A shoreline by the sea. Billy held in his hands thousands of writings from all the fans of Lux Animation—beautiful stories that grew more interactive every day. From combat series, fights, powers from other worlds, parallel dimensions, adapted books, remakes, and every imaginable thing, some were good; others were better. The exceptional ones he kept for himself, taking his time. Fantastic drawings carefully traced, creating endearing characters and extraordinary stories about creativity and sales.
-You've been away for a long time, and all the guys have been eager to hand you their work for weeks,- replied Lucas Vázquez, the former intern with perfect grades who now worked as Anne's assistant, optimizing all the work teams. Anne was strict with him to a degree that bordered on outright workplace harassment—for two reasons: nepotism and performance.
He spent months reorganizing and structuring the disordered environment of Lux Animation into a solid system that could be tracked comfortably by both the production and administrative teams, taking into account everyone involved in the series. His free afternoons during the first six months were devoted to mind maps, deep knowledge of each person, and a clear idea of everything within the company. Endless readings of thousands of texts, subjective evaluations of performance, and coordination efforts between Pixar, Lux Kids, and Lux Animation.
-I only see five interesting projects,- Billy murmured, scanning his sheet. One program stood out, destined to live in the minds of many kids: Foster's Mansion for Imaginary Friends—a warm, endearing series with enormous potential to be used over the next twenty years. It only needed strong, rigid planning and a total madness from the team leading it, which, for Bill,y meant the account lead and two interns whose sole task would be producing fifty episodes, with a pleasant narrative rhythm, solid plots, and standard children's content.
-—Fifty episodes for a series like this!— Lucas whispered.
-Yes. Tell them it's approved, as long as they have the series storyboards. They'll get a five-thousand-dollar bonus today and two thousand for each episode approved by my hand,- Billy replied, laying out a standard deal of direction, control, and privileges.
-—As for this one,— he said, pointing to the story about gods living beneath a university and acting as fraternity students. It was interesting. He approved it with a list of improvements.
-Have it ready, and it'll be approved by Anne, a senior, and Dave Ann,- Billy commented, marking an advance of five thousand and one thousand per episode for the first ten pilot episodes, to be launched as a series for Comedy Central—focused on youth and women, perhaps with a touch of MTV-style flair, though everything depended on the author.
The other two were partially approved. Only one film truly caught his attention—an animated project with magnificent qualities about astronauts, telling the story of those who went to the Moon from the most intimate, grounded perspective. It came with interviews with families, documentaries, and strong documentation. The animation recreated what they saw on the Moon, hidden conspiracies, the Cold War with the Russians, and training sequences.
An animated trilogy—ambitious. He used the remaining space to add soft guidelines. He approved only the first film, along with hiring a stronger screenwriter and a powerful creative director for transitions, with a tentative starting budget of twenty million dollars.
Lucas's stomach tightened. Of course—it was Billy Carson. He spent and approved twenty-five million in expenses in one sweep for a story he had only partially reviewed. But no one contradicted Billy; that was a fact within the company, especially when it came to telling stories to the public. His ideas seemed to exist and be seen from every possible angle. He himself was a huge fan of his comics.
-That's all,- Billy said, handing over the folders and a yellow file for Anne, marked urgent.
-Deliver this to Anne immediately, and leave the rest with Dave in the archives; he'll handle the rest,- Billy added.
***
Lucas forgot the yellow file. He ran first to deliver all the blue envelopes to the recipients, who looked on with shining eyes at Billy's handwriting, the support, and the help marked with sketches drawn by Billy's own hand. He finished at five, ended his shift, but still had three hours of work he didn't want to leave for tomorrow.
-—You seem to have everything in order,— Anne whispered, watching Lucas prepare a tight budget for 1998 and early 1999. The issue was that when television series, films, and projects all begin at once, budgets soar, and returns take time, perhaps a year and a half. But the company always had cash on hand, used to invest without hesitation or remorse.
-So,— Anne asked.
-He's very… dominant,- Lucas replied.
Billy spoke with such certainty that it left him exposed.
-—You'll learn over time how to say no,— Anne said, taking the yellow folder in her hands.
-Come to my office tomorrow morning,— Anne added.
-I just finished here; I was about to go to your office,— Lucas replied.
-I suppose you didn't read anything,- Anne said, opening it. Inside was an employment contract with corporate benefits, a salary increase, and job security.
Anne opened the contract and signed it.
-I have things to do, and this conversation should have happened hours ago. Now I only fear you've stolen my time. But congratulations on being the new chief administrator of Lux Animation. You'll continue doing the work you've been doing, with some added responsibilities that will fall under your charge, working alongside Anne Washington, who will provide you with new directives,- Anne said. Seventy thousand dollars wasn't unpleasant—paid vacations in December, dental coverage, meal vouchers, health insurance, and pension contributions. It was the dream of San Jose's working class.
Lux Animation was the company everyone wanted to work for. The payroll was short—administrative staff capped at about fifty people. However, the heavy lifting branched out to thousands of animators, making up total annual expenditures ranging between sixteen and twenty million after commissions.
Lucas could only cry at his desk upon being promoted. It was everything he had hoped for after so much work: to be someone functional in society. To have a job that helped him with what little he had. His siblings could live in a better house. His cousins would now have opportunities to study. Lucas would support the family that had supported him.
Four siblings, a single mother, and a child on the way.
...