“I’m not sure,” Ella replied, not sounding optimistic at all. “The news of Kelly taking drugs is all over the internet. It was posted at dawn, so the netizens should’ve taken screenshots of it. Kelly has recently become very popular, and other celebrities, including those at Excellent Entertainment Company, seem to be taking advantage of the situation by fanning the flames of the controversy. They are upset at how she hyped herself up previously.”
“What is her manager doing? Why is nothing done to stop her?” Rayna cursed under her breath. Suddenly recalling something, she asked, “Ella, has the news about her signing an endorsement deal with Glory been released?”
“No.”
Rayna heaved a sigh of relief. “Oh, that’s good to know. We’ll ask them to compensate for our losses based on the contract, then.”
“Ms. Garland, there is something more important that needs to be addressed immediately.” Ella glanced at her carefully. “Newfirm Media just informed me that the script is finished and the director has a thirteen-day break, with filming scheduled to take place in Summerbank tomorrow. However, their timeline is now disrupted because of Kelly’s scandal.”
“No worries. Let the director and actor know that the shooting will be pushed back two days. Use those two days to get to universities or other film sets and locate a female lead who can sign the contract straight away. Once you’ve found someone, tell the film crew to commence shooting immediately.”
Ella spread her hands helplessly. “After reading the news this morning, I called Newfirm Media to tell them to delay filming, but they said it wasn’t possible. Wilson is apparently busy and has to attend a film festival overseas thirteen days later.”
Comprehension dawned on Rayna, and she sneered. “They want money, huh?”
“That’s right,” Ella said, surprised that Rayna had figured out the truth so quickly. “Newfirm Media is willing to postpone filming, but they want to renegotiate the contract. They will set the price according to the market.”
“I can’t believe they came up with such a fancy excuse just to get more money!” Rayna felt disgusted. “I picked him because I discovered he was good at angles from his graduation project. How dare he test my patience?”
Ella thought carefully and proposed, “We should stop collaborating with them since they didn’t bother holding back. I’ll send you some recent young directors’ graduate projects to look at while I go to universities to look for a new female lead.”
Rayna nodded. “That will do.”
“Should I get the script back?” Ella asked. “The scriptwriter works in Newfirm Media, but we’ve paid for the script. We’re no longer working with them, so it may not be a good idea to leave the script with them. What if something bad happens?”
Rayna thought it over and reassured Ella, “It’s all right. We’ve already signed a contract with the scriptwriter, so if anything happens, they will be held responsible. Don’t rush to end the contract with Newfirm Media. For now, let’s focus on finding a suitable female lead.”
If Rayna couldn’t find someone as talented as Wilson and had to go back to Newfirm Media after terminating the contract, they would likely raise the price. It would be wise not to make any hasty decisions.
“Okay, got it.” Ella quickly left to carry out Rayna’s instructions.
Rayna also got to work, first handling the pressing tasks and then moving on to reviewing the work and information of the young directors that Ella had sent her earlier.
She watched several directors’ works but didn’t see anything that she liked.
As she was working, she noticed the two lunch boxes on her table and suddenly remembered that she had forgotten to call Carl. Since she was busy today, she sent a text message to Gabriel to ask him to come to Glory.
Of course, Curtis was the only one who could read the WhatsApp text.
When Curtis saw her text, he assumed she was flustered after she learned about Kelly’s scandal.
He summoned Gabriel. “Bring the files of Excellent Entertainment Company’s A and B-list celebrities to Glory and check if Rayna is interested in working with any of them.”
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