Darkstone Code

Chapter 1090 - 1088: The Value of a Role

Lynch’s personal experience!

Two weeks of life and death at sea!

Calmly persuading the robbers to retreat while protecting all the passengers on the ship!

Most importantly, all these people are rich, truly wealthy, with assets over ten million!

Isn’t that legendary enough?

Of course, it’s legendary. This is Lynch’s legendary adventure. People are interested in everything that happened on the ship, even more interested in why some people privately revealed after disembarking that Lynch was a villain.

But soon they all changed their tune, denying their previous statements and maintaining silence.

Something must have happened here, and everyone is particularly curious, wanting to know exactly what happened!

If this stirred the curiosity of seventy percent of ordinary people in society, then adapting this real story for the second time and the beautiful female writer who endured long-term abuse from her biological father added another twenty-five percent of attention to it.

She said there are secrets hidden in the book, related to her experiences. Originally, she thought she would have to live a life with no foreseeable future.

But everything happened too quickly. On the eve of the book’s release, she found the opportunity and the courage to stand up and report her father.

Such dramatic elements all concentrated in one book fueled people’s love and curiosity enough to make it the hottest bestseller of the year!

The profit-seeking nature of capital immediately emerged. Some publishers invited the girl to write for them, and even feminist organizations invited her to join, promoting her as one of the saviors in the feminist movement!

Yes, without the encouragement of the feminist movement, she might still be silently enduring everything. It was precisely because of the feminist movement that she gathered the courage.

Whether or not this is the case is not important; what matters is that she acknowledged it.

There are even some new pen brands seeking her out, hoping she can promote their new brand, as her strong and brave image fits well with the pen’s positioning...

In short, she has also become popular. Capital sees a glittering profit in her, pushing her into the spotlight, with no privacy left, thoroughly exposed.

Including a production company announcing that they had purchased the rights to her personal story and plan to use it as the blueprint for an art film about family ethics, tentatively titled "Daddy and Me."

They say they will invite some famous actors to perform, and the film will include explicit scenes, faithfully recreating everything experienced by the female lead, the writer’s family!

Yes, this is capital; as long as it brings them profit, they will elevate a person to the skies.

As the actual owner of the rights to "Lynch’s Adventure 2," Lynch authorized Fox Film Corporation to shoot the second installment of "Lynch’s Adventure."

The script has been adapted, and next is the casting issue.

Fox Film Corporation plans to go public this year, so to ensure a good start, they decided to invest more money in a well-crafted film.

And that’s this one, a big production with a star-studded cast. Combined with Lynch’s proposed "talent show," the Fox Film Corporation board was almost excited enough to jump for joy.

It’s said that during those days, some of the contracted actresses did not go to work, possibly affected by the cold weather, as they were feeling unwell.

Penny wants this role. Such a large production would be an unprecedented boost to her acting career.

In the film industry, there’s a peculiar way of doing things. How much an actor can earn depends on how much he/she/they earned the last time and whether the last film’s return ratio was satisfactory.

If the lead actor in a movie earned 200,000 in the previous film with a return ratio of three to five times, then this time the film company dares to offer a salary of three to four hundred thousand.

The frenzy for box office and investment is also the main reason for the booming development of the film industry; after all, people’s entertainment options are quite limited now.

Things like operas are too far removed from ordinary people; being unable to afford it is one issue, and not understanding it is another.

As for other more expensive entertainment activities... those are not within the consideration of ordinary people!

They can only put entertainment within what they can afford.

For example, a family of four spending $1.99 times four on movie tickets, receiving two free buckets of popcorn and four free cups of lemonade, enjoying nearly two hours of simple, ordinary joy, is quite good.

The Federation has more than sixty million people, of which ninety-five percent belong to the middle and lower classes of society, and their entertainment options include watching movies.

Assuming one percent of them, sixty thousand people, go to the movies once a week, they would contribute 1.2 million in box office weekly, and 4.8 million monthly.

But in reality, those who primarily treat movie-watching as entertainment are not few. Every weekend, almost all cinemas are packed from the afternoon until early morning.

And many people don’t just watch one movie; they watch two or three or even more, which means even more actual box office earnings each month!

Fifty or sixty million box office, or seventy or eighty million, maybe even a hundred million.

This visible profit is there, calculated monthly by professional agencies, and the scale keeps expanding.

This foreseeable revenue stimulates the hearts of every investor, who believes they can create a miracle with just three to five hundred thousand.

They don’t need to monopolize all the profits, only a small piece of it, three percent?

Or five percent?

Returns of multiples, tens of times, dozens of times, that’s what they pursue.

As for risks and losses, those are inevitable in the pursuit of considerable returns, and they are willing to accept these risks!

And this is why the film industry is developing rapidly, as everyone wants a share of the monthly box office.

Not just producers, investors, directors, photographers, actors... they’re all sharing in this money.

Penny’s pay is already at the upper limit for young actresses, 200,000, and opportunities to go higher aren’t many.

Previously, she discussed this with her broker. Firstly, she must participate in some big productions and prove she has the ability to handle leading roles in major productions.

Then she needs to raise her salary, at least to 300,000.

Finally, if the box office achieves remarkable results, she could truly become a top-tier actress.

Due to the invasion of capital in the Federal film circle, some things have changed significantly.

In the past, whether a woman had so-called "domination in the film industry" and "screen dominance" depended on how many awards she had won.

But now it’s different. Previously, Penny planned to spend money to win awards, but now under rapid capital erosion, capitalists and producers select actors not based on "how well he/she/they perform," but on "how many audiences he/she/they can bring in."

This also resulted in many young stars quickly achieving higher pay, creating a sharp contrast in the movie industry.

Some veteran actors believe acting skills are more important, but capital doesn’t think so!

She must get this role.

Penny glanced at Nelly, who was still somewhat reserved.

Nelly’s life has also gotten a lot better recently. First, the Every Moment advertisement made her famous and increased her exposure; having fans means capital starts to chase.

Various endorsements, promotions constantly appeared in front of her, with those merchants holding contracts in one hand and cash in the other, pleading with her to sign on the dotted line.

This feeling...honestly, it’s great!

She never thought she could have it all, feeling that even if she asked for the moon, they would get it for her—or give her something similar.

Before coming here, Penny actually already found her and talked to her once.

Penny’s intention is for the two of them to work together to secure the lead female role and the first female supporting role in this film. Of course, Penny would be the lead, and she would be the first female support.

She heard from Fox Film Corporation that they decided to change the male bandit leader to a glamorous female bandit leader to make the film more appealing.

This is a great opportunity, so being the first female support is essentially being the first female villain, which, in a sense, is part of the "lead role circle."

The two are competitors off-screen and also become rivals on the big screen, which fits their persona perfectly—

Since the Every Moment advertisement aired, many people believed there must be competition in their real lives too.

The brokers on both sides accepted this narrative, revealing to the media that they are good friends but also have a very competitive relationship.

This is a very ordinary persona, but it somehow thrills their fans.

Some even write letters to them, praying and wishing for them to defeat each other...

Overall, maintaining this persona is very meaningful and valuable. When someone needs Penny, they consider if their budget can also afford to bring in Nelly, although her pay is quite low, only fifty to a hundred thousand.

Conversely, when Nelly is needed for a role, people consider if there’s an opportunity for Penny to cameo in a role, or...play a less demanding supporting role.

Mainly because her salary is too high, it’s hard for ordinary productions to afford.

This seemingly competitive but mutually beneficial relationship allowed them to gradually taste some success, and they are willing to maintain it.

If they can play the lead and villain roles in this movie, it would undoubtedly push their careers to a new height.