America Tycoon: The Wolf of Showbiz

```

After work, Martin and Bruce returned to the North Hollywood Apartment.

Under the sun umbrella at the entrance, Antonio had set up a table with five burgers and two steaks lined up neatly.

He was admiring the sunset, savoring his burger, enjoying the leisurely life of a millionaire tenant.

Martin approached, grabbed a bottle of iced drink, and said, "Wealthy man, you're too relaxed. If you keep eating like this, obesity will crush you."

Antonio's leisure turned into vigilance, "Martin, what are you trying to do?"

"You've made quite a bit of money, haven't you? Put it into investment; there's a good opportunity right now." Martin tried to rope in an investment, "I'm working on a movie..."

Antonio raised his hand to interrupt him, "Stop! Martin, don't say another word."

Martin stopped, looking at the portly landlord, "It's a chance to make money!"

Antonio picked up a burger, "I have food, drink, real estate, and savings. As long as I don't invest, don't start a business, don't get married, I will live very comfortably until I die."

His words suddenly hit home, "I'm a millionaire, a rich man, why should I strive like you do?"

At that moment, Martin felt what Old Cloth had experienced. He turned and walked towards the door, not forgetting to leave a parting shot, "From now on, don't talk to me for a week."

"There's a parcel for you, Jessica helped you collect it," Antonio added, before sinking his teeth into the burger, eating with relish.

Bruce looked Antonio up and down, and gave him a thumbs-up, "Impressive."

Seeing the weird look in Old Cloth's eyes, Antonio suddenly found the burger tasteless and couldn't sit still anymore, urging, "Hurry up, don't disturb my meal."

After Bruce left, Antonio felt inexplicably relaxed, and his backside finally settled down.

Martin went upstairs and knocked on the door across from his lightly.

Jessica opened the door, and upon seeing Martin, she immediately said, "You're back? Oh right, your parcel is here with me."

Emily squeezed past Jessica, holding a cardboard box, and brought it to Martin.

Martin said, "Thanks." He pointed to the rooftop, "Have a drink upstairs in a bit."

Jessica quickly agreed, "Sure! We also have something we want to discuss with you."

Martin glanced at his watch, "Meet on the rooftop in half an hour."

"Okay." The two hurried back to do their makeup.

Martin returned to his room, and Bruce followed behind him.

While Martin was opening the parcel, Bruce made a call to the nearby restaurant to have wine and dinner delivered.

Martin opened the box, which was full of horn carvings, all character models with big mouths and red noses, all modeled after him as Jokers.

Some were very funny, some were quite scary.

Bruce picked one up and commented, "The craftsmanship is getting better."

Martin then found an envelope at the bottom of the box, took it out, and opened it to find a letter from Lily.

The letter was short and mainly described one event; some people at Marietta Public Middle School were criticizing "House of Wax," and she had gone with a group to set each of those fools straight, involving stuffing a dirty sock in each of their mouths.

Bruce asked, "Do you need to send a return gift?"

Martin remembered his collection, "Where is my crocodile tooth pendant?"

"You've given one before." Bruce reminded him, "The same thing, you want to give it again? Dude, be a person."

Martin packed up the items, "We'll see later."

The last time Louise and Kelly, those frivolous girls, had sent a set of carving tools back to Atlanta in his name.

Lily mentioned the movie in her letter, and Martin said, "Another day, I'll collect some movie materials and mail them to her."

The restaurant's staff delivered the dinner Bruce had ordered, and Martin called for Jessica and Emily and also invited Antonio from downstairs to have dinner together on the rooftop.

Hearing there was good food, Antonio heaved his hefty body up the stairs.

The five of them sat at the long dining table, eating and chatting.

Jessica asked, "Martin, have you been keeping up with the blog recently?"

Martin replied, "I occasionally take a look, I've been very busy lately, preparing for a new movie."

Emily immediately asked, "A new movie? What scale of production? When does it start filming, do you need..."

Compared to her, the slightly younger Jessica was much more composed.

Seeing her companion silent, Emily stopped asking her questions.

"It's just in the planning stages, far from official preparation," Martin answered vaguely and asked Jessica, "What's up with the blog?"

He couldn't possibly monitor it every day, and for the most part, Thomas was managing the blog.

Jessica said, "Rachel is planning to gather active members of the fan section for a meetup, everyone will pay their own way, and during the gathering, they will discuss your new film."

Martin asked directly, "What do you think?"

```

Jessica said thoughtfully, "Here's what I'm thinking, take some posters or autographed photos about you to Rachel, let her distribute them to the active members of the fan forum, and they will become a supporting point in the fan network..."

She had studied at a professional art college, and in terms of cultural level, she was more educated than Martin, "I think fans need to be cultivated. One loyal fan might influence five or six people around them, or even more, especially when it comes to buying movie tickets when a film is released."

