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Snap back to reality—Leon picked up the setlist Bonnie had left behind.
Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, organized by AEG.
Selling over 200,000 tickets annually, its main selling points are a powerhouse lineup, diverse music genres, and the fusion of music with fashion trends.
It is currently the largest, most famous, and most profitable music festival in the world.
As a main performer at this year's Coachella, Leon was scheduled to perform five songs.
In addition to his breakout hit Take Me to Church, the set included four songs from his new album.
"Shxt! Why is this idiot everywhere?" Leon spotted a discrepancy in the long list of guest performers.
Arcade Fire, Suede, Duran Duran, Kings of Leon...
But the most eye-catching name was Kanye West.
The performance duration also highlighted his dominant status on the guest list.
Kanye was set to perform for a full hour, forcefully turning this international music festival into his own personal concert.
"Maybe..." Leon stared at the list as if struck by a thought, the corners of his mouth rising into a mysterious smile.
Coachella is held in the Colorado Desert in Southern California.
Considering the rehearsals and the critical issues regarding the Straight Outta Compton movie, Leon decided to head to Los Angeles immediately.
---
The next day, inside the first-class cabin of a Delta Airlines Boeing 747 bound for Los Angeles.
Leon was sipping coffee while on the phone with James Wan.
When he heard that the $10 million budget wasn't enough and additional investment was needed, he couldn't help but curse out loud.
"Fxxk, you're not kidding, are you?"
Three days ago, he had just wired $5 million in filming funds into the dedicated account Lionsgate set up for Straight Outta Compton.
This money was mainly used to pay the final contract balances for actors and crew, as well as post-production and promotional expenses.
"Man, I'm not kidding... our footage looks amazing," James Wan said. "You'll decide the final cut, but every frame of this movie is a work of art!"
"The scale of the promotion must match the quality of this movie! Otherwise, it's a crime!"
Wan treated his work like a treasure, which Leon could understand.
The problem was that for the director's artistic pursuit, Leon's wallet had to suffer.
Calculating the whole movie, the cast and director's salaries were close to $5 million.
Other costs, including consumables, crew expenses, and post-production, totaled nearly $4 million.
The remaining $1 million in the budget was for movie promotion.
According to industry rules, the distributor, Lionsgate, should bear some promotional tasks.
However, since the company's focus was entirely on filming The Hunger Games series, they had no time for a low-budget film like Straight Outta Compton.
Plus, since the stingy Apocalypse Music was only willing to pay a 5% distribution agency fee, Lionsgate chose to just lay flat and do nothing.
They didn't do a single thing for the promotional campaign.
"Are you saying one million dollars isn't enough?" Leon asked.
"Of course not. Just buying TV ads would stretch that amount thin..." Wan explained. "Not to mention subway ads, bus wraps, and billboards..."
"Radio promotion costs a fortune too. Oh, and the internet!"
"Man, getting those movie critics' social media accounts to post is even more effective than TV..."
Hearing this, Leon could only shake his head helplessly.
But he actually agreed with Wan's words.
A movie's promotional costs usually account for 20% to 30% of the production cost.
The rise of social media had changed the rules of the game for every industry.
Bonnie, with a YouTube account of only 100,000 subscribers, quoted $5,000 per video for clothing brands.
She no longer relied entirely on selling second-hand underwear for income.
As for those big influencers with hundreds of thousands of followers on Facebook and Twitter, their quote for a commercial post was usually several thousand or even over ten thousand dollars.
To achieve significant promotional effects, you needed to blast out hundreds of these commercial posts.
"Alright man... let's talk about this when we meet."
Leon couldn't make the decision to increase the budget alone; he needed to discuss it in detail with his partner, Robinson.
---
The night the plane landed, Leon and Phil went to the Sony Pictures building in Culver City.
Huge posters and figurines of their IPs were hung everywhere inside the Sony Pictures Entertainment building.
Men in Black series, Spider-Man series, 007 series, and other glorious names.
Unlike other film studios, Japanese elements and gaming elements could be seen everywhere here.
Although the management of Sony Columbia Pictures' North American business was still predominantly white, there was no doubt that the Japanese influence on this company was decisive.
A poster of Kratos, the protagonist of the game God of War 3, hung in the most conspicuous spot.
This game swept major game awards last year and recently won the BAFTA Artistic Achievement Award.
Paving the way for a film adaptation.
