Hollywood What If-Chapter 387

"Let me check... It's done, huh. It looks amazing. The UI is simple and easy to use. The comment section is also not that bad, people who created an account can react to comments."

Kazir explored the new website of Grey Pictures. The internet industry was booming despite the dot-com bubble crash that had happened a few years ago.

This website was designed by him based on how websites looked in his past life, clean, simple, and easy to use. Of course, he had only provided an example, while the actual programming and coding were handled by professionals.

This website had taken quite a while to build. To be honest, it took two years to complete because the internet was still a new industry with no clear rules to follow.

On the website, news about their upcoming projects was displayed on the front page. People could also check their past movies by searching for their titles in the search box.

Each movie had a comment section where people could share their honest opinions. Of course, there were still no comments since the website had just launched today.

Kazir decided to comment on one of the movies, as he already had an account.

-- 10/10. I love the movie! I love it so much that I bought both the regular and deluxe DVD versions. I watched both versions just to see the differences. Guys! I highly recommend buying both versions because they are amazing!

Deluxe DVD versions of movies were rarely available for rental because they tended to sell out quickly. This was especially true for CCU movies, which were always in high demand.

Kazir was personally promoting his movies on the website.

"Speaking of websites... I wonder when Facebook will be created. I heard the website will be launched this year, but I have no idea when."

Facebook was actually founded in February 2004, just one week from now.

Knowing the potential of this website, Kazir was excited to invest in it.

He had already acquired shares from Google, holding a 7% stake.

After receiving $1 billion from 20th Century Fox, Kazir diversified his investments. For every company he recognized, he invested a portion of the money. It was better than letting it sit in the bank and depreciate. It was also a good way to protect his money from taxes since they couldn't tax funds that were invested in the stock market.

Kazir was also interested in Netflix, but he wasn't in a rush to invest. He was waiting for the moment Netflix launched its online streaming service. That would be the right time to buy in.

Financially, Kazir's life was in great shape. He had no fear of losing money. In fact, he had no idea where to spend it. He wasn't a materialistic guy, though his film library at home was now filled with old movies, ranging from silent films to black-and-white classics and early color films. His collection was worth more than $7 million because the films he had were authentic originals.

Sometimes, there was a novelty in watching old movies on videotape. In the next few years, people would lose interest in VHS technology, but Kazir would keep his collection.

He checked every movie section of the website until he reached the TV Show section. There was only one TV show that Grey Pictures had produced so far: Game of Thrones.

This TV show had received amazing ratings, averaging 19.28 per episode. The show had already aired its ninth episode three days ago, and it had been a great success.

Next week would be the last episode of the season. Unlike most TV shows that had 20+ episodes per season, Game of Thrones only had 10 episodes.

The reason was the budget. Every episode cost millions to produce. Since the audience loved the show, the second season was already in production.

Kazir checked the comment section and was surprised to see that someone had already shared their thoughts on the show.

-- It's an amazing show! I'm excited to watch it next week!

The comment was short, but Kazir could sense the sincerity. He smirked.

Since Season 1 was a success and Season 2 was on the way, Grey Pictures understood that they had to increase the budget.

They had only broken even with revenue this season, but their profits in the next season seemed promising, so Grey Pictures was not hesitant to invest more. 𝙧ÃɴоʙЕȘ

Naturally, the actors also received a salary increase for the next season.

Emilia Clarke's salary per episode was around $12,000, but in Season 2, her pay per episode might double, depending on negotiations between her agent and the producers.

If Kazir remembered correctly, by the time Game of Thrones reached Season 7, many of the actors were making $500,000 per episode, including Emilia Clarke, who played Daenerys Targaryen, and Kit Harington, who played Jon Snow.

Obviously, the production studio wouldn't offer that kind of salary unless the TV show was highly profitable.

'By the time we're done, the valuation of this TV show will be around $1.5 billion... The problem is, when should we end it?'

Season 8 had been a disaster, and even the cast admitted it. They had failed to deliver a satisfying ending. Kazir didn't want that to happen again.

While surfing the website, his phone rang, and Kazir glanced at it.

"..."

It was Angelina.

The current scandal circulating in the industry was affecting Kazir's reputation.

He had already explained everything to Angelina, so he thought things were fine.

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"Hey, babe, how's your day?"

He answered the call, and Angelina responded.

"Kazir, I think you should turn on your television..."

"Hm?"

Kazir raised an eyebrow but did as she suggested. Angelina remained on the phone as Kazir turned on the television in his office.

He switched to a news network.

-- Breaking news: Tobey Maguire beat a reporter to death.

"..."

Kazir was speechless.

++++

[Author's Note: Yeah, I guess this is a filler chapter, huh? I just want you to be ready because I'm cooking up this year's (2004) plot against Kazir. This will be one of Kazir's worst years, perhaps the worst one.]

[As for why I'm doing this to our MC, well, life is never easy. Sometimes, you have to go through hardships.]