The Wolf of Los Angeles

[Chapter 369: Saving Hollywood from Crisis]

In the meeting room, Bart picked up his coffee and took a small sip. Neville glanced around curiously and said quietly, "The office conditions at Twitter are a bit cramped."

Edward, who was accompanying them, added, "The new office building is being renovated and is expected to be ready by February next year. It can accommodate over 6,000 people comfortably, and even if it feels a bit crowded, it can easily hold 10,000."

At that moment, the door to the meeting room opened from the outside, and Hawke walked in. He greeted Bart and Neville and said, "You guys have faced quite a few difficulties over the past six months?"

"Yeah, starting a business was harder than we imagined," Neville replied, his dark circles apparent. "The first month started off okay, but once the website was up, the tech guys Zuckerberg hired insisted on equity shares, so we had no choice but to let them go one by one and start recruiting again."

Bart added, "Then there was the payment system, which required external onboarding and took over a month of back-and-forth."

Neville slapped his forehead to clear his mind a bit. "During this time, there was one instance where Zuckerberg worked an all-nighter and brought in a group of high-end women to relieve his stress. He had a seizure and almost died, spending nearly half a month in the hospital."

The two spoke as if they were on a talk show. Bart continued, "We also faced funding issues, but thankfully, your overseas company injected $5 million into us."

Hawke waited for the two to take another sip of coffee and said, "You've made it through the toughest stage."

Bart continued, "We reached out to Kim Kardashian and Maitland Ward, but they had reservations about our new SugarBaby website. The first two meetings didn't go well, so we came here to continue engaging with them."

Hawke, who wouldn't interfere with such specific work, simply said, "If all else fails, raise your offer. Throwing money at these women who move in the world of fame will make them cooperate."

Neville chuckled, "That's our plan this time."

What Hawke had to say was already discussed earlier that year.

Bart then raised another issue. "Regarding the SugarBaby company, Zuckerberg has new ideas. He's a genius but a jerk; he plans to drop out of Harvard by the end of the year and move the company to the West Coast."

Neville added, "The East Coast is the financial center, but the West Coast is the holy land for the Internet."

Hawke nodded, "You can move to Los Angeles. Silicon Beach is developing quickly; I can help you secure some favorable policies."

Both Bart and Neville were from Cambridge in Los Angeles, so naturally, LA was their first choice for relocation.

The latter said, "That's what we are considering because LA is the second-largest city in North America. The city's characteristics align perfectly with SugarBaby as there are countless high-end women and tens of thousands of young people dreaming of becoming stars. Plus, there's a consumer base for Sugar Daddies that extends from Hollywood. The northern part of the city also has San Fernando Valley, the largest production hub in the world."

Bart expressed admiration, "Los Angeles is the best fit for the ethos of SugarBaby."

Edward chimed in, "You are giving those struggling girls a great opportunity to achieve fame and financial success."

Neville thought this sounded like leading someone down a questionable path.

Edward seemed to understand his thoughts and explained, "Without a platform like SugarBaby, they have to sleep with men in the industry who are at a higher level than them, all for free, with no financial return. Whether they can land a role depends entirely on the morality of the other party, and from what I've seen, most of the bastards in Hollywood have a morality of zero."

Neville understood, saying, "So they have to sleep around and still end up broke?"

Edward recalled the information he had just seen from Campos, "Many young, beautiful actresses have been in Hollywood for years and still can't afford rent; some even struggle to eat and end up turning to street work. Not everyone is like Naomi Watts, who can attract a director like David Lynch at over thirty."

"Hearing all of this suddenly gives me a sense of divine mission," Bart replied cleverly, keeping pace with Edward's rhythm. "SugarBaby must save the boys and girls drowning in the depths of Hollywood!"

Edward scratched his head. "Boys?"

Hawke added, "SugarBaby's paying users can include not just Sugar Daddies, but also Sugar Mamas."

Bart burst into laughter, "The first six months weren't smooth for the company. The main reason was that Cambridge was just not enough; the city was too small and lacked quality resources."

Hawke thought for a bit, "You should run a few more times through San Fernando Valley. Although they have the old Hollywood contract system for actors and production companies, there are still a lot of free agents, and they are potential users for SugarBaby."