Leon received a warm greeting as soon as he stepped into the conference room.
A short Japanese man stood up.
First hugging Phil, then tightly shaking Leon's hand.
"Look who's here~ Street Jesus, the musical all-rounder~ The hot big shot right now~" The Japanese man said in broken English, "Maybe I can call you Leon-san?"
"Whatever makes you happy..." Leon smiled awkwardly.
After letting go, he whispered to Phil, "Who is this Japanese guy?"
"Saburo Kitano, Head of Artist Management at Sony Music," Phil said. "By the way, he's also the brother-in-law of Shuhei Yoshida, President of Sony Interactive Entertainment."
Leon nodded, having a concrete assessment of the weight of the Japanese man before him.
As a global conglomerate, Sony owned multiple famous brands including Xperia, Walkman, Sony Music, Columbia Pictures, and PlayStation.
And the cornerstone of the entire group was undoubtedly Sony Interactive Entertainment, with electronic products and games as its main business.
As Shuhei Yoshida's brother-in-law, Saburo Kitano had certain influence across the group's various brands.
"Leon-san... please sit here." Saburo Kitano was all smiles.
Bowing every few steps.
Typical Japanese style, with so much hypocritical etiquette it made one's hair stand on end.
"Let me introduce you. This is Maria Angelova, Executive Vice President of Sony Pictures Entertainment." Saburo Kitano pulled over a middle-aged woman with standard Eastern European features.
Black casual suit, medium-length hair, black leather shoes.
A typical career woman.
"Mr. Leon, it's my honor to meet you under Mr. Kitano's introduction." This Executive VP's attitude was extremely flattering.
But Leon knew very well this wasn't directed at him, but at Saburo Kitano.
The Japanese were like "Emperors Emeritus" within the massive structure of the Sony Group.
Kitano swung his feet leisurely and whispered a few words to a female assistant.
Soon, the assistant brought a delicate tray with a bottle of Japanese Yamazaki whiskey and three cigars.
"Heard you love to drink, try this, Leon-san~" Saburo Kitano looked proud.
Leon took a polite sip. His evaluation of Japanese whiskey was the same as Japanese beer: both were clumsy imitations of the original producing countries.
"Miss Maria, Mr. Leon is a bit shy... let me speak for him." Phil lit a cigar, breaking the silence first.
"Shy? From what I know, Mr. Leon isn't that kind of person..." Maria laughed. "This young man has practically turned the rap circle upside down..."
While she spoke, Saburo Kitano winked at her frantically.
That look seemed to say: This is the cash cow Sony Music has its eye on, watch yourself!
"Those are just normal hype tactics." Leon spread his hands. "Someone is always using me to hype their own traffic."
All being old foxes who had struggled in the entertainment industry for years, Maria laughed awkwardly, adhering to the principle of seeing through it but not saying it.
Which singer engaging in Beef with you doesn't have a bigger status than you?
Who is really using whom for heat...
Leon knocked on the table and said, "Your company is preparing for the shooting of the new 007 movie, right?"
"Yes, the current budget application and script have been approved by senior management, and the project has officially launched," Maria said.
"Great... I'm a super fan of this series... I want to..."
"You want to ask about Miss Robbie, right?"
Leon was interrupted before he could finish. Without time to build up to it, he could only passively take the conversation: "Yes, frankly speaking, I think Director Sam's move to cut the Bond Girl scenes is an obvious mistake."
Maria sighed helplessly.
In fact, everyone in the company agreed it was a disastrous mistake.
Executives responsible for Columbia Pictures' operations even protested in meetings at one point, calling the ridiculous idea of a "Bond Woman" a crime.
But this was Howard Stringer's decision. In the entire Sony Pictures Entertainment sector, he was a tyrant whose word was law.
"I'm very sorry, Mr. Leon, it's just regrettable... Director Sam has a considerable degree of self-determination in this movie," Maria said.
Hearing this, Saburo Kitano couldn't sit still anymore.
In his eyes, that group of Anglos led by Howard Stringer were just a bunch of hired hands.
At first, he just came to Sony Pictures as a broker to get Leon.
But after learning the whole story, his attitude changed completely.
In his eyes, the Brits doing this was throwing Japanese money down the drain.
"Baka!" Kitano was so angry he blurted out his native language. "I'm going to call Stringer. Doing this does no good for the 007 series!"
"Please calm down first, Mr. Kitano." Maria soothed. "Mr. Stringer decided this after doing detailed market research..."
