Chapter 121

Phil took a moment before returning the reporter’s call. He wished there was somebody in the Media Relations department at Lambswool that he could trust. There wasn’t. The manager had been terminated that day. The department was far down on his list of priorities and he hadn’t vetted any of the other employees.

He knew he could contact his mother for help but he was reluctant to do that for any number of reasons. He knew he could contact Tiffany but she was in the same boat as he was. She would have no real-world knowledge about dealing with sharks and vipers in the Hollywood media.

He decided to trust the only person he could think of in Los Angeles with extensive experience in public relations: Meredith Miller.

He knew the Brock Miller story, of course. But he’d done (or rather had someone else do) a thorough delve into Meredith’s life before he’d mentioned a possible shopping trip to Hailey.

He’d found Meredith’s missteps. He knew of her nervous breakdown at 16 (and wondered why he hadn’t taken that route). He’d found rumors of infidelity while she traveling with Randi Raver. He knew of her sister’s drug and alcohol addictions – and the penalty Leah Van Landingham was paying for those sins.

The aggregate didn’t paint a very pretty picture. Then he stopped for a moment and put it into perspective of his own life. He put into perspective with what he knew about Brock Miller. Miller didn’t seem the type to suffer fools – or infidelity. Phil certainly didn’t think that Brock Miller would marry someone who hadn’t earned his unwavering trust. That was a solid recommendation for what sort of personal Meredith had grown to be.

Now, Phil knew that Meredith was the media’s point of contact for one of the best-known players on one of Major League Baseball’s best-known franchises. To Phil, the Dodgers were a bigger deal than a small-time studio. The team was certainly more visible than Lambswool. He decided to trust that Meredith would know who in the media could be counted upon to give a fair accounting.

After a deep breath, he dialed the number.

The conversation with the reporter started out well enough. The guy had no real information on Phil Warner and had Googled him. Lambswool wasn’t a major player in the entertainment industry, despite producing the top-rated cable show on television and getting set to release Courtney Hollings’ comeback project.

“Hey, was that Hailey Warren I spoke to earlier?” the man asked.

“It was,” Phil confirmed.

“She was with Randi Raver and Meredith Miller today, wasn’t she?” the man asked.

“She was,” Phil confirmed.

“I’ll update the photo on the web site to let everyone know she’s your fiancée,” the man said.

“That isn’t necessary,” Phil joked. “I believe she is going to change her name legally to ‘Unnamed Hottie.’”

“Sorry about that,” the man said. “We didn’t know who she was but it was obvious she was with Randi and Merie. We bought the picture from a freelancer and he didn’t think to get her name. Hey, was she out with Randi as part of what was happening at Lambswool?”

“No,” Phil said. “It was only a social engagement. Hailey has nothing to do with Lambswool. It is strictly my family’s interest.”

“And those interests also include Barton Holdings, right?” the man inquired.

“Barton Holdings has nothing to with Lambswool,” Phil explained. He gave a brief synopsis of the corporate structure.

“So this is a personal holding and not part of your family’s corporate enterprise,” the man confirmed.

“Exactly,” Phil answered.

“So, what went on today?” the man asked. “It sounds like a purge.”

“I suppose that’s as good a word as any,” Phil replied. “The executives were given a clear understanding of what actions they needed to take in order to remain employed at Lambswool. I met with them Monday morning and laid out the facts to them. It’s no secret that our movie division has faltered. It is no secret that our television division has financial challenges ahead. What might be news to you is that the executives who oversaw the downfall of Lambswool voted to double their compensation this year. Our corporate minutes indicate that one executive said that since the company is going to go under, they need to grab as much as they can.”

“Jesus Christ,” Hailey muttered when she heard that explanation. The response from the writer was not much different.

“Seriously?” the man asked.

“I can email you a copy of the minutes and you can speak to our corporate attorney for confirmation,” Phil said.

“I’d appreciate that,” the man said. “So, what did you tell them on Monday?”

“They were informed that I expected them to accept significant pay cuts to help cover the expected shortfall,” Phil said. “As you can imagine from the outcome, 18 of the executive vice presidents refused.”

“So you fired them,” the writer finished.

“No,” Phil said. “Their compensation was stated in their contracts. I could not compel them to lower it except voluntarily. They were dismissed for violating various clauses of their contract.”

“Can I ask what clauses they violated?” the man asked.

“As I said, various clauses,” Phil said. “I updated the exclusionary clauses of the Lambswool contract when I took over. The violations ranged from failure to report arrests to the proper supervisor to theft of company property to falsifying a resume. As I said, our exclusionary language mirrors that of Barton Holdings – and has been upheld in court and by arbitrators across the United States, Canada and Ireland. I can get you relevant case numbers if you need them.”

“That won’t be necessary,” the man said.

“The dismissal for cause affected 13 of our senior executives,” Phil continued. “I elected to eliminate the positions of five more under the redundancy clause of their contracts. These five will not be subject to the non-compete clause that will hinder the others’ job search.”

“A non-compete?” the writer asked. “Is that legal?”

“Under normal circumstances it wouldn’t be but Lambswool’s corporate attorney says it falls under the ‘creative exemption’ of the state statute,” Phil offered. “It’s what allows us to keep a actor or director off the market while we revamp a project. The key legal element is that the executives signed it voluntarily. They had grown accustomed to the standard contracts and they didn’t seem to believe a college kid would be smart enough to update them. At least that’s how it seems to me.”

“Hmm,” the reporter said. He had never really taken the time to explore the inner workings of the studios. “How long until they can find a new job.”

