Chapter 47 The big man of the future

 "You need a manager," Cesare pointed out to Jenny, "and from now on, there will be more and more meetings like today, and you can't come to the Upper East Side every day, you need a full-time manager to take care of all the chores for you, and until then, I was doing all of this, but I'm really just your film and television agent, and there are so many areas of your career that need managers to be involved." "

 "I thought you'd like me to be under your control. Jenny laughed at him, "What if I find an unruly manager, Chesa, and encourage me to break away from your dictatorship?"

 Cesare looked at her and said without emotion, "Of course, to avoid this, I will assign you a butler from among my minions." "

 Jenny still couldn't get used to the way he was joking, and was stunned for a moment, not knowing whether to laugh or talk back. She and Cesare communicate smoothly when they negotiate and quarrel, and when they are both friendly, they always can't get rid of that bit of embarrassment.

 She got to the point, "Find a manager, what else? Next you're going to suggest I hire an assistant?"

 "Of course. "I've heard Nissa talk about last night, and it was just the premiere, and you've been on Broadway for six months, and you've had to deal with fans every day, and maybe more and more." There's a reason why entertainers like to hire assistants, and it's easy to figure out why you need one. "

 "Hmm. Jenny didn't play dumb, "I can't personally maintain order with the fans, and the security guards don't have this obligation." - I now know what you mean when you say I'll be poorer. "

 "The manager will take 10% of your earnings and the assistant will be paid monthly, and Judy will definitely ask for a raise after the first contract period because the amount of work you bring to her will grow faster than we would like. Cesare recounted Jenny's upcoming expenses, "and I think you should have your personal wardrobe a makeover in a month, and you're about to become the most striking new face on Broadway." Some paparazzi don't mind waiting at the back door of the theater to bring you two street shots. "

 He looked disapprovingly at Jenny's long T-shirt, and Jenny resisted the urge to grimace at him.

 "If I do what you say, I'll be poorer than I was when I was a waiter. She said, "How much do I get a month now? about 16,000 dollars, and even if I don't say that I have to save for taxes, I'm going to give you 15 percent of the commission, and 10 percent for the manager, which is 25 percent, and then for the assistant's salary, and the expenses for the maintenance and so on, and I have a premonition that I won't have a penny left." "

 "Yes. Cesare agreed, "But that's the bare minimum, tell me, what do you think you can cut?"

 "It seems that the cost of treatment and installation cannot be saved. Jenny said helplessly, "Otherwise, Judy will have an opinion, assistant... Well, I don't want to be called stingy, I'll get an assistant as soon as possible. "

 "You should also rent a car. "Of course, you can keep a low profile and don't choose a famous car, but don't go the civilian route." "

 "One more expense. Jenny rolled her eyes, "Do you hear that?" tick, tick, tick, tick, it's the sound of my heart dripping blood. "

 "It's good that you like to save and have healthy financial habits," Cesare said patiently, "but it's important to you, and if you want to act like a commoner, you can wait until you win your first Oscar, and then everybody will praise you for being a simple artist who is not corrupted by flashiness, but now you have to have all these facilities in place, Jenny, which is a necessary upfront investment." "

 "Okay. Jenny didn't need Cesare to convince her anymore, in fact, she could understand the truth - if no one was there to maintain order every time she went to sign autographs for fans, then it was conceivable that she would be surrounded by this crowd and it would be difficult to get out, and if she had to go over and convince them to line up in person, Jenny would be completely starless. "If I don't see myself as a star, who will think of me as a star? I will hire assistants, rent a car, buy some clothes, pay attention to my appearance. Even if it costs me my retirement savings. "

 Cesare asked keenly, "But there are no managers?"

 "What do your managers do in your mind?" asked Jenny rhetorically, "instead of me having a meeting with you, deciding what matters to me, and then telling me what I should do, I don't have to ask why, just do it—is that so?"

