Chapter 130

“Do you honestly think this is a good idea?” David asked his wife. “He told you over the summer that investing in the studio was a non-starter. If he wanted your help now, he’d come to you for it.”

“It’s not my idea; It’s Dad’s,” Beth stressed. “And we both know he wouldn’t come to me.”

David let out a long breath and studied the glass of tea in front of him.

“Look, Dad said that word of what Phil is doing out there even made its way to Paris,” Beth continued. “He told me that he didn’t go looking for investors. They came to him.”

“And you believe him?” David wondered. “I understand that it’s hard to watch him flailing about out there. It bothers me, too. If you’re worried that he’s going to stay there next semester, then don’t. He told me last week that if ‘Kismet’ doesn’t score well the first weekend, he’s going to file for bankruptcy protection and instruct the attorney out there to start selling assets. He’s not going back after he flies to New York for the premiere. If the movie is big, then I can see offering some money but if it flops...”

“I’m not worried about that,” Beth said. “And I do believe Dad. David, I know that you’ve never had a hand in the studio so I’m not sure you understand what’s happened. The mess out there is my fault. It’s Dad’s fault. That’s why we feel responsible. In a way, Lambswool is no different than Waterford. Philip has been placed in a no-win situation because of the decisions other people have made. This time, it’s the decisions I’ve made and Dad made.”

She pursed her lips and picked up her soft drink.

“Dad really didn’t pay much attention to things,” she added. “After the writer’s strike concluded, the studio went back to making money. Dad’s investment paid off pretty quickly and he moved the holding into a charitable trust. He let things go without looking into them even after the president of the studio died suddenly. Dad just appointed the guy’s assistant to run the place and kept his nose out of things. When he left Barton, he named me as trustee. I knew nothing about the movie industry and I didn’t want to learn. The bottom fell out and I didn’t even know about it until Philip came to me a year ago and pointed it out.

“I had no idea that he planned to hold the studio over that girl’s head. I just knew he told me that it was pretty obvious I had my hands full with other things and he could look after that for me. And he was right. I didn’t have time – or the desire – to deal with those people out there. I would just prop them up by investing more money to ensure the shareholders saw a return and the trust was able to keep going. It wasn’t until last winter that I sat down with him and got a full accounting of what was going on out there. By that time, he was already the trustee and I couldn’t force him to relinquish the role. Believe me, I checked into that the very first thing. I knew the place was a loser without major changes ... but, again, I had neither the time nor the desire to oversee things.

“I thought that when Philip secured funding for ‘Kismet’ that he’d managed to stave off bankruptcy and I suppose I was right to a certain extent. Not for one minute did I envision him moving out there and taking over the place. But, that’s what he did. From what Dad tells me, he’s done a really good job out there. He’s trimmed the fat from management; he’s cut expenditures to the bone and he’s still managed to keep quality projects moving forward. That hasn’t gone unnoticed in the industry. People were lining up to buy the rights to ‘Kismet’ last fall because they were certain it would be a matter of weeks before the studio went under.

“He had funding for $75 million and it cost less than $50 million to shoot. He found ways to market it that didn’t cost a mint but the word still got out and people are excited. Rather than turn the excess into other studio projects, he put it into the next installment. He’s showing confidence that he’ll turn the studio around and people see that. Dad says most of the people in London and Paris think ‘Kismet’ might break a billion worldwide by spring.”

“Even Phil doesn’t think that!” David said dismissively.

“I think he’s purposefully being overly pessimistic,” Beth answered. “He doesn’t want to get his hopes up – or the hopes up of the people that work there. Dad said the trailer for the movie leaked online in Europe last week and the reviews were really positive. That’s when people started to approach him. The studio’s financial troubles are pretty well known. I mean, they’ve been publicized extensively with the change in leadership and the promotion of ‘Kismet.’ The studio heads in Paris told dad that the movie might see $150 million the first weekend. Other houses have already decided to push their major productions back to late December because they’re worried about going up against such a sure-fire hit.”

“Seriously?” David asked. He’d spoken to his son a couple of times each week and he didn’t get that impression from Phil. Phil seemed to be hoping for a decent showing but wasn’t banking on anything.

“That’s why investors are coming out of the woodwork,” Beth answered. “Dad worked with them a few times in the past. They know Philip is his grandson and they also know a good deal when they see it. Some of the shareholders offered their stock for sale when Philip first took over. A group of French investors bought a block of it and Dani and Maddy also bought in.”

“Why would they do that?” David interrupted. “Phil is going to be really pissed off when he finds out.”

