The Wolf of Los Angeles

Chapter 88: Dwayne's New Venture

[Chapter 89: Dwayne's New Venture]

In the morning, Megan Taylor stirred from her deep sleep, vaguely hearing sounds. With great effort, she opened her eyes to find herself alone. She heard footsteps and turned to look in that direction.

Hawke had gotten dressed and waved goodbye, saying, "I have an important job today. I have to go."

"Goodbye." Megan reminded him, "If you get any important news, make sure to contact me."

Hawke stepped out, hopped into his Mondeo, grabbed the remote Megan had given him, opened the electronic gate, and drove toward Century City.

...

Fifteen minutes later, he met Edward at a breakfast spot in Century City. After they had eaten, they headed to William Morris.

After a few questions at the reception desk, they were led upstairs to that familiar small conference room.

Dwayne Johnson was already there.

When he saw Hawke, it felt like seeing family. He rushed over to give him a bear hug and said, "This competition is intense. I have no confidence at all. I had to come to you."

Hawke jumped right in, asking, "What specific film and role are we talking about?"

Johnson handed him a script and replied, "It's a gunfight action film. We don't have a final title yet, but it's temporarily called S.W.A.T.. I want to go for the lead role."

Hawke opened the script and flipped through the pages carefully.

Edward, dressed in a suit, was adapting to his role and chimed in, "I think there's a series with that name."

Johnson explained, "A few screenwriters from that series are coming over to our crew."

Seeing that the script was more of a character breakdown, Hawke quickened his pace in skimming it. After reviewing the first fifth, he flipped to the end and closed the script.

He looked at Johnson and said, "This is useful for actors but not for me."

The office door opened from the outside, and Dany Garcia walked in, carrying some documents.

"Morning, Hawke," she greeted the two men. "Morning, Savior."

Hawke stood to shake her hand. "Dany, I didn't expect to see you so soon again."

"Maybe we can continue working together," she laughed. "Should I outline the way we'll collaborate?"

Compensation and job details were obviously the first topics to discuss. Hawke listened to see what she had to say first. "I'm all ears."

Dany mentioned, "Assist Dwayne in landing the role. Unlike previous image consulting or business advising, this falls into the manager's job scope. My suggestion is for both sides to sign a temporary management agreement, focusing solely on this role's competition." R̃????ΝɵВĚ????

Hawke understood the difference between a Hollywood agent and a manager, replying, "Sounds good."

Dany continued discussing the payment issue, "The industry standard for a manager's commission is typically ten percent of the actor's fee for the role. Dwayne's fee for was $5.5 million, so the new role's fee won't be lower than that."

After arriving in Los Angeles, Hawke had done his re

Hawke further asked, "I need to know who Dwayne is up against."

Johnson responded, "The crew has conducted preliminary auditions and non-makeup tests, eliminating most of the actors. Only five are left for the lead role, including me: Paul Walker, Colin Farrell, Josh Hartnett, and Jeremy Renner."

Hawke had heard of those four names, recognizing that none had achieved success on the same level as Johnson later on.

Hawke stood up and rolled a whiteboard over, using a carbon pen to write down the film company, producer, director, and competitors' names.

He also jotted down a line: insurance company for the production.

Hawke said, "Let's start with a background check to understand these people's situations."

Dany noted it down in her notebook: "I can pull related information from the company's database, including their work backgrounds and family info."

"That's not enough," Hawke set his pen down and said. "I need to know their hobbies and preferences, work and living habits, problems with drug abuse, if they are troublemakers or just caught in the mess, their financial situations, and any past scandals or suppressed dirt..."

He listed a lot and took a pause, emphasizing two aspects: "I need to know the producer's and director's past decisions in actor casting -- why they've eliminated people and what led to their selections. I've heard that the crucial factors for choosing lead actors involve performance in the audition room and also outside it."

Johnson candidly stated, "Performance outside the audition room holds more weight."

Hawke added, "Which insurance company provides the completion bond for production, who the point of contact is, their background and preferences, and what risks they fear most -- that needs to be investigated too."

Dany felt overwhelmed and remarked, "Hobbies and preferences, drug abuse, scandals -- all that's best handled by public relations firms."

Hawke looked at both of them, "Let's bring Miss baa into this."

Johnson turned to his wife, "Call Baa, and have her rush over."

"You two can't just refer to her like that," Dany remarked, pulling out her phone to dial Caroline's number. Once the call connected, she said, "Dwayne has an important matter that requires your presence. Hurry to William Morris. What? You're at a client event on Hollywood Boulevard?"

She was straightforward, "This deal will be calculated separately, $20,000."

Caroline on the other end didn't hesitate, "Give me half an hour."

...

In at most ten minutes, Caroline nearly burst into the small conference room, her feet already sore from her high heels.

Hawke pointed to a seat next to him, saying, "Sit down and let's talk."

Caroline sat down, noticing Hawke was at the head of the table. She questioned Johnson and Dany, "What's going on? Why did you bring him in?"

After several collaborative confrontations, she felt that wherever Hawke was involved, serious business was sure to follow.

Hawke explained, "This time, we are assisting Dwayne to compete for the lead role in a film."

Dany detailed the situation from beginning to end.

Caroline adjusted her posture, saying, "You've found the right person; I can dig up all this information."

She turned to Hawke, "But one condition: the information I uncover cannot be leaked to the media, especially not to Midnight Entertainment."

Hawke affirmed, "The information you provide will only be used for this assignment."

Caroline stood up, "I'll get started right now."

Hawke told Dany, "You should hurry up too."

He called Edward, "Let's go; we won't gather any intel sticking around here."

*****

/Sayonara816.