 "Most managers will also connect you with your accountant, your PR, your broker, filter some scripts for you, manage your assistants, your housekeepers, and your network," Cesare replied, "but at this point, yes, his main job is to have meetings with us and tell you what to do and when." "

 Jenny shook her head, "I'm not reluctant to give up 10%, but I don't like being a puppet, you've seen last night's show, I can play Lockey well, but I don't want a Billy standing behind me." "

 "In fact, you already have a Billy behind your back. Cesare compared himself to himself. "And you promised to be an obedient girl. "

 "Of course I'll be obedient – I've always been obedient. Jenny thought about the way she expressed it, "Let's put it this way, if I, you, and Judy had a product meeting just now, and you were deciding the merchandising route of 'Jennifer Jefferson Aka J.J.'", then I, as Jennifer Jefferson's main producer, or front-line staff, asked for the right to attend. I'm not going to compete with you for a job as a designer, but at least I'll be there at a product meeting. "

 Before Cesare could speak, Jeanne said, "I know, my hours are uncertain, and I can't be interrupted at work, which makes it difficult to schedule meetings, but I want to point out that you're my agent and my PR, and you're taking commissions from me — I guess the chain of power is obvious, and it doesn't change depending on how famous each other is, does it?"

 "You're a good advocate for yourself. Cesare said that there was no ripple on his handsome face, and that he did not seem to be at all moved by Jeanne's assessment.

 "A girl has to learn to think of herself. Jenny said sweetly at him, winking at him with a slight mockery.

 "Well," Cesare announced his compromise, "since you don't think you need the help of a manager, then we don't need the help of a manager for the time being." "

 "I just don't like to be told the results," Jeanne tried to make up for it after each taunt of Cesare, "and it made me feel very unengaged." "

 "You're not that famous now," Cesare said, "and you don't have that much work — you'll find out later." Next, let's talk about assistants. "

 After Cesare's guidance, Jeanne decided to offer her future assistant a salary of about $4,000, tentatively working from the afternoon to the evening every day, and of course the salary would be adjusted if the working hours were to be extended in the future.

 And after her debut, she also decided to find a short-term rental apartment and no longer continue to live in a hotel, so that she can cook her own meals and eat, and she doesn't have to endure convenience store salads that are never fresh enough. Cesare asked her to find a high-end short-term rental apartment, not a small room in Queens or Brooklyn, preferably a business apartment in Manhattan.

 "That's how my money is gone. Jenny heartbroken declared, "I feel very poor now." "

 Add one plus the expenses she promised to go out today, and Jenny will probably spend more than 10,000 yuan a lump sum, and then she will have to pay the assistant's salary and rent every month, plus the taxes she has to save in advance, and the expected shopping expenses, she has less money at her disposal now than when she was a waitress.

 After discussing the trivial matters, it was probably time for lunch, and Cesare would catch the afternoon flight back to Los Angeles, and Lilian's mother urged Jenny to stay, and she had lunch with Cesare, who only laughed at her declaration. "In three months, we'll start a second round of negotiations, and your financial situation will ease by then. "

 "How much are you going to talk about?" asked Jenny curiously, "10,000 or 20,000 a week?"

 "I think 20,000 is an appropriate number. "It's a little unrealistic to go any higher." "

 This is a very simple arithmetic problem, assuming that the Schubert Theater can sell all the tickets at the original price in one night, then the box office income of one is about 300,000 yuan - this is the ideal situation, eight performances a week, 2.4 million, this is all the income of the theater this week, from advertising fees, theater staff from top to bottom to troupe director, choreographer, stage manager, lighting and stage design, and even the salaries of all actors, all counting on this 2.4 million. Jenny can get 20,000 yuan from this cake, which is already a very good treatment. If it is higher, it can only be played by Hollywood big names to offer such a price, but for these big names, it is not a rush to make money to act in musicals, so the price will not be too high. Therefore, as far as the entire market price is concerned, it is quite good to be able to negotiate 20,000 yuan.

 "Do you think it will work?" Jenny took a bite of the organic salad and smiled and nodded at Lillian's mother, who placed a glass of freshly squeezed juice next to her bowl.

 "James flew to London for you this morning, and I think the answer should be yes. Cesare replied, handing Jenny the newspaper on the table, "You can take a closer look at these reviews, these middle-aged men are all smitten for you, which is very rare - Patri is even Gay." "

 "This shows that the power of beauty knows no borders. Jenny replied cheekily, but still with great interest, she quickly read the two reviews.

