My Hollywood System

Chapter 234:

“I am here to find out exactly how Colt fuck up the meeting.”

As soon as Spencer finished those words, the elevator came to a halt, and the twin doors opened, revealing the lavish top floor of the Fox Studios building.

However, the mood within the room was quite heavy.

As Spencer stepped into the room, he noticed a few people were already present within the room.

He recognised all of them. There were five of the main board directors at the meeting table on the far end of the office.

All of them were seated on one side of the table. At the head table was his son, Colt, sitting with a frown on his face. It was hard to tell if the latter hadn’t noticed Spencer’s arrival or may have directly ignored him,

Opposite the board executives was a man in a black suit, seated with his back facing the entrance.

As soon as Spencer walked into the room, the board executives were the first to notice him. They stood up out of respect, and this also alerted Colt, who raised his head to see what was going on, and upon seeing his father walk in, he stood up as well.

“Dad, you’re here?”

Spencer frowned, “Why are you surprised? Did you think I won’t come after you fucked up so bad?”

Colt shook his head, “No, not that. I just didn’t want to trouble you with trivial matters. You should have asked me to come over instead of coming here.”

Spencer stared at him, “We will discuss that later. First, tell me what actually happened.”

“Hm?” Colt frowned.

A few minutes ago, the man currently seated with his back turned against Spencer had arrived in the office. This man was the family lawyer for the Millers. And as soon as Colt saw the former, he knew his father was also coming to sell him.

Truthfully, he had gotten used to it now. But something felt off this time.

It was then that Colt noticed the young woman behind his father, and instantly, alarm bells began to go off in his head.

“Dad, why is she here?” He asked reflexively.

“Because she’s my daughter.” Spencer replied, “Now, don’t waste my time. Move.”

Colt stepped away, and Spencer sat down on the main chair.

On the other hand, the young woman frowned at Colt, and after slightly shaking her head in disappointment, she took a seat beside the lawyer in the suit.

“You haven’t said anything yet. I don’t have the whole day for this.”

Colt gulped, and after taking the seat beside the last executive, he began to explain.

“Dad, I don’t know what you have heard, but I honestly don’t think I did anything wrong here. I did everything to—”

“Stop.” Spencer frowned, “That’s not the answer I want to hear.”

Then shaking his head, Spencer added.

“I would like to see the whole clip of that day. I will judge everything later on.”

As soon as he said that, the lawyer in the suit suddenly stood up and walked towards the front wall to turn on what looked like the main switch of the projector.

A few minutes later, the lights within the office were dimmed, and everyone was staring at the screen.

…

“Will, we first need to talk about the contract breach. You and your studio have breached the contract.”

Colt’s stern voice resounded through the room.

Will looked up and stared at the latter in confusion, “Breach? What kind of Breach?”

Colt leaned forward, “The fact that you and your company have failed to uphold the contract with us.”

“What are you talking about?” Will frowned, “What did we fail in?”

Colt shrugged, “You failed to deliver [Sherlock Holmes].”

“What?” Will was taken aback, “Am I not here to talk about it?”

“You’re more than a year later, Will.” Colt had his response ready, “As per the contract, you were supposed to deliver the second movie last year, but the only thing we have here is a script. And you have the guts to come here?”

Will stared at him, “Are you really going to make a mountain out of a molehill? You know very well how busy I have been, and now that there’s a chance to make the sequel, you’re bringing up something like this?”

“Are you saying I should ignore the fact that you’re taking our company for granted?”

“I didn’t say that,” Will replied, “But I am curious if you know the words that you’re saying right now. Why do you think I gave [Hitch] to Foxstar?”

Colt shook his head, “As far as I know, Foxstar is the biggest distributor for Dream Vision. We have worked together for the last few years and have helped your studio grow into the giant that it is today. And in return, you have failed to uphold a single contract.”

Will frowned.

After exhaling a long breath, he leaned forward and said in a low voice.

“That’s enough.”

As the stockholders looked at each other in confusion about what Will was about to say, Will continued, “Colt, you’re disappointing, you overestimate your worth, and worst of all., you’re greedy.

“I just said that I gave [Hitch] to your studio as a way of consoling, but no, you are not willing to agree on this, are you now? And you even want to take credit for MY studio’s success?

“I don’t know what delusions you’re having, but in case you have forgotten, you were not the one to give me my big break. Rather you were one of the many who rejected me.

“As for the contract breach, you’re mistaken in that as well. The contract did not specify the time. Rather it only stated that I have to make the two sequels within the next five years. And it’s just been like, what, two years since the contract signing? Maybe not even two years.”

Colt shook his head, “It’s clearly written there. You think I wouldn’t have my lawyers check the—”

“And you think I won’t have my lawyers make the contract?” Will interrupted the former, “The contract is very ambiguous. It’s stated that Foxstar would appreciate it if the movie could be finished by a certain date, but it doesn’t state if Dream Vision must make the movie in this time slot.”