“They have faith in him,” Beth told him. “They only bought a few hundred shares at the beginning. But I guess last week, they contacted the fourth-largest shareholder and bought him out. They own about 14 percent of Lambswool now – but they are planning to put the stock with the trust once they see a return. It’s already working for them. The guy they bought it from called them over the weekend to see if he could purchase it back from them. I truly think it’s going to work. So far, Philip has made all the right moves. The steps he’s taken have been well planned – from downsizing the administration to moving the premiere to the weekend after Thanksgiving to changing the Blu-Ray release date on season two of ‘Iconoclast’ to Black Friday. It’s all designed to close the shortfall by the end of the calendar year and to show fourth-quarter growth in the market. People see what he’s doing and they are starting to forget that he’s 20 years old. Of course, most of them think I’m pulling the strings from behind the scene but that works to his advantage, too. That has let him have a few months to get his feet on the ground without the other players out there making a run at him.

“Even setting up a crowd-sourcing profile for the last season of ‘Iconoclast’ turned out to be a good idea. I honestly didn’t understand what he was doing when he set it up but it turned out great.”

“Thank you,” David said smugly. He had come up with the idea to get fans of the show – which ranged in the millions – to chip in $5 or $10 to keep the show on TV on the air to wrap up the major storylines. It hadn’t produced enough money for a full run but the $12 million it brought in had helped to close the budget gap considerably.

“It’s a shame that the show was too costly for Netflix or Hulu to buy and produce,” David continued. “I broached that with him, too. He talked to them but, well, there is just not enough assurance that they’ll see a return. They didn’t want to face what Phil’s facing right now. Their in-house products are a lot cheaper to ‘Iconoclast.’ They didn’t want to commit to something so pricey and face the backlash of having to cancel it after the season. Phil said he’s holding out hope that a major Web push will make them change their minds. He said he’d shift production to them for a nominal fee just to have it out of his hair without Hailey getting upset with him. He thinks it’s a real possibility.”

“See?” Beth said. “That’s what I mean. He’s making all the right plays – plus, he’s doing it without compromising his integrity. That was what I worried about more than anything else. I, well, you know that I spent time out there before I became a serious student. It’s a different world than he’s used to. There are no real ethical guidelines out there. Everyone just takes what he can get and to hell with the next guy. Philip literally could force any of the actresses under contract to do just about anything. I’m not sure what I would have done with that much power at his age.”

“Hailey said he spends his time at the office or in that crappy apartment of his,” David said. “Lord knows he’s not going to be bringing dates back there.”

“That’s something else I worried about,” Beth admitted. “He’s never really lived in an area where drugs, prostitution and gangs were a fact of life. In Hollywood, it’s all there.”

“It’s all in Calder City, too,” David pointed out. “Beth, Phil has always had that sort of power. He could have compelled any number of girls in high school to do the exact same things as the women in Hollywood. There are enough drugs in that apartment building he owns to start his own syndicate if he wanted. I figure there are probably one or two prostitutes in that apartment, too. I bet that there are plenty that would offer to pay their rent in trade if he wanted. It’s always been that way and he’s always managed to avoid temptation.”

“But the people in Calder City aren’t as jaded as what he’s dealing with now,” Beth noted.

“Sure they are,” David countered. “Besides, it doesn’t matter what sort of people he’s dealing with. He’s not going to change. He wouldn’t change if we asked him to and he won’t change for anyone else.”

Hailey was sitting in Dr. Andruzzi’s outer office with five students when her phone rang. She looked at it and saw Beth’s name. She didn’t even consider letting it go to voicemail.

“Hello,” she said brightly.

“I’m sorry to bother you,” Beth said. “I know your afternoons are clear but I know you’re busy with other projects. It’s about Phil.”

“Has something happened?” Hailey asked urgently. She was still peeved at him but she knew she’d get over that soon enough.

“No,” Beth said. “I just talked to him a few minutes ago. This is about some things that are really going to bother him and I wanted to see if you might have a way for me to break some news to him.”

Hailey’s heart sunk in her chest. Phil had said his parents had problems years before and she wondered if something had cropped again. The tension at the end of the summer had been obvious to everyone.

“Is everything OK there, Beth?” she asked. She let the waiting students know she would be outside in the hallway.

“Here?” Beth said. “Yes, things are fine here. It’s about some things out in Los Angeles.”

“He told me about the ratings problem,” Hailey admitted. “He said that he’s on top of that. What else happened?”

She wasn’t sure she could handle another six months away from Phil.

“It’s Dani and Maddy,” Beth said.

“I thought they were in Europe,” Hailey cut in.

“Oh, they are,” Beth agreed. “But, well, you know the first trailer for the movie was released last week. A lot of people have taken notice over there. Maddy and Dani bought out some of the studio investors. David is pretty sure Phil isn’t going to like that fact.”