 Cesare was right, the New York Post's Pattry had been completely conquered by her, and Jenny could vaguely recall a certain eager-looking face at last night's party, and Patrice seemed to be in a hurry to talk to her.

 He completely praised Jenny as a goddess-like character in the drama review, and more than 50% of the entire drama review was extremely beautiful to her, and even used the famous quote that people described Vivien Leigh at the time to give Jenny gold: 'She has such beauty, why does she have such acting skills, why does she have such acting skills, why does she need to be so beautiful?' and asserted that Jenny has unlimited prospects in Hollywood, and she can't stay on Broadway forever,' Admit it, Hollywood has been shamelessly stealing Broadway talent with high gratuities, and this girl will be their next target, and I don't even know how long she'll be on Broadway, compared to the workload of five shows a week, it seems that Hollywood's ease and high salary are more alluring. Cherish your time, and you may only have a short time to enjoy this miraculous show before Chicago is released on DVD. '

 As for Brantley, although the title of his review is 'That Girl Is a Monster', the tone of the review is obviously much more rational than Patry's, and the focus is still on Jenny's singing and dancing skills and acting skills, 'Her style is more focused on supernatural acting, which is not to say that her singing and dancing are not excellent, but compared with her natural performance, the singing and dancing part has stolen a lot of the limelight. And her acting skills also made the atmosphere of the audience unbalanced, it was not a perfect show, people have to remember that Chicago is a two-lead musical, and last night's show is more appropriately named 'The Lockhee Solo Show...

 Jenny ate the salad while looking at the printed blog content, and they almost all gave her high praise, but the success or failure of the musical is divided into two camps, some people tend to think that the whole show is very good, in addition to Jenny's loxie, there are some adaptations, The new highlights in the choreography are all worthy of recognition, and the other faction, led by Brantley, pointed out sharply that Jenny's extraordinary beauty and monster-level acting skills are like an overweight weight, completely destroying the balance of the whole play.

 "I can feel that everybody wants to see it, and they just want to see Lockhee, and it's the success of Lockhee, and the failure of Andy Lewis. "Do you suppose this could be the reason why James went to London at once?"

 "He must have made his decision last night knowing the box office trends," Cesare replied, "and the reviews are just icing on the cake, and as long as you were in the room last night, no one would doubt the success of your Locke." "

 In fact, Jenny didn't expect that the audience and critics would react so violently to her and Dietrich's 'pressure scene' issue, of course, everyone must have felt it during the rehearsal, but Brantley's comments still scared her a little.

 "This is not surprising. "It's the same with films, even if a great director is a hit, even if it's a hit at a preview screening, it can be a hit at both the box office and the critical world, and it's not an industry where quality control can work." Even if there are multiple rehearsals, professionals can never substitute for the market to judge the audience's concerns. "

 "So, without your help, I also accomplished my goal on my own. Jeanne couldn't help but provoke Cesare slightly, "So, your role in this matter seems to have become dispensable?"

 "In fact, James would have decided to replace Dietrich, and the reason should have nothing to do with you. Cesare disagreed, noting, "I think whether he kept Dietrich or replaced her, he was thinking about the play itself." So your peanut oil plan will play a very small role in this matter. "

 Last night's premiere, of course, James was also watching in the venue, perceiving the floating atmosphere of the audience, and after sitting in the audience and watching a performance, combined with this morning's drama reviews and box office changes, he should have come to his own conclusion: replacing Dietrich will make the reputation of this show go to a higher level. Jenny can't help but admit that even if there was no peanut oil incident, he would have directly decided to replace Dietrich.

 But she was a little embarrassed when she thought about it: wouldn't the peanut oil incident be harmful, and it didn't play a positive role at all except to destroy her relationship with Jaime. Cesare's moderate approach now seems to be very mature and magnificent.

