Dominating Hollywood: Starting with Scarlett

Chapter 15 Ten Thousand Dollars

"Tang De, good afternoon." Badman was not wearing a suit at this time, and his overalls were stretched on his belly, making him look a little bloated.

"Good afternoon, Mr. Badman."

After saying hello, Tang De sat on the chair opposite the desk.

Badman's face looked a little tired, but he still smiled and said: "Don't call me 'sir', I'm not used to it."

"Okay, Badman."

"It sounds much closer. Remember, black people hate the social rhetoric of white people. Especially here, in the upstate New York, this is black territory."

"Understood, Badman." Tang De nodded. He really didn't know much about how black people got along with each other. Although he lives in the Bronx, the northernmost area in New York with the largest number of black people.

Badman took out a cigarette, lit it, and then asked: "What preparations are needed for the album cover shoot?"

"You need to prepare a closed room and some light sticks that can adjust RGB colors."

"Simple, I know where I can borrow lighting equipment, I just make a call, what else?"

"Other than that, just let Raymond wear a leather jacket and add a cross necklace."

"Easy, I'll make arrangements now." Badman acted resolutely and called directly in front of Tang De to arrange for others to get things done.

Then he suddenly asked: "You must have listened to Raymond's song yesterday, right? What do you think?"

Tang De raised his eyebrows, not knowing what Badman meant by asking, but from that phone call he vaguely guessed that the manager in front of him didn't actually have high hopes for this album, so he said half truthfully and half falsely. : “I don’t usually listen to hip-hop, but I think that song Eight Hours Later is pretty good.”

"Not bad?" Badman puffed out smoke and said with no apparent expression, "Do you think it will be a big hit?"

"I can't tell, I'm not a professional." Tang De did not respond directly, because he knew very well that there was no hope that this album would be a big hit, and it was good enough not to lose money.

We can't blame companies and DJs in Chicago, Los Angeles and other places for not buying it. Ramon's rough voice is completely uncontrolled and is like the roar of a wild animal, but he is not a rock singer, and he does not have his own unique rap rhythm. I can't even hear the lyrics clearly, damn it if I even like it.

"Okay, then do you think it's necessary to shoot a MV for this song?"

After hearing this, Tang De suddenly realized that Badman was struggling with this matter.

Just like he argued with the person on the phone, if he only shoots three MVs, then which songs should be shot in the MVs is the top priority.

However, Tang De had a different view on this and said bluntly: "To be honest, Badman, I think if you need to shoot a MV, it would be best to spend all your time on one song."

"One?" Badman frowned: "Why?"

"Because of the cost." Tang De accurately captured what he was thinking: "If a song can be effective and attract attention, and then release the entire album, I think the sales will be higher than releasing the album directly."

Badman thought for a moment: "You are right, it is like this. But who knows which song the market likes?"

"I told you, or you can ask the radio station about their taste."

"Okay, you're right. After all, they deal with the audience every day and must know their preferences." Badman agreed with Tang De's suggestion.

"Actually, if you lack a MV director, I can do it." After confirming the shooting time, Tang De suddenly mentioned his idea again.

"MV director?" Badman thought for a moment: "How about we wait until we finish shooting the album cover?"

"No problem at all."

Tang De stood up and left, and suddenly said in front of the door: "Badman, there is another question."

"what?"

"If I do an album cover shoot, I have to be sure of one thing, and that is the whole audience. No matter what I say or do, everyone else must follow it. There can only be one voice in the scene, and that's me. Is that okay?"

Badman shrugged: "Of course, no problem, we respect professionals." "Then it's settled."

Tang De turned and left the office.

Badman immediately called Faith again.

"Faith, I understand, we will only shoot the MV for one song for Ramon's album."

"No, no, no, it's not that I don't like his album, but it's just that this can maximize the benefits. We only have so much money, so of course we have to spend it on the most critical places."

"Listen to me, first find a local radio station and ask them to help us choose a song, and then release the single after shooting the MV. As long as the market response is good, sales will naturally increase when the album is released!"

"What? Beast Star? This song doesn't work!"

"Can't refute? Faith! You're starting again! Although you are the boss, you don't understand music!"

"Shit, of course I understand! I brought so many singers with me!"

"FXXK, have you already made an agreement with Raymond? I will really be pissed off by you, okay, okay, just release the song "Beast Star" that can scare people to death!"

"Send the album cover immediately after shooting it! Don't even think about the MV, it's just wasting money!"

Listening to the violent voice coming from the room, Tang De clicked his tongue in surprise.

He had already left, but suddenly he remembered that he had not asked about the reward. As a result, he heard Badman's angry growl as soon as he arrived at the door.

I don’t know what kind of person that Raymond’s father Faith is, who can make Badman so angry.

But it's none of his business. The most important thing for him now is to get the album cover done and get the money.

That night, Jimmy came to find Tang De again and took him to Apollyon's company.

In fact, it is said to be a company, but the overall area is not even comparable to that of Face Music Company. It can only be regarded as a studio. Usually, this group of people don't work in the company. They either work part-time on the set or have parties at Apollyon's villa.

This Domino's commercial was shot by Apollyon on the set, because the original director was not creative enough and was fired on the spot by Monaghan.

As for Scarlett, she was also the actress who was originally scheduled to be cast, and she received the most in the entire advertising fee.

So Apollyon didn't get much money as a temporary director, at least much less than when he was an assistant film director. But this was his first battle in the advertising industry, so money was not the most important thing.

And the salary he paid Tang De was four thousand dollars. Judging from the salary of Hollywood lighting engineers, even the salary of movie lighting engineers is only a few hundred dollars a day, so four thousand dollars in two days is far beyond the industry standard.

But that's not all. Mr. Monaghan also paid them an additional advertising planning fee of thirty thousand dollars.

Tang De divided ten thousand dollars among himself, and the remaining money was divided among others.

To be honest, this is the first time that Tang De has earned so much money. In the past, he earned dozens or hundreds of dollars.

Now we finally see more than 10,000 units.

The money made Carmela very excited. In the evening, she bought a lot of fruits and meat that she didn't usually eat, and filled the refrigerator.

This means they don’t have to worry about debt and livelihood in the next year or two.

But Tang De quickly proposed that he wanted to buy a car.

In a place like the United States, it's really difficult to move around without a car, and Tang De didn't want to endure the smell of urine and go to the subway every day to evade fares.

Carmela also agrees with this. This is something that all American young people have to face. She does not want her son to ride a bicycle every day, which is time-consuming and laborious.

So the two discussed it and decided to leave only five thousand dollars in the family, and the remaining money was used to buy second-hand cars and for Tang De's expenses.

(End of this chapter)