Antonio suddenly interrupted, "Not entirely accurate, for someone like me, even ten die-hard fans couldn't persuade me."

Bruce glanced at his stature and said outright, "Probably not even twenty."

"Movies make money off the general public," Martin then blurted out, "You are a rich and wealthy miser."

Jessica gave Antonio a smile, "Someone like you isn't even part of the group we're talking about."

"Don't mind him," After a moment of thought, Martin said, "One of my new movies is coming out in February."

Jessica knew, "'The Hills Have Eyes,' but apart from the main poster, no other materials have been released yet."

Martin looked ahead, "I play a completely different role in this movie than I did in the wax museum, a definitive leading role. I'll request some promotional materials about me from the crew, and you can take them to Rachel."

Jessica was surprised, "That's great, they really want that."

"Do you guys have plans tomorrow?" Martin asked after seeing Jessica shake her head, "Tomorrow morning, come with me to Warner Bros. Studios. The crew should have some of the promotional materials ready, and I'll claim a batch for you to take to Rachel."

"Okay, Emily and I will wait for you bright and early," Emily replied.

The next morning, Jessica and Emily drove to Warner Bros. Studios with Martin.

Martin told them to wait in the lobby and went straight to Craven to explain the situation briefly.

Having been in Hollywood for decades working on commercial movies from start to finish, Craven immediately had some ideas, "It's been half a month since the first poster was released, and according to the normal rhythm, it's time for the crew to start the second wave of promotion. This activity is good, after all, you are the absolute protagonist of the film."

Picking up where he left off, Martin said, "That's what I was thinking. This is part of the standard promotion plan. Informal promotions won't start until after the New Year, and Warner Bros. has a decent marketing budget. Can we start on both fronts simultaneously?"

Centering the promotion around himself was obviously advantageous, and Martin naturally wanted to make it happen, "Wes, here's what I'm thinking, should we turn it into an official event? I remember you mentioned last time that the first trailer was cut, could we use this opportunity for a fan-engagement premiere event?"

Craven thought for a moment and replied, "Absolutely, the crew could release the first trailer at the event and then fully launch it across media platforms, while also giving promotional materials to the fans and media present there to preheat the film."

With just over two months until the release of "The Hills Have Eyes," time wasn't particularly long.

Craven simply called a meeting with the crew and Warner Bros. distribution representatives to discuss together.

Bruce went to inform Jessica and Emily to patiently wait a little longer, advising them that if they couldn't sit still, they were welcome to tour around the studio.

Emily was interested in taking a look, but Jessica pulled her back, "Let's just wait here for a while."

After more than 40 minutes, crew members came to fetch them.

Both women got to meet the famous Wes Craven.

A promotional director from the crew came over to discuss the upcoming event in detail with them.

Emily hadn't expected that a spontaneously organized fan event would be taken seriously by the crew and turn into an official promotion.

To show his appreciation, Martin personally logged onto his blog and under Rachel's call-to-action post in the fan section, left a reply.

"Just saw this, your support is most important to me. To thank everyone, I'm prepared to support the event and have requested a batch of the latest materials from 'The Hills Have Eyes' crew to be brought over."

No sooner had he posted than many replies appeared below.

Martin remained patient and after a while, posted another message, "I've just been in contact with 'The Hills Have Eyes' crew. Hearing about your support, they decided to sponsor the event. The crew will cover the event costs, give out my movie materials on-site, get the media to cover your support for me, and premiere the first trailer of 'The Hills Have Eyes' at the event."

As soon as this reply was posted, the blog became lively.

Sign-ups for the event skyrocketed.

Rachel might have been notified, and after asking Martin personally, she posted a new message, rallying everyone to support on the spot.

The wax museum had been selling well, attracting many fans for Martin, many of whom used the blog as a base for activities.

Under Rachel's new post, the number of sign-ups quickly exceeded a hundred.

The crew moved quickly too, immediately allocating a budget, planning the event process, contacting the media, and booking the venue.

Jessica and Emily became liaisons between the crew and the fan community.

"Let them join the crew temporarily," Martin, needing manpower for his work and with the crew paying, said, "They'll be useful for later promotions."

Craven didn't care about the minor expense and nodded, "Sure."

Martin asked, "Can you do it?"

Jessica promptly replied, "I have no problem."

Emily hesitated, as she still had auditions to attend.

Jessica kicked her under the table, thinking that Emily's brain was all in her chest.

Coming to her senses, Emily said, "I'll join."

After everyone else left, Wes Craven was still contemplating.

After a while, he said to Martin, "Just ordinary fans won't be enough to generate the needed buzz."

Martin quickly responded, "I'll find a way to bring Annie along."