“Five years for dismissal for cause,” Phil explained. “That starts at the end of their contract – the end of next year.”

“Jesus,” the man said. This time his response was identical to Hailey’s.

“To me, today was indicative of the short-sighted thinking that pervaded Lambswool Studios,” Phil stated. “The executives refused to give back a third of their exorbitant salary. Bear in mind that they doubled their compensation from a year ago. They would still have seen more money this year than last year despite the fact Lambswool lost money both years. I wasn’t asking them to eat pork and beans for the rest of the year.”

“No, I get that,” the man said. “I think you’ve been honest so I’ll return the favor. This is not the story that the executives are telling.”

“Yes, I gathered that,” Phil said. “Seriously though, what else could they say? It isn’t like those arrogant pricks will admit they fucked up. I’m going to give you something else off the record. OK?”
“Sure,” the reporter said eagerly.

“I’m serious,” Phil said. “If this shows up on the web...”

Phil left the rest unspoken and the reporter gulped slightly. He knew the Bartons could buy his paper in a heartbeat and put him on the obit desk.

“It won’t,” he said. “You have my word on this.”

Phil breathed deeply and nodded to himself.

“If those bastards don’t shut up I’m going to bury them,” he said. “I’m sure you have contacts with someone who knows them so get the word out. I will break up marriages. I will see at least four of them in prison. I will see the rest of them bankrupt. I have information on each and every one of the people I let go today that will ruin them, not only in this town but in whatever town they try to hide. If you can get word to them, do it. I don’t want it to be a surprise.”

The writer cringed at the ferocity in the young man’s voice. There was no guarantee that it would play out like Phil Warner said. But the man knew that Phil would give it his best shot. It brought another thought to mind. He was a bit reluctant but he took his profession seriously.

“Are the rumors about Courtney Hollings’ hiring for ‘Kismet’ true?” the man tried. He didn’t expect an answer but he had to give it a shot.

“I don’t know what rumors you’re talking about,” Phil confessed.

“That you destroyed her reputation because she was holding out for more money,” the man clarified.

Phil laughed aloud.

“She was the one that tried to tear me down,” Phil said in an even voice. “I really had no qualms with her until she tried to destroy my friends to get to me. Her arrest for cyber-bullying had no effect on her ‘Kismet’ contract. She is being paid industry standard for an actress of her caliber in a lead role. She is worth every penny.”

“But you are the one who leaked information about her to the tabloids?” the reporter said.

“Oh, I’m not going to address that other than to say that whoever did it should be ashamed,” Phil said. He was ashamed. “I am the reason she was arrested for drug possession. She tried to follow me to work for some reason. This was before I held the stake in Lambswool so I can’t address her rationale.

“I take my security seriously and I contacted the authorities. They stopped her and found drugs in her possession. Then she tried to cyber-bully a pair of students at college and was arrested for it. She paid her debt to society and has been amazing on the set of her new project. That’s professionally and personally. I think she’s grown from her errors and she’s a better person for them. All in all, it was a cheap lesson – aside from having her personal details revealed. As I said, the person who did that should be ashamed. It was well over the line. We can all hope that the person has learned a valuable lesson about what is appropriate conduct and what isn’t.”

The reporter nodded. He knew it was as close to an admission as he was likely to get.

“So how does this affect Lambswool’s products?” the reporter inquired.

“To a certain extent, it doesn’t,” Phil said. “In the long run, I’m looking to revise our business model to avoid financial calamities like what we’re facing.”

“But does this mean that ‘Iconoclast’ will be canceled?” the man pressed.

“At this point, I don’t know,” Phil admitted. “I still need to review our financial situation and I need to get a starting point from our stars on their salaries for next year. I hope to have a better idea by next month. The best I can tell you is that it is not off the table. The only thing that I can confirm will not be affected by the changes is ‘Kismet.’ We have the funding for that in place and it will be released the last Friday in November as we planned.”

“I think this is enough for me to get moving,” the man said. “I’d appreciate it if you could e-mail the minutes from the board meetings. I won’t use the text. I know that is proprietary. I’ll just use it to confirm what you’ve paraphrased.”

“I’ll add a copy of our standard contract for salaried employees,” Phil offered. “It will give you a better idea of the legal grounds for the dismissals.”

“Thanks for setting the record straight,” the man said.

“Thank you for giving me the chance,” Phil replied. He ended the call and shook his head sadly. He wondered how much of what he said would actually be used – and how much of it would be believed.

Hailey called to cancel their dinner reservations when it became obvious that Phil wasn’t feeling up to going anywhere. He continued to brood as he picked over their room service meals.

“It’ll get easier,” Hailey assured him.

“Have you ever felt like you’ve wandered into something that’s way over your head?” he asked. Hailey’s laughter caught him off-guard. It took her a moment to regain her composure.

“Christ, Phil, I’ve felt that way for the last year and a half!” she exclaimed.

“I’m serious,” Phil insisted.

“I’m serious, too,” Hailey replied. “Look, when I sat down in your car that Friday, I knew exactly who I was and where I was going. By the time we got back to school, I knew absolutely nothing. I knew nothing about myself; I knew nothing about life; I knew nothing about my role in the world. You turned my entire life upside-down. Every day since then I wonder when you’re going to see through my smokescreen and toss me aside. I’ve wondered how I’ve managed to fool so many people into thinking I’m some big thinker. I’m not, Phil. I never was. I just know that someday – likely someday soon – I’m going to run into something I can’t deal with and my whole house of cards is going to tumble down. So, yeah, I’ve wondered from time to time if I’m into something way over my head.”