BSL 7

Behind The Spotlight Chapter 7

"I know you're in debt, but I didn't know that you're having a hard time. I have a tip for you: don't loan money because you will become more indebted. Just pay your debt slowly. I'm sure the bank is not asking for that amount in a short time."

$200 thousand was a huge amount and Arnold was shocked that Collin was asking for that amount.

He knew that Collin was not in a good situation financially after what happened to his father, but he didn't expect that the bank would ask his friend for $200 thousand from the get-go. That was fucked up.

 "No, it's not about my debt... Well, the bank is asking me for payment, but it's not that deep, I can take care of it... Anyway, my client and I are thinking of making a film."

Collin started explaining the situation to Arnold and his old friend listened. However, Arnold's expression didn't change much.

Whenever it was job-related, Arnold was the serious type.

"You've been in the industry for many years, albeit you spent more on the modeling industry. But I know that you have an idea of how tough it is to make a movie. Collin, you understand the risks."

Collin nodded.

Making a movie was very hard. The financial risk alone was something that Collin didn't want to shoulder.

Movies often experience budget overruns. Collin wasn't sure that $200 thousand was even enough to make one. Return on Investment (ROI) was another factor to take seriously, not all movies could generate profit. Most of the time, movies flopped at the box office.

Another important was the market and distribution risks. Comedy was a popular genre but not all comedy movies would be appreciated. As for distribution, they have to sign a contract with big studios, and most of the time, the contract was bad for them.

These were just some of the risks of making movies.

"Directors never fund their own movies. You're an agent, you shouldn't shoulder the responsibility also."

Arnold Johnson pulled out his phone.

"Based on your expression, you are serious about this project of yours. I have no intention of lending you money, you probably know that."

Collin weakly smiled. He expected it. Arnold had another character, he was a cheap bastard. This guy was one of the top talent agents in ANT but he was cheap as fuck.

"However, I know someone who can help you."

Collin's pupils slightly trembled as he saw Arnold typing on his phone.

"I'm going to call the CEO."

"You mean the new CEO?"

Collin didn't know much about the CEO. He just knew that the CEO was a woman.

"That's right. You're in hospital so you didn't meet her when she introduced herself to the employees."

"... Are you sure you're going to be all right? We don't know the CEO's behavior, maybe she won't like it if you called her."

"Nah, it's fine." Arnold chuckle.

"Besides, she's the one who said that if an agent had new ideas, she wanted to hear them."

"Bro, I'm asking for a production budget, not a business idea."

"It doesn't matter."

The call connected.

"Hello, Ma'am? Yes, that's right. It's me, Arnold. Hehe, of course, I'm working hard. I'm the best agent in your company, after all!"

Collin cringed as he listened to their conversations. He didn't hear what the CEO was saying, but Arnold was too shameless to raise his voice.

Besides, he was not the best agent in the company. At least there were five or six agents who performed better than him.

As Arnold and the CEO talked, Collin realized that something was happening above Arnold's head.

Words started materializing above his head, it was floating and becoming clear until Collin recognized them.

-- Arnold Johnson

-- A Shameless person

Collin was stunned.

'What the hell? A shameless person? So being shameless is also a talent?'

Based on his understanding, the words that float above people's heads indicate their talents.

'Hm? But why are the words color white instead of gold?'

Collin only witnessed two scenarios of words floating above people's heads, so his understanding was incomplete.

Unlike Wyatt Bray, who had golden words above his head, Arnold's words were pale white.

Collin described it as bleak, different from Wyatt's shiny gold, which invoked strong admiration from Collin.