America gains both fame and fortune

Chapter 458: All for News

The sign of Studio 4 in Burbank was changed, and the James Franco and Ben Affleck Acting School was officially opened in front of the cameras of dozens of media reporters.

For second- and third-tier stars, especially those who don't have many film contracts, this business is very profitable.

But few big-name celebrities would do it.

On the one hand, I don’t have time, and on the other hand, I think it would damage the style.

Ben and Franco gave gifts to every media reporter who came to increase the school's exposure.

After seeing off the reporters, the two returned to the office to discuss their next plans.

Ben couldn't come up with much cash, so he could only invest with a small amount of funds, his own fame and channel resources. After all, he had the Foot Gang behind him, so it was not difficult for him to cram some extras and small actors into the Foot Gang's crew.

Even help some girls to date Harvey Weinstein.

James Franco, still the school's largest shareholder, sat in his office chair and said, "There's only one important thing next!"

The two were in the honeymoon period of their cooperation, and Daben automatically responded: "Enroll! Enroll as soon as possible!"

It's not that he has no assets, but he has less personal funds. Now the truly valuable fixed assets are all under the name of the couple, and if they want to sell them, they must get Jennifer Garner's consent.

Da Ben is a good brother, and he doesn’t want his brother to go to jail to pick up soap, so he said, “We need to recruit students as quickly as possible and make money!”

Franco said, "Ben, how about we each lead a class? This will improve efficiency. Halfway through the class, the two classes will swap teachers, and this will fulfill the promise of dual-star teaching!"

Da Ben, who was thinking about making money, responded, "Good idea, let's do as you say."

After a week of training, the last batch of students has officially graduated. Franco called his assistant in and asked her to contact newspapers and place advertisements to recruit students.

Jennifer Lawrence stayed in the acting school, temporarily working as an assistant, and then patiently waited for the good opportunity that James Franco mentioned.

After finishing her work of contacting the media, Lawrence took out the Nokia 1100 that Nicholson had specially equipped her with, edited a text message with only a digital code, and sent it to the confidential mobile phone that Nicholson had specially activated for this operation.

…………

On the North Side of Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, Nicholson was leisurely drinking afternoon tea with Lorraine.

The classic Nokia ringtone sounded, and he took out a black 1100, opened it and looked at the text message, and said to Luo Lin: "Go to the study and get my hardcover notebook."

Considering that her father had just helped her earn a lot of pocket money from TMZ, Lorraine didn't say much. She went to the study on the first floor and got a notebook.

Nicholson opened his notebook and compared the code he had written to see what it meant.

There's nothing I can do about it. I'm old and my memory is not good.

He was so excited about coding at the time that he asked Martin and Lawrence to write it all down, but he ended up forgetting it all.

Lawrence sent a text message in code, but Nicholson couldn't understand what it meant.

Nicholson checked the code and finally found the corresponding content. It turned out that the performing arts school was preparing to recruit students.

You can proceed to the next step.

It was impossible to make a phone call. Nicholson strictly followed the rules that Martin had set when he left Los Angeles. He picked up the Nokia 1100, found the number assigned to Bruce, and forwarded the code.

Luo Lin asked curiously: "What's the matter? It's so mysterious."

Nicholson said, "It's a secret operation, so don't ask about it."

"Oh, what a secret." Luo Lin expressed her dissatisfaction: "Jack, can you please pay attention to the fact that your new girlfriend is not even older than me!"

Nicholson confirmed that the text message had been sent and put down the phone: "We agreed that I will not interfere with your private life and you will not interfere with mine."

Luo Lin curled her lips and said, "Okay, I won't interfere with you!" She suddenly changed the subject and said, "I think Martin is pretty good. He has a lot of mistresses, some of whom are public and some are private. Some of them even have husbands and boyfriends. Is there anything special about him?"

Nicholson looked up.

Before he could speak, Lorraine said, "Jack, don't you like to play? Wouldn't it be fun for your best friend to become your father-in-law?"

Nicholson's eyes widened, and he was speechless for a moment.

…………

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Martin and Nolan were recording a show in the TV studio, and Bruce was waiting backstage.

His phone vibrated, and he took two steps back, away from the crowd, and took out his spare phone, but what was displayed was a text message code.

Bruce recalled and remembered what it meant. It was sent by Nicholson.

He ignored the rules set by Nicholson and directly called Ivan, saying, "Please pay attention. They should be recruiting students there."

Ivan replied simply: "Got it."

Bruce hung up the phone directly, took a step forward and continued to stand behind Martin.

After some time, Martin came out of the studio to go to the bathroom.

Bruce followed and whispered, "Jack sent the code, start it."

Martin got a headache thinking about the code: "He completely put himself into it and wrote a page of code." Bruce said: "You didn't write it down, but you asked me to write it down!"