“I doubt he will,” Hailey said, relieved that it was nothing more serious. “If he wanted family money, he would have hit you up. He said you have more of it than is good for you.”

“Probably,” Beth said, laughing along with her future daughter-in-law. “All the investors are invited to New York. Between the two of them, they own about 14 percent of the studio. They’ll be there. I don’t want it to be a surprise for him.”

“Why would anyone pay money for 14 percent of something that’s worthless?” Hailey asked incredulously.

“Because in a year, that studio will be rolling in cash,” Beth confided. “At least that’s what the European investment community is saying. I know you talk to him every day so you probably only have his perspective. From an investor’s point of view, Lambswool is a perfect buy-low, sell-high opportunity. Some of the people that owned it wanted out and the girls were only too happy to buy in. The stock is already rebounding. They’ve had offers to sell for twice what they paid for it. Honestly, I think they just wanted to show Phil they were on his side in this. I know they felt terrible that he had to go out there because Dad was taking them to Europe. That’s part of it. I also think they see the opportunity to double their investment and turn more of the stock over to the trust.”

“It’s going to work?” Hailey asked.

“I think so,” Beth said. “A lot is going to ride on who he brings in to replace him. He’s ... well, he’s not going to keep Steinmetz much longer. That’s going to clear a huge chunk of salary off the books. But if he puts the wrong person in charge, it will fail and everything he’s worked for will be lost.”

“Are you suggesting he should stay out there?” Hailey inquired.

“No,” Beth said firmly. “That’s the second reason I called. I ... I’ve identified someone that could step in there. I wanted to offer that but ... well, he told me to keep my nose out of it. He and I were on bad terms when he left and we haven’t seen each other since. I was pissed that he showed me up. I will admit that. I was also unhappy that I had misjudged him. After this summer, I was ready to step away as soon as you graduate. I thought that his infatuation with the studio showed a lack of commitment to Barton.”

“He isn’t committed to Barton,” Hailey said.

Beth was silent on the other end.

“You are committed to Barton,” Hailey continued. “That’s your company to run. Lambswool is his. If anything, this should show you the lengths he’ll go to in order to protect and grow Barton when he is in charge there.”

“I didn’t look at it that way,” Beth admitted.

“I’m not saying you should step away before you’re ready,” Hailey said quickly. “That’s a decision only you can make. I just wanted to point out that Phil knew he could leave his summer job to focus on something that was entirely his responsibility. He had no idea of what he was walking into when he took over conservator-ship of Lambswool.”

“I know he didn’t,” Beth said. “I really didn’t pay that much attention to it.”

“You had bigger things to focus on,” Hailey commiserated. “I know he also viewed this as an opportunity to demonstrate what he’s learned from you on a small scale before the time came for the larger scale. He’s not going to run Barton like you did. You should understand that. If you’re expecting a Beth Barton clone, you’re going to be disappointed.”

“I was grooming you to be my clone,” Beth answered.

“Maybe,” Hailey said. “But, well, I’m in the middle of a little battle here and I’m finding I’m a bit more like Phil than you’d probably like. We’ll need to work on my diplomacy skills when I get back to Calder City for Christmas.”

“When you get here for Christmas, all we’re going to work on is wedding dresses,” Beth said. “Is there anything I can help you with down there?”

“Not right now,” Hailey told her. “Right now, I’m sort of leading a revolt against a professor who is acting unprofessionally toward a student in her class. I’ll let you know if I think of anything, though.”

“I’m always here for you,” Beth told her sincerely.

Grace Karstens popped into Phil’s office and put a bag on his desk.

He looked up from his tablet to see her grinning at him. She had on platform heels and must have stood 6-feet-6 in them.

“No excuses tonight,” she said. “We just wrapped our 50^th episode and we’re having a cast party. I went out and got you some casual clothes. I even got you a pair of shoes that don’t look like they came out of a 70-year-old’s closet.”

“I have a lot to do tonight,” Phil said.

“And it will still be there tomorrow,” Grace stated.

“But day after tomorrow, I won’t be,” Phil pointed out. “I need to be in early tomorrow as it is.”

Grace stood to her full height and crossed her arms beneath her impressive chest.

“I’m not talking about staying out until five in the morning,” she said. “I’m talking about the head of our studio showing up to help us celebrate the show’s success. We’re just heading up to my mom’s house in Malibu to cut loose for a while. It’s sort of impromptu. Skyler and I will be there. Eva Long and her husband are coming. Some of the crew is coming up. It’ll be fun and it will give you a chance to meet some of the people that don’t work in this building.”

Phil gave a slight nod. The arguments made sense but he knew he would need to discuss it with Hailey before he agreed. He glanced at his corner of his computer for the time. She would call him in half an hour.