity. Linton didn't have any arrangements and decided to rest at home, contemplating his next steps.
Four months had passed since he arrived in February. He had become a hot singer, releasing two singles with solid sales and had gained a significant fanbase.
He also met two future leading ladies of Hollywood and helped them quicken their rise to fame, anticipating that their Hollywood journey would be smoother than in his past life. This would only benefit him more in the future.
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The most important thing is that his power growth has been astonishing. In just three months, he has already reached the fourth stage of Starlight Spark -- an incredible feat. According to the information he got, in this stage, each level typically takes five to ten years to advance. Those who can progress by even one level within two years are considered once-in-a-generation prodigies.
It's clear that in this age of mass entertainment, the conditions for cultivating supernatural power are ideal. As long as it's managed properly, fame and influence are limitless, eliminating the usual concerns about resource depletion.
However, as his power level increased, he would need more and more popularity to advance, and each breakthrough will take longer. The next step is to release his single, Believer, and push it into overseas markets.
By July, he certainly expected to breakthrough to the fifth level, aiming for the sixth level by September. With the hope of releasing an album by the end of the year, his popularity should also rise, with aspirations to reach the seventh level by year-end.
[T/N: I have updated the first chapter with the power details. The first two stages each had nine levels, while the latter three were divided into early, middle, and late levels. So, he is currently on first stage, level 4.]
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After releasing Believer in June, he couldn't drop any more singles. He needed to focus on the album for the year-end -- a total of 13 songs. He could pick ten songs from his memories of the past life. Plus, with the breakthroughs in his training, not just his physical abilities but also his cognitive, learning, and memory skills had seen a significant boost.
While filming the Believer music video, he had showcased some athletic abilities -- his jumping, speed, reaction time, and balance left the entire crew astonished.
In truth, this was still a controlled display, not expressing even one-tenth of his true potential. After his training, he had far exceeded the average person.
Considering the need for international market promotion and with his increased learning ability, it would be wise to learn the languages of several major markets during his free time. He planned to learn Japanese, French, German, and Spanish.
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After the album release at year-end, he would need to slow down in music to focus on film projects. After all, the popularity generated by a good movie far surpassed that from songs.
By the end of the year, he expected to collect royalties from his three singles. With total sales of at least 25 million copies internationally and a per-song revenue of about six dollars (considering various market fluctuations and discuounts, it could be lower), his share at 22% would roughly amount to $30 million.
Additionally, considering other licensing deals (TV, competitions, malls, product ads, etc.), his earnings shouldn't fall below $2 million. Starting in July, he could also nab some endorsement deals, and given the current trend, at least $5 million should be attainable. While live performances weren't being prioritized at the moment, after deducting the agency's share, that would still leave him with approximately $33 million.
But taxes in April would be a significant issue. He needed to find a reliable accountant to help manage his tax strategy. By then, he would also see album royalties come through, so funds shouldn't pose a problem.
Finding investors for his first film might be tough, but he could always self-finance since he was confident in the market viability of the films he chose to produce; they were bound to be profitable.
His primary goal in making films was to promote himself, and it would be even better if the leading lady shined. Making money was just the secondary objective.
So when selecting films, he needed to filter well according to the above two conditions. Speed, The Matrix, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, National Treasure, Wanted, Ocean's Eleven, and Pirates of the Caribbean all met the criteria. Copyrights needed to be registered or purchased early, especially for the upcoming films in recent years.
From his memory, he recalled that Speed aimed to begin production in 1993 and release in 1994. He needed to hurry and get the script written and register the copyright.
Also, Mission: Impossible was slated for production in 1995 and released in 1996. He would need to acquire adaptation rights from CBS. He didn't have enough funds at the moment, but that could come later, just as long as it was completed by year-end. The rest could wait a while.
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With these thoughts in mind and a couple of days of free time, Linton rushed to write the initial script for Speed. It took him two days to finalize the outline, and then he called Mira to help him file it with the Writers Guild and the Library of Congress.
To clarify, the copyright generator for literary works (including movie scripts) is structured through the Writers Guild and the Library of Congress.
Of course, if you were a member of the Writers Guild, you could also register it there. However, joining the guild required you to have a script filed with them for a produced film under your name.
Thus, to protect one's rights, many preferred to pay $30 to the Writers Guild for registration, allowing others access to view it. Registration, however, required renewal every five years, and proving infringement after the fact meant demonstrating the other party profited.
The safest route was to file with the Library of Congress, as this would become automatic evidence in case of infringement, though the processing time was longer. This was why the Library of Congress was the world's largest library.
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