Chapter 18

What did it all mean? Find Them. Free Them.

Find who? Free them from what?

The puzzle stuck with me as I started my day, but there was work to do and the current movie wasn’t waiting for me to solve other problems. So, epic, other world battles with Death aside, we had a job to do and the studio was hopping when we drove onto the lot the next morning. Abby hurried off to her writing den and interns, while I deliberately worked through a long to-do list of problems that needed solutions.

None of it was particularly difficult. It was really just things that needed someone to give the thumbs up, or thumbs down. Some of it was issues that needed some research and input. George turned it all over to me as fast as he could. That freed him up to work on big picture problems, new projects, talent contracts, and a myriad of things that needed a steady, experienced hand to resolve. Between us we covered the things that could slow us down and cost a boat load of money if unsettled.

In other words ... it was a Monday.

One idea George was frantically pulling together was a full-length, Christmas feature that had the potential to be released into theaters, and then rolled back through cable airings the following season and beyond. It was a bigger deal than Southern Sky Studios usually tackled, but Abby loved the script and George felt like the movie fit our model in all ways except length and scope.

Even though owning seventy-five percent of the studio gave me veto rights over the project, I had no intention of George’s instincts on the idea, because it was exactly why I bought the studio. We needed to raise the studio’s image and increase our visibility outside of just the cable market. “Caring for Christmas,” had the potential to do all of that as long as George could snag a big enough name to carry the marquee. I was often assured that he was working on that all day, every day. Abby found the book on a closeout table, of all places. She bought it, read over a couple of nights and called George, together

One way to ruin a good movie studio is for an inexperienced know-it-all to roll in and demand full control, without enough seasoning to know how the whole business works. It was my goal to avoid falling into that pit. If George did need forty million for the cast, then I would make it happen.

Assuming that Southern Sky was going to sign a major star and develop a Christmas movie, I needed to consider our sound stages. For the kinds of things George was producing, forty-thousand square feet was a workable solution. If we suddenly had to reproduce outdoor scenes in indoor areas, we needed to find, and retrofit something we already owned to more than double that. Soundstages four and five were part of the new acquisition, and we’d not used them yet. In fact, we’d not built them out to our specifications because we didn’t have a project on the schedule that would require them, so redefining the plan to join them together into a sound stage with over one-hundred and twenty-five thousand usable square feet would be easier now than if we waited another year.

To that end I made a call to our architect and directed him to bring us plans for a single sound stage where the two buildings currently stood, and called one of our attorneys who specialized in dealing with the county for all of the necessary permits allowing us to bridge the space. Then I spoke with our construction superintendent and got him going on plans for the space. With those two things underway, I could turn my attention to the current production which would start shooting in five days.

The day flew by without much in the way of upset, or trouble. That was rare for a Monday, so I made sure to enjoy the luxury of it all. George caught up with me when I was just finishing up meeting with the team of electricians and carpenters that were completing the main sound stage for the new movie. He seemed excited and anxious, so I bid the workers goodbye and allowed George to hustle us inside his office.

“I can get Morton Phillips for Caring Christmas. He won’t cost nearly as much as I feared, because he needs the contract money quickly to help get rid of his current wife. If we sign him now for nine million, he will agree to a second movie to be shot no sooner than next year for the same money.

“The hitch is that he wants both payments up front, which could cause trouble if he succeeds in buying off the current Mrs. Phillips and decides to run out on the rest of the contract.”

The excitement of potentially signing the new Hollywood heartthrob for such a reasonable fee was tempered by the potential of an expensive fight if he refused to live up to his word. I kicked it back and forth for a little while, letting George wait while I mulled things over.

Eventually good sense overruled caution, and I nodded. “It’s fine. Eighteen million isn’t so scary that I want to miss this window. I know you. The lawyers will go gray trying to write a contract so strong that breaking it will be worse than anything Morton Phillips could gain by going ahead with both pictures, so I vote for us to do it.”

Abby snuck in just as the conversation got good, and she lit up like it was Christmas morning and she just saw Santa Claus sneaking up the chimney. “George, I agree. You have great instincts for talent. We both trust you and I think Morton Phillips would be a perfect leading man. He will make the ladies all swoon. Having him for a second film is like a great big Christmas gift that came in July, instead of December.” Once we were all in agreement, Abby and George launched into a long discussion about how to modify the script to take advantage of Morton’s good looks without making it look to cheesy. They were deep into it when I slipped out to get some work done.