America 1982

Martin White was sitting in the back seat of the luxury car parked in the underground garage of the TV station, his eyes constantly observing the surroundings, and his hand holding the anti-wolf stun stick that Page left for him when he got out of the car, hoping that this stun stick could give him Brings some improvement in security.

"Those safety product companies run by white people must be out of their fucking minds to design such a cerebral palsy product! Even if the battery is exhausted, this thing can't kill even a mouse. They actually advertise that it can bring a sense of security to women. ? If a woman presses this thing in front of him, the pervert will probably praise her for how interesting she is..."

After complaining that the electric shock stick in his hand had no lethality, Martin couldn't help but cursed that bastard Tommy Hawke in his heart!

He said he was going to be an actor, who the hell would have thought he was that kind of actor? It was like running a concert tour in various black communities. With the cooperation of Page and others, he promoted himself to the local black people at the bottom who had never seen the world. He was a black man who wanted to open a black TV station.

The actor he imagined was acting in front of the camera, not in front of the gun...

Just when he was nervous, a middle-aged black man wearing a black and blue jacket, blue shirt, denim jeans, and Nike sneakers approached the car from a distance. He first made sure that the license plate number was correct, and then opened the driver's seat. The car door, sat up.

Although Martin felt that his heart was about to jump out of his mouth, he tightened his face and stared at the black man who got on the bus seriously and fiercely.

"Mr. Martin Hart?" This middle-class black man first pushed up the flat mirror on the bridge of his nose, and then greeted Martin Hart through the rearview mirror:

"I am Stanley Jack, Honors Counselor for Anti-Gangs at Martin Luther King High School in Compton and Youth Employment Counselor at Compton Community College."

"Are you Big Jack?" Martin tried to make his voice sound calmer and more dignified.

"No, I am the second son of the Jack family. My eldest brother Bernard is called Big Jack." The middle-aged black man who called himself Stanley started the car and replied: "It's an honor to meet you, Mr. Hart, until Your white employees introduced you to us, and we learned that you had great powers on the East Coast."

"My white employees?" Martin was slightly surprised at first, and then showed an expression of dissatisfaction on his face: "Have they ever talked about me to you? Who has such a big mouth, Page? When I finish my work, I will definitely unplug this old guy. A mouth full of teeth.”

Are you kidding me? Does he have great powers on the East Coast? He has been in this world for more than 20 years and has nothing to do with the word famous. His most glorious life experience is to become a barber.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know you didn't like people talking about you." Jack held the steering wheel, apologized sincerely, and drove Martin in the direction of Compton.

Martin maintained his aura as a black boss: "It doesn't matter. I am always tolerant of people I meet for the first time and will not use electric shock gloves to leave an unpleasant impression."

"Oh~ electric shock gloves, I know that thing. It's Soviet goods shipped from Cuba, right? They are very expensive in Los Angeles. If they are truly made in the Soviet Union and not in Cuba, they cost more than 400 yuan. CommScope Not many black people could afford these high-end toys, and I heard there were people in Miami who used these gloves to bet on which one would survive the electric shock longer."

“What kind of entertainment do black people have here?”

"For dog fighting or boxing, black people here are not as selective as those on the East Coast. There are more than 700 black gangs on the East Coast, and there are only more than 470 in California, but the largest are two. Everyone can either join the Blood Gang Alliance. Or it’s the Crip Alliance.”

"I've heard both names in Miami, so, which side are you on?"

"We don't join the two major alliances. We are more like an African Star neighborhood mutual aid organization. If others don't find trouble with us, we will not take the initiative to cause trouble." Stanley said with a gentle smile: "We are from the black community. Moderates.”

"You do seem gentle."

"Of course, I do community banking and education, and I have never given up on charity work, providing employment or entrepreneurial financial support to young people, whether they are from the Crips Gang or the Blood Gang."

Martin listened to the other party enthusiastically introducing the situation of black people in Los Angeles like a tour guide. The previous panic in his heart had completely disappeared. During the chat, he already knew that Stanley, who was driving the car, graduated from a community college like him and believed that he wanted to be in this society. To gain a foothold, you must master a survival skill.

This gave Martin a lot of affection for Stanley Jack.

Stanley drove the luxury car into the African Star neighborhood of Compton, and then parked outside an ordinary residence.

After getting out of the car, Martin opened the rear door himself. Martin adjusted the buttons of his Armani suit and walked out of the car with a straight face.

"How about you try my mother's cooking? Mr. Hart, I'll give the video to the brothers to play in the neighborhood bar for the niggas to watch. Don't worry, everyone will watch it carefully. When they finish watching it, you can go over and talk to them again. They say a few words and there is no need to waste too much time. After all, there are too many people and the smell inside will be very unpleasant."

