Versatile Superstar: Rise In Hollywood Chapter 318

Chapter 318

In Hollywood, stars were always the
focus. Their lives, their upcoming projects, their relationships and everything in between. The media focused on it so much that everything about a star would be in newspapers. Good and bad both.
But one aspect that people always forget in the industry called Hollywood were agents.
One might think of them as black suits wearing people who look menacing and have all sorts of contacts. It wasn't far off but an agent's job requires a lot of travel, meaning that it was best to wear whatever was comfortable.
After all, they are the people who are actually controlling a star's life and trying their best to only give selective information to the media so that their clients look good and have a good image.
Though, sometimes it doesn't go as planned.
That's why agents were also the best in damage control. You got caught with a married woman? Your agent will handle it. You assaulted someone? Your agent will hire a lawyer. Your last movie failed? Your agent will get you a better script.
Because of this, most of the time agents were the ones to lay down the staircase of stardom.
At the same time, a bad agent could easily destroy your career.
There was one famous incident in Hollywood where a top actor changed 7 agents just to work with a director he wanted. He was unhappy with a lot of projects that he was being offered.
There was another incident where a famous actress's career almost got destroyed because her agent hid scripts that were offered to her and only gave her the ones he liked. A lot of them failed, ending a career early.
These things undoubtedly tell the importance of a good agent. And in Hollywood, only people who have passed the agent exam could work as one.
[A/N: Agent exam is fictional and something I came up with. It was mostly due to just me thinking that I could make a small story around agents in the future.]
It was an extremely difficult exam that only a few could do well in. Most people are happy to just barely pass it. And Wade was someone who topped this exam.
Not only that, he also got recruited in Red Ant agency, one of the top agencies in Hollywood and there, he took his first step towards his dream.
Creating a superstar out of nowhere. Becoming a star maker. As someone who admired king makers in fantasy novels, he felt like this was his calling.
His skills certainly showed it.
Just after entering the Red Ant agency, he worked with three celebrities and took their career to the next level in a short time, selecting projects that the celebrities were comfortable in and showing excellent man management skills.
In just one year, he was the talk of the agency and Hollywood. A lot of actors wanted to work with him.
But he had a clash with one of the senior agents in Red Ant agency, prompting him to leave it. The details were far and few but there were a lot of rumors about how he wasn't able to adjust to the dark nature of Hollywood that is more visible as you go up on the ladder of success.
After leaving Red Ant agency, he got other offers but he rejected them. At the same time, he was also going through a messy divorce, making him think back on the decisions of his life.
It was only after that phase in his life that Wade decided to act independent. It was a hard decision but he wanted to use his own ways instead of doing what the industry was doing.
Despite it being a massive gamble, he was very successful.
His connections during his early days helped him get valuable movies for his clients. They weren't big blockbusters but they were good enough to establish themselves in the industry.
It started off slow but eventually, his actors got fame. They moved from one list to another. One indie movie to a commercial blockbuster, gaining more and more fame.
But every single time, his clients changed.
It was like fame has corrupted them. Money has made them lazy and the ambition he had first seen was nowhere. It wasn't even a lot of fame but celebrities tended to fall into narcissism.
So, he moved. From one actor to another. Every time, the same thing happened like time was in a loop.
Just as Wade was giving up hope, he got called by an old friend. An old leecher, he called him. It was about his nephew who wanted Wade as his agent.
At first he laughed at it.
He felt that it would be a similar occurrence as the ones before. But he still met the person as the surname Silvereye holds a history about it in Hollywood.
He was curious.
'Would he be someone with a lot of potential or none of it? Someone who could handle fame and ambition… It's too much to ask for.'
Those were his thoughts before meeting Aiden and he was fairly surprised.
The first meeting wasn't bad. He showed ambition. A lot of it and knowing that the person had talent and Wade was without any client, he had taken on the role.
Purely as a gamble.
A few years later, he felt like it was the best gamble of his life.
Aiden was climbing the stairs of Hollywood faster than anyone he had met. Not only in acting, he was establishing himself in writing and singing too, giving him an identity of a multi talented artist.
Moreover, with this, even if one of his careers started to fail, he could give more time to the other two.
It also meant that Wade's days were getting busier and busier. Especially because you attract a lot of attention when you are close to the top.
"They again published an article? Why are they posting these many fake articles? Those bastards."
Wade muttered as he looked at Sarah. It was early morning and he was having a video call meeting with her.
"Probably some people are not happy with the success of [Action Hero]. There's too much attention on him and people want to damage his image."
Sarah said with a frown. She wasn't happy with this as her work has just increased but this was something they needed to go through.
"We can't let them do that. Try to counter those fake articles as fast as you can."
"We are already on it. Though, we might need more people."
"Let's talk about it later. I will come to New York next week as the shooting goes to the next schedule." Wade said, then asked. "Did you compile a list of the brand offers?"
"I did. I will send it to you today. There's lots of offers but we need to be careful to not promote anything that's not good for his image."
Wade and Sarah talked a bit more about the brand offers before he ended the call.
'Sigh, I really need to do something about these fake articles.'
He thought before calling Tom and asking him whether the shooting was going on or if there were any problems on the set.
As Wade had other things to cater to, Aiden was accompanied by Tom on the sets. The assistant was very quick on his job, so they have gotten comfortable.
Even though Wade sometimes felt like Tom was acting a bit weird.
After finishing the call with Tom, Wade sat in his car and went towards a restaurant to attend a meeting with a producer.
"We think that your client is perfect for our next project. It's a comedy and I feel like Aiden would suit in this kind of role. His last movie was serious, so it's a nice change of pace too."
The producer said, eyeing Wade's expression calmly.
"We aren't really discriminating based on the genre as we feel like any good script is something we should consider. Who's the writer and we wanted to show the script first."
"Yes, yes."
The indie producer told Wade everything related to the project and didn't lose any opportunity to compliment him and Aiden, trying to leave a good impression.
After the meeting, Wade sat in his car and sighed.
'It's just another one of those producers who think just having Aiden in an indie project means a lot of money.'
As Aiden had made two indie projects succeed, there was a perception that his vision for movies was superb and if he selected someone's project, it was bound to be a success.
It was obviously something that was just making money when they saw Aiden. But Wade needed to be careful.
Aiden's lineup for this year was already decided. So, all this would only go on floors next year.
But Wade needed to go through all sorts of projects as it was his job.
'Okay. I have another meeting in the afternoon. Then I could go visit the set.'
Wade thought and at that moment, he got a call. Picking it up, he saw it was an unknown number.
"Mr. Wade Spectre, I would like to meet you to discuss something about your client."