America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

On set, Bruce handed Martin a classic Nokia 1100 and said, "Go ahead with the action, I personally attached the bullet, it won't fall off."

Martin pocketed the phone, picked up the pistol, and carried the black bag with the UMP45 into the set.

A Nokia marketing director, Cross, approached Bruce and handed him a carry bag, "Just a little token of appreciation."

Bruce did not accept it and asked, "Mr. Director, what does this mean?"

Cross explained, "Nokia is interested in hiring Mr. Davis as a long-term global spokesperson. Could you put in a good word for us?"

Bruce accepted the carry bag.

Cross smiled and stepped aside.

The shooting started, and everyone not involved had to keep quiet.

There wasn't much to the scene; no need to be timid, just go for it!

Martin held the submachine gun on his shoulder, advancing with standard tactical movements, firing occasionally. Each time a gunshot sounded, an enemy went down.

The sounds of the blank rounds echoed throughout the open-air set.

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As the submachine gun ran out of bullets, Martin pulled out his pistol.

After nearly half a minute of a continuous shot, he caught his breath. In the next scene, he picked up a discarded rocket launcher, aimed at a fleeing car, and pulled the trigger. The car exploded into a fireball, the spectacle far more impressive than Nicholson's RPG fireworks.

Martin tossed the rocket launcher aside, took out the phone to make a call, and as the camera dolly moved in, gave a close-up to the Nokia phone with a bullet stuck in its solid body, the screen completely shattered.

Martin didn't bother with the damage and dialed a number with one keypress.

A recorded message played on the set, "Jonathan... "

"Cut! That's a wrap!" Chad looked over at Martin's side and called out loudly, "Take a half-hour break."

The crew needed time to change the setup.

Martin went back to the resting area, tossed the Nokia to Bruce, and slumped into a chair. He took the water bottle Old Cloth handed him, took a few sips, and said, "Really should have invited Jack to see what real fireworks are like."

"Such fireworks at Warren Beatty's house would start a fire," Bruce commented, then placed the carry bag from the Nokia marketing director next to Martin's table.

He said straight out, "Nokia wants you as their global spokesperson and asked me to talk you up."

Martin glanced at the carry bag, "Keep the stuff for yourself, but I've heard the good word."

The two had an incredibly in-sync partnership, and Bruce, not being shy, took the carry bag, "I'll give it to Kim and Khloe later."

Mene, with one hand in his trouser pocket, exuded a boss-like demeanor as he walked over and sat in the adjacent chair. He seemed to fully embody his character, "Jonathan, if you keep up this massacre, the High Table won't be pleased. They'll send someone to deal with this."

Bruce followed up, "I know, the High Table is planning to send a female adjudicator in her fifties." He turned to Mene, patted him on the shoulder, "Winston, we trust with your rhetorical skills, you can definitely take care of this female adjudicator."

Mene said, "Leave it to me."

Martin tapped him and reminded, "Be sure to control it."

Mene laughed, "This is one of my most important roles; I must perform well."

He changed topics abruptly, from work to his favorite subject, "Hey Martin, guess who I met at the hotel when you were out for a photo shoot a few days ago?"

Bruce interjected, "It couldn't possibly have been Paris Hilton's mother."

"Meeting Paris's mother wouldn't be bad either, better than being hassled by that woman. She's too young for me, doesn't fit my taste," Mene lamented before continuing, "I ran into Celine Dion and even got an autographed photo from her."

Bruce asked, "The female singer who was taken care of by people since she was twelve or thirteen?"

Martin vaguely remembered, "It seems like her current husband, right?"

Mene nodded, "I had a chat with Celine. She seems to be living a bit of a dreary life, came to New York early to get ready for this year's MET Gala."

Martin recalled reports from his past life that suggested Celine Dion later switched younger male models as frequently as changing clothes.

Truly, whatever she lacked in her youth, she made up for it later on in life.

Mene asked, "Can you get me tickets to the MET Gala?"

Martin agreed, "Leave it to me."

Although the tickets were for sale, not just anyone could buy them. Martin planned to ask Daniel from Warner to get a few more.

Bruce questioned, "You're not thinking of starting something with Celine Dion, are you? What about Emma Thomas?"

Mene clarified, "Emma's got Nolan."

Martin didn't want to engage with their banter, and spotting Marcus approaching with a dog, he called out, "Daisy!"

The dog immediately ran over and turned circles around Martin, wagging its tail.

Martin found the prepared jerky and fed it to Daisy.

In the next scene, Daisy was on stage where she met her tragic end, setting the stage for a tale of reciprocal vengeance.

After lunch, Martin prepared to rest in the trailer when Cohler, the marketing director from Nokia, came looking for him.