Martin nodded: "Very good, you can make arrangements and handle it with full authority."

Stanley handed the videotape to a black child outside the door, smiled and took out the change and handed it to the other person. After a few words, the seven or eight-year-old black kid immediately ran away with the videotape, and Stanley accompanied Martin into his own room. Home.

As soon as the door was opened, six or seven black women were sitting around a round table in the living room. They were skillfully handling the ten-pound bags of hemp on the table with separate bags. Each small bag was carefully weighed.

The leader was a fat old black lady with a kind face and kind eyes. When she saw Martin walking in, she subconsciously stood up and wiped her hands with her apron:

"Is this Mr. Hart?"

"Yes, Mom." Stanley said to the old lady and introduced to Martin: "This is my mother, everyone calls her Mrs. Jack."

"Hello, Mrs. Jack, I am Martin, Martin Hart." Martin said with a smile to the old lady.

"Hey, it's time for you to go. Didn't you see that a distinguished guest came to Jack's house?" The old lady clapped her hands and motioned to several women to clean up the hemp on the table: "Go quickly, don't make me look like a drug lord here. It’s the same as my old nest.”

Several black women quickly put away the hemp, opened the door and walked out.

"Uh... I thought it was Jack's business." Martin breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the women had taken away all the hemp.

When he just saw that scene, he was still worried that if the police showed up and arrested him together.

"Jack's family doesn't do this kind of business. It's all the business of the neighbors. I'm just helping them out when I'm bored. By the way, I let them chat with me to pass the time. This neighborhood is full of warm-hearted neighbors." Mrs. Jack said kindly to Martin. He smiled and said:

"Coming from the East Coast, I guess you've never had Compton-style soul food. I'll prepare one for you, Mr. Hart."

"Thank you, Mrs. Jack." Martin thanked the old lady, then looked at the empty living room and said to Stanley next to him: "It looks pretty good here."

Stanley nodded gently: "Yes, the neighbors here in Africa Star are very kind and the people are simple. This is why our family has settled here for fifty years. It also has another name..."

"Hey~~Stanley~Hey, mom, do you have any rat poison? Can you give me some rat poison?" As soon as Stanley finished introducing, a young black man wearing a gold chain and dressed like a hip-hop singer opened the door. Walking in, I greeted him first, and then shouted to Mrs. Jack in the kitchen.

Stanley introduced Martin: "My brother, Josh."

Mrs. Jack dragged her plump body to the kitchen door: "Josh? We don't have rat poison at home, but we have mousetraps, dozens of them."

"Forget it, that guy's intestines were punched out by Roger. Isn't it a bit inhumane to torture him with a mousetrap? I'll go to the neighbor's house and ask." Josh, the youngest brother of Jack's family, muttered. , turned around and walked out.

Martin digested the conversation between the two, and then looked at Stanley sitting next to him: "What did you and your mother just say about this neighborhood?"

"The neighbors here are warm-hearted, very kind, and the folk customs are simple." Stanley said to Martin.

Martin nodded: "Yes, he is so damn warm-hearted and honest. Do you think this neighborhood called Star of Africa has another name?"

Stanley pushed up his glasses: "Yes, that's also the name of our gang, the Compton Executioners."

…

In Tommy's office, Rick lowered his head and said to Tommy guiltily:

"Mr. Hawke, the cost of this one-hour pilot episode of "Looking for Dad America" ​​has reached 500,000 yuan. I have tried hard to reduce the cost, but there is no way. 500,000 yuan is already the lowest. As far as I know, A reality show with the same theme would cost between 600,000 and 750,000 yuan.”

Not long after the first trial recording of "Searching for America" ​​was completed, after simply arranging the trial recording work for other projects, Rick Luther immediately rushed back to the TV station from the Hollywood production company to apologize to Tommy.

According to his previous cost budget, he thought that one phase would only cost US$350,000 to complete. However, when the recording actually started, he discovered that the expenses were more extensive than previously imagined.

I originally thought that post-production would be similar to that of a short film, but when I entered the post-production stage, I realized that everything was completely different from the lively production of a small film.

Although in order to control costs, BT Film and Television Production no longer dared to entrust the TV program production departments of large companies such as Columbia, Warner, Fox, etc. to help with production. Instead, he chose Cassevina, a second-tier echelon in the TV program production industry. independent company, but after the project begins trial operation, cost overruns are still inevitable.

For example, for a black starless reality show, the other party actually arranged a post-production team of seventeen staff to help start the post-production stage. This was completely unimaginable to Rick Luther.

