America 1982-Chapter 316 - 19: Seven Hundred Thousand as Consultancy Fee_4
"Uh..." Laura didn’t speak, she just smiled at Tommy and nodded.
Tommy looked towards Diane, and Diane, after having been forthright with Tommy, had fewer reservations and said to Tommy, "Laura doesn’t know how to respond to you, because before you talk about respecting women, can you please put on your pants first?"
"Jesus was naked and it didn’t affect how the world worshipped him," Tommy sighed, looking over at Laura Dunn who was clearly better at pleasing guests and also looked younger than Diane:
"Laura, do you have an agent?"
"Of course." Laura didn’t understand why the other party would come up with such a question, but in the interest of not offending the guest, she told the truth.
Tommy fell silent, pondering for a moment, then looked at her, "I have a friend who owns a talent agency, if he agrees to cover some of your expenses, I mean, expenses like drivers, makeup artists, and stylists, all paid by the agency, and maybe they even take a very low commission from you, wouldn’t that ease a lot of your burden?"
"That’s not important, sir. What matters most is that they help me get job opportunities. An agency that doesn’t take commission from me but can’t get me any job opportunities is no better than one that takes forty percent of my income but can secure me one or two movie contracts every year. I would obviously choose the latter," Laura replied without hesitation.
It’s not that artists will sign up with an agency just because it offers better conditions; in Hollywood, it’s about whether the agency can consistently get the artist job opportunities, resources, raise their profile, and prolong their career.
"You make a lot of sense. But honestly, in my eyes, you all seem so pitiable; I can’t bear to see you beautiful girls get exploited by Hollywood’s greedy capitalists," Tommy said with some sorrow, and then put down his utensils and stood up: 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖
"I’ve lost my appetite, you can do as you please. Oh, and Diane, you are free to leave right after the party if you want, you don’t have to come back to this room."
Tommy dropped this remark, got up, and left the dining room. After making a call in the living room for Page to bring up a new set of clothes, he walked forlornly towards the balcony of the living room.
"Who is he?" Laura, looking out at the balcony from the living room, saw Tommy staring into the night with a cigarette in his mouth and asked Diane.
Diane shook her head, "I don’t know, but I think it’s best not to get curious about him. Since he said that the deal is over, I will leave as soon as the party ends."
Meanwhile, Tommy stood on the balcony, dialed Susan’s number on his cell phone, "Where are you?"
"I’m in Canada looking for potential broadcast partners for BT Television," Susan answered. "If not, I’ll register and establish a black-owned television network here in Canada."
"I’ve stumbled upon a group of injured actresses in Hollywood, and we should save them. The only problem is that these women don’t trust men, and it’s unlikely that Mark and I would earn their trust. I think you can delegate your current tasks to someone else and silently build a victim alliance in Hollywood. If managed well, it could become the most important political asset of your life, and these girls could be your most effective golden fists," Tommy said, exhaling a puff of smoke into the night breeze.
Susan paused for a few seconds, "To give those poor women a voice, to attack the film companies in Hollywood?"
"No rush. I’ve told you before how to grow mushrooms. First, you invest in these women, so when you need to make a bigger political move, you let them come forward and blow a hole in the target," Tommy turned around, leaned against the railing, looking down at the soft lights and the two Hollywood actresses sitting at the table, and continued.
Susan seemed to catch Tommy’s drift, and she tried to offer her guess, "Are you saying that when you need to spend money but don’t want to dip into your own pockets, you pick a listed Hollywood film company, buy its stocks hoping for a profit, or even kick a company when it’s down in collaboration with others, you get a few from the victim alliance to step up and accuse the company of what it did to them?"
"It’s not that shallow, Susan. But the fact that you came up with that surprises me pleasantly; you always have the knack to surprise me," Tommy praised her with a smile:
"Talking to you has been the highlight of my day. Simply put, it’s about gaining their trust, feeding them as well as possible, so that one day in the future, they will willingly use their scars as weapons for you."
"After I hand over my current work, I’ll come back to Los Angeles to see you as soon as possible, goodnight," Susan didn’t prolong the conversation further. Since Tommy had made up his mind, she didn’t need to waste time pondering it herself.
"Goodnight, Susan." Tommy finished speaking, hung up the phone, and gazed at the stars, murmuring to himself:
"If I consider the seven hundred thousand as a consultation fee to help my dear Susan’s political career find an excellent springboard, it doesn’t seem quite so painful after all."