"Mr. Davis," he said directly, "I heard that during your time in Atlanta and Los Angeles you've been using Nokia phones for a long time. Nokia is interested in inviting you to be the global brand ambassador. Are you interested?"

Martin thought for a moment and replied, "You need to talk to my agent, Thomas. I can't make any work commitments without him being present."

Cohler said, "I'll contact WMA Company right away."

Martin entered the trailer to rest at noon, woke up on time after a short nap, and before long, Bruce came with a cell phone.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

"It's a call from Thomas about the Nokia endorsement deal," he said.

Martin took the phone and called back.

On the other end, Thomas said, "Nokia is quite sincere in its proposal, initially offering a four-year endorsement contract worth a whopping 12 million US dollars annually."

"The salary is fine, but the contract term is too long, at most two years," Martin recalled carefully. The severe downturn of Nokia happened over ten years later; he couldn't remember the exact year. In any case, within two or three years after those ten years had passed, Nokia had fallen from grace.

He added, "If Nokia insists on a long contract, we should pass."

Thomas didn't ask why. Having worked with Martin for all these years, one of the most important reasons was that Thomas would execute Martin's decisions without compromise. He immediately replied, "I've booked a flight and will go to New York today to talk with Nokia in person."

Martin said a few more words and hung up the phone.

Commercial endorsements were one of his major sources of income, and if a brand experienced a significant downturn during his endorsement period, it would inevitably impact him negatively.

Even other manufacturers negotiating business deals with him would think of the brands that had failed during his endorsement period.

Martin had seen plenty of such cases, like Jackie Chan and a pop king from Harbor City, whose many endorsed brands had collapsed.

Especially Jackie Chan, with at least ten brands that failed under his endorsement—truly the king of advertising poisons.

Although there were some companies that defied superstition, many more brands looking for commercial endorsements wouldn't even consider them.

Martin chose a two-year contract to catch the last of Nokia's brilliance.

Originally, he had Thomas keep an eye on Apple's phone, but Apple's best endorser in these years was Jobs himself, and they didn't use other stars.

The afternoon's shoot involved one of the few dramatic scenes of the crew.

Martin entered the Continental Hotel and had several scenes of dialogue with Winston, played by Mene.

Over the years, Mene's use of his tongue had likely contributed to training his facial muscles' flexibility, resulting in significant improvement in his acting ability. He convincingly portrayed the mature and restrained owner of the Continental Hotel New York with an impressive presence.

His voice, nurtured by special substances, had become deep and thick, especially when acting against Martin, delivering the line "Jonathan" with a penetrating quality.

Alexandra Daddario also joined the filming. Although she didn't have many scenes, she stayed on set for a long time under the guise of observing and learning.

Since her father had been a great help with the outdoor shooting, the crew naturally could not turn her away.

This well-born actress had been in the film and television industry since 2001, but despite seven years, she had not only failed to rise to fame but had also not gained much notoriety.

Alexandra focused mainly on Martin, but she was tactful, never bothering him when he was busy or tired.

As soon as Martin truly had free time, she would come to ask him for acting advice.

"I feel that the role settings in this film are relatively simple."

In the rest area, Alexandra stood tall and upright and asked, "This female assassin seems to be a bit more complex than the lead actress."

Martin nodded slightly, "She knows Jonathan, has history with him, but for money, still has to kill Jonathan and in the end, dies by Jonathan's hand. In fact, you don't need anything else in your performance, just emphasize greed and ruthlessness, and that's enough."

"Right, the biggest characteristic of the role lies in these two aspects," said Alexandra, knowledgable in highlighting her strengths, always wearing tight, low-cut T-shirts.

Martin, being a serious person, naturally didn't pay much attention to those things. He said, "If you want to make a breakthrough in your acting, first you need to find the biggest trait of the character and then amplify that trait to the maximum. It's very easy to leave a lasting impression."

Alexandra rubbed her cheeks, "What kind of roles suit me best?"

Martin thought of True Detective, San Andreas, and "The Beach", an assortment of glorified vase roles, but he wouldn't say that. "There are many acting classes in Los Angeles, and I'm sure there are plenty in New York too. Find a reliable one and strengthen your learning further."

Alexandra nodded repeatedly, and whether habit or not, she shook her head rather dramatically, causing her other two 'heads' to also move up and down, always giving the impression of an earthquake occurring.

The crew finished shooting in the afternoon, and Martin prepared to return to the hotel.

Alexandra came over again and invited, "There's an arts and culture party in Manhattan tomorrow weekend. Are you interested in checking it out?"

It was a kind invitation from someone else, so of course Martin could not refuse.