When the scene is lively and exciting, after the material is shot and it is time for post-editing, there are only two employees working. Those two employees can complete all editing, modification, compression of scenes, cover design, sound effects processing, etc.

But here in Hollywood, there are seventeen employees, including editors who are responsible for editing materials, editors who are responsible for reviewing materials, editors who are responsible for reviewing edited and completed films, editors who are responsible for modifying details, dedicated sound effects engineers, and dedicated visual effects A professional subtitler...

It's not like Rick didn't communicate with the other production company and asked if the post-production team could be streamlined. As a result, the other party just told Rick that this was just a standard configuration in the Hollywood TV program process. It was possible to increase manpower, but it was impossible to reduce it.

Rick didn't even dare to get angry, because as long as Rick quarreled, the other party would immediately breach the contract reasonably, not only not having to work but also receiving full payment.

"We all know, Rick, television is not an industry where you can be opportunistic. You have to spend real money to produce high-quality programs in order to gain a foothold." Tommy didn't look angry at Rick at all. Instead, he was calm and comforted. Looking at the other person:

"I said that I will ensure that BT TV's weekly budget for program production and procurement is no less than two million. For the sake of black people and TV art, we can't care too much about costs! We must believe that we are doing the right thing! Art is priceless!”

Hearing Tommy's words, Rick immediately looked at his boss with admiration. No matter how bad the bastard had been towards black people before, at this moment, he was impeccable.

After all, this means that he has to spend two million every week, rain or shine, on BT TV station's program production and procurement expenses.

Two million a week, eight million a month, and ninety-six million a year.

It sounds like a lot, but it's actually not much. Calculated based on the cost of a single episode of 500,000, it is just enough to launch four homemade variety shows every week, which cannot fill the seven-day prime time period, and it is impossible to put 2 million into it. All of it is used for self-made projects, and part of the funds must be used to purchase ready-made programs.

For example, purchasing some old dramas that were popular in the past or with good ratings to fill the broadcast time. Purchasing dramas that are not exclusive and non-first-release cost much less than self-made projects. For example, purchasing the popular "Beverly Hillbillies" ” Three-year non-exclusive broadcast rights to this comedy cost only $20,000 per episode.

Nowadays, if you want to make a comedy with the same theme, even if all the actors are not well-known stars, the cost of a single episode will not be less than 750,000.

Two hundred and eighty episodes of "Beverly Hillbillies" only cost RMB 5.6 million to be broadcast on the TV station for three years. And if BT wanted to make its own show with a volume of two hundred and eighty episodes, it would have a lot of comedy stars. The total cost of a luxurious comedy is almost astronomical. Except for the three major TV networks and those movie company giants, no other industry company dares to plan such a large-scale project.

Therefore, two million, in Rick's view, means that he must spend one million to help his boss design two self-made projects with enough ratings per week to quickly attract advertisers for blood transfusions. The remaining With one million, he also needs to purchase many classic dramas or variety shows from the TV program market to fill his time.

As the owner of a new TV station, Tommy gives out two million in program costs per week, which is more than 90% of independent TV stations in the United States.

After receiving comfort and encouragement from Tommy, Rick stood up to say goodbye, preparing to rush back to Hollywood to continue working. No matter how unfriendly Tommy was to black people before, if he spent two million real money every week, at least he was sincere about the television industry. .

He was curious about what kind of business his boss relied on to make money to support his TV dream.

Unfortunately, he left too early and didn't see Sophia walk in. He looked at Tommy behind the desk expressionlessly:

"Jim said, if you want him to help you persuade customers to come up with money and use crowdfunding for you to spend and produce TV programs, you call him personally. He said that even if black people in California are real weed, Give it room to grow.”

"Don't fool the black people in California. Can the black people in California afford the expense of two million a week? Didn't I tell you to tell him to fool those African officials with some high-return nonsense and let them come up with the United Nations?" Give them aid funds, invest your own corrupt money in us, and we promise to double their investment within three years, and then give them some unrealistic sweeteners, such as arranging a travel agency to let their families travel to the United States. , fooling their wives and children into helping them immigrate to the United States, letting them see the beauty of the United States, and making them believe that we rich Americans will never deceive them out of the hands of poor Africans!" Tommy heard. Sophia sat up straight with dissatisfaction:

"I am helping black people to produce programs. African blacks are the ancestors of black Americans. It is right for ancestors to spend money to make some programs for their children and grandchildren. I am helping black people to produce programs. I have shown a friendly attitude without charging any money. They are black people. Isn’t it natural to pay for the production yourself? What’s more, art is priceless!”

Second update~