 If calculated by the age at the time of crossing, her psychological age should be a few years older than Cesare, and it is also because of the self-confidence of a psychological elder, when she first came into contact, Jenny was very imposing to Cesare, in her heart, she was pretending to be a pig and eating a tiger, and Cesare's dead face was the attack of the second disease. Now she feels like she's being slapped in the face by reality, and she's dying.

 "But the peanut oil program makes me happy. Jenny noted, "Since James won't let the peanut oil program affect his plans for Dietrich, then he won't let the peanut oil program affect my plans either." You said that with your strategy, you can get him to do his best to nominate me for a Tony Award, so if Dietrich even gave me peanut oil in the intention of making me unable to act, and ruining his big plan to press everything, it won't affect him. Then my plan obviously won't affect his ability to get me nominated for an award, a Tony Award-winning musical, which will definitely be more favorable at the box office, and even a follow-up DVD development. "

 Cesare smiled businessly, "You have a point. "

 Still, his tolerant tone made it clear that he didn't think Jenny had seen what was at stake.

 Jenny glared at him unconvinced, "Won't you explain?"

 Cesare spread his hands, "Forgive me, I think you'll be more emotional after the explanation." "

 Jenny pushed the plate away, half-jokingly more emotional. "Are you judging my personality now?"

 "In fact, I'm just reminding you that you're now caught in the trap of 'thinking about these things is an obstacle to you.'" "But, well, there's a quickest and most innocuous way to solve this problem—if you do well enough to make James realize during the rehearsal that the pressure problem is serious, then Dietrich will be replaced before the performance." So at the end of the day, the whole thing has to do with the strength of your show. "

 Jenny couldn't find a point to fight back, and she stood up angrily, "I understand what Jim said now, eating with you is the most unpleasant thing in the world." "

 "Just now in the study, you were right, you should think of yourself as a product. "

 On the elevator downstairs, Cesare said to Jenny. "As a front-line production specialist, you only need to concentrate on one thing, Jenny - acting, that's all you have to produce, as for other things, you can leave it to the professionals to think about. I don't need your reasons, you don't like her, you want her to get out, tell your manager, and the manager will go to me, find PR, find Jade, and make your wish come true for you. And the premise of all this is that you output good enough acting skills, and after the roadmap I designed for you, let Judy package it and sell it out. "

 "Jennifer Jefferson will be a calculated commodity, and you're important, but you're just part of the team," he said. Jenny, I hope that for now, you will focus on your job and not worry too much about it. "

 Even though she still had some trouble thinking about the Dietrich incident, Jenny could hear the faint warning in Cesare's words, and she quickly restrained her desire to resist and said obediently. "Yes, Lord Vijri, I will be an obedient minion. "

 "Good. Cesare reached into his pocket and flicked a coin at her, "Be a good girl, Jefferson - don't let me down." "

 He slipped into a cab and walked out of Jenny's field of vision. Jeanne stared at the yellow tail of the car, unoblivious to the fact that she had just achieved unprecedented success in her musical, but for some reason the contrast between her and Cesare's strengths seemed to regress, and the little strength she had earned seemed to have completely disappeared: she seemed to be a complete rookie to Cesare.

 There wasn't much time left for her to be depressed, Jenny was about to rush to Broadway, and she had a rehearsal in the afternoon and a show in the evening. According to the schedule, tomorrow morning she was going to interview with the assistant Cesare had hired for her, and then she would go to see the apartment and move...

 Thinking of the busy schedule ahead, Jeanne suddenly felt a strong urge to find an island to live in seclusion for a few days, and she let out a silent breath and walked to the subway entrance—her musical had just been a great success, but she was now more aware of her poverty than she had been in months.

 However, when she walked into the troupe, Jenny began to realize that she was really becoming a star.

 Security guards, choreographers, group B actors, group A backup dancers, stage managers... They were of course familiar with her, and Jenny had passed them down the hallways countless times, rushing to the rehearsal room, nodding to each other. And today, from the moment she pushed the door in, everyone stopped to smile at her and make way for her.

 There was some respect and flattery in their tones, and they seemed to be in a hurry to get acquainted with her, and they said, "Good afternoon, Jennifer." "

 Yes, she's really becoming a big shot.