Neville had considered this issue long ago. "Moving the company to Los Angeles will make it much easier for us to find people here."

...

Burbank, South Buena Vista Street.

After leaving Disney Studios, Alice walked with her head down, dully heading to the parking lot.

A girl approached her and asked, "How did the audition go?"

Alice shook her head. "I got cut."

"Me too. I got cut from another crew," the girl sighed.

They shared a moment of mutual sympathy.

Alice asked, "Didn't you sleep with the assistant casting director?"

"There were three guys and a dozen girls all messing around together," the girl replied casually. "They just gave us one chance to audition."

As they walked, Alice replied, "I'm in the same boat. Those small roles with five lines or so require you to pay a price to audition."

Both were beautiful, but just relying on their looks wasn't enough to land major roles.

Sleeping around was as fundamental in the industry as acting itself.

Alice had come to Hollywood at eighteen; over seven years, she had been with both men and women. The only gain was shedding her extra role status to compete for lines as a minor actress.

There were numerous actresses like her in Los Angeles.

Alice said goodbye to the girl, got into her beat-up Toyota, and headed north after turning off South Buena Vista Street.

...

Not long after, Alice arrived at the valley area between Burbank and San Fernando Valley.

It was an older neighborhood with many apartment buildings.

She parked the Toyota beside an apartment building, grabbed her bag, locked the car with a mechanical key, and entered the building.

At the entrance, there was a heavyset older white woman who reminded Alice as soon as she saw her, "You are a week behind on your rent."

Alice stopped, putting on a pitiful face. "My pay is coming soon; just give me a little more time."

The lady wasn't unkind but just said, "Get a proper job. I can help you find one. Work two jobs and it will be enough for you to survive in this city."

Alice said nothing and lowered her head as she walked up the stairs.

Being an actor in Hollywood was stereotypically like having a certain kind of profession; it could lead to open your legs, but too difficult to close them again.

This was also why Alice, being an actress for over seven years, had such high sunk costs.

She walked up to the third floor and found someone waiting in the stairwell.

...

Andre, wearing a suit, smiled at her. "What are you thinking about?"

Alice looked displeased. "I'm not interested in your line of work!"

Andre was an agent mainly serving in the Valley. "I've met many struggling actresses, and some stars in the Valley came to Hollywood wanting to be famous. But reality is harsh; after so many years, you should know that well."

Alice fell silent.

Andre appraised her long legs and impressive figure, attributes the audience loved. He said, "Face reality, Alice. Think about it; while working in Hollywood, you might have to deal with bastards. But working in the Valley could earn you significant pay. You could still attain fame and wealth; with your looks and skills, you'd quickly be a household name across America."

He emphasized, "Do you have any idea what the top income is in this line of work? Together, it can add up to a million dollars a year!"

At that moment, Alice felt a twinge of interest because what he was saying was true. How many times had she been used in Hollywood? Too many to count.

As for the many projects needing development in the Valley, that wasn't a problem.

In Hollywood, available spaces had long been used repeatedly.

The only thing keeping Alice from agreeing was the last shred of her pride.

This decision was difficult to make. Alice thought for a moment, "Give me a little more time to think about it."

Andre figured her defenses were close to breaking. He decided against pushing too hard for now, as that could backfire.

"Call me when you've made a decision," he said as he descended the stairs. He turned around, adding, "This opportunity is rare. A production company is looking to shoot a blockbuster, and you'll get to work with some top stars and hit it big."

"Thanks," Alice said numbly as she stepped into the hallway, pulled out her keys to open the door, and sat down heavily on the sofa, staring blankly at the wall like a soulless zombie.

...

Over these past seven years, not counting the crew's mid-level roles, Alice had been with at least dozens of star-level personas and high-level executives, each one promising much but changing their tune once they were done.

The ethics of those in Hollywood fell far below the societal average.

Suddenly, her phone rang. Alice pulled out her cracked-screen phone and answered, "Hello, this is Alice Carson."

The voice on the other end said, "Remember me? We met once. I have a big business proposition worth $100,000 to discuss with you."

Alice recalled that she had spoken to this woman before, drawn in by the $100,000 figure. "What's the location?"

*****

/Sayonara816.