Will had this clause written in such a way that he won’t be bound to Foxstar to focus his time on the making of [Sherlock Holmes 2&3]. Instead he could focus more on establishing his career and making leaps and bounds through the industry.

“Well, the contract does not matter now.” Will added at the end, “As I said, you overestimate yourself, and your greed has blinded you. If you really think Dream Vision only has you as the distributor, then you’re wrong. And you’re wrong even more if you’re under the false assumption that I cannot afford to breach contracts I made when I was a nobody.

“You know, just some time ago, a friend of mine, Robert, I am sure you know him. He was the main lead of [Sherlock] after all. He asked me what will I do with the money I had earned if I couldn’t even spend it. Well, now he will have his answer.”

“I can breach the fuck out of any contract I have.”

Will stood up, “All contracts and future deals with Foxstar Studios will be cancelled. Dream Vision is willing to pay the fine.”

“What?!”

“This..”

“No, wait…!”

As soon as Will announced his decision, a commotion broke out amongst the stockholders and other executives within the meeting room. Even Colt was shocked upon hearing the sudden declaration.

‘No, no, no, this is now how it’s supposed to happen.’

Colt tried to show Will that the latter was being reckless.

“Will, you will have to pay up to 20 Million Dollars just for the annulment of the contract. Are you sure you want to lose that much money over this?”

Will smiled, “Did you not hear what I said earlier? Do you really believe I will cry over 20 Million? And do you even know how much my last movie grossed at the box office?”

As soon as Will said those words, everyone in the room glanced at each other.

Will’s last movie was [Spiderman]. It was a super blockbuster hit and crossed the 1 Billion Dollar mark at the box office, bringing worldwide fame and credibility to Will Evans’ name as a Director and also generating huge revenue for Dream Vision and stabilising their name as one of the swiftly growing studios.

This information was known to all, and it was clear that Foxstar was the one riding Will Evans’ coattails, not the other way around.

Thinking of this made Colt a bit nervous.

However, he also knew it was too late for him to back up now, so he decided to go all out.

“Will, you’re being naive,” He said, “Do you think 20 Million Dollars is the only loss you will suffer? Did you forget that Foxstar is still considered one of the Big Six in this industry, and do you believe you can get away after messing with a studio like ours? It will be unwise to lose a friend, especially when your studio needs allies the most.”

Will shrugged, “I understand that I may have to bear some brunt, but you also need to understand one thing. We were never friends. This was a business deal, and seeing that you still are not willing to accept your fault, I will stand by my decision.”

“Will you—”

Before Colt could finish his words, Will raised his hand and interrupted him.

“There’s nothing else to talk about. My lawyers will contact you soon.”

…

As the screen went off, the mood in the office turned pensive.

Spencer was staring at the screen, and after a long sigh, he glanced at the lawyer in a suit.

“How should we deal with this?”

The man let out a sigh, “I have contacted Dream Vision. They are not willing to negotiate on anything.”

“What’s there to negotiate?” Colt suddenly said, then glancing at his father, he added, “Dad, he’s insulted your hard work. Why are you not seeing this? And I only did this because I wanted our studio to step up. If things continue like this, Dream Vision will surely replace us.”

Spencer shook his head, “It’s never about being a part of the Big Six. And how can you not see what you did wrong? You killed the Golden Goose.

“That movie, [Hitch], do you think it won’t do well at the box office?”

Colt thought for a moment and shrugged, “We never know when his luck runs out.”

Hearing his words, everyone in the room stared at him.

“…What?”

“Luck? You really think it’s just luck?”

The person who said this was the young woman, Colt’s sister and Spencer’s daughter.

“Sofia, Even if it’s not luck, he will surely falter. We can’t bet on him forever.”

“Then, who can you bet on?” The young man, Sofia Miller, replied.

“It’s always a gamble,” Colt replied, “ALways has been. You won’t understand.”

“Why not?”

“You never got any responsibility.”

“Alright, stop bickering,” Spencer interjected. Then glancing at the lawyer, he said, “Hold the negotiation for now, I will talk to Will. I have a feeling he might reconsider his decision based on our old friends.”

“Dad—”

“Shut up,” Spencer frowned, “Colt, I don’t know what’s gotten into your head. I don’t want to clean anymore of your mess. I am too old for this.”

Then once again turning to the lawyer, he added, “Change the ropes.”

Saying this, he stood up.

“Dad?” Colt frowned. The others were also confused. They didn’t understand what Spencer had just said, “What do you mean change the ropes?”

Spencer glanced at his son, “Foxstar Studios will have a new Managing Director.”

“What?” Colt shouted in shock, “But why? Dad, no, you can’t do this!”

“I already did.”

“What? Who?”

“Your sister, of course.”

….

//DreamNote//

First chapter. I ended up finishing this pretty late because of the other novel’s chapters I had to write. I know the chapters which are due, and you will get them. Most likely in the next twenty-four hours. It’s too late here. Will will get into work from the next chapter, I just wanted to end the subplot in this chapter.