Martin said, "Your memory is better than mine." He suddenly thought of John Wick: "How about letting Old Jack play a big boss behind the high table in the future?"

"He's paid very well." Bruce is a manager after all. "Unless his next movie can make $4 million at the box office, but it's too difficult for an R-rated action movie."

Martin waved his hand: "Let's talk about it later."

…………

In Los Angeles, Jody received a call from Ivan. She picked up the makeup mirror and touched up her makeup before going out and driving to Griffith Park.

Jody met Ivan under a pavilion in the park.

"Any breaking news?" she asked directly.

Ivan shook his head: "I haven't been very lucky recently. I haven't been able to capture any big news directly."

Jody took out a cigarette and handed one to Ivan. When he waved his hand, he put it in his mouth and lit it, saying, "You wouldn't come to me if there was no news."

Ivan said: "I just got a piece of news, but I am too old and it is troublesome to verify it in person."

"You know the rules of TMZ. We won't buy news without solid evidence." Jody was very pragmatic: "I can't pay you just for a piece of news from you."

Ivan was silent for a long time before he said, "You can pay later. You can verify the information and only pay me the informant fee."

The informant fee was very low, and Jody agreed: "I can make the decision on this. If the information is true, I will give you double the informant fee."

Ivan took out a rolled-up newspaper and handed it to Jody: "Take a look."

The newspaper is divided into two parts. The upper part reports that the James Franco and Ben Affleck Acting School was opened yesterday, and the lower part is the enrollment advertisement.

Jody asked, "Is there something wrong with this school?"

Ivan said in detail: "There were two girls on the same floor of the apartment I rented before. They took acting classes at Franco's Studio 4 School. I heard from them that they were all sexually harassed by Franco in class. He even asked them to take off their clothes and perform in the name of art. Franco even asked them to go to the hotel after class..."

Jody didn't interrupt.

After Ivan received Bruce's notice, he really did a lot of preliminary work: "I wanted to persuade them, but they were afraid that their acting career would end and they didn't dare to come forward."

Jody said, "I wouldn't do that either."

Ivan continued: "There is also Ben Affleck, who used to be a part-time teacher at the Adler Acting School. Not long after, he was complained by several female students, and the content was similar to Franco's."

Bruce told him that this is a common problem in many acting schools in Hollywood. The so-called red sofa does not start with auditioning for roles. Girls without connections and background start facing the choice of red sofa when they first start learning acting.

Qiao Di had vaguely heard similar rumors, but didn't quite understand them, so he asked, "Are you sure?"

Ivan asked in return: "Has the information and news I provided to you ever been false?"

Jody thought about it briefly and realized that not once.

Ivan said, "I have news for you. I am leaving now."

Qiao Di nodded: "I want to seek support from my superiors, wait for my news."

Ivan smiled slightly and left the park with his hands folded.

Jody exited the park from the other side, drove back to the company, found the relevant information of James Franco and Ben Affleck from the archives, read it carefully, and went to the editor-in-chief's office.

TMZ is different from traditional media. Although it does not dare to really provoke those big shots, the number of times it chooses to expose scandals of celebrities and celebrities even exceeds the number of times it settles with the parties involved.

After hearing Jody’s description, the editor-in-chief asked, “What do you think?”

Jody said: "Franco is a second-tier star. Apart from being close to the gang, his background and network are average. Ben Affleck is a little more troublesome. He is Harvey Weinstein's man..."

The editor-in-chief interrupted: "Harvey Weinstein? It's a bit troublesome to involve him."

"At best, he is just one of Harvey's lackeys." Jody further said: "Since the failure of Daredevil, Ben Affleck's career has declined sharply. He is no longer the star he was at the turn of the century. He is now a relatively famous star who has passed his prime."

She said directly: "We at TMZ can definitely deal with them!"

The editor-in-chief also quickly browsed the information of the two people on the computer: "Okay, but you know the principles of TMZ. We can make news, but we can never publish fake news!"

Jodi is still very young, and although she is skinny, she is pretty. She said, "I plan to sign up for the acting course at their acting school to experience the specific content firsthand."

Jody came to the editor-in-chief to seek support: "I will need a lot of special photography and recording equipment during this period."

"I'll give you special approval." The editor-in-chief praised, "Qiao, you're very courageous."

Jody was absolutely firm: "It's all for the news."

With support and equipment, Jody quickly signed up, became a young actor hoping to become famous, and began his studies at the acting school.

Her first teacher was Ben Affleck, who did more than just touch the girls during his classes.

Jody would not report fake news, but would take the initiative to create real news. She soon attracted the attention of Big Ben with her flirtatious performance.

(End of this chapter)