"What ridiculous market research leads to slashing Miss Robbie's screen time?" Kitano was full of rage.
Without waiting for Leon to attack, he did all the work himself.
"Simply put, Mr. Stringer believes the content the movie outputs should sync with the ideological development of the US, the world's largest film market..."
"I don't understand what you mean."
"I mean, people are tired of the tactic of attracting box office with big-breasted blondes..." Maria sighed.
"Fxxk, are you saying Americans don't like women anymore?" Saburo Kitano sneered. "Truly a bunch of freaks."
Their argument seemed endless.
Dragging from the 007 series all the way to MGM Studios.
In 2004, Kirk Kerkorian sold MGM to Sony Pictures Entertainment.
Thus, two of the former "Big Eight" film studios had merged under Sony.
The Japanese money offensive seemed to make the Americans unable to parry.
However, under the many confusing operations of the Japanese executives, MGM, a century-old film giant, filed for bankruptcy protection and restructuring last year.
"I think Mr. Leon's suggestion is correct." Saburo Kitano looked solemn. "Stringer should understand this point. The Bond Girl is the soul of the 007 series."
"Maybe you should say these words to Mr. Stringer face to face." Maria spread her hands.
"Alright, you two." Leon waved his hand to signal both parties to calm down. "You mean as long as Director Sam or Stringer agrees, there is a possibility to change the movie script, right?"
"Correct," Maria said.
"Okay, I think I understand what you mean." Leon stood up and said, "Thank you both for your warm hospitality."
This matter was far more complex than he previously imagined.
Judging by the current situation, cutting the "Bond Girl" scenes wasn't just due to Sam's personal misogyny.
It was a decision made by Stringer based on a large amount of market research.
Otherwise, he wouldn't risk making a decision that violated the tradition of the entire series for a poor wretch hallucinating from being cuckolded.
"Leon-san~" Just as he walked out of the Sony Pictures Entertainment building, Saburo Kitano stopped him.
"What is it, Mr. Kitano?" Leon frowned; today was basically fruitless.
"Warner Music is the past tense... those old-fashioned fools will inevitably decline." Kitano paused. "Sony Music's door is always open to you. Our conditions will definitely be the most generous~"
"I will seriously consider this matter," Leon said perfunctorily.
In the business van, Phil kept advising, "You better seriously consider Sony's invitation... the contract they offer is far more tempting than Warner's."
Leon rolled his eyes at him without speaking, changing the subject. "Kanye will also come to the Coachella rehearsal tomorrow, right?"
"Of course, that ngga is a main guest. At least one-third of the audience bought tickets specifically for him."
"That's good... my mind is full of him right now."
Hearing this, Phil scratched his head with a blank look. "Fxxk Bro, you aren't interested in men now, are you..."
---
Early the next morning, accompanied by Phil and Jorge, Leon arrived at the rehearsal site in the Colorado Desert.
Guided by staff, he first met with the band accompanying the performance, then entered the dressing room for makeup trials.
In the corner of the dressing room, members of the British band Duran Duran were gathered together smoking weed.
Leon's appearance quickly attracted their attention, and they covered their mouths, whispering.
This band was once red-hot across both sides of the Atlantic in the 80s, but their momentum had long since faded.
Leon didn't even have the interest to talk to them, glancing at his watch every few minutes.
About twenty minutes later, Kanye West's figure finally appeared.
Unknown for what special reason, his security measures were much more ample than usual.
Surrounded by more than a dozen bodyguards, his entourage was bigger than the President's.
He buried his head, rushing straight for the dressing room.
His gaze didn't look at anyone.
"Kanye..."
"Hey Bro!"
Leon greeted him loudly from a distance.
Kanye seemed to intentionally avoid Leon, sitting in the innermost corner of the dressing room.
However, doing so was useless. Seeing the other party pretending not to hear, Leon walked straight over.
"Bro~"
Kanye was startled, shuddering, but still didn't look up.
The bodyguards around him immediately became alert.
"Bro~ Don't be so nervous..." Leon said. "There's nothing between us! You're a very positive guy, never hating on me on social media."
"I just came over to say hello..."
Hearing this, Kanye finally let out a long sigh of relief.
It wasn't that he didn't want to post on social media; he just didn't dare.
He lifted his head blankly, staring at Leon with dazed, glazed eyes. "Hello Bro..."